On this day in 1929, the first talking Mickey Mouse cartoon, "The Karnival Kid", was released.
On this day in 1961, the Union of South Africa became the Republic of South Africa.
On this day in 1962, one of the major organizers of the Holocaust, Adolf Eichmann, was hanged in Israel.
On this day in 1973, the United States Senate voted to cut off funding for the bombing of Khmer Rouge targets within Cambodia, hastening the end of the Cambodian Civil War.
And this day in 1981 saw the burning of Jaffna library in Sri Lanka. This destruction was one of the most violent examples of ethnic biblioclasm of the 20th century.