On Dec. 30, 2006, former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was executed after being convicted of crimes against humanity by the Iraqi High Tribunal.

In 1860, 10 days after South Carolina seceded from the Union, the state militia seized the U.S. Army arsenal in Charleston.

In 1896, José Rizal, whose writings inspired the Philippine Revolution, was executed by Spanish army troops after being convicted of rebellion, sedition and conspiracy.

In 1903, more than 600 people died when fire broke out at the recently opened Iroquois Theater in Chicago.

In 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) officially came into existence.

In 2009, seven CIA employees and a Jordanian intelligence officer were killed by a suicide bomber at a U.S. base in Khost, Afghanistan.