1917 – Maxim Gorky calls Vladimir Lenin a blind fanatic and unthinking adventurer
1933 – 1st US ambassador to USSR, W.C. Bullitt, begins service
1946 – Georgi Dimitrov elected premier of Bulgaria
1962 – The Chinese People’s Liberation Army declares a unilateral cease-fire in the Sino-Indian War.
1976 – “Rocky” directed by John G. Avildsen and starring Sylvester Stallone premieres in New York (Best Picture 1977)
1980 – “Hi Infidelity” 9th studio album by REO Speedwagon is released
1999 – Elian Gonzalez, Cuban boy at the center of a heated 2000 controversy involving the governments of Cuba and the United States, departs from Cuba with his mother
2002 – NATO invites Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to become members.
2004 – Roger Federer of Switzerland wins back-to-back season-ending Tennis Masters Cup titles with a 6–3, 6–2 victory over Australian Leyton Hewitt in the final in Houston, Texas
2004 – 56th NASCAR Sprint Cup: Kurt Busch wins