1927: Leon Trotsky and his followers are expelled from the Communist Party by the Soviet Communist Congress. The musical Show Boat opens in New York.
1941: Rubber rationing begins in the United States.
1947: Howdy Doody, the first popular children's TV show, premieres.
1979: The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan.
2002: Four days after starting to reopen a plutonium processing plant, North Korea announces that it will expel all international inspectors from the country. Chechen rebels explode two bombs near the pro-Russian government offices in Grozny, killing at least 63.