HISTORY TODAY

 1958 – Iskander Mirza, the first President of Pakistan, is deposed by General Ayub Khan, who had been appointed the enforcer of martial law by Mirza 20 days earlier.

 1961 – NASA tests the first Saturn I rocket in Mission Saturn- Apollo 1.

 1979 – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines gains its independ- ence from the United Kingdom.

 1986 – The British government suddenly deregulates financial markets, leading to a total restructuring of the way in which they operate in the country, in an event now referred to as the Big Bang.

 1991 – Turkmenistan achieves independence from the Soviet Union.

 1992 – United States Navy radioman Allen R. Schindler, Jr. is murdered by shipmate Terry M. Helvey for being gay, precipi- tating debate about gays in the military that results in the United States’ “Don’t ask, don’t tell” military policy.

 1994 – Gliese 229B is the first Substellar Mass Object to be unquestionably identified.

 2004 – The Boston Red Sox defeat the St. Louis Cardinals to win their first World Series in 86 years.

 2014 – Britain withdraws from Afghanistan at the end of Operation Herrick, after 12 years four months and seven days.

 2017 – Catalonia declares independence from Spain.