On this day in 1904, the Russo-Japanese war broke out after Japan formally declared war on Russia.

On this day in 1946, the Netherlands bowed to the inevitable and agreed to allow Indonesia to become independent on the condition that it formed a confederation of states.

And on this day in 1962, in an historic exchange, captured US spy-plane pilot Gary Powers started walking to freedom from the communist side of a Berlin bridge, while the highest-ranking Russian spy ever caught, KGB Colonel Rudolf Abel, set off from the American side.