On this day in 1815, after escaping from his exile in Elba, Napoleon Bonaparte entered Paris, officially beginning his "Hundred Days" rule.

On this day in 1852, American author Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was first published. The novel profoundly affected attitudes towards African Americans and slavery in the United States, and further intensified the sectional conflict leading to the American Civil War.

On this day in 1913, Sung Chiao-jen, a founder of the Chinese Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, was wounded in an assassination attempt and died two days later.

On this day in 1916, Albert Einstein published his general theory of relativity.

On this day in 2003, in the early hours of the morning, the United States and three other countries began military operations in Iraq.

And on this day in 2004, President Chen Shui-bian won re-election in Taiwan by a slim margin.