Faced with the near-certain prospect of impeachment for his role in the Watergate Scandal, U.S. President Richard M. Nixon announced his resignation on this day in 1974 and was succeeded by Gerald Ford the following day.

More Events on this day:

1963: Armed robbers stole £2.6 million from the Glasgow-London Royal Mail Train near Bridego Bridge, north of London, in the Great Train Robbery.

1945: The United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France signed the London Agreement, which authorized the Nürnberg trials.

1907: Jazz musician Benny Carter was born in New York City.

1846: The Wilmot Proviso, an attempt to prohibit the extension of slavery to new territories in the United States, was proposed, and, in the debate that followed, the Republican Party was born.

1588: The English fleet won a decisive battle over the Spanish Armada off the coast of Gravelines in northern France.

Emiliano Zapata

Born this day in 1879, Emiliano Zapata was a Mexican revolutionary and champion of land reform who fought in guerrilla actions during the Mexican Revolution (1910–20) and was killed while occupying Mexico City.