Leonid Brezhnev dies

Leonid Brezhnev dies

November 10, 2009 05:00:00 am

On November 10, 1982, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev died of a heart attack. He had served as leader of the USSR from October 1964 until his death. Following his death, the Soviet Union cycled through three more leaders during the 1980s until Mikhail Gorbachev allowed the country to dissolve in 1991.

Read an obituary of Leonid Brezhnev from the New York Times.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Warren Commission report on the Kennedy assassination released

On September 27, 1964, the report of the Warren Commission chaired by Chief Justice Earl Warren on the Kennedy assassination was released. The report essentially concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone. Review the Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy.

WWII Axis Powers formed

On September 27, 1940, Chancellor Adolf Hitler of Germany, Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano of Italy and Ambassador Saburo Kurusu of Japan signed the Tripartite Pact, creating the World War II alliance of the Axis Powers. The Pact was later assented to by other members of the Axis, including Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.