331 B.C. - Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela 1688 - Prince William of Orange accepts invitation to take up the British crown 1814 - Opening of the Congress of Vienna, redraws Europe's political map after the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte 1867 - Karl Marx publishes "Das Kapital" in Berlin, describing the capitalist system, its instability and its tendency toward self-destruction 1908 - Henry Ford introduces the Model T car, priced at $825 1918 - World War I: A combined Arab and British force, led by Lawrence of Arabia, captures Damascus from the Ottoman Empire 1988 - Mikhail Gorbachev becomes chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, effectively head of state of the Soviet Union