- 772 Adrian I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
- 772 Pope Adrian I [Hadrian I] is elected
Edward III
1327 Edward III is crowned King of England aged 14, though the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer
- 1622 English East India Company forces capture the Portuguese fort on the island of Hormus in the Persian Gulf, an important trading center on the route to Mughal India
- 1662 Dutch garrison on Formosa surrenders to Chinese pirates
- 1669 French King Louis XIV limits freedom of religion
Inspiration for Robinson Crusoe
1709 British sailor Alexander Selkirk is rescued by William Dampier after being marooned alone on an island in the South Pacific for four years, inspiring Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe"
Kalabalik at Bender
1713 The Kalabalik or Tumult in Bender - Ottoman troops of sultan Ahmed III attack camp and seize his unwelcome guest, King Charles XII of Sweden
- 1717 Henri d'Aguesseau's 1st appointment as chancellor of France
- 1717 Silent Sejm session of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth parliament marks the end of Augustus II's attempts to create an absolute monarchy and the start of Russia's influence and control over the Commonwealth [1]
- 1732 Parliament of Ratisborn accepts Pragmatic Sanctions
- 1742 Sardinia and Austria sign military alliance Convention of Turin
The Solar Apex
1783 English-German astronomer William Herschel announces the star Lambda Herculis is close to the solar apex
- 1788 1st US steamboat patent issued, by Georgia to Briggs & Longstreet
- 1789 Chinese troops driven out of Vietnam capital Thang Long
- 1790 US Supreme Court convenes for 1st time (NYC)
- 1793 France declares war on Great Britain and Netherlands
- 1793 Patent granted Ralph Hodgson, NY, for oiled silk & linen
- 1796 The capital of Upper Canada is moved from Newark to York
- 1809 Dutch King Louis Napoleon accepts metric system
- 1810 1st insurance company managed by African Americans, The African Insurance Company opens in Philadelphia
- 1810 Seville, Spain surrenders to the French without a fight
- 1810 US Population: 7,239,881, African American population: 1,377,808 (19%)
Corsair
1814 Lord Byron's "Corsair" sells 10,000 copies on day of publication
- 1814 Volcano Mayon on Luzon Philippines erupts killing 1,200
- 1840 Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, 1st in US, incorporated
- 1842 1st adhesive postage stamps in US isssued, by Alexander Greig's City Despatch Post company, in New York City
- 1843 Oldest continuous writer of insurance in America opens, the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York (MONY)
- 1846 Theophile Gautier publishes "Hashish Club" about his initiation
- 1856 Auburn University is chartered as the East Alabama Male College.
- 1860 1st rabbi to open House of Representatives, Morris Raphall of NYC
- 1861 Dike breaks in Gelderland, Netherlands
- 1861 Texas secedes from the Union (which precipitates the American Civil War)
- 1862 Julia Howe publishes "Battle Hymn of Republic"
- 1864 -Feb 8th] Battle of Yazoo River, MS
- 1864 Second Schleswig War begins when Prussian and Austrian forces cross into Schleswig challenging Danish control
- 1865 JS Rock, 1st African American lawyer to practise in US Supreme Court, admitted to bar
- 1865 US President Lincoln signs 13th Amendment of US Constitution, abolishing slavery in US; celebrated as National Freedom Day [1]
- 1867 Operative Bricklayers' Society unionist in London, England start working 8-hour days, instead of 9
- 1871 Jefferson Long of Georgia is first African American to make an official speech in US House of Representatives (opposing leniency to former Confederates)
- 1880 The first edition of theatrical newspaper The Stage is published.
- 1881 US Assay Office in St Louis, Missouri authorized
- 1883 French Lt-Colonel Gustave Borgnis-Desbordes reaches Bamako on the Niger
- 1884 First volume of the Oxford English Dictionary, A-Ant, is published
- 1887 Harvey Wilcox of Ks subdivides 120 acres he owned in Southern California & starts selling it off as a real estate development (Hollywood)
- 1892 Mrs William Astor invites 400 guests to a grand ball at her mansion thus beginning use of "400" to describe socially elite
World's First Movie Studio
1893 Thomas Edison completes the world's first movie studio in West Orange, New Jersey
- 1896 Giacomo Puccini's opera "La Boheme" premieres in Turin
- 1897 1st auto insurance policy in US issued, by Travelers Insurance Company
- 1897 Shinhan Bank, the oldest bank in South Korea, opens in Seoul.
- 1902 China's empress Tzu-hsi forbids binding woman's feet
- 1902 Hermann Sudermanns "Es lebe das Leben" premieres in Berlin
Event of Interest
1902 US Secretary of State John Hay protests granting Russia exclusive privileges in China, on ground that it runs contrary to the 'open door' policy granting all nations equal rights there
Caruso's First Recordings
1904 Italian tenor Enrico Caruso makes his first recordings in America, singing "Questa o quella" and "La donna è mobile" from Giuseppe Verdi's "Rigoletto" in Carnegie Hall, NYC, for Victor Talking Machine Company
- 1905 Dutch soccer club ADO Den Haag forms in The Hague; ADO represents the amateur branch of the club
- 1905 Hungarian premier Count István Tisza resigns
- 1906 1st federal penitentiary building completed, Leavenworth, Kansas
- 1906 Dorothy Grey, wife of British Foreign Secretary Edward Grey is fatally injured in a motor accident
- 1908 In a high-profile trial American railway heir Harry Kendall Thaw is found not guilty of murdering architect Stanford White on grounds of insanity in a New York court [1]
1908 King Carlos I of Portugal and his heir, Prince Luís Filipe, are assassinated by Republican sympathizers in Terreiro do Paço, Lisbon
- 1909 US Assay Office in Salt Lake City, Utah, opens
- 1909 US forces withdraw from Cuba after liberal Jose Miguel Gomez becomes president; ensuing political instability will bring a threat of US intervention in 1912
- 1910 1st British labour exchange opens
- 1910 Dragoumis government forms in Greece
Thorpe Signs with Giants
1913 American all-round athlete Jim Thorpe signs to play baseball with the NY Giants; unlike his other sporting endeavours the Olympic-medal winner's career in MLB was uninspiring (1913-19)
- 1914 Chicago White Sox and New York Giants play a 10-inning, 3-3 tie in Cairo, Egypt in an exhibition MLB game; part of special 56-game world tour
- 1914 Pennsylvania State Board of [motion picture] censors appointed
- 1914 Tanganyika Railway opens in eastern Africa
- 1917 German Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz announces unrestricted submarine warfare against allied shipping
Wo die Lerche singt
1918 Franz Lehar's opera "Wo die Lerche singt" ("Where The Lark Sings") premieres at the Király Theatre in Budapest, Hungary
- 1918 German spy Lothar Witzke arrested by CIP agent Byron S. Butcher at the US border at Nogales - only German spy sentenced in the US during WWI [1]
Oh Lady! Lady!!
1918 Jerome Kern, Guy Bolton & P. G. Wodehouse's musical "Oh Lady! Lady!!", premieres at the Princess Theatre, NYC; runs for 219 performances
1918 Russia adopts the Gregorian calendar (making the day February 14)
- 1919 Brooklyn Robins trade former National League MVP Jake Daubert to Cincinnati Reds for outfielder Tommy Griffith; result of a salary grievance
- 1920 1st commercial armored car introduced (St Paul, Minn)
- 1920 Royal Canadian Mounted Police forms as Royal Northwest Mounted Police merge with Dominion Police
- 1923 Allied ultimatum on Lithuanian occupation of Memel
The Young Idea
1923 Noël Coward's stage comedy "The Young Idea" premieres at the Savoy Theatre, London; runs for 60 performances
- 1924 Amsterdam's Netherlands Press Museum opens
Soviet Union Recognized
1924 Ramsay MacDonald's incoming Labour government formally recognizes the Soviet Union
- 1925 1st national conference of KPD's Rotfrontkämpferbund in Berlin
- 1926 Kirghiz Autonomous Region in RSFSR becomes Kirghiz ASSR
- 1926 Land at Broadway & Wall Street sold at a record $7 per sq inch
- 1929 "The Broadway Melody" directed by Harry Beaumont and starring Bessie Love is released. 1st film with sound to win an Oscar (Outstanding Picture 1930)
- 1929 1st clean & jerk of 400 lbs (182 kg), Charles Rigoulet, 402½ lbs
- 1929 Pi Alphha Phi, the first Asian-American interest fraternity in the United States, is founded at UC Berkeley
Von heute auf morgen
1930 Arnold Schoenberg's opera "Von heute auf morgen" ("From Today to Tomorrow") premieres at the Oper Frankfurt in Frankfurt, Germany
- 1933 Colonial government arrests Anton de Kom in Paramaribo Suriname
- 1933 Dutch bishops forbid membership of non-catholic unions
- 1934 Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss dissolves all political parties but his own right-wing Fatherland Front (Vaterländische Front)
- 1935 1st "March of Time" newsreel premieres at the Capitol
- 1935 James T Farrell finishes his "Studs Lonigan" trilogy
- 1937 Stapleton, Staten Island, becomes a customs-free port
Music History
1939 Benny Goodman and his Orchestra record "And the Angels Sing", a reworking of trumpeter Ziggy Elman's "Fralich in Swing", with Martha Tilton singing lyrics added by Johnny Mercer, for Victor Records in NYC; it becomes a chart topper
- 1940 NBC performs the first inter-city television broadcast from its station in New York City to another in Schenectady, New York by General Electric relay antennas.
- 1940 Soviet Union begins new offensive against Finland
- 1943 German occupiers make Vidkun Quisling Norwegian premier
- 1943 Mussert forms pro-Nazi shadow cabinet in Netherlands
- 1944 Supreme Soviet increases Soviet republics' autonomy
- 1944 US 7th Infantry/4th Marine Division lands on Kwajalein/Roi/Namur
- 1945 US Army arrives at Siegfriedlinie
Trygve Lie First Secretary General
1946 Norwegian politician Trygve Lie elected the 1st Secretary General of the United Nations
- 1946 Republic of Hungary proclaims Zoltán Tildy as its communist president
- 1946 The National Assembly proclaims Hungary a republic
- 1947 Aleide de Gasperi forms Italian government of christian-dems & communists
- 1947 NV United Dutch Fokker's Aircraft established
- 1948 Finland goes 1-2 in the Nordic combined event at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; Heikki Hasu takes gold ahead of teammate Martti Huhtala
Cry the Beloved Country
1948 Important South African anti-apartheid novel "Cry the Beloved Country" by Alan Paton is published in the US
- 1948 Johnny Palmer sets a 36-hole PGA Tour scoring record with rounds of 62-64 in the Tucson Open; finishes runner-up by 1 stroke to Skip Alexander who cards tournament record total 264
Federation of Malaya
1948 Nine Malay sultanates and two British Straits Settlements (Penang and Malacca) form the Federation of Malaya
- 1948 Palestine Post building in Jerusalem bombed
Curly Lambeau Resigns
1950 Green Bay Packers founder, player and coach Curly Lambeau resigns after 31 seasons and 6 NFL titles to his credit
- 1950 Urko Kekkonen elected Prime Minister of Finland
- 1951 -50°F (-46°C), Gavilan, New Mexico (state record)
- 1951 1st X-ray moving picture process demonstrated
- 1951 Arms manufacturer Alfred Krupp (43) and 28 other convicted German war criminals granted amnesty
- 1951 UN condemns People's Republic of China as aggressor in Korea
- 1951 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site; 1st live television broadcast of such detonation by KTLA in Los Angeles, California at 5:30 AM local time
- 1952 First TV detector van begins operating in the UK to identify users of unlicensed television sets
- 1952 General strike against French colonial rule in Tunisia
- 1952 SN Behrman's "Jane" premieres in NYC
- 1953 "General Electric Theater" premieres on CBS TV; Ronald Reagan later hosts
- 1953 Dr A de Waal appointed as Netherlands' first female assistant secretary of state
- 1953 Flooding in Netherlands kills 1,835
- 1953 WEEK TV channel 25 in Peoria, IL (NBC) begins broadcasting
- 1954 Dutch soccer club De Graafschap "The County" forms in Doetinchem, Netherlands
- 1954 Scapino Ballet Studio in Amsterdam destroyed by fire
- 1954 US TV soap opera "The Secret Storm" premieres on CBS
- 1955 H. C. Hansen appointed premier of Denmark
- 1955 Hap Day becomes the first man to serve as Toronto Maple Leafs' captain, coach and general manager when he is appointed to run the famous Canadian NHL club
- 1956 Hague Daily Newspaper reveals war crimes of Hague mayor Schokking
- 1956 Hayes Alan Jenkins leads only US sweep of Olympic men's figure skating medals at the Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Games; Ronald Robertson wins silver with bronze to Jenkins' younger brother, David
- 1956 WSAV TV channel 3 in Savannah, GA (NBC) begins broadcasting
- 1957 1st black pilot (PH Young) on a US scheduled passenger airline
Event of Interest
1957 Felix Wankel's first working prototype DKM 54 of the rotary Wankel engine was running at the NSU research and development department Versuchsabteilung TX in Germany
- 1957 Gijsbert of Hall appointed mayor of Amsterdam
- 1957 MLB club owners accept new 5-year pension plan proposed by the players, but reject request to increase minimum salary from $6,000 to $7,500
- 1958 "Volare" ("Nel blu dipinto di blu") single released by Domenico Modugno (Grammy Award Record of the Year, Song of the Year 1958)
- 1958 Egypt & Syria announce plans to merge into United Arab Republic
- 1958 Manchester United beats Arsenal, 5-4 at Highbury in the team's last game on British soil, 5 days prior to the plane crash at Munich airport that killed 7 players
- 1958 Tommy Taylor scores 2 goals and Duncan Edwards 1, in Manchester United's 5-4 win vs Arsenal at Highbury; pair amongst 7 players killed 5 days later when team’s charter plane crashes at Munich airport
- 1958 WFTV TV channel 9 in Orlando, FL (ABC) begins broadcasting
- 1959 Heiss sisters go 1-2 in US women's Figure Skating C'ships; defending champion Carol wins from Nancy; David Jenkins wins his third straight men's title
- 1959 Outfielder Zack Wheat, a Brooklyn Robins favourite of the 1910s and 1920s, is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame; Wheat hit .317 over 19-year career, and batted .300 or better 14 times
- 1959 Swiss men vote against voting rights for women
- 1959 WVUE TV channel 8 in New Orleans, LA (ABC) begins broadcasting
- 1960 1st civil rights sit-in, at Woolworth's in Greensboro, North Carolina; four Black students - Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, David Richmond, and Ezell Blair Jr. - spend the day waitng to be served at the segregated lunch counter in a peaceful protest
1960 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: In a classic all-Australian final Rod Laver beats Neale Fraser 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 8-6, 8-6; Laver's first Grand Slam title
- 1960 Extreme right-wing rebels in Algiers surrender
- 1961 1st full-scale test of US Minuteman ICBM is successful
- 1961 Australian cricket tail-enders Ken Mackay (62no) and Lindsay Kline (15no) hang on for 100 minutes to earn a famous draw on the final day vs West Indies in 4th Test in Adelaide
Powell Increases Medical Insurance
1961 British minister Enoch Powell makes medical insurance more expensive
The Misfits
1961 John Huston's film drama "The Misfits" officially premieres at the Loews Capitol in NYC, after a sneak preview at Reno, Nevada's Grenada Theatre; the final movie for both Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe was written by Monroe's husband Arthur Miller, and also featured Montgomery Cliff
- 1962 "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", the debut novel by Ken Kesey is published by Viking Press
- 1962 MLB's National League releases its first 162-game schedule due to expansion (18 games between opponents)
- 1963 Nyasaland (now Malawi) becomes self-governing under Hastings Banda
- 1964 Afobaka Dam is completed on the Suriname River
- 1964 French sisters Christine Goitschel (gold) and Marielle Goitschel (silver) become first female siblings to win Olympic gold and silver in the same event when they dominate the slalom in Innsbruck
- 1964 Indiana Governor Mathew Walsh tries to ban "Louie Louie" for obscenity
- 1964 The Beatles' first #1 hit "I Want to Hold Your Hand," tops the Hot 100, stays #1 for 7 weeks before being replaced by "She Loves You", also by The Beatles
Patterson vs. Chuvalo
1965 Former world heavyweight boxing champion Floyd Patterson beats Canadian George Chuvalo by unanimous decision in a 12-round non-title clash at New York’s Madison Square Garden; 'The Ring' names bout Fight of the Year.
- 1965 NL adopts emergency team replacement plan to restock any club struck by disaster
- 1967 Severe bushfires in Tasmania destroy $11 million & take 60 lives
American Basketball Association
1967 The 10-team American Basketball Association (ABA) with George Mikan as Commissioner is formed and lasts 9 years; its three-point shot remains a feature of the game
- 1967 WCLP TV channel 18 in Chatsworth, GA (PBS) begins broadcasting
Nixon Announces Candidacy
1968 Former US VP Richard Nixon announces candidacy for president
1968 Saigon police chief Nguyễn Ngọc Loan executes Viet Cong officer Nguyễn Văn Lém with a pistol shot to the head. The execution is captured by photographer Eddie Adams and becomes an anti-war icon.
- 1968 The Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central merge into Penn Central
Lombardi Steps Down
1968 Vince Lombardi steps down as NFL Green Bay Packers head coach in favor of longtime assistant Phil Bengtson; stays on as Packers' general manager for 1968
- 1968 World trade conference Unctad 2 opens in New Delhi
Petty's Ford Win
1969 In his first start in a Ford, legendary driver Richard Petty wins the Motor Trend 500 at Riverside, California; previous 92 NASCAR victories were in Plymouths
- 1969 Tim Wood wins second of 3 straight US Men's Figure Skating titles whilst Janet Lynn takes first of her 5 consecutive Women's National Championships in Seattle
- 1969 WPGH TV channel 53 in Pittsburgh, PA (IND) begins broadcasting
1970 Former MLB Commissioner Ford Frick as well as ex-players Earle Combs and Jesse Haines are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
Chichester-Clark meets Callaghan
1970 Northern Ireland PM Chichester-Clark meets British Home Secretary James Callaghan to discuss the economy of Northern Ireland
Sawchuk's Final Victory
1970 Rangers' goalie Terry Sawchuk records his 447th (and final) victory, and 103rd career shutout when New York beats the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-0; both are NHL records at the time
- 1970 Stalled commuter train rammed by express in Argentina, 139 die
- 1970 West-Germany & USSR sign gas contract
- 1970 WMAA TV channel 29 in Jackson, MS (PBS) begins broadcasting
- 1972 1972 NFL Draft: Walt Patulski from University of Notre Dame first pick by Buffalo Bills
Bloody Sunday Inquiry
1972 British Prime Minister Edward Heath announces the appointment of Lord Chief Justice Lord Widgery to undertake an inquiry into the 13 deaths on 'Bloody Sunday' (30 January 1972)
- 1972 Kuala Lumpur becomes a city by a royal charter granted by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
Harvest
1972 Reprise Records releases "Harvest", the 4th studio album by Neil Young; becomes best selling album in US, 1972
- 1972 The first scientific handheld calculator, the HP-35, is introduced for $395
- 1972 The Ministry of Defence also issues a detailed account of the British Army's version of events during 'Bloody Sunday'
- 1972 Wings release single "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" in UK
- 1973 Outfielder Monte Irvin is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Special Committee on the Negro Leagues; fourth inductee through the committee
- 1974 Kuala Lumpur is declared a Federal Territory.
- 1975 Otis Francis Tabler is 1st open homosexual to get security clearance to work for the Defense Department
- 1976 "Rich Man, Poor Man" mini-series premieres on ABC TV
The Sonny & Cher Show
1976 Sonny & Cher resume TV variety show, despite real-life divorce; now titled "The Sonny & Cher Show"
- 1977 Blizzard in upstate New York and Southern Ontario claims 23 lives
Polankski Flees US
1978 Director Roman Polanski skips bail in the US and flees to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl
1st Female African American Stamp
1978 Harriet Tubman is 1st African American woman to be honored on a US postage stamp
Patty Hearst Released
1979 American publishing heiress Patty Hearst is released from prison for bank robbery
- 1979 English international forward Trevor Francis becomes Britain’s first £1 million soccer player when he transfers from Birmingham City to Nottingham Forest
- 1979 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- 1980 Sears Radio Theater moves from CBS to Mutual Broadcasting System
- 1980 Single "Call Me" released by Blondie (Billboard Song of the Year 1980)
- 1980 Soap opera "Love of Life" ends a 28 year run
- 1981 Dutch Antilles census is 231,932
- 1981 French government accord sends 60 Mirage fighter jets to Iraq
- 1982 Senegal & Gambia form loose confederation (Senegambia)
- 1983 USSR performs underground nuclear test
- 1984 American lawyer and businessman David Stern becomes NBA Commissioner, succeeding Larry O'Brien; stays in position until 2014
Medicare
1984 Bob Hawke's Australian Labor government re-instates universal healthcare as Medicare [1]
- 1984 China & Netherlands regain diplomatic relations
- 1984 Indian diplomat Ravindra Mhatre kidnapped and murdered by Kashmiri terrorists in Birmingham, England
- 1985 -61°F (-52°C), Maybell, Colorado (state record)
- 1985 -69°F (-56°C), Peter's Sink, Utah (state record)
- 1985 Patient innings from Dilip Vengsarkar (137) and Mohammad Azharuddin (122) set India up for 5th cricket Test draw vs England in Kanpur; Azharuddin, 3 centuries in 1st 3 Tests
- 1986 KHJ-AM in Los Angeles CA changes call letters to KRTH
- 1987 163 day strike against Deere & Co ends, workers accept wage freeze
- 1989 Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 at perihelion
- 1989 The Western Australian towns of Kalgoorlie and Boulder amalgamate to form the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
- 1991 Afghanistan and Pakistan hit by earthquake, 1,200 die
The Firm
1991 American writer John Grisham publishes his second novel "The Firm" (bestselling novel of the year)
- 1991 Australian cricket fast bowler Craig McDermott sets up a 9 wicket, 5th Test win over England with a career best 8-97 in Perth
Apartheid Laws To Be Repealed
1991 South African President F. W. de Klerk says he will repeal all apartheid laws
- 1991 US Air & Skywest Fairchild jet collide at LA Airport killing 32
Potvin's #5 Retired
1992 Defenseman Denis Potvin's #5 becomes first number retired by NY Islanders; Potvin played entire 15 year NHL career in NY
Bonds' Record Contract
1992 Slugging outfielder Barry Bonds signs highest single year contract in MLB history, $4.7 million with Pittsburgh Pirates
- 1993 NY Judge Sol Wachtler indicted for harassing Joy Silverman
- 1993 Soyuz TM-16 lands
Gillooly Pleads Guilty
1994 Jeff Gillooly pleads guilty for his part in attack on American Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan; plea bargain, confesses to racketeering in exchange for testimony implicating ex-wife Tonya Harding
- 1994 Large meteorite falls near Kusaie, Pacific Ocean
- 1994 South African cricket fast bowler Fanie de Villiers bravely survives 197 minutes for 30 on last day of 3rd Test against Australia in Adelaide; Proteas finally all out 129; Australia win by 191, draw series
- 1995 Amtrak NY-Tampa run ends
- 1995 Belgium's TV channel VT4 goes on the air
Stockton Surpasses Johnson
1995 Utah Jazz guard John Stockton passes Magic Johnson's all-time NBA assists mark of 9,221, in a 129-98 win over the Denver Nuggets at the Delta Centre in Salt Lake City
- 1995 Zimbabwe batsmen Andy (156) & Grant Flower (201) set world record brotherly stand of 269 to propel Zimbabwe to first ever victory in Test cricket in 1st Test against Pakistan in Harare
- 1996 The Communications Decency Act is passed by the U.S. Congress.
Bourque's Scoring Record
1997 Future Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque scores a goal and an assist to become the Boston Bruins' all-time scoring leader, with 1,341 points in an 18-year NHL career
- 1998 Lillian E. Fishburne became the first female African American to be promoted to rear admiral.
- 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
- 2004 251 people are trampled to death and 244 injured in a stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
2004 Super Bowl XXXVIII, Reliant Stadium, Houston, TX: New England Patriots beat Carolina Panthers, 32-29; MVP: Tom Brady, New England, QB
Jackson's Wardrobe Malfunction
2004 Wardrobe malfunction: Janet Jackson's breast is exposed during the half-time show of Super Bowl XXXVIII, resulting in US broadcasters adopting a stronger adherence to FCC censorship guidelines.
- 2005 Arsenal’s English Premier League record 33-game unbeaten streak at home ends when the Gunners go down, 4-2 to Manchester United at Highbury
- 2005 Canada introduces the Civil Marriage Act, making Canada the fourth country to sanction same-sex marriage.
- 2005 Nepalese King Gyanendra exercises Coup d'état to capture the democracy becoming Chairman of the Councils of ministers.
- 2006 High school senior Epiphanny Prince scores US girls national prep basketball record 113 points in Murry Bergtraum HS's 137-32 win over Brandeis HS; surpasses Cheryl Miller's 105
Sports History
2006 Thierry Henry breaks Arsenal legend Cliff Bastin's league goals record, bringing his league goal tally to 151
- 2008 Canadian jockey Russell Baze rides his 10,000th career winner aboard Two Step Cat in 3rd race at Golden Gate Fields, Albany, CA; prevails in a 3-horse photo finish
- 2008 Minnesota starter Johan Santana signs a 6-year, $137.5 million deal with the New York Mets to become the highest-paid pitcher in MLB history; trade from Twins to Mets official the next day
- 2009 Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir is elected as the first female Prime Minister of Iceland, becoming the first openly gay Head of Government in the modern world
- 2009 Super Bowl XLIII, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Arizona Cardinals, 27-23; MVP: Santonio Holmes, Pittsburgh, WR
- 2010 Australian cooking competition "My Kitchen Rules," starring Manu Feildel and Pete Evans as hosts, premieres on Seven Network; one of the highest-rated Australian television programs
- 2010 The International Civil Rights Center and Museum opens in the former Woolworth store in Greensboro, North Carolina, site of the first nonviolent lunch counter sit-in protest againat racial segregation
- 2012 At least 73 people are killed in the Egyptian football riots in Port Said
- 2013 21 people are killed and 30 are wounded by a market suicide bombing in Hangu, Pakistan
- 2013 26 people are killed after a fireworks truck explodes and causes a highway to collapse in Henan, China
- 2013 The Nigerian Army bombs a Boko Haram camp, killing 18 people
- 2013 Zenit-3SL, a Ukrainian-Russian carrier rocket, fails 40 seconds after liftoff and crashes into the Pacific Ocean
The Lego Movie
2014 "The Lego Movie" a computer-animated film based on the Lego toys, with voices including Chris Pratt and Will Ferrell. premieres in Los Angeles
- 2014 14 people are killed after Mount Sinabung erupts in Indonesia
Silver NBA Commissioner
2014 American businessman and lawyer Adam Silver becomes the 5th NBA Commissioner
Manning's MVP Record
2014 Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning becomes all-time record-holder for MVP trophies, winning his 5th at the NFL Honours in New York; also 2013 Offensive Player of the Year
- 2014 Ray Guy (Oakland/LA Raiders) becomes second pure kicker, and first pure punter to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
- 2014 Syrian civil war death toll reaches 130,000, while 4 million are displaced
- 2015 France defeats Qatar, 25-22 to win the World Men's Handball Championship in Lusail, Qatar
- 2015 Super Bowl XLIX, University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ: New England Patriots beat Seattle Seahawks, 28-24; MVP: Tom Brady, New England, QB
- 2016 Alphabet, Google's parent company, surpasses Apple as the world's most valuable company ($568 billion vs. $535 billion) after releasing income results
- 2016 Myanmar's first freely elected parliament in 50 years has its opening session in Nay Pyi Taw
- 2016 Poor weather conditions strand 100,000 Chinese New Year travelers at a railway station in Guangzhou, China
- 2016 WHO declares a global public health emergency over the rapid spread of zika-linked conditions
- 2017 British MPs vote in favour of the European Union Bill, allowing the government to begin Brexit
Tillerson Secretary of State
2017 Rex Tillerson confirmed as 69th US Secretary of State
- 2018 Archaeologists announce discovery of thousands of undetected structures in Mayan lowland civilisation, Guatemala, using Lidar, suggests population of 10 million
Sports History
2018 Pedro Martínez is announced as part of the 2018 induction class for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame
Sports History
2018 Rashid Khan becomes the youngest player to top the ICC Player Rankings for bowlers in ODIs
- 2018 The Indian government announces plan to give 500 million people free healthcare
- 2019 January 2019 was Australia's hottest month on record according to the Bureau of Meteorology
US Nuclear Treaty Withdrawal
2019 US President Donald Trump confirms US withdrawal from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty because of Russia's violation of the treaty
- 2020 Largest swarm of locusts across East Africa leads Somalia to declare national emergency
- 2020 Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi, appointed the new Prime Minister of Iraq by President Barham Salih after 4 months of protests
Sports History
2020 San Diego State University retires Kawhi Leonard's number 15, making him the first Aztecs men's basketball player to have his jersey retired
Myanmar Military Coup
2021 Military coup in Myanmar; civilian leaders are detained, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and a one-year state of emergency is declared (still in effect)
- 2021 Wildfires ignite on the outskirts of Perth, Australia, forcing evacuations amid five-day COVID-19 lockdown
- 2021 Wisdom the albatross, the world's oldest known bird, hatches a chick at 70 at the Midway Atoll national wildlife refuge, North Pacific [1]
- 2022 60 people killed in attack by militants on Plaine Savo camp for displaced persons in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo [1]
- 2022 At age 44, Tom Brady, regarded as the greatest NFL quarterback of all time, announces his retirement after a 22 year career and a record 7 Super Bowl titles with the NE Patriots and TB Buccaneers. Lasts 40 days.
- 2022 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, 'Nobel Prize for Engineering' awarded to Masato Sagawa for inventing the neodymium-iron-boron (Nd-Fe-B) magnet [1]
- 2023 At age 45, Tom Brady, regarded as the greatest NFL quarterback of all time, announces his re-retirement after a 23-year career and a record 7 Super Bowl titles with the NE Patriots and TB Buccaneers
Springsteen and E Street Band's World Tour
2023 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band kick off their world tour at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida
Francis Holds Mass in Kinshasa
2023 Pope Francis celebrates mass with around 1 million people in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, his second largest gathering [1]
Ozzy Osbourne Cancels Tour
2023 Rock singer Ozzy Osbourne announces cancellation of upcoming concerts and his retirement from touring via social media due to health issues
- 2024 Auction of British musician Mark Knopfler's guitar collection realizes $11.27 million USD (8.8 million GBP) with 25% earmarked for his favorite charities at Christie's Auction House in London, England
Dončić-Davis Trade
2025 For the first time in NBA history two reigning All-NBA players are traded for each other mid-season; the basis of the deal sees Luka Dončić go to the LA Lakers and Anthony Davis move to the Dallas Mavericks
Canada and Mexico Tariffs
2025 US President Donald Trump announces 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico and 10% tariffs on China. Canadian PM Justin Trudeau announces retaliatory tariffs of 25% on $106.6bn worth of American goods [1] [2]
