- 337 St Julius I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
- 1189 Riots in Lynn, Norfolk (England) spread to Norwich
Emperor Maximilian I Proclaimed
1508 Maximilian I is proclaimed Holy Roman Emperor, the first emperor in centuries not crowned by the Pope
- 1577 King Henri de Bourbon of Navarra becomes leader of the Huguenots
- 1626 Huguenot rebels and the French sign the Peace of La Rochelle
- 1628 Shah Jahan ascends to the Mughal throne in Agra, after securing it by ordering the murder of his half brother and nephews
- 1651 French Chief Minister Cardinal Mazarin flees Paris
King James II
1685 Duke of York becomes King James II of England and VII of Scotland upon the death of his brother Charles II
- 1716 Britain & Netherlands renew alliance
- 1760 Niccolò Piccinni's opera buffa "La buona figliuola" (The Good-Natured Girl) first performed at the Teatro delle Dame, Rome, Italy, with an all-male cast
- 1778 Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance are signed in Paris between the United States and France, the first treaties negotiated by the United States. The first treaty establishes formal diplomatic and commercial relations, and the second forms a defensive alliance.
- 1788 Massachusetts becomes 6th state to ratify constitution
- 1815 New Jersey issues 1st US railroad charter (John Stevens)
- 1820 First 86 African American émigrés sponsored by the American Colonization Society set sail from New York City to Sierra Leone to start a settlement (present-day Liberia)
- 1820 US population announced at 9,638,453, African Americans 1,771,656 (18.4%)
- 1832 1st appearance of cholera in Edinburgh, Scotland
- 1832 US ship destroys Sumatran village in retaliation for piracy
Darwin Arrives in Tasmania
1836 HMS Beagle and Charles Darwin arrive in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)
1840 Treaty of Waitangi is signed between 40 Māori chiefs (later signed by 500) and representatives of the British crown in Waitangi, New Zealand and shares sovereignty between the two groups
- 1843 First minstrel show in the United States, "The Virginia Minstrels," opens at the Bowery Amphitheatre in NYC
- 1861 1st meeting of Provisional Congress of Confederate States of America (US Civil War)
- 1861 British Vice-Admiral Robert Fitzroy issues first storm warnings for ships
- 1862 American Civil War: Naval engagement on Tennessee River, USS Conestago vs CSS Appleton Belle
- 1864 -7] Skirmish at Barnett's Ford Virginia
General Lee Commander-in-Chief
1865 General Robert E. Lee is appointed General-in-Chief of the Confederate Armies during the US Civil War
- 1865 US Civil War: Second day of battle at Dabney's Mills (Hatcher's Run)
- 1867 American financier and philanthropist George Peabody establishes the Peabody Education Fund to provide improvements to existing schools in poor areas of the southern USA
- 1869 Harper's Weekly publishes the first picture of Uncle Sam with chin whiskers
- 1882 The society of the Knights of Columbus forms in New Haven, Connecticut
- 1891 1st great train robbery by the Dalton Gang: Southern Pacific #17, near Alila (now Earlimart), California
- 1894 Bottle opener patented by American inventor William Painter
- 1898 Concert debut of Romanian composer George Enescu (16), as the Orchestre de Édouard Colonne premieres his "Poema Română" in Paris, France
1899 Spanish–American War ends, peace treaty ratified by Senate
- 1900 The Battle of Vaal Krantz, South Africa (Boers vs British army)
- 1902 Young Women's Hebrew Association organizes in NYC
- 1904 Japan notifies Russia that in view of Russia's delaying tactics and provocative military action, Japan is ending negotiations and recalling its members from Moscow
- 1911 First old-age home opens in Prescott, Arizona
- 1911 Great fire destroys downtown Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey)
- 1918 Great Britain grants women aged 30 and over the right to vote
- 1919 First day of the five-day Seattle General Strike
- 1919 The first day of the Weimar Republic which, because of its support of the Treaty of Versailles, does not receive proper allegiance from the German nation
- 1920 Saarland administrated by League of Nations
The Kid
1921 Charlie Chaplin releases his first full-length feature, "The Kid," a silent film starring Charlie Chaplin and 6-year-old Jackie Coogan
Pope Pius XI
1922 Cardinal Achille Ratti elected Pope Pius XI
- 1922 US, UK, France, Italy, and Japan sign the Washington Naval Arms Limitation Treaty
- 1926 MLB St Louis Browns acquire catcher Wally Schang from New York Yankees for cash and pitcher George Mogridge
- 1926 NFL rules college students are ineligible until they complete their college careers
- 1928 A woman dubbed Anna Anderson [possibly Franziska Schanzkowska] arrives in NYC, using the alias "Anastasia Tschaikovsky" claims to be Grand Duchess Anastasia, daughter of Tsar Nicholas II
- 1932 Fascist coup in the Memel territory
- 1932 First Olympic dog sled race is held at Lake Placid, New York, as a demonstration sport
- 1933 -90°F (-68°C), Oymyakon, USSR (Asian record)
- 1933 Highest recorded sea wave (not tsunami), 34 m, in North Pacific hurricane by USS Ramapo
- 1934 Far right leagues rally in front of the Palais Bourbon in an attempted coup against the French Third Republic, creating a political crisis in France
- 1934 MLB Cincinnati Reds purchase contract of 43-year-old pitcher Dazzy Vance from St. Louis Cardinals for $7,500
- 1935 Board game Monopoly goes on sale for the first time
- 1935 First election allowing women to vote in Turkey
- 1936 IV Winter Olympic Games open in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
- 1937 K Elizabeth Ohi becomes 1st Japanese-US female lawyer
- 1939 Spanish government flees to France
- 1941 Auke Adema wins 6th official Dutch 11 Cities Skating Race (9:19)
- 1941 Battle of Beda Fomm: Italian 10th army destroyed
- 1941 British troops conquer Bengazi, Libya
- 1943 1st Spitfire in action above Darwin, Australia, Mu Ki-46 shot down
- 1945 WWII: Russian Red Army crosses the Oder River between Poland and Germany
- 1945 WWII: US 8th Air Force bombs oil facilities in Magdeburg and Chemnitz, Germany
- 1948 1st radio-controlled airplane flown
- 1948 KNXT (now KCBS) TV channel 2 in Los Angeles, CA (CBS) 1st broadcast
- 1948 Nils Karlsson wins the 50k cross country gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; Swedish skiers win all 3 cross-country events at the Games
- 1948 World & European champion Barbara Ann Scott becomes the first Canadian to win a women's figure skating Olympic gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Games
- 1951 "Broker Special" train crashes in Woodbridge NJ, killing 84
Harvey Arrested at Test Site
1951 Radio commentator Paul Harvey arrested for trying to sneak into Argonne National Laboratory, a nuclear test site located 20 miles (32 km) west of Chicago, Illinois
- 1951 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site Argonne Atomic Lab (Ill), to demonstrate lax in security
Queen Elizabeth II
1952 Queen Elizabeth II succeeds King George VI to the British throne and is proclaimed Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
- 1953 Ian Craig makes Test Cricket debut at 17 yrs 239 days, youngest Aussie
- 1953 US controls on wages & some consumer goods lifted
- 1956 Chicago's Daily Defender, begins publishing
Mollet Pelted with Tomatoes
1956 French Prime Minister Guy Mollet pelted with tomatoes in Algiers
- 1956 University of Alabama suspends African-American student Autherine Lucy claiming that it can no longer provide for her safety
- 1958 21 dead in air crash at Munich-Riem Airport; 8 players and 3 staff are from the Manchester United football team
Williams Highest Paid
1958 Future Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Ted Williams becomes highest paid player in MLB when he re-signs with Boston Red Sox for $135,000
- 1959 1st successful test-fire of Titan ICBM
Morrow Interviews Castro
1959 Edward R. Morrow interviews Cuban revolution leader Fidel Castro on his "Person to Person" program
Historic Invention
1959 Texas Instruments files for a patent for it's first integrated circuit (IC), invented by Jack Kilby
- 1961 "Jail, No Bail" Jail-in movement starts in Rock Hill, South Carolina
- 1961 KOAP TV channel 10 in Portland, OR (PBS) begins broadcasting
- 1962 Schoolman Athletic Field in the Bronx named
1964 France & Great-Britain sign accord over building channel tunnel
- 1964 WCIU TV channel 26 in Chicago, IL (IND) begins broadcasting
- 1965 "Kelly" opens & closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC
- 1965 Righteous Brothers' music single "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" hits #1
- 1967 Cultural Revolution in Albania
Ali vs. Terrell
1967 Muhammad Ali pummels Ernie Terrell for 15 rounds to retain his world heavyweight boxing crown at Houston Astrodome; regains Terrell’s WBA belt as well
- 1968 Dutch 2nd Chamber condemns US bombing of North Vietnam
- 1968 KESD TV channel 8 in Brookings, SD (PBS) begins broadcasting
- 1968 X Winter Olympic Games opens in Grenoble, France
- 1969 A&M Records releases "The Gilded Palace of Sin", the debut studio album by American country-rock band The Flying Burrito Brothers; Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman's fusion of modern country, psychedelic rock, and folk music was a favorite of critics, but not a commercial success
New Ulster Movement
1969 The New Ulster Movement forms, promoting moderate and non-sectarian policies and to assist those candidates who support Northern Ireland Prime MinisterTerence O'Neill
- 1970 Graeme Pollock completes 274 v Australia at Durban
- 1970 NBA expands to 18 teams with Buffalo, Cleveland, Houston & Portland
Shepard's Golf on the Moon
1971 American astronaut Alan Shepard is the first to hit a golf ball on the Moon [1]
- 1971 Bernard Watt (28), a Catholic civilian, is shot and killed by the British Army (BA) during street disturbances in Ardoyne, Belfast
- 1971 James Saunders (22), a member of the IRA, is shot and killed by the British Army during a gun battle near the Oldpark Road, Belfast
- 1971 The Irish Republican Army shoots and kills Gunner Robert Curtis, the first British soldier to die during the 'Troubles'
- 1972 A Civil Rights march held in Newry, County Down; very large turn-out with many people attending to protest at the killings in Derry the previous Sunday
Schenk 1,500m Gold
1972 Dutch speed skater Ard Schenk follows his win in the 5,000m with victory in the 1,500m, on his way to 3 gold medals at the Sapporo Winter Olympics; also wins 10,000m
- 1973 40,000 civil servants demonstrate at Binnenhof in The Hague, Netherlands, against higher pension contribution
Rich at Top of the Plaza
1973 American jazz drummer Buddy Rich plays influential performance at the Top of the Plaza in Richmond, New York, later televised by PBS
- 1973 Bernice Fekete skips her curling rink to 2nd straight 8-ender, Edmonton, Alberta
- 1974 3rd time Rangers shut-out Islanders 6-0
- 1974 Dutch speed limit set at 100km due to oil crisis
House Considers Nixon Impeachment
1974 US House of Reps begins determining grounds for impeachment of President Richard Nixon
- 1975 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
This Guitar (Can't Keep From Crying)
1976 George Harrison releases single "This Guitar (Can't Keep From Crying)"
- 1977 4th time New York Rangers shut-out New York Islanders, 4-0
- 1977 Alain Prieur jumps his motorcycle 65 m over 16 buses, near Paris
- 1977 Harley Race beats Terry Funk in Toronto, Ontario to become NWA wrestling champ
Humphrey Serves Out Husband's Term
1978 Muriel Humphrey, former Second Lady, is appointed to serve remainder of late husband Hubert Humphrey's term as US Senator by Minnesota Governor Rudy Perpich
- 1978 Snowstorm hits New England, parts of Rhode Island (54" / 137cm)
- 1979 Pakistan Supreme Court affirms the Lahore High Court's death sentence against former Former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Gacy on Trial
1980 John Wayne Gacy goes on trial for the murder of 33 young men in Cook County, Illinois
Fort Apache: The Bronx
1981 Crime film "Fort Apache: The Bronx" starring Paul Newman released amid protests in the US
- 1981 Suleiman Nyambui runs world record 5k indoor (13:20.4)
- 1981 TV sitcom "The Brady Brides", a sequel to "The Brady Brunch" debuts on NBC TV, runs for 10 episodes
- 1982 "Centerfold" by J. Geils Band hits #1 on pop chart
- 1984 Muslim militiamen take over West Beirut from Lebanese army
- 1987 No-smoking rules take effect in US federal buildings
- 1988 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
Wałęsa Starts Negotiations
1989 Poland's communist government begins "Round Table" talks with the Solidarity trade union and its leader Lech Wałęsa in an attempt to ease growing social unrest
- 1990 Groundbreaking begins on Baltimore Orioles' new $102 million stadium
- 1990 Steve Briers of Wales recites entire lyrics of Queen's album "A Night At The Opera" in 9 minutes 58.44 seconds backwards!
- 1991 Mousey Davis becomes the first coach of the NY/NJ Knights
- 1992 "Late Night's 10th Anniversary Show At Radio City Music Hall" on NBC
- 1992 The Sámi people of the far northern Nordic countries have an official day to celebrate their culture
Bowe vs. Dokes
1993 Riddick Bowe TKOs Michael Dokes in the first round for the heavyweight boxing title
- 1994 Jose Maria Figueres elected President of Costa Rica
- 1994 Martti Ahtisaari elected President of Finland
Strawberry Suspended
1995 MLB outfielder Darryl Strawberry suspended from baseball for 60 days for positive cocaine test
Tennessee Moon
1996 Columbia Records releases "Tennessee Moon", the twenty-third studio album by Neil Diamond; the record features original collaborations with a variety of country music songwriters and performers
- 1997 Diane Blood, 32, in England, won right to use her dead husband's sperm
- 1998 Former teacher Mary Kay LeTourneau (36) who violated probation by seeing the 14-year-old father of her baby, sentenced to 7 years
- 1998 French Prefect Claude Érignac is assassinated by Yvan Colonna in Ajaccio, Corsica
- 1998 Sierra Leone military junta is removed, and President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah is restored to office after 9 months in exile
- 1998 Twins trade Chuck Knoblauch to the NY Yankees for $3 million and four minor-league players
Washington National Airport
1998 Washington National Airport is renamed Ronald Reagan National Airport
Get Rich or Die Trying
2003 American rapper 50 Cent releases his album "Get Rich or Die Trying" (2003 Billboard Album of the Year)
- 2005 Super Bowl XXXIX, Alltel Stadium, Jacksonville, FL: New England Patriots beat Philadelphia Eagles, 24-21; MVP: Deion Branch, New England, WR
Blair Longest Labour PM
2005 Tony Blair, now the longest-serving Labour PM, marks 2,838 days as British Prime Minister
Violin Concerto
2009 "Violin Concerto", by Jennifer Higdon premieres, in Indianapolis, Indiana (Pulitzer Prize for Music 2010) [1]
Economic Recovery Advisory Board
2009 President Barack Obama announces the Economic Recovery Advisory Board, with Paul Volcker as Chairman and Austan Goolsbee as Staff Director and Chief Economist
2011 Super Bowl XLV, Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, TX: Green Bay Packers beat Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-25; MVP: Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay, QB
- 2012 6.9 magnitude quake hits near the central Philippines with 43 confirmed deaths
Gordon Lightfoot Honored
2012 Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot is presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
Laureus World Sports Awards
2012 Laureus World Sports Awards, Central Hall Westminster, London, England: Sportsman: Novak Đoković; Sportswoman: Vivian Cheruiyot; Team: FC Barcelona
- 2012 Queen Elizabeth II marks the 60th anniversary of becoming British monarch, becoming only the second to do so
- 2013 9 people are killed as an 8.0 magnitude 8.0 earthquake strikes off the Solomon Islands coast
Leno's Last Tonight Show
2014 Jay Leno hosts "The Tonight Show" for the final time (NBC)
- 2014 The Taliban and Pakistani government begin peace negotiations
- 2016 Eighth Republican presidential candidates debate hosted by ABC, held in Goffstown, New Hampshire
- 2017 Qatar Airways achieves the longest-ever scheduled commercial flight when its B777 aircraft lands in Auckland after a 16 hour and 23 minutes flight from Doha; surpassed in 2020
- 2018 6.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Hualien County, Taiwan, leaving 10 dead and over 50 missing
- 2018 Brazilian jockey Jorge Ricardo equals the world record for the number of victories by a jockey with 12,844 in Rio de Janeiro
Falcon Heavy Launched
2018 Elon Musk's company SpaceX launches Falcon Heavy, world's most powerful rocket
- 2018 Maldives President Abdulla Yameen declares state of emergency ordering arrest of two judges
- 2018 Polish president Andrzej Duda signs controversial Holocaust law, outlaws accusing Poles of complicity under Nazis
- 2018 UN calls for ceasefire in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta area by Syrian government troops after 40 people reportedly killed
- 2019 2018 named the 4th warmest year on record, at the time, according to NOAA and NASA, ranking behind 2016, 2015, and 2017 [1]
Davido's 'Fall"
2019 Davido's "Fall" becomes longest-charting Nigerian pop song in US Billboard history
- 2019 Honeybees are able to add and subtract and understand concept of zero according to research from RMIT University in Australia
- 2019 Quadriga, Canada's biggest cryptocurrency exchange is unable to get to $145 million of bitcoin assets after its CEO dies with its access passwords
State of Union
2019 US President Donald Trump makes presidential State of Union address to Congress a week later than usual due to government shutdown
- 2020 Antarctica records high temperature of 64.9 F / 18.2 C at Esperanza, Argentina’s research station
- 2020 Date of the 1st COVID-19 related death in the US (confirmed by the CDC April 21)
- 2020 US astronaut Christina Koch completes the longest continuous spaceflight by a female astronaut after 328 days on the International Space Station, landing in Kazakhstan
- 2022 Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson declares a state of emergency over a trucker protest against a covid vaccination mandate on the US-Canada border [1]
- 2022 Queen Elizabeth II becomes the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking seventy years on the throne [1]
- 2023 Powerful earthquakes strike Turkey and Syria, first with a 7.8 magnitude at 4:15 am, 23 kilometers east of Nurdagi, and second with a 7.5 magnitude at 1:24 pm, with many strong aftershocks causing buildings to collapse. The death toll is 53,537 in Turkey and 8,000 in Syria [1]
- 2024 'Godfathers of Wind' Henrik Stiesdal and Andrew Garrad awarded QEPrize, the 'Noble of Engineering' for pioneering wind energy [1]
Dune: Part Two
2024 Denis Villeneuve's science fiction film epic "Dune: Part Two" premieres in Mexico City, starring Timothée Chalamet and an ensemble cast
- 2024 Jennifer Crumbley is the first American parent of a school shooter to be found guilty of manslaughter, held responsible for her teenager killing four at Oxford High School (2021) [1]
- 2024 Landslide kills at least 68 with more missing, amid torrential rain, in Maco town, Davao de Oro, southern Philippines [1]
- 2024 Swedish automaker Polestar introduces its Polestar 4 - first mass-market car with no rear window, an electric SUV coupé with a rear-mounted camera instead [1]
- 2025 Prince Rahim Al-Hussaini is named Aga Khan V, spiritual leader of millions of Shia Ismaili Muslims in the will of his father Aga Khan IV [1]
- 2025 US President Donald Trump reiterates that Gaza could be developed into a "Riviera of the Middle East" by the US, with its population moved elsewhere [1]
