| | 888 - Odo, Count of Paris becomes King of the Franks. |
| | 1099 - Crusaders set fire to Mara, Syria. |
| | 1328 - Edward III of England marries Philippa, daughter of the Count of Hainault. |
| | 1547 - Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey sentenced to death. |
| | 1559 - Elizabeth I crowned queen of England in Westminster Abbey. |
| | 1602 - William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor is published. |
| | 1605 - The controversial play Eastward Hoe by Ben Jonson, George Chapman, and John Marston is performed, landing two of the authors in prison. |
| | 1607 - Bank of Genoa fails after announcement of national bankruptcy in Spain. |
| | 1610 - Galileo Galilei discovers Callisto, 4th moon of Jupiter. |
| | 1622 - Work on the printing of the First Folio of William Shakespeare is suspended. |
| | 1625 - John Milton, 16, is admitted to Christ's College, Cambridge. |
| | 1733 - James Oglethorpe and 130 colonists arrive in Charleston, South Carolina. |
| | 1785 - John Walter publishes first issue of the Daily Universal Register (later renamed The Times). |
| | 1830 - Great fire of New Orleans, Louisiana begins. |
| | 1832 - President Andrew Jackson writes Vice President Martin Van Buren expressing his opposition to South Carolina's defiance of federal authority in the Nullification Crisis. |
| | 1840 - The steamship Lexington burns and sinks four miles off the coast of Long Island with the loss of 139 lives. |
| | 1842 - On this day Dr. William Brydon, a surgeon in the British Army during the First Anglo-Afghan War, became famous for being the sole survivor of an army of 16,500 when he reached the safety of a garrison in Jalalabad . |
| | 1847 - The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the Mexican-American War in California. |
| | 1854 - The accordion is patented by Anthony Faas. |
| | 1869 - National convention of black leaders meets in Washington D.C.. |
| | 1893 - The Independent Labour Party of the UK has its first meeting. |
| | 1893 - US Marines land in Honolulu from the U.S.S. Boston to prevent the queen from abrogating the Bayonet Constitution. |
| | 1898 - Emile Zola's J'accuse exposes the Dreyfus affair. |
| | 1915 - An Earthquake in Avezzano, Italy kills 29,800. |
| | 1930 - Mickey Mouse comic strip makes its first appearance. |
| | 1934 - the Candidate of Science degree is established in the USSR. |
| | 1935 - A plebiscite in Saarland shows that 90.3% of those voting wish to join Nazi Germany. |
| | 1938 - Church of England accepts theory of evolution. |
| | 1942 - Henry Ford patents a plastic automobile, which is 30% lighter than a regular car. |
| | 1942 - The United States begins Japanese American internment. |
| | 1953 - Marshal Josip Broz Tito chosen President of Yugoslavia. |
| | 1957 - Wham-O Company produces the first Frisbee. |
| | 1958 - Moroccan Liberation Army ambushes Spanish patrol in the Battle of Edchera. |
| | 1966 - Robert C. Weaver becomes the first African American Cabinet member by being appointed United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. |
| | 1968 - Johnny Cash records his landmark album At Folsom Prison live at Folsom State Prison |
| | 1972 - Prime Minister Kofi Busia and President Edward Akufo-Addo of Ghana are ousted in a bloodless military coup by Col. Ignatius Kutu Acheamphong. |
| | 1982 - Shortly after takeoff, Air Florida Flight 90 737 jet crashes into Washington, DC's 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River, killing 78 including four motorists. |
| | 1986 - A month-long violent struggle begins in Aden, South Yemen between supporters of Ali Nasir Muhammad and Abdul Fattah Ismail, resulting in thousands of casualties. |
| | 1990 - L. Douglas Wilder becomes the first elected African American governor as he takes office in Richmond, Virginia. |
| | 1991 - Soviet Union military troops attack Lithuanian independence supporters in Vilnius. |
| | 1992 - Japan apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery during World War II. |
| | 2001 - An earthquake hits El Salvador, killing more than 800. |