| | 474 - Zeno crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. |
| | 1555 - Bishop of Gloucester John Hooper is burned at the stake. |
| | 1621 - Gregory XV becomes Pope, the last Pope elected by acclamation. |
| | 1775 - American Revolutionary War: British Parliament declares Massachusetts in rebellion. |
| | 1788 - The Habsburg Empire joins the Russo-Turkish War in the Russian camp. |
| | 1822 - Haiti invades the Dominican Republic. |
| | 1825 - After no presidential candidate received a majority of electoral votes, the United States House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams President of the United States. |
| | 1861 - American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is elected the Provisional President of the Confederate States of America by the Confederate convention at Montgomery, Alabama. |
| | 1870 - The U.S. Weather Bureau was established. |
| | 1885 - The first Japanese arrive in Hawaii. |
| | 1889 - The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is established as a Cabinet-level agency. |
| | 1895 - William G. Morgan invents volleyball. |
| | 1900 - Davis Cup competition is established. |
| | 1904 - Battle of Port Arthur |
| | 1920 - By the terms of the Svalbard Treaty, international diplomacy recognizes Norwegian sovereignty over arctic archipelago Svalbard, and designates it as demilitarized. |
| | 1922 - Brazil becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty. |
| | 1934 - The Balkan Entente is formed. |
| | 1942 - World War II: Top United States military leaders hold their first formal meeting to discuss American military strategy in the war. |
| | 1942 - World War II: The Guadalcanal Campaign ends with Allied forces declaring Guadalcanal secured after the withdrawal of Japanese forces. |
| | 1942 - Daylight saving time goes into effect in the United States. |
| | 1943 - World War II: Allied authorities declare Guadalcanal secure after Imperial Japan evacuates its remaining forces from the island, ending the Battle of Guadalcanal. |
| | 1950 - Second Red Scare: Senator Joseph McCarthy accuses the United States State Department of being filled with Communists. |
| | 1960 - Joanne Woodward receives the first star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. |
| | 1962 - Jamaica becomes independent nation within the Commonwealth of Nations. |
| | 1964 - Olympic Games: Winter Olympic Games - The IX Olympic Winter Games close in Innsbruck, Austria. |
| | 1964 - The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing before a "record-busting" audience of 73 million viewers. |
| | 1965 - Vietnam War: The first United States combat troops are sent to South Vietnam. |
| | 1969 - First test flight of the Boeing 747. |
| | 1971 - The 6.4 on the Richter Scale Sylmar earthquake hits the San Fernando Valley area of California. |
| | 1971 - Satchel Paige becomes the first Negro League player to become voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. |
| | 1971 - Apollo program: Apollo 14 returns to Earth after the third manned moon landing. |
| | 1973 - Biju Patnaik of the Pragati Legislature Party elected leader of opposition in the state assembly in Orissa, India. |
| | 1975 - The Soyuz 17 Soviet spacecraft returns to Earth. |
| | 1986 - Comet Halley reaches perihelion, its closest approach to the sun, during its second visit to the solar system in the 20th century. |
| | 1991 - Voters in Lithuania vote for independence. |
| | 1994 - Vance-Owen peace plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina is announced. |
| | 1996 - The Irish Republican Army declares the end of its 18 month ceasefire shortly followed by a large bomb in London's Canary Wharf. |
| | 2001 - The American submarine USS Greeneville accidentally strikes and sinks the Ehime-Maru, a Japanese training vessel operated by the Uwajima Fishery High School. |