| | 1258 - Battle of Baghdad - Mongols overrun Baghdad, burning it to the ground and killing large numbers of citizens (estimates range from 10,000 to 800,000). |
| | 1355 - The St. Scholastica's Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead in two days. |
| | 1542 - Queen Catherine Howard of England is confined in the Tower of London to be executed three days later for treason (adultery). |
| | 1763 - French and Indian War: The 1763 Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Canada to Great Britain. |
| | 1798 - Louis Alexandre Berthier invades Rome and removes Pope Pius VI from power. |
| | 1814 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Champaubert |
| | 1840 - Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom marries Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. |
| | 1846 - First Anglo-Sikh War: Battle of Sobraon - British defeat Sikhs in final battle the war |
| | 1863 - The world-famous dwarfs General Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren get married in New York City. |
| | 1870 - The YWCA is founded (New York City). |
| | 1897 - Freedom of religion in Madagascar |
| | 1920 - Jozef Haller de Hallenburg performs symbolic engagement of Poland with the sea, celebrating restitution of Polish access to open sea. |
| | 1929 - Msgr. Stephen Alencastre, SS.CC., dedicates the beautiful Romanesque church of Saint Patrick in Honolulu. |
| | 1931 - New Delhi becomes the capital of India. |
| | 1933 - The New York City-based Postal Telegraph Company introduces the first singing telegram. |
| | 1933 - In round 13 of a boxing match at New York City's Madison Square Garden, Primo Carnera knocks out Ernie Schaaf, killing him. |
| | 1947 - Italy cedes most of Venezia Giulia to Yugoslavia. |
| | 1949 - Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman premiered in New York City. |
| | 1954 - President Dwight Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam. |
| | 1962 - Captured American spy pilot Francis Gary Powers is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. |
| | 1964 - The aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collides with the destroyer HMAS Voyager off the south coast of New South Wales, Australia. |
| | 1967 - The 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution ratified. |
| | 1981 - A fire at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino kills eight and injures 198. |
| | 1989 - Ron Brown is elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee becoming the first African American to lead a major American political party. |
| | 1990 - James "Buster" Douglas KO's Mike Tyson In what perhaps was one of the greatest upsets in sports history . |
| | 1996 - The IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov for the first time. |
| | 1997 - The United States Army suspends CSM Gene C. McKinney, its top-ranking enlisted soldier, after hearing allegations of sexual misconduct. |
| | 1998 - A college dropout becomes the first person to be convicted of a hate crime committed in cyberspace. |
| | 1998 - Voters in Maine repeal a gay rights law passed in 1997 becoming the first U.S. state to abandon such a law. |
| | 1999 - Avalanches in the French Alps near Geneva kill at least 10. |
| | 2001 - The Southerner train service between Christchurch and Invercargill is axed after the New Zealand Government and Tranz Scenic fail to support the service. |
| | 2003 - France and Belgium break the NATO procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq. |
| | 2005 - North Korea suspends participation in multi-nation talks to discuss its arms program and officially admits to developing nuclear weapons. |
| | 2006 - The XX Olympic Winter Games open in Turin, Italy. |