- 987 French King Hugo Capet crowns his son Robert the compassionate king
- 1317 Pontifical decree "Sancta Romania" against spiritualists
- 1460 Wars of the Roses: Battle of Wakefield (Northern England), Duke of York killed and his forces soundly defeated by forces for King Henry VI
Event of Interest
1621 English King James I cracks Protestation of Parliament
James I and VI
- 1665 "Messiah" Sjabtai Tswi departs to Constantinople
- 1666 Abraham Crijnssen departs to Suriname
- 1672 Baron Karl Rabenhaupt occupies Coevorden Neth
- 1685 Don Francisco de Agurto installed as land guardian of Southern Netherlands
- 1689 Henry Purcell & Tates opera "Dido & Aeneas" premieres in Chesea
- 1703 Tokyo hit by Earthquake; about 37,000 die
- 1731 1st US music concert (Peter Pelham's great room in Boston)
- 1794 French troops conquer Grave Neth
- 1809 Wearing masks at balls forbidden in Boston
- 1813 Danzig surrenders to allied armies
- 1816 The Treaty of St. Louis is proclaimed.
Trail of Tears
1835 Georgia gold rush forces the Cherokees to move across the Mississippi River
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- 1836 Lehman Theater in St Petersburg catches fire; 100s die
- 1844 Opera "Stradella" after being rewritten is produced (Hamburg)
- 1853 A dinner party is held inside a life-size model of an Iguanodon (ornithopod dinosaur) created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and Sir Richard Owen in south London
- 1854 Pennsylvania Rock Oil Co, 1st in US, incorporated in NYC
Event of Interest
1861 Associated Banks in NYC halt gold payments to government and investors, to disrupt Abraham Lincoln's US bank reform program
Abraham Lincoln
Music Premiere
1877 Johannes Brahms' 2nd Symphony in D, premieres in Vienna
Johannes Brahms
- 1879 Gilbert & Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance" premieres
Music Premiere
1884 Anton Bruckner's 7th Symphony in E, premieres in Leipzig
Anton Bruckner
- 1884 William Morris, Eleanor Marx, and others establish the Socialist League, a revolutionary organization in the UK
- 1888 Belgium: king Leopold II installs Order of African Star
- 1892 Dr Miles V Lynk, physician, publishes 1st Black medical journal
- 1893 Russia signs military accord with France
- 1896 Stanley Cup, Granite Rink, Winnipeg, Manitoba: Ernie McLea scores a hat-trick as Montreal Victorias beat Winnipeg Victorias, 6-5; first SC Challenge game played outside of Montreal
Execution
1896 Filipino nationalist José Rizal is executed by firing squad in Manila by the Spanish
Jose Rizal
- 1897 Province of Zululand annexed to Natal colony
- 1903 Electric arc lamp sets fire to Iroquois theater in Chicago leaving 602 dead in one of the deadliest blazes in American history
- 1903 American Political Science Association founded at New Orleans
- 1905 Former Governor Frank Steunenberg is assassinated near his home in Caldwell, Idaho
- 1906 Iran becomes a constitutional monarchy
- 1906 The All India Muslim League is founded in Dacca, East Bengal, British India Empire, later laid down the foundations of Pakistan
- 1907 Abraham Mills' commission declares Abner Doubleday invented baseball
- 1908 Stanley Cup, Montreal Arena, Westmount, Quebec: Montreal Wanderers outscore Edmonton HC, 14-9 in 2 game challenge series
- 1911 English cricketer Sydney Barnes takes 5-6 in 1st 11 overs v Australia at MCG
- 1913 Barnes takes 17 wickets vs South Africa (8-56 & 9-103)
- 1915 Cromarty Harbour, Scotland - British cruiser Natal explodes: 405 die
- 1917 -32°F (-36°C) in Mountain City, Tennessee (state record)
- 1917 -37°F (-38°C) in Lewisburg, WV (state record)
Event of Interest
1918 John E Hoover decides to be called J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
- 1919 Lincoln's Inn in London admits its first female bar student.
Soviet Union Founded
1922 Creation of the USSR formally proclaimed in Moscow from the Bolshoi Theatre, Soviet Union organized as a federation of RSFSR, Ukrainian SSR, Belorussian SSR and Transcaucasian SSR
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Event of Interest
1924 Astronomer Edwin Hubble formally announces existence of other galactic systems at meeting of the American Astronomical Society
Edwin Hubble
- 1925 NSW score 705 against Victoria, go from 8-475 to 9-701
- 1926 Paul Eliot Green's "In Abraham's Bosom" premieres in NYC
- 1926 Chicago Tribune reports the Tigers threw a 4-game series to the White Sox in 1917 to help Chicago win the pennant (never substantiated)
- 1927 Japan dedicates 1st subway in Orient (route under 2 miles long)
Music Premiere
1929 Cole Porter's musical "Wake Up & Dream" premieres in NYC
Cole Porter
- 1929 Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority incorporates
- 1933 -50°F (-46°C) in Bloomfield, Vermont (state record)
- 1933 Government disallows NSB-membership for civil service
- 1933 Jack Badcock scores 274 v Victoria, Tasmania's 1st double-ton
- 1934 New York Rangers and Boston Bruins battle out a 0-0 tie; first of a 37-game overtime undefeated streak for the Bruins, the longest in NHL history; streak spans over 4 years and includes 27 ties
- 1935 Italian bombers destroy Swedish Red Cross unit in Ethiopia
- 1936 United Auto Workers stage 1st sit-down strike, at Fisher Body Plant
Event of Interest
1936 Beginning of the "feud" between comedians Fred Allen and Jack Benny on Allen's "Town Hall Tonight" show
Jack Benny
World Record
1939 Bradman scores 267 South Australia v Vic, world record 34th double cricket century
Donald Bradman
- 1939 O'Reilly takes 14-45 (8-23 & 6-22) as NSW crush Qld in 2 days
Film Release
1939 "Of Mice and Men", starring Burgess Meredith as George, Lon Chaney Jr. as Lennie, is released
Burgess Meredith
The Taming of Winston Churchill
1941 In an emotional speech to the Canadian Parliament Winston Churchill states Britain will never surrender to "Hitler and his Nazi gang" and that "they have asked for total war. Let us make sure they get it". Afterwards Yousef Karsh captures him in his famous photograph, "The Roaring Lion".
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- 1943 Phillies trade Babe Dahlgren to Pitts for Babe Phelps & cash
- 1943 Subhash Chandra Bose raises the flag of Indian independence at Port Blair
- 1944 King George II of Greece, abdicates his throne, appointing Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens as Regent in 1945
- 1947 King Michael of Romania, forced by Communists abdicates his throne, sending him into exlie
- 1947 Romanian republic proclaimed
- 1948 "Kiss Me, Kate" opens at New Century Theater NYC for 1077 performances
- 1949 India recognizes People's Republic of China
- 1950 Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia become Independent states within the French Union
- 1950 "Sixty Minute Man" record single released by The Dominoes (Billboard Song of the Year 1951)
- 1952 Tuskegee Inst reports 1952 as 1st yr in 71 with no lynchings in US
- 1953 The first ever NTSC color television sets go on sale for about USD at $1,175 each from RCA.
Music Premiere
1954 Harold Arlen and Truman Capote's musical "House of Flowers" premieres at Alvin Theater in NYC
Truman Capote
- 1956 National Football League Championship, Yankee Stadium, NYC: New York Giants beat Chicago Bears, 47-7; Giants' 4th NFL title
Event of Interest
1957 Israeli government of Ben-Gurion, resigns
David Ben-Gurion
Music Premiere
1961 Premiere of Dmitri Shostakovich's 4th Symphony in Moscow (completed 1936)
Dmitri Shostakovich
NFL Championship
1962 National Football League Championship, Yankee Stadium, NYC: Green Bay Packers beat NY Giants, 16-7; MVP: Ray Nitschke, Green Bay, LB
Ray Nitschke
Event of Interest
1964 Edward Albee's "Tiny Alice" premieres in NYC
Edward Albee
Event of Interest
1965 Ferdinand Marcos inaugurated as President of the Philippines
Ferdinand Marcos
Music Recording
1968 Frank Sinatra first records "My Way" with lyrics were written by Paul Anka and based on the French song "Comme d'habitude"
Frank Sinatra
- 1969 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1970 The financial cost of the disturbances and riots in Northern Ireland during 1969 and 1970 are today estimated to be £5.5 million
- 1971 Long Island NHL franchise purchased (NY Islanders)
- 1971 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1971 A member of the Irish Republican Army is killed in a premature bomb explosion in Santry, Dublin.
Event of Interest
1972 US President Richard Nixon halts bombing of North Vietnam & announces peace talks
Richard Nixon
- 1973 1st picture of a comet from space (Comet Kohoutek-Skylab)
AFC Championship
1973 AFC Championship, Miami Orange Bowl: Miami Dolphins beat Oakland Raiders, 27-10
John Madden
- 1973 NFC Championship, Texas Stadium, Irving: Minnesota Vikings beat Dallas Cowboys, 27-10
- 1974 Beatles are legally disbanded (4 years after suit was brought)
- 1975 "Boccaccio" closes at Edison Theater NYC after 7 performances
- 1975 Constitution of Democratic Republic of Madagascar comes into force
- 1975 Ballon d'Or: FC Dynamo Kyiv forward Oleg Blokhin claims award for best European football player ahead of former winners, Bayern Munich defender Franz Beckenbauer and Ajax forward Johan Cruyff
- 1976 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1977 Carter holds 1st news conference by US President in Eastern Europe (Warsaw)
- 1977 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Evonne Goolagong Cawley wins her 6th career Grand Slam title; beats fellow Australian Helen Gourlay Cawley 6-3, 6-0
- 1978 "The King & I" closes at Uris Theater NYC after 719 performances
- 1978 Ohio State dismisses Woody Hayes as its football coach
- 1979 Rock group, Emerson, Lake & Palmer break up
- 1979 Togo adopts constitution
- 1980 "Wonderful World of Disney" last performance on NBC-TV
- 1980 Ballon d'Or: Bayern Munich forward Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is named best European football player; beats German international teammate Bernd Schuster of FC Barcelona and Saint-Étienne midfielder Michel Platini
NHL Record
1981 Wayne Gretzky scores 5 goals and an assist in Edmonton's 7-5 win over Philadelphia; gives Gretzky 50 goals in 39 games, the fastest 50 in 50 in NHL history; also sets NHL record with 15-game assist streak
Wayne Gretzky
Music Single
1981 "That Girl" single released by Stevie Wonder (Billboard Song of the Year 1982)
Stevie Wonder
- 1982 Anthony Shaffer's "Whodunnit" premieres in NYC
- 1982 England defeat Australia by three runs at cricket MCG
- 1982 US Assay Office in New York City, NY closes
- 1985 IBM-PC DOS Version 3.2 released
- 1985 Pakistan restores constitution
- 1986 Ballon d'Or: Dynamo Kyiv's Ukrainian forward Igor Belanov is named best football player in Europe ahead of Barcelona striker Gary Lineker and Real Madrid forward Emilio Butragueño
- 1987 Australia hang on for draw v New Zealand at MCG, 1 wkt left 17 runs short
Robert Mugabe
Event of Interest
1988 Oliver North subpoenas US Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush as defense witnesses for his upcoming trial
Oliver North
Ronald Reagan
George H. W. Bush
- 1989 10th United Negro College Fund raises $12,000,000
- 1989 Dmitri Volkov swims world record 50m freestyle (27.15 sec)
- 1990 "Miser" closes at Circle in Sq Theater NYC after 93 performances
- 1990 11th United Negro College Fund raises $10,000,000
- 1992 Last day of Test Cricket for Michael Whitney
- 1992 Shane Warne takes 7-52 to lead Australian MCG win v West Indies
- 1992 Washington defenseman Al Iafrate becomes first player in NHL history to have his shot officially break 100 miles per hour; records 101.4 mph during the Capitals Superskills competition
- 1993 "Candles, Snow, & Mistletoe" closes at Palace NYC after 7 performances
- 1993 Vatican recognizes Israel
- 1995 Lowest ever UK temperature recorded of -27.2°C iat Altnaharra in the Scottish Highlands, equaling the record set at Braemar, Aberdeenshire on February 11, 1895 and January 10, 1982
Event of Interest
1996 Proposed budget cuts by Benjamin Netanyahu spark protests from 250,000 workers who shut down services across Israel.
Benjamin Netanyahu
- 1996 United Nations announces that a total of 21 contracts have been approved for the limited Iraqi oil sales under Resolution 986
- 1997 An abandoned building collapses on NY's 42nd St, no one hurt
- 1997 In the worst incident in Algeria's insurgency, the Wilaya of Relizane massacres, 400 people are killed from four villages.
- 2000 Rizal Day Bombings: A series of bombs explode in various places in Metro Manila, Philippines within a span of a few hours, killing 22 and injuring about a hundred.
- 2003 U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft recuses himself and his office from the Plame affair.
- 2004 A fire in the República Cromagnon nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina kills 194.
- 2005 Tropical Storm Zeta forms in the open Atlantic Ocean, tying the record for the latest tropical cyclone ever to form in the North Atlantic basin
- 2006 Madrid Barajas International Airport is bombed.
Event of Interest
2008 NFL head coach Mike Shanahan is fired by the Denver Broncos
Mike Shanahan
- 2012 19 people are killed by a suicide bomber in Balochistan, Pakistan
- 2012 9 people are killed and 26 are injured in a tour bus crash off interstate 84, Oregon, US
- 2012 The opening of Line 6 of the Beijing subway makes it the longest metro network in the world at 442km
- 2013 15 people are killed in a trolley-bus bomb attack in Voglograd, Russia
- 2013 NFL head coach Mike Shanahan is fired by the Washington Redskins
- 2016 A ceasefire organised by Russia, Iran and Turkey between Syria's government and opposition groups takes effect
- 2016 Last day Indians are able to deposit in banks 500 and 1,000 rupee notes which were scrapped only 50 days earlier in an anti-corruption measure
Knighthood
2016 British singer-songwriter Ray Davies, of The Kinks, is awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II
Event of Interest
2018 Patrick Mahomes becomes only the 2nd quarterback in NFL history to throw for 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns during KC Chiefs' 35-3 win over Oakland Raiders; achieves both marks with 3rd quarter 89-yard TD pass to Demarcus Robinson
Patrick Mahomes
- 2019 86th Orange Bowl: #6 Florida beats #24 Virginia, 36-28
- 2020 San Antonio assistant Becky Hammon becomes first female to coach an NBA team after Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is ejected in a 121-107 loss to the LA Lakers
- 2020 Argentina is the first major Latin American country to legalize abortion (signed into law 14 Jan 2021)
