| | 366 - Alamanni cross the frozen Rhine River in large numbers, invading the Roman Empire. |
| | 533 - Mercurius becomes Pope John II, the first pope to adopt a new name upon elevation to the papacy. |
| | 1492 - Reconquista: Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, surrenders. |
| | 1757 - The United Kingdom captures Calcutta, India. |
| | 1788 - Georgia becomes the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution. |
| | 1793 - Russia and Prussia partition Poland. |
| | 1818 - The British Institution of Civil Engineers is formed. |
| | 1860 - The discovery of the planet Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the Académie des Sciences in Paris. |
| | 1870 - The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins. |
| | 1871 - Amadeus I becomes King of Spain. |
| | 1872 - Brigham Young is arrested for bigamy due to having 25 wives. |
| | 1879 - Fred Spofforth claims the first hat-trick in test cricket on the Sydney Cricket Ground against England. |
| | 1882 - John D. Rockefeller unites his oil holdings into the Standard Oil trust. |
| | 1890 - Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer for the White House. |
| | 1893 - Webb C. Ball of the General Railroad Timepiece Standards in North America introduces railroad chronometers. |
| | 1900 - John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote trade with China. |
| | 1905 - Russo-Japanese War: The Russian fleet surrenders at Port Arthur, China. |
| | 1905 - The American anarcho-syndicalist union known as the Industrial Workers of the World forms. |
| | 1917 - The Royal Bank of Canada takes over Quebec Bank. |
| | 1920 - The Palmer Raids begin in the United States. |
| | 1921 - The first religious radio broadcast (KDKA AM in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) . |
| | 1923 - U.S. Interior Secretary Albert Fall resigns due to the Teapot Dome scandal. |
| | 1929 - Canada and the United States agree on a plan to preserve Niagara Falls. |
| | 1935 - Bruno Hauptmann goes on trial for the murder of Charles Lindbergh, Jr., infant son of aviator Charles Lindbergh. |
| | 1941 - World War II: German bombing severely damages the Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, Wales. |
| | 1941 - World War II: The U.S. government announces its Liberty ship program with a stated goal of building 200 freighters. Over 2,700 ships will eventually be constructed by the end of the war. |
| | 1942 - World War II: Manila is captured by Japanese forces. |
| | 1942 - The United States Navy opens a blimp base at Lakehurst, New Jersey. |
| | 1946 - Unable to resume rule after World War II, King Zog of Albania abdicates but retains his claim to the throne. |
| | 1949 - Luis Muñoz Marín became the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico. |
| | 1955 - Panamanian president Jose Antonio Remon is assassinated. |
| | 1957 - The San Francisco Stock and Bond Exchange and Los Angeles Oil Exchange merge. |
| | 1959 - The first artificial satellite to orbit the sun, Luna 1, is launched by the U.S.S.R. |
| | 1960 - Sen. John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts announces his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination. |
| | 1965 - The New York Jets sign University of Alabama quarterback Joe Namath for a reported $400,000. |
| | 1969 - Luis Ferré becomes the first statehooder Governor of Puerto Rico. |
| | 1971 - The second Ibrox disaster kills 66 fans at a Rangers-Celtic soccer game. |
| | 1974 - Richard Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum US speed limit to 55 MPH in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo. |
| | 1979 - Sid Vicious goes on trial for the murder of Nancy Spungen. |
| | 1981 - Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, is arrested. |
| | 1991 - Sharon Pratt Dixon is sworn in as mayor of Washington, DC, becoming the first African American woman to lead a city of that size and importance. |
| | 1993 - Leaders of the three warring factions in Bosnia meet to discuss peace plans. |
| | 1998 - Russia begins to circulate new rubles to stem inflation and promote confidence. |
| | 1999 - A brutal snowstorm smashes into the Midwestern United States, causing 14 inches (359 mm) of snow at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and 19 inches (487 mm) at Chicago, where temperatures plunge to -13°F (-25°C); 68 deaths are reported. |
| | 2001 - Sila Calderón becomes the first female Governor of Puerto Rico. |
| | 2002 - Levy Mwanawasa takes office as the third President of Zambia. |
| | 2004 - Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that it will return to Earth two years later. |
| | 2006 - An explosion in a coal mine leads to the death of 12 of 13 miners in the 2006 Sago Mine disaster in West Virginia. |
| | 2006 - Fifteen people die in the Bad Reichenhall ice rink roof collapse tragedy in Bavaria, Germany. |