Events Pre-1600 915 – Pope John X crowns Berengar I of Italy as Holy Roman Emperor (probable date).
1601–1900 1775 – American Revolution: becomes the first vessel to fly the Continental Union Flag (precursor to the "Stars and Stripes"); the flag is hoisted by John Paul Jones. 1799 – War of the Second Coalition: Battle of Wiesloch: Austrian Lieutenant Field Marshal Anton Sztáray defeats the French at Wiesloch. 1800 – War of the Second Coalition: Battle of Hohenlinden: French General Jean Victor Marie Moreau decisively defeats the Archduke John of Austria near Munich. Coupled with First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte's earlier victory at Marengo, this will force the Austrians to sign an armistice and end the war. 1800 – United States presidential election: The Electoral College casts votes for president and vice president that result in a tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. 1818 – Illinois becomes the 21st U.S. state. 1834 – The Zollverein (German Customs Union) begins the first regular census in Germany. 1854 – Battle of the Eureka Stockade: More than 20 gold miners at Ballarat, Victoria, are killed by state troopers in an uprising over mining licences. 1859 – Nigeria's first newspaper, missionary Henry Townsend's Iwe Irohin, was published. 1881 – The first issue of Tamperean daily newspaper Aamulehti ("Morning Paper") is published.Aamulehti – Memim.com 1898 – The Duquesne Country and Athletic Club defeats an all-star collection of early football players 16–0, in what is considered to be the first all-star game for professional American football.
1901–present 1901 – In a State of the Union message, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt delivers a 20,000-word report to the House of Representatives asking Congress to curb the power of trusts "within reasonable limits". The speech was not delivered in person. 1904 – The Jovian moon Himalia is discovered by Charles Dillon Perrine at California's Lick Observatory. 1910 – Modern neon lighting is first demonstrated by Georges Claude at the Paris Motor Show. 1912 – Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, and Serbia (the Balkan League) sign an armistice with the Ottoman Empire, temporarily halting the First Balkan War. (The armistice will expire on February 3, 1913, and hostilities will resume.) 1919 – After nearly 20 years of planning and construction, including two collapses causing 89 deaths, the Quebec Bridge opens to traffic. 1920 – Following more than a month of Turkish–Armenian War, the Turkish-dictated Treaty of Alexandropol is concluded. 1925 – Final agreement is signed between the Irish Free State, Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom formalizing the Partition of Ireland. 1929 – President Herbert Hoover delivers his first State of the Union message to Congress. It is presented in the form of a written message rather than a speech. 1938 – Nazi Germany issues the Decree on the Utilization of Jewish Property forcing Jews to sell real property, businesses, and stocks at below market value as part of Aryanization. 1944 – Greek Civil War: Fighting breaks out in Athens between the ELAS and government forces supported by the British Army. 1954 – Väinö Linna's war novel The Unknown Soldier (Tuntematon sotilas) is published. 1959 – The current flag of Singapore is adopted, six months after Singapore became self-governing within the British Empire. 1960 – The musical Camelot debuts at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway. It will become associated with the Kennedy administration. 1965 – Soviet Union, Space probe of the Luna program, called Luna 8, is launched, but crashes on the Moon. 1967 – At Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, a transplant team headed by Christiaan Barnard carries out the first heart transplant on a human (53-year-old Louis Washkansky). 1971 – Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: Pakistan launches a pre-emptive strike against India and a full-scale war begins. 1972 – Spantax Flight 275 crashes during takeoff from Tenerife North–Ciudad de La Laguna Airport, killing all 155 people on board. 1973 – Pioneer program: Pioneer 10 sends back the first close-up images of Jupiter. 1979 – In Cincinnati, 11 fans are suffocated in a crush for seats on the concourse outside Riverfront Coliseum before a Who concert. 1979 – Iranian Revolution: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini becomes the first Supreme Leader of Iran. 1982 – A soil sample is taken from Times Beach, Missouri, that will be found to contain 300 times the safe level of dioxin. 1984 – Bhopal disaster: A methyl isocyanate leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, kills more than 3,800 people outright and injures 150,000–600,000 others (some 6,000 of whom later died from their injuries) in one of the worst industrial disasters in history. 1989 – In a meeting off the coast of Malta, U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev release statements indicating that the Cold War between NATO and the Warsaw Pact may be coming to an end. 1992 – The Greek oil tanker Aegean Sea, carrying 80,000 tonnes of crude oil, runs aground in a storm while approaching A Coruña, Spain, and spills much of its cargo. 1992 – A test engineer for Sema Group uses a personal computer to send the world's first text message via the Vodafone network to the phone of a colleague. 1994 – Taiwan holds its first full local elections; James Soong elected as the first and only directly elected Governor of Taiwan, Chen Shui-bian became the first directly elected Mayor of Taipei, Wu Den-yih became the first directly elected Mayor of Kaohsiung. 1994 – Sony releases the PlayStation game console in Japan. 1995 – Cameroon Airlines Flight 3701 crashes on approach to Douala International Airport in Douala, Cameroon, killing 71 of the 76 people on board. 1997 – In Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, representatives from 121 countries sign the Ottawa Treaty prohibiting manufacture and deployment of anti-personnel landmines. The United States, People's Republic of China, and Russia do not sign the treaty, however. 1999 – NASA loses radio contact with the Mars Polar Lander moments before the spacecraft enters the Martian atmosphere. 1999 – In Worcester, Massachusetts, firefighters responded to a fire at the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. facility, which takes the lives of 6 firefighters. 2005 – XCOR Aerospace makes the first crewed rocket aircraft delivery of U.S. Mail in Kern County, California. 2007 – Winter storms cause the Chehalis River to flood many cities in Lewis County, Washington, and close a portion of Interstate 5 for several days. At least eight deaths and billions of dollars in damages are blamed on the floods. 2009 – A suicide bombing at a hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia, kills 25 people, including three ministers of the Transitional Federal Government. 2012 – At least 475 people are killed after Typhoon Bopha makes landfall in the Philippines. 2014 – The Japanese space agency, JAXA, launches the space explorer Hayabusa2 from the Tanegashima Space Center on a six-year round trip mission to an asteroid to collect rock samples. 2022 – Massive power outage after Moore County substation attack that leaves 45,000 people without power for five days, leading to an FBI probe.45K without power after substation attacks in Moore County 2023 – Mount Marapi located in West Sumatra, Indonesia begins a sporadic series of eruptions. 23 people were killed, and 12 were injured. 2024 – Martial law is declared in South Korea.
Births
Pre-1600 1368 – Charles VI of France (died 1422) 1447 – Bayezid II, Ottoman sultan (died 1512) 1483 – Nicolaus von Amsdorf, German theologian and Protestant reformer (died 1565) 1560 – Jan Gruter, Dutch scholar and critic (died 1627) 1590 – Daniel Seghers, Flemish Jesuit brother and painter (died 1661)
1601–1900 1616 – John Wallis, English mathematician and cryptographer (died 1703) 1684 – Ludvig Holberg, Norwegian historian and writer (died 1754) 1722 – Hryhorii Skovoroda, Ukrainian poet, composer, and philosopher (died 1794) 1729 – Antonio Soler, Spanish composer and theorist (died 1783) 1730 – Mahadaji Shinde, Maratha ruler of Gwalior (died 1794) 1755 – Gilbert Stuart, American painter (died 1828) 1793 – Clarkson Frederick Stanfield, English painter and academic (died 1867) 1798 – Alfred Iverson Sr., American politician (died 1873) 1800 – France Prešeren, Slovenian poet and lawyer (died 1849) 1810 – Louisa Susannah Cheves McCord, American author and political essayist (died 1879) 1826 – George B. McClellan, American general and politician, 24th Governor of New Jersey (died 1885) 1827 – Lombe Atthill, Northern Irish obstetrician and gynaecologist (died 1910) 1833 – Carlos Finlay, Cuban epidemiologist and physician (died 1915) 1838 – Cleveland Abbe, American meteorologist and academic (died 1916) 1838 – Octavia Hill, English activist and author (died 1912) 1838 – Princess Louise of Prussia (died 1923) 1842 – Phoebe Hearst, American philanthropist and activist (died 1919) 1842 – Charles Alfred Pillsbury, American businessman, founded the Pillsbury Company (died 1899) 1842 – Ellen Swallow Richards, American chemist, ecologist, and educator (died 1911) 1848 – William Shiels, Irish-Australian politician, 16th Premier of Victoria (died 1904) 1850 – Richard Butler, English-Australian politician, 23rd Premier of South Australia (died 1925) 1856 – George Leake, Australian politician, 3rd Premier of Western Australia (died 1902) 1857 – Joseph Conrad, Polish-born British novelist (died 1924) 1857 – Mathilde Kralik, Austrian pianist and composer (died 1944) 1863 – Gussie Davis, African-American songwriter (died 1899) 1864 – Herman Heijermans, Dutch author and playwright (died 1924) 1867 – William John Bowser, Canadian lawyer and politician, 17th Premier of British Columbia (died 1933) 1872 – Arthur Charles Hardy, Canadian lawyer and politician, Canadian Speaker of the Senate (died 1962) 1872 – William Haselden, English cartoonist (died 1953) 1875 – Max Meldrum, Scottish-Australian painter and educator (died 1955) 1878 – Francis A. Nixon, American businessman (died 1956) 1879 – Albert Asher, New Zealand rugby player (died 1965) 1879 – Charles Hutchison, American actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1949) 1879 – Kafū Nagai, Japanese author and playwright (died 1959) 1879 – Donald Matheson Sutherland, Canadian physician and politician, 5th Canadian Minister of National Defence (died 1970) 1880 – Fedor von Bock, German field marshal (died 1945) 1883 – Anton Webern, Austrian composer and conductor (died 1945) 1884 – Rajendra Prasad, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st President of India (died 1963) 1884 – Walther Stampfli, Swiss lawyer and politician, 50th President of the Swiss Confederation (died 1965) 1886 – Manne Siegbahn, Swedish physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1978) 1887 – Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni, Japanese general and politician, 43rd Prime Minister of Japan (died 1990) 1891 – Thomas Farrell, American general (died 1967) 1894 – Deiva Zivarattinam, Indian lawyer and politician (died 1975) 1895 – Anna Freud, Austrian-English psychologist and psychoanalyst (died 1982) 1895 – Sheng Shicai, Chinese warlord (died 1970) 1897 – William Gropper, American cartoonist and painter (died 1977) 1899 – Hayato Ikeda, Japanese politician, 58th Prime Minister of Japan (died 1965) 1899 – Howard Kinsey, American tennis player (died 1966) 1900 – Bert Hawke, Australian politician, 18th Premier of Western Australia (died 1986) 1900 – Ulrich Inderbinen, Swiss mountaineer (died 2004) 1900 – Richard Kuhn, Austrian-German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1967)
1901–present 1901 – Glenn Hartranft, American shot putter and discus thrower (died 1970) 1901 – Mildred Wiley, American high jumper (died 2000) 1902 – Mitsuo Fuchida, Japanese captain and pilot (died 1976) 1902 – Feliks Kibbermann, Estonian chess player and philologist (died 1993) 1904 – Edgar Moon, Australian tennis player (died 1976)