- 1419 French city of Rouen surrenders to Henry V in Hundred Years War
- 1419 Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England completing his reconquest of Normandy.
- 1493 France cedes Roussillon & Cerdágne to Spain by treaty of Barcelona
- 1511 Mirandola surrenders to the French.
- 1520 Sten Sture the Younger, the Regent of Sweden, was mortally wounded at the Battle of Bogesund.
- 1668 King Louis XIV & Emperor Leopold I sign treaty dividing Spain
- 1714 Richard Steele publishes "The Crisis," defending Hanoverian success
- 1764 John Wilkes is expelled from the British House of Commons for seditious libel.
- 1770 Battle of Golden Hill (Lower Manhattan)
- 1788 Second group of ships of the First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay.
- 1790 Second Fleet sails from England with 1,006 convicts aboard for new settlement at Sydney Cove.
- 1793 French King Louis XVI sentenced to death
- 1795 Batavian Republic is proclaimed in the Netherlands. End of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands.
- 1795 Democratic revolution in Amsterdam ends oligarchy
- 1806 Britain occupies the Cape of Good Hope
- 1806 The United Kingdom occupies the Cape of Good Hope.
- 1807 Robert E. Lee born
- 1808 Louis Napoleon signs first Dutch aviation law
- 1809 Edgar Allan Poe, poet, author and literary critic is born in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1810 Overnight temp at Portsmouth NH drops 50ºF (10ºC)
- 1812 British forces under Duke of Wellington take Ciudad Rodrigo in Spain.
- 1812 Peninsular War: After a ten day siege Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, ordered British soldiers of the Light and third divisions storm Ciudad Rodrigo.
- 1817 An army of 5,423 soldiers, led by General Jos de San Martn, crossed the Andes from Argentina to liberate Chile and then Peru.
- 1825 Ezra Daggett & nephew Thomas Kensett patent food storage in tin cans
- 1829 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust Part 1 premieres.
- 1829 Johann von Goethe's "Faust, Part 1," premieres
- 1833 Charles Darwin reaches Straits Ponsonby, Fireland
- 1839 Aden conquered by British East India Company
- 1840 Antarctica discovered, Charles Wilkes expedition (US claim)
- 1840 Captain Charles Wilkes circumnavigates Antarctica, claiming what became known as Wilkes Land for the United States.
- 1840 LT Charles Wilkes, USN is first American to discover Antarctic coast
- 1847 Mexican rebels kill Charles Bent
- 1853 Napoleon III marries Eugénie de Montijo
- 1853 Verdi's opera "Il Trovatore" premieres, in Rome
- 1861 Georgia becomes 5th state to secede
- 1861 Georgia seceded from the Union.
- 1861 MS troops take Fort Massachusetts an Ship Island
- 1862 Battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky (Fishing Creek, Logan's Crossroads)
- 1863 General Mieroslawski appointed dictator of Poland
- 1865 NV Suriname Bank established
- 1865 Union occupies Fort Anderson NC
- 1871 The first Negro lodge of US Masons approved, New Jersey
- 1881 Western Union snaps up Atlantic and Pacific Co.
- 1883 Fog leads to deadly collision in North Sea
- 1883 The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Edison, begins service at Roselle, New Jersey.
- 1885 Battle at Abu Klea Sudan 800-1000 killed
- 1886 Aurora Ski Club, first in US, founded in Minnesota
- 1893 Henrik Ibsen's play The Master Builder premieres in Berlin.
- 1899 Anglo-Egyptian Sudan forms
- 1900 Bubonic plague spreads from Adelaide to Sydney (103 were to die).
- 1903 New bicycle race "Tour de France" announced
- 1903 The first regular transatlantic radio broadcast between US & England
- 1910 Germany & Bolivia ends commerce/friendship treaty
- 1910 National Institute of Arts & Letters incorporated by Congress
- 1913 Raymond Poincaré installed as President of France
- 1915 George Claude patents the neon discharge tube for use in advertising.
- 1915 Neon Tube sign patented by George Claude
- 1915 The first German Zeppelin attack over Great Britain, 4 die
- 1915 UK hist First Zeppelin air raid on England, over East Anglia – four killed
- 1915 World War I: German zeppelins bomb the cities of Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn in the United Kingdom killing more than 20, in the first major aerial bombardment of a civilian target.
- 1917 German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmermann sends the Zimmermann Telegram to Mexico, proposing a German-Mexican alliance against the United States.
- 1917 Silvertown Essex's ammunition factory explodes; 300 die
- 1918 Finnish Civil War: The first serious battles between the Red Guards and the White Guard.
- 1918 Soviets disallows a Constitution Assembly
- 1920 Alexandre Millerand forms French government
- 1920 US Senate votes against membership in League of Nations
- 1921 Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras & El Salvador sign Pact of Union
- 1922 Geological survey says US oil supply would be depleted in 20 years
- 1925 -48ºF (-44ºC), Van Buren ME (state record)
- 1929 Acadia National Park, Maine established
- 1932 Charlie Conacher becomes first Toronto Maple Leaf to score 5 goals in a game, the first coming at 7 seconds of the game
- 1935 Coopers Inc. sold the world's first briefs.
- 1937 Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles to New York City in 7 hours, 28 minutes, 25 seconds.
- 1938 GM began mass production of diesel engines
- 1938 The Spanish Nationalist air force bombed Barcelona and Valencia, killing 700 civilians and wounding hundreds more.
- 1940 The Three Stooges' You Natzy Spy premieres
- 1941 British attack Italians in Africa
- 1942 Japanese forces invade Burma
- 1942 Titus Brandsma arrested by German occupiers
- 1943 Joint Chiefs of Staff decide on invasion in Sicily
- 1944 Rail workers settle wage dispute
- 1945 World War II: Soviet forces liberate ghetto of d. Out of 230,000 inhabitants in 1940, less than 900 had survived Nazi occupation.
- 1947 SS Himera runs aground at Athens, kills 392
- 1949 Cuba recognises Israel.
- 1949 Visitor posting - Linda Ann Wright was born in Philadelphia, Pa, USA
- 1950 Communist China recognizes North Vietnam
- 1952 PGA approves allowing black participants
- 1953 68% of all United States television sets were tuned in to I Love Lucy to watch Lucy give birth.
- 1953 Jesse Owens named Illinois Athletic Commission secretary
- 1954 GM announces billion-dollar expansion
- 1955 "Scrabble" debuts on board game market
- 1955 "The Millionaire" TV program premieres on CBS
- 1955 Cadillac Park Avenue on display in New York
- 1955 First presidential news conference is filmed for television and newsreels
- 1956 Hoboken dedicates a plaque honoring achievements of Alexander Cartwright in organizing early baseball at Elysian Field
- 1960 Eisenhower & Premier Kishi sign US-Japanese Security pact
- 1961 President Eisenhower cautions successor about Laos
- 1961 The first episode for "The Dick Van Dyke Show" is filmed
- 1966 Indira Gandhi elected India's 3rd prime minister
- 1966 Neil Simon, Coleman & Fields' musical "Sweet Charity," premieres
- 1966 Sir Robert Menzies retires after more than 16 years as Australia's prime minister.
- 1967 Number one hit on UK music charts - The Monkees - I'm A Believer
- 1968 A C-130 Hercules of VR-24 and helicopters from NAF Sigonella delivered food, clothing and medicine to the west coast of Sicily to aid some 40,000 persons made homeless by an earthquake in the region of Montevago.
- 1969 Student Jan Palach died after setting himself on fire 3 days earlier in Prague's Wenceslas Square to protest the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union in 1968. His funeral turned into another major protest.
- 1970 Dutch bishop says he is in favor of married priest
- 1970 Nixon nominates G Harold Carswell to Supreme Court (fails)
- 1970 UCLA fires Angela Davis for being a communist
- 1971 "No, No Nanette" opens at 46th St Theater New York City NY for 861 performances
- 1971 Beatles' Helter Skelter is played at the Charles Manson trial
- 1971 Revival of No, No, Nanette premieres at 46th Street Theatre, New York City.
- 1972 Sandy Koufax, Yogi Berra, & Early Wynn elected to Hall of Fame
- 1974 Number one hit on UK music charts - New Seekers - You Won't Find Another Fool Like Me
- 1974 The UCLA men's basketball team sees its 88-game winning streak end at the hands of Notre Dame.
- 1975 China published a new constitution that adopted the precepts and policies of Mao Tse-tung.
- 1975 Triple J begins broadcasting in Sydney, Australia.
- 1977 On his last day as U.S. President, Gerald Ford pardons Iva Toguri D'Aquino, better known to U.S. troops as Tokyo Rose, from her acts of treason during WWII.
- 1977 Snow falls in Miami, Florida. This is the only time in the history of the city that snowfall has occurred. It also fell in the Bahamas.
- 1977 World's largest crowd-12.7 million-for Indian religious festival
- 1978 Eddie Mathews elected to Hall of Fame
- 1978 Judge William H Webster appointed head of FBI
- 1978 The last Volkswagen Beetle made in Germany leaves VW's plant in Emden. Beetle production in Latin America will continue until 2003.
- 1979 John N Mitchell (former AG) released on parole from federal prison
- 1980 Number one hit on UK music charts - Pretenders - Brass In Pocket
- 1980 Visitor posting - Lew Ancheta born - USA
- 1981 Iran Hostage Crisis: United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity.
- 1981 Muhammad Ali talks a despondent 21 year old out of committing suicide
- 1981 US & Iran sign agreement to release 52 American hostages
- 1982 Australia-West Indies one-day game that produced a Privy Council libel case
- 1982 Heater explodes at Star Elementary School-Oklahoma, kills 6 kids & teacher
- 1983 Klaus Barbie, Nazi war criminal, is arrested in Bolivia.
- 1983 The Apple Lisa, the first commercial personal computer from Apple Computer, Inc. to have a graphical user interface and a computer mouse, is announced.
- 1985 "Born In The USA" by Bruce Springsteen peaked at #9
- 1985 4 die in a car & train crash in Buda IL
- 1985 Number one hit on UK music charts - Foreigner - I Want To Know What Love Is
- 1986 Israeli premier Simon Peres visits Netherlands
- 1986 Spain recognizes Israel
- 1987 Guy Hunt becomes Alabama's first Republican governor since 1874
- 1988 "48 Hours" premieres on CBS-TV
- 1989 President Reagan pardons George Steinbrenner for illegal funds for Nixon
- 1990 Test debut of Mushtaq Ahmed, vs Australia at Adelaide
- 1991 48th Golden Globes Dances with Wolves
- 1991 Jumbo Tsuruta beats Stan Hansen to win All Japan Triple Crown title
- 1991 Sergeant Slaughter defeats Ultimate Warrior for WWF championship belt
- 1991 The Party of the Alliance of Youth, Workers and Farmers of Angola is founded in Luanda, Angola.
- 1992 Cerebral Palsy telethon raises 23,500,000
- 1992 Decree time is restored in Russia after its previous abolition in March 1991.
- 1992 IBM announces a nearly $5B loss for 1992
- 1992 Nature Boy Ric Flair becomes WWF champ at Royal Rumble
- 1992 Rowdy Roddy Piper beats Mountie to become WWF Intercontinental Champ
- 1993 Celebrities ranging from Barbra Streisand to Michael Jackson to a reunited Fleetwood Mac threw a nationally televised pre-inaugural bash for President-elect Clinton.
- 1993 IBM announces a $4.97 billion loss for 1992, the largest single-year corporate loss in United States history.
- 1993 Israel recognizes PLO as no longer criminal
- 1993 Robert M Gates, ends term as 15th director of CIA
- 1993 STS-54 (Endeavour) lands
- 1994 -20ºF (-29ºC) (5 32 AM) coldest day ever recorded in Cleveland OH
- 1994 -36ºF (-38ºC) in New Whiteland IN (state record)
- 1995 Jean-Claude Juncker (28) sworn in as premier of Luxembourg
- 1995 Pope John Paul II beatifies Mother Mary McKillop before crowd of 120,000 at Randwick racecourse in Sydney.
- 1995 Russian forces captured the presidential palace in the rebel republic of Chechnya.
- 1996 NHL approves move of Winnipeg Jets to Phoenix
- 1997 Two bombs exploded at a Tulsa, Okla., abortion clinic that had been bombed two weeks earlier.
- 1997 Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city.
- 1998 Rock 'n' roll pioneer Carl Perkins, whose hit song Blue Suede Shoes helped lift Elvis Presley to stardom, dies aged 65.
- 1998 The CN line bewteen Moncton, NB and Mont-Joli, Que is transferred to the Quebec Railway Corporation, through its wholly owned subsidiaries as follows: New Brunswick East Coast Railway between Pacific Junction, near Moncton, and Campbellton, NB. Matapedia Railway between Campbellton, NB and Mont-Joli, QC.
- 1999 Man charged in California cyberstalking case
- 1999 NATO warned Yugoslav Pres. Slobodan Milosevic that he must honor the 1998 cease-fire negotiated with the rebels in Kosovo or face air strikes.
- 2000 Film star Hedy Lamarr, 86, found dead in her Florida home
- 2000 The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced indictments of Mokhtar Haouari and Abdel Ghani Meskini in the "Borderbom" investigation. The two were charged with collaborating with Ahmed Ressam and others in a wide-ranging terrorist conspiracy to bomb American sites during the January 1, 2000, millennium celebrations. The FBI/New York Police Department Joint Terrorist Task Force, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service, and Canada's Department of Justice assisted in the investigation.
- 2001 President Clinton announced he had made a deal with the independent prosecutor that would prevent him from being indicted after he left office.
- 2002 Michael Jordan, formerly of the Chicago Bulls, plays his first game in Chicago since rejoining the NBA with the Washington Wizards.
- 2003 Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the Bush administration might allow Saddam Hussein to seek safe haven in another country as a way to avoid war.
- 2004 U.S. military authorities denied Afghan claims that a U.S. helicopter attack killed 11 civilians, including four children, saying instead that five Taliban fighters were the only fatalities.
- 2006 A Slovak Air Force Antonov An-24 crashes in Hungary.
- 2006 Jet Airways announces its purchase of Air Sahara, creating the largest domestic airline in India.
- 2006 Opening of the Canadian Undergraduate Software Engineering Conference 2006 in Montreal, Quebec.
- 2006 The New Horizons probe was launched by NASA on the first mission to Pluto.
- 2007 The Storm Worm Trojan horse infects computers in Europe and the United States.
More historical events added daily - keep checking back