- 0086 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army, enters in Athens, removing the tyrant Aristion who was supported by troops of Mithridates VI of Pontus.
- 0286 Roman Emperor Diocletian raises Maximian to the rank of Caesar.
- 0293 Roman Emperors Diocletian and Maximian appoint Constantius Chlorus and Galerius as Caesares, thus beginning the Tetrarchy.
- 0317 Crispus and Constantine II, sons of Roman Emperor Constantine I, and Licinius iunior, son of Emperor Licinius, are made Caesares
- 0589 Saint David, patron saint of Wales, dies.
- 0743 Slave export by Christians to heathen areas prohibited
- 0772 Birth - Po Tjiu-i Chinese poet/Governor of Hang-tsjow
- 0918 Balderik becomes bishop of Utrecht
- 0965 Death - Leo VIII Italian (anti-)Pope (963-65), dies
- 1131 Death - Stephen II King of Hungary (1116-31), dies
- 1260 Hulagu Khan, grandson of Genghis, conquerors Damascus
- 1382 French Maillotin uprises against taxes
- 1383 Death - Amadeus VI (Green Earl), earl of Savoy, dies at 49
- 1420 Pope Martinus I calls for crusade against the hussieten
- 1434 Jacoba of Bavaria marries Frank van Borselen
- 1456 Birth - Wladyslaw Jagiello king of Bohemia/Hungary (1471/90-1516)
- 1457 The Unitas Fratrum is established in the village of Kunvald, on the Bohemian-Moravian borderland. It is to date the second oldest Protestant denomination.
- 1494 Birth - Il Bacchiacca [Franceso Ubertini] Italian painter
- 1510 Death - Francisco d'Almeida viceroy of India, dies in battle at about 59
- 1528 Birth - Albrecht V von Wittelsbach [the Generous], duke of Bavaria
- 1535 Death - Bernardo Accolti [Unico Aretino], Italian writer (Virginia), dies
- 1562 Blood bath at Vassy; General de Guise allows 1200 huguenots murder
- 1562 Over 1,000 Huguenots are massacred by Catholics in Wassy, France marking the start of the French Wars of Religion.
- 1565 Spanish occupier Estacio de Sá founds Rio de Janeiro
- 1565 The city of Rio de Janeiro is founded.
- 1587 English parliament leader Peter Wentworth confined in London Tower
- 1591 Pope Gregory XIV threatens to excommunicate French king Henri IV
- 1593 The Uppsala Synod is summoned to confirm the exact forms of the Lutheran Church of Sweden.
- 1607 Birth - Giovanni Francesco Milanta composer
- 1610 Birth - Johann B Schup [Schuppius] German poet/historian
- 1619 Death - Thomas Campion English physician/composer/poet (Poemata), dies at 53
- 1628 Writs are issued in February by Charles I of England that every county in England (not just seaport towns) pay ship tax by this date.
- 1630 Birth - Ferdinand van Apshoven de Jongere Flemish painter, baptized
- 1633 Death - George Herbert English poet, dies at 39
- 1634 Battle at Smolensk; Polish King Wladyslaw IV beats Russians
- 1642 Georgeana (York) ME became the first incorporated American city
- 1642 Georgeana, Massachusetts (now known as York, Maine) becomes the first incorporated city in the USA.
- 1643 Death - Girolamo Frescobaldi Italian composer/organist, dies at 59
- 1690 Birth - Conrad Johann Conrad Beissel composer
- 1692 Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba are brought before local magistrates in Salem Village, Massachusetts, beginning what would become known as the Salem witch trials.
- 1692 Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne, & Tituba arrest for witchcraft (Salem MA)
- 1693 Death - Benedict Schultheiss composer, dies at 39
- 1700 Sweden introduces its own Swedish calendar, in an attempt to gradually merge into the Gregorian calendar, reverts to the Julian calendar on this date in 1712, and introduces the Gregorian Calendar on this date in 1753.
- 1703 Birth - Dieudonne Raick composer
- 1709 Birth - Josef Antonin Gurecky composer
- 1711 "The Spectator" begins publishing (London)
- 1711 Birth - Peregrinus Pogl composer
- 1734 Birth - Pieter Valck[x] South Netherlands sculptor
- 1755 In Quebec city Quebec Jean-Armand Dieskau is appointed commander of the French regular troops in Canada
- 1771 Birth - Armand-Emmanuel Trial composer
- 1771 Death - Isfrid Kayser composer, dies at 58
- 1773 Death - Jan Wagenaar Dutch historian, dies at 63
- 1773 Death - Luigi Vanvitelli [Louis van Wittel], Italian architect, dies at 72
- 1777 Death - Georg Christoph Wagenzeil Austria (court)composer/pianist, dies at 62
- 1779 Birth - Jacob Gottfried Weber composer
- 1780 Birth - Lonard PJ du Bus de Gisignies Governor-General of Netherland Indies (1826-30)
- 1780 Pennsylvania becomes first US state to abolish slavery (for new-borns only)
- 1781 The US Continental Congress adopts its Articles of Confederation
- 1784 E Kidner opens the first cooking school, in Great Britain
- 1788 Birth - Gheorghe Asachi Romania, writer/humanist/politician
- 1788 Death - Orazio Mei composer, dies at 56
- 1790 A US census to establish the population is authorized
- 1790 The first United States census is authorized.
- 1792 US Presidential Succession Act passed
- 1797 Death - Juan Manuel Olivares composer, dies at 36
- 1799 Birth - Alexey Nikolayevich Verstovsky composer
- 1803 Ohio becomes 17th state
- 1803 Ohio is admitted as the 17th U.S. state.
- 1804 Death - Wolfgang Nicolaus Haueisen composer, dies at 63
- 1805 Justice Samuel Chase is acquitted at the end of his impeachment trial by the U.S. Senate.
- 1809 Embargo Act of 1807 repealed & Non-Intercourse Act signed
- 1810 Birth - Frdric Chopin Poland, composer/pianist (Concerto in F Minor)
- 1811 Birth - Robert Christie Buchanan Brevet Major General (Union Army), died in 1878
- 1811 Egyptian king Muhammad Ali Pasha oversees ceremonial murder of 500
- 1811 French Civil Code of Criminal law accepted by Netherlands Mamelukes in Cairo's Citadel
- 1811 Leaders of the Mameluke dynasty are killed by Egyptian ruler Muhammad Ali.
- 1815 Disbanding of Lower Canada militia after War of 1812
- 1815 Napoleon returns to France from his banishment on Elba.
- 1815 Sunday observance in Netherlands regulated by law
- 1817 Death - Luigi Gatti composer, dies at 77
- 1820 Birth - George Davis Attorney General (Confederacy), died in 1896
- 1820 Birth - Richard Redhead composer
- 1822 Birth - Albin Francisco Schoepf Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1886
- 1822 Birth - Charles Champion Gilbert Brigadier General (Union volunteers)
- 1826 Birth - John Thomas composer
- 1826 Death - J J Friedrich Weinbrenner German architect/archaeologist, dies at 59
- 1828 Birth - James Fleming Fagan Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1893
- 1828 Birth - Vittorio Bersezio [Carlo Nugelli] Italian playwright
- 1831 Birth - Hiram Bronson Granbury Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1864
- 1832 Birth - Friedrich Grutzmacher composer
- 1835 Birth - Matthias J Scheeben German theologist (Natur und Gnade)
- 1836 A Convention of delegates from 57 Texas communities convenes in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas, to deliberate independence from Mexico.
- 1837 Birth - Ion Creanga Romanian fairy tale author (Amintiti the Copilarie)
- 1837 Birth - William Dean Howells US, novelist/critic/editor (Atlantic)
- 1838 Birth - Gabriele dell' Addolorata [Francesco Possenti], Italian priest
- 1840 Adolphe Thiers becomes prime minister of France.
- 1841 Birth - Blanche Kelso Bruce Farmville VA, (Senator-MS, 1875-1881)
- 1841 Birth - Romualdo Marenco composer
- 1845 President John Tyler signs a bill authorizing the United States to annex the Republic of Texas.
- 1845 President Tyler signs a resolution annexing the Republic of Texas
- 1847 Michigan becomes first English-speaking jurisdiction to abolish the death penalty (except for treason against the state)
- 1847 The state of Michigan formally abolishes capital punishment.
- 1848 Birth - Augustus Saint-Gaudens US, sculptor/designer (1907 $20 gold piece)
- 1852 Archibald William Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
- 1852 Birth - Theophile Delcass French statesman
- 1854 German psychologist Friedrich Eduard Beneke disappears; two years later his remains are found in a canal near Charlottenburg.
- 1854 SS City of Glasgow leaves Liverpool harbor and is never seen again
- 1856 Birth - Florimond Fonteyne Flemish priest/politician (Volkseeuw)
- 1858 Birth - Georg Simmel German philosopher/sociologist
- 1859 Death - Josef Theodor Krov composer, dies at 61
- 1860 Birth - Suzanna Salter 1st US female mayor/temperance leader
- 1864 Birth - Rebecca Lee 1st black woman to get a medical degree
- 1864 Louis Ducos du Hauron patents movie machine (never built)
- 1864 Rebecca Lee (US) becomes first black woman to receive a medical degree
- 1865 Birth - Gerard Vissering Dutch banker/president (Bank of Java)
- 1865 Death - Anna Paulowna Romanova great monarch of Russia, dies at 70
- 1866 Paraguayan canoes sink 2 Brazilian ironclads on Rio Parana
- 1867 Nebraska becomes the 37th U.S. state; Lancaster, Nebraska is renamed Lincoln and becomes the state capital.
- 1868 Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity is founded at the University of Virginia.
- 1869 Death - Alphonse MLP de Lamartine Fr poet (History of Girondins), dies at 78
- 1869 Postage stamps showing scenes are first issued
- 1870 Death - Francisco S Lpez President of Paraguay (1862-70), dies at 43
- 1871 J Milton Turner named minister to Liberia
- 1872 Yellowstone National Park is established as the world's first national park.
- 1872 Yellowstone becomes world's first national park
- 1873 E. Remington and Sons in Ilion, New York start production of the first practical typewriter.
- 1873 Henry Comstock discovers the Comstock Lode in Virginia City, Nevada.
- 1874 Birth - Jean de Merode [Marie-Louise B Courtenay], Princess of Netherlands
- 1878 Birth - Gabriel Edouard Xavier Dupont composer
- 1879 Library of Hawaii founded
- 1880 Birth - Julian Myrick promoter of junior tennis
- 1880 Birth - Lytton Strachey biographer/critic (Benson Medal 1923)
- 1882 Birth - Ida Moore Altoona KS, actress (Mr Music, Ma & Pa Kettle at Waikiki)
- 1883 Birth - Thomas Shelvin college footballer great (Yale)
- 1883 Nicholas Flood Davin publishes the first issue of the Regina Leader
- 1885 Birth - Lionel Atwill Croyden England, actor (Mystery of the Wax Museum)
- 1886 Anglo-Chinese School, Singapore is founded by Bishop William Oldham.
- 1886 Birth - Oskar Kokoschka Russian/Austrian/British, painter (Erasmus Prize 1960)
- 1890 Birth - Jan Duiker Dutch architect (Zonnestral)
- 1890 The First US edition of Sherlock Holmes (Study in Scarlet) published
- 1892 Birth - Ryunosuke Akutagawa Japan, writer (Rashomon in Kappa)
- 1892 Death - Archibald Scott Scottish chemist, dies at 60
- 1893 Birth - Theo Frenkel actor (Footlights, Hague's Comedy)
- 1893 Diplomatic Appropriation Act, authorizes the US rank of ambassador
- 1894 UK hist Blackpool Tower opens
- 1895 Birth - G B "Duke" Keats hockey hall of famer (elected 1958)
- 1896 Battle of Adowa: an Ethiopian army defeats an outnumbered Italian force, ending the First ItaloEthiopian War.
- 1896 Battle of Adua: 80,000 Ethiopians destroy 20,000 Italians
- 1896 Birth - Dimitri Mitropoulos Athens Greece, conductor/composer
- 1896 Henri Becquerel discovers radioactivity.
- 1898 Through service commences over the Intercolonial Railway between Halifax and Montreal. This is achieved through a series of leases and running rights agreements with the Grand trunk Railway.
- 1899 Death - Gyrgy earl Apponyi Hungarian MP, dies at 90
- 1900 Birth - Donald Keith Falkner singer
- 1901 Death - Bernhard Erdmannsdrffer German historian (Mirabeau), dies at 68
- 1901 Naval and military forces of the States transferred to Commonwealth control
- 1903 Birth - Leon Bismarck "Bix" Beiderbecke Iowa, jazz cornetist (In a Mist)
- 1904 Birth - Glenn Miller bandleader (Glenn Miller Orchestra-In the Mood)
- 1904 Birth - Paul Hartman San Francisco CA, actor (Bert-Petticoat Junction)
- 1904 Glenn Miller a great bandleader was born
- 1905 Birth - Pol le Roy Flemish author/novelist/writer (Stroom)
- 1906 Death - Jos M de Pereda y Snchez the Porra Spanish writer, dies at 73
- 1906 Death - Moriz Heyne German germanist (German Wrterbuch), dies at 68
- 1907 Birth - Lois Moran Pittsburgh PA, actress (Mom-Waterfront)
- 1909 Birth - David Niven Kirriemuir Angus Scotland, actor (Casino Royale, Eye of the Devil)
- 1909 Birth - Richard de Guide composer
- 1909 Birth - Robert Selby Taylor bishop
- 1909 Birth - Terrence De Marney London England, actor (Case Thomas-Johnny Ringo)
- 1910 3 passenger trains buried at Steven's Pass in Cascade Range: 118 die; Worst snowslide in US history
- 1911 Birth - Harry Golombek chess grandmaster
- 1911 Death - Jacobus H van 't Hoff Dutch chemist/physicist (Nobel 1901), dies at 58
- 1912 Albert Berry makes the first parachute jump from a moving airplane.
- 1912 Isabella Goodwin, 1the first US woman detective, appointed, New York NY
- 1913 Birth - Helmut Erich Robert Gernsheim photographer/collector
- 1913 Federal income tax takes effect (16th amendment)
- 1913 State law requiring bonding of officers & state employees, North Dakota
- 1914 Birth - Archibald J Gumede South African ANC member/chairman (UDF)
- 1914 Birth - Ralph Waldo Ellison US writer (Invisible Man, Shadow & Cast)
- 1914 Death - Tor Bernhard Vilhelm Aulin composer, dies at 47
- 1914 Dutch Minister of war H Colijn named director of British Petroleum
- 1915 Birth - Johannes J "Joop" Klant Netherlands/South Africa economist (Madame Sans Gne)
- 1916 Germany begins attacking ships in the Atlantic
- 1917 Birth - Dinah Shore Winchester TN, singer (See the USA in a Chevrolet)
- 1917 Birth - Robert Lowell poet/pacifist (Lord Weary's Castle, Near the Ocean)
- 1917 Firt federal land bank chartered
- 1917 IN Edmonton Alberta the Alberta Provincial Police Force is founded later duties are taken over by the RCMP in rural areas
- 1917 U.S. government releases the plaintext of the Zimmermann Telegram to the public.
- 1918 Birth - Roger Delgado London, actor (Agent 8 3/4, Hot Enough for June)
- 1918 Death - Johan Gustaf Emil Sjogren composer, dies at 64
- 1919 Birth - Lawrence Ferlinghetti US, beat poet (Coney Island of the Mind)
- 1919 Demonstrations for Korean independence from Japan begin
- 1919 March 1st Movement begins in Korea.
- 1920 Austria becomes a kingdom again, under Admiral Horthy
- 1920 Birth - Alfred Grant Goodman composer
- 1920 Birth - Harry Caray baseball announcer (Chicago Cubs)
- 1920 Birth - Howard Nemerov US, 3rd US poet laureate/novelist/critic (Blue Swallows)
- 1920 Death - Joseph Trumpeldor killed defending Tel-Mai against arab attack
- 1921 Australia Cricket team complete 5-0 drubbing of England
- 1921 Birth - Jack Clayton Brighton East Sussex England, film director (Great Gatsby, Something Wicked This Way Comes)
- 1921 Birth - Richard Wilbur 2nd US Poet Laureate (Ceremony, Walking to Sleep)
- 1921 Birth - Terrence "Cardinal" Cooke New York NY
- 1921 Death - Nicholas Petrovic Njegos King of Montenegro (1910-18), dies at 79
- 1921 Rwanda ceded to England
- 1921 Sailors revolt in Kronstadt Russia
- 1922 Birth - William M Gaines publisher (MAD Magazine)
- 1922 Birth - Yitzak Rabin premier (Israel, 1992-95, Nobel 1994)
- 1923 Allies occupy Ruhrgebied; killing railroad striker
- 1923 Birth - Bonita Granville actress/producer (Perry Mason)
- 1923 Birth - Duncan White Ceylon, 400 meter hurdler (Olympics-silver-1948)
- 1924 Birth - Donald "Deke" Kent Slayton Sparta WI, Major USAF/astronaut (Apollo 18)
- 1924 Death - Louise-Marie Amlie princess of Belgium, dies at 66
- 1924 Germany's prohibition of Communist Party KPD lifted
- 1925 Birth - Al Rosen Spartanburg SC, 3rd baseman (American League MVP 1953)/New York Yankee president
- 1925 In the Charlevoix-Kamouraska area, Canada a 6.7 earthquake occured at local time 9:19:20 p.m. The earthquake was so strong that the shock was felt more than 1,000 kilometres from the epicentre
- 1926 Birth - Cesare Danova Rome Italy, actor (Garrison's Gorillas)
- 1926 Birth - Pete Rozelle NFL commissioner (1960-89)
- 1926 Birth - Robert Clary Paris France, actor (LeBeau-Hogan's Heroes)
- 1926 Death - Camilo d'Almeida Pessanha Portuguese poet (China), dies at 58
- 1927 Bank of Italy becomes a National Bank
- 1927 Birth - Harry Belafonte Harlem New York NY, calypso singer (Buck & the Preacher)
- 1927 Birth - Lusine Amara opera/concert singer
- 1927 Birth - Robert Heron Bork judge, nominated for supreme court
- 1928 Death - Albert Herbert Brewer composer, dies at 62
- 1928 Death - Jacob Adolf Hagg composer, dies at 77
- 1928 Visitor posting - Pam Hilyer born - Canada
- 1928 Paul Whiteman & his orchestraestra record "Ol' Man River" for Victor Records
- 1929 Birth - Sonny James singer (Young Love, Running Bear)
- 1930 Birth - C D Gopinath cricketer (batted in 8 Tests for India in the 1950's)
- 1930 Birth - Pierre Max Dubois composer
- 1930 Birth - Raymond St Jacques actor/director (Cotton Comes to Harlem, Mr Moses)
- 1930 Death - Alos Walgrave Flemish writer/pastor (Peace on Earth), dies at 54
- 1932 Birth - Jacques Leduc composer
- 1932 Death - Dino Campana Italian poet (Canti Orfici), dies at 46
- 1932 The Bureau (FBI) initiated the international exchange of fingerprint data with friendly foreign governments. Due to the rise of tension in Europe, this program was halted in the late 1930's. It was not re-instituted until well after World War II.
- 1932 The infant son of Anne and Charles Lindbergh is kidnapped from their home near Hopewell, NJ.
- 1932 The son of Charles Lindbergh, Charles Augustus Lindbergh III, is kidnapped.
- 1933 Bank holidays declared in 6 states, to prevent run on banks
- 1933 Birth - Istvan Lang composer
- 1933 Birth - Myrlie Evers politician/commissioner (Los Angeles Board of Public works)
- 1934 Birth - Jim "Ed" Brown Sparkman AR, country singer (Nashville on the Road)
- 1934 Birth - Joan Hackett New York NY, actress (Will Penny, One Stone Pony)
- 1934 Birth - Riet [M J J] Roosen-van Pelt Dutch 2nd Chamber member (CDA)
- 1934 Henry Pu Yi crowned emperor Kang The of Manchuria
- 1935 Birth - George Gnreux Canada, trap shooter (Olympics-gold-1952)
- 1935 Birth - Judith Rossner author (Looking for Mr Goodbar)
- 1935 Birth - Robert Conrad [Conrad R Falk] Chicago IL, actor (Wild Wild West, Baa Baa Black Sheep)
- 1936 A strike occurs aboard the S.S. California, leading to the demise of the International Seamen's Union and the creation of the National Maritime Union.
- 1936 Birth - Camille E Baly St Maartens poet (Sonny)
- 1936 Birth - Jean-Edern Hallier writer
- 1936 Birth - Marion Farouk-Sluglett political scientist
- 1936 Hoover Dam is completed.
- 1937 Birth - Jed Allan Bronx NY, actor (Days of our Lives, C C-Santa Barbara)
- 1937 Governor Wouters innaugrates the radio station on the Dutch Antilles
- 1937 The first permanent automobile license plates issued (Connecticut)
- 1937 US Steel raises workers' wages to $5 a day
- 1938 Birth - Michael J[oseph] Kurland US, sci-fi author (Infernal Device)
- 1938 Death - Gabrielle d'Annunzio Italian poet/fascist (Il fuoco), dies at 74
- 1939 Birth - Leo Brouwer composer
- 1939 Birth - Warren Davis rocker (Monotones)
- 1939 Clarence Decatur C. D. Howe 1886-1960 opens first Trans Canada Air Lines transcontinental passenger service from Montreal to Vancouver
- 1940 12th Academy Awards: "Gone with the Wind", Robert Donat & Vivien Leigh win
- 1940 Birth - David Broome Show Jumper (world champion-1970)
- 1940 Birth - Ralph Towner Chehalis WA, rocker (Oregon, Weather Report)
- 1940 Death - Josef Swickard actor (Lost City, Tale of 2 Cities), dies at 73
- 1940 Richard Wright's novel "Native Son" is published
- 1941 "Captain America" appears in a comic book
- 1941 Birth - Michael L Lampton Williamsport PA, astronaut (STS-45)
- 1941 German troops invade Bulgaria
- 1941 Himmler inspects Auschwitz concentration camp
- 1941 The first US commercial FM radio station goes on the air, Nashville TN
- 1941 W47NV (now known as WSM-FM) begins operations in Nashville, Tennessee becoming the first FM radio station in the U.S..
- 1941 World War II: Bulgaria signs the Tripartite Pact, allying itself with the Axis powers.
- 1942 Birth - Jerry Fischer rocker (Blood, Sweat & Tears)
- 1942 Birth - Peter Guber producer (Flashdance)
- 1942 Extermination begins at Sobibor.
- 1942 HMAS Perth, and USS Houston sunk by the Japanese in the Suda Strait, Indonesia
- 1942 HMS EXETER sunk, East Indies, north west of Surabaya in Java Sea by torpedoes and 8in gunfire of Japanese cruiser force.
- 1942 Suriname camp for NSB people opens to save Jews
- 1942 Tito establishes 2nd Proletarit Brigade in Bosnia
- 1943 Birth - Benjamin W Jipcho Mount Elgon Kenya, 3K steeplechase (Olympics-silver-1972)
- 1943 Birth - Franz Hohler writer
- 1943 Birth - Mauro Checcoli Italy, 3 day equestrian (Olympics-gold-1964)
- 1943 Birth - Piet Veerman Dutch rock vocalist/guitarist (Cats-Sailin' Home)
- 1943 Birth - Wolfgang Scheidel German Democratic Republic, luge (Olympics-gold-1972)
- 1943 Jewish old age home for disabled in Amsterdam raided
- 1943 The Canadian Women's Army Corps is founded as part of the Canadian forces; CWACs have full military titles and hold commissions.
- 1944 Birth - Dirk Benedict Helena MT, actor (A-Team, Battlestar Galactica)
- 1944 Birth - John B Breaux (Representative-Democrat-LA, 1972-88)
- 1944 Birth - John Napier London, set designer (Royal Shakespeare Company)
- 1944 Birth - Mike D'Abo rock vocalist (Manfred Mann-Mighty Quinn)
- 1944 Birth - Roger Daltrey Hammersmith London England, rocker/actor/producer (The Who-Tommy)
- 1944 Birth - Roger Daltrey rocker (The Who-Tommy)
- 1944 Massive strikes in Northern Italian towns
- 1944 U-358 sinks in Atlantic
- 1945 Birth - Burning Spear [Winston Rodney], Jamaican reggae singer
- 1945 British 43rd Division under General Essame occupies Xanten
- 1945 Chinese 30th division occupies Hsenwi
- 1945 FDR announces success of Yalta Conference
- 1945 Fieldmarshal Kesselring succeeds von Rundstedt as commander
- 1945 Hitler orders the destruction of all Germany; it is unworthy of surviving him. His order mandates the destruction not only of military installations, but also of all stores, industries, and transportation and communication installations. Nothing is to fall into enemy hands.
- 1945 Major Frederick A. Tilston Cdn.(The Essex Scottish Regimetn) wins the Victoria Cross at Hochwald, Germany
- 1945 US infantry regiment captures Mönchengladbach
- 1946 Birth - Lana Wood [Svetlana Gurdin] Santa Rosa CA, actress (Diamonds are Forever)
- 1946 Birth - Tony Ashton Blackburn England, rocker (Ashton, Gardner & Dyke)
- 1946 Visitor posting - Maria Korbakis born - Greece
- 1946 British Govt takes control of Bank of England, after 252 years
- 1946 Operation Frostbite--USS Midway with elements of Air Group 74 on board, and accompanied by three destroyers, left Norfolk to conduct cold weather tests in Davis Strait. In the period 7-22 March, these units with World War II type aircraft and the newer F8F Bearcat, the combination prop and jet FR-1 Fireball, and the HNS-1 helicopter.
- 1946 Panamá accepts its new constitution
- 1947 Birth - Alan Thicke Kirkland Lake Ontario, actor/host (Thicke of the Night, Growing Pains)
- 1947 Death - J Boogaard Nazi collaborator, executed
- 1947 The International Monetary Fund begins financial operations.
- 1948 Birth - Norman Connors singer (You Are My Starship)
- 1949 Birth - Sido Martens Dutch guitarist/singer/mandolin player (Fungus)
- 1949 Indonesia seizes Yogyakarta from the Dutch.
- 1949 Ripley's Believe It Or Not! debuts on television
- 1950 Birth - Shahid Israr Pakistani cricket wicket-keeper (in one Test vs New Zealand 1976)
- 1950 Chiang Kai-shek resumed the Presidency of National China on Formosa
- 1950 Cold War: Klaus Fuchs is convicted of spying for the Soviet Union by giving them top secret atomic bomb data.
- 1950 Klaus Fuchs sentenced to 14 years for atomic espionage (London)
- 1950 USSR issues golden rubles
- 1951 Birth - Barbara DeAngelis talk show hostess (Barbara DeAngelis Show)
- 1952 Birth - Alice Ritzman Kalispell MT, LPGA golfer (1995 Rochester International-5th)
- 1952 Birth - David Allen Barr Kelowna British Columbia, PGA golfer (Atlanta Golf Classic)
- 1952 Egyptian government-Ali Maher Pasja resigns
- 1952 Helgoland, in North Sea, returned to West Germany by Britain
- 1953 Birth - Bandula Warnapura cricketer (1st Sri Lanka Test captain)
- 1953 Birth - Ron Howard Duncan OK, actor/director (American Graffiti, Happy Days/Willow, Backdraft)
- 1953 Death - Anton GO Ridder Van Rappard painter/lithographer/etcher, dies
- 1953 Joseph Stalin collapses, having suffered a stroke. He dies four days later.
- 1953 US removes embargo on Canadian livestock placed after outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 1952
- 1954 4 Puerto Ricans open fire in US House of Representatives injuring 5 Representatives
- 1954 Birth - Catherine Bach Warren OH, actress (Daisy Duke-Dukes of Hazzard)
- 1954 Birth - Janis Gill Torrance CA, singer (Sweethearts of Rodeo-Midnight Girl)
- 1954 Nuclear testing: The Castle Bravo, a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb, is detonated on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the worst radioactive contamination ever caused by the United States.
- 1954 Puerto Rican nationalists attack the United States Capitol building, injuring five Representatives. (See U.S. Capitol shooting incident (1954).)
- 1954 Rebellion during visit of President Naguib in Khartoum Sudan, 30 die
- 1954 Ron Howard Emmy Award-winning producer was born
- 1954 Ted Williams fractures collarbone in first game of spring training after flying 39 combat missions without injury in Korean War
- 1954 US explodes 15 megaton hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll
- 1955 Allen Fieldhouse at the University of Kansas hosts its first college basketball game.
- 1955 Birth - Jimmy Fortune Newport News VA, singer (Statler Brothers-Class of '57)
- 1955 Israeli assault on Gaza, kills 48
- 1955 Pakistan vs India 5 Test Cricket series ends in a 0-0 draw
- 1956 Birth - Balwinder Singh Sandhu cricketer (Sikh pace bowler 1983 World Cup)
- 1956 Birth - Mark Todd UK, New Zealand equestrian 3 day event (Olympics-96)
- 1956 Birth - Timothy Daly New York NY, actor (Joe-Wings, Almost Grown, Diner, Made in Heaven)
- 1956 The International Air Transport Association finalizes a draft of the Radiotelephony spelling alphabet for the International Civil Aviation Organization.
- 1956 UK hist Radiotelephony spelling alphabet introduced (Alpha, Bravo, etc)
- 1957 Birth - Jon Carroll Washington DC, vocalist (Starland Vocal Band-Afternoon Delight)
- 1958 Birth - Nik Kershaw Bristol England, singer/songwriter (Wouldn't it be Good)
- 1958 Birth - Wayne B Phillips cricket wicket-keeper (Australia)
- 1958 Death - Giacomo Balla Italian painter, dies at 86
- 1958 Gary Sobers 365 vs Pakistan, 614 minutes, 38 fours, best Cricket before Lara
- 1958 Samuel Alphonsus Stritch, is appointed Pro-Prefect of the Propagation of Faith and thus becomes the first American member of the Roman Curia.
- 1958 Sobers completes 446 stand for 2nd wicket with Conrad Hunte, 260
- 1958 West Indies cricket declare at stumps score of 3-790 declare vs Pakistan
- 1959 Archbishop Makarios returns to Cyprus after 3 years
- 1959 Beverly Hanson wins LPGA Golden Triangle Festival Golf Tournament
- 1960 Birth - Alicia Dibos Lima Peru, LPGA golfer (1994 US Women's Open-4th)
- 1961 Birth - Davis Daniel Arlington Heights IL, country singer
- 1961 Birth - Mike Rozier NFL halfback (Heisman Trophy-1983, Houston, Atlanta)
- 1961 President Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps
- 1961 The Peace Corps is established by US President John F. Kennedy.
- 1961 Uganda becomes self-governing and holds its first elections.
- 1962 American Airlines 707 plunges nose first into Jamaica Bay NY killing 95
- 1962 Birth - Bill Leen rocker (Gin Blossoms)
- 1962 Birth - Mark Gardner Los Angeles CA, pitcher (San Francisco Giants)
- 1962 Death - Roscoe Ates actor (Dep Roscoe-Marshal of Gunsight Pass), dies at 70
- 1962 K-Mart opens
- 1962 US/British nuclear test experiment in Nevada
- 1962 Uganda became a self-governing country
- 1963 200,000 French mine workers strike
- 1963 Birth - Arnold Oosterveer soccer player (SC Heerenveen)
- 1963 Birth - Barb[ara] Marois Auburn MA, field hockey defender (Olympics-96)
- 1963 Birth - Magnus Svensson Leksand Sweden, NHL defenseman (Florida Panthers)
- 1963 Birth - Maurice Bnard [Mauricio Morales] San Francisco CA, actor (Sonny Corinthos-General Hospital, Nico Kelly-All My Children)
- 1963 Birth - Robert James Affuso Newburgh NY, rock drummer (Skid Row-Psycho Love)
- 1963 Birth - Ron Francis Sault Ste Marie Ontario, NHL center (Pittsburgh Penguins, Team Canada)
- 1963 Birth - Tony Castillo Lara Venezuela, pitcher (Toronto Blue Jays)
- 1964 Birth - Jennifer McCarter Sevierville TN, singer (McCarter-The Gift)
- 1964 Death - Sergius Kagen composer, dies at 54
- 1965 Australia suspends champion swimmer Dawn Fraser for 10-years for misconduct
- 1965 Birth - Les Miller defensive end (Carolina Panthers)
- 1965 Death - Boleslav Vomacka composer, dies at 77
- 1965 Gas explosion kills 28 in apartment complex (La Salle, Quebec)
- 1966 Ba'ath-party takes power in Syria
- 1966 Birth - Clinton Gregory singer
- 1966 Birth - John David Cullum actor (1776, Sweet Country, Day After)
- 1966 Birth - Luis Sojo Barquisimeto Venezuela, infielder (Seattle Mariners)
- 1966 Birth - Steve Reed Los Angeles CA, pitcher (Colorado Rockies)
- 1966 Chancellor of the Exchequer James Callaghan confirms the decision to change over to decimal coinage.
- 1966 The Ba'ath Party takes power in Syria.
- 1966 Venera 3 Soviet space probe crashes on Venus becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet's surface.
- 1966 Venera 3 becomes first man-made object to impact on a planet (Venus)
- 1967 Birth - Aron Winter Surinamese/Dutch soccer star (Ajax, Lazio)
- 1967 Birth - Tawnni Cable Salem OR, playmate (June 1989)
- 1967 Dominica & St Lucia gain independence from Britain
- 1967 Queen Elizabeth Hall (South Bank Center) opens in London
- 1968 Birth - Dave Zuniga Worland WY, 136 lbs/greco-roman wrestler (Olympics-96)
- 1968 Birth - Salil Ankola cricketer (Indian pace bowler one Test 1989)
- 1968 Birth - Sanjeeva Weerasinghe cricketer (Test for Sri Lanka vs India at 17)
- 1968 Country music artists Johnny Cash and June Carter are married.
- 1968 Death - Georg von der Vring German painter (Camp Lafayette), dies at 78
- 1968 NBC's unprecedented on-air announcement, Star Trek will return great news!!
- 1968 Pirate Radio Atlantis South (England) begins test transmitting
- 1968 Political Party Radikalen (PPR) established in Netherlands
- 1968 Singers Johnny Cash (36) & June Carter (38) wed
- 1968 Vatican City's Apostolic Constitution of 1967 goes into effect
- 1969 After 88 weeks Sergeant Pepper drops off the charts
- 1969 Birth - Azam Khan cricketer (Pakistan ODI batsman 1996)
- 1969 Birth - Doug Creek Winchester VA, pitcher (San Francisco Giants)
- 1969 Birth - Vincenzo Esposito NBA guard (Toronto Raptors)
- 1969 During a performance at Miami's Dinner Key Auditorium, Jim Morrison of the Doors is arrested for exposing himself during the show.
- 1969 New York Yankees' Mickey Mantle announces his retirement from baseball
- 1970 Birth - Lisa Eagen Harlan IA, team handball wing/back court (Olympics-1996)
- 1970 Birth - Ray Crittenden wide receiver (San Diego Chargers)
- 1970 Birth - Stuart Thompson Australian baseball infielder (Olympics-1996)
- 1970 Charles Manson's album "Lie" is released
- 1970 Death - Ed[uard] Hoornik Dutch writer/poet (Na jaren), dies at 59
- 1970 End of US commercial whale hunting
- 1970 Kreisky's social-democrats win Austrian parliamentary election
- 1970 White government of Rhodesia declares independence from Britain
- 1971 A bomb explodes in a men's room in the United States Capitol: the Weather Underground claims responsibility.
- 1971 Birth - Allen Johnson Washington DC, long jumper/110 meter hurdler (Olympics-gold-96)
- 1971 Birth - Andr Karnebeek soccer player (FC Twente)
- 1971 Birth - Austin Robbins NFL defensive tackle (Oakland Raiders, New Orleans Saints)
- 1971 Birth - Shepherd Clark Atlanta GA, figure skater (1994, 97 Eastern Sr champion)
- 1971 Birth - Tim Prinsen CFL offensive linebacker (Hamilton Tiger Cats)
- 1971 Birth - Tyler Hamilton Marblehead MA, cyclist (Olympics-96)
- 1971 Birth - Zahoor Elahi cricketer (Pakistan opening batsman vs New Zealand 1996)
- 1971 Bomb attack on the Capitol in Washington DC
- 1971 Pakistani President Yahya Khan indefinitely postpones the pending national assembly session, precipitating massive civil disobedience in East Pakistan.
- 1972 Birth - Omar Daal Maracaibo Venezuela, pitcher (Montral Expos)
- 1972 Birth - Profail Grier CFL running back (Saskatchewan Roughriders)
- 1972 Death - Victor Babin composer, dies at 63
- 1972 The Thai province of Yasothon is created after being split off from the Ubon Ratchathani province.
- 1972 Wilt Chamberlain is the first NBA player to score 30,000 points
- 1973 Birth - Chris Webber NBA forward (Washington Bullets/Wizards)
- 1973 Birth - Igor Murin Trencin Czechoslovakia, hockey goaltender (Team Slovakia 1998)
- 1973 Black September terrorists storm the Saudi embassy in Khartoum, Sudan resulting in the Khartoum diplomatic assassinations.
- 1973 Robyn Smith becomes first female jockey to win a major race
- 1974 Birth - Mark-Paul Gosselaar actor (Zack-Saved by the Bell)
- 1974 Birth - Stephen Davis running back (Washington Redskins)
- 1974 Death - Jos de Haes Flemish philological/poet (Azuren Holte), dies at 53
- 1974 George Harrison announces his concert tour of US in November
- 1974 Ian & Greg Chappell make 264 partnership vs New Zealand cricket at Wellington
- 1974 Sikorsky's triple-turbine helicopter, the YCH-53E, largest and most powerful helicopter in the western world, made its first flight
- 1974 The BC Court of Appeals rules Indian child can be adopted by non-Indian parents without losing status
- 1974 Watergate grand jury indicts 7 Presidential aides
- 1974 Watergate scandal: Seven are indicted for their role in the Watergate break-in and charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice.
- 1975 17th Grammy Awards: I Honestly Love You, Marvin Hamlisch win
- 1975 Birth - Maria Jose Suarez Miss Spain-Universe (1996)
- 1975 Colour television transmissions begin in Australia.
- 1975 Eagles' "Best of My Love" reaches #1
- 1976 Birth - Maringo Vlijter soccer player (Go Ahead Eagles)
- 1976 Bradford Bishop bludgeons his mother, spouse and three children to death and is still at large.
- 1976 Death - Jean Martinon French conductor/composer, dies at 66
- 1976 The Alberta Government founds Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund with windfall oil royalties
- 1977 Bank of America adopts the name VISA for their credit cards
- 1977 Birth - Rod White Sharon PA, archer (Olympics-gold-1996)
- 1977 US extends territorial waters to 200 miles
- 1978 Charlie Chaplin's coffin is stolen from a Swiss cemetery.
- 1979 Death - Dolores Costello actress (Noah's Ark, Expensive Women), dies at 73
- 1979 Death - Molla Mustafa Barzani Iranian Kurd leader (KDP), dies at 75
- 1979 UK hist 32.5% of Scots vote in favour of devolution (40% needed) – Welsh vote overwhelmingly against
- 1980 Birth - Rose VBL Windsor daughter of English prince Richard
- 1980 Birth - Shahid Afridi cricketer (ton in 37 balls in 1st ODI innings)
- 1980 Death - John Jacob Niles composer, dies at 87
- 1980 Hilbert van der Duim becomes world champion all-round skater
- 1980 Number one hit on UK music charts - Blondie - Atomic
- 1980 Patti Smith & MC5 guitarist Fred Sonic Smith wed in Detroit MI
- 1980 Snow falls in the sunshine state of Florida
- 1980 Voyager 1 probe confirms that Janus (moon of Saturn) exists.
- 1981 Alberta cuts oil production to protest Ottawa's National Energy Policy the federal government replies by a compensation charge as Energy Minister Marc Lalonde matches Alberta cutbacks by a "Lougheed Levy" to subsidize imports
- 1981 Bobby Sands, IRA member, begins 65-day hunger strike in Maze Prison (he dies)
- 1981 IRA member Bobby Sands begins a hunger strike at Northern Ireland's Maze Prison. (Sands died 65 days later.)
- 1981 Sally Little wins LPGA Olympia Gold Golf Classic
- 1982 5 die as ski lift malfunctions a Lúz-Ardiden in Pyrenees
- 1982 5th Emmy Sports Awards presentation
- 1982 New York Times raises its price from 25¢ to 30¢
- 1982 Russian spacecraft Venera 14 lands on Venus, sends back data
- 1983 Swatch introduces its first timepieces.
- 1983 Tamara McKinney becomes first US woman skier to win the World Cup
- 1983 Tornado tears through Louisiana, injuring 33 people
- 1984 Death - Jackie Coogan actor (Uncle Fester-Addams Family), dies at 69
- 1984 NASA launches Landsat-D Prime (Landsat 5) to thematic map the Earth
- 1985 Death - Eugene List US concert pianist, dies at 66
- 1985 Liza Minnelli enters Betty Ford Drug Center
- 1985 Pentagon accepts theory that atomic war would cause a nuclear winter
- 1987 Jane Geddes wins LPGA Women's Kemper Golf Open
- 1988 Courtney Gibbs Eplin, 21, (Texas), crowned 37th Miss USA
- 1988 Death - Jean Le Poulain actor (The Gorillas), dies at 63
- 1988 Death - Joe Besser comedian (3 Stooges, Abbott & Costello), dies at 80
- 1988 Iraq says it launched 16 missiles into Tehran
- 1988 Pontiac announces the end of the Fiero automobile
- 1988 Wayne Gretzky passes Gordie Howe with his record 1,050th NHL assist
- 1989 Ben Johnson's coach testifies Johnson began using steroids in 1981
- 1989 Comet du Toit at perihelion
- 1989 Death - Henk van Stipriaan Dutch radio host, dies at 64
- 1989 Death - Josephine van Gasteren Dutch actress/director (Bluejackets), dies at 72
- 1989 Julianne Phillips & Bruce Springsteen divorce
- 1989 The United States becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
- 1990 Death - Claude Spaak Belgian dramatist, dies
- 1990 Luis Alberto Lacelle sworn in as President of Uruguay
- 1990 Visitor posting - Jaboa Certain was born
- 1990 Steve Jackson Games is raided by the United States Secret Service, prompting the later formation of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
- 1991 Death - Edwin H Land inventor (Polaroid Camera), dies at 81
- 1991 Death - Katharine Blake actress (To Have & To Hold), dies at 62
- 1991 Death - Scott Huston composer, dies at 74
- 1991 US Embassy in Kuwait officially reopens
- 1992 Bosnia and Herzegovina declares its independence from Yugoslavia.
- 1992 Death - Maria Da French actress (Piges), dies at 73
- 1993 Authorities in Waco TX negotiate with Branch Davidians
- 1993 Death - Luis Kutner US co-founder (Amnesty International), dies at 84
- 1993 Death - Terry Frost actor (Waterfront, Dead Man's Trail), dies at 86
- 1993 George Steinbenner is reinstated as owner of New York Yankees
- 1993 Visitor posting - Birth-R&B sensation,Justin Bieber - United Kingdom
- 1993 New expansion NHL team, owned by Disney, is named the Mighty Ducks
- 1993 Visitor posting - Fernando Fernandez was born on this date - USA
- 1994 36th Grammy Awards: I Will Always Love You, Toni Braxton win
- 1994 Death - Eliseo Diego Cuban poet, dies at 74
- 1994 Death - Jacob "Jimmy" Herman Huizinga journalist/writer, dies at 75
- 1994 Death - Manmohan Desai filmmaker, dies at 57
- 1994 Death - Timothy Andrew James Souster composer Musician, dies at 51
- 1994 Death - Walter Kent US composer (I'll Be Home for Christmas), dies at 82
- 1994 Martti Ahtisaari inaugurated as President of Finland
- 1994 Senate rejectes a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution
- 1995 37th Grammy Awards: All I Want to Do, Streets of Philadelphia, Sheryl Crow
- 1995 Belgium ends military conscript
- 1995 Death - Edmund Boyd Fisher publisher, dies at 56
- 1995 Death - Vladislav Listyev Russian TV-journalist, murdered at 38
- 1995 Jozef Oleksy succeeds Waldemar Pawlak on as premier of Poland
- 1995 Julio María Sanguinetti sworn in as President of Uruguay
- 1995 Part of Houston begins using new area code 261
- 1995 Polish Prime Minister Waldemar Pawlak resigns from parliament and is replaced by ex-communist Jzef Oleksy.
- 1995 Visitor posting - Birth-Justin Bieber - United Kingdom
- 1995 Ukraine premier Vitaly Massol, resigns
- 1996 Death - Margaret McKay politician, dies at 85
- 1996 New toll-free 888 area code introduced
- 1996 Plans approved allowing traffic cameras High Harrington & Shap England
- 1997 5th annual ESPY Awards shown on TV
- 2000 Hans Blix assumes the position of Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC.
- 2000 The Constitution of Finland is rewritten.
- 2001 Visitor posting - Alyssa finds imaginary friend "Ciara"
- 2002 The Envisat environmental satellite successfully reaches an orbit 800 kilometers (500 miles) above the Earth on its 11th launch, carrying the heaviest payload to date at 8500 kilograms (9.5 tons).
- 2002 The Peseta is discontinued as official currency of Spain and is replaced with the euro ().
- 2002 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins in eastern Afghanistan.
- 2003 Management of the United States Customs Service and the United States Secret Service move to the United States Department of Homeland Security.
- 2003 Visitor posting - Mar 1, 2003 Ronianne Myers made Stephen J. Squire a happy man by marrying him.
- 2004 Mohammed Bahr al-Uloum becomes President of Iraq.
- 2004 Punycode adopted by the national registrars of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
- 2004 Terry Nichols is convicted of state murder charges and being an accomplice to Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.
- 2005 Absinthe was officially re-legalized in Switzerland.
- 2006 English-language Wikipedia reaches its one millionth article, Jordanhill railway station.
- 2006 Queen Elizabeth II officially opens the new debating chamber for the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff, a milestone in devolution.
- 2006 SEC shuts down 12dailypro.com scam, a $50 million PONZI scheme. Thanks to StormPay, sucker investors may get some of their money back.
- 2006 Tarja Halonen is inaugurated as President of Finland for the second and last time.
- 2006 The first confirmed case of H5N1 bird flu virus in Switzerland, a dead swan on Lake Geneva, near the city of Geneva.
- 2006 UK hist Welsh Assembly Building opened by the Queen
- 2007 "Squatters" are evicted from Ungdomshuset in Copenhagen, Denmark, provoking the March 2007 Denmark Riots.
- 2007 171 Swiss soldiers inadvertently invade Liechtenstein.
- 2007 Tornadoes swarm across the southern United States, killing at least 20; eight of the deaths were at a high school in Enterprise, Alabama.
- 2009 Visitor posting - The day that Faith is to be born
- 2010 Visitor posting - Opening of Rehoboth AFC Grand Rapids, MI - USA
More historical events added daily - keep checking back