• 474 - Zeno crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
• 1555 - Bishop of Gloucester John Hooper is burned at the stake.
• 1621 - Gregory XV becomes Pope, the last Pope elected by acclamation.
• 1775 - American Revolutionary War: British Parliament declares Massachusetts in rebellion.
• 1788 - The Habsburg Empire joins the Russo-Turkish War in the Russian camp.
• 1822 - Haiti invades the newly founded Dominican Republic.
• 1825 - After no presidential candidate received a majority of electoral votes, the United States House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams President of the United States.
• 1861 - American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is elected the Provisional President of the Confederate States of America by the Confederate convention at Montgomery, Alabama.
• 1870 - The U.S. Weather Bureau was established.
• 1885 - The first Japanese arrive in Hawaii.
• 1889 - The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is established as a Cabinet-level agency.
• 1895 - William G. Morgan modifies Mintonette to volleyball.
• 1900 - Davis Cup competition is established.
• 1904 - Russo–Japanese War: Battle of Port Arthur
• 1920 - By the terms of the Svalbard Treaty, international diplomacy recognizes Norwegian sovereignty over Arctic archipelago Svalbard, and designates it as demilitarized.
• 1922 - Brazil becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
• 1934 - The Balkan Entente is formed.
• 1942 - World War II: Top United States military leaders hold their first formal meeting to discuss American military strategy in the war.
• 1942 - Daylight saving time goes into effect in the United States.
• 1943 - World War II: Allied authorities declare Guadalcanal secure after Imperial Japan evacuates its remaining forces from the island, ending the Battle of Guadalcanal.
• 1945 - The Battle of the Atlantic the HMS Venturer sinking U-Boat 864 off the coast of Norway.
• 1950 - Second Red Scare: Senator Joseph McCarthy accuses the United States State Department of being filled with Communists.
• 1960 - Joanne Woodward receives the first star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• 1962 - Jamaica becomes independent nation within the Commonwealth of Nations.
• 1964 - The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing before a "record-busting" audience of 73 million viewers.
• 1965 - Vietnam War: The first United States combat troops are sent to South Vietnam.
• 1969 - First test flight of the Boeing 747.
• 1971 - The 6.4 on the Richter Scale Sylmar earthquake hits the San Fernando Valley area of California.
• 1971 - Satchel Paige becomes the first Negro League player to be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
• 1971 - Apollo program: Apollo 14 returns to Earth after the third manned moon landing.
• 1973 - Biju Patnaik of the Pragati Legislature Party elected leader of opposition in the state assembly in Orissa, India.
• 1975 - The Soyuz 17 Soviet spacecraft returns to Earth.
• 1986 - Comet Halley reaches perihelion, its closest approach to the sun, during its second visit to the inner solar system in the 20th century.
• 1991 - Voters in Lithuania vote for independence.
• 1994 - Vance-Owen peace plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina is announced.
• 1995 - Space Shuttle astronauts Bernard A. Harris, Jr. and Michael Foale become the first African American and first Briton, respectively, to perform spacewalks.
• 1996 - The Irish Republican Army declares the end of its 18 month ceasefire shortly followed by a large bomb in London's Canary Wharf.
• 2001 - The American submarine USS Greeneville accidentally strikes and sinks the Ehime-Maru, a Japanese training vessel operated by the Uwajima Fishery High School.

Births