· AD 69 – Vespasian is proclaimed Emperor of Rome; his predecessor, Vitellius, attempts to abdicate but is captured and killed at the Gemonian stairs.^[1]

· 401 – Pope Innocent I is elected.

· 856 – Damghan earthquake: An earthquake near the Persian city of Damghan kills an estimated 200,000 people, the sixth deadliest earthquake in recorded history.^[2]

· 880 – Luoyang, eastern capital of the Tang dynasty, is captured by rebel leader Huang Chao during the reign of Emperor Xizong.

· 1135 – Nearly three weeks after the death of King Henry I of England, Stephen of Blois claims the throne and is privately crowned King of England.^[3]

· 1216 – Pope Honorius III approves the Dominican Order through the papal bull of confirmation Religiosam vitam.

· 1622 – The town of Bucaramanga, Colombia, is founded by Andres Paes de Sotomayor.^[4]

· 1769 – Sino-Burmese War: The war ends with an uneasy truce.

· 1788 – Nguyễn Huệ proclaims himself Emperor Quang Trung, in effect abolishing on his own the Lê dynasty.^[5]

· 1790 – The Turkish fortress of Izmail is stormed and captured by Alexander Suvorov and his Russian armies.

· 1807 – The Embargo Act, forbidding trade with all foreign countries, is passed by the U.S. Congress, at the urging of President Thomas Jefferson.

· 1808 – Ludwig van Beethoven conducts and performs in concert at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna, with the premiere of his Fifth Symphony, Sixth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto (performed by Beethoven himself) and Choral Fantasy (with Beethoven at the piano).

· 1851 – India's first freight train is operated in Roorkee, India.

· 1864 – American Civil War: Savannah, Georgia, falls to the forces of General Sherman.

· 1885 – Itō Hirobumi, a samurai, became the first Prime Minister of Japan.

· 1888 – The Christmas Meeting of 1888, considered to be the official start of the Faroese independence movement.^[6]

· 1890 – Cornwallis Valley Railway begins operation between Kentville and Kingsport, Nova Scotia.

· 1891 – Asteroid 323 Brucia becomes the first asteroid discovered using photography.

· 1894 – The Dreyfus affair begins in France, when Alfred Dreyfus is wrongly convicted of treason.

· 1920 – The GOELRO economic development plan is adopted by the 8th Congress of Soviets of the Russian SFSR.

· 1921 – Opening of Visva-Bharati College, also known as Santiniketan College, now Visva Bharati University, India.

· 1937 – The Lincoln Tunnel opens to traffic in New York City.^[7]

· 1939 – Indian Muslims observe a "Day of Deliverance" to celebrate the resignations of members of the Indian National Congress over their not having been consulted over the decision to enter World War II with the United Kingdom.^[8]

· 1940 – World War II: Himara is captured by the Greek army.

· 1942 – World War II: Adolf Hitler signs the order to develop the V-2 rocket as a weapon.

· 1944 – World War II: Battle of the Bulge: German troops demand the surrender of United States troops at Bastogne, Belgium, prompting the famous one word reply by General Anthony McAuliffe: "Nuts!"

· 1944 – World War II: The Vietnam People's Army is formed to resist Japanese occupation of Indochina, now Vietnam.

· 1948 – Sjafruddin Prawiranegara established the Emergency Government of the Republic of Indonesia (Pemerintah Darurat Republik Indonesia, PDRI) in West Sumatra.

· 1951 – The Selangor Labour Party is founded in Selangor, Malaya.

· 1963 – The cruise ship Lakonia burns 180 miles (290 km) north of Madeira, Portugal with the loss of 128 lives.^[9]

· 1964 – The first test flight of the SR-71 (Blackbird) takes place at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, United States.

· 1965 – In the United Kingdom, a 70 mph speed limit is applied to all rural roads including motorways for the first time.

· 1968 – Cultural Revolution: People's Daily posted the instructions of Mao Zedong that "The intellectual youth must go to the country, and will be educated from living in rural poverty."

· 1974 – Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli vote to become the independent nation of Comoros. Mayotte remains under French administration.

· 1974 – The house of former British Prime Minister Edward Heath is attacked by members of the Provisional IRA.

· 1978 – The pivotal Third Plenum of the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is held in Beijing, with Deng Xiaoping reversing Mao-era policies to pursue a program for Chinese economic reform.

· 1984 – "Subway vigilante" Bernhard Goetz shoots four would-be muggers on an express train in Manhattan section of New York, United States.^[10]

· 1987 – In Zimbabwe, the political parties ZANU and ZAPU reach an agreement that ends the violence in the Matabeleland region known as the Gukurahundi.

· 1989 – Communist President of Romania Nicolae Ceaușescu is overthrown by Ion Iliescu after days of bloody confrontations. The deposed dictator and his wife flee Bucharest in a helicopter as protesters erupt in cheers.

· 1989 – Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany.

· 1990 – Lech Wałęsa is elected President of Poland.

· 1990 – Final independence of Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia after termination of trusteeship.

· 1996 – Airborne Express Flight 827 crashes near Narrows, Virginia, killing all six people on board.^[11]

· 1997 – Acteal massacre: Attendees at a prayer meeting of Roman Catholic activists for indigenous causes in the small village of Acteal in the Mexican state of Chiapas are massacred by paramilitary forces.

· 1997 – Hussein Farrah Aidid relinquishes the disputed title of President of Somalia by signing the Cairo Declaration, in Cairo, Egypt. It is the first major step towards reconciliation in Somalia since 1991.

· 1999 – Just after taking off from London Stansted Airport, Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509 crashes into Hatfield Forest near Great Hallingbury, killing all four people on board.^[12]

· 2001 – Burhanuddin Rabbani, political leader of the Northern Alliance, hands over power in Afghanistan to the interim government headed by President Hamid Karzai.

· 2001 – Richard Reid attempts to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines Flight 63.

· 2008 – An ash dike ruptured at a solid waste containment area in Roane County, Tennessee, releasing 1.1 billion US gallons (4,200,000 m³) of coal fly ash slurry.

· 2010 – The repeal of the Don't ask, don't tell policy, the 17-year-old policy banning homosexuals serving openly in the United States military, is signed into law by President Barack Obama.

· 2012 – Bashir Ahmad Bilour of Awami National Party and eight others are killed in a Pakistan Taliban bomber suicide attack in Dhaki Nalbandi area near Qissa Khwani Bazaar.^[13]

· 2016 – A study finds the VSV-EBOV vaccine against the Ebola virus between 70-100% effective, and thus making it the first proven vaccine against the disease.

· 2017 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 2397 against North Korea is unanimously approved.

· 2018 – A tsunami caused by an eruption of Anak Krakatau in Indonesia killed at least 430 people and injured almost a thousand more.

Births[edit]

· 244 – Diocletian, Roman emperor (d. 311)^[14]

· 948 – Gang Gam-chan, Korean official and general (d. 1031)

· 1095 – Roger II of Sicily (d. 1154)^[15]

· 1178 – Emperor Antoku of Japan (d. 1185)

· 1183 – Chagatai Khan, Mongol ruler (d. 1242)

· 1300 – Khutughtu Khan Kusala, Mongolian emperor (d. 1329)

· 1459 – Sultan Cem, Ottoman politician (d. 1495)

· 1546 – Kuroda Yoshitaka, Japanese daimyō (d. 1604)

· 1550 – Cesare Cremonini, Italian philosopher and author (d. 1631)

· 1569 – Étienne Martellange, French architect (d. 1641)

· 1591 – Tommaso Dingli, Maltese architect and sculptor (d. 1666)

· 1639 – Jean Racine, French poet and playwright (d. 1699)

· 1666 – Guru Gobind Singh, Indian guru and poet (d. 1708)

· 1694 – Hermann Samuel Reimarus, German philosopher and academic (d. 1768)

· 1696 – James Oglethorpe, English general and politician, 1st Colonial Governor of Georgia (d. 1785)

· 1723 – Carl Friedrich Abel, German viol player and composer (d. 1787)

· 1765 – Johann Friedrich Pfaff, German mathematician and academic (d. 1825)

· 1799 – Nicholas Callan, Irish priest and physicist (d. 1864)

· 1805 – John Obadiah Westwood, English entomologist and archaeologist (d. 1893)

· 1807 – Johan Sebastian Welhaven, Norwegian author, poet, and critic (d. 1873)

· 1819 – Franz Abt, German composer and conductor (d. 1870)

· 1819 – Pierre Ossian Bonnet, French mathematician and academic (d. 1892)

· 1839 – John Nevil Maskelyne, English magician (d. 1917)

· 1850 – Victoriano Huerta, Mexican general and politician, 35th President of Mexico (d. 1916)

· 1853 – Teresa Carreño, Venezuelan-American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1917)

· 1853 – Evgraf Fedorov, Russian mathematician, crystallographer, and mineralogist (d. 1919)

· 1853 – Sarada Devi, Indian mystic and philosopher (d. 1920)

· 1856 – Frank B. Kellogg, American lawyer and politician, 45th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1937)

· 1858 – Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer and educator (d. 1924)

· 1862 – Connie Mack, American baseball player and manager (d. 1956)

· 1865 – Charles Sands, American golfer and tennis player (d. 1945)

· 1868 – Jaan Tõnisson, Estonian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Estonia (d. 1941?)

· 1869 – Dmitri Egorov, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1931)

· 1869 – Edwin Arlington Robinson, American poet and playwright (d. 1935)

· 1872 – Camille Guérin, French veterinarian and bacteriologist (d. 1961)

· 1874 – Franz Schmidt, Austrian cellist, pianist, and composer (d. 1939)

· 1876 – Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Egyptian-Italian poet and composer (d. 1944)

· 1878 – Myer Prinstein, Polish-American jumper (d. 1925)

· 1883 – Marcus Hurley, American cyclist (d. 1941)

· 1883 – Edgard Varèse, French-American composer (d. 1965)

· 1884 – St. Elmo Brady, African American chemist and educator (d. 1966)

· 1885 – Deems Taylor, American conductor and critic (d. 1966)

· 1887 – Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician and theorist (d. 1920)

· 1888 – J. Arthur Rank, 1st Baron Rank, English businessman, founded Rank Organisation (d. 1972)

· 1889 – George Hutson, English runner and soldier (d. 1914)

· 1892 – Herman Potočnik, Croatian-Austrian engineer (d. 1929)

· 1898 – Vladimir Fock, Russian physicist and mathematician (d. 1974)

· 1899 – Gustaf Gründgens, German actor and director (d. 1963)

· 1900 – Marc Allégret, French director and screenwriter (d. 1973)

· 1901 – Andre Kostelanetz, Russian-American conductor and composer (d. 1980)

· 1903 – Haldan Keffer Hartline, American physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1983)

· 1905 – Pierre Brasseur, French-Italian actor and screenwriter (d. 1972)

· 1905 – Pierre Levegh, French ice hockey player and race car driver (d. 1955)

· 1905 – Kenneth Rexroth, American poet, translator, and academic (d. 1982)

· 1907 – Peggy Ashcroft, English actress (d. 1991)

· 1908 – Giacomo Manzù, Italian sculptor and academic (d. 1991)

· 1909 – Patricia Hayes, English actress (d. 1998)

· 1911 – Danny O'Dea, English actor (d. 2003)

· 1912 – Elias Degiannis, Greek commander (d. 1943)

· 1912 – Lady Bird Johnson, American beautification activist; 38th First Lady of the United States (d. 2007)

· 1913 – Giorgio Oberweger, Italian discus thrower and hurdler (d. 1998)

· 1915 – Barbara Billingsley, American actress (d. 2010)

· 1915 – Phillip Glasier, English author and academic (d. 2000)

· 1917 – Gene Rayburn, American game show host and actor (d. 1999)

· 1921 – Dimitri Fampas, Greek guitarist and composer (d. 1996)

· 1921 – Hawkshaw Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1963)

· 1922 – Ruth Roman, American actress (d. 1999)

· 1922 – Jim Wright, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 56th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 2015)

· 1923 – Peregrine Worsthorne, English journalist and author

· 1924 – Frank Corsaro, American actor and director (d. 2017)

· 1925 – Lewis Glucksman, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2006)

· 1925 – Lefter Küçükandonyadis, Turkish footballer and manager (d. 2012)

· 1926 – Alcides Ghiggia, Italian-Uruguayan footballer and manager (d. 2015)

· 1926 – Roberta Leigh (Rita Shulman Lewin), British writer, artist and TV producer (d. 2014)

· 1928 – Fredrik Barth, German-Norwegian anthropologist and academic (d. 2016)

· 1929 – Wazir Mohammad, Indian-Pakistani cricketer

· 1930 – Ardalion Ignatyev, Russian sprinter and educator (d. 1998)

· 1931 – Gisela Birkemeyer, German hurdler and coach

· 1931 – Carlos Graça, São Toméan lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe (d. 2013)

· 1932 – Phil Woosnam, Welsh soccer player and manager (d. 2013)

· 1933 – John Hartle, English motorcycle racer (d. 1968)

· 1934 – David Pearson, American race car driver (d. 2018)

· 1935 – Paulo Rocha, Portuguese director and screenwriter (d. 2012)

· 1936 – James Burke, Irish historian and author

· 1936 – Héctor Elizondo, American actor and director

· 1937 – Charlotte Lamb, English author (d. 2000)

· 1937 – Eduard Uspensky, Russian author, poet, and playwright (d. 2018)

· 1937 – Ken Whitmore, English author and playwright

· 1938 – Matty Alou, Dominican-American baseball player and scout (d. 2011)

· 1938 – Lucien Bouchard, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Premier of Quebec

· 1938 – Red Steagall, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and poet

· 1940 – Luis Francisco Cuéllar, Colombian rancher and politician (d. 2009)

· 1940 – Mike Molloy, English journalist, author, and illustrator

· 1942 – Jerry Koosman, American baseball player

· 1942 – Dick Parry, English saxophonist

· 1943 – Stefan Janos, Slovak-Swiss physicist and academic

· 1943 – Paul Wolfowitz, American banker and politician, 25th United States Deputy Secretary of Defense

· 1944 – Mary Archer, English chemist and academic

· 1944 – Steve Carlton, American baseball player

· 1944 – Barry Jenkins, English drummer

· 1945 – Frances Lannon, English historian and academic

· 1945 – Sam Newman, Australian footballer and sportscaster

· 1945 – Diane Sawyer, American journalist

· 1946 – Roger Carr, English businessman

· 1946 – C. Eugene Steuerle, American economist and author

· 1947 – Brian Daley, American author and screenwriter (d. 1996)

· 1947 – Dilip Doshi, Indian cricketer

· 1948 – Steve Garvey, American baseball player and sportscaster

· 1948 – Don Kardong, American runner, journalist, and author

· 1948 – Rick Nielsen, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

· 1948 – Chris Old, English cricketer and coach

· 1948 – Lynne Thigpen, American actress and singer (d. 2003)

· 1949 – Maurice Gibb, Manx-English singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2003)

· 1949 – Robin Gibb, Manx-English singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2012)

· 1949 – Ray Guy, American football player

· 1951 – Lasse Bengtsson, Swedish journalist

· 1951 – Charles de Lint, Dutch-Canadian author and critic

· 1951 – Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster, Anglo-Irish Territorial Army general, landowner, businessman, philanthropist, and hereditary peer (d. 2016)

· 1951 – Jan Stephenson, Australian golfer

· 1952 – Sandra Kalniete, Latvian politician and diplomat, Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs

· 1953 – Ian Turnbull, Canadian ice hockey player

· 1953 – Tom Underwood, American baseball player (d. 2010)

· 1954 – Hideshi Matsuda, Japanese race car driver

· 1954 – Derick Parry, Nevisian cricketer

· 1955 – Galina Murašova, Lithuanian discus thrower

· 1955 – Lonnie Smith, American baseball player

· 1955 – Thomas C. Südhof, German-American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

· 1956 – Jane Lighting, English businesswoman

· 1957 – Stephen Conway, English bishop

· 1957 – Carole James, English-Canadian educator and politician