83 BC Marcus Antonius, Roman politician, was born (d. 30 BC).
1129 Formal approval of the Order of the Templar at the Council of Troyes.
1301 Andrew III of Hungary died, ending the Arpad dynasty.
1514 Pope Leo X issued a papal bull against slavery
1639 The “Fundamental Orders“, the first written constitution that created a government, was adopted in Connecticut.
1724 – King Philip V of Spain abdicated the throne.
1761 The Third Battle of Panipat between the Afghans under Ahmad Shah Durrani and the Marhatas. The Afghan victory changed the course of Indian History.
1784 United States Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris with Great Britain.
1806 – Charles Hotham, English-Australian soldier and politician, 1st Governor of Victoria, was born (d. 1855)
1814 Treaty of Kiel: Frederick VI of Denmark ceded Norway to Sweden in return for Pomerania.
1845 – Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, English politician, 34th Governor-General of India, was born (d. 1927).
1875 Albert Schweitzer, Alsatian physician, Nobel laureate, was born (d. 1965).
1883 – Nina Ricci, Italian-born French fashion designer (d. 1970)
1886 Hugh Lofting, English author, was born (d. 1947).
1891 Bob Fitzsimmons won the world middleweight boxing title.
1904 Sir Cecil Beaton, English photographer, was born (d. 1980).
1907 An earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica killed more than 1,000.Richard Briers, English actor, was born
1938 – Norway claimed Queen Maud Land in Antarctica.
1940 Sir Trevor Nunn, English theatre director and film director, was born.
1941 Faye Dunaway, American actress, was born
1943 Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill began the Casablanca Conference to discuss strategy and study the next phase of World War II.
1943 – Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first President of the United States to travel via aeroplane while in office when he travelled from Miami, Florida to Morocco to meet with Winston Churchill.
1948 – Malcolm Simpson, a 14-year-old Nelson schoolboy, discovered the oldest fossils ever found in New Zealand.
1950 – The first prototype of the MiG-17 made its maiden flight.
1952 NBC’s long-running morning news program Today debuted, with host Dave Garroway.
1963 – Jim Sullivan began his broadcasting career at 3ZC in Timaru.
1967 The Human Be-In, took place in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, launching the Summer of Love. Between 20,000 to 30,000 people attended.
1970 Diana Ross & The Supremes’ final concert appearance at The Frontier Hotel- Las Vegas
1972 Queen Margrethe II of Denmark ascended the throne, the first Queen of Denmark since 1412 and the first Danish monarch not named Frederick or Christian since 1513.
1994 Samir Patel, American spelling bee winner, was born.
1999 Toronto, Mayor Mel Lastman was the first mayor in Canada to call in the Army to help with emergency medical evacuations and snow removal after more than one meter of snow paralysed the city.
2004 – The national flag of Georgia, the so-called “five cross flag“, was restored to official use after a hiatus of some 500 years.
2005 Landing of the Huygens probe on Saturn’s moon Titan
2010 – Yemen declared an open war against the terrorist group al-Qaeda.
2011 – The former president of Tunisia, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled his country to Saudi Arabia after a series of street demonstrations against his regime and corrupt policies, asking for freedom, rights and democracy, considered as the anniversary of the Tunisian Revolution and the birth of the Arab Spring.
2012 – The Pirate Party of Greece was founded, on the model of theSwedish Pirate Party.
2013 – Hockey India League, a professional field hockey league in India launched.
2015 – Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson completed the first-ever free climb of the Dawn Wall of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.
2016 – Jakarta Attacks: Bomb exploded in Jalan MH Thamrin across Sarinah building in Jakarta, Indonesia, followed by a gun battle between suspected terrorist and local police. Two victims and five perpetrators were killed.
Sourced from NZ History Online, the Otago Daily Times & Wikipedia.