Events

Up to 1950 
 138 – Roman Emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius, effectively making him his heir.
 493 - Odoacer surrenders Ravenna after a 3-year siege and agrees to a mediated peace with Theodoric the Great.
 1336 - 4,000 defenders of the Pilenai commit mass suicide rather than be taken captive by the Teutonic Knights.
 1489 - Charles VIII of France recognizes Monaco as an independent state.
 1570 – Pope Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I of England.
 1793 - George Washington holds the first cabinet meeting held by a President of the United States.
 1831 - Battle of Oloynka Grochowska, part of the Polish November Uprising against the Russian Empire.
 1836 – Samuel Colt is granted a US patent for the Colt revolver.
 1837 - Thomas Davenport gets the first patent for an electric motor.
 1843 - Provisional Cessation of the Hawaiian or Sandwich Islands is established by Lord George Paulet.
 1848 - The Provisional Government in revolutionary France, by Louis Blanc's motion, guarantees workers right.
 1856 – A peace conference begins in Paris after the Crimean War.
 1866 - Miners at Calaveras County, California, discover what is now called the Calaveras Skull.
 1870 – Hiram Rhodes Revels becomes the first African American to serve in the US Congress.
 1875 - Guangxu Emperor of China begins his reign, under Empress Dowager Cixi's regency.
 1901 - J. P. Morgan incorporates the United States Steel Corporation.
 1912 - Marie-Adelaide, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, at age 17, becomes the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.
 1916 - World War I: The Germans capture Fort Douaumont during the Battle of Verdun.
 1917 – The British steamship RMS Laconia is sunk by a German U-boat off the south coast of Ireland, killing 12 people.
 1921 – Tbilisi, capital city of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, is occupied by Bolshevist Russia.
 1932 - Adolf Hitler is given German citizenship.
 1933 - The USS Ranger is launched. it is the first US ship built only as an aircraft carrier.
 1941 - February Strike: In occupied Amsterdam, a general strike is declared in response to increased anti-Jewish measures by the Nazis.
 1945 - World War II: Turkey declares war on Germany.
 1947 – The State of Prussia ceases to exist.
 1948 - The Communist Party takes control of Czechoslovakia.

From 1951 
 1951 – The first Pan American Games are held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
 1954 – Gamal Abdel Nasser becomes President of Egypt.
 1956 – Nikita Krushchev denounces the cult of personality of Joseph Stalin.
 1964 – Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, becomes heavyweight boxing champion, defeating Sonny Liston.
 1968 – South Korean troops kill 135 people in Vietnam.
 1969 - In Prague, Jan Zajic sets himself on fire in an act of protest against the Communist government. He dies of his injuries.
 1975 - Muhammad Abdullah becomes Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
 1980 – Suriname's government is overthrown in a coup in the capital city Paramaribo.
 1981 – Adolfo Suárez leaves office as Prime Minister of Spain.
 1983 – The Statute of Autonomy for the Canary Islands is approved.
 1986 – People Power Revolution: In the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos is forced to resign after a rule of over 20 years. Corazon Aquino becomes President, the first Asian woman in that position.
 1988 – Roh Tae-woo becomes President of South Korea.
 1990 - Violeta Chamorro is elected President of Nicaragua, defeating Daniel Ortega.
 1991 - End of the Warsaw Pact.
 1991 – Gulf War: An Iraqi scud missile hits a US military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killing 28 reservists from Pennsylvania.
 1992 – Khojaly Massacre: Armenian forces kill 613 Azerbaijani civilians in Nagorno Karabakh.
 1994 – In the West Bank town of Hebron, Baruch Goldstein kills 29 Palestinian worshippers, before being killed.
 1995 - The first Screen Actors Guild Awards are given in Los Angeles, California.
 1997 - Yi Han-yong, a North Korean defector, is murdered by unidentified assailants in Bundang, South Korea.
 2001 - Non-reformed Communists win the election in Moldova.
 2001 - Pedro Pires is elected President of the Cape Verde Islands.
 2003 – Roh Moo-hyun becomes President of South Korea.
 2008 – Lee Myung-bak becomes President of South Korea.
 2009 – Bangladeshi Border Guards kill 74 people in Dhaka, including 57 army officers and family.
 2009 – Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 crashes near Amsterdam, killing 9 people.
 2010 – Viktor Yanukovych becomes President of Ukraine, succeeding Viktor Yushchenko.
 2011 – The Fianna Fail-led government in the Republic of Ireland, under Brian Cowen, suffers a heavy defeat in the general election. Enda Kenny is elected to serve as the next Taoiseach.
 2013 - Park Geunhye becomes the first female President of South Korea.
 2015 - Avalanches in Northeastern Afghanistan kill 310 people.
 2018 - The 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, end.

Births

Up to 1900 
 1337 - Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg (d. 1383)
 1398 – Emperor Xuande of China (d. 1435)
 1552 - Magdalene of Lippe (d. 1587)
 1591 – Friedrich von Spee, German writer (d. 1635)
 1643 – Ahmed II, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1695)
 1651 - Johann Philipp Krieger, German baroque composer and organist (d. 1725)
 1682 - Giovanni Battista Morgagni, Italian anatomist (d. 1771)
 1707 – Carlo Goldoni, Italian writer (d. 1793)
 1708 - Felix Benda, Bohemian composer and organist (d. 1768)
 1714 – Rene Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou, French chancellor (d. 1792)
 1727 - Armand-Louis Couperin, French composer (d. 1789)
 1728 - John Wood, the Younger, English architect (d. 1782)
 1752 – John Graves Simcoe, British territorial governor of Upper Canada (d. 1806)
 1755 - François René Mallarmé, French lawyer and politician (d. 1835)
 1778 – Jose de San Martin, Argentine independence leader, hero in many South American countries (d. 1850)
 1812 - Carl Christian Hall, Danish statesman (d. 1888)
 1816 - Giovanni Morelli, Italian art critic and political figure (d. 1891)
 1833 – John St. John, Governor of Kansas (d. 1916)
 1841 – Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French impressionist painter (d. 1919)
 1842 – Karl May, German writer (d. 1912)
 1845 – George Reid, 4th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1918)
 1848 - William II of Württemberg (d. 1921)
 1856 - Karl Gotthard Lamprecht, German historian (d. 1915)
 1857 - Robert Bond, 1st Prime Minister of Newfoundland (d. 1927)
 1859 - John Burke, Governor of North Dakota (d. 1937)
 1861 – Rudolf Steiner, Austrian philosopher and educator (d. 1925)
 1865 - Andranik Ozanian, Armenian general, rebel leader and activist (d. 1923)
 1866 - Benedetto Croce, Italian philosopher, humanist, historian and politician (d. 1952)
 1871 – Lesya Ukrainka, Ukrainian writer and poet (d. 1913)
 1873 – Enrico Caruso, Italian tenor (d. 1921)
 1881 - Alexei Rykov, Soviet politician (d. 1938)
 1881 - William Z. Foster, American labour organiser and politician (d. 1961)
 1883 - Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (d. 1981)
 1885 – Princess Alice of Battenberg (d. 1969)
 1888 – John Foster Dulles, 52nd United States Secretary of State (d. 1959)
 1889 - Homer S. Ferguson, United States Senator for Michigan (d. 1982)
 1890 – Myra Hess, English pianist (d. 1965)
 1890 – Vyacheslav Molotov, Soviet politician (d. 1986)
 1894 - Meher Baba, Indian spiritual figure (d. 1969)

1901  1950 
 1901 – Zeppo Marx, American actor (d. 1979)
 1902 - Virginio Rosetta, Italian footballer (d. 1975)
 1903 - King Clancy, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1986)
 1906 - Boris Papandopulo, Croatia composer and conductor (d. 1991)
 1906 - Domingo Ortega, Spanish matador (d. 1988)
 1910 - Millicent Fenwick, American politician (d. 1992)
 1913 – Jim Backus, American actor (d. 1989)
 1913 - Gert Fröbe, American actor (d. 1988)
 1917 – Anthony Burgess, English writer (d. 1993)
 1918 - Barney Ewell, American runner (d. 1996)
 1918 – Bobby Riggs, American tennis player (d. 1995)
 1919 - Monte Irvin, American baseball player (d. 2016)
 1919 - Karl H. Pribram, Austrian-American professor (d. 2015)
 1920 - Sun Myung Moon, Korean religious leader (d. 2012)
 1921 – Pierre Laporte, Canadian statesman (d. 1970)
 1922 - Molly Bobak, Canadian writer, painter and printmaker (d. 2014)
 1924 - Hugh Huxley, British biologist
 1927 - Dick Jones, American actor (d. 2014)
 1927 - Ralph Stanley, American singer (d. 2016)
 1928 – Larry Gelbart, American screenwriter (d. 2009)
 1929 - Tommy Newsom, American bandleader (d. 2007)
 1930 - Wendy Beckett, British nun, historian and broadcaster
 1932 – Tony Brooks, British racing driver
 1935 – Sally Jessy Raphael, American talk show host
 1936 - Jorge Jacobson, Argentine journalist and writer (d. 2014)
 1937 – Tom Courtenay, British actor
 1937 – Bob Schieffer, American broadcast journalist
 1938 - Malcolm Tierney, British actor (d. 2014)
 1940 – Ron Santo, American baseball player (d. 2010)
 1941 - Pierluigi Cera, Italian footballer
 1943 – George Harrison, English songwriter, guitarist and member of the Beatles (d. 2001)
 1943 – Wilson da Silva Piazza, Brazilian footballer
 1943 - Boediono, 11th Vice President of Indonesia
 1946 - Jan Groth, Norwegian singer and keyboardist (d. 2014)
 1946 - Jean Todt, French Formula One executive
 1946 - Elkie Brooks, British singer
 1947 - Giuseppe Betori, Archbishop of Florence
 1947 - Marc Sautet, French writer, teacher, and philosopher (d. 1998)
 1947 – Lee Evans, American athlete
 1947 - Doug Yule, American musician
 1950 – Néstor Kirchner, President of Argentina (d. 2010)
 1950 - Francisco Fernandez Ochoa, Spanish alpine skier (d. 2006)
 1950 - Neil Jordan, Irish movie director, screenwriter and novelist

1951  1975 
 1951 – Don Quarrie, Jamaican runner
 1952 - Joey Dunlop, British motorcycle racer (d. 2000)
 1953 – Jose Maria Aznar, Spanish politician, former Prime Minister of Spain
 1953 - Kim Yeong-cheol, South Korean actor
 1954 - Gerardo Pelusso, Uruguayan football manager
 1955 – Camille Thériault, Canadian politician, 29th Premier of New Brunswick
 1956 - Andres Ammas, Estonian politician (d. 2018)
 1957 - Chuck Strahl, Canadian politician
 1958 - Kevin Gray, American actor
 1958 – Kurt Rambis, American basketball player
 1959 - Mike Peters, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist
 1961 - Chris Pitman, American keyboardist
 1962 - Birgit Fischer, German kayaker
 1962 - Mark Heenehan, British theatre actor
 1964 – Lee Evans, British comedian
 1964 - Luigi Troiani, Italian rugby player
 1965 - Sylvie Guillem, French ballet dancer
 1965 - Carrot Top, American comedian
 1965 - Veronica Webb, American supermodel and actress
 1967 - Jonathan Freedland, British journalist and writer
 1967 – Ed Balls, British politician
 1971 – Sean Astin, American actor
 1971 - Sean O'Haire, American professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and kick boxer (d. 2014)
 1971 - Christien Anholt, British actor
 1973 – Julio Iglesias, Jr., Spanish singer
 1974 - Kevin Skinner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 1975 – Chelsea Handler, American comedienne and actress
 1975 - Naga Munchetty, British television news presenter

From 1976 
 1976 - Rashida Jones, American actress
 1977 - Sarah Jezebel Deva, English singer-songwriter
 1978 - Yazid Mansouri, Algerian footballer
 1978 - Yuji Nakazawa, Japanese footballer
 1981 – Shahid Kapoor, Indian actor
 1981 – Park Ji-Sung, South Korean footballer
 1982 – Chris Baird, Northern Irish footballer
 1982 - Bert McCracken, American musician
 1982 - Flavia Pennetta, Italian tennis player
 1982 - Maria Kanellis, American professional wrestler
 1983 – Eduardo da Silva, Brazilian-Croatian footballer
 1984 - Xing Huina, Chinese athlete
 1984 – Craig Mackail-Smith, British footballer
 1985 – Joakim Noah, American basketball player
 1986 - Jameela Jamil, British television and radio presenter
 1986 - James Phelps, British actor
 1986 - Oliver Phelps, British actor
 1987 - Justin Abdelkader, American ice hockey player
 1987 - Mevlut Erdinc, Turkish footballer
 1988 - Luca Di Matteo, Italian footballer
 1989 - Kana Hanazawa, Japanese voice actress
 1990 - Alejandra Andreu, Spanish model
 1990 - Younès Belhanda, Moroccan footballer
 1992 - Max Aaron, American figure skater
 1993 - Christina Kirkman, American actress
 1994 - Eugenie Bouchard, Canadian tennis player
 1995 - Francesca Michielin, Italian singer
 1997 – Isabelle Fuhrman, American actress
 1998 – Brendon Baerg, American actor

Deaths

Up to 1900 
 1246 – Dafydd ap Llywelyn, King of Gwynedd
 1495 - Sultan Cem, pretender to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1459)
 1547 - Vittoria Colonna, Italian poet (b. 1492)
 1553 - Hirate Masahide, Japanese diplomat (b. 1492)
 1558 – Eleanor of Austria, Queen of Portugal and France (b. 1498)
 1601 - Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, English politician (b. 1566)
 1634 – Albrecht von Wallenstein, Austrian general (b. 1583)
 1643 - Marco da Gagliano, Italian composer (b. 1582)
 1655 – Daniel Heinsius, Flemish scholar (b. 1580)
 1682 - Alessandro Stradella, Italian composer (b. 1639)
 1713 – King Frederick I of Prussia (b. 1657)
 1715 - Pu Songling, Chinese writer (b. 1640)
 1723 – Christopher Wren, English architect (b. 1632)
 1819 - Francisco Manoel de Nascimento, Portuguese poet (b. 1734)
 1822 - William Pinkney, American statesman and diplomat (b. 1764) 
 1831 – Friedrich Maximilian Klinger, German writer (b. 1752)
 1841 - Philip Pendleton Barbour, American politician (b. 1783)
 1850 – Daoguang, Emperor of China (b. 1782)
 1852 – Thomas Moore, Irish poet (b. 1779)
 1864 – Anna Harrison, shortest-serving First Lady of the United States (b. 1775)
 1865 - Otto Ludwig, German writer (b. 1813)
 1877 - Jang Bahadur Rana, Nepalese ruler (b. 1816)
 1894 - Steele MacKaye, American playwright, actor and inventor (b. 1842)
 1899 – Paul Julius Reuter, German journalist (b. 1816)

1901  2000 
 1912 – Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (b. 1852)
 1922 - Henri Désiré Landru, French serial killer (b. 1869)
 1945 - Mario de Andrade, Brazilian writer and photographer (b. 1893)
 1950 – George Minot, American physician (b. 1885)
 1953 - Sergei Winogradsky, Russian scientist (b. 1856)
 1957 – Bugs Moran, American gangster (b. 1893)
 1964 - Kenneth Lee Spencer, American opera singer and actor (b. 1913)
 1964 - Alexander Archipenko, Ukrainian artist and sculptor (b. 1887)
 1969 - Jan Zajic, Czechoslovakian student (b. 1950)
 1970 – Mark Rothko, Latvian-American painter (b. 1903)
 1971 – Theodor Svedberg, Swedish chemist (b. 1884)
 1975 – Elijah Muhammad, American Muslim leader, Nation of Islam (b. 1897)
 1983 – Tennessee Williams, American playwright (b. 1911)
 1993 - Eddie Constantine, American-born actor and singer (b. 1917)
 1994 – Baruch Goldstein, Israeli army officer (b. 1956)
 1997 - Cal Abrams, American baseball player (b. 1924)
 1997 - Yi Han-yong, North Korean defector
 1999 – Glenn T. Seaborg, American chemist (b. 1912)

From 2001 
 2001 – Sir Donald Bradman, Australian cricketer (b. 1908)
 2003 – Alberto Sordi, Italian actor (b. 1920)
 2004 - Donald Hings, Canadian inventor (b. 1907)
 2005 - Peter Benenson, English founder of Amnesty International (b. 1921)
 2005 - Leo Labine, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1931)
 2005 - Edward Patten, American singer (b. 1939)
 2009 – Philip Jose Farmer, American writer (b. 1918)
 2012 – Maurice André, French classical trumpeter (b. 1933)
 2012 – Red Holloway, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1927)
 2012 – Erland Josephson, Swedish actor (b. 1923)
 2012 – Louisiana Red, American blues musician (b. 1932)
 2013 - Ray O'Connor, 22nd Premier of Western Australia (b. 1926)
 2013 - C. Everett Koop, American politician and spokesperson (b. 1916)
 2014 - Chokwe Lumumba, American politician, Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi (b. 1947)
 2014 - Mario Coluna, Brazilian footballer (b. 1935)
 2014 - Paco de Lucia, Spanish flamenco guitarist, composer and producer (b. 1947)
 2015 - Eugenie Clark, American zoologist and professor (b. 1922)
 2015 - Terry Gill, Australian actor (b. 1939)
 2015 - Marian Szeja, Polish footballer (b. 1941)
 2016 - François Dupeyron, French movie director and screenwriter (b. 1950)
 2016 - Alfred E. Mann, American entrepreneur and philanthropist (b. 1925)
 2016 - Tony Burton, American actor (b. 1937)
 2016 - Jim Clark, English movie editor (b. 1931)
 2017 - Hassan Al-Jundi, Moroccan actor (b. 1939)
 2017 - Neil Fingleton, English basketball player and actor (b. 1980)
 2017 - Bill Paxton, American actor (b. 1955)
 2017 - Jack Pope, American judge, attorney and author (b. 1913)
 2017 - Toshio Nakanishi, Japanese musician (b. 1956)
 2017 - Boaz Vaadia, Israeli-born American sculptor (b. 1951)
 2018 - Ainsley Gotto, Australian political staffer and interior designer (b. 1946)

Observances
 National Day (Kuwait)
 People Power Day (Philippines)
 Soviet Occupation Day (Republic of Georgia)
 Memorial Day for Victims of the Communist dictatorships (Hungary)

Days of the year