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1249 - Andrew of Longjumeau was dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khan of the Mongols.

1279 - Afonso III of Portugal dies. His son Denis succeeds the Portuguese throne.

1568 - The entire population of the Netherlands - three million people - was sentenced to death by the Roman Catholic Church for heresy; see Eighty Years' War.

1742 - Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, becomes British Prime Minister.

1804 - First Barbary War: Stephen Decatur leads a raid to burn the pirate-held frigate USS ''Philadelphia''.

1838 - Weenen Massacre: Hundreds of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal were killed by Zulus.

1852 - Studebaker Brothers wagon company, precursor of the automobile manufacturer, is established.

1857 - The National Deaf Mute College (later renamed Gallaudet University) is established in Washington, DC, becoming the first school for the advanced education of the deaf.

1859 - The French Government passes a law to set the A-note above middle C to a frequency of 435 Hz, in an attempt to standardize the pitch.

1862 - American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Donelson, Tennessee.

1866 - Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington becomes the British Secretary of State for War

1868 - In New York City the Jolly Corks organization is renamed the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE).

1883 - Ladies Home Journal is published for the first time.

1899 - President Félix Faure of France dies in office.

1918 - Lithuania declares its independence from both Russia and Germany.

1923 - Howard Carter unseals the burial chamber of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.

1934 - Austrian Civil War ends with the defeat of the Social Democrats and the Republican Schutzbund

1934 - Commission of Government sworn in as form of direct rule for the Dominion of Newfoundland.

1936 - Elections bring the Popular Front to power in Spain.

1937 - Wallace H. Carothers receives a patent for nylon.

1940 - Altmark Incident: The German tanker ''Altmark'', with 299 British prisoners, is boarded in neutral Norwegian waters by sailors from the British destroyer HMS ''Cossack'' and the prisoners set free, a breach of Norwegian neutrality at the beginning of World War II.

1943 - World War II: USSR reconquers Kharkov.

1945 - World War II: American forces land on Corregidor island in the Philippines.

1945 - American forces recapture the Bataan Peninsula.

1959 - Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba after President Fulgencio Batista was overthrown on January 1.

1961 - Explorer program: Explorer 9 (S-56a) launched.

1968 - In Haleyville, Alabama the first 9-1-1 emergency telephone system goes into service.

1972 - NBA basketball player Wilt Chamberlain scores 30,000th point.

1978 - The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago, Illinois).

1983 - The Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria and South Australia claim the lives of 71 people in Australia's worst ever fires.

1985 - The founding of Hezbollah.

1986 - The Soviet liner Mikhail Lermontov runs aground in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand.

1987 - The trial of John Demjanjuk, accused of being a Nazi guard dubbed "Ivan the Terrible" in Treblinka extermination camp, starts in Jerusalem.

1991 - Gulf War: U.S. and UK war planes bomb the suburbs of Baghdad, injuring at least 11 civilians and killing three others.

1998 - China Airlines Flight 676 crashed into a residential area near by Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, killing 202 people, included all 196 on board and six on the ground.

1999 - In Uzbekistan a bomb explodes and gunfire is heard at the government headquarters in an apparent assassination attempt against President Islam Karimov.

1999 - Across Europe, Kurdish rebels take over embassies and hold hostages after Turkey arrested one of their rebel leaders, Abdullah Öcalan.

2005 - The Kyoto Protocol comes into force, following its ratification by Russia.

2005 - The National Hockey League cancels the entire 2004-2005 regular season and playoffs, becoming the first major sports league in North America to do so over a labor dispute.

2006 - The last Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) is decommissioned by the United States Army.

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1032 - Emperor Yingzong of China (d. 1067)

1222 - Nichiren, Japanese founder of Nichiren Buddhism (d. 1282)

1497 - Philipp Melanchthon, German humanist and reformer (d. 1560)

1519 - Gaspard de Coligny, French Huguenot leader (d. 1572)

1543 - Kano Eitoku, Japanese painter (d. 1590)

1620 - Friedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburg, Duke of Prussia (d. 1688)

1643 - John Sharp, English Archbishop of York (d. 1714)

1698 - Pierre Bouguer, French mathematician (d. 1758)

1710 - King Louis XV of France (d. 1774)

1727 - Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, Austrian scientist (d. 1817)

1761 - Charles Pichegru, French general (d. 1804)

1802 - Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, American philosopher (d. 1866)

1804 - Karl Theodor Ernst von Siebold, German physiologist (d. 1885)

1821 - Heinrich Barth, German explorer

1822 - Sir Francis Galton, English explorer and biologist (d. 1911)

1824 - Peter Kozler, Slovenian cartographer and geographer (d. 1879)

1826 - Julia Grant, First Lady of the United States (d. 1902)

1826 - Joseph Victor von Scheffel, German poet (d. 1886)

1831 - Nikolai Leskov, Russian writer (d. 1895)

1834 - Ernst Haeckel, German zoologist and philosopher (d. 1919)

1838 - Henry Adams, American historian and novelist (d. 1918)

1847 - Philipp Scharwenka, Polish-German composer (d. 1917)

1856 - Rudolph Karstadt, German entrepreneur (d. 1944)

1856 - Willem Kes, Dutch conductor (d. 1934)

1866 - Vyacheslav Ivanov, a Russian poet (d. 1949)

1876 - George Macaulay Trevelyan, English historian (d. 1962)

1884 - Robert J. Flaherty, American filmmaker (d. 1951)

1886 - Van Wyck Brooks, American historian and critic (d. 1963)

1898 - Katharine Cornell, American actress (d. 1974)

1901 - Vincent Coleman, American actor (d. 1971)

1901 - Chester Morris, American film actor (d. 1970)

1903 - Edgar Bergen, American ventriloquist (d. 1978)

1904 - George F. Kennan, American historian, diplomat and political policy-maker (d. 2005)

1909 - Hugh Beaumont, American actor (d. 1982)

1909 - Jeffrey Lynn, American actor (d. 1995)

1915 - Jim O'Hora, American college football coach (d. 2005)

1915 - Michael Relph, British film producer and director (d. 2004)

1921 - Araucaria, British crossword compiler

1921 - Vera-Ellen, American actress (d. 1981)

1925 - Carlos Paredes, Portuguese Guitar master (d. 2004)

1926 - John Schlesinger, English film director (d. 2003)

1927 - June Brown, British actress

1927 - Tom Kennedy, American game show host

1929 - Gerhard Hanappi, Austrian footballer (d. 1980)

1931 - Otis Blackwell, American songwriter and singer (d. 2002)

1931 - Ken Takakura, Japanese Actor

1932 - Harry Goz, American actor (d. 2003)

1932 - Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, President of Sierra Leone

1935 - Sonny Bono, American entertainer, & politician, United States Congressman from California (d. 1998)

1936 - Jill Kinmont, American skier

1937 - Yuri Manin, Russian mathematician

1938 - John Corigliano, American composer

1938 - Barry Primus, American actor

1941 - Kim Jong-il, North Korean leader

1944 - Richard Ford, American novelist

1945 - Jeremy Bulloch, English actor

1945 - Frank Welker, American voice actor

1950 - Peter Hain, British politician

1950 - Kazuki Tomokawa, Japanese acid-folk singer

1951 - William Katt, American actor

1953 - Lanny McDonald, Canadian ice hockey player

1953 - Roberta Williams, computer game designer

1954 - Michael Holding, West Indian fast bowler cricket

1954 - Iain Banks, Scottish author

1955 - Margaux Hemingway, American actress and model (d. 1996)

1955 - Hunt Block, American actor

1957 - LeVar Burton, American actor

1957 - James Ingram, American singer

1958 - Lisa Loring, American actress

1959 - Ice-T, American rapper, songwriter, and actor

1959 - John McEnroe, American tennis player

1960 - Pete Willis, English guitarist (Def Leppard)

1961 - Andy Taylor, English musician (Duran Duran)

1963 - Dave Lombardo, Cuban drummer (Slayer)

1964 - Bebeto, Brazilian footballer

1964 - Christopher Eccleston, English actor

1967 - John Valentin, baseball player

1967 - Keith Gretzky, former hockey player; brother of Wayne Gretzky

1968 - Warren Ellis, British comic book writer

1969 - David Heath, American professional wrestler

1970 - D.J. Wallis, American fitness competitor

1972 - Jerome Bettis, American football player

1973 - Cathy Freeman, Australian athlete

1975 - Nanase Aikawa, Japanese singer

1976 - Eric Byrnes, American baseball player

1976 - Kyo, Japanese singer (Dir en grey)

1977 - Ian Clarke, Irish computer programmer

1977 - Ahman Green, American football player

1978 - John Tartaglia, Broadway actor

1979 - Valentino Rossi, Italian motorcycle racer

1980 - Ashley Lelie, American football player

1982 - Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, African-American rapper

1985 - Haley Giraldo, American reality series star

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1247 - Heinrich Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia (b. 1204)

1279 - King Afonso III of Portugal (b. 1210)

1391 - John V Palaeologus, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1332)

1531 - Johannes Stöffler, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1452)

1560 - Jean du Bellay, French Catholic cardinal and diplomat

1710 - Esprit Fléchier, French writer and Bishop of Nîmes (b. 1632)

1721 - James Craggs the Younger, English politician (b. 1686)

1754 - Richard Mead, English physician (b. 1673)

1866 - Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, 19th Century Philosopher (b. 1802)

1898 - Thomas Bracken, New Zealand poet (b. 1843)

1899 - Félix Faure, President of France (b. 1841)

1907 - Giosue Carducci, Italian writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1835)

1912 - St. Nikolai of Japan, Eastern Orthodox priest (b. 1836)

1917 - Octave Mirbeau, French writer (b. 1848)

1919 - Vera Kholodnaya, Russian film star (b. 1893)

1928 - Eddie Foy, American singer and dancer (b. 1856)

1932 - Ferdinand Buisson, French pacifist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1841)

1967 - Antonio Moreno, Spanish-born actor (b. 1887)

1974 - John Garand, Canadian rifle engineer and manufacturer (b. 1888)

1975 - Morgan Taylor, American athlete (b. 1903)

1977 - Carlos Pellicer, Mexican poet (b. 1897)

1978 - E. Roland Harriman, American financier (b. 1895)

1980 - Erich Hückel, German physicist (b. 1895)

1990 - Keith Haring, American artist (b. 1958)

1992 - Angela Carter, English writer (b. 1940)

1992 - Jânio Quadros, Brazilian politician (b. 1917)

1992 - Herman Wold, Swedish statistician (b. 1908)

1996 - Roger Bowen, American actor (b. 1932)

1996 - Edmund G. Brown, Governor of California (b. 1905)

1996 - Brownie McGhee, American singer (b. 1915)

1997 - Chien-Shiung Wu, Chinese-American Physicist (b. 1912)

1999 - Michael Larson, Press Your Luck Big-winning contestant

2000 - Marceline Day, American actress (b. 1908)

2000 - Karsten Solheim, Norwegian-born engineer and inventor (b. 1911)

2001 - Bob Buhl, baseball player (b. 1928)

2001 - William Masters, American gynecologist and sexologist (b. 1915)

2002 - Walter Winterbottom, England football manager (b. 1913)

2003 - Eleanor "Sis" Daley, wife of Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley (b. 1907)

2004 - Shirley Strickland, Australian athlete (b. 1925)

2004 - Doris Troy, American singer (b. 1937)

2005 - Nicole DeHuff, American actress (pneumonia) (b. 1975)

2006 - Johnny Grunge, American professional wrestler (b. 1966)

2006 - Ernie Stautner, German-born American football player (b. 1925)

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Lithuania - Independence Day (1918)

Kyoto Protocol Day (2005)

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Liturgical feasts

Saints Daniel, Samuel and Elias
Saint Jeremias
Remembrance of Lambertus
Saint Juliana
Saint Lucilla