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49 BC - Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war.

236 - Saint Fabian begins his reign as a Catholic Pope.

1072 - Robert Guiscard conquers Palermo.

1475 - Stephen III of Moldavia defeats the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Vaslui.

1776 - Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense.

1806 - Dutch settlers in Cape Town surrender to the British.

1810 - Marriage of Napoleon and Josephine is annulled.

1811 - African-American slaves in Louisiana rebel in two parishes.

1861 - American Civil War: Florida secedes from the US.

1863 - The first section of the London Underground Railway opens, between Paddington and Farringdon Street.

1870 - John D. Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil.

1901 - The first great Texas gusher, oil discovered at Spindletop in Beaumont, Texas.

1920 - League of Nations holds its first meeting and ratifies the Treaty of Versailles ending World War I.

1922 - Arthur Griffith is elected President of the Irish Free State.

1923 - Lithuania seizes and annexes Memel.

1927 - The film Metropolis by Fritz Lang premiers.

1929 - Tintin, a comic book character created by Hergé, makes his debut. He went on to be published in over 200 million comic books in 40 languages.

1941 - Lend-Lease is introduced into the US Congress.

1946 - First General Assembly of the United Nations opens in London. Fifty-one nations are represented.

1957 - Harold Macmillan becomes the prime minister of the United Kingdom.

1969 - After 147 years, the last issue of The Saturday Evening Post is published.

1982 - The lowest ever UK temperature of -27.2°C was recorded at Braemar in Aberdeenshire. This equaled the record set in the same place on February 11, 1895. The record would be equalled again at Altnaharra on December 30, 1995

1984 - The US and the Vatican establish full diplomatic relations.

1989 - Cuban troops begin withdrawing from Angola.

1990 - Time Warner is formed from the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications Inc.

1999 - The Sopranos airs it's pilot episode at 9 pm on the HBO channel

2000 - America Online announces an agreement to buy Time Warner for $162 billion, the largest corporate merger in history.

2001 - Wikipedia starts as part of Nupedia. It becomes a separate site five days later.

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1480 - Margaret of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands (d. 1530)

1538 - Louis of Nassau, Dutch general (d. 1574)

1573 - Simon Marius, German astronomer (d. 1624)

1607 - Isaac Jogues, French Jesuit missionary (d. 1646)

1628 - George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English statesman (d. 1687)

1638 - Nicolas Steno, Danish geologist (d. 1686)

1644 - Louis François, duc de Boufflers, French marshal (d. 1711)

1654 - Joshua Barnes, English scholar (d. 1712)

1715 - Christian August Crusius, German philosopher and theologian (d. 1775)

1721 - Johann Philipp Baratier, German scholar (d. 1740)

1729 - Lazzaro Spallanzani, Italian biologist (d. 1799)

1738 - Ethan Allen, American Revolution military leader (d. 1789)

1769 - Michel Ney, French marshal (d. 1815)

1797 - Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, German writer (d. 1848)

1828 - Herman Koeckemann, German Catholic prelate (d. 1892)

1843 - Frank James, American outlaw (d. 1915)

1849 - Francisco Ferrer Guardia, Spanish free-thinker (d. 1909)

1836 - Charles Ingalls, father of Laura Ingalls Wilder (d. 1902)

1858 - Heinrich Zille, German illustrator and photographer (d. 1929)

1865 - Mary Ingalls, elder sister of Laura Ingalls Wilder (d. 1928)

1869 - Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk (d. 1916)

1873 - George Orton, Canadian athlete (d. 1958)

1873 - Jack O'Neill, baseball player (d. 1935)

1883 - Francis X. Bushman, American actor (d. 1966)

1883 - Aleksei Nikolaevich Tolstoi, Russian writer (d. 1945)

1887 - Robinson Jeffers, American poet (d. 1962)

1890 - Grigory Landsberg, Russian physicist (d. 1957)

1903 - Barbara Hepworth, British sculptor (d. 1975)

1903 - Voldemar Väli, Estonian wrestler, Olympic medalist (d. 1997)

1904 - Ray Bolger, American actor/dancer (d. 1987)

1908 - Paul Henreid, Austrian actor (d. 1993)

1908 - Bernard Lee, British actor (d. 1981)

1913 - Gustáv Husák, President of Czechoslovakia (d. 1991)

1913 - Mehmet Shehu, Albanian politician (d. 1981)

1916 - Sune Bergström, Swedish biochemist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2004)

1916 - Don Metz, Canadian hockey player

1917 - Jerry Wexler, American record producer

1918 - Arthur Chung, President of Guyana

1920 - Max Patkin, American baseball player (d. 1999)

1921 - Rodger Ward, American race car driver (d. 2004)

1925 - Max Roach, American drummer and composer

1927 - Gisele MacKenzie, Canadian singer (d. 2003)

1927 - Johnnie Ray, American singer (d. 1990)

1927 - Otto Stich, Swiss politician

1930 - Roy Edward Disney, American film executive

1931 - Peter Barnes, English writer (d. 2004)

1934 - Leonid Kravchuk, Ukrainian politician

1935 - Ronnie Hawkins, American musician

1935 - Sherrill Milnes, American baritone

1936 - Stephen Ambrose, American historian (d. 2002)

1936 - Robert Wilson, American physicist and radio astronomer, Nobel Prize laureate

1937 - Thomas Penfield Jackson, American judge

1938 - Donald Knuth, American mathematician and computer scientist

1938 - Willie McCovey, American baseball player

1939 - William Levy, Dutch writer

1939 - Sal Mineo, American actor (d. 1976)

1939 - Bill Toomey, American athlete

1943 - Jim Croce, American singer (d. 1973)

1944 - Frank Sinatra, Jr., American singer

1944 - Rory Byrne, South African racing car designer

1945 - Rod Stewart, English singer

1945 - Edward Wiskoski, American professional wrestler

1946 - Aynsley Dunbar, British drummer

1948 - Donald Fagen, American keyboardist

1948 - Teresa Graves, American actress and singer (d. 2002)

1948 - Mischa Maisky, Latvian cellist

1948 - William Sanderson, American actor

1948 - Bernard Thévenet, French cyclist

1949 - George Foreman, American boxer

1949 - James Lapine, American stage director

1949 - Linda Lovelace, American actress (d. 2002)

1952 - Scott Thurston, American musician, songwriter

1953 - Pat Benatar, American singer

1953 - Bobby Rahal, American race car driver

1955 - Michael Schenker, German guitarist (UFO)

1956 - Shawn Colvin, American singer

1956 - Antonio Muñoz Molina, Spanish writer

1958 - Anatoly Pisarenko, Soviet weightlifter

1959 - Simon Sunatori, Canadian inventor

1961 - Evan Handler, American actor

1961 - Janet Jones, American actress; wife of Wayne Gretzky

1964 - Brad Roberts, Canadian singer (Crash Test Dummies)

1970 - Marcus Bagwell, American professional wrestler

1972 - Thomas Alsgaard, Norwegian cross-country skier

1972 - Brian Lawler, American professional wrestler

1973 - Ryan Drummond, American voice actor

1974 - Steve Marlet, French footballer

1974 - Hrithik Roshan, Indian actor

1975 - Jake Delhomme, American football player

1976 - Adam Kennedy, baseball player

1978 - Gavin McCann, English footballer

1980 - Janelle Pierzina, American television personality

1982 - Josh Ryan Evans, American actor (d. 2002)

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681 - Pope Agatho

1094 - Caliph Al-Mustansir of Cairo (b. 1029)

1276 - Pope Gregory X (bc. 1210)

1645 - William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1573)

1698 - Louis-Sébastien Le Nain de Tillemont, French historian (b. 1637)

1707 - Philibert, comte de Gramont, French writer (b. 1621)

1754 - Edward Cave, English editor and publisher (b. 1691)

1761 - Edward Boscawen, British admiral (b. 1711)

1775 - Yemelyan Pugachev, Russian rebel

1777 - Spranger Barry, Irish actor (b. 1719)

1778 - Carolus Linnaeus, Swedish botanist (b. 1707)

1794 - Georg Forster, German scientist and revolutionary (d. 1754)

1811 - Marie-Joseph Chénier, French poet (b. 1764)

1828 - François de Neufchâteau, French statesman and intellectual figure (b. 1750)

1833 - Adrien-Marie Legendre, French mathematician (b. 1752)

1851 - Karl Freiherr von Müffling, Prussian field marshal (b. 1775)

1862 - Samuel Colt, American inventor (b. 1814)

1866 - Pyotr Pletnyov, Russian poet (b. 1792)

1883 - Dr Samuel A. Mudd, American medical doctor (b. 1833)

1895 - Benjamin Godard, French composer (b. 1849)

1904 - Jean-Léon Gérôme, French painter and sculptor (b. 1824)

1917 - William F. Cody, American frontiersman (b. 1846)

1934 - Marinus van der Lubbe, Dutch communist accused of setting the Reichstag fire (b. 1909)

1941 - Frank Bridge, English composer (b. 1879)

1941 - Sir John Lavery, Northern Irish artist (b. 1856)

1941 - Joe Penner, Hungarian-born comedian and actor (b. 1904)

1951 - Sinclair Lewis, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1885)

1951 - Yoshio Nishina, Japanese physicist (b. 1890)

1957 - Gabriela Mistral, Chilean writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889)

1961 - Dashiell Hammett, American writer (b. 1894)

1970 - Pavel Belyayev, cosmonaut (b. 1925)

1971 - Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, French fashion designer (b. 1883)

1972 - Aksel Larsen, Danish politician (b. 1897)

1976 - Howlin' Wolf, American musician (b. 1910)

1978 - Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, Nicaraguan journalist (b. 1924)

1980 - George Meany, American labor leader (b. 1894)

1980 - Bo Rein, former college football coach at North Carolina State and LSU (b. 1945)

1980 - Hughie Critz, baseball player (b. 1900)

1981 - Katherine Alexander, American actress (b. 1898)

1981 - Richard Boone, American actor (b. 1917)

1981 - Fawn M. Brodie, American historian (b. 1915)

1982 - Paul Lynde, American comedian (b. 1926)

1986 - Jaroslav Seifert, Czech writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)

1987 - Sir David Robinson, British philanthropist and entrepreneur (b. 1904)

1997 - Elspeth Huxley, British journalist and writer (b. 1907)

1997 - Sheldon Leonard, American producer, actor, and director (b. 1907)

1997 - Alexander R. Todd, Baron Todd, Scottish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)

2000 - Sam Jaffe, American producer (b. 1901)

2004 - Spalding Gray, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1941)

2004 - Alexandra Ripley, American author (b. 1934)

2005 - Gene Baylos, American comedian (b. 1906)

2005 - Metropolitan Wasyly Fedak, primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada (b. 1909)

2005 - Margherita Carosio, Italian soprano (b. 1908)

2005 - James Forman, American civil rights leader (b. 1928)

2005 - Erwin Hillier, British cinematographer (b. 1911)

2005 - Gordon John "Jack" Horner, American sports journalist (b. 1912)

2005 - Joséphine-Charlotte, Grandduchess of Luxembourg (b. 1927)

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Margaret Thatcher day in the Falkland Islands