- 509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
- 293 – Emperor Diocletian and Maximian appoint Constantius Chlorus and Galerius as Caesars. This is considered the beginning of the Tetrarchy, known as the Quattuor Principes Mundi (“Four Rulers of the World”).
- 350 – Vetranio is asked by Constantina, sister of Constantius II, to proclaim himself Caesar.
- 834 – Emperor Louis the Pious is restored as sole ruler of the Frankish Empire. After his re-accession to the throne, his eldest son Lothair I flees to Burgundy.
- 1476 – Forces of the Catholic Monarchs engage the combined Portuguese-Castilian armies of Afonso V and Prince John at the Battle of Toro.
- 1562 – Sixty-three Huguenots are massacred in Wassy, France, marking the start of the French Wars of Religion.
- 1628 – Writs issued in February by Charles I of England mandate that every county in England (not just seaport towns) pay ship tax by this date.
- 1633 – Samuel de Champlain reclaims his role as commander of New France on behalf of Cardinal Richelieu.
- 1692 – Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba are brought before local magistrates in Salem Village, Massachusetts, beginning what would become known as the Salem witch trials.
- 1781 – The Articles of Confederation goes into effect in the United States.[1][2]
- 1790 – The first United States census is authorized.
- 1796 – The Dutch East India Company is nationalized by the Batavian Republic.
- 1805 – Justice Samuel Chase is acquitted at the end of his impeachment trial by the U.S. Senate.
- 1811 – Leaders of the Mamluk dynasty are killed by Egyptian ruler Muhammad Ali.
- 1815 – Napoleon returns to France from his banishment on Elba.
- 1836 – A convention of delegates from 57 Texas communities convenes in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas, to deliberate independence from Mexico.
- 1845 – United States President John Tyler signs a bill authorizing the United States to annex the Republic of Texas.
- 1867 – Nebraska is admitted as the 37th U.S. state.
- 1870 – Marshal F. S. López dies during the Battle of Cerro Corá thus marking the end of the Paraguayan War.
- 1872 – Yellowstone National Park is established as the world’s first national park.
- 1893 – Electrical engineer Nikola Tesla gives the first public demonstration of radio in St. Louis, Missouri.
- 1896 – Battle of Adwa: An Ethiopian army defeats an outnumbered Italian force, ending the First Italo-Ethiopian War.[3]
- 1896 – Henri Becquerel discovers radioactive decay.
- 1901 – The Australian Army is formed.
- 1910 – The deadliest avalanche in United States history buries a Great Northern Railway train in northeastern King County, Washington, killing 96 people.
- 1914 – The Republic of China joins the Universal Postal Union.
- 1917 – The Zimmermann Telegram is reprinted in newspapers across the United States after the U.S. government releases its unencrypted text.
- 1919 – March 1st Movement begins in Korea under Japanese rule.
- 1921 – The Australian cricket team captained by Warwick Armstrong becomes the first team to complete a whitewash of The Ashes, something that would not be repeated for 86 years.
- 1921 – Following mass protests in Petrograd demanding greater freedom in the RSFSR, the Kronstadt rebellion begins, with sailors and citizens taking up arms against the Bolsheviks.[4]
- 1939 – An Imperial Japanese Army ammunition dump explodes at Hirakata, Osaka, Japan, killing 94.
- 1941 – World War II: Bulgaria signs the Tripartite Pact, allying itself with the Axis powers.
- 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces land on Java, the main island of the Dutch East Indies, at Merak and Banten Bay (Banten), Eretan Wetan (Indramayu) and Kragan (Rembang).
- 1946 – The Bank of England is nationalised.
- 1947 – The International Monetary Fund begins financial operations.
- 1950 – Cold War: Klaus Fuchs is convicted of spying for the Soviet Union by disclosing top secret atomic bomb data.
- 1953 – Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke and collapses; he dies four days later.
- 1954 – Nuclear weapons testing: The Castle Bravo, a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb, is detonated on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the worst radioactive contamination ever caused by the United States.
- 1954 – Armed Puerto Rican nationalists attack the United States Capitol building, injuring five Representatives.
- 1956 – The International Air Transport Association finalizes a draft of the Radiotelephony spelling alphabet for the International Civil Aviation Organization.
- 1956 – Formation of the East German Nationale Volksarmee.
- 1958 – Samuel Alphonsus Stritch is appointed Pro-Prefect of the Propagation of Faith and thus becomes the first U.S. member of the Roman Curia.
- 1961 – Uganda becomes self-governing and holds its first elections.
- 1964 – Villarrica Volcano begins a strombolian eruption causing lahars that destroy half of the town of Coñaripe.
- 1966 – Venera 3 Soviet space probe crashes on Venus becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet‘s surface.
- 1966 – The Ba’ath Party takes power in Syria.
- 1971 – President of Pakistan Yahya Khan indefinitely postpones the pending national assembly session, precipitating massive civil disobedience in East Pakistan.
- 1973 – Black September storms the Saudi embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, resulting in the assassination of three Western hostages.
- 1974 – Watergate scandal: Seven are indicted for their role in the Watergate break-in and charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice.
- 1981 – Provisional Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands begins his hunger strike in HM Prison Maze.
- 1990 – Steve Jackson Games is raided by the United States Secret Service, prompting the later formation of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
- 1991 – Uprisings against Saddam Hussein begin in Iraq, leading to the death of more than 25,000 people mostly civilian.
- 1992 – Bosnia and Herzegovina declares its independence from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
- 1998 – Titanic became the first film to gross over $1 billion worldwide.
- 2002 – U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins in eastern Afghanistan.
- 2002 – The Envisat environmental satellite successfully launches aboard an Ariane 5 rocket to reach an orbit of 800 km (500 mi) above the Earth, which was the then-largest payload at 10.5 m long and with a diameter of 4.57 m.[5]
- 2003 – Management of the United States Customs Service and the United States Secret Service move to the United States Department of Homeland Security.
- 2003 – The International Criminal Court holds its inaugural session in The Hague.
- 2005 – In Roper v. Simmons, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that the execution of juveniles found guilty of murder is unconstitutional.
- 2006 – English-language Wikipedia reaches its one millionth article, Jordanhill railway station.
- 2006 – A shocking child rape and murder of 2-year-old Nurasyura Binte Mohamed Fauzi, better known as Nonoi, first made headlines for her initially-presumed disappearance, which would later on be exposed as a case of rape and murder. Her stepfather Mohammed Ali bin Johari was found to be responsible for the little girl’s death, and he was sentenced to death a year later.
- 2007 – Tornadoes break out across the southern United States, killing at least 20 people, including eight at Enterprise High School.
- 2008 – The Armenian police clash with peaceful opposition rally protesting against allegedly fraudulent presidential elections, as a result ten people are killed.
- 2014 – Thirty-five people are killed and 143 injured in a mass stabbing at Kunming Railway Station in China.
-Source: wikipedia
