46 BC - Titus Labienus defeats Julius Caesar in the Battle of Ruspina.
274 - St Eutychian begins his reign as Catholic Pope
871 - Battle at Reading: Ethelred of Wessex beats Danish invasion army
1357 - Flemish earl Louis & Luxembourg Duke Wenceslaus sign peace treaty
1490 - Anna of Brittany announces that all those who would ally with the king of France will be considered guilty of the crime of lese-majesty.
1493 - Columbus left new world on return from 1st voyage
1519 - -6] 1st Altenburger sermon (Luther & Karl von Miltitz)
1570 - Spanish viceroy Alva banishes Zutphen City's only physician, Joost Sweiter, "because he is a Jew"
1642 - King Charles I with 400 soldiers attacks the English parliament
1698 - Most of the Palace of Whitehall in London, the main residence of the English monarchs, is destroyed by fire.
1717 - Netherlands, England & France sign Triple Alliance
1725 - Benjamin Franklin arrives in London [OS=Dec 24 1724]
1754 - Columbia University founded, as Kings College (NYC)
1762 - England declares war on Spain & Naples
1780 - Snowstorm hit Washington's army at Morristown, NJ
1781 - Andre Mechain discovers M80 (globular cluster in Scorpio)
1832 - Insurrection of Trinidad negroes
1843 - Gaetano Donizetti's opera "Don Pasquale," premieres in Paris
1843 - Royal Academy (Technical Hague court) Delft opens
1847 - Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the United States government.
1854 - The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang.
1861 - Pres Buchanan appoints a fast on account of threatened succession
1861 - US Ft Morgan, Mobile, seized by Alabama
1862 - -Jan 17th) Battle of Ft Hindman, AK (Arkansas Post)
1862 - Romney Campaign-Stonewall Jackson occupies Bath
1863 - 4 wheeled roller skates patented by James Plimpton of NY
1865 - The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters at 10-12 Broad near Wall Street in New York City.
1878 - Sofia is emancipated from Ottoman rule.
1881 - Johannes Brahms' "Academic Festival Overture" premieres, Breslau
1883 - Ontario Rugby Football Union (forerunner of CFL) forms
1884 - Last sighting of an eastern cougar (Ontario)
1884 - The Fabian Society is founded in London.
1885 - Dr W W Grant of Iowa, performs 1st appendectomy (on Mary Gartside, 22)
1887 - Thomas Stevens is 1st man to bicycle around the world (SF-SF)
1893 - US pres Cleveland grants amnesty to Mormon polygamy
1894 - France ratifies Duple Alliance with Russia
1896 - AFL charters Actors' National Protective Union, NYC
1896 - Following Mormon abandonment of polygamy, Utah admitted as 45th state
1898 - 1st installment of William Dean Howell's "Life & Letters" appears
1902 - Hugh Trumble takes a hat-trick v England at the MCG
1903 - Topsy, an elephant, was electrocuted by Thomas Edison during the War of Currents campaign.
1904 - Stanley Cup: Ottawa Silver 7 beat Winnipeg Rowing Club, 2 games to 1
1904 - Supreme Court rules Puerto Ricans cannot be denied admission to US
1906 - South Africa beat England by one wicket, their 1st Test win
1907 - George Bernard Shaw's "Don Juan in Hell," premieres in London
1912 - Smallest earth-moon distance this century, 356,375 km center-to-ctr
1912 - The Scout Association is incorporated throughout the British Commonwealth by Royal Charter.
1915 - 1st elected Jewish governor, Moses Alexander, takes office in Idaho
1915 - Trans-Caucausus Russian defeat Turkish troops
1920 - 1st Black baseball league, National Negro Baseball League, organizes
1920 - Amsterdam actors decide to strike for retirement benefits
1921 - Eugene O'Neill's "Diff'rent," premieres in NYC
1923 - 1st broadcast of "Barn Dance Show" (WBAP - Ft Worth Texas)
1923 - Lenin's "Political Testament" calls for removal of Stalin
1925 - French psychologist Emil Coue brings his self-esteem therapy to US "Every day in every way I am getting better & better"
1926 - Theodorus Pangalos resigns as Greek dictator
1932 - Bradman scores 167 for Australia v South Africa at the MCG
1932 - British East Indies Viceroy Willingdon arrests Gandhi & Nehru
1932 - State of siege proclaimed in Honduras
1934 - 1st Dutch talkie movie, Jan Teunissen's "Willem of Orange," premieres
1935 - Bob Hope 1st heard on network radio as part of "The Intimate Revue"
1935 - Ft Jefferson National Monument, Fla established
1936 - Billboard magazine publishes its 1st music hit parade
1936 - Grimmett becomes world record wicket taker with no 190 v S Afr
1939 - Frieda Wunderlich elected 1st woman dean of a US graduate school
1939 - Hermann Goering appoints Reinhard Heydrich head of Jewish Emigration
1941 - Resistance fighters counter d'Estienne d'Orves/Jan Doornik, 1st meet
1941 - Sergey Rachmaninov's "Symphonie Dances," premieres in Philadelphia
1942 - NFL Pro Bowl: Chi Bears beats NFL All-Stars 35-24
1942 - Premier Churchill & General Marshall fly to Florida
1942 - Rogers Hornsby is 14th player selected to the Hall of Fame
1943 - Thomas Mann completes his tetralogy, "Joseph & His Brothers"
1944 - Ralph Bunche appointed 1st Negro official in US State Department
1945 - Germans execute resistance fighters in Amsterdam
1945 - US jeep-aircraft carrier Ommaney Bay sinks after kamikaze attack
1947 - "Park Avenue" closes at Shubert Theater NYC after 72 performances
1947 - "Show Boat" closes at Ziegfeld Theater NYC after 417 performances
1948 - Burma declares independence from UK
1951 - During Korean conflict, Chinese forces capture Seoul
1953 - KTSM TV channel 9 in El Paso, TX (NBC) begins broadcasting
1954 - Elvis Presley records a 10 minute demo in Nashville
1954 - Soap Opera "The Brighter Day" premieres
1957 - "Blondie" situation comedy premieres on NBC TV (later on CBS)
1957 - Dodgers buy 44 passenger twin-engine airplane for $775,000
1958 - Sputnik 1 reenters atmosphere & burns up
1959 - Luna 1 (Mechta) becomes 1st craft to leave Earth's gravity
1960 - European Free Trade Association forms in Stockholm
1961 - Longest recorded strike ends-33 yrs-Danish barbers' assistants
1962 - 1st automated (unmanned) subway train (NYC)
1962 - New York City introduces a train that operates without a crew on-board.
1963 - Soviet Luna (4) reaches Earth orbit but fails to reach Moon
1965 - LBJ's "Great Society" State of the Union Address
1966 - Doug Walters scores second Test century in his second Test
1966 - WFLD TV channel 32 in Chicago, IL (IND) begins broadcasting
1968 - Duck hunter accidentally shoots endangered whooping crane in Texas
1968 - Leo Fender sells Fender Guitars for $13 million
1969 - "Fig Leaves Are Falling" closes at Broadhurst NYC after 4 perfs
1969 - France begins arms embargo against Israel
1970 - Beatles last recording session at EMI studios
1970 - KC Chiefs beat Oakland Raiders 17-7 in AFC championship game