1564 – The Council of Trent issues its conclusions in the Tridentinum, establishing a distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.
1700 – The magnitude 9 Cascadia Earthquake takes place off the west coast of North America, as evidenced by Japanese records.
1788 – The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sails into Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on the continent. Commemorated as Australia Day.
1808 – Rum Rebellion, the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in Australia.
1837 – Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state.
1838 – Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States
1841 – The United Kingdom formally occupies Hong Kong, which China later formally cedes.
1855 – Point No Point Treaty is signed in Washington Territory.
1856 – First Battle of Seattle. Marines from the USS Decatur drive off American Indian attackers after all day battle with settlers.
1861 – American Civil War: The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union.
1863 – American Civil War: General Ambrose Burnside is relieved of command of the Army of the Potomac after the disastrous Fredericksburg campaign. He is replaced by Joseph Hooker.
1863 – American Civil War: Governor of Massachusetts John Albion Andrew receives permission from Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent.
1870 – American Civil War: Virginia rejoins the Union.
1880 – Douglas MacArthur, American general, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1964) was born.
1891 – Frank Costello, Italian-American mob boss (d. 1973) was born.
1891 – Nikolaus Otto, German engineer, invented the Internal combustion engine (b. 1833) died.
1907 – The Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Mk III is officially introduced into British Military Service, and remains the second oldest military rifle still in official use.
1915 – The Rocky Mountain National Park is established by an act of the U.S. Congress.
1920 – Former Ford Motor Company executive Henry Leland launches the Lincoln Motor Company which he later sold to his former employer.
1921 – Akio Morita, Japanese businessman, co-founded Sony (d. 1999) was born.
1924 – Saint Petersburg, Russia, is renamed Leningrad.
1925 – Paul Newman, American actor, director, race car driver, and businessman, co-founded Newman’s Own (d. 2008) was born.
1932 – George Clements, American priest and activist was born.
1932 – William Wrigley, Jr., American businessman, founded the Wrigley Company (b. 1861) died.
1934 – The Apollo Theater reopens in Harlem, New York City.
1934 – German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact is signed.
1936 – Huey “Piano” Smith, American pianist was born.
1939 – Spanish Civil War – Catalonia Offensive: Troops loyal to nationalist General Francisco Franco and aided by Italy take Barcelona.
1942 – World War II: The first United States forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland.
1943 – Harry H. Laughlin, American eugenicist (b. 1880) died.
1944 – Jerry Sandusky, American football player and coach and convicted serial child molester was birthed
1945 – World War II: The Red Army begins encircling the German Fourth Army near Heiligenbeil in East Prussia, which will end in destruction of the 4th Army two months later.
1945 – World War II: Audie Murphy in action that will later win him the Medal of Honor.
1945 – Soviet troops enter Auschwitz, Poland, freeing 7,000 starving camp survivors from the network of concentration camps revealing to the world the depth of the horrors perpetrated there.
1946 – Gene Siskel, American journalist and critic (d. 1999) was born.
1949 – The Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory sees first light under the direction of Edwin Hubble, becoming the largest aperture optical telescope (until BTA-6 is built in 1976).
1951 – Christopher North (Ambrosia), founding keyboardist for the American progressive rock band Ambrosia was born.
1951 – David Briggs, Australian guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Little River Band) was born.
1955 – Eddie Van Halen, Dutch-American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Van Halen) was born.
1960 – Charlie Gillingham, American pianist and accordion player (Counting Crows) was born.
1961 – Wayne Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey player and coach was born.
1961 – John F. Kennedy appoints Janet G. Travell to be his physician. This is the first time a woman holds the appointment of Physician to the President.
1964 – A report in a newspaper dated today had revealed that the funds raised for the family of an assassination victim had reached over $700,000 dollars. The victim of this murder crime was a J.D. Tibbit, a Dallas police officer, who was believed to have been shot by the same man who was suspected to have killed John F. Kennedy.
1966 – The Beaumont Children go missing from Glenelg Beach near Adelaide, South Australia.
1978 – The Great Blizzard of 1978, a rare severe blizzard with the lowest non-tropical atmospheric pressure ever recorded in the US until October 2010, strikes the Ohio – Great Lakes region with heavy snow and winds up to 100 mph (161 km/h).
1979 – Nelson Rockefeller, American politician, 41st Vice President of the United States (b. 1908) died.
1980 – Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations.
1988 – Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Musical The Phantom of the Opera ( Based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l’Opéra 1909 by Gaston Leroux ) has its first performance on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre in New York and is now the longest running Broadway show in history.
1992 – Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia will stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons.
1998 – Lewinsky scandal: On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had “sexual relations” with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
2004 – President Hamid Karzai signs the new constitution of Afghanistan.
2006 – Western Union announces the end of Telegram Services from January 31st 2006 the last telegram is sent the next day. The Telegram service more than any other is superceded by the use of E-Mail with the dawning of the Internet age but still exists in some form or other around the world but not as the primary force of fast communication it was at it’s beginnings when the Telephone still only had limited numbers. Today when it is used it is for such things as weddings, births, funerals and graduations and even as a secure form of communication ( due to perceptions of the Internet as an insecure medium.
2008 – Paul the Octopus, English octopus (d. 2010) was born.
2014 – Two white “Peace” doves released by Pope Francis were attacked by a seagull and crow shortly after being set free. Thousands of people witnessed the attacks as they had been observing the Pope’s Angelus prayer.
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