1805 – Napoléon Bonaparte assumes the title of King of Italy and is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy in the Duomo di Milano, the gothic cathedral in Milan.
1830 – The Indian Removal Act is passed by the U.S. Congress; it is signed into law by President Andrew Jackson two days later.
1857 – Dred Scott is emancipated by the Blow family, his original owners.
1864 – Montana is organized as a United States territory.
1865 – American Civil War: the Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi division, is the last full general of the Confederate Army to surrender, at Galveston, Texas.
1896 – Nicholas II becomes the last Tsar of Imperial Russia.
1920 – Peggy Lee, American singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2002) was born.
1922 – Troy Smith, American businessman, founded Sonic Drive-In (d. 2009) was born.
1936 – In the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, Tommy Henderson begins speaking on the Appropriation Bill. By the time he sits down in the early hours of the following morning, he had spoken for 10 hours.
1938 – In the United States, the House Un-American Activities Committee begins its first session.
1940 – Levon Helm, American singer-songwriter, drummer, producer, and actor (The Band) (d. 2012) was born.
1941 – Aldrich Ames, American CIA officer was born.
1948 – Stevie Nicks, American singer-songwriter (Fleetwood Mac) was born.
1948 – The U.S. Congress passes Public Law 557, which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as an auxiliary of the United States Air Force.
1955 – Masaharu Morimoto, Japanese-American chef was born.
1962 – Bobcat Goldthwait, American actor, director, and screenwriter was born
1966 – Helena Bonham Carter, English actress and singer was born.
1964 – Lenny Kravitz, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor was born.
1969 – Beatle John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono stage a public ‘bed in’ for world peace – staying in bed for a week in a hotel in Montreal.
1972 – The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
1986 – The European Community adopts the European flag.
1998 – The Supreme Court of the United States rules that Ellis Island, the historic gateway for millions of immigrants, is mainly in the state of New Jersey, not New York.
2004 – United States Army veteran Terry Nichols is found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing.
Source