1649 – The claimant King Charles II of England and Scotland is declared King of Great Britain, by the Parliament of Scotland. This move was not followed by the Parliament of England nor the Parliament of Ireland.
1685 – James II of England and VII of Scotland becomes King upon the death of his brother Charles II.
1778 – American Revolutionary War: In Paris the Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce are signed by the United States and France signaling official recognition of the new republic.
1788 – Massachusetts becomes the sixth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
1899 – Spanish-American War: The Treaty of Paris, a peace treaty between the United States and Spain, is ratified by the United States Senate.
1895 – Babe Ruth, American baseball player (d. 1948) was born.
1900 – The international arbitration court at The Hague is created when the Senate of the Netherlands ratifies an 1899 peace conference decree.
1911 – Ronald Reagan, American actor and politician, 40th President of the United States (d. 2004) was born
1912 – Eva Braun, German wife of Adolf Hitler (d. 1945) was born.
1922 – The Washington Naval Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., limiting the naval armaments of United States, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy.
1945 – Bob Marley, Jamaican-American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Bob Marley & The Wailers) (d. 1981) was born.
1952 – Elizabeth II becomes queen regnant of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms upon the death of her father, George VI. At the exact moment of succession, she was in a treehouse at the Treetops Hotel in Kenya.
1959 – At Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first successful test firing of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile is accomplished.
1962 – Axl Rose, American singer-songwriter and producer (Guns N’ Roses, Hollywood Rose, and Rapidfire) was born
1963 – Kevin Trudeau, American radio host and author was born.
1978 – The Blizzard of 1978, one of the worst Nor’easters in New England history, hit the region, with sustained winds of 65 mph and snowfall of 4″ an hour.
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