Events

• 814 – The death of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, brings about the accession of his son Louis the Pious as ruler of the Frankish Empire.
• 1069 – Robert de Comines, appointed Earl of Northumbria by William the Conqueror, rides into Durham, England, where he is defeated and killed by rebels. This incident leads to the Harrying of the North.
• 1547 – Edward VI, the nine-year-old son of Henry VIII, becomes King of England on his father’s death.
• 1624 – Sir Thomas Warner founds the first British colony in the Caribbean, on the island of Saint Kitts.
• 1846 – The Battle of Aliwal, India, is won by British troops commanded by Sir Harry Smith.
• 1871 – Franco-Prussian War: The Siege of Paris ends in French defeat and an armistice.
• 1909 – United States troops leave Cuba with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base after being there since the Spanish–American War.
• 1915 – An act of the US Congress creates the United States Coast Guard as a branch of the United States Armed Forces.
• 1918 – Finnish Civil War: The Red Guard rebels seize control of the capital, Helsinki; members of the Senate of Finland go underground.
• 1920 – Foundation of the Spanish Legion.
• 1932 – Japanese forces attack Shanghai.
• 1941 – Franco-Thai War: Final air battle of the conflict. A Japanese-mediated armistice goes into effect later in the day.
• 1945 – World War II: Supplies begin to reach the Republic of China over the newly reopened Burma Road.
• 1964 – An unarmed United States Air Force T-39 Sabreliner on a training mission is shot down over Erfurt, East Germany, by a Soviet MiG-19.
• 1980 – USCGC Blackthorn collides with the tanker Capricorn while leaving Tampa, Florida and capsizes, killing 23 Coast Guard crewmembers.
• 1982 – US Army general James L. Dozier is rescued by Italian anti-terrorism forces from captivity by the Red Brigades.
• Army Day (Armenia) is a public holiday.

People (Births)

• 1712 – Tokugawa Ieshige, Japanese shōgun (d. 1761).
• 1822 – Alexander Mackenzie, Scottish-Canadian soldier, journalist, and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1892).
• 1833 – Charles George Gordon, English general and politician (d. 1885).
• 1939 – John M. Fabian, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut.
• 1950 – David C. Hilmers, American colonel, physician, and astronaut.
• 1951 – Leonid Kadeniuk, Ukrainian general, pilot, and astronaut.

People (Deaths)

• 814 – Charlemagne, Holy Roman emperor (b. 742).
• 919 – Zhou Dewei, Chinese general.
• 947 – Jing Yanguang, Chinese general (b. 892).
• 1142 – Yue Fei, Chinese general (b. 1103).
• 1697 – Sir John Fenwick, 3rd Baronet, English general and politician (b. 1645).
• 1832 – Augustin Daniel Belliard, French general (b. 1769).
• 1918 – John McCrae, Canadian soldier, physician, and author (b. 1872).
• 1965 – Maxime Weygand, Belgian-French general (b. 1867).
• Judith Resnik, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1949).
• Dick Scobee, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1939).
• 2004 – Lloyd M. Bucher, American captain (b. 1927).
• 2015 – Suraj Abdurrahman, Nigerian general, architect, and engineer (b. 1954).