Events

• 660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
• AD 55 – The death of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman empire, on the eve of his coming of age, under mysterious circumstances, clears the way for Nero to become Emperor.
• 244 – Emperor Gordian III is murdered by mutinous soldiers in Zaitha (Mesopotamia). A mound is raised at Carchemish in his memory.
• 1177 – John de Courcy’s army defeats the native Dunleavey Clan in Ulster. The English establish themselves in Ulster.
• 1659 – The assault on Copenhagen by Swedish forces is beaten back with heavy losses.
• 1856 – The Kingdom of Awadh is annexed by the British East India Company and Wajid Ali Shah, the king of Awadh, is imprisoned and later exiled to Calcutta.
• 1861 – American Civil War: The United States House of Representatives unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state.
• 1889 – Meiji Constitution of Japan is adopted; the first National Diet convenes in 1890.
• 1939 – A Lockheed P-38 Lightning flies from California to New York in seven hours two minutes.
• 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Bukit Timah is fought in Singapore.
• 1943 – World War II: General Dwight D. Eisenhower is selected to command the allied armies in Europe.
• 1953 – Cold War: U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower denies all appeals for clemency for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
• 1959 – The Federation of Arab Emirates of the South, which will later become South Yemen, is created as a protectorate of the United Kingdom.
• 1964 – Greeks and Turks begin fighting in Limassol, Cyprus.
• 1971 – Cold War: Eighty-seven countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union, sign the Seabed Arms Control Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons on the ocean floor in international waters.
• 1973 – Vietnam War: First release of American prisoners of war from Vietnam takes place.
• 1979 – The Iranian Revolution establishes an Islamic theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
• 2008 – Rebel East Timorese soldiers seriously wound President José Ramos-Horta. Rebel leader Alfredo Reinado is killed in the attack.
• 2014 – A military transport plane crashes in a mountainous area of Oum El Bouaghi Province in eastern Algeria, killing 77 people.
• 2017 – North Korea test fires a ballistic missile across the Sea of Japan.
• Armed Forces Day (Liberia).

People (Births)

• 1845 – Ahmet Tevfik Pasha, Ottoman soldier and politician, 272nd Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1936).
• 1915 – Patrick Leigh Fermor, English soldier, author, and scholar (d. 2011).
• 1920 – Daniel James, Jr., American general and pilot (d. 1978).
• 1921 – Lloyd Bentsen, American colonel and politician, 69th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 2006).
• 1934 – Mel Carnahan, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 51st Governor of Missouri (d. 2000).
• 1934 – Manuel Noriega, Panamanian general and politician, Military Leader of Panama (d. 2017).
• 1937 – Ian Gow, British Member of Parliament who was assassinated by the IRA (d. 1990).
• 1940 – Mick Staton, American soldier and politician (d. 2014).
• 1986 – Abu Omar al-Shishani, Georgian commander (d. 2016).

People Deaths

• AD 55 – Britannicus, Roman son of Claudius (b. 41).
• 244 – Gordian III, Roman emperor (b. 225).
• 1160 – Minamoto no Yoshitomo, Japanese general (b. 1123).
• 1324 – Karl von Trier, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order.
• 1898 – Félix María Zuloaga, Mexican general and unconstitutional interim president (1858 and 1860-1862) (b. 1813).
• 1918 – Alexey Kaledin, Russian general (b. 1861).
• 1963 – John Olof Dahlgren, Swedish-American soldier, Medal of Honour recipient (b. 1872).
• 1967 – Trần Tử Bình, Vietnamese general and diplomat (b. 1907).
• 1975 – Richard Ratsimandrava, Malagasy colonel and politician, President of Madagascar (b. 1931).
• 1994 – Sorrell Booke, American lieutenant, actor, and director (b. 1930).
• 2012 – Aharon Davidi, Israeli general (b. 1927).