Events

• 748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.
• 842 – Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German languages.
• 1014 – Pope Benedict VIII crowns Henry of Bavaria, King of Germany and of Italy, as Holy Roman Emperor.
• 1530 – Spanish conquistadores, led by Nuño de Guzmán, overthrow and execute Tangaxuan II, the last independent monarch of the Tarascan state in present-day central Mexico.
• 1655 – The Mapuches launch coordinated attacks against the Spanish in Chile beginning the Mapuche uprising of 1655.
• 1778 – The United States flag is formally recognised by a foreign naval vessel for the first time, when French Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte renders a nine gun salute to USS Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones.
• 1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Kettle Creek is fought in Georgia.
• 1779 – James Cook is killed by Native Hawaiians near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii.
• 1797 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Cape St. Vincent: John Jervis, (later 1st Earl of St Vincent) and Horatio Nelson (later 1st Viscount Nelson) lead the British Royal Navy to victory over a Spanish fleet in action near Gibraltar.
• 1804 – Karađorđe leads the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire.
• 1831 – Ras Marye of Yejju marches into Tigray and defeats and kills Dejazmach Sabagadis in the Battle of Debre Abbay.
• 1876 – Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray.
• 1879 – The War of the Pacific breaks out when the Chilean Army occupies the Bolivian port city of Antofagasta.
• 1900 – British forces begin the Battle of the Tugela Heights in an effort to lift the Siege of Ladysmith.
• 1912 – The US Navy commissions its first class of diesel-powered submarines.
• 1919 – The Polish-Soviet War begins.
• 1942 – Battle of Pasir Panjang contributes to the fall of Singapore.
• 1943 – World War II: Rostov-on-Don, Russia is liberated.
• 1943 – World War II: Tunisia Campaign: General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim’s Fifth Panzer Army launches a concerted attack against Allied positions in Tunisia.
• 1944 – World War II: In the Action of 14 February 1944, a Royal Navy submarine sinks a German-controlled Italian submarine in the Strait of Malacca.
• 1945 – World War II: On the first day of the bombing of Dresden, the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces begin fire-bombing Dresden.
• 1945 – World War II: Navigational error leads to the mistaken bombing of Prague, Czechoslovakia by an American squadron of B-17s assisting in the Soviet’s Vistula-Oder Offensive.
• 1945 – World War II: Mostar is liberated by Yugoslav partisans
• 1945 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia aboard the USS Quincy, officially beginning US-Saudi diplomatic relations.
• 2005 – YouTube is launched by a group of college students, eventually becoming the largest video sharing website in the world and a main source for viral videos.
• 2011 – As a part of Arab Spring, the Bahraini uprising begins with a ‘Day of Rage’.

People (Births)

• 1763 – Jean Victor Marie Moreau, French general (d. 1813).
• 1819 – Christopher Latham Sholes, American journalist and politician, invented the typewriter (d. 1890).
• 1824 – Winfield Scott Hancock, American general and politician (d. 1886).
• 1846 – Julian Scott, American soldier and drummer, Medal of Honour recipient (d. 1901).
• 1859 – George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., American engineer, inventor of the Ferris wheel (d. 1896).
• 1892 – Radola Gajda, Czech commander and politician (d. 1948).
• 1895 – Wilhelm Burgdorf, German general (d. 1945).
• 1916 – Marcel Bigeard, French general (d. 2010).
• 1928 – William Allain, American soldier and politician, 58th Governor of Mississippi (d. 2013).
• 1928 – Vicente T. Blaz, American general and politician (d. 2014).
• 1945 – Rod Masterson, American lieutenant and actor (d. 2013).
• 1960 – Philip Jones, English admiral.
• 1964 – Gianni Bugno, Italian cyclist and sportscaster.
• 1970 – Giuseppe Guerini, Italian cyclist.
• 1977 – Cadel Evans, Australian cyclist.

People (Deaths)

• 945 – Lian Chongyu, Chinese general.
• 1229 – Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson, king of the Isles.
• 1744 – John Hadley, English mathematician, invented the octant (b. 1682).
• 1779 – James Cook, English captain, cartographer, and explorer (b. 1728).
• 1831 – Vicente Guerrero, Mexican general and politician, 2nd President of Mexico (b. 1782).
• 1870 – St. John Richardson Liddell, American general (b. 1815).
• 1891 – William Tecumseh Sherman, American general (b. 1820).
• 1929 – Thomas Burke, American sprinter, coach, and lawyer (b. 1875).
• 1942 – Adnan Saidi, Malayan lieutenant (b. 1915).
• 1952 – Maurice De Waele, Belgian cyclist (b. 1896).
• 1975 – Julian Huxley, English biologist and eugenicist, co-founded the World Wide Fund for Nature (b. 1887).
• 1979 – Adolph Dubs, American lieutenant and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Afghanistan (b. 1920).
• 1983 – Lina Radke, German runner and coach (b. 1903).
• 2012 – Péter Rusorán, Hungarian swimmer, water polo player, and coach (b. 1940).
• 2015 – Franjo Mihalić, Croatian-Serbian runner and coach (b. 1920).
• 2016 – Eric Lubbock, 4th Baron Avebury, English lieutenant, engineer, and politician (b. 1928).