Events

• 1161 – Battle of Caishi: A Song dynasty fleet fights a naval engagement with Jin dynasty ships on the Yangtze river during the Jin-Song Wars.
• 1476 – Vlad the Impaler defeats Basarab Laiota with the help of Stephen the Great and Stephen V Báthory and becomes the ruler of Wallachia for the third time.
• 1778 – In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook becomes the first European to visit Maui.
• 1812 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Berezina begins during Napoleon’s retreat from Russia.
• 1865 – Battle of Papudo: A Spanish navy schooner is defeated by a Chilean corvette north of Valparaíso, Chile.
• 1914 – HMS Bulwark is destroyed by a large internal explosion with the loss of 741 men near Sheerness.
• 1917 – The Manchester Guardian publishes the 1916 secret Sykes-Picot Agreement between the United Kingdom and France.
• 1918 – The Montenegran Podgorica Assembly votes for a “union of the people”, declaring assimilation into the Kingdom of Serbia.
• 1939 – Shelling of Mainila: The Soviet Army orchestrates an incident which is used to justify the start of the Winter War with Finland four days later.
• 1941 – World War II: The Hull note is given to the Japanese ambassador, demanding that Japan withdraw from China and French Indochina, in return for which the United States would lift economic sanctions. On the same day, Japan’s 1st Air Fleet departs Hitokappu Bay for Hawaii.
• 1942 – World War II: Yugoslav Partisans convene the first meeting of the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia at Bihać in northwestern Bosnia.
• 1942 – Casablanca, the movie starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, premieres in New York City.
• 1943 – World War II: HMT Rohna is sunk by the Luftwaffe in an air attack in the Mediterranean north of Béjaïa, Algeria.
• 1944 – World War II: A German V-2 rocket hits a Woolworth’s shop in London, United Kingdom, killing 168 people.
• 1944 – World War II: Germany begins V-1 and V-2 attacks on Antwerp, Belgium.
• 1950 – Korean War: Troops from the People’s Republic of China launch a massive counterattack in North Korea against South Korean and United Nations forces (Battle of the Ch’ongch’on River and Battle of Chosin Reservoir), ending any hopes of a quick end to the conflict.
• 1968 – Vietnam War: United States Air Force helicopter pilot James P. Fleming rescues an Army Special Forces unit pinned down by Viet Cong fire.
  • He is later awarded the Medal of Honour.
• 1986 – Iran-Contra affair: US President Ronald Reagan announces the members of what will become known as the Tower Commission.
• 1986 – The trial of John Demjanjuk, accused of committing war crimes as a guard at the Nazi Treblinka extermination camp, starts in Jerusalem.
• 1991 – National Assembly of Azerbaijan abolishes the autonomous status of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of Azerbaijan and renames several cities back to their original names.
• 2011 – NATO attack in Pakistan: NATO forces in Afghanistan attack a Pakistani check post in a friendly fire incident, killing 24 soldiers and wounding 13 others.

People (Births)

• 1727 – Artemas Ward, American general and politician (d. 1800).
• 1811 – Zeng Guofan, Chinese general and politician, Viceroy of Liangjiang (d. 1872).
• 1832 – Mary Edwards Walker, American surgeon and activist, Medal of Honour recipient (d. 1919).
• 1878 – Major Taylor, American cyclist (d. 1932).
• 1885 – Heinrich Brüning, German lieutenant, economist, and politician, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1970).
• 1901 – William Sterling Parsons, American admiral (d. 1953).
• 1919 – Ryszard Kaczorowski, Polish soldier and politician, 6th President of the Republic of Poland (d. 2010).
• 1925 – Gregorio Conrado Álvarez, Uruguayan dictator (d. 2016).
• 1938 – Porter Goss, American soldier and politician, 19th Director of the CIA.
• 1948 – Galina Prozumenshchikova, Ukrainian-Russian swimmer and journalist (d. 2015).
• 1954 – Velupillai Prabhakaran, Sri Lankan rebel leader, founded the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (d. 2009).
• 1974 – Roman Šebrle, Czech decathlete and high jumper.
• 1977 – Ivan Basso, Italian cyclist.
• 1986 – Bauke Mollema, Dutch cyclist.
• 1995 – James Guy, English swimmer.

People (Deaths)

• 946 – Li Congyan, Chinese general (b. 898).
• 1651 – Henry Ireton, English-Irish general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1611).
• 1661 – Luis Méndez de Haro, Spanish general and politician (b. 1598).
• 1851 – Jean-de-Dieu Soult, French general and politician, 12th Prime Minister of France (b. 1769).
• 1872 – Pavel Kiselyov, Russian general and politician (b. 1788).
• 1919 – Felipe Ángeles, Mexican general (b. 1868).
• 1926 – John Browning, American weapons designer, founded the Browning Arms Company (b. 1855).
• 1928 – Reinhard Scheer, German admiral (b. 1863).
• 1936 – Şükrü Naili Gökberk, Turkish general (b. 1876).
• 1937 – Silvestras Žukauskas, Lithuanian general (b. 1860).
• 1943 – Edward O’Hare, American lieutenant and pilot (b. 1914).
• 1987 – Thomas George Lanphier, Jr., American colonel and pilot (b. 1915).
• 1987 – J.P. Guilford, American psychologist and academic (b. 1897).
• 2006 – Isaac Gálvez, Spanish cyclist (b. 1975).
• 2007 – Silvestre S. Herrera, Mexican-American sergeant, Medal of Honour recipient (b. 1917).
• 2007 – Herb McKenley, Jamaican sprinter (b. 1922).
• 2012 – Joseph Murray, American surgeon and soldier, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1919).