Events

• 1420 – Henry V of England enters Paris (refer to Hundred Years’ War).
• 1640 – End of the Iberian Union: Portugal acclaims as King João IV of Portugal, ending 59 years of personal union of the crowns of Portugal and Spain and the end of the rule of the Philippine Dynasty.
• 1821 – José Núñez de Cáceres wins the independence of the Dominican Republic from Spain and names the new territory the Republic of Spanish Haiti.
• 1828 – Argentine general Juan Lavalle makes a coup against governor Manuel Dorrego, beginning the Decembrist revolution.
• 1862 – In his State of the Union Address President Abraham Lincoln reaffirms the necessity of ending slavery as ordered ten weeks earlier in the Emancipation Proclamation.
• 1900 – Nicaragua sells canal rights to US for $5 million.
  • The canal agreement fails in March 1901.
  • Great Britain rejects amended treaty.
• 1913 – Crete, having obtained self rule from Turkey after the First Balkan War, is annexed by Greece.
• 1918 – Transylvania unites with Romania, following the incorporation of Bessarabia (27 March) and Bukovina (28 November) and thus concluding the Great Union.
• 1918 – Iceland becomes a sovereign state, yet remains a part of the Danish kingdom.
• 1918 – The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) is proclaimed.
• 1934 – In the Soviet Union, Politburo member Sergey Kirov is assassinated. Stalin uses the incident as a pretext to initiate the Great Purge.
• 1941 – World War II: Emperor Hirohito of Japan gives the final approval to initiate war against the United States.
• 1941 – World War II: Fiorello La Guardia, Mayor of New York City and Director of the Office of Civilian Defence, signs Administrative Order 9, creating the Civil Air Patrol.
• 1958 – The Central African Republic attains self-rule within the French Union.
• 1959 – Cold War: Opening date for signature of the Antarctic Treaty, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on the continent.
• 1964 – Vietnam War: US President Lyndon B. Johnson and his top-ranking advisers meet to discuss plans to bomb North Vietnam.
• 1969 – Vietnam War: The first draft lottery in the United States is held since World War II.
• 1971 – Cambodian Civil War: Khmer Rouge rebels intensify assaults on Cambodian government positions, forcing their retreat from Kompong Thmar and nearby Ba Ray.
• 1973 – Papua New Guinea gains self-governance from Australia.
• 1989 – Philippine coup attempt: The right-wing military rebel Reform the Armed Forces Movement attempts to oust Philippine President Corazon Aquino in a failed bloody coup d’état.
• 1991 – Cold War: Ukrainian voters overwhelmingly approve a referendum for independence from the Soviet Union.
• Battle of the Sinop Day (Russia).
• Military Abolition Day (Costa Rica).

People (Births)

• 1521 – Takeda Shingen, Japanese daimyō (d. 1573).
• 1886 – Zhu De, Chinese general and politician, 1st Vice Chairman of the People’s Republic of China (d. 1976).
• 1895 – Henry Williamson, English farmer, soldier, and author (d. 1977).
• 1896 – Georgy Zhukov, Russian general and politician, 2nd Minister of Defence for the Soviet Union (d. 1974).
• 1921 – Vernon McGarity, American sergeant, Medal of Honour recipient (d. 2013).
• 1923 – Stansfield Turner, American admiral and academic, 12th Director of Central Intelligence (d. 2018).
• 1936 – Igor Rodionov, Russian general and politician, 3rd Russian Minister of Defence (d. 2014).
• 1943 – Kenny Moore, American runner and journalist.
• 1944 – Michael Hagee, American general.
• 1958 – Alberto Cova, Italian runner.
• 1968 – Anders Holmertz, Swedish swimmer.
• 1975 – Sophia Skou, Danish swimmer.
• 1987 – Tabarie Henry, Virgin Islander sprinter.
• 1991 – Sun Yang, Chinese swimmer.
• 1997 – Sada Williams, Barbadian sprinter.

People (Deaths)

• 1914 – Alfred Thayer Mahan, American captain and historian (b. 1840).
• 1964 – Charilaos Vasilakos, Greek runner (b. 1877).
• 1986 – Frank McCarthy, American general and film producer (b. 1912).
• 1991 – Pat O’Callaghan, Irish athlete (b. 1906).
  • He was the first athlete from Ireland to win an Olympic medal under the Irish flag rather than the British.
• 1995 – Maxwell R. Thurman, American general (b. 1931).
• 2005 – Freeman V. Horner, American soldier, Medal of Honour recipient (b. 1922).
• 2012 – Ed Price, American soldier, pilot, and politician (b. 1918).
• 2013 – Edward Heffron, American soldier (b. 1923).