Events

• 509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
• 293 – Emperor Diocletian and Maximian appoint Constantius Chlorus and Galerius as Caesars. This is considered the beginning of the Tetrarchy, known as the Quattuor Principes Mundi (“Four Rulers of the World”).
• 350 – Vetranio proclaims himself Caesar after being encouraged to do so by Constantina, sister of Constantius II.
• 834 – Emperor Louis the Pious is restored as sole ruler of the Frankish Empire.
• 1476 – Forces of the Catholic Monarchs engage the combined Portuguese-Castilian armies of Afonso V and Prince John at the Battle of Toro.
• 1562 – Sixty-three Huguenots are massacred in Wassy, France, marking the start of the French Wars of Religion.
• 1633 – Samuel de Champlain reclaims his role as commander of New France on behalf of Cardinal Richelieu.
• 1781 – The Articles of Confederation goes into effect in the United States (refer to American War of Independence).
• 1796 – The Dutch East India Company is nationalised by the Batavian Republic.
• 1815 – Napoleon returns to France from his banishment on Elba (refer to Napoleonic Wars).
• 1836 – A convention of delegates from 57 Texas communities convenes in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas, to deliberate independence from Mexico.
• 1845 – United States President John Tyler signs a bill authorising the United States to annex the Republic of Texas.
• 1870 – Marshal F.S. López dies during the Battle of Cerro Corá thus marking the end of the Paraguayan War.
• 1871 – The victorious Prussian Army parades through Paris, France, after the end of the Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War.
• 1893 – Electrical engineer Nikola Tesla gives the first public demonstration of radio in St. Louis, Missouri.
• 1896 – Battle of Adwa: An Ethiopian army defeats an outnumbered Italian force, ending the First Italo-Ethiopian War.
• 1896 – Henri Becquerel discovers radioactive decay.
• 1901 – The Australian Army is formed.
• 1917 – The Zimmermann Telegram is reprinted in newspapers across the United States after the US government releases its unencrypted text (refer to World War I).
• 1919 – March 1st Movement begins in Korea under Japanese rule.
• 1921 – Following mass protests in Petrograd demanding greater freedom in the RSFSR, the Kronstadt rebellion begins, with sailors and citizens taking up arms against the Bolsheviks.
• 1939 – An Imperial Japanese Army ammunition dump explodes at Hirakata, Osaka, Japan, killing 94.
• 1941 – World War II: Bulgaria signs the Tripartite Pact, allying itself with the Axis powers.
• 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces land on Java, the main island of the Dutch East Indies, at Merak and Banten Bay (Banten), Eretan Wetan (Indramayu) and Kragan (Rembang).
• 1950 – Cold War: Klaus Fuchs is convicted of spying for the Soviet Union by disclosing top secret atomic bomb data.
• 1953 – Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke and collapses; he dies four days later.
• 1954 – Nuclear weapons testing: The Castle Bravo, a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb, is detonated on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the worst radioactive contamination ever caused by the United States.
• 1961 – Uganda becomes self-governing and holds its first elections.
• 1966 – The Ba’ath Party takes power in Syria.
• 1971 – President of Pakistan Yahya Khan indefinitely postpones the pending national assembly session, precipitating massive civil disobedience in East Pakistan.
• 1991 – Uprisings against Saddam Hussein begin in Iraq, leading to the death of more than 25,000 people mostly civilian.
• 1992 – Bosnia and Herzegovina declares its independence from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
• 2002 – US invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins in eastern Afghanistan.
• 2003 – The International Criminal Court holds its inaugural session in The Hague.
• National “Cursed Soldiers” Remembrance Day (Poland).
• World Civil Defence Day.

People (Births)

• 1769 – François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers, French general (d. 1796).
• 1899 – Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, German SS officer (d. 1972).
• 1906 – Phạm Văn Đồng, Vietnamese lieutenant and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Vietnam (d. 2000).
• 1909 – Eugene Esmonde, English lieutenant and pilot (d. 1942).
• 1910 – David Niven, English soldier and actor (d. 1983).
• 1922 – Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli general and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Israel, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995).
• 1924 – Deke Slayton, American soldier, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1993).
• 1930 – Gastone Nencini, Italian cyclist (d. 1980).
• 1942 – Richard Myers, American general.
• 1979 – Bruno Langlois, Canadian cyclist.

People (Deaths)

• 1510 – Francisco de Almeida, Portuguese soldier and explorer (b. 1450).
• 1792 – Angelo Emo, Venetian admiral and statesman (b. 1731).
• 1841 – Claude Victor-Perrin, Duc de Belluno, French general and politician, French Minister of Defence (b. 1764).
• 1914 – Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto, English soldier and politician, 8th Governor General of Canada (b. 1845).
• 1942 – George S. Rentz, American commander (b. 1882).
• 2004 – Mian Ghulam Jilani, Pakistani general (b. 1914).