Events

• 1429 – Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War: Joan of Arc liberates Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier.
• 1493 – Christopher Columbus reaches Leeward Island and Puerto Rico.
• 1576 – Eighty Years’ War: In Flanders, Spain captures Antwerp (which is nearly destroyed after three days).
• 1677 – The future Mary II of England marries William, Prince of Orange; they later jointly reign as William and Mary.
• 1780 – The Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II against Spanish rule in the Viceroyalty of Peru begins.
• 1791 – Northwest Indian War: The Western Confederacy of American Indians wins a major victory over the United States in the Battle of the Wabash.
• 1798 – The Russo-Ottoman siege of Corfu begins.
• 1839 – Newport Rising: The last large-scale armed rebellion against authority in mainland Britain.
• 1847 – Sir James Young Simpson, a Scottish physician, discovers the anaesthetic properties of chloroform.
• 1864 – American Civil War: Confederate troops bombard a Union supply base and destroy millions of dollars in material at the Battle of Johnsonville.
• 1918 – World War I: The Armistice of Villa Giusti between Italy and Austria-Hungary is implemented.
• 1921 – The Saalschutz Abteilung (hall defence detachment) of the Nazi Party is renamed the Sturmabteilung (storm detachment) after a large riot in Munich.
• 1936 – Spanish Civil War: Largo Caballero reshuffles his war cabinet, persuading the anarcho-syndicalist CNT to join the government.
• 1939 – World War II: US President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the United States Customs Service to implement the Neutrality Act of 1939, allowing cash-and-carry purchases of weapons by belligerents.
• 1942 – World War II: Disobeying a direct order by Adolf Hitler, General Field Marshal Erwin Rommel begins a retreat of his forces after a costly defeat during the Second Battle of El Alamein.
  • The retreat would ultimately last five months.
• 1944 – World War II: The 7th Macedonian Liberation Brigade liberates Bitola for the Allies.
• 1944 – World War II: Operation Pheasant, an Allied offensive to liberate North Brabant in the Netherlands, ends successfully.
• 1952 – The United States government establishes the National Security Agency, or NSA.
• 1956 – Soviet troops enter Hungary to end the Hungarian revolution against the Soviet Union that started on 23 October.
  • Thousands are killed, more are wounded, and nearly a quarter million leave the country.
• 1962 – The United States concludes Operation Fishbowl, its final above-ground nuclear weapons testing series, in anticipation of the 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
• 1970 – Vietnam War: The US turns over control of the air base at Bình Thủy in the Mekong Delta to South Vietnam.
• 1995 – Israel-Palestinian conflict: Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated by an extremist Israeli.
• National Unity and Armed Forces Day or Giorno dell’Unità Nazionale e Festa delle Forze Armate (Italy).

People (Births)

• 1512 – Hu Zongxian, Chinese general (d. 1565).
• 1883 – Nikolaos Plastiras, Greek general and politician 135th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1953).
• 1884 – Harry Ferguson, Irish engineer, invented the tractor (d. 1960).
• 1909 – Evelyn Bryan Johnson, American colonel and pilot (d. 2012).
• 1916 – John Basilone, American sergeant, Medal of Honour recipient (d. 1945).
• 1923 – Eugene Sledge, American soldier, author, and academic (d. 2001).
• 1933 – C. Odumegwu Ojukwu, Nigerian colonel and politician, President of Biafra (d. 2011).
• 1948 – Amadou Toumani Touré, Malian soldier and politician, President of Mali (d. 2020).
• 1970 – Tim DeBoom, American triathlete.
• 1976 – Kenji Osawa, Japanese mixed martial artist.

People (Deaths)

• 1581 – Mathurin Romegas, rival Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller (b. c.1525).
• 1702 – John Benbow, English admiral (b. 1653).
• 1906 – John H. Ketcham, American general and politician (b. 1832).
• 1918 – Wilfred Owen, English lieutenant and poet (b. 1893).
• 1924 – Richard Conner, American sergeant, Medal of Honour recipient (b. 1843).
• 1930 – Akiyama Yoshifuru, Japanese general (b. 1859).
• 1946 – Rüdiger von der Goltz, German general (b. 1865).
• 1994 – Sam Francis, American soldier and painter (b. 1923).
• 1995 – Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli general and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Israel, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (b. 1922).
• 2011 – Arnold Green, Latvian-Estonian soldier and politician (b. 1920).
• 2013 – John D. Hawk, American sergeant, Medal of Honour recipient (b. 1924).