1843 - Giuseppe Verdi's opera I Lombardi receives its first performance in Milan.
1858 - The Blessed Virgin Mary reputedly appears to Saint Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes.
1861 - American Civil War: United States House of Representatives unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state.
1889 - Meiji constitution of Japan is adopted; the first Diet of Japan convenes in 1890.
1895 - The lowest ever UK temperature of -27.2°C is recorded at Braemar in Aberdeenshire. This record was equalled on 10 January 1982 and again on 30 December 1995.
1902 - Police assault universal suffrage demonstrators in Brussels.
1903 - Anton Bruckner's 9th Symphony receives its first performance in Vienna.
1916 - Emma Goldman is arrested for lecturing on birth control.
1919 - Friedrich Ebert (SPD), is elected President of Germany.
1929 - Italy and the Vatican sign the Lateran Treaty.
1937 - A sit-down strike ends when General Motors recognizes the United Auto Workers Union.
1938 - BBC Television produces the world's first ever science fiction television program, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Capek play R.U.R., which coined the term "robot".
1939 - Lockheed P-38 flies from California to New York in 7 hours 2 minutes.
1941 - First Gold record is presented to Glenn Miller for "Chattanooga Choo Choo".
1942 - The Battle of Bukit Timah is fought in Singapore during World War II.
1943 - World War II: General Dwight Eisenhower is selected to command the allied armies in Europe.
1948 - John Costello succeeds Éamon de Valera as Taoiseach of Ireland.
1953 - President Dwight Eisenhower refuses clemency appeal for Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.
1953 - The Soviet Union breaks off diplomatic relations with Israel.
1963 - Julia Child's show The French Chef premieres.
1964 - Greeks and Turks begin fighting in Limassol, Cyprus.
1964 - The Republic of China (Taiwan) breaks off diplomatic relations with France.
1964 - The Beatles hold their first concert in the United States at the Washington Coliseum in Washington, D.C.
1971 - Eighty-seven countries, including the US, UK, and USSR, sign the Seabed Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons in international waters.
1973 - Vietnam War: First release of American prisoners of war from Vietnam takes place.
1978 - Censorship: the People's Republic of China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, Shakespeare and Dickens.
1979 - Islamic revolution of Iran achieves victory under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
1981 - 100,000 gallons (380 m³) of radioactive coolant leak into the containment building of TVA Sequoyah 1 nuclear plant in Tennessee, contaminating 8 workers.
1990 - Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for 27 years, is freed from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa.
1990 - Buster Douglas KO's "Iron" Mike Tyson in Tokyo, Japan.
1991 - UNPO, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, forms in The Hague, Netherlands.
1997 - Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
2007 - In Portugal, a national referendum legalizes non-therapeutic abortion when requested by the woman during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.
2008 - In East Timor, assassination attempts were made on Xanana Gusmao and Jose Ramos-Horta. Both failed.
2009 - Morgan Tsvangirai is sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Zimbabwe following the power-sharing deal between him and President Robert Mugabe signed in September, 2008.
2011 - 2010–2011 Middle East and North Africa protests: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigns after widespread protests calling for his resignation, leaving control of Egypt in the hands of the military until a general election can be held.
