437 - Valentinian III, Western Roman Emperor, marries Licinia Eudoxia, daughter of his cousin Theodosius II, Eastern Roman Emperor in Constantinople. This unifies the two branches of the House of Theodosius
1061 - Emperor disposes of Bishop Cadalus & Pope Honorius II
1268 - Conradin, the last legitimate male heir of the Hohenstaufen dynasty of Kings of Germany and Holy Roman Emperors, is executed along with his companion Frederick I, Margrave of Baden by Charles I of Sicily, a political rival and ally to the hostile Catholic church.
1422 - Charles VII of France becomes king in succession to his father Charles VI of France
1467 - Battle of Brusthem: Charles the Bold defeats Liege
1618 - English adventurer, writer, and courtier Sir Walter Raleigh is beheaded for allegedly conspiring against James I of England.
1792 - Mt. Hood (Oregon) is named after the British naval officer Alexander Arthur Hood by Lt. William E. Broughton who spotted the mountain near the mouth of the Willamette River.
1886 - The ticker-tape parade is invented in New York City when office workers spontaneously throw ticker tape into the streets as the Statue of Liberty is dedicated.
1901 - In Amherst, Massachusetts nurse Jane Toppan is arrested for murdering the Davis family of Boston with an overdose of morphine.
1956 - Suez Crisis begins: Israel invades the Sinai Peninsula and push Egyptian forces back toward the Suez Canal.
1956 - Tangier Protocol signed: The international city Tangier is reintegrated into Morocco.
1957 - Israel's prime minister David Ben Gurion and five of his ministers are injured as a hand grenade is tossed into Israel's parliament, the Knesset.
1960 - In Louisville, Kentucky, Cassius Clay (who later takes the name Muhammad Ali) wins his first professional fight.
1964 - A collection of irreplaceable gems, including the 565 carat (113 g) Star of India, is stolen from the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
1969 - The first computer-to-computer link is established on ARPANET.
1971 - Vietnam War: Vietnamization - The total number of American troops still in Vietnam drops to a record low of 196,700 (the lowest level since January 1966).
1980 - Demonstration flight of a secretly modified C-130 for an Iran hostage crisis rescue attempt ends in crash landing at Eglin Air Force Base's Duke Field, Florida leading to cancellation of Operation Credible Sport.
1985 - Major General Samuel K. Doe is announced the winner of the first multiparty election in Liberia.
1988 - In Japan, the Sega Megadrive is released for the first time.
1989 - After years of delays, the 63rd Street Tunnel opens for service, the first expansion of the New York City subway system since 1967.
1991 - The American Galileo spacecraft makes its closest approach to 951 Gaspra, becoming the first probe to visit an asteroid.
1992 - The Food and Drug Administration approves Depo Provera for use as a contraceptive in the United States.
1994 - Francisco Martin Duran fires over two dozen shots at the White House (Duran was later convicted of trying to kill US President Bill Clinton).
1998 - Apartheid: In South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission presents its report, which condemns both sides for committing atrocities.
1998 - Space Shuttle Discovery blasts-off with 77-year old John Glenn on board, making him the oldest person to go into space. He became the first American to orbit Earth on February 20, 1962.
1998 - While en route from Adana to Ankara, a Turkish Airlines flight with a crew of 6 and 33 passengers is hijacked by a Kurdish militant who orders the pilot to fly to Switzerland. The plane instead lands in Ankara after the pilot tricked the hijacker into thinking that he was landing in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia to refuel.
1998 - In Freehold Borough, New Jersey, Melissa Drexler pleads guilty to aggravated manslaughter for killing her baby moments after delivering him in the bathroom at her senior prom, and is sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.
