1542 Accession of six days' old Mary Stewart as Mary I of Scots (1542-1567), d. 1587
1763 The "Battle" of Lancaster: Pennsylvania vigilantes massacre Conestoga Indians
1807 Capt Charles Johnston of HMS 'Cornwallis' discovers Johnston Is, southwest of Hawaii
1814 Battle of Lake Borgne, La: British overwhelm U.S. gunboats
1825 Accession of Tsar Nicholas I (1825-1855), sparking the unsuccessful Decemberist uprising
1862 Battle of Kinston, NC: Union troops under John G. Foster defeat Confederates under Nathan Evans
1863 Battle of Bean's Station, Tn: Confederates repulse Union troops
1878 Battle of San Elizario: Besieged for two days, Texas Rangers surrender to Mexican-American citizens protesting discrimination, near El Paso
1911 Norwegian Roald Amundsen & his party are the first to reach the South Pole
1913 Greece formally takes possession of Crete
1924 Chiang Kai Shek occupies Hankow
1937 Japanese troops begin "Rape of Nanking"
1939 Norwegian politician Vidkun Quisling meets Hitler for the first time, in Berlin, and offers to betray his country to the Nazis
1939 The Soviet Union (Population 181 million) "defends" itself by attacking Finland (2 million)
1941 B-17s in the Philippines are ordered to Australia
1941 Japanese begin repairing north Luzon airfields
1941 Japanese forces in Malaya occupy Gurun & Kroh
1942 Australian reinforcements land at Oro Bay, near Buna
1942 Japanese destroyers land 800 troops at the Mambare River, near Buna
1943 Chinese New 38th Div involved in heavy fighting around Bhamo
1943 Soviet winter offensive against the Germans
1943 'Grayback' (SS-208), sinks Japanese destroyer 'Numakaze' c. 50 miles east of Okinawa
1944 Public Law 78-482 creates the ranks of General of the Army and Fleet Admiral
1944 Third Fleet begins airstrikes on Japanese positions on Luzon
1945 Ticker tape parade on Broadway for Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey
1949 "Sands of Iwo Jima" is released
1972 Last Moon Landing Ends: Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt lift off, to join Ronald Evans in orbit, for the return trip home.
2020