880 Battle of Lüneburg Heath: Frankish King Louis III is defeated by the Norse

962 King Otto I of the Lombards (936-973) is crowned Holy Roman Emperor (962-973)

1119 Guy de Vienne elected Pope as Callistus II (1119-1124), later beatified

1141 Battle of Lincoln: Earls Ranulf of Chester & Robert of Gloucester defeat King Stephen of England & capture him for the Empress Matilda

1160 Crema in Lombardy, falls to Fredrick Barbarossa amid a great slaughter

1437 Angevins surrender Gaeta (besieged from Dec 24) to the Aragonese

1440 Frederick III of Habsburg is crowned Holy Roman Emperor (1437-1493)

1461 Battle of Mortimer Cross: Yorkists defeat the Lancastrians

1536 Buenos Aires founded

1645 Battle of Inverlochy: Montrose defeats the Campbells

1653 The Dutch government incorporates the City of Nieuw Amsterdam

1709 Alexander Selkirk is rescued from Juan Fernandez I. after five years in isolation, inspiring "Robinson Crusoe"

1797 Mantua surrenders to the French after an 8-month siege

1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican-American War

1854 Pope Pius IX issues an encyclical "On the Persecution of the Armenians"

1864 CSS 'Florida' begins a commerce raiding cruise (to Oct 7th)

1906 Pope Pius X issued an encyclical opposing separation of church & state

1909 Filippo Tommaso Marinetti publishes the "Futurist Manifesto," calling for "cleansing" by war

1913 Grand Central Terminal in NY opens

1915 Turks attack the Suez Canal from the Sinai (retire on the 3rd)

1920 Treaty of Tartu: Soviet Russia recognizes the independence of Estonia, ending 14 months of the war

1932 Geneva disarmament conference begins with 60 countries

1933 Chancellor two days, Adolf Hitler dissolves the Reichstag

1942 Bataan: Fil-Am troops counterattack

1942 British carrier 'Indomitable' arrives at Trincomalee, Ceylon

1942 LA Times urges security measures against Japanese-Americans

1942 US ceases production of private cars to convert to war production

1943 Timor: Australian guerrillas present since Dec 8, 1941, are withdrawn by sea.

1943 End of the Battle for Stalingrad: The remnants of the German Sixth Army surrender to the Soviets

1944 US troops advance rapidly on Kwajalein and nearby islands.

1945 Mass escape attempt at Mauthausen concentration camp

1972 Irate Dubliners torch the British Embassy to protest 'Bloody Sunday' in Derry

1982 The Hama Massacre: Syria's Baath leaders initiate the slaughter of at least 10,000 political opponents

1989 Soviet troops leave Afghanistan, ending nine years of war