284 Accession of Diocletian as Roman Emperor (284-305), later retires to Dalmatia and grows cabbages, d. 313

869 Battle of Thetford/Hoxne: Danes defeat King Edmund of East Anglia

1256 The Mongols under Hulugu Khan capture Maymum-Dis, the mountain fortress of the Assassins

1272 Edward I proclaimed King of England (1272-1307)

1347 Battle of the Porta San Lorenzo: Cola di Rienzo's Roman Republic defeats a coup by the Roman barons

1426 Brescia surrenders to the Venetians under Carmagnola

1571 Battle of Crabstane: Clan Gordon defeats Clan Forbes

1617 Naval Battle of Puglia: The Spanish and Venetian fleets clash indecisively

1780 Britain declares war on Holland, which is supporting the rebellious Americans

1805 Premiere of Beethoven's opera "Fidelio" in Vienna, with Napoleon sitting in the Hapsburg imperial box

1820 The Natucket whaler 'Essex" is attacked and sunk by a large sperm whale in the South Pacific, c. 2,000 miles west of South America -- inspiring Melville's '"Moby Dick".

1856 USN & RN complete reduction of Barrier Forts, Canton (begun Nov 16)

1866 First national convention of the Grand Army of the Republic

1910 Francisco Madero initiates a Revolution in Mexico against Porfirio Diaz

1917 The first tank offensive: Cambrai - British tanks shatter the German lines on the Western Front, though gains are lost to counter-attacks over the next few days.

1918 The 369th “Colored” Infantry, New York National Guard, becomes the first American unit to reach the Rhine and take up occupation duties in Germany

1920 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Woodrow Wilson

1942 British Eighth Army recaptures Benghazi, Lybia

1943 Operation Galvanic: the 2nd Mar Div lands on Betio, Tarawa, while 27th Inf Div lands on Makin

1945 General of the Army George C. Marshall steps down, after 2272 days as Chief-of-Staff

1945 Judgement at Nuremberg: 24 Nazi leaders go on trial

1947 Marriage of Princess Elizabeth of the UK to Lt. Philip Mountbatten, RN, at Westminster Abbey

1953 Scott Crossfield breaks Mach 2 in a Douglas Skyrocket

1956 USS 'Hartford', Farragut's Civil War flagship, sinks at her dockside, Norfolk, Va, the nation being too cheap to preserve her

1962 Cuban Missile Crisis: The Soviets agree to remove their missiles from Cuba, and the US lifts naval quarantine of the island

1979 Siege of the Grand Mosque at Mecca: 300 or more Islamist radicals seize the Mosque and Kaaba, initiating a two week siege before they are overcome by Saudi and Pakistani forces; c. 250 deaths, many wounded

2015 Terrorist attack in Bamako, Mali: Islamists take c. 200 hostages in a hotel, kill 19 before they are killed