1. 660 BC - Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.

2. 55 - Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman emperorship, dies under mysterious circumstances in Rome, clearing the way for Nero to become emperor.

3. 385 - Siricius, bishop of Tarragona, elected as bishop of Rome; first to style himself pope.

4. 824 - St. Paschal I ends his reign as pope.

5. 1543 - Battle at Wayna Daga: Ethiopian and Portuguese troops beat Muslim army.

6. 1543 - Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and English King Henry VIII sign anti - French covenant.

7. 1659 - The assault on Copenhagen by Swedish forces is beaten back with heavy losses.

8. 1720 - Sweden & Prussia sign peace (2nd Treaty of Stockholm).

9. 1766 - Stamp Act declared unconstitutional in Virginia.

10. 1768 - Samuel Adams' letter circulates around American colonies, opposing Townshend Act taxes.

11. 1790 - Society of Friends petitions Congress for abolition of slavery.

12. 1793 - Prussian troops occupy Venlo, Netherlands.

13. 1794 - 1st session of US Senate open to the public.

14. 1806 - William Grenville becomes prime minister of the United Kingdom following the death of William Pitt the Younger.

15. 1808 - Anthracite coal 1st burned as fuel, experimentally, in Wilkes - Barre, Pennsylvania.

16. 1809 - Robert Fulton patents steamboat.

17. 1811 - President Madison prohibits trade with Britain for 3rd time in 4 years.

18. 1812 - Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry signs a redistricting bill - first "gerrymander".

19. 1814 - Norway's independence proclaimed.

20. 1826 - University College London founded; known until 1836 as London University.

21. 1837 - American Physiological Society organizes in Boston.

22. 1840 - Gaetano Donizetti's opera comique "La Fille du Regiment" premieres at the Salle de la Bourse in Paris, France.

23. 1843 - Giuseppe Verdi's dramatic opera "I Lombardi" premieres at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy.

24. 1851 - Inaugural 1st - class cricket match in Australia; Tasmania v Victoria in Launceston; Tasmania wins by 3 wickets.

25. 1852 - First British public female toilet opens (Bedford Street, London).

26. 1854 - For the 1st time coal gas is used to light major streets in San Francisco.

27. 1855 - Kassa Hailu is crowned Tewodros II, emperor of Ethiopia, by Abuna Salama III in a ceremony at the Church of De Rasge Maryam.

28. 1858 - First vision of the Virgin Mary to 14 - year - old Bernadette of Lourdes, France.

29. 1861 - US House unanimously passes resolution guaranteeing non - interference with slavery in any state.

30. 1861 - US President - elect Abraham Lincoln takes train from Springfield IL to Washington, D.C.

31. 1873 - Spanish Cortes fires King Amadeus I.

32. 1878 - 1st US bicycle club, Boston Bicycle Club, forms.

33. 1878 - 1st weekly weather report published in UK.

34. 1889 - Meiji Constitution of Japan adopted; 1st Diet convenes in 1890.

35. 1895 - -17°F (-27.2°C) in Braemar, Grampian (UK record).

36. 1895 - Georgetown became part of Washington, D.C.

37. 1896 - Oscar Wilde's "Salome" premieres in Paris.

38. 1897 - White Rose Mission opens on East 97th Street, NYC.

39. 1898 - Owen Smith of NC, AME Zion minister, named US minister to Liberia.

40. 1899 - -15°F (-26°C), Washington, D.C. (district record).

41. 1902 - Police beat up universal suffrage demonstrators in Brussels.

42. 1903 - Anton Bruckner's 9th Symphony premieres by the Wiener Concertvereinorchester, under conductor Ferdinand Löwe, in his own unauthorized arrangement, at Wiener Musikvereinssaal in Vienna, Austria.

43. 1903 - US Congress adopts the Expedition Act, which authorizes the Attorney General to 'expedite' anti - trust cases through the courts.

44. 1905 - James Blackstone in Seattle bowls 299½ - last pin breaks but stands.

45. 1905 - Pope Pius X publishes encyclical Vehementer Nos.

46. 1907 - De Master's Dutch government resigns.

47. 1907 - Passenger ship Larchmont sinks by Block Island, off Rhode Island, 322 die.

48. 1916 - Baltimore Symphony Orchestra presents its 1st concert, led by Gustav Strube of the Peabody Institute, at the Lyric Theatre.

49. 1916 - Emma Goldman arrested for lecturing on birth control.

50. 1916 - Germany and Austria - Hungary notify the US that they will sink any armed merchant ships starting on 1 March.