1. 202 BC - Liu Bang was crowned Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, establishing the Western Han Dynasty.

2. 364 - Valentinian I became the Roman Emperor and ruled until 375.

3. 701 - Li Bai and Wang Wei, famous poets in the Tang Dynasty, were born.

4. 772 - Bai Juyi, a realistic poet in the Tang Dynasty, was born.

5. 833 - Emperor Junwa of Japan abdicated and Emperor Ninmyo ascended the throne.

6. 870 - The 8th Ecumenical Council ended in Constantinople.

7. 1570 - Anti - Portuguese uprising on Ternate, Moluccas.

8. 1638 - Scottish Presbyterians signed the National Covenant at Greyfriars, Edinburgh.

9. 1646 - Roger Scott was tried in Massachusetts for sleeping in church.

10. 1653 - A 3 - day sea battle in which the English defeated the Dutch.

11. 1667 - The English colony of Suriname came under Dutch control.

12. 1700 - In Sweden, March 1 followed February 28, creating the Swedish calendar.

13. 1704 - Frenchman Elias Neau opened a school for blacks in NYC.

14. 1704 - Indians attacked Deerfield, Massachusetts, killing 40 and kidnapping 100.

15. 1708 - Slave revolt in Newton, Long Island, NY, resulting in 11 deaths.

16. 1710 - In the Battle of Helsingborg, 14,000 Danish invaders under Jørgen Rantzau were defeated by a Swedish force under Magnus Stenbock.

17. 1728 - George Frideric Handel's opera "Siroe, re di Persia" premiered in London.

18. 1730 - Russian Empress Anna Ivanovna revoked "The Conditions" and dissolved the Privy Council, re - instituting autocracy.

19. 1749 - The 1st edition of Henry Fielding's novel "Tom Jones" was published.

20. 1759 - Pope Clement XIII allowed the Bible to be translated into various languages.

21. 1775 - Empress Xiaoyi Chun of the Qing Dynasty (Consort Ling) passed away.

22. 1778 - Rhode Island General Assembly authorized the enlistment of slaves.

23. 1784 - John Wesley chartered the Methodist Church.

24. 1787 - The charter establishing the institution now known as the University of Pittsburgh was granted.

25. 1794 - The US Senate voided Pennsylvania's election of Abraham Gallatin.

26. 1804 - Charles Pichegru, a French army general and royalist who plotted to overthrow Napoleon in the Pichegru Conspiracy, was arrested.

27. 1810 - The 1st US fire insurance joint - stock company was organized in Philadelphia.

28. 1819 - The 1st public performance of Franz Schubert's song "Schäfers Klage Leid".

29. 1826 - Biela's Comet was rediscovered by Austrian astronomer Wilhelm von Biela.

30. 1827 - The 1st commercial railroad in the US, the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O), was chartered.

31. 1828 - Franz Grillparzer's "Ein treuer Diener" premiered in Vienna.

32. 1832 - Charles Darwin, aboard HMS Beagle, arrived in Salvador, Brazil.

33. 1835 - Dr. Elias Lönnrot published the Finnish poem "Kalevala".

34. 1838 - Robert Nelson, leader of the Patriotes, proclaimed the independence of Lower Canada (now Quebec).

35. 1844 - A 12 - inch gun aboard USS Princeton exploded, killing Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur and others.

36. 1847 - The US defeated Mexico in the Battle of Sacramento.

37. 1849 - The 1st boatload of gold rush prospectors arrived in San Francisco from the east coast.

38. 1850 - The University of Utah opened in Salt Lake City, Utah.

39. 1854 - The Republican Party was formally organized in Ripon, Wisconsin.

40. 1862 - Charles Gounod's opera "La Reine de Saba" premiered in Paris.

41. 1863 - Confederate raider "Nashville" sank near Fort McAllister, Georgia.

42. 1870 - The Bulgarian Exarchate (Orthodox Church) was established by decree of Sultan Abd - ul - Aziz of the Ottoman Empire.

43. 1871 - The 2nd Enforcement Act gave the federal government control of congressional elections in the US.

44. 1878 - Congress overrode US President Rutherford B. Hayes' veto of the Bland - Allison Act.

45. 1882 - The 1st US college cooperative store opened at Harvard University.

46. 1883 - The 1st US vaudeville theater opened in Boston, Massachusetts.

47. 1888 - A ferry in San Pablo Bay exploded.

48. 1891 - Oscar Grundén skated a world record 500m in 50.8 sec.

49. 1893 - Edward Acheson of Pennsylvania patented an abrasive he named "carborundum" (silicon carbide).

50. 1896 - France dismissed Queen Ranavalona III of Madagascar and exiled her to the island of Réunion.