1. 44 BC - Julius Caesar is assassinated by a group of nobles in Rome.

2. 221 - Liu Bei, a warlord and member of the Han royal house, declares himself emperor of Shu - Han.

3. 351 - Constantius II elevates his cousin Gallus to Caesar and puts him in charge of the eastern part of the Roman Empire.

4. 493 - Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths, murders King Odoacer of Italy at a banquet in Ravenna.

5. 933 - German King Henry I defeats the Magyars in the Battle of Ria de.

6. 1311 - The Catalan Company defeats Walter V of Brienne in the Battle of Hal Myros to take control of the Duchy of Athens.

7. 1360 - The French attack the English south coast and raid Winchelsea.

8. 1382 - The conservative "popolo grasso" regain power in Florence, Italy.

9. 1391 - An anti - Semite monk in Seville, Spain, stirs up people to attack Jews.

10. 1493 - Christopher Columbus returns to Spain after his first voyage to the New World.

11. 1526 - French Dauphin Francis and his brother Henry are exchanged as hostages for their father Francis I, beginning four years of captivity in Spain.

12. 1529 - The Second Diet of Speyer convenes to condemn and attempt to reverse the 1526 Diet of Speyer's relaxation of the ban on Luther's teachings.

13. 1560 - An assault on the royal palace in Amboise, France, fails.

14. 1562 - General François de Guise enters Paris.

15. 1580 - Spanish King Philip II puts 25,000 gold coins on the head of Prince William of Orange.

16. 1672 - King Charles II of England enacts the Declaration of Indulgence.

17. 1729 - Sister St. Stanislas Hachard, the first American nun, takes her vows in New Orleans.

18. 1744 - French King Louis XV declares war on Britain.

19. 1778 - Captain James Cook discovers Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island.

20. 1781 - The Battle of Guilford Court House takes place. British troops defeat American forces but suffer heavy losses.

21. 1783 - George Washington asks his officers in Newburgh, New York, not to support the Newburgh Conspiracy.

22. 1812 - The first Russian settlement in California is established at the Russian River.

23. 1820 - Maine is admitted as the 23rd state of the United States.

24. 1827 - The University of Toronto is chartered.

25. 1848 - A revolution breaks out in Hungary, and the Habsburg rulers are compelled to meet the demands of the reform party.

26. 1855 - Louisiana establishes the first health board to regulate quarantine.

27. 1862 - General John Hunt Morgan begins four days of raids near Gallatin, Tennessee.

28. 1864 - Union forces reach Alexandria, Louisiana, during the Red River Campaign.

29. 1867 - Michigan becomes the first state to tax property to support a university.

30. 1875 - The first US cardinal, John McCloskey, is invested.

31. 1887 - The first salaried fish and game warden, William Alden Smith in Michigan, is appointed.

32. 1889 - Six US and German warships are sunk by a typhoon in Apia Harbour, Samoa, and 200 people die.

33. 1892 - The first escalator is patented by inventor Jesse W. Reno in New York City.

34. 1892 - New York state unveils the automatic ballot booth (voting machine).

35. 1897 - The first indoor fly - casting tournament opens at Madison Square Garden.

36. 1906 - Henry Rolls, Charles Royce, and Claude Johnson formalize their partnership as Rolls - Royce Ltd.

37. 1907 - Finland becomes the first European country to give women the right to vote.

38. 1913 - The first US presidential press conference is held by Woodrow Wilson.

39. 1913 - Cleveland establishes the first small claims court.

40. 1916 - The Dutch merchant ship Tubantia is torpedoed by a German submarine and sinks in the North Sea.

41. 1916 - General Pershing and 15,000 troops chase Pancho Villa into Mexico.

42. 1916 - The University of Ghent is taken under Dutch control.

43. 1917 - Nicholas II, the last Russian tsar, abdicates and nominates his brother Grand Duke Michael to succeed him.

44. 1919 - The American Legion forms in Paris.

45. 1922 - The first southern radio station, WSB in Atlanta, Georgia, begins.

46. 1922 - France accepts raw materials as payment for WWI reparations from Germany.

47. 1922 - Sultan Faud is crowned king of Egypt, and England recognizes Egypt.

48. 1923 - Vladimir Lenin suffers his third stroke.

49. 1926 - Belgium experiences "Black Monday" as the franc falls.

50. 1928 - Benito Mussolini modifies Italy's electoral system, abolishing the right to choose.