1. 196 BC - Ptolemy V ascends to the throne of Egypt.

2. 1003 - Peace deal signed between Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor and the pagan Wends (Slavs).

3. 1309 - Pope Clement V excommunicates Venice and all its population.

4. 1329 - Pope John XXII issues his 'in agro dominico' condemning some writings of Meister Eckhart as heretical.

5. 1351 - Battle of the Thirty: 30 English and 30 Breton knights and squires square off using swords, maces, lances and daggers - considered one of the most chivalrous battles in history.

6. 1513 - Spaniard Juan Ponce de León and his expedition first sight Florida.

7. 1599 - English nobleman Robert Devereux becomes Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

8. 1613 - The first English child is born in Canada at Cupers Cove, Newfoundland to Nicholas Guy.

9. 1613 - Sigismund Bathory, Prince of Transylvania, dies in Prague.

10. 1625 - Charles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland ascends the English throne.

11. 1638 - The first of four destructive Calabrian earthquakes strikes southern Italy.

12. 1642 - The sixth patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Joseph takes office.

13. 1668 - English King Charles II grants a royal charter giving control of Bombay, India to the English East India Company.

14. 1708 - Pretender to the English throne James III flees to Dunkirk.

15. 1709 - Dike at Hardinxveld breaks (Alblasserwaard flooded).

16. 1713 - Spain loses Menorca and Gibraltar to Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht.

17. 1721 - France and Spain sign the Treaty of Madrid.

18. 1782 - Charles Watson - Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain.

19. 1790 - The modern shoelace with an aglet is patented in England by Harvey Kennedy.

20. 1794 - Denmark and Sweden form a neutrality compact.

21. 1794 - The United States government establishes a permanent navy and authorizes the building of six frigates.

22. 1808 - Joseph Haydn's oratorio "Die Schopfung" premieres in Vienna.

23. 1814 - Battle at Horseshoe Bend: General Andrew Jackson defeats the Red Sticks, part of the Creek Indian tribe near Dadeville, Alabama.

24. 1836 - 1st Mormon temple dedicated (Kirtland, Ohio).

25. 1841 - 1st US steam fire engine tested, NYC.

26. 1845 - German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen is born.

27. 1848 - John Parker Payne originates medicated adhesive plaster.

28. 1849 - Joseph Couch patents steam - powered percussion rock drill.

29. 1855 - Canadian geologist Abraham Gesner patents kerosene.

30. 1860 - M. L. Byrn patents "covered gimlet screw with a 'T' handle" (corkscrew).

31. 1862 - The American trading company The China Navigation Company is founded in Shanghai.

32. 1863 - American Confederate President Jefferson Davis calls for this to be a day of fasting and prayer.

33. 1863 - British engineer and car designer Henry Royce is born.

34. 1865 - Siege of Spanish Fort, AL - captured by Federals.

35. 1866 - American Andrew Rankin patents the urinal.

36. 1866 - US President Andrew Johnson vetoes civil rights bill; it later becomes 14th amendment.

37. 1868 - The Lake Ontario Shore Railroad Company is organized in Oswego, New York.

38. 1871 - First international rugby union match - Scotland beats England, 1 - 0 at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh.

39. 1873 - 35th Grand National: J. M. Richardson wins aboard 20/1 shot Disturbance by 6 lengths from Rhyshworth.

40. 1879 - Longest championship fight (136 rounds).

41. 1881 - Rioting takes place in Basingstoke, Hampshire in England, to protest against the Salvation Army's daily vociferous promotion of rigid temperance.

42. 1884 - 1st long - distance telephone call, Boston - NY.

43. 1885 - 47th Grand National: Jockey Ted Wilson wins his second consecutive GN aboard 10/3 favourite Roquefort.

44. 1890 - A tornado strikes Louisville, Kentucky, killing 76 and injuring 200.

45. 1896 - 58th Grand National: Former owner David Campbell wins aboard 40/1 outsider The Soarer.

46. 1898 - The Qing government signs the Treaty of Livadia with Russia.

47. 1900 - Recognizing that the war in South Africa is going to take a major commitment, Parliament passes the War Loan Act, calling for £35 million to support the fight against the Boers.

48. 1900 - Shi Liang, the first Minister of the Ministry of Justice of the People's Republic of China, is born.

49. 1903 - 65th Grand National: Percy Woodland aboard 13/2 chance Drumcree wins by 3 lengths from Detail.

50. 1906 - The founding of the Alpine Club of Canada in Winnipeg, Manitoba.