1. 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) in the Battle of Thapsus.

2. 402 - The Roman army under Stilicho beats the Visigoths at the Battle of Pollentia.

3. 774 - Charlemagne confirms his father Pepin the Short's grant of land in 754 to the pope of territories belonging to Ravenna in central Italy.

4. 1320 - The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath.

5. 1327 - Italian poet Petrarch first sets eyes on his beloved Laura.

6. 1362 - Tard - Venus robber bands strike at Brignais, France.

7. 1385 - The Portuguese Council of the Kingdom meets in Coimbra and declares John, Master of the Order of Aviz, King John I of Portugal.

8. 1516 - Adrian Willaert is installed as singer of Cardinal Ippolito I d'Este.

9. 1634 - The directors of the Dutch West India Company ask "to secure eylands Curacao".

10. 1648 - Construction of the Red Fort is completed at Shahjahanabad, Mughal Empire (now Delhi, India).

11. 1652 - Cape Colony, the first European settlement in South Africa, is established by the Dutch East India Company under Jan van Riebeeck.

12. 1663 - King Charles II of England signs the Carolina Charter, gifting land in the American southeast to eight friends who had helped him regain the throne.

13. 1664 - France and Saxony sign an alliance.

14. 1667 - An earthquake devastates Dubrovnik, then an independent city - state.

15. 1672 - France declares war on the Netherlands.

16. 1724 - Thomas Pelham - Holles becomes British Minister of Foreign Affairs.

17. 1727 - Denmark signs the Covenant of Hanover.

18. 1757 - British King George II dismisses Minister William Pitt the Elder, Secretary of State for the Southern Department.

19. 1768 - French explorer Louis - Antoine de Bougainville's expedition arrives in Tahiti, claiming it for France and naming it New Cythera.

20. 1772 - Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, ends the tax on men with beards, enacted by Tsar Peter the Great in 1698.

21. 1782 - Rama I succeeds King Taksin of Siam (modern - day Thailand), who is overthrown in a coup d'état.

22. 1808 - John Jacob Astor incorporates the American Fur Company.

23. 1815 - British militia shoots prisoners, and hundreds are killed.

24. 1830 - Joseph Smith and five others officially organize the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - day Saints in Fayette, New York.

25. 1841 - The cornerstone is laid for the second Mormon temple in Nauvoo, Illinois.

26. 1843 - William Wordsworth is appointed British Poet Laureate by Queen Victoria.

27. 1848 - Jews in Prussia are granted equality.

28. 1859 - The US recognizes the liberal government in Mexico's War of Reform.

29. 1860 - Joseph Smith III creates the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - day Saints by reorganizing the previous church organized by his father, Joseph Smith Jr..

30. 1862 - The Battle of Shiloh takes place, where the Union defeats the Confederacy near Pittsburgh Landing, Tennessee.

31. 1865 - The Battle of High Bridge, fought near Farmville, Virginia (Appomattox Campaign), has an inconclusive result (US Civil War).

32. 1865 - The Battle of Sailor's Creek, fought near Farmville, Virginia (Appomattox Campaign), results in a Union victory, with a quarter of General Robert E. Lee's army cut off (US Civil War).

33. 1866 - The Grand Army of the Republic forms in Decatur, Illinois, by Dr. Benjamin F. Stephenson.

34. 1877 - At the British Open men's golf tournament at Musselburgh Links, Jamie Anderson wins his first of three consecutive championships, beating fellow Scot Bob Pringle by two shots.

35. 1886 - The city of Vancouver, British Columbia, is incorporated.

36. 1886 - The Declaration of Berlin neutralizes Tonga.

37. 1889 - George Eastman begins selling his Kodak flexible rolled film for the first time.

38. 1890 - French troops under Capt. Archinard occupy Ségué, West - Sudan.

39. 1893 - Andy Bowen and Jack Burke box for 7 hours and 19 minutes to no decision (111 rounds).

40. 1893 - The Mormon temple in Salt Lake City is dedicated.

41. 1896 - The first modern summer Olympic games open in Athens, Greece. American athlete James Connolly becomes the first modern Olympic champion when he wins the triple jump.

42. 1900 - James J. Jeffries knocks out Jack Finnegan in the first round for the heavyweight boxing title.

43. 1903 - General railroad strike against "worg wetten" (anti - strike laws) in Holland.

44. 1906 - The world's first animated cartoon, "Humorous Phases of Funny Faces", is released by J. Stuart Blackton.

45. 1909 - The first credit union forms in the US.

46. 1909 - American explorer Robert Peary reaches the North Pole.

47. 1917 - The United States officially enters World War I.

48. 1919 - India experiences an anti - British general strike and hunger strike.

49. 1924 - The first successful round - the - world flight is completed.

50. 1935 - The construction of the Qiantang River Bridge begins.