1. 484 BC - Wu Zixu, a statesman and strategist in the late Spring and Autumn period, passed away.

2. 217 - Roman Emperor Caracalla was assassinated by his Praetorian Guard Prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus.

3. 1093 - The new Winchester Cathedral was dedicated.

4. 1139 - Roger II of Sicily was excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church.

5. 1149 - Pope Eugene III took refuge in the Castle of Ptolemy II of Tusculum.

6. 1195 - Alexius III Angelus drove out his brother Isaac II as Byzantine Emperor.

7. 1232 - The Mongol army under General Subedei began the siege of the Chinese Jin capital of Kaifeng, the 1st occasion gunpowder was used in a major engagement.

8. 1271 - Krak des Chevaliers, the greatest fortress built by medieval Crusaders in the Levant, was finally taken by the forces of Mamlūk Sultan Baybars I.

9. 1341 - Petrarch was crowned a poet on the Capitoline Hill in Rome.

10. 1378 - Bartolomeo Prignano was elected as Pope Urban VI.

11. 1455 - Alfonso de Borgia was elected as Pope Callistus III.

12. 1500 - Battle of Novara: King Louis XII of France defeated Duke Ludovico Sforza of Milan.

13. 1530 - The Holy Roman Emperor convened an imperial diet in the German city of Augsburg to address Protestant tensions.

14. 1730 - Shearith Israel, the first synagogue in New York City, was dedicated.

15. 1759 - British troops chased the French out of Masulipatam, India.

16. 1766 - The first fire escape was patented, a wicker basket on a pulley & chain.

17. 1767 - The Ayutthaya Kingdom fell to Burmese invaders.

18. 1781 - The premiere of Mozart's "Violin Sonata No. 27" in G major (K. 379) took place.

19. 1783 - Catherine II of Russia annexed the Crimea.

20. 1796 - Carl Friedrich Gauss, a German mathematician, proved the quadratic reciprocity law.

21. 1801 - Soldiers rioted in Bucharest and killed 128 Jews.

22. 1802 - The French Protestant church became state - supported and - controlled.

23. 1808 - The Roman Catholic Diocese of Baltimore was promoted to an archdiocese by Pope Pius VII.

24. 1820 - The Venus de Milo was discovered on the Aegean island of Melos.

25. 1838 - The steamship "Great Western" made her maiden voyage from Bristol, England, to New York.

26. 1848 - The 1st battle at Goito: Sardinia - Piemonte beat the Austrians.

27. 1848 - Battle at Xaquixaguana, Peru: Pedro de la Gasca beat Gonzalo Pizarro.

28. 1861 - The US Mint at Dahlonega, Georgia, ceased operations.

29. 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Mansfield - Union General Nathaniel Banks' Red River Campaign was thwarted by Confederate General Richard Taylor's forces at Mansfield, Louisiana.

30. 1866 - Italy and Prussia allied against the Austrian Empire.

31. 1869 - The American Museum of Natural History opened in New York City.

32. 1876 - Amili Are Ponchielli's opera "La Gioconda" premiered in Milan.

33. 1879 - Khedive Ismael of Egypt fired French and British ministers.

34. 1879 - Milk was sold in glass bottles for the 1st time.

35. 1886 - William Ewart Gladstone introduced the first Irish Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons.

36. 1898 - Battle of Atbara River: Anglo - Egyptian forces crushed 6,000 Sudanese.

37. 1902 - A demonstration organized by socialists in Belgium as people demanded better education, living conditions, the right to strike and universal male suffrage resulted in a riot and some deaths.

38. 1902 - Russia and China signed the Convention of Evacuation under which Russia agreed to evacuate Manchuria within 18 months.

39. 1904 - The British mystic Aleister Crowley transcribed the first chapter of the Book of the Law.

40. 1904 - The Entente Cordiale between Britain and France was established, settling long - standing disagreements over Morocco, Egypt, Africa, and the Pacific.

41. 1904 - New York City changed the name of Longacre Square to Times Square, in honor of the New York Times' move to the area.

42. 1913 - The 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, providing for the election of senators by popular vote.

43. 1913 - The opening of China's 1st parliament took place in Peking (now Beijing).

44. 1914 - The US and Colombia signed a treaty concerning the Panama Canal Zone.

45. 1916 - Norway approved active and passive female suffrage.

46. 1924 - The South African state passed the Industrial Conciliation Act No 11, which provided for job reservation, excluded blacks from membership of registered trade unions, and prohibited the registration of black trade unions.

47. 1929 - In the Indian independence movement, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw handouts and bombs at the Delhi Central Assembly to court arrest.

48. 1931 - Dmitri Shostakovich's ballet "The Arrow" premiered.

49. 1935 - The 2nd Augusta National Invitation Tournament (Masters) golf: Gene Sarazen won the Monday playoff with Craig Wood.

50. 1939 - Italy invaded Albania.