1. In 871, Æthelred I and Alfred the Great led a West Saxon army to repel an invasion by Danelaw Vikings.

2. In 1297, François Grimaldi, disguised as a monk, led his men to capture the fortress protecting the Rock of Monaco, establishing his family as the rulers of Monaco.

3. In 1454, the Papal Bull Romanus Pontifex awarded the Kingdom of Portugal exclusive trade and colonization rights to all of Africa south of Cape Bojador.

4. In 1499, Louis XII of France married Anne of Brittany in accordance with a law set by his predecessor, Charles VIII.

5. In 1547, the first Lithuanian-language book, the Catechism of Martynas Mažvydas, was published in Königsberg.

6. In 1610, German astronomer Simon Marius independently discovered the first three moons of Jupiter one day after Galileo.

7. In 1735, the premiere of George Frideric Handel's Ariodante took place at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

8. In 1746, Second Jacobite Rising: Bonnie Prince Charlie occupied Stirling.

9. In 1790, George Washington delivered the first State of the Union address in New York City.

10. In 1806, the Dutch Cape Colony in southern Africa became the British Cape Colony as a result of the Battle of Blaauwberg.

11. In 1811, Charles Deslondes led an unsuccessful slave revolt in the North American settlements of St. Charles and St. James, Louisiana.

12. In 1815, War of 1812: Battle of New Orleans, Andrew Jackson led American forces in victory over the British.

13. In 1828, the Democratic Party of the United States was organized.

14. In 1835, US President Andrew Jackson announced a celebratory dinner after having reduced the United States national debt to zero for the only time.

15. In 1863, American Civil War: Second Battle of Springfield.

16. In 1867, the United States Congress passed the bill to allow African American men the right to vote in Washington, D.C.

17. In 1877, Crazy Horse and his warriors fought their last battle against the United States cavalry at Wolf Mountain, Montana Territory.

18. In 1889, Herman Hollerith was issued US patent #395,791 for the "art of applying statistics"— his punched card calculator.

19. In 1900, President William McKinley placed Alaska under military rule.

20. In 1912, the African National Congress was founded, under the name South African Native National Congress (SANN C).

21. In 1918, US President Woodrow Wilson announced his "Fourteen Points" as conditions for ending World War I.

22. In 1926, Abdul-Aziz Ibn Saud was crowned king of Hejaz.

23. In 1936, Kashf-e Hijab decree was made and immediately enforced by Reza Shah, Iran's head of state, banning the wearing of Islamic veils in public.

24. In 1940, World War II: Britain introduced food rationing.

25. In 1956, Operation Auca: Five US missionaries were killed by the Huaorani of Ecuador shortly after making first contact.

26. In 1959, Charles de Gaulle was proclaimed as the first president of the French fifth republic.

27. In 1973, Soviet space mission Luna 21 was launched.

28. In 1973, Watergate scandal: The trial of seven men accused of illegal entry into Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate began.

29. In 1996, An Antonov An-32 cargo aircraft crashed into a crowded market in Kinshasa, Zaire, killing up to 223.

30. In 1997, The Principality of Monaco began a yearlong celebration in honour of the 700th anniversary of the rule of the Grimaldi family, who seized power in 1297 and gained firm possession of Monaco in 1419.