1. 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule the Roman Empire will reach its maximum extent.

2. 661 – The 4th caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, Ali ibn Abu Talib is struck on the head while praying at the Great Mosque of Kufa, Mesopotamia by a poison-coated sword wielded by Ibn Muljam, a Kharijite, and dies two days later.

3. 672 – St. Vitalian ends his reign as Catholic pope.

4. 847 – Sergius II ends his reign as Catholic pope.

5. 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to become monks by Constantine VII, who becomes sole emperor of the Byzantine Empire.

6. 1142 – Wrongful execution of noted Song Dynasty general Yue Fei.

7. 1186 – Henry VI, the son and heir of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, marries Constance of Sicily.

8. 1302 – Dante Alighieri is condemned in absentia and exiled from Florence.

9. 1343 – Pope Clement VI issues the papal bull Unigenitus to justify the power of the pope and the use of indulgences. Nearly 200 years later, Martin Luther would protest this.

10. 1538 – States of Gelderland accepts Willem van Kleef as viceroy.

11. 1556 – Willem of Orange becomes a knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

12. 1591 – Scottish schoolmaster Dr. John Fian burned for witchcraft at Castle Hill, Edinburgh by order of King James VI. Part of the Berwick witch trials.

13. 1593 – Vatican opens blasphemy and theological heresy trial against Italian scholar and wayward friar Giordano Bruno; proceedings drag on for over 7 years.

14. 1606 – Gunpowder Plot: The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins, ending with their execution on January 31.

15. 1649 – English High Court of Justice finds King Charles I "guilty of the crimes of which he had been accused, did judge him tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy to the good people of the nation, to be put to death by the severing of his head from his body".

16. 1662 – 1st American lime kiln begins operation in Providence, Rhode Island.

17. 1671 – Welsh pirate Henry Morgan lands at the gates of Panama City.

18. 1687 – Charles Perrault's poem "The Age of Louis the Great" read out at the French Academy, part of the literary quarrel of the ancients and the moderns.

19. 1688 – Qing Dynasty's Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang Wen (Borjigit clan) dies and is buried in Zhaoxi Tomb (Eastern Tomb).

20. 1695 – Mustafa II becomes the Ottoman sultan and caliph of Islam in Istanbul on the death of Ahmed II. Mustafa rules until his abdication in 1703.

21. 1710 – Tsar Peter the Great sets first Russian state budget.

22. 1756 – Austrian composer Mozart is born.

23. 1759 – Spanish forces clash with indigenous Huilliches of southern Chile in the Battle of Río Bueno.

24. 1776 – American Revolutionary War: Henry Knox's "Noble Train of Artillery" arrives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

25. 1785 – The University of Georgia is founded, the first public university in the United States.

26. 1820 – A Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev discovers the Antarctic continent, approaching the Antarctic coast.

27. 1823 – President Monroe appoints first US ambassadors to South America.

28. 1825 – The US Congress approves Indian Territory (in what is present-day Oklahoma), clearing the way for forced relocation of the eastern Indians on the "Trail of Tears".

29. 1853 – US whaling and sealing vessel the Levant, captained by Mercator Cooper, makes the first known landing on mainland Antarctica at Oates Coast, Victoria Land.

30. 1864 – Battle of Fair Gardens, Tennessee.

31. 1864 – Civil war skirmish at Kelly's Ford, Virginia.

32. 1868 – Boshin War: The Battle of Toba–Fushimi begins, between forces of the Tokugawa shogunate and pro-imperial factions; it will end in defeat for the shogunate, and is a pivotal point in the Meiji Restoration.

33. 1869 – Boshin War: Tokugawa rebels establish the Ezo Republic in Hokkaidō.

34. 1870 – 1st sorority (Kappa Alpha Theta) at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana.

35. 1870 – After accepting 15th Amendment, Virginia is readmitted to the Union.

36. 1870 – Manitoba & Northwest Territories incorporated.

37. 1874 – Modest Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov premieres in Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg.

38. 1880 – Thomas Edison receives a patent for his incandescent lamp.

39. 1886 – First British government of Salisbury resigns.

40. 1891 – Mine explosion kills 109 at Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania.

41. 1893 – Song Qingling, one of the founders of the People's Republic of China, is born.

42. 1894 – Midwinter Fair opens in Golden Gate Park.

43. 1896 – Tasmania bowl out Victoria for 65 for their 1st ever innings victory.

44. 1897 – British troops occupy Bida, Gold Coast (Ghana).

45. 1916 – World War I: The British government passes the Military Service Act that introduces conscription in the United Kingdom.

46. 1918 – Beginning of the Finnish Civil War.

47. 1924 – Six days after his death, Lenin's body is carried into a specially erected mausoleum.

48. 1939 – First flight of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.

49. 1945 – World War II: The Soviet 322nd Rifle Division liberates the remaining inmates of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

50. 1967 – Apollo program: Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during a test of their Apollo 1 spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

 

And AI predict:

1. 2025 - The first manned mission to Mars successfully lands, marking a historic milestone in space exploration.  
2. 2026 - The global population officially reaches 8 billion, according to United Nations estimates.  
3. 2027 - A breakthrough in fusion energy is announced, promising a new era of clean and sustainable power.  
4. 2028 - The Winter Olympics open in a record-breaking ceremony in Oslo, Norway.  
5. 2029 - A significant asteroid passes close to Earth, sparking renewed interest in planetary defense.  
6. 2030 - The first commercial space hotel opens, offering luxury accommodations in low Earth orbit.  
7. 2031 - A major breakthrough in cancer treatment is announced, offering hope to millions of patients worldwide.  
8. 2032 - The world celebrates the 100th anniversary of the discovery of penicillin, a milestone in medical history.  
9. 2033 - The first human colony on the Moon is established, marking a new chapter in space exploration.  
10. 2034 - A global treaty on artificial intelligence regulation is signed, aiming to ensure ethical use of AI technologies.  
11. 2035 - The last coal-fired power plant in the United States is shut down, marking a major step towards a carbon-neutral future.  
12. 2036 - The first successful human head transplant is performed, sparking ethical debates worldwide.  
13. 2037 - The world commemorates the 100th anniversary of the end of World War II, reflecting on a century of peace and conflict.