1. In 1421, the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty officially moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing.

2. In 1536, Pedro de Mendoza founded the city of Buenos Aires in what is now Argentina.

3. In 1653, New Amsterdam, which would later become New York City, was incorporated.

4. In 1688, Li Wei, a minister in the Qing Dynasty of China, was born.

5. In 1809, Charles Darwin, the renowned naturalist, was born.

6. In 1818, Simon Bolivar and his army crossed the Andes Mountains during the South American wars of independence.

7. In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, ending the Mexican - American War.

8. In 1876, the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs was formed in New York.

9. In 1882, James Joyce, the Irish novelist and poet, was born near Dublin.

10. In 1893, Sun Lianzhong, a Chinese general, was born.

11. In 1895, the Japanese army occupied Weihaiwei during the First Sino - Japanese War.

12. In 1897, a fire destroyed the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg.

13. In 1906, Xu Shiyou, a Chinese general, was born.

14. In 1907, Dmitri Mendeleev, the Russian chemist who created the periodic table, died.

15. In 1913, The 16th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which allows the federal government to levy an income tax, was ratified.

16. In 1920, Hu Shi started to use new punctuation marks in China.

17. In 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was established.

18. In 1935, the song "March of the Volunteers", which would later become the national anthem of the People's Republic of China, was composed.

19. In 1937, Fan Changjiang, a Chinese journalist, went to northern Shaanxi to report on the Chinese revolution.

20. In 1943, German forces in Stalingrad surrendered, marking a major turning point in World War II.

21. In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill left Malta for the Yalta Conference with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

22. In 1948, the "Shenjiu Massacre" took place in Shanghai.

23. In 1949, Beiping Xinhua Radio Station began broadcasting.

24. In 1950, the "Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance" between China and the Soviet Union was signed in Moscow.

25. In 1952, The United States detonated the world's first hydrogen bomb, "Ivy Mike", on the Enewetak atoll in the Pacific.

26. In 1960, The State Council of China required proper resettlement of returned overseas Chinese.

27. In 1964, the first "Great Rift Valley" exhibition in China opened in Beijing.

28. In 1970, Bertrand Russell, the British philosopher, logician, and social critic, died.

29. In 1971, Idi Amin seized power in Uganda through a military coup.

30. In 1971, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands was signed in Ramsar, Iran.

31. In 1979, Sid Vicious, the punk rock musician of the Sex Pistols, died of a drug overdose in New York.

32. In 1980, Reports emerged about the FBI's "Abscam" operation, which targeted members of Congress using fake Arab businessmen.

33. In 1982, The first artificial heart patient, Barney Clark, died after 112 days with the device.

34. In 1984, The Winter Olympics opened in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia (now Bosnia - Herzegovina).

35. In 1986, The space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven crew members.

36. In 1988, South Africa announced that it was releasing Nelson Mandela unconditionally.

37. In 1990, South African President F. W. de Klerk lifted a 30 - year ban on the African National Congress.

38. In 1991, The Warsaw Pact, a military alliance of communist countries, was officially dissolved.

39. In 1992, Slovenia and Croatia were recognized as independent countries by the European Community.

40. In 1993, The 27th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which deals with congressional pay raises, was ratified.

41. In 1996, Gene Kelly, the American dancer, actor, and choreographer, died at his home in Beverly Hills, California.

42. In 1997, China and the United States reached an agreement on textile exports, and China withdrew its original retaliatory measures.

43. In 1997, Qin Jiwei, a senior general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, died.

44. In 1998, The United States House of Representatives approved two articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton.

45. In 1999, The European Central Bank launched the euro as a virtual currency.

46. In 2000, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree establishing seven federal districts.

47. In 2001, The "2·2" Xinjiang earthquake occurred in Xinjiang, China.

48. In 2002, The euro was introduced as physical currency in 12 European countries.

49. In 2003, The United Nations Security Council held a meeting on the Iraq issue.

50. In 2008, Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia.