| 1139 | | The Second Lateran Council opens in Rome. |
| 1657 | | English Admiral Robert Blake fights his last battle when he destroys the Spanish fleet in Santa Cruz Bay. |
| 1769 | | Ottawa Chief Pontiac is murdered by an Indian in Cahokia. |
| 1770 | | Captain Cook discovers Australia. |
| 1775 | | British troops begin the siege of Boston. |
| 1792 | | France declares war on Austria, Prussia, and Sardinia. |
| 1809 | | Napoleon defeats Austria at Battle of Abensberg, Bavaria. |
| 1836 | | The Territory of Wisconsin is created. |
| 1841 | | Edgar Allen Poe's first detective story is published. |
| 1861 | | Robert E. Lee resigns from the U.S. Army. |
| 1879 | | The first mobile home (horse-drawn) is used in a journey from London to Cyprus. |
| 1916 | | Wrigley Field opens in Chicago. |
| 1919 | | The Polish Army captures Vilno, Lithuania from the Soviets. |
| 1940 | | The first electron microscope is demonstrated. |
| 1942 | | Pierre Laval, the premier of Vichy France, in a radio broadcast, establishes a policy of "true reconciliation with Germany." |
| 1945 | | Soviet troops begin their attack on Berlin. |
| 1951 | | General MacArthur addresses a joint session of Congress after being relieved by President Truman. |
| 1953 | | Operation Little Switch begins in Korea, the exchange of sick and wounded prisoners of war. |
| 1962 | | The New Orleans Citizens Committee gives free one-way ride to blacks to move North. |
| 1967 | | U.S. planes bomb Haiphong for first time during the Vietnam War. |
| 1999 | | Two students enter Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado and open fire with multiple firearms, killing 13 students and teachers, wounding 25 and eventually shooting themselves. |
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