| 1474 | | In the Swiss-Burgundian Wars, Swiss infantry shatters the army of Charles the Bold at Hericourt near Belfort, countering his march to Lorraine. |
| 1835 | |
Texans officially proclaim independence from Mexico,
and calls itself the Lone Star Republic, after its flag, until its admission to
the Union in 1845. |
| 1851 | | The London-to-Paris telegraph begins operation. |
| 1860 | |
South Carolina's legislature calls a special convention
to discuss secession from the Union. |
| 1862 | | Lewis Carroll writes in his diary, "Began writing the fairy-tale of Alice--I hope to finish it by Christmas." |
| 1878 | |
New Mexico Governor Lew Wallace offers amnesty to
many participants of the Lincoln County War, but not to gunfighter Billy the Kid. |
| 1897 | | The first metal dirigible is flown from Tempelhof Field in Berlin. |
| 1907 | | Paul Corno achieves the first helicopter flight. |
| 1914 | | The brassiere, invented by Caresse Crosby, is patented. |
| 1927 | |
New York's Holland Tunnel officially opens for traffic. |
| 1940 | | U.S. Supreme Court rules in Hansberry v. Lee that African Americans cannot be barred from white neighborhoods. |
| 1941 | | A German U-boat, the U-81 torpedoes Great Britain's premier aircraft carrier, the HMS Ark Royal. The ship sinks the next day. |
| 1942 | |
Lt. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower flies to Algeria to
conclude an agreement with French Admiral Jean Darlan.. |
| 1945 | | Charles de Gaulle is elected president of France. |
| 1952 | | Harvard's Paul Zoll becomes the first man to use electric shock to treat cardiac arrest. |
| 1956 | |
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously strikes down
two Alabama laws requiring racial segregation on public buses. |
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