63 BC – Cicero gives the fourth and final of the Catiline Orations.
633 – Fourth Council of Toledo opens, presided over by Isidore of Seville.
1033 – The Jordan Rift Valley earthquake destroys multiple cities across the Levant, triggers a tsunami and kills many.
1082 – Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona is assassinated, most likely by his brother, Berenguer Ramon II.
1408 – Seeking to resubjugate Muscovy, Emir Edigu of the Golden Horde reaches Moscow, burning areas around the city but failing to take the city itself.
1456 – The first of two earthquakes measuring 7.2 strikes Italy, causing extreme destruction and killing upwards of 70,000 people.
1484 – Pope Innocent VIII issues the Summis desiderantes affectibus, a papal bull that deputizes Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger as inquisitors to root out alleged witchcraft in Germany.
1496 – King Manuel I of Portugal issues a decree ordering the expulsion of Jews from the country.
1560 – Thirteen-year-old Charles IX becomes king of France, with Queen Mother Catherine de' Medici as regent.
1578 – Sir Francis Drake, after sailing through Strait of Magellan, raids Valparaiso.
1649 – The town of Raahe (Brahestad) is founded by Count Per Brahe the Younger.
1757 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Leuthen: Frederick II of Prussia leads Prussian forces to a decisive victory over Austrian forces under Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine.
1766 – In London, auctioneer James Christie holds his first sale.
1775 – At Fort Ticonderoga, Henry Knox begins his historic transport of artillery to Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1776 – Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest academic honor society in the U.S., holds its first meeting at the College of William & Mary.
1831 – Former U.S. President John Quincy Adams takes his seat in the House of Representatives.
1847 – Jefferson Davis is elected to the U.S. Senate.
1848 – California Gold Rush: In a message to the United States Congress, U.S. President James K. Polk confirms that large amounts of gold had been discovered in California.