December 291170 – Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II; he subsequently becomes a saint and martyr in the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church. 1503 – The Battle of Garigliano was fought between a Spanish army under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba and a French army commanded by Ludovico II, Marquess of Saluzzo. 1607 – According to John Smith, Pocahontas, daughter of Powhatan leader Wahunsenacawh, successfully pleads for his life after tribal leaders attempt to execute him.
July 271054 – Siward, Earl of Northumbria, invades Scotland and defeats Macbeth, King of Scotland, somewhere north of the Firth of Forth. 1189 – Friedrich Barbarossa arrives at Niš, the capital of Serbian King Stefan Nemanja, during the Third Crusade. 1202 – Georgian–Seljuk wars: At the Battle of Basian the Kingdom of Georgia defeats the Sultanate of Rum. 1214 – Battle of Bouvines: Philip II of France decisively defeats Imperial, English and Flemish armies, effectively ending John of England's Angevin Empire.
April 23215 BC – A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene. 599 – Maya king Uneh Chan of Calakmul attacks rival city-state Palenque in southern Mexico, defeating queen Yohl Ik'nal and sacking the city. 711 – Dagobert III succeeds his father King Childebert III as King of the Franks. 1014 – Battle of Clontarf: High King of Ireland Brian Boru defeats Viking invaders, but is killed in battle. 1016 – Edmund Ironside succeeds his father Æthelred the Unready as King of England.
September 2338 – Drusilla, Caligula's sister who died in June, with whom the emperor is said to have an incestuous relationship, is deified. 1122 – Pope Callixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V agree to the Concordat of Worms to put an end to the Investiture Controversy. 1338 – The Battle of Arnemuiden, in which a French force defeats the English, is the first naval battle of the Hundred Years' War and the first naval battle in which gunpowder artillery is used.
1968January 1968 February 1968 January – The I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. January 10 – John Gorton is sworn in as 19th Prime Minister of Australia, taking over from John McEwen after being elected leader of the Liberal Party the previous day, following the disappearance of Harold Holt. Gorton becomes the only Senator to become Prime Minister, though he immediately transfers to the House of Representatives through the 1968 Higgins by-election in Holt's vacant seat.
June 281098 – Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul at the battle of Antioch. 1360 – Muhammed VI becomes the tenth Nasrid king of Granada after killing his brother-in-law Ismail II. 1461 – Edward, Earl of March, is crowned King Edward IV of England. 1495 – A French force heavily defeats a much larger Neapolitan and Spanish army at the battle of Seminara, leading to the creation of the Tercios by Gonzalo de Córdoba. 1519 – Charles V is elected Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
June 29226 – Cao Rui succeeds his father as emperor of Wei. 1149 – Raymond of Poitiers is defeated and killed at the Battle of Inab by Nur ad-Din Zangi. 1194 – Sverre is crowned King of Norway, leading to his excommunication by the Catholic Church and civil war. 1444 – Skanderbeg defeats an Ottoman invasion force at Torvioll. 1457 – The Dutch city of Dordrecht is devastated by fire 1534 – Jacques Cartier is the first European to reach Prince Edward Island.
May 171395 – Battle of Rovine: The Wallachians defeat an invading Ottoman army. 1521 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for treason. 1527 – Pánfilo de Narváez departs Spain to explore Florida with 600 men – by 1536 only four survive. 1536 – George Boleyn, 2nd Viscount Rochford and four other men are executed for treason. 1536 – Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn's marriage is annulled. 1590 – Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland. 1642 – Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve founds the Ville Marie de Montréal.
November 26783 – The Asturian queen Adosinda is held at a monastery to prevent her king from retaking the throne from Mauregatus. 1161 – Battle of Caishi: A Song dynasty fleet fights a naval engagement with Jin dynasty ships on the Yangtze river during the Jin–Song Wars. 1476 – Vlad the Impaler defeats Basarab Laiota with the help of Stephen the Great and Stephen V Báthory and becomes the ruler of Wallachia for the third time. 1778 – In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook becomes the first European to visit Maui.
September 5917 – Liu Yan declares himself emperor, establishing the Southern Han state in southern China, at his capital of Panyu. 1367 – Swa Saw Ke becomes king of Ava 1590 – Alexander Farnese's army forces Henry IV of France to lift the siege of Paris. 1622 – A hurricane overruns a Spanish fleet bound from Havana to Cadiz and sinks the galleon Atocha. Only five men are rescued, but 260 passengers and 200 million pesos are buried with the Atocha under 50 feet of water.
