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.
1948January 1948 January 1 The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British Railways. January 4 – Burma gains its independence from the United Kingdom, becoming an independent republic, named the 'Union of Burma', with Sao Shwe Thaik as its first President and U Nu its first Prime Minister. January 5 – In the United States: Warner Brothers shows the first color newsreel (Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl Game).
1946January 1946 January 6 – The first general election ever in Vietnam is held. January 7 – The Allies of World War II recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into four occupation zones. January 10 The first meeting of the United Nations is held, at Methodist Central Hall Westminster in London. Project Diana bounces radar waves off the Moon, measuring the exact distance between the Earth and the Moon, and proves that communication is possible between Earth and outer space, effectively opening the Space Age.
April 1527 – Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne. 1081 – Alexios I Komnenos overthrows the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros III Botaneiates, and, after his troops spend three days extensively looting Constantinople, is formally crowned on April 4. 1572 – In the Eighty Years' War, the Watergeuzen capture Brielle from the Seventeen Provinces, gaining the first foothold on land for what would become the Dutch Republic.
August 2519 – The Roman general Germanicus dies near Antioch. He was convinced that the mysterious illness that ended in his death was a result of poisoning by the Syrian governor Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso, whom he had ordered to leave the province. 766 – Emperor Constantine V humiliates nineteen high-ranking officials, after discovering a plot against him. He executes the leaders, Constantine Podopagouros and his brother Strategios. 1248 – The Dutch city of Ommen receives city rights and fortification rights from Otto III, the Archbishop of Utrecht.
June 22217 BC – Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom. 168 BC – Battle of Pydna: Romans under Lucius Aemilius Paullus defeat Macedonian King Perseus who surrenders after the battle, ending the Third Macedonian War. 813 – Battle of Versinikia: The Bulgars led by Krum defeat the Byzantine army near Edirne. Emperor Michael I is forced to abdicate in favor of Leo V the Armenian. 910 – The Hungarians defeat the East Frankish army near the Rednitz River, killing its leader Gebhard, Duke of Lotharingia (Lorraine).
July 18477 BC – Battle of the Cremera as part of the Roman–Etruscan Wars. Veii ambushes and defeats the Roman army. 387 BC – Roman-Gaulish Wars: Battle of the Allia: A Roman army is defeated by raiding Gauls, leading to the subsequent sacking of Rome. 362 – Roman–Persian Wars: Emperor Julian arrives at Antioch with a Roman expeditionary force (60,000 men) and stays there for nine months to launch a campaign against the Persian Empire. 452 – Sack of Aquileia: After an earlier defeat on the Catalaunian Plains, Attila lays siege to the metropolis of Aquileia and eventually destroys it.
December 9536 – Gothic War: The Byzantine general Belisarius enters Rome unopposed; the Gothic garrison flees the capital. 730 – Battle of Marj Ardabil: The Khazars annihilate an Umayyad army and kill its commander, al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah al-Hakami. 1432 – The first battle between the forces of Švitrigaila and Sigismund Kęstutaitis is fought near the town of Oszmiana (Ashmyany), launching the most active phase of the Lithuanian Civil War. 1531 – The Virgin of Guadalupe first appears to Juan Diego at Tepeyac, Mexico City.
July 3324 – Battle of Adrianople: Constantine I defeats Licinius, who flees to Byzantium. 987 – Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty that would rule France until the French Revolution in 1792. 1035 – William the Conqueror becomes the Duke of Normandy, reigning until 1087. 1608 – Québec City is founded by Samuel de Champlain. 1754 – French and Indian War: George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French forces. 1767 – Pitcairn Island is discovered by Midshipman Robert Pitcairn on an expeditionary voyage commanded by Philip Carteret.
April 19AD 65 – The freedman Milichus betrays Piso's plot to kill the Emperor Nero and all of the conspirators are arrested. 531 – Battle of Callinicum: A Byzantine army under Belisarius is defeated by the Persians at Raqqa (northern Syria). 1506 – The Lisbon Massacre begins, in which accused Jews are slaughtered by Portuguese Catholics. 1529 – Beginning of the Protestant Reformation: After the Second Diet of Speyer bans Lutheranism, a group of rulers (German: Fürst) and independent cities protests the reinstatement of the Edict of Worms.
