- 624 – Wu Zetian, the only female Chinese emperor in history, is born.
- 1621 – Myles Standish is elected as the first commander of the Plymouth Colony.
- 1801 – Thomas Jefferson is elected 3rd president of the U.S., after a very acrimonious campaign against Aaron Burr.
- 1820 – The U.S. Senate passes the Missouri Compromise.
- 1870 – Tenley Albright became the first American woman to win the World Figure Skating championship.
- 1904 – Madame Butterfly premieres.
- 1912 – Alice Mary Norton is born. She wrote under the pseudonym Andre Norton because she thought it would be more salable in science fiction and fantasy and later legally changed her name to Andre Alice Norton. She also used the pseudonyms “Andrew North” and “Allen Weston.”
- 1942 – Huey P. Newton, founder of the Black Panther Party, is born.
- 1963 – Michael Jordan is born.
- 1972 – President Nixon leaves DC for an historic trip to China.
- 1996 – Garry Kasparov defeats IBM computer “Deep Blue” 4-2.
