- 1616 – The astronomical work ‘de Revolutionibus’ by Nicolaus Copernicus is placed on Catholic Forbidden index.
- 1770 – The Boston Massacre occurred when British troops fired on protestors at the Customs House. Five colonists died: Crispus Attucks, a Black man, Patrick Carr, Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick and James Caldwell.
- 1836 – Samuel Colt manufactures first pistol, 34-caliber “Texas” model.
- 1846 – Emma McVicker is born. She was an advocate for early childhood education and was the first woman appointed to statewide office in Utah when she became the superintendent of schools in 1900.
- 1853 – Piano company Steinway & Sons founded by Heinrich Steinweg (later Henry Steinway) in New York City.
- 1868 – The impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson begins, the first in US history.
- 1885 – Louise Pearce, one of the foremost pathologists of the early 20th century, was born today. She found a cure for trypanosomiasis, aka African sleeping sickness in 1919.
- 1904 – Nikola Tesla describes the process of the ball lightning formation in Electrical World and Engineer.
- 1931 – Geraldyn Cobb is born. An aviation pioneer, she became the first woman to pass qualifying exams for astronaut training in 1959. However, she was denied entrance into the program because she lacked military jet experience.
- 1933 – Germany’s Nazi Party wins majority in parliament with 43.9%.
- 1946 – Winston Churchill delivers his famous Iron Curtain speech in Fulton, Missouri.
- 1953 – Joseph Stalin dies. He is remembered as the man who helped save his nation from Nazi domination and the mass murderer who oversaw the death of between 8 milion and 20 million Russians.
- 1963 – Hula Hoop patented.
- 1981 – U.S. government grants Atlanta $1 million to finance mental health and social programs in the wake of a mysterious series of abductions and slayings involving at least 22 Black youths.
- 1995 – Graves of Tsar Nicholas II and family found in St Petersburg.
- 2013 – Venezuelan Vice-President Nicolás Maduro assumes the presidency after the death of Hugo Chávez.
