457 Accession of Leo I "The Thracian" as Eastern Roman Emperor (457-474)

1074 Battle of Montesarchio: Normans defeat the Beneventine Lombards

1238 The Mongols capture and sack Vladimir, Russia

1313 Robert the Bruce captures Dumfries, Scotland

1497 Bonfire of the Vanities: Florentine supporters of the radical religious regime of Girolamo Savonarola burn art, books, and other "frivolous" things

1550 Gianmaria Ciocchi del Monte elected Pope as Julius III (1550-1555)

1623 Treaty of Paris: France, Savoy, & Venice ally against Spain

1800 Frigate USS 'Essex' becomes first U.S. warship to cross the Equator

1807 Battle of Eylau, Day 1: Napoleon vs. the Russo-Prussians (ends 8th)

1812 The New Madrid Earthquake: Greatest in the series that devastated the central Mississippi Valley

1842 Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent of Ethiopia, defeats the warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien

1864 Union Amphibious Attack on Jacksonville: RAdm John Dahlgren with five powerful warships covers the landing of Brig Genl Truman Seymour's 7,000 troops.

1881 Battle of Ingogo: Boers defeat the British in the Transvaal

1900 The British fail for the third time to relieve the Boer siege of Ladysmith

1904 Great fire of Baltimore, c. 1,500 houses in 80 blocks burn

1924 Fascist Italy and Communist Russia exchange ambassadors

1933 The USS 'Ramapo' (AO-12) encounters a 112 foot "rogue wave" during a cyclonic storm in the Pacific, the tallest wave ever reliably measured

1941 Kufra, Libya: Leclerc's Free French besiege Italians (falls Mar 1)

1942 Bataan: Fil-Am troops begin clearing Japanese pockets and beachheads.

1943 Chiang Kai-shek commits China to a new offensive in Burma

1943 Guadalcanal: U.S. troops advance on both coasts, as the Japanese complete the evacuation of their troops from the island.

1943 US begins rationing shoes

1944 Italy: Germans launch counteroffensive at Anzio

1945 China: Japanese capture U.S. airbase at Kanchow.

1945 General Douglas MacArthur returns to Manila

1947 Ticker tape parade on Broadway for Viscount Sir Harold Alexander

1948 Omar Bradley succeeds Dwight Eisenhower as Army Chief of Staff

1950 Senator Joe McCarthy begins his Witch Hunts but is unable to find a single "Red"

1965 US begins sustained air operations against North Vietnam1

974 "Blazing Saddles" is released

1986 President/Dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier of Haiti (1971-1986) flees to France

1999 Accession of King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein of Jordan (1999-)