475 Byzantine Emperor Zeno (474-491) is forced to flee Constantinople, as the usurper Basiliscus temporarily seizes power

1127 Jin troops take and sack Bianjing (Kaifeng), deposing and capturing the Emperor Qinzong, and ending the Northern Song dynasty

1349 Blamed for causing the Black Death, the Jews of Basel are burned in their homes, 700 die

1522 Adrian Dedel elected Pope as Adrian VI (Jan 9,1522-Sep 14,1523), the only Dutch pontiff

1570 Tsar Ivan the Terrible feels piqued, massacres 2000 in Novgorod

1760 The Battle of Barari Ghat: the Afghans defeat the Marathas

1798 Bonaparte burns the state barge 'Bucentaur', a symbol of Venetian independence

1805 Lord Nelson is entombed in the crypt of St. Paul's, London

1812 Napoleon annexes Swedish Pomerania

1861 First Shot of the Civil War: US steamer 'Star of the West' is fired on by South Carolina militia batteries off Charleston

1861 Mississippi becomes 2nd state to secede

1862 Battle of Ft Hindman/Arkansas Post (to Jan 11)

1879 Riot among Cheyenne Indians held prisoner at Ft Robinson

1904 Lt Gen Samuel B. M. Young, first US Army Chief-of-Staff, retires, after being on active duty since Apr 25, 1861.

1916 Gallipoli Campaign ends as the last Allied troops evacuate the peninsula

1917 British steamer 'Gladys Royal' becomes the first ship sunk by Count Luckner's German sailing raider 'Seeadler'

1936 Garand M-1 semi-automatic rifle adopted by the US Army

1941 6,000 Jews slaughtered in Bucharest, Romania

1942 First Japanese offensive against Bataan.

1942 Japanese submarines begin operating in the Indian Ocean.

1942 Malaya: Japanese amphibious "end run" around Br left at Port Settenham

1944 Burma: British troops take Maungdaw as Sino-American forces capture Shwebo, and heavy fighting continues along the Tarung River.

1945 Luzon: Sixth Army lands in Lingayen Gulf.

1951 USS 'Brooklyn' (CL-40) transferred to Chile

1952 USMC recalls Ted Williams to active duty for the Korean War

1964 Anti-US rioting in the Panama Canal Zone