| 405 | BC | Battle of Aegospotami: Spartans crush the Athenian fleet, ending the Peloponnesian War. |
| 0 | | Feast of St Lucy, Patron of Authors |
| 0 | | Festival of the Roman earth deity Tellus |
| 115 | | Devastating earthquake at Antioch: cities as far as Palestine are ruined, Caesarea Maritima is destroyed by a tsunami, many die, Emperor Trajan is among the survivors |
| 1294 | | Abdication of Pope Celestine V (5 Jul-13 Dec 1294), d. May, 1296, canonized |
| 1545 | | Opening session of the Council of Trent (1545-1563) |
| 1577 | | Sir Francis Drake sets sail from England to go around world |
| 1636 | | First muster of the militia at Salem, Massachusetts - Birthday of the National Guard |
| 1643 | | Battle of Alton: Parliamentary forces (c. 5,000) execute a surprise attack on a Royalist garrison (c. 1000) |
| 1774 | | John Sullivan's militiamen take Ft William & Mary, NH, from the British |
| 1861 | | Combat at Buffalo Mountain/Camp Allegheny/Allegheny Summit, WVa |
| 1862 | | Battle of Fredericksburg, VA; Mismanaged Union attacks lead to a devastating defeat |
| 1864 | | Battle of Ft McAllister, GA |
| 1916 | | Avalanches kill 10,000 Austrian & Italian troops in 24 hrs in the Tyrol |
| 1916 | | French chief of staff Josef Joffre replaced by Robert Nivelle |
| 1918 | | The first US occupation troops cross the Rhine to enter Germany |
| 1918 | | Pres. Wilson arrives at Brest on the former German liner 'George Washington', to start the first visit to Europe by a sitting president, for the Paris Peace Conference |
| 1931 | | Winston Churchill is struck by a car while exiting a cab on Fifth Avenue between 76th and 77th Streets |
| 1939 | | Battle of the Rio de La Plata: three British cruisers defeat the German pocket battleship 'Graf Spee' |
| 1941 | | British and Canadian troops abandon the mainland portions of Hong Kong |
| 1942 | | British advance cautiously in the Arakan region of Burma |
| 1942 | | Japanese survivors at Buna (c. 100 men) escape across the Giruwa River |
| 1942 | | U.S. aircraft bomb Munda |
| 1943 | | Burma: the Chinese New 38th Div reaches Bhamo |
| 1943 | | Massacre of Kalavryta: German troops kill c. 500 Greek men and boys |
| 1944 | | USS 'Nashville' (CL-43) struck by a kamikaze off the Philippines, 138 die |
| 1966 | | First US bombing of Hanoi |
| 1967 | | Unsuccessful coup against Greek King Constantine II |
| 1981 | | Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski seizes power in Poland |
| 2001 | | Islamic terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament: 9 die & 18 are wounded, five attackers are killed |
| 2003 | | US troops find Iraqi Dictator Saddam Hussein in a hole in the ground |
| 2013 | | Student opens fire at Arapahoe High School, Centennial, Co.: two injured, shooter killed |
| 1272 | | Frederick of Aragon, Regent of Sicily (1291-1295), King Federico III of Sicily (1295-1337) |
| 1521 | | Felice Peretti - Pope Sixtus V (1585-1590) |
| 1533 | | King Erik XIV Vasa of Sweden (1560-69) |
| 1553 | | King Henry IV of Navarre (1572-1610) and France (1589-1610) |
| 1678 | | Yinzhen, the Yongzheng Emperor of Manchu China (1722-8 October 1735) |
| 1816 | | Werner von Siemens, German artillery officer, electrician, d. 1892 |
| 1858 | | Svetozar Boroevic, later Boroevic von Bojna, Croatian Austro-Hungarian field Marshal, Commander of the Italian Front, 1915-1918, d. 1920 |
| 1887 | | Alvin C. York, American soldier, Medal of Honor, d. 1964 |
| 1914 | | Alan L Bullock, historian ("Hitler: A Study in Tyranny"), d. 2004 |
| 558 | | Childebert I, c. 62, King of Paris (511-558) and of Orléans (524-558). |
| 838 | | King Pepin I of Aquitania (817-838) within the HRE, c. 40 |
| 1124 | | Pope Callistus II - Guy de Vienne (1119-1124), c. 55 |
| 1126 | | Duke Heinrich IX "the Black" of Bavaria (1120-1126) |
| 1204 | | Maimonides, Jewish philosopher and scholar, at 69 |
| 1250 | | Frederick II, 55, King of the Germans & HRE (1212-1250), King of Sicily (1198-1250) & of Jerusalem (1225-1228), the "Wonder of the World." |
| 1521 | | King Manuel I "the Fortunate" of Portugal and the Algarves (1495-1521), at 52 |
| 1557 | | Niccolo Tartaglia, 57, mathematician, fortification engineer, the "Father of Ballistics" |
| 1672 | | Jan II Kazimierz, king of Poland (1648-1668), at 63 |
| 1721 | | Alexander Selkirk, c. 45, sailor, naval officer, castaway, who inspired DeFoe to write "Robinson Crusoe" |
| 1754 | | Ottoman Sultan Mahmud I (1730-1754), 58 |
| 1783 | | Samuel Johnson -- "Doctor Johnson", poet, author, moralist, critic, editor, lexicographer, at 75 |
| 1814 | | Charles-Joseph Lamoral, Prince de Ligne, Belgian-born Habpsburg Field Marshal and military thinker, at 79 |
| 1945 | | "Beast of Belsen" Josef Kramer (39), "Bitch of Belsen" Irma Grese (22), and six other Belsen war criminals, hanged |
| 1969 | | Adm Raymond A Spruance, victor at Midway, at 83 |