1207 – Terra Mariana, eventually comprising present-day Latvia and Estonia, is established.
1653 – New Amsterdam (later renamed The City of New York) is incorporated.
1709 – Alexander Selkirk is rescued after being shipwrecked on a desert island, inspiring Daniel Defoe’s adventure book Robinson Crusoe.
1887 – In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first Groundhog Day is observed.
1901 – Funeral of Queen Victoria.
1913 – Grand Central Terminal is opened in New York City.
1922 – Ulysses by James Joyce is published.
1925 – Serum run to Nome: Dog sleds reach Nome, Alaska with diphtheria serum, inspiring the Iditarod race.
1980 – Reports surface that the FBI is targeting allegedly corrupt Congressmen in the Abscam operation.
Births
1522 – Lodovico Ferrari, Italian mathematician and academic (d. 1565)
1585 – Judith Quiney, William Shakespeare’s youngest daughter (d. 1662)
1585 – Hamnet Shakespeare, William Shakespeare’s only son (d. 1596)
1856 – Frederick William Vanderbilt, American railway magnate (d. 1938)
1861 – Solomon R. Guggenheim, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (d. 1949)
1882 – James Joyce, Irish novelist, short story writer, and poet (d. 1941)
1927 – Stan Getz, American saxophonist (d. 1991)
1937 – Anthony Haden-Guest, British journalist, poet, and critic
1937 – Tom Smothers, American comedian, actor, and activist
Deaths
1712 – Martin Lister, English physician and geologist (b. 1639)
1969 – Boris Karloff, English actor (b. 1887)
1970 – Bertrand Russell, English mathematician and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1872)
1979 – Sid Vicious, English singer and bass player (b. 1957)
1996 – Gene Kelly, American actor, singer, dancer, and director (b. 1912)
2014 – Philip Seymour Hoffman, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1967)