49BC "Alea iacta est! -- Caesar crosses the Rubicon, initiating the Great Roman Civil War (49-45 BC)

69 Roman Emperor Galba adopts L. Calpurnius Piso, greatly annoying M. Salvius Otho

1072 Triumphal entry of Robert the Weasel & his brother Roger de Hauteville into Palermo, newly liberated from the Arabs

1421 The Massacre of Fogliano: An attempted coup against the Trinci family causes the accession of the sole surviving member, Corrado III (1421-1439), who promptly slaughters the assassins

1475 Battle of Vaslui: Prince Stephen III of Moldavia defeats the Ottomans

1503 Last meeting between Machiavelli and Cesare Borgia, at Imola

1642 King Charles I flees London for Oxford

1761 French surrender Pondicherry to the British

1776 Publication of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"

1806 Dutch surrender Cape Town, South Africa, to the British

1810 Napoleon annuls his marriage with Josephine

1811 Battle of Bernoudy's Plantation: Ends Deslondes' Great Louisiana Slave Rebellion, c. 100 blacks, 2 whites killed

1847 US Navy-Marine Corps landing party occupies Los Angeles

1854 Pro-slavery filibuster William Walker proclaims the 'Republic of Sonora' in Baja California; ousted within weeks by Mexican forces

1861 Florida becomes 3rd state to secede

1861 Louisiana state troops capture Fts Jackson & St. Philip

1861 US forts & property seized by Mississippi

1862 Battle of Big Sandy River/Middle Creek, KY

1862 Battle of Romney, WV

1889 Ivory Coast declared a protectorate of France1920 First meeting of the League of Nations

1927 Tryst between Tamara de Lempicka (28) & Gabriele d'Annunzio (63) at the Vittoriale

1928 The Soviet Union orders Leon Trotsky exiled to Siberia

1941 Nazis order registration of Jews in Austria

1942 Borneo: Japanese begin landing at Tarakan Bay

1942 Heinz Hitler (19), nephew of Der Fuhrer, is captured on the Eastern Front while serving as an NCO in the 23rd Artillery; dies in a Soviet P/W camp

1942 Java: Wavell arrives at Bandung to take command of ABDA

1942 Netherlands Indies: Japan invades North-Celebes

1942 As Japanese troops close up to the Fil-American lines, Gen. Douglas MacArthur makes his first visit to the front on Bataan . . . and his last.

1943 FDR leaves for the Casablanca Conference, the first trans-oceanic flight by a president

1943 Guadalcanal: "Tokyo Express" is ambushed by PT-boats, losing two ships

1943 Guadalcanal: Henderson Field is complete for use in all weather

1943 Guadalcanal: U.S. forces begin a general offensive to eliminate Japanese.

1943 Papua: Limited Allied attacks continue in the Sanananda.

1944 Burma: Britain begins dropping naval mines in the Salween River.

1944 New Britain: Major Japanese counterattacks.

1945 British and Indian forces capture Shwego, in the Arakan.

1945 Luzon: US forces enlarge their beachhead.

1945 Northern Burma: Chinese and American forces continue to advance.

1946 Army Signal Corps bounces a radar beam off the moon.

1946 First meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, London

1947 Saronic Gulf: Greek steamer 'Himara' strikes an old mine, 392 die

1964 Moslem-Hindu riots in Calcutta, hundreds die

1969 Sweden recognizes North Vietnam

1985 Daniel Ortega Saavedra inaugurated as President of Nicaragua (1985-1990; 2007-)