• 962 - Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor in nearly 40 years.
• 1032 - Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor becomes King of Burgundy.
• 1509 - The Battle of Diu takes place near Diu, India, between Portugal and Turkey.
• 1536 - Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• 1542 - Portuguese under Christovão da Gama capture a Moslem-occupied hillfort in northern Ethiopia in the Battle of Baçente.
• 1653 - New Amsterdam (later renamed The City of New York) is incorporated.
• 1709 - Alexander Selkirk is rescued from shipwreck on a desert island, inspiring the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.
• 1787 - Arthur St. Clair is elected the 9th President of the President of the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation.
• 1790 - The U.S. Supreme Court convenes for the first time after an unsuccessful attempt on February 1.
• 1812 - Russia establishes a fur trading colony at what is now Fort Ross, California.
• 1848 - Mexican-American War: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed, ending the war.
• 1848 - California Gold Rush: The first ship with Chinese emigrants seeking fortune in California's gold country arrives in San Francisco, California.
• 1876 - The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of Major League Baseball is formed.
• 1878 - Greece declares war on Turkey.
• 1880 - The first electric streetlight is installed in Wabash, Indiana.
• 1882 - The Knights of Columbus are formed in New Haven, Connecticut.
• 1887 - In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first Groundhog Day is observed.
• 1899 - The Australian Premiers' Conference held in Melbourne decides to locate Australia's capital (Canberra) between Sydney and Melbourne.
• 1901 - Queen Victoria's funeral takes place.
• 1913 - Grand Central Station was opened in New York City.
• 1920 - The Tartu Peace Treaty is signed between Estonia and Russia.
• 1920 - France occupies Memel.
• 1922 - Ulysses by James Joyce is published in Paris, France.
• 1925 - Serum run to Nome: Dog sleds reach Nome, Alaska with diphtheria serum, inspiring the Iditarod race.
• 1933 - Adolf Hitler dissolves the German Parliament.
• 1935 - Leonard Keeler tests the first polygraph machine.
• 1940 - Frank Sinatra debuts with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra.
• 1943 - World War II: The last German forces surrender to the Soviets after the Battle of Stalingrad.
• 1946 - The Proclamation of Hungarian Republic is made.
• 1957 - President Iskander Mirza of Pakistan lays the foundation-stone of the Guddu Barrage across river Indus near Sukkur.
• 1966 - Pakistan suggests a six-point agenda with Kashmir dispute as number one item for the proposed Indo-Pak ministerial talks after 1965 war.
• 1967 - The American Basketball Association is formed.
• 1971 - After a coup in Uganda, Idi Amin replaces President Milton Obote as leader.
• 1972 - The British embassy in Dublin is destroyed in protest over Bloody Sunday.
• 1974 - The F-16 Fighting Falcon flies for the first time.
• 1976 - The Groundhog Day gale hits the north-eastern United States and south-eastern Canada.
• 1980 - Reports surface that FBI personnel were targeting members of the U.S. Congress in the Abscam sting operation.
• 1980 - This Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey is formally founded.
• 1982 - Hama Massacre: The government of Syria attacks the town of Hama and kills thousands of people.
• 1989 - Soviet war in Afghanistan: The last Soviet Union armored column leaves Kabul, ending nine years of military occupation.
• 1989 - Satellite television service Sky Television plc launched in Europe.
• 1990 - Apartheid: In South Africa President F.W. de Klerk allows the African National Congress to legally function again and promises to set Nelson Mandela free.
• 1998 - A Cebu Pacific Air DC-9-32 crashes into a mountain near Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, killing 104.
• 2002 - The wedding of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands to the Argentinean born Máxima Zorreguieta takes place.

Births