306Maxentius proclaimed Emperor of Rome

312 EmperorConstantine the Great defeats rivalMaxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge

1061 Holy Roman EmperorHenry IV deposes the Bishop of Parma and Antipope Honorius II

1216Henry III, aged nine, is crowned King of England at Gloucester Cathedral after the death of his father,King John; a second coronation is held in 1220

1422 Charles V's son succeeds him as KingCharles VI of France

1467 Battle at Brustem: Duke of BurgundyCharles the Bold defeats Prince-Bishopric of Liège near Sint-Truiden, modern-day Belgium

1492Christopher Columbus sights Cuba and claims it for Spain under the name "Juana"

1612 BritishKing James I appoints musician Robert Dowland court lutenist

1640 English KingCharles I signs a peace treaty with the Scottish Covenanters, ending the Second Bishops' War

1726 "Gulliver's Travels" byJonathan Swift is published by Benjamin Motte in London

1776 Battle of White Plains:George Washington retreats to New Jersey

1793Eli Whitney applies for a patent for his cotton gin machine, used to pull cotton fibers from the seed[1]

1811 First known purchase ofJane Austen's novel "Sense and Sensibility" by the Prince Regent (later George IV), a fan

1828Clara Wieck, age 9, makes her official debut in a piano recital at the Gewandhaus concert hall in Leipzig, Germany

1831Michael Faraday demonstrates his dynamo invention, an electrical generator

1856 French MagicianJean Eugène Robert-Houdin performs for Algerian Marabouts in Algeria to convince them that French magic is the stronger

1886 Statue of Liberty is dedicated by PresidentGrover Cleveland, celebrated by the first confetti (ticker tape) parade in New York City

1893Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky conducts first performance of his Symphony Number Six in B minor, "Pathetique", in St. Petersburg, Russia, 9 days before his death

1908 The English Newspaper the Daily Telegraph prints an interview with Germany's EmperorWilhelm II, who characterises himself as personally friendly to Britain but suggests the German people are hostile, causing uproar in both countries

1915Richard Strauss' tone poem "Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony)" premieres in Berlin

1918 Republic of Czechoslovakia created withTomáš Masaryk as its 1st president

1919 Volstead Act is passed by Congress, establishing prohibition despite PresidentWoodrow Wilson's veto

1922 30, 000 Italian fascists conduct the 'March on Rome', leading to the assumption of power byBenito Mussolini

1924 Miner M.de Bruin discovers the infant fossil skull, "Taung child" in a lime quarry in Taung, South Africa. PaleoanthropologistRaymond Dart identifies the fossil as a new hominin species, Australopithecus africanus.

1927Josip Broz Tito begins 7 months jail sentence in Croatia

1936FDR rededicates Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary

1939 Warner Bros, releases gangster film "The Roaring Twenties", directed by Raoul Walsh, starringJames Cagney andHumphrey Bogart

1941 "How Green Was My Valley" based on the novel by Richard Llewellyn, directed byJohn Ford and starring Walter Pidgeon andMaureen O'Hara premieres in New York (Best Picture 1942)

1951Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina wins Formula 1 World Drivers Championship by taking out the Spanish Grand Prix at Pedralbes in an Alpha Romeo; wins by 6 points fromAlberto Ascari of Italy

1954 Nobel Prize for Literature is awarded toErnest Hemingway

1956 PopePius XII publishes encyclical Luctuosissimi eventus

1958 Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli elected Pope, taking nameJohn XXIII

1959Jean Genet's play "Les Negres" premieres in Paris

1962 Cuban Missile Crisis: US President JFK receives letter from Soviet LeaderrKhrushchev suggesting agreement

1965 PopePaul VI proclaims Jews not collectively guilty for crucifixion

1971John Lennon andYoko Ono record the single "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" in NYC

1971 The British Parliament debates the European Communities principle of membership and votes 356 to 244 in favour of joining, requiring a new law to be drafted and a later final vote on joining

1973 Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, designed by architect B. V. Doshi, inaugurated by Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi

1976Billy Martin named AL Manager of Year (NY Yankees)

1978Bobby Orr scores his last career NHL goal (vs Detroit Red Wings)

1988 Microsoft co-founderPaul Allen gives $10 million to University of Washington library

1994 Columbia Records releases "Merry Christmas", the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriterMariah Carey featuring a mix of new and traditional holiday songs; global smash features the hit single "All I Want for Christmas is You" goes on to sell 9 million units to date

2001 Indie cult hit film "Donnie Darko", starringJake Gyllenhaal, is released

2012 AmericanSerena Williams wins her 3rd season ending tennis title; beatsMaria Sharapova of Russia 6–4, 6–3 in the WTA Championship decider in Istanbul, Turkey

2016 Disney Records releasesAlessia Cara's single "How Far I'll Go" from the film "Moana"

2017 Spain's central government imposes direct rule onCatalonia, dismisses its government and calls for new elections in December

2018 British Mercedes driverLewis Hamilton finishes 4th in the Mexican Grand Prix at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez to clinch his 5th Formula 1 World Drivers Championship

2020 French PresidentEmmanuel Macron announces France will enter a new 4-week lockdown October 30 in televised address

2021Mark Zuckerberg announces Facebook will change its corporate name to Meta amid increased public scrutiny over leaked internal documents

2022 Hammer-wielding intruder attacks Paul Pelosi, 82-year old husband of US Speaker of the HouseNancy Pelosi, at their California home