562 – Hagia Sophia in Constantinople reopened with a rebuilt dome after a series of earthquakes caused the original to collapse.
1572 – Theologian Johann Sylvan is executed in Heidelberg for his heretical Antitrinitarian beliefs.
1688 – As part of the Glorious Revolution, King James II of England flees from England to Paris, France after being deposed in favor of his nephew, William of Orange and his daughter Mary.
1783 – George Washington resigns as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army at the Maryland State House inAnnapolis, Maryland.
1893 – The opera Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck is first performed.
1913 – The Federal Reserve Act is signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson, creating the Federal Reserve System.
1914 – World War I: Australian and New Zealand troops arrive in Cairo, Egypt.
1947 – The transistor is first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories.
1954 – First successful kidney transplant is performed by J. Hartwell Harrison and Joseph Murray.
1970 – The North Tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York, New York is topped out at 1,368 feet (417 m), making it the tallest building in the world.
1972 – The 16 survivors of the Andes flight disaster are rescued after 73 days, having reportedly survived by cannibalism.
1979 – Soviet war in Afghanistan: Soviet Union forces occupy Kabul, the Afghan capital.
1986 – Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California becoming the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world without aerial or ground refueling.
2002 – A U.S. MQ-1 Predator is shot down by an Iraqi MiG-25 in the first combat engagement between a drone and conventional aircraft.
2003 – Petro China Chuandongbei natural gas field explosion, Guoqiao, Kai County, Chongqing, China, killing at least 234.
2007 – An agreement is made for the Kingdom of Nepal to be abolished and the country to become a federal republic with the Prime Minister becoming head of state.