Today:
506 – The Breviary of Alaric, a collection of Roman laws compiled under the Visigothic King Alaric II, is promulgated.
962 – Pope John XII crowns Otto I as Holy Roman Emperor, marking the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire.
1709 – Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk is rescued from an uninhabited island in the Pacific after four years, inspiring Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe.
1848 – The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed, ending the Mexican-American War and ceding vast territories to the United States, including present-day California, Arizona, and New Mexico.
1876 – The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs (later known as Major League Baseball’s National League) is formed in the United States.
1887 – The first official Groundhog Day is celebrated in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.
1922 – The novel Ulysses by James Joyce is published in Paris on the author’s 40th birthday.
1943 – The Battle of Stalingrad ends with the surrender of German troops, marking a major turning point in World War II.
1971 – The Apollo 14 mission, carrying astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell, lands on the Moon.
2004 – Swiss tennis player Roger Federer becomes world No. 1 for the first time, beginning a record-breaking reign at the top of the ATP rankings.