Today:
491 – Flavius Anastasius became Byzantine Emperor after the death of Zeno.
1241 – The Battle of Liegnitz: Mongols defeated a Polish-German army under Duke Henry II of Silesia.
1689 – William III and Mary II were crowned as joint sovereigns of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
1814 – Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated as Emperor of the French and was exiled to Elba.
1868 – The Shogunate ended in Japan as Tokugawa Yoshinobu formally resigned, leading to the Meiji Restoration.
1876 – The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks was officially incorporated.
1909 – The city of Tel Aviv was founded.
1951 – U.S. President Harry S. Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur of his command in Korea.
1970 – Apollo 13 launched from Kennedy Space Center, beginning its ill-fated mission to the Moon.
2002 – Overthrow of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez began during a coup attempt (he would return to power two days later).