Today:
1010: The Persian poet Ferdowsi completes his epic masterpiece, the Shahnameh, which becomes the national epic of Greater Iran.
1618: Astronomer Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion, also known as the harmonic law.
1702: Queen Anne ascends to the English throne following the death of King William III.
1817: The New York Stock Exchange is formally established under the name New York Stock & Exchange Board.
1910: Raymonde de Laroche of France becomes the first woman in the world to receive a pilot’s license.
1917: The February Revolution begins in Petrograd (St. Petersburg), Russia, eventually leading to the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II.
1942: During World War II, Japanese forces capture the city of Rangoon, Burma (now Yangon, Myanmar).
1965: The first United States combat troops arrive in South Vietnam as 3,500 Marines land at Da Nang.
1971: Joe Frazier defeats Muhammad Ali in the Fight of the Century at Madison Square Garden to retain the heavyweight boxing title.
2014: Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappears while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.