Today:
1545 – The Council of Trent, an important part of the Counter-Reformation, began in northern Italy, aiming to address church reform and clarify Catholic doctrine.
1577 – Sir Francis Drake set sail from Plymouth, England, on his voyage to circumnavigate the globe.
1642 – Dutch navigator Abel Tasman reached New Zealand, becoming the first European to do so.
1769 – Dartmouth College received its charter in New Hampshire, later becoming one of the Ivy League schools.
1862 – At the Battle of Fredericksburg during the American Civil War, Confederate forces led by General Robert E. Lee repelled a major Union assault.
1937 – The Second Sino-Japanese War escalated as Japanese forces captured Nanjing, initiating the Nanjing Massacre.
1959 – The Archbishop of Canterbury and Pope John XXIII met in Vatican City, marking the first such meeting between the two leaders in over 400 years.
1967 – King Constantine II of Greece fled to Rome following a failed counter-coup against the ruling military junta.
1981 – Authorities in Poland imposed martial law to crush political opposition led by the Solidarity movement.
2003 – Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was captured by U.S. forces near Tikrit, Iraq, during Operation Red Dawn.
Inauguration Day Countdown
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