Today:
1649 – King Charles I of England was executed for treason, marking the end of the English Civil War and the temporary abolition of the monarchy.
1661 – Oliver Cromwell, the former Lord Protector of England, was posthumously executed, with his body exhumed and hanged in a symbolic act of retribution by the restored monarchy.
1835 – The first known assassination attempt on a U.S. president occurred when Richard Lawrence tried to shoot President Andrew Jackson but failed as both of his pistols misfired.
1847 – The city of Yerba Buena in California was renamed San Francisco.
1889 – Archduke Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and his mistress Mary Vetsera were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide at Mayerling, Austria.
1933 – Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, marking the beginning of the Nazi regime.
1948 – Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in New Delhi by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist who opposed Gandhi’s efforts to reconcile Hindus and Muslims.
1968 – The Tet Offensive began during the Vietnam War as North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces launched a massive surprise attack on South Vietnam and U.S. positions.
1972 – British soldiers shot and killed 14 unarmed civilians in Derry, Northern Ireland, on a day known as Bloody Sunday, intensifying the conflict in the region.
2020 – The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, signaling the growing global impact of the virus.