374 9th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
1760 Native American hostages killed in Fort Prince George, South Carolina
1852 Studebaker Brothers wagon company established - precursor of the automobile manufacturer
1861 Abraham Lincoln stops his train at Westfield on his way to Washington to thank 11-year-old Grace Bedell in person for her advice to grow a beard to gain more votes
1862 Fort Donelson is captured by General Ulysses S. Grant following the surrender of around 12,000 Confederate soldiers
1903 -59°F, Pokegama Dam, Minnesota (state record)
1914 1st airplane flight from LA to SF
1923 Howard Carter opens the inner burial chamber of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb and finds the sarcophagus
1942 Bangka Island massacre: Japanese soldiers machine-gun 22 Australian Army nurses and 60 Australian and British soldiers and crew members from two sunken ships. Only one nurse and two soldiers survive.
1943 -32°F, Falls Village, Connecticut (state record)
1945 US forces land on Corregidor, complete conquest on March 3
1945 Venezuela declares war on Nazi Germany (good thing they stepped in when they did or we'd a been a gonner if they didn't)
1945 WWII: US Navy 5th Fleet aircraft carriers and planes begin two-day bombardment of airfields and aircraft plants near Tokyo, Japan; over 500 hundred Japanese aircraft are destroyed
1950 Longest-running prime-time game show, "What's My Line" begins on CBS
1960 US nuclear submarine USS Triton set off on underwater round-world trip
1964 Second appearance of the Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show", live from Deauville Hotel in Miami, Florida; broadcast draws about 70 million
television viewers
1968 Elvis Presley receives a gold record for "How Great Thou Art"
1972 Wilt Chamberlain of the Los Angeles Lakers becomes first player in NBA history to reach the career 30,000 point mark during a 110-109 loss to the Phoenix Suns
1980 American speed skater Eric Heiden wins 5,000m in Olympic record 7:02.29; second of record 5 gold medal sweep of events at Lake Placid
1985 NJ Devils score their fastest hat trick in 42 seconds