498 - St Symmachus begins his reign as Pope replacing Anastasius II
845 - 845 : the first King of all Brittany, Nominoe defeats the Frankish king Charles the Bald at the Battle of Ballon near Redon.
1221 - Frederik II Hohenstaufen crowned Roman-German Emperor
1346 - Street fights in Utrecht, Hollandsgezinde Gunterlingen statements
1497 - Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama rounds Cape of Good Hope
1542 - Spain delegates "New Laws" against slavery in America
1573 - The Brazilian city of Niterói is founded.
1574 - Discovery of the Juan Fernández Islands off Chile.
1675 - English king Charles II adjourns parliament
1683 - Purcells "Welcome to All the Pleasures," premieres in London
1699 - Treaty of Preobrasjensku Denmark/Russia/Saksen/Poland divide Sweden
1707 - Prince Johan Willem Friso sworn in as viceroy of Friesland
1714 - King Karel XII leaves Turkish captivity to return to Sweden
1718 -
Off the coast of North Carolina, British pirate Edward Teach
("Blackbeard") is killed in battle with a boarding party led by
Lieutenant Robert Maynard.
1794 - Strasbourg Alsace-Lorraine, prohibits circumcision & wearing of beards
1450 - Jacob Obrecht, composer
1458 - Jacob Obrecht, Dutch composer (d. 1505)
1511 - Erasmus Reinhold, Germany, mathematician (calculated planetary table)
1515 - Marie Guise, French wife of king James V of Scotland
1535 - John, the Old, earl of Nassau/tribal father Neth royal family
1564 - Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham, English conspirator (d. 1610)
1579 - Jan Baptist Stalpart van der Wiele, Dutch lawyer/pastor/lyricist
1602 - Elisabeth of Bourbon, Queen of Philip IV of Spain (d. 1644)
1606 - Pieter II de Jode, Flemish engraver/publisher
1635 - Francis Willughby, English biologist (d. 1672)
1643 - René R Cavelier sieur de La Salle, French explorer
1690 - Francois Collin de Blamont, composer
1698 - Pierre de Rigaud, Canadian-born French Governor (d. 1778)
1709 - Frantisek Benda, composer
1710 - Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, composer, son of J.S. Bach (Sinfonias 64)
Sci Fi Author C S Lewis (1963)
365 - Felix II, Italian anti-pope, dies after failing to regain position as Pope from Liberius
950 - Lotharius, King of Italy (947-50), dies
1247 - Robin Hood, dies (from "A Lytell Geste of Robyn Hood")
1286 - Eric V of Denmark, Danish King (b. 1249)
1318 - Mikhail Yaroslavich, Russian prince (b. 1271)
1594 - Martin Frobisher, English vice-admiral/explorer, dies
1617 - Ahmed I, 14th sultan of Turkey (1603-17), dies
1694 - John Tillotson, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1630)
1697 - Libéral Bruant, French architect (b. 1635)
1751 - Anton Englert, composer, dies at 77
1758 - Richard Edgcumbe, 1st Baron Edgcumbe, British politician (b. 1680)
1773 - Robert Clive, English occupier (India), dies at about 48
1776 - Johann Caspar Simon, composer, dies at 75
1781 - John Ekels, the Old, Amsterdam painter/cartoonist, dies at 57
1782 - John Barueth, vicar/pamphleter, dies