1593 – Storm hits Texel: 40 ships hit, 500 killed
1777 – James Cook is first European to visit Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island
1832 – 1st US Negro hospital founded by whites chartered, Savannah, Georgia
1895 – George Vanderbilt opens Biltmore estate, the largest privately owned house in America at 178,926 square feet (16,622.8 m2) in Asheville, North Carolina
1921 – Ottawa’s Harry Broadbent scores in 10-0 Senators blowout of the Montreal Canadiens; first in 16-game NHL record goal-scoring streak; Charlie Simmer’s 13 game streak (1979) is considered modern-day record
1933 – Paris express train derails and kills 160, injures 300 (France)
1946 – US General MacNarney gives 800,000 “minor Nazis” amnesty
1946 – French Fourth Republic is founded
1973 – District of Columbia Home Rule Act is passed, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to elect their own local government
1984 – Palace coup in Mauritania