870 – Skirmish at Englefield: Ethelred of Wessex beats a section of the Viking Great Heathen Army, camped at Reading
1911 – Marie Curie receives her second Nobel Prize, this time in Chemistry, for her work with radioactivity
1923 – BBC begins using Big Ben’s chimes as an interval signal
1957 – Amateur Athletic Union awards American sprinter Bobby Morrow the James E. Sullivan Award
1975 – 42nd Sugar Bowl: #3 Alabama beats #7 Penn State, 13-6
1986 – Dupont Plaza Hotel fire in San Juan, Puerto Rico kills 97
1996 – 63rd Orange Bowl: #6 Nebraska beats #10 Virginia Tech, 41-21
1997 – 27th Fiesta Bowl: #10 Kansas State beats #14 Syracuse, 35-18