771 – Charlemagne becomes the sole King of the Franks after the death of his brother Carloman. 1349 – 500 Jews of Nuremberg massacred during Black Death riots. 1456 – Earthquake strikes Naples; about 35,000 die. 1484 – Innocent VIII condemned witchcraft this day in 1484 via papal bull, and subsequently he dispatched inquisitors to Germany to try witches and persecuted a chief exponent of Renaissance Platonism, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. 1757 – In his greatest victory, Prussian King Frederick II (the Great) defeated the Austrians at Leuthen during the Seven Years’ War. 1784 – Phillis Wheatley, the first African American woman poet of note in the United States, died in Boston. 1791 – Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died in Vienna at age 35. 1848 – US President James K. Polk triggers Gold Rush of 1849 by confirming a gold discovery in California. 1901 – Walt Disney was born in Chicago, Illinois. 1933 – Prohibition ends in the US when 21st Amendment to the US Constitution ratified, 18th Amendment repealed. 1955 – The American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) became a united body of autonomous labour unions, with George Meany as its first president. 1969 – Four-node ARPANET network is established. 2013 – South African nationalist and statesman Nelson Mandela, who helped end the country’s apartheid system of racial segregation and ushered in a peaceful transition to majority rule, died at age 95.
Sport:1947 – American boxer Joe Louis defended his heavyweight title against challenger Jersey Joe Walcott in New York City.
2017 – Russia is banned from the next Winter Olympics in South Korea over state-sponsored doping.
Music: 1973 – Paul McCartney & Wings release the album “Band on the Run” in the US.
TV & Film: 2001 – “Ocean’s Eleven” directed by Steven Soderbergh, starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Julia Roberts premieres in Westwood, California.
