• 306 – Roman Herculian guard Adrian of Nicomedia, who had converted to Christianity after being impressed with the faith of Christians that he had been torturing, was martyred.

• 1461 – Wars of the Roses in England: Lancastrian King Henry VI was deposed by his Yorkist cousin, who then became King Edward IV.

• 1769 – French astronomer Charles Messier first noted the Orion Nebula, a bright nebula situated south of Orion's Belt, later cataloguing it as Messier 42 in his list of Messier objects.


• 1941 – Second World War: British Commandos successfully executed Operation Claymore on the Lofoten Islands of Norway.