1575 - University of Leiden established by William I of Orange, given the motto "Praesidium Libertatis" (oldest university in Netherlands)
1916 - French cruiser "Admiral Charner" torpedoed off Syrian coast, kills 374
2013 - 29 people are killed and 69 are injured in a series of Iraq bombings
2014 - Ole Einar Bjørndalen equals the Winter Olympics medal record with 12
2014 - Netherlands sweeps the medals in the men's 5,000m speed skating at the Sochi Winter Olympics; Sven Kramer retains title ahead of teammates Jan Blokhuijsen and Jorrit Bergsma

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1813 - Jacob Georg Agarah, Swedish botanist, born in Lund, Sweden (d. 1901)
1828 - Jules Verne, French novelist known as the "Father of Science Fiction" (Around the World in 80 days), born in Nantes, France (d. 1905)
1928 - Jack Larson, American actor (The Adventures of Superman - "Jimmy Olsen"), screenwriter, and librettist (Virgil Thomson's "Lord Byron"), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2015)
1956 - Dave Meros, American progressive rock bassist (Spock's Beard), born in Salinas, California
1961 - Sammy Llanas, American rock singer-songwritrer (Bodeans, 1983-2011 - "Closer To Free"), born in Wisconsin

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1265 - Hulagu Khan, Mongol ruler, grandson of Genghis Khan (besieged and pillaged Baghdad) (b. 1217)