Lee Marvin 1924 - Actor ("The Caine Mutiny", "The Dirty Dozen", "Delta Force")
- 1846 - The formal transfer of government between Texas and the United States took place. Texas had officially become a state on December 29, 1845.
- 1878 - Thomas Alva Edison patented a music player (the phonograph).
- 1942 - U.S. President Roosevelt (D) signed an executive order giving the military the authority to relocate and intern Japanese-Americans.
- 1942 - Approximately 150 Japanese warplanes attacked the Australian city of Darwin.
- 1987 - A controversial, anti-smoking publice service announcement aired for the first time on television. Yul Brynner filmed the ad shortly before dying of lung cancer. Brynner made it clear in the ad that he would have died from cigarette smoking before ad aired.