1618 - Johann Kepler discovered the third Law of Planetary Motion.
1862 - The Confederate ironclad "Merrimack" was launched.
1880 - U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes declared that the United States would have jurisdiction over any canal built across the isthmus of Panama.
1887 - The telescopic fishing rod was patented by Everett Horton.
1894 - A dog license law was enacted in the state of New York. It was the first animal control law in the U.S.
1911 - British Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Gray declared that Britain would not support France in the event of a military conflict.
1917 - Russia's "February Revolution" began with rioting and strikes in St. Petersburg. The revolution was called the "February Revolution" due to Russia's use of the Old Style calendar.
1933 - Self-liquidating scrip money was issued for the first time at Franklin, IN.
1941 - Martial law was proclaimed in Holland in order to extinguish any anti-Nazi protests.
1965 - The U.S. landed about 3,500 Marines in South Vietnam. They were the first U.S. combat troops to land in Vietnam.
1982 - The U.S. accused the Soviets of killing 3,000 Afghans with poison gas.
