2014
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was impeached following widespread protests after he abandoned an association agreement with the European Union; he fled the country and was later accused of embezzlement.
2011
After enduring more than five months of tremors, Christchurch, New Zealand, and its surrounding area were struck by a massive destructive aftershock (magnitude 6.3).
1980
During the 1980 Winter Olympics, against the backdrop of the Cold War, the U.S. ice hockey team defeated the favoured Soviet team in one of the greatest upsets in the history of the Olympic Games.
1959
NASCAR held the first Daytona 500, which was won by Lee Petty.
1950
American basketball player Julius Erving, who was one of the most colourful and exciting figures in the game during the 1970s and ’80s, was born.
1942
Three members of the White Rose, an anti-Nazi group that advocated nonviolent resistance, were beheaded in Munich.
1932
The Purple Heart, a U.S. military decoration originally instituted by George Washington in 1782 to honour bravery in battle, was revived as an award for those wounded or killed in action against an enemy.
1847
U.S. General Zachary Taylor led troops against a Mexican force commanded by General Antonio López de Santa Anna at the Battle of Buena Vista.
1680
Catherine Deshayes, Madame Monvoisin—known as “La Voisin”—was executed in Paris for her involvement in the Affair of the Poisons.
896
Arnulf was crowned Holy Roman emperor by Pope Formosus, who declared the previous emperor, Lambert, deposed.
