1517-copy of Martin Luther's 95 theses, the publication of which began the Protestant Reformation in EuropeThe Protestant Reformation
1520-Martin Luther publicly burns Pope Leo X's papal bull 'Exsurge Domine' which demanded that Luther recant his writings
1684-Isaac Newton's derivation of Kepler's laws from his theory of gravity, contained in the paper “De motu corporum in gyrum” (On the motion of bodies in an orbit), is read to the Royal Society by Edmond Halley.
1799-The metric system is first adopted in France
1901-First Nobel Peace Prizes awarded, first recipients Red Cross founder Jean Henri Dunant and peace activist Frederic Passy
1930-Indian Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman is presented with the Nobel Prize for Physics for work on light scattering - first Asian to win a Science Nobel
1936-Edward VIII signs Instrument of Abdication, giving up the British throne to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson
1964-Nobel Peace Prize presented to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Oslo, Norway
1990-Hindu-Muslim rebellion in Hyderabad-Aligargh India, 140 die
1991-Architect I. M. Pei receives $5 million for design of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum to be built in Cleveland, Ohio