1661-Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England is ritually executed after having been dead for two years
1889-Archduke Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown, is found dead with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera in Mayerling in an apparent suicide pact
1902-Britain and Japan sign a treaty after months of negotiating which commits each country to supporting an independent China and Korea, although it acknowledges Japan's 'special interest' in Korea
1933-President Paul von Hindenburg appoints Adolf Hitler as Reich Chancellor of Germany who forms a government with Franz von Papen
1939-Adolf Hitler threatens Jews during his speech to the German Reichstag (Parliament)
1948-Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated in the garden of the New Delhi home he is visiting by Hindu extremist Nathuram Godse
1965-State funeral for Winston Churchill at St. Paul's Cathedral in London; at the time, the world's largest-ever state funeral
1972-Bloody Sunday: 27 unarmed civilians are shot (14 are killed) by the British Army during a civil rights march in Derry, Northern Ireland; the highest death toll from a single shooting incident during 'The Troubles'