Today is probably best known for dysfunctional families, and in 1533 England's King Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn, which didn't end happily ever after. In 1971, the Manson 'family' were found guilty of murder and a decade later, in 1981 Jiang Qing, the widow of Mao Zedong, is sentenced to death. 1919 saw the founding of the less than successful League of Nations. Uganda won't have many happy memories as in 1971 Idi Amin toppled Obote to become President, leading to long conflict that lasted until 1986, when the National Resistance Movement deposed Okello as President.  In 1942, Thailand declared war of Britain and the United States, but it is not known if this was noticed at the time or later. It was a liberating moment for others, in 1980 Paul McCartney was released from a Japanese jail after being caught getting high with a little help from my friends and in 1981, 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days arrived back in US.  
 
2004 was the day the Opportunity Rover landed on Mars, for a 90 day mission. Incredibly, it is still going and has made many discoveries and could be mankind's toughest machine. It is also the birth of Scottish poet, Robert Burns, in 1759, and he remains the only human whose life is celebrated by eating sheep's lungs, boiled in a stomach for three hours before serving. 1899 saw the birth of Paul-Henri Spaak, who has one of the European Parliament's buildings named after him. On balance, that's a better memorial than poor Mr Burns. 
 
On this day, the Grim Reaper made Al Capone an offer he couldn't refuse in 1947, but it is the day where many branches of the Christian Church, mark the conversion of another sinner, St Paul and in Russia it is Tatiana Day, the patron saint of students. We can all guess how that is celebrated! 
 
Events 

• 41 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate.
• 1327 – Edward III becomes King of England.
• 1494 – Alfonso II becomes King of Naples.
• 1554 – Founding of São Paulo city, Brazil.
• 1787 – American Daniel Shays leads rebellion to seize Federal arsenal to protest debtor's prisons.
• 1858 – The Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn becomes a popular wedding recessional after it is played on this day at the marriage of Queen Victoria's daughter, Victoria, and Friedrich of Prussia.
• 1881 – Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company.
• 1890 – Nellie Bly completes her round-the-world journey in 72 days.
• 1924 – The 1924 Winter Olympics open in Chamonix, France (in the French Alps), inaugurating the Winter Olympic Games.
• 1945 – World War II: Battle of the Bulge ends.
• 1961 – In Washington, D.C. John F. Kennedy delivers the first live presidential television news conference.
• 1995 – The Norwegian Rocket Incident: Russia almost launches a nuclear attack after it mistakes Black Brant XII, a Norwegian research rocket, for a US Trident missile.
• 1996 – Billy Bailey became the last person to be hanged in the United States of America.
• 1998 – During a historic visit to Cuba Pope John Paul II demands the release of political prisoners and political reforms while condemning US attempts to isolate the country.

 
Births 

• 1615 – Govert Flinck, Dutch painter (d. 1660)
• 1860 – Charles Curtis, 31st Vice President of the United States (d. 1936)
• 1864 – Julije Kempf, Croatian historian and writer (d. 1934)
• 1874 – W. Somerset Maugham, English writer (d. 1965)
• 1878 – Ernst Alexanderson, Swedish-born television pioneer (d. 1975)
• 1882 – Virginia Woolf, English writer (d. 1941)
• 1902 – Pablo Antonio, Filipino modernist architect (d. 1975)
• 1917 – Ilya Prigogine, Russian scientist Nobel Laureate (d. 2003)
• 1917 – Jânio Quadros, Brazilian politician (d. 1992)
• 1923 – Shirley Mason, American psychiatric patient (aka, "Sybil") (d. 1998)
• 1928 – Eduard Shevardnadze, President of Georgia
• 1937 – Ange-Félix Patassé, President of the Central African Republic
• 1937 – Judith Ann Mayotte, American humanitarian, author
• 1938 – Shotaro Ishinomori, Japanese manga author (d. 1998)
• 1938 – Leiji Matsumoto, Japanese creator of anime.
• 1942 – Eusébio, Portuguese footballer
• 1942 – Shinobu Tsukasa, Japanese kumicho (supreme Godfather) of the largest yakuza organization
• 1943 – Tobe Hooper, American film director
• 1943 – Roy Black, German pop singer (d. 1991)
• 1944 – Anita Pallenberg, Italian model
• 1945 – Leigh Taylor-Young, American actress
• 1947 – Tostão, Brazilian footballer
• 1954 – Kay Cottee, first woman to sail solo and non stop around the world.
• 1967 – Mark Bamford, American writer/director
• 1975 – Dat Phan, Vietnamese stand-up comedian
• 1980 – Efstathios Tavlaridis, Greek footballer
• 1981 – Tose Proeski, Macedonian Singer (d. 2007)

 
Deaths 

• 1366 – Henry Suso, German mystic
• 1431 – Charles II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1364)
• 1494 – King Ferdinand I of Naples (b. 1423)
• 1559 – King Christian II of Denmark, Sweden and Norway (b. 1481)
• 1573 – Hirate Hirohide, Japanese samurai (b. 1553)
• 1640 – Robert Burton, English scholar (b. 1577)
• 1670 – Nicholas II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1612)
• 1726 – Guillaume Delisle, French cartographer (b. 1675)
• 1908 – Mikhail Chigorin, Russian chess player (b. 1850)
• 1949 – Makino Nobuaki, Japanese statesman　(b. 1861)
• 1954 – Manabendra Nath Roy, Indian marxist (b. 1887)
• 1963 – Wilson Kettle, Guinness World Record holder for most living descendants (b. 1860)
• 1966 – Saul Adler, Russian-born British-Israeli expert on parasitology (b. 1895)
• 1972 – Erhard Milch, German field marshal (b. 1892)
• 1985 – Ilias Iliou, Greek politician (b. 1904)
• 1990 – Ava Gardner, American actress (b. 1922)
• 2005 – Stanisław Albinowski, Polish economist and journalist (b. 1923)