- 45 BCE - Julius Caesar scored his final military victory in the Battle of Munda, defeating the Optimate forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger.
- 1901 - An exhibit of 71 paintings by Vincent van Gogh created a sensation in Paris, 11 years after his death.
- 1958 - Vanguard 1, the first solar-powered satellite, was launched. It is the oldest human-launched object still in space today.
- 1959 - Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th and current Dalai Lama, fled Tibet for India.
- 1969 - Golda Meir of the Labour Party became the fourth Prime Minister of Israel.