Source: HistoryNet.com
1199: English King Richard I is killed by an arrow at the Siege of the Castle of Chalus in France.
1814: Granted sovereignty in the island of Elba and a pension from the French government, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicates at Fontainebleau. He is allowed to keep the title of emperor.
1849: A major fire destroys several city blocks in Toronto's downtown core and many buildings, including St. James Cathedral.
1868: Thomas D'Arcy McGee is shot in the head and killed by an assassin outside his Sparks Street lodging house. Fenian sympathizer Patrick Whelan is arrested for the murder on May 9 and hanged on February 11, 1869.
1896: The Modern Olympics begin in Athens with eight nations participating.
1909: Americans Robert Peary and Matthew Henson become the first men to reach the North Pole.
1914: H. B Kelliher, chief engineer of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, drives in the last spike of the western division of the line at Nechako River Crossing west of Prince George. Regular, cross-country Grand Trunk rail service began that summer.
1917: The United States declares war on Germany and enters World War I on Allied side.
1924: Four planes leave Seattle on the first successful flight around the world.
1926: Townspeople and railway workers save the Banff Springs Hotel from a potentially disastrous fire.
1938: The United States recognizes Nazi Germany's conquest of Austria.
1977: Nearly 45,000 fans brave snow and freezing temperatures as the Toronto Blue Jays play their inaugural regular season at the CNE Exhibition Stadium. The expansion team beats the Chicago White Sox 9-5.
1989: A gunman hijacks a bus near Montréal and drives it to Parliament Hill. He is later disarmed by police.