1815 – Although the Treaty of Ghent was signed on Chrstmas Eve of 1814, effectively ending the War of 1812, the Battle of New Orleans began on this date, just two weeks after the signing. The British troops did not hear about the treaty before their attack on New Orleans.

1877 – Crazy Horse, along with his fellow warriors, battle for the last time against the US Calvary. The battle took pace at Wolf Mountain inthe Montana Territory.

1904 – The Chicago Public Library system officially begins on this date when the Blackstone Library was officially dedicated.

1916 – After 8 months of fighting in the Gallipoli campaign in WWI, the Allied troops remove the last of the soldiers from this area and move to Egypt.

1918 – US President Woodrow Wilson unveils his idea of his Fourteen Points as a foundation for ending WWI with a peaceful resolution.

1935 – The spectrophotometer, which is used for measuring light and ultraviolet rays, was patented on this date by A.C. Hardy.

1991 – Def Leppard guitarist Steve Clark was found dead on this date. His death at age 30, according to the coroner’s report, was the result of a lethal combination of drugs and alcohol.

1998 – Ramzi Yousef receiving a life sentence for his part in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City. The attack caused more than $500 million in damage and resulted in six deaths and at least 1,000 people getting injured.

2004 – The RMS Queen Mary 2, which is the biggest passenger ship ever constructed, was christened on this date by Queen Elizabeth II, the granddaughter of the Queen after which the ship was named.

2011 – A shooting at a Safeway supermarket in Casas Adobes, AZ, resulted in the death of six people and more than a dozen others wounded, including AZ Representative Gabrielle Giffords. Jared Lee Loughtner was arrested for the shooting spree.

1894 – Maximilian Kolbe, Polish martyr and patron saint against drug addictions, addicts, and imprisonments
1902 – Carl Rogers, American psychologist, co-founder of humanistic approach
1935 – Elvis Presley, American singer, guitarist, and actor
1938 – Anthony Giddens, English sociologist (Theory of Structuration)
1941 – Boris Vallejo, Peruvian-American painter (The Amazon Princess and her Pet)
1942 – Stephen Hawking, English physicist and author (A Brief History of Time, The Universe in a Nutshell)
1944 – Terry Brooks, American NYT bestselling author ( Shannara series, The Black Unicorn)
1975 – Harris Jayaraj, Indian composer

1982 – Gaby Hoffmann, American actress (Freaky Friday, Whose Daughter is She, Now and Then)
1983 – Felipe Colombo, Mexican-Argentinian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor