Today. . .

In 680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, was decapitated by forces under Caliph Yazid I. This is commemorated by Shi'a Muslims as Aashurah.
In 732 - Battle of Tours: Near Poitiers, France, leader of the Franks, Charles Martel and his men, defeat a large army of Moors, stopping the Muslims from spreading into Western Europe. The governor of Cordoba, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, is killed during the battle.
In 1471 - Battle of Brunkeberg in Stockholm: Sten Sture the Elder, the Regent of Sweden, with help of farmers and miners, repels an attack by Christian I, King of Denmark.
In 1575 - Battle of Dormans: Catholic forces under Duke Henry of Guise defeated the Protestants, capturing Philippe de Mornay among others.
In 1582 - Due to the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
In 1631 - A Saxon army takes over Prague.
In 1780 - The Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 20,000-30,000 in the Caribbean.
In 1845 - In Annapolis, Maryland, the Naval School (later renamed the United States Naval Academy) opens with 50 midshipmen students and seven professors.
In 1860 - The original cornerstone of the University of the South was laid in Sewanee, Tennessee.
In 1868 - Carlos Céspedes issued the Grito de Yara from his plantation, La Demajagua, proclaiming Cuba's independence.
In 1877 - Lieutenant-Colonel George Armstrong Custer is given a funeral with full military honors.
In 1908 - Baseball Writers Association forms.
In 1910 - Tau Epsilon Phi Fraternity is established at Columbia University.
In 1911 - Wuchang Uprising which led to the demise of Qing Dynasty, the last Imperial court in China, and the founding of the Republic of China.
In 1911 - The KCR East Rail commenced service between Kowloon and Canton.
In 1913 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson triggered the explosion of the Gamboa Dike thus ending construction on the Panama Canal.
In 1920 - The Carinthian Plebiscite determined that the larger part of Carinthia became part of Austria.
In 1933 - A United Airlines Boeing 247 is destroyed by sabotage while en route from Cleveland, Ohio to Chicago, the first such proven case in the history of commercial aviation.
In 1935 - A tornado destroyed the 160 metre tall wooden radio tower in Langenberg. As a result of this catastrophe, few wooden towers were constructed after this date.
In 1938 - The Blue Water Bridge opens, connecting Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario
In 1938 - World War II: The Munich Agreement cedes the Sudetenland to Germany.
In1944 - Holocaust: 800 Gypsy children are systematically murdered at Auschwitz death camp.
In 1954 - The Communist Party of Honduras is founded.
In 1957 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after he was refused service in a Dover, Delaware restaurant.
In 1963 - France cedes control of the Bizerte naval base to Tunisia.
In 1964 - The 1964 Summer Olympics open in Tokyo, Japan
In 1966 - Simon and Garfunkel release the album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.
In 1967 - The Outer Space Treaty, signed on January 27 by more than sixty nations, enters into force.
In 1970 - Fiji becomes independent.
In 1970 - In Montreal, Quebec, a national crisis hits Canada when Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte becomes the second statesman kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group.
In 1971 - Sold, dismantled and moved to the United States, the London Bridge reopens in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
In 1973 - Vice President of the United States Spiro Agnew resigns after being charged with federal income tax evasion.
In 1978 - US President Jimmy Carter signs a bill into law that authorizes the minting of the Susan B. Anthony dollar.
In 1979 - The Pac-Man arcade game is released to the Japanese market by Namco.
In 1985 - United States Navy F-14 fighter jets intercept an Egyptian plane carrying the Achille Lauro cruise ship hijackers and force it to land at a NATO base in Sigonella, Sicily where they are arrested.
In 1986 - An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter Scale strikes San Salvador, El Salvador, killing an estimated 1,500 people.
In 1987 - Fiji becomes a republic.
In 1995 - South African President Nelson Mandela attends Genadendal.
In 1997 - The NHL's Carolina Hurricanes win their first-ever regular season game by defeating the New Jersey Devils 2-1 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
In 1997 - An Austral Airlines DC-9-32 crashes and explodes near Nuevo Berlin, Uruguay, killing 74.