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The U.S. state of Mississippi officially certifies the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment was formally ratified by Mississippi in 1995.
President Mohamed Nasheed of the Republic of Maldives resigns, after 23 days of anti-governmental protests calling for the release of Chief Judge unlawfully arrested by the military.
Bushfires in Victoria leave 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australia's history.
Crown Prince Abdullah becomes the King of Jordan on the death of his father, King Hussein.
Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, is arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan.
The Maastricht Treaty is signed, leading to the creation of the European Union.
The Troubles: The Provisional IRA launched a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street in London, the headquarters of the British government.
Haiti's first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in.
Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party agrees to give up its monopoly on power.
Twenty-eight years of one-family rule end in Haiti, when President Jean-Claude Duvalier flees the Caribbean nation.
Space Shuttle program: STS-41-B Mission: Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered space walk using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU).
Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit for the first time since either was discovered.
Korean War: More than 700 suspected communist sympathizers are butchered by South Korean forces.
World War II: In Anzio, Italy, German forces launch a counteroffensive during the Allied Operation Shingle.
World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy forces complete the evacuation of Imperial Japanese Army troops from Guadalcanal during Operation Ke, ending Japanese attempts to retake the island from Allied forces in the Guadalcanal Campaign.
The second full-length animated Walt Disney film, Pinocchio, premieres.
The Mud March is the first large procession organized by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS).
A fire in Baltimore, Maryland destroys over 1,500 buildings in 30 hours.
Second Boer War: British troops fail in their third attempt to lift the Siege of Ladysmith.
Dreyfus affair: Émile Zola is brought to trial for libel for publishing J'accuse.
The Cripple Creek miner's strike, led by the Western Federation of Miners, begins in Cripple Creek, Colorado.
HMS Orpheus sinks off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand, killing 189.
A law is approved to found the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Lectures started October 16, 1855.
Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia defeats warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien.
Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles leaves Singapore after just taking it over, leaving it in the hands of William Farquhar.
In the action of 7 February 1813 near the Îles de Los, the frigates Aréthuse and Amelia batter each other, but neither can gain the upper hand.
The strongest in a series of earthquakes strikes New Madrid, Missouri.
Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon finds Bennigsen's Russian forces taking a stand at Eylau. After bitter fighting, the French take the town, but the Russians resume the battle the next day.
The 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.
American Revolutionary War: French and Spanish forces lift the Great Siege of Gibraltar.
The Bonfire of the Vanities occurs, during which supporters of Girolamo Savonarola burn cosmetics, art, and books in Florence, Italy.
Edward of Caernarvon (later King Edward II of England) becomes the first English Prince of Wales.
Pandulf IV of Benevento is killed battling the invading Normans at the Battle of Montesarchio.
English