- 1536 – Anne Boleyn (pictured), the second wife and queen consort of Henry VIII of England, was beheaded for adultery at the Tower of London.
- 1643 – "The Great Condé" scored a decisive victory at the Battle of Rocroi in the Thirty Years' War.
- 1649 – The Rump Parliament passed an act to formally establish the Commonwealth of England.
- 1802 – The Légion d'honneur was first instituted by Napoléon Bonaparte, First Consul of the French Republic.
- 1922 – The Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union was founded.
