1545: The Council of Trent, the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, opens in Trent, Italy.
1577: Francis Drake sets out from Plymouth, England, on his circumnavigation of the world.
1642: Abel Tasman, a Dutch explorer, discovers Tasmania, which he names Van Diemen's Land.
1784: The first manned balloon flight takes place in Paris when Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes ascend in a hot air balloon.
1812: The United States declares war on Great Britain, beginning the War of 1812.
1918: The Great War ends with the signing of the Armistice of Compiègne at 11:00 AM.
1944: The Battle of the Bulge begins in the Ardennes forest, the largest and bloodiest battle of World War II.
1967: The first successful heart transplant is performed by Dr. Christiaan Barnard at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.
1974: The United Nations General Assembly adopts a resolution granting observer status to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
1981: The Polish government declares martial law in response to growing unrest in the country.
1994: The Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro sinks in the Indian Ocean after a fire breaks out on board.
2001: The United States Senate votes to pass the No Child Left Behind Act, a major education reform bill.
2012: The mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, leaves 26 people dead, including 20 children.