1739 – Peshva warrior Chimnaji Appa defeats Portuguese forces and captures Tarapur Fort, India.
1835 – Slaves in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, stage a revolt, which is instrumental in ending slavery there 50 years later.
1857 – The University of Calcutta is formally founded as the first fully fledged university in South Asia.
1862 – Bucharest is proclaimed the capital of Romania.
1908 – The first Boy Scout troop is organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell.
1918 – The Gregorian calendar is introduced in Russia by decree of the Council of People’s Commissars effec- tive February 14(NS).
1946 – The United Nations General Assembly passes its first resolution to establish the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission.
1984 – Apple Computer places the Macintosh personal computer on sale in the United States.
1990 – Japan launches Hiten, the country’s first lunar probe, the first robotic lunar probe since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 in 1976, and the first lunar probe launched by a country other than Soviet Union or the United States.
2003 – The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.
