On this date in history:

In 1649, British King Charles I was beheaded by order of Parliament.

In 1798, the first fight to break out on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives began when one congressman spat in another's face.

In 1835, a gunman fired twice on Andrew Jackson, the first attempt on the life of a U.S. president. Jackson wasn't injured.

In 1933, Adolf Hitler was sworn in as chancellor of Germany.

In 1943, the British air force bombed Berlin in a daylight raid timed to coincide with a speech by Herman Goering marking Adolf Hitler's 10th year in power.

In 1948, Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu extremist.

In 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army forces launched a massive attack, known as the Tet Offensive, against South Vietnam, the United States, and their allies.

In 1969, the Beatles staged an impromptu concert on the roof of Apple Records in London. The event, which became part of the documentary film Let It Be, was the last public appearance by the band.

In 1972, in what became known as Bloody Sunday, 13 Roman Catholics were killed by British troops during a banned civil rights march in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. A 14th person died from injuries several months later.

In 1979, the Iranian government announced it would let Shiite Muslim leader Ayatollah Khomeini return from exile. Washington responded by ordering the evacuation of all U.S. dependents from Iran.

In 1993, parents donated portions of their own lungs to their daughter with cystic fibrosis in a pioneering transplant surgery in Los Angeles.

In 2000, Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashed into the sea off the coast of Côte d'Ivoire, killing 169 people. Ten people survived.

In 2003, a U.S. judge sentenced Richard Reid to life in prison for trying to set off plastic explosives in his shoes on a trans-Atlantic flight in 2001.

In 2011, international aid groups said red tape and corruption in Haiti were withholding a massive array of supplies a year after a catastrophic earthquake struck the country.

In 2020, World Health Organization officials declared the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak -- later to be dubbed COVID-19 -- a public health emergency of international concern.

In 2023, dozens died in an explosion inside a mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan, for which the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility.

Copyright 2024 by United Press International