324 Licinius, a prisoner of Constantine, abdicates as Roman Emperor (308-324)

1622 Battle of Mumbi: The Portuguese defeat the Christian Kingdom of Kongo

1813 War of 1812: British take Ft Niagara

1861 Combat at Milford/Shawnee Mound, WVa

1916 Battle of Verdun ends, as the German abandon their 302-day effort to destroy the French Army

1939 Air Battle of Heligoland Bight: RAF bombers attempting to raid German naval bases suffer heavily at the hands of the Luftwaffe

1941 British and Dutch troops occupy Portuguese Timor

1941 Japanese 38th Div lands on Hong Kong Island

1941 Japanese aircraft begin operating from strips in northern Luzon

1941 Japanese destroyer Shinonome mined and sunk off Borneo

1941 Malaya: British reorganize forces for a further withdrawal

1942 'Albacore' (SS-219) sinks Japanese light cruiser 'Tenryu' near the Bismarcks

1942 Papua: U.S. and Australian troops begin a major assault on Sanananda

1942 FDR facetiously awards the Iron Cross to New York Daily News reporter John O'Donnell, for his frequent negative reporting on the war effort

1943 Japanese air raids on Kunming, to halt Chinese advancing into Burma

1943 Stilwell given command of all Chinese forces in India and Burma

1944 Douglas MacArthur is promoted to five-star rank as a General of the Army

1944 Hankow: c. 300 US aircraft raid Japanese positions

1944 Pacific Typhoon: DDs 'Hull', 'Spence', & 'Monaghan' sink, c. 800 die

1972 Operation Linebacker: the US begins "Christmas bombing" of North Vietnam