871:

Battle of Reading

King Alfred the Great was badly defeated by invading Vikings in this battle.

1642:

King Charles I of England invades Parliament

The Long Parliament, which met in November, 1640, issued in November of 1641 the Grand Remonstrance, in which all the king's abuses were detailed. Charles had his attorney general indict for treason the five members of the House of Commons who led the remonstrance. When they were not turned over, Charles himself took an armed retinue into Parliament to apprehend them personally, but the five charged with treason had been forewarned and had left. Parliament broke up in great disorder and indignation, and thus the events were set in motion that resulted in civil war and the eventual beheading of King Charles I.

1581:

Bishop James Ussher

Born and raised in Dublin and a graduate of Trinity College, Ussher rose to prominence as primate of Ireland and archbishop of Armagh in 1625. He is best known for the Annales Veteris et Novi Testamenti, in which he included a Bible chronology that set the Creation at 4004 B.C. This information was included in the Authorized ("King James") version of the Bible well into the nineteenth century.

1399:

Nicolas Eymeric

Eymeric (also known as Emeric or Eymericus ) achieved the rank of Grand Inquisitor and wrote Directorium Inquisitorum, which was the standard code of procedure used by the Spanish Inquisition for nearly a century.