54: Nero succeeds Claudius as the Emperor of the Roman Empire; Agrippina the Younger is thought to have murdered Claudius, her husband, with poisonous mushrooms to secure the succession for her son Nero

1307: French King Philip IV has Grand Master Jacques de Molay and the Knights Templar arrested and charged with idolatry and corruption

1884: International Meridian Conference in Washington, DC, establishes Greenwich in London, England, as the prime meridian of longitude and establishes Universal Time

1924: Mecca falls without a struggle to Saudi forces led by Abdulaziz Ibn Saud

1943: Italy switches sides and declares war on its former Axis partner, Germany

1944: Battle of Aachen: The US First Army attacks Aachen, the first German city captured by Allied forces during World War II

2010: Copiapó mining accident in Chile comes to a happy end as all 33 miners arrive at the surface after surviving a record 69 days underground

Source: Onthisday.com