- 1389: Ottoman sultan Murad I defeats the Serbs at the Battle of Kosovo, a key event in Serbian national history.
- 1756: Nawab of Bengal Siraj Ud Daulah imprisons 146 Europeans in the 'Black Hole of Calcutta'. Only 23 survive.
- 1984: GCSE examinations replace O-levels and CSEs in a major education shake-up by the Conservative government.