- 1239 - Death of Hermann von Salza, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights
- 1770 - Birth of Friedrich Hölderlin
- 1890 - Otto von Bismarck resigns his office as Chancellor of Germany and is succeeded by Leo von Caprivi
- 1916 – Albert Einstein publishes his paper on the special theory of relativity
- 1931 - Death of former Chancellor Hermann Müller