- 636 – The Rashidun Caliphate defeated the Sasanian Empire at the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah in Iraq.
- 1847 – The second Canadian railway line, the Montreal and Lachine Railroad, is opened.
- 1942 – World War II: Battle of Stalingrad: Soviet Union forces under General Georgy Zhukov launch the Operation Uranus counterattacks at Stalingrad, turning the tide of the battle in the USSR's favor.