[Amnorix]

January 14.

Good guess Chasedude. The event of the day is America's ratification of the Treaty of Paris on this date in 1784, officially ending the American Revolutionary War. It was a close call, however. On this date in 1990, the Simpsons made its debut on Fox-TV.

Back to the Treaty of Paris -- it was signed in, you guessed it, Paris, by three very well known Americans, Benjamin FRanklin, John Adams, and John Jay back in September 1783, and ratified on this date 1784. Although it officially ended the war, it took some considerable time to resolve all of the disputes that arose as a result of the treaty, including most significantly the confiscation of loyalist property, payment by Americans of debts owed to Britons, claims by American slave owners of confiscated property (i.e. slaves), boundary disputes relating to the border with Canada.

Perhaps the most notable thing about the Treaty and the American victory that it proclaimed -- the American Revolution was the only war lost by England during a period of about 150 years during the height of the British Empire.