Events

2024

At the centennial ceremony of the Dominion of Newfoundland National War Memorial, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission allowed an unprecedented second Canadian Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The Royal Newfoundland Regiment soldier was entombed in the memorial at this ceremony.

2020

The United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement replaces NAFTA.

2013

Croatia becomes the 28th member of the European Union.

2008

Riots erupt in Mongolia in response to allegations of fraud surrounding the 2008 legislative elections.

2007

Smoking in England is banned in all public indoor spaces.

2006

The first operation of Qinghai–Tibet Railway is conducted in China.

2004

Saturn orbit insertion of Cassini–Huygens begins at 01:12 UTC and ends at 02:48 UTC.

2003

Over 500,000 people protest against efforts to pass anti-sedition legislation in Hong Kong.

2002

The International Criminal Court is established to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.

2002

Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937, a Tupolev Tu-154, and DHL Flight 611, a Boeing 757, collide in mid-air over Überlingen, southern Germany, killing all 71 on board both planes.

1999

The Scottish Parliament is officially opened by Elizabeth II on the day that legislative powers are officially transferred from the old Scottish Office in London to the new devolved Scottish Executive in Edinburgh. In Wales, the powers of the Welsh Secretary are transferred to the National Assembly.

1997

China resumes sovereignty over the city-state of Hong Kong, ending 156 years of British colonial rule. The handover ceremony is attended by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Charles, Prince of Wales, Chinese President Jiang Zemin and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

1997

Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-94, a re-flight of the prematurely-ended STS-83 mission with the same crew.

1991

Cold War: The Warsaw Pact is officially dissolved at a meeting in Prague.

1991

The Finnish operator Radiolinja is launched as the world's first GSM network.

1990

German reunification: East Germany accepts the Deutsche Mark as its currency, thus uniting the economies of East and West Germany.

1987

The American radio station WFAN in New York City is launched as the world's first all-sports radio station.

1984

The PG-13 rating is introduced by the MPAA.

1983

A North Korean Ilyushin Il-62M jet en route to Conakry Airport in Guinea crashes into the Fouta Djallon mountains in Guinea-Bissau, killing all 23 people on board.

1983

The Ministry of State Security is established as China's principal intelligence agency

1980

"O Canada" officially becomes the national anthem of Canada.

1979

Sony introduces the Walkman.

1978

The Northern Territory in Australia is granted self-government.

1976

Portugal grants autonomy to Madeira.

1972

The first Gay pride march in England takes place.

1968

The United States Central Intelligence Agency's Phoenix Program is officially established.

1968

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is signed in Washington, D.C., London and Moscow by sixty-two countries.

1968

Formal separation of the United Auto Workers from the AFL–CIO in the United States.

1967

Merger Treaty: The European Community is formally created out of a merger between the Common Market, the European Coal and Steel Community, and the European Atomic Energy Commission.

1966

The first color television transmission in Canada takes place from Toronto.

1966

The People's Liberation Army Rocket Force (The known as the 2nd Artillery Corps) is founded.

1963

ZIP codes are introduced for United States mail.

1963

The British Government admits that former diplomat Kim Philby had worked as a Soviet agent.

1962

Independence of Rwanda and Burundi.

1960

The Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland) gains its independence from Italy. Concurrently, it unites as scheduled with the five-day-old State of Somaliland (the former British Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic.

1960

Ghana becomes a republic and Kwame Nkrumah becomes its first President as Queen Elizabeth II ceases to be its head of state.

1959

Specific values for the international yard, avoirdupois pound and derived units (e.g. inch, mile and ounce) are adopted after agreement between the US, the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries.

1958

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation links television broadcasting across Canada via microwave.

1958

Flooding of Canada's Saint Lawrence Seaway begins.

1957

The International Geophysical Year begins.

1949

The merger of two princely states of India, Cochin and Travancore, into the state of Thiru-Kochi (later re-organized as Kerala) in the Indian Union ends more than 1,000 years of princely rule by the Cochin royal family.

1948

Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Quaid-i-Azam) inaugurates Pakistan's central bank, the State Bank of Pakistan.

1947

The Philippine Air Force is established.

1946

Crossroads Able is the first postwar nuclear weapon test.

1943

The City of Tokyo and the Prefecture of Tokyo are both replaced by the Tokyo Metropolis.

1942

World War II: start of the First Battle of El Alamein.

1942

The Australian Federal Government becomes the sole collector of income tax in Australia as State Income Tax is abolished.

1935

In Regina, Saskatchewan, police and Royal Canadian Mounted Police ambush strikers participating in the On-to-Ottawa Trek.

1932

Australia's national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, was formed.

1931

United Airlines begins service (as Boeing Air Transport).

1931

Wiley Post and Harold Gatty become the first people to circumnavigate the globe in a single-engined monoplane aircraft.

1924

The National War Memorial for the Dominion of Newfoundland was inaugurated by Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig in St. John's, Newfoundland. The date commemorates the first day of the Battle of the Somme, where at Beaumont-Hamel, 86 percent of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment was wiped out.

1923

The Parliament of Canada suspends all Chinese immigration.

1922

The Great Railroad Strike of 1922 begins in the United States.

1921

The Chinese Communist Party is founded by Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao, with the help of the Far Eastern Bureau of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks), who seized power in Russia after the 1917 October Revolution, and the Far Eastern Secretariat of the Communist International.

1917

World War I: Russia launches an offensive against Austria-Hungary to capture Galicia, its final offensive of the war.

1917

Chinese General Zhang Xun seizes control of Beijing and restores the monarchy, installing Puyi, last emperor of the Qing dynasty, to the throne. The restoration is reversed just shy of two weeks later, when Republican troops regain control of the capital.

1916

World War I: First day on the Somme: On the first day of the Battle of the Somme 19,000 soldiers of the British Army are killed and 40,000 wounded.

1915

World War I: Leutnant Kurt Wintgens of the then-named German Deutsches Heer's Fliegertruppe army air service achieves the first known aerial victory with a synchronized machine-gun armed fighter plane, the Fokker M.5K/MG Eindecker.

1911

Germany dispatches the gunboat SMS Panther to Morocco, sparking the Agadir Crisis.

1908

SOS is adopted as the international distress signal.

1903

Start of first Tour de France bicycle race.

1901

French government enacts its anti-clerical legislation Law of Association prohibiting the formation of new monastic orders without governmental approval.

1898

Spanish–American War: The Battle of San Juan Hill is fought in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.

1890

Canada and Bermuda are linked by telegraph cable.

1885

The United States terminates reciprocity and fishery agreement with Canada.

1885

The Congo Free State is established by King Leopold II of Belgium.

1881

The world's first international telephone call is made between St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada, and Calais, Maine, United States.

1881

General Order 70, the culmination of the Cardwell and Childers reforms of the British Army, comes into effect.

1879

Charles Taze Russell publishes the first edition of the religious magazine The Watchtower.

1878

Canada joins the Universal Postal Union.

1874

The Sholes and Glidden typewriter, the first commercially successful typewriter, goes on sale.

1873

Prince Edward Island joins into Canadian Confederation.

1870

The United States Department of Justice formally comes into existence.

1867

The British North America Act takes effect as the Province of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia join into confederation to create the modern nation of Canada. John A. Macdonald is sworn in as the first Prime Minister of Canada. This date is commemorated annually in Canada as Canada Day, a national holiday.

1863

Slavery was abolished in the Dutch colony of Surinam, a date now celebrated as Ketikoti in independent Suriname.

1863

American Civil War: The Battle of Gettysburg begins.

1862

The Russian State Library is founded as the Library of the Moscow Public Museum.

1862

Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, second daughter of Queen Victoria, marries Prince Louis of Hesse, the future Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse.

1862

American Civil War: The Battle of Malvern Hill takes place. It is the last of the Seven Days Battles, part of George B. McClellan's Peninsula Campaign.

1858

Joint reading of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace's papers on evolution to the Linnean Society of London.

1855

Signing of the Quinault Treaty: The Quinault and the Quileute cede their land to the United States.

1841

Thomas Lempriere and James Clark Ross carve a marker on the Isle of the Dead in Van Diemen's Land to measure tidal variations, one of the earliest surviving benchmarks for sea level rise.

1837

A system of civil registration of births, marriages and deaths is established in England and Wales.

1823

The five Central American nations of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica declare independence from the First Mexican Empire after being annexed the year prior.

1819

Johann Georg Tralles discovers the Great Comet of 1819, (C/1819 N1). It is the first comet analyzed using polarimetry, by François Arago.

1782

Raid on Lunenburg: American privateers attack the British settlement of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

1770

Lexell's Comet is seen closer to the Earth than any other comet in recorded history, approaching to a distance of 0.0146 astronomical units (2,180,000 km; 1,360,000 mi).

1766

François-Jean de la Barre, a young French nobleman, is tortured and beheaded before his body is burnt on a pyre along with a copy of Voltaire's Dictionnaire philosophique nailed to his torso for the crime of not saluting a Roman Catholic religious procession in Abbeville, France.

1690

War of the Grand Alliance: Marshal de Luxembourg triumphs over an Anglo-Dutch army at the battle of Fleurus.

1690

Glorious Revolution: Battle of the Boyne in Ireland (as reckoned under the Julian calendar).

1643

First meeting of the Westminster Assembly, a council of theologians ("divines") and members of the Parliament of England appointed to restructure the Church of England, at Westminster Abbey in London.

1569

Union of Lublin: The Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania confirm a real union; the united country is called the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth or the Republic of Both Nations.

1543

Having been defeated in the Battle of Solway Moss in the previous year, the Scots conclude the peace Treaty of Greenwich with the Kingdom of England. In it, they also agree to a marriage between the infant Queen Mary and Prince Edward, son of Henry VIII.

1523

Jan van Essen and Hendrik Vos become the first Lutheran martyrs, burned at the stake by Roman Catholic authorities in Brussels.

1520

Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés fight their way out of Tenochtitlan after nightfall.

1431

The Battle of La Higueruela takes place in Granada, leading to a modest advance of the Kingdom of Castile during the Reconquista.

1097

Battle of Dorylaeum: Crusaders led by prince Bohemond of Taranto defeat a Seljuk army led by sultan Kilij Arslan I.

552

Battle of Taginae: Byzantine forces under Narses defeat the Ostrogoths in Italy, and the Ostrogoth king, Totila, is mortally wounded.

69

Tiberius Julius Alexander orders his Roman legions in Alexandria to swear allegiance to Vespasian as Emperor.

Births

2004

Daniela Avanzini, American singer and dancer

2004

Alejandro Garnacho, Spanish-Argentine footballer

2003

Tate McRae, Canadian singer-songwriter and dancer

2003

Storm Reid, American actress

2001

Chosen Jacobs, American actor and singer

2001

Theo, South Korean singer-songwriter

2000

Lalu Muhammad Zohri, Indonesian sprinter

1998

Chloe Bailey, American singer-songwriter and actress

1998

Susan Bandecchi, Swiss tennis player

1998

Aleksandra Golovkina, Lithuanian figure skater

1996

Adelina Sotnikova, Russian figure skater

1995

Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo, Belgian footballer

1995

Savvy Shields, Miss America 2017

1995

Taeyong, South Korea rapper

1994

Chloé Paquet, French tennis player

1992

Aaron Sanchez, American baseball player

1991

Lucas Vázquez, Spanish footballer

1991

Michael Wacha, American baseball player

1989

Kent Bazemore, American basketball player

1989

Hannah Murray, English actress

1989

Daniel Ricciardo, Australian race car driver

1988

Dedé, Brazilian footballer

1988

Aleksander Lesun, Russian modern pentathlete

1987

Michael Schrader, German decathlete

1986

Charlie Blackmon, American baseball player

1986

Andrew Lee, Australian footballer

1986

Julian Prochnow, German footballer

1985

Chris Perez, American baseball player

1985

Léa Seydoux, French actor

1984

Donald Thomas, Bahamian high jumper

1983

Leeteuk, South Korean singer and entertainer

1982

Justin Huber, Australian baseball player

1982

Joachim Johansson, Swedish tennis player

1982

Adrian Ward, American football player

1982

Fedi Nuril, Indonesian actor, model, and musician

1982

Hilarie Burton, American actress

1981

Carlo Del Fava, South African-Italian rugby player

1981

Tadhg Kennelly, Irish-Australian footballer

1980

Nelson Cruz, Dominican-American baseball player

1979

Forrest Griffin, American mixed martial artist and actor

1977

Tom Frager, Senegalese-French singer-songwriter and guitarist

1977

Keigo Hayashi, Japanese musician

1977

Jarome Iginla, Canadian ice hockey player

1977

Liv Tyler, American actress

1976

Patrick Kluivert, Dutch footballer and coach

1976

Hannu Tihinen, Finnish footballer

1976

Albert Torrens, Australian rugby league player

1976

Ruud van Nistelrooy, Dutch footballer and manager

1976

Szymon Ziółkowski, Polish hammer thrower

1975

Sean Colson, American basketball player and coach

1975

Sufjan Stevens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1974

Jefferson Pérez, Ecuadorian race walker

1974

Jonathan Roumie, American actor

1971

Missy Elliott, American rapper, producer, dancer and actress

1971

Julianne Nicholson, American actress

1969

Séamus Egan, American-Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist

1967

Pamela Anderson, Canadian-American model and actress

1966

Enrico Annoni, Italian footballer and coach

1966

Shawn Burr, Canadian-American ice hockey player (died 2013)

1965

Carl Fogarty, English motorcycle racer

1965

Garry Schofield, English rugby player and coach

1965

Harald Zwart, Norwegian director and producer

1964

Bernard Laporte, French rugby player and coach

1963

Roddy Bottum, American singer and keyboard player

1963

Linda Fagan, American Coast Guard Admiral

1963

Nick Giannopoulos, Australian actor

1963

David Wood, American lawyer and environmentalist (died 2006)

1962

Andre Braugher, American actor (died 2023)

1962

Mokhzani Mahathir, Malaysian businessman

1961

Malcolm Elliott, English cyclist

1961

Ivan Kaye, English actor

1961

Carl Lewis, American long jumper and runner

1961

Diana, Princess of Wales (died 1997)

1961

Michelle Wright, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist

1960

Michael Beattie, Australian rugby league player and coach

1960

Lynn Jennings, American runner

1960

Evelyn "Champagne" King, American soul/disco singer

1960

Kevin Swords, American rugby player

1958

Jack Dyer Crouch II, American diplomat, United States Deputy National Security Advisor

1958

Louise Penny, Canadian mystery novelist

1957

Lisa Blount, American actress and producer (died 2010)

1957

Hannu Kamppuri, Finnish ice hockey player

1957

Sean O'Driscoll, English footballer and manager

1956

Alan Ruck, American actor

1955

Nikolai Demidenko, Russian pianist and educator

1955

Li Keqiang, Chinese economist and politician, 7th Premier of the People's Republic of China (died 2023)

1955

Lisa Scottoline, American lawyer and author

1955

Maʻafu Tukuiʻaulahi, Tongan politician and military officer, Deputy Prime Minister (died 2021)

1954

Keith Whitley, American singer and guitarist (died 1989)

1954

Hossein Nuri, Iranian artist and director

1953

Lawrence Gonzi, Maltese lawyer and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Malta

1953

Mike Haynes, American football player

1953

Jadranka Kosor, Croatian journalist and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Croatia

1952

Dan Aykroyd, Canadian actor, producer and screenwriter

1952

David Arkenstone, American composer and performer

1952

David Lane, English oncologist and academic

1952

Steve Shutt, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster

1952

Timothy J. Tobias, American pianist and composer (died 2006)

1951

Trevor Eve, English actor and producer

1951

Anne Feeney, American singer-songwriter and activist (died 2021)

1951

Julia Goodfellow, English physicist and academic

1951

Klaus-Peter Justus, German runner

1951

Tom Kozelko, American basketball player

1951

Terrence Mann, American actor, singer and dancer

1951

Fred Schneider, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player

1951

Victor Willis, American singer-songwriter, pianist and actor (died 2026)

1950

David Duke, American white supremacist, politician and Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard

1949

Néjia Ben Mabrouk, Tunisian-Belgian director and screenwriter

1949

John Farnham, English-Australian singer-songwriter

1949

David Hogan, American composer and educator (died 1996)

1949

Venkaiah Naidu, Indian lawyer and politician

1948

John Ford, English-American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1947

Kazuyoshi Hoshino, Japanese race car driver

1947

Malcolm Wicks, English academic and politician (died 2012)

1946

Mick Aston, English archaeologist and academic (died 2013)

1946

Erkki Tuomioja, Finnish sergeant and politician, Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs

1946

Kojo Laing, Ghanaian novelist and poet (died 2017)

1945

Mike Burstyn, American actor and singer

1945

Debbie Harry, American singer-songwriter and actress

1944

Nurul Haque Miah, Bangladeshi professor and writer (died 2021)

1943

Philip Brunelle, American conductor and organist

1943

Peeter Lepp, Estonian politician, 37th Mayor of Tallinn

1943

Jeff Wayne, American composer, musician and lyricist

1942

Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, Iraqi field marshal and politician (died 2020)

1942

Geneviève Bujold, Canadian actress

1942

Andraé Crouch, American singer-songwriter, producer and pastor (died 2015)

1942

Julia Higgins, English chemist and academic

1941

Rod Gilbert, Canadian-American ice hockey player (died 2021)

1941

Alfred G. Gilman, American pharmacologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2015)

1941

Nicolae Saramandu, Romanian linguist and philologist

1941

Myron Scholes, Canadian-American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

1941

Twyla Tharp, American dancer and choreographer

1940

Craig Brown, Scottish footballer and manager (died 2023)

1940

Ela Gandhi, South African activist and politician

1940

Cahit Zarifoğlu, Turkish poet and author (died 1987)

1939

Karen Black, American actress (died 2013)

1939

Delaney Bramlett, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer (died 2008)

1938

Craig Anderson, American baseball player and coach

1938

Hariprasad Chaurasia, Indian flute player and composer

1936

Wally Amos, American entrepreneur, founder of Famous Amos (died 2024)

1935

James Cotton, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player (died 2017)

1935

David Prowse, English actor (died 2020)

1934

Claude Berri, French actor, director and screenwriter (died 2009)

1934

Jamie Farr, American actor

1934

Jean Marsh, English actress and screenwriter (died 2025)

1934

Sydney Pollack, American actor, director and producer (died 2008)

1933

C. Scott Littleton, American anthropologist and academic (died 2010)

1932

Ze'ev Schiff, French-Israeli journalist and author (died 2007)

1931

Leslie Caron, French actress and dancer

1930

Moustapha Akkad, Syrian-American director and producer (died 2005)

1930

Carol Chomsky, American linguist and academic (died 2008)

1929

Gerald Edelman, American biologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2014)

1927

Alan J. Charig, English paleontologist and author (died 1997)

1927

Winfield Dunn, American politician, 43rd Governor of Tennessee (died 2024)

1927

Joseph Martin Sartoris, American bishop (died 2025)

1927

Chandra Shekhar, 8th Prime Minister of India (died 2007)

1926

Robert Fogel, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2013)

1926

Carl Hahn, German businessman (died 2023)

1926

Mohamed Abshir Muse, Somali general (died 2017)

1926

Hans Werner Henze, German composer and educator (died 2012)

1925

Farley Granger, American actor (died 2011)

1925

Art McNally, American football referee (died 2023)

1924

Antoni Ramallets, Spanish footballer and manager (died 2013)

1924

Florence Stanley, American actress (died 2003)

1924

Georges Rivière, French actor (died 2011)

1923

Scotty Bowers, American marine, author and pimp (died 2019)

1922

Toshi Seeger, German-American activist, co-founder of the Clearwater Festival (died 2013)

1922

Mordechai Bibi, Israeli politician (died 2023)

1921

Seretse Khama, Batswana lawyer and politician, 1st President of Botswana (died 1980)

1921

Michalina Wisłocka, Polish gynecologist and sexologist (died 2005)

1921

Arthur Johnson, Canadian canoeist (died 2003)

1920

Henri Amouroux, French historian and journalist (died 2007)

1920

Harold Sakata, Japanese-American wrestler and actor (died 1982)

1920

George I. Fujimoto, American-Japanese chemist (died 2023)

1919

Arnold Meri, Estonian colonel (died 2009)

1919

Malik Dohan al-Hassan, Iraqi politician (died 2021)

1919

Gerald E. Miller, American vice admiral (died 2014)

1918

Ralph Young, American singer and actor (died 2008)

1918

Ahmed Deedat, South African writer and public speaker (died 2005)

1918

Pedro Yap, Filipino lawyer (died 2003)

1917

Álvaro Domecq y Díez, Spanish aristocrat (died 2005)

1916

Olivia de Havilland, British-American actress (died 2020)

1916

Iosif Shklovsky, Ukrainian astronomer and astrophysicist (died 1985)

1916

George C. Stoney, American director and producer (died 2012)

1915

Willie Dixon, American blues singer-songwriter, bass player, guitarist and producer (died 1992)

1915

Philip Lever, 3rd Viscount Leverhulme, British peer (died 2000)

1915

Boots Poffenberger, American baseball pitcher (died 1999)

1915

Joseph Ransohoff, American soldier and neurosurgeon (died 2001)

1915

Jean Stafford, American writer (died 1979)

1915

Nguyễn Văn Linh, Vietnamese politician (died 1998)

1914

Thomas Pearson, British Army officer (died 2019)

1914

Christl Cranz, German alpine skier (died 2004)

1914

Bernard B. Wolfe, American politician (died 2016)

1913

Frank Barrett, American baseball player (died 1998)

1913

Lee Guttero, American basketball player (died 2004)

1913

Vasantrao Naik, Indian politician, 3rd Chief Minister of Maharashtra (died 1979)

1912

David Brower, American environmentalist, founder of the Sierra Club Foundation (died 2000)

1912

Sally Kirkland, American journalist (died 1989)

1911

Arnold Alas, Estonian landscape architect and artist (died 1990)

1911

Sergey Sokolov, Russian marshal and politician, Soviet Minister of Defence (died 2012)

1910

Glenn Hardin, American hurdler (died 1975)

1909

Emmett Toppino, American sprinter (died 1971)

1907

Norman Pirie, Scottish-English biochemist and virologist (died 1997)

1906

Jean Dieudonné, French mathematician and academic (died 1992)

1906

Estée Lauder, American businesswoman, co-founder of Estée Lauder Companies (died 2004)

1903

Amy Johnson, English pilot (died 1941)

1903

Beatrix Lehmann, English actress (died 1979)

1902

William Wyler, French-American film director, producer and screenwriter (died 1981)

1901

Irna Phillips, American screenwriter (died 1973)

1899

Thomas A. Dorsey, American pianist and composer (died 1993)

1899

Charles Laughton, English-American actor and director (died 1962)

1899

Konstantinos Tsatsos, Greek scholar and politician, President of Greece (died 1987)

1892

James M. Cain, American author and journalist (died 1977)

1892

László Lajtha, Hungarian composer and conductor (died 1963)

1887

Amber Reeves, New Zealand-English author and scholar (died 1981)

1885

Dorothea Mackellar, Australian author and poet (died 1968)

1883

Arthur Borton, English colonel, Victoria Cross recipient (died 1933)

1882

Bidhan Chandra Roy, Indian physician and politician, 2nd Chief Minister of West Bengal (died 1962)

1881

Edward Battersby Bailey, English geologist (died 1965)

1879

Léon Jouhaux, French union leader, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1954)

1878

Jacques Rosenbaum, Estonian-German architect (died 1944)

1876

T. J. Ryan, Australian politician, 19th Premier of Queensland (died 1921)

1875

Joseph Weil, American con man (died 1976)

1873

Alice Guy-Blaché, French-American film director, producer and screenwriter (died 1968)

1873

Andrass Samuelsen, Faroese politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (died 1954)

1872

Louis Blériot, French pilot and engineer (died 1936)

1872

William Duddell, English physicist and engineer (died 1917)

1869

William Strunk Jr., American author and educator (died 1946)

1863

William Grant Stairs, Canadian-English captain and explorer (died 1892)

1859

DeLancey W. Gill, American painter (died 1940)

1858

Willard Metcalf, American painter (died 1925)

1858

Velma Caldwell Melville, American editor and writer of prose and poetry (died 1924)

1850

Florence Earle Coates, American poet (died 1927)

1834

Jadwiga Łuszczewska, Polish poet and author (died 1908)

1822

Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, Vietnamese poet and activist (died 1888)

1818

Ignaz Semmelweis, Hungarian-Austrian physician and obstetrician (died 1865)

1818

Karl von Vierordt, German physician, psychologist and academic (died 1884)

1814

Robert Richard Torrens, Irish-Australian politician, 3rd Premier of South Australia (died 1884)

1808

Ygnacio del Valle, Mexican-American landowner (died 1880)

1807

Thomas Green Clemson, American politician and educator, founder of Clemson University (died 1888)

1804

Charles Gordon Greene, American journalist and politician (died 1886)

1804

George Sand, French author and playwright (died 1876)

1788

Jean-Victor Poncelet, French mathematician and engineer (died 1867)

1771

Ferdinando Paer, Italian composer and conductor (died 1839)

1742

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, German physicist and academic (died 1799)

1731

Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan, Scottish-English admiral (died 1804)

1726

Acharya Bhikshu, Jain saint (died 1803)

1725

Rhoda Delaval, English painter and aristocrat (died 1757)

1725

Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, French general (died 1807)

1663

Franz Xaver Murschhauser, German composer and theorist (died 1738)

1646

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, German mathematician and philosopher (died 1716)

1633

Johann Heinrich Heidegger, Swiss theologian and author (died 1698)

1586

Claudio Saracini, Italian lute player and composer (died 1630)

1574

Joseph Hall, English bishop and mystic (died 1656)

1553

Peter Street, English carpenter and builder (died 1609)

1534

Frederick II of Denmark (died 1588)

1506

Louis II of Hungary (died 1526)

1500

Federico Cesi (cardinal), Italian cardinal (died 1565)

1481

Christian II of Denmark (died 1559)

1464

Clara Gonzaga, Italian noble (died 1503)

1311

Liu Bowen, Chinese military strategist, statesman and poet (died 1375)

Deaths

2025

Alex Delvecchio, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1931)

2025

Jimmy Swaggart, American pastor and television host (born 1935)

2024

Ismail Kadare, Albanian novelist (born 1936)

2024

Robert Towne, American screenwriter (born 1934)

2023

Dilano van 't Hoff, Dutch race car driver (born 2004)

2021

Louis Andriessen, Dutch composer (born 1939)

2019

Bogusław Schaeffer, Polish composer (born 1929)

2016

Robin Hardy, English author and film director (born 1929)

2015

Val Doonican, Irish singer and television host (born 1927)

2015

Czesław Olech, Polish mathematician and academic (born 1931)

2015

Nicholas Winton, English lieutenant and humanitarian (born 1909)

2014

Jean Garon, Canadian economist, lawyer and politician (born 1938)

2014

Stephen Gaskin, American activist, co-founder of The Farm (born 1935)

2014

Bob Jones, English lawyer and politician (born 1955)

2014

Anatoly Kornukov, Ukrainian-Russian general (born 1942)

2014

Walter Dean Myers, American author and poet (born 1937)

2013

Sidney Bryan Berry, American general (born 1926)

2013

Charles Foley, American game designer, co-creator of Twister (born 1930)

2013

William H. Gray, American minister and politician (born 1941)

2012

Peter E. Gillquist, American priest and author (born 1938)

2012

Ossie Hibbert, Jamaican-American keyboard player and producer (born 1950)

2012

Evelyn Lear, American operatic soprano (born 1926)

2012

Alan G. Poindexter, American captain, pilot and astronaut (born 1961)

2012

Jack Richardson, American author and playwright (born 1934)

2010

Don Coryell, American football player and coach (born 1924)

2010

Arnold Friberg, American painter and illustrator (born 1913)

2010

Ilene Woods, American actress and singer (born 1929)

2009

Karl Malden, American actor (born 1912)

2009

Onni Palaste, Finnish soldier and author (born 1917)

2009

Mollie Sugden, English actress (born 1922)

2008

Mel Galley, English guitarist (born 1948)

2006

Ryutaro Hashimoto, Japanese politician, 53rd Prime Minister of Japan (born 1937)

2006

Robert Lepikson, Estonian race car driver and politician, Estonian Minister of the Interior (born 1952)

2006

Fred Trueman, English cricketer and sportscaster (born 1931)

2005

Renaldo Benson, American singer-songwriter (Four Tops) (born 1936)

2005

Gus Bodnar, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1923)

2005

Luther Vandross, American singer-songwriter and producer (Change) (born 1951)

2004

Peter Barnes, English playwright and screenwriter (born 1931)

2004

Marlon Brando, American actor and director (born 1924)

2004

Todor Skalovski, Macedonian composer and conductor (born 1909)

2003

Herbie Mann, American flute player and saxophonist (born 1930)

2001

Nikolay Basov, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1922)

2001

Jean-Louis Rosier, French race car driver (born 1925)

2000

Walter Matthau, American actor (born 1920)

1999

Edward Dmytryk, Canadian-American director and producer (born 1908)

1999

Forrest Mars Sr., American businessman, creator of M&M's and the Mars chocolate bar (born 1904)

1999

Sylvia Sidney, American actress (born 1910)

1999

Sola Sierra, Chilean human rights activist (born 1935)

1997

Robert Mitchum, American actor (born 1917)

1997

Charles Werner, American cartoonist (born 1909)

1996

William T. Cahill, American lawyer and politician, 46th Governor of New Jersey (born 1904)

1996

Margaux Hemingway, American model and actress (born 1954)

1996

Steve Tesich, Serbian-American author and screenwriter (born 1942)

1995

Wolfman Jack, American radio host (born 1938)

1995

Ian Parkin, English guitarist (Be-Bop Deluxe) (born 1950)

1994

Merriam Modell, American author (born 1908)

1992

Franco Cristaldi, Italian screenwriter and producer (born 1924)

1991

Michael Landon, American actor, director and producer (born 1936)

1990

Jurriaan Schrofer, Dutch sculptor, designer and educator (born 1926)

1984

Moshé Feldenkrais, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (born 1904)

1983

Buckminster Fuller, American architect, designed the Montreal Biosphère (born 1895)

1981

Carlos de Oliveira, Portuguese author and poet (born 1921)

1978

Kurt Student, German general and pilot (born 1890)

1974

Juan Perón, Argentinian general and politician, President of Argentina (born 1895)

1971

William Lawrence Bragg, Australian-English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1890)

1971

Learie Constantine, Trinidadian-English cricketer, lawyer and politician (born 1901)

1968

Fritz Bauer, German judge and politician (born 1903)

1967

Gerhard Ritter, German historian and academic (born 1888)

1966

Frank Verner, American runner (born 1883)

1965

Wally Hammond, English cricketer (born 1903)

1965

Robert Ruark, American journalist and author (born 1915)

1964

Pierre Monteux, French-American viola player and conductor (born 1875)

1962

Purushottam Das Tandon, Indian lawyer and politician (born 1882)

1962

Bidhan Chandra Roy, Indian physician and politician, 2nd Chief Minister of West Bengal (born 1882)

1961

Louis-Ferdinand Céline, French physician and author (born 1894)

1951

Tadeusz Borowski, Polish poet, novelist and journalist (born 1922)

1950

Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, Swiss composer and educator (born 1865)

1950

Eliel Saarinen, Finnish-American architect, co-designed the National Museum of Finland (born 1873)

1948

Achille Varzi, Italian race car driver (born 1904)

1944

Carl Mayer, Austrian-English screenwriter (born 1894)

1944

Tanya Savicheva, Russian author (born 1930)

1943

Willem Arondeus, Dutch artist, author and anti-Nazi resistance fighter (born 1894)

1942

Peadar Toner Mac Fhionnlaoich, Irish writer (born 1857)

1934

Ernst Röhm, German paramilitary commander, co-founder and leader of the Sturmabteilung (SA) (born 1887)

1925

Erik Satie, French pianist and composer (born 1866)

1912

Harriet Quimby, American pilot and screenwriter (born 1875)

1905

John Hay, American journalist and politician, 37th United States Secretary of State (born 1838)

1896

Harriet Beecher Stowe, American author and activist (born 1811)

1887

Thomas Francis Meagher, Leader of the Young Ireland rebellion of 1848, Commander of the Irish Brigade in the US Civil War (born 1823)

1884

Allan Pinkerton, Scottish-American detective and spy (born 1819)

1863

John F. Reynolds, American general (born 1820)

1860

Charles Goodyear, American chemist and engineer (born 1800)

1839

Mahmud II, Ottoman sultan (born 1785)

1828

Lyncoya Jackson, a Muscogee war orphan adopted by Andrew Jackson

1819

The Public Universal Friend, American evangelist (born 1752)

1787

Charles de Rohan, French marshal (born 1715)

1784

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, German composer (born 1710)

1782

Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, English politician, Prime Minister of Great Britain (born 1730)

1774

Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, English politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (born 1705)

1749

William Jones, Welsh mathematician and academic (born 1675)

1736

Ahmed III, Ottoman sultan (born 1673)

1681

Oliver Plunkett, Irish archbishop and saint (born 1629)

1622

William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle, English politician (born 1575)

1614

Isaac Casaubon, French philologist and scholar (born 1559)

1592

Marc'Antonio Ingegneri, Italian composer and educator (born 1535)

1589

Lady Saigō, Japanese concubine (born 1552)

1555

John Bradford, English reformer, prebendary of St. Paul's (born 1510)

1348

Joan, English princess

1321

María de Molina, queen of Castile and León

1287

Narathihapate, Burmese king (born 1238)

1277

Baibars, Egyptian sultan (born 1223)

1242

Chagatai Khan, Mongol ruler (born 1183)

1224

Hōjō Yoshitoki, regent of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan (born 1163)

1109

Alfonso VI, king of León and Castile (born 1040)

992

Heonjeong, Korean queen (born 966)

552

Totila, Ostrogoth king

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