Events in History
- 1056 Supernova Crab nebula last seen by the naked eye
- 1073 Pope Alexander II buried and Ildebrando chosen as Pope Gregory VII
- 1145 19th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
- 1164 Raynald of Dassel names Guido di Crema as anti-pope Paschalis III
- 1370 Building begins on the Bastille fortress in Paris
Portuguese Discover Brazil
1500 Pedro Álvares Cabral is the first european to discover Brazil, landing near Monte Pascoal, claims it for Portugal
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- 1659 Lord Protector Richard Cromwell disbands English parliament
Event of Interest
1671 King Charles II sits in on English parliament
Charles II
Salem Witch Trials
1692 Edward Bishop is jailed for proposing flogging as a cure for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts
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Event of Interest
1804 Gioachino Rossini (12) performs in Imola
Gioachino Rossini
Napoléon Bonaparte
- 1817 Curacao prohibits use of white paint due to fierce sunlight
- 1823 Baltic Club (Exchange) forms in London
- 1823 R J Tyers patents roller skates
- 1838 English steamship "Sirius" docks in NYC after crossing the Atlantic, first transatlantic steam passenger service
- 1864 US mints 2 cent coin (1st appearance of "In God We Trust")
- 1871 All German Jews emancipated after the German Constitution adopted by its last state Bavaria
- 1884 Thomas Stevens starts 1st bike trip around world (2 yrs 9 mths)
- 1884 US recognizes King Leopold II's Congo Free State
- 1889 A 1.9 million-acre tract of Indian Territory for white colonial settlement in Oklahoma officially starts at 12pm
- 1893 Francis Dhanis army occupies Kasongo
- 1893 Paul Kruger elected President of Transvaal for 3rd time
- 1897 NYC Jewish newspaper "Forward" begins publishing (still active)
- 1898 1st Spanish-American War action sees the USS Nashville capture a Spanish ship
- 1898 Congress passes Volunteer Army Act calling for a Volunteer Cavalry
- 1898 US President McKinley orders blockade of Cuban harbors
- 1903 American Power Boat Association forms
- 1905 Operations begin uniting conservatory of Nature monument Amsterdam
- 1913 Montenegro troops march into Skoetari, North-Albania
- 1915 1st military use of poison gas (chlorine, by Germany) in WW I
- 1915 The Second Battle of Ypres begins on the Western Front in WW I
- 1916 France battles at Fort Douaumont
- 1916 Karl Spindler scuttles the Aud near Daunt's Rock, to prevent its cargo of 20,000 rifles destined for Irish republicans falling into enemy hands
- 1916 Chief of Staff of the Irish Volunteers Eóin MacNeill issues the Countermanding order in Dublin to try to stop what would become the Easter Rising
- 1922 South Ossetian Autonomous Region forms in Georgian SSR
- 1924 Hague Chambers of Commerce forms
- 1926 Persia, Turkey & Afghanistan sign treaties of security
- 1930 US, Britain & Japan sign London Naval Treaty
- 1930 British troops battle pro-independence revolutionaries in the Jalalabad hills near Chittagong, Bengal province, British India, 80 troops and 12 revolutionaries killed
- 1931 Egypt & Iraq sign peace treaty
- 1933 Dutch government forbids leftwing radio address
Event of Interest
1934 US Division of Investigation (later the FBI) under Melvin Purvis botch an operation to capture the John Dillinger Gang at Little Bohemia Lodge, Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin. with 2 dead and 4 injured
Melvin Purvis
John Dillinger
- 1937 NYC college students stage 4th annual peace strike
- 1940 Rear Admiral Joseph Taussig testifies before US Senate Naval Affairs Committee that war with Japan is inevitable
- 1943 German counter attack in North Tunisia
- 1943 RAF shoots down 14 German transport planes over Mediterranean Sea
- 1944 Allies land near Hollandia, New Guinea
Event of Interest
1944 Adolf Hitler & Benito Mussolini meet at Salzburg
Benito Mussolini
Adolf Hitler
- 1945 Concentration Camp at Sachsenhausen liberated
Raising a Flag over the Reichstag
1945 Battle of Berlin: Upon being informed that a planned counter-attack never happened, Adolf Hitler flies into a rage, denounces the German Army and concedes World War II is lost
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Meeting of Interest
1945 SS chief Heinrich Himmler secretly meets with Count Folke Bernadotte of Sweden, asking him to act as an intermediary for a surrender offer to the Western Allies. The Allies do not take the offer seriously.
Heinrich Himmler
- 1946 SED, Sozialistic Einheitspartei Deutschlands, party forms
Douglas MacArthur
- 1952 1st atomic explosion on network news, Nob, Nevada
- 1952 Eugene Ionesco's "Les Chaises" premieres in NYC
- 1954 Achiel van Acker forms Belgian government
- 1954 USSR joins UNESCO
- 1961 Uprising of French parachutist of General Salan and Challe in Algeria
- 1962 Pirates tie then record of 10 straight wins to start season
Event of Interest
1963 Lester B. Pearson is sworn in as the 14th Prime Minister of Canada
Lester B. Pearson
- 1964 World's Fair at Flushing Meadow, Corona Park, NY opens
- 1966 USSR performs underground nuclear test
- 1967 Martial Law goes into effect in Greece
- 1969 1st human eye transplant performed
- 1969 Bernadette Devlin, the youngest woman ever to be elected to Westminster, makes a controversial maiden speech in the House of Commons concerning the situation in Northern Ireland
- 1970 First Earth Day celebrated, founded by Gaylord Nelson
- 1971 Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 10 launched
- 1971 Soyuz 10 launches as the world's first mission to the first-ever space station (the Salyut 1) however the docking was unsuccessful and the cosmonauts returned to Earth
- 1972 Apollo astronauts John Young & Charles Duke ride on Moon
- 1972 An 11-year-old boy killed by a rubber bullet fired by the British Army in Belfast; he was the first to die from a rubber bullet impact
Event of Interest
1977 Shimon Peres becomes the 8th Prime Minister of Israel
Shimon Peres
- 1978 Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Earl Anthony
- 1981 10,000 copper workers in Chile strike
- 1981 Almost 1 million West German metal workers go on strike
- 1981 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1981 More than $3.3 million is stolen from the First National Bank of Arizona in Tucson in the then largest US bank robbery in history
- 1982 Launch of STS-3-Lousma & Fullerton [03/23]
- 1983 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1983 Soyuz T-8 returns to Earth
- 1983 Stern mag announces major historical find-discovery of 60 volume personal diaries written by Adolf Hitler (turned out to be a hoax)
- 1986 Consumer Price Index drops .04% for 2nd month in a row
- 1986 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1987 Sri Lanka Air Force bomb Tamil, 100s killed
- 1990 Lebanon release US hostage Robert Polhill after 39 months
- 1991 Earthquake strikes Costa Rica & Panama, kills 95
Andrew Grove
Birthdays in History
- 570 Muhammad, Arabic prophet and founder of Islam (Quran), born in Mecca, Hejaz, Arabia (d. 632 AD) (approximate dates)
Isabella I of Castile
1451 Isabella I, Queen of Castile (1479-1504), patron of Christopher Columbus, who initiated the Spanish Inquisition with husband Ferdinand II of Aragon, born in Madrigal de las Altas Torres, Spain (d. 1504)
Isabella I of Castile
- 1610 Alexander VIII [Pietro Ottoboni], Italian Pope (1689-91), born in Venice, Italy (d. 1691)
- 1640 Mariana Alcoforado, Portuguese nun, born in Beja, Portugal (d. 1723)
- 1682 Willem Ignatius Kerricx, Flemish architect, sculptor and painter, born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1745)
- 1690 John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville (C) and English chief minister (1722-42), born in Westminster, Middlesex, England (d. 1763)
- 1707 Henry Fielding, English novelist (Joseph Andrews, Tom Jones), born in Sharpham, Somerset, England (d. 1754)
- 1711 Eleazar Wheelock, American founder of Dartmouth College, born in Windham, Connecticut (d. 1779)
Immanuel Kant
1724 Immanuel Kant, German philosopher (Critique of Pure Reason), born in Königsberg, East Prussia (d. 1804)
Immanuel Kant
- 1744 James Sullivan, 7th Governor of Massachusetts (1807-08), born in Berwick, Province of Massachusetts Bay (d. 1808)
- 1766 Madame de Staël [Anne Louise Germaine de Staël-Holstein], French-Swiss author (De l’Allemagne), born in Paris (d. 1817)
- 1773 Jean Victor de Constant Rebecque, Swiss-Dutch army leader, born in Genève, Republic of Geneva (d. 1850)
- 1775 Georg Hermes, German philosopher and theologist (Hermenianen), born in Dreierwalde, Münster (d. 1831)
- 1799 Jean Léonard Marie Poiseuille, French physician and physiologist (blood pressure), born in Paris (d. 1869)
- 1812 Solomon Caesar Malan, British orientalist, born in Geneva, Switzerland (d. 1894)
- 1816 Philip James Bailey, English poet (Festus), born in Nottingham, England (d. 1902)
- 1816 Charles-Denis Bourbaki, French general, born in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France (d. 1897)
- 1818 Cadwallader Colden Washburn, American Major General (Union Army), born in Livermore, Maine (d. 1882)
- 1823 Alfred Gibbs, American Major General (Union Army), born in Long Island, New York (d. 1868)
- 1827 William Hopkins Morris, American author, editor, inventor, and Major General (Union Army), born in (d. 1900)
- 1831 Alexander McDowell McCook, American Major General (Union Army), born in Columbiana County, Ohio (d. 1903)
- 1832 Julius Sterling Morton, American politician (3rd U.S. Secretary of Agriculture) and founder of Arbor Day, born in Adams, New York (d. 1902)
- 1839 August W. Eichler, German botanist (developed a new system of classification of plants to reflect the concept of evolution), born in Neukirchen, Hesse (d. 1997)
- 1844 Lewis Powell, American Confederate soldier who was part of the conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln and who attempted to kill Secretary of State William H. Seward, born in Randolph, Alabama (d. 1865)
- 1852 Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1905-12), born in Biebrich Palace, Wiesbaden, Duchy of Nassau (d. 1912)
- 1853 Alphonse Bertillon, French police officer and anthropologist (devised crime ID system), born in Paris (d. 1914)
- 1854 Henri La Fontaine, Belgian international lawyer (Nobel 1913), born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1943)
- 1863 C. A. J. van Dishoeck, Dutch publisher, born in Zierikzee, Netherlands (d. 1931)
- 1864 Phil May, English cartoonist, born in Wortley, Leeds (d. 1903)
- 1866 Hans von Seeckt, German general and advisor of Chiang Kai-shek, born in Schleswig, Duchy of Schleswig, German Confederation (d. 1936)
- 1868 Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria, 4th and last child of Franz Joseph I of Austria and Elisabeth of Bavaria, born in Ofen (Buda), Austria-Hungary (d. 1924)
Vladimir Lenin
1870 Vladimir Lenin [Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov], Marxist Revolutionary and Soviet Leader, born in Simbirsk, Russia (d. 1924)
Vladimir Lenin
- 1872 Princess Margaret of Prussia, Queen consort-elect of Finland, born in New Palace, Potsdam, Prussia, German Empire (d. 1954)
- 1873 Ellen Anderson Glasgow, American novelist (Ancient Law, Pulitzer-1942), born in Richmond, Virginia (d. 1945)
- 1878 Kitty Gordon, English entertainer, born in Folkestone, Kent (d. 1974)
- 1881 Alexander Kerensky, Minister-Chairman of the Russian Provisional Government (1917), born in Simbirsk, Russian Empire (d. 1970)
- 1889 Ludwig Renn, German writer, born in Dresden (d. 1979)
- 1889 Richard Glücks, German SS officer and concentration camp administrator, born in Odenkirchen, German Empire (d. 1945)
- 1891 Harold Jeffreys, English mathematician (Theory of Probability) and geophysicist, born in County Durham, England (d. 1989)
- 1891 Vittorio Jano, Italian automobile designer, born in San Giorgio Canavese, Piedmont, Italy (d. 1965)
- 1891 Ferdinando Nicola Sacco, Italian anarchist (Sacco and Vanzetti Trial), born in Torremaggiore, Italy (d. 1927)
- 1892 Vernon Johns, American civil rights activist, born in Darlington Heights, Virginia (d. 1965)
Vladimir Nabokov
1899 Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-American novelist (Lolita, Ada), born in St Petersburg, Russia (d. 1977)
Vladimir Nabokov
- 1902 Megan Lloyd George, English politician (1st female MP for Welsh - Carmarthen), born in Criccieth, Caernarfonshire, Wales (d. 1966)
Robert Oppenheimer
1904 Robert Oppenheimer, American theoretical physicist known as the father of the atomic bomb (Manhattan Project), born in NYC, New York (d. 1967)
Robert Oppenheimer
- 1905 Robert Choquette, French Canadian novelist, poet and diplomat, born in Manchester, New Hampshire (d. 1991)
- 1906 Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, Swedish prince second in line to the Swedish throne, born in Stockholm Palace, Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1946)
- 1907 Ivan Yefremov, Russian paleontologist (originator of the concept of taphonomy) and author (Andromeda Nebula), born in Vyritsa, Saint Petersburg Governorate, Russian Empire (d. 1972)
- 1909 Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italian neurologist (Nobel 1986), born in Turin, Italy (d. 2012)
- 1909 Indro Montanelli, Italian journalist and historian (History of the Greeks), born in Fucecchio, Italy (d. 2001)
- 1910 Eric Scowen, English physician and Professor of Medicine (University of London, 1961-75), born in West Ham, London (d. 2001)
- 1910 Norman Steenrod, American mathematician (algebraic topology), born in Dayton, Ohio (d. 1971)
- 1914 C. H. Sisson, British author (Christopher Homm), born in Bristol, England (d. 2003)
- 1914 Hans Baumann, German nationalist writer, born in Amberg, Bavaria (d. 1988)
- 1914 Jan de Hartog, Dutch-English writer (Holland's Glory), born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 2002)
- 1914 Michael Wittman, German soldier and tank ace, born in Vogelthal, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire (d. 1944)
- 1916 Yvette Lundy, French resistance fighter during WWII, born in Oger, France (d. 2019)
- 1917 Leo Abse, Welsh politician and biographer, born in Cardiff (d. 2008)
- 1917 Sidney Nolan, Australian painter and illustrator (Ned Kelly), born in Carlton, Victoria, Australia (d. 1992)
- 1919 Donald J. Cram, American biochemist (development and use of molecules with structure-specific interactions of high selectivity - Nobel 1987), born in Chester, Vermont (d. 2001)
- 1920 Jos de Haes, Flemish philological and poet (Misery of the Word), born in Leuven, Belgium (d. 1974)
- 1922 Richard Diebenkorn, American painter (Ocean Park Paintings), born in Portland, Oregon (d. 1993)
- 1923 Paula Fox, American writer for children (The Slave Dancer) and adults, born in NYC, New York (d. 2017)
- 1926 James Stirling, Scottish architect, born in Glasgow (d. 1992)
- 1929 Margaret Pereira, English forensic scientist (Nicholls and Pereira method), born in Bexley (d. 2017)
- 1929 Michael Atiyah, English mathematician (Atiyah-Singer Index, Fields Medal 1966), born in London, England (d. 2019)
- 1929 Robert Wade-Gery, British diplomat (High Commissioner to India 1982–87), born in Oxford (d. 2015)
- 1931 Henk Gortzak [Hendricus Gortzak], Dutch carpenter and politician (CPN/PSP), born in Amsterdam (d. 1989)
- 1931 Ronald Hynd, British choreographer (English National Ballet), born in London
- 1933 Anthony Llewellyn, Welsh-American scientist and NASA astronaut, born in Cardiff, Wales (d. 2013)
- 1934 Nico Ladenis, Tanganyikan-British restaurateur (Nico at 90), born in Tanganyika, Tanzania
- 1935 Christopher Ball, British linguist and Warden of Keble College, Oxford (1980-88)
- 1937 Bobbi Fiedler, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California), born in Santa Monica, California (d. 2019)
- 1938 Adam Raphael, English journalist and author
- 1939 John Foley, Bristish Lieutenant General
- 1943 Louise Glück, American poet and 12th US Poet Laureate, born in NYC, New York
- 1944 Steve Fossett, American adventurer (1st person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon), born in Jackson, Tennessee (disappeared 2007)
- 1945 Alan Dukes, Irish Fine Gael politician, born in Drimnagh, Dublin, Ireland
- 1945 Donald E. Graham, American businessman (Graham Holdings Company, Facebook), born in Baltimore, Maryland
- 1945 Gielijn Escher, Dutch postage stamp artist, born in Oegstgeest, Netherlands
- 1945 Robert Key, British Conservative Party politician (MP for Salisbury), born in Plymouth, Devon, England
- 1946 Archy Kirkwood, British politician (MP for Roxburgh and Berwickshire)
- 1946 Dectuplets, Bacacay Brazil, 8 males & 2 females
- 1946 John Waters, American director (Hairspray), born in Baltimore, Maryland
- 1946 Louise Harel, Quebec politician and City Councillor for Maisonneuve–Longue-Pointe, born in Sainte-Thérèse-de-Blainville, Quebec
- 1950 Lewis Biggs, curator (Tate Gallery-North Liverpool)
- 1951 Ana María Shua, Argentine poet
- 1957 Ethel White, WBL guard (NY Stars)
- 1957 Donald Tusk, Polish politician, Prime Minister of Poland (2007-14), President of the European Council 2014-), born in Gdańsk, Poland
- 1960 Mart Laar, Estonian statesman
- 1960 Randall L. Stephenson, American business executive
- 1960 Gary Rhodes, British restaurateur and television chef, born in London, England (d. 2019)
- 1962 Jeff Minter, English video game programmer
- 1971 Daisuke Enomoto, Japanese people space tourist
- 1980 Courtney Friel, presenter of World Poker Tour
Weddings in History
Wedding of Interest
1887 Business magnate Andrew Carnegie (51) weds Louise Whitfield (30) in NYC, New York
Andrew Carnegie
- 2017 "Gotham" star Chris Chalk weds Kimberley Dalton Mitchell at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville, North Carolina
Deaths in History
- 296 Pope Caius, Bishop of Rome (283-296), dies at 51
- 536 St. Agapetus I, Bishop of Rome (535-36), dies at 46
- 1253 Elias van Cortona, Italian general (1232-39), dies at ~53
- 1355 Eleonora Plantagenet, daughter of King Edward II, dies at 36
- 1462 Gilbert de Lannoy, Flemish traveller & diplomat, dies at 76
- 1521 Juan de Padilla, Spanish Roman Catholic missionary, killed at 52
- 1592 Bartolommeo Ammanati, Italian sculptor & architect, dies at 80
Miguel de Cervantes
1616 Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra, Spanish author (Don Quixote), dies of a cirrhosis at 68
Miguel de Cervantes
- 1648 Catharina Belgian van Nassau, daughter of Willem, dies at 69
- 1662 John Tradescant, English botanist & gardener, dies at 53
- 1672 Georg Stiernhielm, Swedish scholar & poet often known as "father of Swedish poetry" (Hercules), dies at 73
- 1699 Hans A baron von Abschatz, Silesian poet, dies at 53
- 1758 Antoine de Jussieu, French naturalist, dies at 71
- 1778 James Hargreaves, British inventor (spinning jenny), dies at 57
Anne Bonny
1782 Anne Bonny, Irish pirate, dies in prison at 85
Anne Bonny
- 1788 Zacharias H Alewijn, Dutch poet, dies at 46
- 1806 Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral, killed at 42
- 1821 John Crome, [Old Crome], English landscape painter & etcher, dies at 52
- 1827 Thomas Rowlandson, English artist & caricaturist, dies at 70
- 1830 Knud Lyne Rahbek, Danish literary historian, dies at 69
- 1833 Richard Trevithick, English inventor (steam locomotive), dies at 62
- 1839 Denis Davydov, Russian general & poet, dies at 54
- 1854 Nicolás Bravo, Mexican politician & soldier, dies at 67
- 1864 Joseph Gilbert Totten, US Union general-major, dies at 75
- 1865 Francis Washburn, US Union colonel/gen major, dies of injuries
- 1865 William McKean, American naval officer (Union Navy), dies at 64
- 1877 James P. Kirkwood, American civil engineer, dies at 70
- 1890 Magnus Huss, Swedish physician who coined the word alcoholism and was the first to define it as a disease, dies at 82
- 1893 Chaim Aronson, Lithuanian inventor & academic, dies at 67
- 1896 Thomas Meik, Scottish civil engineer, dies at 84
- 1901 William Stubbs, English historian & Anglican bishop of Oxford, dies at 74
- 1903 Alexander Ramsey, American politician (1st Governor of Minnesota Territory), dies at 87
Henry Campbell-Bannerman
1908 Henry Campbell-Bannerman, British Prime Minister (Liberal: 1905-08), dies at 71
Henry Campbell-Bannerman
- 1908 Ellison Capers, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 70
- 1929 Henry Lerolle, French painter, dies at 80
- 1930 Jeppe Aakjær, Danish poet & novelist (Bondens Søn), dies at 63
- 1933 Henry Royce, English industrialist & automobile founder (Rolls-Royce), dies at 70
- 1945 Kathe Kollwitz, German graphic artist, dies at 77
- 1946 Harlan F. Stone, American lawyer & jurist (SCOTUS, 1941-46), dies at 73
- 1950 Charles Hamilton Houston, American lawyer & architect of NAACP legal campaign, dies at 54
- 1951 Horace Donisthorpe, British entomologist, dies at 81
- 1953 Top Naeff [Anthonetta van Rhijn-N], Dutch writer, dies at 75
- 1957 Roy Campbell, South African poet (Garcia Lorca), dies at 54
- 1961 Maria Radulphus [Adrian Hermus], Curacao school inspector, dies at 91
- 1968 Stephen H. Sholes, American recording executive, dies at 57
- 1974 Tjalie Robinson [Jan Boon], Dutch East Indies writer & journalist (Tong Tong), dies at 63
- 1982 Melville Bell Grosvenor, American photographer & president of National Geographic Society, dies at 80
Ansel Adams
1984 Ansel Adams, American photographer, dies at 82
Ansel Adams
Emilio G. Segrè
1989 Emilio G. Segrè, Italian physicist & Nobel laureate (discovered the elements technetium, astatine and the sub-atomic antiparticle antiproton), dies at 84 of a heart attack
Emilio G. Segrè
Cesar Chavez
1993 Cesar Chavez, American farm labor leader (United Farm Workers), dies of natural causes at 66
Cesar Chavez
- 1994 Denis Pitts, English journalist, dies at 64
Richard Nixon
1994 Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States (1969-75), dies of a stroke at 81
Richard Nixon
- 1994 Hans Burkhardt, Swiss-American artist, dies at 89
- 1995 Maggie Kuhn, American activist & co-founder (Gray Panthers), dies at 89
- 1996 Hiteswar Saikia, Indian politician & Chief Minister of Assam (1983-85, 1991-96), dies at 61
- 1999 Chan Canasta, Polish-born magician & mindreader, dies at 79
- 2000 Alexander H. Cohen, Broadway producer (Beyond the Fringe), dies at 79
- 2003 Martha Griffiths, U.S. Congresswoman, dies at 91
- 2004 Jason L. Dunham, American Corporal in the United States Marine Corps and Medal of Honor recipient, dies at 22
- 2005 Erika Fuchs, German translator, dies at 98
- 2005 Philip Morrison, American physicist, dies at 89
- 2007 Juanita Millender-McDonald, American congresswoman from southern California, dies at 68
- 2016 Isabelle Dinoire, French recipient of world's 1st partial face transplant, dies from surgical complications at 49