Events in History
- 1384 Hongwu Emperor of Ming China, Emperor Dong, hears case of couple who tore money bills while fighting over them (equal to act of destroying stamped government documents - law necessitated 100 floggings). Hongwu Emperor decides to pardon them.
The Statue of David
1501 Michelangelo awarded the contract to create his statue of David by the Overseers of the Office of Works (the Operai) of the Duomo, Florence's cathedral church
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Victory in Battle
1513 Battle of the Spurs at Guinegate (now Eguinegatte): Henry VIII of England and Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I beat France
Henry VIII
- 1570 King Janos Sigismund Zapolyai signs secret treaty with Maximilian II
- 1625 Earnest Casimir of Nassau-Dietz appointed viceroy of Drenthe
- 1691 Yorktown, Virginia founded
- 1717 Prince Eugenius of Savoye occupies Belgrade
- 1748 "Geldermalsen" sails to East-Indies
- 1777 American militiamen defeat British forces at the Battle of Bennington near Vermont, during the American Revolutionary War
- 1780 British decisively defeat Americans in Battle of Camden, South Carolina
- 1787 Turkey declares war on Russia (Russo-Turkish War 1787-92)
- 1794 Hungarian revolutionary Ignác Martinovics arrested in Vienna
- 1797 Comet C/1797 P1 (Bouvard-Herschel) approaches 0.0879 AUs of Earth
Victory in Battle
1812 General Hull surrenders Detroit and Michigan territory to British forces under the command of Major General Sir Isaac Brock, who capture Fort Detroit with the help of Indigenous warriors led by Tecumseh
Tecumseh
Isaac Brock
Historic Invention
1858 Britain's Queen Victoria telegraphs US President James Buchanan for 1st time by transatlantic telegraph cable, he replies ""it is a triumph more glorious, because far more useful to mankind, than was ever won by conqueror on the field of battle."
Queen Victoria
James Buchanan
William Thomson
Event of Interest
1861 US President Abraham Lincoln prohibits Union states from trading with Confederacy
Abraham Lincoln
- 1861 Skirmishes at Fredericktown/Kirkville, Missouri
- 1863 Chickamauga campaign of the US Civil War begins in Georgia
- 1864 Federal assault on 4th day of battle at Deep Bottom Run, Virginia
- 1864 Palace for People's industry official opens in Amsterdam
- 1865 Restoration Day in the Dominican Republic: The Dominican Republic regains its independence after 4 years of fighting against the Spanish Annexation.
Battle of Interest
1869 War of the Triple Alliance: A Paraguay battalion made up of children is massacred by the Brazilian Army during the Battle of Acosta Ñu
Francisco Solano López
- 1870 Fred Goldsmith demonstrates curve ball isn't an optical illusion
Event of Interest
1880 The French state commissions sculptor Auguste Rodin for a large sculpted doorway 'The Gates of Hell' for the proposed Musée des Arts Décoratifs
Auguste Rodin
Battle of Interest
1891 President Benjamin Harrison attends the dedication of the Bennington Battle Monument in Bennington, Vermont
Benjamin Harrison
- 1894 Indian chiefs from the Sioux & Onondaga tribes met to urge their people to renounce Christianity & return to their old Indian faith
- 1896 Gold first discovered in Klondike, found at Bonanza Creek in the Yukon, Canada by George Carmack
- 1898 Edwin Prescott patents roller coaster
- 1904 NYC begins building Grand Central Station
- 1905 Mbunga-rebellion occupy German post Ifakara East-Africa
- 1906 -17] 8.6 earthquake destroys Valparaiso Chile, fire kills 20,000
- 1907 Mulay Hafid is proclaimed the Sultan of Morocco by supporters leading to civil war; Mulay is supported by Germany while France supports the existing Sultan
Event of Interest
1908 The Committee of Union and Progress, 'The Young Turks', announces a program for reforms and respect for the rights of all within the Ottoman Empire, regardless of race or religion
Enver Pasha
- 1913 Tōhoku Imperial University of Japan (modern day Tōhoku University) admits its first female students.
- 1914 German army occupies last fort at Liege, Belgian general Leman caught
- 1914 Zapata & Pancho Villa over run Mexico
- 1914 World War I: Battle of Cer begins.
- 1915 Kansas City Packers' Alex Main no-hits Buffalo Blues (Federal League), 5-0
- 1918 US troops overrun at Archangelsk by Bolshevik troops
- 1921 Members of the Dail (parliament) swear allegiance to the Irish Republic at their first meeting, held at Dublin House
- 1922 AT&T radio station WBAY becomes WEAF (NYC)
- 1924 Conference about German recovery payments opens in London
- 1924 Dutch-Turkish peace treaty signed
- 1930 I British Empire Games open in Hamilton, Canada
- 1934 US ends occupation of Haiti (been there since 1915)
- 1934 US explorer William Beebe descends 3,028' (923 m) in Bathysphere
- 1940 45 German aircraft shot down over England
- 1941 HMS Mercury, Royal Navy Signals School and Combined Signals School opens at Leydene, near Petersfield, Hampshire, England.
Event of Interest
1942 British Premier Winston Churchill travels back to Cairo from Moscow
Winston Churchill
- 1943 1st Long Tom bombs on Italian mainland (from Sicily)
Event of Interest
1943 Bulgarian Tsar Boris III visits Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
- 1944 2nd Canadian Division occupies Falaise, Normandy
- 1944 Dutch begin diplomatic contact with Vatican in London
- 1944 US 15th Army corp reaches Eure, surrounds Dreux
- 1944 First flight of the Junkers Ju 287.
- 1945 Puyi, the last Chinese Emperor and ruler of Manchukuo is captured by Soviet troops
- 1946 Direct Action Day: Widespread riots erupt in Calcutta between Muslims and Hindus over whether Pakistan should be a separate state, killing over 4,000 and leaving 100,000 homeless
- 1948 Arabs blow up Latrun pumping station in Jerusalem
- 1948 Israeli pound becomes legal tender
- 1950 West Indies complete historic 3-1 series win against England
Event of Interest
1953 Shah of Persia Mohammad Reza Pahlavi & princess Soraya flee to Baghdad & Rome
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
- 1954 200 pilgrims drown in Farahzad Iran rain storm flood
- 1955 Fiat Motors orders 1st private atomic reactor
- 1956 Adlai E Stevenson nominated as US Democratic presidential candidate
- 1956 Indians' Rocky Colavito hits his 1st grand slam, Cleveland 5, Tigers 4
- 1959 USSR introduces installment buying
- 1960 Britain grants independence to crown colony of Cyprus
- 1960 Joseph Kittinger parachutes from balloon at 31,330 m (84,700')
- 1960 Republic of Congo (Zaire, Dem Rep of Congo) forms
- 1961 250,000 West Berliners demonstrate against East Berlin
Event of Interest
1961 Martin Luther King Jr.protests for black voting rights in Miami, Florida
Martin Luther King Jr.
- 1963 Independence is restored to Dominican Republic
- 1969 First performance of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (Auditorium Theater, Chicago)
- 1969 V.V. Giri is elected the fourth President of India
- 1971 Over 8,000 workers go on strike in Derry, Northern Ireland, in protest at the introduction of Internment (allowing suspected terrorists to be indefinitely detained without trial)
- 1972 Morocco King Hassan II's B727 shot during failed coup attempt by General Mohamed Oufkir. Reportedly, King Hassan grabbed the radio and told the rebel pilots "Stop firing! The tyrant is dead!", fooling pilots to break off attack
- 1972 Philip Potter appointed sect-gen of World council of Churches
- 1972 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1977 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1980 Cozy Powell quits Rainbow
- 1984 Sunken liner Andrea Doria's safe opened
- 1984 LA federal jury acquits auto maker John Z DeLorean on cocaine charges
- 1984 NASA launches Ampte
- 1986 Sudan rebels shoot a Fokker's F-27 down, 57 killed
- 1987 Astrological Harmonic Convergence-Dawn of New Age
- 1987 Northwest Airlines 255 plane crashes in Detroit, 156 die (1 lives)
- 1988 IBM introduces software for artificial intelligence
- 1988 Mayor Koch says he plans to wipe out street-corner windshield washers
- 1989 Roger Kingdom of USA sets 110m hurdle record (12.92) in Zurich
- 1989 A solar flare from the Sun creates a geomagnetic storm that affects micro chips, leading to a halt of all trading on Toronto's stock market.
- 1990 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
- 1990 Iraq orders 4000 Britons & 2500 Americans in Kuwait to Iraq
Event of Interest
1990 South African President F. W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela hold emergency talks in Pretoria about increasing violence in Soweto
F. W. de Klerk
Nelson Mandela
- 1991 Belgium census is 10,000,963 inhabitants
Event of Interest
1991 US President George H. W. Bush declares recession is near an end
George H. W. Bush
Event of Interest
1991 John Gutfreund announces his resignation as chief executive of Salomon Brothers amid illegal bidding scandal
John Gutfreund
Birthdays in History
- 1355 Philippa, 5th Countess of Ulster, born in Eltham Palace, Kent, England (d. 1382)
- 1378 Hongxi Emperor [Zhu Gaochi], fourth Emperor of Ming Dynasty of China, born in Nanjing, China (d. 1425)
- 1397 Albrecht II von Habsburg, King of Bohemia, Hungary and Germany, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1439)
- 1401 Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut, dauphine of France (d. 1436)
- 1550 Carolus Gallus [Karel de Haan], Dutch lawyer, pastor and vicar, born in Arnhem, Netherlands (d. 1606)
- 1557 Agostino Carracci, Italian artist (Communion of St. Jerome), born in Bologna, Italy (d. 1602)
- 1573 Anna of Austria, queen of Poland, born in Graz, Austria (d. 1598)
- 1596 Frederick V, Elector Palatine and King of Bohemia, born in Deinschwang, near Amberg, Upper Palatinate (d. 1632)
- 1622 Tsjerk Hiddes de Vries, Dutch admiral, born in Sexbierum, Netherlands (d. 1666)
- 1637 Emilie Juliane of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, German countess and poet (d. 1706)
- 1645 Jean de La Bruyère, French writer (The Characters, or the Manners of the Age, with The Characters of Theophrastus), born in Paris (d. 1696)
- 1650 Vincenzo Coronelli, Italian cartographer and encylopedist, born in Venice, Italy (d. 1718)
- 1666 Princess Henriëtte Amalia of Anhalt-Dessau, monarch of Nassau-Dietz, born in Kleve, Lower Rhine (d. 1726)
- 1682 Louis, Duke of Burgundy, heir-apparent to the French throne, born in Palace of Versailles, France (d. 1712)
- 1815 John Bosco, Italian priest, youth worker, educator, founder of the Salesian Society, born in Castelnuovo Don Bosco, Italy (d. 1888)
- 1817 Henry Winter Davis, American politician and unionist, born in Annapolis, Maryland (d. 1865)
- 1820 Andrew Rainsford Wetmore, Canadian politician, born in Fredericton, Canada (d. 1892)
- 1828 Joseph Bradford Carr, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Albany, New York (d. 1895)
- 1831 Edward Payson Chapin, American lawyer and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Waterloo, New York (d. 1863)
- 1831 John Jones Ross, Canadian politician, 7th Premier of Quebec (1884-87), born in Quebec City, Canada (d. 1901)
- 1832 Wilhelm Wundt, German physiologist, psychologist and philosopher, born in Mannheim, Germany (d. 1920)
- 1837 Emile A. H. Seipgens, Dutch priest, writer and beer brewer, born in Roermond, Netherlands (d. 1837)
- 1842 Jakob Rosanes, German mathematician (algebraic geometry and invariant theory), born in Brody, Ukraine (d. 1922)
- 1845 Gabriel Lippmann, French physicist and inventor, born in Bonnevoie, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg (d. 1921)
- 1846 Justus van Maurik, Dutch author and cigar manufacturer, born in Amsterdam (d. 1904)
- 1858 Arthur Achleitner, German writer, born in Straubing, Germany (d. 1927)
- 1860 Jules Laforgue, French poet (Les Complaintas), born in Montevideo, Uruguay (d. 1887)
- 1864 Ferdinand C. S. Schiller, German-British philosopher (Riddles of the Sphinx), born in Altona, Holstein, German Confederation (d. 1937)
- 1867 Antonio Nobre, Portuguese poet (Só), born in Porto, Portugal (d. 1900)
- 1868 Bernarr McFadden, American physical culture advocate, credited with beginning the culture of health and fitness in the United States, born in Mill Spring, Missouri (d. 1955)
- 1876 Ivan Bilibin, Russian illustrator, born in Seppälä, Russia (d. 1942)
- 1882 Pierre H. Ritter Jr, Dutch literary, writer and journalist, born in Utrecht, Netherlands (d. 1962)
- 1884 Adrian S Oppenheim, Dutch lawyer/adviser (British Petroleum/Shell)
- 1884 Hugo Gernsback, Luxembourg-born American inventor and sci-fi writer (1960 Hugo), born in Luxembourg (d. 1967)
T. E. Lawrence
1888 T. E. Lawrence [Lawrence of Arabia], British author, soldier and diplomat famous for his liaison role in Arabia during WWI, born in Tremadog, Caernarfonshire, Wales (d. 1935)
T. E. Lawrence
- 1892 Harold Foster, Canadian-American cartoonist (Prince Valian), born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (d. 1982)
- 1892 Otto Messmer, American cartoonist (Felix the Cat), born in Union City, New Jersey (d. 1983)
- 1894 George Meany, labor leader (headed AFL-CIO), born in NYC, New York (d. 1980)
- 1895 Albert Cohen, Greek-born Swiss novelist (Belle du Seigneur), born in Corfu, Greece (d. 1981)
- 1896 Tina Modotti, Italian artist and activist, born in Udine, Italy (d. 1940)
- 1897 Robert Ringling, circus master, born in Baraboo, Sauk County, Wisconsin (d. 1950)
- 1902 Georgette Heyer, English novelist (Friday's Child), born in Wimbledon, London (d. 1975)
- 1904 Wendell Stanley, American biochemist, first to crystallize a virus (Nobel 1946), born in Ridgeville, Indiana (d. 1971)
- 1906 Franz Josef II, Prince of Liechtenstein (1938-89), born in Schloss Frauenthal, Deutschlandsberg, Austria-Hungary (d. 1989)
- 1908 William Maxwell, American novelist and editor (The New Yorker), born in NYC, New York (d. 2000)
- 1912 Marga Klompé, Dutch 1st female minister (CRM), born in Arnhem, Netherlands (d. 1986)
Menachem Begin
1913 Menachem Begin, 6th Prime Minister of Israel (1977-80, 81-83) and 1979 Nobel Peace Prize winner, born in Brest, Belarus, Russian Empire (d. 1992)
Menachem Begin
- 1922 Louis Lomax, African-American author and journalist, born in Valdosta, Georgia (d. 1970)
- 1923 Joe Hutton, Northumbrian piper and shepherd, born in Halton Lee Gate, Haltwhistle (d. 1995)
- 1923 Millôr Fernandes, Brazilian writer and playwright, born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (d. 2012)
- 1929 Wyatt Tee Walker, African-American pastor, civil rights leader, chief of staff for Martin Luther King, Jr. and cultural historian, born in Brockton, Massachusetts (d. 2018)
- 1931 Forrest E. Mars Jr., Candy Manufacturer (Mars), born in Oak Park, Illinois (d. 2016)
- 1932 Jon Lindbergh, 2nd son of aviator Charles Lindbergh
- 1933 Jan van Ginkel, graphic artist/publisher (Perscombinatie)
- 1933 Reiner Kunze, German writer (The Lovely Years), born in Oelsnitz, Saxony
- 1933 Stuart A "Smokey" Roosa, Durango Colo, Col USAF/astronaut (Apollo 14)
- 1934 Diana Wynne Jones, UK, sci-fi author (Drowned Ammet, Witch Week)
- 1934 Ed van Thijn, (Jewish) Dutch foreign min/mayor (Amsterdam, 1983-94)
- 1937 Andrew J[efferson V] Offutt, American sci-fi author (Undying Wizard)
- 1937 David Anderson, Canadian politician
- 1938 Oleg Grigoryevich Kononenko, Russian cosmonaut
- 1939 Valeri V Ryumin, cosmonaut (Soyuz 25, 32)
- 1939 Wim Meijer, Dutch politician (PvdA)
- 1939 Sir Trevor Mcdonald, Trinidadian-born British television newsreader
- 1940 Bruce Beresford, Austral director (Driving Miss Daisy, Tender Mercies)
- 1942 John Meulendijks, Dutch cryptogram maker (People's Daily)
- 1944 Dick Zimmer, (Rep-R-New Jersey)
- 1946 Massoud Barzani, Iraqi Kurdish politician
- 1947 Carol Moseley-Braun, (Sen-D Illinois)
- 1948 Pierre Reid, Canadian politician and teacher
- 1950 Stockwell Day, Canadian politician
- 1951 Richard Hunt, American puppeteer (d. 1992)
- 1957 Phil Murphy, American financier and politician, Governor of New Jersey (2018-), born in Needham, Massachusetts
- 1958 Peter "Jeff" K Wisoff, Norfolk VA, PhD/Astronaut (STS 57, 68, 81/84)
- 1967 Pamela Smart, American convicted murderess
- 1979 Michael Stahlman, American rower and coach
- 1988 Rumer Willis, child of Bruce Willis & Demi Moore, born in Paducah, Kentucky
Weddings in History
- 1290 Charles of Valois, son of King Philip III of France weds Margaret of Anjou, daughter of King Charles II of Naples
- 1477 Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, weds Mary of Burgundy, the heiress to the Duchy of Burgundy in Ghent, Belgium
- 2011 Fashion designer Michael Kors (51) weds Lance LePere in Southampton, New York
Deaths in History
- 1027 Giorgi I, King of Georgia (b. 998)
- 1297 John II of Trebizond (b. 1262)
- 1327 Roch, French saint (b. 1295)
- 1339 Azzone Visconti, Lord of Milan (1329-39), dies at 36
- 1358 Albert II, Duke of Austria, dies at 59
- 1419 Wenceslaus, King of the Romans, King of Bohemia (b. 1361)
- 1443 Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, Japanese shogun (b. 1434)
- 1445 Margaret of Scotland (Dauphine of France), wife of the future King Louis XI (b. 1424)
- 1508 Henry van Stolberg & Wernigerode, German viceroy of Friesland, dies at 41
- 1532 Johann the Steadfast, Elector of Saxony (1525-32), dies at 64
- 1603 Silvio Antoniano, Italian cardinal/theologist (Tre libri), dies at 62
- 1661 Thomas Fuller, British scholar, preacher and historian (History of the Worthies of Britain), dies of typhus fever at 53
- 1675 Bogdan Chmilnicki, cosack leader/murderer of 300,000 Jews, dies
- 1678 Andrew Marvell, English poet (Definition of Love), overdoses at 57
- 1705 Jacob Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician known for his contributions to calculus, dies at 50
- 1733 Matthew Tindal, English deist (b. 1657)
- 1738 Joe Miller, English comic, dies
- 1791 Charles-François de Broglie, French soldier and diplomat, marquis de Ruffec, dies at 61
- 1807 Claude C Saunier, French furniture maker, dies at about 72
- 1836 Marc-Antoine Parseval, French mathematician (Parseval's theorem), dies at 81
- 1854 Duncan Phyfe, furniture maker, dies
- 1855 Henry Colburn, British publisher (Pepys's Diary) (b. 1784)
- 1864 John Randolph Chambliss Jr, American Brigadier-General (Confederate Army), dies in battle at 31
- 1880 Herschel Vespasian Johnson, American politician (41st Governor of Georgia), dies at 67
- 1886 Ramakrishna, Indian mystic and yogi, dies at 50
John Pemberton
1888 John Pemberton, American pharmacist (inventor of Coca-Cola), dies of stomach cancer at 55
John Pemberton
Robert Bunsen
1899 Robert Bunsen, German chemist who invented the Bunsen Burner, dies at 88
Robert Bunsen
- 1900 José Maria de Eça de Queirós, Portuguese writer, dies at 54
- 1907 James Hector, Scottish geologist (b. 1834)
- 1920 Sir Norman Lockyer, English physicist, co-founder of helium gas, founder and editor of "Nature" magazinem dies at 84
- 1921 Peter I Karadjordjevic, King of Serbia/Yugoslavia (1903-21), dies at 77
- 1938 Andrej Hlinka, Slovak politician and Catholic priest, dies at 1938
- 1945 Takijiro Ohnishi, led Japanese kamikaze pilots (harakiri), dies
- 1946 Herman Harrell Horne, American philosopher (idealism), dies at 71
Margaret Mitchell
1949 Margaret Mitchell, American author (Gone With the Wind), dies at 48
Margaret Mitchell
- 1951 Du Yuesheng, Chinese mob boss, dies at 62
- 1952 Lydia Field Emmet, American painter (b. 1866)
- 1957 Irving Langmuir, American chemist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1881)
- 1959 William Halsey Jr., US vice-admiral (WW II Pacific), dies at 76
- 1961 Maulvi Abdul Haq, Pakistani scholar, Father of Modern Urdu, dies at 91
- 1973 Selman Waksman, Ukrainian-American microbiologist (Nobel 1951-ingenious, systematic and successful studies of the soil microbes that led to the discovery of streptomycin), dies at 85
- 1974 Karl E Mundt, (Rep/Sen), dies
- 1978 Alidius WL Tjarda van Stachouwer, gov-gen of Neth Indies, dies at 90
John Diefenbaker
1979 John Diefenbaker, 13th Prime Minister of Canada (Conservative: 1957-63), dies at 83
John Diefenbaker
- 1986 Jaime Saenz, Bolivian poet, novelist, and short story writer (b. 1921)
- 1987 Charles H. Wesley, American author and historian (The History of Alpha Phi Alpha), dies at 95
- 1991 Shamu the Whale, dies of respiratory failure at 16
- 1991 Stuart Karl, CEO (Karl Home Video), dies at 38 of skin cancer
- 1993 Irene Sharaff, US costume designer (Cleopatra, Can-can), dies at 83
- 1993 Joseph Towers, US pilot, dies
- 1994 Earnest Pawel, Polish/American author (Nightmare of Reason), dies at 74
- 1994 Frits de Knight, photographer, dies of AIDS at 40
- 1994 Henry Geldzahler, US critic, dies
- 1995 J. P. McCarthy, American radio personality (WJR Detroit), dies at 62
- 1996 Robert Lynn, Scottish anarchist, dies at 72
- 2001 Floyd Spence, American attorney and politician (Rep-R-SC, 1971-2001), dies at 73
- 2002 Abu Nidal, Palestinian political leader (b. 1937)
- 2004 Carl Mydans, American photographer (b. 1907)
- 2005 Frère Roger, Swiss monk and mystic (b. 1915)
- 2005 William Corlett, English children's writer(b. 1938)
- 2006 Alex Buzo, Australian playwright and author (b. 1944)
- 2006 Herschel Green, American pilot (b. 1920)
- 2006 Alfredo Stroessner, 42nd President of Paraguay (1954-89), dies at 93
- 2007 Bahaedin Adab, Iranian MP (b. 1945)
- 2015 Jacob Bekenstein, American-Israeli theoretical physicist (Bekenstein-Hawking radiation), dies of a heart attack at 68
- 2016 João Havelange, Brazilian industrialist and FIFA President 1974-98, dies at 100
- 2016 John McLaughlin, American TV commentator (McLaughlin Group) and Nixon aide, dies at 89
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
2018 Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Indian politician, 10th Prime Minister of India (1996, 1998-2004), dies of a kidney infection at 93
Atal Bihari Vajpayee