Events in History
Event of Interest
1418 Competition announced to design dome of Florentine cathedral, main competitors Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi (supported by Cosimo de Medici)
Cosimo de Medici
- 1541 A Portuguese ship drifts ashore in the ancient Japanese province of Higo (modern day Kumamoto Prefecture). (Traditional Japanese date: July 27, 1541)
Event of Interest
1564 Spanish King Philip II joins Council of Trente
Philip II of Spain
- 1587 Saul Wahl is elected King of Poland, according to legend.
- 1605 Spanish army under of general Spinola conquers Lingen
- 1612 Pendle Witch trial begins with 10 people accused of witchcraft in Lancaster, England, key witness 9 year-old boy
- 1634 Urbain Grandier, accused and convicted of sorcery, is burned alive in Loudun, France.
- 1636 The Covenant of the Town of Dedham, Massachusetts is first signed.
Event of Interest
1674 Jean Racine's "Iphigénie" premieres in Versailles
Jean Racine
- 1686 Giovanni Cassini reports seeing a satellite orbiting Venus
Event of Interest
1698 Russian Tsar Peter the Great arrives in Zaandam
Peter the Great
- 1700 Swedish, English & Dutch army lands on Seeland, Denmark
- 1735 Evening Post begins publishing (Boston, Mass)
- 1737 First public admittance to the Salon de Paris art exhibition at the Louvre in Paris
- 1759 -19] 2nd sea battle of Lagos: England vs France
- 1769 A lightning strike on the Bastion of San Nazaro in Brescia, Italy, ignites 90 tonnes of gunpowder, killing 3,000 people
- 1795 Curacao governor De Veer sends militia to stop rebellious slaves
- 1817 60-70ft sea serpent sightings reported offshore in Gloucester, Massachusetts
- 1835 Last Pottawatomie Indians leave Chicago
Historic Expedition
1838 United States Exploring Expedition headed by Charles Wilkes departs for the Pacific Ocean and Antarctica
Charles Wilkes
- 1840 American Society of Dental Surgeons founded (NY)
- 1840 French colony established in Akaroa, South Island of New Zealand
- 1846 General Stephen W Kearney's US forces capture Santa Fe, New Mexico
- 1848 Camila O'Gorman and Ladislao Gutierrez are executed on the orders of Argentine dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas
- 1858 Netherlands & Japan sign trade agreement
Event of Interest
1862 General Lee's adjutant Major Stuart captured
Robert E. Lee
- 1862 Sioux Indians begin uprising in Minnesota (it is later crushed)
- 1864 6th day of battle at Deep Bottom Run, Virginia: Confederate assault
- 1864 Battle of Petersburg: Battle of Weldon Railroad day 1 of a 3 day battle
- 1868 French Astronomer Pierre Janssen discovers helium in solar spectrum during eclipse
- 1870 Battle at Gravelotte Privat: Prussia beat France, 32,000 casualties
- 1872 1st mail-order catalog issued by A M Ward
- 1873 1st ascent of Mount Whitney, California (14,494')
- 1891 Hurricane hits Martinique, about 700 die
- 1894 US Congress creates Bureau of Immigration
- 1896 Adolph Ochs (39) buys NY Times
First Labour Government
1904 Chris Watson resigns as Prime Minister of Australia and is succeeded by George Reid
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Event of Interest
1909 Mayor of Tokyo Yukio Ozaki presents Washington, D.C. with 2,000 cherry trees, which President Taft decides to plant near the Potomac River.
William Howard Taft
Event of Interest
1914 US President Woodrow Wilson issues "Proclamation of Neutrality"
Woodrow Wilson
- 1917 Dutch Naval Air Force forms (MLD)
- 1917 A Great Fire in Thessaloniki, Greece destroys 32% of the city leaving 70,000 individuals homeless.
- 1919 Anti-Cigarette League of America forms in Chicago, Illinois
- 1920 22 year old representative Harry T. Burn is deciding vote in Tennessee's and thus America's ratification of the 19th Amendment to the constitution allowing women's suffrage after letter from his mother
- 1924 France begins withdrawing troops from the Ruhr
- 1925 Belgium & US sign treaty about war debts
- 1925 Cardinal Mercier warns Belgians against socialism/liberalism
- 1930 Eastern Airlines begins passenger service
- 1932 Auguste Piccard and Max Cosyns reach 16,201m in a balloon launched from Dübendorf, Switzerland
- 1932 Englishman James Mollisson is 1st to fly east to west over Atlantic
- 1936 106.5°F - Hottest afternoon ever in Iowa
- 1937 1st FM radio construction permit issued (W1X0J (WGTR) in Boston MA)
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Eduard Wirths
- 1943 Otto Skorzeny's Heinkel-111 shot down at Sardinia
Event of Interest
1944 Chartres freed by US 3rd Army forces during WWII led by General George S. Patton
George S. Patton
- 1947 Naval torpedo & mine factory explodes at Cadiz, Spain killing 300
- 1949 Hungary adopts constitution
- 1950 Julien Lahaut, the chairman of the Communist Party of Belgium is assassinated by far-right elements.
- 1954 James E. Wilkins is 1st black to attend a US cabinet meeting
- 1955 -19] Hurricane Diane, kills 400 in US
- 1955 46.1 cm rainfall at Westfield, Massachusetts (state record)
- 1955 Sjukri al-Quwatli re-elected president of Syria
- 1957 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Historic Publication
1958 Novel "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov is published
Vladimir Nabokov
Event of Interest
1958 Fidel Castro makes a speech on Cuban pirate radio Rebelde
Fidel Castro
- 1958 United Kingdom issues regional stamps (N Ireland, Scotland & Wales)
- 1958 Perez Prado "Mambo King" receives one of the 1st gold records
- 1958 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands
- 1958 Verne Gagne beats Edouard Carpentier in Omaha, to become NWA champ
- 1960 1st photograph bounced off a satellite, Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Richardson, Texas
- 1962 Peter, Paul & Mary release their first hit "If I Had a Hammer"
Event of Interest
1963 James Meredith becomes the 1st black graduate from University of Mississippi
James Meredith
Event of Interest
1971 New Zealand Prime Minister Keith Holyoake announces in Parliament that New Zealand’s combat force would be withdrawn from Vietnam before the end of the year, coinciding with a similar announcement by the Australian government
Keith Holyoake
- 1976 USSR's Luna 24 soft-lands on Moon
Murder of Interest
1976 Korean axe murder incident: 2 US soldiers tasked with cutting down a poplar tree blocking the view of UN observers are killed by North Koreans claiming it was planted by Kim Il-sung in the Korean Demilitarized Zone
Kim Il-sung
Event of Interest
1979 Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini demands Saint War against Kurds
Ayatollah Khomeini
- 1979 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1982 1st time NYSE tops 100 M figure, 132.69 M shares traded
- 1982 NYSE sets trading record of 132,690,000 shares traded
- 1982 Japanese election law is amended to allow for proportional representation.
- 1983 Hurricane Alicia battered Houston & Galveston, Texas
- 1983 Samantha Druce, age 12y 119d becomes the youngest woman to swim English Channel
Birthdays in History
- 472 Flavius Ricimer, general of the Western Roman Empire, kingmaker
- 1450 Marko Marulic/Marulus/Splichanin/Pechinich, Croatian poet, born in Split, Croatia (d. 1524)
- 1579 Charlotte Flandrina van Nassau, daughter of Willem I of Orange
- 1587 1st English child born in New World (Virginia Dare)
- 1596 Jean Bolland, Flemish Jesuit writer and historian (Acta Sanctorum), born in Tirlemont, Netherlands (d. 1665)
- 1605 Henry Hammond, English churchman, born in Chertsey, Surrey, England (d. 1660)
- 1606 Maria Anna of Spain, Holy Roman Empire Empress and Queen of Hungary, born in El Escorial, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain (d. 1646)
- 1611 Ludwika Maria Gonzaga, French princess and queen of Poland, born in Nevers, France (d. 1667)
- 1657 Ferdinando Galli Bibiena, Italian architect and designer, born in Bologna, Italy (d. 1743)
- 1685 Brook Taylor, English mathematician, discoverer of Taylor's Theorem, born in Edmonton, Middlesex, England (d. 1731)
- 1692 Louis Henri, Duc de Bourbon, Prime Minister of France, born in Palace of Versailles, France (d. 1740)
- 1720 Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, English murderer (d. 1760)
- 1754 François, marquis de Chasseloup-Laubat, French general (d. 1833)
Meriwether Lewis
1774 Meriwether Lewis, American explorer, soldier and public administrator who helped lead the Lewis and Clark Expedition, born in Ivy, Virginia (d. 1809)
Meriwether Lewis
John Russell
1792 John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, British Prime Minister (Whig: 1846-52 and 1865-66), born in Mayfair, Middlesex (d. 1878)
John Russell
- 1803 Nathan Clifford, American statesman, diplomat, and Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1881)
- 1805 Josef Danhauser, Austrian painter (Mutterliebe), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1845)
- 1807 Charles Francis Adams Snr., American writer and diplomat, US Minister to the UK, son of President John Quincy Adams, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1886)
- 1813 Benjamin Alvord, American scientist and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Vancouver, Washington (d. 1884)
- 1818 William Farquhar Barry, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in NYC, New York (d. 1879)
- 1819 Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, Duchess of Leuchtenberg, born in Peterhof Palace, Russia (d. 1876)
- 1823 Willem J F Nuyens, Dutch physician, historian
Franz Joseph I
1830 Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia (1848-1916), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1916)
Franz Joseph I
- 1834 Marshall Field, American entrepreneur and the founder of Marshall Field and Company, born in Conway, Massachusetts (d. 1906)
- 1841 William Halford, American naval officer and Medal of Honor recipient who survived 31 days at sea in a small boat to seek help for the shipwrecked USS Saginaw, born in Gloucestershire, England (d. 1919)
- 1855 Alfred Wallis, English artist and mariner, born in Devonport, Devon, England (d. 1942)
- 1857 Libert H. Boeynaems, Belgian Catholic prelate and the fourth vicar apostolic of the Vicariate Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands, born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1926)
- 1871 Johan J Arch, graphic artist (wood cutter)
- 1875 Johan E. Elias, Dutch historian (Amsterdam's regency), born in Amsterdam (d. 1960)
- 1879 Aleksandr Rodzyanko, Russian lieutenant-general and corps commander of the White Army during the Russian Civil War, born in Russia (d. 1970)
- 1882 Eugeen Calleen, Flemish sculptor
- 1885 Nettie Palmer, Australian poet and essayist (Henry Handel Richardson: A Study), born in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia (d. 1964)
- 1887 Nico J. Polak, Dutch economist, born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 1948)
- 1890 Walther Funk, German economist and Nazi politician, born in Danzkehmen, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire (d. 1960)
- 1900 Glenn Albert Black, American archaeologist, born in Indianapolis, Indiana (d. 1964)
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
1900 Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Indian diplomat and politician, born in Allahabad, India (d. 1990)
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
- 1902 Adamson-Eric, Estonian painter, born in Tartu, Estonia (d. 1968)
- 1904 Sterling W Cole, (Rep-R-NY)
- 1904 [Francis] Max Factor, American CEO of Max Factor Cosmetics, born in St. Louis, Missouri
- 1908 Armijn Pane, Indonesian writer (Belenggu), born in North Sumatra, Indonesia (d. 1970)
- 1908 Edgar Faure, Prime Minister of France (1952, 52-56) and writer, born in Béziers, France (d. 1988)
- 1910 Charles Wegg-Prosser, solicitor
- 1912 Elsa Morante, Italian writer, born in Rome (d. 1985)
- 1917 Casper Weinberger, US Secretary of Defense (1981-87)
- 1919 Walter J Hickel, (Gov-R-Alaska)/US Secretary of Interior (1969-71)
- 1921 Zdzisław Żygulski, Jr., Polish art historian
- 1922 Alain Robbe-Grillet, French novelist (Voyeur)
- 1922 Eric William Hunter Christie, barrister
- 1924 Mohammad Zia Ul-Haq, President of Pakistan (1977-88)[or Aug 12]
- 1925 Brian W[ilson] Aldiss, UK, sci-fi author (Helliconia Trilogy)
- 1925 Pierre Grondin, French Canadian cardiac surgeon (d. 2006)
- 1925 Brian Aldiss, British sci-fi author (Super-Toys Last All Summer Long, Helliconia trilogy), born in East Dereham, Norfolk (d. 2017)
- 1927 Rosalynn Smith Carter, American 1st lady (1977-1981), born in Plains, Georgia
- 1930 Liviu Librescu, Israeli professor, killed in the Virginia Tech massacre
- 1931 Henricus AFMO "Hans" van Mierlo, Dutch minister of Defense (D66)
- 1931 Bramwell Tillsley, Canadian Salvation Army general
- 1932 Luc Montagnier, French virologist (Nobel Prize 2008, discovered HIV), born in Chabris, France
- 1934 Vincent Bugliosi, American attorney and author (Helter-Skelter), born in Hibbing, Minnesota (d. 2015)
- 1935 Howard Morrison, New Zealand entertainer, born in Rotorua, New Zealand (d. 2009)
- 1938 Joe Frank [Joseph Langermann], American radio personality (KCRW), born in Strasbourg, France (d. 2018)
- 1939 Robert Horton, British businessman and CEO (BP), born in London, England (d. 2011)
- 1952 Elayne Boosler, American comedienne (Broadway Baby, Party of One), born in Brooklyn, New York
- 1953 Louie Gohmert, American politician, born in Pittsburg, Texas
- 1954 Umberto Guidoni, Italian astrophysicist and writer (STS 75), born in Rome, Italy
- 1955 Taher Elgamal, Egyptian scientist, born in Cairo, Egypt
- 1961 Bob Woodruff, American television journalist, born in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
- 1962 Felipe Calderón, Mexican politician (President of Mexico, 2006–12), born in Morelia, Mexico
- 1966 Gustavo Charif, Argentine artist, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
- 1967 Brian Michael Bendis, American comic book writer, born in Cleveland, Ohio
- 1976 Bryan Volpenhein, American rower, born in Cincinnati, Ohio
- 1992 Frances Bean Cobain, American artist and daughter of Kurt Cobain & Courtney Love, born in Los Angeles, California
Weddings in History
Wedding of Interest
1572 Henry of Navarre (later Henry IV of France) marries Margaret of Valois in Notre Dame cathedral, Paris, in attempt to make truce between Catholics and Protestants but prompts St. Bartholomew's Day massacre days later
Wedding of Interest
1782 Romantic Age poet and artist William Blake (24) marries Catherine Boucher (19) in St. Mary's Church, Battersea, London
William Blake
Wedding of Interest
2000 Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (57) weds former congressional aide Calista Bisek (34) in Alexandria, Virginia
Newt Gingrich
Deaths in History
Genghis Khan
1227 Genghis Khan [Temüjin Borjigin], Mongolian warlord who founded the Mongol Empire, dies at around 65
Genghis Khan
- 1236 Theodorus Van Celles, monastery founder (Kruisheren), dies
- 1258 Theodore II Lascaris, Emperor of the Empire of Nicaea
- 1276 Adrian V [Ottobono Fieschi], Italian Pope (7/11-8/18/1276), dies
- 1318 Clare of Montefalco, Italian Abbess and religious leader (born c. 1268)
- 1430 Thomas de Ros, 8th Baron de Ros, English soldier and politician, drowned at 23
- 1503 Alexander VI [Rodrigo de Borja], Spanish Pope (1492-1503), dies
- 1559 Paul IV [Giampietro Caraffa], Pope (1555-59), dies at 83
- 1563 Étienne de La Boétie, French judge and writer, dies at 32
- 1620 Wanli, Emperor of Ming Dynasty, dies at 56
- 1634 Urbain Grandier, French priest (b. 1590)
- 1642 Guido Reni, Italian Baroque painter, dies at 66
- 1645 Eudoxia Streshneva, Tsarina of Mikhail I of Russia (b. 1608)
- 1652 Benjamin G Cuyp, historical painter, dies at about 40
- 1707 William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire, English statesman and Whig politician (1661-84), dies at 67
- 1712 Richard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers, English soldier
- 1761 François Gaspard Adam, French sculptor (garden sculptures), dies at 51
- 1765 Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (1745-65) dies at 56
- 1797 Josiah Spode, English potter and founder of Spode pottery works, dies at 64
- 1803 James Beattie, Scottish poet and philosopher (Essay on Truth), dies at 67
- 1809 Matthew Boulton, English manufacturer and engineer (b. 1728)
- 1815 Chauncey Goodrich, American politician (b. 1759)
- 1840 Antony CW Staring, Dutch patriot/poet (Jaromir), dies at 73
- 1842 Louis de Freycinet, French explorer and navigator (published the first map to show a full outline of the coastline of Australia in 1811), dies at 62
- 1850 Honoré de Balzac, French novelist (La Comédie Humaine), dies at 51
- 1858 William Austin Burt, American scientist, surveyor and inventor who patented America's first typographer (typewriter) and the equatorial sextant, dies at 66
- 1863 Thomas Welsh, US Union brigadier general (Antietam), dies at 39
- 1870 Felix Salm-Salm, Prussian/US prince/brigadier general, dies in battle
- 1887 Orson Squire Fowler, American phrenologist and lecturer, dies at 77
- 1896 Richard Avenarius, German philosopher (founded the epistemological theory of knowledge known as empirical criticism), dies at 52
- 1907 John Kerr, Scottish physicist and pioneer in the field of electro-optics (electro-visually Kerr-effect), dies at 82
- 1916 Edward D Pain, English journalist (NY World), dies in battle at 36
- 1919 Joseph E. Seagram, Canadian distillery founder (Seagram Distilleries), dies at 78
- 1934 Delilah L Beasley, American author/columnist (Oakland Tribune), dies at 61
- 1943 Hans Jeschonnek, German air force general/chief-staff, commits suicide
- 1943 Ali-Agha Shikhlinski, Russian-Azerbaijani general, dies at 78
- 1944 Ernst "Teddy" Thalmann, leader of German KPD, dies
- 1944 Jacques Roumain, Haitian writer (Gouverneurs de la Rosée), dies at 37
- 1945 Subhas Chandra Bose, Indian revolutionary and nationalist, dies of injuries from a plane crash at 48
- 1950 Julien Lahaut, chairman Belgian Communist Party, murdered
- 1952 Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, Chilean Jesuit saint (b. 1901)
- 1961 Learned Hand, Chief judge of US court of Appeals, dies at 89
- 1961 Leonhard Frank, writer, dies at 78
- 1966 Isaac Keesing, Dutch publisher and founder (System Keesing), dies at 80
- 1966 Watze Cuperus, Frisian author (Struggle & Blessing), dies at 75
- 1969 Otto Stern, German/US physicist (Nobel 1943), dies at 81
- 1983 Nikolaus Pevsner, German-born art historian (b. 1902)
- 1988 Alexandr V Shchukin, Russian cosmonaut, dies in SU-26 crash at 42
Frederick Ashton
1988 Frederick Ashton, British choreographer (Cinderella), dies at 83
Frederick Ashton
- 1989 Bert Oosterbosch, Dutch cyclist, dies at 32
- 1989 Luis Carlos Galan, Colombian presidential candidate, murdered
- 1990 B F Skinner, American psychologist (Skinner Box), dies of Leukemia at 86
- 1991 Vaughn Shoemaker, US cartoonist (John Q Public, Pulitzer), dies
- 1992 Gerard Sonder, Dutch radio host (AVRO), dies
- 1992 John Stuges, director (Gunfight at OK Corral), dies of emphysema at 82
- 1992 Christopher McCandless, subject of the book Into the Wild (b. 1968)
- 1993 Alf Bold, German festival programmer, dies of AIDS at 47
- 1994 Judy Ann Scott-Fox, literary agent, dies at 56
- 1994 Richard Laurence Millington Synge, British biochemist (Nobel 1952), dies at 79
- 1995 Andrew Wilkinson, British pediatrician and the first Professor of Paediatric Surgery in the UK, dies at 81
- 1996 Geoffrey Dearmer, poet, dies at 103
- 1996 Hugo Gabriel Gryn, British Reform rabbi, dies at 66
- 2001 David Peakall, British scientist (b. 1931)
- 2004 Hiram Fong, American businessman and politician (U.S. Senator from Hawaii), dies at 97
- 2006 Jamie Astaphan, Caribbean-born physician (b. 1946)
- 2007 Michael Deaver, Reagan Administration Deputy White House Chief of Staff, dies at 69
- 2007 Lucien Jarraud, Canadian radio host, dies at 84
- 2009 Kim Dae Jung, 8th President of South Korea (1998-2003) and 2000 Nobel Peace Prize 2000 laureate, dies at 85
- 2009 Robert Novak, American journalist and commentator (b. 1931)
- 2010 Scott Davis, American Announcer of Track and Field (b.1943)
- 2010 Benjamin Kaplan, American copyright scholar, dies at 99
- 2015 Louis Stokes, American politician (Rep-D-OH, 1969-99), dies at 90
- 2017 Brian Aldiss, British sci-fi author (Super-Toys Last All Summer Long, Helliconia trilogy), dies at 92
- 2017 Bruce Forsyth, British entertainer and presenter (The Generation Game), dies at 89
Kofi Annan
2018 Kofi Annan, Ghanaian diplomat and 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations (1997-2006), dies at 80
Kofi Annan
- 2019 Kathleen Blanco, American politician, 1st female Governor of Louisiana (2004-08), dies from cancer at 76