Events in History
Election of Interest
43 BC Octavian, later known as Augustus, compels the Roman Senate to elect him Consul
Augustus Caesar
- 1099 Crusaders beat Saracens in Battle of Ascalon
- 1263 King James I of Aragon censors Hebrew writing
Victory in Battle
1399 King Richard II of England surrenders to his cousin Henry
Richard II
Event of Interest
1561 Mary Queen of Scots arrives in Leith, Scotland to assume throne after spending 13 years in France
Mary, Queen of Scots
Event of Interest
1587 Sigismund III becomes King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania
Victory in Battle
1627 Prince Frederick Henry conquers fort Groenlo
Frederick Henry
- 1691 Battle at Szalankemen: Austrians beat Turks
Salem Witch Trials
1692 Five more people hanged for witchcraft (20 in all) in Salem, Massachusetts
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- 1702 -24] Battle at Santa Marta Venz: English fleet beat French
Event of Interest
1745 Jacobite Rising 1745 : Bonnie Prince Charlie, raises his standard at Glenfinnan, Scotland, igniting the second Jacobite rebellion.
Bonnie Prince Charlie
Event of Interest
1772 King Gustav III seizes effective control of Swedish government and restores full power of monarchy, which had been subordinate to parliament since 1720
Gustav III
United States Declaration of Independence
1791 Benjamin Banneker sends a copy of his Almanac and writes a letter to Thomas Jefferson criticizing his pro-slavery stance and requesting justice for African Americans using language from the Declaration of Independence
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Coup d'état
1821 Failed liberal coup against French King Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII
Historic Invention
1839 Details of Louis Daguerre's 1st practical photographic process are released in Paris
Louis-Jacques Daguerre
Event of Interest
1887 Dmitri Mendeleev makes a solo ascent by balloon to an altitude of 11,500 feet (3.5 km) above Klin, Russia to observe an eclipse
Dmitri Mendeleev
Event of Interest
1905 Russian Tsar Nicholas II installs "Imperial Duma", without legislative powers
Nicholas II
- 1911 NY Giant Christy Mathewson loses after beating Reds 22 straight times
- 1912 Percy Aldridge Grainger's "Shepherd's Key" premieres
- 1913 Frenchman Adolphe Célestin Pégoud makes 1st parachute jump in Europe
- 1914 Elmer Rice' "On Trial" premieres in NYC
- 1914 German army executed 150 Belgians by firing squad
- 1914 German fleet bombs English coast
- 1914 Harris Theater (Candler, Coan & Harris) opens at 226 W 42nd St NYC
Historic Communication
1914 In a message to the Senate, US President Woodrow Wilson urges the American people to be 'neutral in fact as well as name'
Woodrow Wilson
- 1915 Rationing laws go into effect in Netherlands
- 1915 World War I: the Battle of Van begins
- 1915 British liner "SS Arabic" sunk by German submarine without warning leaving Liverpool for New York; killing 44. Creates diplomatic incident
- 1919 Afghanistan declares independence from UK
- 1927 Metropolitan Sergius proclaims the declaration of loyalty of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Soviet state.
- 1931 Lefty Grove wins AL record tying 16th consecutive game
- 1934 The first All-American Soap Box Derby is held in Dayton, Ohio.
- 1936 Trial against Ljev Kamenev & Grigori Zinovjev because of "Trotskyism" opens in Moscow
- 1939 37.6 cm rainfall at Tuckerton, NJ (state record)
- 1941 Ump Jocko Conlan ejects Pirate manager Frankie Frisch for coming out on field holding an umbrella to get a rainout
Germany Invades the Soviet Union
1941 Romania annexes the Transnistria territory from the Soviet Union after Operation Barbarossa
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Event of Interest
1942 World War II: General Friedrich Paulus orders the German 6th Army to conquer Stalingrad
Friedrich Paulus
Event of Interest
1944 US general Omar Bradley visits British general Bernard Montgomery
Bernard Montgomery
Omar Bradley
- 1944 Last Japanese troops driven out of India
- 1944 Nazis give parts of Paris to Resistance
- 1944 Paris police strike against nazi occupiers
- 1944 Polish 1st Division occupies Hill 262 (Mont Ormel), Normandy
- 1944 US 15th Army Corps occupies Mantes-Gassicourt at Paris
- 1944 US 90th/Polish 1st Division occupy Chambois, Normandy
- 1947 J Arens & D van Dorpen synthetise vitamin A
Coup d'état
1953 The democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran Mohammad Mosaddegh is overthrown in a coup orchestrated by the United Kingdom (under the name 'Operation Boot') and the United States (under the name TPAJAX Project)
Mohammad Mosaddegh
Event of Interest
1954 American Ralph Bunche named undersecretary of the UN
Ralph Bunche
- 1955 32.4 cm precipitation at Burlington, Connecticut (state record)
- 1955 Hurricane Diane kills 200 & 1st billion $ damage storm (N.E. US)
- 1957 US Major David Simons reaches 30,933m in a balloon
- 1958 NAACP Youth Council begin sit-ins at Oklahoma City Lunch counters
- 1959 Doctor X beats Wilber Snyder in Omaha, to become NWA wrestling champ
- 1959 Honolulu seeks a franchise in Continental League
- 1959 Satellite Discoverer 6 launched into polar orbit
- 1960 Francis Gary Powers convicted of spying by USSR (U-2 incident)
- 1960 Soviet Sputnik 5 carries 2 dogs, 2 rats, 40 mice, 1 rabbit and fruit flies into orbit, - 1st animals to return alive from obit
- 1960 The first commercial atomic energy reactor, owned by the Yankee Atomic Electric Company, achieves a self-sustaining nuclear reaction in Rowe, Deerfield River, Massachusetts
Event of Interest
1961 US vice-president Lyndon B. Johnson visits West Berlin
Lyndon B. Johnson
- 1963 NAACP Youth Council begins sit-ins at lunch counters, Oklahoma City
- 1964 Communication satellite Syncom 3 launched
- 1965 Auschwitz trials end with 6 life sentences
- 1965 The Yardbirds launch their first US tour
- 1966 Earthquake strikes Varko Turkey: 2,400 killed
- 1970 The Chinese Community in South Africa is granted 'White' status
- 1973 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
Presidential Convention
1976 President Gerald Ford wins Republican presidential nomination at KC convention
Gerald Ford
- 1977 USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR
- 1979 Soviet Cosmonauts Vladimir Lyakov and Valery Ryumin return to Earth aboard Soyuz 34 after a record 175 days in space
- 1980 Saudi Arabian Lockhead Tristar crashes on landing at Riyadh, 301 die
- 1981 2 US Navy F-14 jet fighters shoot down 2 Soviet-built Libyan SU-22
- 1982 Soyuz T-7 launched, Svetlana Savtiskaya 2nd woman in space
Presidential Convention
1984 Republican convention in Dallas, Texas nominates incumbent Ronald Reagan for President
Ronald Reagan
- 1985 Japan launches its 2nd probe of Halley's Comet, Suisei
Event of Interest
1985 Following the Rubicon speech four days earlier, Archbishop Desmond Tutu snubs P. W. Botha's invitation to attend a meeting to discuss the role and actions of the police and security forces in South Africa
Desmond Tutu
P. W. Botha
Birthdays in History
- 1342 Catharine of Bohemia, Duchess of Bavaria, born in Prague, Bohemia (d. 1395)
- 1398 Marqués de Santillana, Castilian politician and poet (serranillas), born in Carrión de los Condes, Spain (d. 1458)
- 1521 Lodovico Guicciardini, Italian historian (Descrittione di Tutti), born in Florence (d. 1589)
- 1557 Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg, born in Montbéliard, France (d. 1608)
- 1558 Paulus Merula, Dutch lawyer and historian (Historia Belgica), born in Dordrecht, Netherlands (d. 1607)
- 1580 Pierre Vernier, Ornans, French mathematician and inventor of the vernier caliper used for taking accurate measurements
- 1590 Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland, English soldier, born in Stratford-atte-Bow, Middlesex (d. 1649)
- 1596 Elizabeth Stuart, Electress Palatine, Queen of Bohemia and daughter of James IV and I of England and Scotland (d. 1662)
- 1621 Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, Dutch painter, born in Amsterdam (d. 1674)
- 1631 John Dryden, English poet (1st Poet Laureate 1668-1700), born in Aldwincle, Northamptonshire (d. 1700) [OS=Aug 9]
- 1646 John Flamsteed, English astronomer and first Astronomer Royal, born in Denby, England (d. 1719)
- 1686 Eustace Budgell, English writer (The Spectator, writing 37 numbers signed X), born in Saint Thomas, Exeter, England (d. 1737)
- 1689 Samuel Richardson, English novelist (Pamela), born in Mackworth, Derbyshire, England (d. 1761)
- 1711 Edward Boscawen, British admiral in the Royal Navy, born in Tregothnan, Cornwall (d. 1761)
- 1743 Marie Jeanne Becu, Comtesse du Barry, last mistress of Louis XV, born in Vaucouleurs, France (d. 1793)
- 1756 Anthony van Haersolte, Dutch politician and member of Executing Regime, born in Zutphen, Netherlands (d. 1830)
- 1785 Seth Thomas, American manufacturer and pioneer in the mass production of clocks, born in Wolcott, Connecticut (d. 1859)
- 1790 Edward John Dent, British clockmaker to Queen Victoria and commissioned to make Big Ben, London (completed after his death by his son Frederick Dent), born in London, England (d. 1853)
- 1808 James Nasmyth, Scottish engineer and inventor of the steam hammer, born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1890)
- 1815 John P. McCown, American Major General (Confederate Army), born in Sevier County, Tennessee (d. 1879)
- 1816 Julius van Zuylen van Nijevelt, Dutch minister of Foreign affairs, born in Dommeldange, Luxembourg (d. 1894)
- 1830 Julius Lothar Meyer, German Chemist who developed the first periodic table of chemical elements independently of Dimitri Mendeleev, born in Varel Oldenburg (d. 1895)
- 1831 Stephen Gano Burbridge, "Butcher of Kentucky", American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Georgetown, Kentucky (d. 1894)
- 1839 Oskar Brefeld, German botanist and founder of modern mycology, born in Telgte, Germany (d. 1925)
- 1846 Luis Martín, Spanish Superior-General of the Society of Jesus, born in Melgar de Fernamental, Burgos, Spain (d. 1906)
- 1848 Gustave Caillebotte, French painter (Rue de Paris) and member of Impressionists, born in Paris (d. 1894)
- 1851 Frans Schollaert, Belgian Catholic Party politician and 19th Prime Minister of Belgium (1908-11), born in Wilsele, Belgium (d. 1917)
Charles E. Hires
1851 Charles E. Hires, American pharmacist, inventor and manufacturer of the Hires Root Beer beverage, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1947)
Charles E. Hires
- 1853 Aleksei Brusilov, Russian general most noted for the development of new offensive tactics used in the 1916 Brusilov Offensive, born in Tiflis, Caucasus Viceroyalty, Russian Empire (d. 1926)
- 1859 Hippolyte Delehaye, Flemish historian and hagiographer, born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1941)
- 1860 John Kane, Scottish-American primitivist painter (Self-Portrait), born in West Calder, Scotland (d. 1934)
- 1870 Bernard Baruch, American financier and presidential adviser (Cold War), born in Camden, South Carolina (d. 1965)
Orville Wright
1871 Orville Wright, American aviator (Wright Brothers), born in Dayton, Ohio (d. 1912)
Orville Wright
- 1875 Stjepan Seljan, Croatian explorer, born in Karlovac, Croatia (d. 1936)
Manuel L. Quezon
1878 Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina, Second President of the Philippines (1935-42), born in Baler, Aurora, Philippines (d. 1944)
Manuel L. Quezon
Coco Chanel
1883 Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, French fashion designer (Chanel), born in Saumur, France (d. 1971)
Coco Chanel
- 1883 José Mendes Cabeçadas, 95th Prime Minister of Portugal and 9th President of Portugal (d. 1965)
- 1883 Leonid Kulik, Russian Minerologist who led the first research expedition to study the Tunguska meteor site, the largest impact event in recorded history, born in Tartu, Estonia, Imperial Russia (d. 1942)
- 1885 Werner Elert, German Lutheran theologian (d. 1954)
- 1889 Arthur Waley, sinologist, translator from Chinese & Japanese
- 1890 Yves Alix, French painter and graphic artist
- 1895 Arnoldt Bronnen, Austrian playwright, born in Vienna (d. 1959)
- 1899 Franz C. Schmelkes, Czech-born Chemist who discovered azochloramid (chlorazodin), widely used as a disinfectant to sterilize wounds and burns, born in Prague, Czechoslovakia
- 1900 Gilbert Ryle, British philosopher (d. 1976)
- 1902 Ogden Nash, American humorous poet (I'm a Stranger Here Myself, Masquerade Party), born in Rye, New York (d. 1971)
- 1902 Vladimir M Kirshon, Russian playwright (Ultimatum Factory) [NS]
- 1902 J. B. L. Reyes, Filipino jurist (d. 1994)
- 1903 James Gould Cozzens, American novelist (1949 Pulitzer-Guard of Honor), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1978)
- 1904 Ted Nightingale, former colonial governor
- 1905 Fitzhugh Lee, US pilot/vice-admiral (WW II, Navy Cross)
- 1907 Thruston B. Morton, American republican politician (Sen-Ky, 1957-69), born in Louisville, Kentucky (d. 1982)
- 1909 Jerzy Andrzejewski, Polish writer (Ashes and Diamonds), born in Warsaw, Kingdom of Poland (d. 1983)
- 1910 Quentin Bell, artist author/teacher
- 1913 Walter B Jones, (Rep-D-NC, 1966-92)
- 1913 John Argyris, Greek aeronautical engineer, one of the creators of the Finite Element Method (d. 2004)
- 1915 Alfred Rouleau, French Canadian businessman and administrator (Desjardins Group) (d. 1985)
- 1918 Shankar Dayal Sharma, Indian politician, ninth President of India (1992-97), born in Bhopal, British India (d. 1999)
Malcolm Forbes
1919 Malcolm Forbes, American publisher of Forbes Magazine, born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1990)
Malcolm Forbes
- 1920 Lucila Engels-Boskaljon, Curacao painter
- 1921 Philip A Potter, Dominica Secretary-General World council of Churches
- 1922 Douglas MacKenzie Davey, psychometrist
- 1925 Claude Gauvreau, Canadian playwright (d. 1971)
- 1926 Arthur Rock, American venture capitalist
- 1927 James T Broyhill, (Sen-R-NC, 1986)
- 1930 D[avid] G[uy] Compton, UK, sci-fi author (Synthajoy, Radio Plays)
- 1932 John James Fenwick, English warehouse owner/multi-millionaire
- 1932 Thomas P. Salmon, 75th Governor of Vermont
- 1932 Banharn Silpa-archa, Prime Minister of Thailand (1995-96), born in Suphanburi, Thailand (d. 2016)
- 1933 Vladimir Borisovich Alekseyev, Russian cosmonaut
- 1934 David F Durenberger, Minn, (Sen-R-MN, 1978- )
- 1935 F Story Musgrave, MD/astronaut (STS 6, 51-F, 33, 44, 61, 80), born in Boston, Massachusetts
- 1935 Alan Baker, British Mathematician and winner of the Fields Medal (1970) for his work on transcendental number theory, born in London, England
- 1942 Michiel Patijn, Dutch asst sect of state of Foreign affairs (1994- )
- 1944 Samuel J de Beer, South Africa vicar/underminister of Education
- 1944 Buzz Kilman, Chicago radio personality
- 1944 Bodil Malmsten, Swedish writer (The Price of Water in Finistère), born in Bjärme, Sweden (d. 2016)
- 1944 Charles Wang, Chinese-born philanthropist
- 1946 Charles F Bolden Jr, astronaut (STS 61C, 31, 45, 60), born in Columbia, South Carolina
Bill Clinton
1946 Bill Clinton [William Jefferson], 42nd US President (Democrat, 1993-2001), born in Hope, Arkansas
Bill Clinton
- 1948 Tipper Gore, wife of US Vice President Al Gore (1993-01)
- 1950 Jennie Bond, British journalist
- 1953 Mary Matalin, American political consultant
- 1957 Li-Young Lee, Indonesia-born American poet
- 1958 Brendan Nelson, Australian politician
- 1959 Susan Cummings, Monegasque-born American heiress and convicted murderer
- 1962 Michael J Massimino, Oceanside NY, PhD/astronaut
- 1962 Tammy Bruce, American political commentator
- 1964 Pete Ricketts, American businessman (TD Ameritrade) and politician, Governor of Nebraska (2015-), born in Nebraska City
- 1966 Lilian Garcia, wrestling announcer
Satya Nadella
1967 Satya Nadella, Indian-American businessman (CEO of Microsoft), born in Hyderabad
Satya Nadella
Weddings in History
Wedding of Interest
1800 Social reformer Elizabeth Fry (20) weds tea dealer Joseph Fry (23) at the Norwich Quaker Meeting House in Norwich, England
Elizabeth Fry
- 1973 Kris Kristofferson weds Rita Coolidge
Deaths in History
Augustus Caesar
14 Augustus Caesar [Gaius Octavius], First Roman Emperor (27 BC-14 AD), dies at 75
Augustus Caesar
- 472 Ricimer, Barbaars general, dies
- 1186 Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany (b. 1158)
- 1245 Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence (b. 1195)
- 1284 Alphonso, Earl of Chester, son of Edward I of England (b. 1273)
- 1297 Saint Louis of Toulouse, French Catholic bishop (b. 1274)
- 1493 Frederick III of Innsbruck, German Emperor (1440-1493), dies at 77
- 1580 Andrea Palladio [Andrea di Pietro della Gondola], Italian architect (Il Redentore, Venice), dies at 71
- 1601 Michael the Brave, ruler of Turkey, dies
- 1646 Alexander Henderson, Scottish theologian
- 1650 Abraham de Verwer, painter, buried at about 55
- 1654 Yom Tov Lipmann Heller, rabbi/author (Tosefot Yom Tov), dies
- 1657 Frans Snyders, Flemish painter of animals, dies at 77
Blaise Pascal
1662 Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, physicist and Christian philosopher (Pascal's Law, Pascal's Wager), dies of a stomach tumor at 39
Blaise Pascal
- 1680 Jean Eudes, French catholic priest, founder of the Eudists (b. 1601)
- 1691 Mustafa Koprulu, Turkish grand vizer, dies in battle
- 1699 José Saenz d'Aguirre, Spanish cardinal, dies at 69
- 1719 Karl H Freiherr von Canstein, German lawyer, dies at 52
- 1753 [Johann] Balthasar Neumann, German architect, dies at 66
- 1765 Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, Swedish Chemist who discovered nickel and tungsten, dies at 42
Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre
1822 Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre, French mathematician and astronomer, dies at 72
Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre
- 1838 James Geddes, American Engineer (Erie Canal), dies at 75
- 1856 Charles Frédéric Gerhardt, French chemist, dies at 39
- 1876 George Smith, English archaeologist and assyriologist (cuneiform script), dies of fever at 36
- 1883 Jeremiah S. Black, American statesman (b. 1810)
- 1887 Alvan Clark, American astronomer and maker of the Dearborn Observatory telescope, the largest telescope in the world at the time, dies at 83
- 1888 Spencer F Baird, US biologist (Wood's Hole Station), dies at 65
- 1889 Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, French writer (Contes cruels), dies at 60
- 1895 John Wesley Hardin, American gunfighter (b. 1853)
- 1896 Josiah Dwight Whitney, American Geologist, dies at 76
- 1909 Rembt THPLA of Boneval Faure, lawyer/1st-Member of parliament, dies
- 1914 Franz Xavier Wernz, German Superior General of the Society of Jesus, dies at 69
- 1923 Vilfredo Pareto, Italian sociologist and economist (b. 1845)
- 1931 Aristides Agramonte y Simoni, Cuban-American Physician, Pathologist and Bacteriologist (yellow fever), dies at 63
- 1939 Johannes Marinus Meulenhoff, Dutch publisher, dies at 70
- 1944 Gunther von Kluge, German field marshal, commits suicide, dies at 62
- 1945 Tomas Burgos, Chilean philanthropist (founder of Villa Lo Burgos), dies at 69
- 1947 Ernst Laqueur, Dut chemist/psychologist (sexual hormones), dies at 67
- 1950 Giovanni Giorgi, Italian physicist and electrical engineer (Giorgi system of measurement ), dies at 78
- 1954 Alcide de Gasperi, 30th Prime Minister of Italy (1945-53), dies at 73
- 1957 David Bomberg, English painter, dies at 66
- 1957 Carl-Gustaf Rossby, Swedish meteorologist (b. 1898)
- 1959 Jacob Epstein, American-English sculptor (Adam, Jacob & the Angel), dies at 78
Claude Grahame-White
1959 Claude Grahame-White, English aviation pioneer who was the 1st to make a night flight, dies at 79
Claude Grahame-White
- 1960 Lewis Bernstein Namier, English historian, dies at 72
- 1962 Kerstin Hesselgren, 1st woman in Swedish parliament, dies at 90
- 1967 Carl Wilhelm de Vries, Dutch jurist, dies at 84
- 1967 Isaac Deutscher, Polish-English historian (Stalin/Trotsky biography), dies at 60
- 1967 Hugo Gernsback, Luxembourg-born American inventor and sci-fi writer (1960 Hugo), dies at 83
- 1968 George Gamow, Ukrainian-born physicist (b. 1904)
- 1970 Paweł Jasienica, Polish historian, dies at 60
- 1971 Walther Victor, writer, dies
- 1974 Rodger Davies, United States ambassador to Cyprus, murdered at 53 by Greek Cypriot gunmen during a demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy in Nicosia
- 1980 Otto Frank, father of Anne Frank, dies at 91
- 1983 Aleksandar Ranković, Yugoslavic partisan and 1st Vice President of Yugoslavia (1963-66), dies at 73
- 1986 Jaap [Jacobus Albertus Wilhelmus] Burger, Dutch politician and chairman (PvdA), dies at 81
- 1990 Ben Rutgers Van de Loeff-Basenau, children's book writer, dies at 80
- 1992 Donald William Kerst, American Physicist who developed the betatron, dies of a brain tumor at 80
- 1993 Lucinda Ballard, US costume designer/wife of Howard Dietz, dies at 90
- 1994 John George Hughes, British academic and 9th bishop of Kensington (1987-1994), dies at 59
Linus Pauling
1994 Linus Pauling, Nobel prize scientist (Vitamin C advocate), dies at 93
Linus Pauling
- 1994 Nancy Keene Lancaster, US/British architect (Binnen House), dies at 96
- 1994 Robert Rozhdestvensky, Soviet poet, dies at 64
- 1994 Walter Bartley, biochemist, dies at 78
- 1994 Ladislav Fuks, Czech writer, dies at 70
- 2000 Bineshwar Brahma, Bodo littérateur and religious figure (birth date unknown)
- 2001 Donald Woods, South African journalist, anti-apartheid activist and author (Biko, Asking for Trouble), dies at 67
- 2003 Carlos Roberto Reina, President of Honduras (b. 1926)
- 2003 Sérgio Vieira de Mello, Brazilian diplomat (b. 1948)
- 2005 Mo Mowlam, British Labour Party politician (Member of Parliament for Redcar), dies at 55
- 2008 Levy Mwanawasa, Zambian politician (3rd President of Zambia), dies at 59
- 2011 Gun Hägglund, Swedish news presenter (b. 1932)
- 2013 José Sarria, American political activist, drag queen and 1st openly gay candidate for public office in the US (1961), dies of adrenal cancer at 90
- 2016 Donald Henderson, American epidemiologist, led world campaign that eradicated smallpox, dies at 82
- 2017 Charles R Bentley, American pioneer or polar science, dies from complications of Parkinson’s disease at 87