Events in History
- 1071 Battle of Manzikert: Seljuq Turks led by sultan Alp Arslan beat and capture Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes
- 1278 Battle of Marchfeld: Rudolf of Habsburg defeats Ottokar II
- 1303 Ala ud din Khilji captures Chittorgarh.
Victory in Battle
1346 Battle of Crécy, south of Calais in northern France; Edward III's English longbows defeat Philip VI's army, cannons used for first time in battle
Edward III
- 1466 A conspiracy against Piero di Cosimo de Medici in Florence, led by Luca Pitti, is discovered
Event of Interest
1498 Michelangelo is commissioned to carve the Pietà sculpture
Michelangelo
Victory in Battle
1634 Battle at Nordlingen Bavarian: Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II and Spanish forces defeat a force of Swedish and German protestants
Ferdinand II
- 1641 West India Company conquers Sao Paulo de Loanda, Angola
- 1648 People's uprising against Anna of Austria & Cardinal Mazarin
- 1652 Battle of Plymouth: General-at-Sea George Ayscue of the Commonwealth of England attacked a convoy of the Dutch Republic commanded by Vice-Commodore Michiel de Ruyter. Dutch victory
Event of Interest
1682 English astronomer Edmond Halley first observes the comet named after him
Edmond Halley
- 1745 Britan, Prussia & Hannover sign treaty
- 1748 The first Lutheran denomination in North America, the Pennsylvania Ministerium, is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 1778 The first recorded ascent of Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia.
- 1789 The National Constituent Assembly adopts the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen at the beginning of the French Revolution
- 1791 John Fitch granted US patent for his working steamboat
- 1794 French troops occupy Lock
- 1843 Charles Thurber patents a typewriter
- 1846 W A Bartlett appointed 1st US mayor of Yerba Buena (San Francisco)
- 1863 Battle of Rocky Gap, WV (White Sulphur Springs)
Event of Interest
1873 First free kindergarten in the U.S. started by Susan Blow in Carondelet, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri
Susan Blow
- 1874 16 blacks lynched in Tennessee
- 1894 Netherlands Social-Democratic Worker's party (SDAP) forms
- 1895 Electric generator at Niagara Falls produces first power
- 1896 Armenian Revolutionary Federation assaults the Ottoman Bank in Constantinople to draw attention to the mass-pogroms and massacres of Armenians instigated by the Ottoman Sultan Abdul-Hamid II
Event of Interest
1907 Harry Houdini escapes from chains underwater at Aquatic Park in 57 seconds
Harry Houdini
Victory in Battle
1914 Battle of Tannenberg begins (WWI): 8th German army defeats Russian Narev army
Erich Ludendorff
- 1915 German troops overrun Brest-Litovsk, Russia
- 1916 Philadelphia A's Bullet Joe Bush no-hits Cleve, 5-0
- 1918 W Smith & F Bacon's "Lightnin'" premieres in NYC
- 1920 Percy Fender (Surrey v Northants) scores 100 in 35 mins
- 1922 Japanese cruiser Niitaka driven onto rocks in storm at Kamchatka, 284 killed
- 1924 The Catastrophe of Smyrna: known as the Asia Minor Catastrophe to Greeks. The Ottoman army expels Greeks and other non-Turks from Asia Minor. (August 13 OS)
- 1935 CCC camp opens in Brecksville Reservation of Cleveland Metroparks
Victory in Battle
1937 Franco's troops conquer Santander
Francisco Franco
- 1937 Pumping to build Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay is finished
- 1938 British leaders & Arabians fight in Palestine
- 1939 Belgium mobilizes
- 1939 Croatia gets autonomous status
- 1940 Chad is the first French colony to join the Allies under the administration of Félix Éboué, France's first black colonial governor.
- 1942 7,000 Jews are rounded up in Vichy-France
- 1942 Japanese troops land on Milne Bay, New Guinea
- 1942 Soviet counter offensive begins in Moscow
- 1942 Transport #24 departs with French Jews to nazi-Germany
- 1944 Bulgaria announces withdrawal & German troops are to be disarmed
Event of Interest
1944 Charles de Gaulle marches along the Champs-Elysees, despite coming under fire.
Charles de Gaulle
- 1944 US 12nd Army Corps crosses river Seine East of Paris
- 1945 Japanese diplomats board USS Missouri to receive instructions on Japan's surrender at the end of WWII
- 1951 Jongbloed in Paris demonstrates artificial heart
- 1952 Fluoridation of San Francisco water begins
- 1957 USSR announces successful test of intercontinental ballistic missile
Morris Mini-Minor
1959 British Motor Corporation introduces the Morris Mini-Minor, designed by Alec Issigonis, it was only 10 ft long but seated 4 passengers
Learn More
Lyndon B. Johnson
- 1966 KLOC (now KCSO) channel 42 in Charlotte, North Carolina (PBS) begins broadcasting
- 1967 Dean Chance pitches a 2-1 no-hitter, & Twins sweep Cleveland
- 1967 Dutch 2nd Chamber demands US stop bombing North Vietnam
- 1970 Minister of Home Affairs Robert Porter resigns from the Stormont government (North Ireland parliament)
- 1971 Dutch Queen Juliana & Prince Bernhard visit Indonesia
- 1971 NY Giant football team announces they're leaving Bronx for NJ in 1975
- 1972 NY Cosmos beat St Louis Stars, 2-1 to win NASL championship
- 1972 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1973 University of Texas (Arlington) is first accredited school to offer belly dancing
- 1974 Guinee-Bissau becomes independent of Portugal
- 1974 Soyuz 15 carries 2 cosmonauts to space station Salyut 3
- 1977 Frank Martinus Arion forms Surinamese Writers group 77
- 1978 Cardinal Albino Luciani of Venice becomes Pope John Paul I
- 1978 Soyuz 31 carries 2 cosmonauts (1 East German) to Salyut 6
- 1980 John Birges plants a bomb at Harvey's Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada.
- 1981 Space Shuttle vehicle moves to Launch Complex 39A for STS-2 mission
The Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior
1985 French government denies knowledge of attack on Rainbow Warrior
Learn More
- 1986 Robert Chambers, the "Preppie Killer" murders Jennifer Levin in New York City's Central Park, afterwards claimed "rough sex" as motive
- 1987 Paul Molitor goes 0-for-4 ends hitting streak at 39 consecutive games
- 1988 Mehran Karimi Nasseri arrives at Charles de Gaulle International Airport.
- 1989 Trumbull, Conn, is 1st US team since 1983 to win Little League WS
- 1990 2 murdered college students found in Gainesville, Florida
- 1990 Bo Jackson hits 4th of 4 consecutive HRs
- 1992 Hurricane Andrew makes landfall in Louisiana as Category 3 storm after causing deaths and severe damage in Florida
Appointment of Interest
1993 Ernest Shonekan is appointed interim president of Nigeria by General Ibrahim Babangida
Ibrahim Babangida
- 1995 Andrew Symonds hits 20 sixes in match for Gloucestershire v Glamorgan
Event of Interest
1996 US President Bill Clinton signs welfare reform into law, representing major shift in welfare policy
Bill Clinton
- 1997 Beni-Ali massacre in Algeria; 60-100 people killed.
- 1999 Michael Johnson breaks the 400 metres world record with a time of 43.18 seconds.
- 2002 Earth Summit 2002 begins in Johannesburg, South Africa.
- 2003 The Columbia Accident Investigation Board releases its final reports on Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
- 2008 Russia unilaterally recognizes the independence of the former Georgian breakaway republics Abkhazia and South Ossetia
- 2011 The 787 Dreamliner, Boeing's all-new composite airliner, receives certification from the EASA and the FAA
- 2012 17 villagers in Afghanistan's Kajaki district are beheaded by an unknown organization
- 2012 36 people are killed in a bus crash in Yan'an, China
- 2012 A Legionella outbreak in Quebec City, Canada, kills 8 and infects 104
- 2013 All 25,000 applicants to the University of Liberia fail their university entrance examination
Birthdays in History
Robert Walpole
1676 Robert Walpole, 1st British Prime Minister (Whig: 1721-42), born in Houghton, Norfolk, England (d. 1745)
Robert Walpole
- 1694 Elisha Williams, American rector of Yale College (d. 1755)
- 1728 Johann Heinrich Lambert, German scientist (d. 1777)
- 1736 Jean-Baptiste L. Romé de l'Isle, French chemist (d. 1790)
- 1740 Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, French aeronaut (ballooning)
- 1743 Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, father of modern chemistry (identified oxygen and hydrogen), born in Paris, France (d. 1794)
- 1775 William Joseph Behr, German writer (d. 1851)
- 1789 Abbas Mirza, Prince of Persia (d. 1833)
- 1792 Manuel Oribe, Uruguayan political figure (d. 1857)
- 1808 Benjamin Grubb Humphreys, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Claiborne County, Mississippi (d. 1882)
- 1811 Danville Leadbetter, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1866)
- 1813 Nicaise de Keyser, Flemish painter (Battle of Guilder Tracks)
- 1819 Albert "Bertie" von Saksen-Coburg-Gotha, husband of queen Victoria
- 1820 James Harlan, (Rep-Iowa)/US Secretary of Interior (1865-66)
- 1825 Jacobus J Backer, German sea historian
- 1826 Princess Alexandra of Bavaria (d. 1875)
- 1833 Charles Jackson Paine, American railroad executive, soldier, and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1916)
- 1835 Theodore Washington Brevard, Brigadier General (Confederate Army)
- 1842 Heinrich I Quincke, German internist (Lumbaalpunctie)
Mary Ann Nichols
1845 Mary Ann Nichols, English victim of Jack the Ripper, born in London (d. 1888)
Mary Ann Nichols
- 1850 Charles Richet, French physiologist (anaphylaxis-Nobel 1913)
- 1862 Herbert Booth, American son of William and Catherine Booth (d. 1926)
- 1870 Aleksandr Kuprin, Russian author (Pojedinok), born in Narovchat, Penza Governorate, Russian Empire (d. 1938) [NS=Sept 7]
- 1873 Lee De Forest, Council Bluffs, inventor (Audion vacuum (radio) tube)
- 1874 Zona Gale, American novelist (d. 1938)
- 1875 John Buchan, Scotland, Gov-Gen of Canada/writer (Battle of Somme)
- 1882 James Franck, German naturalist (Nobel 1925)
- 1882 Johannes Lindeboom, vicar/church historian (Neth Archives)
- 1882 Carl Wilhelm de Vries, Dutch jurist, born in Amsterdam (d. 1967)
- 1884 Earl Biggers, author ("Charlie Chan" detective series)
- 1885 Jules Romains, French novelist/playwright/poet (Men of Good Will)
- 1891 Emmy van Lokhorst, Dutch author
- 1891 Ferdinand Bruckner [Theodor Tagger], Austrian playwright (Races)
- 1896 Ivan Mihailov, Bulgarian revolutionary (d. 1990)
- 1897 Yoon Boseon, President of South Korea (d. 1990)
- 1898 Peggy Guggenheim, American art patron & collector, born in NYC, New York (d. 1979)
- 1899 Rufino Tamayo, Mexican painter
- 1900 Hellmuth Walter, German engineer and inventor (d. 1980)
- 1901 Gen Maxwell D Taylor, former US Army chief of staff
- 1901 Jan de Quay, Dutch minister of war/premier (KVP, 1959-63)
- 1901 Chen Yi, Chinese communist military commander and politician (d. 1972)
- 1904 Christopher Isherwood, English novelist (Goodbye to Berlin), born in High Lane, Cheshire (d. 1986)
Albert Sabin
1906 Albert Sabin [Abram Saperstein], Polish American physician who invented the oral polio vaccine, born in Bialystok, Russian Empire
Albert Sabin
Mother Teresa
1910 Mother Teresa [Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu], Albanian-born Indian nun and founder of Missionaries of Charity (Nobel Peace Prize, 1979), born in Skopje, Ottoman Empire (d. 1997)
Mother Teresa
Ben Bradlee
1921 Ben Bradlee, American editor, journalist, executive (Washington Post), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2014)
Ben Bradlee
- 1921 Naomi Parker Fraley, American who inspired "Rosie the Riveter" poster, born in Tulsa, Oklahoma (d. 2018)
- 1925 Jack Hirshleifer, American economist (d. 2005)
- 1925 Alain Peyrefitte, French politician and writer (d. 1999)
- 1925 Sangharakshita, Buddhist Philosopher, Founder of the Western Buddhist Order
- 1927 Francois Leydet, sierra club (Last Redwoods)
- 1927 Sam Massell, (Mayor-Atlanta)
- 1927 B. V. [Balkrishna] Doshi, Indian architect (Pritzker Prize 2018), born in Pune, India
- 1928 Naïm Kattan, Canadian novelist and essayist
- 1931 Gordon Greig, journalist
- 1931 Guy Vander Jagt, (Rep-R-MI, 1966- )
- 1932 Joe H Engle, American USAF Major General, test pilot (X-15), and NASA astronaut (STS-2; STS-51-I), born in Chapman, Kansas
- 1934 Gordon Clough, English journalist (BBC Radio 4), born in Salford, England (d. 1996)
- 1935 Cornelis B Vaandrager [Cor Vaan], Dut poet (Long Live Joop Massaker)
Geraldine Ferraro
1935 Geraldine Ferraro, American politician (US Representative from New York (D), 1979-85), and the 1st female vice-presidential nominee (1984), born in Newburgh, New York (d. 2011)
Geraldine Ferraro
Jorge Paulo Lemann
1939 Jorge Paulo Lemann, Swiss-Brazilian investor, born in Rio de Janeiro
Jorge Paulo Lemann
- 1941 Barbet Schroeder, director (Barfly, Single White Female, More)
- 1942 John E Blaha, USAF/astronaut (STS 29, 33, 43, 58, 79/81), born in San Antonio, Texas
- 1944 Richard A W G, English prince/duke of Gloucester
- 1945 Melvin Watt, (Rep-D-North Carolina)
- 1945 Tom Ridge, first United States Secretary of Homeland Security (Rep-R-Pennsylvania), born in Munhall, Pennsylvania
- 1949 Robert (Bob) Cowsill, (The Cowsills - Hair, We Can Fly), born in Newport, Rhode Island
- 1951 Robert G Torricelli, (Rep-D-New Jersey, 1983- )
- 1952 Will Shortz, American crossword editor
- 1954 Efren Reyes, Filipino pool player
- 1959 Kathryn P Hire, Lt Cmdr USN/astronaut (sk: STS 90), born in Mobile, Alabama
- 1960 Keith Raniere, American sex cult leader (Nxivm) and felon, born in Brooklyn, New York
- 1962 Tariq Ramadan, Islamic scholar, born in Geneva, Switzerland
- 1964 Daphne Caruana Galizia, Maltese journalist (Panama Papers), born in Sliema, Malta (d. 2017)
- 1974 Eric D. Snider, American humor columnist / movie reviewer
- 1977 Saeko Chiba, Japanese seiyū
- 1988 Princess Maria Laura of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este
Weddings in History
Wedding of Interest
1926 Poet Arna Bontemps (24) weds fellow Seventh-Day Adventist Alberta Johnson
Arna Bontemps
Wedding of Interest
1965 Mobster and FBI informant Henry Hill (22) weds Karen Friedman in North Carolina
Henry Hill
Divorces in History
Divorce of Interest
1927 Architect Frank Lloyd Wright (60) divorces artist Maude Noel after almost 4 years of marriage
Frank Lloyd Wright
Deaths in History
- 1278 Ottokar II, King of Bohemia (1253-78), dies in battle
- 1346 Jan de Blinde, King of Bohemia/count of Luxemburg, dies in battle
- 1346 Charles II of Alençon, killed in the Battle of Crécy (b. 1297)
- 1346 Rudolph, Duke of Lorraine, killed in the Battle of Crécy (b. 1320)
- 1349 Thomas Bradwardine, English Archbishop of Canterbury, dies of the plague at Rochester, just after taking office
- 1368 Engelbrecht van der Mark, prince-Bishop of Luik (1345-64), dies
- 1486 Ernst I, ruler of Saxon (1464-86), dies at 45
- 1518 Giberto X, Italian mister of Correggio/husband of Veronica Gambara
- 1551 Margareta Leijonhufvud, queen of Gustav I of Sweden (b. 1516)
- 1572 Petrus Ramus, French philosopher (b. 1515)
- 1595 Antonio, Prior of Crato, claimant to the throne of Portugal (b. 1531)
- 1616 Johan van de Veeken, merchant/co-founder (VOC), dies at 66
- 1666 Frans Hals, Dutch painter (b. circa 1580)
- 1714 Edward Fowler, English Bishop of Gloucester (b. 1632)
- 1723 Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch microscopist who was the first to observe bacteria and protozoa and naturalist (Philosophical Transactions), dies at 90
- 1728 Anne Marie of Orléans, Queen of Italy, dies at 58
- 1770 Domingos dos Reis Quita, Portuguese playwright/poet, dies at 42
- 1785 George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, British soldier and politician (b. 1716)
- 1795 Alessandro Cagliostro [Giuseppe Balsamo], Italian adventurer and magician (Prince of Quacks), dies while serving a life imprisonment for being a freemason in Castel Sant'Angelo at 52
- 1813 Karl Theodor Korner, German poet (Vetter aus Bremen), dies at 21
- 1850 Louis-Philippe, King of France (1830-48), dies at 76
- 1863 John B Floyd, American Governor (Virginia), Secretary of War (1857-60) and Confederate general, dies of failing health at 57
- 1865 Johann F Encke, German astronomer (Comet Encke), dies at 73
- 1865 Marcellus Monroe Crocker, US attorney/Union brigadier general, dies at 35
- 1869 Henri Leys, Flemish painter, dies at 54
- 1894 PPH van Ham, general-major, dies in battle on Lombok
- 1894 Te Wherowhero Tāwhia, Second Māori King and leader of the Waikato tribes in New Zealand, dies at 71 or 72
- 1908 Tony Pastor, American vaudeville performer, dies at 71
William James
1910 William James, American psychologist and philosopher (Pragmatism), dies at 68
William James
Andrew Mellon
1937 Andrew Mellon, American banker (Mellon Bank), industrialist and Secretary of the Treasury (1921-32), dies at 82
Andrew Mellon
- 1944 Adam von Trott zu Solz, German lawyer and diplomat, dies at 35
- 1945 Franz Werfel, Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright, and poet (Mirror Man, The Forty Days of Musa Dagh), dies at 54
- 1949 Nico van Suchtelen, Dutch writer and publisher, dies at 70
- 1950 Ransom Eli Olds, American auto (Oldsmobile) & truck (REO) manufacturer, dies at 86
- 1956 Alfred Wagenknecht, German-born American activist, dies at 75
- 1957 Umberto Saba, Italian writer, dies at 74
- 1972 Jacques Gans, Dutch author and journalist, dies at 63
- 1972 Francis Chichester, English aviator and sailor (Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire), dies at 70
Charles Lindbergh
1974 Charles Lindbergh, American aviator who was 1st to fly solo across the Atlantic, dies of lymphoma at 72
Charles Lindbergh
- 1977 H. A. Rey, American author of popular constellation book, dies at 78
- 1979 Mika Waltari, Finnish novelist (Egyptian), dies at 70
- 1980 Tex Avery, American cartoonist (b. 1908)
- 1981 Roger Nash Baldwin, American founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, dies at 97
- 1985 Pieter "Piet" Jongeling, Dutch politician and author (GPV, Netherlands Daily), dies at 76
- 1986 Jennifer Levin, American murder victim, strangled by Robert Chambers in New York City's Central Park aged 18
- 1988 Paul Francis Lloyd, entertainer, dies
- 1989 Henk Heidweiller, ambassador of Suriname, dies
- 1989 Irving Stone, American writer (Love is Eternal, Lust for Life), dies
- 1990 Minoru Honda, Japanese astronomer (b. 1913)
- 1992 Bob the Moor, Flemish comic strip artist (Kuifje), dies
- 1992 Arthur Leigh Allen, American suspected murderer (b. 1933)
- 1995 David James Moore, educationalist, dies at 62
- 1995 Evelyn Wood, speed reading guru, dies at 86
- 1995 John Costello, British military historian, dies at 52
- 1995 Omukama Patrick D Matthew Olimi Kaboyo II, king of Toro, dies at 49
- 1996 Alejandro Agustín Lanusse, President of Argentina (1971-73), dies at 77
- 1996 Baron Baker, activist, dies at 71
- 1996 Catherine Hall, British nurse who raised the professional profile of nursing and to establish its central role in health care, dies at 73
- 1998 Frederick Reines, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
- 1999 Lilo Hardel, German writer, dies at 85
- 2000 Lynden Pindling, Bahamas 'Father of the Nation' Prime Minister of Bahamas (1967-92), dies at 70
- 2000 Akbar Adibi, Iranian scientist (b. 1939)
- 2001 Louis Muhlstock, Canadian painter (b. 1904)
- 2005 Robert Denning, American interior designer, dies at 78
- 2005 Gerry Fitt, Northern Irish politician (Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party), dies at 79
- 2006 Rainer Barzel, German politician CDU-CSU) and minister, dies at 82
- 2007 Gaston Thorn, 20th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (1974–79) and 7th President of the European Commission (1981–85), dies at 78
- 2007 Edward Brandt Jr., American physician and public health official, dies at 74
- 2009 Dominick Dunne, American writer and producer (Panic in Needle Park), dies at 83
- 2011 George Band, British mountaineer (b. 1929)
- 2011 John McAleese, British SAS Trooper, Team leader during 1980 Iranian Embassy Siege (b. 1949)
Neil Simon
2018 Neil Simon, American playwright and author (The Odd Couple), dies at 91
Neil Simon
- 2018 Rosa Bouglione, French circus performer, dies at 107