Events in History
- 475 Roman general Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his capital city, Ravenna.
- 476 German ruler Flavius Odoacer captures Pavia
End of the Western Roman Empire
476 Orestes, father of Emperor Romulus Augustulus is captured and executed by Odoacer and his followers
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- 489 Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths defeats Flavius Odoacer at the Battle of Isonzo, forcing his way into Italy.
- 1189 Third Crusade: the Crusaders begin the Siege of Acre under Guy of Lusignan
- 1521 Belgrade captured by troops of Turkish Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent
- 1542 Turkish-Portuguese War (1538-1557) - Battle of Wofla: the Portuguese are scattered, their leader Christovão da Gama is captured and afterwards executed.
Historic Discovery
1609 English explorer Henry Hudson, discovers and explores Delaware Bay
Henry Hudson
Historic Discovery
1789 William Herschel discovers Saturn's moon Enceladus
William Herschel
- 1830 1st American built locomotive, "Tom Thumb" races a horse-drawn car from Stockton and Stokes stagecoach company from Baltimore to Ellicott Mills. Let history record that due to mechanical problems the horse won!
- 1837 Pharmacists John Lea & William Perrins manufacture Worcestershire Sauce
- 1840 Nine Jewish prisoners are released from Damascus jails
- 1845 Scientific American magazine publishes its first issue
- 1849 Venice under Daniele Manin surrenders to Austrians under Radetsky, having been under siege since July 20 after proclaiming independence
- 1859 A geomagnetic storm causes the Aurora Borealis to shine so brightly that it is seen clearly over parts of USA, Europe, and even as far afield as Japan
- 1861 Battle of Fort Hatteras, North Carolina
- 1862 Battle of Thoroughfare Gap, Virginia
- 1862 Battle of Groveton, Virginia (Manassas Plains) [->AUG 19] US7000 CS7000
- 1862 Belle Boyd released from Old Capital Prison in Washington, D.C.
- 1867 United States occupy Midway Islands in the Pacific
- 1867 The United States formally takes control of Midway Atoll, years after it was sighted and claimed by Captain N.C. Brooks
1st Photograph of a Tornado
1884 First known photograph of a tornado is made near Howard, South Dakota
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- 1884 Mickey Welsh strikes out the 1st 9 men he faces
- 1898 Caleb Bradham renames his carbonated soft drink "Pepsi-Cola".
- 1907 United Parcel Service is founded by James E. Casey in Seattle, Washington.
- 1910 Nicholas I of Montenegro again proclaims himself king (first assumed power 1860) after his reign interrupted by Turkish rule
- 1911 45.7 cm rainfall at St George, Georgia (state record)
- 1913 Queen Wilhelmina opens Peace Palace in The Hague
Battle of Interest
1914 Third day of Battle of Tannenberg (WWI): violent German/Russian battles
Erich Ludendorff
- 1914 Battle of Helgoland: British fleet beats German, 1,100 killed
- 1914 British General John French evacuate Amiens
- 1916 Germany declares war on Romania
- 1916 Italy declares war against Germany
- 1917 Ten suffragists arrested as they picket the White House
- 1919 General John Smuts becomes premier of South Africa
- 1921 2nd Pan-African Congress meets (London, Brussels & Paris)
- 1922 WEAF in NYC airs 1st radio commercial (Queensboro Realty-$100 for 10 mins)
- 1924 Georgian opposition stages the August Uprising against the Soviet Union
- 1925 Meteorite falls on Ellemeet, Schouwen, Devil Island
- 1929 Frank Woolley scores his 100th first-class hundred
- 1937 Toyota Motors becomes an independent company.
- 1938 Mauthausen concentration camp opens in Austria
- 1938 Northwestern University awards honorary degree to dummy Charlie McCarthy
- 1938 On Connie Mack Day at Shibe Park, the A's win a doubleheader
Event of Interest
1939 Gen Bernard Montgomery ("Monty") becomes commander of 3rd "Iron" Infantry division
Bernard Montgomery
- 1939 Netherland mobilizes
- 1939 Journalist Care Hollingworth observes the “large numbers of troops, literally hundreds of tanks, armored cars and field guns” Germany had aligned along the Polish border. Three days later, Hitler invades Poland and WWII begins.
- 1940 French colonies Cameroon/Congo-Brazzaville support Gen De Gaulle
- 1941 Last meeting of resistance fighter Comte d'Estienne d'Orves
- 1942 Gunther Hagg (Sweden) sets world record for 3,000m (8:01.2)
- 1942 Transport #25 departs with French Jews to nazi-Germany
- 1943 Denmark declares a universal strike against Nazi occupiers
Event of Interest
1943 Benito Mussolini transferred from La Maddalena Sardinia to Gran Sasso
Benito Mussolini
- 1944 Last German troops in Marseille surrendered & Toulon cleared
- 1944 US air raid on Ambon Island, Dutch East Indies
- 1949 Riot prevents Paul Robeson from singing near Peekskill, New York
- 1950 Earle & Roy Mack, purchase 54% of the Philadelphia A's from Connie Mack Jr
- 1952 German & Israeli reach accord about recovery payments
- 1952 Jakob Malik succeeds Zorine as Foreign minister
- 1953 "Me & Juliet" opens at Majestic Theater NYC for 358 performances
- 1955 1st NFL preseason sudden death football, Rams beats Giants 23-17
- 1957 US Senator James Thurmond (Rep, SC) begins 24-hr filibuster against civil rights bill
- 1958 Nellie Fox sets record for consecutive games without striking out (98)
- 1962 55.9 cm rainfall at Hackberry, Louisiana (state record)
- 1962 Dr Geza De Kaplany tortures his wife with acid to punish her for supposed infidelity
- 1963 Evergreen Point Floating Bridge connecting Seattle & Bellevue opens
- 1964 Race riot in Philadelphia
- 1964 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1964 US weather satellite Nimbus 1 launched
- 1965 1st Subway sandwich shop opens in Bridgeport, Connecticut
- 1967 Asif Iqbal & Intikhab Alam make 190 stand for 9th wkt v Eng
- 1968 Police & anti-war demonstrators clash at Chicago's Democratic National Convention
- 1968 MP Gerry Fitt, tables House of Commons motion criticising Royal Ulster Constabulary at Dungannon "citizens of Northern Ireland should be allowed the same rights of peaceful demonstration as those in other parts of the United Kingdom"
- 1971 The US dollar is allowed to float against the Japanese yen for the first time.
- 1972 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
- 1973 6.8 quake centered in Oaxaca State in Mexico kills 527
- 1973 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
- 1973 India & Pakistan sign POW accord
- 1973 USSR performs underground nuclear test
- 1974 Soyuz 15 returns to Earth
- 1976 NY Cosmos beat Seattle Sounders 2-1 for NASL cup
- 1976 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1978 Donald Vesco rode 21'-long Kawasaki motorcycle at 318.598 mph
- 1978 Ja'afar Sharif-Emami appointed premier of Iran
- 1979 IRA bomb explodes in Brussels' Great Market
- 1979 Train crash at Nijmegen, 7 die
Ronald Reagan is Shot
1981 John Hinckley pleads innocent to attempt to assassinate US President Ronald Reagan
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- 1981 Sebastian Coe of UK sets 1-mi record of 3:47.33 (since broken)
- 1981 National Centers for Disease Control announces high incidence of Pneumocystis & Kaposi's sarcoma in gay men
- 1982 USSR performs underground nuclear test
- 1982 The first Gay Games are held in San Francisco.
- 1983 Greg Luzinski is 1st player to put 3 HRs onto roof at Comiskey Park
Event of Interest
1983 Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin announces his resignation
Menachem Begin
Birthdays in History
- 865 Rhazes [Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakariyyāʾ al-Rāzī], Persian physician, born in Ray, Persia (d. 925)
- 1025 Emperor Go-Reizei of Japan, 70th Emperor of Japan, born in Heian-kyō, Japan (d. 1068)
- 1582 Taichang Emperor [Zhu Changluo], 14th Emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, born in Beijing (d. 1620)
George Villiers
1592 George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham and English courtier who was a favorite of King James I, born in Brooksby, England (d. 1628)
George Villiers
- 1612 Marcus Zuerius van Boxhorn, Dutch scholar, born in Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands (d. 1653)
- 1667 Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, queen of Denmark and Norway, born in Güstrow, Germany (d. 1721)
- 1691 Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Holy Roman Empire Empress, born in Braunschweig, Germany (d. 1750)
- 1694 Charlotte Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Wife of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich of Russia, born in Wolfenbüttel, Germany (d. 1715)
- 1713 Louis-Auguste d'Affry, French general and ambassador to Netherland, born in Versailles, France (d. 1793)
- 1714 Anthony Ulrich II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, born in Bevern, Germany (d. 1774)
- 1728 John Stark, American military officer (Battle of Bennington), born in Londonderry, New Hampshire (d. 1822)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
1749 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and social philosopher (Faust), born in Frankfurt am Main, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1832)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton
1774 Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton, 1st American Catholic saint (1975), born in NYC, New York (d. 1821)
Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton
- 1789 Stéphanie de Beauharnais, Grand Duchess of Baden, born in Versailles, France (d. 1860)
- 1794 Johannes Zwijsen, Dutch archbishop (Utrecht Netherlands), born in Kerkdriel, Netherlands (d. 1877)
- 1795 Joannes Paredis, Belgian Bishop of Roermond, born in Bree, Belgium (d. 1886)
- 1798 Gershom Jaques Van Brunt, U.S. Army (Union Navy), born in Monmouth County, New Jersey (d. 1863)
- 1801 Antoine Cournot, French philosopher and mathematician (rule of Cournot), born in Gray, France (d. 1877)
- 1814 Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish writer (The House by the Churchyard), born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 1873)
- 1824 Carel van Nispen of Sevenaer, Dutch Catholic politician, born in Zevenaar, Netherlands (d. 1884)
- 1827 Grand Duchess Catherine Mikhailovna of Russia, born in St. Petersburg, Russia (d. 1894)
- 1828 William Alexander Hammond, American military physician and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Annapolis, Maryland (d. 1900)
- 1831 Lucy Ware Webb Hayes, 1st lady of the United States (1877-81), born in Chillicothe, Ohio (d. 1889)
- 1833 Edward Burne-Jones, English Pre-Raphaelite painter and designer, born in Birmingham, England (d. 1898)
- 1840 Alexander Cameron Sim, Scottish merchant, born in Aberlour, Scotland (d. 1900)
- 1841 Louis Le Prince, French artist and original inventor of the motion picture camera sometimes called "the father of cinematography," born in Metz, France (d. 1890)
- 1842 Willem Linnig The Younger, Flemish painter and graphic artist, born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1890)
- 1853 Vladimir Shukhov, Russian engineer and inventor, born in Grayvoron, Russia (d. 1939)
- 1860 Marianne Von Werefkin, Russian-German-Swiss Expressionist painter, born in Tula, Russia (d. 1938)
- 1878 George Whipple, American physician and biomedical researcher (Nobel-1934), born in Ashland, New Hampshire (d. 1976)
Peter Fraser
1884 Peter Fraser, British-born New Zealand statesman and 24th Prime Minister of New Zealand (1940-49), born in Hill of Fearn, Scotland (d. 1950)
Peter Fraser
- 1885 Vance Palmer, Australian author, born in Bundaberg, Australia (d. 1959)
- 1894 Charles Aubroeck, Belgian painter and sculptor (Iron Tower) (d. 1986)
- 1898 Ludwig Turek, German writer, born in Stendal, Germany (d. 1975)
- 1901 Cees Kelk, Dutch writer (Dance of Young Feet), born in Amsterdam (d. 1981)
- 1903 Bruno Bettelheim, Austrian-American psycho-analyst (Uses of Enchantment), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1990)
- 1904 Secondo Campini, Italian jet engine pioneer, born in Bologna, Italy (d. 1980)
- 1906 John Betjeman, poet (Mount Zion) and English Poet Laureate (1972-1984), born in London (d. 1984)
- 1908 Roger Tory Peterson, American ornithologist and writer (How to Know Birds), born in Jamestown, New York (d. 1996)
- 1910 Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch-American economist (Nobel 1975), born in 's-Graveland, Netherlands (d. 1985)
- 1911 Jose Antonio Giron, Spanish politician, born in Herrera de Pisuerga, Spain (d. 1995)
- 1911 Joseph Luns, Dutch Foreign Minister and Secretary General (NATO), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 2002)
- 1912 Ruurd Faber, Dutch politcian and Mayor of Aalten (1971-75), born in Veenhuizen, Netherlands (d. 1992)
- 1913 Robertson Davies, Canadian novelist essayist/dramatist, born in Thamesville, Ontario (d. 1995)
- 1913 John Terence Reese, British bridge master, born in Epsom, Surrey, England (d. 1996)
- 1915 Tasha Tudor, American illustrator and children's books author (Pumpkin Moonshine, Corgiville Fair), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2008)
- 1916 C. Wright Mills, American sociologist and writer (The Power Elite), born in Waco, Texas (d. 1962)
- 1916 Jack [Holbrook] Vance, American sci-fi author (2 Hugo, Dirdir, Pnume), born in San Francisco, California (d. 2013)
Jack Kirby
1917 Jack Kirby, American cartoonist (X-Men, Spider-Man, Hulk, Capt America), born in NYC, New York (d. 1994)
Jack Kirby
- 1918 Alejandro Agustín Lanusse, President of Argentina (1971-73), born in Buenos Aires, Argentina (d. 1996)
- 1919 Ernest Harold Martin [Markowitz], American Broadway producer (Feuer & Martin-Chorus Line), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 1995)
- 1920 Frits Bernard, American clinical psychologist and pedophile activist, born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 2006)
- 1924 Janet Frame, New Zealand novelist (Intensive Care, Owls Do Cry), born in Dunedin, New Zealand (d. 2004)
- 1925 Arkady Natanovich Strugatsky, Soviet-Russian sci-fi author (Tale of the Troika), born in Batumi, Georgia (d. 1991)
- 1925 Marvin Davis, CEO (Davis Oil Company), born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 2004)
- 1928 F. William Free, American advertising executive (I'm Cheryl – Fly Me.), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 2003)
- 1931 Tito Capobianco, Argentinian stage impresario, born in La Plata, Argentina
- 1935 Gilles Rocheleau, French Canadian politician, born in Hull, Quebec, Canada (d. 1998)
- 1936 Harry McLevy, Scottish trade unionist, born in Dundee, Scotland (d. 1995)
Paul Martin
1938 Paul Martin, 21st Prime Minister of Canada (Liberal: 2003-06), born in Windsor, Ontario
Paul Martin
- 1938 Maurizio Costanzo, Italian television journalist, born in Rome, Italy
- 1940 William Cohen, US Secretary of Defense (1997-2001), (Sen-R Maine, 1979-97), born in Bangor, Maine
- 1943 Surayud Chulanont, 24th Prime Minister of Thailand (2006-08), born in Prachinburi, Thailand
- 1944 Melvin Dummar, American claimant to the Howard Hughes estate, born in Utah (d. 2018)
- 1947 Shoto Tanemura, Japanese martial artist, born in Matsubushi, Saitama Prefecture, Japan
- 1952 Rita Dove, African-American poet (Thomas and Beulah), born in Akron, Ohio
- 1952 Wendelin Wiedeking, German businessman (CEO - Porsche AG), born in Ahlen, Germany
- 1952 Jacques Chagnon, Canadian politician (45th President of the National Assembly), born in Montréal, Québec
- 1954 George Church, American geneticist and synthetic biologist, born in MacDill Air Force Base, Florida
- 1960 Cunningham T Ngcukana, South African worker's union leader
- 1960 Leroy Chiao, Taiwanese-American engineer and astronaut (STS 65, 72, sk: 92), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- 1966 Priya Dutt, Indian social worker and politician, born in Mumbai, India
- 1967 Frederick Kesner, Philippine-born Australian poet, born in España, Manila
Sheryl Sandberg
1969 Sheryl Sandberg, American technology executive (COO Facebook) and author (Lean In), born in Washington, D.C.
Sheryl Sandberg
- 1973 Theaster Gates, American installation artist, born in Chicago, Illinois
- 1974 Johan Andersson, Swedish game programmer, born in Stockholm, Sweden
- 1978 Shaniqua [Linda Miles], American wrestling valet, born in Cincinnati, Ohio
- 1979 Robert Hoyzer, German football referee, born in Berlin
- 1986 Gilad Shalit, Israeli corporal
- 1999 Prince Nikolai of Denmark
Weddings in History
Wedding of Interest
1775 Statesman John Hancock (38) weds hostess Dorothy Quincy (28) in Fairfield, Connecticut
John Hancock
- 1811 English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (19) elopes to Scotland with 1st wife Harriet Westbrook (16)
Wedding of Interest
1924 British children's writer Enid Blyton (27) marries editor Major Hugh Alexander Pollock, DSO (36)
Enid Blyton
- 1997 British-Indian novelist and essayist Salman Rushdie (50) weds Elizabeth West
Deaths in History
- 388 Magnus Maximus, Spanish West Roman Emperor (383-88), executed
- 430 Augustine of Hippo, North African saint and theologian (Belijdenissen), dies at 75
- 683 K'inich Janaab' Pakal [Sun Shield], Ajaw of the Maya city-state of Palenque, dies at 80
- 876 Louis the German, King of East France Empire (833-76), dies
- 1065 Frederik van Luxembourg, duke of Neth-Lutherans (1046-65)
- 1341 King Leo V of Armenia (b. 1309)
- 1481 Afonso V, King of Portugal, dies
- 1484 Diogo, duke of Viseu, murdered
- 1539 Lieven Pain, Flemish, beheaded at about 75
- 1544 Alardus Aemstelredamus, priest/humanist, dies at about 53
- 1550 Nicolas Perrenot de Granvelle, Charles V's asst sec of state, dies
Albert Frederick
1618 Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia (1568–1618), dies at 65
Albert Frederick
- 1645 Hugo Grotius, Dutch jurist, father of international law, dies at 62
- 1646 Fulvio Testi, Italian poet (Poesie liriche), dies at 53
- 1654 Axel Gustafson Oxenstierna, Swedish earl/chancellor/regent, dies at 71
- 1677 Wallerant Vaillant, French painter and engraver, dies at 54
- 1678 John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton, English soldier (b. 1602)
- 1689 Claude-Jean Allouez, French Jesuit missionary and explorer, dies at 67
- 1757 David Hartley, English philosopher and Founder of the Associationist School of Psychology, dies at 51
- 1778 Jacob Wallenberg, Swedish writer/shipminister, dies
Junípero Serra
1784 Junipero Serra, Spanish missionary priest who founded the 1st missions in California, dies at 70
Junípero Serra
- 1793 Adam-Philippe Custine, French earl/general/parliament member, dies
- 1798 James Wilson, One of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a signatory of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, dies at 55
- 1803 Charles L Fournier, Flemish writer/painter, dies
- 1805 Alexander Carlyle, Scottish church leader (Moderator of the General Assembly 1770), dies at 83
- 1818 Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, trader, founder of Chicago, dies
- 1820 Andrew Ellicott, American surveyor (b. 1754)
- 1839 William Smith, British geologist who is credited with creating the first nationwide geological map (Strata Identified by Organized Fossils), dies at 70
- 1880 Charles Thomas Jackson, American physician and geologist, dies at 75
- 1900 Henry Sidgwick, English philosopher (Women on University), dies at 62
Frederick Law Olmsted
1903 Frederick Law Olmsted, American writer and landscape architect (designed Central Park), dies at 81
Frederick Law Olmsted
- 1910 Paolo Mantegazza, Italian neurologist and anthropologist, dies at 78
- 1915 John Davis Long, 32nd Governor of Massachusetts (1880-1915), dies at 76
- 1916 Francis Warre-Cornish, English writer and scholar, dies at 77
- 1922 Gaston of Orleans, Count of Eu, dies at 80
- 1930 Alvar Gullstrand, Swedish optician (Nobel 1911), dies
- 1934 Doris Ulmann, American photographer best known for her portraits of the people of Appalachia, dies aged 52
- 1943 Boris III, Tsar of Bulgaria (1918-43), dies at 49
- 1944 Ernst Thälmann, German communist presidential candidate, dies at 58
- 1947 Manolete [Manuel Laureano Rodríguez Sánchez], Spanish bullfighter, dies at 30
Emmett Till
1955 Emmett Till, kidnapped & lynched at 14, in Money, Mississippi
Emmett Till
- 1965 Giulio Racah, Israeli physicist (b. 1909)
- 1967 Charles Darrow, US inventor of Monopoly, dies
- 1968 John Gordon Mein, US ambassador in Guatemala, dies
- 1968 Nick Castle, American choreographer (Dinah Shore, Judy Garland), dies at 58
- 1971 Nathan Leopold, US kidnapper and murderer of Bobby Franks (1924), dies at 66
- 1972 William HAF, Engl prince/grandson of George V, dies in accident at 29
- 1975 Fritz Wotruba, Austrian sculptor (b. 1907)
- 1978 Bruce Catton, American historian and writer (Civil War), dies at 78
- 1978 F. Van Wyck Mason, American historian and author (Three Harbours), dies at 76
- 1979 Simonow, writer, dies
- 1989 Joseph Alsop, American political newspaper columnist (Men Around the President), dies at 78
- 1990 Willy Vandersteen, Flemish cartoonist (Suske & Wiske), dies
- 1990 Patience Strong [Winifred Emma May], English poet and journalist, dies at 83
- 1993 William Stafford, American poet (b. 1914)
- 1994 David Wright, South African-British poet (Deafness: A Personal Account), dies of cancer at 74
- 1994 Jean-Marie Vincent, Haitian pater, murdered
- 1995 Carl Ronald Giles, British cartoonist (Daily Express), dies at 78
- 1995 Michael Ende, German writer (The Neverending Story), dies at 65
- 1995 Michael VerMeulen, American journalist and magazine editor (British GQ), dies at 38
- 1995 Earl Bascom, American rodeo pioneer (b. 1906)
- 1996 Lynda Carr, educationist, dies at 50
- 1996 Phyllis Pearsall, painter/writer, dies at 89
- 2003 Brian Douglas Wells, American criminal (failed) (b. 1956)
- 2005 Esther Szekeres, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1910)
- 2005 George Szekeres, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1911)
- 2006 Benoît Sauvageau, French Canadian politician (b. 1963)
- 2006 Melvin Schwartz, American Physicist and Nobel Laureate (neutrinos - subatomic particles with no electric charge and virtually no mass), dies at 73
- 2007 Arthur Jones, American inventor of the Nautilus exercise machines (b. 1926)
- 2007 Paul MacCready, American aeronautical engineer and inventor (1st man-powered aircraft), dies at 81
- 2007 Francisco Umbral, Spanish journalist, novelist, biographer and essayist (b. 1935)
- 2007 Nikola Nobilo, New Zealand winemaker (b. 1913)
- 2012 Rhodes Boyson, British politician and author (Black Papers), dies at 87