Events in History
Event of Interest
1534 Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent occupies Baghdad
Suleiman the Magnificent
- 1563 Council of Trent holds its last session, after 18 years. Last ecumenical council for more than 300 years.
- 1619 38 colonists from Berkeley Parish, England disembark in Virginia and give thanks to God. Considered by many the first Thanksgiving in the Americas.
- 1644 First European peace congress opens in Munster
- 1655 Middelburg, Netherlands forbids building of synagogue
Event of Interest
1665 Jean Racine's "Alexandre le Grand" premieres in Paris
Jean Racine
- 1674 Father Marquette builds first dwelling in what is now Chicago
- 1676 Battle of Lund: A Danish army under the command of King Christian V of Denmark engages the Swedish army commanded by Field Marshal Simon Grundel-Helmfelt
- 1680 Hen in Rome lays a uniquely patterned egg, later believed to have predicted the arrival of the Kirch/Newton "Great Comet of 1680"
- 1682 First General Assembly in Pennsylvania (Chester)
Event of Interest
1688 General John Churchill (later 1st Duke of Marlborough) changes allegiance from James II to William of Orange
John Churchill
- 1691 Emperor Leopold I takes control of Transsylvania
- 1691 Spanish king Carlos II names Maximilian II viceroy of Southern Netherlands
- 1745 Bonnie Prince Charles reaches Derby
- 1783 General Washington bids officers farewell at Fraunce's Tavern, NYC
- 1791 Britain's Observer, oldest Sunday newspaper in the world, first published
- 1798 Rebellious Flemish farmers occupy Hasselt
- 1812 Peter Gaillard of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, patents a horse-drawn mower
Election of Interest
1816 James Monroe is elected to become the 5th President of the United States, defeating Rufus King of the Federalist Party
James Monroe
- 1829 Britain outlaws "suttee" in India (widow burning herself to death on her husband's funeral pyre)
- 1832 French army begins bombing citadel of Antwerp
- 1833 American Anti-Slavery Society formed by Arthur Tappan in Philadelphia
- 1836 Whig party holds its first national convention, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
- 1843 Manila paper (made from sails, canvas and rope) patented in Massachusetts
Election of Interest
1844 James Knox Polk elected 11th US President
James Knox Polk
- 1851 President Louis Napoleon Boaparte's forces crush an attempted coup d'etat in France
- 1864 Battle of Waynesborough (Brier Creek), Georgia
- 1864 Romanian Jews are forbidden to practise law
- 1867 Former Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley founds the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry (better known today as the Grange)
Event of Interest
1875 William Magear Tweed "Boss Tweed" (Tammany Hall, NYC) escapes from jail
Boss Tweed
Event of Interest
1905 British government of Arthur Balfour resigns
Arthur Balfour
- 1906 Alpha Phi Alpha, first Black Greek Letter Fraternity, forms
- 1908 Haiti's president General Alexis Nord flees from military coup
- 1908 The world's ten leading maritime nations attend a Naval Conference in London; they agree on rules for blockade, convoys, and seizure of contraband
- 1915 Frank Friday Fletcher is first US admiral to receive Congressional Medal of Honor
- 1915 Ku Klux Klan receives charter from Fulton County, Georgia
- 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition closes in San Francisco
Event of Interest
1915 Henry Ford's peace ship, Oscar II, sails for Europe 'to get the boys out of the trenches by Christmas'
Henry Ford
Conference of Interest
1918 US President Woodrow Wilson sails for Versailles Peace Conference in France
Woodrow Wilson
- 1920 1st Pro football playoff game Buffalo-7, Canton-3 at Polo Grounds, NYC
- 1921 The Virginia Rappe manslaughter trial against Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle ends in a hung jury
- 1922 Lucille Atcherson, becomes first woman legation sect-US foreign service
- 1923 WEAF radio begins broadcasting Eveready Hour (variety show)
- 1930 Vatican approves rhythm method for birth control
Event of Interest
1932 Kurt von Schleicher succeeds Franz von Papen as Reich Chancellor of Germany
Franz von Papen
Franklin D. Roosevelt
- 1935 1,200 at St Joseph's College (Philadelphia) enroll in anticommunism class
- 1941 Nazi ordinance places Jews of Poland outside protection of courts
- 1942 First US citizenship granted to an alien on foreign soil (James Hoey)
- 1942 FDR orders dismantling of Works Progress Administration
- 1942 US bombers strike Italian mainland for first time in WW II
- 1942 Holocaust: In Warsaw, Zofia Kossak-Szczucka and Wanda Filipowicz set up the Żegota organization
- 1943 -Dec 6] 2nd conference of Cairo: FDR, Winston Churchill and Turkish President İsmet İnönü
- 1943 Yugoslavian resistance forms provisionary government under Dr Ribar
- 1944 Germans destroy Rhine dikes, Betuwe flooded
- 1945 Senate approves US participation in United Nations
- 1947 USSR joins International Amateur Athletic Union
- 1948 SS Kiangya hits mine in Whangpoo River, China, sinks killing 2,750
- 1949 Duncan Stewart, 2nd British Governor of Sarawak is fatally stabbed in the streets of Sibu by Malay student Rosli Dhoby with help from Morshidi Sidek with the goal of helping neighbouring Indonesia to take over British Sarawak
- 1951 Superheated gasses roll down Mount Catarman, Philippines, killing 500 people
- 1951 Mir Waiz Maulvi Muhammad Yusouf is appointed President of Azad Kashmir Government
- 1952 Killer fogs begin in London, England; the term "Smog" is coined
- 1952 Walter P. Reuther chosen chairman of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in the US
- 1954 The first Burger King is opened in Miami, Florida, USA
- 1955 Bernardus Johannes Alfrink installed as Archbishop of Utrecht
- 1957 First edition of "Chase's Annual Events" published
- 1957 2 commuter trains collide in heavy fog killing 92 (St John's, England)
- 1958 Dahomey (Benin), Ivory Coast become autonomous within French Community
- 1958 Finnish government of Fagerholm resigns
Henri Matisse
- 1961 Tanganyika becomes 104th member of UN
Event of Interest
1961 The female contraceptive 'pill' becomes available on the National Health Service in Britain
Carl Djerassi
- 1962 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1965 2 passenger planes collide above Danbury, Connecticut, 4 die
Event of Interest
1965 Gemini 7 launched with Frank Borman and Jim Lovell
Frank Borman
- 1966 Military Working Dog "Nemo" saves the life of his handler Airman Robert A. Throneburg during the Vietnam War, surviving a gunshot wound to the nose
- 1968 Following a civil rights march in Dungannon, Northern Ireland, there is a violent clash between Loyalists and those who are taking part in the march
- 1970 Unemployment in US increases to 5.8%
- 1971 The UN Security Council calls an emergency session to consider the deteriorating situation between India and Pakistan
- 1971 The Indian Navy attacks the Pakistan Navy and Karachi
- 1971 McGurk's Bar bombing: the UVF explode a bomb at a Catholic-owned pub in Belfast, killing fifteen Catholic civilians and wounding seventeen others; this was the highest death toll from a single incident in Belfast during 'the Troubles'
- 1974 Dutch DC-8 charter crashes in Sri Lanka killing 191 Muslim pilgrims
Event of Interest
1974 Jean-Paul Sartre visits Red Army Faction leader Andreas Baader in prison
Jean-Paul Sartre
Andreas Baader
- 1975 6 South Molukkans occupy Indonesian consulate in The Hague, 1 dead
Dictator Bokassa I
1977 Jean-Bédel Bokassa crowns himself Emperor of the Central African Empire in a lavish ceremony costing US$20 million - one third of the nation's budget
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Event of Interest
1977 Neil Simon's "Chapter Two" premieres in NYC
Neil Simon
- 1978 Dianne Feinstein is named as San Francisco's 1st female and Jewish mayor
Event of Interest
1978 Dutch war criminal Pieter Menten freed
Pieter Menten
Birthdays in History
- 1555 Heinrich Meibom, German historian and poet, born in Barntrup, Germany (d. 1625)
- 1580 Samuel Argall, English adventurer and naval officer, born in East Sutton, Kent, England (d. 1626)
- 1584 John Cotton, Puritan clergyman in Mass Bay colony, born in Derby, Derbyshire, Kingdom of England (d. 1652)
- 1595 Jean Chapelain, French writer and poet (La Pucelle), born in Paris (d. 1674)
- 1646 Alain Emmanuel de Coëtlogon, Marshal of France, born in Rennes, Brittany, France (d. 1730)
- 1670 John Aislabie, English politician (Chancellor of the Exchequer), born in England (d. 1742)
- 1711 Barbara of Portugal [Maria Madalena Bárbara Xavier Leonor Teresa Antónia Josefa], Queen of Spain, born in Ribeira Palace, Lisbon, Portugal (d. 1758)
- 1713 Gasparo Gozzi, Italian critic and dramatist, born in Venice (d. 1786)
- 1726 William Alexander, Lord Stirling, American general (American Revolutionary War leader), born in NYC, New York (d. 1783)
- 1777 Juliette Récamier, French socialite, born in Lyon, Kingdom of France (d. 1849)
- 1786 John LA Luyten, Catholic Member of Dutch 2nd parliament [or 12/14]
Thomas Carlyle
1795 Thomas Carlyle, Scottish essayist and historian (The French Revolution), born in Ecclefechan, Scotland (d. 1881)
Thomas Carlyle
- 1798 Jules Armand Dufaure, French statesman (Prime Minister of France 1871-73), born in Saujon, France (d. 1881)
- 1800 Emil Aarestrup, Danish physician and poet (Ritornellen), born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1831)
- 1803 Augustus Zerega diZerega, Martinique, ship owner (Red Z Lane)
- 1808 Ernest Panckoucke, French publisher (Horatius), born in Paris (d. 1886)
- 1812 Elias Smith Dennis, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Newburgh, New York (d. 1894)
- 1818 William Wing "Old Blizzards" Loring, American Major General (Confederate Army), born in Wilmington, North Carolina (d. 1886)
- 1835 Samuel Butler, English author (Erewhom, Way of All Flesh), born in Langar, Nottinghamshire, England (d. 1902)
Crazy Horse
1840 Crazy Horse [Tashunka Witko], Oglala Sioux chief (Battle of the Little Bighorn), born in Fort Robinson, Nebraska (d. 1877)
Crazy Horse
Chester Greenwood
1858 Chester Greenwood, American inventor (invented earmuffs at 15), born in Farmington, Maine (d. 1937)
Chester Greenwood
Edith Cavell
1865 Edith Cavell, British nurse (WWI), born in Swardeston, Norfolk, England (d. 1915)
Edith Cavell
- 1866 Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-French abstract painter (Dreamy Inspiration), born in Moscow (d. 1944)
- 1868 Richard Nicolaas Roland Holst, Dutch artist and painter, born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1938)
- 1875 Rainer Maria Rilke, Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist (Ana, The City, Duino Elegies), born in Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary (d. 1926)
- 1876 Dimitur Poljanov [Popov], Bulgarian poet (Iron Poems) (d. 1953)
- 1880 Garfield Wood, American inventor, motorboat builder and racer (world water speed record x 5; first to travel over 100 mph on water), born in Mapleton, Iowa (d. 1971)
- 1881 Erwin von Witzleben, German fieldmarshal (July 20th plot), born in Wrocław, Poland (d. 1944)
- 1883 Katharine Susannah Prichard, Australian novelist (Black Opal), born in Levuka, Fiji (d. 1969)
- 1888 Aleksandar I, King of Yugoslavia (1921-34), born in Cetinje, Montenegro (d. 1934)
Francisco Franco
1892 Francisco Franco, Spanish general and dictator (1936-75), born in Ferrol, Galicia, Spain (d. 1975)
Francisco Franco
- 1895 Fritiof Nilsson Piraten, Swedish writer (Bombi Bitt Och Jag), born in Vollsjö, Sweden (d. 1972)
- 1895 Fung Yu-lan, Chinese philosopher, born in Tanghe County, Henan, Qing Dynasty (d. 1990)
- 1896 Nikolai Tichonov, Russian writer (against Pasternak), born in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire (d. 1979)
- 1897 Mari Andriessen, Dutch sculptor (Dock Worker), born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1979)
- 1899 Douwe Hermans Kiestra, Frisian farmer and writer, born in Poppenwier, Netherlands (d. 1970)
- 1903 A. L. Rowse, British author and historian, born in Tregonissey, St Austell, Cornwall (d. 1997)
- 1903 Cornell Woolrich, American writer (El Angel Negro), born in NYC, New York (d. 1968)
- 1903 Al Leader, Canadian-American Hockey Hall of Fame player, referee and administrator (Western Hockey League), born in Barnsley, Manitoba (d. 1982)
- 1905 Emílio Garrastazu Médici, 28th President of Brazil (1969-74), born in Bagé, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (d. 1985)
- 1907 Jo Boer, Dutch painter and author (Catharina & the Magnolias), born in Surabaya, Indonesia (d. 1993)
- 1908 A. D. Hershey, American biologist, worked with bacteriophages (Nobel 1969), born in Owosso, Michigan (d. 1997)
- 1910 R. [Ramaswamy] Venkataraman, Indian politician, eighth President of India (1987-92), born in Rajamadam, British India (d. 2009)
- 1912 Ian Wallace [John Wallace Pritchard], American sci-fi author (Megalomania), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1998)
- 1912 Pappy Boyington, American combat pilot (United States Marine Corps fighter ace during World War II), born in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho (d. 1988)
- 1913 Robert Adler, Austrian-American inventor (remote control for television), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 2007)
- 1914 Rudolf Hausner, Austrian artist (d. 1995)
- 1916 Ely Jacques Kahn, Jr., American writer, born in NYC, New York (d. 1994)
- 1919 I. K. [Inder Kumar] Gujral, Indian politician, Prime Minister of India (1997-98), born in Jhelum, British India (d. 2012)
- 1920 Jeanne Manford, American gay rights activist, born in Flushing, New York (d. 2013)
- 1920 Nadir Afonso, Portuguese geometric abstractionist painter, born in Chaves, Portugal (d. 2013)
- 1920 Ray Robinson, American magazine editor and biographer (Lou Gehrig), born in Manhattan, New York (d. 2017)
- 1923 Charles Keating, American district attorney (Los Angeles California), born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 2014)
- 1924 John C. Portman Jr., American architect (Ivan Allen Award-1964), born in Walhalla, South Carolina (d. 2017)
- 1925 Albert Bandura, Canadian-American psychologist, born in Alberta, Canada
- 1931 Wally George, American conservative TV commentator, born in Oakland, California (d. 2003)
- 1932 Joanne Battiste, artist (heroines) (d. 2009)
- 1932 Roh Tae-Woo, 6th President South Korea (1988-93), born in Dong-gu, Daegu, South Korea
- 1935 Robert Vesco, American financier and fugitive, born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 2007)
- 1938 Andre Marrou, American Libertarian Presidential candidate (1992), born in Nixon, Texas
- 1938 Lynn Blessing, vibes player (d. 1994)
- 1940 Gary Gilmore, American murderer, born in McCamey, Texas (d. 1977)
- 1945 Michael Gerzon, British mathematician and audio pioneer (Ambisonics), born in Birmingham (d. 1996)
- 1945 Roberta Lynn Bondar, Canadian neurologist and astronaut (STS 42), born in Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario
- 1947 Ursula Krechel, German writer (Shanghai far from where), born in Trier, Germany
- 1948 Lin Onus, Australian Aboriginal artist (Michael and I are just slipping down to the pub for a minute), born in Melbourne, Victoria (d. 1996)
- 1952 Ronald M. Sega, American professor of systems engineering and astronaut (STS 60, 76), born in Cleveland, Ohio
- 1957 Eric S. Raymond, American open source advocate, born in Boston, Massachusetts
- 1959 Susan W. Krebs, American politician, born in Baltimore, Maryland
- 1966 Suzanne Malveaux, American television news journalist, born in Lansing, Michigan
Weddings in History
Wedding of Interest
1878 Novelist Bram Stoker (31) weds Florence Balcombe (20) in Dublin, Ireland
Bram Stoker
Wedding of Interest
1999 Crown Prince Philippe of Belgium (38) and heir apparent to Belgium throne weds Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz (25) in Brussels, Belgium
Philippe of Belgium
- 2012 "Teen Mom 2" star Jenelle Evans (21) weds Courtland Rogers (26) at a courthouse in Brunswick County, North Carolina
Deaths in History
- 749 Saint John of Damascus, Syrian monk, priest and theologian, dies
- 765 Jafar al-Sadiq, Muslim scholar and scientist, dies at 63
- 811 Charles The Younger, King the of Franks, son of the Emperor Charlemagne, dies at about 39
- 1075 Archbishop Anno II of Cologne
- 1123 Omar Khayyám, Persian poet, astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher (b. 1048)
- 1182 Henry, earl of Gelre/Zutphen (1141/79-82), dies
- 1214 William I "the Lion", King of Scotland (1165-1214)
- 1270 Theobald V of Champagne, King of Navarre
- 1334 Pope John XXII (1316-1334) (b. 1249)
- 1340 Henry Burghersh, English bishop and chancellor (b. 1292)
- 1371 Reinald III, the Fat Duke, duke of Gelre (1343-61), dies at 38
- 1371 Stefanus X Uros V, king of Serbia (1355-71), dies
- 1459 Adolf VIII, Duke of Southern Jutland (b. 1401)
- 1514 Richard Hunne, English "heretic", commits suicide(?)
- 1576 Rheticus, mathematician, dies
- 1585 John Willock, Scottish reformer
- 1603 Maarten de Vos, Flemish painter, dies at about 71
- 1642 Armand-Jean Duplessis Richelieu, bishop of Lucon, dies at about 57
- 1649 Outgert Arisz Akersloot, Dutch silversmith, dies at about 73
- 1649 William Drummond of Hawthornden, Scottish poet, dies at 63
Thomas Hobbes
1679 Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher (Leviathan), dies of a stroke at 91
Thomas Hobbes
Robert Jenkinson
1828 Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (Tory: 1812-27), dies of a stroke at 58
Robert Jenkinson
- 1893 Allan Wilson, British/Rhodesian Major, dies in battle against the Ndebeles during First Matabele War
- 1893 John Tyndall, Irish physicist who demonstrated why the sky is blue and proved that the Earth's atmosphere has a greenhouse effect, dies at 73
- 1893 Heinrich Göbel, German-born mechanic and inventor, dies at 75
- 1902 Charles Dow, American journalist and economist (co-founded Dow Jones and 1st editor of Wall St Journal), dies at 51
- 1909 Paul-Albert Besnard, French painter and graphic artist (Elle), dies at 60
- 1926 Ivana Kobilca, Slovenian-born painter (b. 1861)
- 1932 Gustav Meyrink, writer, dies at 64
- 1933 Stefan George, German poet (Das neue Reich), dies at 65
- 1943 Carlo Mierendorff, German politician and anti-fascist, dies at 46
- 1945 Thomas Hunt Morgan, American evolutionary biologist, geneticist and embryologist (Nobel Prize 1933), dies at 79
- 1948 Karl Bonhoeffer, German psychiatrist/neurologist, dies
- 1951 Pedro Salinas, Spanish writer (Generation of 1927), dies at 61
- 1952 Karen Horney, German-American neo freudian psycho analyst, dies at 67
- 1956 Alexander Rodchenko, Russian painter and photographer, dies at 64
- 1959 Rosetta Duncan, (Duncan Sisters), dies in an auto accident at 58
- 1969 Fred Hampton, US Black-Panther leader, murdered
- 1971 Shunryu Suzuki, Zen teacher, founder of San Francisco Zen Center, dies
Hannah Arendt
1975 Hannah Arendt, German-American political theorist and historian (Origins of Totalitarianism), dies of a heart attack at 69
Hannah Arendt
- 1976 W. F. McCoy, Northern Irish politician (b. 1886)
- 1978 Samuel Abraham Goldsmith, Neth/US phycists, dies at 76
- 1980 Francisco Sá Carneiro, 109th Prime Minister of Portugal, dies at 46
- 1984 John Rock, American obstetrician and gynecologist who co-developed the 1st birth control pill, dies at 94
- 1986 Reuben Nakian, US sculptor, dies at 89
- 1988 Osman Achmatowicz, Polish chemist, dies at 89
- 1993 Frank Sturgis, watergate burglar, dies at 68
- 1993 Hetty de Boer-Jongkind, Dutch medical astrologist and founder (Vakvereniging Medical Astrology), dies at 42
- 1993 Margaret Landon, American author (Anna & the King of Siam), dies at 90
- 1994 Geoffery Rudolph Elton, historiographer, dies at 73
- 1994 Jacob Kaplan, French Grand Rabbi (1955-81), dies at 99
- 1994 Julio Ramon Ribeyro, Peruvian playwright, dies at 66
- 1994 Robert Jesse Charleston, museum curator, dies at 78
- 1994 Thomas Roy Garrett, museum curator, dies at 63
- 1995 Adrianne Jones, killed by David Graham & Diane Zamora, at 16
- 1996 Basil Nield, British judge and politician (Conservative Party), dies at 83
- 1996 Muriel Monkhouse, Red Cross worker, dies at 86
- 1997 David Abell Wood, priest, dies at 72
- 1997 Joseph Wolpe, South African psychotherapist, dies at 82
- 1999 Rose Elizabeth Bird, California Supreme Court Justice (1977-87), dies at 63
- 2000 H. C. Artmann, Austrian writer, dies at 79
- 2005 Errol Brathwaite, New Zealand author (b. 1924)
- 2007 Norval Morrisseau, Canadian artist (b. 1932)
- 2007 Chip Reese, American poker player (3 x World Series of Poker bracelets), dies from pneumonia at 56
- 2012 Vasily Belov, Russian author, dies at 80
- 2012 Jack Brooks, American politician, dies at 89
- 2012 Besse Cooper, American supercentenarian and world
- 2017 Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemeni politician and 1st President of Yemen (1990-2012), is killed during the Battle of Sana'a at 75
- 2017 Mary Louise Hancock, American politician and activist, dies at 97