Events in History
- 374 9th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
- 600 Pope Gregory the Great decrees saying "God bless You" is the correct response to a sneeze
- 1249 Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khan of the Mongols
- 1486 Maximilian I is elected King of the Romans at Frankfurt
- 1512 Battle at Valeggio: French troops beat Venetianen
- 1559 Pope Paul IV calls for deposition of sovereigns supporting heresy
Historic Publication
1741 Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine begins publishing
Benjamin Franklin
Election of Interest
1742 Spencer Compton becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain (First Lord of the Treasury)
Spencer Compton
- 1751 1st publication of Thomas Gray's poem "Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard"
- 1760 Native American hostages killed in Fort Prince George, South Carolina
- 1771 Messier presents his original list of 45 M-objects to French Academy
- 1777 Messier adds M53 to his catalog (globular cluster in Coma Berenice)
- 1804 US Navy Lt Stephen Decatur raids Tripoli Harbor & burns Navy frigate "Philadelphia" after pirates seized it
- 1824 Athenaeum club founded in London
- 1838 Kentucky passes law permitting women to attend school under conditions
- 1838 Weenen Massacre: Hundreds of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal are killed by Zulu warriors
Historic Discovery
1840 American Charles Wilkes discovers Shackleton Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Charles Wilkes
- 1846 Battle of Sobraon ends 1st Sikh War in India
- 1852 Studebaker Brothers wagon company, precursor of the automobile manufacturer, is established.
- 1857 Gallaudet College (National Deaf Mute college) forms in Washington, D.C.
- 1859 The French Government passes a law to set the A-note above middle C to a frequency of 435 Hz, in an attempt to standardize the pitch
- 1860 Dutch Rochussen/Van Bosse government resigns
Victory in Battle
1862 Fort Donelson is captured by General Ulysses S. Grant following the surrender of around 12,000 Confederate soldiers
Ulysses S. Grant
- 1864 Battle of Mobile, AL - operations by Union Army
- 1866 Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington becomes the British Secretary of State for War
- 1868 Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks forms (NY)
- 1880 American Society of Mechanical Engineers forms (NYC)
- 1883 "Ladies Home Journal" begins publishing
- 1887 1st newspaper convention (Rochester NY)
- 1887 Eduard Douwes Dekker writes his last text (Lf8-c5)
- 1894 British troops occupy Ilorin, Gold Coast
- 1899 President of France Félix Faure dies in office.
- 1900 1st Chinese daily newspaper in US publishes (Chung Sai Yat Po, San Francisco)
- 1903 -59°F (-51°C), Pokegama Dam, Minnesota (state record)
- 1905 1st US Esperanto club organizes in Boston
- 1909 1st subway car with side doors goes into service (NYC)
- 1909 Serbia mobilizes against Austria-Hungary
Agreement of Interest
1913 US President Taft agrees not to intervene in Mexico
William Howard Taft
- 1914 1st airplane flight from LA to SF
- 1915 Frank Home Run Baker, 28, announces retirement following a contract dispute with Connie Mack. He sits out 1915 season
- 1916 Russian troops conquer the Ottoman Empire city of Erzurum during WWI
- 1916 The US rejects the right of Germany and Austria-Hungary to sink armed merchant ships
- 1916 The German ambassador in Washington announces that Germany will pay an indemnity for American lives lost on the Lusitania
- 1917 1st synagogue in 425 years opens in Madrid
- 1918 Lithuania declares independence from Russia & Germany (National Day)
- 1923 Allies accept Latvia's occupation of Memel territory
Tutankhamun's Burial Chamber Found
1923 Howard Carter opens the inner burial chamber of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb and finds the sarcophagus
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Murder of Interest
1929 In mysterious murder suicide Ned Doheny Jr., son of oil magnate Edward L. Doheny, dies along with secretary Hugh Plunkett at Greystone Mansion, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles
Edward L. Doheny
- 1931 Extreme right wing Pehr Evind Svinhufvud becomes President of Finland
- 1932 1st patent for a tree issued to James Markham for a peach tree
- 1933 Catholic newspaper Germania warns against Nazis and communists
- 1933 England regains the Ashes, thanks to "bodyline" tactics
- 1934 Austrian Civil War ends with the defeat of the Social Democrats and the Republican Schutzbund
- 1934 Commission of Government is sworn in as form of direct rule for the Dominion of Newfoundland
- 1936 Spanish Frente Popular (People's Front) wins elections
- 1937 DuPont Corp patents nylon, developed by employee Wallace Carothers
- 1937 Jean Anouilh's "Le Voyageur Sans Baggage" premieres in Paris
- 1938 US Federal Crop Insurance program authorized
- 1940 British search plane finds German supply ship Altmark, used to accommodate allied sailors from vessels sunk by the Graf Spee off Norway
- 1942 German submarines attack Aruba oil refinery
- 1942 Bangka Island massacre: Japanese soldiers machine-gun 22 Australian Army nurses and 60 Australian and British soldiers and crew members from two sunken ships. Only one nurse and two soldiers survive.
- 1943 -32°F (-36°C), Falls Village, Connecticut (state record)
Contract of Interest
1943 British premier Winston Churchill contracts pneumonia
Winston Churchill
- 1943 Withdrawing Afrika Korps reaches Mareth-line in North Africa
- 1943 Sign on Munich facade: "Out with Hitler! Long live freedom!" done by "White Rose" student group, caught on 2/18, beheaded on 2/22
- 1943 World War II: The USSR reconquers Kharkov.
- 1945 US forces land on Corregidor, complete conquest on March 3
- 1945 Venezuela declares war on Nazi Germany
- 1946 1st commercially designed helicopter tested, Bridgeport, Connecticut
- 1948 Miranda, famous moon of Uranus, photographed for 1st time
- 1951 NYC passes bill prohibiting racism in city-assisted housing
- 1951 San Francisco City Hall dome fire
Event of Interest
1959 Fidel Castro becomes the 16th Prime Minister of Cuba after overthrowing Fulgencio Batista
Fidel Castro
- 1959 Leonard Spigelgass' "Majority of One" premieres in NYC
- 1960 US nuclear submarine USS Triton set off on underwater round-world trip
- 1961 1st all-solid-propellant rocket put in orbit, Wallops Island, Virginia
- 1961 China uses its 1st nuclear reactor
- 1961 US satellite Explorer 9 is launched
- 1963 1st round-trip swim of Strait of Messina, Italy (Mary Revell of US)
- 1963 C & A Building in Amsterdam burns down
'The Banality of Evil'
1963 Philosopher Hannah Arendt's controversial account of the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann is first published in "The New Yorker"
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- 1965 Pegasus 1 launched to detect micro-meteors
- 1966 Bob Cowper makes 307 v England at the MCG, 727 mins, 20 fours
- 1966 France performs underground nuclear test at Ecker, Algeria
- 1967 Red Ruffing selected to Hall of Fame
- 1968 US 1st 911 phone system goes into service in Haleyville, Alabama
- 1972 German mass murderers "Three of Breda" freed
- 1973 West Indies v Australia at Kingston, 1st time since 1955 without Gary Sobers
- 1977 USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan
- 1978 1st Computer Bulletin Board System (Ward & Randy's CBBS, Chicago)
- 1979 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk
Birthdays in History
- 1032 Zhao Shu, Chinese Emperor Yingzong of Song (1063-67), born in Kaifeng, China (d. 1067)
- 1075 Ordericus Vitalis, French monk/historian/poet
- 1222 Nichiren, Japan, Buddhist priest/saint
- 1331 Coluccio Salutati, Italian political leader and humanist, Chancellor of the Republic of Florence (appointed 1375), born in Stignano (d. 1406)
- 1497 Philipp Melanchthon, Germ, Protestant reformer (Augsburgse Confessie)
- 1519 Gaspard de Coligny, Huguenot leader/French admiral
- 1543 Kano Eitoku, Japanese painter (d. 1590)
- 1620 Frederick William, Great Elector, founder of Brandenburg-Prussia
- 1643 John Sharp, English Archbishop of York (1691-1714), born in Bradford, England (d. 1714)
- 1698 Pierre Bouguer, French mathematician (heliometer)
- 1727 Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, Austrian scientist (d. 1817)
- 1740 Giambattista Bodoni, Saluzzo Italy, printer/typeface designer (Bodoni)
- 1746 Johann Heinse, German Sturm und Drang novelist/art critic
- 1761 Charles Pichegru, French general (d. 1804)
- 1786 Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (d. 1859)
- 1787 Andreas Schelfhout, Dutch painter/etcher/lithographer
- 1788 Juan van Halen, Dutch/Spanish officer/adventurer
- 1802 Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, American philosopher (d. 1866)
- 1804 Karl Theodor Ernst von Siebold, German physiologist (d. 1885)
- 1807 Lysander Cutler, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Royalston, Massachusetts (d. 1866)
- 1812 Henry Wilson, (R) 18th VP (1873-75)
- 1813 Joseph Reid Anderson, Brigadier General (Confederate Army) (d. 1892)
- 1821 Heinrich Barth, geographer/explorer (Central Africa), born in Hamburg, Germany
- 1822 Francis Galton, British anthropologist and geneticist (eugenics), born in Birmingham, England (d. 1911)
- 1822 James Patton Anderson, Major General (Confederate Army), (d. 1872)
- 1823 John Daniel Imboden, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1895)
- 1824 Peter Kozler, Slovenian cartographer and geographer (d. 1879)
- 1826 Joseph V von Scheffel, German writer (Gaudeamus)
- 1831 Nikolai Leskow, writer
- 1832 Camille Armand Jules Marie de Polignac, Mjr General (Confederate Army)
- 1834 Ernst Haeckel, German biologist (Causes of Evolution) and philosopher (Social Darwinism), born in Potsdam, Prussia (d. 1919)
- 1838 Arnoldus Pannevis, South African ship's doctor/linguist
- 1838 Henry Adams, historian, writer (Education of Henry Adams), born in Boston, Massachusetts
- 1848 Hugo de Vries, Dutch botanist (How species emerge)
- 1850 Octave Mirbeau, French writer (Journal of a Lady's Maid)
- 1852 Charles Taze Russell, religion founder (Jehovah's Witnesses)
- 1852 William Scarborough, Macon Ga, linguist/author (Birds of Aristophanes)
- 1856 Rudolph Karstadt, German entrepreneur (d. 1944)
- 1858 Laurence "Lon" Myers, American track star (top US miler)
- 1868 Wilhelm Schmidt, German anthropologist/linguist (Anthropos)
- 1876 G. M. Trevelyan [George Macaulay Trevelyan], British historian and academic, born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England (d. 1962)
- 1881 Maurits H E Uyldert, Dutch poet/writer (Youth of a Poet)
- 1883 Elizabeth Craig, British writer (d. 1980)
- 1886 Van Wyck Brooks, NJ, literary historian/writer (Ordeal of Mark Twain)
- 1891 Hans F. K. Günther, German eugenicist (d. 1967)
- 1903 George-Henri Lévesque, Quebec priest and sociologist (d. 2000)
- 1904 George F Kennan, US ambassador (to Moscow), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- 1905 Lord Franks, British ambassador (to US)
- 1909 Richard McDonald, American fast food pioneer (d. 1998)
- 1910 Michael Milne-Watson, CEO (BUPA)
- 1911 Hal Porter, Australia, writer (Tilted Cross, Paper Chase)
- 1912 Arthur Crook, British editor (Times Literary Supplement)
- 1912 Bob Tadema Sporry, Dutch (female) author
- 1914 J Tobin, British anaesthetist
- 1920 Hubert van Herreweghen, Flemish writer/journalist
- 1920 Anna Mae Hays [McCabe], American military officer and US military's 1st female General, born in Buffalo, New York (d. 2018)
- 1921 Araucaria, British crossword compiler
- 1921 Esther Bubley, Phillips, Wisconsin, American photographer
Hua Guofeng
1921 Hua Guofeng, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (1976-81) and Premier of the People's Republic of China (1976-80), born in Jiaocheng County, Shanxi (d. 2008)
Hua Guofeng
- 1922 Paul van 't Veer, Dutch journalist/writer (Het Vrije Volk)
- 1924 James Swaffield, director-general (Swaffield & Clerk to the GLC)
- 1924 Peter Webster, British High Court Judge
- 1925 David Emms, director (London Goodenough Trust for Overseas Graduates)
- 1925 PER Bailey, director (Gatwick & Stansted Airports)
- 1926 John Schlesinger, director (Midnight Cowboy, Darling), born in London, England
- 1926 Jack Levy, mechanical engineer
- 1926 David Austin, English rose breeder (Austin roses), born in Albrighton, England (d. 2018)
- 1929 Peter NF Porter, Australian/British author/poet (Chair of Babel)
- 1930 Frederick "Fred" Cuming, British painter, born in London
- 1931 Alfred Kolleritsch, Austrian writer, born in Eichfeld
- 1931 George E Sangmeister, (Rep-D-Illinois)
- 1932 Aharon Appelfeld, Israeli writer, born in Jadova Commune, Kingdom of Romania
- 1932 Nand Baert, Belgian radio/TV-host
- 1932 Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, President of Sierra Leone
- 1935 Robin Clark, chemist (FRS)
- 1935 Kenneth Price, ceramic artist and print maker (Hot Bottoms, Tamed), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2012)
- 1936 Jill Kinmont, American skier
Carl Icahn
1936 Carl Icahn, American businessman (Icahn Enterprises), born in NYC, New York
Carl Icahn
Kim Jong-il
1942 Kim Jong-il, Supreme Leader of North Korea (1994-2011), born in Vyatskoye, Soviet Union [disputed birthplace and birth date, 1941] (d. 2011)
Kim Jong-il
- 1943 James Beaton, British GC
- 1944 António Mascarenhas Monteiro, 2nd President of Cape Verde
- 1946 J R Farndon, British consultant surgeon
- 1947 Franz West, artist (Flause), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 2012)
- 1948 Eckhart Tolle, Author and spiritual teacher
- 1948 Séamus Brennan, Irish Fianna Fáil politician and Minister, born in Salthill, Galway, Ireland (d. 2008)
- 1949 Dorus Vrede, Surinam poet (Otobanda; the Other Bank)
- 1950 Peter Hain, British MP
- 1953 Roberta Williams, video game designer (Mystery House, Sierra Entertainment), born in La Verne, California
- 1954 Iain [Menzies] Banks, UK, sci-fi author (Wasp Factory), (d. 2013)
- 1955 Guy Gallo, writer (Under the Volcano), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
- 1958 Michael W. Burns, American politician, born in Baltimore, Maryland
- 1965 Dave Lombardo, Cuban drummer (Slayer)
- 1965 Adama Barrow, Gambian politician, President of Gambia (2017-), born in Mankamang Kunda, Gambia
- 1968 Warren Ellis, British comic book writer (Red), born in Essex, England
- 1970 D.J. Wallis, American fitness competitor
- 1977 Ian Clarke, Irish computer programmer
Weddings in History
- 1655 Dutch Grand Pensionary advisor Johan de Witt marries Wendela Bicker
Wedding of Interest
1734 Jurist William Allen (29) weds Margaret Hamilton
William Allen
Wedding of Interest
1784 American Revolutionary War patriot Ethan Allen (46) weds second wife Frances Montresor Brush Buchanan
Ethan Allen
Wedding of Interest
1867 Prime Minister of Canada John A. Macdonald (52) weds Agnes Bernard (30) at St George's Church in Hanover Square, London
John A. Macdonald
Wedding of Interest
1955 Playwright Brendan Behan (32) weds Beatrice Salkeld at Donnybrook Church in Dublin, Ireland
Brendan Behan
- 2013 "Devious Maids" actress Dania Ramirez (33) weds director Bev Land on the beach in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Deaths in History
- 309 Pamphilus van Caesarea, Palestinian scholar/martyr, beheaded
- 923 Abu Dja'far Mohammed Djarir al-Tabari, islamic historian, dies at 83
- 1247 Heinrich Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia (b. 1204)
- 1279 Afonso III, King of Portugal (1248-79), dies at 68
- 1391 Johannes V Palaeologus, Emperor of Byzantium (1341-91), dies
- 1531 Johannes Stöffler, German mathematician and astronomer, dies at 78
- 1538 Everhard/Erardus van de Mark, prince-bishop of Liege, dies at 65
- 1560 Jean du Bellay, French Catholic cardinal and diplomat
- 1687 Charles Cotton, English poet and writer, dies at 56
- 1710 Esprit Fléchier, French writer and Bishop of Nîmes, dies at 77
- 1721 James Craggs the Younger, English politician, dies at 34
- 1754 Richard Mead, physician, dies
- 1791 Richard earl d'Alton, Austria general of S Neth, commits suicide at 58
- 1799 Charles Theoby, ruler (Palts & Bayern), dies at 74
- 1820 Georg Carl von Döbeln, Swedish Lieutenant General and war hero, dies at 61
- 1823 Pierre-Paul Prud'hon, French Romantic painter and draughtsman - allegorical paintings and portraits, dies at 64
- 1834 Lionel Lukin, British life boat pioneer, dies at 91
- 1844 Joseph Crosfield, English soap and alkali manufacturer, dies at 51
- 1851 Anne Willem Carel van Nagell, Dutch politician, dies at 95
- 1857 Auguste-Gaspard-Louis Desnoyers, French engraver, dies at 77
- 1857 Elisha Kent Kane, Arctic explorer (Kane Basin), dies at 37
- 1858 Georg F Creuzer, German philological/historian, dies at 86
- 1892 Henry Walter Bates, naturalist/explorer (South America), dies
- 1898 Thomas Bracken, New Zealand poet (b. 1843)
- 1899 Félix Faure, 6th President of the French Third Republic (1895-99), dies at 57
- 1900 George Labram, US mine engineer in South Africa, dies in battle
- 1907 Giosuè Carducci, Italian writer and Nobel Prize Laureate 1906 regarded as the official national poet of modern Italy, dies at 71
- 1912 Edgar Evans, British explorer (Antarctica), dies
- 1912 St. Nikolai of Japan, Eastern Orthodox priest (b. 1836)
- 1916 Jeltje de Bosch Kemper, Dutch feminist, dies at 79
- 1916 [Gerard] Jan Ligthart, Dutch educator (Ot & Sien), dies at 57
- 1917 Octave Mirbeau, French writer (b. 1848)
- 1932 Ferdinand Buisson, French pacifist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1841)
- 1934 Eduard Bagritsky, Russian-Soviet poet and journalist (South-West), dies at 38
- 1936 James Harvey Robinson, American historian (Ordeal of Civilization), dies at 72
- 1938 Otto zur Linde, German author (Lieder of the Leids), dies at 64
- 1939 Jura Soyfer, Austrian political journalist and cabaret writer, dies at Buchenwald concentration camp at 26
- 1945 Rudolf Vornlund, Swedish playwright (Upproret), dies at 45
- 1951 Henri Velge, 1st chairman (Belgian Council of State), dies at 65
- 1957 Leslie Hore-Belisha, British politician (Minister of Transport), dies at 63
- 1963 Friedrich Dessauer, German physicist (radiologist), dies at 81
- 1966 Hendrik Tilanus, Dutch artillery officer and political leader (CHU 1939-63), dies at 81
- 1967 Smiley Burnette, cowboy (Charlie-Petticoat Junction), dies at 55
- 1974 John Garand, Canadian rifle engineer and manufacturer (b. 1888)
- 1978 E. Roland Harriman, American financier (b. 1895)
- 1979 Nematullah Nassiri, Iran general/head of Savak, executed
- 1980 Erich Hückel, German physicist and physical chemist, dies at 83
- 1988 Jean Carignan, French Canadian fiddler, dies at 71
Keith Haring
1990 Keith Haring, American graffiti artist (brilliant baby), dies of AIDS at 31
Keith Haring
- 1991 Enrique B Varela, commandant Nicaragua contra's, dies
- 1992 Abbas al-Musawi, influential Lebanese Shia cleric, and founder and leader of Hezbollah, assassinated by Israel Defense Forces at 39
- 1992 Angela Carter, English novelist (Magic Toyshop) and journalist, dies of cancer at 51
- 1992 George Mann MacBeth, Scottish journalist/poet (A War Quartet), dies
- 1992 Janio Quadros, president of Brazil (1961), dies
- 1995 John Everett Allen, American businessman, dies at 91
- 1995 Martin Soames, traveller, dies at 91
- 1996 Charles McCorquodale, art historian, dies at 47
- 1996 Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown, American politician and Governor of California (D: 1959-67), dies at 90
- 1996 Kenneth Robinson, politician/businessman, dies at 84
- 1996 Susan Bosence, British textile designer and blockprinter, dies at 82
- 1997 Chien-Shiung Wu, Chinese-American experimental physicist (conduced the Wu experiment) dies at 84
- 1999 Michael Larson, American "Press Your Luck" scandal big-winning contestant, dies of cancer at 49
- 2000 Karsten Solheim, Norwegian-born engineer and inventor (b. 1911)
- 2001 William Masters, American gynecologist and sexologist (b. 1915)
- 2003 Eleanor "Sis" Daley, wife of Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley, dies of a stroke at 95
- 2005 Queen Narriman, second and last wife of King Farouk and mother of their only child King Fuad II
- 2009 Stephen Cardinal Kim Sou-hwan, Korean Cardinal, Protopriest of the Holy Roman Church (b. 1921)
- 2011 Justinas Marcinkevičius, Lithuanian poet and playwright (b. 1930)
- 2012 Baddeley Devesi, first Governor-General of the Solomon Islands, dies at 70
- 2012 Anthony Shadid, New York Times foreign correspondent and two time Pulitzer winner, dies from asthma at 43
- 2012 Harry McPherson, presidential counsel (Lyndon Johnson) and lobbyist, dies from cancer at 82
- 2014 Michael Shea, American sci-fi author (World Fantasy Award: Nifft the Lean, Growlimb), dies at 67
- 2015 Robert Wade-Gery, British diplomat (High Commissioner to India 1982–87), dies at 85
- 2016 Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Egyptian politician and 6th Secretary-General of the United Nations (1992- 96), dies at 93
- 2017 Dick Bruna, Dutch illustrator (Miffy books), dies at 89
- 2019 Theodore Isaac Rubin, American psychiatrist and author credited with popularising psychotherapy, dies at 95
- 2020 Larry Tesler, American computer scientist (invented copy, cut, paste), dies at 74