Events in History
Event of Interest
138 The Emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius, effectively making him his successor
Hadrian
Antoninus Pius
- 1095 Council of Rockingham: bishop Anselmus vs King William II Rufus
Excommunication
1570 Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I of England for heresy and persecution of English Catholics during her reign. Also absolves her subjects from allegiance to the crown.
Elizabeth I
- 1605 Portuguese garrison on Ambon surrenders to Admiral Van der Haghen
- 1623 Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria becomes monarch of Palts
- 1634 Irish captain Walter Devereaux kills Duke Wallenstein
- 1643 Pavonia Massacre: Dutch US colonists kill 120 Algonquin Native Americans at Communipaw (New Jersey)
- 1667 Abraham Crijnssens fleet reach Fort Willoughby on Suriname River
- 1746 The Duke of Cumberland's troops occupy Aberdeen
- 1751 1st performing monkey exhibited in America, NYC (admission 1 cent)
- 1791 1st Bank of US chartered
- 1795 French Politician and Educator Joseph Lakanal, defines on behalf of the French Revolution an “educational utopia” aiming to “put an end to inequalities of development that affected a citizen's capacities for judgment."
- 1799 1st federal forestry legislation authorizes purchase of timber land
- 1799 US Congress passes 1st federal quarantine legislation
- 1803 In the last significant act of the Holy Roman Empire, more than 100 German polities are abolished in a major internal reorganization
Presidential Convention
1804 Thomas Jefferson nominated for US President at Democratic-Republican caucus
Thomas Jefferson
Theater Premiere
1830 Victor Hugo's play "Hernani" premieres in Paris
Victor Hugo
Historic Invention
1836 Samuel Colt patents first multi-shot revolving-cylinder revolver, enabling the firearm to be fired multiple times without reloading
Samuel Colt
Event of Interest
1836 Showman P. T. Barnum exhibits African American slave Joice Heth, claiming she was the 161 year-old nursemaid to George Washington
P. T. Barnum
Event of Interest
1855 Bowery Boys gang leader William Poole "Bill the Butcher" shot in the back by gang of archrival John Morrissey in New York (dies 8th March)
Bill the Butcher
- 1859 1st use of "insanity plea" to prove innocence
1st US One-Dollar Notes
1862 Congress forms US Bureau of Engraving and Printing to print newly issued US paper currency, the United States Notes
Learn More
Event of Interest
1862 First Legal Tender Act 1862 is passed by the US Congress, authorizing the United States Note (greenback) into circulation, the first fiat paper money that was legal tender in America
Abraham Lincoln
- 1863 Congress creates national banking system, comptroller of currency
Event of Interest
1870 Hiram R. Revels is sworn in as 1st African American member of Congress (Sen-R-MS)
Hiram R. Revels
- 1875 Kiowa Indians under Lone Wolf (Guipago) surrender at Ft Sill
- 1879 US Congress passed 1st Timberland Protection Act
- 1885 US Congress condemns barbed wire around government grounds
- 1892 James Barrie's "Walker London" premieres in London
- 1896 Italian government decides to attack governor Baratieri of Eritrea
Event of Interest
1901 US Steel Corporation organized under J. P. Morgan, Sr.
J. P. Morgan
- 1905 The Nederlands Verbond van Vakverenigingenwas, a Dutch social-democratic trade union, forms
Event of Interest
1907 George Bernard Shaw's "Philanderer" premieres in London
George Bernard Shaw
- 1907 US proclaims protectorate over Dominican Republic
- 1908 1st tunnel under Hudson River (railway tunnel) opens
- 1910 Dalai Lama flees Tibet for British India to escape Chinese troops
- 1912 Marie-Adélaïde, the eldest of six daughters of Guillaume IV, becomes the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
- 1913 The 16th Amendment to the US Constitution becomes law, providing the legal basis for the institution of a graduated income tax
- 1916 Battle of Verdun: German troops conquer Fort Douaumont without firing a shot, the largest and highest fort defending the city of Verdun during World War I
- 1919 Oregon is 1st state to tax gasoline (1 cent per gallon)
- 1921 Tbilisi, capital of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, occupied by Bolshevist Russia
- 1921 The Living Buddha, Hutuktu, is crowned King of Mongolia as the country declares independence from China
- 1923 Bread in Berlin rises to 2,000 marks
- 1925 Glacier Bay National Monument established in Alaska
- 1925 US Women's Figure Skating championship won by Beatrix Loughran
- 1925 US Men's Figure Skating championship won by Nathaniel Niles
- 1925 Diplomatic relations between Japan and the Soviet Union established
Event of Interest
1926 Francisco Franco becomes Spain's youngest general at 33
Francisco Franco
Event of Interest
1932 Austrian immigrant Adolf Hitler gets German citizenship
Adolf Hitler
- 1933 1st genuine US aircraft carrier named, USS Ranger
- 1938 Lord Halifax becomes British Foreign Secretary
- 1939 1st Anderson bomb shelter in Britain erected in an Islington garden
- 1941 February strike against persecution of Jews, in Amsterdam
- 1943 Vietminh forms Indo Chinese Democratic Front
- 1944 US 1st Army completes invasion plan
- 1945 US aircraft carriers attack Tokyo
- 1945 World War II: Turkey declares war on Germany.
- 1948 Communists seize Czechoslovakia and C Gottwald becomes premier
- 1949 WAC Corporal rocket achieves height of 400k (record)
- 1951 1st Pan American Games opens (Buenos Aires Argentina)
- 1954 Abdul Nasser appointed Egyptian premier
Conference of Interest
1956 Nikita Khrushchev denounces Joseph Stalin at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Nikita Khrushchev
Joseph Stalin
Event of Interest
1960 Lillian Hellman's "Toys in the Attic" premieres in NYC
Lillian Hellman
Event of Interest
1962 Robert F. Kennedy visits Netherlands
Robert F. Kennedy
- 1964 Austrian chancellor Alfons Gorbach resigns
- 1966 Syrian military coup under General Hafiz al-Assad
- 1968 430 Unification Church couples wed in Korea
- 1968 Makarios re-elected president of Cyprus
- 1969 Mariner 6 launched for fly-by of Mars
- 1969 West Germany gives $5 million to an Arab terrorist as ransom for the passengers and crew of a hijacked jumbo jet
- 1971 P Zindel's "And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little" premieres in NYC
Meeting of Interest
1971 Northern Ireland Prime Minister James Chichester-Clark holds a meeting with Catholic Cardinal of Ireland William Conway, the first such meeting between men holding these offices since 1921
James Chichester-Clark
- 1972 Attempted assassination of Irish Minister of State for Home Affairs John Taylor who is shot a number of times (the Official Irish Republican Army later claimed responsibility)
- 1973 Juan Corona sentenced to 25 life sentences for 25 murders
- 1975 Ewen Chatfield flattened by Peter Lever & seriously injured
- 1977 Oil tanker explosion west of Honolulu spills 31 million gallons
- 1977 Soyuz 24 returns to Earth
- 1979 Soyuz 32 carries 2 cosmonauts to Salyut 6 space station is launched
- 1980 Coup ousts PM Henck Arron of Suriname
- 1981 Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo elected premier of Spain
- 1981 Rita Jenrette (wife of Abscam congressman) appears on Donahue
- 1981 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1982 Final episode of "The Lawrence Welk Show" airs
- 1982 Record speed for a snowmobile (239 kph)
- 1984 Oil fire in Cubatao Brazil kills 500
Event of Interest
1986 Corazon Aquino becomes President of the Philippines, Marcos flees the country
Corazon Aquino
Birthdays in History
- 1398 Xuande, Emperor of China (d. 1435)
- 1591 Friedrich von Spee, German writer (d. 1635)
- 1635 Walraad, the Elder, Dutch fieldmarshall/earl of Nassau-Usingen
- 1643 Ahmed II, 21st Sultan of Turkey (1691-95), born in Istanbul, Ottoman Empire (d. 1695) [or born Aug 1, 1642]
- 1663 Pierre Antoine Motteux, French-born English dramatist (d. 1718)
- 1682 Giovanni Battista Morgagni, Italian anatomist (d. 1771)
- 1692 Karl Ludwig, Freiherr von Pöllnitz, German adventurer and writer (d. 1775)
- 1707 Carlo Goldoni, Italian playwright and librettist (Belisario, Servant of Two Masters), born in Venice, Republic of Venice (d. 1793)
- 1714 Sir Hyde Parker, 5th Baronet, British admiral (d. 1782)
- 1714 René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou, Chancellor of France (d. 1792)
- 1725 Karl Wilhelm Ramler, German poet (Geistliche Kantaten)
- 1731 Simon Stijl, Frisian physician/writer
- 1752 John Graves Simcoe, first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada (d. 1806)
José de San Martín
1778 José de San Martín, Argentine General, liberated Argentina, Chile and Peru from Spanish rule, born in Yapeyú, Argentina (d. 1850)
José de San Martín
- 1794 Gerrit Schimmelpenninck, Dutch earl of Nijenhuis/Peckedam
- 1807 George Trenholm, South Carolina plantation owner, Secretary of the Treasury for the Confederate States, (d. 1876)
- 1808 James Bowen, American Major General (Union Army), born in Manhattan, New York (d. 1886)
- 1809 George Washington Cullom, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in NYC, New York (d. 1892)
- 1814 Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian national poet and painter, born in Moryntsi, Ukraine (d. 1861) [OS]
- 1815 Robert Hall Chilton, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1879)
- 1832 Theodorus J I Arnold, bibliographer (Bibliotheca Belgian)
- 1833 Clement Anselm Evans, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1911)
- 1840 Otto Liebmann, German philosopher (Climax of Theories)
Pierre Auguste Renoir
1841 Pierre Auguste Renoir, French Impressionist painter and sculptor (Bal du moulin de la Galette, Luncheon of the Boating Party), born in Limoges, France (d. 1919)
Pierre Auguste Renoir
- 1842 Karl May, German writer (Old Shatterhand/Winnetou)
- 1847 John Watson, Canadian philosopher (Objective Idealism)
- 1855 Cesário Verde, Portuguese poet (d. 1886)
- 1856 Charles Lang Freer, art collector; endowed Freer Gallery [or 1876]
- 1860 Menso Kamerlingh Onnes, painter/water colors painter
- 1860 William James Ashley, English economic-historian
- 1866 Benedetto Croce, Italian humanist/historian/editor/philosopher
- 1868 Anthony J Block, Dutch lawyer (strafproces)
- 1876 Charles Freer, art collector; endowed Freer Gallery [or 1856]
- 1881 William Z. Foster, American labor organizer and Communist Presidential candidate (1924, 1928 and 1932), born in Taunton, Massachusetts (d. 1961)
- 1882 Jozef Goossenaerts, Flemish philologist (Language boundary)
- 1883 Princess Alice of Albany, Countess of Athlone (d. 1981)
- 1885 Sylvia Brett, Lady Brooke and Ranee of Sarawak, born in London, England (d. 1971)
John Foster Dulles
1888 John Foster Dulles, US Secretary of State (1953-59), born in Washington, D.C. (d. 1959)
John Foster Dulles
- 1889 Homer S. Ferguson, United States Senator (d. 1982)
- 1894 Ernst Friedrich, Breslau Germany, pacifist (War Against War!)
- 1894 Meher Baba, Indian spiritual leader (d. 1969)
- 1896 John Little McClellan, Sheridan Arkansas, American lawyer and politician (Sen-D-Ark)
- 1898 William Thomas Astbury, English physicist/chemist (textiles)
- 1899 Leo J Weisgerber, German linguist
- 1902 Max Kommerell, German literary/author (Die Gefangenen)
- 1902 Oscar Cullmann, Swiss theologist (Das Petrusproblem)
- 1904 Adelle Davis, American nutritionist and author (Let's Stay Healthy), born in Lizton, Indiana (d. 1974)
- 1906 Domingo Ortega, Spanish bullfighter
- 1906 Howard Zahniser, Father of Wilderness Act
- 1907 Mary Coyle Chase, playwright (Harvey-Pulitzer Prize)
- 1907 Sabahattin Ali, Turkish poet, author and journalist (Esirler, Içimizdeki Şeytan), born in Eğridere, Gümülcine, Ottoman Empire (d. 1948)
- 1908 Frank G Slaughter, author (Sangaree)
- 1909 Edgar Pangborn, American sci-fi author (Judgment of Eve, Davy)
- 1909 John Evan "Jasper" Weston-Davies [pen name Berkley Mather], English writer, born in Gloucester (d. 1996)
- 1909 Geoffrey Dummer, electronics engineer, first to build integrated circuit / microchip, born in Hull England (d. 2002)
- 1910 Millicent Fenwick, American (Rep-R-NJ 1975-82) (Doonesbury), born in NYC, New York
- 1916 Ian Wallace, British CEO
- 1916 Reinhard Bendix, German sociologist (d. 1991)
- 1917 Alex Gordon, Welsh architect, born in Ayr, Scotland
Anthony Burgess
1917 [John] Anthony Burgess [Wilson], essayist and novelist (A Clockwork Orange), born in Harpurhey, Lancashire (d. 1993)
Anthony Burgess
- 1917 Asta E R Elstak, Suriname/Dutch social worker
- 1919 F de Jong Edz, Dutch historian
- 1919 Karl H. Pribram, Austrian neuroscientist
- 1920 Sun Myung Moon, South Korean evangelist (Unification Church), born in Chongju, Japanese Korea (d. 2012)
- 1920 Antony Duff, British diplomat, Head of MI5, advocate for the homeless (d. 2000)
- 1920 Gérard Bessette, Canadian author (d. 2005)
- 1923 Roger Parker, Lord Justice of Appeal
- 1924 Peg Ridge, peace campaigner
- 1925 Shehu Shagari, Nigerian politician, President of Nigeria (1979-83), born in Sokoto, Nigeria (d. 2018)
- 1926 Harvey McGregor, QC/warden (New College-Oxford)
- 1927 Rev. Bruce Ritter, Catholic priest and controversial founder of charity Covenant House, born in Trenton New Jersey (d. 1999)
- 1928 Keith Williamson, British RAF marshal
- 1928 Richard Stern, American writer
- 1929 Peter Bingham Hinchcliff, British church historian (1 Sided Reciprocity)
- 1930 Erica Pedretti, writer
- 1930 Wendy Beckett, South African British nun and TV art critic, born in Johannesburg, South Africa (d. 2018)
- 1931 Edward Kellett-Bowman, British MEP
- 1931 J R Stephenson, Lt-col/secretary (MCC)
- 1932 Laurence New, Major-General
- 1934 Nicholas Edwards, Baron Crickhowell, British Conservative Party politician
- 1934 Michael Wheeler-Booth, Clerk of the Parliaments
- 1934 Robert Neame, British brewer (Shepherd Neame)
Sally Jessy Raphael
1935 Sally Jessy Raphael, American TV talk show host (Sally), born in Easton, Pennsylvania
Sally Jessy Raphael
- 1937 Basia Johnson, maid (inherited Johnson & Johnson fortune)
- 1939 A C F Verity, master (Dulwich College)
- 1940 George Paul, CEO (Norwich Union Insurance Group)
- 1940 Hector MacKenzie, trade unionist
- 1941 Stewart Sutherland, Principal/Vice-Chancellor (Edinburgh University)
- 1945 Shivadhar Srinivasa Naipaul, Trinidad, novelist, essayist (Fireflies)
- 1946 F Xaver Kroetz, writer
- 1946 Jean Todt, French executive director of Scuderia Ferrari
- 1947 Lewis Moonie, British MP
- 1948 G B Warren, British biochemist
- 1948 Aldo Busi, Italian writer
- 1950 Anthony Lloyd, British MP
- 1950 Neil Jordan, Irish director (Crying Game) and novelist, born in Sligo
- 1950 Néstor Kirchner, Argentine politician, President of Argentina 2003-2007), born in Río Gallegos, Santa Cruz (d. 2010)
- 1950 Francisco Fernández Ochoa, Spanish alpine skier (d. 2006)
- 1952 James A Barcia, (Rep-D-Michigan)
- 1952 Inger Segelström, Swedish politician
Weddings in History
- 1828 6th US President John Quincy Adam's son John marries in the White House
Deaths in History
- 779 Walburgis, Anglo-Saxon abbess/saint (Walpurgis Night), dies
- 1246 Dafydd ap Llywelyn, King of Gwynedd, 1st to take name Prince of Wales, dies at about 33
- 1247 Hendrik IV, duke of Limburg/earl of Bergen (1226-47), dies
- 1495 Djem Sultan, son of Turkish sultan Mehmed II, dies at 35
- 1522 William Lilye, English classical scholar
- 1536 Berthold Haller, German-born reformer (b. 1492)
- 1553 Hirate Masahide, Japanese diplomat and tutor of Oda Nobunaga (suicide) (b. 1492)
- 1558 Eleanor of Austria, Queen of Portugal and France, dies at 59
- 1601 Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, executed for treason against Elizabeth I
- 1602 Everard van Reyd, Dutch historian, dies at about 51
Albrecht von Wallenstein
1634 Albrecht von Wallenstein, Bohemian-German general and statesman (Thirty Years' War), assassinated at 50
Albrecht von Wallenstein
Christopher Wren
1723 Christopher Wren, English astronomer and architect (St. Paul's Cathedral), dies at 90
Christopher Wren
- 1798 Louis-Jules Mancini-Mazarini, Duc de Nivernais, French diplomat and writer (b. 1716)
- 1805 Thomas Pownall, British colonial statesman (b. 1722)
- 1826 Peter von der Pahlen, Baltic courtier and military governor of St Petersburg, dies at 80
- 1841 Philip Pendleton Barbour, American politician and U.S. Supreme Court justice, dies at 57
- 1850 Daoguang, 8th Emperor of Qing Dynasty, dies at 67
- 1860 Chauncey Allen Goodrich, American clergyman, educator, and lexicographer (b. 1790)
- 1865 Otto Ludwig, German writer (Zwischen Himmel und Erde), dies at 47
- 1878 Townsend Harris, American diplomat (1st Western consul to reside in Japan), dies at 73
- 1899 Paul Julius von Reuter, German-born founder of Reuters news agency, dies at 82
- 1912 Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1905-12), dies at 59
- 1914 John Tenniel, British illustrator (Alice in Wonderland), dies at 93
- 1915 George Mimot, physician (Nobel-1934), dies
- 1920 Prince Louis of Liechtenstein, Liechtenstein nobleman and politician, dies at 73
- 1922 Henri Désiré Landru, French sex murderer, guillotined at 52
- 1940 Mary Mills Patrick, American author and 1st President of Istanbul Woman's College, dies at 89
- 1945 Mário de Andrade, Brazilian writer, photographer and modernist, dies of a heart attack at 51
- 1947 Friedrich Paschen, German physicist, dies at 82
- 1950 George Minot, American physician (Nobel 1934 - introduction of a raw-liver diet in the treatment of pernicious anemia), dies at 64
- 1957 Mark Aldanov, Russian-French writer and critic (Novy Zhurnal), dies at 70
Bugs Moran
1957 Bugs Moran, American gangster, dies of lung cancer in prison at 65
Bugs Moran
- 1960 Everhardus Jacobus van Romondt, Dutch Antillean minister, dies at 51
- 1962 Wilhelm Pessler, German sociologist, dies at 81
- 1964 Alexander Archipenko, Ukrainian-American sculptor and water colors painter, dies at 76
- 1964 Grace Metalious, American writer (b. 1924)
- 1968 Camille Huysmans, Belgian premier (1946-47), dies at 96
- 1969 Jan Zajic, Czech student, who died setting himself alight to protest the Communist takeover at 18
- 1970 Mark Rothko [Marcus Rothkovich], American abstract expressionist (Green on Blue), dies at 66
- 1971 Theodor Svedberg, Swedish chemist, worked with colloids (Nobel 1926), dies at 86
Elijah Muhammad
1975 Elijah Muhammad [Elijah Robert Poole], American religious leader (Nation of Islam), dies of heart failure at 77
Elijah Muhammad
Tennessee Williams
1983 Tennessee Williams, US playwright and writer (Streetcar Named Desire), dies at 71
Tennessee Williams
- 1991 Mhlabunzima Maphumulo, South African Kwazulu politician (first President of Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (CONTRALESA)), dies at 41
- 1992 Ollie O'Toole, dies after long illness at 79
- 1993 Jean G H "Sjeng" Tans, Dutch PM (social dem, 1965-69), dies
- 1994 Baruch Goldstein, physician/murderer (53 in mosque), lynched at 42
- 1994 Yann Piat, French MP (FN/PR), murdered at 44
- 1995 Jack Clayton, British director (Great Gatsby), dies at 73
- 1995 Oh Jin Woo, Korean minister of defense, dies
- 1996 Marion Farouk Political scientist-Sluglett, dies at 59
- 1996 Vehbi Koc, indistrialist/philanthropist, dies at 94
- 1997 Andrei Donatovich Sinyavsky, Russian writer and critic, dies at 71
- 1998 Luigi Veronesi, Italian abstract artist (Campo Grafico), dies at 90
- 1998 Umberto Mastroianni, Italian sculptor, dies at 87
- 1998 B.A. Santamaria, Australian political activist and journalist, dies at 82
- 1999 Glenn T. Seaborg, American chemist (AEC, Plutonium, Nobel 1951), dies at 86
- 2003 Tom O'Higgins, Irish Chief Justice (b. 1916)
- 2004 Donald Hings, Canadian inventor (b. 1907)
- 2005 Peter Benenson, Britsh founder of Amnesty International, dies at 83
- 2007 William R. Anderson, CO USS Nautilus submarine, US Congressman (b. 1921)
- 2008 Hans Raj Khanna, Judge of the Supreme Court of India (b. 1912)
- 2009 Ivan Cameron, son of David Cameron UK politician
- 2009 Philip José Farmer, American sci-fi writer (Riverworld) dies aged 91
- 2010 İhsan Doğramacı, Turkish paediatrician, academic and the founder of YÖK, dies at 94
- 2012 Lynn Compton, American jurist and commissioned officer, dies from heart attack at 90
- 2013 C Everett Koop, American pediatric surgeon, health administrator and 13th US Surgeon General (1982-89), dies at 96
- 2017 Boaz Vaadia, Israeli-born sculptor who worked in America, dies of cancer at 65
- 2018 Penny Vincenzi [Hannaford], British novelist (An Absolute Scandal, Spoils of Time trilogy), dies at 78
Hosni Mubarak
2020 Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian president (1981-2011) who was ousted during the Arab spring, dies at 91
Hosni Mubarak