Events in History
- 661 The 4th Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, Ali ibn Abu Talib is struck on the head while praying at the Great Mosque of Kufa, Mesopotamia by a poison-coated sword wielded by Ibn Muljam a Kharijite, dies two days later
- 672 St Vitalian ends his reign as Catholic Pope
- 847 Sergius II ends his reign as Catholic Pope
- 1142 Wrongful execution of noted Song Dynasty General Yue Fei
- 1302 Dante becomes a Florentine political exile
- 1343 Pope Clement VI issues the Bull Unigenitus
- 1538 States of Gelderland accepts Willem van Kleef as viceroy
- 1556 Willem of Orange becomes a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece
Event of Interest
1591 Scottish schoolmaster Dr. John Fian burned for witchcraft at Castle Hill, Edinburgh by order King James VI. Part of the Berwick witch trials.
James I and VI
Pirate Attack
1671 Welsh pirate Henry Morgan lands at the gates of Panama City
Henry Morgan
- 1695 Mustafa II becomes the Ottoman sultan in Istanbul on the death of Ahmed II. Mustafa rules until his death in 1703.
Event of Interest
1710 Tsar Peter the Great sets first Russian state budget
Peter the Great
- 1785 1st US state university chartered in Athens, Georgia
Russian Antarctic Expedition
1820 Russian Antarctic expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev discover the continent of Antarctica
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- 1823 President Monroe appoints first US ambassadors to South America
Trail of Tears
1825 US Congress approves Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), clearing the way for the forced relocation of the Eastern Indian tribes via the "Trail of Tears"
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Historic Invention
1880 Thomas Edison patents electric incandescent lamp
Thomas Edison
- 1886 First British government of Salisbury resigns
- 1888 The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C. for "the increase and diffusion of geographic knowledge"
- 1891 Mine explosion kills 109 at Mount Pleasant Pennsylvania
- 1894 Midwinter Fair opens in Golden Gate Park
- 1896 Tasmania bowl out Victoria for 65 for their 1st ever innings victory
- 1897 British troops occupy Bida Gold Coast (Ghana)
- 1900 Social Democrat Party of America (Debs' party) holds 1st convention
- 1900 Foreign diplomats in Peking, China, write formal notes of protest demanding that the Chinese Government stop the Boxes and other groups leading attacks on Westerners and Christians.
- 1902 5 workers killed on explosion during IRT subway construction (NYC)
- 1905 Maurice Rouvier forms government in France
- 1906 Rudolf Gundersen skates world record 500m at 44.8 sec
- 1908 Pasiphaë, a satellite of Jupiter, discovered by Melotte
- 1909 The Young Left is founded in Norway
- 1914 A petition is written and submitted by the black and coloured women of the Orange Free State, an independent Boer sovereign republic in southern Africa, against the carrying of passes by women
- 1915 US Marines occupy Haiti
- 1916 Communist party "Spartacus Letters" 1st published in Berlin
- 1917 Coen de Koning wins 2nd official 11 cities race (9:53) (record)
- 1918 "Tarzan of the Apes", 1st Tarzan film, premieres at Broadway Theater
- 1918 The first hostilities occurred in the Finnish Civil War.
- 1924 Egyptian king Foead nominates Saad Zaghloel Pasja premier
Vladimir Lenin
Historic Publication
1926 Physicist Erwin Schrödinger publishes his theory of wave mechanics and presents what becomes known as the Schrödinger equation in quantum mechanics
Erwin Schrödinger
- 1933 Otto Meisnner (Head of the German President's Office) dines with British ambassador Sir Horace Rumbold
- 1934 French government of Chautemps falls (Stavisky Affair)
- 1934 VARA refuses to hire after commemoration of Marinus Van de Lubbe
- 1939 First flight of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning
- 1940 -17°F (-27°C), CCC Camp F-16, Georgia (state record)
Attack on Pearl Harbor
1941 Peruvian ambassador Ricardo Rivera-Schreiber warns American Ambassador of Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor
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Siege of Leningrad
1944 Siege of Leningrad lifted by the Soviets after 880 days and more than 2 million Russians killed
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- 1945 Nazi occupiers forbid food transport to West (The Netherlands)
Eduard Wirths
- 1945 Wally van Hall, Dutch banker and resistance leader, arrested
- 1948 1st locomotive to carry 1,000,000 pounds (450,000 kg) operates
- 1948 1st tape recorder sold
- 1949 Chinese liner "Taiping" collides with a collier off south China
- 1951 US begins 126 nuclear tests at Nevada Test Site
- 1953 Netherlands end Marshall aid
- 1958 Ferenc Munnich succeeds Kadar as premier of Hungary
- 1963 Yevgeni Grishin skates world record 500m in 39.6 sec
- 1964 Barlow & Graeme Pollock complete 341 stand at Adelaide Oval
- 1964 Margaret Chase Smith (Sen-R-Maine) tries for Republican President bid
- 1965 1st ground station-to-aircraft radio communication via satellite
- 1965 Groundbreaking for "Dragon Gateway" at Grant Avenue
Apollo 1 Fire
1967 A fire in the Apollo 1 Command Module kills astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger B. Chaffee during a launch rehearsal
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Event of Interest
1969 Ian Paisley sentenced to 3 years
Ian Paisley
- 1971 Montgomery St Station, last link in Bay Area Rapid Transit in San Francisco, 'holed thru'
- 1971 The body of a man who had been shot dead is found in Belfast
- 1972 Two Royal Ulster Constabulary officers shot dead by IRA in an attack on their patrol car in the Creggan Road, Derry
- 1972 The British Army and the Irish Republican Army engage in gun battles near County Armagh; British troops fire over 1,000 rounds of ammunition
- 1973 US & North Vietnam's William Rogers & Nguyen Duy Trinh sign cease-fire, ending longest US war and military draft
- 1973 US female Figure Skating championship won by Janet Lynn
- 1973 US male Figure Skating championship won by Gordon McKellen Jr
- 1976 9th ABA All-Star Game: Denver 144 beats ABA 138 at Denver
- 1976 Morocco-Algeria battles in West Sahara
- 1976 Viv Richards scores his 1st Test century against Australia
Event of Interest
1980 Robert Mugabe returns to Rhodesia after 5 years in exile
Robert Mugabe
- 1982 Mauno Koivisto installed as President of Finland
- 1982 Roberto S. Cordova installed as President of Honduras
- 1983 Seikan Tunnel, the world's longest tunnel with an underwater segment (53.90 km in total) opens connecting Honshu-Hokkaido. The Channel Tunnel remains the longest underwater tunnel.
- 1985 15th Space Shuttle (51-C) Mission-Discovery 3 returns to Earth
- 1987 Midnight Rockers beat Buddy Rose & Doug Somers for AWA World Tag Team
Event of Interest
1988 Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves nomination of Judge Anthony Kennedy to US Supreme Court
Anthony Kennedy
Event of Interest
1992 Presidential candidate Bill Clinton (D) & Genifer Flowers accuse each other of lying over her assertion they had a 12-year affair
Bill Clinton
Birthdays in History
- 1443 Albert, Duke of Saxony (d. 1500)
- 1546 Joachim III Frederick, elector (Brandenburg)
- 1556 Abbas I, "the Great," shah of Persia (1587-1629)
- 1585 Hendrick Avercamp, Dutch painter (d. 1634)
- 1603 Harbottle Grimston, English politician (d. 1685)
- 1621 Thomas Willis, English physician (d. 1675)
- 1662 Richard Bentley, English classical scholar (Dissertation on the Epistles of Phalaris), started the 1st written examinations in the West, born in Oulton, England (d. 1742)
- 1679 Jean-Francois de Troy, French painter
- 1701 Johann N von Hontheim, German church historian/suffragan (bishop)
- 1723 Johann A Cramer, prime minister/poet
- 1741 Hester Thrale, Welsh diarist (d. 1821)
Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling
1775 Friedrich von Schelling, German philosopher (Views on Christianity), born in Leonberg, Württemberg, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1854)
Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling
- 1805 Samuel Palmer, painter/etcher (Valley of Vision), born in London, England
- 1805 Sophie of Bavaria, archduchess of Austria (d. 1872)
- 1805 Maria Anna of Bavaria, queen consort of Saxony (d. 1877)
- 1808 David F Strauss, German theologist (Jesus' Life)
- 1814 Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, French architect (d. 1879)
- 1821 John Chivington, American officer, (d. 1892)
- 1822 Thomas Leiper Kane, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1883)
- 1824 Jozef Israels, Dutch painter
- 1826 Richard Taylor, Lt Gen (Confederate Army), (d. 1879)
- 1828 Samuel Allen Rice, American Attorney General of Iowa and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Cattaraugus, New York (d. 1864)
- 1830 William Henry Fitzhugh Payne, Brigadier General (Confederate Army)
Lewis Carroll
1832 Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], English author (Alice in Wonderland), born in Daresbury, England (d. 1898)
Lewis Carroll
- 1834 Robert Sanford Foster, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Vernon, Indiana (d. 1903)
- 1836 Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Austrian writer (masochism)
- 1841 Arkhip Kuindzhi, Russian painter (d. 1910)
- 1848 Tōgō Heihachirō, Imperial Japanese Navy admiral and one of Japan's greatest naval heroes, born in Kajiya-Chō, Kagoshima-Jōka, Satsuma, Japan (d. 1934)
Samuel Gompers
1850 Samuel Gompers, American labor union leader (American Federation of Labor), born in London, England (d. 1924)
Samuel Gompers
Edward Smith
1850 Edward Smith, English naval captain of the RMS Titanic, born in Hanley, Staffordshire (d. 1912)
Edward Smith
Wilhelm II
1859 Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia (1888-1918), born in Berlin (d. 1941)
Wilhelm II
- 1872 Learned Hand, Chief judge (US Court of Appeals), born in Albany, New York
- 1882 Giuseppe Prezzolini, Italian writer (La Voce, La Cultura Italiano)
- 1885 Maeda Seison, Japanese painter (d. 1977)
- 1887 Carl Blegen, archaeologist (excavator at Troy, Pylos), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1889 Balthasar van der Pol, physicist (Comparison of Van der Pol)
- 1891 Ilja Ehrenburg, writer
- 1893 Soong Ching-ling, Chinese wife of Sun Yat-sen (d. 1981)
- 1894 Albert Patterson, American politician and attorney, born in New Site, Alabama (d. 1954)
- 1900 Hyman G Rickover, US Admiral (father of modern nuclear navy)
- 1903 John Eccles, British physiologist/neurologist
- 1903 Otto P. Weyland, American military figure (d. 1979)
- 1905 Luther Diamond, radio personality
- 1908 William Randolph Hearst, Jr., American newspaper magnate (Hearst Newspapers) and 1955 Pulitzer Prize winner, (d. 1993)
- 1912 Arne Næss, Norwegian philosopher, born in Oslo, Norway (d. 2009)
- 1912 E. R. Braithwaite, diplomat and writer (To Sir with Love), born in Georgetown, British Guiana (d. 2016)
- 1914 Anna Larina, revolutionary
- 1918 William Seawell, United States Army Brigadier General (d. 2005)
- 1919 David Seville [Ross Bagdasarian], (Alvin & Chipmunks), born in Fresno, California
- 1919 H D Halsey, Bishop of Carlisle
- 1922 Wilfrid Bourne, QC/Clerk of the Crown in Chancery
- 1924 Kenneth Corfield, CEO (STC)
- 1924 Rauf Denktasj, Turkish-Cypriot politician
- 1924 William van Straubenzee, British MP
- 1925 Geoffrey Tucker, British political consultant
- 1925 John Bury, British stage designer who worked with Peter Hall (d. 2000)
- 1928 Hans Modrow, a German politician, premier of East Germany
- 1929 Richard Du Cann, English lawyer and QC, born in London (d. 1993)
- 1929 Mohamed Al Fayed, Egyptian business magnate (Harrods), born in Alexandria, Egypt
- 1929 Gastón Suárez, Bolivian novelist (d. 1984)
- 1930 Esteban Edward Torres, American politician (Rep-D-CA, 1983-99), born in Miami, Arizona
- 1930 Roger Sims, British MP
- 1931 Mordecai Richler, Montreal author, (Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz)
- 1931 Nigel Vinson, British Lord and inventor, born in Kent, England
- 1931 Ronald "Buster" Edwards, British Great Train Robber turned flower-seller, born in London (d. 1994)
- 1932 Neville Trotter, British MP
- 1933 Rita Hennessy, matron-in-chief (QARANC)
- 1934 Donald Spiers, controller (Aircraft MoD)
- 1934 Edithe Cresson, premier of France (1991-92)
- 1934 Federico Mayor Zaragoza, UNESCO director (1987- ), born in Barcelona, Spain
- 1934 Julian Ogilvie Thompson, CEO (De Beers)
- 1934 Raymond Boudon, French sociologist, born in Paris, France (d. 2013)
- 1935 Gillian Beer, professor/president (Clare Hall-Cambridge)
- 1936 Ismail Kadare, Albanian author/poet (Dimri i Madh)
Samuel C. C. Ting
1936 Samuel C. C. Ting, American physicist and Nobel Laureate (1976 J/ψ particle), born in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Samuel C. C. Ting
- 1936 Barry C. Barish, American Physicist (Nobel Prize 2017, gravitational waves), born in Omaha, Nebraska
- 1938 Timothy Elworthy, Captain of The Queen's Flight
- 1939 N R Bomford, head master (Harrow School)
- 1940 Brian T O'Leary, astronaut, born in Boston, Massachusetts
- 1942 Tasuku Honjo, Japanese immunologist (Nobel Prize for medicine 2018), born in Kyoto, Japan
- 1943 A H Harper, CEO (Baltic Exchange)
- 1944 Peter Akinola, Nigerian religious leader
- 1945 Mairead Corrigan-Maguire, North Irish peace activist (Nobel 1976)
- 1945 Harold Cardinal, Cree political leader (d. 2005)
- 1947 Vyron Polydoras, Greek politician
- 1949 Ethan Mordden, American author
- 1950 Amos Grunebaum, Israeli-born physician
- 1954 Peter Laird, American comic-book artist (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), born in North Adams, Massachusetts
- 1954 Joko Ninomiya, Japanese martial artist, born in Yawatahama, Ehime, Japan
- 1955 John G Roberts, 17th Chief Justice of the United States, born in Buffalo, New York
- 1955 Alexander Stuart, British author
- 1957 Danny Aiello III, American film and television stunt performer, stunt coordinator, and actor, born in The Bronx, New York City (d. 2010)
- 1958 Alan Milburn, British MP
- 1958 James Grippando, American novelist
- 1958 Kadri Mälk, Estonian artist and jewelry designer
- 1959 Göran Hägglund, Swedish politician
- 1959 Keith Olbermann, American news presenter
- 1961 Narciso Rodriguez, American fashion designer
Weddings in History
- 1186 Henry VI, the son and heir of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, weds Constance of Sicily
Deaths in History
- 672 Vitalianus, pope (657-72)/saint, dies
- 847 Sergius II, pope (844-47), dies
- 1164 Abraham ibn Ezra, poet/philosopher, dies
- 1311 Külüg Khan, Chinese Prince of Huaining, 3rd Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, dies at 29
- 1490 Ashikaga Yoshimasa, Japanese shogun (b. 1435)
- 1540 Angela Merici, Italian monk/monastery, dies
- 1547 Anna of Bohemia and Hungary, Queen of the Romans, dies at 43
- 1565 Robrecht de Berghes, prince-bishop of Liege (1557-64), dies
- 1612 Maarten van Valckenborch, Flemish painter, buried at about 77
- 1625 Adriaen Valerius, notary/Neth Gedenck-clanck, dies at about 49
- 1638 Gonzalo de Céspedes y Meneses, Spanish novelist
- 1669 Gaspar de Crayer, Flemish painter, dies at 87
- 1688 Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, Empress of Manchu (1643-62), dies at 74
- 1699 William Temple, statesman, dies
- 1740 Louis Henri, Duc de Bourbon, Prime Minister of France, dies at 47
- 1763 Johann Theodor of Bavaria, Prince-Bishop of Regensburg, Freising and Liège, dies at 59
- 1814 Philip Astley, English circus owner "Father of the Modern Circus", dies at 72
Samuel Hood
1816 Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood/admiral, dies at 92
Samuel Hood
John James Audubon
1851 John James Audubon, American ornithologist and painter (The Birds Of America), dies at 65
John James Audubon
- 1857 Dorothea von Benckendorff, Baltic monarch of Lieven, dies at 72
- 1858 Gerrit van der Linde Jz, Dutch "Principal", poet, dies at 49
- 1859 Carl A Agardh, Swedish botanist/bishop of Karlstad, dies at 74
- 1860 János Bolyai, Hungarian mathematician (non-Euclidean geometry), dies at 57
- 1860 Thomas Brisbane, British soldier, administrator and astronomer, dies at 86
- 1864 Leo von Klenze, German neoclassical architect (Walhalla), dies at 59
- 1866 John Gibson, British sculptor, dies at 75 (b. 1790)
- 1880 Edward Middleton Barry, English architect (b. 1830)
- 1889 Ivan Aksakov, Russian journalist (Denj, Moskvitsh), dies at 65
- 1893 James G. Blaine, US Secretary of State (1881 and 1889-92) known as the "Plumed Knight", dies at 62
- 1894 Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, English sculptor and naturalist, dies at 86
- 1910 Thomas Crapper, English plumber and inventor (ballcock), dies at 73
- 1919 Endre Ady, Hungarian lyric poet (Még egyzer, Uj versek), dies from complications related to alcoholism at 41
- 1921 Maurice Buckley, Australian soldier and winner of the Victoria Cross, dies at 29
- 1922 Giovanni Verga, Italian writer (I Mala Voglia), dies at 81
Nellie Bly
1922 Nellie Bly [Elizabeth Cochran Seaman], American journalist and writer (Ten Days in a Mad House), dies at 57
Nellie Bly
- 1927 Georgios Grivas, Cyprus-born general in the Greek Army
- 1927 Blessed Jurgis Matulaitis-Matulevičius (Matulewicz), Lithuanian bishop
- 1940 Isaak Babel, Russian writer (Zakat, Marija), executed at 46
- 1942 Kaarel Eenpalu, Estonian Prime Minister (b. 1888)
- 1945 Antal Szerb, Hungarian author and historian, dies at 43
- 1955 Ernst Penzoldt, writer, dies
- 1967 Alphonse Juin, French marshal, dies at 78
- 1967 Edward Higgins White II, Lt Col USAF/astronaut (Gemini 4), dies at 36
- 1967 Roger B Chaffee, astronaut, dies at 31 in Apollo I fire
- 1967 Virgil Grissom, US Air Force test pilot and NASA astronaut (Mercury-Redstone 4, Gemini 3, Apollo 1), dies at 40 in Apollo 1 fire
- 1970 Rita Angus, New Zealand painter (b. 1908)
- 1971 Jacobo Árbenz, President of Guatemala (1951-54); overthrown by CIA, dies at 57
- 1972 Richard Courant, German-American mathematician, dies at 84
- 1974 Georgios Grivas, Greek gen/oppos leader on Cyprus (EOKA), dies at 75
- 1974 Paula Ludwig, Austrian German poet, dies at 74
- 1975 Bill Walsh, American producer and writer (b. 1913)
- 1979 Qalander Baba Auliya, Indian Sufi master (Azeemiyya order), dies at about 81
- 1981 Leo Collard, Belgian minister of Education (1946/54-58), dies at 78
- 1988 Massa Makan Diabaté, Malian author (b. 1938)
- 1989 Thomas Sopwith, British aviation pioneer (b. 1888)
- 1992 Francesca Primus, columnist (Back Stage), dies at 45
- 1992 Gene Harris, entertainer, dies after long illness
- 1995 Halsey S Colchester, British SAS/MI6-spy/priest, dies at 76
- 1995 Jean Tardieu, French dramatist, dies at 91
- 1995 Willem R "Wim" van der Zee, gen-sec Council of Churches, dies at 64
- 1995 Raphael M. Robinson, American mathematician, dies at 83
- 1996 Barbara Skelton, writer, dies at 79
- 1996 Julian W. Hill, American research chemist (developed nylon), dies at 91
- 1996 Olga Havlova, political activist, dies at 63
- 1996 Ralph Webster Yarborough, American politician, U.S. Senator from Texas (1957-71), dies at 92
- 1997 Cecil Arthur Lewis, British fighter pilot and writer, dies at 98
- 1999 Gonzalo Torrente Ballester, Spanish writer associated with the Generation of '36 movement, dies at 88
- 2003 Henryk Jabłoński, President of Poland (b. 1909)
- 2003 Louis Archambault, Quebec sculptor (b. 1915)
- 2004 Salvador Laurel, Vice President of the Philippines (b. 1928)
- 2006 Johannes Rau, 8th President of Germany (b. 1931)
- 2006 Jean-Christophe Lafaille, French mountaineer best known for his solo self-rescue on Annapurna with a broken arm, presumed dead at 40
- 2008 Gordon B. Hinckley, American religious leader, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1995-2008), dies at 97
J. D. Salinger
2010 J. D. Salinger, American novelist (The Catcher in the Rye), dies at 91
J. D. Salinger
Howard Zinn
2010 Howard Zinn, American historian and activist (A People's History of the United States), dies of a heart attack at 87
Howard Zinn
- 2012 Kevin White, American politician, dies at 82
- 2015 Charles Hard Townes, American Physicist and inventor (Nobel Prize 1964 for mazer-lazer principle), dies at 99
- 2015 Harriet Elizabeth Byrd, American politician, Member of the Wyoming House of Representatives (1998-88), dies at 88
- 2016 Artur Fischer, German Inventor with more patents than Edison, dies at 96
Ingvar Kamprad
2018 Ingvar Kamprad, Swedish eccentric businessman (founder of IKEA) and author (The Testament of a Furniture Dealer), dies at 91
Ingvar Kamprad