Events in History
- 971 According to legend English saint Swithun is reburied inside Winchester Cathedral (against his wishes), whereby a terrible storm proceeds to rain for 40 days and nights
- 1099 City of Jerusalem is captured and plundered by Christian forces during the First Crusade
- 1205 Pope Innocent III states Jews are doomed to perpetual servitudea and subjugation due to crucifixion of Jesus
Victory in Battle
1240 A Novgorodian army led by Alexander Nevsky defeats the Swedes in the Battle of the Neva
Alexander Nevsky
- 1307 Duke Henrik of Corinthia chosen as King of Bohemia
Poll Tax Triggers the Peasants' Revolt
1381 John Ball, a leader in the Peasants' Revolt, is hung, drawn and quartered in the presence of Richard II of England
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Battle of Grunwald
1410 Battle of Grunwald (First Battle of Tannenburg, Battle of Žalgiris), one of Medieval Europe's largest battles during Poland-Lithuanian Teutonic War. Polish King Władysław Jagiełło and Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas defeat Teutonic Ulrich von Jungingen
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- 1500 Duke Albrecht of Saxon beats Friese rebellion
- 1500 Baglione family massacre at the "Blood Wedding" of Astorre Baglione and Lavinia Colonna in Perugia
- 1501 Portuguese explorer Pedro Cabral arrives back in Lisbon after successfully discovering Brazil and returning from India
- 1524 Emperor Charles I bans German national synode
- 1538 Peace talks between Charles I and King Francois I
Event of Interest
1662 King Charles II charters Royal Society in London
Charles II
- 1741 Alexei Chirikov sights land in Southeast Alaska. He sends men ashore in a longboat, making them the first Europeans to visit Alaska
- 1755 French ambassador recalled from London
- 1779 American troops under General A Wayne conquer Fort Stony Point, NY
- 1783 1st steamboat, Pyroscaphe, 1st run in France
- 1787 Parliament of Paris banished to Troyes
- 1789 Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette, is named by acclamation colonel-general of the new National Guard of Paris
Event of Interest
1799 The Rosetta Stone is found in the Egyptian village of Rosetta by French Captain Pierre-François Bouchard during Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign
Napoléon Bonaparte
- 1806 Zebulon Pike begins his journey to explore the American Southwest
- 1808 French marshal Joachim Murat becomes king of Naples
- 1815 Napoleon surrenders to Captain Frederick Maitland of HMS Bellerophon at Rochefort after his earlier defeat at the Battle of Waterloo
- 1823 A fire destroys the ancient Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome
- 1830 Indian tribes, Sioux, Sauk & Fox, sign fourth Treaty of Prairie du Chien giving the US most of Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri
- 1840 Great Britain, Russia, Austria and Prussia sign Quadruple Alliance
- 1850 John Wisden bowls all 10 South batsmen, North v South at Lord's
- 1856 Natal forms as a British colony separate from Cape Colony
- 1862 CSS Arkansas vs USS Carondelet & Queen of the West engage at Yazoo River
- 1863 President Davis orders service duty for confederate army
- 1864 Troop train loaded with Confederate prisoners collided with a coal train killing 65 and injuring 109 of 955 aboard
- 1867 San Francisco Merchants' Exchange opens
- 1869 Margarine is patented by Hippolye Méga-Mouriès for use by French Navy
- 1870 Georgia becomes last confederate to be readmitted to US
- 1870 Manitoba becomes 5th Canadian province and NW Territories created
- 1870 Hudson's Bay and Northwest Territories transferred to Canada
- 1888 Bandai volcano (Japan) erupts for 1st time in 1,000 years
Scientific Discovery
1898 Camillo Golgi discovers the Golgi Apparatus (a delicate network inside cells essential for the transmission and reception of information between cells)
Camillo Golgi
- 1900 President Steyn/General De Law escape Brandwater Basin
- 1901 NY Giant Christy Mathewson no-hits St Louis, 5-0
- 1904 1st Buddhist temple in US forms, Los Angeles
- 1906 Republic museum opens Rembrandt hall in Amsterdam
- 1911 46" of rain (beginning 7/14) falls in Baguio, Philippines
- 1912 British National Health Insurance Act goes into effect
- 1914 Mexican president Huerta flees with 2 million pesos to Europe
- 1915 The head of German propaganda in the US, Dr Heinrich Albert, loses his briefcase on a subway in New York City; an examination of its content reveals an extensive network of German espionage and subversion across the US
- 1915 The Austro-German forces launch an offensive along the Eastern Front
- 1916 22.22" (56.4 cm) of rain falls in Altapass NC (state record)
Event of Interest
1916 Boeing Company (Pacific Aero) formed by William Boeing in Seattle, Washington
William Boeing
- 1918 World War I: Second Battle of Marne begins
- 1920 Ruth ties his record of 29 HRs in a season
- 1922 1st duck-billed platypus publicly exhibited in US, at NY Zoo
- 1923 Italian parliament accepts new constitution
- 1926 VPRO (Free thinking Protestant Radio Broadcast) forms
- 1927 Massacre in Vienna: 89 protesters are killed by the Austrian police
- 1929 1st airport hotel opens at Oakland, California
Event of Interest
1932 US President Herbert Hoover cuts own salary 15%
Herbert Hoover
- 1933 Wiley Post began 1st solo flight around world
- 1934 Continental Airlines commences operations.
- 1936 Dutch 2nd Chamber agree to temporarily increase defense budget
- 1937 Buchenwald Concentration Camp opens
- 1937 Japanese attack Marco Polo Bridge, invade China
- 1939 Clara Adams (NYC) is 1st woman to complete round world flight
- 1940 Nazi occupiers seize library of IISG Amsterdam
- 1940 Physicist Donald Kerst becomes the first person to accelerate electrons using electromagnetic induction, reaching energies of 2.3 MeV, when his betatron device (for particle acceleration) becomes operational in Urbana, Illinois
Event of Interest
1941 Howard Florey and Norman Heatley present freeze dried mold cultures (Penicillin)
Howard Florey
Event of Interest
1941 Britain's MAUDE Report edited by James Chadwick approved, concludes an atomic bomb is feasible
James Chadwick
- 1942 1st deportation camp at Westerbork, Jews sent to Auschwitz
- 1942 Dutch Jews invoked for "Labor camps"
- 1944 Greenwich Observatory damaged by WW II flying bomb
- 1946 British North Borneo Company transfers its rights to modern day Sabah to the British Crown
- 1948 Israel bombs Cairo during Arab-Israeli War
- 1948 Alcoholic Anonymous founded in Britain
- 1948 US President Harry Truman nominated for another term (Philadelphia)
- 1952 1st transatlantic helicopter flight begins
- 1953 ANC members, Walter Sisulu and Duma Nokwe leave South Africa and go overseas under false names
- 1954 110°F (43°C) at Balcony Falls, Virginia (state record)
- 1954 1st commercial jet transport plane built in US tested (Boeing 707)
- 1955 18 Nobel laureates sign the Mainau Declaration against nuclear weapons, later co-signed by 34 more laureates
- 1956 Iharos runs world record 10k (28:42.8)
- 1957 Dutch Super Constellation crashes near New Guinea, 56 die
- 1957 US performs nuclear Test at Nevada Test Site
Event of Interest
1958 President Eisenhower sends US troops to Lebanon; they stay 3 months
Dwight D. Eisenhower
- 1959 The US steel strike of 1959 begins, leading to significant importation of foreign steel for the first time in United States history.
- 1960 UN troops arrive in Congo to help deal with the political crisis after Moïse-Kapenda Tshombé's declaration of independence for Katanga province
- 1961 Spain accepts equal rights for men and women
- 1962 Algeria becomes member of Arab League
- 1962 Netherlands and Indonesia reach agreement over New Guinea
- 1964 Barry M Goldwater (Sen-R-Az) nominated for president by Republicans
- 1965 "Mariner IV" sends back 1st pictures of Mars
- 1965 Athanassiades Novas succeeds Papandreo as premier of Greece
- 1967 LA Wolves beat Washington Whips 6-5 in OT to be United Soccer Association champions
- 1967 USSR performs nuclear Test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1968 Commercial air travel begins between US & USSR
- 1968 France performs nuclear Test at Mururoa atoll
- 1968 NJ Americans moved to Comack & become NY Nets (ABA)
- 1969 Rod Carew ties record with his 7th steal of home in a season
Event of Interest
1971 US President Richard Nixon announces he will visit the People's Republic of China
Richard Nixon
Birthdays in History
- 1273 Ewostatewos, Ethiopian monk and religious leader (d. 1352)
- 1353 Vladimir the Bold, Russian prince (d. 1410)
- 1471 Eskender, Emperor of Ethiopia (d. 1494)
- 1553 Archduke Ernest of Austria (d. 1595)
- 1573 Inigo Jones, English architect (Queen's House, Covent Garden), born in London, England (d. 1652)
Rembrandt van Rijn
1606 Rembrandt van Rijn, Dutch painter (Night Watch), born in Leiden, Netherlands (d. 1669)
Rembrandt van Rijn
- 1631 Jens Juel, Danish diplomat (d. 1700)
- 1701 Pierre Joubert, became the oldest known Canadian (113 years 124 days at his death)
- 1704 August Gottlieb Spangenberg, founder of Moravian Church in North America
- 1737 Louise of Orléans, Daughter of King Louis XV and Queen of Belgium, born in Palermo, Sicily (d. 1787)
- 1779 Clement Clarke Moore, US professor and author ('Twas the Night Before Xmas), born in NYC, New York (d. 1863)
- 1796 Thomas Bulfinch, mythologist (Bulfinch's Mythology)
- 1798 Charles H Bell, Comm (Union Navy), (d. 1875)
- 1808 Henry Cole, English Inventor and civil servant, 1st director of the V&A Museum, promoter of 1851 Great Exhibition, born in Bath, England (d. 1882)
- 1808 Henry Edward Manning, cardinal/archbishop (Westminster)
- 1812 Benno Adam, German animal painter, born in Munich (d. 1892)
- 1812 James Hope-Scott, English barrister (d. 1873)
- 1817 John Fowler, English engineer (London Metropolitan Railway)
- 1837 Stephanie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, queen of Portugal (d. 1859)
- 1848 Vilfredo F D Pareto, Italian economist/sociologist
- 1850 Francesca Xavier Cabrini, [Mother Cabrini], 1st US saint
- 1851 Eduardo Gutiérrez, Argentinian author (d. 1889)
Emmeline Pankhurst
1858 Emmeline Pankhurst, British suffragette who formed the Women's Social & Political Union (1903), born in Moss Side, Manchester (d. 1928)
Emmeline Pankhurst
- 1865 Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st viscount Northcliffe
- 1865 Wilhelm Wirtinger, Austrian mathematician (d. 1945)
- 1867 Maggie L. Walker, African-American teacher and businesswoman (1st female Bank President), born in Richmond, Virginia (d. 1934)
- 1871 Kunikida Doppo, Japanese writer (d. 1908)
- 1875 Jean van den Eeckhoudt, Belgian painter
- 1878 Willem Paerels, Neth/Belgian painter and graphic artist
- 1892 Walter Benjamin, German literature critic/writer
- 1892 Henry Johnson, American soldier of 369th regiment (aka Harlem Hell Fighters), 1st US WWI soldier to receive the Croix de guerre after fighting a German raid in hand-to-hand combat to rescue a fellow soldier (posthumous Medal of Honour, 2015), born in Tallahassee, Florida, (d. 1929)
- 1894 Tadeusz Sendzimir, Polish-American engineer and inventor (d. 1989)
- 1899 Seán Lemass, Irish leader (d. 1971)
- 1901 Pyke F C Koch, Dutch surrealistic painter (Dolores' Breakfast)
- 1902 Jean Rey, Belgian President of European Commission (1967-70)
- 1903 Kumaraswami Kamaraj, Indian politician (d. 1975)
- 1904 Rudolf Arnheim, German-born author (d. 2007)
- 1906 Edmund Davies, British lord of appeal
- 1907 Paterson Fraser, British air marshal
- 1911 Juliet Pannett, English portrait painter
- 1911 Edward Shackleton, English explorer, geographer and Labour Party politician, born in Wandsworth, London (d. 1994)
- 1913 Ralph Hammond Innes, English author
- 1913 Abraham Sutzkever, Yiddish language poet and memoirist.
- 1914 Akhtar Hameed Khan, pioneer of Microcredit in developing countries (d. 1999)
- 1915 Alexander Durie, vice president (British AA)
- 1915 Ron Smith, union leader (British Postal Workers)
- 1916 George Maduro, Dutch Antillian resistance fighter (Willemsorde/Madurodam), born in Willemstad, Curaçao (d. 1945)
- 1917 Robert Conquest, English historian and poet (The Great Terror), born in Great Malvern, Worcestershire (d. 2015)
- 1919 Iris Murdoch, novelist (Severed Head, Unicorn), born in Dublin, Ireland
- 1920 Eldon Rudd, (Rep-R-AZ, 1977- )
- 1920 Ruthven Wade, British Air Chief marshal
- 1922 Jef Houthuys, chairman Belgian labor union (ACV 1968-87)
- 1922 Jeffrey Benson, CEO (600 group)
- 1922 Jiri Lederer, Czechoslovakia, journalist/dissident
- 1922 Leon M. Lederman, American experimental physicist (1982 Nobel Prize for research on quarks and leptons) and author (The God Particle), born in NYC, New York (d. 2018)
- 1924 David Cox, English statistician and warden (Nuffield College, Oxford), born in Birmingham, England
- 1924 Jeremiah A Denton, (Sen-R-AL, 1981-86)
- 1926 John Graham, British ambassador to NATO
- 1926 Driss Chraïbi, Moroccan author
- 1926 Leopoldo Galtieri, Argentine dictator (d. 2003)
- 1927 Ann Jellicoe, British theater director and playwright (Knack), born in Middlesborough
- 1928 Carl Woese, American microbiologist
- 1929 Larry Lamb, newspaper editor
- 1930 Charles Kelly, chief constable (Staffordshire England)
- 1930 Jacques Derrida, French philosopher (d. 2004)
- 1930 Stephen Smale, American mathematician
- 1931 Clive Cussler, American writer (Raise The Titanic, Sahara), born in Aurora, Illinois,
- 1931 Eugene Louw, South African minister of Internal affairs
- 1933 James Ball, British economist
- 1934 Simon Gournlay, president (British National Farmer's Union)
- 1936 George V. Voinovich, US politician (R), Senator and Governor of Ohio, born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 2016)
- 1938 Carmen Callil, publisher
- 1939 Ronald Hadfield, chief constable (West Midlands England)
- 1942 Henry McCubbin, MEP (Labour)
- 1942 Philip R Sharp, (Rep-D-Indiana, 1975- )
- 1943 Diligenti quintuplets, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Jocelyn Bell Burnell
1943 Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Irish astrophysicist (discovered radio pulsars), born in Lurgan, Northern Ireland
Jocelyn Bell Burnell
- 1945 Jürgen Möllemann, German politician (d. 2003)
- 1946 Hassabal Bolkiah Mu'izzadin Waddaulah, sultan of Brunei
- 1949 WiIlliam Faure, producer
- 1949 Carl Bildt, Swedish politician
- 1949 Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (2006-present), born in Al Shindagha, Dubai, Trucial States
- 1950 Colin Barnett, Australian politician
Arianna Huffington
1950 Arianna Huffington, Greek-American author, syndicated columnist and creator of The Huffington Post, born in Athens, Greece
Arianna Huffington
- 1952 Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, (Rep-R-Florida)
- 1952 Jill Long, (Rep-D-Indiana)
- 1952 Judy McGrath, American television executive
- 1953 Jean-Bertrand Aristide, president of Haiti (1991, 1994- )
- 1953 John Denham, Seaton, Devon, England, MP (Labour)
- 1957 Kate Kellaway, English literary critic
- 1958 Mac Thornberry, American politician
- 1960 Alexander W Dunlap, astronaut, born in Honolulu, Hawaii
- 1961 Scott Ritter, UN weapons inspector in Iraq
- 1965 David Miliband, British politician
Weddings in History
Divorces in History
Divorce of Interest
1996 Prince Charles and Princess Diana sign divorce papers
Prince Charles
Diana Spencer
Deaths in History
- 668 Constantius II, emperor of Byzantium, dies at 37
- 1085 Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia & Calabria, dies at 70
- 1262 Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, English soldier (b. 1222)
- 1274 John F Bonaventura, Ital/French theologist/dominican/saint, dies
- 1291 Rudolph I of Germany, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (1273-91), dies at 73
- 1381 John Ball, English priest/ideologist of Boer uprising, hanged
- 1406 Duke William of Austria (b. c.1370)
- 1410 Ulrich von Jungingen, German Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, killed at the Battle of Grunwald (b. 1360)
- 1411 Johannes Parvus, [Jean Petit], French theologist, dies
- 1416 John, Duke of Berry, French art collector and third son of King John II of France and Bonne of Luxemburg, dies at 75
- 1417 Willem J Eggert, financier (W E Center, Purmerend), dies
Juan Ponce de León
1521 Juan Ponce de León, Spanish explorer and conquistador who searched for the fountain of youth and the first European to discover Florida, dies at 61
Juan Ponce de León
- 1571 Shimazu Takahisa, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1514)
- 1609 Annibale Carracci, Italian painter, dies at 48
- 1614 Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de Brantôme, French historian and biographer (b. c.1540)
- 1655 Girolamo Rainaldi, Italian architect (b. 1570)
- 1685 James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, bastard son of English king Charles II, executed at 36
- 1738 Alexander Voznitsyn, Rus Naval officer converted to Judaism, executed
- 1738 Baruch Leibov, converted Russian Naval officer to Judaism, executed
- 1750 Vasily Tatishchev, Russian statesman, dies at 73
- 1751 John Wilson, botanist, dies
- 1765 Charles-André Van Loo, French Rococo painter, dies at 60
- 1767 Michael Bruce, Scottish poet (Elegy written in Spring), dies at 21
- 1784 Johan B Straub, South German sculptor, dies
- 1828 Jean Antoine Houdon, French sculptor (b. 1741)
- 1839 Winthrop Mackworth Praed, English politician and poet, dies at 36
- 1844 Claude Charles Fauriel, French historian (b. 1772)
- 1856 Margaretha J de Neufville, author (The Kidnap), dies at 81
- 1862 David Emanuel Twiggs, US Confederate gen-mjr (Monterrey), dies at 72
- 1865 Reinier C Bakhuizen van de Brink, Dutch historian, dies at 55
- 1868 William T. G. Morton, American dentist who first used ether as a surgical anaesthetic (HOF 1920), dies at 48
- 1869 A J Haynes, US army captain and civil war veteren, assassinated by KKK
- 1883 Tom Thumb, famous small person (40"), dies of a stroke at 44
- 1885 Rosalia de Castro, Spanish writer and poet in the Galician language ('Séculos Escuros') (b. 1837)
- 1898 Jean Baptiste Salpointe, French born second Archbishop of Santa Fe, dies at 75
Anton Chekhov
1904 Anton Chekhov, Russian writer (Uncle Vanya), dies at 44
Anton Chekhov
- 1906 William Painter, American inventor (crown cork bottle cap and opener), dies at 67
- 1907 Qiu Jin, Chinese revolutionary, feminist, and writer considered a national heroine in China, executed after a failed uprising at 32
- 1916 Ilya Mechnikov, Russian zoologist and bacteriologist known as the "father of natural immunity" (Nobel 1908), dies of heart failure at 71
Emil Fischer
1919 [Hermann] Emil Fischer, German chemist, discovered Fischer esterification (Nobel Prize 1902), commits suicide at 66
Emil Fischer
- 1929 Hugo Von Hofmannsthal, playwright/poet, dies
- 1931 Ladislaus Bortkiewicz, Russian mathematician 9Poisson distribution) and economist (b. 1868)
- 1933 Irving Babbitt, American writer (Democracy & Leadership), dies at 67
- 1934 Jules Renkin, Belgian politician (28th Prime Minister of Belgium 1931-32), dies at 71
- 1935 Pieter WA Cort van de Linden, Dutch premier (1913-18), dies at 89
- 1937 Walter Gay, artist, dies
- 1939 Johon Mellanby, physiologist, dies
- 1939 Percy Scott Worthington, architect, dies
- 1940 Robert Wadlow, world's tallest man (8'11.1"), dies at 32
- 1940 Eugen Bleuler, Swiss psychiatrist (introduced the term schizophrenia to describe the disorder previously known as dementia praecox), dies at 82
John J. Pershing
1948 John J. Pershing [Blackjack], American general and WWI commander, dies of coronary artery disease at 87
John J. Pershing
- 1953 Servant of God Archbishop Mar Ivanios (b.1882)
- 1957 Marie C of Zeggelen, author (Dessajongen), dies at 87
- 1957 James M. Cox, American politician (b. 1870)
- 1957 Vasily Maklakov, Russian orator and liberal politician (b. 1869)
- 1958 Nuries-Said, Iraqi soldier/statesman, assassinated, dies
- 1959 Peter A Egge, Norwegian writer (The Dream), dies
- 1959 Vance Palmer, Australian author, dies at 73
- 1960 Set Persson, Swedish communist politician (b. 1897)
- 1961 John E. Brownlee, Canadian politician (b. 1884)
- 1965 Francis Cherry, American politician (b. 1908)
- 1968 Lura Anson, dies in Woodland at 76
- 1975 Charles Weidman, US dancer/choreographer (Fables for Our Time), dies
- 1976 Paul William Gallico, writer, dies at 78
- 1977 Konstantin Fedin, writer, dies
- 1979 Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, President of Mexico (b. 1911)
- 1982 Wendy Caulfield, 1st Green River victim, found near Seattle
- 1988 Eleanor Estes, author (Ginger Pye, Moffats), dies at 82
- 1992 Chingiz Mustafayev, Azerbaijan's most noted journalist (b. 1960)
- 1992 Hammer DeRoburt, First President of Nauru, dies at 69
- 1993 Bobby Kent, alleged Florida bully murdered by his friends (b. 1973)
- 1994 Jeanne Bieruma Oosting, Dutch painter/illustrator, dies
Gianni Versace
1997 Gianni Versace, Italian fashion designer (Versace), shot and murdered by Andrew Cunanan at 50
Gianni Versace
- 2003 Roberto Bolaño, Chilean writer (b. 1953)
- 2006 Robert H. Brooks, founder of Hooters of America (b. 1937)
- 2010 James E. Akins, American diplomat and advisor to Richard Nixon (b. 1926)
- 2014 James MacGregor Burns, American political writer (The Lion & the Fox), dies at 95
- 2015 Wan Li, Chinese reform politician, dies at 98