Events in History
- 1044 The Battle of Ménfő takes place in Hungary, won by a German force led by Peter Orseolo over Hungarians
Royal Coronation
1189 Richard the Lionheart is crowned King of England, upon the death of King Henry II
Richard the Lionheart
Henry II of England
- 1253 Mindaugas is crowned King of Lithuania
Black Death
1348 Papal bull of Pope Clement VI issued during the Black Death stating Jews not to blame and urging their protection
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- 1415 Bohemian religious reformer Jan Hus is burned at the stake in Constance, Germany
Royal Coronation
1483 Richard III is crowned King of England after deposing Edward V
Richard III
- 1484 Portuguese sea captain Diogo Cão finds the mouth of the Congo River
- 1491 Opening ceremony of Daitokuji's Shinju at subtemple
- 1495 Battle of Fornovo, near Parma: French King Charles VIII beats Holy League
- 1560 England and Scotland sign Treaty of Edinburgh
- 1573 Pacificatie of Boulogne: new peace treaty with huguenots
- 1573 Córdoba, Argentina, is founded by Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera
Event of Interest
1590 English admiral Francis Drake takes Portuguese Forts at Taag
Francis Drake
- 1609 Majesteitsbrief: Emperor Rudolf II grants Bohemia freedom of religion
- 1621 Dutch governor general John Pieterszoon Coen takes Banda islands, 15,000 die
- 1630 Swedish troops under Gustaf II Adolf land at Peenemunde
- 1634 Johan van Walbeeck's ships bypass St-Anna Bay, Curaçao
- 1641 Battle at La Marfée Sedan: Earl Soisson beats French government army
- 1652 Fire on Dutch Dam (Amsterdam's city hall burns)
- 1669 LaSalle leaves Montreal to explore Ohio River
- 1673 French troops conquer Maastricht as part of the Franco-Dutch War
- 1685 Battle at Sedgemoor: King James II beats Duke of Monmouth
Pirate Defeat
1699 Pirate Captain William Kidd is captured in Boston
William Kidd
United States Declaration of Independence
1776 American Declaration of Independence announced on front page of "PA Evening Gazette"
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- 1777 British General Burgoyne captures Fort Ticonderoga from Americans
- 1782 British-French sea battle at Negapatam (off India)
- 1785 US Congress unanimously resolves the name of US currency to the "dollar" and adopts decimal coinage
- 1787 French government proclaims end to stamp/land tax
- 1787 Orange troops occupy Area at Duurstede
- 1789 French Revolution: the National Assembly forms a committee of thirty members to write a new constitution
- 1798 US law makes aliens "liable to be apprehended, restrained, ... & removed as alien enemies"
- 1801 Battle at Algeciras: French fleet beats British
- 1840 Christian Hebbel's "Judith" premieres in Berlin
Conference of Interest
1853 National Black convention meets in Rochester NY, ex-slave Frederick Douglass attends
Frederick Douglass
- 1853 William Wells Brown publishes "Clotel", 1st novel by an African American
- 1854 1st Republican state convention held in Jackson, Michigan
- 1858 Lyman Blake patents shoe manufacturing machine
- 1862 Skirmish at Devall's Bluff, Arkansas (106 casualties)
- 1863 Battle of Williamsport, Maryland [-Jul 07]
- 1863 Northern Territory passes from New South Wales to South Australia
- 1869 Black candidate for lieutenant governor of Virginia, Dr J. H. Harris defeated
- 1882 14 Russian Jews from Bilu arrive in Jaffa, Palestine
Event of Interest
1885 Louis Pasteur successfully give an anti-rabies vaccine to 9-year-old Joseph Meister, saving his life
Louis Pasteur
Event of Interest
1892 Jose Rizal forms La Liga Filipina in Manila
Jose Rizal
- 1892 Striking steel workers in Homestead, Pennsylvania, fire on scabs, killing 7
- 1892 Dadabhai Naoroji elected as first Indian Member of Parliament in Britain
- 1893 The small town of Pomeroy, Iowa, is nearly destroyed by a tornado that kills 71 people and injures 200
- 1894 Cleveland sends 2,000 troops to Chicago to suppress Pullman strike
- 1898 US Senate agrees to annex Hawaii
- 1903 George Wyman arrives in NYC by motorcycle 51 days out of San Francisco
- 1904 Two Russian cruisers move into the Red Sea and begin to stop ships of Britain, Germany, and other nations they believe friendly to Japan
Presidential Convention
1904 The US Democratic Party nominates little known New York judge Alton B. Parker for presidential nominee - virtually assuring the election of Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
- 1905 Alfred Deakin becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the second time
Historic Expedition
1908 Robert Peary's arctic expedition sails from NYC for the north pole
Robert Peary
Victory in Battle
1917 T. E. Lawrence captures port of Aqaba from Turks
T. E. Lawrence
- 1919 British R-34 lands in NY, 1st airship to cross Atlantic (108 hr)
Event of Interest
1919 Institute for Sexual Science opened in Berlin by physician Magnus Hirschfeld to establish study of sexual science
Magnus Hirschfeld
- 1922 Dutch auto/airplane manufacturer Trompenburg declares bankruptcy
- 1923 Rail crash on New Zealand's main trunk line; 17 killed and 28 injured
- 1923 The Central Executive Committee accepts the Treaty of Union, signed in Moscow in December 1922, and the Russian Empire becomes the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
- 1924 1st photo sent experimentally across Atlantic by radio, US-England
- 1928 1st all-talking motion picture shown in NY (Lights of NY)
- 1928 Largest recorded hailstone at the time 1.5 lbs (7 inchs in diameter) falls in Potter, Nebraska
- 1932 1st class postage back up to 3 cents from 2 cents
- 1935 Rotterdam architect A van de Steurs Museum Boymans opens
- 1936 114°F (46°C), Moorhead, Minnesota (state record)
- 1936 121°F (49°C), Steele, North Dakota (state record)
- 1936 A major breach of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal in England sends millions of gallons of water cascading 200 feet into the River Irwell
- 1939 German Nazis close last Jewish enterprises
Event of Interest
1942 Anne Frank's family goes into hiding in After House, Amsterdam
Anne Frank
Event of Interest
1944 French General Charles de Gaulle arrives in Washington, D.C.
Charles de Gaulle
George S. Patton
- 1944 World's largest circus tent catches fire at Ringling Brother's - Barnum & Bailey 2nd performance, 168 die (Hartford, Connecticut)
United Nations Charter
1945 Nicaragua becomes 1st nation to ratify the Charter of the United Nations
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Mikhail Kalashnikov
Event of Interest
1957 Harry S. Truman Library forms in Independence, Missouri
Harry Truman
- 1958 Adolfo López Mateos elected President of Mexico
- 1959 Saar becomes part of German Federal Republic
- 1960 Dr Barbara Moore completes a 3,207 mile walk from LA to NYC
- 1961 Portuguese ship explodes near Mozambique, kills 300
- 1962 Emir Said al-Djazairi takes van Algerian throne in Syria
- 1962 Nuclear test shot Sedan; part of Operation Plowshare
- 1963 South African workers' union leader Billy Nair arrested
- 1964 Malawi (formerly Nyasaland) declares independence from UK
- 1965 Rock group "Jefferson Airplane" forms
Birthdays in History
- 1638 Gerrit Berckheyde, Dutch painter, born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1698)
- 1668 Pieter Burman the Elder, Dutch classical scholar, born in Utrecht, Netherlands (d. 1741)
- 1686 Antoine de Jussieu, French naturalist, born in Lyon, France (d. 1758)
- 1736 Daniel Morgan, American soldier and politician (Battle of Cowpens, Whiskey Rebellion), born in Hunterdon County, New Jersey (d. 1802)
- 1747 John Paul Jones, U.S. first well-known naval hero ("I have not yet begun to fight"), born in Arbigland, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland (d. 1792)
- 1753 John H Midderigh, Rotterdam patriot, baptized
- 1755 John Flaxman, English sculptor (Westminster Abbey tomb stones)
- 1766 Alexander Wilson, Scottish-American ornithologist and naturalist, born in Paisley, Scotland (d. 1813)
Stamford Raffles
1781 Stamford Raffles, British statesman and founder of Singapore, born in off the coast of Port Morant, Jamaica (d. 1826)
Stamford Raffles
- 1782 Luis Brión, Curacao military officer who fought in the Venezuelan War of Independence, born in Plantage Rozentak, Curaçao (d. 1821)
- 1785 William Jackson Hooker, English botanist and director (Kew Gardens), born in Norwich, England
- 1789 María Isabella of Spain, Queen of the Two Sicilies (1825-30), born in Royal Palace of Madrid, Spain (d. 1848)
- 1793 Jacob de Kempenaer, Dutch lawyer and Minister of Internal Affairs (1848-49), born in Amsterdam (d. 1870)
- 1796 Nicholas I Pavlovitch, tsar of Russia (1825-55), born in Gatchina Palace, Gatchina, Russian Empire (d. 1855)
- 1814 Justus McKinstry, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in NYC, New York (d. 1897)
- 1817 Albert von Kölliker, Swiss anatomist and histologist (one of the first to interpret tissue structure in terms of cellular elements), born in Zürich, Switzerland (d. 1905)
- 1819 Ernst Wilhelm von Brücke, German physician and physiologist, born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1892)
- 1821 Edward Pettus, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Athens, Alabama (d. 1907)
Maximilian I
1832 Maximilian I of Mexico and Archduke of Austria, first and only monarch of the Second Mexican Empire, born in Vienna, Austria
Maximilian I
- 1838 Vatroslav Jagić, Croatian scholar of Slavic studies, born in Varaždin, Austrian Empire (d. 1923)
- 1856 Edward Anseele, Belgian socialist politician, born in Ghent, Belgium (d. 1938)
- 1859 Verner von Heidenstam, Swedish poet and novelist (Charles Men, Nobel 1916), born in Olshammar, Örebro County, Sweden (d. 1940)
- 1868 Petrus A Euwens, Dutch vicar/editor (Amigoe di Curacao)
- 1868 Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom, fourth child and second daughter of Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark, born in Marlborough House, London (d. 1935)
Harry Ford Sinclair
1876 Harry Ford Sinclair, founder of Sinclair Oil (Teapot Dome Scandal), born in Benwood, West Virginia
Harry Ford Sinclair
- 1877 Niceto Alcalá-Zamora, 1st Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic and President of Spain (1931-36), born in Priego de Cordoba, Spain (d. 1949)
- 1878 Eino Leino, Finnish poet, born in Paltamo, Finland (d. 1926)
- 1881 Josef Winckler, German dentist and writer (Quadriga, Pumpernickel), born in Bentlage, Rheine (d. 1966)
- 1884 André Dunoyer de Segonzac, French painter and cartoonist, born in Boussy-Saint-Antoine, France (d. 1974)
- 1884 Willem Dudok, Dutch architect (town hall Hilversum/Beehive Rotterdam), born in Amsterdam (d. 1974)
- 1885 Ernst Busch, German field marshal (WWII), born in Essen, German Empire (d. 1945)
- 1887 Marc Chagall, Russian-French artist (I & The Village), born in Vitebsk, Russian Empire (d. 1985)
- 1892 Willy Coppens, Belgian WW I fighter ace, born in Watermael-Boitsfort, Brussels, Belgium (d. 1986)
- 1896 Thomas W McKnew, president (National Geographic Society)
- 1897 Richard Krautheimer, art Historian
- 1903 Axel Theorell, Swedish biochemist (Nobel 1955-discovering the oxidation enzyme and its effects), born in Linköping, Sweden (d. 1982)
- 1904 Erik Wickberg, 9th Salvation Army general, born in Gävle, Sweden (d. 1996)
Frida Kahlo
1907 Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter who explored questions of identity, postcolonialism, gender and race in Mexican society, born in Coyoacán, Mexico City (d. 1954)
Frida Kahlo
Nancy Reagan
1921 Nancy Reagan [Anne Frances Robbins], US First Lady (1981-89), born in NYC, New York (d. 2016)
Nancy Reagan
Dmitri Polyakov
1921 Dmitri Polyakov, Soviet Major General and spy for the CIA, born in Ukraine (d. 1988)
Dmitri Polyakov
- 1923 Wojciech Jaruzelski, Polish general and 1st President of Poland (1989-90), born in Kurów, Poland (d. 2014)
- 1924 Robert Michael White, American test pilot (X-15), born in NYC, New York (d. 2010)
- 1925 Huub Jacobse, Dutch politician and member of Dutch 2nd chamber (Liberal), born in Zeist, Netherlands (d. 1993)
- 1926 Conrad "Nicky" Hilton Jr., American hotel heir and 1st husband of Elizabeth Taylor, born in Dallas, Texas (d. 1969)
- 1927 Alan Leslie "Fluff" Freeman, Australian-born British disc jockey and radio personality (Pick of the Pops), born in New South Wales, Australia (d. 2006)
- 1930 Françoise Mallet-Joris, Belgian writer (Signs & Wonders), born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 2016)
- 1930 Hans-Jürgen Heise, German writer, born in Bublitz (d. 2013)
- 1931 Jean Campeau, French Canadian businessman and politician, born in Montreal, Quebec
- 1931 Emily Nasrallah, Lebanese writer and women's rights activist (Birds of September, A Cat’s Diary), born in Kfeir, Lebanon (d. 2018)
Tenzin Gyatso
1935 14th Dalai Lama, Tibetan spiritual leader of Tibet's Lamaistic Buddhists, born in Taktser, Qinghai, China
Tenzin Gyatso
- 1937 Bessie Head, Botswana writer (When Rain Clouds Gather, Maru, A Question of Power), born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa (d. 1986)
- 1940 Nursultan Nazarbayev, 1st President of Kazakhstan (1990-2019), born in Chemolgan, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union
- 1944 Byron Berline, American world premier fiddle player, born in Caldwell, Kansas
- 1945 Rik Elswit, American rocker (Dr Hook & Medicine Show-In the Right Place), born in California
- 1945 Rodney Matthews, English fantasy artist and illustrator, born in Paulton, England
George W. Bush
1946 George W. Bush Jr, 43rd President of the United States (2001-09) and 46th Governor of Texas (1995-2000) (R-TX), born in New Haven, Connecticut
George W. Bush
- 1946 Jamie Wyeth, American artist (An American Vision-Boston), born in Wilmington, Delaware
- 1946 Peter Singer, Australian philosopher (specialises in applied ethics and approaches ethical issues from a secular, utilitarian perspective), born in Melbourne, Australia
- 1948 Wadih Sa'adeh, Lebanese-Australian poet (Laysa Lil Massa’ Ikhwah), born in Lebanon
- 1948 Tom Curley, American media executive (President of the Associated Press), born in Easton, Pennsylvania
- 1950 John Byrne, Canadian-American author and artist of superhero comics (X-Men), born in Walsall, Staffordshire, England
- 1950 Hélène Scherrer, Canadian politician (MP of Louis-Hébert, Quebec, 2000-04), born in Quebec City, Quebec
- 1952 Hilary Mantel, English novelist (Wolf Hall), born in Glossop, Derbyshire
- 1955 William Wall, Irish writer (This is the Country), born in Cork City, Ireland
- 1955 Sherif Ismail, Prime Minister of Egypt (2015-2018), born in Cairo, Egypt
- 1972 D-Styles, American scratch DJ, born in the Philippines
- 1975 Amir-Abbas Fakhravar, Iranian journalist and activist (Annie Taylor Award), born in Tehran, Iran
- 1979 Nicolas Daniel Maricio, Prince of Netherlands, born in Utrecht, Netherlands
- 1986 David Karp, American web developer and founder of the blogging site Tumblr, born in NYC, New York
- 1986 Luigi Di Maio, Italian politician, Leader of 5-Star, born in Avellino, Italy
Weddings in History
Wedding of Interest
1956 Journalist Ben Bradlee (34) weds Antoinette Pinchot
Ben Bradlee
- 1966 American sci-fi writer "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" Philip K Dick marries 4th wife Nancy Hackett
- 2006 "National Treasure" director Jon Turteltaub (42) weds co-founder of Creative Visions Foundation Amy Eldon at Saddlerock Ranch and Vineyard in Malibu, California
- 2014 Talent manager Scooter Braun (33) weds philanthropist Yael Cohen (28) in Whistler, British Columbia
Deaths in History
Henry II of England
1189 Henry II, King of England (1154-89), dies of a bleeding ulcer at 56
Henry II of England
- 1218 Eudes III, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1166)
- 1249 Alexander II, King of Scots (1215-49), dies at 50
- 1415 Jan Hus, Bohemian religious reformer burned for heresy by the Church at Constance, Germany (b. 1369)
- 1476 Regiomontanus [Johannes Müller von Königsberg], German mathematician and astronomer, prepares astronomic tables, dies at 40
- 1533 Ludovico Ariosto, Italian poet (Orlando Furioso), dies at 57
- 1535 Sir Thomas More, philosopher, author (Utopia) and statesman, executed (beheaded) for treason at 57
- 1553 Edward VI Tudor, King of England (1547-53), dies at 15
- 1568 Johann Oporinus, Swiss book publisher/publisher, dies at 61
- 1583 Edmund Grindal, English bishop of London/archbhp of York, dies at 64
- 1585 Thomas Aufield, English Catholic martyr (b. 1552)
- 1587 Michael Lauterbeck, assassinated Fries viceroy Willem Louis, executed
- 1684 Peter Gunning, English royalist churchman (b. 1614)
- 1740 Claudius Amyand, French-born British surgeon who performed first appendectomy, dies at about 80
- 1758 George Howe, 3rd Viscount Howe, British general
- 1759 William Pepperrell, British colonial soldier, dies at 63
- 1782 Maria Louisa of Spain, Empress consort of the Holy Roman Empire, dies at 41
- 1802 Daniel Morgan, American soldier and politician (Battle of Cowpens, Whiskey Rebellion), dies at 66
- 1809 Antoine Charles Louis Lasalle, French cavalry general (b. 1775)
- 1813 Granville Sharp, English abolitionist, dies at 77
- 1815 Samuel Whitbread, English politician, dies at 51
John Marshall
1835 John Marshall, 4th Chief Justice of the United States (1801-35), dies at 79
John Marshall
- 1851 Thomas Davenport, American iventor (invented 1st commercial electric motor), dies at 48
- 1854 Georg Ohm, German physicist and mathematician (Ohm's law), dies at 65
- 1863 Strong Vincent, American army officer (fought at Battle of Gettysburg), dies at 26 fighting at the Little Round Top in Gettysburg
- 1864 Samuel Allen Rice, American Brigadier General (Union Army), dies of injuries at 36
- 1868 Sanosuke Harada, Shinsengumi Captain (b. 1840)
- 1871 Antonio de Castro Alves, Brazilian poet (O navio negreiro), dies at 34
Guy de Maupassant
1893 Guy de Maupassant, French author (Boule de Suif), dies four days after trying to commit suicide by cutting his throat at 42
Guy de Maupassant
- 1901 Prince Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1819)
- 1907 August Johann Gottfried Bielenstein, German Linguist, Theologian (b. 1826)
- 1914 Delmira Agustini, Uruguayan poet (El Libro Blanco), murdered at 27
- 1916 Odilon Redon [Bertrand-Jean Redon], French symbolist painter (b. 1840)
- 1918 Count von Mirbach, German ambassador to Moscow, dies
- 1922 Mary Theresa Ledóchowska, Polish-Austrian Catholic nun (founded the Missionary Sisters of St. Peter Claver), dies at 59
- 1932 Kenneth Grahame, English author (The Wind in the Willows), dies at 73
- 1934 Edward Vermeulen, Flemish writer, dies at 73
- 1952 Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, French Canadian politician (b. 1867)
- 1959 George Grosz, German cartoonist and painter (Ecce Homo), dies at 65
- 1960 Aneurin Bevan, Welsh politician (launched the NHS), dies at 62
- 1961 Cuno Amiet, Swiss painter and illustrator, dies at 93
- 1961 Enrique Larreta, [E Rodriguez Maza], Argentine diplomat and writer, dies at 86
- 1961 Woodall Rodgers, American politician (b. 1890)
William Faulkner
1962 William Faulkner, American author (As I Lay Dying, Nobel Prize for Literature 1949), dies at 64
William Faulkner
- 1962 Archduke Joseph August of Austria, Austrian field marshal, dies at 89
- 1962 George, Duke of Mecklenburg, head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, dies at 63
- 1970 Marjorie Rambeau, dies at 80
- 1971 Horst Lange, German writer (The Long Lament), dies at 66
- 1971 Thomas C Heart, US admiral/commander (Asiatic fleet), dies
- 1975 Otto Skorzeny, German/Austrian SS (Mussolini/Ardennen), dies
- 1976 Zhu De, Chinese general and politician (commander-in-chief of Eighth Route Army), dies at 89
- 1976 Fritz Lenz, German geneticist, dies at 89
- 1986 Jagjivan Ram, Indian independence activist and politician, dies at 78
- 1989 Janos Kádár, 46th Prime Minister of Hungary 5th Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Hungary (1956-58), dies at 77
- 1990 Paul Wynne, KGO-TV SF reporter, dies of AIDS at 46
- 1990 Nathaniel Wyeth, American chemist and inventor (created PET plastic beverage bottle), dies at 78
- 1991 Nicholas P. Dallis, American psychiatrist and comic strip writer (Rex Morgan, M.D.), dies at 79
- 1992 Edgardo Pallero, Argentina producer (Los hijos de fierro), dies
- 1992 Bryan Guinness, 2nd Baron Moyne and Guinness brewing heir, dies at 86
Marsha P. Johnson
1992 Marsha P. Johnson [born Malcolm Michaels Jr.], African-American gay liberation and AIDS activist, drag queen, and transgender pioneer (Gay Liberation Front, S.T.A.R.), dies under suspicious circumstances at 46
Marsha P. Johnson
- 1993 Ruth Lady Fermoy, maternal grandmother of Princess Diana, dies at 84
- 1995 Aziz Nesin, Turkish writer, dies at 79
- 1995 Helene Johnson, American Harlem Renaissance poet, dies at 87
- 1998 Roy Rogers, American cowboy (Happy Trails, Roy Rogers Show), dies at 86
- 1999 Carl Gunter Jr, American politician (b. 1938)
- 1999 Barry Winchell, American soldier (b. 1977)
- 2000 Rederic Coote, British Anglican Bishop (Colchester), dies at 85
- 2002 Dhirubhai Ambani, Indian businessman (b. 1932)
- 2004 Thomas Klestil, President of Austria (1992-2004), dies at 71
- 2005 Bruno Augenstein, German-born mathematician (b. 1923)
- 2005 L. Patrick Gray III, American FBI director (b. 1916)
- 2005 Ed McBain [Evan Hunter], American writer (Blackboard Jungle), dies at 78
- 2005 Claude Simon, Malagasy-French writer, (Nobel Prize Literature 1985), dies at 91
- 2009 Robert McNamara, American United States Secretary of Defense (1961-8), who played a major role in US escalation in Vietnam, dies at 93
- 2009 Leo Mol, Ukrainian Canadian artist and sculptor (b. 1915)
- 2009 Vasily Aksyonov, Soviet-Russian novelist (The Burn), dies at 76
- 2012 Charles David Ganao, Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo, dies at 85
- 2017 Thomas E. Sanders, American aerial cameraman (Living Daylights), dies at 63