Events in History
- 707 John VII ends his reign as Catholic Pope
- 1009 The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is destroyed by the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacks the Church's foundations down to bedrock
- 1016 Danes defeat Saxons at Battle of Assandun (Ashingdon)
- 1081 Battle of Dyrrhachium: Southern Italian Normans under Robert Guiscard defeat Byzantine Empire
- 1267 Battle at Marienholz: Henry III, Otto II van Gelre beat Keuls archbishop Engelbert III
- 1356 Basel earthquake, the most significant historic seismological event north of the Alps, destroys Basel in Switzerland.
- 1386 Opening of the University of Heidelberg
- 1534 New pursuit of French protestants
- 1561 Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima -- Takeda Shingen defeats Uesugi Kenshin in the climax of their ongoing conflict
- 1564 John Hawkins begins 2nd trip to America
- 1572 Spanish troops attack Maastricht
- 1622 French King Louis XIII & Huguenots sign Treaty of Montpellier
- 1648 1st labor organization forms in North American colonies (Boston Shoemakers)
- 1667 English fleet plunders Suriname plantations
- 1672 Poland & Turkey sign Peace of Buczacz
Event of Interest
1775 African-American poet Phillis Wheatley freed from slavery
Phillis Wheatley
Event of Interest
1790 Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling is granted permission to enroll at the Tübinger Stift at an earlier age than usually permitted
Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling
Alaska Purchase
1867 Alaska Purchase: US takes formal possession of Alaska from Russia, having paid $7.2 million
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- 1869 Henrik Ibsen's "De Unges Forbund" premieres in Christiania (Oslo), Norway
- 1873 1st football game between Toronto Argonauts & Hamilton Tigers
- 1873 Columbia Princeton Rutgers & Yale set rules for collegiate football
- 1878 Edison makes electricity available for household use
- 1878 Anti-socialist laws are ratified in Germany
- 1892 1st commercial long-distance phone line opens (Chicago-NY)
- 1898 American flag raised in Puerto Rico
- 1900 Count Bernard von Bulow becomes Chancellor of Germany, famous for first referring to Germany's need for 'place in the sun' and global empire
- 1901 Belgium's Louise of den Plas begins activities towards women rights
- 1908 Belgium annexes Congo Free State
- 1909 Comte de Lambert of France sets airplane altitude record of 300 m
Historic Publication
1910 E. M. Forster publishes novel "Howards End"
E. M. Forster
Italo-Turkish War
1912 The Treaty of Lausanne ends the Italo-Turkish War; Italy annexes Libya
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- 1912 The First Balkan War breaks out, with Bulgaria, Serbia, and Greece opposed to Turkey
- 1914 Schoenstatt Movement is founded in Germany
- 1915 3rd Italian offensive at Isonzo
- 1918 Czechoslovakia declares independence from Austro-Hungarian Empire
- 1918 Russian 10th Army drives out White armies of Tsaritsyn (Stalingrad)
Event of Interest
1919 David Beatty is created 1st Earl Beatty, Viscount Borodale, and Baron Beatty of the North Sea and Brooksby
David Beatty
Vladimir Lenin
- 1929 Women are considered "Persons" under Canadian law
Adolf Hitler
- 1943 US bombing of Bougainville, Solomon Island
Event of Interest
1944 Allied generals Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley and Bernard Montgomery confer in Brussels, Belgium
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Omar Bradley
Bernard Montgomery
- 1944 Soviet troops invade Czechoslovakia during WW II
- 1945 Paul Robeson wins Spingarn Medal for singing & acting achievements
- 1948 Operation 10 Plagues - Israeli offensive against Egyptian army
- 1951 USSR performs nuclear test
- 1952 Date of the first Mad Magazine issue
- 1952 Vinoo Mankad takes 13 Pakistan wkts to win 1st India-Pak clash
- 1954 Hurricane Hazel becomes most severe to ever hit the US, killing 195 in US and Canada
- 1954 Texas Instruments Inc. announces the first transistor radio.
- 1955 University of California discovers anti-proton
- 1955 Buganda Agreement between Andrew Cohen, Governor of Uganda Protectorate, and Mutesa II, Kabaka of Buganda
- 1960 In Britain, News Chronicle & Daily Mail merge and London Evening Star merges with Evening News
- 1961 Emergency crisis proclaimed in South Vietnam due to communist attack
John F. Kennedy
Nobel Prize
1962 James Watson (US), Francis Crick (UK) and Maurice Wilkins (UK) win the Nobel Prize for Medicine for their work in determining the structure of DNA
Francis Crick
James Watson
- 1967 Nobel prize for physics awarded to Hans A Bethe
- 1967 Soviet Venera 4 becomes 1st probe to send data back from Venus
- 1968 Circus Circus hotel opens in Las Vegas, largest permanent big top in the world
- 1969 Federal government bans use of cyclamates artificial sweeteners
- 1969 Jefferson Airplane's Paul Kanter arrested for marijuana possession
- 1969 Soyuz 8 returns to Earth
- 1970 Sachio Kinugasa begins 2,215 cons game streak for Hiroshima Carp
- 1973 Congress authorizes bi-centennial quarter, half-dollar & dollar coin
- 1973 Nobel prize for Economic Sciences awarded to American Wassily Leontief
- 1974 Andre van de Louw appointed Mayor of Rotterdam
- 1975 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
- 1976 Nobel prize for chemistry awarded to American William Lipscomb
- 1977 1st Islander 0-0 tie-Kings at Nassau-25th time shutout-Resch's 15th
- 1977 West German commandos liberate Boeing 737 with 86 hostages at Mogadishu
- 1978 US 1st daughter Susan Ford announces engagement to Charles F Vance
Event of Interest
1979 Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini orders mass executions to stop
Ayatollah Khomeini
- 1979 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
- 1979 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1981 Andreas Papandreous' PASOK wins Greek elections
- 1981 Poland General Jaruzelski elected party leader
- 1984 Discovery moves to Vandenberg AFB for mating of STS 51A mission
- 1984 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1988 Israel's supreme court uphold's ban on Kahane`s Kach Party as racist
- 1988 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1989 East German state/party leader Erich Honecker, resigns
- 1989 Hungary revises its constitution after the fall of its Communist regime
Birthdays in History
- 1127 Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan (d. 1192)
- 1239 Stefanus V, prince of Transylvania/king of Hungary (1270-72)
- 1405 Pius II, [Aenea S Piccolomini], Italian pope (1458-64) (Cynthia)
- 1517 Manoel da Nóbrega, Portuguese Jesuit in Brazil (d. 1570)
- 1547 Justus Lipsius, [Joost Lips], Dutch classic philologist/historian
- 1569 Giambattista Marini, Italian poet (d. 1625)
- 1595 Edward Winslow, Plymouth Colony founder (d. 1655)
- 1634 Luca Giordano, Italian artist (d. 1705)
- 1638 Lars Johnstown, [Lasse Lucidor], Swedish poet
- 1653 Abraham van Riebeeck, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1713)
- 1662 Matthew Henry, English non-conformist minister (d. 1714)
- 1663 Prince Eugene of Savoy, famous military commander for the Habsburg Monarchy against the Ottomans and the French, born in Paris, France
- 1668 Johan Georg IV, elector of Saxony (1691-94)
- 1668 Wierich PL earl von Daun, Austrian prince of Thiano/fieldmarshall
- 1679 Ann Putnam, Jr., American accuser in the Salem Witch Trials (d. 1716)
- 1697 Giovanni Canaletto, Italian painter (Regatta on the Grand Canal) and printmaker, born in Venice (d. 1768)
- 1701 Charles le Beau, French historian (d. 1778)
- 1712 Jeremias van Riemsdijk, gov-general of Dutch Indies (1775-77)
- 1741 Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, French general and author (d. 1803)
- 1774 Adolf Muller, German dramatist and critic, born near Weissenfels (d. 1829)
- 1777 Heinrich von Kleist, German dramatist/poet (Penthesilea)
- 1785 Thomas Love Peacock, English author (Headlong Hall)
- 1804 Rama IV, [Phra Chomklao Chaoyuhua], king of Thailand (1851-68)
- 1806 John Breckinridge Grayson, Brig Genl (Confederate Army), (d. 1861)
- 1811 Hugh Thompson Reid, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Union City, Indiana (d. 1874)
- 1818 Edward Otho Cresap Ord, American engineer and Major General (Union Army), born in Cumberland, Maryland (d. 1883)
- 1829 Charles Sidney Winder, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1862)
- 1829 Lucius Marshall Walker, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1863)
- 1831 Frederik III NK of Hohenzollern, German Kaiser/king of Prussia
- 1837 Friedrich Wilhelm Mengelberg, German-Dutch sculptor and architect of church interiors, born in Cologne (d. 1919)
- 1844 Harvey W. Wiley, American chemist known for leadership in the passage of the landmark Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, born in Kent, Indiana (d. 1930)
- 1854 Salomon August Andrée, Swedish engineer, balloonist and polar explorer, born in Gränna, Sweden (d. 1897)
- 1859 Henri Bergson, French philosopher (Creative Evolution-Nobel 1927)
- 1859 Paolo Orsi, Rovereto, Italian Archaeologist (Sicilian excavations)
- 1865 Arie de Jong, Dutch linguist (d. 1957)
- 1865 Logan Pearsall Smith, American essayist and critic (d. 1946)
- 1868 Ernst Didring, Swedish author (d. 1931)
- 1870 D T Suzuki, Kanazawa Japan, Zen Buddhist scholar
- 1872 Josephine CMA, princess of Belgium/nun
- 1873 Ivanoe Bonomi, Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1951)
- 1875 James E K Aggrey, Ghana, US theologian/educationalist
- 1877 Florence Dahl Walrath, humanitarian, founded Cradle society
- 1878 James Truslow Adams, historian (Pul-1921, Founding of New England)
- 1889 Fannie Hurst, novelist (Anatomy of Me)
- 1890 [Agathe] Henriette [M de Beaufort], Dutch author (Rembrandt)
- 1893 Roy Del Ruth, DE, director (About Face, Babe Ruth Story, Star Show)
- 1893 Sidney Holland, Prime Minister of New Zealand (National: 1949-57), born in Greendale, New Zealand (d. 1961)
- 1893 Georges Ohsawa, Japanese founder of Macrobiotics (d. 1966)
- 1894 H. L. Davis, American author (d. 1960)
- 1895 Raymond Brulez, Flemish author (Appearance at Kallista)
- 1897 Isabel Briggs Myers, American psychological theorist (d. 1980)
- 1902 Pascual Jordan, German physicist (d. 1980)
- 1904 A. J. Liebling, American journalist (d. 1963)
- 1905 Felix Houphouet-Boigny, President of Ivory coast (1960-93)
- 1906 James Brooks, US mural painter (Acquisition of Long Island)
- 1907 Alexander Hardie Williamson, artist
- 1909 Norberto Bobbio, Italian philosopher and legal theorist (d. 2004)
- 1913 Robert Gilruth, American aviation and space pioneer (d. 2000)
- 1916 Peter Shepherd, English contractor/multi-millionaire
- 1918 James Cameron Tudor, politician
- 1918 Konstantinos Mitsottakis, premier of Greece (1990- )
- 1918 Willem J "Molly" Geertsema, Dutch liberal/interior minister)
- 1918 Constantine Mitsotakis [Konstantinos Mitsotakis], Prime Minister of Greece (1990 –1993), born in Halepa, Crete (d. 2017)
Pierre Trudeau
1919 Pierre Trudeau, 15th Canadian Prime Minister (Liberal: 1968-79, 1980-84), born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 2000)
Pierre Trudeau
- 1919 Ric Nordman, Canadian politician (d. 1996)
- 1921 Jesse Helms, (Sen-D/R-North Carolina, 1973- )
- 1922 Richard Stankiewicz, US sculptor (1974 Akston Award, 1966 Brandeis)
- 1923 Suzanne Perlman, Hungarian/Dutch Antilian painter
- 1924 Frank Liedel, [Leo van Assche], Flemish writer (Kaperbrief)
- 1925 Ramiz Alia, political leader of Albania
- 1926 Thomas Millar, historian
- 1929 Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, president of Nicaragua (1990- )
- 1930 Frank C. Carlucci, National Security Adviser/Sec of Defense (1987-89), born in Scanton, Pennsyslvania (d. 2018)
- 1931 Catharina I "Ien" Dales, Dutch Internal minister (1989-94)
- 1932 Vytautas Landsbergis, Lithuanian politician
- 1934 Chuck Swindoll, American evangelist
- 1935 John B. Coleman, American hotel magnate (Ritz Carlton), born in Boston, Massachusetts
Lee Harvey Oswald
1939 Lee Harvey Oswald, American assassin of JFK, born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1963)
Lee Harvey Oswald
- 1939 Flavio Cotti, member of the Swiss Federal Council
- 1942 Larry Pickering, Australian newspaper cartoonist
- 1943 Birthe Rønn Hornbech, Danish politician
- 1943 Elena Ferrante, pseudonymous Italian novelist (Neapolitan Novels), born in Naples, Italy (claimed)
- 1944 Katherine Kurtz, UK, sci-fi author (Deryni Rising, Saint Camber)
- 1945 Christopher Shays, (Rep-R-Connecticut)
- 1947 Luc Journet, Belgian physician (Order of Zonnetempel)
- 1947 Job Cohen, Dutch politician, Mayor of Amsterdam
- 1948 Isabel E Allen, biostatician
- 1948 Ntozake Shange, American author
- 1950 Patrick L Swindall, (Rep-R-GA, 1985- )
- 1950 Wendy Wasserstein, American playwright (The Heidi Chronicles), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2006)
- 1951 Terry McMillan, American author
- 1952 Bảo Ninh, Vietnamese novelist
- 1955 Rita Verdonk, Dutch politician
- 1956 Jim Talent, Des Peres, Missouri, American politician (Rep-R-Missouri)
- 1957 Doug Isaacson, Alaskan politician
- 1959 Kirby Chambliss, Aerobatic pilot and Red Bull Air Racer
- 1959 Steve Swayne, Dartmouth Professor
- 1970 José Padilla, American former gang member and alleged supporter of terrorism
- 1972 James Stream Thurmond Jr, son of US senator Strom Thurmond
- 1984 Lindsey Vonn, American alpine skier
Weddings in History
Wedding of Interest
1869 Sardinia king Victor Emmanuel II (49) weds his mistress Rosa Vercellana (36) in Italy
Victor Emmanuel II
Wedding of Interest
1926 Communist revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh (36) weds midwife Zeng Xueming (21) in Guangzhou
Ho Chi Minh
Deaths in History
- 707 John VII, Catholic Pope (705-07), of Greek ancestry, dies
- 1035 Sancho III King of Pamplona (1004-1035) dies
- 1101 Hugh "the Great", Count of Vermandois, son of Henry I of France (1085-1101), dies of battle wounds at 44
- 1141 Margrave Leopold IV of Austria
- 1340 Henry Henricus of Friemar, Augustine philosopher, dies
- 1382 James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormonde, dies at 51
- 1417 Pope Gregory XII [Angelo Correr], Pope (1406-15), dies
- 1459 Jan of Heinsberg, bishop of Luik (1419-56), dies
- 1503 Pius III, [Francesco Todeschini], Pope (9/22-10/18/1503), dies
- 1541 Margaret Tudor, Queen consort of Scots as wife of James IV of Scotland (1503-13), dies at 51
- 1558 Maria, Queen of Hungary as wife of Louis II and Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands (1531-55), dies at 53
- 1564 Johannes Acronius Frisius, German physician and mathematician (b. 1520)
- 1570 Manoel da Nóbrega, Portuguese Jesuit in Brazil (b. 1517)
- 1589 Adolf van Nieuwenaar & Meurs, viceroy of Utrecht, dies in battle
- 1604 Igram van Achelen, Dutch statesman (b. 1528)
- 1646 Isaac Jogues, French Jesuit missionary (b. 1607)
- 1667 Fasilides, Emperor of Ethiopia
- 1669 Abraham Willaerts, Dutch painter (A Spanish three-decker at anchor off Naples), dies
- 1676 Nathaniel Bacon, rallied against Virginian government, killed at 29
- 1678 Cornelis Galle II, Flemish engraver/illustrator, dies at 63
- 1678 Jacob Jordaens, Flemish baroque painter, dies at 85
- 1708 Henry Van Nassau, stable master/fieldmarshal, dies at 67
- 1739 Antônio José da Silva, Brazilian-born dramatist (b. 1705)
- 1744 Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, close friend of Queen Anne of Great Britain, dies at 84
- 1770 John Manners, Marquess of Granby, British soldier (b. 1721)
- 1775 Christian August Crusius, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1715)
- 1830 Peter I Petrovic Njegos, bishop (Montenegro), dies
- 1839 French Jozef Kinsoen, Flemish portrait painter, dies at 68
- 1845 Jean-Dominique, comte de Cassini, French astronomer, dies at 97
- 1864 David Bell Birney, US lawyer/Union general-major, dies at 39
Henry John Temple
1865 Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, British Prime Minister (1855-58 and 1859-65), dies of fever at 80
Henry John Temple
Charles Babbage
1871 Charles Babbage, English mathematician/inventor (calculator), dies of renal failure at 79
Charles Babbage
- 1876 Francis Preston Blair, American journalist and newspaper editor (Washington Globe), dies at 85
- 1886 Philipp Franz von Siebold, German physician (b. 1796)
- 1889 Antonio Meucci, Italian inventor (invented a telephone-like device), dies at 81
- 1893 Lucy Stone, American abolitionist (US Woman's Suffrage Association), dies at 75
- 1909 Alfredo Oriani, Italian writer (Political Struggle in Italy), dies at 57
- 1911 Alfred Binet, French child psychologist who invented the first practical IQ test (Binet–Simon test), dies at 54
- 1921 King Ludwig III of Bavaria (b. 1845)
Thomas Edison
1931 Thomas Edison, American inventor (lightbulb, phonograph, motion picture camera), dies at 84
Thomas Edison
- 1938 Karl J Kautsky, Austrian marxist/socialist, dies
- 1940 Suze Groeneweg, 1st woman in Dutch 2nd Chamber (1918-37), dies at 65
- 1941 Dirk Fock, Dutch politician and Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (1921-26), dies at 83
- 1941 Manuel Teixeira Gomes, 7th President of Portugal, dies at 81
- 1942 Mikhail Nesterov, Russian painter (b. 1862)
- 1943 A. M. de Jong, Dutch writer (World Tour of Bulletje & Bonestaak), dies at 55
- 1943 Benedictus H. Danser, Dutch taxonomist and botanist, dies at 52
- 1948 Walther von Brauchitsch, German field marshal, dies at 67
- 1953 Douwe Kalma, Dutch literary writer and leader (Young Frisian Movement), dies at 57
- 1955 José Ortega y Gasset, Spanish philosopher and author (The Revolt of the Masses), dies at 72
- 1966 Sebastian S. Kresge, American merchant and philanthropist (Kmart), dies at 99
- 1973 Crane Wilbur, American director and writer (Bat, Canon City, Yellow Cargo), dies at 86
- 1973 Margaret Caroline Anderson, American magazine publisher (b. 1886)
- 1973 Leo Strauss, German-American political philosopher, dies at 74
- 1976 Kavi Samrat Viswanatha Satyanarayana, Telugu writer (b. 1895)
- 1977 Andreas Baader, leader of the German organization Red Army Faction, dies at 34
- 1977 Gudrun Ensslin, German terrorist (Founder of Red Army Faction), dies at 37
- 1977 Jan-Carl Raspe (b. 1944)
- 1978 Jacques Mornard, [Ramon Mercader], murderer of Trotsky, dies at 64
Bess Truman
1982 Bess Truman, 1st lady (1945-53), dies in Independence, Mo at 97
Bess Truman
- 1982 Maurice Gilliams, Flemish literary (Sources of Insomnia), dies at 82
- 1982 Pierre Mendès-France, French Premier (1954-55), dies at 75
- 1982 John Robarts, Canadian politician, Premier of Ontario (b. 1917)
- 1982 Paul Lebeau, Flemish writer (Last Rose, Xanthippe), dies at 74
- 1983 Diego Abad de Santillán, Spanish anarchist (b. 1897)
- 1984 Florence Rinard, TV panelist (20 Questions), dies at 82
- 1985 Benjamin Moloisi, South African poet/Anc'er, hanged at 30
- 1987 Theodore Brameld, author (Use of Explosive Ideas), dies at 83
- 1988 Dimitri Frenkel Frank, writer/director (Hadimassa), dies at 60
- 1993 Dionisio Herrero, Spanish air force general, murdered at 63
- 1993 Smail Yefsah, Algerian TV journalist, murdered at 31
- 1994 Richard A. Garland, artist and photographer, dies at 60
- 1994 WIlliam Faure, producer, dies at 45
- 1995 Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher, lawyer, dies at 67
- 1995 Iri Maruki, Japanese artist (The Hiroshima Panels), dies at 94
- 1995 John Gardener, boatbuilder/writer, dies at 90
- 1995 Thomas Lyttle, paramilitary, dies at 56
- 1996 Guiseppe Panini, industrialist, dies at 71
- 1997 Bill Rotsler, cartoonist/writer, dies of cancer at 62
- 1997 Roberto C Goizueta, CEO (Coca-Cola), dies of lung cancer at 65
- 1999 Herbert Heckmann, German writer, dies at 69
- 2002 Nikolay Rukavishnikov, Soviet cosmonaut (Soyuz 10, 16, 33), dies at 70
- 2002 Wynand Breytenbach, South African soldier and politician, Deputy Minister of Defense (1986-94), dies at 67
- 2003 Preston Smith, 40th Governor of Texas, dies at 91
- 2003 Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Spanish writer (b. 1939)
- 2004 Veerappan, Indian bandit and smuggler (b. 1945)
- 2006 Mario Francesco Cardinal Pompedda (b. 1929)
- 2007 Alan Coren, English writer and satirist (b. 1938)
- 2007 William J. Crowe, American admiral and ambassador (b. 1925)
- 2007 Vincent DeDomenico, American entrepreneur (b. 1915)
- 2009 Nancy Spero, American feminist artist, dies at 83
- 2013 Bill Young, American politician, dies from complications from a back injury at 82
- 2013 Tom Foley, American politician (Rep-D, 1965-1995) and speaker of the house (1989-95), dies from complications from a stroke at 84