Events in History
- 539 BC King Cyrus "the Great" of Persia marches into Babylon, freeing Jewish captives and allowing them to return home
- 1268 Conradin, the last legitimate male heir of the German Hohenstaufen dynasty of Kings and Holy Roman Emperors, is executed with Frederick I, Margrave of Baden by Charles I of Sicily
Execution
1618 English adventurer, writer and courtier Walter Raleigh is beheaded for allegedly conspiring against King James I of England
Walter Raleigh
James I and VI
- 1665 Battle of Mbwila [Ambuila]: Portuguese defeat forces of the Kingdom of Kongo and decapitate King Antonio I of Kongo / Nvita a Nkanga
Event of Interest
1675 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz makes the first use of the long s, ∫, for integral, helping discover integral and differential calculus
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Event of Interest
1682 William Penn lands at what is now Chester, Pennsylvania
William Penn
Salem Witch Trials
1692 Court of Oyer and Terminer, convened for Salem witch trials, dissolved
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- 1709 England & Netherlands sign anti-French "Barrieretraktaat"
- 1727 Severe earthquake in New England
- 1792 Mount Hood (Oregon) is named after the British naval officer Alexander Arthur Hood by Lt. William E. Broughton who spotted the mountain near the mouth of the Willamette River.
- 1794 French troops occupies Venlo
- 1811 1st Ohio River steamboat leaves Pittsburgh for New Orleans
- 1814 "Demologos", 1st steam-powered warship, is launched
- 1833 1st US college fraternity to have a fraternity house founded
- 1859 Spain declares war on Morocco
- 1863 International Committee of Red Cross forms as result Geneva held conference (Nobel 1917, 1944, 1963)
- 1864 Greek parliament accept new Constitution
- 1867 Mail packets "Rhone" & "Wye" capsize off St Thomas, Virgin Islands
- 1872 J S Risdon patents metal windmill
- 1881 Judge (U.S. magazine) first published.
Event of Interest
1888 Lord Salisbury grants Cecil Rhodes charter for British South Africa Company
Cecil Rhodes
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil
- 1889 Queen Victoria grants Cecil Rhodes rights to Zambezia
- 1889 Stanley Park dedicated in Vancouver, BC
- 1894 First election of Hawaiian Republic
- 1901 In Amherst, Massachusetts, nurse Jane Toppan is arrested for murdering the Davis family of Boston with an overdose of morphine.
- 1904 First intercity trucking service (Colorado City & Snyder, Texas)
- 1905 Hottentot chief Hendrik Witbooi fatally injured
- 1913 Floods in El Salvador kill thousands.
- 1914 Turkish warships storm Black Sea
Election of Interest
1915 Aristide Briand becomes Prime Minister of France for the 3rd time
Aristide Briand
- 1918 German sailors refuse to obey orders to fight British naval forces and lead a revolt in the naval ports of Wilhelmshaven, beginning the German Revolution
- 1921 The Link River Dam, a part of the Klamath Reclamation Project, is completed.
- 1923 Army move SPD/KPD-government to German part of Saxon
- 1923 Textile strike against lower wages begins in Enschede, Netherlands
- 1923 Turkey declares independence (successor state to Ottoman Empire)
- 1923 Mustafa Kemal officially confirms Turkey as a republic (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti), now commemorated annually as the Republic Day of Turkey
- 1924 Labour party loses British parliamentary election
- 1929 "Black Tuesday" Wall Street Stock Market crashes triggering the "Great Depression"
- 1930 1st Eastern Canada night CF game: Oshawa vs Toronto Balmy Beach
- 1932 French liner Normandie is launched
- 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition closes (1st closure)
- 1940 Secretary of War Henry L Stimson draws the 1st number - #158 - in the 1st peacetime military draft in US history
- 1942 Seventh day of battle at El Alamein: Montgomery assault
- 1942 Alaska highway completed
- 1942 Nazis murder 16,000 Jews in Pinsk, Soviet Union
- 1943 Three allied officers escape out camp Stalag Luft 3
- 1944 1st Polish Armoured Division liberates Breda, Netherlands
- 1944 Cabadese 2nd Infantry division frees Goes South-Beveland
- 1945 First ballpoint pen goes on sale, manufactured by Reynolds in the US (just beating biro)
Event of Interest
1945 Getulio Vargas, President of Brazil, resigns
Getulio Vargas
- 1947 Belgium, Luxembourg & Netherlands form Benelux Union
- 1947 Trial of art forger Han van Meegeren begins in Amsterdam
- 1948 Israeli forces liberate Meron & Gush-Halev
- 1948 Safsaf massacre, Israeli defence forces attack Palestinian village of Safsaf in the Galilee
- 1950 British Chancellor of the Exchequer (Minister of Finance) Stafford Cripps resigns
- 1953 A Baltimore group purchases St Louis Browns
Event of Interest
1954 Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser disbands the Muslim Brotherhood
Gamal Abdel Nasser
- 1954 Sweden begins experimental TV
- 1955 Belgium signs accord for 5 day work week (45 hours)
- 1955 Emile Zatopek runs world record 15 mile (1:14:01) & 25,000m (1:16:36)
- 1956 International zone of Tangier returns to Morocco
- 1956 Suez Crisis erupts into war as Israel invades the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula, to be followed by a planned airborne assault by France and Britain
- 1957 Hand grenade explodes in Israel's Knesset (Parliament)
Nobel Prize
1958 Boris Pasternak refuses Nobel prize for literature
Boris Pasternak
Historic Publication
1959 "Asterix" is first published in the French magazine "Pilote" by Rene Goscinny, illustrated by Albert Uderzo
René Goscinny
Albert Uderzo
- 1960 Chartered C46 carrying Cal State's football team crashes, kills 16
- 1961 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1964 Star of India & other jewels are stolen in NY
- 1964 Town of Karmi'el founded in Galilee
- 1964 The United Republic of Tanganyika & Zanzibar renamed The United Republic of Tanzania
- 1965 US performs underground nuclear test at Amchitka Island Aleutians
- 1966 Lunar Orbiter 1 crashes on moon: 6.7°N 162°E
- 1966 National Organization of Women founded
- 1967 Expo 67 closes in Montreal, Canada
- 1967 London criminal Jack McVitie is murdered by the Kray twins, leading to their eventual imprisonment and downfall.
- 1968 USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR
- 1969 US Supreme Court orders end to all school segregation "at once"
- 1969 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1969 USSR performs underground nuclear test
- 1970 The Electoral Reform Society calls for the introduction of Proportional Representation (PR) in elections in Northern Ireland
- 1974 Law bans discrimination of sex or marital status in credit application
- 1975 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1975 'Yorkshire Ripper' Peter Sutcliffe kills his first victim, Wilma McCann
- 1977 Texas' Russell Erideben kicks his 3rd 60 yard field goal of the season
- 1977 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1982 Car maker John DeLorean indicted for drug trafficking, later acquitted
- 1983 550,000 Dutch demonstrate against cruise missile
- 1983 Notre Dame's Gil Fenerty rushes for 337 yards & 6 touchdowns
- 1985 Cards' Joaquin Andujar suspended for 10 games for bumping an ump
- 1985 Major General Samuel K. Doe is announced the winner of the first multiparty election in Liberia.
'Splendid Achievement' becomes the 'Road To Hell'
1986 British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher opens the final stretch of London's Orbital Motorway, the M25. Then the world’s longest ring road at 117 miles (188.3 km).
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Birthdays in History
- 1463 Alessandro Achillini, Italian physician and philosopher, born in Bologna, Italy (d. 1512)
- 1507 Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, Spanish noble and diplomat (governor of the Netherlands (1567–1573)), born in Piedrahíta, Ávila, Spain (d. 1582)
- 1682 Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix, French Jesuit prince and historian, born in Saint-Quentin, Picardy, Kingdom of France (d. 1761)
- 1690 Martin Folkes, English antiquarian and mathematician, born in Westminster, London (d. 1754)
- 1704 John Byng, English admiral executed by firing squad at 52 for neglecting his duty in defence of Minorca, born in Southill, Bedfordshire, England (d. 1757)
- 1740 James Boswell, Scottish biographer of Samuel Johnson and diarist, born in Edinburgh (d. 1795)
- 1815 Ľudovít Štúr, Slovak politician and author of Slovak language, born in Uhrovec, Austrian Empire (d. 1856)
- 1816 Ferdinand II, German prince of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry and King of Portugal (1837-53), born in Palais Coburg, Vienna, Austrian Empire (d. 1885)
- 1822 Joost Gerard Kist, Dutch lawyer and president of High Council (1885-97), born in Zoelen, Netherlands (d. 1897)
- 1822 Mieczysław Halka-Ledóchowski, Polish Catholic Cardinal (d. 1902)
- 1824 Joseph Horace Lewis, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Barren County, Kentucky (d. 1904)
- 1827 Marcellin Berthelot, French chemist (Thomsen–Berthelot principle of thermochemistry), born in Paris (d. 1907)
- 1837 Abraham Kuyper, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (1901-05), born in Maassluis, Netherlands (d. 1920)
- 1837 Harriet Powers, African-American slave and quilt maker (Bible Quilt 1886), born in Clarke County, Georgia (d. 1910)
- 1844 Albert Salomon Anselm von Rothschild, Austrian banker and member of the Rothschild banking family of Austria, born in Vienna, Austrian Empire (d. 1911)
- 1853 Josephine Beall Bruce, African-American activist (NACW) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1923)
- 1855 Paul Bruchési, French Canadian Catholic archbishop of Montreal, born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 1939)
- 1857 Konrad Haebler, German historian (Early printers of Spain/Portugal), born in Dresden, Germany (d. 1946)
- 1861 Andrei Ryabushkin, Russian painter, born in Borisoglebsk Uyezd (d. 1904)
- 1871 Narziss Ach, German psychologist (Analyse des Willens), born in Ermershausen, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire (d. 1946)
- 1873 Guillermo Valencia, Colombian poet, translator and statesman, born in Popayán, Cauca, Colombia (d. 1943)
- 1875 Marie, last Queen of Romania as the wife of King Ferdinand I (1914-27), born in Eastwell Park, Kent, England (d. 1938)
- 1878 Alex von Falkenhausen, German general (China, WW II), born in Gut Blumenthal, Province of Silesia, German Empire (d. 1966)
Franz von Papen
1879 Franz von Papen, German diplomat and chancellor (1932), born in Werl, Province of Westphalia, German Empire (d. 1969)
Franz von Papen
- 1879 Alva B. Adams, American politician (U.S. Senator from Colorado 1933-41), born in Del Norte, Colorado (d. 1941)
- 1880 Abram F. Joffe, Russian physicist (crystal), born in Romny, Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire (d. 1960)
- 1882 Jean Giraudoux, French writer and playwright (The Madwoman of Chaillot), born in Bellac, Haute-Vienne, France (d. 1944)
- 1890 Claire Goll, German-French writer, born in Nuremberg (d. 1977)
- 1891 Fanny Brice, American singing comedienne (Ziegeld Follies, Baby Snooks), born in NYC, New York (d. 1951)
Joseph Goebbels
1897 Joseph Goebbels, German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany (1933-45), born in Rheydt, Germany (d. 1945)
Joseph Goebbels
- 1905 Laurence Dowdall, Scottish lawyer, born in Glasgow, Scotland (d. 1996)
- 1906 Fredric Brown, American sci-fi author (Martians Go Home), born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1972)
- 1910 A. J. Ayer, English Neopositivist philosopher (Logical Positivism), born in London (d. 1989)
- 1911 Phillip Oppenheimer, British diamond trader (d. 1995)
- 1918 Bernard Gordon, American writer and producer (Earth vs. the Flying Saucers), born in New Britain, Connecticut (d. 2007)
- 1920 Baruj Benacerraf, Venezuelan-American immunologist (Nobel 1980 - discovery of genes that regulate immune responses and of the role that some of these genes play in autoimmune diseases), born in Caracas, Venezuela (d. 2011)
- 1920 Didymos I, Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan (2005-10), born in Mavelikkara, India (d. 2014)
- 1921 Bill Mauldin, American cartoonist famous for his World War II cartoons depicting American soldiers (Pulitzer-1945, 59), born in Mountain Park, New Mexico (d. 2003)
- 1922 Neil Blaney, Irish politician, born in Fanad, County Donegal, Ireland (d. 1995)
Carl Djerassi
1923 Carl Djerassi, Austrian-born American chemist and father of the contraceptive pill, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 2015)
Carl Djerassi
- 1924 Zbigniew Herbert, Polish poet and writer, born in Lwów, Poland (d. 1998)
- 1925 Geraldine Brooks, American actress (Faraday & Co, Dumplings, Act of Murder), born in NYC, New York (d. 1977)
- 1925 Dominick Dunne, American writer and producer (Panic in Needle Park), born in Hartford, Connecticut (d. 2009)
- 1927 Hugo Schiltz, Flemish lawyer and politician, born in Borsbeek, Belgium (d. 2006)
- 1930 Niki de Saint Phalle, French sculptor, born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France (d. 2002)
- 1934 Karl Francis Hettinger, American police officer (Onion Field survivor), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1994)
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
1938 Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of Liberia (2006-2018) and the first elected female head of state in Africa, born in Monrovia, Liberia
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
- 1940 Connie Mack III, American politician (U.S. Senator from Florida), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 1940 Galen Weston, English-Canadian multi-millionaire industrialist, born in Marlow, England
- 1940 José Ulises Macías Salcedo, Catholic bishop, born in León, Guanajuato, Mexico
- 1944 Fausto Leali, Italian entertainer, born in Nuvolento, Brescia, Italy
- 1946 Strinivasa Moodley, South African anti-apartheid activist, born in Durban, Natal
- 1947 Helen Coonan, Australian politician (Senator for New South Wales), born in Mangoplah, Australia
- 1950 Abdullah Gul, Turkish President (2007-14), born in Kayseri, Anatolia
- 1951 Dirk Kempthorne, (Sen-R Idaho)
- 1952 Valeri I Tokarev, Russian colonel/cosmonaut
- 1958 David Remnick, American writer and editor of The New Yorker
- 1959 John Magufuli, Tanzanian politician (President of Tanzania (2015-2021), born in Chato, Tanganyika (d. 2021)
- 1967 Beth Chapman, Star of Dog the Bounty Hunter
- 1969 Matthew Whitaker, American lawyer and politician (Acting Attorney General, Nov. 2018-Feb. 2019), born in Des Moines, Iowa
- 1971 Daniel J. Bernstein, American professor
- 1971 Ma Huateng [Pony Ma], Chinese entrepreneur (Tencent), born in Chaoyang District, Shantou
- 1972 Takafumi Horie, Japanese entrepreneur
- 1976 Mohsen Emadi, Iranian Poet
- 1979 Ignasi Giménez Renom, Catalan politician
- 1981 Jonathan Brown, Australian rules footballer
Weddings in History
Deaths in History
- 490 Petrus Mongus, patriarch of Alexandria, dies
- 1038 Aethelnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury
- 1268 Conradin, Duke of Swabia (executed) (b. 1252)
- 1268 Frederick I, Margrave of Baden (beheaded) (b. 1249)
- 1321 Stefanus VI Uros II Milutin, king of Serbia (1282-1321), dies
- 1590 Dirck Volkertsz Coornhert, theologist/philosopher, dies at about 68
Walter Raleigh
1618 Walter Raleigh, English scholar, poet, historian and explorer, beheaded for treason at about 64
Walter Raleigh
Jean-Baptiste Le Rond d'Alembert
1783 Jean-Baptiste Le Rond d'Alembert, French philosopher and mathematician (Encyclopédie), dies at 66
Jean-Baptiste Le Rond d'Alembert
- 1790 Pieter van/of Bleiswijk, pension advisor 1771-87, dies at about 66
- 1804 George Morland, English artist of rural landscapes, dies at 41
- 1822 Dirk van Hogendorp, Dutch minister of War, dies at 61
- 1846 Jean Louis van Aelbroeck, Flemish agronomist, dies at 90
- 1856 Carel Sirardus Willem van Hogendorp, Dutch colonial director, dies at 68
- 1873 Ernest Feydeau, French author, dies at 52
- 1873 Johan N M J, king of Saxon (1854-73), dies
- 1873 Leonardus Lightenvelt, minister of RC Worship, dies at 78
Nathan Bedford Forrest
1877 Nathan Bedford Forrest, American Confederate general, dies at 56
Nathan Bedford Forrest
George McClellan
1885 George McClellan, Union army major general, dies of a heart attack at 58
George McClellan
- 1885 James Hannington, English missionary, murdered in Uganda
- 1892 William Harnett, Irish-American painter (Old Cupboard Door), dies at 44
- 1901 Leon Czolcosz, assassin of President McKinley, is electrocuted
- 1911 Joseph Pulitzer, Hungarian publisher (St Louis Post-Dispatch, NY World), dies at 64
- 1919 Soen Shaku, Zen abbot of Engakuji monastery in Kamakura, dies at 60
- 1919 A. B. Simpson, Canadian preacher (b. 1843)
- 1924 Frances Hodgson Burnett, British born American playwright and children's author ("Little Lord Fauntleroy"), dies at 74
- 1927 Leonard Nelson, German philosopher (Nelson-Friessche Schule), dies at 45
- 1932 Joseph Babinski, Polish-French neurologist (Babinski reflex), dies at 74
- 1933 Paul Painlevé, French Prime Minister (1917, 1925), dies at 69
- 1933 Albert Calmette, French physician, bacteriologist and immunologist (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin), dies at 70
- 1936 Ramiro de Maeztu, Spanish writer (Don Quixote & Celestine), dies at 61
- 1939 Dwight B. Waldo, American educator (first President of Western Michigan University), dies at 75
- 1945 Hans Erich Blaich [Dr. Owlglass], German writer (Simplicissimus), dies at 72
- 1946 John S Curry, American painter (Baptism in Kansas), dies
- 1947 Frances Cleveland Preston, former 1st lady (1885-89 93-97), dies at 83
- 1949 G. I. Gurdjieff, Armenian mystic (b. 1872)
- 1950 Gustav V, king of Sweden, dies at 92
- 1951 De Raymond, French High Director of Cambodia, murdered
- 1951 Robert G Aitken, US astronomer (New General Catalogue), dies at 86
- 1957 Rosemarie Nitribitt, German call girl (b. 1933)
- 1958 Zoe Akins, American playwright (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 1935), dies at 71
- 1965 Mehdi Am Barka, Moroccan socialist leader, murdered in Paris
- 1974 Victor E. van Vriesland, Dutch poet (Mirror of Dutch Poetry), dies at 82
- 1981 William O Walker, publisher of Cleveland Call Post, dies at 85
- 1986 Sem Presser, Dutch press photographer, dies at 68
- 1987 Kamal El Mallakh, dies at 57
- 1990 William French Smith, attorney general (1980), dies at 73 of cancer
- 1991 Donald Churchill, playwright, dies of heart attack at 60
- 1991 Harry Thomas, founder (Flower Festival, Dutch Homofielen Party), dies
- 1991 Mario Scelba, Prime Minister of Italia (1954-55), dies
- 1992 Adrienne Canivez, wife of Victor of Vriesland, dies
- 1992 Kenneth MacMillan, British choreographer (Manon, Judas Tree), dies
- 1993 Raymond Lockhart, TV director (Huntley Brinkley Report), dies at 65
- 1994 Andrew Miller-Jones, British TV pioneer (Picture Page, Dressing Up), dies at 84
- 1996 Patrick Johnson, English physicist, dies at 92
- 1996 J. Edward Day, 55th U.S. Postmaster General (1961), dies at 82
- 1997 Anton LaVey, American founder of the Church of Satan, dies at 67
- 1999 Greg [Michel Régnier], Belgian comic-book writer and artist (Achille Talon), dies at 68
- 2003 Hal Clement [Harry Clement Stubbs], American sci-fi writer (Mission of Gravity), dies at 81
- 2004 Edward Oliver LeBlanc, Dominican politician, dies at 81
- 2004 Peter Twinn, English mathematician (b. 1916)
- 2006 Mohammadu Maccido, 18th Sultan of Sokoto (b. 1928)
- 2011 Jimmy Savile, British entertainer and suspected sexual predator, dies at 84
- 2015 Murphy Anderson, American comic artist (DC Comics), dies at 89
- 2016 Pen Sovann, 1st post-Khmer Rouge Cambodian Prime Minister (1981), dies at 80
- 2016 John D. Roberts, American chemist, received American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal (2013), dies at 98
- 2017 Dennis Banks, American activist (leader of the American Indian Movement), dies at 80