Events in History
Battle of Interest
46 BC Julius Caesar dedicates a temple to his mythical ancestor Venus Genetrix in accordance with a vow he made at the Battle of Pharsalus
Julius Caesar
- 715 Ragenfrid defeats Theudoald at the Battle of Compiègne
- 1212 Golden Bull of Sicily certified hereditary royal title in Bohemia for Přemyslid dynasty
- 1371 Battle of Maritsa: Serbia-Turkey
- 1396 Sultan Bajezid I beheads hundreds of crusaders
- 1404 Brussels Brabants/Limburgse audit-office established
- 1580 Frances Drake completes circumnavigation of the world, sailing into Plymouth aboard the Golden Hind
- 1629 Sweden & Poland signs Peace of Altmark
- 1655 Peter Stuyvesant recaptures Dutch Ft Casimir from Swedish in Delaware
Great Plague of London
1665 Height of the Great Plague of London as 7,165 people die throughout the previous week
Learn More >>
- 1680 Tax revolt in Gorinchem due to tax on cereal
Parthenon
1687 Acropolis in Athens attacked by Venetian army trying to eject Turks, damaging the Parthenon
Learn More >>
Contract of Interest
1738 Scottish philosopher David Hume enters into a contract to publish the first two volumes of his seminal work "A Treatise of Human Nature" with John Noon in London
David Hume
Event of Interest
1771 Denis Diderot's "Le Fils Naturel" premieres in Paris
Denis Diderot
- 1772 New Jersey passes bill requiring a license to practise medicine
Event of Interest
1777 British General William Howe occupies Philadelphia during American Revolution
William Howe
Event of Interest
1789 Thomas Jefferson appointed 1st US Secretary of State; John Jay becomes 1st US Chief Justice
Thomas Jefferson
John Jay
- 1789 Edmund J Randolph becomes 1st US Attorney General
Event of Interest
1792 Marc-David Lasource begins accusing Maximilien Robespierre of wanting a dictatorship for France
Maximilien Robespierre
Event of Interest
1815 Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord resigns as Prime Minister of France
Talleyrand
- 1824 Kapiolani defies Pele (Hawaiian volcano goddess) & lives
- 1831 Robert Montgomery Bird's play "The Gladiator" premieres in NYC
- 1872 The first Shriners Temple (called Mecca) was established in New York City.
- 1874 1st Grand International Rifle match held
- 1876 1st Belgian parachute jump (Glorieux)
- 1884 Suriname army shoots on British-Indian contract workers, 7 killed
- 1887 Emile Berliner patents the Gramophone
- 1890 US stops minting $1 & $3 gold coin & 3 cent piece
- 1895 Italian general Oreste Baratieri lands in Massawa, Eritrea
- 1901 Boer General Botha fails to capture Fort Itala in Natal
- 1901 Great Britain annexes the Ashanti Kingdom and places it under the governor of the Gold Coast (Ghana)
- 1904 Earl Grey is named British governor-general of Canada
- 1904 GB Shaw's "How He Lied to Her Husband" premieres in NYC
- 1907 New Zealand and Newfoundland each become dominions within the British Empire
- 1914 Federal Trade Commission formed to regulate interstate commerce
- 1914 Germans arrest A Max, mayor of Brussels
- 1916 Bishop speak against Catholics in trade unions
- 1917 British assault on Menin-street, France
- 1918 Beginning of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, more than 1 million American soldiers in the largest and most costly offensive of WWI
- 1923 Gustav Stresemann government ends resistance against occupiers in Ruhrgebied
- 1923 The Commonwealth Conference is held in London, where Britain recognizes the right of the Dominions to make treaties with foreign powers
- 1925 Italian sub "Sebastiano Veniero" lost off Sicily with 54 dead
- 1926 JB Fagan's "And So to Bed" premieres in London
- 1929 John Schrober becomes chancellor of Austria
- 1933 Sidney Kingsley's "Men in White" premieres in NYC
- 1934 British liner Queen Mary is launched
'I Have Heard The Voice of Adolf Hitler . . .'
1938 Adolf Hitler issues ultimatum to Czech government, demanding Sudenten Land
Read the Article >>
- 1939 German seaplane shoots KLM-aircraft (1 killed)
- 1940 Luftwaffe bombs Spitfire factory in Woolston, Southampton for second time, 30 killed
- 1940 Japanese troops attack French Indo-China
- 1944 Soviet forces occupy Estonia
- 1944 World War II: Battle of Arnhem ends in Allied failure as German forces link up on both sides of the Lower Rhine river and mop up last British resistance
- 1945 All old Dutch banknotes declared invalid
- 1950 Because of forest fire in Br Columbia, blue moon appears in England
- 1950 UN troops in Korean War recapture South Korean capital of Seoul
- 1951 Prof Youngblood demonstrates artificial heart in Paris
- 1953 Polish government fires/imprisons Cardinal Wyszynski
- 1953 US & Spain sign defense treaty (4 US bases in Spain)
- 1954 Japanese ferry boat Toya Maru sinks in Strait of Tsugaru during a typhoon, 1,153 people die
- 1955 NY Stock Exchange worst price decline since 1929
- 1957 Dag Hammarskjöld re-elected secretary-general of UN
- 1957 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1958 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1959 Typhoon Vera, hits Japanese island of Honshu, causing the deaths of 4,580 people with 658 missing
- 1960 1st of 4 TV debates Nixon & Kennedy took place (Chicago)
United Nations Speech
1960 Cuban leader Fidel Castro delivers a 4 hour and 29 minute long speech at the United Nations
Fidel Castro
Event of Interest
1963 Lee Harvey Oswald travels on Continental Trailways bus to Mexico
Lee Harvey Oswald
- 1965 Minnesota gains its 1st AL pennant by defeating Washington, 2-1
- 1966 "Staten Island" 1st icebreaker to enter San Francisco Bay
- 1968 Marcelo Caetano elected premier of Portugal
- 1968 St Louis Cards' Bob Gibson's 13th shutout ends with 1.12 ERA
- 1968 Theatre censorship ends in Britain
- 1969 Bolivia military coup under general Ovando Candia
- 1969 USSR performs underground nuclear test
- 1970 The Laguna Fire starts in San Diego County, California, burning 175,425 acres (710 km²).
- 1970 A groups of Protestant youths attack the Catholic Unity Flats as rioting continues in the Protestant Shankill Road area
- 1971 Jim Palmer is 4th Oriole to win at least 20 games this season
- 1971 MP David Bleakley resigns in protest over the introduction of Internment and the lack of any new political initiatives by the Northern Ireland government
- 1972 American Museum of Immigration dedicated
- 1972 Norway rejects membership in European Common Market
- 1973 Turkey's state of siege ends (after 2½ years)
- 1973 Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic (Washington, D.C. to Paris) in record-breaking time (3h33m).
- 1974 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1976 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
- 1976 Denver's Rick Upchurch returns 2 punts for TDs against Cleveland
- 1977 Sir Freddie Laker begins cut-rate "Skytrain" service, London to NY
- 1978 RR clerks go on strike, halting more than 2/3s of rail service
- 1979 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1980 Bomb attack on Octoberfest in Munich, 12 killed
- 1980 Cuban government closes Mariel Harbor ending "freedom flotilla"
Birthdays in History
Francis of Assisi
1181 Saint Francis of Assisi, Italian founder of the Franciscan Order, born in Assisi, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1226) or b. 1882
Francis of Assisi
- 1329 Anna of Bavaria, Queen of the Romans (d. 1353)
- 1406 Thomas de Ros, 8th Baron de Ros, English soldier and politician, born in Belvoir, Leicestershire (d. 1430)
- 1688 Willem 's-Gravesande, Dutch mathematician and physicist, born in s-Hertogenbosch, Duchy of Brabant (d. 1742)
- 1711 Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple, English politician, born in London (d. 1779)
- 1750 Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood, British admiral, born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, England (d. 1810)
- 1758 Cosme Argerich, Argentine physician and founder of the Medicine School of Buenos Aires, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina (d. 1820)
- 1759 Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg, Prussian Generalfeldmarschall, born in Potsdam, Brandenburg, Kingdom of Prussia (d. 1830)
- 1774 Johnny Appleseed [John Chapman], American pioneer nurseryman (introduced apple trees to Pennsylvania, Ontario, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois), born in Leominster, Massachusetts (d. 1845)
- 1790 Nassau William Senior, British economist (New Poor Law 1834), born in Compton, Berkshire, England (d. 1864)
- 1791 Théodore Géricault, French painter (The Raft of the Medusa), born in Rouen, Normandy, France (d. 1824)
- 1792 William Hobson, first Governor of New Zealand and co-author of the Treaty of Waitangi, born in Waterford, Ireland (d. 1842)
- 1820 Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, father of Bengali prose (Exile of Sita), born in Birsingha, Bengal Presidency, British India (d. 1891)
- 1821 Alvin Peterson Hovey, American judge, 21st Governor of Indiana (1889-1891), andBrevet Major General (Union Army), born in Mount Vernon, Indiana (d. 1891)
- 1823 Ivan Aksakov, Russian journalist (Denj, Moskvitsh), born in Nadezhdino, Belebey Uyezd, Orenburg Governorate (d. 1889)
- 1840 Louis-Olivier Taillon, French Canadian politician, born in Terrebonne, Lower Canada (d. 1923)
Ivan Pavlov
1849 Ivan Pavlov, Russian physiologist and pioneer in psychology (Nobel Prize 1904), born in Ryazan, Russia [O.S. September 14] (d. 1936)
Ivan Pavlov
- 1865 Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford, English aviator and ornithologist, born in Stockbridge, Hampshire, England (d. 1937)
- 1870 Christian X, King of Denmark (1912-47), born in Charlottenlund, Denmark (d. 1947)
- 1871 Winsor McCay, American cartoonist (Little Nemo), born in Spring Lake, Michigan (d. 1934)
- 1872 Ottokar Czernin, Austro-Hungarian diplomat (Imperial Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary) and politician, born in Dimokur, Austria-Hungary (d. 1932)
- 1873 Alexey Shchusev, Russian-Soviet architect, born in Kishenev, Bessarabia Governorate (d. 1949)
Charles Vyner Brooke
1874 Charles Vyner Brooke, 3rd and last White Rajah of Sarawak (1917-46), born in London, England (d. 1963)
Charles Vyner Brooke
- 1876 Edith Abbott, American social worker and educator (University of Chicago Social Sciences), born in Grand Island, Nebraska (d. 1957)
- 1877 Ugo Cerletti, Italian neurologist (discovered the method of electroconvulsive therapy), born in Conegliano, Italy (d. 1963)
- 1879 Petko Todorov, Bulgarian writer (Fairy, Samodiva Fee), born in Elena, Bulgaria (d. 1916)
- 1881 Hiram Wesley Evans, American member of the Ku Klux Klan, born in Ashland, Alabama (d. 1966)
- 1887 Edwin Keppel Bennett, English writer (Built in Jerusalem’s Wall: A Book in praise of Jerusalem), born in Wareham, Dorset, England (d. 1958)
- 1887 Barnes Wallis, English scientist, engineer and inventor (bouncing bomb), born in Ripley, Derbyshire, England (d. 1979)
T. S. Eliot
1888 T. S. Eliot, American poet (The Waste Land), dramatist and critic (Nobel Prize 1948), born in St Louis Missouri, (d. 1965)
T. S. Eliot
- 1888 J. Frank Dobie, American folklorist and newspaper columnist, born in Live Oak County, Texas (d. 1964)
Martin Heidegger
1889 Martin Heidegger, German philosopher (Being & Time), born in Meeskirch, Germany (d. 1976)
Martin Heidegger
- 1895 Jürgen Stroop, SS General during World War II and commander of Nazi forces during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, born in Detmold, Germany (d. 1952)
Albert Anastasia
1902 Albert Anastasia [Umberto Anastasio], American-Italian gangster (Murder Inc), born in Tropea, Calabria, Italy (d. 1957)
Albert Anastasia
- 1903 Gerhard Nebel, German writer, born in Dessau (d. 1974)
- 1907 Anthony Blunt, British art historian and spy for USSR, born in Bournemouth, Hampshire, England (d. 1983)
- 1909 Helen Giuliani, Mother of Rudy Giulani (107th Mayor of New York City), born in NYC, New York (d. 2002)
- 1913 Ernst Schnabel, German writer and pioneer of the radio documentary, born in Zittau, Germany (d. 1986)
- 1914 Jack LaLanne, American fitness and nutritional expert, born in San Francisco, California (d. 2011)
- 1917 Réal Caouette, French Canadian politician (Social Credit Party of Canada), born in Amos, Canada (d. 1976)
- 1918 Humphrey van Loo, Dutch news director (ANP/Reuter)
- 1919 Matilde Camus, Spanish poet and researcher, born in Santander, Cantabria, Spain (d. 2012)
- 1922 Nicholas Romanov, French-born pretender to the Russian throne, born in Antibes, France (d. 2014)
- 1926 Buland al-Haidary, Iraqi poet (Passages to Exile) (d. 1996)
- 1926 Manfred Mayrhofer, Austrian Indo-European philologist (Indo-Iranian languages), born in Linz, Austria (d. 2011)
- 1927 Robert Blackburn, Irish educationist (International Baccalaureate Organisation), born in Kilkenny, Ireland (d. 1990)
- 1927 Robert Cade, American physician and inventor of Gatorade, born in San Antonio, Texas (d. 2007)
- 1931 Donald J. Pease, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio), born in Toledo, Ohio (d. 2002)
Manmohan Singh
1932 Manmohan Singh, Indian politician, 13th Prime Minister of India (2004-14), born in Gah, British India
Manmohan Singh
- 1932 Clifton Williams, American major and NASA astronaut, born in Mobile, Alabama (d. 1967)
- 1932 Vladimir Voinovich, Russian writer and dissident (Moscow 2042), born in Stalinabad, Tajik SSR, Soviet Union (d. 2018)
- 1934 Raphael Samuel, British Marxist historian, born in London (d. 1996)
- 1935 Joe Sherlock, Irish Labour Party politician, born in Kildorrery, Republic of Ireland (d. 2007)
Winnie Mandela
1936 Winnie Mandela [Winnie Madikizela-Mandela], South African anti-apartheid activist and ANC politician, born in Bizana, Pondoland, South Africa (d. 2018)
Winnie Mandela
- 1937 Valentin Pavlov, Russian politician and Prime Minister of the Soviet Union (1991), born in Moscow, Soviet Union (d. 2003)
- 1938 Andrey Lukanov, Bulgarian politician (40th Prime Minister of Bulgaria), born in Moscow (d. 1996)
- 1938 Michael V. Love, American test pilot (X-24) (d. 1976)
- 1939 Judith Appelbaum, American magazine & newspaper editor and educator, born in New York (d. 2018)
- 1945 Louise Beaudoin, French Canadian politician, born in Quebec City, Quebec
- 1946 Andrea Dworkin, American radical feminist (Pornography: Men Possessing Women), born in Camden, New Jersey (d. 2005)
- 1946 Christine Todd Whitman, American politician (50th Governor of New Jersey), born in NYC, New York
- 1946 Radha Krishna Mainali, Nepalese politician, born in Chokpur, Taplejung, Nepal
- 1948 Vladimír Remek, Czech politician and cosmonaut (Soyuz 28), born in České Budějovice, Czechoslovakia
- 1949 Jane Smiley, American novelist (Pulitzer 1991-A Thousand Acres), born in Los Angeles, California
- 1949 Minette Walters, English novelist (The Ice House), born in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England
- 1953 Aivars Lembergs, Latvian politician, born in Jēkabpils, Latvia
- 1958 Richard B. Weldon Jr., American politician, born in Wilmington, Delaware
- 1961 Will Self, English author, born in Westminster, London
- 1962 Peter Foster, Australian career criminal and con man, born in Queensland, Australia
- 1968 Anthony Shadid, New York Times foreign correspondent and two time Pulitzer winner, born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (d. 2012)
- 1972 Beto O'Rourke, American politician (Rep (D) Texas 2013-19), born in El Paso, Texas
- 1987 Kim Yo-jong, North Korean politician, younger sister of leader Kim Jong-un, born in Pyongyang, North Korea
- 2000 Princess Salma bint Al Abdullah II of Jordan, born in Amman, Jordan
Weddings in History
Wedding of Interest
1861 Political cartoonist Thomas Nast (21) weds Sarah Edwards (20) in USA
Thomas Nast
Wedding of Interest
1919 German chancellor Konrad Adenauer (43) weds Auguste Zinsser in Cologne, Germany
Konrad Adenauer
- 1931 Earl Claus von Stauffenberg marries Freiin Nina von Lerchenfeld
Wedding of Interest
1986 Fashion designer Calvin Klein (43) weds assistant Kelly Rector in a civil ceremony in Italy
Calvin Klein
Deaths in History
- 1023 Godfried I, duke of Neth-Lutherans, dies
- 1342 John I, ruler of Poland, dies
- 1345 Willem IV, earl of Henegouwen/Holland/Zealand, dies at about 27
- 1371 Vlkasin, Hungarian general/co-king of Serbia, dies
- 1417 Francesco Zabarella, Italian jurist (b. 1360)
- 1468 Juan de Torquemada, Spanish Catholic cardinal (b. 1388)
- 1620 Taichang Emperor [Zhu Changluo], 14th Emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, dies at 38
- 1626 Lancelot Andrewes, English theologist/bishop of Winchester, dies at 71
- 1626 Wakisaka Yasuharu, Japanese warrior (b. 1554)
- 1657 Hadji Chalfa/Katib Tsjelebi, Turkish geographer, dies at 48
- 1716 Antoine Parent, French mathematician, dies at 50
- 1763 John Byron, English poet (b. 1692)
- 1764 Benito Jerónimo Feijóo y Montenegro, Spanish scholar, dies at 89
- 1802 Baron Jurij Vega, Slovenian mathematician and military officer (b. 1754)
Daniel Boone
1820 Daniel Boone, American frontiersman and explorer (US Hall of Fame 1915), dies at 85
Daniel Boone
Levi Strauss
1902 Levi Strauss, American clothing manufacturer, dies at 73
Levi Strauss
- 1904 Lafcadio Hearn, American author (Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan), dies at 54
- 1904 John F. Stairs, Canadian businessman and statesman (b. 1848)
- 1935 Andy Adams, American writer (Cattle fire), dies at 76
- 1936 Harriet Monroe, American poet (Poet's Life), dies at 75
- 1937 Edward A. Filene, American entrepreneur and philanthropist, dies at 77
- 1940 Walter Benjamin, writer, dies at 48
- 1940 William Henry Davies, Welsh poet (Autobiography of a Super Tramp), dies at 69
- 1945 Richard Beer-Hofmann, Austrian writer, dies at 78
- 1946 William Strunk Jr., American grammarian and author (The Elements of Style), dies at 77
- 1947 Hugh Lofting, English writer (Dr Dolittle), dies at 61
- 1951 Hans Cloos, German geologist and pioneer in the study of granite tectonics (the deformation of crystalline rocks), dies at 65
- 1952 George Santayana, American philosopher/poet (Last Puritan), dies at 88
- 1953 Xu Beihong, Chinese painter, dies at 58
- 1956 Lucien Febvre, French historian (Un Destin, Martin Luther), dies at 78
- 1959 S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, 4th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (1956-59), assassinated by a Buddhist monk at 60
- 1961 Charles Erwin Wilson, American engineer (President and CEO of General Motors) and politician (United States Secretary of Defense 1953-57), dies at 71
- 1965 James Fitzmaurice, Irish aviation pioneer (b. 1898)
- 1968 Daniel Johnson, Sr., Canadian politician, 20th Premier of Quebec, dies at 53
- 1973 Anton Schnack, German writer and poet, dies at 81
- 1976 Leopold Ružička, Croatian-Swiss chemist (Nobel 1939), dies at 89
- 1978 Manne Siegbahn, Swedish physicist (Nobel 1924-discoveries and research in the field of X-ray spectroscopy), dies at 91
- 1984 Paquirri, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1948)
- 1989 Pavlos Bakoyannis, Greek parliament leader, murdered in Rome
- 1990 Alberto Moravia [Pincherle], Italian writer (Woman in Red), dies at 82
- 1992 Ralph Manheim, translator (Mein Kampf), dies at 85
- 1993 James Boyden, British Labour MP (1959-79), dies at 82
- 1994 Jessie Kesson, Scottish writer and radio producer, dies at 77
- 1994 Maurice Ashley, historian and editor (The Listener), dies at 87
- 1994 Miguel Angel Martinez Soto, mariachi, dies at 22
- 1996 Geoffrey Wilkinson, chemist, dies at 75
- 1996 George Henderson, Scottish priest (Bishop of Argyll and the Isles from 1977-92), dies at 74
- 1999 Oseola McCarty, American philanthropist (b. 1908)
- 2005 Helen Cresswell, British author
- 2006 Philip Randle, British biochemist (Randle cycle), dies at 80
- 2011 Bob Cassilly, American Artist and Founder of the St. Louis City Museum (b. 1949)
- 2017 Robert Delpire, French publisher, editor and photographer, dies at 91
- 2019 Jacques Chirac, French politician, President of France (1995-2007) Prime Minister of France (1974-76, 1986-88), dies at 86