1411 – King Charles VI granted a monopoly for the ripening of Roquefort cheese to the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon as they had been doing for centuries.
1561 – The steeple of St Paul’s, the medieval cathedral of London, is destroyed in a fire caused by lightning and is never rebuilt.
1615 – Siege of Osaka: Forces under Tokugawa Ieyasu take Osaka Castle in Japan.
1745 – Battle of Hohenfriedberg: Frederick the Great’s Prussian army decisively defeated an Austrian army under Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine during the War of the Austrian Succession.
1760 – Great Upheaval: New England planters arrive to claim land in Nova Scotia, Canada, taken from the Acadians.
1783 – The Montgolfier brothers publicly demonstrate their montgolfière (hot air balloon).
1784 – Élisabeth Thible becomes the first woman to fly in an untethered hot air balloon. Her flight covers four kilometres in 45 minutes, and reached 1,500 metres altitude (estimated).
1792 – Captain George Vancouver claims Puget Sound for the Kingdom of Great Britain.
1802 – King Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia abdicates his throne in favor of his brother, Victor Emmanuel.
1812 – Following Louisiana’s admittance as a U.S. state, the Louisiana Territory is renamed the Missouri Territory.
1825 – General Lafayette, a French officer in the American Revolutionary War, speaks at what would become Lafayette Square, Buffalo, during his visit to the United States.
1855 – Major Henry C. Wayne departs New York aboard the USS Supply to procure camels to establish the U.S. Camel Corps.
1859 – Italian Independence wars: In the Battle of Magenta, the French army, under Louis-Napoleon, defeat the Austrian army.
1862 – American Civil War: Confederate troops evacuate Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River, leaving the way clear for Union troops to take Memphis, Tennessee.
1876 – An express train called the Transcontinental Express arrives in San Francisco, via the First Transcontinental Railroad only 83 hours and 39 minutes after leaving New York City.
1878 – Cyprus Convention: The Ottoman Empire cedes Cyprus to the United Kingdom but retains nominal title.
1896 – Henry Ford completes the Ford Quadricycle, his first gasoline-powered automobile, and gives it a successful test run.
1912 – Massachusetts becomes the first state of the United States to set a minimum wage.
1913 – Emily Davison, a suffragette, runs out in front of King George V’s horse at The Derby. She is trampled, never regains consciousness, and dies four days later.
1916 – World War I: Russia opens the Brusilov Offensive with an artillery barrage of Austro-Hungarian lines in Galicia.
1917 – The first Pulitzer Prizes are awarded: Laura E. Richards, Maude H. Elliott, and Florence Hall receive the first Pulitzer for biography (for Julia Ward Howe). Jean Jules Jusserand receives the first Pulitzer for history for his work With Americans of Past and Present Days. Herbert B. Swope receives the first Pulitzer for journalism for his work for the New York World.
1919 – Women’s rights: The U.S. Congress approves the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees suffrage to women, and sends it to the U.S. states for ratification.
1920 – Hungary loses 71% of its territory and 63% of its population when the Treaty of Trianon is signed in Paris.
1928 – The President of the Republic of China, Zhang Zuolin, is assassinated by Japanese agents.
1932 – Marmaduke Grove and other Chilean military officers lead a coup d’état establishing the short-lived Socialist Republic of Chile.
1939 – The Holocaust: The MS St. Louis, a ship carrying 963 Jewish refugees, is denied permission to land in Florida, in the United States, after already being turned away from Cuba. Forced to return to Europe, more than 200 of its passengers later die in Nazi concentration camps.
1940 – World War II: The Dunkirk evacuation ends: British forces complete evacuation of 338,000 troops from Dunkirk in France. To rally the morale of the country, Winston Churchill delivers, only to the House of Commons, his famous “We shall fight on the beaches” speech.
1942 – World War II: The Battle of Midway begins. The Japanese Admiral Chūichi Nagumo orders a strike on Midway Island by much of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
1943 – A military coup in Argentina ousts Ramón Castillo.
1944 – World War II: A hunter-killer group of the United States Navy captures the German submarine U-505: The first time a U.S. Navy vessel had captured an enemy vessel at sea since the 19th century.
1944 – World War II: The United States Fifth Army captures Rome, although much of the German Fourteenth Army is able to withdraw to the north.
1961 – Cold War: In the Vienna summit, the Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev sparks the Berlin Crisis by threatening to sign a separate peace treaty with East Germany and ending American, British and French access to East Berlin.
1967 – Seventy-two people are killed when a Canadair C-4 Argonaut crashes at Stockport in England.
1970 – Tonga gains independence from the United Kingdom.
1975 – The Governor of California Jerry Brown signs the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act into law, the first law in the U.S. giving farmworkers collective bargaining rights.
1979 – Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings takes power in Ghana after a military coup in which General Fred Akuffo is overthrown.
1983 – Gordon Kahl, who killed two US Marshals in Medina, North Dakota on February 13, is killed in a shootout in Smithville, Arkansas, along with a local sheriff, after a four-month manhunt.
1986 – Jonathan Pollard pleads guilty to espionage for selling top secret United States military intelligence to Israel.
1988 – Three cars on a train carrying hexogen to Kazakhstan explode in Arzamas, Gorky Oblast, USSR, killing 91 and injuring about 1,500.
1989 – Ali Khamenei is elected as the new Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Assembly of Experts after the death and funeral of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
1989 – The Tiananmen Square protests are suppressed in Beijing by the People’s Liberation Army, with between 241 and 1,000 dead (an unofficial estimate).
1989 – Solidarity’s victory in the first (somewhat) free parliamentary elections in post-war Poland sparks off a succession of peaceful anti-communist revolutions in Eastern Europe, leads to the creation of the so-called Contract Sejm and begins the Autumn of Nations.
1989 – Ufa train disaster: A natural gas explosion near Ufa, Russia, kills 575 as two trains passing each other throw sparks near a leaky pipeline.
1996 – The first flight of Ariane 5 explodes after roughly 37 seconds. It was a Cluster mission.
1998 – Terry Nichols is sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
2010 – Falcon 9 Flight 1 is the maiden flight of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 40.
Births on June 4
1394 – Philippa of England, Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (d. 1430)
1489 – Antoine, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1544)
1563 – George Heriot, Scottish goldsmith (d. 1624)
1604 – Claudia de’ Medici, Italian daughter of Christina of Lorraine (d. 1648)
1665 – Zacharie Robutel de La Noue, Canadian captain (d. 1733)
1694 – François Quesnay, French economist and physician (d. 1774)
1704 – Benjamin Huntsman, English inventor and businessman (d. 1776)
1738 – George III of the United Kingdom (d. 1820)
1744 – Patrick Ferguson, Scottish soldier, designed the Ferguson rifle (d. 1780)
1754 – Miguel de Azcuénaga, Argentinian soldier (d. 1833)
1754 – Franz Xaver von Zach, Slovak astronomer and academic (d. 1832)
1787 – Constant Prévost, French geologist and academic (d. 1856)
1801 – James Pennethorne, English architect, designed Victoria Park (d. 1871)
1821 – Apollon Maykov, Russian poet and playwright (d. 1897)
1829 – Jinmaku Kyūgorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 12th Yokozuna (d. 1903)
1854 – Solko van den Bergh, Dutch target shooter (d. 1916)
1860 – Alexis Lapointe, Canadian runner (d. 1924)
1861 – William Propsting, Australian politician, 20th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1937)
1866 – Miina Sillanpää, Finnish journalist and politician (d. 1952)
1867 – Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Finnish general and politician, 6th President of Finland (d. 1951)
1873 – Nictzin Dyalhis, American author (d.1942)
1877 – Heinrich Otto Wieland, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
1879 – Mabel Lucie Attwell, English author and illustrator (d. 1964)
1880 – Clara Blandick, American actress (d. 1962)
1885 – Arturo Rawson, Argentinian general and politician, 26th President of Argentina (d. 1952)
1887 – Tom Longboat, Canadian runner and soldier (d. 1949)
1889 – Beno Gutenberg, German-American seismologist (d. 1960)
1903 – Yevgeny Mravinsky, Russian conductor (d. 1988)
1904 – Bhagat Puran Singh, Indian publisher, environmentalist, and philanthropist (d. 1992)
1907 – Jacques Roumain, Haitian journalist and politician (d. 1944)
1907 – Rosalind Russell, American actress (d. 1976)
1907 – Patience Strong, English poet and journalist (d. 1990)
1910 – Christopher Cockerell, English engineer, invented the hovercraft (d. 1999)
1912 – Robert Jacobsen, Danish sculptor and painter (d. 1993)
1915 – Walter Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2006)
1915 – Modibo Keïta, Malian educator and politician, 1st President of Mali (d. 1977)
1915 – Nils Kihlberg, Swedish actor, singer, and director (d. 1965)
1916 – Robert F. Furchgott, American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
1916 – Fernand Leduc, Canadian painter (d. 2014)
1917 – Robert Merrill, American actor and singer (d. 2004)
1921 – Milan Komar, Slovenian-Argentinian philosopher and academic (d. 2006)
1921 – Bobby Wanzer, American basketball player and coach (d. 2016)
1923 – Elizabeth Jolley, English-Australian author and academic (d. 2007)
1923 – Masutatsu Ōyama, Japanese karateka (d. 1994)
1924 – Tofilau Eti Alesana, Samoan politician, 5th Prime Minister of Samoa (d. 1999)
1924 – Dennis Weaver, American actor and director (d. 2006)
1925 – Antonio Puchades, Spanish footballer (d. 2013)
1926 – Robert Earl Hughes, American who was the heaviest human being recorded in the history of the world during his lifetime (d. 1958)
1926 – Ain Kaalep, Estonian poet, playwright, and critic (d. 2020)
1926 – Judith Malina, German-American actress and director, co-founded The Living Theatre (d. 2015)
1927 – Henning Carlsen, Danish director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
1927 – Geoffrey Palmer, English actor
1928 – Ruth Westheimer, German-American therapist and author
1929 – Karolos Papoulias, Greek lawyer and politician, 5th President of Greece
1930 – George Chesworth, English air marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Moray (d. 2017)
1930 – Morgana King, American singer and actress (d. 2018)
1930 – Viktor Tikhonov, Russian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2014)
1931 – Gustav Nossal, Austrian-Australian biologist and academic
1932 – John Drew Barrymore, American actor (d. 2004)
1932 – Oliver Nelson, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1975)
1932 – Maurice Shadbolt, New Zealand author and playwright (d. 2004)
1934 – Monica Dacon, Vincentian educator and politician, 6th Governor-General of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
1934 – Daphne Sheldrick, Kenyan-British conservationist and author (d. 2018)
1935 – Colette Boky, Canadian soprano and actress
1935 – Berhanu Dinka, Ethiopian economist and diplomat (d. 2013)
1936 – Vince Camuto, American fashion designer and businessman, co-founded Nine West (d. 2015)
1936 – Bruce Dern, American actor
1937 – Freddy Fender, American singer and guitarist (d. 2006)
1937 – Mortimer Zuckerman, Canadian-American businessman and publisher, founded Boston Properties
1938 – John Harvard, Canadian journalist and politician, 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (d. 2016)
1938 – Art Mahaffey, American baseball player
1939 – Jeremy Browne, 11th Marquess of Sligo, Anglo-Irish peer (d. 2014)
1939 – Denis de Belleval, Canadian civil servant and politician
1939 – Henri Pachard, American director and producer (d. 2008)
1939 – George Reid, Scottish journalist and politician, 2nd Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament
1940 – Ludwig Schwarz, Slovak-Austrian bishop
1941 – Kenneth G. Ross, Australian playwright and screenwriter
1942 – Louis Reichardt, American mountaineer
1942 – Bill Rowe, Canadian lawyer and politician
1943 – John Burgess, Australian radio and television host
1943 – Sandra Haynie, American golfer
1943 – Tom Jaine, English author
1944 – Roger Ball, Scottish saxophonist and songwriter
1944 – Michelle Phillips, American singer-songwriter and actress
1945 – Anthony Braxton, American saxophonist, clarinet player, and composer
1945 – Daniel Topolski, English rower and coach (d. 2015)
1945 – Gordon Waller, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2009)
1947 – Viktor Klima, Austrian businessman and politician, 25th Chancellor of Austria
1948 – Bob Champion, English jockey
1948 – Sandra Post, Canadian golfer and sportscaster
1948 – Jürgen Sparwasser, German footballer and manager
1949 – Gabriel Arcand, Canadian actor
1949 – Mark B. Cohen, American lawyer and politician
1950 – Raymond Dumais, Canadian bishop (d. 2012)
1951 – Leigh Kennedy, American author
1951 – Bronisław Malinowski, Polish runner (d. 1981)
1951 – Melanie Phillips, English journalist and author
1951 – Wendy Pini, American author and illustrator
1951 – David Yip, English actor and playwright
1952 – Bronisław Komorowski, Polish historian and politician, 5th President of Poland
1952 – Dambudzo Marechera, Zimbabwean author and poet (d. 1987)
1953 – Linda Lingle, American journalist and politician, 6th Governor of Hawaii
1953 – Jimmy McCulloch, Scottish musician and songwriter (d. 1979)
1953 – Susumu Ojima, Japanese businessman, founded Huser
1953 – Paul Samson, English guitarist and producer (d. 2002)
1954 – Raphael Ravenscroft, English saxophonist and composer (d. 2014)
1954 – Kazuhiro Yamaji, Japanese actor and voice actor
1955 – Val McDermid, Scottish author
1955 – Mary Testa, American singer and actress
1956 – Keith David, American actor
1956 – John Hockenberry, American journalist and author
1956 – Terry Kennedy, American baseball player and manager
1956 – Joyce Sidman, American author and poet
1957 – Neil McNab, Scottish footballer
1959 – Juan Camacho, Bolivian runner
1959 – Georgios Voulgarakis, Greek politician, 21st Greek Minister for Culture
1960 – Miloš Đelmaš, Serbian footballer and manager
1960 – Kristine Kathryn Rusch, American author
1960 – Paul Taylor, American guitarist and keyboard player
1960 – Bradley Walsh, English television presenter, comedian, singer and former footballer
1961 – El DeBarge, American singer-songwriter and producer
1961 – Ferenc Gyurcsány, Hungarian businessman and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Hungary
1962 – Krzysztof Hołowczyc, Polish race car driver
1962 – Zenon Jaskuła, Polish cyclist
1962 – John P. Kee, American singer-songwriter and pastor
1962 – Junius Ho, Hong Kong solicitor and politician
1963 – Sean Fitzpatrick, New Zealand rugby union player
1963 – Jim Lachey, American football player and sportscaster
1963 – Xavier McDaniel, American basketball player and coach
1964 – Sean Pertwee, English actor
1964 – Kōji Yamamura, Japanese animator, producer, and screenwriter
1965 – Mick Doohan, Australian motorcycle racer
1965 – Andrea Jaeger, American tennis player and preacher
1966 – Cecilia Bartoli, Italian soprano and actress
1966 – Vladimir Voevodsky, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 2017)
1966 – Bill Wiggin, English politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Wales
1967 – Robert S. Kimbrough, American colonel and astronaut
1968 – Roger Lim, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1968 – Niurka Montalvo, Cuban-Spanish long jumper
1968 – Al B. Sure!, American R&B singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
1968 – Scott Wolf, American actor
1969 – Horatio Sanz, Chilean-American actor and comedian
1970 – Deborah Compagnoni, Italian skier
1970 – Richie Hawtin, English-Canadian DJ and producer
1970 – Dave Pybus, English bass player and songwriter
1970 – Izabella Scorupco, Polish-Swedish actress and model
1971 – Joseph Kabila, Congolese soldier and politician, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
1971 – Mike Lee, American lawyer and politician
1971 – Shoji Meguro, Japanese director and composer
1971 – Karl Martin Sinijärv, Estonian journalist and poet
1971 – Noah Wyle, American actor and producer
1972 – Derian Hatcher, American ice hockey defenseman
1972 – Rob Huebel, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
1973 – Mikey Whipwreck, American wrestler and trainer
1974 – Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni, Indian chef (d. 2012)
1974 – Darin Erstad, American baseball player and coach
1974 – Andrew Gwynne, English lawyer and politician
1974 – Janette Husárová, Slovak tennis player
1974 – Buddy Wakefield, American poet and author
1975 – Russell Brand, English comedian and actor
1975 – Henry Burris, American football player
1975 – Angelina Jolie, American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian, and activist
1975 – Dinanath Ramnarine, Trinidadian cricketer
1975 – Alex Wharf, English cricketer
1976 – Kasey Chambers, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1976 – Alexei Navalny, Russian lawyer and politician
1976 – Nenad Zimonjić, Serbian tennis player
1977 – Dionisis Chiotis, Greek footballer
1977 – Alex Manninger, Austrian footballer
1977 – Roman Miroshnichenko, Ukrainian guitarist and composer
1977 – Roland G. Fryer Jr., American economist and professor
1978 – Robin Lord Taylor, American actor
1979 – Naohiro Takahara, Japanese footballer
1979 – Daniel Vickerman, South African-Australian rugby player (d. 2017)
1980 – François Beauchemin, Canadian ice hockey player
1981 – Jennifer Carroll, Canadian swimmer
1981 – Giourkas Seitaridis, Greek footballer
1981 – Natalia Vodopyanova, Russian basketball player
1982 – Abel Kirui, Kenyan runner
1982 – Ronnie Prude, American-Canadian football player
1983 – Romaric, Ivorian footballer
1983 – Emmanuel Eboué, Ivorian footballer
1983 – Olha Saladuha, Ukrainian triple jumper
1984 – Enrico Rossi Chauvenet, Italian footballer
1984 – Rainie Yang, Taiwanese actress
1984 – Ian White, Canadian ice hockey player
1985 – Leon Botha, South African painter and DJ (d. 2011)
1985 – Anna-Lena Grönefeld, German tennis player
1985 – Evan Lysacek, American figure skater
1985 – Lukas Podolski, German footballer
1985 – Oddvar Reiakvam, Norwegian politician
1987 – Luisa Zissman, English businesswoman
1987 – Mollie King, English singer-songwriter and model
1988 – Matt Bartkowski, American ice hockey defenseman
1988 – Kimberley Busteed, Australian model
1989 – Federico Erba, Italian footballer
1989 – Paweł Fajdek, Polish hammer thrower
1990 – Zac Farro, American singer and drummer
1990 – Evan Spiegel, American Internet entrepreneur
1991 – Lorenzo Insigne, Italian footballer
1991 – Matt McIlwrick, New Zealand rugby league player
1991 – Ben Stokes, New Zealand-English cricketer
1993 – Jonathan Huberdeau, Canadian ice hockey player
1995 – Shiori Tamai, Japanese singer
1999 – Kim So-hyun, South Korean actress
2004 – Mackenzie Ziegler, American dancer, singer, actress and model
Deaths on June 4
756 – Shōmu, Japanese emperor (b. 701)
863 – Charles, archbishop of Mainz
895 – Li Xi, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty
946 – Guaimar II (Gybbosus), Lombard prince
956 – Muhammad III of Shirvan, Muslim ruler
1039 – Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 990)
1102 – Władysław I Herman, Polish nobleman (b. c. 1044)
1134 – Magnus I of Sweden (b. 1106)
1135 – Emperor Huizong of Song (b. 1082)
1206 – Adela of Champagne (b. 1140)
1246 – Isabella of Angoulême (b. 1188)
1257 – Przemysł I of Greater Poland (b. 1221)
1394 – Mary de Bohun, wife of Henry IV of England (b.c. 1368)
2013 – Walt Arfons, American race car driver (b. 1916)
2013 – Joey Covington, American drummer (b. 1945)
2013 – Hermann Gunnarsson, Icelandic footballer, handball player, and sportscaster (b. 1946)
2013 – Will Wynn, American football player (b. 1949)
2014 – George Ho, American-Hong Kong businessman (b. 1919)
2014 – Nathan Shamuyarira, Zimbabwean journalist and politician, Zimbabwean Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1928)
2014 – Sydney Templeman, Baron Templeman, English lawyer and judge (b. 1920)
2014 – Don Zimmer, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1931)
2015 – Marguerite Patten, English economist and author (b. 1915)
2015 – Leonid Plyushch, Ukrainian mathematician and academic (b. 1938)
2015 – Jabe Thomas, American race car driver (b. 1930)
2015 – Anne Warburton, British academic and diplomat, British Ambassador to Denmark (b. 1927)
2016 – Carmen Pereira, Bissau-Guinean politician (b. 1937)
2017 – Juan Goytisolo, Spanish essayist, poet and novelist (b. 1931)
Holidays and observances on June 4
Birthday of Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim & Flag Day celebration of the Finnish Defence Forces (Finland)
Christian feast day:
Filippo Smaldone
Francis Caracciolo
Optatus
Petroc of Cornwall
Quirinus of Sescia
Saturnina
June 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Emancipation Day or Independence Day, commemorates the abolition of serfdom in Tonga by King George Tupou in 1862, and the independence of Tonga from the British protectorate in 1970. (Tonga)
Flag Day (Estonia)
International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression (International)
National Unity Day (Hungary)
Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989 Memorial Day (International)
1096 – Count Emicho enters Mainz, where his followers massacre Jewish citizens.At least 600 Jews are killed.
1120 – Richard III of Capua is anointed as Prince two weeks before his untimely death.
1153 – Malcolm IV becomes King of Scotland.
1199 – John is crowned King of England.
1257 – Richard of Cornwall, and his wife, Sanchia of Provence, are crowned King and Queen of the Germans at Aachen Cathedral.
1644 – Manchu regent Dorgon defeats rebel leader Li Zicheng of the Shun dynasty at the Battle of Shanhai Pass, allowing the Manchus to enter and conquer the capital city of Beijing.
1703 – Tsar Peter the Great founds the city of Saint Petersburg.
1798 – The Battle of Oulart Hill takes place in Wexford, Ireland; Irish rebel leaders defeat and kill a detachment of militia.
1799 – War of the Second Coalition: Austrian forces defeat the French at Winterthur, Switzerland.
1813 – War of 1812: In Canada, American forces capture Fort George.
1860 – Giuseppe Garibaldi begins his attack on Palermo, Sicily, as part of the Italian unification.
1863 – American Civil War: First Assault on the Confederate works at the Siege of Port Hudson.
1874 – The first group of Dorsland trekkers under the leadership of Gert Alberts leaves Pretoria.
1883 – Alexander III is crowned Tsar of Russia.
1896 – The F4-strength St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado hits in St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois, killing at least 255 people and causing over $10–million in damage.
1905 – Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima begins.
1917 – Pope Benedict XV promulgates the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the first comprehensive codification of Catholic canon law in the legal history of the Catholic Church.
1919 – The NC-4 aircraft arrives in Lisbon after completing the first transatlantic flight.
1927 – The Ford Motor Company ceases manufacture of the Ford Model T and begins to retool plants to make the Ford Model A.
1930 – The 1,046 feet (319 m) Chrysler Building in New York City, the tallest man-made structure at the time, opens to the public.
1933 – New Deal: The U.S. Federal Securities Act is signed into law requiring the registration of securities with the Federal Trade Commission.
1933 – The Walt Disney Company releases the cartoon Three Little Pigs, with its hit song “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?”
1935 – New Deal: The Supreme Court of the United States declares the National Industrial Recovery Act to be unconstitutional in A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, (295 U.S. 495).
1937 – In California, the Golden Gate Bridge opens to pedestrian traffic, creating a vital link between San Francisco and Marin County, California.
1940 – World War II: In the Le Paradis massacre, 99 soldiers from a Royal Norfolk Regiment unit are shot after surrendering to German troops; two survive.
1941 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaims an “unlimited national emergency”.
1941 – World War II: The German battleship Bismarck is sunk in the North Atlantic killing almost 2,100 men.
1942 – World War II: In Operation Anthropoid, Reinhard Heydrich is fatally wounded in Prague; he dies of his injuries eight days later.
1958 – First flight of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.
1960 – In Turkey, a military coup removes President Celâl Bayar and the rest of the democratic government from office.
1962 – The Centralia mine fire is ignited in the town’s landfill above a coal mine.
1965 – Vietnam War: American warships begin the first bombardment of National Liberation Front targets within South Vietnam.
1967 – Australians vote in favor of a constitutional referendum granting the Australian government the power to make laws to benefit Indigenous Australians and to count them in the national census.
1967 – The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy is launched by Jacqueline Kennedy and her daughter Caroline.
1971 – The Dahlerau train disaster, the worst railway accident in West Germany, kills 46 people and injures 25 near Wuppertal.
1971 – Pakistani forces massacre over 200 civilians, mostly Bengali Hindus, in the Bagbati massacre.
1975 – Dibbles Bridge coach crash near Grassington, in North Yorkshire, England, kills 33 – the highest ever death toll in a road accident in the United Kingdom.
1980 – The Gwangju Massacre: Airborne and army troops of South Korea retake the city of Gwangju from civil militias, killing at least 207 and possibly many more.
1984 – The Danube-Black Sea canal is opened, in a ceremony attended by the Ceaușescus. It had been under construction since the 1950s.
1996 – First Chechen War: the Russian President Boris Yeltsin meets with Chechnyan rebels for the first time and negotiates a cease-fire.
1997 – The 1997 Central Texas tornado outbreak occurs, spawning multiple tornadoes in Central Texas, including the F5 that killed 27 in Jarrell.
1998 – Oklahoma City bombing: Michael Fortier is sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $200,000 for failing to warn authorities about the terrorist plot.
2001 – Members of the Islamist separatist group Abu Sayyaf seize twenty hostages from an affluent island resort on Palawan in the Philippines; the hostage crisis would not be resolved until June 2002.
2006 – The 6.4 Mw Yogyakarta earthquake shakes central Java with an MSK intensity of VIII (Damaging), leaving more than 5,700 dead and 37,000 injured.
2016 – Barack Obama is the first president of United States to visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and meet Hibakusha.
2017 – Andrew Scheer takes over after Rona Ambrose as the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.
2018 – Maryland Flood Event: A flood occurs throughout the Patapsco Valley causing one death and destroying the entire first floors of buildings on Main Street in Ellicott City and causing cars to overturn.
Births on May 27
742 – Emperor Dezong of Tang (d. 805)
1332 – Ibn Khaldun, Tunisian historian and theologian (d. 1406)
1378 – Zhu Quan, Chinese military commander, historian and playwright (d. 1448)
1519 – Girolamo Mei, Italian historian and theorist (d. 1594)
1537 – Louis IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Marburg (d. 1604)
1576 – Caspar Schoppe, German author and scholar (d. 1649)
1584 – Michael Altenburg, German theologian and composer (d. 1640)
1601 – Antoine Daniel, French-Canadian missionary and saint (d. 1648)
1626 – William II, Prince of Orange (d. 1650)
1627 – Anne Marie Louise d’Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier (d. 1693)
1651 – Louis Antoine de Noailles, French cardinal (d. 1729)
1652 – Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine of Germany (d. 1722)
1738 – Nathaniel Gorham, American merchant and politician, 14th President of the Continental Congress (d. 1796)
1756 – Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria (d. 1825)
1774 – Francis Beaufort, Irish hydrographer and officer in the Royal Navy (d. 1857)
1794 – Cornelius Vanderbilt, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1877)
1814 – John Rudolph Niernsee, Viennese-born American architect (d.1885)
1815 – Henry Parkes, English-Australian politician, 7th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1896)
1818 – Amelia Bloomer, American journalist and activist (d. 1894)
1819 – Julia Ward Howe, American poet and songwriter (d. 1910)
1827 – Samuel F. Miller, American lawyer and politician (d. 1892)
1832 – Zenas Ferry Moody, American surveyor and politician, 7th Governor of Oregon (d. 1917)
1836 – Jay Gould, American businessman and financier (d. 1892)
1837 – Wild Bill Hickok, American police officer (d. 1876)
1852 – Billy Barnes, English cricketer (d. 1899)
1857 – Theodor Curtius, German chemist (d. 1928)
1860 – Manuel Teixeira Gomes, Portuguese politician, 7th President of Portugal (d. 1941)
1863 – Arthur Mold, English cricketer (d. 1921)
1867 – Arnold Bennett, English author and playwright (d. 1931)
1868 – Aleksa Šantić, Bosnian poet and author (d. 1924)
1871 – Georges Rouault, French painter and illustrator (d. 1958)
1875 – Frederick Cuming, English cricketer (d. 1942)
1876 – Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, Polish journalist and author (d. 1945)
1876 – William Stanier, English engineer (d. 1965)
1878 – Anna Cervin, Swedish artist (d. 1972)
1879 – Karl Bühler, German-American linguist and psychologist (d. 1963)
1879 – Hans Lammers, German judge and politician (d. 1962)
1883 – Jessie Arms Botke, American painter (d. 1971)
1884 – Max Brod, Czech journalist, author, and composer (d. 1968)
1887 – Frank Woolley, English cricketer (d. 1978)
1888 – Louis Durey, French composer (d. 1979)
1891 – Claude Champagne, Canadian violinist, pianist, and composer (d. 1965)
1891 – Jaan Kärner, Estonian poet and author (d. 1958)
1894 – Louis-Ferdinand Céline, French physician and author (d. 1961)
1894 – Dashiell Hammett, American detective novelist and screenwriter (d. 1961)
1895 – Douglas Lloyd Campbell, Canadian educator and politician, 13th Premier of Manitoba (d. 1995)
1897 – John Cockcroft, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967)
1897 – Dink Templeton, American rugby player and coach (d. 1962)
1898 – David Crosthwait, American engineer, inventor and writer (d. 1976)
1899 – Johannes Türn, Estonian chess and draughts player (d. 1993)
1900 – Lotte Toberentz, German overseer of the Nazi Uckermark concentration camp (d. 1964)
1900 – Uładzimir Žyłka, Belarusian poet and translator (d. 1933)
1904 – Chūhei Nambu, Japanese jumper and journalist (d. 1997)
1906 – Buddhadasa, Thai monk and philosopher (d. 1993)
1906 – Harry Hibbs, English footballer (d. 1984)
1906 – Antonio Rosario Mennonna, Italian bishop (d. 2009)
1907 – Nicolas Calas, Greek-American poet and critic (d. 1988)
1907 – Rachel Carson, American biologist, environmentalist, and author (d. 1964)
1909 – Dolores Hope, American singer and philanthropist (d. 2011)
1911 – Hubert Humphrey, American journalist and politician, 38th Vice President of the United States (d. 1978)
1911 – Teddy Kollek, Hungarian-Israeli politician, Mayor of Jerusalem (d. 2007)
1911 – Vincent Price, American actor (d. 1993)
1912 – John Cheever, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1982)
1912 – Sam Snead, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 2002)
1912 – Terry Moore, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1995)
1915 – Ester Soré, Chilean singer-songwriter (d. 1996)
1915 – Herman Wouk, American novelist (d. 2019)
1917 – Harry Webster, English engineer (d. 2007)
1918 – Yasuhiro Nakasone, Japanese commander and politician, 45th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2019)
1921 – Bob Godfrey, Australian-English animator, director, and voice actor (d. 2013)
1922 – Otto Carius, German lieutenant and pharmacist (d. 2015)
1922 – Christopher Lee, English actor (d. 2015)
1922 – John D. Vanderhoof, American banker and politician, 37th Governor of Colorado (d. 2013)
1923 – Henry Kissinger, German-American political scientist and politician, 56th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate
1923 – Sumner Redstone, American businessman and philanthropist
1924 – Jaime Lusinchi, Venezuelan physician and politician, President of Venezuela (d. 2014)
1924 – John Sumner, English-Australian director, founded the Melbourne Theatre Company (d. 2013)
1925 – Tony Hillerman, American journalist and author (d. 2008)
1927 – Jüri Randviir, Estonian chess player and journalist (d. 1996)
1928 – Thea Musgrave, Scottish-American composer and educator
1930 – John Barth, American novelist and short story writer
1930 – William S. Sessions, American civil servant and judge, 8th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
1930 – Eino Tamberg, Estonian composer and educator (d. 2010)
1931 – André Barbeau, French-Canadian neurologist (d. 1986)
1931 – John Chapple, English field marshal and politician, Governor of Gibraltar
1931 – Bernard Fresson, French actor (d. 2002)
1931 – Faten Hamama, Egyptian actress and producer (d. 2015)
1931 – Philip Kotler, American author and professor
1933 – Edward Samuel Rogers, Canadian businessman (d. 2008)
1933 – Manfred Sommer, Spanish author and illustrator (d. 2007)
1934 – Ray Daviault, Canadian-American baseball player
1934 – Harlan Ellison, American author and screenwriter (d. 2018)
1935 – Daniel Colchico, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
1935 – Mal Evans, British road manager of The Beatles (d. 1976)
1935 – Jerry Kindall, American baseball player and coach (d. 2017)
1935 – Ramsey Lewis, American jazz pianist and composer
1935 – Lee Meriwether, American model and actress, Miss America 1955
1936 – Benjamin Bathurst, English admiral
1936 – Louis Gossett, Jr., American actor and producer
1936 – Marcel Masse, Canadian educator and politician, 29th Canadian Minister of National Defence (d. 2014)
1937 – Allan Carr, American playwright and producer (d. 1999)
1939 – Simon Cairns, 6th Earl Cairns, English courtier and businessman
1939 – Yves Duhaime, Canadian captain and politician
1939 – Sokratis Kokkalis, Greek businessman
1939 – Gerald Ronson, English businessman and philanthropist
1939 – Lionel Sosa, Mexican-American advertising and marketing executive
1939 – Don Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
1940 – Mike Gibson, Australian journalist and sportscaster (d. 2015)
1942 – Lee Baca, American police officer
1942 – Piers Courage, English racing driver (d. 1970)
1942 – Roger Freeman, Baron Freeman, English accountant and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
1942 – Robin Widdows, English racing driver
1943 – Cilla Black, English singer and actress (d. 2015)
1943 – Bruce Weitz, American actor
1944 – Chris Dodd, American lawyer and politician
1944 – Ingrid Roscoe, English historian and politician, Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire
1944 – Alain Souchon, French singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1945 – Bruce Cockburn, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1946 – Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Danish bassist and composer (d. 2005)
1946 – John Williams, English motorcycle racer (d. 1978)
1947 – Peter DeFazio, American politician
1947 – Marty Kristian, German-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1947 – Branko Oblak, Slovenian footballer and coach
1947 – Riivo Sinijärv, Estonian politician, 19th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs
1948 – Wubbo de Boer, Dutch civil servant (d. 2017)
1948 – Pete Sears, English bass player
1948 – Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart, American occultist and author (d. 2014)
1949 – Hugh Lowther, 8th Earl of Lonsdale, English politician
1949 – Christa Vahlensieck, German runner
1950 – Dee Dee Bridgewater, American singer-songwriter and actress
1950 – Makis Dendrinos, Greek basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
1951 – John Conteh, English boxer
1954 – Pauline Hanson, Australian businesswoman, activist, and politician
1954 – Jackie Slater, American football player and coach
1955 – Eric Bischoff, American wrestler, manager, and producer
1955 – Richard Schiff, American actor, director, and producer
1955 – Ian Tracey, English organist and conductor
1956 – Cynthia McFadden, American journalist
1956 – Rosemary Squire, English producer and manager, co-founded Ambassador Theatre Group
1956 – Giuseppe Tornatore, Italian director and screenwriter
1957 – Dag Terje Andersen, Norwegian politician, Norwegian Minister of Labour
1957 – Nitin Gadkari, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Transport
1957 – Eddie Harsch, Canadian-American keyboard player and bass player (d. 2016)
1957 – Siouxsie Sioux, English singer-songwriter, musician, and producer
1958 – Nick Anstee, English accountant and politician, 682nd Lord Mayor of London
1958 – Neil Finn, New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician
1958 – Jesse Robredo, Filipino politician, 23rd Filipino Secretary of the Interior (d. 2012)
1960 – Gaston Therrien, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1961 – José Luíz Barbosa, Brazilian runner and coach
1961 – Peri Gilpin, American actress
1962 – Marcelino Bernal, Mexican footballer
1962 – Ray Borner, Australian basketball player
1962 – Steven Brill, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1962 – Anthony A. Hyman, Israeli-English biologist and academic
1962 – David Mundell, Scottish lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
1962 – Ravi Shastri, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
1963 – Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Cuban pianist and composer
1963 – Maria Walliser, Swiss skier
1964 – Adam Carolla, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1965 – Pat Cash, Australian-English tennis player and sportscaster
1966 – Heston Blumenthal, English chef and author
1967 – Paul Gascoigne, English international footballer, midfielder, coach, and manager
1967 – Eddie McClintock, American actor
1968 – Jeff Bagwell, American baseball player and coach
1968 – Rebekah Brooks, English journalist
1968 – Harun Erdenay, Turkish basketball player and coach
1968 – Frank Thomas, American baseball player and sportscaster
1969 – Todd Hundley, American baseball player
1969 – Jeremy Mayfield, American race car driver
1969 – Craig Federighi, American computer scientist and engineer
1970 – Michele Bartoli, Italian cyclist
1970 – Tim Farron, English educator and politician
1970 – Joseph Fiennes, English actor
1970 – Alex Archer, American-born Australian musician
1971 – Mathew Batsiua, Nauruan politician
1971 – Paul Bettany, English actor
1971 – Wayne Carey, Australian footballer and coach
1971 – Kaur Kender, Estonian author
1971 – Lisa Lopes, American rapper and dancer (d. 2002)
1971 – Lee Sharpe, English footballer
1971 – Grant Stafford, South African tennis player
1971 – Sophie Walker, British politician, leader of the Women’s Equality Party
1971 – Petroc Trelawny, British radio and television broadcaster
1972 – Todd Demsey, American golfer
1972 – Antonio Freeman, American football player
1972 – Maxim Sokolov, Russian ice hockey player
1973 – Jack McBrayer, American actor and comedian
1973 – Tana Umaga, New Zealand rugby player and coach
1973 – Yorgos Lanthimos, Greek film video, and theatre director, producer and screenwriter
1974 – Skye Edwards, British singer-songwriter
1974 – Denise van Outen, English actress, singer, and television host
1974 – Derek Webb, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1974 – Danny Wuerffel, American football player
1975 – André 3000, American rapper
1975 – Michael Hussey, Australian cricketer
1975 – Jamie Oliver, English chef and author
1975 – Feryal Özel, Turkish astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic
1976 – Marcel Fässler, Swiss racing driver
1977 – Abderrahmane Hammad, Algerian high jumper
1977 – Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lankan cricketer
1978 – Adin Brown, American soccer player
1979 – Michael Buonauro, American author and illustrator (d. 2004)
1979 – Mile Sterjovski, Australian footballer
1980 – Craig Buntin, Canadian figure skater
1981 – Alina Cojocaru, Romanian ballerina
1981 – Johan Elmander, Swedish footballer
1984 – Blake Ahearn, American basketball player
1984 – Miguel González, Mexican baseball pitcher
1985 – Chiang Chien-ming, Taiwanese baseball player
1985 – Roberto Soldado, Spanish footballer
1986 – Conor Cummins, Manx motorcycle racer
1986 – Bamba Fall, Senegalese basketball player
1986 – Lasse Schöne, Danish footballer
1987 – Gervinho, Ivorian footballer
1987 – Bella Heathcote, Australian actress
1987 – Eric Kolelas, French-English actor and director
1987 – Bora Paçun, Turkish basketball player
1987 – Matt Prior, Australian rugby league player
1987 – Martina Sablikova, Czech speed skater and cyclist
1988 – Vontae Davis, American football player
1988 – Irina Davydova, Russian hurdler
1988 – Garrett Richards, American baseball pitcher
1988 – Tyler Sash, American football player (d. 2015)
1989 – Igor Morozov, Estonian footballer
1990 – Yenew Alamirew, Ethiopian runner
1990 – Chris Colfer, American actor and singer
1990 – Marcus Kruger, Swedish ice hockey player
1991 – Sebastien Dewaest, Belgian footballer
1991 – Tim Lafai, Samoan rugby league player
1991 – Ksenia Pervak, Russian tennis player
1991 – Eneli Vals, Estonian footballer
1992 – Aaron Brown, Canadian sprinter
1992 – Laurence Vincent-Lapointe, Canadian canoer
Deaths on May 27
366 – Procopius, Roman usurper (b. 325)
398 – Murong Bao, emperor of the Xianbei state Later Yan (b. 355)
475 – Eutropius, bishop of Orange
866 – Ordoño I of Asturias (b. 831)
927 – Simeon I of Bulgaria first Bulgarian Emperor (b. 864)
1039 – Dirk III, Count of Holland (b. 981)
1045 – Bruno of Würzburg, imperial chancellor of Italy (b. c. 1005)
1178 – Godfrey van Rhenen, bishop of Utrecht
1240 – William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey (b. 1166)
1444 – John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, English commander (b. 1404)
1508 – Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan (b. 1452)
1508 – Lucrezia Crivelli, mistress of Ludovico Sforza (b. 1452)
1525 – Thomas Müntzer, German mystic and theologian (b. 1488)
1541 – Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury (b. 1473)
1564 – John Calvin, French pastor and theologian (b. 1509)
1610 – François Ravaillac, French assassin of Henry IV of France (b. 1578)
1624 – Diego Ramírez de Arellano, Spanish sailor and cosmographer (b. c. 1580)
1637 – John Boteler, 1st Baron Boteler of Brantfield, English politician (b. c. 1566)
1661 – Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, Scottish general and politician (b. 1607)
241 BC – First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates: The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end.
298 – Roman Emperor Maximian concludes his campaign in North Africa and makes a triumphal entry into Carthage.
947 – The Later Han is founded by Liu Zhiyuan. He declares himself emperor.
1607 – Susenyos I defeats the combined armies of Yaqob and Abuna Petros II at the Battle of Gol in Gojjam, making him Emperor of Ethiopia.
1629 – Charles I dissolves the Parliament of England, beginning the eleven-year period known as the Personal Rule.
1735 – An agreement between Nader Shah and Russia is signed near Ganja, Azerbaijan and Russian troops are withdrawn from occupied territories.
1762 – French Huguenot Jean Calas, who had been wrongly convicted of killing his son, dies after being tortured by authorities; the event inspired Voltaire to begin a campaign for religious tolerance and legal reform.
1814 – Emperor Napoleon I is defeated at the Battle of Laon in France.
1830 – The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army is created.
1848 – The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is ratified by the United States Senate, ending the Mexican–American War.
1861 – El Hadj Umar Tall seizes the city of Ségou, destroying the Bamana Empire of Mali.
1873 – The first Azerbaijani play “The Adventures of the Vizier of the Khan of Lenkaran” prepared by Akhundov was performed by Hassan-bey Zardabi and dramatist and Najaf-bey Vezirov.
1876 – The first successful test of a telephone is made by Alexander Graham Bell.
1891 – Almon Strowger patents the Strowger switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching.
1906 – The Courrières mine disaster, Europe’s worst ever, kills 1099 miners in northern France.
1909 – By signing the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909, Thailand relinquishes its sovereignty over the Malay states of Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis and Terengganu, which become British protectorates.
1922 – Mahatma Gandhi is arrested in India, tried for sedition, and sentenced to six years in prison, only to be released after nearly two years for an appendicitis operation.
1933 – The Long Beach earthquake affects the Greater Los Angeles Area leaving around 108 people dead.
1944 – Greek Civil War: The Political Committee of National Liberation is established in Greece by the National Liberation Front.
1945 – World War II: The U.S. Army Air Force firebombs Tokyo, and the resulting conflagration kills more than 100,000 people, mostly civilians.
1949 – Mildred Gillars (“Axis Sally”) is convicted of treason.
1952 – Fulgencio Batista leads a successful coup in Cuba.
1959 – Tibetan uprising: Fearing an abduction attempt by China, thousands of Tibetans surround the Dalai Lama’s palace to prevent his removal.
1966 – Military Prime Minister of South Vietnam Nguyễn Cao Kỳ sacked rival General Nguyễn Chánh Thi, precipitating large-scale civil and military dissension in parts of the nation.
1969 – In Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King, Jr. He later unsuccessfully attempts to recant.
1970 – Vietnam War: Captain Ernest Medina is charged by the U.S. military with My Lai war crimes.
1975 – Vietnam War: Ho Chi Minh Campaign: North Vietnamese troops attack Ban Mê Thuột in the South on their way to capturing Saigon in the final push for victory over South Vietnam.
1977 – Astronomers discover the rings of Uranus.
1990 – In Haiti, Prosper Avril is ousted 18 months after seizing power in a coup.
2006 – The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at Mars.
2017 – The impeachment of President Park Geun-hye of South Korea in response to a major political scandal is unanimously upheld by the country’s Constitutional Court, ending her presidency.
2019 – Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX, crashes, leading to all 737 MAX aircraft being grounded worldwide.
Births on March 10
1452 – Ferdinand II, king of Castile and León (d. 1516)
1503 – Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1564)
1536 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, English politician, Earl Marshal of the United Kingdom (d. 1572)
1604 – Johann Rudolf Glauber, German-Dutch alchemist and chemist (d. 1670)
1628 – François Girardon, French sculptor (d. 1715)
1628 – Marcello Malpighi, Italian physician and biologist (d. 1694)
1656 – Giacomo Serpotta, Italian Rococo sculptor (d. 1732)
1653 – John Benbow, Royal Navy admiral (d. 1702)
1709 – Georg Wilhelm Steller, German botanist, zoologist, physician, and explorer (d. 1746)
1749 – Lorenzo Da Ponte, Italian-American priest and poet (d. 1838)
1769 – Joseph Williamson, English businessman and philanthropist (d. 1840)
1772 – Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, German poet and critic (d. 1829)
1777 – Louis Hersent, French painter (d. 1860)
1787 – Francisco de Paula Martínez de la Rosa y Berdejo, Spanish playwright and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1862)
1787 – William Etty, English painter and academic (d. 1849)
1788 – Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff, German author, poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1857)
1788 – Edward Hodges Baily, English sculptor (d. 1867)
1789 – Manuel de la Peña y Peña, Mexican lawyer and 20th President (1847) (d. 1850)
1795 – Joseph Légaré, Canadian painter and glazier, artist, seigneur and political figure (d. 1855)
1810 – Samuel Ferguson, Irish poet and lawyer (d. 1886)
1844 – Pablo de Sarasate, Spanish violinist and composer (d. 1908)
1844 – Marie Euphrosyne Spartali, British Pre-Raphaelite painter (d. 1927)
1845 – Alexander III of Russia (d. 1894)
1846 – Edward Baker Lincoln, American son of Abraham Lincoln (d. 1850)
1849 – Hallie Quinn Brown, African-American educator, writer and activist (d. 1949)
1850 – Spencer Gore, English tennis player and cricketer (d. 1906)
1853 – Thomas Mackenzie, Scottish-New Zealand cartographer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1930)
1867 – Hector Guimard, French-American architect (d. 1942)
1867 – Lillian Wald, American nurse, humanitarian, and author, founded the Henry Street Settlement (d. 1940)
1870 – David Riazanov, Russian theorist and politician (d. 1938)
1873 – Jakob Wassermann, German-Austrian soldier and author (d. 1934)
1876 – Anna Hyatt Huntington, American sculptor (d. 1973)
1877 – Pascual Ortiz Rubio, Mexican diplomat and president (1930-1932) (d. 1963)
1881 – Jessie Boswell, English painter (d. 1956)
1888 – Barry Fitzgerald, Irish actor (d. 1961)
1890 – Albert Ogilvie, Australian politician, 28th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1939)
1892 – Arthur Honegger, French composer and educator (d. 1955)
1892 – Gregory La Cava, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1952)
1896 – Frederick Coulton Waugh, British cartoonist, painter, teacher and author (d. 1973)