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July 12 in History
- AD 70 – The armies of Titus attack the walls of Jerusalem after a six-month siege. Three days later they breach the walls, which enables the army to destroy the Second Temple.
- 927 – King Constantine II of Scotland, King Hywel Dda of Deheubarth, Ealdred of Bamburgh and King Owain of the Cumbrians accepted the overlordship of King Æthelstan of England, leading to seven years of peace in the north.
- 1191 – Third Crusade: Saladin’s garrison surrenders to Philip Augustus, ending the two-year siege of Acre.
- 1470 – The Ottomans capture Euboea.
- 1493 – Hartmann Schedel’s Nuremberg Chronicle, one of the best-documented early printed books, is published.
- 1527 – Lê Cung Hoàng ceded the throne to Mạc Đăng Dung, ending the Lê dynasty and starting the Mạc dynasty.
- 1543 – King Henry VIII of England marries his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr, at Hampton Court Palace.
- 1562 – Fray Diego de Landa, acting Bishop of Yucatán, burns the sacred books of the Maya.
- 1576 – Mughal Empire annexes Bengal after defeating the Bengal Sultanate at the Battle of Raj Mahal.
- 1580 – The Ostrog Bible, one of the early printed Bibles in a Slavic language, is published.
- 1691 – Battle of Aughrim (Julian calendar): The decisive victory of William III of England’s forces in Ireland.
- 1776 – Captain James Cook begins his third voyage.
- 1789 – In response to the dismissal of the French finance minister Jacques Necker, the radical journalist Camille Desmoulins gives a speech which results in the storming of the Bastille two days later.
- 1790 – The Civil Constitution of the Clergy is passed in France by the National Constituent Assembly.
- 1799 – Ranjit Singh conquers Lahore and becomes Maharaja of the Punjab (Sikh Empire).
- 1801 – British ships inflict heavy damage on Spanish and French ships in the Second Battle of Algeciras.
- 1806 – At the insistence of Napoleon, Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg and thirteen minor principalities leave the Holy Roman Empire and form the Confederation of the Rhine.
- 1812 – The American Army of the Northwest briefly occupies the Upper Canadian settlement at what is now at Windsor, Ontario.
- 1862 – The Medal of Honor is authorized by the United States Congress.
- 1913 – Serbian forces begin their siege of the Bulgarian city of Vidin; the siege is later called off when the war ends.
- 1917 – The Bisbee Deportation occurs as vigilantes kidnap and deport nearly 1,300 striking miners and others from Bisbee, Arizona.
- 1918 – The Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Kawachi blows up at Shunan, western Honshu, Japan, killing at least 621.
- 1920 – The Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty is signed, by which Soviet Russia recognizes the independence of Lithuania.
- 1943 – German and Soviet forces engage in one of the largest armored engagements of all time.
- 1948 – Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion orders the expulsion of Palestinians from the towns of Lod and Ramla.
- 1960 – Orlyonok, the main Young Pioneer camp of the Russian SFSR, is founded.
- 1961 – Indian city Pune floods due to failure of the Khadakwasla and Panshet dams, killing at least two thousand people.
- 1962 – The Rolling Stones perform their first concert, at London’s Marquee Club.
- 1963 – Pauline Reade, 16, disappears in Gorton, England, the first victim in the Moors murders.
- 1967 – Riots begin in Newark, New Jersey.
- 1971 – The Australian Aboriginal Flag is flown for the first time.
- 1973 – A fire destroys the entire sixth floor of the National Personnel Records Center of the United States.
- 1975 – São Tomé and Príncipe declare independence from Portugal.
- 1979 – The island nation of Kiribati becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
- 1998 – The Ulster Volunteer Force attacked a house in Ballymoney, County Antrim, Northern Ireland with a petrol bomb, killing the Quinn brothers.
- 2006 – The 2006 Lebanon War begins.
- 2007 – U.S. Army Apache helicopters engage in airstrikes against civilians in Baghdad, Iraq; footage from the cockpit is later leaked to the Internet.
- 2012 – Syrian Civil War: Government forces target the homes of rebels and activists in Tremseh and kill anywhere between 68 and 150 people.
- 2012 – A tank truck explosion kills more than 100 people in Okobie, Nigeria.
- 2013 – Six people are killed and 200 injured in a French passenger train derailment in Brétigny-sur-Orge.
Births on July 12
- 100 BC – Julius Caesar, Roman politician and general (d. 44 BC)
- 1394 – Ashikaga Yoshinori, Japanese shōgun (d. 1441)
- 1468 – Juan del Encina, Spanish poet, playwright, and composer (probable; d. 1530)
- 1477 – Jacopo Sadoleto, Italian cardinal (d. 1547)
- 1549 – Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland (d. 1587)
- 1628 – Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk (d. 1684)
- 1651 – Margaret Theresa of Spain (d. 1673)
- 1675 – Evaristo Felice Dall’Abaco, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1742)
- 1712 – Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet, Colonial governor of New Jersey and Massachusetts Bay (d. 1779)
- 1730 – Josiah Wedgwood, English potter, founded the Wedgwood Company (d. 1795)
- 1803 – Peter Chanel, French priest and saint (d. 1841)
- 1807 – Thomas Hawksley, English engineer and academic (d. 1893)
- 1813 – Claude Bernard, French physiologist and academic (d. 1878)
- 1817 – Henry David Thoreau, American essayist, poet, and philosopher (d. 1862)
- 1817 – Alvin Saunders, Territorial Governor and Senator from Nebraska (d. 1899)
- 1821 – D. H. Hill, American general and academic (d. 1889)
- 1824 – Eugène Boudin, French painter (d. 1898)
- 1828 – Nikolay Chernyshevsky, Russian philosopher and critic (d. 1889)
- 1849 – William Osler, Canadian physician and author (d. 1919)
- 1850 – Otto Schoetensack, German anthropologist and academic (d. 1912)
- 1852 – Hipólito Yrigoyen, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 19th President of Argentina (d. 1933)
- 1854 – George Eastman, American businessman, founded Eastman Kodak (d. 1933)
- 1855 – Ned Hanlan, Canadian rower, academic, and businessman (d. 1908)
- 1857 – George E. Ohr, American potter (d. 1918)
- 1861 – Anton Arensky, Russian pianist, composer, and educator (d. 1906)
- 1863 – Albert Calmette, French physician, bacteriologist, and immunologist (d. 1933)
- 1863 – Paul Drude, German physicist and academic (d. 1906)
- 1868 – Stefan George, German poet and translator (d. 1933)
- 1870 – Louis II, Prince of Monaco (d. 1949)
- 1872 – Emil Hácha, Czech lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Czechoslovakia (d. 1945)
- 1876 – Max Jacob, French poet, painter, and critic (d. 1944)
- 1876 – Alphaeus Philemon Cole, American artist, engraver and etcher (d. 1988)
- 1878 – Peeter Põld, Estonian scientist and politician, 1st Estonian Minister of Education (d. 1930)
- 1879 – Margherita Piazzola Beloch, Italian mathematician (d. 1976)
- 1879 – Han Yong-un, Korean poet (d. 1944)
- 1880 – Tod Browning, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1962)
- 1884 – Louis B. Mayer, Russian-born American film producer, co-founded Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (d. 1957)
- 1884 – Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1920)
- 1886 – Jean Hersholt, Danish-American actor and director (d. 1956)
- 1892 – Bruno Schulz, Ukrainian-Polish author and painter (d. 1942)
- 1895 – Kirsten Flagstad, Norwegian soprano (d. 1962)
- 1895 – Buckminster Fuller, American architect and engineer, designed the Montreal Biosphère (d. 1983)
- 1895 – Oscar Hammerstein II, American director, producer, and songwriter (d. 1960)
- 1899 – E.D. Nixon, American civil rights leader (d. 1987)
- 1902 – Günther Anders, German philosopher and journalist (d. 1992)
- 1902 – Tony Lovink, Dutch politician; Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1995)
- 1902 – Vic Armbruster, Australian rugby league player (d. 1984)
- 1904 – Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
- 1907 – Weary Dunlop, Australian colonel and surgeon (d. 1993)
- 1908 – Milton Berle, American comedian and actor (d. 2002)
- 1908 – Alain Cuny, French actor (d. 1994)
- 1908 – Paul Runyan, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 2002)
- 1909 – Joe DeRita, American actor (d. 1993)
- 1909 – Motoichi Kumagai, Japanese photographer and illustrator (d. 2010)
- 1909 – Fritz Leonhardt, German engineer, designed Fernsehturm Stuttgart (d. 1999)
- 1909 – Herbert Zim, American naturalist, author, and educator (d. 1994)
- 1911 – Evald Mikson, Estonian footballer (d. 1993)
- 1913 – Willis Lamb, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2008)
- 1914 – Mohammad Moin, Iranian linguist and lexicographer (d. 1971)
- 1915 – Emanuel Papper, American anesthesiologist, professor, and author (d. 2002)
- 1915 – Princess Catherine Ivanovna of Russia, (d. 2007)
- 1916 – Lyudmila Pavlichenko, Ukrainian-Russian soldier and sniper (d. 1974)
- 1917 – Luigi Gorrini, Italian soldier and pilot (d. 2014)
- 1917 – Satyendra Narayan Sinha, Indian statesman (d. 2006)
- 1917 – Andrew Wyeth, American artist (d. 2009)
- 1918 – Mary Glen-Haig, English fencer (d. 2014)
- 1918 – Vivian Mason, American actress (d. 2009)
- 1918 – Doris Grumbach, American novelist, memoirist, biographer, literary critic, and essayist
- 1918 – Rusty Dedrick, American swing and bebop jazz trumpeter (d. 2009)
- 1920 – Pierre Berton, Canadian journalist and author (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Bob Fillion, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (d. 2015)
- 1920 – Paul Gonsalves, American saxophonist (d. 1974)
- 1920 – Randolph Quirk, Manx linguist and academic (d. 2017)
- 1920 – Beah Richards, American actress (d. 2000)
- 1922 – Mark Hatfield, American soldier and politician, 29th Governor of Oregon (d. 2011)
- 1923 – James E. Gunn, American science fiction author
- 1924 – Faidon Matthaiou, Greek basketball player and coach (d. 2011)
- 1925 – Albert Lance, Australian-French tenor (d. 2013)
- 1925 – Roger Smith, American businessman (d. 2007)
- 1927 – Françoys Bernier, Canadian pianist, conductor, and educator (d. 1993)
- 1927 – Conte Candoli, American trumpet player (d. 2001)
- 1927 – Jack Harshman, American baseball player (d. 2013)
- 1927 – Harley Hotchkiss, Canadian businessman (d. 2011)
- 1928 – Alastair Burnet, English journalist (d. 2012)
- 1928 – Elias James Corey, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1928 – Imero Fiorentino, American lighting designer (d. 2013)
- 1930 – Gordon Pinsent, Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1930 – Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, wife of the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
- 1931 – Eric Ives, English historian and academic (d. 2012)
- 1931 – Geeto Mongol, Canadian-American wrestler and trainer (d. 2013)
- 1932 – Rene Goulet, Canadian retired professional wrestler (d. 2019)
- 1932 – Monte Hellman, American director and producer
- 1932 – Otis Davis, American sprinter
- 1933 – Victor Poor, American engineer, developed the Datapoint 2200 (d. 2012)
- 1933 – Donald E. Westlake, American author and screenwriter (d. 2008)
- 1934 – Thomas Charlton, American competition rower and Olympic champion
- 1934 – Van Cliburn, American pianist and composer (d. 2013)
- 1935 – Satoshi Ōmura, Japanese biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1936 – Jan Němec, Czech director and screenwriter (d. 2016)
- 1937 – Bill Cosby, American actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter
- 1937 – Mickey Edwards, American lawyer and politician
- 1937 – Lionel Jospin, French civil servant and politician, 165th Prime Minister of France
- 1937 – Robert McFarlane, American colonel and diplomat, 13th United States National Security Advisor
- 1937 – Guy Woolfenden, English composer and conductor (d. 2016)
- 1938 – Ron Fairly, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1938 – Wieger Mensonides, Dutch swimmer
- 1938 – Eiko Ishioka, Japanese art director and graphic designer (d. 2012)
- 1939 – Phillip Adams, Australian journalist and producer
- 1939 – Arlen Ness, American motorcycle designer and entrepreneur
- 1941 – Benny Parsons, American race car driver and sportscaster (d. 2007)
- 1942 – Swamp Dogg, American R&B singer-songwriter and musician
- 1942 – Roy Palmer, English cricketer and umpire
- 1942 – Billy Smith, Australian rugby league player and coach
- 1942 – Steve Young, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)
- 1943 – Christine McVie, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
- 1943 – Paul Silas, American basketball player and coach
- 1944 – Simon Blackburn, English philosopher and academic
- 1944 – Delia Ephron, American author, playwright, and screenwriter
- 1944 – Pat Woodell, American actress and singer (d. 2015)
- 1945 – Butch Hancock, American country-folk singer-songwriter and musician
- 1947 – Gareth Edwards, Welsh rugby player and sportscaster
- 1947 – Wilko Johnson, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1947 – Richard C. McCarty, American psychologist and academic
- 1948 – Ben Burtt, American director, screenwriter, and sound designer
- 1948 – Walter Egan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1948 – Richard Simmons, American fitness trainer and actor
- 1949 – Simon Fox, English drummer
- 1949 – Rick Hendrick, American businessman, founded Hendrick Motorsports
- 1950 – Eric Carr, American drummer and songwriter (d. 1991)
- 1950 – Gilles Meloche, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1951 – Joan Bauer, American author
- 1951 – Brian Grazer, American screenwriter and producer, founded Imagine Entertainment
- 1951 – Cheryl Ladd, American actress
- 1951 – Piotr Pustelnik, Polish mountaineer
- 1951 – Jamey Sheridan, American actor
- 1952 – Voja Antonić, Serbian computer scientist and journalist, designed the Galaksija computer
- 1952 – Irina Bokova, Bulgarian politician, Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1952 – Philip Taylor Kramer, American bass player (d. 1995)
- 1954 – Eric Adams, American singer-songwriter
- 1954 – Robert Carl, American pianist and composer
- 1954 – Wolfgang Dremmler, German footballer and coach
- 1955 – Timothy Garton Ash, English historian and author
- 1955 – Jimmy LaFave, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
- 1956 – Mel Harris, American actress
- 1956 – Sandi Patty, American singer and pianist
- 1956 – Mario Soto, Dominican baseball player
- 1957 – Rick Husband, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2003)
- 1957 – Dave Semenko, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster (d. 2017)
- 1958 – J. D. Hayworth, American politician and radio host
- 1958 – Tonya Lee Williams, English-Canadian actress and producer
- 1959 – David Brown, Australian meteorologist
- 1959 – Tupou VI, King of Tonga
- 1959 – Karl J. Friston, English psychiatrist and neuroscientist
- 1959 – Charlie Murphy, American actor and comedian (d. 2017)
- 1961 – Heikko Glöde, German footballer and manager
- 1961 – Shiva Rajkumar, Indian actor, singer, and producer
- 1962 – Julio César Chávez, Mexican boxer
- 1962 – Luc De Vos, Belgian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2014)
- 1962 – Joanna Shields, American-English businesswoman
- 1962 – Dean Wilkins, English footballer and manager
- 1964 – Gaby Roslin, English television host and actress
- 1965 – Sanjay Manjrekar, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
- 1965 – Robin Wilson, American singer and guitarist
- 1966 – Jeff Bucknum, American race car driver
- 1966 – Annabel Croft, English tennis player and sportscaster
- 1966 – Taiji, Japanese bass player and songwriter (d. 2011)
- 1967 – Richard Herring, English comedian and screenwriter
- 1967 – Mac McCaughan, American singer and guitarist
- 1967 – John Petrucci, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1967 – Bruny Surin, Canadian sprinter
- 1968 – Catherine Plewinski, French swimmer
- 1969 – Lisa Nicole Carson, American actress
- 1969 – Chantal Jouanno, French politician, French Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports
- 1969 – Alan Mullally, English cricketer and sportscaster
- 1969 – Anne-Sophie Pic, French chef
- 1969 – Jesse Pintado, Mexican-American guitarist (d. 2006)
- 1970 – Aure Atika, Portuguese-French actress, director, and screenwriter
- 1970 – Lee Byung-hun, South Korean actor, singer, and dancer
- 1971 – Joel Casamayor, Cuban American former professional boxer
- 1971 – Andriy Kovalenco, Ukrainian-Spanish rugby player
- 1971 – Loni Love, American comedian, actress, and talk show host
- 1971 – Kristi Yamaguchi, American figure skater
- 1972 – Travis Best, American basketball player
- 1972 – Jake Wood, English actor
- 1973 – Christian Vieri, Italian footballer
- 1974 – Sharon den Adel, Dutch singer-songwriter
- 1974 – Stelios Giannakopoulos, Greek footballer and manager
- 1974 – Gregory Shane Helms, American professional wrestler
- 1975 – Phil Lord, American filmmaker
- 1976 – Dan Boyle, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1976 – Anna Friel, English actress
- 1976 – Tracie Spencer, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1977 – Neil Harris, English footballer and manager
- 1977 – Steve Howey, American actor
- 1977 – Brock Lesnar, American mixed martial artist and wrestler
- 1977 – Francesca Lubiani, Italian tennis player
- 1978 – Topher Grace, American actor
- 1978 – Michelle Rodriguez, American actress
- 1979 – Brooke Baldwin, American journalist and television news anchor
- 1979 – Nikos Barlos, Greek basketball player
- 1979 – Maya Kobayashi, Japanese journalist
- 1980 – Kristen Connolly, American actress
- 1981 – Adrienne Camp, South African singer-songwriter
- 1981 – Pradeepan Raveendran, Sri Lankan director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1982 – Antonio Cassano, Italian footballer
- 1984 – Gareth Gates, English singer-songwriter
- 1984 – Jonathan Lewis, American football player
- 1984 – Natalie Martinez, American actress
- 1984 – Michael McGovern, Irish footballer
- 1984 – Sami Zayn, Canadian professional wrestler
- 1985 – Paulo Vitor Barreto, Brazilian footballer
- 1985 – Gianluca Curci, Italian footballer
- 1985 – Keven Lacombe, Canadian cyclist
- 1985 – Ismael Londt, Surinamese-Dutch kickboxer
- 1986 – 360, Australian rapper
- 1986 – Didier Digard, French footballer
- 1986 – Hannaliis Jaadla, Estonian footballer
- 1986 – JP Pietersen, South African rugby player
- 1986 – Simone Laudehr, German footballer
- 1988 – LeSean McCoy, American football player
- 1988 – Inbee Park, South Korean golfer
- 1989 – Nick Palmieri, American ice hockey player
- 1990 – Bebé, Portuguese footballer
- 1990 – Rachel Brosnahan, American actress
- 1990 – Chasen Shreve, American baseball player
- 1991 – Salih Dursun, Turkish footballer
- 1991 – James Rodríguez, Colombian footballer
- 1992 – Bartosz Bereszyński, Polish footballer
- 1993 – Kurt Capewell, Australian rugby league player
- 1994 – Kanako Momota, Japanese singer-songwriter
- 1995 – Luke Shaw, English footballer
- 1995 – Jordyn Wieber, American gymnast
- 1996 – Moussa Dembélé, French footballer
- 1996 – Jordan Romero, American mountaineer
- 1997 – Daniel Lawrence, English cricketer
- 1997 – Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani-English activist, Nobel Prize laureate
Deaths on July 12
- 524 – Viventiolus, archbishop of Lyon (b. 460)
- 783 – Bertrada of Laon, Frankish queen (b. 720)
- 965 – Meng Chang, emperor of Later Shu (b. 919)
- 981 – Xue Juzheng, Chinese scholar-official and historian
- 1067 – John Komnenos, Byzantine general
- 1441 – Ashikaga Yoshinori, Japanese shōgun (b. 1394)
- 1441 – Kyōgoku Takakazu, Japanese nobleman
- 1489 – Bahlul Lodi, sultan of Delhi
- 1536 – Desiderius Erasmus, Dutch priest and philosopher (b. 1466)
- 1584 – Steven Borough, English navigator and explorer (b. 1525)
- 1623 – William Bourchier, 3rd Earl of Bath (b. 1557)
- 1664 – Stefano della Bella, Italian illustrator and engraver (b. 1610)
- 1682 – Jean Picard, French priest and astronomer (b. 1620)
- 1691 – Marquis de St Ruth, French general
- 1693 – John Ashby, English admiral (b. 1640)
- 1712 – Richard Cromwell, English academic and politician (b. 1626)
- 1742 – Evaristo Felice Dall’Abaco, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1675)
- 1749 – Charles de la Boische, Marquis de Beauharnois, French navy officer and politician, Governor General of New France (b. 1671)
- 1773 – Johann Joachim Quantz, German flute player and composer (b. 1697)
- 1804 – Alexander Hamilton, American general, economist, and politician, 1st United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1755)
- 1845 – Henrik Wergeland, Norwegian linguist, poet, and playwright (b. 1808)
- 1850 – Robert Stevenson, Scottish engineer (b. 1772)
- 1855 – Pavel Nakhimov, Russian admiral (b. 1802)
- 1870 – John A. Dahlgren, American admiral (b. 1809)
- 1892 – Alexander Cartwright, American firefighter, invented baseball (b. 1820)
- 1910 – Charles Rolls, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Rolls-Royce Limited (b. 1887)
- 1926 – Gertrude Bell, English archaeologist and spy (b. 1868)
- 1926 – Charles Wood Irish composer (b. 1866)
- 1929 – Robert Henri, American painter and educator (b. 1865)
- 1931 – Nathan Söderblom, Swedish archbishop, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1866)
- 1934 – Ole Evinrude, Norwegian-American inventor and businessman, invented the outboard motor (b. 1877)
- 1935 – Alfred Dreyfus, French colonel (b. 1859)
- 1944 – Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., American general and politician, Governor of Puerto Rico (b. 1887)
- 1945 – Boris Galerkin, Russian mathematician and engineer (b. 1871)
- 1945 – Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen, German field marshal (b. 1895)
- 1946 – Ray Stannard Baker, American journalist and author (b. 1870)
- 1947 – Jimmie Lunceford, American saxophonist and bandleader (b. 1902)
- 1949 – Douglas Hyde, Irish scholar and politician, 1st President of Ireland (b. 1860)
- 1950 – Elsie de Wolfe, American actress, author, and interior decorator (b. 1865)
- 1956 – John Hayes, Australian politician, 25th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1868)
- 1961 – Mazo de la Roche, Canadian author and playwright (b. 1879)
- 1962 – Roger Wolfe Kahn, American composer and bandleader (b. 1907)
- 1965 – Christfried Burmeister, Estonian speed skater (b. 1898)
- 1966 – D. T. Suzuki, Japanese philosopher and author (b. 1870)
- 1969 – Henry George Lamond, Australian farmer and author (b. 1885)
- 1971 – Yvon Robert, Canadian wrestler (b. 1914)
- 1973 – Lon Chaney, Jr., American actor (b. 1906)
- 1975 – James Ormsbee Chapin, American painter and illustrator (b. 1887)
- 1979 – Olive Morris, Jamaican-English civil rights activist (d. 1979)
- 1979 – Minnie Riperton, American singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
- 1982 – Kenneth More, English actor (b. 1914)
- 1983 – Chris Wood, English saxophonist (b. 1944)
- 1990 – João Saldanha, Brazilian footballer, manager, and journalist (b. 1917)
- 1992 – Caroline Pafford Miller, American journalist and author (b. 1903)
- 1993 – Dan Eldon, English photographer and journalist (b. 1970)
- 1994 – Eila Campbell, English geographer and cartographer (b. 1915)
- 1996 – John Chancellor, American journalist (b. 1927)
- 1997 – François Furet, French historian and author (b. 1927)
- 1998 – Jimmy Driftwood, American singer-songwriter and banjo player (b. 1907)
- 1998 – Arkady Ostashev, Soviet/Russian scientist and engineer (b. 1925)
- 1998 – Serge Lemoyne, Canadian painter (b. 1941)
- 1999 – Rajendra Kumar, Bollywood actor, (b. 1921)
- 2000 – Charles Merritt, Canadian colonel and politician, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1908)
- 2001 – Fred Marcellino, American author and illustrator (b. 1939)
- 2003 – Benny Carter, American trumpet player, saxophonist, and composer (b. 1907)
- 2003 – Mark Lovell, English race car driver (b. 1960)
- 2004 – Betty Oliphant, English-Canadian ballerina, co-founded the National Ballet School of Canada (b. 1918)
- 2005 – John King, Baron King of Wartnaby, English businessman (b. 1917)
- 2007 – Robert Burås, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1975)
- 2007 – Stan Zemanek, Australian radio and television host (b. 1947)
- 2008 – Bobby Murcer, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1946)
- 2008 – Tony Snow, American journalist, 26th White House Press Secretary (b. 1955)
- 2010 – Olga Guillot, Cuban-American singer (b. 1922)
- 2010 – James P. Hogan, English-American author (b. 1941)
- 2010 – Paulo Moura, Brazilian clarinetist and saxophonist (b. 1932)
- 2010 – Pius Njawé, Cameroonian journalist (b. 1957)
- 2010 – Harvey Pekar, American author and critic (b. 1939)
- 2011 – Sherwood Schwartz, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1916)
- 2012 – Alimuddin, Pakistani cricketer (b. 1930)
- 2012 – Dara Singh, Indian wrestler, actor, and politician (b. 1928)
- 2012 – Eddy Brown, English footballer and manager (b. 1926)
- 2012 – Else Holmelund Minarik, Danish-American author and illustrator (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Roger Payne, English mountaineer (b. 1956)
- 2012 – Hamid Samandarian, Iranian director and playwright (b. 1931)
- 2012 – George C. Stoney, American director and producer (b. 1916)
- 2013 – Amar Bose, American businessman, founded the Bose Corporation (b. 1929)
- 2013 – Takako Takahashi, Japanese author (b. 1932)
- 2013 – Elaine Morgan, Welsh writer (b. 1920)
- 2013 – Alan Whicker, Egyptian-English journalist (b. 1925)
- 2014 – Jamil Ahmad, Pakistani author (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Nestor Basterretxea, Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Emil Bobu, Romanian politician (b. 1927)
- 2014 – Alfred de Grazia, American political scientist and author (b. 1919)
- 2014 – Kenneth J. Gray, American soldier and politician (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Valeriya Novodvorskaya, Russian journalist and politician (b. 1950)
- 2015 – D’Army Bailey, American lawyer, judge, and actor (b. 1941)
- 2015 – Chenjerai Hove, Zimbabwean journalist, author, and poet (b. 1956)
- 2015 – Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, Tibetan monk and activist (b. 1950)
- 2015 – Cheng Siwei, Chinese engineer, economist, and politician (b. 1935)
- 2016 – Goran Hadžić, Serbian politician (b. 1958)
- 2018 – Dada J. P. Vaswani, Indian spiritual leader (b. 1918)
Holidays and observances on July 12
- Birthday of the Heir to the Crown of Tonga (Tonga)
- Christian feast day:
- Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (Eastern Orthodox)
- Hermagoras and Fortunatus
- Jason of Thessalonica (Catholic Church)
- John Gualbert
- Louis Martin and Marie-Azélie Guérin
- Nabor and Felix
- Nathan Söderblom (Lutheran, Episcopal Church (USA))
- Veronica
- Viventiolus
- July 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Kiribati from the United Kingdom in 1979.
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of São Tomé and Príncipe from Portugal in 1975.
- The second day of Naadam (Mongolia)
- The Twelfth, also known as Orangemen’s Day (Northern Ireland, Scotland, Newfoundland and Labrador)
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May 22 in History
- 192 – Dong Zhuo is assassinated by his adopted son Lü Bu.
- 760 – Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet.
- 853 – A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt.
- 1176 – The Hashshashin (Assassins) attempt to assassinate Saladin near Aleppo.
- 1200 – King John of England and King Philip II of France sign the Treaty of Le Goulet.
- 1246 – Henry Raspe is elected anti-king of the Kingdom of Germany in opposition to Conrad IV.
- 1254 – Serbian King Stefan Uroš I and the Republic of Venice sign a peace treaty.
- 1370 – Brussels massacre: Hundreds of Jews are murdered and the rest of the Jewish community is banished from Brussels, Belgium, for allegedly desecrating consecrated Host.
- 1377 – Pope Gregory XI issues five papal bulls to denounce the doctrines of English theologian John Wycliffe.
- 1455 – Start of the Wars of the Roses: At the First Battle of St Albans, Richard, Duke of York, defeats and captures King Henry VI of England.
- 1520 – The massacre at the festival of Tóxcatl takes place during the Fall of Tenochtitlan, resulting in turning the Aztecs against the Spanish.
- 1629 – Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II and Danish King Christian IV sign the Treaty of Lübeck ending Danish intervention in the Thirty Years’ War.
- 1762 – Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Hamburg.
- 1762 – Trevi Fountain is officially completed and inaugurated in Rome.
- 1766 – A large earthquake causes heavy damage and loss of life in Istanbul and the Marmara region.
- 1804 – The Lewis and Clark Expedition officially begins as the Corps of Discovery departs from St. Charles, Missouri.
- 1807 – A grand jury indicts former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr on a charge of treason.
- 1809 – On the second and last day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling (near Vienna, Austria), Napoleon I is repelled by an enemy army for the first time.
- 1816 – A mob in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England, riots over high unemployment and rising grain costs, and the riots spread to Ely the next day.
- 1819 – SS Savannah leaves port at Savannah, Georgia, United States, on a voyage to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
- 1826 – HMS Beagle departs on its first voyage.
- 1840 – The penal transportation of British convicts to the New South Wales colony is abolished.
- 1848 – Slavery is abolished in Martinique.
- 1849 – Future U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is issued a patent for an invention to lift boats, making him the only U.S. president to ever hold a patent.
- 1856 – Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina severely beats Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts with a cane in the hall of the United States Senate for a speech Sumner had made regarding Southerners and slavery.
- 1863 – American Civil War: Union forces begin the Siege of Port Hudson which lasts 48 days, the longest siege in U.S. military history.
- 1864 – American Civil War: After ten weeks, the Union Army’s Red River Campaign ends in failure.
- 1872 – Reconstruction Era: President Ulysses S. Grant signs the Amnesty Act into law, restoring full civil and political rights to all but about 500 Confederate sympathizers.
- 1900 – The Associated Press is formed in New York City as a non-profit news cooperative.
- 1906 – The Wright brothers are granted U.S. patent number 821,393 for their “Flying-Machine”.
- 1915 – Lassen Peak erupts with a powerful force, the only volcano besides Mount St. Helens to erupt in the contiguous U.S. during the 20th century.
- 1915 – Three trains collide in the Quintinshill rail disaster near Gretna Green, Scotland, killing 227 people and injuring 246.
- 1926 – Chiang Kai-shek replaces the communists in Kuomintang China.
- 1927 – Near Xining, China, an 8.3 magnitude earthquake causes 200,000 deaths in one of the world’s most destructive earthquakes.
- 1939 – World War II: Germany and Italy sign the Pact of Steel.
- 1941 – During the Anglo-Iraqi War, British troops take Fallujah.
- 1942 – Mexico enters the Second World War on the side of the Allies.
- 1943 – Joseph Stalin disbands the Comintern.
- 1947 – Cold War: The Truman Doctrine goes into effect, aiding Turkey and Greece.
- 1957 – South Africa’s government approves of racial separation in universities.
- 1958 – The 1958 riots in Ceylon become a watershed in the race relations of various ethnic communities of Sri Lanka. The total deaths is estimated at 300, mostly Tamils.
- 1960 – The Great Chilean earthquake, measuring 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale, hits southern Chile, becoming the most powerful earthquake ever recorded.
- 1962 – Continental Airlines Flight 11 crashes after bombs explode on board.
- 1963 – Greek left-wing politician Grigoris Lambrakis is shot in an assassination attempt, and dies five days later.
- 1964 – Lyndon B. Johnson launches the Great Society.
- 1967 – Egypt closes the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping.
- 1967 – L’Innovation department store in Brussels, Belgium, burns down, resulting in 323 dead or missing and 150 injured, the most devastating fire in Belgian history.
- 1968 – The nuclear-powered submarine USS Scorpion sinks with 99 men aboard, 400 miles southwest of the Azores.
- 1969 – Apollo 10’s lunar module flies within 8.4 nautical miles (16 km) of the moon’s surface.
- 1972 – Ceylon adopts a new constitution, becoming a republic and changing its name to Sri Lanka, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
- 1972 – Over 400 women in Derry, Northern Ireland attack the offices of Sinn Féin following the shooting by the Irish Republican Army of a young British soldier on leave.
- 1987 – Hashimpura massacre occurs in Meerut, India.
- 1987 – First ever Rugby World Cup kicks off with New Zealand playing Italy at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
- 1990 – North and South Yemen are unified to create the Republic of Yemen.
- 1992 – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia join the United Nations.
- 1994 – A worldwide trade embargo against Haiti goes into effect to punish its military rulers for not reinstating the country’s ousted elected leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
- 1996 – The Burmese military regime jails 71 supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi in a bid to block a pro-democracy meeting.
- 1998 – A U.S. federal judge rules that U.S. Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify before a grand jury concerning the Lewinsky scandal involving President Bill Clinton.
- 2000 – In Sri Lanka, over 150 Tamil rebels are killed over two days of fighting for control in Jaffna.
- 2002 – Civil rights movement: A jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murder of four girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.
- 2010 – Air India Express Boeing 737 crashes over a cliff upon landing at Mangalore, India, killing 158 of 166 people on board, becoming the deadliest crash involving a Boeing 737.
- 2010 – Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich 2–0 in the Uefa Champions League final in Madrid, Spain to become the first, and so far only, Italian team to win the historic treble (Serie A, Coppa Italia, Champions League).
- 2011 – An EF5 tornado strikes Joplin, Missouri, killing 158 people and wreaking $2.8 billion in damages, the costliest and seventh-deadliest single tornado in U.S. history.
- 2012 – Tokyo Skytree opens to the public. It is the tallest tower in the world (634 m), and the second tallest man-made structure on Earth after Burj Khalifa (829.8 m).
- 2014 – General Prayut Chan-o-cha becomes interim leader of Thailand in a military coup d’état, following six months of political turmoil.
- 2014 – An explosion occurs in Ürümqi, capital of China’s far-western Xinjiang region, resulting in at least 43 deaths and 91 injuries.
- 2015 – The Republic of Ireland becomes the first nation in the world to legalize gay marriage in a public referendum.
- 2017 – Twenty-two people are killed at an Ariana Grande concert in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.
- 2017 – United States President Donald Trump visits the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and becomes the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Western Wall.
Births on May 22
- 626 – Itzam K’an Ahk I, Mayan king (d. 686)
- 1009 – Su Xun, Chinese writer (d. 1066)
- 1408 – Annamacharya, Hindu saint (d. 1503)
- 1539 – Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford (d. 1621)
- 1622 – Louis de Buade de Frontenac, French soldier and governor (d. 1698)
- 1644 – Gabriël Grupello, Flemish Baroque sculptor (d. 1730)
- 1650 – Richard Brakenburgh, Dutch Golden Age painter (d. 1702)
- 1694 – Daniel Gran, Austrian painter (d. 1757)
- 1715 – François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis, French cardinal and diplomat (d. 1794)
- 1733 – Hubert Robert, French painter (d. 1808)
- 1752 – Louis Legendre, French butcher and politician (d. 1797)
- 1762 – Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst, English politician (d. 1834)
- 1770 – Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom (d. 1840)
- 1772 – Ram Mohan Roy, Indian philosopher and reformer (d. 1833)
- 1782 – Hirose Tansō, Japanese neo-Confucian scholar, teacher, writer (d. 1856)
- 1783 – William Sturgeon, English physicist and inventor, invented the electromagnet and electric motor (d. 1850)
- 1808 – Gérard de Nerval, French poet and translator (d. 1855)
- 1811 – Giulia Grisi, Italian soprano (d. 1869)
- 1811 – Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle, English politician (d. 1864)
- 1813 – Richard Wagner, German composer (d. 1883)
- 1814 – Amalia Lindegren, Swedish painter (d. 1891)
- 1820 – Worthington Whittredge, American painter (d. 1910)
- 1828 – Albrecht von Graefe, German ophthalmologist and academic (d. 1870)
- 1831 – Henry Vandyke Carter, English anatomist and surgeon (d. 1897)
- 1833 – Félix Bracquemond, French painter and etcher (d. 1914)
- 1833 – Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla, Spanish politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1895)
- 1841 – Catulle Mendès, French poet, author, and playwright (d. 1909)
- 1844 – Mary Cassatt, American painter and educator (d. 1926)
- 1846 – Rita Cetina Gutiérrez, Mexican poet, educator, and activist (d. 1908)
- 1848 – Fritz von Uhde, German painter and educator (d. 1911)
- 1849 – Aston Webb, English architect and academic (d. 1930)
- 1858 – Belmiro de Almeida, Brazilian painter, illustrator, sculptor (d. 1935)
- 1859 – Arthur Conan Doyle, British writer (d. 1930)
- 1859 – Tsubouchi Shōyō, Japanese author, playwright, and educator (d. 1935)
- 1864 – Willy Stöwer, German author and illustrator (d. 1931)
- 1868 – Augusto Pestana, Brazilian engineer and politician (d. 1934)
- 1874 – Daniel François Malan, South African clergyman and politician, 5th Prime Minister of South Africa (d. 1959)
- 1876 – Julius Klinger, Austrian painter and illustrator (d. 1942)
- 1879 – Warwick Armstrong, Australian cricketer and journalist (d. 1947)
- 1879 – Jean Cras, French admiral and composer (d. 1932)
- 1879 – Symon Petliura, Ukrainian statesman and independence leader (d. 1926)
- 1880 – Francis de Miomandre, French author and translator (d. 1959)
- 1885 – Giacomo Matteotti, Italian lawyer and politician (d. 1924)
- 1885 – Soemu Toyoda, Japanese admiral (d. 1957)
- 1887 – A. W. Sandberg, Danish film director and screenwriter (d. 1938)
- 1891 – Johannes R. Becher, German politician, novelist, and poet (d. 1958)
- 1894 – Friedrich Pollock, German sociologist and philosopher (d. 1970)
- 1897 – Robert Neumann, German and English-speaking author (d. 1975)
- 1900 – Juan Arvizu, Mexican lyric opera tenor and bolero vocalist (d.1985)
- 1901 – Maurice J. Tobin, American politician, 6th United States Secretary of Labor (d. 1953)
- 1902 – Jack Lambert, English footballer and manager (d. 1940)
- 1902 – Al Simmons, American baseball player and coach (d. 1956)
- 1904 – Uno Lamm, Swedish electrical engineer and inventor (d. 1989)
- 1905 – Bodo von Borries, German physicist and academic, co-invented the electron microscope (d. 1956)
- 1905 – Tom Driberg, British politician (d. 1976)
- 1907 – Hergé, Belgian author and illustrator (d. 1983)
- 1907 – Laurence Olivier, English actor, director, and producer (d. 1989)
- 1908 – Horton Smith, American golfer and captain (d. 1963)
- 1909 – Margaret Mee, English illustrator and educator (d. 1988)
- 1912 – Herbert C. Brown, English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
- 1913 – Rafael Gil, Spanish director and screenwriter (d. 1986)
- 1913 – Dominique Rolin, Belgian author (d. 2012)
- 1914 – Max Kohnstamm, Dutch historian and diplomat (d. 2010)
- 1914 – Sun Ra, American pianist, composer, bandleader, poet (d. 1993)
- 1917 – George Aratani, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013)
- 1917 – Jean-Louis Curtis, French author (d. 1995)
- 1919 – Paul Vanden Boeynants, Belgian businessman and politician, 55th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 2001)
- 1920 – Thomas Gold, Austrian-American astrophysicist and academic (d. 2004)
- 1921 – George S. Hammond, American scientist (d. 2005)
- 1922 – Quinn Martin, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1987)
- 1924 – Charles Aznavour, French-Armenian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2018)
- 1925 – Jean Tinguely, Swiss painter and sculptor (d. 1991)
- 1927 – Michael Constantine, American actor
- 1927 – Peter Matthiessen, American novelist, short story writer, editor, co-founded The Paris Review (d. 2014)
- 1927 – George Andrew Olah, Hungarian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2017)
- 1928 – Serge Doubrovsky, French theorist and author (d. 2017)
- 1928 – John Mackenzie, Scottish director and producer (d. 2011)
- 1928 – T. Boone Pickens, American businessman (d. 2019)
- 1928 – Hiroshi Sano, Japanese novelist (d. 2013)
- 1929 – Ahmed Fouad Negm, Egyptian poet (d. 2013)
- 1930 – Kenny Ball, English jazz trumpet player, vocalist, and bandleader (d. 2013)
- 1930 – Marisol Escobar, French-American sculptor (d. 2016)
- 1930 – Harvey Milk, American lieutenant and politician (d. 1978)
- 1932 – Robert Spitzer, American psychiatrist and academic (d. 2015)
- 1933 – Chen Jingrun, Chinese mathematician and academic (d. 1996)
- 1934 – Peter Nero, American pianist and conductor
- 1936 – George H. Heilmeier, American engineer (d. 2014)
- 1937 – Facundo Cabral, Argentinian singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
- 1938 – Richard Benjamin, American actor and director
- 1938 – Susan Strasberg, American actress (d. 1999)
- 1939 – Paul Winfield, American actor (d. 2004)
- 1940 – Kieth Merrill, American filmmaker
- 1940 – Michael Sarrazin, Canadian actor (d. 2011)
- 1940 – Bernard Shaw, American journalist
- 1940 – Mick Tingelhoff, American Pro Football Hall of Famer
- 1941 – Menzies Campbell, Scottish sprinter and politician
- 1942 – Roger Brown, American basketball player (d. 1997)
- 1942 – Ted Kaczynski, American academic and mathematician turned anarchist and serial murderer (Unabomber)
- 1942 – Barbara Parkins, Canadian actress
- 1942 – Richard Oakes, Native American civil rights activist (d. 1972)
- 1943 – Betty Williams, Northern Irish peace activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2020)
- 1943 – Tommy John, American baseball player
- 1944 – John Flanagan, Australian fantasy author
- 1945 – Bob Katter, Australian politician
- 1946 – George Best, Northern Irish footballer and manager (d. 2005)
- 1946 – Michael Green, English physicist and academic
- 1946 – Howard Kendall, English footballer and manager (d. 2015)
- 1946 – Andrei Marga, Romanian philosopher, political scientist, politician
- 1946 – Lyudmila Zhuravleva, Russian-Ukrainian astronomer
- 1948 – Tomás Sánchez, Cuban painter and engraver
- 1948 – Nedumudi Venu, Indian actor and screenwriter
- 1949 – Cheryl Campbell, English actress
- 1949 – Valentin Inzko, Austrian diplomat
- 1950 – Bernie Taupin, English singer-songwriter and poet
- 1953 – François Bon, French writer
- 1953 – Cha Bum-kun, South Korean footballer and manager
- 1953 – Paul Mariner, English footballer, coach, and manager
- 1954 – Barbara May Cameron, Native American human rights activist (d. 2002)
- 1954 – Shuji Nakamura, Japanese-American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1956 – Lucie Brock-Broido, American poet (d. 2018)
- 1957 – Lisa Murkowski, American lawyer and politician
- 1959 – David Blatt, Israeli-American basketball player and coach
- 1959 – Morrissey, English singer-songwriter and performer
- 1959 – Kwak Jae-yong, South Korean director and screenwriter
- 1959 – Mehbooba Mufti, Indian politician
- 1960 – Hideaki Anno, Japanese animator, director, and screenwriter
- 1962 – Brian Pillman, American football player and wrestler (d. 1997)
- 1963 – Claude Closky, French contemporary artist
- 1965 – Jay Carney, American journalist, 29th White House Press Secretary
- 1966 – Johnny Gill, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1966 – Wang Xiaoshuai, Chinese director and screenwriter
- 1968 – Graham Linehan, Irish comedian, actor, and author
- 1969 – Cathy McMorris Rodgers, American lawyer and politician
- 1970 – Naomi Campbell, English model
- 1970 – Brody Stevens, American comedian and actor (d. 2019)
- 1972 – Max Brooks, American author and screenwriter
- 1973 – Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Danish actor
- 1974 – Garba Lawal, Nigerian footballer
- 1974 – Henrietta Ónodi, Hungarian Olympic gymnast
- 1974 – Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Ukrainian politician
- 1975 – Salva Ballesta, Spanish footballer and manager
- 1976 – Christian Vande Velde, American cyclist
- 1978 – Ginnifer Goodwin, American actress
- 1978 – Katie Price, English television personality and glamour model
- 1979 – Maggie Q, American actress
- 1979 – Nazanin Boniadi, Iranian-American actress
- 1980 – Sharice Davids, American politician
- 1980 – Lucy Gordon, British actress and model (d. 2009)
- 1981 – Daniel Bryan, American wrestler
- 1981 – Bassel Khartabil, Syrian computer programmer and engineer (d. 2015)
- 1981 – Jürgen Melzer, Austrian tennis player
- 1982 – Erin McNaught, Australian model and actress
- 1982 – Apolo Ohno, American speed skater
- 1982 – Hong Yong-jo, North Korean footballer
- 1983 – Natasha Kai, American soccer player and Olympic medalist
- 1984 – Karoline Herfurth, German actress
- 1984 – Didier Ya Konan, Ivorian footballer
- 1984 – Dustin Moskovitz, American entrepreneur, co-founder of Facebook
- 1985 – Tranquillo Barnetta, Swiss footballer
- 1985 – Tao Okamoto, Japanese model and actress
- 1986 – Julian Edelman, American football player
- 1986 – Matt Jarvis, English footballer
- 1986 – Tatiana Volosozhar, Russian figure skater
- 1987 – Novak Djokovic, Serbian tennis player
- 1987 – Arturo Vidal, Chilean footballer
- 1988 – Heida Reed, Icelandic-British actress
- 1989 – Corey Dickerson, American baseball player
- 1990 – Wyatt Roy, Australian politician
- 1991 – Joel Obi, Nigerian footballer
- 1991 – Suho, South Korean singer and actor
- 1992 – Anna Baryshnikov, American actress
- 1994 – Florian Luger, Austrian male model
- 1998 – Samile Bermannelli, Brazilian fashion model
- 1999 – Camren Bicondova, American actress
- 1999 – Femke Huijzer, Dutch model
Deaths on May 22
- 192 – Dong Zhuo, Chinese warlord and politician (b. 138)
- 337 – Constantine the Great, Roman emperor (b. 272)
- 748 – Empress Genshō of Japan (b. 683)
- 1067 – Constantine X, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1006)
- 1068 – Emperor Go-Reizei of Japan (b. 1025)
- 1310 – Saint Humility, founder of the Vallumbrosan religious order of nuns (b. c.1226)
- 1409 – Blanche of England, sister of King Henry V (b. 1392)
- 1455 – Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, English commander (b. 1406)
- 1455 – Thomas Clifford, 8th Baron de Clifford, Lancastrian commander (b. 1414)
- 1455 – Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, English commander (b. 1393)
- 1457 – Rita of Cascia, Italian nun and saint (b. 1381)
- 1490 – Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent, English administrator, nobleman and magnate (b. 1416)
- 1538 – John Forest, English friar and martyr (b. 1471)
- 1540 – Francesco Guicciardini, Italian historian and politician (b. 1483)
- 1545 – Sher Shah Suri, Indian ruler (b. 1486)
- 1553 – Giovanni Bernardi, Italian sculptor and engraver (b. 1495)
- 1602 – Renata of Lorraine (b. 1544)
- 1609 – Pieter Willemsz. Verhoeff, Dutch captain (b. 1573)
- 1666 – Gaspar Schott, German physicist and mathematician (b. 1608)
- 1667 – Pope Alexander VII (b. 1599)
- 1745 – François-Marie, 1st duc de Broglie, French general (b. 1671)
- 1760 – Baal Shem Tov, Polish rabbi and author (b. 1700)
- 1772 – Durastante Natalucci, Italian historian and academic (b. 1687)
- 1795 – Ewald Friedrich von Hertzberg, Prussian politician, Foreign Minister of Prussia (b. 1725)
- 1802 – Martha Washington, First, First Lady of the United States (b. 1731)
- 1851 – Mordecai Manuel Noah, American journalist and diplomat (b. 1755)
- 1859 – Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies (b. 1810)
- 1861 – Thornsbury Bailey Brown, American soldier (b. 1829)
- 1868 – Julius Plücker, German mathematician and physicist (b. 1801)
- 1885 – Victor Hugo, French novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1802)
- 1901 – Gaetano Bresci, Italian-American anarchist, assassin of Umberto I of Italy (b. 1869)
- 1910 – Jules Renard, French author and playwright (b. 1864)
- 1932 – Augusta, Lady Gregory, Anglo-Irish activist, landlord, and playwright, co-founded the Abbey Theatre (b. 1852)
- 1933 – Tsengeltiin Jigjidjav, Mongolian politician, 10th Prime Minister of Mongolia (b. 1894)
- 1938 – William Glackens, American painter and illustrator (b. 1870)
- 1939 – Ernst Toller, German playwright and author (b. 1893)
- 1939 – Jiří Mahen, Czech author and playwright (b. 1882)
- 1954 – Chief Bender, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1884)
- 1965 – Christopher Stone, English radio host (b. 1882)
- 1966 – Tom Goddard, English cricketer (b. 1900)
- 1967 – Langston Hughes, American poet, social activist, novelist, and playwright (b. 1902)
- 1967 – Charlotte Serber, American Librarian of the Manhattan Project’s Los Alamos site (b. 1911)
- 1972 – Cecil Day-Lewis, Anglo-Irish poet and author (b. 1904)
- 1972 – Margaret Rutherford, English actress (b. 1892)
- 1974 – Irmgard Flügge-Lotz, German-American mathematician and aerospace engineer (b. 1903)
- 1975 – Lefty Grove, American baseball player (b. 1900)
- 1982 – Cevdet Sunay, Turkish general and politician, 5th President of Turkey (b. 1899)
- 1983 – Albert Claude, Belgian biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
- 1985 – Wolfgang Reitherman, German-American animator, director, and producer (b. 1909)
- 1988 – Giorgio Almirante, Italian journalist and politician (b. 1914)
- 1989 – Steven De Groote, South African pianist and educator (b. 1953)
- 1990 – Rocky Graziano, American boxer (b. 1922)
- 1991 – Shripad Amrit Dange, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1899)
- 1991 – Stan Mortensen, English footballer and manager (b. 1921)
- 1992 – Zellig Harris, American linguist and academic (b. 1909)
- 1993 – Mieczysław Horszowski, Polish-American pianist and composer (b. 1892)
- 1997 – Alziro Bergonzo, Italian architect and painter (b. 1906)
- 1997 – Alfred Hershey, American biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
- 1998 – John Derek, American actor, director, and photographer (b. 1926)
- 1998 – José Enrique Moyal, Israeli physicist and engineer (b. 1910)
- 2000 – Davie Fulton, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1916)
- 2004 – Richard Biggs, American actor (b. 1960)
- 2004 – Mikhail Voronin, Russian gymnast (b. 1945)
- 2005 – Charilaos Florakis, Greek politician (b. 1914)
- 2005 – Thurl Ravenscroft, American voice actor and singer (b. 1914)
- 2006 – Lee Jong-wook, South Korean physician and diplomat (b. 1945)
- 2007 – Pemba Doma Sherpa, Nepalese mountaineer (b. 1970)
- 2008 – Robert Asprin, American soldier and author (b. 1946)
- 2010 – Martin Gardner, American mathematician, cryptographer, and author (b. 1914)
- 2011 – Joseph Brooks, American director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (b. 1938)
- 2012 – Muzafar Bhutto, Pakistani politician (b. 1970)
- 2012 – Wesley A. Brown, American lieutenant and engineer (b. 1927)
- 2013 – Sigurd Ottovich Schmidt, Russian historian and ethnographer (b. 1922)
- 2015 – Marques Haynes, American basketball player and coach (b. 1926)
- 2015 – Vladimir Katriuk, Ukrainian-Canadian SS officer (b. 1921)
- 2016 – Velimir “Bata” Živojinović, Serbian actor and politician (b. 1933)
- 2017 – Nicky Hayden, American motorcycle racer (b. 1981)
- 2019 – Judith Kerr, German-born British writer and illustrator (b. 1923)
- 2020 – Denise Cronenberg, Canadian costume designer (b. 1938)
Holidays and observances on May 22
- Abolition Day (Martinique)
- Christian feast day:
- Castus and Emilius
- Fulk
- Humilita
- Michael Hồ Đình Hy (one of Vietnamese Martyrs)
- Quiteria
- Rita of Cascia
- Romanus of Subiaco
- May 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Harvey Milk Day (California)
- International Day for Biological Diversity (International)
- United States National Maritime Day
- National Sovereignty Day (Haiti)
- Republic Day (Sri Lanka)
- Translation of the Relics of Saint Nicholas from Myra to Bari (Ukraine)
- Unity Day (Yemen), celebrates the unification of North and South Yemen into the Republic of Yemen in 1990.
- World Goth Day
-
March 8 in History
- 1010 – Ferdowsi completes his epic poem Shahnameh.
- 1126 – Following the death of his mother Urraca, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of Castile and León.
- 1262 – Battle of Hausbergen between bourgeois militias and the army of the bishop of Strasbourg.
- 1576 – Spanish explorer Diego García de Palacio first sights the ruins of the ancient Mayan city of Copán.
- 1618 – Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion.
- 1655 – John Casor becomes the first legally-recognized slave in England’s North American colonies where a crime was not committed.
- 1658 – Treaty of Roskilde: After a devastating defeat in the Northern Wars (1655–1661), Frederick III, the King of Denmark–Norway is forced to give up nearly half his territory to Sweden to save the rest.
- 1702 – Queen Anne, the younger sister of Mary II, becomes Queen regnant of England, Scotland, and Ireland
- 1722 – The Safavid Empire of Iran is defeated by an army from Afghanistan at the Battle of Gulnabad, pushing Iran into anarchy.
- 1736 – Nader Shah, founder of the Afsharid dynasty, is crowned Shah of Iran.
- 1775 – An anonymous writer, thought by some to be Thomas Paine, publishes “African Slavery in America”, the first article in the American colonies calling for the emancipation of slaves and the abolition of slavery.
- 1777 – Regiments from Ansbach and Bayreuth, sent to support Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, mutiny in the town of Ochsenfurt.
- 1782 – Gnadenhutten massacre: Ninety-six Native Americans in Gnadenhutten, Ohio, who had converted to Christianity, are killed by Pennsylvania militiamen in retaliation for raids carried out by other Indian tribes.
- 1801 – War of the Second Coalition: At the Battle of Abukir, a British force under Sir Ralph Abercromby lands in Egypt with the aim of ending the French campaign in Egypt and Syria.
- 1817 – The New York Stock Exchange is founded.
- 1844 – King Oscar I ascends to the thrones of Sweden and Norway.
- 1862 – American Civil War: The Naval Battle of Hampton Roads begins.
- 1868 – Sakai incident: Japanese samurai kill 11 French sailors in the port of Sakai, Osaka.
- 1910 – French aviator Raymonde de Laroche becomes the first woman to receive a pilot’s license.
- 1914 – First flights (for the Royal Thai Air Force) at Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok.
- 1916 – World War I: A British force unsuccessfully attempts to relieve the siege of Kut (present-day Iraq) in the Battle of Dujaila.
- 1917 – International Women’s Day protests in St. Petersburg mark the beginning of the February Revolution (February 23rd in the Julian calendar).
- 1917 – The United States Senate votes to limit filibusters by adopting the cloture rule.
- 1920 – The Arab Kingdom of Syria, the first modern Arab state to come into existence, is established.
- 1921 – Spanish Prime Minister Eduardo Dato Iradier is assassinated while exiting the parliament building in Madrid.
- 1924 – A mine disaster kills 172 coal miners near Castle Gate, Utah.
- 1936 – Daytona Beach and Road Course holds its first oval stock car race.
- 1937 – Spanish Civil War: The Battle of Guadalajara begins.
- 1942 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Army forces gave an ultimatum to Dutch East Indies Governor General Jonkheer Tjarda van Starkenborgh Stachouwer and KNIL Commander in Chief Lieutenant General Hein Ter Poorten, to unconditionally surrender.
- 1942 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Army forces captured Rangoon, Burma from British.
- 1947 – Thirteen thousand troops of the Republic of China Army arrive in Taiwan after the February 28 Incident and launch crackdowns which kill thousands of people, including many elites. This turns into a major root of the Taiwan independence movement.
- 1949 – President of France Vincent Auriol and ex-emperor of Annam Bảo Đại sign the Élysée Accords, giving Vietnam greater independence from France and creating the State of Vietnam to oppose Viet Minh-led Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
- 1957 – Egypt re-opens the Suez Canal after the Suez Crisis.
- 1957 – The 1957 Georgia Memorial to Congress, which petitions the U.S. Congress to declare the ratification of the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution null and void, is adopted by the U.S. state of Georgia.
- 1963 – The Ba’ath Party comes to power in Syria in a coup d’état by a clique of quasi-leftist Syrian Army officers calling themselves the National Council of the Revolutionary Command.
- 1965 – Thirty-five hundred United States Marines are the first American land combat forces committed during the Vietnam War.
- 1966 – Nelson’s Pillar in Dublin, Ireland, destroyed by a bomb.
- 1971 – The Fight of the Century between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali commences. Frazier wins in 15 rounds via unanimous decision.
- 1974 – Charles de Gaulle Airport opens in Paris, France.
- 1979 – Philips demonstrates the compact disc publicly for the first time.
- 1983 – Cold War: While addressing a convention of Evangelicals, U.S. President Ronald Reagan labels the Soviet Union an “evil empire”.
- 1985 – A supposed failed assassination attempt on Islamic cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah in Beirut, Lebanon kills at least 45 and injures 175 others.
- 2004 – A new constitution is signed by Iraq’s Governing Council.
- 2014 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, carrying a total of 239 people, disappears en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
- 2017 – The Azure Window, a natural arch on the Maltese island of Gozo, collapses in stormy weather.
Births on March 8
- 1286 – John III, Duke of Brittany (d. 1341)
- 1293 – Beatrice of Castile (d. 1359)
- 1495 – John of God, Portuguese friar and saint (d. 1550)
- 1514 – Amago Haruhisa, Japanese daimyō (d. 1562)
- 1518 – Sidonie of Saxony, Duchess of Brunswick-Calenberg (d. 1575)
- 1550 – William Drury, English politician (d. 1590)
- 1658 – Thomas Trevor, 1st Baron Trevor, British Baron (d. 1730)
- 1566 – Carlo Gesualdo, Italian lute player and composer (d. 1613)
- 1712 – John Fothergill, English physician and botanist (d. 1780)
- 1714 – Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German pianist and composer (d. 1788)
- 1726 – Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, English admiral and politician, Treasurer of the Navy (d. 1799)
- 1746 – André Michaux, French botanist and explorer (d. 1802)
- 1748 – William V, Prince of Orange (d. 1806)
- 1761 – Jan Potocki, Polish ethnologist, historian, linguist, and author (d. 1815)
- 1799 – Simon Cameron, American journalist and politician, 26th United States Secretary of War (d. 1889)
- 1804 – Alvan Clark, American astronomer and optician (d. 1887)
- 1822 – Ignacy Łukasiewicz, Polish inventor and businessman, invented the Kerosene lamp (d. 1882)
- 1826 – Johann Köler, Estonian painter and academic (d. 1899)
- 1827 – Wilhelm Bleek, German linguist and anthropologist (d. 1875)
- 1830 – João de Deus, Portuguese poet and educator (d. 1896)
- 1839 – Josephine Cochrane, American inventor (d. 1913)
- 1841 – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., American colonel, lawyer, and jurist (d. 1935)
- 1848 – LaMarcus Adna Thompson, American engineer and businessman, developed the roller coaster (d. 1917)
- 1856 – Bramwell Booth, English 2nd General of The Salvation Army (d. 1929)
- 1856 – Colin Campbell Cooper, American painter and academic (d. 1937)
- 1859 – Kenneth Grahame, Scottish-English banker and author (d. 1932)
- 1865 – Frederic Goudy, American type designer, created Copperplate Gothic and Goudy Old Style (d. 1947)
- 1879 – Otto Hahn, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
- 1886 – Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1972)
- 1892 – Juana de Ibarbourou, Uruguayan poet and author (d. 1979)
- 1896 – Charlotte Whitton, Canadian journalist and politician, 46th Mayor of Ottawa (d. 1975)
- 1899 – Elmer Keith, American gun designer and author (d. 1984)
- 1900 – Howard H. Aiken, American physicist and computer scientist, created the Harvard Mark I (d. 1973)
- 1902 – Louise Beavers, American actress and singer (d. 1962)
- 1902 – Jennings Randolph, American journalist and politician (d. 1998)
- 1907 – Konstantinos Karamanlis, Greek lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Greece (d. 1998)
- 1909 – Beatrice Shilling, English motorcycle racer and engineer (d. 1990)
- 1909 – Paula Strasberg, American actress and acting coach (d. 1966)
- 1910 – Claire Trevor, American actress (d. 2000)
- 1911 – Alan Hovhaness, Armenian-American pianist and composer (d. 2000)
- 1912 – Preston Smith, American businessman and politician, 40th Governor of Texas (d. 2003)
- 1912 – Meldrim Thomson, Jr., American publisher and politician, 73rd Governor of New Hampshire (d. 2001)
- 1914 – Yakov Borisovich Zel’dovich, Belarusian-Russian physicist and astronomer (d. 1987)
- 1918 – Eileen Herlie, Scottish-American actress (d. 2008)
- 1920 – Douglass Wallop, American author and playwright (d. 1985)
- 1921 – Alan Hale, Jr., American actor (d. 1990)
- 1921 – Sahir Ludhianvi, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 1980)
- 1922 – Ralph H. Baer, German-American video game designer, created the Magnavox Odyssey (d. 2014)
- 1922 – Cyd Charisse, American actress and dancer (d. 2008)
- 1922 – Carl Furillo, American baseball player (d. 1989)
- 1922 – Yevgeny Matveyev, Russian actor and director (d. 2003)
- 1922 – Shigeru Mizuki, Japanese author and illustrator (d. 2015)
- 1924 – Anthony Caro, English sculptor and illustrator (d. 2013)
- 1924 – Georges Charpak, Ukrainian-French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
- 1924 – Sean McClory, Irish-American actor and director (d. 2003)
- 1925 – Warren Bennis, American scholar, author, and academic (d. 2014)
- 1926 – Francisco Rabal, Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2001)
- 1929 – Hebe Camargo, Brazilian actress and singer (d. 2012)
- 1930 – Bob Grim, American baseball player (d. 1996)
- 1930 – Douglas Hurd, English politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
- 1931 – Neil Adcock, South African cricketer (d. 2013)
- 1931 – John McPhee, American author and educator
- 1931 – Gerald Potterton, English-Canadian animator, director, and producer
- 1931 – Neil Postman, American author and critic (d. 2003)
- 1934 – Marv Breeding, American baseball player and scout (d. 2006)
- 1935 – George Coleman, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader
- 1936 – Sue Ane Langdon, American actress and singer
- 1936 – Gábor Szabó, Hungarian guitarist and composer (d. 1982)
- 1937 – Richard Fariña, American singer-songwriter and author (d. 1966)
- 1937 – Juvénal Habyarimana, Rwandan politician, 2nd President of Rwanda (d. 1994)
- 1938 – Pete Dawkins, American football player, colonel, and politician
- 1939 – Jim Bouton, American baseball player and journalist (d. 2019)
- 1939 – Lynn Seymour, Canadian ballerina and choreographer
- 1939 – Lidiya Skoblikova, Russian speed skater and coach
- 1939 – Robert Tear, Welsh tenor and conductor (d. 2011)
- 1941 – Norman Stone, Scottish-English historian, author, and academic (d. 2019)
- 1942 – Dick Allen, American baseball player and tenor
- 1942 – Ann Packer, English sprinter, hurdler, and long jumper
- 1943 – Susan Clark, Canadian actress and producer
- 1943 – Michael Grade, English businessman
- 1943 – Lynn Redgrave, English-American actress and singer (d. 2010)
- 1943 – Dionysis Simopoulos, Greek physicist and astronomer
- 1944 – Sergey Nikitin, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1945 – Jim Chapman, American lawyer and politician
- 1945 – Micky Dolenz, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and actor
- 1945 – Anselm Kiefer, German painter and sculptor
- 1945 – Sylvia Wiegand, American mathematician
- 1946 – Robert Jaworski, Filipino basketball player, coach, and politician
- 1946 – Randy Meisner, American singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1947 – Carole Bayer Sager, American singer-songwriter and painter
- 1947 – Michael S. Hart, American author, founded Project Gutenberg (d. 2011)
- 1947 – Vladimír Mišík, Czech singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1947 – Florentino Pérez, Spanish engineer and businessman
- 1948 – Robert W. Boyd, American physicist and academic
- 1948 – Gyles Brandreth, German-English actor, screenwriter, and politician
- 1948 – Mel Galley, English rock singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2008)
- 1948 – Sam Lacey, American basketball player (d. 2014)
- 1948 – Peggy March, American pop singer
- 1948 – Jonathan Sacks, English rabbi, philosopher, and scholar
- 1949 – Teofilo Cubillas, Peruvian footballer
- 1951 – Phil Edmonds, Zambian-English cricketer and businessman
- 1951 – Dianne Walker, American tap dancer
- 1952 – George Allen, American lawyer and politician, 67th Governor of Virginia
- 1953 – Jim Rice, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1954 – Steve James, American documentary filmmaker
- 1954 – David Wilkie, Sri Lankan-Scottish swimmer
- 1956 – Laurie Cunningham, English footballer (d. 1989)
- 1956 – David Malpass, American economist and government official
- 1957 – Clive Burr, English rock drummer (d. 2013)
- 1957 – William Edward Childs, American pianist and composer
- 1957 – Bob Stoddard, American baseball player
- 1958 – Andy McDonald, English lawyer and politician
- 1958 – Gary Numan, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1959 – Aidan Quinn, Irish-American actor
- 1960 – Jeffrey Eugenides, American author and academic
- 1960 – Irek Mukhamedov, Russian ballet dancer
- 1960 – Buck Williams, American basketball player and coach
- 1961 – Camryn Manheim, American actress
- 1961 – Larry Murphy, Canadian ice hockey player and journalist
- 1962 – Leon Robinson, American actor and producer
- 1964 – Kate Betts, American journalist and author
- 1965 – Kenny Smith, American basketball player and sportscaster
- 1966 – Greg Barker, Baron Barker of Battle, English politician
- 1966 – Jaime Levy, American computer scientist and academic
- 1967 – Joel Johnston, American baseball player
- 1968 – Michael Bartels, German race car driver
- 1968 – Shawn Mullins, American singer-songwriter
- 1969 – Juan de Dios Ramírez Perales, Mexican footballer
- 1970 – Jason Elam, American football player
- 1971 – Kit Symons, English-Welsh footballer and manager
- 1972 – Georgios Georgiadis, Greek footballer and manager
- 1972 – Matthew Nable, Australian rugby player and actor
- 1972 – Lena Sundström, Swedish journalist and author
- 1973 – Boris Kodjoe, Austrian-born American actor and producer
- 1973 – Anneke van Giersbergen, Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1975 – Mauro Briano, Italian footballer
- 1976 – Gaz Coombes, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1976 – Juan Encarnación, Dominican baseball player
- 1976 – Freddie Prinze, Jr., American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1977 – James Van Der Beek, American actor
- 1977 – Johann Vogel, Swiss footballer
- 1978 – Nick Zano, American actor and producer
- 1979 – Apathy, American rapper and producer
- 1979 – Tom Chaplin, English singer-songwriter
- 1979 – Andy Ross, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1980 – Stephen Milne, Australian footballer
- 1981 – Michael Beauchamp, Australian footballer
- 1981 – Timothy Jordan II, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2005)
- 1981 – Joost Posthuma, Dutch cyclist
- 1982 – Nicolas Armindo, French racing driver
- 1982 – Leonidas Kampantais, Greek footballer
- 1982 – Isak Strand, Norwegian drummer, composer, and producer
- 1983 – André Santos, Brazilian footballer
- 1983 – Mark Worrell, American baseball player
- 1984 – Rafik Djebbour, Algerian footballer
- 1984 – Ross Taylor, New Zealand cricketer
- 1984 – Sasha Vujačić, Slovenian basketball player
- 1987 – Jonathan Wright, Australian rugby league player
- 1988 – Benny Blanco, American rapper and producer
- 1990 – Asier Illarramendi, Spanish footballer
- 1990 – Petra Kvitová, Czech tennis player
- 1990 – Nico Salva, Filipino basketball player
- 1990 – Ben Tozer, English footballer
- 1991 – Miriam Bryant, Swedish-Finnish singer-songwriter
- 1991 – Tom English, Australian rugby player
- 1992 – Uki Satake, Japanese singer, actress, and radio host
- 1994 – Pablo Dyego, Brazilian footballer
- 1994 – Claire Emslie, Scottish footballer
- 1994 – Dylan Tombides, Australian footballer (d. 2014)
- 1996 – Matthew Hammelmann, Australian rules footballer
- 1998 – Tali Darsigny, Canadian weightlifter
Deaths on March 8
- 865 – Rudolf of Fulda, German theologian
- 1126 – Urraca of León and Castile (b. 1079)
- 1137 – Adela of Normandy, by marriage countess of Blois (b. c. 1067)
- 1144 – Pope Celestine II
- 1223 – Wincenty Kadłubek, Polish bishop and historian (b. 1161)
- 1365 – Queen Noguk of Korea
- 1403 – Bayezid I, Ottoman sultan (b. 1360)
- 1441 – Margaret of Burgundy, Duchess of Bavaria
- 1466 – Francesco I Sforza, Duke of Milan (b. 1401)
- 1550 – John of God, Portuguese friar and saint (b. 1495)
- 1619 – Veit Bach, German baker and miller (b. 1550)
- 1641 – Xu Xiake, Chinese geographer and explorer (b. 1587)
- 1702 – William III of England (b. 1650)
- 1717 – Abraham Darby I, English blacksmith (b. 1678)
- 1723 – Christopher Wren, English architect, designed St. Paul’s Cathedral (b. 1632)
- 1731 – Ferdinand Brokoff, Czech sculptor (b. 1688)
- 1771 – Louis August le Clerc, French-Danish sculptor and academic (b. 1688)
- 1819 – Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (b. 1739)
- 1844 – Charles XIV John of Sweden (b. 1763)
- 1869 – Hector Berlioz, French composer, conductor, and critic (b. 1803)
- 1872 – Cornelius Krieghoff, Dutch-Canadian painter (b. 1815)
- 1874 – Millard Fillmore, American lawyer and politician, 13th President of the United States (b. 1800)
- 1887 – Henry Ward Beecher, American minister and activist (b. 1813)
- 1887 – James Buchanan Eads, American engineer, designed the Eads Bridge (b. 1820)
- 1889 – John Ericsson, Swedish-American engineer, designed the USS Monitor (b. 1803)
- 1917 – Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German general and businessman, founded the Zeppelin Company (b. 1838)
- 1923 – Krišjānis Barons, Latvian linguist and author (b. 1835)
- 1923 – Johannes Diderik van der Waals, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1837)
- 1930 – William Howard Taft, American lawyer, jurist, and politician, 27th President of the United States (b. 1857)
- 1930 – Edward Terry Sanford, American lawyer, jurist, and politician, United States Assistant Attorney General (b. 1865)
- 1935 – Hachikō, Japanese dog (b. 1923)
- 1937 – Howie Morenz, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1902)
- 1941 – Sherwood Anderson, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1876)
- 1942 – José Raúl Capablanca, Cuban chess player and theoretician (b. 1888)
- 1944 – Fredy Hirsch, German Jewish athlete who helped thousands of Jewish children in the Holocaust (b. 1916)
- 1945 – Frederick Bligh Bond, English archaeologist and architect (b. 1864)
- 1948 – Hulusi Behçet, Turkish dermatologist and scientist (b. 1889)
- 1957 – Othmar Schoeck, Swiss composer and conductor (b. 1886)
- 1961 – Thomas Beecham, English conductor and composer (b. 1879)
- 1971 – Harold Lloyd, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1893)
- 1973 – Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, American keyboard player and songwriter (b. 1945)
- 1975 – George Stevens, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1904)
- 1976 – Alfons Rebane, Estonian colonel (b. 1908)
- 1983 – Chabuca Granda, Peruvian-American singer-songwriter (b. 1920)
- 1983 – Alan Lennox-Boyd, 1st Viscount Boyd of Merton, English lieutenant and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (b. 1904)
- 1983 – William Walton, English composer (b. 1902)
- 1985 – Edward Andrews, American actor (b. 1914)
- 1988 – Amar Singh Chamkila, Indian singer-songwriter (b. 1961)
- 1988 – Werner Hartmann, German physicist and academic (b. 1912)
- 1991 – John Bellairs, American author and academic (b. 1938)
- 1993 – Billy Eckstine, American trumpet player (b. 1914)
- 1996 – Jack Churchill, British colonel (b. 1906)
- 1997 – Gershon Liebman, French rabbi (b. 1905)
- 1998 – Ray Nitschke, American football player and actor (b. 1936)
- 1999 – Adolfo Bioy Casares, Argentinian journalist and author (b. 1914)
- 1999 – Peggy Cass, American actress and comedian (b. 1924)
- 1999 – Joe DiMaggio, American baseball player and coach (b. 1914)
- 2001 – Edward Winter, American actor (b. 1937)
- 2003 – Adam Faith, English singer (b. 1940)
- 2003 – Karen Morley, American actress (b. 1909)
- 2004 – Muhammad Zaidan, Syrian terrorist, founded the Palestine Liberation Front (b. 1948)
- 2005 – César Lattes, Brazilian physicist and academic (b. 1924)
- 2005 – Aslan Maskhadov, Chechen commander and politician, 3rd President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (b. 1951)
- 2007 – John Inman, English actor (b. 1935)
- 2007 – John Vukovich, American baseball player and coach (b. 1947)
- 2009 – Hank Locklin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1918)
- 2009 – Zbigniew Religa, Polish surgeon and politician, Polish Minister of Health (b. 1938)
- 2011 – Mike Starr, American bass player (b. 1966)
- 2012 – Simin Daneshvar, Iranian author and academic (b. 1921)
- 2012 – Minoru Mori, Japanese businessman, founded the Mori Art Museum (b. 1934)
- 2012 – Steven Rubenstein, American anthropologist and academic (b. 1962)
- 2013 – Haseeb Ahsan, Pakistani cricketer and manager (b. 1939)
- 2013 – John O’Connell, Irish journalist and politician, 17th Irish Minister of Health (b. 1927)
- 2013 – Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin, German soldier and publisher (b. 1922)
- 2014 – Leo Bretholz, Austrian-American Holocaust survivor and author (b. 1921)
- 2014 – William Guarnere, American sergeant (b. 1923)
- 2015 – Tjol Lategan, South African rugby player (b. 1925)
- 2015 – Sam Simon, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1955)
- 2016 – Aldo Ferrer, Argentinian economist and diplomat (b. 1927)
- 2016 – Ross Hannaford, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1950)
- 2016 – George Martin, English composer, conductor, and producer (b. 1926)
- 2018 – Kate Wilhelm, American author (b. 1928)
- 2019 – Marshall Brodien, American actor (b. 1934)
- 2019 – Cedrick Hardman, American football player and actor (b. 1948)
- 2020 – Max von Sydow, Swedish actor (b. 1929)
Holidays and observances on March 8
- Christian feast day:
- Edward King (Church of England)
- Felix of Burgundy
- Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy (the Church of England, The Episcopal Church (USA))
- John of God
- Philemon the actor
- March 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Earliest day on which Canberra Day can fall, while March 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Monday in March (Australian Capital Territory)
- Earliest day on which Commonwealth Day can fall, while March 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Monday in March (Commonwealth of Nations)
- Earliest day on which Decoration Day can fall, while March 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Wednesday in March (Liberia)
- Earliest day on which Passion Sunday can fall, while April 17 is the latest; observed on the fifth Sunday of Lent (Christianity)
- International Women’s Day, and its related observances:
- International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day
-
January 25 in History
- AD 41 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate.
- 750 – In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to overthrow of the dynasty.
- 1348 – A strong earthquake strikes the South Alpine region of Friuli in modern Italy, causing considerable damage to buildings as far away as Rome.
- 1494 – Alfonso II becomes King of Naples.
- 1515 – Coronation of Francis I of France takes place at Reims Cathedral, where the new monarch is anointed with the oil of Clovis and girt with the sword of Charlemagne.
- 1533 – Henry VIII of England secretly marries his second wife Anne Boleyn.
- 1554 – São Paulo, Brazil, is founded by Jesuit priests.
- 1573 – Battle of Mikatagahara: In Japan, Takeda Shingen defeats Tokugawa Ieyasu.
- 1575 – Luanda, the capital of Angola, is founded by the Portuguese navigator Paulo Dias de Novais.
- 1704 – The Battle of Ayubale results in the destruction of most of the Spanish missions in Florida.
- 1755 – Moscow University is established on Tatiana Day.
- 1765 – Port Egmont, the first British settlement in the Falkland Islands near the southern tip of South America, is founded.
- 1787 – Shays’s Rebellion: The rebellion’s largest confrontation, outside the Springfield Armory, results in the killing of four rebels and the wounding of twenty.
- 1791 – The British Parliament passes the Constitutional Act of 1791 and splits the old Province of Quebec into Upper Canada and Lower Canada.
- 1792 – The London Corresponding Society is founded.
- 1858 – The Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn is played at the marriage of Queen Victoria’s daughter, Victoria, and Friedrich of Prussia, and becomes a popular wedding processional.
- 1879 – The Bulgarian National Bank is founded.
- 1881 – Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company.
- 1890 – Nellie Bly completes her round-the-world journey in 72 days.
- 1909 – Richard Strauss’s opera Elektra receives its debut performance at the Dresden State Opera.
- 1915 – Alexander Graham Bell inaugurates U.S. transcontinental telephone service, speaking from New York to Thomas Watson in San Francisco.
- 1918 – The Ukrainian People’s Republic declares independence from Soviet Russia.
- 1924 – The 1924 Winter Olympics opens in Chamonix, in the French Alps, inaugurating the Winter Olympic Games.
- 1932 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Chinese National Revolutionary Army begins the defense of Harbin.
- 1937 – The Guiding Light debuts on NBC radio from Chicago. In 1952 it moves to CBS television, where it remains until September 18, 2009.
- 1941 – Pope Pius XII elevates the Apostolic Vicariate of the Hawaiian Islands to the dignity of a diocese. It becomes the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu.
- 1942 – World War II: Thailand declares war on the United States and United Kingdom.
- 1945 – World War II: The Battle of the Bulge ends.
- 1946 – The United Mine Workers rejoins the American Federation of Labor.
- 1946 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 1 relating to Military Staff Committee is adopted.
- 1947 – Thomas Goldsmith Jr. files a patent for a “Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device”, the first ever electronic game.
- 1949 – The first Emmy Awards are presented; the venue is the Hollywood Athletic Club.
- 1960 – The National Association of Broadcasters reacts to the “payola” scandal by threatening fines for any disc jockeys who accept money for playing particular records.
- 1961 – In Washington, D.C., President John F. Kennedy delivers the first live presidential television news conference.
- 1961 – 101 Dalmatians premiered from Walt Disney Productions.
- 1964 – Blue Ribbon Sports, which would later become Nike, is founded by University of Oregon track and field athletes.
- 1969 – Brazilian Army captain Carlos Lamarca deserts in order to fight against the military dictatorship, taking with him ten machine guns and 63 rifles.
- 1971 – Charles Manson and three female “Family” members are found guilty of the 1969 Tate–LaBianca murders.
- 1971 – Idi Amin leads a coup deposing Milton Obote and becomes Uganda’s president.
- 1979 – Pope John Paul II starts his first official papal visits outside Italy to The Bahamas, Dominican Republic, and Mexico.
- 1980 – Mother Teresa is honored with India’s highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna.
- 1986 – The National Resistance Movement topples the government of Tito Okello in Uganda.
- 1993 – Five people are shot outside the CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Two are killed and three wounded.
- 1994 – The spacecraft Clementine by BMDO and NASA is launched.
- 1995 – The Norwegian rocket incident: Russia almost launches a nuclear attack after it mistakes Black Brant XII, a Norwegian research rocket, for a US Trident missile.
- 1996 – Billy Bailey becomes the last person to be hanged in the U.S.A.
- 1998 – During a historic visit to Cuba, Pope John Paul II demands political reforms and the release of political prisoners while condemning US attempts to isolate the country.
- 1998 – A suicide attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on Sri Lanka’s Temple of the Tooth kills eight and injures 25 others.
- 1999 – A 6.0 magnitude earthquake hits western Colombia killing at least 1,000.
- 2003 – Invasion of Iraq: A group of people leave London, England, for Baghdad, Iraq, to serve as human shields, intending to prevent the U.S.-led coalition troops from bombing certain locations.
- 2005 – A stampede at the Mandhradevi temple in Maharashtra, India kills at least 258.
- 2006 – Mexican professional wrestler Juana Barraza is arrested in connection with the serial killing of at least ten elderly women.
- 2010 – Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 crashes into the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Na’ameh, Lebanon, killing 90.
- 2011 – The first wave of the Egyptian revolution begins throughout the country, marked by street demonstrations, rallies, acts of civil disobedience, riots, labour strikes, and violent clashes.
- 2013 – At least 50 people are killed and 120 people are injured in a prison riot in Barquisimeto, Venezuela.
- 2015 – A clash in Mamasapano, Maguindanao in the Philippines killing 44 members of Special Action Force (SAF), at least 18 from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and five from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
- 2019 – A mining company’s dam collapses in Brumadinho, Brazil, a south-eastern city, killing at least 7 people and leaving 200 missing.
Births on January 25
- 750 – Leo IV the Khazar, Byzantine emperor (d. 780)
- 1408 – Katharina of Hanau, German countess regent (d. 1460)
- 1459 – Paul Hofhaimer, Austrian organist and composer (d. 1537)
- 1477 – Anne of Brittany (probable;d. 1514)
- 1509 – Giovanni Morone, Italian cardinal (d. 1580)
- 1526 – Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (d. 1586)
- 1615 – Govert Flinck, Dutch painter (d. 1660)
- 1618 – Nicolaes Visscher I, Dutch engraver and cartographer (d. 1679)
- 1627 – Robert Boyle, Irish-English chemist and physicist (d. 1691)
- 1634 – Gaspar Fagel, Dutch politician and diplomat (d. 1688)
- 1635 – Daniel Casper von Lohenstein, German writer, diplomat and lawyer (d. 1683)
- 1640 – William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire, English soldier and politician, Lord Steward of the Household (d. 1707)
- 1736 – Joseph-Louis Lagrange, Italian-French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1813)
- 1739 – Charles François Dumouriez, French general and politician, French Minister of Defence (d. 1823)
- 1743 – Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, German philosopher and author (d. 1819)
- 1750 – Johann Gottfried Vierling, German organist and composer (d. 1813)
- 1755 – Paolo Mascagni, Italian physician and anatomist (probable;d. 1815)
- 1759 – Robert Burns, Scottish poet and songwriter (d. 1796)
- 1783 – William Colgate, English-American businessman and philanthropist, founded Colgate-Palmolive (d. 1857)
- 1794 – François-Vincent Raspail, French chemist, physician, physiologist, and lawyer (d. 1878)
- 1796 – William MacGillivray, Scottish ornithologist and biologist (d. 1852)
- 1813 – J. Marion Sims, American gynecologist and physician (d. 1883)
- 1816 – Anna Gardner, American abolitionist and teacher (d. 1901)
- 1822 – Charles Reed Bishop, American businessman, philanthropist, and politician, founded the Bishop Museum (d. 1915)
- 1822 – William McDougall, Canadian lawyer and politician, Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Territories (d. 1905)
- 1823 – José María Iglesias, Mexican politician and interim President (1876–1877) (d. 1891)
- 1824 – Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Indian poet and playwright (d. 1873)
- 1841 – John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, English admiral (d. 1920)
- 1858 – Mikimoto Kōkichi, Japanese businessman (d. 1954)
- 1860 – Charles Curtis, American lawyer and politician, 31st Vice President of the United States (d. 1936)
- 1864 – Julije Kempf, Croatian historian and author (d. 1934)
- 1868 – Juventino Rosas, Mexican violinist and composer (d. 1894)
- 1874 – W. Somerset Maugham, British playwright, novelist, and short story writer (d. 1965)
- 1878 – Ernst Alexanderson, Swedish-American engineer (d. 1975)
- 1882 – Virginia Woolf, English novelist, essayist, short story writer, and critic (d. 1941)
- 1885 – Kitahara Hakushū, Japanese poet and author (d. 1942)
- 1886 – Wilhelm Furtwängler, German conductor and composer (d. 1954)
- 1895 – Florence Mills, American singer, dancer, and actress (d. 1927)
- 1899 – Sleepy John Estes, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1977)
- 1899 – Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian lawyer and politician, 46th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 1972)
- 1900 – István Fekete, Hungarian author (d. 1970)
- 1900 – Yōjirō Ishizaka, Japanese author and educator (d. 1986)
- 1900 – Theodosius Dobzhansky, Ukrainian geneticist and pioneer of evolutionary biology (d. 1975)
- 1901 – Martín de Álzaga, Argentinian race car driver and pilot (d. 1982)
- 1901 – Mildred Dunnock, American actress (d. 1991)
- 1905 – Maurice Roy, Canadian cardinal (d. 1985)
- 1905 – Margery Sharp, English author and educator (d. 1991)
- 1906 – Toni Ulmen, German race car driver and motorcycle racer (d. 1976)
- 1908 – Hsieh Tung-min, Taiwanese politicians and Vice President of the Republic of China (d. 2001)
- 1910 – Edgar V. Saks, Estonian historian, author, and politician, Estonian Minister of Education (d. 1984)
- 1913 – Huang Hua, Chinese translator and politician, 5th Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China (d. 2010)
- 1913 – Witold Lutosławski, Polish composer and conductor (d. 1994)
- 1913 – Luis Marden, American photographer and journalist (d. 2003)
- 1914 – William Strickland, American conductor and organist (d. 1991)
- 1915 – Ewan MacColl, English singer-songwriter, actor and producer (d. 1989)
- 1916 – Pop Ivy, American football player and coach (d. 2003)
- 1917 – Ilya Prigogine, Russian-Belgian chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2003)
- 1917 – Jânio Quadros, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 22nd President of Brazil (d. 1992)
- 1919 – Edwin Newman, American journalist and author (d. 2010)
- 1921 – Samuel T. Cohen, American physicist and academic (d. 2010)
- 1921 – Josef Holeček, Czechoslovakian canoeist (d. 2005)
- 1922 – Raymond Baxter, English television host and pilot (d. 2006)
- 1923 – Arvid Carlsson, Swedish pharmacologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018)
- 1923 – Shirley Ardell Mason, American psychiatric patient (d. 1998)
- 1923 – Sally Starr, American actress and television host (d. 2013)
- 1923 – Jean Taittinger, French politician, French Minister of Justice (d. 2012)
- 1924 – Lou Groza, American football player and coach (d. 2000)
- 1924 – Husein Mehmedov, Bulgarian-Turkish wrestler and coach (d. 2014)
- 1924 – Speedy West, American guitarist and producer (d. 2003)
- 1925 – Gordy Soltau, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2014)
- 1925 – Giorgos Zampetas, Greek bouzouki player and songwriter (d. 1992)
- 1926 – Dick McGuire, American basketball player and coach (d. 2010)
- 1927 – Antônio Carlos Jobim, Brazilian singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1994)
- 1928 – Jérôme Choquette, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2017)
- 1928 – Eduard Shevardnadze, Georgian general and politician, 2nd President of Georgia (d. 2014)
- 1928 – Cor van der Hart, Dutch footballer and manager (d. 2006)
- 1929 – Elizabeth Allen, American actress and singer (d. 2006)
- 1929 – Robert Faurisson, English-French author and academic (d. 2018)
- 1929 – Benny Golson, American saxophonist and composer
- 1930 – Tanya Savicheva, Russian child diarist (d. 1944)
- 1931 – Dean Jones, American actor and singer (d. 2015)
- 1933 – Corazon Aquino, Filipino politician, 11th President of the Philippines (d. 2009)
- 1935 – Conrad Burns, American soldier, journalist, and politician (d. 2016)
- 1935 – António Ramalho Eanes, Portuguese general and politician, 16th President of Portugal
- 1936 – Diana Hyland, American actress (d. 1977)
- 1936 – Onat Kutlar, Turkish author and poet (d. 1995)
- 1937 – Ange-Félix Patassé, Central African engineer and politician, President of the Central African Republic (d. 2011)
- 1938 – Shotaro Ishinomori, Japanese author and illustrator (d. 1998)
- 1938 – Etta James, American singer (d. 2012)
- 1938 – Leiji Matsumoto, Japanese author, illustrator, and animator
- 1938 – Vladimir Vysotsky, Russian singer-songwriter, actor, and poet (d. 1980)
- 1941 – Buddy Baker, American race car driver and sportscaster (d. 2015)
- 1942 – Carl Eller, American football player and sportscaster
- 1942 – Eusébio, Mozambican-Portuguese footballer (d. 2014)
- 1943 – Tobe Hooper, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
- 1945 – Leigh Taylor-Young, American actress
- 1945 – Dave Walker, English singer and guitarist
- 1946 – Doc Bundy, American race car driver and technician
- 1947 – Ángel Nieto, Spanish motorcycle racer (d. 2017)
- 1947 – Tostão, Brazilian footballer, journalist, and physician
- 1948 – Ros Kelly, Australian educator and politician, 1st Australian Minister for Defence Science and Personnel
- 1948 – Georgy Shishkin, Russian painter and illustrator
- 1949 – John Cooper Clarke, English poet and critic
- 1949 – Paul Nurse, English geneticist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1950 – Gloria Naylor, American novelist (d. 2016)
- 1951 – Steve Prefontaine, American runner (d. 1975)
- 1952 – Peter Tatchell, Australian-English journalist and activist
- 1952 – Timothy White, American journalist, author, and critic (d. 2002)
- 1954 – Ricardo Bochini, Argentinian footballer and manager
- 1954 – Kay Cottee, Australian sailor
- 1954 – Renate Dorrestein, Dutch journalist and author (d. 2018)
- 1956 – Andy Cox, English guitarist
- 1956 – Dinah Manoff, American actress
- 1957 – Eskil Erlandsson, Swedish technologist and politician, Swedish Minister for Rural Affairs
- 1957 – Andrew Harris, American politician
- 1957 – Jenifer Lewis, American actress and singer
- 1958 – Franco Pancheri, Italian footballer and manager
- 1961 – Vivian Balakrishnan, Singaporean ophthalmologist and politician, Singaporean Ministry of National Development
- 1962 – Chris Chelios, American ice hockey player and manager
- 1963 – Fernando Haddad, Brazilian academic and politician, 61st Mayor of São Paulo
- 1963 – Molly Holzschlag, American computer scientist and author
- 1964 – Billy Andrade, American golfer
- 1964 – Stephen Pate, Australian cyclist
- 1965 – Esa Tikkanen, Finnish ice hockey player and coach
- 1966 – Chet Culver, American educator and politician, 41st Governor of Iowa
- 1966 – Yiannos Ioannou, Cypriot footballer and manager
- 1967 – Nelson Asaytono, Filipino basketball player
- 1967 – David Ginola, French footballer, forward
- 1967 – Randy McKay, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1968 – Eric Orie, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1969 – Sergei Ovchinnikov, Russian volleyball player and coach (d. 2012)
- 1970 – Stephen Chbosky, American author, screenwriter, and director
- 1970 – Chris Mills, American basketball player
- 1970 – Milt Stegall, American football player and sportscaster
- 1971 – Luca Badoer, Italian race car driver
- 1971 – Philip Coppens, Belgian journalist and author (d. 2012)
- 1971 – Ana Ortiz, American actress
- 1972 – Shinji Takehara, Japanese boxer
- 1973 – Geoff Johns, American author, screenwriter, and producer
- 1974 – Robert Budreau, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1974 – Emily Haines, Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboard player
- 1974 – Attilio Nicodemo, Italian footballer
- 1975 – Duncan Jupp, Anglo-Scottish footballer, defender
- 1975 – Mia Kirshner, Canadian actress
- 1976 – Stephanie Bellars, American wrestler and manager
- 1976 – Mário Haberfeld, Brazilian race car driver
- 1976 – Dimitris Nalitzis, Greek footballer
- 1977 – Michael Brown, English footballer, midfielder, manager and pundit
- 1978 – Ahmet Dursun, Turkish footballer
- 1978 – Denis Menchov, Russian cyclist
- 1978 – Derrick Turnbow, American baseball player
- 1979 – Rodrigo Ribeiro, Brazilian race car driver
- 1980 – Alayna Burns, Australian track cyclist
- 1980 – Xavi, Spanish footballer
- 1981 – Francis Jeffers, English footballer
- 1981 – Alicia Keys, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress
- 1981 – Toše Proeski, Macedonian singer (d. 2007)
- 1984 – Stefan Kießling, German footballer
- 1984 – Robinho, Brazilian footballer
- 1984 – Fara Williams, English footballer
- 1985 – Brent Celek, American football player
- 1985 – Patrick Willis, American football player
- 1985 – Hwang Jung-eum, South Korean actress
- 1986 – Chris O’Grady, English footballer
- 1987 – Maria Kirilenko, Russian tennis player
- 1988 – Tatiana Golovin, French tennis player
- 1988 – Ryota Ozawa, Japanese actor
- 1990 – Apostolos Giannou, Greek-Australian footballer
- 1990 – Lee Jun-ho, South Korean singer and actor (2PM)
- 1991 – Nigel Melker, Dutch race car driver
Deaths onJanuary 25
- 390 – Gregory Nazianzus, theologian and Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 329)
- 477 – Gaiseric, king of the Vandals (b. 389)
- 750 – Ibrahim ibn al-Walid, Umayyad caliph
- 844 – Pope Gregory IV (b. 795)
- 863 – Charles of Provence, Frankish king (b. 845)
- 951 – Ma Xiguang, ruler of Chu (Ten Kingdoms)
- 1003 – Lothair I, Margrave of the Nordmark
- 1067 – Emperor Yingzong of Song (b. 1032)
- 1138 – Antipope Anacletus II
- 1139 – Godfrey I, Count of Louvain and Duke of Lower Lorraine (as Godfrey VI)
- 1366 – Henry Suso, German priest and mystic (b. 1300)
- 1413 – Maud de Ufford, Countess of Oxford (b. 1345)
- 1431 – Charles II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1364)
- 1492 – Ygo Gales Galama, Frisian warlord and rebel (b. 1443)
- 1494 – Ferdinand I of Naples (b. 1423)
- 1559 – Christian II of Denmark (b. 1481)
- 1578 – Mihrimah Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1522)
- 1586 – Lucas Cranach the Younger, German painter (b. 1515)
- 1640 – Robert Burton, English physician and scholar (b. 1577)
- 1670 – Nicholas Francis, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1612)
- 1726 – Guillaume Delisle, French cartographer (b. 1675)
- 1733 – Sir Gilbert Heathcote, 1st Baronet, English banker and politician, Lord Mayor of London (b. 1652)
- 1751 – Paul Dudley, American lawyer, jurist, and politician (b. 1675)
- 1852 – Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, Russian admiral, cartographer, and explorer (b. 1778)
- 1872 – Richard S. Ewell, American general (b. 1817)
- 1881 – Konstantin Thon, Russian architect, designed the Grand Kremlin Palace and Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (b. 1794)
- 1884 – Périclès Pantazis, Greek-Belgian painter (b. 1849)
- 1891 – Theo van Gogh, Art dealer, the brother of Vincent van Gogh (b. 1857)
- 1900 – Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, German Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein (b. 1835)
- 1907 – René Pottier, French cyclist (b. 1879)
- 1908 – Ouida, English-Italian author (b. 1839)
- 1908 – Mikhail Chigorin, Russian chess player and theoretician (b. 1850)
- 1910 – W. G. Read Mullan, American Jesuit and academic (1860)
- 1912 – Dmitry Milyutin, Russian field marshal and politician (b. 1816)
- 1925 – Juan Vucetich, Croatian-Argentinian anthropologist and police officer (b. 1858)
- 1939 – Charles Davidson Dunbar, Scottish soldier and bagpipe player (b. 1870)
- 1947 – Al Capone, American gangster and mob boss (b. 1899)
- 1949 – Makino Nobuaki, Japanese politician, 15th Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs (b. 1861)
- 1957 – Ichizō Kobayashi, Japanese businessman, founded Hankyu Hanshin Holdings (b. 1873)
- 1957 – Kiyoshi Shiga, Japanese physician and bacteriologist (b. 1871)
- 1958 – Cemil Topuzlu, Turkish surgeon and politician, Mayor of Istanbul (b. 1866)
- 1958 – Robert R. Young, American businessman and financier (b. 1897)
- 1960 – Diana Barrymore, American actress (b. 1921)
- 1966 – Saul Adler, Belarusian-English microbiologist and parasitologist (b. 1895)
- 1968 – Louie Myfanwy Thomas, Welsh writer (b. 1908)
- 1970 – Jane Bathori, French soprano (b. 1877)
- 1970 – Eiji Tsuburaya, Japanese director and producer (b. 1901)
- 1971 – Barry III, Guinean lawyer and politician (b. 1923)
- 1972 – Erhard Milch, German field marshal (b. 1892)
- 1975 – Charlotte Whitton, Canadian journalist and politician, 46th Mayor of Ottawa (b. 1896)
- 1978 – Skender Kulenović, Bosnian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1910)
- 1981 – Adele Astaire, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1896)
- 1982 – Mikhail Suslov, Russian economist and politician (b. 1902)
- 1985 – Ilias Iliou, Greek jurist and politician (b. 1904)
- 1987 – Frank J. Lynch, American lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1922)
- 1988 – Colleen Moore, American actress (b. 1899)
- 1990 – Ava Gardner, American actress (b. 1922)
- 1991 – Frank Soo, English footballer and manager (b. 1914)
- 1992 – Mir Khalil ur Rehman, Founder and editor of the Jang Group of Newspapers (b. 1927)
- 1994 – Stephen Cole Kleene, American mathematician, computer scientist, and academic (b. 1909)
- 1996 – Jonathan Larson, American playwright and composer (b. 1960)
- 1997 – Dan Barry, American author and illustrator (b. 1923)
- 1999 – Sarah Louise Delany, American author and educator (b. 1889)
- 1999 – Robert Shaw, American conductor (b. 1916)
- 2001 – Alice Ambrose, American philosopher and logician (b. 1906)
- 2002 – Cliff Baxter, employee at Enron (b. 1958)
- 2003 – Sheldon Reynolds, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1923)
- 2003 – Samuel Weems, American lawyer and author (b. 1936)
- 2004 – Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch runner and hurdler (b. 1918)
- 2004 – Miklós Fehér, Hungarian footballer (b. 1979)
- 2005 – Stanisław Albinowski, Polish economist and journalist (b. 1923)
- 2005 – William Augustus Bootle, American lawyer and judge (b. 1902)
- 2005 – Philip Johnson, American architect, designed the PPG Place and Crystal Cathedral (b. 1906)
- 2005 – Manuel Lopes, Cape Verdean author and poet (b. 1907)
- 2005 – Netti Witziers-Timmer, Dutch runner (b. 1923)
- 2009 – Eleanor F. Helin, American astronomer (b. 1932)
- 2009 – Ewald Kooiman, Dutch organist and educator (b. 1938)
- 2009 – Kim Manners, American director and producer (b. 1951)
- 2010 – Ali Hassan al-Majid, Iraqi general and politician, Iraqi Minister of Defence (b. 1941)
- 2011 – Vassilis C. Constantakopoulos Greek captain and businessman (b. 1935)
- 2011 – Vincent Cronin, Welsh historian and author (b. 1924)
- 2012 – Paavo Berglund, Finnish violinist and conductor (b. 1929)
- 2012 – Jacques Maisonrouge, French businessman (b. 1924)
- 2012 – Franco Pacini, Italian astrophysicist and academic (b. 1939)
- 2012 – Robert Sheran, American lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1916)
- 2013 – Martial Asselin, Canadian lawyer and politician, 25th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Kevin Heffernan, Irish footballer and manager (b. 1929)
- 2013 – Aase Nordmo Løvberg, Norwegian soprano and actress (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Arthur Doyle, American singer-songwriter, saxophonist, and flute player (b. 1944)
- 2014 – Heini Halberstam, Czech-English mathematician and academic (b. 1926)
- 2014 – Dave Strack, American basketball player and coach (b. 1923)
- 2015 – John Leggett, American author and academic (b. 1917)
- 2015 – Richard McBrien, American priest, theologian, and academic (b. 1936)
- 2015 – Bill Monbouquette, American baseball player and coach (b. 1936)
- 2015 – Demis Roussos, Egyptian-Greek singer (b. 1946)
- 2017 – Stephen P. Cohen, Canadian academic (b. 1945)
- 2017 – Robert Garcia, American politician (b. 1933)
- 2017 – John Hurt, English actor (b. 1940)
- 2017 – Harry Mathews, American novelist and poet (b. 1930)
- 2017 – Marcel Prud’homme, Canadian politician (b. 1934)
- 2017 – Mary Tyler Moore, American actress, dancer, and producer (b. 1936)
- 2018 – Neagu Djuvara, Romanian historian, essayist, philosopher, journalist, novelist and diplomat (b. 1916)
Holidays and observances on January 25
- Burns Night (Scotland and Scottish community)
- Christian feast day:
- Dydd Santes Dwynwen (Wales)
- Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul (Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches, which concludes the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity)
- Gregory the Theologian (Eastern (Byzantine) Catholic Church)
- The last day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Christian ecumenism)
- January 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Earliest day on which the first day of Carnival of Cádiz can fall, while February 28 is the latest; celebrated two Sundays before Ash Wednesday until Ash Wednesday (Cádiz)
- Earliest day on which the Liberation of Auschwitz Memorial can fall, while January 31 is the latest; observed on the last Sunday in January (Netherlands)
- National Nutrition Day (Indonesia)
- National Police Day (Egypt)
- National Voters’ Day (India)
- Revolution Day 2011 (Egypt)
- Tatiana Day or Russian Students Day (Russia, Eastern Orthodox)