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July 28 in History
- 1364 – Troops of the Republic of Pisa and the Republic of Florence clash in the Battle of Cascina.
- 1540 – Thomas Cromwell is executed at the order of Henry VIII of England on charges of treason. Henry marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, on the same day.
- 1571 – La Laguna encomienda, known today as the Laguna province in the Philippines is founded by the Spaniards as one of the oldest encomiendas (provinces) in the country.
- 1635 – In the Eighty Years’ War the Spanish capture the strategic Dutch fortress of Schenkenschans.
- 1656 – Second Northern War: Battle of Warsaw begins.
- 1778 – Constitution of the province of Cantabria ratified at the Assembly Hall in Bárcena la Puente, Reocín, Spain.
- 1794 – French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre and Louis Antoine de Saint-Just are executed by guillotine in Paris, France.
- 1808 – Mahmud II became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of Islam.
- 1809 – Peninsular War: Battle of Talavera: Sir Arthur Wellesley’s British, Portuguese and Spanish army defeats a French force led by Joseph Bonaparte.
- 1821 – José de San Martín declares the independence of Peru from Spain.
- 1854 – USS Constellation (1854), the last all-sail warship built by the United States Navy, is commissioned.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Ezra Church: Confederate troops make a third unsuccessful attempt to drive Union forces from Atlanta, Georgia.
- 1866 – At the age of 18, Vinnie Ream becomes the first and youngest female artist to receive a commission from the United States government for a statue (of Abraham Lincoln).
- 1868 – The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is certified, establishing African American citizenship and guaranteeing due process of law.
- 1896 – The city of Miami, Florida is incorporated.
- 1914 – In the culmination of the July Crisis, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, igniting World War I.
- 1915 – The United States begins a 19-year occupation of Haiti.
- 1917 – The Silent Parade took place in New York City, in protest to murders, lynchings, and other violence directed towards African Americans.
- 1932 – U.S. President Herbert Hoover orders the United States Army to forcibly evict the “Bonus Army” of World War I veterans gathered in Washington, D.C.
- 1935 – First flight of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.
- 1938 – Hawaii Clipper disappears between Guam and Manila as the first loss of an airliner in trans-Pacific China Clipper service.
- 1939 – The Sutton Hoo helmet is discovered.
- 1942 – World War II: Soviet leader Joseph Stalin issues Order No. 227. In response to alarming German advances, all those who retreat or otherwise leave their positions without orders to do so are to be tried in a military court, with punishment ranging from duty in a shtrafbat battalion, imprisonment in a Gulag, or execution.
- 1943 – World War II: Operation Gomorrah: The Royal Air Force bombs Hamburg, Germany causing a firestorm that kills 42,000 German civilians.
- 1945 – A U.S. Army B-25 bomber crashes into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building killing 14 and injuring 26.
- 1957 – Heavy rain and a mudslide in Isahaya, western Kyushu, Japan, kills 992.
- 1960 – The German Volkswagen Act came into force.
- 1965 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces his order to increase the number of United States troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000.
- 1973 – Summer Jam at Watkins Glen: Nearly 600,000 people attend a rock festival at the Watkins Glen International Raceway.
- 1974 – Spetsgruppa A, Russia’s elite special force, was formed.
- 1976 – The Tangshan earthquake measuring between 7.8 and 8.2 moment magnitude flattens Tangshan in the People’s Republic of China, killing 242,769 and injuring 164,851.
- 1984 – The Summer Olympics officially known as the games of the XXIII were opened in Los Angeles.
- 1996 – The remains of a prehistoric man are discovered near Kennewick, Washington. Such remains will be known as the Kennewick Man.
- 2001 – Australian Ian Thorpe becomes the first swimmer to win six gold medals at a single World Championship.
- 2002 – Nine coal miners trapped in the flooded Quecreek Mine in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, are rescued after 77 hours underground.
- 2002 – Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 9560 crashes after takeoff from Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, Russia, killing 14 of the 16 people on board.
- 2005 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army calls an end to its thirty-year-long armed campaign in Northern Ireland.
- 2010 – Airblue Flight 202 crashes into the Margalla Hills north of Islamabad, Pakistan, killing all 152 people aboard. It is the deadliest aviation accident in Pakistan history and the first involving an Airbus A321.
- 2011 – While flying from Seoul, South Korea to Shanghai, China, Asiana Airlines Flight 991 develops an in-flight fire in the cargo hold. The Boeing 747-400F freighter attempts to divert to Jeju International Airport, but crashes into the sea South-West of Jeju island, killing both crew members on board.
- 2017 – Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif was disqualified for lifetime by Supreme Court of Pakistan founding him guilty of corruption charges.
- 2018 – Australian Wendy Tuck becomes the first woman skipper to win the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.
Births on July 28
- 1347 – Margaret of Durazzo, Queen of Naples and Hungary (d. 1412)
- 1516 – William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, German nobleman (d. 1592)
- 1609 – Judith Leyster, Dutch painter (d. 1660)
- 1635 – Robert Hooke, English physicist and chemist (d. 1703)
- 1645 – Marguerite Louise d’Orléans, French princess (d. 1721)
- 1659 – Charles Ancillon, French jurist and diplomat (d. 1715)
- 1746 – Thomas Heyward, Jr., American judge and politician (d. 1809)
- 1750 – Fabre d’Églantine, French actor, playwright, and politician (d. 1794)
- 1783 – Friedrich Wilhelm von Bismarck, German army officer and writer (d. 1860)
- 1796 – Ignaz Bösendorfer, Austrian businessman, founded the Bösendorfer Company (d. 1859)
- 1804 – Ludwig Feuerbach, German anthropologist and philosopher (d. 1872)
- 1815 – Stefan Dunjov, Bulgarian colonel (d. 1889)
- 1844 – Gerard Manley Hopkins, English poet (d. 1889)
- 1857 – Ballington Booth, English-American activist, co-founded Volunteers of America (d. 1940)
- 1860 – Elias M. Ammons, American businessman and politician, 19th Governor of Colorado (d. 1925)
- 1860 – Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia (d. 1922)
- 1863 – Huseyn Khan Nakhchivanski, Russian general (d. 1919)
- 1866 – Beatrix Potter, English children’s book writer and illustrator (d. 1943)
- 1866 – Albertson Van Zo Post, American fencer (d. 1938)
- 1867 – Charles Dillon Perrine, American-Argentinian astronomer (d. 1951)
- 1872 – Albert Sarraut, French journalist and politician, 106th Prime Minister of France (d. 1962)
- 1874 – Ernst Cassirer, Polish-American philosopher and academic (d. 1945)
- 1879 – Lucy Burns, American activist, co-founded the National Woman’s Party (d. 1966)
- 1879 – Stefan Filipkiewicz, Polish painter (d. 1944)
- 1887 – Marcel Duchamp, French-American painter and sculptor (d. 1968)
- 1887 – Willard Price, Canadian-American journalist and author (d. 1983)
- 1893 – Rued Langgaard, Danish organist and composer (d. 1952)
- 1896 – Barbara La Marr, American actress and screenwriter (d. 1926)
- 1898 – Lawrence Gray, American actor (d. 1970)
- 1901 – Freddie Fitzsimmons, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1979)
- 1901 – Rudy Vallée, American actor, singer, and saxophonist (d. 1986)
- 1902 – Albert Namatjira, Australian painter (d. 1959)
- 1902 – Sir Karl Popper, Austrian-English philosopher and academic (d. 1994)
- 1907 – Earl Tupper, American inventor and businessman, founded Tupperware Brands (d. 1983)
- 1909 – Aenne Burda, German publisher (d. 2005)
- 1909 – Malcolm Lowry, English novelist and poet (d. 1957)
- 1914 – Carmen Dragon, American conductor and composer (d. 1984)
- 1915 – Charles Hard Townes, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
- 1915 – Dick Sprang, American illustrator (d. 2000)
- 1915 – Frankie Yankovic, American polka musician (d. 1998)
- 1916 – David Brown, American journalist and producer (d. 2010)
- 1920 – Andrew V. McLaglen, English-American director and producer (d. 2014)
- 1922 – Jacques Piccard, Belgian-Swiss oceanographer and engineer (d. 2008)
- 1923 – Ray Ellis, American conductor and producer (d. 2008)
- 1924 – Luigi Musso, Italian race car driver (d. 1958)
- 1924 – C. T. Vivian, American minister, author, and activist
- 1925 – Baruch Samuel Blumberg, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2011)
- 1926 – Charlie Biddle, American-Canadian bassist (d. 2003)
- 1927 – John Ashbery, American poet (d. 2017)
- 1929 – Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, American journalist and socialite, 37th First Lady of the United States (d. 1994)
- 1929 – Shirley Ann Grau, American novelist and short story writer
- 1930 – Firoza Begum, Bangladeshi singer (d. 2014)
- 1930 – Junior Kimbrough, American singer and guitarist (d. 1998)
- 1930 – Jean Roba, Belgian author and illustrator (d. 2006)
- 1930 – Ramsey Muir Withers, Canadian general (d. 2014)
- 1931 – Alan Brownjohn, English poet and author
- 1931 – Johnny Martin, Australian cricketer (d. 1992)
- 1932 – Natalie Babbitt, American author and illustrator (d. 2016)
- 1932 – Carlos Alberto Brilhante Ustra, Brazilian colonel (d. 2015)
- 1933 – Charlie Hodge, Canadian ice hockey player and scout (d. 2016)
- 1934 – Jacques d’Amboise, American dancer and choreographer
- 1935 – Neil McKendrick, English historian and academic
- 1936 – Russ Jackson, Canadian football player and coach
- 1936 – Garfield Sobers, Barbadian cricketer
- 1937 – Francis Veber, French director and screenwriter
- 1938 – Luis Aragonés, Spanish footballer, coach, and manager (d. 2014)
- 1938 – Arsen Dedić, Croatian singer-songwriter and poet (d. 2015)
- 1938 – Alberto Fujimori, Peruvian engineer, academic, and politician, 90th President of Peru
- 1938 – Chuan Leekpai, Thai lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Thailand
- 1939 – Richard Johns, English air marshal
- 1940 – Philip Proctor, American voice actor and screenwriter
- 1941 – Riccardo Muti, Italian conductor and educator
- 1941 – Susan Roces, Filipino actress and producer
- 1942 – Marty Brennaman, American sportscaster
- 1942 – Tonia Marketaki, Greek director and screenwriter (d. 1994)
- 1943 – Mike Bloomfield, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 1981)
- 1943 – Bill Bradley, American basketball player and politician
- 1943 – Richard Wright, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player (d. 2008)
- 1945 – Jim Davis, American cartoonist, created Garfield
- 1946 – Jonathan Edwards, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1946 – Linda Kelsey, American actress
- 1946 – Fahmida Riaz, Pakistani poet and activist
- 1947 – Peter Cosgrove, Australian general and politician, 26th Governor General of Australia
- 1947 – Sally Struthers, American actress
- 1948 – Gerald Casale, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and director
- 1948 – Eiichi Ohtaki, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2013)
- 1949 – Vida Blue, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1949 – Peter Doyle, Australian singer and guitarist (d. 2001)
- 1949 – Simon Kirke, English drummer
- 1949 – Steve Peregrin Took, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1980)
- 1949 – Randall Wallace, American screenwriter and producer
- 1950 – Shahyar Ghanbari, Iranian singer-songwriter
- 1950 – Tapley Seaton, Kittitian politician, 4th Governor-General of Saint Kitts and Nevis
- 1951 – Santiago Calatrava, Spanish architect and engineer, designed the Athens Olympic Sports Complex
- 1951 – Doug Collins, American basketball player and coach
- 1951 – Gregg Giuffria, American rock musician and businessman
- 1951 – Ray Kennedy, English footballer
- 1952 – Vajiralongkorn, King of Thailand
- 1954 – Hugo Chávez, Venezuelan colonel and politician, President of Venezuela (d. 2013)
- 1954 – Gerd Faltings, German mathematician and academic
- 1954 – Steve Morse, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1954 – Mikey Sheehy, Irish footballer
- 1955 – Nikolay Zimyatov, Russian skier
- 1956 – John Feinstein, American journalist and author
- 1956 – Robert Swan, English explorer
- 1958 – Terry Fox, Canadian runner and activist (d. 1981)
- 1958 – Michael Hitchcock, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1959 – William T. Vollmann, American novelist, short story writer and journalist
- 1960 – Luiz Fernando Carvalho, Brazilian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1960 – Jon J. Muth, American author and illustrator
- 1960 – Yōichi Takahashi, Japanese illustrator
- 1961 – Yannick Dalmas, French race car driver
- 1962 – Rachel Sweet, American singer, television writer, and actress
- 1964 – Lori Loughlin, American actress
- 1965 – Priscilla Chan, Hong Kong singer
- 1966 – Sossina M. Haile, Ethiopian American chemist
- 1966 – Miguel Ángel Nadal, Spanish footballer
- 1966 – Jimmy Pardo, American stand-up comedian, actor, and host
- 1966 – Shikao Suga, Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1967 – Taka Hirose, Japanese bass player
- 1969 – Garth Snow, American ice hockey player and manager
- 1969 – Alexis Arquette, American actress (d. 2016)
- 1970 – Michael Amott, Swedish guitarist and songwriter
- 1970 – Isabelle Brasseur, Canadian figure skater
- 1970 – Paul Strang, Zimbabwean cricketer and coach
- 1971 – Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Iraqi leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- 1971 – Ludmilla Lacueva Canut, Andorran writer
- 1971 – Stephen Lynch, American singer-songwriter and actor
- 1971 – Annie Perreault, Canadian speed skater
- 1972 – Robert Chapman, English cricketer
- 1973 – Marc Dupré, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1973 – Steve Staios, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1974 – Alexis Tsipras, Greek engineer and politician, 186th Prime Minister of Greece
- 1974 – Elizabeth Berkley, American actress
- 1975 – Leonor Watling, Spanish actress
- 1976 – Jacoby Shaddix, American singer-songwriter
- 1977 – Aki Berg, Finnish-Canadian ice hockey player
- 1977 – Manu Ginóbili, Argentinian basketball player
- 1977 – Miyabiyama Tetsushi, Japanese sumo wrestler
- 1978 – Kārlis Vērdiņš, Latvian poet
- 1978 – Hitomi Yaida, Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1979 – Henrik Hansen, Danish footballer
- 1979 – Birgitta Haukdal, Icelandic singer-songwriter and producer
- 1979 – Lee Min-woo, South Korean singer-songwriter and dancer
- 1979 – Alena Popchanka, Belarusian-French swimmer and coach
- 1980 – Stephen Christian, American singer-songwriter
- 1980 – Anthony Weaver, American football player
- 1981 – Michael Carrick, English footballer
- 1983 – Sam Dastyari, Iranian-Australian politician
- 1983 – Cody Hay, Canadian figure skater
- 1984 – Zach Parise, American ice hockey player
- 1985 – Mathieu Debuchy, French footballer
- 1985 – Dustin Milligan, Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1985 – Darren Murphy, Irish footballer
- 1986 – Alexandra Chando, American actress
- 1986 – Lauri Korpikoski, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1986 – Dulquer Salmaan, Indian actor
- 1987 – Yasser Corona, Mexican footballer
- 1987 – Yevhen Khacheridi, Ukrainian-Greek footballer
- 1987 – Pedro, Spanish footballer
- 1988 – Greg Hardy, American football player
- 1989 – Felipe Kitadai, Brazilian martial artist
- 1990 – Soulja Boy, American rapper, producer, and actor
- 1990 – Simone Pizzuti, Italian footballer
- 1993 – Harry Kane, English footballer
- 1993 – Moses Odubajo, English footballer
- 1993 – Cher Lloyd, English singer-songwriter
- 1995 – Josh Addo-Carr, Australian rugby league player
Deaths on July 28
- 450 – Theodosius II, Roman emperor (b. 401)
- 938 – Thankmar, half-brother of Otto I (during Siege of Eresburg) (b. c. 908)
- 942 – Shi Jingtang, emperor of Later Jin (b. 892)
- 1057 – Victor II, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1018)
- 1128 – William Clito, English son of Sybilla of Conversano (b. 1102)
- 1230 – Leopold VI, Duke of Austria (b. 1176)
- 1271 – Walter de Burgh, 1st Earl of Ulster (b. 1220)
- 1285 – Keran, Queen of Armenia
- 1333 – Guy VIII of Viennois, Dauphin of Vienne (b. 1309)
- 1345 – Sancia of Majorca, queen regent of Naples (b. c. 1285)
- 1458 – John II, king of Cyprus and Armenia
- 1488 – Edward Woodville, Lord Scales (at the Battle of St. Aubin-du-Cormier)
- 1508 – Robert Blackadder, bishop of Glasgow
- 1527 – Rodrigo de Bastidas, Spanish explorer, founded the city of Santa Marta (b. 1460)
- 1540 – Thomas Cromwell, English lawyer and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1495)
- 1585 – Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford (b. 1527)
- 1631 – Guillén de Castro y Bellvis, Spanish playwright (b. 1569)
- 1655 – Cyrano de Bergerac, French poet and playwright (b. 1619)
- 1667 – Abraham Cowley, English poet and author (b. 1618)
- 1675 – Bulstrode Whitelocke, English lawyer and politician (b. 1605)
- 1685 – Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington, English politician and diplomat, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (b. 1618)
- 1718 – Étienne Baluze, French scholar and academic (b. 1630)
- 1741 – Antonio Vivaldi, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1678)
- 1750 – Johann Sebastian Bach, German organist and composer (b. 1685)
- 1762 – George Dodington, 1st Baron Melcombe, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Somerset (b. 1691)
- 1794 – Maximilien Robespierre, French lawyer and politician, 2nd President of the Committee of Public Safety (b. 1758)
- 1794 – Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, French soldier and politician (b. 1767)
- 1808 – Selim III, Ottoman sultan (b. 1761)
- 1809 – Richard Beckett, English cricketer and captain (b.1772)
- 1818 – Gaspard Monge, French mathematician and engineer (b. 1746)
- 1835 – Édouard Mortier, duc de Trévise, French general and politician, 15th Prime Minister of France (b. 1768)
- 1836 – Nathan Mayer Rothschild, German-English banker and financier (b. 1777)
- 1842 – Clemens Brentano, German author and poet (b. 1778)
- 1844 – Joseph Bonaparte, French diplomat and brother of Napoleon (b. 1768)
- 1849 – Charles Albert of Sardinia (b. 1798)
- 1869 – Jan Evangelista Purkyně, Czech anatomist and physiologist (b. 1787)
- 1878 – George Law Curry, American publisher and politician (b. 1820)
- 1885 – Moses Montefiore, British philanthropist, sheriff and banker (b. 1784)
- 1895 – Edward Beecher, American minister and theologian (b. 1803)
- 1930 – John DeWitt, American hammer thrower (b. 1881)
- 1930 – Allvar Gullstrand, Swedish ophthalmologist and optician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
- 1933 – Nishinoumi Kajirō III, Japanese sumo wrestler, 30th yokozuna (b. 1890)
- 1934 – Marie Dressler, Canadian-American actress and singer (b. 1868)
- 1934 – Louis Tancred, South African cricketer and pilot (b. 1876)
- 1935 – Meletius IV of Constantinople (b. 1871)
- 1942 – Flinders Petrie, English archaeologist and academic (b. 1853)
- 1946 – Saint Alphonsa, first woman of Indian origin to be Canonization as a saint by the Catholic Church (b. 1910)
- 1957 – Edith Abbott, American economist, social worker, and educator (b. 1876)
- 1957 – Isaac Heinemann, German-Israeli scholar and academic (b. 1876)
- 1965 – Edogawa Ranpo, Japanese author and critic (b. 1894)
- 1965 – Attallah Suheimat, Jordanian politician (b. 1875)
- 1967 – Karl W. Richter, American lieutenant and pilot (b. 1942)
- 1968 – Otto Hahn, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
- 1969 – Ramón Grau, Cuban physician and politician, 6th President of Cuba (b. 1882)
- 1969 – Frank Loesser, American composer (b. 1910)
- 1971 – Lawrence Moore Cosgrave, Canadian colonel and diplomat (b. 1890)
- 1971 – Myril Hoag, American baseball player (b. 1908)
- 1971 – Charles E. Pont, French-American minister and painter (b. 1898)
- 1972 – Helen Traubel, American soprano and actress (b. 1903)
- 1979 – Don Miller, American football player and coach (b. 1902)
- 1979 – Charles Shadwell, English conductor and bandleader (b. 1898)
- 1980 – Rose Rand, Austrian-born American logician and philosopher (b. 1903)
- 1981 – Stanley Rother, American priest and missionary (b. 1935)
- 1982 – Keith Green, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1953)
- 1987 – Jack Renshaw, Australian politician, 31st Premier of New South Wales (b. 1909)
- 1990 – Jill Esmond, English actress (b. 1908)
- 1992 – Sulev Nõmmik, Estonian actor and director (b. 1931)
- 1993 – Stanley Woods, Irish motorcycle racer (b. 1903)
- 1996 – Roger Tory Peterson, American ornithologist and academic (b. 1908)
- 1997 – Rosalie Crutchley, English actress (b. 1920)
- 1997 – Seni Pramoj, Thai lawyer and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Thailand (b. 1905)
- 1998 – Zbigniew Herbert, Polish poet and author (b. 1924)
- 1998 – Lenny McLean, English boxer, actor, and author (b. 1949)
- 1998 – Consalvo Sanesi, Italian race car driver (b. 1911)
- 1999 – Trygve Haavelmo, Norwegian economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- 2000 – Abraham Pais, Dutch-American physicist and historian (b. 1918)
- 2001 – Ahmed Sofa, Bangladeshi poet, author, and critic (b. 1943)
- 2002 – Archer John Porter Martin, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
- 2003 – Valerie Goulding, Irish activist and politician (b. 1918)
- 2004 – Francis Crick, English biologist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
- 2004 – Tiziano Terzani, Italian journalist and author (b. 1938)
- 2006 – David Gemmell, English author (b. 1948)
- 2007 – Karl Gotch, Belgian-American wrestler and trainer (b. 1924)
- 2007 – Jim LeRoy, American soldier and pilot (b. 1961)
- 2009 – Jim Johnson, American football player and coach (b. 1941)
- 2011 – Abdul Fatah Younis, Libyan general (b. 1944)
- 2012 – Colin Horsley, New Zealand-English pianist and educator (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Sepp Mayerl, Austrian mountaineer (b. 1937)
- 2012 – William F. Milliken Jr., American race car driver and engineer (b. 1911)
- 2013 – Mustafa Adrisi, Ugandan general and politician, 3rd Vice President of Uganda (b. 1922)
- 2013 – Eileen Brennan, American actress and singer (b. 1932)
- 2013. – Rita Reys, Dutch jazz singer (b. 1924)
- 2013 – William Scranton, American captain and politician, 13th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (b. 1917)
- 2013 – Ersilio Tonini, Italian cardinal (b. 1914)
- 2014 – Margot Adler, American journalist and author (b. 1946)
- 2014 – Alex Forbes, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1925)
- 2014 – Alakbar Mammadov, Azerbaijani footballer and manager (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Theodore Van Kirk, American soldier, pilot, and navigator (b. 1921)
- 2015 – Jan Kulczyk, Polish businessman (b. 1950)
- 2015 – Edward Natapei, Vanuatuan politician, 6th Prime Minister of Vanuatu (b. 1954)
- 2015 – Clive Rice, South African cricketer and coach (b. 1949)
- 2016 – Émile Derlin Zinsou, Beninese politician (b. 1918)
- 2016 – Mahasweta Devi, Indian Bengali fiction writer and socio-political activist (b. 1926)
- 2018 – Wanny van Gils, Dutch footballer (b. 1959)
Holidays and observances on July 28
- Christian feast day:
- Alphonsa Muttathupadathu (Syro-Malabar Catholic Church)
- Botvid
- Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frederick Handel, Henry Purcell (Episcopal Church commemoration)
- Johann Sebastian Bach, Heinrich Schütz, George Frederick Handel (Lutheran commemoration)
- Nazarius and Celsus
- Pedro Poveda Castroverde
- Pope Innocent I
- Pope Victor I
- Samson of Dol
- July 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Day of Commemoration of the Great Upheaval (Canada)
- Earliest day on which Emancipation Day can fall, while August 3 is the latest; celebrated on Thursday before the first Monday in August (Bermuda)
- Fiestas Patrias, celebrates the independence of Peru from Spain by General José de San Martín in 1821.
- Liberation Day (San Marino)
- Ólavsøka Eve (Faroe Islands)
- World Hepatitis Day
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June 4 in History
- 1411 – King Charles VI granted a monopoly for the ripening of Roquefort cheese to the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon as they had been doing for centuries.
- 1561 – The steeple of St Paul’s, the medieval cathedral of London, is destroyed in a fire caused by lightning and is never rebuilt.
- 1615 – Siege of Osaka: Forces under Tokugawa Ieyasu take Osaka Castle in Japan.
- 1745 – Battle of Hohenfriedberg: Frederick the Great’s Prussian army decisively defeated an Austrian army under Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine during the War of the Austrian Succession.
- 1760 – Great Upheaval: New England planters arrive to claim land in Nova Scotia, Canada, taken from the Acadians.
- 1783 – The Montgolfier brothers publicly demonstrate their montgolfière (hot air balloon).
- 1784 – Élisabeth Thible becomes the first woman to fly in an untethered hot air balloon. Her flight covers four kilometres in 45 minutes, and reached 1,500 metres altitude (estimated).
- 1792 – Captain George Vancouver claims Puget Sound for the Kingdom of Great Britain.
- 1802 – King Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia abdicates his throne in favor of his brother, Victor Emmanuel.
- 1812 – Following Louisiana’s admittance as a U.S. state, the Louisiana Territory is renamed the Missouri Territory.
- 1825 – General Lafayette, a French officer in the American Revolutionary War, speaks at what would become Lafayette Square, Buffalo, during his visit to the United States.
- 1855 – Major Henry C. Wayne departs New York aboard the USS Supply to procure camels to establish the U.S. Camel Corps.
- 1859 – Italian Independence wars: In the Battle of Magenta, the French army, under Louis-Napoleon, defeat the Austrian army.
- 1862 – American Civil War: Confederate troops evacuate Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River, leaving the way clear for Union troops to take Memphis, Tennessee.
- 1876 – An express train called the Transcontinental Express arrives in San Francisco, via the First Transcontinental Railroad only 83 hours and 39 minutes after leaving New York City.
- 1878 – Cyprus Convention: The Ottoman Empire cedes Cyprus to the United Kingdom but retains nominal title.
- 1896 – Henry Ford completes the Ford Quadricycle, his first gasoline-powered automobile, and gives it a successful test run.
- 1912 – Massachusetts becomes the first state of the United States to set a minimum wage.
- 1913 – Emily Davison, a suffragette, runs out in front of King George V’s horse at The Derby. She is trampled, never regains consciousness, and dies four days later.
- 1916 – World War I: Russia opens the Brusilov Offensive with an artillery barrage of Austro-Hungarian lines in Galicia.
- 1917 – The first Pulitzer Prizes are awarded: Laura E. Richards, Maude H. Elliott, and Florence Hall receive the first Pulitzer for biography (for Julia Ward Howe). Jean Jules Jusserand receives the first Pulitzer for history for his work With Americans of Past and Present Days. Herbert B. Swope receives the first Pulitzer for journalism for his work for the New York World.
- 1919 – Women’s rights: The U.S. Congress approves the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees suffrage to women, and sends it to the U.S. states for ratification.
- 1920 – Hungary loses 71% of its territory and 63% of its population when the Treaty of Trianon is signed in Paris.
- 1928 – The President of the Republic of China, Zhang Zuolin, is assassinated by Japanese agents.
- 1932 – Marmaduke Grove and other Chilean military officers lead a coup d’état establishing the short-lived Socialist Republic of Chile.
- 1939 – The Holocaust: The MS St. Louis, a ship carrying 963 Jewish refugees, is denied permission to land in Florida, in the United States, after already being turned away from Cuba. Forced to return to Europe, more than 200 of its passengers later die in Nazi concentration camps.
- 1940 – World War II: The Dunkirk evacuation ends: British forces complete evacuation of 338,000 troops from Dunkirk in France. To rally the morale of the country, Winston Churchill delivers, only to the House of Commons, his famous “We shall fight on the beaches” speech.
- 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Midway begins. The Japanese Admiral Chūichi Nagumo orders a strike on Midway Island by much of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
- 1943 – A military coup in Argentina ousts Ramón Castillo.
- 1944 – World War II: A hunter-killer group of the United States Navy captures the German submarine U-505: The first time a U.S. Navy vessel had captured an enemy vessel at sea since the 19th century.
- 1944 – World War II: The United States Fifth Army captures Rome, although much of the German Fourteenth Army is able to withdraw to the north.
- 1961 – Cold War: In the Vienna summit, the Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev sparks the Berlin Crisis by threatening to sign a separate peace treaty with East Germany and ending American, British and French access to East Berlin.
- 1967 – Seventy-two people are killed when a Canadair C-4 Argonaut crashes at Stockport in England.
- 1970 – Tonga gains independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1975 – The Governor of California Jerry Brown signs the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act into law, the first law in the U.S. giving farmworkers collective bargaining rights.
- 1979 – Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings takes power in Ghana after a military coup in which General Fred Akuffo is overthrown.
- 1983 – Gordon Kahl, who killed two US Marshals in Medina, North Dakota on February 13, is killed in a shootout in Smithville, Arkansas, along with a local sheriff, after a four-month manhunt.
- 1986 – Jonathan Pollard pleads guilty to espionage for selling top secret United States military intelligence to Israel.
- 1988 – Three cars on a train carrying hexogen to Kazakhstan explode in Arzamas, Gorky Oblast, USSR, killing 91 and injuring about 1,500.
- 1989 – Ali Khamenei is elected as the new Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Assembly of Experts after the death and funeral of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
- 1989 – The Tiananmen Square protests are suppressed in Beijing by the People’s Liberation Army, with between 241 and 1,000 dead (an unofficial estimate).
- 1989 – Solidarity’s victory in the first (somewhat) free parliamentary elections in post-war Poland sparks off a succession of peaceful anti-communist revolutions in Eastern Europe, leads to the creation of the so-called Contract Sejm and begins the Autumn of Nations.
- 1989 – Ufa train disaster: A natural gas explosion near Ufa, Russia, kills 575 as two trains passing each other throw sparks near a leaky pipeline.
- 1996 – The first flight of Ariane 5 explodes after roughly 37 seconds. It was a Cluster mission.
- 1998 – Terry Nichols is sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
- 2010 – Falcon 9 Flight 1 is the maiden flight of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 40.
Births on June 4
- 1394 – Philippa of England, Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (d. 1430)
- 1489 – Antoine, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1544)
- 1563 – George Heriot, Scottish goldsmith (d. 1624)
- 1604 – Claudia de’ Medici, Italian daughter of Christina of Lorraine (d. 1648)
- 1665 – Zacharie Robutel de La Noue, Canadian captain (d. 1733)
- 1694 – François Quesnay, French economist and physician (d. 1774)
- 1704 – Benjamin Huntsman, English inventor and businessman (d. 1776)
- 1738 – George III of the United Kingdom (d. 1820)
- 1744 – Patrick Ferguson, Scottish soldier, designed the Ferguson rifle (d. 1780)
- 1754 – Miguel de Azcuénaga, Argentinian soldier (d. 1833)
- 1754 – Franz Xaver von Zach, Slovak astronomer and academic (d. 1832)
- 1787 – Constant Prévost, French geologist and academic (d. 1856)
- 1801 – James Pennethorne, English architect, designed Victoria Park (d. 1871)
- 1821 – Apollon Maykov, Russian poet and playwright (d. 1897)
- 1829 – Jinmaku Kyūgorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 12th Yokozuna (d. 1903)
- 1854 – Solko van den Bergh, Dutch target shooter (d. 1916)
- 1860 – Alexis Lapointe, Canadian runner (d. 1924)
- 1861 – William Propsting, Australian politician, 20th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1937)
- 1866 – Miina Sillanpää, Finnish journalist and politician (d. 1952)
- 1867 – Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Finnish general and politician, 6th President of Finland (d. 1951)
- 1873 – Nictzin Dyalhis, American author (d.1942)
- 1877 – Heinrich Otto Wieland, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
- 1879 – Mabel Lucie Attwell, English author and illustrator (d. 1964)
- 1880 – Clara Blandick, American actress (d. 1962)
- 1885 – Arturo Rawson, Argentinian general and politician, 26th President of Argentina (d. 1952)
- 1887 – Tom Longboat, Canadian runner and soldier (d. 1949)
- 1889 – Beno Gutenberg, German-American seismologist (d. 1960)
- 1903 – Yevgeny Mravinsky, Russian conductor (d. 1988)
- 1904 – Bhagat Puran Singh, Indian publisher, environmentalist, and philanthropist (d. 1992)
- 1907 – Jacques Roumain, Haitian journalist and politician (d. 1944)
- 1907 – Rosalind Russell, American actress (d. 1976)
- 1907 – Patience Strong, English poet and journalist (d. 1990)
- 1910 – Christopher Cockerell, English engineer, invented the hovercraft (d. 1999)
- 1912 – Robert Jacobsen, Danish sculptor and painter (d. 1993)
- 1915 – Walter Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2006)
- 1915 – Modibo Keïta, Malian educator and politician, 1st President of Mali (d. 1977)
- 1915 – Nils Kihlberg, Swedish actor, singer, and director (d. 1965)
- 1916 – Robert F. Furchgott, American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
- 1916 – Fernand Leduc, Canadian painter (d. 2014)
- 1917 – Robert Merrill, American actor and singer (d. 2004)
- 1921 – Milan Komar, Slovenian-Argentinian philosopher and academic (d. 2006)
- 1921 – Bobby Wanzer, American basketball player and coach (d. 2016)
- 1923 – Elizabeth Jolley, English-Australian author and academic (d. 2007)
- 1923 – Masutatsu Ōyama, Japanese karateka (d. 1994)
- 1924 – Tofilau Eti Alesana, Samoan politician, 5th Prime Minister of Samoa (d. 1999)
- 1924 – Dennis Weaver, American actor and director (d. 2006)
- 1925 – Antonio Puchades, Spanish footballer (d. 2013)
- 1926 – Robert Earl Hughes, American who was the heaviest human being recorded in the history of the world during his lifetime (d. 1958)
- 1926 – Ain Kaalep, Estonian poet, playwright, and critic (d. 2020)
- 1926 – Judith Malina, German-American actress and director, co-founded The Living Theatre (d. 2015)
- 1927 – Henning Carlsen, Danish director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
- 1927 – Geoffrey Palmer, English actor
- 1928 – Ruth Westheimer, German-American therapist and author
- 1929 – Karolos Papoulias, Greek lawyer and politician, 5th President of Greece
- 1930 – George Chesworth, English air marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Moray (d. 2017)
- 1930 – Morgana King, American singer and actress (d. 2018)
- 1930 – Viktor Tikhonov, Russian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2014)
- 1931 – Gustav Nossal, Austrian-Australian biologist and academic
- 1932 – John Drew Barrymore, American actor (d. 2004)
- 1932 – Oliver Nelson, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1975)
- 1932 – Maurice Shadbolt, New Zealand author and playwright (d. 2004)
- 1934 – Monica Dacon, Vincentian educator and politician, 6th Governor-General of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- 1934 – Daphne Sheldrick, Kenyan-British conservationist and author (d. 2018)
- 1935 – Colette Boky, Canadian soprano and actress
- 1935 – Berhanu Dinka, Ethiopian economist and diplomat (d. 2013)
- 1936 – Vince Camuto, American fashion designer and businessman, co-founded Nine West (d. 2015)
- 1936 – Bruce Dern, American actor
- 1937 – Freddy Fender, American singer and guitarist (d. 2006)
- 1937 – Mortimer Zuckerman, Canadian-American businessman and publisher, founded Boston Properties
- 1938 – John Harvard, Canadian journalist and politician, 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (d. 2016)
- 1938 – Art Mahaffey, American baseball player
- 1939 – Jeremy Browne, 11th Marquess of Sligo, Anglo-Irish peer (d. 2014)
- 1939 – Denis de Belleval, Canadian civil servant and politician
- 1939 – Henri Pachard, American director and producer (d. 2008)
- 1939 – George Reid, Scottish journalist and politician, 2nd Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament
- 1940 – Ludwig Schwarz, Slovak-Austrian bishop
- 1941 – Kenneth G. Ross, Australian playwright and screenwriter
- 1942 – Louis Reichardt, American mountaineer
- 1942 – Bill Rowe, Canadian lawyer and politician
- 1943 – John Burgess, Australian radio and television host
- 1943 – Sandra Haynie, American golfer
- 1943 – Tom Jaine, English author
- 1944 – Roger Ball, Scottish saxophonist and songwriter
- 1944 – Michelle Phillips, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1945 – Anthony Braxton, American saxophonist, clarinet player, and composer
- 1945 – Daniel Topolski, English rower and coach (d. 2015)
- 1945 – Gordon Waller, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2009)
- 1947 – Viktor Klima, Austrian businessman and politician, 25th Chancellor of Austria
- 1948 – Bob Champion, English jockey
- 1948 – Sandra Post, Canadian golfer and sportscaster
- 1948 – Jürgen Sparwasser, German footballer and manager
- 1949 – Gabriel Arcand, Canadian actor
- 1949 – Mark B. Cohen, American lawyer and politician
- 1950 – Raymond Dumais, Canadian bishop (d. 2012)
- 1951 – Leigh Kennedy, American author
- 1951 – Bronisław Malinowski, Polish runner (d. 1981)
- 1951 – Melanie Phillips, English journalist and author
- 1951 – Wendy Pini, American author and illustrator
- 1951 – David Yip, English actor and playwright
- 1952 – Bronisław Komorowski, Polish historian and politician, 5th President of Poland
- 1952 – Dambudzo Marechera, Zimbabwean author and poet (d. 1987)
- 1953 – Linda Lingle, American journalist and politician, 6th Governor of Hawaii
- 1953 – Jimmy McCulloch, Scottish musician and songwriter (d. 1979)
- 1953 – Susumu Ojima, Japanese businessman, founded Huser
- 1953 – Paul Samson, English guitarist and producer (d. 2002)
- 1954 – Raphael Ravenscroft, English saxophonist and composer (d. 2014)
- 1954 – Kazuhiro Yamaji, Japanese actor and voice actor
- 1955 – Val McDermid, Scottish author
- 1955 – Mary Testa, American singer and actress
- 1956 – Keith David, American actor
- 1956 – John Hockenberry, American journalist and author
- 1956 – Terry Kennedy, American baseball player and manager
- 1956 – Joyce Sidman, American author and poet
- 1957 – Neil McNab, Scottish footballer
- 1959 – Juan Camacho, Bolivian runner
- 1959 – Georgios Voulgarakis, Greek politician, 21st Greek Minister for Culture
- 1960 – Miloš Đelmaš, Serbian footballer and manager
- 1960 – Kristine Kathryn Rusch, American author
- 1960 – Paul Taylor, American guitarist and keyboard player
- 1960 – Bradley Walsh, English television presenter, comedian, singer and former footballer
- 1961 – El DeBarge, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1961 – Ferenc Gyurcsány, Hungarian businessman and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Hungary
- 1962 – Krzysztof Hołowczyc, Polish race car driver
- 1962 – Zenon Jaskuła, Polish cyclist
- 1962 – John P. Kee, American singer-songwriter and pastor
- 1962 – Junius Ho, Hong Kong solicitor and politician
- 1963 – Sean Fitzpatrick, New Zealand rugby union player
- 1963 – Jim Lachey, American football player and sportscaster
- 1963 – Xavier McDaniel, American basketball player and coach
- 1964 – Sean Pertwee, English actor
- 1964 – Kōji Yamamura, Japanese animator, producer, and screenwriter
- 1965 – Mick Doohan, Australian motorcycle racer
- 1965 – Andrea Jaeger, American tennis player and preacher
- 1966 – Cecilia Bartoli, Italian soprano and actress
- 1966 – Vladimir Voevodsky, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 2017)
- 1966 – Bill Wiggin, English politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Wales
- 1967 – Robert S. Kimbrough, American colonel and astronaut
- 1968 – Roger Lim, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1968 – Niurka Montalvo, Cuban-Spanish long jumper
- 1968 – Al B. Sure!, American R&B singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
- 1968 – Scott Wolf, American actor
- 1969 – Horatio Sanz, Chilean-American actor and comedian
- 1970 – Deborah Compagnoni, Italian skier
- 1970 – Richie Hawtin, English-Canadian DJ and producer
- 1970 – Dave Pybus, English bass player and songwriter
- 1970 – Izabella Scorupco, Polish-Swedish actress and model
- 1971 – Joseph Kabila, Congolese soldier and politician, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- 1971 – Mike Lee, American lawyer and politician
- 1971 – Shoji Meguro, Japanese director and composer
- 1971 – Karl Martin Sinijärv, Estonian journalist and poet
- 1971 – Noah Wyle, American actor and producer
- 1972 – Derian Hatcher, American ice hockey defenseman
- 1972 – Rob Huebel, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1973 – Mikey Whipwreck, American wrestler and trainer
- 1974 – Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni, Indian chef (d. 2012)
- 1974 – Darin Erstad, American baseball player and coach
- 1974 – Andrew Gwynne, English lawyer and politician
- 1974 – Janette Husárová, Slovak tennis player
- 1974 – Buddy Wakefield, American poet and author
- 1975 – Russell Brand, English comedian and actor
- 1975 – Henry Burris, American football player
- 1975 – Angelina Jolie, American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian, and activist
- 1975 – Dinanath Ramnarine, Trinidadian cricketer
- 1975 – Alex Wharf, English cricketer
- 1976 – Kasey Chambers, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1976 – Alexei Navalny, Russian lawyer and politician
- 1976 – Nenad Zimonjić, Serbian tennis player
- 1977 – Dionisis Chiotis, Greek footballer
- 1977 – Alex Manninger, Austrian footballer
- 1977 – Roman Miroshnichenko, Ukrainian guitarist and composer
- 1977 – Roland G. Fryer Jr., American economist and professor
- 1978 – Robin Lord Taylor, American actor
- 1979 – Naohiro Takahara, Japanese footballer
- 1979 – Daniel Vickerman, South African-Australian rugby player (d. 2017)
- 1980 – François Beauchemin, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1981 – Jennifer Carroll, Canadian swimmer
- 1981 – Giourkas Seitaridis, Greek footballer
- 1981 – Natalia Vodopyanova, Russian basketball player
- 1982 – Abel Kirui, Kenyan runner
- 1982 – Ronnie Prude, American-Canadian football player
- 1983 – Romaric, Ivorian footballer
- 1983 – Emmanuel Eboué, Ivorian footballer
- 1983 – Olha Saladuha, Ukrainian triple jumper
- 1984 – Enrico Rossi Chauvenet, Italian footballer
- 1984 – Rainie Yang, Taiwanese actress
- 1984 – Ian White, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1985 – Leon Botha, South African painter and DJ (d. 2011)
- 1985 – Anna-Lena Grönefeld, German tennis player
- 1985 – Evan Lysacek, American figure skater
- 1985 – Lukas Podolski, German footballer
- 1985 – Oddvar Reiakvam, Norwegian politician
- 1987 – Luisa Zissman, English businesswoman
- 1987 – Mollie King, English singer-songwriter and model
- 1988 – Matt Bartkowski, American ice hockey defenseman
- 1988 – Kimberley Busteed, Australian model
- 1989 – Federico Erba, Italian footballer
- 1989 – Paweł Fajdek, Polish hammer thrower
- 1990 – Zac Farro, American singer and drummer
- 1990 – Evan Spiegel, American Internet entrepreneur
- 1991 – Lorenzo Insigne, Italian footballer
- 1991 – Matt McIlwrick, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1991 – Ben Stokes, New Zealand-English cricketer
- 1993 – Jonathan Huberdeau, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1995 – Shiori Tamai, Japanese singer
- 1999 – Kim So-hyun, South Korean actress
- 2004 – Mackenzie Ziegler, American dancer, singer, actress and model
Deaths on June 4
- 756 – Shōmu, Japanese emperor (b. 701)
- 863 – Charles, archbishop of Mainz
- 895 – Li Xi, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty
- 946 – Guaimar II (Gybbosus), Lombard prince
- 956 – Muhammad III of Shirvan, Muslim ruler
- 1039 – Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 990)
- 1102 – Władysław I Herman, Polish nobleman (b. c. 1044)
- 1134 – Magnus I of Sweden (b. 1106)
- 1135 – Emperor Huizong of Song (b. 1082)
- 1206 – Adela of Champagne (b. 1140)
- 1246 – Isabella of Angoulême (b. 1188)
- 1257 – Przemysł I of Greater Poland (b. 1221)
- 1394 – Mary de Bohun, wife of Henry IV of England (b.c. 1368)
- 1453 – Andronikos Palaiologos Kantakouzenos, Byzantine commander
- 1463 – Flavio Biondo, Italian historian and author (b. 1392)
- 1472 – Nezahualcoyotl, Aztec poet (b. 1402)
- 1585 – Muretus, French philosopher and author (b. 1526)
- 1608 – Francis Caracciolo, Italian Catholic priest (b. 1563)
- 1622 – Péter Révay, Hungarian soldier and historian (b. 1568)
- 1647 – Canonicus, Grand Chief Sachem of the Narragansett (b. 1565)
- 1663 – William Juxon, English archbishop and academic (b. 1582)
- 1798 – Giacomo Casanova, Italian adventurer and author (b. 1725)
- 1801 – Frederick Muhlenberg, American minister and politician, 1st Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1750)
- 1809 – Nicolai Abildgaard, Danish neoclassical and history painter, sculptor and architect (b. 1743)
- 1830 – Antonio José de Sucre, Venezuelan general and politician, 2nd President of Bolivia (b. 1795)
- 1872 – Johan Rudolph Thorbecke, Dutch historian, jurist, and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1798)
- 1875 – Eduard Mörike, German pastor and poet (b. 1804)
- 1876 – Abdülaziz of the Ottoman Empire, 32nd Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1830)
- 1922 – W. H. R. Rivers, English anthropologist, neurologist, ethnologist, and psychiatrist (b. 1864)
- 1925 – Margaret Murray Washington, American Academic (b. 1865)
- 1926 – Fred Spofforth, Australian-English cricketer and coach (b. 1853)
- 1928 – Zhang Zuolin, Chinese warlord (b. 1873)
- 1929 – Harry Frazee, American director, producer, and agent (b. 1881)
- 1931 – Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, Sharif and Emir of Mecca, King of the Hejaz (b. 1853/54)
- 1933 – Ahmet Haşim, Turkish poet and author (b. 1884)
- 1939 – Tommy Ladnier, American trumpet player (b. 1900)
- 1941 – Wilhelm II, German Emperor (b. 1859)
- 1942 – Reinhard Heydrich, German SS officer and politician (b. 1904)
- 1951 – Serge Koussevitzky, Russian-American bassist, composer, and conductor (b. 1874)
- 1956 – Katherine MacDonald, American actress and producer (b. 1881)
- 1962 – Clem McCarthy, American sportscaster (b. 1882)
- 1967 – Linda Eenpalu, Estonian lawyer and politician (b. 1890)
- 1968 – Dorothy Gish, American actress (b. 1898)
- 1970 – Sonny Tufts, American actor (b. 1911)
- 1971 – György Lukács, Hungarian historian and philosopher (b. 1885)
- 1973 – Maurice René Fréchet, French mathematician and academic (b. 1878)
- 1973 – Murry Wilson, American songwriter, producer, and manager (b. 1917)
- 1981 – Leslie Averill, New Zealand doctor and soldier (b. 1897)
- 1989 – Dik Browne, American cartoonist (b. 1917)
- 1990 – Stiv Bators, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1949)
- 1992 – Carl Stotz, American businessman, founded Little League Baseball (b. 1910)
- 1993 – Bernard Evslin, American writer (b. 1922)
- 1994 – Derek Leckenby, English musician (b. 1943)
- 1997 – Ronnie Lane, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1946)
- 1998 – Josephine Hutchinson, American actress (b. 1903)
- 2002 – Fernando Belaúnde Terry, Peruvian architect and politician, 42nd President of Peru (b. 1912)
- 2004 – Steve Lacy, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1934)
- 2004 – Nino Manfredi, Italian actor (b. 1921)
- 2007 – Clete Boyer, American baseball player and manager (b. 1937)
- 2007 – Bill France, Jr., American businessman (b. 1933)
- 2007 – Craig L. Thomas, American captain and politician (b. 1933)
- 2010 – John Wooden, American basketball player and coach (b. 1910)
- 2011 – Juan Francisco Luis, Virgin Islander sergeant and politician, 23rd Governor of the United States Virgin Islands (b. 1940)
- 2011 – Andreas P. Nielsen, Danish author and composer (b. 1953)
- 2012 – Peter Beaven, New Zealand architect, designed the Lyttelton Road Tunnel Administration Building (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Pedro Borbón, Dominican-American baseball player (b. 1946)
- 2012 – Rodolfo Quezada Toruño, Guatemalan cardinal (b. 1932)
- 2012 – Herb Reed, American violinist (b. 1929)
- 2013 – Walt Arfons, American race car driver (b. 1916)
- 2013 – Joey Covington, American drummer (b. 1945)
- 2013 – Hermann Gunnarsson, Icelandic footballer, handball player, and sportscaster (b. 1946)
- 2013 – Will Wynn, American football player (b. 1949)
- 2014 – George Ho, American-Hong Kong businessman (b. 1919)
- 2014 – Nathan Shamuyarira, Zimbabwean journalist and politician, Zimbabwean Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1928)
- 2014 – Sydney Templeman, Baron Templeman, English lawyer and judge (b. 1920)
- 2014 – Don Zimmer, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1931)
- 2015 – Marguerite Patten, English economist and author (b. 1915)
- 2015 – Leonid Plyushch, Ukrainian mathematician and academic (b. 1938)
- 2015 – Jabe Thomas, American race car driver (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Anne Warburton, British academic and diplomat, British Ambassador to Denmark (b. 1927)
- 2016 – Carmen Pereira, Bissau-Guinean politician (b. 1937)
- 2017 – Juan Goytisolo, Spanish essayist, poet and novelist (b. 1931)
Holidays and observances on June 4
- Birthday of Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim & Flag Day celebration of the Finnish Defence Forces (Finland)
- Christian feast day:
- Filippo Smaldone
- Francis Caracciolo
- Optatus
- Petroc of Cornwall
- Quirinus of Sescia
- Saturnina
- June 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Emancipation Day or Independence Day, commemorates the abolition of serfdom in Tonga by King George Tupou in 1862, and the independence of Tonga from the British protectorate in 1970. (Tonga)
- Flag Day (Estonia)
- International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression (International)
- National Unity Day (Hungary)
- Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989 Memorial Day (International)
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May 19 in History
- 639 – Ashina Jiesheshuai and his tribesmen assaulted Emperor Taizong at Jiucheng Palace.
- 715 – Pope Gregory II is elected.
- 1051 – Henry I of France marries the Russian princess, Anne of Kiev.
- 1445 – John II of Castile defeats the Infantes of Aragon at the First Battle of Olmedo.
- 1499 – Catherine of Aragon is married by proxy to Arthur, Prince of Wales. Catherine is 13 and Arthur is 12.
- 1535 – French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships, 110 men, and Chief Donnacona’s two sons (whom Cartier had kidnapped during his first voyage).
- 1536 – Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England, is beheaded for adultery, treason, and incest.
- 1542 – The Prome Kingdom falls to the Taungoo Dynasty in present-day Myanmar.
- 1568 – Queen Elizabeth I of England orders the arrest of Mary, Queen of Scots.
- 1643 – Thirty Years’ War: French forces under the duc d’Enghien decisively defeat Spanish forces at the Battle of Rocroi, marking the symbolic end of Spain as a dominant land power.
- 1649 – An Act of Parliament declaring England a Commonwealth is passed by the Long Parliament. England would be a republic for the next eleven years.
- 1655 – The Invasion of Jamaica begins during the Anglo-Spanish War.
- 1743 – Jean-Pierre Christin developed the centigrade temperature scale.
- 1749 – King George II of Great Britain grants the Ohio Company a charter of land around the forks of the Ohio River.
- 1776 – American Revolutionary War: A Continental Army garrison surrenders in the Battle of The Cedars.
- 1780 – New England’s Dark Day, an unusual darkening of the day sky, was observed over the New England states and parts of Canada.
- 1802 – Napoleon Bonaparte founds the Legion of Honour.
- 1828 – U.S. President John Quincy Adams signs the Tariff of 1828 into law, protecting wool manufacturers in the United States.
- 1845 – Captain Sir John Franklin and his ill-fated Arctic expedition depart from Greenhithe, England.
- 1848 – Mexican–American War: Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo thus ending the war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of four other modern-day U.S. states to the United States for US$15 million.
- 1911 – Parks Canada, the world’s first national park service, is established as the Dominion Parks Branch under the Department of the Interior.
- 1917 – The Norwegian football club Rosenborg BK is founded.
- 1919 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk lands at Samsun on the Anatolian Black Sea coast, initiating what is later termed the Turkish War of Independence.
- 1921 – The United States Congress passes the Emergency Quota Act establishing national quotas on immigration.
- 1922 – The Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union is established.
- 1934 – Zveno and the Bulgarian Army engineer a coup d’état and install Kimon Georgiev as the new Prime Minister of Bulgaria.
- 1942 – World War II: In the aftermath of the Battle of the Coral Sea, Task Force 16 heads to Pearl Harbor.
- 1950 – A barge containing munitions destined for Pakistan explodes in the harbor at South Amboy, New Jersey, devastating the city.
- 1950 – Egypt announces that the Suez Canal is closed to Israeli ships and commerce.
- 1959 – The North Vietnamese Army establishes Group 559, whose responsibility is to determine how to maintain supply lines to South Vietnam; the resulting route is the Ho Chi Minh trail.
- 1961 – Venera program: Venera 1 becomes the first man-made object to fly by another planet by passing Venus (the probe had lost contact with Earth a month earlier and did not send back any data).
- 1961 – At Silchar Railway Station, Assam, 11 Bengalis die when police open fire on protesters demanding state recognition of Bengali language in the Bengali Language Movement.
- 1962 – A birthday salute to U.S. President John F. Kennedy takes place at Madison Square Garden, New York City. The highlight is Marilyn Monroe’s rendition of “Happy Birthday”.
- 1963 – The New York Post Sunday Magazine publishes Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail.
- 1971 – Mars probe program: Mars 2 is launched by the Soviet Union.
- 1986 – The Firearm Owners Protection Act is signed into law by U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
- 1991 – Croatians vote for independence in a referendum.
- 1997 – The Sierra Gorda biosphere, the most ecologically diverse region in Mexico, is established as a result of grassroots efforts.
- 2007 – President of Romania Traian Băsescu survives an impeachment referendum and returns to office from suspension.
- 2010 – The Royal Thai Armed Forces concludes its crackdown on protests by forcing the surrender of United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship leaders.
- 2012 – Three gas cylinder bombs explode in front of a vocational school in the Italian city of Brindisi, killing one person and injuring five others.
- 2012 – A car bomb explodes near a military complex in the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, killing nine people.
- 2015 – The Refugio oil spill deposited 142,800 U.S. gallons (3,400 barrels) of crude oil onto an area in California considered one of the most biologically diverse coastlines of the west coast.
- 2016 – EgyptAir Flight 804 crashes into the Mediterranean Sea while traveling from Paris to Cairo, killing all on board.
- 2018 – The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is held at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, with an estimated global audience of 1.9 billion.
Births on May 19
- 1400 – John Stourton, 1st Baron Stourton, English soldier and politician (d. 1462)
- 1462 – Baccio D’Agnolo, Italian woodcarver, sculptor and architect (d. 1543)
- 1476 (or 1474) – Helena of Moscow, Grand Duchess consort of Lithuania and Queen consort of Poland (d. 1513)
- 1593 – Claude Vignon, French painter (d. 1670)
- 1616 – Johann Jakob Froberger, German organist and composer (d. 1667)
- 1639 – Charles Weston, 3rd Earl of Portland, English soldier and noble (d. 1665)
- 1700 – José de Escandón, 1st Count of Sierra Gorda, Spanish sergeant and politician (d. 1770)
- 1724 – Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol, English admiral and politician, Chief Secretary for Ireland (d. 1779)
- 1744 – Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, German-born Queen to George III of the United Kingdom (d. 1818)
- 1762 – Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher and academic (d. 1814)
- 1773 – Arthur Aikin, English chemist and mineralogist (d. 1854)
- 1795 – Johns Hopkins, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1873)
- 1827 – Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour, French academic and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1896)
- 1832 – James Watney, Jr., English politician, brewer and cricketer (d. 1886)
- 1857 – John Jacob Abel, American biochemist and pharmacologist (d. 1938)
- 1861 – Nellie Melba, Australian soprano and actress (d. 1931)
- 1871 – Walter Russell, American painter, sculptor, and author (d. 1963)
- 1874 – Gilbert Jessop, English cricketer and soldier (d. 1955)
- 1878 – Alfred Laliberté, Canadian sculptor and painter (d. 1953)
- 1879 – Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, American-English politician (d. 1964)
- 1880 – Albert Richardson, English architect and educator, designed the Manchester Opera House (d. 1964)
- 1881 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (official birthday), Turkish field marshal and statesman, 1st President of Turkey (d. 1938)
- 1884 – David Munson, American runner (d. 1953)
- 1886 – Francis Biddle, American lawyer and judge, 58th United States Attorney General (d. 1968)
- 1887 – Ion Jalea, Romanian soldier and sculptor (d. 1983)
- 1889 – Tản Đà, Vietnamese poet and author (d. 1939)
- 1889 – Henry B. Richardson, American archer (d. 1963)
- 1890 – Eveline Adelheid von Maydell, German-American illustrator (d. 1962)
- 1890 – Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese politician, 1st President of Vietnam (d. 1969)
- 1891 – Oswald Boelcke, German captain and pilot (d. 1916)
- 1893 – H. Bonciu, Romanian author, poet, and journalist (d. 1950)
- 1897 – Frank Luke, American lieutenant and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1918)
- 1898 – Julius Evola, Italian philosopher and painter (d. 1974)
- 1899 – Lothar Rădăceanu, Romanian journalist, linguist, and politician (d. 1955)
- 1902 – Lubka Kolessa, Ukrainian-Canadian pianist and educator (d. 1997)
- 1903 – Ruth Ella Moore, American scientist (d. 1994)
- 1906 – Bruce Bennett, American shot putter and actor (d. 2007)
- 1908 – Manik Bandopadhyay, Indian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1956)
- 1908 – Merriam Modell, American author (d. 1994)
- 1908 – Percy Williams, Canadian sprinter (d. 1982)
- 1909 – Nicholas Winton, English banker and humanitarian (d. 2015)
- 1910 – Alan Melville, South African cricketer (d. 1983)
- 1913 – Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, Indian lawyer and politician, 6th President of India (d. 1996)
- 1914 – Max Perutz, Austrian-English biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
- 1914 – Alex Shibicky, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2005)
- 1914 – John Vachon, American photographer and journalist (d. 1975)
- 1915 – Renée Asherson, English actress (d. 2014)
- 1918 – Abraham Pais, Dutch-American physicist, historian, and academic (d. 2000)
- 1919 – Georgie Auld, Canadian-American saxophonist, clarinet player, and bandleader (d. 1990)
- 1919 – Mitja Ribičič, Italian-Slovenian soldier and politician, 25th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (d. 2013)
- 1920 – Tina Strobos, Dutch psychiatrist known for rescuing Jews during World War II (d. 2012)
- 1921 – Leslie Broderick, English lieutenant and pilot (d. 2013)
- 1921 – Harry W. Brown, American colonel and pilot (d. 1991)
- 1921 – Daniel Gélin, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2002)
- 1921 – Yuri Kochiyama, American activist (d. 2014)
- 1921 – Karel van het Reve, Dutch historian and author (d. 1999)
- 1922 – Arthur Gorrie, Australian hobby shop proprietor (d. 1992)
- 1924 – Sandy Wilson, English composer and songwriter (d. 2014)
- 1925 – Pol Pot, Cambodian general and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Cambodia (d. 1998)
- 1925 – Malcolm X, American minister and activist (d. 1965)
- 1926 – Edward Parkes, English engineer and academic (d. 2019)
- 1926 – Peter Zadek, German director and screenwriter (d. 2009)
- 1927 – Serge Lang, French-American mathematician, author and academic (d. 2005)
- 1928 – Colin Chapman, English engineer and businessman, founded Lotus Cars (d. 1982)
- 1928 – Thomas Kennedy, English air marshal (d. 2013)
- 1928 – Gil McDougald, American baseball player and coach (d. 2010)
- 1928 – Dolph Schayes, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
- 1929 – Helmut Braunlich, German-American violinist and composer (d. 2013)
- 1929 – Richard Larter, Australian painter (d. 2014)
- 1929 – John Stroger, American politician (d. 2008)
- 1930 – Eugene Genovese, American historian and author (d. 2012)
- 1930 – Lorraine Hansberry, American playwright and director (d. 1965)
- 1931 – Bob Anderson, English race car driver (d. 1967)
- 1931 – Trevor Peacock, English actor, screenwriter and songwriter
- 1932 – Alma Cogan, English singer (d. 1966)
- 1932 – Paul Erdman, American economist and author (d. 2007)
- 1932 – Bill Fitch, American basketball player and coach
- 1932 – Elena Poniatowska, Mexican intellectual and journalist
- 1933 – Edward de Bono, Maltese physician, author, and academic
- 1934 – Ruskin Bond, Indian author and poet
- 1934 – Jim Lehrer, American journalist and author (d. 2020)
- 1935 – David Hartman, American journalist and television personality
- 1937 – Pat Roach, English wrestler (d. 2004)
- 1938 – Moisés da Costa Amaral, East Timorese politician (d. 1989)
- 1938 – Herbie Flowers, English musician
- 1938 – Igor Ter-Ovanesyan, Ukrainian long jumper and coach
- 1939 – Livio Berruti, Italian sprinter
- 1939 – James Fox, English actor
- 1939 – Nancy Kwan, Hong Kong-American actress and makeup artist
- 1939 – Jānis Lūsis, Latvian javelin thrower and coach (d. 2020)
- 1939 – Dick Scobee, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1986)
- 1940 – Jan Janssen, Dutch cyclist
- 1940 – Mickey Newbury, American country/pop singer-songwriter (d. 2002)
- 1941 – Nora Ephron, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
- 1941 – Igor Judge, Baron Judge, Maltese-English lawyer and judge, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
- 1942 – Gary Kildall, American computer scientist, founded Digital Research Inc. (d. 1994)
- 1942 – Robert Kilroy-Silk, English television host and politician
- 1943 – Eddie May, English footballer and manager (d. 2012)
- 1943 – Shirrel Rhoades, American author, publisher, and academic
- 1944 – Peter Mayhew, English-American actor (d. 2019)
- 1945 – Pete Townshend, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1946 – Claude Lelièvre, Belgian activist
- 1946 – Michele Placido, Italian actor and director
- 1946 – André the Giant, French-American wrestler and actor (d. 1993)
- 1947 – Paul Brady, Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1947 – Christopher Chope, English lawyer and politician
- 1947 – David Helfgott, Australian pianist
- 1948 – Grace Jones, Jamaican-American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
- 1949 – Dusty Hill, American singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1949 – Philip Hunt, Baron Hunt of Kings Heath, English politician
- 1949 – Archie Manning, American football player
- 1950 – Tadeusz Ślusarski, Polish pole vaulter (d. 1998)
- 1951 – Joey Ramone, American singer-songwriter (d. 2001)
- 1951 – Dick Slater, American wrestler
- 1952 – Charlie Spedding, English runner
- 1952 – Bert van Marwijk, Dutch footballer, coach, and manager
- 1953 – Patrick Hodge, Lord Hodge, Scottish lawyer and judge
- 1953 – Shavarsh Karapetyan, Armenian finswimmer
- 1953 – Florin Marin, Romanian footballer and manager
- 1953 – Victoria Wood, English actress, singer, director, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
- 1954 – Rick Cerone, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1954 – Hōchū Ōtsuka, Japanese voice actor
- 1954 – Phil Rudd, Australian-New Zealand drummer
- 1955 – James Gosling, Canadian-American computer scientist, created Java
- 1956 – Oliver Letwin, English philosopher and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
- 1956 – Martyn Ware, English keyboard player, songwriter, and producer
- 1957 – Bill Laimbeer, American basketball player and coach
- 1957 – James Reyne, Nigerian-Australian singer-songwriter
- 1961 – Vadim Cojocaru, Moldovan politician
- 1961 – Gregory Poirier, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1961 – Wayne Van Dorp, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1963 – Filippo Galli, Italian footballer and manager
- 1964 – Peter Jackson, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster (d. 1997)
- 1964 – John Lee, South Korean-American football player
- 1964 – Miloslav Mečíř, Slovak tennis player
- 1965 – Maile Flanagan, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
- 1966 – Marc Bureau, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
- 1966 – Jodi Picoult, American author and educator
- 1966 – Polly Walker, English actress
- 1967 – Alexia, Italian singer
- 1967 – Geraldine Somerville, Irish-born English actress
- 1968 – Kyle Eastwood, American actor and bass player
- 1970 – Stuart Cable, Welsh drummer (d. 2010)
- 1970 – K. J. Choi, South Korean golfer
- 1970 – Regina Narva, Estonian chess player
- 1970 – Nia Zulkarnaen, Indonesian actress, singer and producer
- 1971 – Ross Katz, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1971 – Andres Salumets, Estonian biologist, biochemist, and educator
- 1972 – Jenny Berggren, Swedish singer-songwriter
- 1972 – Claudia Karvan, Australian actress, producer, and screenwriter
- 1973 – Dario Franchitti, Scottish race car driver
- 1974 – Andrew Johns, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1974 – Emma Shapplin, French soprano
- 1974 – Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Indian actor
- 1975 – Pretinha, Brazilian footballer
- 1975 – London Fletcher, American football player
- 1975 – Josh Paul, American baseball player and manager
- 1975 – Jonas Renkse, Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1976 – Ed Cota, American basketball player
- 1976 – Kevin Garnett, American basketball player
- 1977 – Manuel Almunia, Spanish footballer
- 1977 – Wouter Hamel, Dutch singer and guitarist
- 1977 – Brandon Inge, American baseball player
- 1977 – Natalia Oreiro, Uruguayan singer-songwriter and actress
- 1978 – Marcus Bent, English footballer
- 1978 – Dave Bus, Dutch footballer
- 1979 – Andrea Pirlo, Italian footballer
- 1979 – Diego Forlan, Uruguayan footballer
- 1980 – Tony Hackworth, English footballer
- 1981 – Luciano Figueroa, Argentinian footballer
- 1981 – Yo Gotti, American rapper
- 1981 – Michael Leighton, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1981 – Sina Schielke, German sprinter
- 1981 – Klaas-Erik Zwering, Dutch swimmer
- 1982 – Kevin Amankwaah, English footballer
- 1982 – Pål Steffen Andresen, Norwegian footballer
- 1982 – Klaas Vantornout, Belgian cyclist
- 1983 – Michael Che, American comedian
- 1983 – Jessica Fox, English actress
- 1984 – Marcedes Lewis, American football player
- 1985 – Aleister Black, Dutch professional wrestler
- 1986 – Mario Chalmers, American basketball player
- 1987 – Michael Angelakos, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1987 – David Edgar, Canadian soccer player
- 1987 – Mariano Torres, Argentinian footballer
- 1987 – Jayne Wisener, Northern Irish actress
- 1991 – Jordan Pruitt, American singer-songwriter
- 1992 – Marshmello, American electronic music producer and DJ
- 1992 – Michele Camporese, Italian footballer
- 1992 – Ola John, Dutch footballer
- 1992 – Felise Kaufusi, New Zealand-Tongan rugby league player
- 1992 – Evgeny Kuznetsov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1992 – Sam Smith, English singer-songwriter
- 1994 – Carlos Guzmán, Mexican footballer
- 1995 – Taane Milne, New Zealand rugby league player
Deaths on May 19
- 804 – Alcuin, English monk and scholar (b. 735)
- 956 – Robert, archbishop of Trier
- 988 – Dunstan, English archbishop and saint (b. 909)
- 1102 – Stephen, Count of Blois (b. 1045)
- 1125 – Vladimir II Monomakh, Grand Duke of Kiev
- 1164 – Saint Bashnouna, Egyptian saint and martyr
- 1218 – Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor
- 1296 – Pope Celestine V (b. 1215)
- 1303 – Saint Ivo of Kermartin, French canon lawyer (b. 1253)
- 1319 – Louis, Count of Évreux (b. 1276)
- 1389 – Dmitry Donskoy, Grand Prince of Muscovy (b. 1350)
- 1396 – John I of Aragon (b. 1350)
- 1526 – Emperor Go-Kashiwabara of Japan (b. 1464)
- 1531 – Jan Łaski, Polish archbishop and diplomat (b. 1456)
- 1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England (1533–1536); second wife of Henry VIII of England (b. c. 1501)
- 1601 – Costanzo Porta, Italian composer (b. 1528)
- 1609 – García Hurtado de Mendoza, 5th Marquis of Cañete (b. 1535)
- 1610 – Thomas Sanchez, Spanish priest and theologian (b. 1550)
- 1623 – Mariam-uz-Zamani, Empress of the Mughal Empire (b. 1542)
- 1637 – Isaac Beeckman, Dutch scientist and philosopher (b. 1588)
- 1715 – Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, English poet and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1661)
- 1786 – John Stanley, English organist and composer (b. 1712)
- 1795 – Josiah Bartlett, American physician and politician, 4th Governor of New Hampshire (b. 1729)
- 1795 – James Boswell, Scottish biographer (b. 1740)
- 1798 – William Byron, 5th Baron Byron, English lieutenant and politician (b. 1722)
- 1821 – Camille Jordan, French lawyer and politician (b. 1771)
- 1825 – Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon, French philosopher and theorist (b. 1760)
- 1831 – Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, Estonian-German physician, botanist, and entomologist (b. 1793)
- 1864 – Nathaniel Hawthorne, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1804)
- 1865 – Sengge Rinchen, Mongolian general (b. 1811)
- 1872 – John Baker, English-Australian politician, 2nd Premier of South Australia (b. 1813)
- 1876 – Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer, Dutch historian and politician (b. 1801)
- 1885 – Peter W. Barlow, English engineer (b. 1809)
- 1895 – José Martí, Cuban journalist, poet, and philosopher (b. 1853)
- 1898 – William Ewart Gladstone, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1809)
- 1901 – Marthinus Wessel Pretorius, South African general and politician, 1st President of the South African Republic (b. 1819)
- 1903 – Arthur Shrewsbury, English cricketer (b. 1856)
- 1904 – Auguste Molinier, French librarian and historian (b. 1851)
- 1904 – Jamsetji Tata, Indian businessman, founded Tata Group (b. 1839)
- 1906 – Gabriel Dumont, Canadian Métis leader (b. 1837)
- 1907 – Benjamin Baker, English engineer, designed the Forth Bridge (b. 1840)
- 1912 – Bolesław Prus, Polish journalist and author (b. 1847)
- 1915 – John Simpson Kirkpatrick, English-Australian soldier (b. 1892)
- 1918 – Gervais Raoul Lufbery, French-American soldier and pilot (b. 1885)
- 1935 – T. E. Lawrence, British colonel and archaeologist (b. 1888)
- 1936 – Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, British Islamic scholar (b. 1875)
- 1939 – Ahmet Ağaoğlu, Azerbaijani-Turkish journalist and publicist (b. 1869)
- 1943 – Kristjan Raud, Estonian painter and illustrator (b. 1865)
- 1945 – Philipp Bouhler, German soldier and politician (b. 1889)
- 1946 – Booth Tarkington, American novelist and dramatist (b. 1869)
- 1950 – Daniel Ciugureanu, Romanian physician and politician, Prime Minister of Moldova (b. 1884)
- 1954 – Charles Ives, American composer and educator (b. 1874)
- 1958 – Jadunath Sarkar, Indian historian (b. 1870)
- 1958 – Archie Scott Brown, Scottish race car driver (b. 1927)
- 1958 – Ronald Colman, English actor (b. 1891)
- 1963 – Walter Russell, American painter, sculptor, and author (b. 1871)
- 1969 – Coleman Hawkins, American saxophonist and clarinet player (b. 1901)
- 1971 – Ogden Nash, American poet (b. 1902)
- 1978 – Albert Kivikas, Estonian-Swedish journalist and author (b. 1898)
- 1980 – Joseph Schull, Canadian playwright and historian (b. 1906)
- 1983 – Jean Rey, Belgian lawyer and politician, 2nd President of the European Commission (b. 1902)
- 1984 – John Betjeman, English poet and academic (b. 1906)
- 1986 – Jimmy Lyons, American saxophonist (b. 1931)
- 1987 – James Tiptree, Jr., American psychologist and author (b. 1915)
- 1989 – Yiannis Papaioannou, Greek composer and educator (b. 1910)
- 1994 – Jacques Ellul, French sociologist, philosopher, and academic (b. 1912)
- 1994 – Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, American journalist, 37th First Lady of the United States (b. 1929)
- 1994 – Luis Ocaña, Spanish cyclist (b. 1945)
- 1996 – John Beradino, American baseball player and actor (b. 1917)
- 1998 – Sōsuke Uno, Japanese soldier and politician, 75th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1922)
- 2001 – Alexey Maresyev, Russian soldier and pilot (b. 1916)
- 2001 – Susannah McCorkle, American singer (b. 1946)
- 2002 – John Gorton, Australian lieutenant and politician, 19th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1911)
- 2002 – Walter Lord, American historian and author (b. 1917)
- 2004 – Mary Dresselhuys, Dutch actress and screenwriter (b. 1907)
- 2007 – Bernard Blaut, Polish footballer and coach (b. 1940)
- 2007 – Dean Eyre, New Zealand politician (b. 1914)
- 2008 – Vijay Tendulkar, Indian playwright and screenwriter (b. 1928)
- 2009 – Robert F. Furchgott, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
- 2009 – Nicholas Maw, English composer and academic (b. 1935)
- 2009 – Clint Smith, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1913)
- 2011 – Garret FitzGerald, Irish lawyer and politician, 8th Taoiseach of Ireland (b. 1926)
- 2011 – Jeffrey Catherine Jones, American artist (b.1944)
- 2012 – Bob Boozer, American basketball player (b. 1937)
- 2012 – Tamara Brooks, American conductor and educator (b. 1941)
- 2012 – Ian Burgess, English race car driver (b. 1930)
- 2012 – Gerhard Hetz, German-Mexican swimmer (b. 1942)
- 2012 – Phil Lamason, New Zealand soldier and pilot (b. 1918)
- 2013 – G. Sarsfield Ford, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1933)
- 2013 – Robin Harrison, English-Canadian pianist and composer (b. 1932)
- 2013 – Neil Reynolds, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1940)
- 2014 – Simon Andrews, English motorcycle racer (b. 1982)
- 2014 – Jack Brabham, Australian race car driver (b. 1926)
- 2014 – Terry W. Gee, American businessman and politician (b. 1940)
- 2014 – Sam Greenlee, American author and poet (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Vincent Harding, American historian and scholar (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Gabriel Kolko, American historian and author (b. 1932)
- 2014 – Zbigniew Pietrzykowski, Polish boxer (b. 1934)
- 2015 – Bruce Lundvall, American businessman (b. 1935)
- 2015 – Ted McWhinney, Australian-Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1924)
- 2015 – Happy Rockefeller, American philanthropist, socialite; 31st Second Lady of the United States (b. 1926)
- 2015 – Robert S. Wistrich, English historian, author, and academic (b. 1945)
- 2016 – Alan Young, English-born Canadian-American actor (b. 1919)
- 2016 – Morley Safer, Canadian-born American journalist (b. 1931)
- 2017 – Nawshirwan Mustafa, General coordinator of the Movement for Change (Gorran) (b. 1944)
- 2018 – Zhengzhang Shangfang, Chinese linguist (b. 1933)
Holidays and observances on May 19
- Christian feast day:
- Calocerus (Eastern Orthodox Church)
- Crispin of Viterbo
- Dunstan (Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox Church; commemoration, Anglicanism)
- Ivo of Kermartin
- Joaquina Vedruna de Mas
- Maria Bernarda Bütler
- Peter Celestine
- Pudentiana (Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox Church)
- May 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day (Turkey, Northern Cyprus)
- Greek Genocide Remembrance Day (Greece)
- Hồ Chí Minh’s Birthday (Vietnam)
- Malcolm X Day (United States of America)
- National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (United States)
- Hepatitis Testing Day (United States)
- Mother’s Day (Kyrgyzstan)
-
February 7 in History
- 457 – Leo I the Thracian becomes emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
- 987 – Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II.
- 1301 – Edward of Caernarvon (later king Edward II of England) becomes the first English Prince of Wales.
- 1313 – King Thihathu founds the Pinya Kingdom as the de jure successor state of the Pagan Kingdom
- 1497 – In Florence, Italy, supporters of Girolamo Savonarola burn cosmetics, art, and books, in a “Bonfire of the vanities”.
- 1783 – American Revolutionary War: French and Spanish forces lift the Great Siege of Gibraltar.
- 1795 – The 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.
- 1807 – Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon finds Bennigsen’s Russian forces taking a stand at Eylau. After bitter fighting, the French take the town, but the Russians resume the battle the next day.
- 1812 – The strongest in a series of earthquakes strikes New Madrid, Missouri.
- 1813 – In the action of 7 February 1813 near the Îles de Los, the frigates Aréthuse and Amelia batter each other, but neither can gain the upper hand.
- 1819 – Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles leaves Singapore after just taking it over, leaving it in the hands of William Farquhar.
- 1842 – Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia defeats warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien.
- 1854 – A law is approved to found the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Lectures started October 16, 1855.
- 1863 – HMS Orpheus sinks off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand, killing 189.
- 1894 – The Cripple Creek miner’s strike, led by the Western Federation of Miners, begins in Cripple Creek, Colorado, United States.
- 1898 – Dreyfus affair: Émile Zola is brought to trial for libel for publishing J’Accuse…!.
- 1900 – Second Boer War: British troops fail in their third attempt to lift the Siege of Ladysmith.
- 1900 – A Chinese immigrant in San Francisco falls ill to bubonic plague in the first plague epidemic in the continental United States.
- 1904 – A fire begins in Baltimore, Maryland; it destroys over 1,500 buildings in 30 hours.
- 1940 – The second full-length animated Walt Disney film, Pinocchio, premieres.
- 1943 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy forces complete the evacuation of Imperial Japanese Army troops from Guadalcanal during Operation Ke, ending Japanese attempts to retake the island from Allied forces in the Guadalcanal Campaign.
- 1944 – World War II: In Anzio, Italy, German forces launch a counteroffensive during the Allied Operation Shingle.
- 1951 – Korean War: More than 700 suspected communist sympathizers are massacred by South Korean forces.
- 1962 – The United States bans all Cuban imports and exports.
- 1974 – Grenada gains independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1979 – Pluto moves inside Neptune’s orbit for the first time since either was discovered.
- 1984 – Space Shuttle program: STS-41-B Mission: Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered space walk using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU).
- 1986 – Twenty-eight years of one-family rule end in Haiti, when President Jean-Claude Duvalier flees the Caribbean nation.
- 1990 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party agrees to give up its monopoly on power.
- 1991 – Haiti’s first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in.
- 1991 – The Troubles: The Provisional IRA launched a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street in London, the headquarters of the British government.
- 1992 – The Maastricht Treaty is signed, leading to the creation of the European Union.
- 1995 – Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, is arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan.
- 1997 – NeXT merges with Apple Computer, starting the path to Mac OS X.
- 1999 – Crown Prince Abdullah becomes the King of Jordan on the death of his father, King Hussein.
- 2009 – Bushfires in Victoria leave 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australia’s history.
- 2012 – President Mohamed Nasheed of the Republic of Maldives resigns, after 23 days of anti-governmental protests calling for the release of Chief Judge unlawfully arrested by the military.
- 2013 – The U.S. state of Mississippi officially certifies the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment was formally ratified by Mississippi in 1995.
- 2014 – Scientists announce that the Happisburgh footprints in Norfolk, England, date back to more than 800,000 years ago, making them the oldest known hominid footprints outside Africa.
- 2016 – North Korea launches Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4 into outer space violating multiple UN treaties and prompting condemnation from around the world.
Births on February 7
- 574 – Prince Shōtoku of Japan (d. 622)
- 1102 – Empress Matilda, Holy Roman Empress, and claimant to the English throne (probable; d. 1167)
- 1478 – Thomas More, English lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of England (d. 1535)
- 1487 – Queen Dangyeong, Korean royal consort (d. 1557)
- 1500 – João de Castro, viceroy of Portuguese India (d. 1548)
- 1612 – Thomas Killigrew, English playwright and manager (d. 1683)
- 1622 – Vittoria della Rovere, Italian noble (d. 1694)
- 1693 – Empress Anna of Russia (d. 1740)
- 1722 – Azar Bigdeli, Iranian anthologist and poet (d. 1781)
- 1726 – Margaret Fownes-Luttrell, English painter (d. 1766)
- 1741 – Henry Fuseli, Swiss-English painter and academic (d. 1825)
- 1758 – Benedikt Schack, Czech tenor and composer (d. 1826)
- 1796 – Thomas Gregson, English-Australian lawyer and politician, 2nd Premier of Tasmania (baptism date; d. 1874)
- 1802 – Louisa Jane Hall, American poet, essayist, and literary critic (d. 1892)
- 1804 – John Deere, American blacksmith and businessman, founded Deere & Company (d. 1886)
- 1812 – Charles Dickens, English novelist and critic (d. 1870)
- 1825 – Karl Möbius, German zoologist and ecologist (d. 1908)
- 1834 – Alfred-Philibert Aldrophe, French architect (d. 1895)
- 1837 – James Murray, Scottish lexicographer and philologist (d. 1915)
- 1864 – Arthur Collins, American baritone singer (d. 1933)
- 1867 – Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author (d. 1957)
- 1870 – Alfred Adler, Austrian-Scottish psychologist and therapist (d. 1937)
- 1871 – Wilhelm Stenhammar, Swedish pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1927)
- 1873 – Thomas Andrews, Irish shipbuilder and businessman, designed the RMS Titanic (d. 1912)
- 1877 – G. H. Hardy, English mathematician and geneticist (d. 1947)
- 1878 – Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Russian-American pianist and conductor (d. 1936)
- 1885 – Sinclair Lewis, American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1951)
- 1885 – Hugo Sperrle, German field marshal (d. 1953)
- 1887 – Eubie Blake, American pianist and composer (d. 1983)
- 1889 – Harry Nyquist, Swedish-American engineer and theorist (d. 1976)
- 1893 – Joseph Algernon Pearce, Canadian astrophysicist and astronomer (d. 1988)
- 1893 – Nicanor Abelardo, Filipino pianist, composer and teacher (d. 1934)
- 1895 – Anita Stewart, American actress (d. 1961)
- 1901 – Arnold Nordmeyer, New Zealand minister and politician, 30th New Zealand Minister of Finance (d. 1989)
- 1904 – Ernest E. Debs, American politician, California State Assembly member, Los Angeles city councilman, and a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (d. 2002)
- 1905 – Paul Nizan, French philosopher and author (d. 1940)
- 1905 – Ulf von Euler, Swedish physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1983)
- 1906 – Puyi, Chinese emperor (d. 1967)
- 1906 – Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov, Russian engineer, founded the Antonov Aircraft Company (d. 1984)
- 1908 – Buster Crabbe, American swimmer and actor (d. 1983)
- 1908 – Manmath Nath Gupta, Indian journalist and author (d. 2000)
- 1909 – Hélder Câmara, Brazilian archbishop (d. 1999)
- 1909 – Amedeo Guillet, Italian soldier (d. 2010)
- 1912 – Russell Drysdale, English-Australian painter (d. 1981)
- 1915 – Teoctist Arăpașu, Romanian patriarch (d. 2007)
- 1915 – Eddie Bracken, American actor and singer (d. 2002)
- 1916 – Frank Hyde, Australian rugby player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2007)
- 1919 – Jock Mahoney, American actor and stuntman (d. 1989)
- 1919 – Desmond Doss, American army corporal and combat medic, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2006)
- 1920 – Oscar Brand, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and author (d. 2016)
- 1920 – An Wang, Chinese-American engineer and businessman, founded Wang Laboratories (d. 1990)
- 1921 – Athol Rowan, South African cricketer (d. 1998)
- 1922 – Hattie Jacques, English actress (d. 1980)
- 1923 – Dora Bryan, English actress and restaurateur (d. 2014)
- 1925 – Hans Schmidt, Canadian wrestler (d. 2012)
- 1926 – Konstantin Feoktistov, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2009)
- 1926 – Bill Hoest, American cartoonist (d. 1988)
- 1927 – Juliette Gréco, French singer and actress
- 1927 – Vladimir Kuts, Ukrainian-Russian runner and coach (d. 1975)
- 1927 – Lalo Ríos, Mexican actor (d. 1973)
- 1928 – Lincoln D. Faurer, American general (d. 2014)
- 1929 – Jim Langley, English international footballer, full back and manager (d. 2007)
- 1932 – Gay Talese, American journalist and memoirist
- 1932 – Alfred Worden, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2020)
- 1933 – K. N. Choksy, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, Sri Lankan Minister of Finance (d. 2015)
- 1934 – Eddie Fenech Adami, Maltese lawyer and politician, 7th President of Malta
- 1934 – King Curtis, American saxophonist and producer (d. 1971)
- 1934 – Earl King, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2003)
- 1935 – Cliff Jones, Welsh international footballer, winger
- 1935 – Herb Kohl, American businessman and politician
- 1935 – Jörg Schneider, Swiss actor and author (d. 2015)
- 1936 – Jas Gawronski, Italian journalist and politician
- 1937 – Peter Jay, English economist, journalist, and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States
- 1937 – Juan Pizarro, Puerto Rican baseball player
- 1940 – Tony Tan, Singaporean academic and politician, 7th President of Singapore
- 1941 – Kevin Crossley-Holland, English author and poet
- 1943 – Eric Foner, American historian, author, and academic
- 1943 – Gareth Hunt, English actor (d. 2007)
- 1945 – Gerald Davies, Welsh rugby player and journalist
- 1946 – Héctor Babenco, Argentinian-Brazilian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
- 1946 – Sammy Johns, American country music singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
- 1946 – Pete Postlethwaite, English actor (d. 2011)
- 1946 – Gérard Jean-Juste, Haitian priest and activist (d. 2009)
- 1949 – Jacques Duchesneau, Canadian police officer and politician
- 1949 – Joe English, American drummer and songwriter
- 1950 – Karen Joy Fowler, American author
- 1953 – Dan Quisenberry, American baseball player and poet (d. 1998)
- 1954 – Dieter Bohlen, German singer-songwriter and producer
- 1955 – Rolf Benirschke, American football player and game show host
- 1955 – Miguel Ferrer, American actor and director (d. 2017)
- 1956 – John Nielsen, Danish racing driver
- 1956 – Mark St. John, American guitarist (d. 2007)
- 1957 – Carney Lansford, American baseball player and coach
- 1958 – Giuseppe Baresi, Italian footballer and manager
- 1958 – Terry Marsh, English boxer and politician
- 1958 – Matt Ridley, English journalist, author, and politician
- 1959 – Mick McCarthy, English footballer, manager, and sportscaster
- 1960 – Robert Smigel, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1960 – James Spader, American actor and producer
- 1962 – Garth Brooks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1962 – David Bryan, American keyboard player and songwriter
- 1962 – Eddie Izzard, English comedian, actor, and producer
- 1963 – Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, American Naval officer and astronaut
- 1964 – Ashok Banker, Indian journalist, author, and screenwriter
- 1965 – Chris Rock, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1966 – Kristin Otto, German swimmer
- 1968 – Peter Bondra, Ukrainian-Slovak ice hockey player and manager
- 1968 – Sully Erna, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1968 – Mark Tewksbury, Canadian swimmer and sportscaster
- 1969 – Andrew Micallef, Maltese painter and musician
- 1971 – Anita Tsoy, Russian singer-songwriter
- 1972 – Robyn Lively, American actress
- 1973 – Juwan Howard, American basketball player and coach
- 1974 – J Dilla, American rapper and producer (d. 2006)
- 1974 – Nujabes, Japanese record producer, DJ, composer and arranger (d. 2010)
- 1974 – Steve Nash, South African-Canadian basketball player
- 1975 – Wes Borland, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1975 – Alexandre Daigle, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1975 – Rémi Gaillard, French comedian and actor
- 1976 – Chito Miranda, Filipino singer-songwriter
- 1977 – Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Japanese footballer
- 1978 – David Aebischer, Swiss ice hockey player
- 1978 – Endy Chávez, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1978 – Ashton Kutcher, American model, actor, producer, and entrepreneur
- 1978 – Daniel Van Buyten, Belgian football player
- 1979 – Daniel Bierofka, German footballer and coach
- 1979 – Tawakkol Karman, Yemeni journalist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1979 – Sam J. Miller, American author
- 1981 – Darcy Dolce Neto, Brazilian footballer
- 1981 – Lee Ok-sung, South Korean boxer
- 1982 – Osamu Mukai, Japanese actor
- 1982 – Mickaël Piétrus, French basketball player
- 1983 – Sho Kamogawa, Japanese footballer
- 1983 – Christian Klien, Austrian race car driver
- 1983 – Federico Marchetti, Italian footballer
- 1984 – Trey Hardee, American decathlete
- 1985 – Tina Majorino, American actress
- 1988 – Ai Kago, Japanese singer and actress
- 1989 – Nick Calathes, Greek basketball player
- 1989 – Elia Viviani, Italian cyclist
- 1989 – Isaiah Thomas, American basketball player
- 1990 – Gianluca Lapadula, Italian footballer
- 1990 – Dalilah Muhammad, American hurdler
- 1990 – Steven Stamkos, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1991 – Ryan O’Reilly, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1992 – Sergi Roberto, Spanish footballer
- 1992 – Ksenia Stolbova, Russian figure skater
- 1992 – Maimi Yajima, Japanese singer and actress
- 1993 – Chris Mears, English diver
- 1994 – Riley Barber, American ice hockey player
- 1995 – Roberto Osuna, Mexican baseball player
- 1996 – Pierre Gasly, French racing driver
- 1997 – Nicolò Barella, Italian footballer
Deaths on February 7
- 199 – Lü Bu, Chinese warlord
- 318 – Jin Mindi, emperor of the Jin Dynasty (b. 300)
- 999 – Boleslaus II the Pious, Duke of Bohemia (b. 932)
- 1045 – Emperor Go-Suzaku of Japan (b. 1009)
- 1065 – Siegfried I, Count of Sponheim (b. c. 1010)
- 1127 – Ava, German poet (b. 1060)
- 1165 – Marshal Stephen of Armenia
- 1259 – Thomas, Count of Flanders
- 1317 – Robert, Count of Clermont (b. 1256)
- 1320 – Jan Muskata, Bishop of Kraków (b. 1250)
- 1333 – Nikko, Japanese priest, founder of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism (b. 1246)
- 1520 – Alfonsina de’ Medici, Regent of Florence (b. 1472)
- 1560 – Bartolommeo Bandinelli, Florentine sculptor (b. 1493)
- 1603 – Bartholomäus Sastrow, German politician (b. 1520)
- 1626 – William V, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1548)
- 1642 – William Bedell, English bishop and academic (b. 1571)
- 1693 – Paul Pellisson, French lawyer and author (b. 1624)
- 1736 – Stephen Gray, English astronomer and physicist (b. 1666)
- 1779 – William Boyce, English organist and composer (b. 1711)
- 1799 – Qianlong Emperor of China (b. 1711)
- 1801 – Daniel Chodowiecki, Polish-German painter and academic (b. 1726)
- 1819 – August Wilhelm Hupel, German-Estonian linguist and author (b. 1737)
- 1823 – Ann Radcliffe, English author (b. 1764)
- 1837 – Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden (b. 1778)
- 1849 – Mariano Paredes, Mexican general and 16th president (1845-1846) (b. 1797)
- 1862 – Francisco de Paula Martínez de la Rosa y Berdejo, Spanish playwright and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1787)
- 1864 – Vuk Karadžić, Serbian philologist and linguist (b. 1787)
- 1871 – Henry E. Steinway, German-American businessman, founded Steinway & Sons (b. 1797)
- 1873 – Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish author (b. 1814)
- 1878 – Pope Pius IX (b. 1792)
- 1891 – Marie Louise Andrews, American story writer and journalist (b. 1849)
- 1897 – Galileo Ferraris, Italian physicist and engineer (b. 1847)
- 1919 – William Halford, English-American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1841)
- 1920 – Alexander Kolchak, Russian admiral and explorer (b. 1874)
- 1920 – Charles Langelier, Canadian journalist, judge, and politician (b. 1850)
- 1921 – John J. Gardner, American politician (b. 1845)
- 1937 – Elihu Root, American lawyer and politician, 38th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
- 1938 – Harvey Samuel Firestone, American businessman, founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company (b. 1868)
- 1939 – Boris Grigoriev, Russian painter and illustrator (b. 1886)
- 1942 – Ivan Bilibin, Russian illustrator and stage designer (b. 1876)
- 1944 – Lina Cavalieri, Italian soprano and actress (b. 1874)
- 1959 – Nap Lajoie, American baseball player and manager (b. 1874)
- 1959 – Daniel François Malan, South African minister and politician, 5th Prime Minister of South Africa (b. 1874)
- 1959 – Guitar Slim, American singer and guitarist (b. 1926)
- 1960 – Igor Kurchatov, Russian physicist and academic (b. 1903)
- 1963 – Learco Guerra, Italian cyclist and manager (b. 1902)
- 1964 – Sofoklis Venizelos, Greek captain and politician, 133rd Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1894)
- 1968 – Nick Adams, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1931)
- 1972 – Walter Lang, American director and screenwriter (b. 1896)
- 1979 – Josef Mengele, German SS officer and physician (b. 1911)
- 1986 – Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegalese historian, anthropologist, and physicist (b. 1923)
- 1990 – Alan Perlis, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1922)
- 1990 – Alfredo M. Santos, Filipino general (b. 1905)
- 1991 – Amos Yarkoni, Israeli colonel (b. 1920)
- 1994 – Witold Lutosławski, Polish composer and conductor (b. 1913)
- 1996 – Phillip Davidson, American general (b. 1915)
- 1999 – King Hussein of Jordan (b. 1935)
- 1999 – Bobby Troup, American actor, pianist, and composer (b. 1918)
- 2000 – Doug Henning, Canadian magician and politician (b. 1947)
- 2001 – Dale Evans, American singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1912)
- 2001 – Anne Morrow Lindbergh, American author and pilot (b. 1906)
- 2003 – Augusto Monterroso, Guatemalan author (b. 1921)
- 2005 – Atli Dam, Faroese engineer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (b. 1932)
- 2006 – Princess Durru Shehvar of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1914)
- 2009 – Blossom Dearie, American singer and pianist (b. 1924)
- 2010 – Franco Ballerini, Italian cyclist and coach (b. 1964)
- 2012 – Harry Keough, American soccer player and coach (b. 1927)
- 2013 – Krsto Papić, Croatian director and screenwriter (b. 1933)
- 2014 – Doug Mohns, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1933)
- 2015 – Billy Casper, American golfer and architect (b. 1931)
- 2015 – Marshall Rosenberg, American psychologist and author (b. 1934)
- 2015 – Dean Smith, American basketball player and coach (b. 1931)
- 2015 – John C. Whitehead, American banker and politician, 9th United States Deputy Secretary of State (b. 1922)
- 2017 – Richard Hatch, American actor (b. 1945)
- 2017 – Hans Rosling, Swedish academic (b. 1948)
- 2017 – Tzvetan Todorov, Bulgarian philosopher (b. 1939)
- 2019 – John Dingell, American politician (b. 1926)
- 2019 – Albert Finney, English actor (b. 1936)
- 2019 – Jan Olszewski, Polish politician, 3rd Prime Minister (b. 1930)
- 2019 – Frank Robinson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1935)
Holidays and observances on February 7
- Christian feast day:
- Richard the Pilgrim
- Blessed Eugénie Smet
- Blessed Pope Pius IX
- Chrysolius
- Egidio Maria of Saint Joseph
- Colette of Corbie
- February 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Orthodox Church Typically observed on the Sunday closest to January 25 (O.S.)/February 7 (N.S.)
- Independence Day (Grenada), celebrates the independence of Grenada from the United Kingdom in 1974.
- National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (United States)