1110

  • May 1 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 475 BC – Roman consul Publius Valerius Poplicola celebrates a Roman triumph for his victory over Veii and the Sabines.
    • 305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman emperor.
    • 524 – King Sigismund of Burgundy is executed at Orléans after an eight-year reign and is succeeded by his brother Godomar.
    • 880 – The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, setting the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches.
    • 1169 – Norman mercenaries land at Bannow Bay in Leinster, marking the beginning of the Norman invasion of Ireland.
    • 1328 – Wars of Scottish Independence end: By the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton, England recognises Scotland as an independent state.
    • 1455 – Battle of Arkinholm, Royal forces end the Black Douglas hegemony in Scotland.
    • 1576 – Stephen Báthory, the reigning Prince of Transylvania, marries Anna Jagiellon and they become co-rulers of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
    • 1707 – The Act of Union joining England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain takes effect.
    • 1753 – Publication of Species Plantarum by Linnaeus, and the formal start date of plant taxonomy adopted by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.
    • 1759 – Josiah Wedgwood founds the Wedgwood pottery company in Great Britain
    • 1776 – Establishment of the Illuminati in Ingolstadt, Upper Bavaria, by Jesuit-taught Adam Weishaupt.
    • 1778 – American Revolution: The Battle of Crooked Billet begins in Hatboro, Pennsylvania.
    • 1786 – In Vienna, Austria, Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro is performed for the first time.
    • 1794 – War of the Pyrenees: The Battle of Boulou ends, in which French forces defeat the Spanish and regain nearly all the land they lost to Spain in 1793.
    • 1820 – Execution of the Cato Street Conspirators, who plotted to kill the British Cabinet and Prime Minister Lord Liverpool.
    • 1840 – The Penny Black, the first official adhesive postage stamp, is issued in the United Kingdom.
    • 1844 – Hong Kong Police Force, the world’s second modern police force and Asia’s first, is established.
    • 1846 – The few remaining Mormons left in Nauvoo, Illinois, formally dedicate the Nauvoo Temple.
    • 1851 – Queen Victoria opens The Great Exhibition at The Crystal Palace in London.
    • 1856 – The Province of Isabela was created in the Philippines in honor of Queen Isabela II.
    • 1862 – American Civil War: The Union Army completes its capture of New Orleans.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville begins.
    • 1865 – The Empire of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay sign the Treaty of the Triple Alliance.
    • 1866 – The Memphis Race Riots begin. In three days time, 46 blacks and two whites were killed. Reports of the atrocities influenced passage of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
    • 1875 – Alexandra Palace reopens after being burned down in a fire in 1873.
    • 1884 – The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions demands the eight-hour work day in the United States.
    • 1884 – Moses Fleetwood Walker becomes the first black person to play in a professional baseball game in the United States.
    • 1885 – The original Chicago Board of Trade Building opens for business.
    • 1886 – Rallies are held throughout the United States demanding the eight-hour work day, culminating in the Haymarket affair in Chicago, in commemoration of which May 1 is celebrated as International Workers’ Day in many countries.
    • 1893 – The World’s Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago.
    • 1894 – Coxey’s Army, the first significant American protest march, arrives in Washington, D.C.
    • 1898 – Spanish–American War: Battle of Manila Bay: The Asiatic Squadron of the United States Navy destroys the Pacific Squadron of the Spanish Navy after a seven-hour battle. Spain loses all seven of its ships, and 381 Spanish sailors die. There are no American vessel losses or combat deaths.
    • 1900 – The Scofield Mine disaster kills over 200 men in Scofield, Utah in what is to date the fifth-worst mining accident in United States history.
    • 1915 – The RMS Lusitania departs from New York City on her 202nd, and final, crossing of the North Atlantic. Six days later, the ship is torpedoed off the coast of Ireland with the loss of 1,198 lives.
    • 1919 – German troops enter Munich to suppress the Bavarian Soviet Republic.
    • 1925 – The All-China Federation of Trade Unions is officially founded. Today it is the largest trade union in the world, with 134 million members.
    • 1927 – The Union Labor Life Insurance Company is founded by the American Federation of Labor.
    • 1929 – The 7.2 Mw  Kopet Dag earthquake shakes the Iran–Turkmenistan border region with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing up to 3,800 and injuring 1,121.
    • 1930 – “Pluto” is officially proposed for the name of the newly-discovered dwarf planet Pluto by Vesto Slipher in the Lowell Observatory Observation Circular. The name quickly catches on.
    • 1931 – The Empire State Building is dedicated in New York City.
    • 1941 – World War II: German forces launch a major attack during the siege of Tobruk.
    • 1944 – World War II: Two hundred Communist prisoners are shot by the Germans at Kaisariani, Athens in reprisal for the killing of General Franz Krech by partisans at Molaoi.
    • 1945 – World War II: A German newsreader officially announces that Adolf Hitler has “fallen at his command post in the Reich Chancellery fighting to the last breath against Bolshevism and for Germany”. The Soviet flag is raised over the Reich Chancellery, by order of Stalin.
    • 1945 – World War II: Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda commit suicide in the Reich Garden outside the Führerbunker. Their children are also killed by having cyanide pills inserted into their mouths by their mother, Magda.
    • 1945 – World War II: Forces of the Soviet Red Army liberate Allied prisoners of war imprisoned at Stalag Luft I near Barth, Germany.
    • 1945 – World War II: Up to 2,500 people die in a mass suicide in Demmin following the advance of the Red Army.
    • 1945 – World War II: Yugoslav Partisans liberate Trieste.
    • 1946 – Start of three-year Pilbara strike of Indigenous Australians.
    • 1946 – The Paris Peace Conference concludes that the islands of the Dodecanese should be returned to Greece by Italy.
    • 1947 – Portella della Ginestra massacre against May Day celebrations in Sicily by the bandit and separatist leader Salvatore Giuliano where 11 persons are killed and 33 wounded.
    • 1956 – The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk is made available to the public.
    • 1956 – A doctor in Japan reports an “epidemic of an unknown disease of the central nervous system”, marking the official discovery of Minamata disease.
    • 1957 – Thirty-four people are killed when a Vickers Viking airliner crashes in Hampshire, England.
    • 1960 – Formation of the western Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra; also known as “Maharashtra Day”.
    • 1960 – Cold War: U-2 incident: Francis Gary Powers, in a Lockheed U-2 spyplane, is shot down over the Sverdlovsk Oblast, Soviet Union, sparking a diplomatic crisis.
    • 1961 – The Prime Minister of Cuba, Fidel Castro, proclaims Cuba a socialist nation and abolishes elections.
    • 1965 – Cross-Strait relations: Battle of Dong-Yin, a naval conflict between the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China, takes place.
    • 1967 – Elvis Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu are married in Las Vegas.
    • 1970 – Vietnam War: Protests erupt following the announcement by Richard Nixon that the U.S. and South Vietnamese forces would attack Vietnamese communists in a Cambodian Campaign.
    • 1971 – Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) takes over operation of U.S. passenger rail service.
    • 1974 – The Argentine terrorist organization Montoneros is expelled from Plaza de Mayo by president Juan Perón.
    • 1977 – Thirty-six people are killed in Taksim Square, Istanbul, during the Labour Day celebrations.
    • 1978 – Japan’s Naomi Uemura, travelling by dog sled, becomes the first person to reach the North Pole alone.
    • 1982 – Operation Black Buck: The Royal Air Force attacks the Argentine Air Force during Falklands War.
    • 1983 – The Sydney Entertainment Centre is opened.
    • 1987 – Pope John Paul II beatifies Edith Stein, a Jewish-born Carmelite nun who was gassed in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz.
    • 1989 – Disney-MGM Studios opens at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, United States.
    • 1990 – The former Philippine Episcopal Church (supervised by the Episcopal Church of the United States of America) is granted full autonomy and raised to the status of an Autocephalous Anglican Province and renamed the Episcopal Church in the Philippines.
    • 1993 – Dingiri Banda Wijetunga became president of Sri Lanka automatically after killing of R Premadasa in LTTE bomb explosion.
    • 1994 – Three-time Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna is killed in an accident whilst leading the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.
    • 1995 – Croatian War of Independence: Croatian forces launch Operation Flash.
    • 1999 – The body of British climber George Mallory is found on Mount Everest, 75 years after his disappearance in 1924
    • 1999 – SpongeBob SquarePants premieres on Nickelodeon.
    • 2001 – Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declares the existence of “a state of rebellion”, hours after thousands of supporters of her arrested predecessor, Joseph Estrada, storm towards the presidential palace at the height of the EDSA III rebellion.
    • 2002 – OpenOffice.org released version 1.0, the first stable version of the software.
    • 2003 – Invasion of Iraq: In what becomes known as the “Mission Accomplished” speech, on board the USS Abraham Lincoln (off the coast of California), U.S. President George W. Bush declares that “major combat operations in Iraq have ended”.
    • 2004 – Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia join the European Union, celebrated at the residence of the Irish President in Dublin.
    • 2009 – Same-sex marriage is legalized in Sweden.
    • 2011 – Pope John Paul II is beatified by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI.
    • 2019 – Naxalite attack in Gadchiroli district of India: Sixteen army soldiers, including a driver, killed in an IED blast. Naxals targeted an anti-Naxal operations team.

    Births on May 1

    • 1218 – John I, Count of Hainaut (d. 1257)
    • 1218 – Rudolf I of Germany (d. 1291)
    • 1285 – Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel, English politician (d. 1326)
    • 1326 – Rinchinbal Khan, Mongolian emperor (d. 1332)
    • 1488 – Sidonie of Bavaria, eldest daughter of Duke Albrecht IV of Bavaria-Munich (d. 1505)
    • 1527 – Johannes Stadius, German astronomer, astrologer, mathematician (d. 1579)
    • 1545 – Franciscus Junius, French theologian (d. 1602)
    • 1579 – Wolphert Gerretse, Dutch-American farmer, co-founded New Netherland (d. 1662)
    • 1582 – Marco da Gagliano, Italian composer (d. 1643)
    • 1585 – Sophia Olelkovich Radziwill, Belarusian saint (d. 1612)
    • 1591 – Johann Adam Schall von Bell, German missionary and astronomer (d. 1666)
    • 1594 – John Haynes, English-American politician, 1st Governor of the Colony of Connecticut (d. 1653)
    • 1602 – William Lilly, English astrologer (d. 1681)
    • 1672 – Joseph Addison, English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician (d. 1719)
    • 1730 – Joshua Rowley, English admiral (d. 1790)
    • 1735 – Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen, Dutch admiral and philanthropist (d. 1819)
    • 1751 – Judith Sargent Murray, American poet and playwright (d. 1820)
    • 1764 – Benjamin Henry Latrobe, English-American architect, designed the United States Capitol (d. 1820)
    • 1769 – Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Irish-English field marshal and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1852)
    • 1783 – Phoebe Hinsdale Brown, American hymnwriter (d. 1861)
    • 1803 – James Clarence Mangan, Irish poet and author (d. 1849)
    • 1821 – Henry Ayers, English-Australian politician, 8th Premier of South Australia (d. 1897)
    • 1824 – Alexander William Williamson, English chemist and academic (d. 1904)
    • 1825 – Johann Jakob Balmer, Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1898)
    • 1825 – George Inness, American painter and educator (d. 1894)
    • 1827 – Jules Breton, French painter (d. 1906)
    • 1829 – José de Alencar, Brazilian author and playwright (d. 1877)
    • 1829 – Frederick Sandys, English painter and illustrator (d. 1904)
    • 1830 – Guido Gezelle, Belgian priest and poet (d. 1899)
    • 1831 – Emily Stowe, Canadian physician and activist (d. 1903)
    • 1847 – Henry Demarest Lloyd, American journalist and politician (d. 1903)
    • 1848 – Adelsteen Normann, Norwegian painter (d. 1919)
    • 1850 – Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (d. 1942)
    • 1851 – Laza Lazarević, Serbian psychiatrist and neurologist (d. 1891)
    • 1852 – Calamity Jane, American frontierswoman and professional scout (d. 1903)
    • 1852 – Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Spanish neuroscientist and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1934)
    • 1853 – Jacob Mikhailovich Gordin, Jewish Ukrainian-American journalist, actor, and playwright (d. 1909)
    • 1855 – Cecilia Beaux, American painter and academic (d. 1942)
    • 1857 – Theo van Gogh, Dutch art dealer (d. 1891)
    • 1859 – Jacqueline Comerre-Paton, French painter and sculptor (d. 1955)
    • 1862 – Marcel Prévost, French novelist and playwright (d. 1941)
    • 1864 – Anna Jarvis, American founder of Mother’s Day (d. 1948)
    • 1871 – Seakle Greijdanus, Dutch theologian and scholar (d. 1948)
    • 1871 – Emiliano Chamorro Vargas, President of Nicaragua (d. 1966)
    • 1872 – Hugo Alfvén, Swedish composer, conductor, violinist, and painter (d. 1960)
    • 1872 – Sidónio Pais, Portuguese soldier and politician, 4th President of Portugal (d. 1918)
    • 1874 – Romaine Brooks, American-French painter and illustrator (d. 1970)
    • 1874 – Paul Van Asbroeck, Belgian target shooter (d. 1959)
    • 1875 – Dave Hall, American runner (d. 1972)
    • 1881 – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French priest, palaeontologist, and philosopher (d. 1955)
    • 1884 – Francis Curzon, 5th Earl Howe, English race car driver and politician (d. 1964)
    • 1885 – Clément Pansaers, Belgian poet (d. 1922)
    • 1885 – Ralph Stackpole, American sculptor and painter (d. 1973)
    • 1887 – Alan Cunningham, Anglo-Irish general and diplomat, High Commissioners for Palestine and Transjordan (d. 1983)
    • 1890 – Clelia Lollini, Italian physician (d. 1963 or 1964)
    • 1891 – Lillian Estelle Fisher, American historian of Spanish America (d. 1988)
    • 1895 – Nikolai Yezhov, Soviet secret police official, head of the NKVD (d. 1940)
    • 1895 – May Hollinworth, Australian theatre producer and director (d. 1968)
    • 1896 – Herbert Backe, German agronomist and politician (d. 1947)
    • 1896 – Mark W. Clark, American general (d. 1984)
    • 1896 – J. Lawton Collins, American general (d. 1987)
    • 1898 – Alfred Schmidt, Estonian weightlifter (d. 1972)
    • 1900 – Ignazio Silone, Italian journalist and politician (d. 1978)
    • 1900 – Aleksander Wat, Polish poet and writer (d. 1967)
    • 1901 – Sterling Allen Brown, American poet, academic, and critic (d. 1989)
    • 1901 – Heinz Eric Roemheld, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1985)
    • 1901 – Antal Szerb, Hungarian scholar and author (d. 1945)
    • 1905 – Henry Koster, German-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1988)
    • 1906 – Horst Schumann, German SS officer and physician (d. 1983)
    • 1907 – Hayes Alvis, American bassist (d. 1972)
    • 1907 – Kate Smith, American singer and actress (d. 1986)
    • 1908 – Giovannino Guareschi, Italian journalist and author (d. 1968)
    • 1908 – Morris Kline, American mathematician and academic (d. 1992)
    • 1909 – Endel Puusepp, Estonian-Soviet military pilot and politician (d. 1996)
    • 1909 – Yiannis Ritsos, Greek poet and playwright (d. 1990)
    • 1910 – Behice Boran, Turkish sociologist and politician (d. 1987)
    • 1910 – Raya Dunayevskaya, Ukrainian-American philosopher and activist (d. 1987)
    • 1910 – Dirk Andries Flentrop, Dutch organ builder (d. 2003)
    • 1910 – J. Allen Hynek, American astronomer and ufologist (d. 1986)
    • 1910 – Nejdet Sançar, Turkish literature teacher (d. 1975)
    • 1911 – Wilfred Watson, English-Canadian poet, playwright and educator (d. 1998)
    • 1912 – Otto Kretschmer, German admiral (d. 1998)
    • 1913 – Louis Nye, American actor (d. 2005)
    • 1913 – Walter Susskind, Czech-English pianist, conductor, and educator (d. 1980)
    • 1914 – Jaap van der Poll, Dutch javelin thrower (d. 2010)
    • 1915 – Hanns Martin Schleyer, German businessman (d. 1977)
    • 1916 – Antoni Bazaniak, Polish sprint canoeist (d. 1979)
    • 1916 – Glenn Ford, Canadian-American actor and producer (d. 2006)
    • 1917 – John Beradino, American baseball player and actor (d. 1996)
    • 1917 – Ulric Cross, Trinidadian navigator, judge, and diplomat (d. 2013)
    • 1917 – Danielle Darrieux, French actress and singer (d. 2017)
    • 1917 – Ahron Soloveichik, Russian rabbi and scholar (d. 2001)
    • 1918 – Gersh Budker, Ukrainian-Russian physicist and academic (d. 1977)
    • 1918 – Jack Paar, American comedian, author and talk show host (d. 2004)
    • 1919 – Manna Dey, Indian singer and composer (d. 2013)
    • 1919 – Mohammed Karim Lamrani, Moroccan businessman and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Morocco (d. 2018)
    • 1919 – Dan O’Herlihy, Irish-American actor (d. 2005)
    • 1921 – Vladimir Colin, Romanian journalist and author (d. 1991)
    • 1922 – Alastair Gillespie, Canadian scholar and politician (d. 2018)
    • 1923 – Joseph Heller, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright (d. 1999)
    • 1923 – Antônio Maria Mucciolo, Italian-Brazilian archbishop (d. 2012)
    • 1923 – Marcel Rayman, Polish soldier (d. 1944)
    • 1924 – Evelyn Boyd Granville, American mathematician, computer scientist, and academic
    • 1924 – Karel Kachyňa, Czech director and screenwriter (d. 2004)
    • 1924 – Terry Southern, American novelist, essayist, and screenwriter (d. 1995)
    • 1925 – Chuck Bednarik, American lieutenant and football player (d. 2015)
    • 1925 – Scott Carpenter, American commander, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Sardar Fazlul Karim, Bangladeshi philosopher, scholar, and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1926 – Peter Lax, Hungarian-American mathematician and academic
    • 1927 – Gary Bertini, Israeli conductor and composer (d. 2005)
    • 1927 – Laura Betti, Italian actress (d. 2004)
    • 1927 – Albert Zafy, Malagasy politician, 3rd President of Madagascar (d. 2017)
    • 1927 – Bernard Vukas, Yugoslav-Croatian footballer (d. 1983)
    • 1928 – Sonny James, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)
    • 1928 – Delfim Netto, Brazilian economist
    • 1929 – Ralf Dahrendorf, German-English sociologist and politician (d. 2009)
    • 1929 – Sonny Ramadhin, Trinidadian cricketer
    • 1930 – Ollie Matson, American sprinter and football player (d. 2011)
    • 1930 – Richard Riordan, American lieutenant and politician, 39th Mayor of Los Angeles and publisher
    • 1930 – Little Walter Jacobs, American blues harp player and singer (d. 1968)
    • 1931 – Naim Attallah, Palestinian author
    • 1932 – Sandy Woodward, English admiral (d. 2013)
    • 1932 – Tabibar Rahman Sarder, Bangladeshi politician. (d. 2010)
    • 1934 – Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, Mexican politician
    • 1934 – Tang Chang, Thai artist (d. 1990)
    • 1934 – Shirley Horn, American singer and pianist (d. 2005)
    • 1934 – Phillip King, Tunisian-English sculptor
    • 1934 – John Meillon, Australian actor (d. 1989)
    • 1936 – Danièle Huillet, French filmmaker (d. 2006)
    • 1936 – Hans E. Wallman, Swedish director, producer, and composer (d. 2014)
    • 1937 – Una Stubbs, English actress and dancer
    • 1939 – Judy Collins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1939 – Wilhelmina Cooper, Dutch model (d. 1980)
    • 1939 – Victor Davies, Canadian pianist, composer, and conductor
    • 1943 – Vassal Gadoengin, Nauruan politician (d. 2004)
    • 1943 – Joe Walsh, Irish politician, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (d. 2014)
    • 1945 – Rita Coolidge, American singer-songwriter
    • 1945 – Carson Whitsett, American keyboard player, songwriter, and producer (d. 2007)
    • 1946 – Joanna Lumley, English actress, voice-over artist, author, and activist
    • 1946 – John Woo, Hong Kong director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1947 – Jacob Bekenstein, Mexican-born Israeli-American theoretical physicist (d. 2015)
    • 1947 – Sergio Infante, Chilean-Swedish poet and author
    • 1948 – Györgyi Balogh, Hungarian sprinter
    • 1948 – Patricia Hill Collins, American sociologist and scholar
    • 1949 – Jim Clench, Canadian bass player (d. 2010)
    • 1949 – Tim Hodgkinson, English saxophonist, clarinet player, and composer
    • 1949 – Paul Teutul, Sr., American motorcycle designer, co-founded Orange County Choppers
    • 1950 – Dann Florek, American actor and director
    • 1950 – Danny McGrain, Scottish footballer and coach
    • 1951 – Gordon Greenidge, Barbadian cricketer and coach
    • 1951 – Geoff Lees, English race car driver
    • 1951 – Sally Mann, American photographer
    • 1952 – Richard Blundell, English economist and academic
    • 1952 – Kim Lewison, English lawyer and judge
    • 1952 – Peter Smith, Malaysian-born English academic and judge
    • 1953 – Glen Ballard, American songwriter and producer
    • 1954 – Ray Parker, Jr., American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1954 – Joel Rosenberg, Canadian-American author and activist (d. 2011)
    • 1955 – Alex Cunningham, Scottish politician
    • 1955 – Martin O’Donnell, American composer
    • 1955 – Ray Searage, American baseball player and coach
    • 1956 – Catherine Frot, French actress
    • 1956 – Phil Foglio, American illustrator
    • 1957 – Rick Darling, Australian cricketer
    • 1957 – Uberto Pasolini, Italian banker, director, and producer
    • 1959 – Yasmina Reza, French actress and playwright
    • 1959 – Lawrence Seeff, South African cricketer and basket weaver
    • 1960 – Steve Cauthen, American jockey and sportscaster
    • 1961 – Sultan Günal-Gezer, Dutch politician
    • 1961 – Clint Malarchuk, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1961 – Marilyn Milian, American judge
    • 1961 – Vasiliy Sidorenko, Russian hammer thrower
    • 1962 – Maia Morgenstern, Romanian actress
    • 1962 – Ted Sundquist, American football player, coach, and manager
    • 1964 – Yvonne van Gennip, Dutch speed skater
    • 1966 – Olaf Thon, German footballer and manager
    • 1967 – Tim McGraw, American singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1968 – Oliver Bierhoff, German footballer and manager
    • 1968 – D’arcy Wretzky, American bass player and singer
    • 1969 – Wes Anderson, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1969 – Mary Lou McDonald, Irish politician
    • 1969 – Billy Owens, American basketball player
    • 1970 – Bernard Butler, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1971 – Ethan Albright, American football player
    • 1971 – Stuart Appleby, Australian golfer
    • 1971 – Kim Grant, South African tennis player
    • 1971 – Artur Kohutek, Polish hurdler and soldier
    • 1971 – Ajith Kumar, Indian film actor in Tamil cinema and race car driver
    • 1972 – Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Yemeni terrorist
    • 1972 – Julie Benz, American actress
    • 1972 – Yoon Hae-young, South Korean actress
    • 1973 – Peter Baah, English footballer and manager
    • 1973 – Mike Jesse, German footballer
    • 1973 – Curtis Martin, American football player
    • 1973 – Oliver Neuville, German footballer
    • 1975 – Austin Croshere, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1975 – Marc-Vivien Foé, Cameroonian footballer (d. 2003)
    • 1975 – Nina Hossain, English journalist
    • 1975 – Alexey Smertin, Russian international footballer
    • 1976 – Patricia Stokkers, Dutch swimmer
    • 1977 – Vera Lischka, Austrian swimmer and politician
    • 1978 – James Badge Dale, American actor
    • 1979 – Mauro Bergamasco, Italian rugby player
    • 1979 – Roman Lyashenko, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2003)
    • 1980 – Marvin Cabrera, Mexican footballer
    • 1980 – Rob Davison, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1980 – Inês Henriques, Portuguese race walker
    • 1980 – Jan Heylen, Belgian race car driver
    • 1980 – Jay Reatard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2010)
    • 1980 – Yuliya Tabakova, Russian athlete
    • 1981 – Manny Acosta, Panamanian baseball player
    • 1981 – Derek Asamoah, Ghanaian footballer
    • 1981 – Alexander Hleb, Belarusian footballer
    • 1981 – Wes Welker, American football player
    • 1982 – Beto, Portuguese footballer
    • 1982 – Jamie Dornan, Northern Irish model and actor
    • 1982 – Mark Farren, Irish footballer (d. 2016)
    • 1982 – Katya Zamolodchikova, American drag queen
    • 1982 – Tommy Robredo, Spanish tennis player
    • 1982 – Darijo Srna, Croatian footballer
    • 1983 – Alain Bernard, French swimmer
    • 1983 – Human Tornado, American wrestler
    • 1983 – Park Hae-jin, South Korean actor
    • 1984 – David Backes, American ice hockey player
    • 1984 – Mišo Brečko, Slovenian footballer
    • 1984 – Patrick Eaves, American ice hockey player
    • 1984 – Alexander Farnerud, Swedish footballer
    • 1984 – Farah Fath, American actress
    • 1984 – Keiichiro Koyama, Japanese singer and actor
    • 1984 – Víctor Montaño, Colombian footballer
    • 1984 – Mark Seaby, Australian footballer
    • 1985 – Shahriar Nafees, Bangladeshi cricketer
    • 1986 – Christian Benítez, Ecuadorian footballer (d. 2013)
    • 1986 – Adam Casey, Australian footballer
    • 1986 – Cassie Jaye, American actress and film director
    • 1986 – Jesse Klaver, Dutch politician
    • 1986 – Lee Chang-min, South Korean singer
    • 1986 – Brent Stanton, Australian footballer
    • 1987 – Leonardo Bonucci, Italian footballer
    • 1987 – Glen Coffee, American football player
    • 1987 – Iván DeJesús Jr., Puerto Rican baseball player
    • 1987 – Marcus Drum, Australian footballer
    • 1987 – Amir Johnson, American basketball player
    • 1987 – Ryan Mathews, American football player
    • 1987 – Saidi Ntibazonkiza, Burundian footballer
    • 1987 – Shahar Pe’er, Israeli tennis player
    • 1988 – Maria Balaba, Latvian figure skater
    • 1988 – Maxim Gustik, Belarusian freestyle skier
    • 1988 – Teodor Peterson, Swedish cross-country skier
    • 1989 – Alejandro Arribas, Spanish footballer
    • 1989 – Poļina Jeļizarova, Latvian runner
    • 1990 – Uriel Álvarez, Mexican footballer
    • 1990 – Caitlin Stasey, Australian actress
    • 1990 – Diego Contento, German footballer
    • 1990 – Scooter Gennett, American baseball player
    • 1991 – Marcus Stroman, American baseball player
    • 1991 – Daniel Talbot, British sprinter
    • 1992 – Trevor Philp, Canadian alpine skier
    • 1992 – Bradley Roby, American football player
    • 1993 – Jean-Christophe Bahebeck, French footballer
    • 1993 – Ifeoma Nwoye, Nigerian wrestler
    • 1994 – Wallace Oliveira, Brazilian footballer
    • 1995 – Collin Seedorf, Dutch footballer
    • 1996 – Christopher J. Alexis Jr., Grenadian road cyclist
    • 1996 – Daniel Saifiti, Australian-Fijian rugby league player
    • 1996 – Jacob Saifiti, Australian-Fijian rugby league player
    • 1996 – Michael Seaton, Jamaican footballer
    • 2004 – Charli D’Amelio, American social media influencer and dancer

    Deaths on May 1

    • 408 – Arcadius, Byzantine emperor (b. 377)
    • 558 – Marcouf, missionary and saint
    • 908 – Wang Zongji, Chinese prince and pretender
    • 1118 – Matilda of Scotland (b. 1080)
    • 1171 – Diarmait Mac Murchada, King of Leinster (b. 1110)
    • 1187 – Roger de Moulins, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller
    • 1255 – Walter de Gray, English prelate and statesman
    • 1277 – Stefan Uroš I of Serbia (b. 1223)
    • 1278 – William II of Villehardouin
    • 1308 – Albert I of Germany (b. 1255)
    • 1312 – Paul I Šubić of Bribir
    • 1539 – Isabella of Portugal (b. 1503)
    • 1555 – Pope Marcellus II (b. 1501)
    • 1572 – Pope Pius V (b. 1504)
    • 1668 – Frans Luycx, Flemish painter (b. 1604)
    • 1730 – François de Troy, French painter and engraver (b. 1645)
    • 1731 – Johann Ludwig Bach, German violinist and composer (b. 1677)
    • 1738 – Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, English politician, First Lord of the Treasury (b. 1669)
    • 1772 – Gottfried Achenwall, Polish-German historian, economist, and jurist (b. 1719)
    • 1813 – Jean-Baptiste Bessières, French general (b. 1768)
    • 1838 – Antoine Louis Dugès, French obstetrician and naturalist (b. 1797)
    • 1856 – John Wilbur, American minister and theologian (b. 1774)
    • 1873 – David Livingstone, Scottish-English missionary and explorer (b. 1813)
    • 1899 – Ludwig Büchner, German physiologist and physician (b. 1824)
    • 1904 – Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer and academic (b. 1841)
    • 1913 – John Barclay Armstrong, American lieutenant (b. 1850)
    • 1920 – Princess Margaret of Connaught (b. 1882)
    • 1935 – Henri Pélissier, French cyclist (b. 1889)
    • 1943 – Johan Oscar Smith, Norwegian religious leader, founded the Brunstad Christian Church (b. 1871)
    • 1945 – Joseph Goebbels, German lawyer and politician, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1897)
    • 1945 – Magda Goebbels, German wife of Joseph Goebbels (b. 1901)
    • 1953 – Everett Shinn, American painter and illustrator (b. 1876)
    • 1956 – LeRoy Samse, American pole vaulter (b. 1883)
    • 1960 – Charles Holden, English architect, designed the Bristol Central Library (b. 1875)
    • 1963 – Lope K. Santos, Filipino lawyer and politician (b. 1879)
    • 1965 – Spike Jones, American singer and bandleader (b. 1911)
    • 1968 – Jack Adams, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1895)
    • 1968 – Harold Nicolson, English author and politician (b. 1886)
    • 1970 – Yi Un, Korean prince (b. 1897)
    • 1973 – Asger Jorn, Danish painter and sculptor (b. 1914)
    • 1976 – T. R. M. Howard, American surgeon and activist (b. 1908)
    • 1976 – Alexandros Panagoulis, Greek poet and politician (b. 1939)
    • 1978 – Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer and conductor (b. 1903)
    • 1982 – William Primrose, Scottish viola player and educator (b. 1903)
    • 1984 – Jüri Lossmann, Estonian-Swedish runner (b. 1891)
    • 1985 – Denise Robins, English journalist and author (b. 1897)
    • 1986 – Hylda Baker, English comedian, actress and music hall performer (b. 1905)
    • 1986 – Hugo Peretti, American songwriter and producer (b. 1916)
    • 1988 – Ben Lexcen, Australian sailor and architect (b. 1936)
    • 1989 – Sally Kirkland, American journalist (b. 1912)
    • 1989 – V. M. Panchalingam, Sri Lankan civil servant (b. 1930)
    • 1989 – Patrice Tardif, Canadian farmer and politician (b. 1904)
    • 1990 – Sergio Franchi, Italian-American tenor and actor (b. 1926)
    • 1991 – Richard Thorpe, American director and screenwriter (b. 1896)
    • 1993 – Pierre Bérégovoy, French metallurgist and politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1925)
    • 1993 – Ranasinghe Premadasa, Sri Lankan politician, 3rd President of Sri Lanka (b. 1924)
    • 1994 – Ayrton Senna, Brazilian race car driver (b. 1960)
    • 1995 – Antonio Salemme, Italian-American painter (b. 1892)
    • 1997 – Fernand Dumont, Canadian sociologist, philosopher, and poet (b. 1927)
    • 1998 – Eldridge Cleaver, American author and activist (b. 1935)
    • 2000 – Steve Reeves, American bodybuilder and actor (b. 1926)
    • 2002 – Ebrahim Al-Arrayedh, Indian poet and author (b. 1908)
    • 2003 – Miss Elizabeth, American wrestler and manager (b. 1960)
    • 2003 – Wim van Est, Dutch cyclist (b. 1923)
    • 2005 – Kenneth Clark, American psychologist and academic (b. 1914)
    • 2008 – Anthony Mamo, Maltese judge and politician, 1st President of Malta (b. 1909)
    • 2008 – Philipp von Boeselager, German soldier and economist (b. 1917)
    • 2010 – Helen Wagner, American actress (b. 1918)
    • 2011 – Henry Cooper, English boxer (b. 1934)
    • 2011 – Ted Lowe, English sportscaster (b. 1920)
    • 2012 – James Kinley, Canadian engineer and politician, 29th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Mordechai Virshubski, German-Israeli lawyer and politician (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Chris Kelly, American rapper (b. 1978)
    • 2013 – Pierre Pleimelding, French footballer and manager (b. 1952)
    • 2014 – Adamu Atta, Nigerian lawyer and politician, 5th Governor of Kwara State (b. 1927)
    • 2014 – Radhia Cousot, Tunisian-American computer scientist and academic (b. 1947)
    • 2014 – Assi Dayan, Israeli actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1945)
    • 2014 – Juan de Dios Castillo, Mexican footballer and coach (b. 1951)
    • 2015 – Geoff Duke, English-Manx motorcycle racer (b. 1923)
    • 2015 – Vafa Guluzade, Azerbaijani political scientist, academic, and diplomat (b. 1940)
    • 2015 – María Elena Velasco, Mexican actress, singer, director, and screenwriter (b. 1940)
    • 2015 – Grace Lee Whitney, American actress (b. 1930)

    Holidays and observances on May 1

    • Christian feast day:
      • Andeolus
      • Augustin Schoeffler, Jean-Louis Bonnard (part of Vietnamese Martyrs)
      • Benedict of Szkalka
      • Brioc
      • James the Less (Anglican Communion)
      • Joseph the Worker (Roman Catholic)
      • Blessed Klymentiy Sheptytsky (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
      • Marcouf
      • Philip the Apostle (Anglican Communion, Lutheran Church)
      • Richard Pampuri
      • Sigismund of Burgundy
      • Ultan
      • May 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Earliest day on which Mother’s Day can fall, while May 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in May. (Samoa)
    • Earliest day on which Mother’s Day can fall, while May 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday in May. (Hong Kong, Hungary, Lithuania, Mozambique, Portugal, Spain, Romania)
    • Earliest day on which National Day of Prayer can fall, while May 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Thursday in May. (United States)
    • Earliest day on which World Asthma Day can fall, while May 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Tuesday in May. (International)
    • Armed Forces Day (Mauritania)
    • Constitution Day (Argentina, Latvia, Marshall Islands)
    • Commemoration of the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat following the foundation of Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti (India):
      • Maharashtra Day
    • International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day
    • Lei Day (Hawaii)
    • International Workers’ Day or Labour Day (International), and its related observances:
      • Earliest day on which Labour Day can fall, while May 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday of May. (Barbados, Dominica)
      • Law Day (United States), formerly intended to counterbalance the celebration of Labour Day. (United States)
      • Loyalty Day, formerly intended to counterbalance the celebration of Labour Day. (United States)
    • May Day (beginning of Summer) observances in the Northern hemisphere (see April 30):
      • Beltane (Ireland, Scotland, Isle of Man, Celtic neopagans and Wiccans in the Northern hemisphere)
      • Earliest day on which Beltane can fall, while May 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in May. (Ireland, Scotland)
      • Calan Mai (Wales)
    • Samhain (Celtic neopagans and Wiccans in the Southern Hemisphere)

  • February 13 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    February 13 in History

    • 951 – Guo Wei, a court official, leads a military coup and declares himself emperor of the new Later Zhou.
    • 962 – Emperor Otto I and Pope John XII co-sign the Diploma Ottonianum, recognizing John as ruler of Rome.
    • 1322 – The central tower of Ely Cathedral falls on the night of 12th–13th.
    • 1462 – The Treaty of Westminster is finalised between Edward IV of England and the Scottish Lord of the Isles.
    • 1503 – Challenge of Barletta: Tournament between 13 Italian and 13 French knights near Barletta.
    • 1542 – Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, is executed for adultery.
    • 1633 – Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for his trial before the Inquisition.
    • 1660 – With the accession of young Charles XI of Sweden, his regents begin negotiations to end the Second Northern War.
    • 1689 – William and Mary are proclaimed co-rulers of England.
    • 1692 – Massacre of Glencoe: Almost 80 Macdonalds at Glen Coe, Scotland are killed early in the morning for not promptly pledging allegiance to the new king, William of Orange.
    • 1726 – Parliament of Negrete between Mapuche and Spanish authorities in Chile bring an end to the Mapuche uprising of 1723–26.
    • 1755 – Treaty of Giyanti signed by VOC, Pakubuwono III and Prince Mangkubumi. The treaty divides the Javanese kingdom of Mataram into 2: Sunanate of Surakarta and Sultanate of Yogyakarta.
    • 1849 – The delegation headed by Metropolitan bishop Andrei Șaguna hands out to the Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria the General Petition of Romanian leaders in Transylvania, Banat and Bukovina, which demands that the Romanian nation be recognized.
    • 1861 – Italian unification: The Siege of Gaeta ends with the capitulation of the defending fortress, effectively bringing an end of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
    • 1867 – Work begins on the covering of the Senne, burying Brussels’s primary river and creating the modern central boulevards.
    • 1880 – Thomas Edison observes Thermionic emission.
    • 1913 – The 13th Dalai Lama proclaims Tibetan independence following a period of domination by Manchu Qing dynasty and initiated a period of almost four decades of independence.
    • 1914 – Copyright: In New York City the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is established to protect the copyrighted musical compositions of its members.
    • 1920 – The Negro National League is formed.
    • 1931 – The British Raj completes its transfer from Calcutta to New Delhi.
    • 1935 – A jury in Flemington, New Jersey finds Bruno Hauptmann guilty of the 1932 kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby, the son of Charles Lindbergh.
    • 1945 – World War II: The siege of Budapest concludes with the unconditional surrender of German and Hungarian forces to the Red Army.
    • 1945 – World War II: Royal Air Force bombers are dispatched to Dresden, Germany to attack the city with a massive aerial bombardment.
    • 1951 – Korean War: Battle of Chipyong-ni, which represented the “high-water mark” of the Chinese incursion into South Korea, commences.
    • 1954 – Frank Selvy becomes the only NCAA Division I basketball player ever to score 100 points in a single game.
    • 1955 – Israel obtains four of the seven Dead Sea Scrolls.
    • 1960 – With the success of a nuclear test codenamed “Gerboise Bleue”, France becomes the fourth country to possess nuclear weapons.
    • 1960 – Black college students stage the first of the Nashville sit-ins at three lunch counters in Nashville, Tennessee.
    • 1961 – An allegedly 500,000-year-old rock is discovered near Olancha, California, US, that appears to anachronistically encase a spark plug.
    • 1967 – American researchers discover the Madrid Codices by Leonardo da Vinci in the National Library of Spain.
    • 1975 – Fire at One World Trade Center (North Tower) of the World Trade Center in New York.
    • 1978 – Hilton bombing: a bomb explodes in a refuse truck outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, Australia, killing two refuse collectors and a policeman.
    • 1979 – An intense windstorm strikes western Washington and sinks a ​1⁄2-mile-long section of the Hood Canal Bridge.
    • 1981 – A series of sewer explosions destroys more than two miles of streets in Louisville, Kentucky.
    • 1983 – A cinema fire in Turin, Italy, kills 64 people.
    • 1984 – Konstantin Chernenko succeeds the late Yuri Andropov as general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
    • 1990 – German reunification: An agreement is reached on a two-stage plan to reunite Germany.
    • 1991 – Gulf War: Two laser-guided “smart bombs” destroy the Amiriyah shelter in Baghdad. Allied forces said the bunker was being used as a military communications outpost, but over 400 Iraqi civilians inside were killed.
    • 1996 – The Nepalese Civil War is initiated in the Kingdom of Nepal by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist-Centre).
    • 1999 – The last hockey game is played in Maple Leaf Gardens: the Toronto Maple Leafs lose 6–2 to the Chicago Blackhawks.
    • 2001 – An earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter magnitude scale hits El Salvador, killing at least 944.
    • 2004 – The Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announces the discovery of the universe’s largest known diamond, white dwarf star BPM 37093. Astronomers named this star “Lucy” after The Beatles’ song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”.
    • 2007 – Taiwan opposition leader Ma Ying-jeou resigns as the chairman of the Kuomintang party after being indicted on charges of embezzlement during his tenure as the mayor of Taipei; Ma also announces his candidacy for the 2008 presidential election.
    • 2008 – Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd makes a historic apology to the Indigenous Australians and the Stolen Generations.
    • 2010 – A bomb explodes in the city of Pune, Maharashtra, India, killing 17 and injuring 60 more.
    • 2011 – For the first time in more than 100 years the Umatilla, an American Indian tribe, are able to hunt and harvest a bison just outside Yellowstone National Park, restoring a centuries-old tradition guaranteed by a treaty signed in 1855.
    • 2012 – The European Space Agency (ESA) conducted the first launch of the European Vega rocket from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
    • 2017 – Kim Jong-nam, brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un, is assassinated at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

    Births on February 13

    • 1440 – Hartmann Schedel, German physician (d. 1514)
    • 1457 – Mary of Burgundy, Sovereign Duchess regnant of Burgundy, married to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1482)
    • 1469 – Elia Levita, Renaissance Hebrew grammarian (d. 1549)
    • 1480 – Girolamo Aleandro, Italian cardinal (d. 1542)
    • 1523 – Valentin Naboth, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1593)
    • 1539 – Elisabeth of Hesse, Electress Palatine (d. 1582)
    • 1569 – Johann Reinhard I, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (d. 1625)
    • 1599 – Pope Alexander VII (d. 1667)
    • 1602 – William V, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1637)
    • 1672 – Étienne François Geoffroy, French physician and chemist (d. 1731)
    • 1683 – Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, Italian painter (d. 1754)
    • 1719 – George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, English admiral and politician (d. 1792)
    • 1721 – John Reid, Scottish general (d. 1807)
    • 1728 – John Hunter, Scottish surgeon and anatomist (d. 1793)
    • 1766 – Thomas Robert Malthus, English economist and scholar (d. 1834)
    • 1768 – Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, French general and politician, 15th Prime Minister of France (d. 1835)
    • 1769 – Ivan Krylov, Russian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1844)
    • 1805 – Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, German mathematician and academic (d. 1859)
    • 1811 – François Achille Bazaine, French general (d. 1888)
    • 1815 – Rufus Wilmot Griswold, American anthologist, editor, poet and critic (d. 1857)
    • 1831 – John Aaron Rawlins, American general and politician, 29th United States Secretary of War (d. 1869)
    • 1834 – Heinrich Caro, Sephardic Jewish Polish-German chemist and academic (d. 1910)
    • 1835 – Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Indian religious leader (d. 1908)
    • 1849 – Lord Randolph Churchill, English lawyer and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 1895)
    • 1855 – Paul Deschanel, Belgian-French politician, 11th President of France (d. 1922)
    • 1863 – Hugo Becker, German cellist and composer (d. 1941)
    • 1867 – Harold Mahony, Scottish-Irish tennis player (d. 1905)
    • 1870 – Leopold Godowsky, Polish-American pianist and composer (d. 1938)
    • 1873 – Feodor Chaliapin, Russian opera singer (d. 1938)
    • 1876 – Fritz Buelow, German-American baseball player and umpire (d. 1933)
    • 1879 – Sarojini Naidu, Indian poet and activist (d. 1949)
    • 1880 – Dimitrie Gusti, Romanian sociologist, ethnologist, historian, and philosopher (d. 1955)
    • 1881 – Eleanor Farjeon, Jewish-English author, poet, and playwright (d. 1965)
    • 1883 – Hal Chase, American baseball player and manager (d. 1947)
    • 1883 – Yevgeny Vakhtangov, Russian-Armenian actor and director (d. 1922)
    • 1884 – Alfred Carlton Gilbert, American pole vaulter and businessman, founded the A. C. Gilbert Company (d. 1961)
    • 1885 – Bess Truman, American wife of Harry S. Truman, 35th First Lady of the United States (d. 1982)
    • 1887 – Géza Csáth, Hungarian playwright and critic (d. 1919)
    • 1888 – Georgios Papandreou, Greek lawyer, economist, and politician, 162nd Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1968)
    • 1889 – Leontine Sagan, Austrian actress and director (d. 1974)
    • 1891 – Kate Roberts, Welsh author and activist (d. 1985)
    • 1891 – Grant Wood, American painter and academic (d. 1942)
    • 1892 – Robert H. Jackson, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 57th United States Attorney General (d. 1954)
    • 1898 – Hubert Ashton, English cricketer and politician (d. 1979)
    • 1900 – Barbara von Annenkoff, Russian-born German film and stage actress (d. 1979)
    • 1901 – Paul Lazarsfeld, Austrian-American sociologist and academic (d. 1976)
    • 1902 – Harold Lasswell, American political scientist and theorist (d. 1978)
    • 1903 – Georgy Beriev, Georgian-Russian engineer, founded the Beriev Aircraft Company (d. 1979)
    • 1903 – Georges Simenon, Belgian-Swiss author (d. 1989)
    • 1906 – Agostinho da Silva, Portuguese philosopher and author (d. 1994)
    • 1907 – Katy de la Cruz, Filipino-American singer and actress (d. 2004)
    • 1910 – William Shockley, English-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1989)
    • 1911 – Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Indian-Pakistani poet and journalist (d. 1984)
    • 1911 – Jean Muir, American actress and educator (d. 1996)
    • 1912 – Harald Riipalu, Russian-Estonian commander (d. 1961)
    • 1912 – Margaretta Scott, English actress (d. 2005)
    • 1913 – Khalid of Saudi Arabia (d. 1982)
    • 1915 – Lyle Bettger, American actor (d. 2003)
    • 1915 – Aung San, Burmese general and politician, 5th Premier of British Crown Colony of Burma (d. 1947)
    • 1916 – Dorothy Bliss, American invertebrate zoologist (d. 1987)
    • 1919 – Tennessee Ernie Ford, American singer and actor (d. 1991)
    • 1919 – Eddie Robinson, American football player and coach (d. 2007)
    • 1920 – Boudleaux Bryant, American songwriter (d. 1987)
    • 1920 – Eileen Farrell, American soprano and educator (d. 2002)
    • 1921 – Jeanne Demessieux, French pianist and composer (d. 1968)
    • 1921 – Aung Khin, Burmese painter (d. 1996)
    • 1922 – Francis Pym, Baron Pym, Welsh soldier and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (d. 2008)
    • 1922 – Gordon Tullock, American economist and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1923 – Michael Anthony Bilandic, American soldier, judge, and politician, 49th Mayor of Chicago (d. 2002)
    • 1923 – Chuck Yeager, American general and pilot; first test pilot to break the sound barrier
    • 1924 – Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, French journalist and politician (d. 2006)
    • 1926 – Fay Ajzenberg-Selove, American nuclear physicist (d. 2012)
    • 1928 – Gerald Regan, Canadian lawyer and politician, 19th Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 2019)
    • 1929 – Omar Torrijos, Panamanian commander and politician, Military Leader of Panama (d. 1981)
    • 1930 – Ernst Fuchs, Austrian painter, sculptor, and illustrator (d. 2015)
    • 1930 – Israel Kirzner, English-American economist, author, and academic
    • 1932 – Susan Oliver, American actress (d. 1990)
    • 1933 – Paul Biya, Cameroon politician, 2nd President of Cameroon
    • 1933 – Kim Novak, American actress
    • 1933 – Emanuel Ungaro, French fashion designer (d. 2019)
    • 1934 – George Segal, American actor
    • 1937 – Ali El-Maak, Sudanese author and academic (d. 1992)
    • 1937 – Angelo Mosca, American-Canadian football player and wrestler
    • 1938 – Oliver Reed, English actor (d. 1999)
    • 1940 – Bram Peper, Dutch sociologist and politician, Mayor of Rotterdam
    • 1941 – Sigmar Polke, German painter and photographer (d. 2010)
    • 1941 – Bo Svenson, Swedish-American actor, director, and producer
    • 1942 – Carol Lynley, American model and actress (d. 2019)
    • 1942 – Peter Tork, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and actor (d. 2019)
    • 1942 – Donald E. Williams, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2016)
    • 1943 – Elaine Pagels, American theologian and academic
    • 1944 – Stockard Channing, American actress
    • 1944 – Jerry Springer, English-American television host, actor, and politician, 56th Mayor of Cincinnati
    • 1945 – Marian Dawkins, English biologist and academic
    • 1945 – King Floyd, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
    • 1945 – Simon Schama, English historian and author
    • 1945 – William Sleator, American author and composer (d. 2011)
    • 1946 – Richard Blumenthal, American sergeant and politician, 23rd Attorney General of Connecticut
    • 1946 – Janet Finch, English sociologist and academic
    • 1946 – Colin Matthews, English composer and educator
    • 1947 – Stephen Hadley, American soldier and diplomat, 21st United States National Security Advisor
    • 1947 – Mike Krzyzewski, American basketball player and coach
    • 1947 – Bogdan Tanjević, Montenegrin-Bosnian professional basketball coach
    • 1947 – Kevin Bloody Wilson, Australian comedian, singer-songwriter, and guitarist
    • 1949 – Peter Kern, Austrian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
    • 1950 – Vera Baird, English lawyer and politician
    • 1950 – Peter Gabriel, English singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1952 – Ed Gagliardi, American bass player (d. 2014)
    • 1953 – Akio Sato, Japanese wrestler and manager
    • 1954 – Donnie Moore, American baseball player (d. 1989)
    • 1955 – Joe Birkett, American lawyer, judge, and politician
    • 1956 – Peter Hook, English singer, songwriter, bass player, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer
    • 1957 – Denise Austin, American fitness trainer and author
    • 1958 – Pernilla August, Swedish actress
    • 1958 – Marc Emery, Canadian publisher and activist
    • 1958 – Jean-François Lisée, Canadian journalist and politician
    • 1958 – Derek Riggs, English painter and illustrator
    • 1958 – Øivind Elgenes, Norwegian vocalist, guitarist and composer
    • 1959 – Gaston Gingras, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1960 – Pierluigi Collina, Italian footballer and referee
    • 1960 – John Healey, English journalist and politician
    • 1960 – Gary Patterson, American football player and coach
    • 1960 – Artur Yusupov, Russian-German chess player and author
    • 1961 – Marc Crawford, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1961 – cEvin Key, Canadian singer-songwriter, drummer, keyboard player, and producer
    • 1961 – Henry Rollins, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
    • 1962 – Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, Puerto Rican lawyer and politician
    • 1962 – Baby Doll, American wrestler and manager
    • 1962 – Michele Greene, American actress
    • 1964 – Stephen Bowen, American engineer, captain, and astronaut
    • 1964 – Ylva Johansson, Swedish educator and politician, Swedish Minister of Employment
    • 1965 – Peter O’Neill, Papua New Guinean accountant and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea
    • 1966 – Neal McDonough, American actor and producer
    • 1966 – Jeff Waters, Canadian guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1966 – Freedom Williams, American rapper and singer
    • 1967 – Stanimir Stoilov, Bulgarian footballer and coach
    • 1968 – Kelly Hu, American actress
    • 1969 – Joyce DiDonato, American soprano and actress
    • 1970 – Karoline Krüger, Norwegian singer-songwriter and pianist
    • 1971 – Sonia Evans, English singer-songwriter
    • 1971 – Mats Sundin, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1971 – Todd Williams, American baseball player
    • 1972 – Virgilijus Alekna, Lithuanian discus thrower
    • 1972 – Charlie Garner, American football player
    • 1974 – Fonzworth Bentley, American rapper and actor
    • 1974 – Robbie Williams, English singer-songwriter
    • 1975 – Ben Collins, English race car driver
    • 1975 – Katie Hopkins, English media personality and columnist
    • 1976 – Jörg Bergmeister, German race car driver
    • 1976 – Shannon Nevin, Australian rugby league player
    • 1977 – Randy Moss, American football player and coach
    • 1978 – Niklas Bäckström, Finnish ice hockey player
    • 1978 – Philippe Jaroussky, French countertenor
    • 1979 – Anders Behring Breivik, Norwegian murderer
    • 1979 – Rafael Márquez, Mexican footballer
    • 1979 – Rachel Reeves, English economist and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
    • 1979 – Mena Suvari, American actress and fashion designer
    • 1980 – Carlos Cotto, Puerto Rican-American wrestler and boxer
    • 1981 – Luisão, Brazilian footballer
    • 1982 – Even Helte Hermansen, Norwegian guitarist and composer
    • 1982 – Michael Turner, American football player
    • 1983 – Mike Nickeas, Canadian baseball player
    • 1983 – Anna Watkins, English rower
    • 1984 – Hinkelien Schreuder, Dutch swimmer
    • 1985 – Kwak Ji-min, South Korean actress
    • 1986 – Luke Moore, English footballer
    • 1986 – Aqib Talib, American football player
    • 1987 – Eljero Elia, Dutch footballer
    • 1988 – Ryan Goins, American baseball player
    • 1988 – Eddy Pettybourne, New Zealand-Samoan rugby league player
    • 1989 – Rodrigo Possebon, Brazilian footballer
    • 1991 – Eliaquim Mangala, French footballer
    • 1991 – Junior Roqica, Australian-Fijian rugby league player
    • 1991 – Vianney, French singer
    • 1994 – Memphis Depay, Dutch footballer

    Deaths on February 13

    • 106 – Emperor He of Han (Han Hedi) of the Chinese Eastern Han Dynasty (b. AD 79)
    • 721 – Chilperic II, Frankish king (b. 672)
    • 858 – Kenneth MacAlpin, Scottish king (probable; b. 810)
    • 921 – Vratislaus I, duke of Bohemia
    • 936 – Xiao Wen, empress of the Liao Dynasty
    • 942 – Muhammad ibn Ra’iq, Abbasid emir and regent
    • 988 – Adalbert Atto, Lombard nobleman
    • 1021 – Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, Fatimid caliph (b. 985)
    • 1130 – Honorius II, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1060
    • 1141 – Béla II, king of Hungary and Croatia (b. 1110)
    • 1199 – Stefan Nemanja, Serbian grand prince (b. 1113)
    • 1219 – Minamoto no Sanetomo, Japanese shōgun (b. 1192)
    • 1332 – Andronikos II Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1259)
    • 1351 – Kō no Morofuyu, Japanese general
    • 1539 – Isabella d’Este, Italian noblewoman (b. 1474)
    • 1542 – Catherine Howard, English wife of Henry VIII of England (executed;b. 1521)
    • 1571 – Benvenuto Cellini, Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1500)
    • 1585 – Alfonso Salmeron, Spanish priest and scholar (b. 1515)
    • 1602 – Alexander Nowell, English clergyman and theologian (b. 1507)
    • 1660 – Charles X Gustav, king of Sweden (b. 1622)
    • 1662 – Elizabeth Stuart, queen of Bohemia (b. 1596)
    • 1693 – Johann Caspar Kerll, German organist and composer (b. 1627)
    • 1727 – William Wotton, English linguist and scholar (b. 1666)
    • 1728 – Cotton Mather, American minister and author (b. 1663)
    • 1732 – Charles-René d’Hozier, French historian and author (b. 1640)
    • 1741 – Johann Joseph Fux, Austrian composer and theorist (b. 1660)
    • 1787 – Roger Joseph Boscovich, Croatian physicist, astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher (b. 1711)
    • 1787 – Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, French lawyer and politician, Foreign Minister of France (b. 1717)
    • 1813 – Samuel Ashe, American lawyer and politician, 9th Governor of North Carolina (b. 1725)
    • 1818 – George Rogers Clark, American general (b. 1752)
    • 1826 – Peter Ludwig von der Pahlen, Russian general and politician, Governor-General of Baltic provinces (b. 1745)
    • 1831 – Edward Berry, English admiral (b. 1768)
    • 1837 – Mariano José de Larra, Spanish journalist and author (b. 1809)
    • 1845 – Henrik Steffens, Norwegian-German philosopher and poet (b. 1773)
    • 1877 – Costache Caragiale, Romanian actor and manager (b. 1815)
    • 1883 – Richard Wagner, German composer (b. 1813)
    • 1888 – Jean-Baptiste Lamy, French-American archbishop (b. 1814)
    • 1892 – Provo Wallis, Canadian-English admiral (b. 1791)
    • 1893 – Ignacio Manuel Altamirano, Mexican intellectual and journalist (b. 1834)
    • 1905 – Konstantin Savitsky, Russian painter (b. 1844)
    • 1906 – Albert Gottschalk, Danish painter (b. 1866)
    • 1934 – József Pusztai, Slovene-Hungarian poet and journalist (b. 1864)
    • 1942 – Otakar Batlička, Czech journalist (b. 1895)
    • 1942 – Epitácio Pessoa, Brazilian lawyer, judge, and politician, 11th President of Brazil (b. 1865)
    • 1950 – Rafael Sabatini, Italian-English novelist and short story writer (b. 1875)
    • 1951 – Lloyd C. Douglas, American minister and author (b. 1877)
    • 1952 – Josephine Tey, Scottish author and playwright (b. 1896)
    • 1954 – Agnes Macphail, Canadian educator and politician (b. 1890)
    • 1956 – Jan Łukasiewicz, Polish mathematician and philosopher (b. 1878)
    • 1958 – Christabel Pankhurst, English activist, co-founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (b. 1880)
    • 1958 – Georges Rouault, French painter and illustrator (b. 1871)
    • 1964 – Paulino Alcántara, Filipino-Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1896)
    • 1964 – Werner Heyde, German psychiatrist and academic (b. 1902)
    • 1967 – Yoshisuke Aikawa, entrepreneur, businessman, and politician, founded Nissan Motor Company (b. 1880)
    • 1967 – Abelardo L. Rodríguez, substitute president of Mexico (1932-1934) (b. 1889)
    • 1968 – Mae Marsh, American actress (b. 1895)
    • 1968 – Portia White, Canadian opera singer (b. 1911)
    • 1973 – Marinus Jan Granpré Molière, Dutch architect and educator (b. 1883)
    • 1975 – André Beaufre, French general (b. 1902)
    • 1976 – Murtala Mohammed, Nigerian general and politician, 4th President of Nigeria (b. 1938)
    • 1976 – Lily Pons, French-American soprano and actress (b. 1904)
    • 1980 – David Janssen, American actor (b. 1931)
    • 1984 – Cheong Eak Chong, Singaporean entrepreneur (b. 1888)
    • 1986 – Yuri Ivask, Russian-American poet and critic (b. 1907)
    • 1989 – Wayne Hays, American lieutenant and politician (b. 1911)
    • 1991 – Arno Breker, German sculptor and illustrator (b. 1900)
    • 1992 – Nikolay Bogolyubov, Ukrainian-Russian mathematician and physicist (b. 1909)
    • 1996 – Martin Balsam, American actor (b. 1919)
    • 1997 – Robert Klark Graham, American eugenicist and businessman (b. 1906)
    • 1997 – Mark Krasnosel’skii, Russian-Ukrainian mathematician and academic (b. 1920)
    • 2000 – Anders Aalborg, Canadian educator and politician (b. 1914)
    • 2000 – James Cooke Brown, American sociologist and author (b. 1921)
    • 2000 – John Leake, English soldier (b. 1949)
    • 2002 – Waylon Jennings, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1937)
    • 2003 – Kid Gavilán, Cuban-American boxer (b. 1926)
    • 2003 – Walt Whitman Rostow, American economist; 7th United States National Security Advisor (b. 1916)
    • 2004 – François Tavenas, Canadian engineer and academic (b. 1942)
    • 2004 – Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, Chechen politician, 2nd President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (b. 1952)
    • 2005 – Nelson Briles, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1943)
    • 2005 – Lúcia Santos, Portuguese nun (b. 1907)
    • 2006 – P. F. Strawson, English philosopher and author (b. 1919)
    • 2007 – Elizabeth Jolley, English-Australian author and academic (b. 1923)
    • 2007 – Charlie Norwood, American captain and politician (b. 1941)
    • 2007 – Richard Gordon Wakeford, English air marshal (b. 1922)
    • 2008 – Kon Ichikawa, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1915)
    • 2009 – Edward Upward, English author and educator (b. 1903)
    • 2010 – Lucille Clifton, American poet and academic (b. 1936)
    • 2010 – Dale Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1936)
    • 2012 – Russell Arms, American actor and singer (b. 1920)
    • 2012 – Louise Cochrane, American-English screenwriter and producer (b. 1918)
    • 2012 – Daniel C. Gerould, American playwright and academic (b. 1928)
    • 2013 – Gerry Day, American journalist and screenwriter (b. 1922)
    • 2013 – Miles J. Jones, American pathologist and physician (b. 1952)
    • 2013 – Pieter Kooijmans, Dutch judge and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for The Netherlands (b. 1933)
    • 2013 – Andrée Malebranche, Haitian artist (b. 1916)
    • 2013 – Yuko Tojo, Japanese activist and politician (b. 1939)
    • 2014 – Balu Mahendra, Sri Lankan-Indian director, cinematographer, and screenwriter (b. 1939)
    • 2014 – Richard Møller Nielsen, Danish footballer and manager (b. 1937)
    • 2014 – Ralph Waite, American actor and activist (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Faith Bandler, Australian activist and author (b. 1918)
    • 2015 – Stan Chambers, American journalist and actor (b. 1923)
    • 2016 – O. N. V. Kurup, Indian poet and academic (b. 1931)
    • 2016 – Antonin Scalia, American lawyer and judge, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (b. 1936)
    • 2017 – Ricardo Arias Calderón, Panamanian politician, Vice President (1990–1992) (b. 1933)
    • 2017 – Aileen Hernandez, American union organizer and activist (b. 1926)
    • 2017 – Seijun Suzuki, Japanese filmmaker (b. 1923)
    • 2017 – Kim Jong-nam, North Korean politician (b. 1971)
    • 2017 – E-Dubble, American rapper (b. 1982)
    • 2018 – Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark, French-born Danish royal (b. 1934)

    Holidays and observances on February 13

    • Children’s Day (Myanmar)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Absalom Jones (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Beatrice of Ornacieux
      • Castor of Karden
      • Catherine of Ricci
      • Ermenilda of Ely
      • Fulcran
      • Jordan of Saxony
      • Polyeuctus (Roman Catholic Church)
      • February 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • World Radio Day

  • January 12 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1528 – Gustav I of Sweden is crowned King of Sweden, having already reigned since his election in June 1523.
    • 1554 – Bayinnaung, who would go on to assemble the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia, is crowned King of Burma.
    • 1616 – The city of Belém, Brazil is founded on the Amazon River delta, by Portuguese captain Francisco Caldeira Castelo Branco.
    • 1808 – John Rennie’s scheme to defend St Mary’s Church, Reculver, founded in 669, from coastal erosion is abandoned in favour of demolition, despite the church being an exemplar of Anglo-Saxon architecture and sculpture.
    • 1808 – The organizational meeting leading to the creation of the Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is held in Edinburgh.
    • 1848 – The Palermo rising takes place in Sicily against the Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
    • 1866 – The Royal Aeronautical Society is formed in London.
    • 1872 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first imperial coronation in that city in over 200 years.
    • 1895 – The National Trust is founded in the United Kingdom.
    • 1911 – The University of the Philippines College of Law is formally established; three future Philippine presidents are among the first enrollees.
    • 1915 – The United States House of Representatives rejects a proposal to require states to give women the right to vote.
    • 1916 – Both Oswald Boelcke and Max Immelmann, for achieving eight aerial victories each over Allied aircraft, receive the German Empire’s highest military award, the Pour le Mérite as the first German aviators to earn it.
    • 1918 – The Minnie Pit Disaster coal mining accident occurs in Halmer End, Staffordshire, in which 155 men and boys die.
    • 1921 – Acting to restore confidence in baseball after the Black Sox Scandal, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis is elected as Major League Baseball’s first commissioner.
    • 1932 – Hattie Caraway becomes the first woman elected to the United States Senate.
    • 1942 – World War II: United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt creates the National War Labor Board.
    • 1945 – World War II: The Red Army begins the Vistula–Oder Offensive.
    • 1962 – Vietnam War: Operation Chopper, the first American combat mission in the war, takes place.
    • 1964 – Rebels in Zanzibar begin a revolt known as the Zanzibar Revolution and proclaim a republic.
    • 1966 – Lyndon B. Johnson states that the United States should stay in South Vietnam until Communist aggression there is ended.
    • 1967 – Dr. James Bedford becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation.
    • 1969 – The New York Jets of the American Football League defeat the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League to win Super Bowl III in what is considered to be one of the greatest upsets in sports history.
    • 1970 – Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian Civil War.
    • 1971 – The Harrisburg Seven: Rev. Philip Berrigan and five other activists are indicted on charges of conspiring to kidnap Henry Kissinger and of plotting to blow up the heating tunnels of federal buildings in Washington, D.C.
    • 1976 – The United Nations Security Council votes 11–1 to allow the Palestine Liberation Organization to participate in a Security Council debate (without voting rights).
    • 1986 – Space Shuttle program: Congressman Bill Nelson lifts off from Kennedy Space Center aboard Columbia on mission STS-61-C as a payload specialist.
    • 1990 – A seven-day pogrom breaks out against the Armenian civilian population of Baku, Azerbaijan, during which Armenians were beaten, tortured, murdered, and expelled from the city.
    • 1991 – Persian Gulf War: An act of the U.S. Congress authorizes the use of American military force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait.
    • 1998 – Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning.
    • 2001 – Downtown Disney opens to the public as part of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.
    • 2004 – The world’s largest ocean liner, RMS Queen Mary 2, makes its maiden voyage.
    • 2005 – Deep Impact launches from Cape Canaveral on a Delta II rocket.
    • 2006 – A stampede during the Stoning of the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills at least 362 Muslim pilgrims.
    • 2010 – An earthquake in Haiti occurs, killing between 220,000 and 300,000 people and destroying much of the capital Port-au-Prince.
    • 2012 – Violent protests occur in Bucharest, Romania, as two-day-old demonstrations continue against President Traian Băsescu’s economic austerity measures. Clashes are reported in numerous Romanian cities between protesters and law enforcement officers.
    • 2015 – Government raids kill 143 Boko Haram fighters in Kolofata, Cameroon.
    • 2016 – Ten people are killed and 15 wounded in a bombing near the Blue Mosque in Istanbul.
    • 2020 – Taal Volcano in the Philippines erupts, and kills 39 people.

    Births on January 12

    • 1483 – Henry III of Nassau-Breda (d. 1538)
    • 1562 – Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy (d. 1630)
    • 1576 – Petrus Scriverius, Dutch historian and scholar (d. 1660)
    • 1577 – Jan Baptist van Helmont, Flemish chemist and physician (d. 1644)
    • 1588 – John Winthrop, English lawyer and politician, 2nd Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (d. 1649)
    • 1591 – Jusepe de Ribera, Spanish painter (d. 1652)
    • 1597 – François Duquesnoy, Flemish sculptor and educator (d. 1643)
    • 1598 – Jijabai Shahaji Bhosale, venerated mother of Indian king Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (d. 1674)
    • 1628 – Charles Perrault, French author and academic (d. 1703)
    • 1673 – Rosalba Carriera, Italian painter (d. 1757)
    • 1711 – Gaetano Latilla, Italian composer (d. 1788)
    • 1715 – Jacques Duphly, French organist and composer (d. 1789)
    • 1716 – Antonio de Ulloa, Spanish general and politician, 1st Spanish Governor of Louisiana (d. 1795)
    • 1721 – Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Prussian field marshal (d. 1792)
    • 1723 – Samuel Langdon, American minister, theologian, and academic (d. 1797)
    • 1724 – Frances Brooke, English author and playwright (d. 1789)
    • 1729 – Edmund Burke, Irish philosopher, academic, and politician (d. 1797)
    • 1746 – Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, Swiss philosopher and educator (d. 1827)
    • 1751 – Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (d. 1825)
    • 1772 – Mikhail Speransky, Russian academic and politician (d. 1839)
    • 1786 – Sir Robert Inglis, 2nd Baronet, English politician (d. 1855)
    • 1792 – Johan August Arfwedson, Swedish chemist and academic (d. 1841)
    • 1797 – Gideon Brecher, Austrian physician and author (d. 1873)
    • 1799 – Priscilla Susan Bury, British botanist (d. 1872)
    • 1822 – Étienne Lenoir, Belgian engineer, designed the internal combustion engine (d. 1900)
    • 1837 – Adolf Jensen, German pianist and composer (d. 1879)
    • 1849 – Jean Béraud, Russian-French painter and academic (d. 1935)
    • 1853 – Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro, Italian mathematician (d. 1925)
    • 1856 – John Singer Sargent, American painter and academic (d. 1925)
    • 1863 – Swami Vivekananda, Indian monk and philosopher (d. 1902)
    • 1869 – Bhagwan Das, Indian philosopher, academic, and politician (d. 1958)
    • 1873 – Spyridon Louis, Greek runner (d. 1940)
    • 1874 – Laura Adams Armer, American author and photographer (d. 1963)
    • 1876 – Fevzi Çakmak, Turkish field marshal and politician, Prime Minister of the Turkish Provisional Government (d. 1950)
    • 1876 – Jack London, American novelist and journalist (d. 1916)
    • 1876 – Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer and educator (d. 1948)
    • 1877 – Frank J. Corr, American lawyer and politician, 45th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1934)
    • 1878 – Ferenc Molnár, Hungarian-American author and playwright (d. 1952)
    • 1879 – Ray Harroun, American race car driver and engineer (d. 1968)
    • 1879 – Anton Uesson, Estonian engineer and politician, 17th Mayor of Tallinn (d. 1942)
    • 1882 – Milton Sills, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1930)
    • 1884 – Texas Guinan, American entertainer and bootlegger (d. 1933)
    • 1889 – Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad, Indian-Pakistani spiritual leader (d. 1965)
    • 1890 – Johannes Vares, Estonian poet, physician, and politician (d. 1946)
    • 1892 – Mikhail Gurevich, Russian engineer and businessman, co-founded the Russian Aircraft Corporation (d. 1976)
    • 1893 – Hermann Göring, German commander, pilot, and politician, Minister President of Prussia (d. 1946)
    • 1893 – Alfred Rosenberg, Estonian-German architect and politician, Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories (d. 1946)
    • 1894 – Georges Carpentier, French boxer and actor (d. 1975)
    • 1895 – Leo Aryeh Mayer, Polish-Israeli scholar and academic (d. 1959)
    • 1896 – David Wechsler, Romanian-American psychologist and author (d. 1981)
    • 1899 – Pierre Bernac, French opera singer and educator (d. 1979)
    • 1899 – Paul Hermann Müller, Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
    • 1901 – Karl Künstler, German SS officer (d. 1945)
    • 1903 – Igor Kurchatov, Russian physicist and academic (d. 1960)
    • 1903 – Andrew J. Transue, American politician and attorney (Morissette v. United States) (d. 1995)
    • 1904 – Mississippi Fred McDowell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1972)
    • 1905 – Nihal Atsız, Turkish author, poet, and philosopher (d. 1975)
    • 1905 – James Bennett Griffin, American archaeologist and academic (d. 1997)
    • 1905 – Tex Ritter, American actor and singer (d. 1974)
    • 1906 – Emmanuel Levinas, Lithuanian-French historian, philosopher, and academic (d. 1995)
    • 1907 – Sergei Korolev, Russian colonel and engineer (d. 1966)
    • 1908 – Jean Delannoy, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2008)
    • 1908 – Clement Hurd, American illustrator (d. 1988)
    • 1910 – Patsy Kelly, American actress and comedian (d. 1981)
    • 1910 – Luise Rainer, German-English actress (d. 2014)
    • 1912 – Richard Kuremaa, Estonian footballer (d. 1991)
    • 1914 – Mieko Kamiya, Japanese psychiatrist and psychologist (d. 1979)
    • 1915 – Paul Jarrico, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1997)
    • 1915 – Joseph-Aurèle Plourde, Canadian archbishop and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1916 – Ruth R. Benerito, American chemist and inventor (d. 2013)
    • 1916 – Mary Wilson, Baroness Wilson of Rievaulx, British poet and Spouse of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 2018)
    • 1916 – P. W. Botha, South African politician, 8th Prime Minister of South Africa (d. 2006)
    • 1917 – Walter Hendl, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2007)
    • 1917 – Jimmy Skinner, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2007)
    • 1920 – James Farmer, American activist, and politician, co-founded Congress of Racial Equality (d. 1999)
    • 1920 – Jerzy Zubrzycki, Polish-Australian sociologist and academic (d. 2009)
    • 1922 – Tadeusz Żychiewicz, Polish journalist and historian (d. 1994)
    • 1923 – Ira Hayes, American marine who raised the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima (d. 1955)
    • 1924 – Olivier Gendebien, Belgian racing driver and businessman (d. 1998)
    • 1925 – Bill Burrud, American television host, producer, and actor (d. 1990)
    • 1926 – Morton Feldman, American composer and academic (d. 1987)
    • 1926 – Ray Price, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – Ruth Brown, American R&B singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2006)
    • 1929 – Alasdair MacIntyre, Scottish-American philosopher and academic
    • 1929 – Jaakko Hintikka, Finnish philosopher and logician (d. 2015)
    • 1930 – Tim Horton, Canadian ice hockey player and businessman, founded Tim Hortons (d. 1974)
    • 1930 – Jennifer Johnston, Irish author and playwright
    • 1930 – Glenn Yarbrough, American singer and actor (d. 2016)
    • 1933 – Pavlos Matesis, Greek author and playwright (d. 2013)
    • 1934 – Alan Sharp, Scottish-American author and screenwriter (d. 2013)
    • 1934 – Mick Sullivan, English rugby player and coach (d. 2016)
    • 1935 – Teresa del Conde, Mexican historian and critic (d. 2017)
    • 1935 – Kreskin, American mentalist
    • 1936 – Jennifer Hilton, Baroness Hilton of Eggardon, English police officer and politician
    • 1936 – Raimonds Pauls, Latvian pianist and composer
    • 1936 – Brajanath Ratha, Indian poet and activist (d. 2014)
    • 1936 – Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Home Affairs (d. 2016)
    • 1937 – Shirley Eaton, English actress
    • 1938 – Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Pakistani scholar and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1940 – Bob Hewitt, Australian-South African tennis player
    • 1940 – Ronald Shannon Jackson, American drummer and composer (d. 2013)
    • 1940 – Dick Motz, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2007)
    • 1941 – Long John Baldry, English-Canadian singer-songwriter and voice actor (d. 2005)
    • 1941 – Fiona Caldicott, English psychiatrist and psychotherapist
    • 1941 – Chet Jastremski, American swimmer and physician (d. 2014)
    • 1942 – Bernardine Dohrn, American domestic terrorist, political activist and academic
    • 1944 – Hans Henning Atrott, German author and theorist
    • 1944 – Joe Frazier, American boxer (d. 2011)
    • 1944 – Cynthia Robinson, American R&B trumpet player and singer (d 2015)
    • 1945 – Maggie Bell, Scottish singer-songwriter
    • 1946 – Hazel Cosgrove, Lady Cosgrove, Scottish lawyer and judge
    • 1946 – George Duke, American keyboard player, composer, and educator (d. 2013)
    • 1947 – Richard Carwardine, English historian and academic
    • 1947 – Tom Dempsey, American football player and educator
    • 1947 – Sally Hamwee, Baroness Hamwee, English politician
    • 1948 – Kenny Allen, English footballer
    • 1948 – Anthony Andrews, English actor and producer
    • 1948 – Gordon Campbell, Canadian educator and politician, 34th Premier of British Columbia
    • 1948 – Brendan Foster, English runner and sportscaster
    • 1948 – William Nicholson, English author and screenwriter
    • 1949 – Kentarō Haneda, Japanese pianist and composer (d. 2007)
    • 1949 – Ottmar Hitzfeld, German footballer and manager
    • 1949 – Hamadi Jebali, Tunisian engineer, journalist, and politician, 19th Prime Minister of Tunisia
    • 1949 – Haruki Murakami, Japanese novelist, short-story writer, and essayist
    • 1950 – Sheila Jackson Lee, American lawyer, judge, and politician
    • 1950 – Göran Lindblad, Swedish dentist and politician
    • 1950 – Bob McEwen, American businessman and politician
    • 1950 – Dorrit Moussaieff, Israeli-Icelandic jewelry designer and businesswoman, 5th First Lady of Iceland
    • 1951 – Kirstie Alley, American actress and producer
    • 1951 – Chris Bell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1978)
    • 1951 – Rush Limbaugh, American talk show host and author
    • 1951 – Drew Pearson, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1952 – Phil Perry, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1952 – Ricky Van Shelton, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1952 – John Walker, New Zealand runner and politician
    • 1952 – Walter Mosley, American novelist
    • 1953 – Mary Harron, Canadian director and screenwriter
    • 1954 – Howard Stern, American radio host, actor, and author
    • 1954 – Martin Kylhammar, Swedish professor of culture and society
    • 1955 – Tom Ardolino, American rock drummer (NRBQ) (d. 2012)
    • 1956 – Nikolai Noskov, Russian rock singer and singer-songwriter
    • 1957 – John Lasseter, American animator, director, and producer
    • 1957 – Jeremy Sams, English director, playwright, and composer
    • 1958 – Christiane Amanpour, English-born Iranian-American journalist
    • 1958 – Curt Fraser, American-Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1959 – B. Brian Blair, American wrestler and politician
    • 1959 – Per Gessle, Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1960 – Oliver Platt, Canadian-American actor
    • 1960 – Dominique Wilkins, French-American basketball player and manager
    • 1961 – Simon Russell Beale, Malaysia-born English actor and historian
    • 1962 – Joe Quesada, American author and illustrator
    • 1962 – Richie Richardson, Antiguan cricketer
    • 1962 – Luna Vachon, American-Canadian wrestler and manager (d. 2010)
    • 1963 – François Girard, Canadian director and screenwriter
    • 1963 – Nando Reis, Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1964 – Jeff Bezos, American computer scientist and businessman, founded Amazon.com
    • 1965 – Raekwon, American rapper
    • 1965 – Rob Zombie, American singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and director
    • 1966 – Olivier Martinez, French actor
    • 1966 – Craig Parry, Australian golfer
    • 1967 – Vendela Kirsebom, Norwegian-Swedish model and actress
    • 1968 – Junichi Masuda, Japanese director, producer, and composer
    • 1968 – Heather Mills, English businesswoman, activist and model
    • 1968 – Mauro Silva, Brazilian footballer
    • 1969 – David Mitchell, English novelist
    • 1969 – Margaret Nagle, American screenwriter and producer
    • 1970 – Zack de la Rocha, American singer-songwriter
    • 1971 – Scott Burrell, American basketball player and coach
    • 1972 – Priyanka Gandhi, Indian politician
    • 1972 – Espen Knutsen, Norwegian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1972 – Paul Wilson, Australian cricketer and umpire
    • 1973 – Brian Culbertson, American pianist and producer
    • 1973 – Hande Yener, Turkish singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1974 – Melanie C, English singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1974 – Tor Arne Hetland, Norwegian skier
    • 1975 – Jason Freese, American saxophonist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1975 – Jocelyn Thibault, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1977 – Yoandy Garlobo, Cuban baseball player
    • 1978 – Luis Ayala, Mexican baseball player
    • 1978 – Maurizio Zaffiri, Italian rugby player
    • 1979 – Marián Hossa, Slovak ice hockey player
    • 1979 – Lee Bo-young, South Korean actress and model
    • 1979 – Grzegorz Rasiak, Polish footballer
    • 1979 – David Zabriskie, American cyclist
    • 1980 – Bobby Crosby, American baseball player
    • 1981 – Amerie, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1981 – João Paulo Daniel, Brazilian footballer
    • 1981 – Dan Klecko, American football player
    • 1981 – Angus Macdonald, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1981 – Luis Ernesto Pérez, Mexican footballer
    • 1982 – Paul-Henri Mathieu, French tennis player
    • 1982 – Hans Van Alphen, Belgian decathlete
    • 1982 – Dean Whitehead, English footballer
    • 1982 – Dontrelle Willis, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Daniel Sepulveda, American football player
    • 1984 – Jonathan Zydko, French footballer
    • 1985 – Artem Milevskiy, Ukrainian footballer
    • 1985 – Issa Rae, American actress, writer, director, producer and web series creator
    • 1985 – Borja Valero, Spanish footballer
    • 1986 – Kehoma Brenner, German rugby player
    • 1986 – Miguel Ángel Nieto, Spanish footballer
    • 1987 – Naya Rivera, American actress and singer
    • 1987 – Salvatore Sirigu, Italian footballer
    • 1988 – Claude Giroux, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1989 – Thiemo-Jérôme Kialka, German footballer
    • 1989 – Axel Witsel, Belgian footballer
    • 1991 – Pixie Lott, English singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
    • 1991 – Matt Srama, Australian rugby league player
    • 1992 – Ishak Belfodil, Algerian footballer
    • 1992 – Samuele Longo, Italian footballer
    • 1993 – Zayn Malik, English singer-songwriter
    • 1993 – Simone Pecorini, Italian footballer
    • 1993 – Do Kyungsoo, South Korean singer and member of boy band EXO
    • 1995 – Sarah Mehain, Canadian Paralympic swimmer
    • 1995 – Alessio Romagnoli, Italian footballer

    Deaths of January 12

    • 690 – Benedict Biscop, English scholar and saint, founded the Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey (b. 628)
    • 914 – Ahmad Samani, Samanid emir
    • 947 – Sang Weihan, Chinese chief of staff (b. 898)
    • 1140 – Louis I, Landgrave of Thuringia
    • 1167 – Aelred of Rievaulx, English monk and saint (b. 1110)
    • 1320 – John Dalderby, bishop of Lincoln
    • 1321 – Marie of Brabant, Queen of France (b. 1256)
    • 1405 – Eleanor Maltravers, English noblewoman (b. 1345)
    • 1519 – Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1459)
    • 1665 – Pierre de Fermat, French mathematician and lawyer (b. 1601)
    • 1674 – Giacomo Carissimi, Italian priest and composer (b. 1605)
    • 1700 – Marguerite Bourgeoys, French-Canadian nun and saint, founded the Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal (b. 1620)
    • 1720 – William Ashhurst, English banker and politician, Lord Mayor of London (b. 1647)
    • 1732 – John Horsley, English-Scottish historian and author (b. 1685)
    • 1735 – John Eccles, English composer (b. 1668)
    • 1759 – Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (b. 1709)
    • 1765 – Johann Melchior Molter, German violinist and composer (b. 1696)
    • 1777 – Hugh Mercer, Scottish-American general and physician (b. 1726)
    • 1778 – François Bigot, French politician (b. 1703)
    • 1781 – Richard Challoner, English bishop (b. 1691)
    • 1829 – Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, German philosopher, poet, and critic (b. 1772)
    • 1833 – Marie-Antoine Carême, French chef (b. 1784)
    • 1834 – William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1759)
    • 1856 – Ľudovít Štúr, Slovak philologist and politician (b. 1815)
    • 1861 – Václav Hanka, Czech philologist and author (b. 1791)
    • 1892 – James Caulfeild, 3rd Earl of Charlemont, Irish politician, Lord Lieutenant of Tyrone (b. 1820)
    • 1892 – William Reeves, Irish bishop and historian (b. 1815)
    • 1899 – Hiram Walker, American businessman, founded Canadian Club (b. 1816)
    • 1909 – Hermann Minkowski, Lithuanian-German mathematician and academic (b. 1864)
    • 1911 – Andreas Papagiannakopoulos, Greek journalist, judge, and politician (b. 1845)
    • 1916 – Georgios Theotokis, Greek lawyer and politician, 80th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1844)
    • 1921 – Gervase Elwes, English tenor and actor (b. 1866)
    • 1926 – Austin Chapman, Australian businessman and politician, 4th Australian Minister for Defence (b. 1864)
    • 1934 – Paul Kochanski, Polish violinist and composer (b. 1887)
    • 1938 – Oscar Florianus Bluemner, German-American painter and illustrator (b. 1867)
    • 1940 – Ralph Hitz, Austrian-American hotelier (b. 1891)
    • 1940 – Edward Smith, English lieutenant, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1898)
    • 1943 – Jan Campert, Dutch journalist and critic (b. 1902)
    • 1944 – Lance C. Wade, American commander and pilot (b. 1915)
    • 1958 – Charles Hatfield, American meteorologist (b. 1875)
    • 1960 – Nevil Shute, English engineer and author (b. 1899)
    • 1962 – Ariadna Tyrkova-Williams, Russian journalist and activist (b. 1869)
    • 1965 – Lorraine Hansberry, American author, playwright, and director (b. 1936)
    • 1967 – Burhan Asaf Belge, Turkish diplomat (b. 1887)
    • 1971 – John Tovey, 1st Baron Tovey, English admiral (b. 1885)
    • 1973 – Roy Franklin Nichols, American historian and academic (b. 1896)
    • 1974 – Princess Patricia of Connaught (b. 1886)
    • 1976 – Agatha Christie, English crime novelist, short story writer, and playwright (b. 1890)
    • 1977 – Henri-Georges Clouzot, French director and screenwriter (b. 1907)
    • 1983 – Nikolai Podgorny, Ukrainian engineer and politician (b. 1903)
    • 1988 – Connie Mulder, South African politician (b. 1925)
    • 1988 – Piero Taruffi, Italian racing driver and motorcycle racer (b. 1906)
    • 1990 – Laurence J. Peter, Canadian-American author and educator (b. 1919)
    • 1991 – Robert Jackson, Australian public servant and diplomat (b. 1911)
    • 1992 – Kumar Gandharva, a Hindustani classical singer (b. 1924)
    • 1994 – Gustav Naan, Estonian physicist and philosopher (b. 1919)
    • 1996 – Joachim Nitsche, German mathematician and academic (b. 1926)
    • 1997 – Jean-Edern Hallier, French author (b. 1936)
    • 1997 – Charles Brenton Huggins, Canadian-American physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
    • 1998 – Roger Clark, English racing driver (b. 1939)
    • 1999 – Doug Wickenheiser, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1961)
    • 2000 – Marc Davis, American animator and screenwriter (b. 1913)
    • 2000 – Bobby Phills, American basketball player (b. 1969)
    • 2001 – Luiz Bonfá, Brazilian guitarist and composer (b. 1922)
    • 2001 – William Redington Hewlett, American engineer and businessman, co-founded Hewlett-Packard (b. 1913)
    • 2002 – Cyrus Vance, American lawyer and politician, 57th U.S. Secretary of State (b. 1917)
    • 2003 – Dean Amadon, American ornithologist and author (b. 1912)
    • 2003 – Kinji Fukasaku, Japanese actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1930)
    • 2003 – Leopoldo Galtieri, Argentine general and politician, 44th President of Argentina (b. 1926)
    • 2003 – Maurice Gibb, Manx-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1949)
    • 2003 – Alan Nunn May, English physicist and spy (b. 1911)
    • 2004 – Olga Ladyzhenskaya, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1921)
    • 2005 – Amrish Puri, Indian actor (b. 1932)
    • 2006 – Pablita Velarde, Santa Clara Pueblo (Native American) painter (b. 1918)
    • 2007 – Alice Coltrane, American pianist and composer (b. 1937)
    • 2007 – James Killen, Australian soldier, lawyer, and politician, 38th Australian Minister for Defence (b. 1925)
    • 2008 – Max Beck, American intersex advocate (b. 1966)
    • 2009 – Claude Berri, French actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1934)
    • 2010 – Daniel Bensaïd, French philosopher and author (b. 1946)
    • 2010 – Hasib Sabbagh, Palestinian businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Consolidated Contractors Company (b. 1920)
    • 2012 – Bjørn G. Andersen, Norwegian geologist and academic (b. 1924)
    • 2012 – Glenda Dickerson, American director, choreographer, and educator (b. 1945)
    • 2012 – Bill Janklow, American lawyer and politician, 27th Governor of South Dakota (b. 1939)
    • 2012 – Charles H. Price II, American businessman and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (b. 1931)
    • 2012 – Jim Stanley, American football player and coach (b. 1935)
    • 2013 – Precious Bryant, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1942)
    • 2013 – Eugene Patterson, American journalist and activist (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – Alexandra Bastedo, English actress (b. 1946)
    • 2014 – Connie Binsfeld, American educator and politician, 58th Lieutenant Governor of Michigan (b. 1924)
    • 2014 – George Dement, American soldier, businessman, and politician (b. 1922)
    • 2015 – Trevor Colbourn, American historian and academic (b. 1927)
    • 2015 – Robert Gover, American journalist and author (b. 1929)
    • 2015 – Carl Long, American baseball player (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Elena Obraztsova, Russian soprano and actress (b. 1939)
    • 2015 – Inge Vermeulen, Brazilian-Dutch field hockey player (b. 1985)
    • 2017 – William Peter Blatty, American writer and filmmaker (b. 1928)
    • 2017 – Graham Taylor, former Grimsby Town player and former manager of the England football team. (b. 1944)
    • 2018 – Keith Jackson, American sports commentator and journalist (b. 1928)
    • 2020 – Sir Roger Scruton, English philosopher, and writer (b. 1944)

    Holidays and observances on January 12

    • Christian feast day:
      • Aelred of Rievaulx
      • Benedict Biscop
      • Bernard of Corleone
      • Marguerite Bourgeoys
      • Tatiana
      • January 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Earliest day on which Lee–Jackson Day can fall while January 18 is the latest, celebrated on the Friday before Martin Luther King Day. (Commonwealth of Virginia)
    • Memorial Day (Turkmenistan)
    • National Youth Day (India)
    • Prosecutor General’s Day (Russia)
    • Zanzibar Revolution Day (Tanzania)