Skip to content
-
July 13 in History
- 587 BC – Babylon’s siege of Jerusalem ends following the destruction of Solomon’s Temple.
- 1174 – William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173–74, is captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to Henry II of England.
- 1249 – Coronation of Alexander III as King of Scots.
- 1260 – The Livonian Order suffers its greatest defeat in the 13th century in the Battle of Durbe against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
- 1558 – Battle of Gravelines: In France, Spanish forces led by Count Lamoral of Egmont defeat the French forces of Marshal Paul de Thermes at Gravelines.
- 1573 – Eighty Years’ War: The Siege of Haarlem ends after seven months.
- 1643 – English Civil War: Battle of Roundway Down: In England, Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester, commanding the Royalist forces, heavily defeats the Parliamentarian forces led by Sir William Waller.
- 1787 – The Continental Congress enacts the Northwest Ordinance establishing governing rules for the Northwest Territory. It also establishes procedures for the admission of new states and limits the expansion of slavery.
- 1793 – Journalist and French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat is assassinated in his bathtub by Charlotte Corday, a member of the opposing political faction.
- 1794 – The Battle of Trippstadt is fought between French forces and those of Prussia and Austria.
- 1814 – The Carabinieri, the national gendarmerie of Italy, is established.
- 1830 – The General Assembly’s Institution, now the Scottish Church College, one of the pioneering institutions that ushered the Bengali Renaissance, is founded by Alexander Duff and Raja Ram Mohan Roy, in Calcutta, India.
- 1831 – Regulamentul Organic, a quasi-constitutional organic law is adopted in Wallachia, one of the two Danubian Principalities that were to become the basis of Romania.
- 1854 – In the Battle of Guaymas, Mexico, General José María Yáñez stops the French invasion led by Count Gaston de Raousset-Boulbon.
- 1863 – New York City draft riots: In New York City, opponents of conscription begin three days of rioting which will be later regarded as the worst in United States history.
- 1878 – Treaty of Berlin: The European powers redraw the map of the Balkans. Serbia, Montenegro and Romania become completely independent of the Ottoman Empire.
- 1919 – The British airship R34 lands in Norfolk, England, completing the first airship return journey across the Atlantic in 182 hours of flight.
- 1941 – World War II: Montenegrins begin a popular uprising against the Axis powers (Trinaestojulski ustanak).
- 1956 – The Dartmouth workshop is the first conference on artificial intelligence.
- 1962 – In an unprecedented action, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan dismisses seven members of his Cabinet, marking the effective end of the National Liberals as a distinct force within British politics.
- 1973 – Watergate scandal: Alexander Butterfield reveals the existence of a secret Oval Office taping system to investigators for the Senate Watergate Committee.
- 1977 – Somalia declares war on Ethiopia, starting the Ogaden War.
- 1977 – New York City: Amidst a period of financial and social turmoil experiences an electrical blackout lasting nearly 24 hours that leads to widespread fires and looting.
- 1985 – The Live Aid benefit concert takes place in London and Philadelphia, as well as other venues such as Moscow and Sydney.
- 1985 – Vice President George H. W. Bush becomes the Acting President for the day when President Ronald Reagan undergoes surgery to remove polyps from his colon.
- 2003 – French DGSE personnel abort an operation to rescue Íngrid Betancourt from FARC rebels in Colombia, causing a political scandal when details are leaked to the press.
- 2008 – Battle of Wanat begins when Taliban and al-Qaeda guerrillas attack US Army and Afghan National Army troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. deaths were, at that time, the most in a single battle since the beginning of operations in 2001.
- 2011 – Mumbai is rocked by three bomb blasts during the evening rush hour, killing 26 and injuring 130.
- 2011 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 1999 is adopted, which admits South Sudan to member status of the United Nations.
- 2013 – Typhoon Soulik kills at least nine people and affects more than 160 million in East China and Taiwan.
- 2016 – Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron resigns, and is succeeded by Theresa May.
Births on July 13
- 100 BC – Julius Caesar, Roman general and statesman (d. 44 BC)
- 1426 – Anne Neville, Countess of Warwick (d. 1492)
- 1478 – Giulio d’Este, illegitimate son of Italian noble (d. 1561)
- 1470 – Francesco Armellini Pantalassi de’ Medici, Catholic cardinal (d. 1528)
- 1527 – John Dee, English-Welsh mathematician, astronomer, and astrologer (d. 1609)
- 1579 – Arthur Dee, English physician and chemist (d. 1651)
- 1590 – Pope Clement X (d. 1676)
- 1606 – Roland Fréart de Chambray (d. 1676)
- 1607 – Wenceslaus Hollar, Czech-English painter and illustrator (d. 1677)
- 1608 – Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1657)
- 1745 – Robert Calder, Scottish-English admiral (d. 1818)
- 1756 – Thomas Rowlandson, English artist and caricaturist (d. 1827)
- 1760 – István Pauli, Hungarian-Slovene priest and poet (d. 1829)
- 1770 – Alexander Balashov, Russian general and politician, Russian Minister of Police (d. 1837)
- 1793 – John Clare, English poet and author (d. 1864)
- 1821 – Nathan Bedford Forrest, American general and first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan (d. 1877)
- 1831 – Arthur Böttcher, German pathologist and anatomist (d. 1889)
- 1841 – Otto Wagner, Austrian architect, designed the Austrian Postal Savings Bank and Karlsplatz Stadtbahn Station (d. 1918)
- 1858 – Stewart Culin, American ethnographer and author (d. 1929)
- 1859 – Sidney Webb, 1st Baron Passfield, English economist and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1947)
- 1863 – Margaret Murray, British archaeologist, anthropologist, historian, and folklorist (d. 1963)
- 1864 – John Jacob Astor IV, American colonel and businessman (d. 1912)
- 1877 – Robert Henry Mathews, Australian linguist and missionary (d. 1970)
- 1884 – Yrjö Saarela, Finnish wrestler and coach (d. 1951)
- 1889 – Emma Asson, Estonian educator and politician (d. 1965)
- 1889 – Stan Coveleski, American baseball player (d. 1984)
- 1892 – Léo-Pol Morin, Canadian pianist, composer, and educator (d. 1941)
- 1892 – Jonni Myyrä, Finnish-American discus and javelin thrower (d. 1955)
- 1894 – Isaac Babel, Russian short story writer, journalist, and playwright (d. 1940)
- 1895 – Sidney Blackmer, American actor (d. 1973)
- 1896 – Mordecai Ardon, Israeli painter and educator (d. 1992)
- 1898 – Julius Schreck, German commander (d. 1936)
- 1898 – Ivan Triesault, Estonian-born American actor (d. 1980)
- 1900 – George Lewis, American clarinet player and songwriter (d. 1969)
- 1901 – Eric Portman, English actor (d. 1969)
- 1903 – Kenneth Clark, English historian and author (d. 1983)
- 1905 – Alfredo M. Santos, Filipino general (d. 1990)
- 1905 – Eugenio Pagnini, Italian modern pentathlete (d. 1993)
- 1905 – Magda Foy, American child actress (d. 2000)
- 1907 – George Weller, American author, playwright, and journalist (d. 2002)
- 1908 – Dorothy Round, English tennis player (d. 1982)
- 1908 – Tim Spencer, American country & western singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1974)
- 1910 – Lien Gisolf, Dutch high jumper (d. 1993)
- 1910 – Loren Pope, American journalist and author (d. 2008)
- 1911 – Bob Steele (broadcaster), American radio personality (d. 2002)
- 1913 – Dave Garroway, American journalist and television personality (d. 1982)
- 1913 – Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, Danish businessman (d. 2012)
- 1913 – Kay Linaker, American actress and screenwriter (d. 2008)
- 1915 – Kaoru Ishikawa, Japanese author and educator (d. 1989)
- 1918 – Alberto Ascari, Italian race car driver (d. 1955)
- 1918 – Ronald Bladen, American painter and sculptor (d. 1988)
- 1918 – Marcia Brown, American author and illustrator (d. 2015)
- 1919 – Hau Pei-tsun, 13th Premier of the Republic of China (d. 2020)
- 1919 – William F. Quinn, American lawyer (d. 2006)
- 1921 – Ernest Gold, Austrian-American composer and conductor (d. 1999)
- 1922 – Leslie Brooks, American actress (d. 2011)
- 1922 – Anker Jørgensen, Danish trade union leader and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Denmark (d. 2016)
- 1922 – Helmy Afify Abd El-Bar, Egyptian military commander (d. 2011)
- 1922 – Ken Mosdell, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2006)
- 1923 – Ashley Bryan, American children’s book author and illustrator
- 1924 – Johnny Gilbert, American game show host and announcer
- 1925 – Suzanne Zimmerman, American competition swimmer and Olympic medalist
- 1925 – Huang Zongying, Chinese actress and writer
- 1926 – Robert H. Justman, American director, producer, and production manager (d. 2008)
- 1926 – T. Loren Christianson, American politician (d. 2019)
- 1926 – Thomas Clark, American politician (d. 2020)
- 1927 – Simone Veil, French lawyer and politician, President of the European Parliament (d. 2017)
- 1927 – Ian Reed, Australian discus thrower
- 1928 – Bob Crane, American actor (d. 1978)
- 1928 – Sven Davidson, Swedish-American tennis player (d. 2008)
- 1928 – Al Rex, American musician (d. 2020)
- 1929 – Sofia Muratova, Russian gymnast (d. 2006)
- 1929 – Svein Ellingsen, Norwegian visual artist and hymnist (d. 2020)
- 1930 – Sam Greenlee, American author and poet (d. 2014)
- 1930 – Naomi Shemer, Israeli singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
- 1931 – Frank Ramsey, American basketball player and coach (d. 2018)
- 1932 – Hubert Reeves, Canadian-French astrophysicist and author
- 1933 – David Storey, English author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
- 1933 – Piero Manzoni, Italian artist (d. 1963)
- 1934 – Peter Gzowski, Canadian journalist and academic (d. 2002)
- 1934 – Gordon Lee, English footballer and manager
- 1934 – Wole Soyinka, Nigerian author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1934 – Aleksei Yeliseyev, Russian engineer and astronaut
- 1935 – Jack Kemp, American football player and politician, 9th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (d. 2009)
- 1935 – Earl Lovelace, Trinidadian journalist, author, and playwright
- 1935 – Kurt Westergaard, Danish cartoonist
- 1936 – Albert Ayler, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1970)
- 1937 – Ghillean Prance, English botanist and ecologist
- 1939 – Lambert Jackson Woodburne, South African admiral (d. 2013)
- 1940 – Tom Lichtenberg, American football player and coach (d. 2013)
- 1940 – Paul Prudhomme, American chef and author (d. 2015)
- 1940 – Patrick Stewart, English actor, director, and producer
- 1941 – Grahame Corling, Australian cricketer
- 1941 – Robert Forster, American actor and producer (d. 2019)
- 1941 – Ehud Manor, Israeli songwriter and translator (d. 2005)
- 1941 – Jacques Perrin, French actor, director, and producer
- 1942 – Harrison Ford, American actor and producer
- 1942 – Roger McGuinn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1943 – Chris Serle, English journalist and actor
- 1944 – Eric Freeman, Australian cricketer
- 1944 – Cyril Knowles, English footballer and manager (d. 1991)
- 1944 – Erno Rubik, Hungarian game designer, architect, and educator, invented the Rubik’s Cube
- 1945 – Ashley Mallett, Australian cricketer and author
- 1946 – Bob Kauffman, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
- 1946 – Cheech Marin, American actor and comedian
- 1948 – Catherine Breillat, French director and screenwriter
- 1949 – Bryan Murray, Irish actor
- 1950 – George Nelson, American astronomer and astronaut
- 1950 – Ma Ying-jeou, Hong Kong-Taiwanese commander and politician, 12th President of the Republic of China
- 1950 – Jurelang Zedkaia, Marshallese politician, 5th President of the Marshall Islands (d. 2015)
- 1951 – Rob Bishop, American educator and politician
- 1951 – Didi Conn, American actress and singer
- 1953 – David Thompson, American basketball player
- 1954 – Ray Bright, Australian cricketer
- 1954 – Louise Mandrell, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1956 – Mark Mendoza, American bass player and songwriter
- 1956 – Michael Spinks, American boxer
- 1957 – Thierry Boutsen, Belgian race car driver and businessman
- 1957 – Cameron Crowe, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1959 – Richard Leman, English field hockey player
- 1959 – Fuziah Salleh, Malaysian politician
- 1960 – Robert Abraham, American football player
- 1960 – Ian Hislop, Welsh-English journalist and screenwriter
- 1960 – Curtis Rouse, American football player (d. 2013)
- 1961 – Tahira Asif, Pakistani politician (d. 2014)
- 1961 – Anders Jarryd, Swedish tennis player
- 1961 – Khalid Mahmood, Pakistani-English engineer and politician
- 1961 – Stelios Manolas, Greek footballer and manager
- 1961 – Tim Watson, Australian footballer, coach, and journalist
- 1962 – Tom Kenny, American voice actor and screenwriter
- 1962 – Rhonda Vincent, American singer-songwriter and mandolin player
- 1963 – Neal Foulds, English snooker player and sportscaster
- 1963 – Kenny Johnson, American actor, producer, and model
- 1964 – Charlie Hides, American drag queen and comedian
- 1964 – Paul Thorn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1965 – Eileen Ivers, American fiddler
- 1965 – Colin van der Voort, Australian rugby league player
- 1966 – Gerald Levert, American R&B singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (d. 2006)
- 1966 – Natalia Luis-Bassa, Venezuelan-English conductor and educator
- 1967 – Richard Marles, Australian lawyer and politician, 50th Australian Minister for Trade and Investment
- 1967 – Mark McGowan, Australian politician, 30th Premier of Western Australia
- 1969 – Brad Godden, Australian rugby league player
- 1969 – Ken Jeong, American actor, comedian, and physician
- 1969 – Oleg Serebrian, Moldovan political scientist and politician
- 1970 – Andrei Tivontchik, German pole vaulter and trainer
- 1971 – Mark Neeld, Australian footballer and coach
- 1972 – Sean Waltman, American professional wrestler
- 1974 – Deborah Cox, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress
- 1974 – Jarno Trulli, Italian race car driver
- 1975 – Diego Spotorno, Ecuadorian actor
- 1975 – Mariada Pieridi, Cypriot singer-songwriter
- 1976 – Sheldon Souray, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1977 – Chris Horn, American football player
- 1978 – Ryan Ludwick, American baseball player
- 1978 – Prodromos Nikolaidis, Greek basketball player
- 1979 – Craig Bellamy, Welsh footballer
- 1979 – Daniel Díaz, Argentinian footballer
- 1979 – Libuše Průšová, Czech tennis player
- 1979 – Lucinda Ruh, Swiss figure skater and coach
- 1981 – Ágnes Kovács, Hungarian swimmer
- 1981 – Mirco Lorenzetto, Italian cyclist
- 1982 – Shin-Soo Choo, South Korean baseball player
- 1982 – Simon Clist, English footballer
- 1982 – Dominic Isaacs, South African footballer
- 1982 – Nick Kenny, Australian rugby league player
- 1982 – Yadier Molina, Puerto Rican-American baseball player
- 1983 – Kristof Beyens, Belgian sprinter
- 1983 – Marco Pomante, Italian footballer
- 1983 – Liu Xiang, Chinese hurdler
- 1984 – Ida Maria, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1985 – Trell Kimmons, American sprinter
- 1985 – Guillermo Ochoa, Mexican footballer
- 1985 – Charlotte Dujardin, English equestrian
- 1988 – Marcos Paulo Gelmini Gomes, Brazilian-Italian footballer
- 1988 – Colton Haynes, American actor, model and singer
- 1988 – Steven R. McQueen, American actor and model
- 1988 – Raúl Spank, German high jumper
- 1988 – Tulisa, English singer-songwriter and actress
- 1989 – Leon Bridges, American soul singer, songwriter and record producer
- 1989 – Charis Giannopoulos, Greek basketball player
- 1990 – Kieran Foran, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1990 – Eduardo Salvio, Argentinian footballer
- 1992 – Elise Matthysen, Belgian swimmer
- 1993 – Daniel Bentley, English footballer
- 1995 – Cody Bellinger, American baseball player
- 1995 – Dante Exum, Australian basketball player
- 2002 – Deborah Medrado, Brazilian rhythmic gymnast
- 2003 – Wyatt Oleff, American child actor
- 2005 – Kyle Harrison Breitkopf, Canadian child actor
Deaths on July 13
- 574 – John III, pope of the Catholic Church
- 716 – Rui Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 662)
- 815 – Wu Yuanheng, Chinese poet and politician (b. 758)
- 884 – Huang Chao, Chinese rebel leader (b. 835)
- 939 – Leo VII, pope of the Catholic Church
- 982 – Gunther, margrave of Merseburg
- 982 – Henry I, bishop of Augsburg
- 982 – Pandulf II, Lombard prince
- 982 – Landulf IV, Lombard prince
- 982 – Abu’l-Qasim, Kalbid emir of Sicily
- 1024 – Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 973)
- 1105 – Rashi, French rabbi and commentator (b. 1040)
- 1205 – Hubert Walter, English archbishop and politician, Lord Chancellor of The United Kingdom (b. 1160)
- 1357 – Bartolus de Saxoferrato Italian academic and jurist (b. 1313)
- 1380 – Bertrand du Guesclin, French nobleman and knight (b. 1320)
- 1399 – Peter Parler, German architect, designed St. Vitus Cathedral and Charles Bridge (b. 1330)
- 1399 – Jadwiga, queen of Poland (b. 1399)
- 1402 – Jianwen, Chinese emperor (b. 1377)
- 1491 – Afonso, Portuguese prince (b. 1475)
- 1551 – John Wallop, English soldier and diplomat (b. 1490)
- 1617 – Adam Wenceslaus, duke of Cieszyn (b. 1574)
- 1621 – Albert VII, archduke of Austria (b. 1559)
- 1626 – Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester, English politician (b. 1563)
- 1628 – Robert Shirley, English soldier and diplomat (b. 1581)
- 1629 – Caspar Bartholin the Elder, Swedish physician and theologian (b. 1585)
- 1683 – Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1631)
- 1755 – Edward Braddock, Scottish general (b. 1695)
- 1762 – James Bradley, English priest and astronomer (b. 1693)
- 1789 – Victor de Riqueti, marquis de Mirabeau, French economist and academic (b. 1715)
- 1793 – Jean-Paul Marat, French physician and theorist (b. 1743)
- 1807 – Henry Benedict Stuart, Italian cardinal (b. 1725)
- 1881 – John C. Pemberton, American general (b. 1814)
- 1889 – Robert Hamerling, Austrian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1830)
- 1890 – John C. Frémont, American general and politician, 5th Territorial Governor of Arizona (b. 1813)
- 1890 – Johann Voldemar Jannsen, Estonian journalist and poet (b. 1819)
- 1893 – Young Man Afraid of His Horses, American tribal chief (b. 1836)
- 1896 – August Kekulé, German chemist and academic (b. 1829)
- 1907 – Henrik Sillem, Dutch target shooter and jurist (b. 1866)
- 1911 – Allan McLean, Scottish-Australian politician, 19th Premier of Victoria (b. 1840)
- 1921 – Gabriel Lippmann, Luxembourger physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
- 1922 – Martin Dies, Sr., American journalist and politician (b. 1870)
- 1927 – Mimar Kemaleddin Bey, Turkish architect and academic, designed the Tayyare Apartments (b. 1870)
- 1934 – Mary E. Byrd, American astronomer and academic (b. 1849)
- 1936 – Kojo Tovalou Houénou, Beninese lawyer and politician (b. 1887)
- 1941 – Ilmar Raud, Estonian chess player (b. 1913)
- 1945 – Alla Nazimova, Russian-American actress, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1879)
- 1946 – Alfred Stieglitz, American photographer and curator (b. 1864)
- 1949 – Walt Kuhn, American painter and academic (b. 1877)
- 1951 – Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian-American composer and painter (b. 1874)
- 1954 – Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter and educator (b. 1907)
- 1960 – Joy Davidman, American-English poet and author (b. 1915)
- 1965 – Photis Kontoglou, Greek painter and illustrator (b. 1895)
- 1967 – Tom Simpson, English cyclist (b. 1937)
- 1970 – Leslie Groves, American general and engineer (b. 1896)
- 1970 – Sheng Shicai, Chinese warlord (b. 1895)
- 1973 – Willy Fritsch, German actor and screenwriter (b. 1901)
- 1974 – Patrick Blackett, Baron Blackett, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
- 1976 – Frederick Hawksworth, English engineer (b. 1884)
- 1976 – Joachim Peiper, German SS officer (b. 1915)
- 1979 – Ludwig Merwart, Austrian painter and illustrator (b. 1913)
- 1980 – Seretse Khama, Botswana lawyer and politician, 1st President of Botswana (b. 1921)
- 1983 – Gabrielle Roy, Canadian engineer and author (b. 1909)
- 1993 – Davey Allison, American race car driver (b. 1961)
- 1995 – Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, Danish businessman (b. 1920)
- 1996 – Pandro S. Berman, American director, producer, and production manager (b. 1905)
- 1997 – Miguel Ángel Blanco, Spanish politician (b. 1968)
- 1999 – Konstantinos Kollias, Greek general and politician, 168th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1901)
- 2000 – Jan Karski, Polish-American activist and academic (b. 1914)
- 2003 – Compay Segundo, Cuban singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1907)
- 2005 – Robert E. Ogren, American zoologist (b. 1922)
- 2006 – Red Buttons, American actor (b. 1919)
- 2007 – Michael Reardon, American mountaineer (b. 1965)
- 2008 – Bronisław Geremek, Polish historian and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1932)
- 2010 – Manohari Singh, Indian saxophonist and composer (b. 1931)
- 2010 – George Steinbrenner, American businessman (b. 1930)
- 2011 – Allan Jeans, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1933)
- 2012 – Warren Jabali, American basketball player (b. 1946)
- 2012 – Jerzy Kulej, Polish boxer and politician (b. 1940)
- 2012 – Richard D. Zanuck, American film producer (b. 1934)
- 2013 – Leonard Garment, American lawyer and public servant, 14th White House Counsel (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Henri Julien, French race car driver (b. 1927)
- 2013 – Cory Monteith, Canadian actor and singer (b. 1982)
- 2013 – Ottavio Quattrocchi, Italian businessman (b. 1938)
- 2013 – Vernon B. Romney, American lawyer and politician, 14th Attorney General of Utah (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Marc Simont, French-American author and illustrator (b. 1915)
- 2014 – Thomas Berger, American author and playwright (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Alfred de Grazia, American political scientist, author, and academic (b. 1919)
- 2014 – Nadine Gordimer, South African novelist, short story writer, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Jeff Leiding, American football player (b. 1961)
- 2014 – Lorin Maazel, French-American violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Philipp Mißfelder, German historian and politician (b. 1979)
- 2015 – Martin Litchfield West, English scholar, author, and academic (b. 1927)
- 2017 – Liu Xiaobo, Chinese literary critic, human rights activist (b. 1955)
Holidays and observances on July 13
- Christian feast day:
- Abd-al-Masih
- Abel of Tacla Haimonot (Coptic Church)
- Clelia Barbieri
- Conrad Weiser (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Eugenius of Carthage
- Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor
- Mildrith of Thanet
- Rosa Mystica
- Silas (Catholic Church)
- Teresa of the Andes
- July 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Feast of Kalimát, first day of the seventh month of the Bahá’í calendar. (Bahá’í Faith)
- Statehood Day (Montenegro)
- The last day of Naadam (Mongolia)
- Kashmir Martyrs’ Day (Pakistan)
-
July 11 in History
- 472 – After being besieged in Rome by his own generals, Western Roman Emperor Anthemius is captured in St. Peter’s Basilica and put to death.
- 813 – Byzantine emperor Michael I, under threat by conspiracies, abdicates in favor of his general Leo the Armenian, and becomes a monk (under the name Athanasius).
- 911 – Signing of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between Charles the Simple and Rollo of Normandy.
- 1174 – Baldwin IV, 13, becomes King of Jerusalem, with Raymond III, Count of Tripoli as regent and William of Tyre as chancellor.
- 1302 – Battle of the Golden Spurs (Guldensporenslag in Dutch): A coalition around the Flemish cities defeats the king of France’s royal army.
- 1346 – Charles IV, Count of Luxembourg and King of Bohemia, is elected King of the Romans.
- 1405 – Ming admiral Zheng He sets sail to explore the world for the first time.
- 1476 – Giuliano della Rovere is appointed bishop of Coutances.
- 1576 – Martin Frobisher sights Greenland.
- 1616 – Samuel de Champlain returns to Quebec.
- 1735 – Mathematical calculations suggest that it is on this day that dwarf planet Pluto moved inside the orbit of Neptune for the last time before 1979.
- 1789 – Jacques Necker is dismissed as France’s Finance Minister sparking the Storming of the Bastille.
- 1796 – The United States takes possession of Detroit from Great Britain under terms of the Jay Treaty.
- 1798 – The United States Marine Corps is re-established; they had been disbanded after the American Revolutionary War.
- 1801 – French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons makes his first comet discovery. In the next 27 years he discovers another 36 comets, more than any other person in history.
- 1804 – A duel occurs in which the Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr mortally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton.
- 1833 – Noongar Australian aboriginal warrior Yagan, wanted for the murder of white colonists in Western Australia, is killed.
- 1848 – Waterloo railway station in London opens.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Fort Stevens; Confederate forces attempt to invade Washington, D.C.
- 1882 – The British Mediterranean Fleet begins the Bombardment of Alexandria in Egypt as part of the Anglo-Egyptian War.
- 1889 – Tijuana, Mexico, is founded.
- 1893 – The first cultured pearl is obtained by Kōkichi Mikimoto.
- 1893 – A revolution led by the liberal general and politician José Santos Zelaya takes over state power in Nicaragua.
- 1895 – Brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière demonstrate movie film technology to scientists.
- 1897 – Salomon August Andrée leaves Spitsbergen to attempt to reach the North Pole by balloon. He later crashes and dies.
- 1899 – Fiat founded by Giovanni Agnelli in Turin, Italy.
- 1906 – Murder of Grace Brown by Chester Gillette in the United States, inspiration for Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy.
- 1914 – Babe Ruth makes his debut in Major League Baseball.
- 1914 – USS Nevada (BB-36) is launched.
- 1919 – The eight-hour day and free Sunday become law for workers in the Netherlands.
- 1920 – In the East Prussian plebiscite the local populace decides to remain with Weimar Germany.
- 1921 – A truce in the Irish War of Independence comes into effect.
- 1921 – The Red Army captures Mongolia from the White Army and establishes the Mongolian People’s Republic.
- 1921 – Former president of the United States William Howard Taft is sworn in as 10th chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the only person ever to hold both offices.
- 1922 – The Hollywood Bowl opens.
- 1924 – Eric Liddell won the gold medal in 400m at the 1924 Paris Olympics, after refusing to run in the heats for 100m, his favoured distance, on the Sunday.
- 1934 – Engelbert Zaschka of Germany flies his large human-powered aircraft, the Zaschka Human-Power Aircraft, about 20 meters at Berlin Tempelhof Airport without assisted take-off.
- 1936 – The Triborough Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic.
- 1940 – World War II: Vichy France regime is formally established. Philippe Pétain becomes Chief of the French State.
- 1941 – The Northern Rhodesian Labour Party holds its first congress in Nkana.
- 1943 – Massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army within the Reichskommissariat Ukraine (Volhynia) peak.
- 1943 – World War II: Allied invasion of Sicily: German and Italian troops launch a counter-attack on Allied forces in Sicily.
- 1947 – The Exodus 1947 heads to Palestine from France.
- 1950 – Pakistan joins the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank.
- 1957 – Prince Karim Husseini Aga Khan IV inherits the office of Imamat as the 49th Imam of Shia Imami Ismai’li worldwide, after the death of Sir Sultan Mahommed Shah Aga Khan III.
- 1960 – France legislates for the independence of Dahomey (later Benin), Upper Volta (later Burkina) and Niger.
- 1960 – Congo Crisis: The State of Katanga breaks away from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- 1960 – To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is first published, in the United States.
- 1962 – First transatlantic satellite television transmission.
- 1962 – Project Apollo: At a press conference, NASA announces lunar orbit rendezvous as the means to land astronauts on the Moon, and return them to Earth.
- 1971 – Copper mines in Chile are nationalized.
- 1972 – The first game of the World Chess Championship 1972 between challenger Bobby Fischer and defending champion Boris Spassky starts.
- 1973 – Varig Flight 820 crashes near Paris, France on approach to Orly Airport, killing 123 of the 134 on board. In response, the FAA bans smoking in airplane lavatories.
- 1977 – Martin Luther King, Jr. is posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
- 1978 – Los Alfaques disaster: A truck carrying liquid gas crashes and explodes at a coastal campsite in Tarragona, Spain killing 216 tourists.
- 1979 – America’s first space station, Skylab, is destroyed as it re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.
- 1983 – A TAME airline Boeing 737-200 crashes near Cuenca, Ecuador, killing all 119 passengers and crew on board.
- 1990 – Oka Crisis: First Nations land dispute in Quebec, Canada begins.
- 1991 – Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 crashes in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia killing all 261 passengers and crew on board.
- 1995 – Yugoslav Wars: Srebrenica massacre begins; lasts until 22 July.
- 2006 – Mumbai train bombings: Two hundred nine people are killed in a series of bomb attacks in Mumbai, India.
- 2010 – The Islamist militia group Al-Shabaab carried out multiple suicide bombings in Kampala, Uganda, killing 74 people and injuring 85 others.
- 2011 – Ninety-eight containers of explosives self-detonate killing 13 people in Zygi, Cyprus.
Births on July 11
- 154 – Bardaisan, Syrian astrologer, scholar, and philosopher (d. 222)
- 1274 – Robert the Bruce, Scottish king (d. 1329)
- 1406 – William, Margrave of Hachberg-Sausenberg (d. 1482)
- 1459 – Kaspar, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, German nobleman (d. 1527)
- 1558 – Robert Greene, English author and playwright (d. 1592)
- 1561 – Luis de Góngora, Spanish cleric and poet (d. 1627)
- 1603 – Kenelm Digby, English astrologer, courtier, and diplomat (d. 1665)
- 1628 – Tokugawa Mitsukuni, Japanese daimyō (d. 1701)
- 1653 – Sarah Good, American woman accused of witchcraft (d. 1692)
- 1657 – Frederick I of Prussia (d. 1713)
- 1662 – Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (d. 1726)
- 1709 – Johan Gottschalk Wallerius, Swedish chemist and mineralogist (d. 1785)
- 1723 – Jean-François Marmontel, French historian and author (d. 1799)
- 1751 – Caroline Matilda, British princess, queen consort of Denmark (d. 1775)
- 1754 – Thomas Bowdler, English physician and philanthropist (d. 1825)
- 1760 – Peggy Shippen, American wife of Benedict Arnold and American Revolutionary War spy (d. 1804)
- 1767 – John Quincy Adams, American lawyer and politician, 6th President of the United States (d. 1848)
- 1826 – Alexander Afanasyev, Russian ethnographer and author (d. 1871)
- 1832 – Charilaos Trikoupis, Greek lawyer and politician, 55th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1896)
- 1834 – James Abbott McNeill Whistler, American-English painter and illustrator (d. 1903)
- 1836 – Antônio Carlos Gomes, Brazilian composer (d. 1896)
- 1846 – Léon Bloy, French author and poet (d. 1917)
- 1849 – N. E. Brown, English plant taxonomist and authority on succulents (d. 1934)
- 1850 – Annie Armstrong, American missionary (d. 1938)
- 1866 – Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine (d. 1953)
- 1875 – H. M. Brock, British painter and illustrator (d. 1960)
- 1880 – Friedrich Lahrs, German architect and academic (d. 1964)
- 1881 – Isabel Martin Lewis, American astronomer and author (d. 1966)
- 1882 – James Larkin White, American miner, explorer, and park ranger (d. 1946)
- 1886 – Boris Grigoriev, Russian painter and illustrator (d. 1939)
- 1888 – Carl Schmitt, German philosopher and jurist (d. 1985)
- 1892 – Thomas Mitchell, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (d. 1962)
- 1894 – Erna Mohr, German zoologist (d. 1968)
- 1895 – Dorothy Wilde, English author and poet (d. 1941)
- 1897 – Bull Connor, American police officer (d. 1973)
- 1899 – Wilfrid Israel, German businessman and philanthropist (d. 1943)
- 1899 – E. B. White, American essayist and journalist (d. 1985)
- 1901 – Gwendolyn Lizarraga, Belizean businesswoman, activist, and politician (d. 1975)
- 1903 – Rudolf Abel, English-Russian colonel (d. 1971)
- 1903 – Sidney Franklin, American bullfighter (d. 1976)
- 1904 – Niño Ricardo, Spanish guitarist and composer (d. 1972)
- 1905 – Betty Allan, Australian statistician and biometrician (d. 1952)
- 1906 – Harry von Zell, American actor and announcer (d. 1981)
- 1906 – Herbert Wehner, German politician, Minister of Intra-German Relations (d. 1990)
- 1909 – Irene Hervey, American actress (d. 1998)
- 1909 – Jacques Clemens, Dutch catholic priest (d. 2018)
- 1910 – Sally Blane, American actress (d. 1997)
- 1911 – Erna Flegel, German Third Reich nurse (d. 2006)
- 1912 – Sergiu Celibidache, Romanian conductor and composer (d. 1996)
- 1912 – Peta Taylor, English cricketer (d. 1989)
- 1912 – William F. Walsh, American captain and politician, 48th Mayor of Syracuse (d. 2011)
- 1913 – Paul Gibb, English cricketer (d. 1977)
- 1913 – Cordwainer Smith, American sinologist, author, and academic (d. 1966)
- 1916 – Mortimer Caplin, American tax attorney, educator, and IRS Commissioner (d. 2019)
- 1916 – Hans Maier, Dutch water polo player (d. 2018)
- 1916 – Alexander Prokhorov, Australian-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
- 1916 – Reg Varney, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2008)
- 1916 – Gough Whitlam, Australian lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 21st Prime Minister of Australia (d. 2014)
- 1918 – Venetia Burney, English educator, who named Pluto (d. 2009)
- 1920 – Yul Brynner, Russian actor and dancer (d. 1985)
- 1920 – Zecharia Sitchin, Russian-American author (d. 2010)
- 1922 – Gene Evans, American actor (d. 1998)
- 1922 – Fritz Riess, German-Swiss racing driver (d. 1991)
- 1923 – Richard Pipes, Polish-American historian and academic (d. 2018)
- 1923 – Tun Tun, Indian actress and comedian (d. 2003)
- 1924 – César Lattes, Brazilian physicist and academic (d. 2005)
- 1924 – Brett Somers, Canadian-American actress and singer (d. 2007)
- 1924 – Charlie Tully, Northern Irish footballer and manager (d. 1971)
- 1924 – Oscar Wyatt, American businessman
- 1925 – Charles Chaynes, French composer (d. 2016)
- 1925 – Nicolai Gedda, Swedish operatic tenor (d. 2017)
- 1925 – Peter Kyros, American lawyer and politician (d. 2012)
- 1925 – Sid Smith, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2004)
- 1926 – Frederick Buechner, American minister, theologian, and author
- 1927 – Theodore Maiman, American-Canadian physicist and engineer (d. 2007)
- 1927 – Chris Leonard, English footballer
- 1928 – Greville Janner, Baron Janner of Braunstone, Welsh-English lawyer and politician (d. 2015)
- 1928 – Bobo Olson, American boxer (d. 2002)
- 1928 – Andrea Veneracion, Filipina choirmaster (d. 2014)
- 1929 – Danny Flores, American singer-songwriter and saxophonist (d. 2006)
- 1929 – David Kelly, Irish actor (d. 2012)
- 1930 – Jack Alabaster, New Zealand cricketer
- 1930 – Harold Bloom, American literary critic (d. 2019)
- 1930 – Trevor Storer, English businessman, founded Pukka Pies (d. 2013)
- 1931 – Dick Gray, American baseball player (d. 2013)
- 1931 – Thurston Harris, American doo-wop singer (d. 1990)
- 1931 – Tab Hunter, American actor and singer (d. 2018)
- 1931 – Tullio Regge, Italian physicist and academic (d. 2014)
- 1932 – Alex Hassilev, French-born American folk singer and musician
- 1932 – Jean-Guy Talbot, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1933 – Jim Carlen, American football player and coach (d. 2012)
- 1933 – Frank Kelso, American admiral and politician, United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 2013)
- 1934 – Giorgio Armani, Italian fashion designer, founded the Armani Company
- 1935 – Frederick Hemke, American saxophonist and educator
- 1935 – Oliver Napier, Northern Irish lawyer and politician (d. 2011)
- 1937 – Pai Hsien-yung, Chinese-Taiwanese author
- 1941 – Bill Boggs, American journalist and producer
- 1941 – Henry Lowther, English trumpet player
- 1943 – Richard Carleton, Australian journalist (d. 2006)
- 1943 – Howard Gardner, American psychologist and academic
- 1943 – Tom Holland, American actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1943 – Peter Jensen, Australian metropolitan
- 1943 – Robert Malval, Haitian businessman and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Haiti
- 1943 – Rolf Stommelen, German racing driver (d. 1983)
- 1944 – Lou Hudson, American basketball player and coach (d. 2014)
- 1944 – Michael Levy, Baron Levy, English philanthropist
- 1944 – Patricia Polacco, American author and illustrator
- 1946 – Martin Wong, American painter (d. 1999)
- 1947 – Jeff Hanna, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and drummer
- 1947 – Norman Lebrecht, English author and critic
- 1947 – Bo Lundgren, Swedish politician
- 1950 – Pervez Hoodbhoy, Pakistani physicist and academic
- 1950 – J. R. Morgan, Welsh author and academic
- 1950 – Bonnie Pointer, American singer (d. 2020)
- 1951 – Ed Ott, American baseball player and coach
- 1952 – Bill Barber, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1952 – Stephen Lang, American actor and playwright
- 1953 – Piyasvasti Amranand, Thai businessman and politician, Thai Minister of Energy
- 1953 – Angélica Aragón, Mexican film, television, and stage actress and singer
- 1953 – Peter Brown, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1953 – Suresh Prabhu, Indian accountant and politician, Indian Minister of Railways
- 1953 – Patricia Reyes Spíndola, Mexican actress, director, and producer
- 1953 – Leon Spinks, American boxer
- 1953 – Mindy Sterling, American actress
- 1953 – Ivan Toms, South African physician and activist (d. 2008)
- 1953 – Bramwell Tovey, English-Canadian conductor and composer
- 1953 – Paul Weiland, English director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1954 – Julia King, English engineer and academic
- 1955 – Balaji Sadasivan, Singaporean neurosurgeon and politician, Singaporean Minister of Health (d. 2010)
- 1956 – Amitav Ghosh, Indian-American author and academic
- 1956 – Robin Renucci, French actor and director
- 1956 – Sela Ward, American actress
- 1957 – Johann Lamont, Scottish educator and politician
- 1957 – Peter Murphy, English singer-songwriter
- 1957 – Michael Rose, Jamaican singer-songwriter
- 1958 – Mark Lester, English actor
- 1958 – Hugo Sánchez, Mexican footballer, coach, and manager
- 1959 – Richie Sambora, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1959 – Suzanne Vega, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1960 – David Baerwald, American singer-songwriter, composer, and musician
- 1960 – Caroline Quentin, English actress
- 1961 – Antony Jenkins, English banker and businessman
- 1962 – Gaétan Duchesne, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2007)
- 1962 – Pauline McLynn, Irish actress and author
- 1962 – Fumiya Fujii, Japanese music artist
- 1963 – Al MacInnis, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1963 – Dean Richards, English rugby player and coach
- 1963 – Lisa Rinna, American actress and talk show host
- 1965 – Tony Cottee, English footballer, manager, and sportscaster
- 1965 – Ernesto Hoost, Dutch kick-boxer and sportscaster
- 1965 – Scott Shriner, American singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1966 – Nadeem Aslam, Pakistani-English author
- 1966 – Kentaro Miura, Japanese author and illustrator
- 1966 – Rod Strickland, American basketball player and coach
- 1966 – Ricky Warwick, Northern Irish musician
- 1967 – Andy Ashby, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1967 – Jhumpa Lahiri, Indian American novelist and short story writer
- 1968 – Michael Geist, Canadian journalist and academic
- 1968 – Daniel MacMaster, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 2008)
- 1968 – Esera Tuaolo, American football player
- 1969 – Ned Boulting, British sports journalist and television presenter
- 1970 – Justin Chambers, American actor
- 1970 – Sajjad Karim, English lawyer and politician
- 1970 – Eric Owens, American opera singer
- 1971 – Leisha Hailey, Japanese-American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1972 – Cormac Battle, English-Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1973 – Konstantinos Kenteris, Greek runner
- 1974 – Alanas Chošnau, Lithuanian singer-songwriter
- 1974 – Hermann Hreiðarsson, Icelandic footballer and manager
- 1974 – André Ooijer, Dutch footballer and coach
- 1975 – Willie Anderson, American football player
- 1975 – Rubén Baraja, Spanish footballer and manager
- 1975 – Lil’ Kim, American rapper and producer
- 1976 – Eduardo Nájera, Mexican-American basketball player and coach
- 1977 – Brandon Short, American football player and sportscaster
- 1978 – Kathleen Edwards, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1978 – Massimiliano Rosolino, Italian swimmer
- 1979 – Raio Piiroja, Estonian footballer
- 1980 – Tyson Kidd, Canadian wrestler
- 1980 – Kevin Powers, American soldier and author
- 1981 – Andre Johnson, American football player
- 1982 – Chris Cooley, American football player
- 1983 – Engin Baytar, German-Turkish footballer
- 1983 – Peter Cincotti, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1983 – Marie Serneholt, Swedish singer and dancer
- 1984 – Yorman Bazardo, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1984 – Tanith Belbin, Canadian-American ice dancer
- 1984 – Jacoby Jones, American football player
- 1984 – Joe Pavelski, American ice hockey player
- 1984 – Morné Steyn, South African rugby player
- 1985 – Robert Adamson, American actor, director, and producer
- 1985 – Orestis Karnezis, Greek footballer
- 1986 – Raúl García, Spanish footballer
- 1986 – Yoann Gourcuff, French footballer
- 1986 – Ryan Jarvis, English footballer
- 1987 – Shigeaki Kato, Japanese singer
- 1988 – Étienne Capoue, French footballer
- 1988 – Natalie La Rose, Dutch singer, songwriter and dancer
- 1989 – Tobias Sana, Swedish footballer
- 1989 – Travis Waddell, Australian rugby league player
- 1990 – Mona Barthel, German tennis player
- 1990 – Connor Paolo, American actor
- 1990 – Adam Jezierski, Polish-Spanish actor and singer
- 1990 – Patrick Peterson, American football player
- 1990 – Caroline Wozniacki, Danish tennis player
- 1993 – Rebecca Bross, American gymnast
- 1993 – Heini Salonen, Finnish tennis player
- 1994 – Bartłomiej Kalinkowski, Polish footballer
- 1994 – Anthony Milford, Australian rugby league player
- 1994 – Nina Nesbitt, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1994 – Lucas Ocampos, Argentinian footballer
- 1995 – Joey Bosa, American football player
- 1995 – Tyler Medeiros, Canadian singer-songwriter and dancer
- 1996 – Alessia Cara, Canadian singer-songwriter
Deaths on July 11
- 472 – Anthemius, Roman emperor (b. 420)
- 937 – Rudolph II of Burgundy (b. 880)
- 969 – Olga of Kiev (b. 890)
- 1174 – Amalric I of Jerusalem (b. 1136)
- 1183 – Otto I Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1117)
- 1302 – Robert II, Count of Artois (b. 1250)
- 1302 – Pierre Flotte, French politician and lawyer
- 1344 – Ulrich III, Count of Württemberg (b. c. 1286)
- 1362 – Anna von Schweidnitz, empress of Charles IV (b. 1339)
- 1382 – Nicole Oresme, French philosopher (b. 1325)
- 1451 – Barbara of Cilli, Slovenian noblewoman
- 1484 – Mino da Fiesole, Italian sculptor (b. c. 1429)
- 1535 – Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1484)
- 1581 – Peder Skram, Danish admiral and politician (b. 1503)
- 1593 – Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Italian painter (b. 1527)
- 1599 – Chōsokabe Motochika, Japanese daimyō (b.1539)
- 1688 – Narai, Thai king (b. 1629)
- 1774 – Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet, Irish-English general (b. 1715)
- 1775 – Simon Boerum, American farmer and politician (b. 1724)
- 1797 – Ienăchiță Văcărescu, Romanian historian and philologist (b. 1740)
- 1806 – James Smith, Irish-American lawyer and politician (b. 1719)
- 1825 – Thomas P. Grosvenor, American soldier and politician (b. 1744)
- 1844 – Yevgeny Baratynsky, Russian philosopher and poet (b. 1800)
- 1897 – Patrick Jennings, Irish-Australian politician, 11th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1831)
- 1905 – Muhammad Abduh, Egyptian jurist and scholar (b. 1849)
- 1908 – Friedrich Traun, German sprinter and tennis player (b. 1876)
- 1909 – Simon Newcomb, Canadian-American astronomer and mathematician (b. 1835)
- 1929 – Billy Mosforth, English footballer and engraver (b. 1857)
- 1937 – George Gershwin, American pianist, songwriter, and composer (b. 1898)
- 1959 – Charlie Parker, English cricketer, coach, and umpire (b. 1882)
- 1966 – Delmore Schwartz, American poet and short story writer (b. 1913)
- 1967 – Guy Favreau, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician, 28th Canadian Minister of Justice (b. 1917)
- 1971 – John W. Campbell, American journalist and author (b. 1910)
- 1971 – Pedro Rodríguez, Mexican racing driver (b. 1940)
- 1974 – Pär Lagerkvist, Swedish novelist, playwright, and poet Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)
- 1976 – León de Greiff, Colombian poet and educator (b. 1895)
- 1979 – Claude Wagner, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1925)
- 1983 – Ross Macdonald, American-Canadian author (b. 1915)
- 1987 – Avi Ran, Israeli footballer (b. 1963)
- 1987 – Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman, American rabbi and scholar (b. 1901)
- 1989 – Laurence Olivier, English actor, director, and producer (b. 1907)
- 1991 – Mokhtar Dahari, Malaysian footballer and coach (b. 1953)
- 1994 – Gary Kildall, American computer scientist, founded Digital Research (b. 1942)
- 1998 – Panagiotis Kondylis, Greek philosopher and author (b. 1943)
- 1999 – Helen Forrest, American singer (b. 1917)
- 1999 – Jan Sloot, Dutch computer scientist and electronics technician (b. 1945)
- 2000 – Pedro Mir, Dominican lawyer, author, and poet (b. 1913)
- 2000 – Robert Runcie, English archbishop (b. 1921)
- 2001 – Herman Brood, Dutch musician and painter (b. 1946)
- 2003 – Zahra Kazemi, Iranian-Canadian freelance photographer (b. 1948)
- 2004 – Laurance Rockefeller, American financier and philanthropist (b. 1910)
- 2004 – Renée Saint-Cyr, French actress and producer (b. 1904)
- 2005 – Gretchen Franklin, English actress and dancer (b. 1911)
- 2005 – Jesús Iglesias, Argentinian racing driver (b. 1922)
- 2005 – Frances Langford, American actress and singer (b. 1913)
- 2006 – Barnard Hughes, American actor (b. 1915)
- 2006 – Bronwyn Oliver, Australian sculptor (b. 1959)
- 2006 – John Spencer, English snooker player and sportscaster (b. 1935)
- 2007 – Glenda Adams, Australian author and academic (b. 1939)
- 2007 – Lady Bird Johnson, American beautification activist; 43rd First Lady of the United States (b. 1912)
- 2007 – Alfonso López Michelsen, Colombian lawyer and politician, 32nd President of Colombia (b. 1913)
- 2007 – Ed Mirvish, American-Canadian businessman and philanthropist, founded Honest Ed’s (b. 1914)
- 2008 – Michael E. DeBakey, American surgeon and educator (b. 1908)
- 2009 – Reg Fleming, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1936)
- 2009 – Arturo Gatti, Italian-Canadian boxer (b. 1972)
- 2009 – Ji Xianlin, Chinese linguist and paleographer (b. 1911)
- 2010 – Walter Hawkins, American singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and pastor (b. 1949)
- 2011 – Rob Grill, American singer-songwriter and bass player (b. 1943)
- 2012 – Art Ceccarelli, American baseball player and coach (b. 1930)
- 2012 – Marion Cunningham, American author (b. 1922)
- 2012 – Richard Scudder, American journalist and publisher, co-founded MediaNews Group (b. 1913)
- 2012 – Donald J. Sobol, American soldier and author (b. 1924)
- 2012 – Marvin Traub, American businessman and author (b. 1925)
- 2013 – Emik Avakian, Iranian-American inventor (b. 1923)
- 2013 – Egbert Brieskorn, German mathematician and academic (b. 1936)
- 2013 – Eugene P. Wilkinson, American admiral (b. 1918)
- 2014 – Charlie Haden, American bassist and composer (b. 1937)
- 2014 – Carin Mannheimer, Swedish author and screenwriter (b. 1934)
- 2014 – Bill McGill, American basketball player (b. 1939)
- 2014 – Tommy Ramone, Hungarian-American drummer and producer (b. 1949)
- 2014 – John Seigenthaler, American journalist and academic (b. 1927)
- 2014 – Randall Stout, American architect, designed the Taubman Museum of Art (b. 1958)
- 2015 – Giacomo Biffi, Italian cardinal (b. 1928)
- 2015 – James U. Cross, American general (b. 1925)
- 2015 – Satoru Iwata, Japanese game programmer and businessman (b. 1959)
- 2015 – Lawrence K. Karlton, American lawyer and judge (b. 1935)
- 2015 – André Leysen, Belgian businessman (b. 1927)
Holidays and observances on July 11
- Christian Feast Day:
- Benedict of Nursia
- Olga of Kiev
- Pope Pius I
- July 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- China National Maritime Day (China)
- Day of the Bandoneón (Argentina)
- Day of the Flemish Community (Flemish Community of Belgium)
- Eleventh Night (Northern Ireland)
- Free Slurpee Day (Participating stores of the 7-Eleven chain in North America)
- National Day of Remembrance of Victims of Genocide by Ukrainian Nationalists on Citizens of the Second Republic of Poland (Poland)
- Gospel Day (Kiribati)
- Imamat Day (Isma’ilism)
- National Day of Commemoration, held on the nearest Sunday to this date (Ireland)
- The first day of Naadam (July 11–15) (Mongolia)
- World Population Day (International)
-
June 11 in History
- 1184 BC – Trojan War: Troy is sacked and burned, according to calculations by Eratosthenes.
- 173 – Marcomannic Wars: The Roman army in Moravia is encircled by the Quadi, who have broken the peace treaty (171). In a violent thunderstorm emperor Marcus Aurelius defeats and subdues them in the so-called “miracle of the rain”.
- 631 – Emperor Taizong of Tang sends envoys to the Xueyantuo bearing gold and silk in order to seek the release of Chinese prisoners captured during the transition from Sui to Tang.
- 786 – A Hasanid Alid uprising in Mecca is crushed by the Abbasids at the Battle of Fakhkh.
- 980 – Vladimir the Great consolidates the Kievan realm from Ukraine to the Baltic Sea. He is proclaimed ruler (knyaz) of all Kievan Rus’.
- 1011 – Lombard Revolt: Greek citizens of Bari rise up against the Lombard rebels led by Melus and deliver the city to Basil Mesardonites, Byzantine governor (catepan) of the Catepanate of Italy.
- 1118 – Roger of Salerno, Prince of Antioch, captures Azaz from the Seljuk Turks.
- 1157 – Albert I of Brandenburg, also called The Bear (Ger: Albrecht der Bär), becomes the founder of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, Germany and the first margrave.
- 1345 – The megas doux Alexios Apokaukos, chief minister of the Byzantine Empire, is lynched by political prisoners.
- 1429 – Hundred Years’ War: Start of the Battle of Jargeau.
- 1488 – Battle of Sauchieburn: Fought between rebel Lords and James III of Scotland, resulting in the death of the king.
- 1509 – Henry VIII of England marries Catherine of Aragon.
- 1594 – Philip II recognizes the rights and privileges of the local nobles and chieftains in the Philippines, which paved way to the stabilization of the rule of the Principalía (an elite ruling class of native nobility in Spanish Philippines).
- 1748 – Denmark adopts the characteristic Nordic Cross flag later taken up by all other Scandinavian countries.
- 1770 – British explorer Captain James Cook runs aground on the Great Barrier Reef.
- 1775 – The American Revolutionary War’s first naval engagement, the Battle of Machias, results in the capture of a small British naval vessel.
- 1776 – The Continental Congress appoints Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston to the Committee of Five to draft a declaration of independence.
- 1788 – Russian explorer Gerasim Izmailov reaches Alaska.
- 1805 – A fire consumes large portions of Detroit in the Michigan Territory.
- 1825 – The first cornerstone is laid for Fort Hamilton in New York City.
- 1837 – The Broad Street Riot occurs in Boston, fueled by ethnic tensions between Yankees and Irish.
- 1865 – The Naval Battle of the Riachuelo is fought on the rivulet Riachuelo (Argentina), between the Paraguayan Navy on one side and the Brazilian Navy on the other. The Brazilian victory was crucial for the later success of the Triple Alliance (Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina) in the Paraguayan War.
- 1892 – The Limelight Department, one of the world’s first film studios, is officially established in Melbourne, Australia.
- 1895 – Paris–Bordeaux–Paris, sometimes called the first automobile race in history or the “first motor race”, takes place.
- 1898 – The Hundred Days’ Reform, a planned movement to reform social, political, and educational institutions in China, is started by the Guangxu Emperor, but is suspended by Empress Dowager Cixi after 104 days. (The failed reform led to the abolition of the Imperial examination in 1905.)
- 1901 – The boundaries of the Colony of New Zealand are extended by the UK to include the Cook Islands.
- 1903 – A group of Serbian officers stormed the royal palace and assassinated King Alexander Obrenović and his wife, Queen Draga.
- 1917 – King Alexander assumes the throne of Greece after his father, Constantine I, abdicates under pressure from allied armies occupying Athens.
- 1919 – Sir Barton wins the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first horse to win the U.S. Triple Crown.
- 1920 – During the U.S. Republican National Convention in Chicago, U.S. Republican Party leaders gathered in a room at the Blackstone Hotel to come to a consensus on their candidate for the U.S. presidential election, leading the Associated Press to coin the political phrase “smoke-filled room”.
- 1935 – Inventor Edwin Armstrong gives the first public demonstration of FM broadcasting in the United States at Alpine, New Jersey.
- 1936 – The London International Surrealist Exhibition opens.
- 1937 – Great Purge: The Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin executes eight army leaders.
- 1938 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Battle of Wuhan starts.
- 1940 – World War II: The Siege of Malta begins with a series of Italian air raids.
- 1942 – World War II: The United States agrees to send Lend-Lease aid to the Soviet Union.
- 1942 – Free French Forces retreat from Bir Hakeim after having successfully delayed the Axis advance.
- 1944 – USS Missouri, the last battleship built by the United States Navy and future site of the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, is commissioned.
- 1955 – Eighty-three spectators are killed and at least 100 are injured after an Austin-Healey and a Mercedes-Benz collide at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the deadliest ever accident in motorsports.
- 1956 – Start of Gal Oya riots, the first reported ethnic riots that target minority Sri Lankan Tamils in the Eastern Province. The total number of deaths is reportedly 150.
- 1962 – Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin allegedly become the only prisoners to escape from the prison on Alcatraz Island.
- 1963 – American Civil Rights Movement: Governor of Alabama George Wallace defiantly stands at the door of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in an attempt to block two black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, from attending that school. Later in the day, accompanied by federalized National Guard troops, they are able to register.
- 1963 – Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức burns himself with gasoline in a busy Saigon intersection to protest the lack of religious freedom in South Vietnam.
- 1963 – John F. Kennedy addresses Americans from the Oval Office proposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which would revolutionize American society by guaranteeing equal access to public facilities, ending segregation in education, and guaranteeing federal protection for voting rights.
- 1964 – World War II veteran Walter Seifert attacks an elementary school in Cologne, Germany, killing at least eight children and two teachers and seriously injuring several more with a home-made flamethrower and a lance.
- 1968 – Lloyd J. Old identified the first cell surface antigens that could differentiate among different cell types.
- 1970 – After being appointed on May 15, Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington officially receive their ranks as U.S. Army Generals, becoming the first women to do so.
- 1971 – The U.S. Government forcibly removes the last holdouts to the Native American Occupation of Alcatraz, ending 19 months of control.
- 1978 – Altaf Hussain founds the student political movement All Pakistan Muhajir Students Organisation (APMSO) in Karachi University.
- 1981 – A magnitude 6.9 earthquake at Golbaf, Iran, kills at least 2,000.
- 1987 – Diane Abbott, Paul Boateng and Bernie Grant are elected as the first black MPs in Great Britain.
- 1998 – Compaq Computer pays US$9 billion for Digital Equipment Corporation in the largest high-tech acquisition.
- 2001 – Timothy McVeigh is executed for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
- 2002 – Antonio Meucci is acknowledged as the first inventor of the telephone by the United States Congress.
- 2004 – Cassini–Huygens makes its closest flyby of the Saturn moon Phoebe.
- 2007 – Mudslides in Chittagong, Bangladesh, kill 130 people.
- 2008 – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper makes a historic official apology to Canada’s First Nations in regard to abuses at a Canadian Indian residential school.
- 2008 – The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is launched into orbit.
- 2010 – The first African FIFA World Cup kicks off in South Africa.
- 2012 – More than 80 people die in a landslide triggered by two earthquakes in Afghanistan; an entire village is buried.
- 2013 – Greece’s public broadcaster ERT is shut down by then-prime minister Antonis Samaras. It reopened exactly two years later by then-prime minister Alexis Tsipras.
- 2018 – 3 World Trade Center officially opens.
Births on June 11
- 1403 – John IV, Duke of Brabant (d. 1427)
- 1431 – Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond (d. 1456)
- 1456 – Anne Neville, Princess of Wales and Queen of England (d. 1485)
- 1540 – Barnabe Googe, English poet and translator (d. 1594)
- 1555 – Lodovico Zacconi, Italian composer and theorist (d. 1627)
- 1572 – Ben Jonson, English poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1637)
- 1585 – Evert Horn, Swedish soldier (d. 1615)
- 1588 – George Wither, English poet (d. 1667)
- 1620 – John Moore, English businessman and politician, Lord Mayor of London (d. 1702)
- 1655 – Antonio Cifrondi, Italian painter (d. 1730)
- 1662 – Tokugawa Ienobu, Japanese shōgun (d. 1712)
- 1672 – Francesco Antonio Bonporti, Italian priest and composer (d. 1749)
- 1690 – Giovanni Antonio Giay, Italian composer (d. 1764)
- 1696 – James Francis Edward Keith, Scottish-Prussian field marshal (d. 1758)
- 1697 – Francesco Antonio Vallotti, Italian organist and composer (d. 1780)
- 1704 – Carlos Seixas, Portuguese harpsichord player and composer (d. 1742)
- 1709 – Joachim Martin Falbe, German painter (d. 1782)
- 1712 – Benjamin Ingham, American missionary (d. 1772)
- 1723 – Johann Georg Palitzsch, German astronomer (d. 1788)
- 1726 – Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain (d. 1746)
- 1741 – Joseph Warren, American physician and general (d. 1775)
- 1776 – John Constable, English painter and academic (d. 1837)
- 1797 – José Trinidad Reyes, Honduran philosopher and theorist (d. 1855)
- 1807 – James F. Schenck, American admiral (d. 1882)
- 1815 – Julia Margaret Cameron, Indian-Sri Lankan photographer (d. 1879)
- 1818 – Alexander Bain, Scottish philosopher and academic (d. 1903)
- 1829 – Edward Braddon, English-Australian politician, 18th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1904)
- 1832 – Lucy Pickens, American wife of Francis Wilkinson Pickens (d. 1899)
- 1842 – Carl von Linde, German engineer and academic (d. 1934)
- 1846 – William Louis Marshall, American general and engineer (d. 1920)
- 1847 – Millicent Fawcett, English academic and activist (d. 1929)
- 1861 – Alexander Peacock, Australian politician, 20th Premier of Victoria (d. 1933)
- 1864 – Richard Strauss, German composer and conductor (d. 1949)
- 1867 – Charles Fabry, French physicist and academic (d. 1945)
- 1871 – Stjepan Radić, Croatian lawyer and politician (d. 1928)
- 1876 – Alfred L. Kroeber, American-French anthropologist and ethnologist (d. 1960)
- 1877 – Renée Vivien, English-French poet and author (d. 1909)
- 1879 – Roger Bresnahan, American baseball player and manager (d. 1944)
- 1880 – Jeannette Rankin, American social worker and politician (d. 1973)
- 1881 – Spiros Xenos, Greek-Swedish painter (d. 1963)
- 1881 – Mordecai Kaplan, Lithuanian rabbi, founded Reconstructionist Judaism (d. 1983)
- 1888 – Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Italian-American anarchist and convicted criminal (d. 1927)
- 1889 – Hugo Wieslander, Swedish decathlete (d. 1976)
- 1894 – Kiichiro Toyoda, Japanese businessman, founded Toyota (d. 1952)
- 1895 – Nikolai Bulganin, Soviet politician (d. 1975)
- 1897 – Ram Prasad Bismil, Indian activist, founded the Hindustan Republican Association (d. 1927)
- 1897 – Reg Latta, Australian rugby league player (d. 1970)
- 1899 – Yasunari Kawabata, Japanese novelist and short story writer Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1972)
- 1901 – Cap Fear, Canadian football player and rower (d. 1978)
- 1901 – Benny Wearing, Australian rugby league player (d. 1968)
- 1902 – Eric Fraser, British illustrator and graphic designer (d. 1983)
- 1903 – Ernie Nevers, American football player and coach (d. 1976)
- 1908 – Karl Hein, German hammer thrower (d. 1982)
- 1908 – Francisco Marto, Portuguese saint (d. 1919)
- 1909 – Natascha Artin Brunswick, German-American mathematician and photographer (d. 2003)
- 1910 – Carmine Coppola, American flute player and composer (d. 1991)
- 1910 – Jacques Cousteau, French biologist, author, and inventor, co-developed the aqua-lung (d. 1997)
- 1912 – James Algar, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1998)
- 1912 – William Baziotes, American painter and academic (d. 1963)
- 1912 – Mohammad Hassan Ganji, Iranian meteorologist and academic (d. 2012)
- 1913 – Vince Lombardi, American football player, coach, and manager (d. 1970)
- 1913 – Risë Stevens, American soprano and actress (d. 2013)
- 1914 – Jan Hendrik van den Berg, Dutch psychiatrist and academic (d. 2012)
- 1915 – Magda Gabor, Hungarian-American actress (d. 1997)
- 1915 – Nicholas Metropolis, American mathematician and physicist (d. 1999)
- 1917 – Joseph B. Wirthlin, American businessman and religious leader (d. 2008)
- 1918 – Ruth Aarons, American table tennis player and manager (d. 1980)
- 1919 – Suleiman Mousa, Jordanian historian and author (d. 2008)
- 1919 – Richard Todd, Irish-English actor (d. 2009)
- 1920 – Shelly Manne, American drummer, composer, and bandleader (d. 1984)
- 1920 – Hazel Scott, Trinidadian-American singer, actress, and pianist (d. 1981)
- 1920 – Keith Seaman, Australian lawyer and politician, 29th Governor of South Australia (d. 2013)
- 1922 – Jean Sutherland Boggs, Peruvian-Canadian historian, academic, and civil servant (d. 2014)
- 1922 – Michael Cacoyannis, Greek Cypriot director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2011)
- 1925 – Johnny Esaw, Canadian sportscaster (d. 2013)
- 1925 – William Styron, American novelist and essayist (d. 2006)
- 1926 – Carlisle Floyd, American composer and educator
- 1927 – Beryl Grey, English ballerina
- 1927 – John W. O’Malley, American Catholic historian, academic and Jesuit priest
- 1927 – Kit Pedler, English parapsychologist and author (d. 1981)
- 1928 – Queen Fabiola of Belgium (d. 2014)
- 1929 – Ayhan Şahenk, Turkish businessman (d. 2001)
- 1930 – Charles Rangel, American soldier, lawyer, and politician
- 1932 – Athol Fugard, South African-American actor, director, and playwright
- 1932 – Tim Sainsbury, English businessman and politician, Minister of State for Trade
- 1933 – Gene Wilder, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
- 1937 – Chad Everett, American actor and director (d. 2012)
- 1937 – Robin Warren, Australian pathologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1939 – Rachael Heyhoe Flint, Baroness Heyhoe Flint, English cricketer and journalist (d. 2017)
- 1939 – Jackie Stewart, Scottish race car driver and sportscaster
- 1942 – Parris Glendening, American politician, 59th Governor of Maryland
- 1943 – Henry Hill, American mobster (d. 2012)
- 1945 – Adrienne Barbeau, American actress
- 1947 – Richard Palmer-James, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1948 – Dave Cash, American baseball player and coach
- 1948 – Lalu Prasad Yadav, Indian politician, 20th Chief Minister of Bihar
- 1949 – Frank Beard, American drummer and songwriter
- 1950 – Lynsey de Paul, English singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, cartoonist and actress (d. 2014)
- 1950 – Graham Russell, English-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1951 – Matthew Engel, English journalist and author
- 1951 – Yasumasa Morimura, Japanese painter and photographer
- 1952 – Yekaterina Podkopayeva, Russian runner
- 1952 – Donnie Van Zant, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1953 – Steve Bassam, Baron Bassam of Brighton, English politician
- 1953 – José Bové, French farmer and politician
- 1953 – Barbara Minty, American model
- 1954 – John Dyson, Australian cricketer
- 1954 – Johnny Neel, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player
- 1955 – Yuriy Sedykh, Ukrainian hammer thrower
- 1955 – Duncan Steel, English-Australian astronomer and author
- 1956 – Joe Montana, American football player and sportscaster
- 1956 – Simon Plouffe, Canadian mathematician and academic
- 1956 – Arthur Porter, Canadian physician and academic (d. 2015)
- 1956 – Jamaaladeen Tacuma, American bass player and bandleader
- 1958 – Barry Adamson, English singer and bass player
- 1959 – Hugh Laurie, English actor and screenwriter
- 1960 – Mehmet Oz, American surgeon, author, and television host
- 1962 – Mano Menezes, Brazilian footballer and coach
- 1963 – Gioia Bruno, American singer-songwriter
- 1963 – Sandra Schmirler, Canadian curler and sportscaster (d. 2000)
- 1964 – Jean Alesi, French race car driver
- 1964 – Kim Gallagher, American runner (d. 2002)
- 1965 – Georgios Bartzokas, Greek former professional basketball player
- 1965 – Gavin Hill, New Zealand rugby player
- 1966 – Bruce Robison, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1967 – Graeme Bachop, New Zealand rugby player
- 1967 – João Garcia, Portuguese mountaineer
- 1968 – Alois, Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein
- 1968 – Manoa Thompson, Fijian rugby player
- 1969 – Peter Dinklage, American actor and producer
- 1969 – Bryan Fogarty, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2002)
- 1969 – Olaf Kapagiannidis, German footballer
- 1971 – Vladimir Gaidamașciuc, Moldovan footballer
- 1971 – Liz Kendall, British politician
- 1971 – Mark Richardson, New Zealand cricketer
- 1971 – Kenjiro Tsuda, Japanese voice actor
- 1972 – Stephen Kearney, New Zealand rugby league player and coach
- 1973 – José Manuel Abundis, Mexican footballer and coach
- 1974 – Fragiskos Alvertis, Greek basketball player, coach, and manager
- 1976 – Reiko Tosa, Japanese runner
- 1977 – Geoff Ogilvy, Australian golfer
- 1978 – Joshua Jackson, Canadian-American actor
- 1978 – Daryl Tuffey, New Zealand cricketer
- 1979 – Ali Boussaboun, Moroccan-Dutch footballer
- 1979 – Amy Duggan, Australian footballer and sportscaster
- 1980 – Yhency Brazoban, Dominican baseball player
- 1981 – Emiliano Moretti, Italian footballer
- 1981 – Kristo Tohver, Estonian footballer and referee
- 1982 – Vanessa Boslak, French pole vaulter
- 1982 – Jacques Freitag, South African high jumper
- 1982 – Joey Graham, American basketball player
- 1982 – Stephen Graham, American basketball player
- 1982 – Reni Maitua, Australian rugby league player
- 1982 – Eldar Rønning, Norwegian skier
- 1982 – Diana Taurasi, American basketball player
- 1983 – Chuck Hayes, American basketball player
- 1983 – José Reyes, Dominican baseball player
- 1984 – Andy Lee, Irish boxer
- 1984 – Vágner Love, Brazilian footballer
- 1985 – Tim Hoogland, German footballer
- 1986 – Sebastian Bayer, German long jumper
- 1986 – Shia LaBeouf, American actor
- 1987 – Marsel İlhan, Turkish tennis player
- 1987 – Didrik Solli-Tangen, Norwegian singer
- 1988 – Jesús Fernández Collado, Spanish footballer
- 1988 – Yui Aragaki, Japanese actress, voice actress, singer-songwriter, model, radio host
- 1989 – Maya Moore, American basketball player
- 1990 – Christophe Lemaitre, French sprinter
- 1991 – Daniel Howell, English internet celebrity
- 1993 – Brittany Boyd, American basketball player
- 1994 – Ivana Baquero, Spanish actress
- 1996 – Ayaka Sasaki, Japanese singer
- 1998 – Charlie Tahan, American actor
- 1999 – Eartha Cumings, Scottish footballer
Deaths on June 11
- 323 BC – Alexander the Great, Macedonian king (b. 356 BC)
- 573 – Emilian of Cogolla, Iberic saint (b. 472)
- 840 – Junna, emperor of Japan (b. 785)
- 884 – Shi Jingsi, general of the Tang Dynasty
- 888 – Rimbert, archbishop of Bremen (b. 830)
- 1183 – Henry the Young King of England (b. 1155)
- 1216 – Henry of Flanders, emperor of the Latin Empire (b. c. 1174)
- 1248 – Adachi Kagemori, Japanese samurai
- 1253 – Amadeus IV, count of Savoy (b. 1197)
- 1298 – Yolanda of Poland (b. 1235)
- 1323 – Bérenger Fredoli, French lawyer and bishop (b. 1250)
- 1345 – Alexios Apokaukos, chief minister of the Byzantine Empire
- 1347 – Bartholomew of San Concordio, Italian Dominican canonist and man of letters (b. 1260)
- 1446 – Henry de Beauchamp, 1st Duke of Warwick (b. 1425)
- 1479 – John of Sahagun, hermit and saint (b. 1419)
- 1488 – James III of Scotland (b. 1451)
- 1557 – John III of Portugal (b. 1502)
- 1560 – Mary of Guise, queen of James V of Scotland (b. 1515)
- 1683 – Nikita Pustosvyat, a leader of the Russian Old Believers, beheaded (b. unknown)
- 1695 – André Félibien, French historian and author (b. 1619)
- 1712 – Louis Joseph, Duke of Vendôme (b. 1654)
- 1727 – George I of Great Britain (b. 1660)
- 1748 – Felice Torelli, Italian painter (b. 1667)
- 1796 – Samuel Whitbread, English brewer and politician, founded the Whitbread Company (b. 1720)
- 1847 – John Franklin, English admiral and politician (b. 1786)
- 1852 – Karl Bryullov, Russian painter (b. 1799)
- 1859 – Klemens von Metternich, German-Austrian politician, 1st State Chancellor of the Austrian Empire (b. 1773)
- 1879 – William, Prince of Orange (b. 1840)
- 1882 – Louis Désiré Maigret, French bishop (b. 1804)
- 1885 – Matías Ramos Mejía, Argentinian colonel (b. 1810)
- 1897 – Henry Ayers, English-Australian politician, 8th Premier of South Australia (b. 1821)
- 1903 – Nikolai Bugaev, Russian mathematician and philosopher (b. 1837)
- 1903 – Alexander I of Serbia (b. 1876)
- 1903 – Draga Mašin, Serbian wife of Alexander I of Serbia (b. 1864)
- 1911 – James Curtis Hepburn, American physician and missionary (b. 1815)
- 1913 – Mahmud Shevket Pasha, Ottoman general and politician, 279th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1856)
- 1914 – Adolphus Frederick V, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (b. 1848)
- 1920 – William F. Halsey, Sr., American captain (b. 1853)
- 1924 – Théodore Dubois, French organist, composer, and educator (b. 1837)
- 1927 – William Attewell, English cricketer (b. 1861)
- 1934 – Lev Vygotsky, Belarusian-Russian psychologist and theorist (b. 1896)
- 1936 – Robert E. Howard, American author and poet (b. 1906)
- 1937 – R. J. Mitchell, English engineer, designed the Supermarine Spitfire (b. 1895)
- 1941 – Daniel Carter Beard, American author and illustrator, founded the Boy Scouts of America (b. 1850)
- 1955 – Pierre Levegh, French race car driver (b. 1905)
- 1962 – Chhabi Biswas, Indian actor and director (b. 1900)
- 1963 – Thích Quảng Đức, Vietnamese monk and martyr (b. 1897)
- 1965 – Paul B. Coremans, Belgian chemist and academic (b. 1908)
- 1965 – José Mendes Cabeçadas, Portuguese admiral and politician, 9th President of Portugal (b. 1883)
- 1970 – Frank Laubach, American missionary and mystic (b. 1884)
- 1974 – Eurico Gaspar Dutra, Brazilian general and politician, 16th President of Brazil (b. 1883)
- 1974 – Julius Evola, Italian philosopher and author (b. 1898)
- 1976 – Jim Konstanty, American baseball player (b. 1917)
- 1979 – Alice Dalgliesh, Trinidadian-American author and publisher (b. 1893)
- 1979 – John Wayne, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1907)
- 1983 – Ghanshyam Das Birla, Indian businessman and politician (b. 1894)
- 1984 – Enrico Berlinguer, Italian politician (b. 1922)
- 1986 – Chesley Bonestell, American painter and illustrator (b. 1888)
- 1991 – Cromwell Everson, South African composer (b. 1925)
- 1993 – Ray Sharkey, American actor (b. 1952)
- 1994 – A. Thurairajah, Sri Lankan engineer and academic (b. 1934)
- 1995 – Rodel Naval, Filipino singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1953)
- 1996 – George Hees, Canadian politician (b. 1910)
- 1996 – Brigitte Helm, German-Swiss actress (b. 1908)
- 1998 – Catherine Cookson, English author (b. 1906)
- 1999 – DeForest Kelley, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1920)
- 2001 – Timothy McVeigh, American terrorist (b. 1968)
- 2001 – Amalia Mendoza, Mexican singer and actress (b. 1923)
- 2003 – David Brinkley, American journalist and author (b. 1920)
- 2004 – Egon von Fürstenberg, Swiss fashion designer (b. 1946)
- 2005 – Vasco Gonçalves, Portuguese general and politician, 103rd Prime Minister of Portugal (b. 1922)
- 2005 – Anne-Marie Alonzo, Canadian playwright, poet, novelist, critic and publisher (b. 1951)
- 2006 – Neroli Fairhall, New Zealand archer (b. 1944)
- 2006 – Bruce Shand, English soldier (b. 1917)
- 2007 – Imre Friedmann, American biologist and academic (b. 1921)
- 2007 – Mala Powers, American actress (b. 1931)
- 2008 – Ove Andersson, Swedish race car driver (b. 1938)
- 2008 – Võ Văn Kiệt, Vietnamese soldier and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Vietnam (b. 1922)
- 2011 – Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Israeli physicist and engineer (b. 1947)
- 2011 – Seth Putnam, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1968)
- 2012 – Ann Rutherford, Canadian-American actress (b. 1917)
- 2012 – Teófilo Stevenson, Cuban boxer and engineer (b. 1952)
- 2013 – Miller Barber, American golfer (b. 1931)
- 2013 – Carl W. Bauer, American lawyer and politician (b. 1933)
- 2013 – Robert Fogel, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1926)
- 2013 – James Grimsley, Jr., American general (b. 1921)
- 2013 – Rory Morrison, English journalist (b. 1964)
- 2013 – Kristiāns Pelšs, Latvian ice hockey player (b. 1992)
- 2013 – Vidya Charan Shukla, Indian politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs (b. 1929)
- 2014 – Ruby Dee, American actress (b. 1922)
- 2014 – Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Spanish conductor and composer (b. 1933)
- 2014 – Susan B. Horwitz, American computer scientist, engineer, and academic (b. 1955)
- 2014 – Mipham Chokyi Lodro, Tibetan lama and educator (b. 1952)
- 2014 – Benjamin Mophatlane, South African businessman (b. 1973)
- 2014 – Carlton Sherwood, American soldier and journalist (b. 1947)
- 2015 – Jim Ed Brown, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1934)
- 2015 – Ornette Coleman, American saxophonist, violinist, trumpet player, and composer (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Ian McKechnie, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1941)
- 2015 – Ron Moody, English actor and singer (b. 1924)
- 2015 – Dusty Rhodes, American wrestler (b. 1945)
- 2016 – Rudi Altig, German track and road racing cyclist (b. 1937)
- 2020 – Stella Pevsner, children’s author (b. 1921)
Holidays and observances on June 11
- American Evacuation Day (Libya)
- Brazilian Navy commemorative day (Brazil)
- Christian feast day:
- Barnabas the Apostle
- Bartholomew the Apostle (Eastern Christianity)
- Blessed Ignatius Maloyan (Armenian Catholic Church)
- Paula Frassinetti
- Riagail of Bangor
- June 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Davis Day (Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada)
- Kamehameha Day (Hawaii, United States)
- Student Day (Honduras)
-
May 15 in History
- 495 BC – A newly constructed temple in honour of the god Mercury was dedicated in ancient Rome on the Circus Maximus, between the Aventine and Palatine hills. To spite the senate and the consuls, the people awarded the dedication to a senior military officer, Marcus Laetorius.
- 221 – Liu Bei, Chinese warlord, proclaims himself emperor of Shu Han, the successor of the Han dynasty.
- 392 – Emperor Valentinian II is assassinated while advancing into Gaul against the Frankish usurper Arbogast. He is found hanging in his residence at Vienne.
- 589 – King Authari marries Theodelinda, daughter of the Bavarian duke Garibald I. A Catholic, she has great influence among the Lombard nobility.
- 908 – The three-year-old Constantine VII, the son of Emperor Leo VI the Wise, is crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire by Patriarch Euthymius I at Constantinople.
- 1252 – Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad extirpanda, which authorizes, but also limits, the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition.
- 1525 – Insurgent peasants led by Anabaptist pastor Thomas Müntzer were defeated at the Battle of Frankenhausen, ending the German Peasants’ War in the Holy Roman Empire.
- 1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, stands trial in London on charges of treason, adultery and incest; she is condemned to death by a specially-selected jury.
- 1567 – Mary, Queen of Scots marries James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, her third husband.
- 1618 – Johannes Kepler confirms his previously rejected discovery of the third law of planetary motion (he first discovered it on March 8 but soon rejected the idea after some initial calculations were made).
- 1648 – The Peace of Münster is ratified, by which Spain acknowledges Dutch sovereignty.
- 1718 – James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents the world’s first machine gun.
- 1776 – American Revolution: The Fifth Virginia Convention instructs its Continental Congress delegation to propose a resolution of independence from Great Britain, paving the way for the United States Declaration of Independence.
- 1791 – French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre proposes the Self-denying Ordinance.
- 1792 – War of the First Coalition: France declares war on Kingdom of Sardinia.
- 1793 – Diego Marín Aguilera flies a glider for “about 360 meters”, at a height of 5–6 meters, during one of the first attempted manned flights.
- 1796 – War of the First Coalition: Napoleon enters Milan in triumph.
- 1800 – King George III of the United Kingdom survives an assassination attempt by James Hadfield, who is later acquitted by reason of insanity.
- 1817 – Opening of the first private mental health hospital in the United States, the Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason (now Friends Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).
- 1836 – Francis Baily observes “Baily’s beads” during an annular eclipse.
- 1849 – The Sicilian revolution of 1848 is finally extinguished.
- 1850 – The Bloody Island massacre takes place in Lake County, California, in which a large number of Pomo Indians are slaughtered by a regiment of the United States Cavalry.
- 1850 – The Arana–Southern Treaty is ratified, ending “the existing differences” between Great Britain and Argentina.
- 1851 – The first Australian gold rush is proclaimed, although the discovery had been made three months earlier.
- 1858 – Opening of the present Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London.
- 1862 – President Abraham Lincoln signs a bill into law creating the United States Bureau of Agriculture. It is later renamed the United States Department of Agriculture.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of New Market, Virginia: Students from the Virginia Military Institute fight alongside the Confederate army to force Union General Franz Sigel out of the Shenandoah Valley.
- 1867 – Canadian Bank of Commerce opens for business in Toronto, Ontario. The bank would later merge with Imperial Bank of Canada to become what is CIBC in 1961.
- 1869 – Women’s suffrage: In New York, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman Suffrage Association.
- 1891 – Pope Leo XIII defends workers’ rights and property rights in the encyclical Rerum novarum, the beginning of modern Catholic social teaching.
- 1904 – Russo-Japanese War: The Russian minelayer Amur lays a minefield about 15 miles off Port Arthur and sinks Japan’s battleships Hatsuse, 15,000 tons, with 496 crew and Yashima.
- 1905 – Las Vegas is founded when 110 acres (0.45 km2), in what later would become downtown, are auctioned off.
- 1911 – In Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, the United States Supreme Court declares Standard Oil to be an “unreasonable” monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act and orders the company to be broken up.
- 1911 – More than 300 Chinese immigrants are killed in the Torreón massacre when the forces of the Mexican Revolution led by Emilio Madero take the city of Torreón from the Federales.
- 1914 – During a poker game at the Gaiety Theatre in Galesburg, Illinois, comedian Art Fisher nicknames Chicko, Harpo, Groucho, and Gummo Marx.
- 1919 – The Winnipeg general strike begins. By 11:00, almost the whole working population of Winnipeg had walked off the job.
- 1919 – Greek occupation of Smyrna. During the occupation, the Greek army kills or wounds 350 Turks; those responsible are punished by Greek commander Aristides Stergiades.
- 1925 – Al-Insaniyyah, the first Arabic communist newspaper, is founded.
- 1928 – Walt Disney character Mickey Mouse premieres in his first cartoon, “Plane Crazy”.
- 1929 – A fire at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio kills 123.
- 1932 – In an attempted coup d’état, the Prime Minister of Japan Inukai Tsuyoshi is assassinated.
- 1933 – All military aviation organizations within or under the control of the RLM of Germany were officially merged in a covert manner to form its Wehrmacht military’s air arm, the Luftwaffe.
- 1934 – Kārlis Ulmanis establishes an authoritarian government in Latvia.
- 1940 – USS Sailfish is recommissioned. It was originally the USS Squalus.
- 1940 – World War II: After fierce fighting, the poorly trained and equipped Dutch troops surrender to Germany, marking the beginning of five years of occupation.
- 1940 – Richard and Maurice McDonald open the first McDonald’s restaurant.
- 1941 – First flight of the Gloster E.28/39 the first British and Allied jet aircraft.
- 1941 – Joe DiMaggio begins a 56-game hitting streak.
- 1942 – World War II: In the United States, a bill creating the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) is signed into law.
- 1943 – Joseph Stalin dissolves the Comintern (or Third International).
- 1945 – World War II: The Battle of Poljana, the final skirmish in Europe is fought near Prevalje, Slovenia.
- 1948 – Following the expiration of The British Mandate for Palestine, the Kingdom of Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia invade Israel thus starting the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
- 1957 – At Malden Island in the Pacific Ocean, Britain tests its first hydrogen bomb in Operation Grapple.
- 1958 – The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3.
- 1960 – The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 4.
- 1963 – Project Mercury: The launch of the final Mercury mission, Mercury-Atlas 9 with astronaut Gordon Cooper on board. He becomes the first American to spend more than a day in space, and the last American to go into space alone.
- 1966 – After a policy dispute, Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ of South Vietnam’s ruling junta launches a military attack on the forces of General Tôn Thất Đính, forcing him to abandon his command.
- 1969 – People’s Park: California Governor Ronald Reagan has an impromptu student park owned by the University of California at Berkeley fenced off from student anti-war protestors, sparking a riot.
- 1970 – President Richard Nixon appoints Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington the first female United States Army generals.
- 1970 – Philip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green are killed at Jackson State University by police during student protests.
- 1972 – The Ryukyu Islands, under U.S. military governance since its conquest in 1945, reverts to Japanese control.
- 1972 – In Laurel, Maryland, Arthur Bremer shoots and paralyzes Alabama Governor George Wallace while he is campaigning to become president.
- 1974 – Ma’alot massacre: Members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine attack and take hostages at an Israeli school; a total of 31 people are killed, including 22 schoolchildren.
- 1976 – Aeroflot Flight 1802 crashes in Viktorovka, Chernihiv Raion, killing all 52 people on board.
- 1987 – The Soviet Union launches the Polyus prototype orbital weapons platform. It fails to reach orbit.
- 1988 – Soviet–Afghan War: After more than eight years of fighting, the Soviet Army begins to withdraw 115,000 troops from Afghanistan.
- 1991 – Édith Cresson becomes France’s first female Prime Minister.
- 1997 – The United States government acknowledges the existence of the “Secret War” in Laos and dedicates the Laos Memorial in honor of Hmong and other “Secret War” veterans.
- 1997 – The Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on STS-84 to dock with the Russian space station Mir.
- 2004 – Arsenal F.C. go an entire league campaign unbeaten in the English Premier League, joining Preston North End F.C with the right to claim the title “The Invincibles”.
- 2008 – California becomes the second U.S. state after Massachusetts in 2004 to legalize same-sex marriage after the state’s own Supreme Court rules a previous ban unconstitutional.
- 2010 – Jessica Watson becomes the youngest person to sail, non-stop and unassisted around the world solo.
- 2013 – An upsurge in violence in Iraq leaves more than 389 people dead over three days.
Births on May 15
- 1397 – Sejong the Great, Korean king (d. 1450)
- 1531 – Maria of Austria, Duchess of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (d. 1581)
- 1565 – Hendrick de Keyser, Dutch sculptor and architect (d. 1621)
- 1567 – Claudio Monteverdi, Italian priest and composer (d. 1643)
- 1655 – Pope Innocent XIII (d. 1724)
- 1608 – René Goupil, French-American missionary and saint (d. 1642)
- 1633 – Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, French noble (d. 1707)
- 1645 – George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys, British judge (d. 1689)
- 1689 – Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, English writer (d. 1762)
- 1720 – Maximilian Hell, Hungarian priest and astronomer (d. 1792)
- 1749 – Levi Lincoln Sr., American lawyer and politician, 4th United States Attorney General (d. 1820)
- 1759 – Maria Theresia von Paradis, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1824)
- 1770 – Ezekiel Hart, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1843)
- 1773 – Klemens von Metternich, German-Austrian politician, 1st State Chancellor of the Austrian Empire (d. 1859)
- 1786 – Dimitris Plapoutas, Greek general and politician (d. 1864)
- 1803 – Juan Almonte, son of José María Morelos, was a Mexican soldier and diplomat who served as a regent in the Second Mexican Empire (1863-1864) (d. 1869)
- 1805 – Samuel Carter, Early English railway solicitor and MP (d. 1878)
- 1808 – Michael William Balfe, Irish composer and conductor (d. 1870)
- 1817 – Debendranath Tagore, Indian philosopher and author (d. 1905)
- 1841 – Clarence Dutton, American commander and geologist (d. 1912)
- 1845 – Élie Metchnikoff, Russian zoologist (d. 1916)
- 1848 – Viktor Vasnetsov, Russian painter and illustrator (d. 1926)
- 1854 – Ioannis Psycharis, Ukrainian-French philologist and author (d. 1929)
- 1856 – L. Frank Baum, American novelist (d. 1919)
- 1856 – Matthias Zurbriggen, Swiss mountaineer (d. 1917)
- 1857 – Williamina Fleming, Scottish-American astronomer and academic (d. 1911)
- 1859 – Pierre Curie, French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1906)
- 1862 – Arthur Schnitzler, Austrian author and playwright (d. 1931)
- 1863 – Frank Hornby, English businessman and politician, invented Meccano (d. 1936)
- 1869 – Paul Probst, Swiss target shooter (d. 1945)
- 1869 – John Storey, Australian politician, 20th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1921)
- 1882 – Walter White, Scottish international footballer (d. 1950)
- 1890 – Katherine Anne Porter, American short story writer, novelist, and essayist (d. 1980)
- 1891 – Mikhail Bulgakov, Russian novelist and playwright (d. 1940)
- 1891 – Fritz Feigl, Austrian-Brazilian chemist and academic (d. 1971)
- 1892 – Charles E. Rosendahl, American admiral (d. 1977)
- 1892 – Jimmy Wilde, Welsh boxer (d. 1969)
- 1893 – José Nepomuceno, Filipino filmmaker, founder of Philippine cinema (d. 1959)
- 1894 – Feg Murray, American hurdler and cartoonist (d. 1973)
- 1895 – Prescott Bush, American captain, banker, and politician (d. 1972)
- 1895 – William D. Byron, American lieutenant and politician (d. 1941)
- 1898 – Arletty, French model, actress, and singer (d. 1992)
- 1899 – Jean Étienne Valluy, French general (d. 1970)
- 1900 – Ida Rhodes, American mathematician, pioneer in computer programming (d. 1986)
- 1901 – Xavier Herbert, Australian author (d. 1984)
- 1901 – Luis Monti, Argentinian-Italian footballer and manager (d. 1983)
- 1902 – Richard J. Daley, American lawyer and politician, 48th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1976)
- 1902 – Sigizmund Levanevsky, Soviet aircraft pilot of Polish origin (d. 1937)
- 1903 – Maria Reiche, German mathematician and archaeologist (d. 1998)
- 1904 – Clifton Fadiman, American game show host and author (d. 1999)
- 1905 – Joseph Cotten, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1905 – Albert Dubout, French cartoonist, illustrator, painter, and sculptor (d. 1976)
- 1905 – Abraham Zapruder, American businessman and amateur photographer, filmed the Zapruder film (d. 1970)
- 1907 – Sukhdev Thapar, Indian activist (d. 1931)
- 1909 – James Mason, English actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1984)
- 1909 – Clara Solovera, Chilean singer-songwriter (d. 1992)
- 1910 – Constance Cummings, British-based American actress (d. 2005)
- 1911 – Max Frisch, Swiss playwright and novelist (d. 1991)
- 1911 – Herta Oberheuser, German physician (d. 1978)
- 1912 – Arthur Berger, American composer and educator (d. 2003)
- 1914 – Turk Broda, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1972)
- 1914 – Angus MacLean, Canadian farmer and politician, 25th Premier of Prince Edward Island (d. 2000)
- 1914 – Norrie Paramor, English composer, producer, and conductor (d. 1979)
- 1915 – Hilda Bernstein, English-South African author and activist (d. 2006)
- 1915 – Paul Samuelson, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
- 1915 – Henrik Sandberg, Danish production manager and producer (d. 1993)
- 1916 – Vera Gebuhr, Danish actress (d. 2014)
- 1918 – Eddy Arnold, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2008)
- 1918 – Arthur Jackson, American lieutenant and target shooter (d. 2015)
- 1918 – Joseph Wiseman, Canadian-American actor (d. 2009)
- 1920 – Michel Audiard, French director and screenwriter (d. 1985)
- 1922 – Sigurd Ottovich Schmidt, Russian historian and ethnographer (d. 2013)
- 1922 – Jakucho Setouchi, Japanese nun and author
- 1923 – Richard Avedon, American sailor and photographer (d. 2004)
- 1923 – John Lanchbery, English-Australian composer and conductor (d. 2003)
- 1924 – Maria Koepcke, German-Peruvian ornithologist and zoologist (d. 1971)
- 1925 – Andrei Eshpai, Russian pianist and composer (d. 2015)
- 1925 – Mary F. Lyon, English geneticist and biologist (d. 2014)
- 1925 – Carl Sanders, American soldier, pilot, and politician, 74th Governor of Georgia (d. 2014)
- 1925 – Roy Stewart, Jamaican-English actor and stuntman (d. 2008)
- 1926 – Clermont Pépin, Canadian pianist, composer, and educator (d. 2006)
- 1926 – Anthony Shaffer, English author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 2001)
- 1926 – Peter Shaffer, English playwright and screenwriter (d. 2016)
- 1930 – Jasper Johns, American painter and sculptor
- 1931 – Ken Venturi, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 2013)
- 1935 – Don Bragg, American pole vaulter
- 1935 – Ted Dexter, Italian-English cricketer
- 1935 – Utah Phillips, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2008)
- 1935 – Akihiro Miwa, Japanese singer, actor, director, composer, author and drag queen
- 1936 – Anna Maria Alberghetti, Italian-American actress and singer
- 1936 – Mart Laga, Estonian basketball player (d. 1977)
- 1936 – Ralph Steadman, English painter and illustrator
- 1936 – Paul Zindel, American playwright and novelist (d. 2003)
- 1937 – Madeleine Albright, Czech-American politician and diplomat, 64th United States Secretary of State
- 1937 – Karin Krog, Norwegian singer
- 1937 – Trini Lopez, American singer, guitarist, and actor
- 1938 – Mireille Darc, French actress, director, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
- 1938 – Nancy Garden, American author (d. 2014)
- 1939 – Dorothy Shirley, English high jumper and educator
- 1940 – Roger Ailes, American businessman (d. 2017)
- 1940 – Lainie Kazan, American actress and singer
- 1940 – Don Nelson, American basketball player and coach
- 1941 – Jaxon, American illustrator and publisher, co-founded the Rip Off Press (d. 2006)
- 1942 – Lois Johnson, American singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
- 1942 – Jusuf Kalla, Indonesian businessman and politician, 10th Vice President of Indonesia
- 1942 – Doug Lowe, Australian politician, 35th Premier of Tasmania
- 1942 – K. T. Oslin, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1943 – Paul Bégin, Canadian lawyer and politician
- 1943 – Freddie Perren, American songwriter, producer, and conductor (d. 2004)
- 1944 – Bill Alter, American police officer and politician
- 1944 – Ulrich Beck, German sociologist and academic (d. 2015)
- 1945 – Michael Dexter, English hematologist and academic
- 1945 – Jerry Quarry, American boxer (d. 1999)
- 1946 – Thadeus Nguyễn Văn Lý, Vietnamese priest and activist
- 1947 – Graeham Goble, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer
- 1948 – Kate Bornstein, American author, playwright, performance artist, and gender theorist
- 1948 – Yutaka Enatsu, Japanese baseball player
- 1948 – Brian Eno, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
- 1948 – Kathleen Sebelius, American politician, 44th Governor of Kansas
- 1949 – Frank L. Culbertson Jr., American captain, pilot, and astronaut
- 1949 – Robert S.J. Sparks, English geologist and academic
- 1950 – Jim Bacon, Australian politician, 41st Premier of Tasmania (d. 2004)
- 1950 – Jim Simons, American golfer (d. 2005)
- 1951 – Dennis Frederiksen, American singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
- 1951 – Chris Ham, English political scientist and academic
- 1951 – Frank Wilczek, American mathematician and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1952 – Chazz Palminteri, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1953 – George Brett, American baseball player and coach
- 1953 – Athene Donald, English physicist and academic
- 1953 – Mike Oldfield, English-Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1954 – Diana Liverman, English-American geographer and academic
- 1954 – Caroline Thomson, English journalist and broadcaster
- 1955 – Mohamed Brahmi, Tunisian politician (d. 2013)
- 1955 – Lia Vissi, Cypriot singer-songwriter and politician
- 1956 – Andreas Loverdos, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister of Labour
- 1956 – Dan Patrick, American television anchor and sportscaster
- 1956 – Kevin Greenaugh, American nuclear engineer
- 1957 – Meg Gardiner, American-English author and academic
- 1957 – Juan José Ibarretxe, Spanish politician
- 1957 – Kevin Von Erich, American football player and wrestler
- 1958 – Jason Graae, American musical theater actor
- 1958 – Ruth Marcus, American journalist
- 1958 – Ron Simmons, American football player and wrestler
- 1959 – Khaosai Galaxy, Thai boxer and politician
- 1959 – Luis Pérez-Sala, Spanish race car driver
- 1959 – Beverly Jo Scott, American-Belgian singer-songwriter
- 1960 – Rhonda Burchmore, Australian actress, singer, and dancer
- 1960 – Rob Bowman, American director and producer
- 1960 – R. Kuhaneswaran, Sri Lankan politician
- 1960 – Rimas Kurtinaitis, Lithuanian basketball player and coach
- 1961 – Giselle Fernández, Mexican-American television journalist.
- 1962 – Lisa Curry, Australian swimmer
- 1963 – Gavin Nebbeling, South African footballer
- 1964 – Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Danish lawyer and politician, 40th Prime Minister of Denmark
- 1965 – André Abujamra, Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1965 – Scott Tronc, Australian rugby league player
- 1966 – Jiří Němec, Czech footballer
- 1967 – Simen Agdestein, Norwegian chess grandmaster and football player
- 1967 – Laura Hillenbrand, American journalist and author
- 1967 – John Smoltz, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1967 – Madhuri Dixit, Indian actress
- 1968 – Cecilia Malmström, Swedish academic and politician, 15th European Commissioner for Trade
- 1968 – Sophie Raworth, English journalist and broadcaster
- 1969 – Hideki Irabu, Japanese-American baseball player (d. 2011)
- 1969 – Emmitt Smith, American football player and sportscaster
- 1970 – Frank de Boer, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1970 – Ronald de Boer, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1970 – Desmond Howard, American football player and sportscaster
- 1970 – Alison Jackson, English photographer, director, and screenwriter
- 1970 – Rod Smith, American football player
- 1970 – Ben Wallace, English captain and politician
- 1971 – Karin Lušnic, Slovenian tennis player
- 1972 – Danny Alexander, Scottish politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
- 1972 – David Charvet, French actor and singer
- 1974 – Vasilis Kikilias, Greek basketball player and politician
- 1974 – Matthew Sadler, English chess player and author
- 1974 – Marko Tredup, German footballer and manager
- 1974 – Ahmet Zappa, American musician and writer
- 1975 – Ray Lewis, American football player and sportscaster
- 1975 – Ales Michalevic, Belarusian lawyer and politician
- 1976 – Torraye Braggs, American basketball player
- 1976 – Mark Kennedy, Irish footballer
- 1976 – Jacek Krzynówek, Polish footballer
- 1976 – Ryan Leaf, American football player and coach
- 1976 – Anže Logar, Slovenian politician
- 1976 – Tyler Walker, American baseball player
- 1978 – Amy Chow, American gymnast and pediatrician
- 1978 – Dwayne De Rosario, Canadian soccer player
- 1978 – Edu, Brazilian footballer
- 1978 – David Krumholtz, American actor
- 1979 – Adolfo Bautista, Mexican footballer
- 1979 – Daniel Caines, English sprinter
- 1979 – Chris Masoe, New Zealand rugby player
- 1979 – Ryan Max Riley, American skier
- 1979 – Robert Royal, American football player
- 1979 – Dominic Scott, Irish guitarist
- 1980 – Josh Beckett, American baseball player
- 1981 – Patrice Evra, French footballer
- 1981 – Paul Konchesky, English international footballer
- 1981 – Justin Morneau, Canadian baseball player
- 1981 – Zara Phillips, English equestrian
- 1981 – Jamie-Lynn Sigler, American actress and singer
- 1982 – Veronica Campbell-Brown, Jamaican sprinter
- 1982 – Segundo Castillo, Ecuadorian footballer
- 1982 – Rafael Pérez, Dominican baseball player
- 1982 – Layal Abboud, Lebanese singer
- 1984 – Jeff Deslauriers, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Sérgio Jimenez, Brazilian race car driver
- 1984 – Samantha Noble, Australian actress
- 1984 – Beau Scott, Australian rugby league player
- 1984 – Mr Probz, Dutch singer, songwriter, rapper, actor and record producer
- 1985 – Cristiane, Brazilian footballer
- 1985 – Tania Cagnotto, Italian diver
- 1985 – Laura Harvey, English football coach
- 1985 – Tathagata Mukherjee, Indian actor
- 1985 – Denis Onyango, Ugandan goalkeeper
- 1985 – Justine Robbeson, South African javelin thrower
- 1986 – Thomas Brown, American football player
- 1986 – Matías Fernández, Chilean footballer
- 1986 – Adam Moffat, Scottish footballer
- 1987 – David Adams, American baseball player
- 1987 – Michael Brantley, American baseball player
- 1987 – Brian Dozier, American baseball player
- 1987 – Mark Fayne, American ice hockey player
- 1987 – Ersan İlyasova, Turkish basketball player
- 1987 – Leonardo Mayer, Argentinian tennis player
- 1987 – Andy Murray, Scottish tennis player
- 1988 – Indrek Kajupank, Estonian basketball player
- 1988 – Scott Laird, English footballer
- 1989 – Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, French footballer
- 1990 – Jordan Eberle, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1990 – Lee Jong-hyun, Korean guitarist
- 1990 – Stella Maxwell, New Zealand model
- 1993 – Jeremy Hawkins, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1993 – Tomáš Kalas, Czech international footballer
- 1996 – Birdy, English singer-songwriter
- 1997 – Ousmane Dembélé, French footballer
Deaths on May 15
- 392 – Valentinian II, Roman emperor (b. 371)
- 558 – Hilary of Galeata, Christian monk (b. 476)
- 884 – Narinus I, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 830)
- 913 – Hatto I, German archbishop (b. 850)
- 926 – Zhuang Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 885)
- 973 – Byrhthelm, bishop of Wells
- 1036 – Go-Ichijō, emperor of Japan (b. 1008)
- 1157 – Yuri Dolgorukiy, Grand Prince of Kiev (b. 1099)
- 1175 – Mleh, prince of Armenia
- 1174 – Nur ad-Din, Seljuk emir of Syria (b. 1118)
- 1268 – Peter II, count of Savoy (b. 1203)
- 1461 – Domenico Veneziano, Italian painter (b. c. 1410)
- 1464 – Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset (b. 1436)
- 1470 – Charles VIII, king of Sweden (b. 1409)
- 1585 – Niwa Nagahide, Japanese samurai (b. 1535)
- 1609 – Giovanni Croce, Italian composer and educator (b. 1557)
- 1615 – Henry Bromley, English politician (b. 1560)
- 1634 – Hendrick Avercamp, Dutch painter (b. 1585)
- 1698 – Marie Champmeslé, French actress (b. 1642)
- 1699 – Sir Edward Petre, 3rd Baronet, English politician (b. 1631)
- 1700 – John Hale, American minister (b. 1636)
- 1740 – Ephraim Chambers, English publisher (b. 1680)
- 1773 – Alban Butler, English priest and hagiographer (b. 1710)
- 1845 – Braulio Carrillo Colina, Costa Rican lawyer and politician, Head of State of Costa Rica (b. 1800)
- 1879 – Gottfried Semper, German architect and educator, designed the Semper Opera House (b. 1803)
- 1886 – Emily Dickinson, American poet and author (b. 1830)
- 1914 – Ida Freund, Austrian-born chemist and educator (b. 1863)
- 1919 – Hasan Tahsin, Turkish journalist (b. 1888)
- 1924 – Paul-Henri-Benjamin d’Estournelles de Constant, French diplomat and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
- 1926 – Joseph James Fletcher, Australian biologist (b. 1850)
- 1928 – Umegatani Tōtarō I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 15th Yokozuna (b. 1845)
- 1935 – Kazimir Malevich, Ukrainian-Russian painter and theoretician (b. 1878)
- 1937 – Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1864)
- 1945 – Kenneth J. Alford, English soldier, bandmaster, and composer (b. 1881)
- 1945 – Charles Williams, English author, poet, and critic (b. 1886)
- 1948 – Edward J. Flanagan, Irish-American priest, founded Boys Town (b. 1886)
- 1954 – William March, American soldier and author (b. 1893)
- 1956 – Austin Osman Spare, English painter and magician (b. 1886)
- 1957 – Keith Andrews, American race car driver (b. 1920)
- 1957 – Dick Irvin, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1892)
- 1963 – John Aglionby, English-born Bishop of Accra and soldier (b. 1884)
- 1964 – Vladko Maček, Croatian lawyer and politician (b. 1879)
- 1965 – Pio Pion, Italian businessman (b. 1887)
- 1967 – Edward Hopper, American painter (b. 1882)
- 1967 – Italo Mus, Italian painter (b. 1892)
- 1969 – Joe Malone, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1890)
- 1971 – Tyrone Guthrie, English director, producer, and playwright (b. 1900)
- 1978 – Robert Menzies, Australian lawyer and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894)
- 1980 – Gordon Prange, American historian and author (b. 1910)
- 1982 – Gordon Smiley, American race car driver (b. 1946)
- 1984 – Francis Schaeffer, American pastor, theologian, and philosopher (b. 1912)
- 1985 – Jackie Curtis, American actress and writer (b. 1947)
- 1986 – Elio de Angelis, Italian race car driver (b. 1958)
- 1986 – Theodore H. White, American historian, journalist, and author (b. 1915)
- 1989 – Johnny Green, American composer and conductor (b. 1908)
- 1989 – Luc Lacourcière, Canadian ethnographer and author (b. 1910)
- 1991 – Andreas Floer, German mathematician and academic (b. 1956)
- 1991 – Amadou Hampâté Bâ, Malian ethnologist and author (b. 1901)
- 1991 – Fritz Riess, German race car driver (b. 1922)
- 1993 – Salah Ahmed Ibrahim, Sudanese poet and diplomat (b. 1933)
- 1994 – Gilbert Roland, American actor (b. 1905)
- 1995 – Eric Porter, English actor (b. 1928)
- 1996 – Charles B. Fulton, American lawyer and judge (b. 1910)
- 1998 – Earl Manigault, American basketball player (b. 1944)
- 1998 – Naim Talu, Turkish economist, banker, politician, 15th Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1919)
- 2003 – June Carter Cash, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress (b. 1929)
- 2006 – Nizar Abdul Zahra, Iraqi footballer (b. 1961)
- 2007 – Jerry Falwell, American pastor, founded Liberty University (b. 1933)
- 2008 – Tommy Burns, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1956)
- 2008 – Alexander Courage, American composer and conductor (b. 1919)
- 2008 – Will Elder, American illustrator (b. 1921)
- 2009 – Bud Tingwell, Australian actor, director, and producer (b. 1923)
- 2009 – Wayman Tisdale, American basketball player and bass player (b. 1964)
- 2010 – Besian Idrizaj, Austrian footballer (b. 1987)
- 2010 – Loris Kessel, Swiss race car driver (b. 1950)
- 2012 – Carlos Fuentes, Mexican novelist and essayist (b. 1928)
- 2012 – Arno Lustiger, German historian and author (b. 1924)
- 2012 – Zakaria Mohieddin, Egyptian soldier and politician, 33rd Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1918)
- 2013 – Henrique Rosa, Bissau-Guinean politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1946)
- 2014 – Jean-Luc Dehaene, French-Belgian politician, 63rd Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1940)
- 2014 – Noribumi Suzuki, Japanese director and screenwriter (b. 1933)
- 2015 – Elisabeth Bing, German-American physical therapist and author (b. 1914)
- 2015 – Jackie Brookner, American sculptor and educator (b. 1945)
- 2015 – Garo Yepremian, Cypriot-American football player (b. 1944)
- 2020 – Fred Willard, American actor, comedian, and writer (b. 1933)[19]
Holidays and observances on May 15
- Aoi Matsuri (Kyoto)
- Army Day (Slovenia)
- Christian feast day:
- Achillius of Larissa
- Athanasius of Alexandria (Coptic Church)
- Dymphna
- Hallvard Vebjørnsson (Roman Catholic Church)
- Hesychius of Cazorla
- Hilary of Galeata
- Isidore the Laborer, celebrated with festivals in various countries, the beginning of bullfighting season in Madrid.
- Jean-Baptiste de La Salle (Roman Catholic Church)
- Peter, Andrew, Paul, and Denise (Roman Catholic Church)
- Reticius (Roman Catholic Church)
- Sophia of Rome (Roman Catholic church)
- May 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Constituent Assembly Day (Lithuania)
- Earliest date on which Armed Forces Day (United States) can fall, while May 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Saturday of May.
- Independence Day (Paraguay), celebrates the independence of Paraguay from Spain in 1811. Celebrations for the anniversary of the independence begin on Flag Day, May 14.
- International Conscientious Objectors Day
- International Day of Families (International)
- La Corsa dei Ceri begins on the eve of the feast day of Saint Ubaldo. (Gubbio)
- Mother’s Day (Paraguay)
- Nakba Day (Palestinian communities)
- Peace Officers Memorial Day (United States)
- Republic Day (Lithuania)
- Teachers’ Day (Colombia, Mexico and South Korea)