997 – Battle of Spercheios: Bulgarian forces of Tsar Samuel are defeated by a Byzantine army under general Nikephoros Ouranos at the Spercheios River in Greece.
1054 – Three Roman legates break relations between Western and Eastern Christian Churches through the act of placing an invalidly-issued Papal bull of Excommunication on the altar of Hagia Sophia during Saturday afternoon divine liturgy. Historians frequently describe the event as the start of the East–West Schism.
1212 – Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa: After Pope Innocent III calls European knights to a crusade, forces of Kings Alfonso VIII of Castile, Sancho VII of Navarre, Peter II of Aragon and Afonso II of Portugal defeat those of the Berber Muslim leader Almohad, thus marking a significant turning point in the Reconquista and in the medieval history of Spain.
1232 – The Spanish town of Arjona declares independence and names its native Muhammad ibn Yusuf as ruler. This marks Muhammad’s first rise to prominence; he would later establish the Nasrid Emirate of Granada, the last independent Muslim state in Spain.
1251 – Celebrated by the Carmelite Order – but doubted by modern historians – as the day when Saint Simon Stock had a vision of the Virgin Mary
1377 – King Richard II of England is crowned.
1661 – The first banknotes in Europe are issued by the Swedish bank Stockholms Banco.
1683 – Manchu Qing dynasty naval forces under traitorous commander Shi Lang defeat the Kingdom of Tungning in the Battle of Penghu near the Pescadores Islands.
1769 – Father Junípero Serra founds California’s first mission, Mission San Diego de Alcalá. Over the following decades, it evolves into the city of San Diego, California.
1779 – American Revolutionary War: Light infantry of the Continental Army seize a fortified British Army position in a midnight bayonet attack at the Battle of Stony Point.
1790 – The District of Columbia is established as the capital of the United States after signature of the Residence Act.
1809 – The city of La Paz, in what is today Bolivia, declares its independence from the Spanish Crown during the La Paz revolution and forms the Junta Tuitiva, the first independent government in Spanish America, led by Pedro Domingo Murillo.
1849 – Antonio María Claret y Clará founds the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, popularly known as the Claretians in Vic, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
1861 – American Civil War: At the order of President Abraham Lincoln, Union troops begin a 25-mile march into Virginia for what will become the First Battle of Bull Run, the first major land battle of the war.
1862 – American Civil War: David Farragut is promoted to rear admiral, becoming the first officer in United States Navy to hold an admiral rank.
1909 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar is forced out as Shah of Persia and is replaced by his son Ahmad Shah Qajar.
1910 – John Robertson Duigan makes the first flight of the Duigan pusher biplane, the first aircraft built in Australia.
1915 – Henry James becomes a British citizen to highlight his commitment to Britain during the first World War.
1915 – At Treasure Island on the Delaware River in the United States, the First Order of the Arrow ceremony takes place and the Order of the Arrow is founded to honor American Boy Scouts who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law.
1927 – Augusto César Sandino leads a raid on U.S. Marines and Nicaraguan Guardia Nacional that had been sent to apprehend him in the village of Ocotal, but is repulsed by one of the first dive-bombing attacks in history.
1931 – Emperor Haile Selassie signs the first constitution of Ethiopia.
1935 – The world’s first parking meter is installed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
1941 – Joe DiMaggio hits safely for the 56th consecutive game, a streak that still stands as an MLB record.
1942 – Holocaust: Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup (Rafle du Vel’ d’Hiv): The government of Vichy France orders the mass arrest of 13,152 Jews who are held at the Vélodrome d’Hiver in Paris before deportation to Auschwitz.
1945 – World War II: The heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis leaves San Francisco with parts for the atomic bomb “Little Boy” bound for Tinian Island.
1945 – Manhattan Project: The Atomic Age begins when the United States successfully detonates a plutonium-based test nuclear weapon near Alamogordo, New Mexico.
1948 – Following token resistance, the city of Nazareth, revered by Christians as the hometown of Jesus, capitulates to Israeli troops during Operation Dekel in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
1948 – The storming of the cockpit of the Miss Macao passenger seaplane, operated by a subsidiary of the Cathay Pacific Airways, marks the first aircraft hijacking of a commercial plane.
1950 – Chaplain–Medic massacre: American POWs are massacred by North Korean Army.
1951 – King Leopold III of Belgium abdicates in favor of his son, Baudouin I of Belgium.
1956 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closes its last “Big Tent” show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; due to changing economics, all subsequent circus shows will be held in arenas.
1965 – The Mont Blanc Tunnel linking France and Italy opens.
1965 – South Vietnamese Colonel Phạm Ngọc Thảo, a formerly undetected communist spy and double agent, is hunted down and killed by unknown individuals after being sentenced to death in absentia for a February 1965 coup attempt against Nguyễn Khánh.
1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 11, the first mission to land astronauts on the Moon, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Kennedy, Florida.
1979 – Iraqi President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr resigns and is replaced by Saddam Hussein.
1983 – Sikorsky S-61 disaster: A helicopter crashes off the Isles of Scilly, causing 20 fatalities.
1990 – The Luzon earthquake strikes the Philippines with an intensity of 7.7, affecting Benguet, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, La Union, Aurora, Bataan, Zambales and Tarlac.
1990 – The Parliament of the Ukrainian SSR declares state sovereignty over the territory of the Ukrainian SSR.
1999 – John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, Carolyn, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, died when the Piper Saratoga PA-32R aircraft he was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.
2004 – Millennium Park, considered Chicago’s first and most ambitious early 21st-century architectural project, is opened to the public by Mayor Richard M. Daley.
2007 – An earthquake of magnitude 6.8 and 6.6 aftershock occurs off the Niigata coast of Japan killing eight people, injuring at least 800 and damaging a nuclear power plant.
2013 – As many as 27 children die and 25 others are hospitalized after eating lunch served at their school in eastern India.
2015 – Four U.S. Marines and one gunman die in a shooting spree targeting military installations in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
2019 – 100 years old building in Mumbai, India, collapsed, killing at least 10 people and many remaining trapped.
Births on July 16
1194 – Clare of Assisi, an Italian nun and saint (d. 1253)
1486 – Andrea del Sarto, Italian painter (d. 1530)
1517 – Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk, English duchess (d. 1559)
1529 – Petrus Peckius the Elder, Dutch jurist, writer on international maritime law (d. 1589)
1611 – Cecilia Renata of Austria (d. 1644)
1661 – Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville, Canadian captain, explorer, and politician (d. 1706)
1714 – Marc René, marquis de Montalembert, French engineer and author (d. 1800)
1722 – Joseph Wilton, English sculptor and academic (d. 1803)
1723 – Joshua Reynolds, English painter and academic (d. 1792)
1731 – Samuel Huntington, American jurist and politician, 18th Governor of Connecticut (d. 1796)
1749 – Cyrus Griffin, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 16th President of the Continental Congress (d. 1810)
1796 – Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, French painter and etcher (d. 1875)
1821 – Mary Baker Eddy, American religious leader and author, founded Christian Science (d. 1910)
1841 – Nikolai von Glehn, Estonian-German architect and activist (d. 1923)
1858 – Eugène Ysaÿe, Belgian violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1931)
1862 – Ida B. Wells, American journalist and activist (d. 1931)
1863 – Anderson Dawson, Australian politician, 14th Premier of Queensland (d. 1910)
1870 – Lambert McKenna, Irish priest, lexicographer, and scholar (d. 1956)
1871 – John Maxwell, American golfer (d. 1906)
1872 – Roald Amundsen, Norwegian pilot and explorer (d. 1928)
1872 – Frank Cooper, Australian politician, 25th Premier of Queensland (d. 1949)
1880 – Kathleen Norris, American journalist and author (d. 1966)
1882 – Violette Neatley Anderson, American judge (d. 1937)
1883 – Charles Sheeler, American photographer and painter (d. 1965)
1884 – Anna Vyrubova, Russian author (d. 1964)
1887 – Shoeless Joe Jackson, American baseball player and manager (d. 1951)
1888 – Percy Kilbride, American actor (d. 1964)
1888 – Frits Zernike, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1966)
1889 – Arthur Bowie Chrisman, American author (d. 1953)
1895 – Wilfrid Hamel, Canadian businessman and politician, 35th Mayor of Quebec City (d. 1968)
1896 – Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer, German biologist and eugenicist (d. 1969)
1896 – Trygve Lie, Norwegian trade union leader and politician, 1st Secretary-General of the United Nations (d. 1968)
1902 – Alexander Luria, Russian psychologist and physician (d. 1977)
1902 – Mary Philbin, American actress (d. 1993)
1903 – Fritz Bauer, German lawyer and judge (d. 1968)
1903 – Carmen Lombardo, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 1971)
1903 – Irmgard Flügge-Lotz, German mathematician and engineer (d. 1974)
1904 – Goffredo Petrassi, Italian composer and conductor (d. 2003)
1906 – Vincent Sherman, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2006)
1907 – Frances Horwich, American educator and television host (d. 2001)
1907 – Orville Redenbacher, American farmer and businessman, founded Orville Redenbacher’s (d. 1995)
1907 – Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (d. 1990)
1910 – Stan McCabe, Australian cricketer (d. 1968)
1910 – Gordon Prange, American historian, author, and academic (d. 1980)
1911 – Ginger Rogers, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1995)
1911 – Sonny Tufts, American actor (d. 1970)
1912 – Milt Bocek, American baseball player (d. 2007)
1912 – Amy Patterson, Argentine composer, singer, poet, and teacher (d. 2019)
1915 – Barnard Hughes, American actor (d. 2006)
1915 – Elaine Barrie, American actress (d. 2003)
1918 – Denis Edward Arnold, English soldier (d. 2015)
1918 – Paul Farnes, famed World War II Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter pilot and one of “The Few” surviving pilots of the Battle of Britain (d. 2020)
1918 – Samuel Victor Perry, English biochemist and rugby player (d. 2009)
1919 – Hermine Braunsteiner, Austrian SS officer (d. 1999)
1919 – Choi Kyu-hah, South Korean politician, 4th President of South Korea (d. 2006)
1920 – Anatole Broyard, American critic and editor (d. 1990)
1923 – Chris Argyris, American psychologist, theorist, and academic (d. 2013)
1923 – Bola Sete, Brazilian guitarist (d. 1987)
1924 – James L. Greenfield, American journalist and politician
1924 – Bess Myerson, American model, actress, game show panelist, and politician, Miss America 1945 (d. 2014)
1924 – Rupert Deese, Northern Mariana Islander ceramic artist (d. 2010)
1925 – Frank Jobe, American sergeant and surgeon (d. 2014)
1925 – Rosita Quintana, Argentine actress
1925 – Cal Tjader, American jazz musician (d. 1982)
1926 – Ivica Horvat, Croatian footballer and manager (d. 2012)
1926 – Irwin Rose, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
1927 – Pierre F. Côté, Canadian lawyer and civil servant (d. 2013)
1927 – Shirley Hughes, English author and illustrator
1927 – Derek Hawksworth, English footballer
1928 – Anita Brookner, English novelist and art historian (d. 2016)
1928 – Bella Davidovich, Soviet-American pianist
1928 – Robert Sheckley, American author and screenwriter (d. 2005)
1928 – Jim Rathmann, American race car driver (d. 2011)
1928 – Dave Treen, American lawyer and politician, 51st Governor of Louisiana (d. 2009)
1928 – Andrzej Zawada, Polish mountaineer and author (d. 2000)
1929 – Charles Ray Hatcher, American serial killer (d. 1984)
1929 – Sheri S. Tepper, American author and poet (d. 2016)
1929 – Gaby Tanguy, French swimmer
1930 – Guy Béart, Egyptian-French singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
1930 – Michael Bilirakis, American lawyer and politician
1930 – Bert Rechichar, American football defensive back and kicker (d. 2019)
1931 – Fergus Gordon Kerr, Scottish Roman Catholic priest of the English Dominican Province
1931 – Norm Sherry, American former catcher, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball
1932 – John Chilton, English trumpet player and composer (d. 2016)
1932 – Max McGee, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2007)
1932 – Dick Thornburgh, American lawyer and politician, 76th United States Attorney General
1933 – Julian A. Brodsky, American businessman
1934 – Tomás Eloy Martínez, Argentine journalist (d. 2010)
1934 – Katherine D. Ortega, 38th Treasurer of the United States
1934 – Donald M. Payne, American educator and politician (d. 2012)
1935 – Carl Epting Mundy Jr., American general (d. 2014)
1935 – Lynn Wyatt, American socialite and philanthropist
1936 – Yasuo Fukuda, Japanese politician, 91st Prime Minister of Japan
1936 – Buddy Merrill, American guitarist
1936 – Jerry Norman, American sinologist and linguist (d. 2012)
1158 – Munich is founded by Henry the Lion on the banks of the river Isar.
1216 – First Barons’ War: Prince Louis of France captures the city of Winchester and soon conquers over half of the Kingdom of England.
1276 – While taking exile in Fuzhou, away from the advancing Mongol invaders, the remnants of the Song dynasty court hold the coronation ceremony for Emperor Duanzong.
1285 – Second Mongol invasion of Vietnam: Forces led by Prince Trần Quang Khải of the Trần dynasty destroy most of the invading Mongol naval fleet in a battle at Chuong Duong.
1287 – Kublai Khan defeats the force of Nayan and other traditionalist Borjigin princes in East Mongolia and Manchuria.
1381 – Richard II of England meets leaders of Peasants’ Revolt at Mile End. The Tower of London is stormed by rebels who enter without resistance.
1404 – Welsh rebel leader Owain Glyndŵr, having declared himself Prince of Wales, allies himself with the French against King Henry IV of England.
1618 – Joris Veseler prints the first Dutch newspaper Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt, &c. in Amsterdam (approximate date).
1645 – English Civil War: Battle of Naseby: Twelve thousand Royalist forces are beaten by 15,000 Parliamentarian soldiers.
1667 – The Raid on the Medway by the Dutch fleet in the Second Anglo-Dutch War ends. It had lasted for five days and resulted in the worst ever defeat of the Royal Navy.
1690 – King William III of England (William of Orange) lands in Ireland to confront the former King James II.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: the Continental Army is established by the Continental Congress, marking the birth of the United States Army.
1777 – The Second Continental Congress passes the Flag Act of 1777 adopting the Stars and Stripes as the Flag of the United States.
1789 – Mutiny on the Bounty: HMS Bounty mutiny survivors including Captain William Bligh and 18 others reach Timor after a nearly 7,400 km (4,600 mi) journey in an open boat.
1800 – The French Army of First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte defeats the Austrians at the Battle of Marengo in Northern Italy and re-conquers Italy.
1807 – Emperor Napoleon’s French Grande Armée defeats the Russian Army at the Battle of Friedland in Poland (modern Russian Kaliningrad Oblast) ending the War of the Fourth Coalition.
1821 – Badi VII, king of Sennar, surrenders his throne and realm to Ismail Pasha, general of the Ottoman Empire, bringing the 300 year old Sudanese kingdom to an end.
1822 – Charles Babbage proposes a difference engine in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society.
1830 – Beginning of the French colonization of Algeria: Thirty-four thousand French soldiers begin their invasion of Algiers, landing 27 kilometers west at Sidi Fredj.
1839 – Henley Royal Regatta: the village of Henley-on-Thames, on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, stages its first regatta.
1846 – Bear Flag Revolt begins: Anglo settlers in Sonoma, California, start a rebellion against Mexico and proclaim the California Republic.
1863 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Winchester: A Union garrison is defeated by the Army of Northern Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley town of Winchester, Virginia.
1863 – Second Assault on the Confederate works at the Siege of Port Hudson during the American Civil War.
1872 – Trade unions are legalized in Canada.
1881 – The White Rajahs territories become the British protectorate of Sarawak.
1900 – Hawaii becomes a United States territory.
1900 – The second German Naval Law calls for the Imperial German Navy to be doubled in size.
1907 – The National Association for Women’s Suffrage succeeds in getting Norwegian women the right to vote in parliamentary elections.
1919 – John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown depart from St. John’s, Newfoundland on the first nonstop transatlantic flight.
1926 – Brazil leaves the League of Nations.
1937 – Pennsylvania becomes the first (and only) state of the United States to celebrate Flag Day officially as a state holiday.
1937 – U.S. House of Representatives passes the Marihuana Tax Act.
1940 – World War II: The German occupation of Paris begins.
1940 – The Soviet Union presents an ultimatum to Lithuania resulting in Lithuanian loss of independence.
1940 – Seven hundred twenty-eight Polish political prisoners from Tarnów become the first inmates of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
1941 – June deportation: the first major wave of Soviet mass deportations and murder of Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians, begins.
1944 – World War II: After several failed attempts, the British Army abandons Operation Perch, its plan to capture the German-occupied town of Caen.
1945 – World War II: Filipino troops of the Philippine Commonwealth Army liberate the captured in Ilocos Sur and start the Battle of Bessang Pass in Northern Luzon.
1949 – Albert II, a rhesus monkey, rides a V-2 rocket to an altitude of 134 km (83 mi), thereby becoming the first monkey in space.
1951 – UNIVAC I is dedicated by the U.S. Census Bureau.
1954 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill into law that places the words “under God” into the United States Pledge of Allegiance.
1955 – Chile becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
1959 – Disneyland Monorail System, the first daily operating monorail system in the Western Hemisphere, opens to the public in Anaheim, California.
1959 – Dominican exiles depart from Cuba and land in the Dominican Republic to overthrow the totalitarian government of Rafael Trujillo. All but four are killed or executed.
1962 – The European Space Research Organisation is established in Paris – later becoming the European Space Agency.
1966 – The Vatican announces the abolition of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (“index of prohibited books”), which was originally instituted in 1557.
1967 – Mariner program: Mariner 5 is launched towards Venus.
1982 – Falklands War: Argentine forces in the capital Stanley conditionally surrender to British forces.
1986 – The Mindbender derails and kills three riders at the Fantasyland (known today as Galaxyland) indoor amusement park in Edmonton, Alberta.
1994 – The 1994 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot occurs after the New York Rangers win the Stanley Cup from Vancouver, causing an estimated C$1.1 million, leading to 200 arrests and injuries.
2002 – Near-Earth asteroid 2002 MN misses the Earth by 75,000 miles (121,000 km), about one-third of the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
2014 – A Ukraine military Ilyushin Il-76 airlifter is shot down, killing all 49 people on board.
2017 – London: A fire in a high-rise apartment building in North Kensington leaves 72 people dead and another 74 injured.
2017 – In Alexandria, Virginia, Republican member of Congress and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana is shot while practicing for charity baseball.
Births on June 14
1444 – Nilakantha Somayaji, Indian astronomer and mathematician (d. 1544)
1463 – Henry IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1514)
1479 – Giglio Gregorio Giraldi, Italian poet and scholar (d. 1552)
1529 – Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria (d. 1595)
1627 – Johann Abraham Ihle, German astronomer (d. 1699)
1691 – Jan Francisci, Slovak organist and composer (d. 1758)
1726 – Thomas Pennant, Welsh ornithologist and historian (d. 1798)
1730 – Antonio Sacchini, Italian composer and educator (d. 1786)
1736 – Charles-Augustin de Coulomb, French physicist and engineer (d. 1806)
1763 – Simon Mayr, German composer and educator (d. 1845)
1780 – Henry Salt, English historian and diplomat, British Consul-General in Egypt (d. 1827)
1796 – Nikolai Brashman, Czech-Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1866)
1798 – František Palacký, Czech historian and politician (d. 1876)
1801 – Heber C. Kimball, American religious leader (d. 1868)
1811 – Harriet Beecher Stowe, American author and activist (d. 1896)
1812 – Fernando Wood, American merchant and politician, 73rd Mayor of New York City (d. 1881)
1819 – Henry Gardner, American merchant and politician, 23rd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1892)
1820 – John Bartlett, American author and publisher (d. 1905)
1829 – Bernard Petitjean, French Roman Catholic missionary to Japan (d. 1884)
1838 – Yamagata Aritomo, Japanese Field Marshal and politician, 3rd and 9th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1922)
1840 – William F. Nast, American businessman (d. 1893)
1848 – Bernard Bosanquet, English philosopher and theorist (d. 1923)
1848 – Max Erdmannsdörfer, German conductor and composer (d. 1905)
1855 – Robert M. La Follette, American lawyer and politician, 20th Governor of Wisconsin (d. 1925)
1856 – Andrey Markov, Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1922)
1862 – John Ulric Nef, Swiss-American chemist and academic (d. 1915)
1864 – Alois Alzheimer, German psychiatrist and neuropathologist (d. 1915)
1868 – Karl Landsteiner, Austrian biologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1943)
1868 – Anna B. Eckstein, German peace activist (d. 1947)
1870 – Sophia of Prussia (d. 1932)
1871 – Hermanus Brockmann, Dutch rower (d. 1936)
1871 – Jacob Ellehammer, Danish mechanic and engineer (d. 1946)
1872 – János Szlepecz, Slovene priest and author (d. 1936)
1877 – Jane Bathori, French soprano (d. 1970)
1877 – Ida MacLean, British biochemist, the first woman admitted to the London Chemical Society (d. 1944)
1878 – Léon Thiébaut, French fencer (d. 1943)
1879 – Arthur Duffey, American sprinter and coach (d. 1955)
1884 – John McCormack, Irish tenor and actor (d. 1945)
1884 – Georg Zacharias, German swimmer (d. 1953)
1890 – May Allison, American actress (d. 1989)
1894 – Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (d. 1924)
1894 – José Carlos Mariátegui (d. 1930)
1894 – W. W. E. Ross, Canadian geophysicist and poet (d. 1966)
1895 – Jack Adams, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 1968)
1900 – Ruth Nanda Anshen, American writer, editor, and philosopher (d. 2003)
1900 – June Walker, American stage and film actress (d. 1966)
1903 – Alonzo Church, American mathematician and logician (d. 1995)
1903 – Rose Rand, Austrian-American logician and philosopher from the Vienna Circle (d. 1980)
1904 – Margaret Bourke-White, American photographer and journalist (d. 1971)
1905 – Steve Broidy, American businessman (d. 1991)
1905 – Arthur Davis, American animator and director (d. 2000)
1907 – Nicolas Bentley, English author and illustrator (d. 1978)
1907 – René Char, French poet and author (d. 1988)
1909 – Burl Ives, American actor and singer (d. 1995)
1910 – Rudolf Kempe, German pianist and conductor (d. 1976)
1913 – Joe Morris, English-Canadian lieutenant and trade union leader (d. 1996)
1916 – Dorothy McGuire, American actress (d. 2001)
1917 – Lise Nørgaard, Danish journalist, author, and screenwriter
1917 – Gilbert Prouteau, French poet and director (d. 2012)
1917 – Atle Selberg, Norwegian-American mathematician and academic (d. 2007)
1918 – Fred Baur, American chemist and founder of Pringles (d. 2008)
1919 – Gene Barry, American actor (d. 2009)
1919 – Sam Wanamaker, American actor and director (d. 1993)
1921 – Martha Greenhouse, American actress (d. 2013)
1923 – Judith Kerr, German-English author and illustrator (d. 2019)
1923 – Green Wix Unthank, American soldier, lawyer, and judge (d. 2013)
1924 – James Black, Scottish pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
1925 – Pierre Salinger, American journalist and politician, 11th White House Press Secretary (d. 2004)
1926 – Don Newcombe, American baseball player (d. 2019)
1928 – Ernesto “Che” Guevara, Argentinian-Cuban physician, author, guerrilla leader and politician (d. 1967)
1929 – Cy Coleman, American pianist and composer (d. 2004)
1929 – Alan Davidson, Australian cricketer
1929 – Johnny Wilson, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 2011)
1931 – Marla Gibbs, American actress and comedian
1931 – Ross Higgins, Australian actor (d. 2016)
1931 – Junior Walker, American saxophonist (d. 1995)
1933 – Jerzy Kosiński, Polish-American novelist and screenwriter (d. 1991)
1933 – Vladislav Rastorotsky, Russian gymnast and coach
1936 – Renaldo Benson, American singer-songwriter (d. 2005)
1936 – Irmelin Sandman Lilius, Finnish author, poet, and translator
1938 – Julie Felix, American-English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2020)
1939 – Steny Hoyer, American lawyer and politician
1939 – Peter Mayle, English author and screenwriter (d. 2018)
1939 – Colin Thubron, English journalist and author
1942 – Jonathan Raban, English author and academic
1942 – Roberto García-Calvo Montiel, Spanish judge (d. 2008)
1943 – Barry Burman, English painter and academic (d. 2001)
1943 – Jennifer Gretton, Baroness Gretton, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire
1943 – John Miles, English racing driver and journalist
1943 – Harold Wheeler, American composer, conductor, and producer
1944 – Laurie Colwin, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1992)
1945 – Rod Argent, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
1945 – Carlos Reichenbach, Brazilian director and producer (d. 2012)
1945 – Richard Stebbins, American sprinter and educator
1946 – Robert Louis-Dreyfus, French-Swiss businessman (d. 2009)
1946 – Tõnu Sepp, Estonian instrument maker and educator
1946 – Donald Trump, American businessman, television personality and 45th President of the United States
1947 – Roger Liddle, Baron Liddle, English politician
1947 – Barry Melton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1947 – Paul Rudolph, Canadian singer, guitarist, and cyclist
1948 – Laurence Yep, American author and playwright
1949 – Jim Lea, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
1949 – Roger Powell, English-Australian scientist and academic
1949 – Antony Sher, South African-British actor, director, and screenwriter
1949 – Harry Turtledove, American historian and author
1949 – Alan White, English drummer and songwriter
1950 – Rowan Williams, Welsh archbishop and theologian
1951 – Paul Boateng, English lawyer and politician, British High Commissioner to South Africa
1951 – Danny Edwards, American golfer
1952 – Robert Lepikson, Estonian racing driver and politician, Estonian Minister of the Interior (d. 2006)
1952 – Pat Summitt, American basketball player and coach (d. 2016)
1952 – Leon Wieseltier, American philosopher, journalist, and critic
1953 – Janet Mackey, New Zealand lawyer and politician
1954 – Will Patton, American actor
1955 – Michael D. Duvall, American businessman and politician
1955 – Paul O’Grady, English television host, producer, and drag performer
1955 – Kirron Kher, Indian theatre, film & television actress, TV talk show host, politician and Member of Parliament
1956 – Fred Funk, American golfer and coach
1956 – King Diamond (Kim Bendix Petersen), heavy metal musician
1957 – Suzanne Nora Johnson, American lawyer and businesswoman
1957 – Mona Simpson, American novelist
1958 – Pamela Geller, American activist and blogger
1959 – Marcus Miller, American bass player, composer, and producer
1960 – Tonie Campbell, American hurdler
1960 – Mike Laga, American baseball player
1961 – Boy George, English singer-songwriter and producer
1961 – Dušan Kojić, Serbian singer-songwriter and bass player
1961 – Sam Perkins, American basketball player
1963 – Grant Kenny, Australian iron man and canoeist
1964 – Peter Gilliver, English lexicographer and academic
1967 – Dedrick Dodge, American football player and coach
1968 – Campbell Brown, American journalist
1968 – Faizon Love, Cuban-American actor and screenwriter
1969 – Éric Desjardins, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1969 – Steffi Graf, German tennis player
1970 – Heather McDonald, American comedian, actress, and author
1971 – Bruce Bowen, American basketball player and sportscaster
1971 – Ramon Vega, Swiss footballer
1972 – Rick Brunson, American basketball player and coach
1972 – Matthias Ettrich, German computer scientist and engineer, founded KDE
1972 – Dominic Brown, English guitarist and songwriter
1972 – Claude Henderson, South African cricketer
1972 – Danny McFarlane, Jamaican hurdler and sprinter
1973 – Sami Kapanen, Finnish-American ice hockey player and manager
1976 – Alan Carr, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter
1976 – Massimo Oddo, Italian footballer and manager
1977 – Boeta Dippenaar, South African cricketer
1977 – Chris McAlister, American football player
1977 – Joe Worsley, English rugby player and coach
1978 – Steve Bégin, Canadian ice hockey player
1978 – Diablo Cody, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1978 – Annia Hatch, Cuban-American gymnast and coach
1978 – Nikola Vujčić, Croatian former professional basketball player
1979 – Shannon Hegarty, Australian rugby league player
1981 – Elano, Brazilian footballer and manager
1982 – Jamie Green, English racing driver
1982 – Nicole Irving, Australian swimmer
1982 – Lang Lang, Chinese pianist
1983 – Trevor Barry, Bahamian high jumper
1983 – Louis Garrel, French actor, director, and screenwriter
1984 – Lorenzo Booker, American football player
1984 – Mark Cosgrove, Australian cricketer
1984 – Siobhán Donaghy, English singer-songwriter
1984 – Yury Prilukov, Russian swimmer
1985 – Oleg Medvedev. Russian luger
1985 – Andy Soucek, Spanish racing driver
1986 – Matt Read, Canadian ice hockey player
1987 – Andrew Cogliano, Canadian ice hockey player
1987 – Mohamed Diamé, Senegalese footballer
1988 – Adrián Aldrete, Mexican footballer
1988 – Kevin McHale, American actor, singer, dancer and radio personality
1989 – Lucy Hale, American actress and singer-songwriter
1989 – Brad Takairangi, Australian-Cook Islands rugby league player
1990 – Patrice Cormier, Canadian ice hockey player
1990 – Stephen McLaughlin, Irish footballer
1991 – Kostas Manolas, Greek footballer
1991 – Jesy Nelson, English singer
1992 – Devante Smith-Pelly, Canadian ice hockey player
1993 – Gunna, American rapper
1993 – Ryan McCartan, American actor and singer
1999 – Tzuyu, Taiwanese singer
Deaths on June 14
809 – Ōtomo no Otomaro, Japanese general (b. 731)
847 – Methodius I, patriarch of Constantinople
957 – Guadamir, bishop of Vic (Spain)
976 – Aron, Bulgarian nobleman
1161 – Emperor Qinzong of the Song dynasty (b. 1100)
1205 – Walter III, Count of Brienne
1349 – Günther von Schwarzburg, German king (b. 1304)
1381 – Simon Sudbury, English archbishop (b. 1316)
1497 – Giovanni Borgia, 2nd Duke of Gandía, Italian son of Pope Alexander VI (b. 1474)
1516 – John III of Navarre (b. 1469)
1544 – Antoine, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1489)
1548 – Carpentras, French composer (b. 1470)
1583 – Shibata Katsuie, Japanese samurai (b. 1522)
1594 – Jacob Kroger, German goldsmith, hanged in Edinburgh for stealing the jewels of Anne of Denmark.
1594 – Orlande de Lassus, Flemish composer and educator (b. 1532)
1662 – Henry Vane the Younger, English-American politician, Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (b. 1613)
1674 – Marin le Roy de Gomberville, French author and poet (b. 1600)
1679 – Guillaume Courtois, French painter and illustrator (b. 1628)
1746 – Colin Maclaurin, Scottish mathematician (b. 1698)
1794 – Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford, English courtier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1718)
1800 – Louis Desaix, French general (b. 1768)
1800 – Jean-Baptiste Kléber, French general (b. 1753)
1801 – Benedict Arnold, American general during the American Revolution later turned British spy (b. 1741)
1825 – Pierre Charles L’Enfant, French-American architect and engineer, designed Washington, D.C. (b. 1754)
1837 – Giacomo Leopardi, Italian poet and philosopher (b. 1798)
1864 – Leonidas Polk, American general and bishop (b. 1806)
1887 – Mary Carpenter, English educational and social reformer (b. 1807)
1883 – Edward FitzGerald, English poet and author (b. 1809)
1886 – Alexander Ostrovsky, Russian director and playwright (b. 1823)
1907 – William Le Baron Jenney, American architect and engineer, designed the Home Insurance Building (b. 1832)
1907 – Bartolomé Masó, Cuban soldier and politician (b. 1830)
1908 – Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, English captain and politician, 6th Governor General of Canada (b. 1841)
1914 – Adlai Stevenson I, American lawyer and politician, 23rd Vice President of the United States (b. 1835)
1916 – João Simões Lopes Neto, Brazilian author (b. 1865)
1920 – Max Weber, German sociologist and economist (b. 1864)
1923 – Isabelle Bogelot, French philanthropist (b. 1838)
1926 – Mary Cassatt, American-French painter (b. 1843)
1927 – Ottavio Bottecchia, Italian cyclist (b. 1894)
1927 – Jerome K. Jerome, English author (b. 1859)
1928 – Emmeline Pankhurst, English activist and academic (b. 1857)
1932 – Dorimène Roy Desjardins, Canadian businesswoman, co-founded Desjardins Group (b. 1858)
1933 – Justinien de Clary, French target shooter (b. 1860)
1936 – G. K. Chesterton, English essayist, poet, playwright, and novelist (b. 1874)
1936 – Hans Poelzig, German architect, painter, and designer, designed the IG Farben Building (b. 1869)
1946 – John Logie Baird, Scottish-English physicist and engineer (b. 1888)
1946 – Jorge Ubico, 21st President of Guatemala (b. 1878)
1953 – Tom Cole, Welsh-American racing driver (b. 1922)
1968 – Salvatore Quasimodo, Italian novelist and poet, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1901)
1972 – Dündar Taşer, Turkish soldier and politician (b. 1925)
1977 – Robert Middleton, American actor (b. 1911)
1977 – Alan Reed, American actor, original voice of Fred Flintstone (b.1907)
1979 – Ahmad Zahir, Afghan singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
1980 – Charles Miller, American saxophonist and flute player (b. 1939)
1986 – Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator (b. 1899)
1986 – Alan Jay Lerner, American composer and songwriter (b. 1918)
1987 – Stanisław Bareja, Polish actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1929)
1990 – Erna Berger, German soprano and actress (b. 1900)
1991 – Peggy Ashcroft, English actress (b. 1907)
1994 – Lionel Grigson, English pianist, composer, and educator (b. 1942)
1994 – Henry Mancini, American composer and conductor (b. 1924)
1994 – Marcel Mouloudji, French singer and actor (b. 1922)
1995 – Els Aarne, Ukrainian-Estonian pianist, composer, and educator (b. 1917)
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
428 – Nestorius becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople.
837 – Halley’s Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (5.1 million kilometres/3.2 million miles).
1407 – Deshin Shekpa, 5th Karmapa Lama visits the Ming dynasty capital at Nanjing. He is awarded the title “Great Treasure Prince of Dharma”.
1500 – Ludovico Sforza is captured by Swiss troops at Novara and is handed over to the French.
1606 – The Virginia Company of London is established by royal charter by James I of England with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America.
1710 – The Statute of Anne, the first law regulating copyright, comes into force in Great Britain.
1741 – War of the Austrian Succession: Prussia gains control of Silesia at the Battle of Mollwitz.
1809 – Napoleonic Wars: The War of the Fifth Coalition begins when forces of the Austrian Empire invade Bavaria.
1815 – The Mount Tambora volcano begins a three-month-long eruption, lasting until July 15. The eruption ultimately kills 71,000 people and affects Earth’s climate for the next two years.
1816 – The Federal government of the United States approves the creation of the Second Bank of the United States.
1821 – Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople is hanged by the Ottoman government from the main gate of the Patriarchate and his body is thrown into the Bosphorus.
1826 – The 10,500 inhabitants of the Greek town of Missolonghi begin leaving the town after a year’s siege by Turkish forces. Very few of them survive.
1858 – After the original Big Ben, a 14.5 tonnes (32,000 lb) bell for the Palace of Westminster, had cracked during testing, it is recast into the current 13.76 tonnes (30,300 lb) bell by Whitechapel Bell Foundry.
1864 – Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg is proclaimed emperor of Mexico during the French intervention in Mexico.
1865 – American Civil War: A day after his surrender to Union forces, Confederate General Robert E. Lee addresses his troops for the last time.
1866 – The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is founded in New York City by Henry Bergh.
1868 – At Arogee in Abyssinia, British and Indian forces defeat an army of Emperor Tewodros II. While 700 Ethiopians are killed and many more injured, only two British/Indian troops die.
1872 – The first Arbor Day is celebrated in Nebraska.
1875 – India: Arya Samaj is founded in Mumbai by Swami Dayananda Saraswati to propagate his goal of social reform.
1887 – On Easter Sunday, Pope Leo XIII authorizes the establishment of the Catholic University of America.
1912 – RMS Titanic sets sail from Southampton, England on her maiden and only voyage.
1916 – The Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) is created in New York City.
1919 – Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata is ambushed and shot dead by government forces in Morelos.
1925 – The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is first published in New York City, by Charles Scribner’s Sons.
1938 – The 1938 German parliamentary election and referendum seeks approval for a single list of Nazi candidates and the recent annexation of Austria.
1939 – Alcoholics Anonymous, A.A.’s “Big Book”, is first published.
1941 – World War II: The Axis powers establish the Independent State of Croatia.
1944 – Rudolf Vrba and Alfréd Wetzler escape from Birkenau death camp.
1957 – The Suez Canal is reopened for all shipping after being closed for three months.
1963 – One hundred twenty-nine American sailors die when the submarine USS Thresher sinks at sea.
1968 – The TEV Wahine, a New Zealand ferry sinks in Wellington harbour due to a fierce storm – the strongest winds ever in Wellington. Out of the 734 people on board, fifty-three died.
1970 – Paul McCartney announces that he is leaving The Beatles for personal and professional reasons.
1971 – Ping-pong diplomacy: In an attempt to thaw relations with the United States, China hosts the U.S. table tennis team for a week-long visit.
1972 – Tombs containing bamboo slips, among them Sun Tzu’s Art of War and Sun Bin’s lost military treatise, are accidentally discovered by construction workers in Shandong.
1972 – Vietnam War: For the first time since November 1967, American B-52 bombers reportedly begin bombing North Vietnam.
1973 – Invicta International Airlines Flight 435 crashes in a snowstorm on approach to Basel, Switzerland, killing 108 people.
1979 – Red River Valley tornado outbreak: A tornado lands in Wichita Falls, Texas killing 42 people.
1988 – The Ojhri Camp explosion kills or injures more than 1,000 people in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan.
1991 – Italian ferry MS Moby Prince collides with an oil tanker in dense fog off Livorno, Italy, killing 140.
1991 – A rare tropical storm develops in the South Atlantic Ocean near Angola; the first to be documented by satellites.
1998 – The Good Friday Agreement is signed in Northern Ireland.
2009 – President of Fiji Ratu Josefa Iloilo announces the abrogation of the constitution and assumes all governance in the country, creating a constitutional crisis.
2010 – Polish Air Force Tu-154M crashes near Smolensk, Russia, killing 96 people, including Polish President Lech Kaczyński, his wife, and dozens of other senior officials and dignitaries.
2016 – The Paravur temple accident in which a devastating fire caused by the explosion of firecrackers stored for Vishu, kills more than one hundred people out of the thousands gathered for seventh day of Bhadrakali worship.
2016 – An earthquake of 6.6 magnitude strikes 39 km west-southwest of Ashkasham, shakes up India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Srinagar and Pakistan.
2019 – Scientists from the Event Horizon Telescope project announce the first ever image of a black hole, located in the centre of the M87 galaxy.
Births on April 10
401 – Theodosius II, Roman emperor (d. 450)
1018 – Nizam al-Mulk, Persian scholar and vizier (d. 1092)
1472 – Margaret of York, English princess (d. 1472)
1480 – Philibert II, duke of Savoy (d. 1504)
1487 – William I, count of Nassau-Dillenburg (d. 1559)
1512 – James V, king of Scotland (d. 1542)
1579 – Augustus II, duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1666)
1583 – Hugo Grotius, Dutch philosopher and jurist (d. 1645)
1603 – Christian, Prince-Elect of Denmark (d. 1647)
1651 – Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus, German mathematician, physicist, and physician (d. 1708)
1656 – René Lepage de Sainte-Claire, French-Canadian settler, founded Rimouski (d. 1718)
1704 – Benjamin Heath, English scholar and author (d. 1766)
1707 – Michel Corrette, French organist, composer, and author (d. 1795)
1713 – John Whitehurst, English geologist and clockmaker (d. 1788)
1755 – Samuel Hahnemann, German-French physician and academic (d. 1843)
1762 – Giovanni Aldini, Italian physicist and academic (d. 1834)
1769 – Jean Lannes, French marshal (d. 1809)
1778 – William Hazlitt, English essayist and critic (d. 1830)
1794 – Matthew C. Perry, English-Scottish American commander (d. 1858)
1806 – Juliette Drouet, French actress (d. 1883)
1806 – Leonidas Polk, Scottish-American general and bishop (d. 1884)
1827 – Lew Wallace, American general, lawyer, and politician, 11th Governor of New Mexico Territory (d. 1905)
1829 – William Booth, English minister, founded The Salvation Army (d. 1912)
1847 – Joseph Pulitzer, Hungarian-American journalist, publisher, and politician, founded Pulitzer, Inc. (d. 1911)
1864 – Eugen d’Albert, Scottish-German pianist and composer (d. 1932)
1865 – Jack Miner, American-Canadian farmer, hunter, and environmentalist (d. 1944)
1867 – George William Russell, Irish author, poet, and painter (d. 1935)
1868 – George Arliss, English actor and playwright (d. 1946)
1868 – Asriel Günzig, Moravian rabbi (d. 1931)
1873 – Kyösti Kallio, Finnish farmer, banker, and politician, 4th President of Finland (d. 1940)
1875 – George Clawley, English footballer (d. 1920)
1877 – Alfred Kubin, Austrian author and illustrator (d. 1959)
1879 – Bernhard Gregory, Estonian-German chess player (d. 1939)
1879 – Coenraad Hiebendaal, Dutch rower and physician (d. 1921)
1880 – Frances Perkins, American sociologist, academic, and politician, 4th United States Secretary of Labor (d. 1965)
1880 – Montague Summers, English clergyman and author (d. 1948)
1886 – Johnny Hayes, American runner and trainer (d. 1965)
1887 – Bernardo Houssay, Argentinian physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
1889 – Louis Rougier, French philosopher from the Vienna Circle (d. 1982)
1891 – Frank Barson, English footballer and coach (d. 1968)
1893 – Otto Steinböck, Austrian zoologist (d. 1969)
1894 – Ben Nicholson, British painter (d. 1982)
1897 – Prafulla Chandra Sen, Indian accountant and politician, 3rd Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 1990)
1900 – Arnold Orville Beckman, American chemist, inventor, and philanthropist (d. 2004)
1901 – Dhananjay Ramchandra Gadgil, Indian economist (d. 1971)
1903 – Clare Turlay Newberry, American author and illustrator (d. 1970)
1906 – Steve Anderson, American hurdler (d. 1988)
1910 – Margaret Clapp, American scholar and academic (d. 1974)
1910 – Helenio Herrera, Argentinian footballer and manager (d. 1997)
1910 – Paul Sweezy, American economist and publisher, founded the Monthly Review (d. 2004)
1911 – Martin Denny, American pianist and composer (d. 2005)
1911 – Maurice Schumann, French journalist and politician, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs for France (d. 1998)
1912 – Boris Kidrič, Austrian-Slovenian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Slovenia (d. 1953)
1913 – Stefan Heym, German-American soldier and author (d. 2001)
1914 – Jack Badcock, Australian cricketer (d. 1982)
1915 – Harry Morgan, American actor and director (d. 2011)
1915 – Leo Vroman, Dutch-American hematologist, poet, and illustrator (d. 2014)
1916 – Lee Jung-seob, Korean painter (d. 1956)
1917 – Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri, Indian politician (d. 2013)
1917 – Robert Burns Woodward, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
1919 – John Houbolt, American engineer and academic (d. 2014)
1921 – Chuck Connors, American baseball player and actor (d. 1992)
1921 – Jake Warren, Canadian soldier and diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States (d. 2008)
1921 – Sheb Wooley, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2003)
1923 – Roger Gaillard, Haitian historian and author (d. 2000)
1923 – Jane Kean, American actress and singer (d. 2013)
1923 – Floyd Simmons, American decathlete and actor (d. 2008)
1923 – Sid Tickridge, English footballer (d. 1997)
1923 – John Watkins, South African cricketer
1924 – Kenneth Noland, American soldier and painter (d. 2010)
1925 – Linda Goodman, American astrologer and author (d. 1995)
1925 – Angelo Poffo, American wrestler and promoter (d. 2010)
1926 – Jacques Castérède, French pianist and composer (d. 2014)
1926 – Junior Samples, American comedian (d. 1983)
1927 – Norma Candal, Puerto Rican-American actress (d. 2006)
1927 – Marshall Warren Nirenberg, American biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
1929 – Mike Hawthorn, English race car driver (d. 1959)
1929 – Liz Sheridan, American actress
1929 – Max von Sydow, Swedish-French actor (d. 2020)
1930 – Claude Bolling, French pianist, composer, and actor
1930 – Dolores Huerta, American activist, co-founded the United Farm Workers
1931 – Kishori Amonkar, Indian classical vocalist (d. 2017)
1932 – Delphine Seyrig, Swiss/Alsatian French actress (d. 1990)
1932 – Omar Sharif, Egyptian actor and screenwriter (d. 2015)
1933 – Rokusuke Ei, Japanese composer and author (d. 2016)
1933 – Helen McElhone, Scottish politician (d. 2013)
1934 – David Halberstam, American journalist and author (d. 2007)
1935 – John A. Bennett, American soldier (d. 1961)
1935 – Patrick Garland, English actor and director (d. 2013)
1935 – Peter Hollingworth, Australian bishop, 23rd Governor General of Australia
1936 – John Howell, English long jumper
1936 – John Madden, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
1936 – Bobby Smith, American singer (d. 2013)
1937 – Bella Akhmadulina, Soviet and Russian poet, short story writer, and translator (d. 2010)
1938 – Don Meredith, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2010)
1939 – Claudio Magris, Italian scholar, author, and translator
1940 – Gloria Hunniford, British radio and television host
1941 – Harold Long, Canadian politician (d. 2013)
1941 – Paul Theroux, American novelist, short story writer, and travel writer
1942 – Nick Auf der Maur, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 1998)
1942 – Ian Callaghan, English footballer
1942 – Stuart Dybek, American novelist, short story writer, and poet
1943 – Andrzej Badeński, Polish-German sprinter (d. 2008)
1943 – Margaret Pemberton, English author
1945 – Kevin Berry, Australian swimmer (d. 2006)
1946 – David Angell, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2001)
1946 – Bob Watson, American baseball player and manager
1946 – Adolf Winkelmann, German director, producer, and screenwriter
1947 – David A. Adler, American author and educator
1947 – Bunny Wailer, Jamaican singer-songwriter and drummer
1948 – Mel Blount, American football player
1949 – Daniel Mangeas, French banker and sportscaster
1949 – Eric Troyer, American singer-songwriter, keyboardist and guitarist
1950 – Ken Griffey, Sr., American baseball player and manager
1950 – Eddie Hazel, American guitarist (d. 1992)
1951 – David Helvarg, American journalist and activist
1952 – Narayan Rane, Indian politician, 16th Chief Minister of Maharashtra
1952 – Masashi Sada, Japanese singer, lyricist, composer, novelist, actor, and producer
1952 – Steven Seagal, American actor, producer, and martial artist
1953 – David Moorcroft, English runner and businessman
1953 – Pamela Wallin, Swedish-Canadian journalist, academic, and politician
1954 – Paul Bearer, American wrestler and manager (d. 2013)
1954 – Anne Lamott, American author and educator
1954 – Peter MacNicol, American actor
1954 – Juan Williams, Panamanian-American journalist and author
1955 – Lesley Garrett, English soprano and actress
1956 – Carol V. Robinson, English chemist and academic
1957 – Aliko Dangote, Nigerian businessman, founded Dangote Group
1957 – John M. Ford, American author and poet (d. 2006)
1957 – Steve Gustafson, Spanish-American bass player
1957 – Rosemary Hill, English historian and author
1958 – Bob Bell, Northern Irish engineer
1958 – Yefim Bronfman, Uzbek-American pianist
1958 – Brigitte Holzapfel, German high jumper
1959 – Babyface, American singer-songwriter and producer
1959 – Yvan Loubier, Canadian economist and politician
1959 – Brian Setzer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1960 – Steve Bisciotti, American businessman, co-founded Allegis Group
1960 – Katrina Leskanich, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1960 – Terry Teagle, American basketball player
1961 – Nicky Campbell, Scottish broadcaster and journalist
1961 – Joe Cole, American roadie and author (d. 1991)
1961 – Carole Goble, English computer scientist and academic
1961 – Mark Jones, American basketball player
1962 – Steve Tasker, American football player and sportscaster
1963 – Warren DeMartini, American guitarist and songwriter
1963 – Jeff Gray, American baseball player and coach
1963 – Doris Leuthard, Swiss lawyer and politician, 162nd President of the Swiss Confederation
1965 – Tim Alexander, American drummer and songwriter
1966 – Steve Claridge, English footballer, manager, and sportscaster
1967 – Donald Dufresne, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1967 – David Rovics, American singer-songwriter
1968 – Metin Göktepe, Turkish photographer and journalist (d. 1996)
1968 – Orlando Jones, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1969 – Steve Glasson, Australian lawn bowler
1969 – Ekaterini Koffa, Greek sprinter
1970 – Enrico Ciccone, Canadian ice hockey player
1970 – Leonard Doroftei, Romanian-Canadian boxer
1970 – Kenny Lattimore, American singer-songwriter
1970 – Q-Tip, American rapper, producer, and actor
1971 – Brad William Henke, American football player and actor
1971 – Indro Olumets, Estonian footballer and coach
1971 – Al Reyes, Dominican-American baseball player
1972 – Ian Harvey, Australian cricketer
1972 – Priit Kasesalu, Estonian computer programmer, co-created Skype
1972 – Gordon Buchanan, Scottish film maker
1973 – Guillaume Canet, French actor and director
1973 – Roberto Carlos, Brazilian footballer and manager
1973 – Aidan Moffat, Scottish singer-songwriter
1973 – Christopher Simmons, Canadian-American graphic designer, author, and academic
1974 – Eric Greitens, American soldier, author and politician
1974 – Petros Passalis, Greek footballer
1975 – Chris Carrabba, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1975 – Terrence Lewis, Indian dancer and choreographer
1975 – David Harbour, American actor
1976 – Clare Buckfield, English actress
1976 – Yoshino Kimura, Japanese actress and singer
1976 – Sara Renner, Canadian skier
1977 – Stephanie Sheh, Taiwanese-American voice actress, director, and producer
1978 – Sir Christus, Finnish guitarist
1979 – Iván Alonso, Uruguayan footballer
1979 – Kenyon Coleman, American football player
1979 – Rachel Corrie, American author and activist (d. 2003)
1979 – Tsuyoshi Domoto, Japanese singer-songwriter and actor
1979 – Sophie Ellis-Bextor, English singer-songwriter
1979 – Peter Kopteff, Finnish footballer
1980 – Sean Avery, Canadian ice hockey player and model
1980 – Charlie Hunnam, English actor
1980 – Shao Jiayi, Chinese footballer
1980 – Kasey Kahne, American race car driver
1980 – Bryce Soderberg, American singer-songwriter and bass player
1981 – Laura Bell Bundy, American actress and singer
1981 – Liz McClarnon, English singer and dancer
1981 – Michael Pitt, American actor, model and musician
1981 – Alexei Semenov, Russian ice hockey player
1982 – Andre Ethier, American baseball player
1982 – Chyler Leigh, American actress and singer
1983 – Jamie Chung, American actress
1983 – Andrew Dost, American guitarist and songwriter
1983 – Ryan Merriman, American actor
1983 – Hannes Sigurðsson, Icelandic footballer
1984 – Faustina Agolley, Australian television host
1984 – Jeremy Barrett, American figure skater
1984 – Mandy Moore, American singer-songwriter and actress
1984 – David Obua, Ugandan footballer
1984 – Damien Perquis, French-Polish footballer
1984 – Gonzalo Javier Rodríguez, Argentinian footballer
1985 – Barkhad Abdi, Somali-American actor and director
1985 – Willo Flood, Irish footballer
1985 – Jesús Gámez, Spanish footballer
1985 – Dion Phaneuf, Canadian ice hockey player
1986 – Olivia Borlée, Belgian sprinter
1986 – Fernando Gago, Argentine footballer
1986 – Corey Kluber, American baseball pitcher
1986 – Vincent Kompany, Belgian footballer
1986 – Tore Reginiussen, Norwegian footballer
1987 – Shay Mitchell, Canadian actress and model
1987 – Hayley Westenra, New Zealand soprano
1988 – Chris Heston, American baseball pitcher
1988 – Kareem Jackson, American football player
1988 – Haley Joel Osment, American actor
1990 – Ben Amos, English footballer
1990 – Andile Jali, South African footballer
1990 – Ricky Leutele, Australian-Samoan rugby league player
1990 – Maren Morris, American singer
1990 – Alex Pettyfer, English actor
1991 – AJ Michalka, American actress and singer
1992 – Jack Buchanan, Australian rugby league player
1992 – Sadio Mané, Senegalese footballer
1992 – Daisy Ridley, English actress
1993 – Sofia Carson, American singer and actress
1994 – Siobhan Hunter, Scottish footballer
1995 – Ian Nelson, American actor
1996 – Thanasi Kokkinakis, Australian tennis player
1996 – Audrey Whitby, American actress
1998 – Anna Pogorilaya, Russian figure skater
2001 – Ky Baldwin, Australian singer and actor
2001 – Noa Kirel, Israeli singer
Deaths on April 10
879 – Louis the Stammerer, king of West Francia (b. 846)
943 – Landulf I, prince of Benevento and Capua
948 – Hugh of Arles, king of Italy
1008 – Notker of Liège, French bishop (b. 940)
1216 – Eric X, king of Sweden (b. 1180)
1282 – Ahmad Fanakati, chief minister under Kublai Khan
1309 – Elisabeth von Rapperswil, Swiss countess (b. 1261)
1362 – Maud, English noblewoman (b. 1339)
1500 – Michael Tarchaniota Marullus, Greek scholar and poet
1533 – Frederick I, king of Denmark and Norway (b. 1471)
1545 – Costanzo Festa, Italian composer
1585 – Gregory XIII, Pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1502)
1598 – Jacopo Mazzoni, Italian philosopher (b. 1548)
1599 – Gabrielle d’Estrées, French mistress of Henry IV of France (b. 1571)
1601 – Mark Alexander Boyd, Scottish soldier and poet (b. 1562)
1619 – Thomas Jones, English-Irish archbishop and politician, Lord Chancellor of Ireland (b. 1550)
1640 – Agostino Agazzari, Italian composer and theorist (b. 1578)
1644 – William Brewster, English official and pilgrim leader (b. 1566)
1646 – Santino Solari, Swiss architect and sculptor (b. 1576)
1667 – Jan Marek Marci, Czech physician and author (b. 1595)
1704 – William Egon of Fürstenberg, German cardinal (b. 1629)
1756 – Giacomo Antonio Perti, Italian composer (b. 1661)
1760 – Jean Lebeuf, French historian and author (b. 1687)
1786 – John Byron, English admiral and politician, 24th Commodore Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1723)
1806 – Horatio Gates, English-American general (b. 1727)
1813 – Joseph-Louis Lagrange, Italian mathematician and astronomer (b. 1736)
1823 – Karl Leonhard Reinhold, Austrian philosopher and academic (b. 1757)
1871 – Lucio Norberto Mansilla, Argentinian general and politician (b. 1789)
1904 – Isabella II, Spanish queen (b. 1830)
1909 – Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic (b. 1837)
1919 – Emiliano Zapata, Mexican general (b. 1879)
1920 – Moritz Cantor, German mathematician and historian (b. 1829)
934 – Meng Zhixiang declares himself emperor and establishes Later Shu as a new state independent of Later Tang.
1190 – Massacre of Jews at Clifford’s Tower, York.
1244 – Over 200 Cathars who refuse to recant are burned to death after the Fall of Montségur.
1322 – The Battle of Boroughbridge takes place in the Despenser Wars.
1521 – Ferdinand Magellan reaches the island of Homonhon in the Philippines.
1621 – Samoset, a Mohegan, visited the settlers of Plymouth Colony and greets them, “Welcome, Englishmen! My name is Samoset.”
1660 – The Long Parliament of England is dissolved so as to prepare for the new Convention Parliament.
1689 – The 23rd Regiment of Foot, or Royal Welch Fusiliers, is founded.
1782 – American Revolutionary War: Spanish troops capture the British-held island of Roatán.
1782 – Anglo-Spanish War (1779): Action of 16 March 1782.
1792 – King Gustav III of Sweden is shot; he dies on March 29.
1797 – French Revolutionary Wars: An Austrian column is defeated by the French in the Battle of Valvasone.
1802 – The Army Corps of Engineers is established to found and operate the United States Military Academy at West Point.
1812 – The Siege of Badajoz begins: British and Portuguese forces besiege and defeat the French garrison during the Peninsular War.
1815 – Prince Willem proclaims himself King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the first constitutional monarch in the Netherlands.
1818 – In the Second Battle of Cancha Rayada, Spanish forces defeated Chileans under José de San Martín.
1864 – American Civil War: During the Red River Campaign, Union troops reach Alexandria, Louisiana.
1865 – American Civil War: The Battle of Averasborough began as Confederate forces suffer irreplaceable casualties in the final months of the war.
1870 – The first version of the overture fantasy Romeo and Juliet by Tchaikovsky receives its première performance.
1872 – The Wanderers F.C. won the first FA Cup, the oldest football competition in the world, beating Royal Engineers A.F.C. 1–0 at The Oval in Kennington, London.
1894 – Jules Massenet’s opera Thaïs is first performed.
1898 – In Melbourne the representatives of five colonies adopted a constitution, which would become the basis of the Commonwealth of Australia.
1900 – Sir Arthur Evans purchased the land around the ruins of Knossos, the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete.
1916 – The 7th and 10th US cavalry regiments under John J. Pershing cross the US–Mexico border to join the hunt for Pancho Villa.
1917 – World War I: A German auxiliary cruiser is sunk in the Action of 16 March 1917.
1918 – Finnish Civil War: Battle of Länkipohja is infamous for its bloody aftermath as the Whites executed 70–100 capitulated Reds.
1924 – In accordance with the Treaty of Rome, Fiume becomes annexed as part of Italy.
1925 – An earthquake occurs in Yunnan, China.
1926 – History of Rocketry: Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts.
1935 – Adolf Hitler orders Germany to rearm herself in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Conscription is reintroduced to form the Wehrmacht.
1936 – Warmer-than-normal temperatures rapidly melt snow and ice on the upper Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, leading to a major flood in Pittsburgh.
1939 – From Prague Castle, Hitler proclaims Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate.
1940 – First person killed (James Isbister) in a German bombing raid on the UK in World War II during a raid on Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands.
1945 – World War II: The Battle of Iwo Jima ended, but small pockets of Japanese resistance persisted.
1945 – Ninety percent of Würzburg, Germany is destroyed in only 20 minutes by British bombers, resulting in around 5,000 deaths.
1958 – The Ford Motor Company produces its 50 millionth automobile, the Thunderbird, averaging almost a million cars a year since the company’s founding.
1962 – A Flying Tiger Line Super Constellation disappears in the western Pacific Ocean, with all 107 aboard missing and presumed dead.
1966 – Launch of Gemini 8, the 12th manned American space flight and first space docking with an Agena Target Vehicle.
1968 – Vietnam War: My Lai Massacre occurs; between 347 and 500 Vietnamese villagers (men, women, and children) are killed by American troops.
1968 – General Motors produces its 100 millionth automobile, the Oldsmobile Toronado.
1969 – A Viasa McDonnell Douglas DC-9 crashes in Maracaibo, Venezuela, killing 155.
1976 – British Prime Minister Harold Wilson resigns, citing personal reasons.
1977 – Assassination of Kamal Jumblatt, the main leader of the anti-government forces in the Lebanese Civil War.
1978 – Former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro is kidnapped. (He is later murdered by his captors.)
1978 – A Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Tupolev Tu-134 crashes near Gabare, Bulgaria, killing 73.
1978 – Supertanker Amoco Cadiz splits in two after running aground on the Portsall Rocks, three miles off the coast of Brittany, resulting in the largest oil spill in history at that time.
1979 – Sino-Vietnamese War: The People’s Liberation Army crosses the border back into China, ends the war.
1983 – Demolition of the Ismaning radio transmitter, the last wooden radio tower in Germany.
1984 – William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Lebanon, is kidnapped by Hezbollah. (He later dies in captivity.)
1985 – Associated Press newsman Terry Anderson is taken hostage in Beirut. He is released on December 4, 1991.
1988 – Iran–Contra affair: Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States.
1988 – Halabja chemical attack: The Kurdish town of Halabja in Iraq is attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents on the orders of Saddam Hussein, killing 5,000 people and injuring about 10,000 people.
1988 – The Troubles: Ulster loyalist militant Michael Stone attacks a Provisional IRA funeral in Belfast with pistols and grenades. Three persons, one of them a member of PIRA are killed, and more than 60 others are wounded.
1991 – The airplane carrying eight members of Reba McEntire’s touring band crashed on the side of Otay Mountain.
1995 – Mississippi formally ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment was officially ratified in 1865.
2001 – A series of bomb blasts that took place in the city of Shijiazhuang, China killed 108 people and injured 38 others, was the biggest mass murder in China in decades.
2003 – American activist Rachel Corrie is killed in Rafah trying to obstruct the demolition of a home by being run over by a bulldozer.
2005 – Israel officially hands over Jericho to Palestinian control.
2014 – Crimea votes in a controversial referendum to secede from Ukraine to join Russia.
2016 – A bomb detonates in a bus carrying government employees in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing 15 and injuring at least 54.
2016 – Two suicide bombers detonate their explosives at a mosque during morning prayer on the outskirts of Maiduguri, Nigeria, killing 22 and injuring 18.
Births on March 16
1399 – The Xuande Emperor, ruler of Ming China (d. 1435)
1445 – Johann Geiler von Kaisersberg, Swiss priest and theologian (d. 1510)
1465 – Kunigunde of Austria, Archduchess of Austria (d. 1520)
1473 – Henry IV, Duke of Saxony (d. 1541)
1559 – Amar Singh I, successor of Maharana Pratap of Mewar (d. 1620)
1581 – Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Dutch historian and poet (d. 1647)
1585 – Gerbrand Bredero, Dutch poet and playwright (d. 1618)
1590 – Ii Naotaka, Japanese daimyō (d. 1659)
1596 – Ebba Brahe, Swedish countess (d. 1674)
1609 – Michael Franck, German baker, teacher, poet, and composer (d. 1667)
1609 – Agostino Mitelli, Italian painter (d. 1660)
1621 – Georg Neumark, German poet and composer (d. 1681)
1631 – René Le Bossu, French critic (d. 1680)
1638 – François Crépieul, Jesuit missionary (d. 1702)
1654 – Andreas Acoluthus, German scholar (d. 1704)
1670 – François de Franquetot de Coigny, French general (d. 1759)
1673 – Jean Bouhier, French jurist and scholar (d. 1746)
1687 – Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, queen consort of Frederick William I (d. 1757)
1693 – Malhar Rao Holkar, Indian nobleman (d. 1766)
1701 – Daniel Lorenz Salthenius, Swedish theologian (d. 1750)
1729 – Maria Louise Albertine (d. 1818)
1741 – Carlo Amoretti, Italian scientist (d. 1816)
1744 – Nicolas-Germain Léonard, French poet and novelist (d. 1793)
1750 – Caroline Herschel, German-English astronomer (d. 1848)
1751 – James Madison, American academic and politician, 4th President of the United States (d. 1836)
1753 – François Amédée Doppet, French general (d. 1799)
1760 – Johann Heinrich Meyer, Swiss painter and writer (d. 1832)
1766 – Jean-Frédéric Waldeck, French antiquarian, cartographer, artist and explorer (d. 1875)
1771 – Antoine-Jean Gros, French painter (d. 1835)
1773 – Juan Ramón Balcarce, Argentinian general and politician, 6th Governor of Buenos Aires Province (d. 1836)
1774 – Matthew Flinders, English navigator and cartographer (d. 1814)
1789 – Francis Rawdon Chesney, English general and explorer (d. 1872)
1789 – Georg Ohm, German physicist and mathematician (d. 1854)
1794 – Ami Boué, Austrian geologist and ethnographer (d. 1881)
1797 – Alaric Alexander Watts, English poet and journalist (d. 1864)
1799 – Anna Atkins, English botanist and photographer (d. 1871)
1800 – Emperor Ninkō of Japan (d. 1846)
1805 – Peter Ernst von Lasaulx, German philologist and politician (d. 1861)
1806 – Félix De Vigne, Belgian painter (d. 1862)
1808 – Hannah T. King, British-born American writer and pioneer (d. 1886)
1813 – Gaëtan de Rochebouët, French prime minister (d. 1899)
1819 – José Paranhos, Brazilian politician (d. 1880)
1820 – Enrico Tamberlik, Italian tenor (d. 1889)
1821 – Eduard Heine, German mathematician and academic (d. 1881)
1822 – Rosa Bonheur, French painter and sculptor (d. 1899)
1822 – John Pope, American general (d. 1892)
1823 – William Henry Monk, English organist and composer (d. 1889)
1825 – Camilo Castelo Branco, Portuguese writer (d. 1890)
1828 – Émile Deshayes de Marcère, French politician (d. 1918)
1834 – James Hector, Scottish geologist and surgeon (d. 1907)
1836 – Andrew Smith Hallidie, English-American engineer and businessman (d. 1900)
1839 – Sully Prudhomme, French poet and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1907)
1839 – John Butler Yeats, Irish painter (d. 1922)
1840 – Shibusawa Eiichi, Japanese businessman (d. 1931)
1840 – Georg von der Gabelentz, German linguist and sinologist (d. 1893)
1845 – Umegatani Tōtarō I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 15th Yokozuna (d. 1928)
1846 – Gösta Mittag-Leffler, Swedish mathematician and academic (d. 1927)
1846 – Rebecca Cole, American physician and social reformer (d. 1922)
1846 – Jurgis Bielinis, Lithuanian book smuggler (d. 1918)
1848 – Axel Heiberg, Norwegian financier and diplomat (d. 1932)
1851 – Otto Bardenhewer, German patrologist (d. 1935)
1851 – Martinus Beijerinck, Dutch microbiologist and botanist (d. 1931)
1856 – Napoléon, Prince Imperial of France (d. 1879)
1857 – Charles Harding Firth, English historian and academic (d. 1936)
1859 – Alexander Stepanovich Popov, Russian physicist and academic (d. 1906)
1865 – Patsy Donovan, Irish-American baseball player and manager (d. 1953)
1869 – Willy Burmester, German violinist (d. 1933)
1871 – Hans Merensky, South African geologist and philanthropist (d. 1951)
1871 – Frantz Reichel, French rugby player and hurdler (d. 1932)
1874 – Frédéric François-Marsal, French prime minister (d. 1958)
1877 – Léo-Ernest Ouimet, Canadian director and producer (d. 1972)
1878 – Clemens August Graf von Galen, German cardinal (d. 1946)
1878 – Paul Jouve, French painter (d. 1973)
1881 – Fannie Charles Dillon, American composer (d. 1947)
1882 – James Lightbody, American runner (d. 1953)
1883 – Ethel Anderson, Australian poet, author, and painter (d. 1958)
1884 – Eric P. Kelly, American journalist and author (d. 1960)
1885 – Giacomo Benvenuti, Italian composer and musicologist (d. 1943)
1885 – Sydney Chaplin, English actor (d. 1965)
1886 – Herbert Lindström, Swedish tug of war player (d. 1951)
1887 – Emilio Lunghi, Italian runner (d. 1925)
1887 – S. Stillman Berry, American marine zoologist (1984)
1889 – Reggie Walker, South African athlete (d. 1951)
1892 – César Vallejo, Peruvian poet, playwright, and journalist (d. 1938)
1895 – Ernest Labrousse, French historian (d. 1988)
1897 – Antonio Donghi, Italian painter (d. 1963)
1897 – Conrad Nagel, American actor (d. 1970)
1900 – Cyril Hume, American novelist (d. 1966)
1900 – Mencha Karnicheva, Macedonian revolutionary and assassin (d. 1964)
1901 – Alexis Chantraine, Belgian footballer (d. 1987)
1903 – Mike Mansfield, American politician and diplomat, 22nd United States Ambassador to Japan (d. 2001)
1906 – Francisco Ayala, Spanish sociologist, author, and translator (d. 2009)
1906 – Maurice Turnbull, Welsh-English cricketer and rugby player (d. 1944)
1906 – Henny Youngman, English-American violinist and comedian (d. 1998)
1908 – René Daumal, French author and poet (d. 1944)
1908 – Ernest Rogez, French water polo player (d. 1986)
1908 – Robert Rossen, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1966)
1910 – Aladár Gerevich, Hungarian fencer (d. 1991)
1910 – Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, Indian-English cricketer and politician, 8th Nawab of Pataudi (d. 1952)
1911 – Pierre Harmel, Belgian lawyer and politician, 40th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 2009)
1911 – Josef Mengele, German physician and captain (d. 1979)
1911 – Philip Pavia, American painter and sculptor (d.2005)
1912 – Pat Nixon, First Lady of the United States (d. 1993)
1913 – Rémy Raffalli, French soldier (d. 1952)
1915 – Kunihiko Kodaira, Japanese mathematician and academic (d. 1997)
1916 – Mercedes McCambridge, American actress (d. 2004)
1916 – Tsutomu Yamaguchi, Japanese engineer and businessman (d. 2010)
1917 – Louis C. Wyman, American lawyer and politician (d. 2002)
1917 – Laure Pillay, Mauritian lawyer and jurist (d. 2017)
1917 – Mehrdad Pahlbod, Iranian politician (d. 2018)
1918 – Aldo van Eyck, Dutch architect (d. 1999)
1918 – Frederick Reines, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
1920 – John Addison, English-American soldier and composer (d. 1998)
1920 – Sid Fleischman, American author and screenwriter (d. 2010)
1920 – Traudl Junge, German secretary (d. 2002)
1920 – Leo McKern, Australian-English actor (d. 2002)
1922 – Harding Lemay, American screenwriter and playwright (d. 2018)
1923 – Heinz Wallberg, German conductor (d. 2004)
1925 – Cornell Borchers, Lithuanian-German actress and singer (d. 2014)
1925 – Mary Hinkson, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2014)
1925 – Ervin Kassai, Hungarian basketball player and referee (d. 2012)
1925 – Luis E. Miramontes, Mexican chemist and engineer (d. 2004)
1926 – Charles Goodell, American lawyer and politician (d. 1987)
1926 – Jerry Lewis, American actor and comedian (d. 2017)
1927 – Vladimir Komarov, Russian pilot, engineer, and astronaut (d. 1967)
1927 – Daniel Patrick Moynihan, American sociologist and politician, 12th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2003)
1927 – Olga San Juan, American actress and dancer (d. 2009)
1928 – Wakanohana Kanji I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 45th Yokozuna (d. 2010)
1928 – Christa Ludwig, German soprano and actress
1929 – Betty Johnson, American singer
1929 – Tihomir Novakov, Serbian-American physicist and academic (d. 2015)
1929 – Nadja Tiller, Austrian actress
1930 – Tommy Flanagan, American pianist and composer (d. 2001)
1930 – Minoru Miki, Japanese composer (d. 2011)
1931 – Augusto Boal, Brazilian theatre director, writer and politician (d. 2009)
1931 – Alan Heyman, American-South Korean musicologist and composer (d. 2014)
1931 – Anthony Kenny, English philosopher and academic
1931 – John Munro, Canadian lawyer and politician, 22nd Canadian Minister of Labour (d. 2003)
1932 – Don Blasingame, American baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
1932 – Walter Cunningham, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
1932 – Kurt Diemberger, Austrian mountaineer and author
1932 – Herbert Marx, Canadian politician (d. 2020)
1933 – Keith Critchlow, English architect and academic, co-founded Temenos Academy
1933 – Sanford I. Weill, American banker, financier, and philanthropist
1934 – Jean Cournoyer, Canadian politician
1934 – Ray Hnatyshyn, Canadian lawyer and politician, 24th Governor General of Canada (d. 2002)
1934 – Roger Norrington, English violinist and conductor
1935 – Teresa Berganza, Spanish soprano and actress
1935 – Pepe Cáceres, Colombian bullfighter (d. 1987)
1936 – Raymond Vahan Damadian, Armenian-American inventor, invented the MRI
1936 – Fred Neil, American folk singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2001)
1937 – David Frith, English historian, journalist, and author
1937 – Attilio Nicora, Italian cardinal (d. 2017)
1937 – Amos Tversky, Israeli-American psychologist and academic (d. 1996)
1938 – Carlos Bilardo, Argentinian footballer and manager
1939 – Yvon Côté, Canadian teacher
1940 – Bernardo Bertolucci, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 2018)
1940 – Vagif Mustafazadeh, Azerbaijani pianist and composer (d. 1979)
1940 – Jan Pronk, Dutch academic and politician, Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment
1940 – Keith Rowe, English guitarist
1941 – Robert Guéï, Ivorian soldier and politician, 3rd President of Côte d’Ivoire (d. 2002)
1941 – Chuck Woolery, American game show host and television personality
1942 – Roger Crozier, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 1996)
1942 – Gijs van Lennep, Dutch race car driver
1942 – Jean-Pierre Schosteck, French politician
1942 – James Soong, Chinese-Taiwanese politician, Governor of Taiwan Province
1942 – Jerry Jeff Walker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1943 – Ursula Goodenough, American biologist, zoologist, and author
1943 – Hans Heyer, German racing driver
1943 – Álvaro de Soto, Peruvian diplomat
1944 – Andrew S. Tanenbaum, American computer scientist and academic
1946 – Sigmund Groven, Norwegian harmonica player and composer
1946 – Mary Kaldor, English economist and academic
1946 – J. Z. Knight, American New Age teacher and author
1946 – Guesch Patti, French singer
1948 – Michael Owen Bruce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1948 – Richard Desjardins, Canadian singer-songwriter and director
1948 – Catherine Quéré, French politician
1949 – Erik Estrada, American actor
1949 – Victor Garber, Canadian actor and singer
1949 – Elliott Murphy, American-French singer-songwriter and journalist
1950 – Peter Forster, English bishop
1950 – Kate Nelligan, Canadian actress
1950 – Edhem Šljivo, Bosnian footballer
1951 – Ray Benson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1951 – Abdelmajid Bourebbou, Algerian footballer
1951 – Oddvar Brå, Norwegian skier
1951 – Joe DeLamielleure, American football player
1951 – Alexandre Gonzalez, French long-distance runner
1953 – Claus Peter Flor, German conductor
1953 – Isabelle Huppert, French actress
1953 – Rainer Knaak, German chess player
1953 – Richard Stallman, American computer scientist and programmer
1954 – David Heath, English politician
1954 – Jimmy Nail, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1954 – Tim O’Brien, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1954 – Dav Whatmore, Sri Lankan-Australian cricketer and coach
1954 – Nancy Wilson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actress
1955 – Svetlana Alexeeva, Russian ice dancer and coach
1955 – Rimantas Astrauskas, Lithuanian physicist
1955 – Bruno Barreto, Brazilian director, producer, and screenwriter
1955 – Linda Lepomme, Belgian actress and singer
1955 – Bob Ley, American sports anchor and reporter
1955 – Andy Scott, Canadian politician (d. 2013)
1955 – Jiro Watanabe, Japanese boxer
1956 – Ozzie Newsome, American football player and manager
1956 – Clifton Powell, American actor, director, and producer
1956 – Yoriko Shono, Japanese writer
1956 – Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, Swiss lawyer and politician
1958 – Phillip Wilcher, Australian pianist and composer
1958 – Kate Worley, American author (d. 2004)
1958 – Jorge Ramos, Mexican-American journalist and author
1959 – Michael J. Bloomfield, American astronaut
1959 – Sebastian Currier, American composer and educator
1959 – Greg Dyer, Australian cricketer
1959 – Flavor Flav, American rapper and actor
1959 – Charles Hudson, American baseball player
1959 – Steve Marker, American musician
1959 – Jens Stoltenberg, Norwegian economist and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Norway, 13th Secretary General of NATO
1960 – John Hemming, English businessman and politician
1960 – Duane Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1960 – Jenny Eclair, English comedian, actress and screenwriter
1961 – Brett Kenny, Australian rugby league player and coach
1961 – Todd McFarlane, Canadian author, illustrator, and businessman, founded McFarlane Toys
1962 – Franck Fréon, French race car driver
1962 – Liliane Gaschet, French athlete
1963 – Jerome Flynn, English actor and singer
1963 – Kevin Smith, New Zealand actor and singer (d. 2002)
1964 – Patty Griffin, American singer-songwriter
1964 – Jaclyn Jose, Filipino actress
1964 – Pascal Richard, Swiss racing cyclist
1964 – Gore Verbinski, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1965 – Steve Armstrong, American wrestler
1965 – Cindy Brown, American basketball player
1965 – Mark Carney, Canadian-English economist and banker
1965 – Cristiana Reali, Italian-Brazilian actress
1966 – Chrissy Redden, Canadian cross-country cyclist
1967 – Tracy Bonham, American singer and violinist
1967 – John Darnielle, American musician and novelist
1967 – Lauren Graham, American actress and producer
1967 – Ronnie McCoury, American bluegrass mandolin player, singer and songwriter
1967 – Heidi Zurbriggen, Swiss alpine skier
1968 – Trevor Wilson, American basketball player and police officer
1969 – Judah Friedlander, American comedian and actor
1969 – Ottis Gibson, Barbadian cricketer and coach
1969 – Alina Ivanova, Russian athlete
1969 – Evangelos Koronios, Greek basketball player and coach
1970 – Joakim Berg, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist
241 BC – First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates: The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end.
298 – Roman Emperor Maximian concludes his campaign in North Africa and makes a triumphal entry into Carthage.
947 – The Later Han is founded by Liu Zhiyuan. He declares himself emperor.
1607 – Susenyos I defeats the combined armies of Yaqob and Abuna Petros II at the Battle of Gol in Gojjam, making him Emperor of Ethiopia.
1629 – Charles I dissolves the Parliament of England, beginning the eleven-year period known as the Personal Rule.
1735 – An agreement between Nader Shah and Russia is signed near Ganja, Azerbaijan and Russian troops are withdrawn from occupied territories.
1762 – French Huguenot Jean Calas, who had been wrongly convicted of killing his son, dies after being tortured by authorities; the event inspired Voltaire to begin a campaign for religious tolerance and legal reform.
1814 – Emperor Napoleon I is defeated at the Battle of Laon in France.
1830 – The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army is created.
1848 – The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is ratified by the United States Senate, ending the Mexican–American War.
1861 – El Hadj Umar Tall seizes the city of Ségou, destroying the Bamana Empire of Mali.
1873 – The first Azerbaijani play “The Adventures of the Vizier of the Khan of Lenkaran” prepared by Akhundov was performed by Hassan-bey Zardabi and dramatist and Najaf-bey Vezirov.
1876 – The first successful test of a telephone is made by Alexander Graham Bell.
1891 – Almon Strowger patents the Strowger switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching.
1906 – The Courrières mine disaster, Europe’s worst ever, kills 1099 miners in northern France.
1909 – By signing the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909, Thailand relinquishes its sovereignty over the Malay states of Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis and Terengganu, which become British protectorates.
1922 – Mahatma Gandhi is arrested in India, tried for sedition, and sentenced to six years in prison, only to be released after nearly two years for an appendicitis operation.
1933 – The Long Beach earthquake affects the Greater Los Angeles Area leaving around 108 people dead.
1944 – Greek Civil War: The Political Committee of National Liberation is established in Greece by the National Liberation Front.
1945 – World War II: The U.S. Army Air Force firebombs Tokyo, and the resulting conflagration kills more than 100,000 people, mostly civilians.
1949 – Mildred Gillars (“Axis Sally”) is convicted of treason.
1952 – Fulgencio Batista leads a successful coup in Cuba.
1959 – Tibetan uprising: Fearing an abduction attempt by China, thousands of Tibetans surround the Dalai Lama’s palace to prevent his removal.
1966 – Military Prime Minister of South Vietnam Nguyễn Cao Kỳ sacked rival General Nguyễn Chánh Thi, precipitating large-scale civil and military dissension in parts of the nation.
1969 – In Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King, Jr. He later unsuccessfully attempts to recant.
1970 – Vietnam War: Captain Ernest Medina is charged by the U.S. military with My Lai war crimes.
1975 – Vietnam War: Ho Chi Minh Campaign: North Vietnamese troops attack Ban Mê Thuột in the South on their way to capturing Saigon in the final push for victory over South Vietnam.
1977 – Astronomers discover the rings of Uranus.
1990 – In Haiti, Prosper Avril is ousted 18 months after seizing power in a coup.
2006 – The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at Mars.
2017 – The impeachment of President Park Geun-hye of South Korea in response to a major political scandal is unanimously upheld by the country’s Constitutional Court, ending her presidency.
2019 – Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX, crashes, leading to all 737 MAX aircraft being grounded worldwide.
Births on March 10
1452 – Ferdinand II, king of Castile and León (d. 1516)
1503 – Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1564)
1536 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, English politician, Earl Marshal of the United Kingdom (d. 1572)
1604 – Johann Rudolf Glauber, German-Dutch alchemist and chemist (d. 1670)
1628 – François Girardon, French sculptor (d. 1715)
1628 – Marcello Malpighi, Italian physician and biologist (d. 1694)
1656 – Giacomo Serpotta, Italian Rococo sculptor (d. 1732)
1653 – John Benbow, Royal Navy admiral (d. 1702)
1709 – Georg Wilhelm Steller, German botanist, zoologist, physician, and explorer (d. 1746)
1749 – Lorenzo Da Ponte, Italian-American priest and poet (d. 1838)
1769 – Joseph Williamson, English businessman and philanthropist (d. 1840)
1772 – Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, German poet and critic (d. 1829)
1777 – Louis Hersent, French painter (d. 1860)
1787 – Francisco de Paula Martínez de la Rosa y Berdejo, Spanish playwright and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1862)
1787 – William Etty, English painter and academic (d. 1849)
1788 – Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff, German author, poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1857)
1788 – Edward Hodges Baily, English sculptor (d. 1867)
1789 – Manuel de la Peña y Peña, Mexican lawyer and 20th President (1847) (d. 1850)
1795 – Joseph Légaré, Canadian painter and glazier, artist, seigneur and political figure (d. 1855)
1810 – Samuel Ferguson, Irish poet and lawyer (d. 1886)
1844 – Pablo de Sarasate, Spanish violinist and composer (d. 1908)
1844 – Marie Euphrosyne Spartali, British Pre-Raphaelite painter (d. 1927)
1845 – Alexander III of Russia (d. 1894)
1846 – Edward Baker Lincoln, American son of Abraham Lincoln (d. 1850)
1849 – Hallie Quinn Brown, African-American educator, writer and activist (d. 1949)
1850 – Spencer Gore, English tennis player and cricketer (d. 1906)
1853 – Thomas Mackenzie, Scottish-New Zealand cartographer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1930)
1867 – Hector Guimard, French-American architect (d. 1942)
1867 – Lillian Wald, American nurse, humanitarian, and author, founded the Henry Street Settlement (d. 1940)
1870 – David Riazanov, Russian theorist and politician (d. 1938)
1873 – Jakob Wassermann, German-Austrian soldier and author (d. 1934)
1876 – Anna Hyatt Huntington, American sculptor (d. 1973)
1877 – Pascual Ortiz Rubio, Mexican diplomat and president (1930-1932) (d. 1963)
1881 – Jessie Boswell, English painter (d. 1956)
1888 – Barry Fitzgerald, Irish actor (d. 1961)
1890 – Albert Ogilvie, Australian politician, 28th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1939)
1892 – Arthur Honegger, French composer and educator (d. 1955)
1892 – Gregory La Cava, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1952)
1896 – Frederick Coulton Waugh, British cartoonist, painter, teacher and author (d. 1973)
421 – Constantius III becomes co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
1238 – The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir.
1250 – Seventh Crusade: Crusaders engage Ayyubid forces in the Battle of Al Mansurah.
1347 – The Byzantine civil war of 1341–47 ends with a power-sharing agreement between John VI Kantakouzenos and John V Palaiologos.
1575 – Leiden University is founded, and given the motto Praesidium Libertatis.
1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots, is executed on suspicion of having been involved in the Babington Plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.
1590 – Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva is tortured by the Inquisition in Mexico, charged with concealing the practice Judaism of his sister and her children.
1601 – Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, rebels against Queen Elizabeth I and the revolt is quickly crushed.
1693 – The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, is granted a charter by King William III and Queen Mary II.
1807 – After two days of bitter fighting, the Russians under Bennigsen and the Prussians under L’Estocq concede the Battle of Eylau to Napoleon.
1817 – Las Heras crosses the Andes with an army to join San Martín and liberate Chile from Spain.
1837 – Richard Johnson becomes the first Vice President of the United States chosen by the United States Senate.
1865 – Delaware refuses to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Slavery was outlawed in the United States, including Delaware, when the Amendment was ratified by the requisite number of states on December 6, 1865. Delaware ratified the Thirteenth Amendment on February 12, 1901, which was the ninety-second anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln.
1879 – Sandford Fleming first proposes adoption of Universal Standard Time at a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute.
1879 – The England cricket team led by Lord Harris is attacked in a riot during a match in Sydney.
1885 – The first government-approved Japanese immigrants arrived in Hawaii.
1887 – The Dawes Act authorizes the President of the United States to survey Native American tribal land and divide it into individual allotments.
1904 – Battle of Port Arthur: A surprise torpedo attack by the Japanese at Port Arthur, China starts the Russo-Japanese War.
1904 – Aceh War: Dutch Colonial Army’s Marechaussee regiment led by General G.C.E. van Daalen launch military campaign to capture Gayo Highland, Alas Highland, and Batak Highland in Dutch East Indies’ Northern Sumatra region, which ends with genocide to Acehnese and Bataks people.
1910 – The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated by William D. Boyce.
1915 – D. W. Griffith’s controversial film The Birth of a Nation premieres in Los Angeles.
1922 – United States President Warren G. Harding introduces the first radio set in the White House.
1924 – Capital punishment: The first state execution in the United States by gas chamber takes place in Nevada.
1942 – World War II: Japan invades Singapore.
1942 – World War II: Dutch Colonial Army General Destruction Unit (AVC, Algemene Vernielings Corps) burns Banjarmasin, South Borneo to avoid Japanese capture.
1945 – World War II: The United Kingdom and Canada commence Operation Veritable to occupy the west bank of the Rhine.
1945 – World War II: Mikhail Devyataev escapes with nine other Soviet inmates from a Nazi concentration camp in Peenemünde on the island of Usedom by hijacking the camp commandant’s Heinkel He 111.
1946 – The first portion of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, the first serious challenge to the popularity of the Authorized King James Version, is published.
1946 – The People’s Republic of Korea is dissolved in the North, establishing the communist-controlled Provisional People’s Committee of North Korea.
1950 – Cold War: The Stasi, the secret police of East Germany, is established.
1955 – The Government of Sindh, Pakistan, abolishes the Jagirdari system in the province. One million acres (4000 km2) of land thus acquired is to be distributed among the landless peasants.
1960 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom issues an Order-in-Council, stating that she and her family would be known as the House of Windsor, and that her descendants will take the name Mountbatten-Windsor.
1962 – Charonne massacre. Nine trade unionists are killed by French police at the instigation of Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, then chief of the Paris Prefecture of Police.
1963 – Travel, financial and commercial transactions by United States citizens to Cuba are made illegal by the John F. Kennedy administration.
1963 – The regime of Prime Minister of Iraq, Brigadier General Abd al-Karim Qasim is overthrown by the Ba’ath Party.
1965 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean and explodes, killing everyone aboard.
1968 – American civil rights movement: The Orangeburg massacre: An attack on black students from South Carolina State University who are protesting racial segregation at the town’s only bowling alley, leaves three or four dead in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
1971 – The NASDAQ stock market index opens for the first time.
1971 – South Vietnamese ground troops launch an incursion into Laos to try to cut off the Ho Chi Minh trail and stop communist infiltration.
1974 – After 84 days in space, the crew of Skylab 4, the last crew to visit American space station Skylab, returns to Earth.
1978 – Proceedings of the United States Senate are broadcast on radio for the first time.
1981 – Twenty-one association football spectators are trampled to death at Karaiskakis Stadium in Neo Faliro, Greece, after a football match between Olympiacos F.C. and AEK Athens F.C.
1983 – The Melbourne dust storm hits Australia’s second largest city. The result of the worst drought on record and a day of severe weather conditions, a 320 metres (1,050 ft) deep dust cloud envelops the city, turning day to night.
1986 – Hinton train collision: Twenty-three people are killed when a VIA Rail passenger train collides with a 118-car Canadian National freight train near the town of Hinton, Alberta, west of Edmonton. It is the worst rail accident in Canada until the Lac-Mégantic, Quebec derailment in 2013 which killed forty-seven people.
1989 – Independent Air Flight 1851 strikes Pico Alto mountain while on approach to Santa Maria Airport (Azores) killing all 144 passengers on board.
1993 – General Motors sues NBC after Dateline NBC allegedly rigs two crashes intended to demonstrate that some GM pickups can easily catch fire if hit in certain places. NBC settles the lawsuit the next day.
1993 – An Iran Air Tours Tupolev Tu-154 and an Iranian Air Force Sukhoi Su-24 collide in mid-air near Qods, Iran, killing all 133 people on board both aircraft.
1996 – The U.S. Congress passes the Communications Decency Act.
2005 – Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Tamil politician and former MP A. Chandranehru dies of injuries sustained in an ambush the previous day.
2010 – A freak storm in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan triggers a series of at least 36 avalanches, burying over two miles of road, killing at least 172 people and trapping over 2,000 travelers.
2013 – A blizzard disrupts transportation and leaves hundreds of thousands of people without electricity in the Northeastern United States and parts of Canada.
2014 – A hotel fire in Medina, Saudi Arabia kills 15 Egyptian pilgrims with 130 others injured.
Births on February 8
120 – Vettius Valens, Greek astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer (probable; d. 175)
412 – Proclus, Greek mathematician and philosopher (probable; d. 485)
882 – Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid, Egyptian commander and politician, Abbasid Governor of Egypt (d. 946)
1191 – Yaroslav II of Vladimir (d. 1246)
1291 – Afonso IV of Portugal (d. 1357)
1405 – Constantine XI Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (d. 1453)
1487 – Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1550)
1514 – Daniele Barbaro, Venetian churchman, diplomat and scholar (d. 1570)
1552 – Agrippa d’Aubigné, French poet and soldier (d. 1630)
1577 – Robert Burton, English priest, physician, and scholar (d. 1640)
1591 – Guercino, Italian painter (d. 1666)
1685 – Charles-Jean-François Hénault, French historian and author (d. 1770)
1700 – Daniel Bernoulli, Dutch-Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1782)
1720 – Emperor Sakuramachi of Japan (d. 1750)
1741 – André Grétry, Belgian-French organist and composer (d. 1813)
1762 – Gia Long, Vietnamese emperor (d. 1820)
1764 – Joseph Leopold Eybler, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1846)
1792 – Caroline Augusta of Bavaria (d. 1873)
1798 – Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia (d. 1849)
1807 – Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, English sculptor and zoologist (d. 1889)
1817 – Richard S. Ewell, American general (d. 1872)
1819 – John Ruskin, English author, critic, and academic (d. 1900)
1820 – William Tecumseh Sherman, American general (d. 1891)
1822 – Maxime Du Camp, French photographer and journalist (d. 1894)
1825 – Henry Walter Bates, English geographer, biologist, and explorer (d. 1892)
1828 – Jules Verne, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1905)
1829 – Vital-Justin Grandin, French-Canadian bishop and missionary (d. 1902)
1830 – Abdülaziz of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1876)
1834 – Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist and academic (d. 1907)
1850 – Kate Chopin, American author (d. 1904)
1860 – Adella Brown Bailey, American politician and suffragist (d. 1937)
1866 – Moses Gomberg, Ukrainian-American chemist and academic (d. 1947)
1876 – Paula Modersohn-Becker, German painter (d. 1907)
1878 – Martin Buber, Austrian-Israeli philosopher and academic (d. 1965)
1880 – Franz Marc, German soldier and painter (d. 1916)
1880 – Viktor Schwanneke, German actor and director (d. 1931)
1882 – Thomas Selfridge, American lieutenant and pilot (d. 1908)
1883 – Joseph Schumpeter, Czech-American economist and political scientist (d. 1950)
1884 – Snowy Baker, Australian boxer, rugby player, and actor (d. 1953)
1886 – Charlie Ruggles, American actor (d. 1970)
1888 – Edith Evans, English actress (d. 1976)
1888 – Giuseppe Ungaretti, Egyptian-Italian soldier, journalist, and poet (d. 1970)
1890 – Claro M. Recto, Filipino lawyer, jurist, and politician (d. 1960)
1893 – Ba Maw, Burmese lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Burma (d. 1977)
1894 – King Vidor, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1982)
1897 – Zakir Hussain, Indian academic and politician, 3rd president of India (d. 1969)
1899 – Lonnie Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1970)
1903 – Greta Keller, Austrian-American singer and actress (d. 1977)
1903 – Tunku Abdul Rahman, 1st Prime Minister of Malaysia (d. 1990)
1906 – Chester Carlson, American physicist and lawyer, invented Xerography (d. 1968)
1909 – Elisabeth Murdoch, Australian philanthropist (d. 2012)
1911 – Elizabeth Bishop, American poet and author (d. 1979)
1913 – Betty Field, American actress (d. 1973)
1913 – Danai Stratigopoulou, Greek singer-songwriter (d. 2009)
1914 – Bill Finger, American author and screenwriter, co-created Batman (d. 1974)
1915 – Georges Guétary, Egyptian-French singer, dancer, and actor (d. 1997)
1918 – Freddie Blassie, American wrestler and manager (d. 2003)
1921 – Barney Danson, Canadian colonel and politician, 21st Canadian Minister of National Defence (d. 2011)
1921 – Nexhmije Hoxha, Albanian politician (d. 2020)
1921 – Lana Turner, American actress (d. 1995)
1922 – Audrey Meadows, American actress and banker (d. 1996)
1925 – Jack Lemmon, American actor (d. 2001)
1926 – Neal Cassady, American author and poet (d. 1968)
1926 – Birgitte Reimer, Danish film actress
1930 – Alejandro Rey, Argentinian-American actor and director (d. 1987)
1931 – James Dean, American actor (d. 1955)
1932 – Cliff Allison, English racing driver and businessman (d. 2005)
1932 – John Williams, American pianist, composer, and conductor
1933 – Elly Ameling, Dutch soprano
1937 – Joe Raposo, American pianist and composer (d. 1989)
1937 – Harry Wu, Chinese human rights activist (d. 2016)
1939 – Jose Maria Sison, Filipino activist and theorist
1940 – Sophie Lihau-Kanza, Congolese politician (d. 1999)
1940 – Ted Koppel, English-American journalist
1941 – Nick Nolte, American actor and producer
1941 – Tom Rush, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1941 – Jagjit Singh, Indian singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
1942 – Robert Klein, American comedian, actor, and singer
1942 – Terry Melcher, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2004)
1944 – Roger Lloyd-Pack, English actor (d. 2014)
1944 – Sebastião Salgado, Brazilian photographer and journalist
1947 – J. Richard Gott, American astronomer and academic
1948 – Dan Seals, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2009)
1949 – Brooke Adams, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
1949 – Niels Arestrup, French actor, director, and screenwriter
1952 – Marinho Chagas, Brazilian footballer and coach (d. 2014)
1953 – Mary Steenburgen, American actress
1954 – Joe Maddon, American baseball coach and manager
1955 – John Grisham, American lawyer and author
1955 – Jim Neidhart, American wrestler (d. 2018)
1956 – Marques Johnson, American basketball player and sportscaster
1957 – Karine Chemla, French historian of mathematics and sinologist
1958 – Sherri Martel, American wrestler and manager (d. 2007)
1958 – Marina Silva, Brazilian environmentalist and politician
1959 – Heinz Gunthardt, Swiss tennis player
1959 – Andrew Hoy, Australian equestrian rider
1959 – Mauricio Macri, Argentinian businessman and politician, President of Argentina
1960 – Benigno Aquino III, Filipino politician, 15th President of the Philippines
1960 – Dino Ciccarelli, Canadian ice hockey player
1961 – Vince Neil, American singer-songwriter and actor
1963 – Mohammad Azharuddin, Indian cricketer and politician
1964 – Arlie Petters, Belizean-American mathematical physicist and academic
1964 – Santosh Sivan, Indian director, cinematographer, producer, and actor
1964 – Trinny Woodall, English fashion designer and author
1966 – Kirk Muller, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1966 – Hristo Stoichkov, Bulgarian footballer and manager
1968 – Gary Coleman, American actor (d. 2010)
1969 – Pauly Fuemana, New Zealand-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2010)
1969 – Mary Robinette Kowal, American puppeteer and author
1969 – Mary McCormack, American actress and producer
1970 – Stephanie Courtney, American actress and comedian
1970 – John Filan, Australian footballer and coach
1970 – Alonzo Mourning, American basketball player and executive
1971 – Aidy Boothroyd, English footballer and manager
1971 – Mika Karppinen, Swedish-Finnish drummer and songwriter
1972 – Big Show, American wrestler and actor
1974 – Seth Green, American actor, voice artist, comedian, producer, writer, and director
1976 – Khaled Mashud, Bangladeshi cricketer
1976 – Nicolas Vouilloz, French rally driver and mountain biker
1977 – Roman Kostomarov, Russian ice dancer
1978 – Mick de Brenni, Australian politician
1979 – Aaron Cook, American baseball player
1980 – William Jackson Harper, American actor
1981 – Steve Gohouri, Ivorian footballer (d. 2015)
1981 – Myriam Montemayor Cruz, Mexican singer
1983 – Jermaine Anderson, Canadian basketball player
1983 – Cory Jane, New Zealand rugby player
1983 – Jim Verraros, American singer and actor
1984 – Manuel Osborne-Paradis, Canadian skier
1984 – Cecily Strong, American actress
1984 – Panagiotis Vasilopoulos, Greek basketball player
1985 – Petra Cetkovská, Czech tennis player
1985 – Jeremy Davis, American bass player and songwriter
1987 – Javi García, Spanish footballer
1987 – Carolina Kostner, Italian figure skater
1988 – Keegan Meth, Zimbabwean cricketer
1989 – Zac Guildford, New Zealand rugby player
1989 – Julio Jones, American football player
1989 – Courtney Vandersloot, American basketball player
1990 – Emily Scarratt, English rugby union player
1990 – Klay Thompson, American professional basketball player
1991 – Aristidis Soiledis, Greek footballer
1991 – Roberto Soriano, Italian footballer
1991 – Nam Woo-hyun, South Korean singer and actor with the boy band Infinite.
1992 – Bruno Martins Indi, Portuguese-Dutch footballer
1992 – Carl Jenkinson, English-Finnish footballer
1994 – Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Turkish footballer
1994 – Nikki Yanofsky, Canadian singer-songwriter
1995 – Joshua Kimmich, German footballer
1996 – Kenedy, Brazilian footballer
Deaths on February 8
538 – Severus of Antioch, patriarch of Antioch
1135 – Elvira of Castile, Queen of Sicily (b.c. 1100)
1204 – Alexios IV Angelos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1182)
1229 – Ali ibn Hanzala, sixth Dāʿī al-Muṭlaq of Tayyibi Isma’ilism
1250 – Robert I, Count of Artois (b. 1216)
1250 – William II Longespée, English martyr (b. 1212)
1265 – Hulagu Khan, Mongol ruler (b. 1217)
1285 – Theodoric of Landsberg (b. 1242)
1296 – Przemysł II of Poland (b. 1257)
1314 – Helen of Anjou, queen of Serbia (b. 1236)
1382 – Blanche of France, Duchess of Orléans (b. 1328)
1537 – Saint Gerolamo Emiliani, Italian humanitarian (b. 1481)
1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots (b. 1542)
1599 – Robert Rollock, Scottish theologian and academic (b. 1555)
1623 – Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire (b. 1546)
1676 – Alexis of Russia (b. 1629)
1696 – Ivan V of Russia (b. 1666)
1709 – Giuseppe Torelli, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1658)
1725 – Peter the Great, Russian emperor (b. 1672)
1749 – Jan van Huysum, Dutch painter (b. 1682)
1750 – Aaron Hill, English playwright and poet (b. 1685)
1768 – George Dance the Elder, English architect, designed St Leonard’s and St Botolph’s Aldgate (b. 1695)
1772 – Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (b. 1719)
1849 – François Habeneck, French violinist and conductor (b. 1781)
1849 – France Prešeren, Slovenian poet and lawyer (b. 1800)
1856 – Agostino Bassi, Italian entomologist and academic (b. 1773)
1907 – Hendrik Willem Bakhuis Roozeboom, Dutch chemist and academic (b. 1854)
1910 – Hans Jæger, Norwegian philosopher and activist (b. 1854)
506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (Breviarium Alaricianum or Lex Romana Visigothorum), a collection of “Roman law”.
880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King Louis III is defeated by the Norse Great Heathen Army at Lüneburg Heath in Saxony.
962 – Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor in nearly 40 years.
1032 – Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor becomes king of Burgundy.
1141 – The Battle of Lincoln, at which Stephen, King of England is defeated and captured by the allies of Empress Matilda.
1207 – Terra Mariana, eventually comprising present-day Latvia and Estonia, is established.
1438 – Nine leaders of the Transylvanian peasant revolt are executed at Torda.
1461 – Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Mortimer’s Cross is fought in Herefordshire, England.
1536 – Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1645 – Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms: Battle of Inverlochy.
1653 – New Amsterdam (later renamed The City of New York) is incorporated.
1709 – Alexander Selkirk is rescued after being shipwrecked on a desert island, inspiring Daniel Defoe’s adventure book Robinson Crusoe.
1848 – Mexican–American War: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed.
1850 – Brigham Young declares war on Timpanogos in the Battle at Fort Utah.
1868 – Pro-Imperial forces captured Osaka Castle from the Tokugawa shogunate and burned it to the ground.
1876 – The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of Major League Baseball is formed.
1887 – In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first Groundhog Day is observed.
1899 – The Australian Premiers’ Conference held in Melbourne decides to locate Australia’s capital city, Canberra, between Sydney and Melbourne.
1901 – Funeral of Queen Victoria.
1909 – The Paris Film Congress opens. An attempt by European producers to form an equivalent to the MPCC cartel in the United States.
1913 – Grand Central Terminal is opened in New York City.
1920 – The Tartu Peace Treaty is signed between Estonia and Russia.
1922 – Ulysses by James Joyce is published.
1925 – Serum run to Nome: Dog sleds reach Nome, Alaska with diphtheria serum, inspiring the Iditarod race.
1934 – The Export-Import Bank of the United States is incorporated.
1935 – Leonarde Keeler administers polygraph tests to two murder suspects, the first time polygraph evidence was admitted in U.S. courts.
1942 – The Osvald Group is responsible for the first, active event of anti-Nazi resistance in Norway, to protest the inauguration of Vidkun Quisling.
1943 – World War II: The Battle of Stalingrad comes to an end when Soviet troops accept the surrender of the last organized German troops in the city.
1959 – Nine experienced ski hikers in the northern Ural Mountains in the Soviet Union die under mysterious circumstances.
1966 – Pakistan suggests a six-point agenda with Kashmir after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
1971 – Idi Amin replaces President Milton Obote as leader of Uganda.
1971 – The international Ramsar Convention for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands is signed in Ramsar, Mazandaran, Iran.
1980 – Reports surface that the FBI is targeting allegedly corrupt Congressmen in the Abscam operation.
1982 – Hama massacre: The government of Syria attacks the town of Hama.
1987 – After the 1986 People Power Revolution, the Philippines enacts a new constitution.
1989 – Soviet–Afghan War: The last Soviet armoured column leaves Kabul.
1990 – Apartheid: F. W. de Klerk announces the unbanning of the African National Congress and promises to release Nelson Mandela.
2000 – First digital cinema projection in Europe (Paris) realized by Philippe Binant with the DLP CINEMA technology developed by Texas Instruments.
2002 – Wedding of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, and Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti
2004 – Swiss tennis player Roger Federer becomes the No. 1 ranked men’s singles player, a position he will hold for a record 237 weeks.
2005 – The Government of Canada introduces the Civil Marriage Act. This legislation would become law on July 20, 2005, legalizing same-sex marriage.
2007 – Police officer Filippo Raciti is killed when a clash breaks out in the Sicily derby between Catania and Palermo, in the Serie A, the top flight of Italian football. This event led to major changes in stadium regulations in Italy.
2012 – The ferry MV Rabaul Queen sinks off the coast of Papua New Guinea near the Finschhafen District, with an estimated 146-165 dead.
Births on February 2
1208 – James I of Aragon (d. 1276)
1282 – Maud Chaworth, Countess of Leicester (d. 1322).
1425 (or 1426) – Eleanor of Navarre, Queen regnant of Navarre (d. 1479)
1443 – Elisabeth of Bavaria, Electress of Saxony (d. 1486)
1455 – John, King of Denmark (d. 1513)
1457 – Peter Martyr d’Anghiera, Italian-Spanish historian and author (d. 1526)
1467 – Columba of Rieti, Italian Dominican sister (d. 1501)
1494 – Bona Sforza, queen of Sigismund I of Poland (d. 1557)
1502 – Damião de Góis, Portuguese philosopher and historian (d. 1574)
1506 – René de Birague, Italian-French cardinal and politician (d. 1583)
1509 – John of Leiden, Dutch Anabaptist leader (d. 1536)
1522 – Lodovico Ferrari, Italian mathematician and academic (d. 1565)
1536 – Piotr Skarga, Polish writer (d. 1612)
1551 – Nicolaus Reimers, German astronomer (d. 1600)
1576 – Alix Le Clerc, French Canoness Regular and foundress (d. 1622)
1585 – Judith Quiney, William Shakespeare’s youngest daughter (d. 1662)
1585 – Hamnet Shakespeare, William Shakespeare’s only son (baptised; d. 1596)
1588 – Georg II of Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl, German nobleman (d. 1644)
1600 – Gabriel Naudé, French librarian and scholar (d. 1653)
1611 – Ulrik of Denmark, Danish prince-bishop (d. 1633)
1613 – Noël Chabanel, French missionary and saint (d. 1649)
1621 – Johannes Schefferus, Swedish author and hymn-writer (d. 1679)
1650 – Pope Benedict XIII (d. 1730)
1650 – Nell Gwyn, English actress, mistress of King Charles II of England (d. 1687)
1651 – William Phips, Royal governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (d. 1695)
1669 – Louis Marchand, French organist and composer (d. 1732)
1677 – Jean-Baptiste Morin, French composer (d. 1745)
1695 – William Borlase, English geologist and archaeologist (d. 1772)
1695 – François de Chevert, French general (d. 1769)
1700 – Johann Christoph Gottsched, German author and critic (d. 1766)
1711 – Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg (d. 1794)
1714 – Gottfried August Homilius, German organist and composer (d. 1785)
1717 – Ernst Gideon von Laudon, Austrian field marshal (d. 1790)
1754 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, French general and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1838)
1782 – Henri de Rigny, French admiral and politician, French Minister of War (d. 1835)
1786 – Jacques Philippe Marie Binet, French mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (d. 1856)
1802 – Jean-Baptiste Boussingault, French chemist and academic (d. 1887)
1803 – Albert Sidney Johnston, American general (d. 1862)
1829 – Alfred Brehm, German zoologist and illustrator (d. 1884)
1829 – William Stanley, English engineer and philanthropist (d. 1909)
1841 – François-Alphonse Forel, Swiss limnologist and hydrologist (d. 1912)
1842 – Julian Sochocki, Polish-Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1927)
1849 – Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav, Slovak poet and playwright (d. 1921)
1851 – José Guadalupe Posada, Mexican illustrator and engraver (d. 1913)
1856 – Frederick William Vanderbilt, American railway magnate (d. 1938)
1856 – Makar Yekmalyan, Armenian composer (d. 1905)
1857 – Jan Drozdowski, Polish pianist and music teacher (d. 1918)
1860 – Curtis Guild, Jr., American journalist and politician, 43rd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1915)
1861 – Solomon R. Guggenheim, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (d. 1949)
1862 – Émile Coste, French fencer (d. 1927)
1862 – Cornelius McKane, American physician, educator, and hospital founder (d. 1912)
1866 – Enrique Simonet, Spanish painter and academic (d. 1927)
1873 – Leo Fall, Austrian composer (d. 1925)
1873 – Konstantin von Neurath, German politician and diplomat, 13th German Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1956)
1875 – Fritz Kreisler, Austrian-American violinist and composer (d. 1962)
1877 – Frank L. Packard, Canadian author (d. 1942)
1878 – Joe Lydon, American boxer (d. 1937)
1880 – Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer (d. 1969)
1881 – Orval Overall, American baseball player and manager (d. 1947)
1882 – Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark (d. 1944)
1882 – James Joyce, Irish novelist, short story writer, and poet (d. 1941)
1883 – Johnston McCulley, American author and screenwriter, created Zorro (d. 1958)
1883 – Julia Nava de Ruisánchez, Mexican activist and writer (d. 1964)
1886 – William Rose Benét, American poet and author (d. 1950)
1887 – Ernst Hanfstaengl, German businessman (d. 1975)
1889 – Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, French general (d. 1952)
1890 – Charles Correll, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1972)
1892 – Tochigiyama Moriya, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 27th Yokozuna (d. 1959)
1893 – Cornelius Lanczos, Hungarian mathematician and physicist (d. 1974)
1893 – Raoul Riganti, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1970)
1893 – Damdin Sükhbaatar, Mongolian soldier and politician (d. 1924)
1895 – George Halas, American football player and coach (d. 1983)
1895 – Robert Philipp, American painter (d. 1981)
1895 – George Sutcliffe, Australian public servant (d. 1964)
1896 – Kazimierz Kuratowski, Polish mathematician and logician (d. 1980)
1897 – Howard Deering Johnson, American businessman, founded Howard Johnson’s (d. 1972)
1897 – Gertrude Blanch, Russian-American mathematician (d. 1996)
1900 – Anni Frind, German lyric soprano (d. 1987)
1900 – Willie Kamm, American baseball player and manager (d. 1988)
1901 – Jascha Heifetz, Lithuanian-born American violinist and educator (d. 1987)
1902 – Newbold Morris, American lawyer and politician (d. 1966)
1902 – John Tonkin, Australian politician, 20th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1995)
1904 – Bozorg Alavi, Iranian author and activist (d. 1997)
1905 – Ayn Rand, Russian-born American novelist and philosopher (d. 1982)
1908 – Wes Ferrell, American baseball player and manager (d. 1976)
1909 – Frank Albertson, American actor (d. 1964)
1911 – Jack Pizzey, Australian politician, 29th Premier of Queensland (d. 1968)
1912 – Millvina Dean, English civil servant and cartographer (d. 2009)
1912 – Burton Lane, American songwriter and composer (d. 1997)
1913 – Poul Reichhardt, Danish actor and singer (d. 1985)
1914 – Eric Kierans, Canadian economist and politician, 1st Canadian Minister of Communications (d. 2004)
1915 – Abba Eban, South African-Israeli politician and diplomat, 1st Israel Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2002)
1915 – Stan Leonard, Canadian golfer (d. 2005)
1915 – Khushwant Singh, Indian journalist and author (d. 2014)
1916 – Xuân Diệu, Vietnamese poet and author (d. 1985)
1917 – Mary Ellis, British World War II ferry pilot (d. 2018)
1917 – Đỗ Mười, Vietnamese politician, 5th Prime Minister of Vietnam (d. 2018)
1918 – Hella Haasse, Indonesian-Dutch author (d. 2011)
1919 – Lisa Della Casa, Swiss soprano and actress (d. 2012)
1919 – Georg Gawliczek, German footballer and manager (d. 1999)
1920 – George Hardwick, English footballer and coach (d. 2004)
1920 – John Russell, American Olympic equestrian
1920 – Arthur Willis, English footballer, full-back, player-manager (d. 1987)
1922 – Kunwar Digvijay Singh, Indian field hockey player (d. 1978)
1922 – Robert Chef d’Hôtel, French athlete (d. 2019)
1922 – James L. Usry, American politician, first African-American mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey (d. 2002)
1922 – Stoyanka Mutafova, Bulgarian actress (d. 2019)
1923 – Jean Babilée, French dancer and choreographer (d. 2014)
1923 – James Dickey, American poet and novelist (d. 1997)
1923 – Svetozar Gligorić, Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster (d.2012)
1923 – Bonita Granville, American actress and producer (d. 1988)
1923 – Red Schoendienst, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2018)
1923 – Liz Smith, American journalist and author (d. 2017)
1923 – Clem Windsor, Australian rugby player and surgeon (d. 2007)
1924 – Elfi von Dassanowsky, Austrian-American singer, pianist, producer (d. 2007)
1924 – Sonny Stitt, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1982)
1925 – Elaine Stritch, American actress and singer (d. 2014)
1926 – Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, French academic and politician, 20th President of France
1927 – Stan Getz, American saxophonist (d. 1991)
1927 – Doris Sams, American baseball player (d. 2012)
1928 – Ciriaco De Mita, 47th Prime minister of Italy
1928 – Jay Handlan, American basketball player and engineer (d. 2013)
1928 – Tommy Harmer, English footballer, inside forward, youth team coach (d. 2007)
1929 – Sheila Matthews Allen, American actress and producer (d. 2013)
1929 – George Band, English engineer and mountaineer (d. 2011)
1929 – Věra Chytilová, Czech actress, director, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
1929 – John Henry Holland, American computer scientist and academic (d. 2015)
1929 – Waldemar Kmentt, Austrian operatic tenor (d. 2015)
1931 – Dries van Agt, Dutch politician, diplomat and jurist, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
1931 – Les Dawson, English comedian and author (d. 1993)
1931 – Glynn Edwards, Malaysian-English actor (d. 2018)
1931 – John Paul Harney, Canadian educator and politician
1931 – Judith Viorst, American journalist and author
1932 – Arthur Lyman, American jazz vibraphone and marimba player (d. 2002)
1932 – Robert Mandan, American actor (d. 2018)
1933 – M’el Dowd, American actress and singer (d. 2012)
1933 – Tony Jay, English-American actor (d. 2006)
1933 – Orlando “Cachaíto” López, Cuban bassist and composer (d. 2009)
1933 – Than Shwe, Burmese general and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Burma
1935 – Pete Brown, American golfer (d. 2015)
1935 – Evgeny Velikhov, Russian physicist and academic
1936 – Duane Jones, American actor (d. 1988)
1936 – Metin Oktay, Turkish footballer and manager (d. 1991)
1937 – Don Buford, American baseball player and coach
1937 – Eric Arturo Delvalle, Panamanian lawyer and politician, President of Panama (d. 2015)
1937 – Anthony Haden-Guest, British journalist, poet, and critic
1937 – Remak Ramsay, American actor
1937 – Tom Smothers, American comedian, actor, and activist
1937 – Alexandra Strelchenko, Russian Singer (d. 2019)
1938 – Norman Fowler, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
1938 – Gene MacLellan, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 1995)
1939 – Jackie Burroughs, English-born Canadian actress (d. 2010)
1939 – Mary-Dell Chilton, American chemist and inventor and one of the founders of modern plant biotechnology
1939 – Dale T. Mortensen, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2014)
1940 – Alan Caddy, English guitarist and producer (d. 2000)
1940 – Thomas M. Disch, American author and poet (d. 2008)
1940 – Wayne Fontes, American football player and coach
1940 – David Jason, English actor, director, and producer
1941 – Terry Biddlecombe, English jockey (d. 2014)
1942 – Bo Hopkins, American actor
1942 – Graham Nash, English-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1944 – Andrew Davis, English organist and conductor
1944 – Geoffrey Hughes, English actor (d. 2012)
1944 – Ursula Oppens, American pianist and educator
1945 – John Eatwell, Baron Eatwell, English economist and academic
1946 – John Armitt, English engineer and businessman
1946 – Alpha Oumar Konaré, Malian academic and politician, 3rd President of Mali
1946 – Constantine Papadakis, Greek-American businessman and academic (d. 2009)
1947 – Greg Antonacci, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
1947 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress and producer (d. 2009)
1948 – Ina Garten, American chef and author
1948 – Al McKay, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1948 – Roger Williamson, English race car driver (d. 1973)
1949 – Duncan Bannatyne, Scottish businessman and philanthropist
1949 – Yasuko Namba, Japanese mountaineer (d. 1996)
1949 – Brent Spiner, American actor and singer
1949 – Ross Valory, American rock bass player and songwriter
1950 – Osamu Kido, Japanese wrestler
1950 – Libby Purves, British journalist and author
1950 – Barbara Sukowa, German actress
1950 – Genichiro Tenryu, Japanese wrestler
1951 – Vangelis Alexandris, Greek basketball player and coach
1951 – Ken Bruce, Scottish radio host
1952 – John Cornyn, American lawyer and politician, 49th Attorney General of Texas
1952 – Rick Dufay, French-American guitarist and songwriter
1952 – Park Geun-hye, South Korean politician, 11th President of South Korea
1952 – Ralph Merkle, American computer scientist and academic
1952 – Carol Ann Susi, American actress (d. 2014)
1953 – Duane Chapman, American bounty hunter
1953 – Jerry Sisk, Jr., American gemologist, co-founded Jewelry Television (d. 2013)
1954 – Christie Brinkley, American actress, model, and businesswoman
1954 – Hansi Hinterseer, Austrian skier and actor
1954 – Nelson Ne’e, Solomon Islander politician (d. 2013)
1954 – John Tudor, American baseball player
1955 – Leszek Engelking, Polish poet and author
1955 – Bob Schreck, American author
1955 – Michael Talbott, American actor
1955 – Kim Zimmer, American actress
1956 – Adnan Oktar, Turkish theorist and author
1957 – Phil Barney, Algerian-French singer-songwriter
1958 – Michel Marc Bouchard, Canadian playwright
1961 – Abraham Iyambo, Namibian politician (d. 2013)
1961 – Lauren Lane, American actress and academic
1962 – Philippe Claudel, French author, director, and screenwriter
1962 – Andy Fordham, English darts player
1962 – Paul Kilgus, American baseball player
1962 – Kate Raison, Australian actress
1962 – Michael T. Weiss, American actor
1963 – Eva Cassidy, American singer and guitarist (d. 1996)
1963 – Kjell Dahlin, Swedish ice hockey player
1963 – Andrej Kiska, Slovak entrepreneur and philanthropist, President of Slovakia
1963 – Philip Laats, Belgian martial artist
1963 – Vigleik Storaas, Norwegian pianist
1965 – Carl Airey, English footballer
1965 – Naoki Sano, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
1966 – Andrei Chesnokov, Russian tennis player and coach
1966 – Robert DeLeo, American bass player, songwriter, and producer
1966 – Adam Ferrara, American actor and comedian
1966 – Michael Misick, Caicos Islander politician, Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands
1967 – Artūrs Irbe, Latvian ice hockey player and coach
1967 – Laurent Nkunda, Congolese general
1968 – Sean Elliott, American basketball player and sportscaster
1968 – Scott Erickson, American baseball player and coach
1969 – Dana International, Israeli singer-songwriter
1969 – Valeri Karpin, Estonian-Russian footballer and manager
1970 – Roar Strand, Norwegian footballer
1970 – Jennifer Westfeldt, American actress and singer
1971 – Michelle Gayle, English singer-songwriter and actress
1971 – Arly Jover, Spanish actress
1971 – Isaac Kungwane, South African footballer and sportscaster (d. 2014)
1971 – Jason Taylor, Australian rugby league player and coach
1971 – Hwang Seok-jeong, South Korean actress
1972 – Melvin Mora, Venezuelan baseball player
1972 – Aleksey Naumov, Russian footballer
1973 – Andrei Luzgin, Estonian tennis player and coach
1973 – Aleksander Tammert, Estonian discus thrower
1973 – Marissa Jaret Winokur, American actress and singer
1975 – Todd Bertuzzi, Canadian ice hockey player
1975 – Donald Driver, American football player
1975 – Ieroklis Stoltidis, Greek footballer
1976 – Ryan Farquhar, Northern Irish motorcycle racer
1976 – James Hickman, English swimmer
1976 – Ana Roces, Filipino actress
1977 – Shakira, Colombian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1977 – Libor Sionko, Czech footballer
1978 – Adam Christopher, New Zealand writer
1978 – Eden Espinosa, American actress and singer
1978 – Annabel Ellwood, Australian tennis player
1978 – Barry Ferguson, Scottish footballer and manager
1978 – Rich Sommer, American actor
1978 – Faye White, English footballer
1979 – Urmo Aava, Estonian race car driver
1979 – Fani Chalkia, Greek hurdler and sprinter
1979 – Christine Lampard, Irish television host
1979 – Klaus Mainzer, German rugby player
1979 – Shamita Shetty, Indian actress
1979 – Irini Terzoglou, Greek shot putter
1980 – Angela Finger-Erben, German journalist
1980 – Teddy Hart, Canadian wrestler
1980 – Oleguer Presas, Spanish footballer
1981 – Emre Aydın, Turkish singer-songwriter
1981 – Michelle Bass, English model and singer
1981 – Salem al-Hazmi, Saudi Arabian terrorist, hijacker of American Airlines Flight 77 (d. 2001)
1982 – Sergio Castaño Ortega, Spanish footballer
1982 – Kelly Mazzante, American basketball player
1982 – Kan Mi-youn, South Korean singer, model, and host
1983 – Ronny Cedeño, Venezuelan baseball player
1983 – Carolina Klüft, Swedish heptathlete and jumper
1983 – Jordin Tootoo, Canadian ice hockey player
1983 – Vladimir Voskoboinikov, Estonian footballer
1983 – Alex Westaway, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1984 – Brian Cage, American wrestler
1984 – Mao Miyaji, Japanese actress
1984 – Rudi Wulf, New Zealand rugby player
1985 – Masoud Azizi, Afghan sprinter
1985 – Renn Kiriyama, Japanese actor
1985 – Kristo Saage, Estonian basketball player
1985 – Silvestre Varela, Portuguese footballer
1986 – Gemma Arterton, English actress and singer
1986 – Miwa Asao, Japanese volleyball player
1987 – Anthony Fainga’a, Australian rugby player
1987 – Saia Fainga’a, Australian rugby player
1987 – Faydee, Australian singer
1987 – Athena Imperial, Filipino journalist, Miss Earth-Water 2011
1987 – Mimi Page, American singer-songwriter and composer
1987 – Gerard Piqué, Spanish footballer
1987 – Javon Ringer, American football player
1987 – Jill Scott, English footballer
1987 – Victoria Song, Chinese singer and actress
1987 – Martin Spanjers, American actor and producer
1988 – Zosia Mamet, American actress
1989 – Harrison Smith, American football player
1989 – Southside, American record producer
1991 – Nathan Delfouneso, English footballer
1991 – Gregory Mertens, Belgian footballer (d. 2015)
1991 – Shohei Nanba, Japanese actor
1992 – Lammtarra, American race horse (d. 2014)
1992 – Joonas Tamm, Estonian footballer
1993 – Ravel Morrison, English footballer
1993 – Bobby Decordova-Reid, English born Jamaican international footballer, forward
1995 – Paul Digby, English footballer
1995 – Aleksander Jagiełło, Polish footballer
1995 – Arfa Karim, Pakstani student and computer prodigy (d. 2012)
1996 – Harry Winks, English international footballer, midfielder
Deaths on February 2
619 – Laurence of Canterbury, English archbishop and saint
880 – Bruno, duke of Saxony
1124 – Bořivoj II, Duke of Bohemia (b. 1064)
1218 – Konstantin of Rostov (b. 1186)
1237 – Joan, Lady of Wales
1250 – Eric XI of Sweden (b. 1216)
1294 – Louis II, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1229)
1347 – Thomas Bek, Bishop of Lincoln, was the bishop of Lincoln (b. 1282)
1348 – Narymunt, Prince of Pinsk
1435 – Joan II of Naples, Queen of Naples (b. 1371)
1446 – Vittorino da Feltre, Italian humanist (b. 1378)
1448 – Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Egyptian jurist and scholar (b. 1372)
1461 – Owen Tudor, Welsh founder of the Tudor dynasty (b. c. 1400)
1512 – Hatuey, Caribbean tribal chief
1529 – Baldassare Castiglione, Italian soldier and diplomat (b. 1478)
1580 – Bessho Nagaharu, Japanese daimyō (b. 1558)
1594 – Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Italian composer and educator (b. 1525)
1648 – George Abbot, English author and politician (b. 1603)
1660 – Gaston, Duke of Orléans (b. 1608)
1660 – Govert Flinck, Dutch painter (b. 1615)
1661 – Lucas Holstenius, German geographer and historian (b. 1596)
1675 – Ivan Belostenec, Croatian linguist and lexicographer (b. 1594)
1688 – Abraham Duquesne, French admiral (b. 1610)
1704 – Guillaume de l’Hôpital, French mathematician and academic (b. 1661)
1712 – Martin Lister, English physician and geologist (b. 1639)
1714 – John Sharp, English archbishop (b. 1643)
1723 – Antonio Maria Valsalva, Italian anatomist and physician (b. 1666)
1768 – Robert Smith, English mathematician and theorist (b. 1689)
1769 – Pope Clement XIII (b. 1693)
1802 – Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip, English politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (b. 1713)
1804 – George Walton, American lawyer and politician, Governor of Georgia (b. 1749)
2014 – Philip Seymour Hoffman, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1967)
2014 – Luis Raúl, Puerto Rican comedian and actor (b. 1962)
2014 – Bunny Rugs, Jamaican singer (b. 1948)
2014 – Nigel Walker, English footballer (b. 1959)
2015 – Joseph Alfidi, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1949)
2015 – Dave Bergman, American baseball player (b. 1953)
2015 – Andriy Kuzmenko, Ukrainian singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1968)
2015 – Molade Okoya-Thomas, Nigerian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1935)
2015 – Stewart Stern, American screenwriter (b. 1922)
2015 – The Jacka, American rapper and producer (b. 1977)
2016 – Bob Elliott, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1923)
Holidays and observances on February 2
Anniversary of Treaty of Tartu (Estonia)
Christian Feast Day:
Adalbard
Cornelius the Centurion
Martyrs of Ebsdorf
February 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Constitution Day (Philippines)
Day of Youth (Azerbaijan)
Earliest day on which Shrove Monday can fall, while March 8 is the latest; celebrated on Monday before Ash Wednesday (Christianity), and its related observances:
Bun Day (Iceland)
Fastelavn (Denmark/Norway)
Nickanan Night (Cornwall)
Rosenmontag (Germany)
Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple or Candlemas (Western Christianity), and its related observances:
A quarter day in the Christian calendar (due to Candlemas). (Scotland)
Celebration of Yemanja or Our Lady of Navigators (Candomblé)
Le Jour des Crêpes (France)
Our Lady of the Candles (Filipino Catholics)
Virgin of Candelaria (Tenerife, Spain)
Groundhog Day (United States and Canada), and its related observances:
314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as a successor to the late Pope Miltiades.
1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the throne as King Eric X of Sweden.
1504 – The Treaty of Lyon ends the Italian War, confirming French domination of northern Italy, while Spain receives the Kingdom of Naples.
1578 – Eighty Years’ War and Anglo-Spanish War: The Battle of Gembloux is a victory for Spanish forces led by Don John of Austria over a rebel army of Dutch, Flemish, English, Scottish, German, French and Walloons.
1606 – Gunpowder Plot: Four of the conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, are executed for treason by hanging, drawing and quartering, for plotting against Parliament and King James.
1747 – The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.
1814 – Gervasio Antonio de Posadas becomes Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (present-day Argentina).
1846 – After the Milwaukee Bridge War, the United States towns of Juneautown and Kilbourntown unify to create the City of Milwaukee.
1848 – John C. Frémont is court-martialed for mutiny and disobeying orders.
1862 – Alvan Graham Clark discovers the white dwarf star Sirius B, a companion of Sirius, through an 18.5-inch (47 cm) telescope now located at Northwestern University.
1865 – American Civil War: The United States Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, abolishing slavery and submits it to the states for ratification.
1865 – American Civil War: Confederate General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief.
1891 – History of Portugal: The first attempt at a Portuguese republican revolution breaks out in the northern city of Porto.
1897 – Czechoslav Trade Union Association is founded in Prague.
1900 – Datu Muhammad Salleh is killed in Kampung Teboh, Tambunan, ending the Mat Salleh Rebellion.
1915 – World War I: Germany is the first to make large-scale use of poison gas in warfare in the Battle of Bolimów against Russia.
1917 – World War I: Germany announces that its U-boats will resume unrestricted submarine warfare after a two-year hiatus.
1918 – A series of accidental collisions on a misty Scottish night leads to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another five British warships.
1919 – The Battle of George Square takes place in Glasgow, Scotland, during a campaign for shorter working hours.
1928 – Leon Trotsky is exiled to Alma-Ata.
1930 – 3M begins marketing Scotch Tape.
1942 – World War II: Allied forces are defeated by the Japanese at the Battle of Malaya and retreat to Singapore.
1943 – World War II: German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrenders to the Soviets at Stalingrad, followed 2 days later by the remainder of his Sixth Army, ending one of the war’s fiercest battles.
1944 – World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
1944 – World War II: During the Anzio campaign, the 1st Ranger Battalion (Darby’s Rangers) is destroyed behind enemy lines in a heavily outnumbered encounter at Battle of Cisterna, Italy.
1945 – US Army private Eddie Slovik is executed for desertion, the first such execution of an American soldier since the Civil War.
1945 – World War II: About 3,000 inmates from the Stutthof concentration camp are forcibly marched into the Baltic Sea at Palmnicken (now Yantarny, Russia) and executed.
1945 – World War II: The end of fighting in the Battle of Hill 170 during the Burma Campaign, in which the British 3 Commando Brigade repulsed a Japanese counterattack on their positions and precipitated a general retirement from the Arakan Peninsula.
1946 – Cold War: Yugoslavia’s new constitution, modeling that of the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia).
1946 – The Democratic Republic of Vietnam introduces the đồng to replace the French Indochinese piastre at par.
1949 – These Are My Children, the first television daytime soap opera, is broadcast by the NBC station in Chicago.
1950 – Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.
1951 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 90 relating to Korean War is adopted.
1953 – A North Sea flood causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands and over 300 in the United Kingdom.
1957 – Eight people (5 total crew from 2 aircraft and 3 on the ground) in Pacoima, California are killed following the mid-air collision between a Douglas DC-7 airliner and a Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet.
1958 – Cold War: Space Race: The first successful American satellite detects the Van Allen radiation belt.
1961 – Project Mercury: Mercury-Redstone 2: Ham the Chimp travels into outer space.
1966 – The Soviet Union launches the unmanned Luna 9 spacecraft as part of the Luna program.
1968 – Vietnam War: Viet Cong guerrillas attack the United States embassy in Saigon, and other attacks, in the early morning hours, later grouped together as the Tet Offensive.
1968 – Nauru gains independence from Australia.
1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 14: Astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell, aboard a Saturn V, lift off for a mission to the Fra Mauro Highlands on the Moon.
1971 – The Winter Soldier Investigation, organized by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War to publicize war crimes and atrocities by Americans and allies in Vietnam, begins in Detroit.
1978 – The Crown of St. Stephen (also known as the Holy Crown of Hungary) goes on public display after being returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held after World War II.
1996 – An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in Colombo, killing at least 86 people and injuring 1,400.
2000 – Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crash: An MD-83, experiencing horizontal stabilizer problems, crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Point Mugu, California, killing all 88 aboard.
2001 – In the Netherlands, a Scottish court convicts Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and acquits another Libyan citizen for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
2009 – In Kenya, at least 113 people are killed and over 200 injured following an oil spillage ignition in Molo, days after a massive fire at a Nakumatt supermarket in Nairobi killed at least 25 people.
2018 – Both a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse occur.
2019 – Abdullah of Pahang is sworn in as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
2020 – The United Kingdom’s membership within the European Union ceases in accordance with Article 50, after 47 years of being a member state.
Births on January 31
1512 – Henry, King of Portugal (d. 1580)
1543 – Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japanese shōgun (d. 1616)
1583 – Peter Bulkley, English and later American Puritan (d. 1659)
1597 – John Francis Regis, French priest and saint (d. 1640)
1607 – James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby (d. 1651)
1624 – Arnold Geulincx, Flemish philosopher and academic (d. 1669)
1673 – Louis de Montfort, French priest and saint (d. 1716)
1686 – Hans Egede, Norwegian missionary and explorer (d. 1758)
1752 – Gouverneur Morris, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to France (d. 1816)
1759 – François Devienne, French flute player and composer (d. 1803)
1769 – André-Jacques Garnerin, French balloonist and the inventor of the frameless parachute (d. 1823)
1785 – Magdalena Dobromila Rettigová, Czech cook book author (d. 1845)
1797 – Franz Schubert, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1828)
1799 – Rodolphe Töpffer, Swiss teacher, author, painter, cartoonist, and caricaturist (d. 1846)
1820 – William B. Washburn, American politician, 28th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1887)
1835 – Lunalilo of Hawaii (d. 1874)
1854 – David Emmanuel, Romanian mathematician and academic (d. 1941)
1865 – Henri Desgrange, French cyclist and journalist (d. 1940)
1865 – Shastriji Maharaj, Indian spiritual leader, founded BAPS (d. 1951)
1868 – Theodore William Richards, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
1872 – Zane Grey, American author (d. 1939)
1881 – Irving Langmuir, American chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
1884 – Theodor Heuss, German journalist and politician, 1st President of the Federal Republic of Germany (d. 1963)
1884 – Mammad Amin Rasulzade, Azerbaijani scholar and politician, 1st President of The Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan (d. 1955)
1889 – Frank Foster, English cricketer (d. 1958)
1892 – Eddie Cantor, American singer-songwriter, actor, and dancer (d. 1964)
1894 – Isham Jones, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1956)
1896 – Sofya Yanovskaya, Russian mathematician and historian (d. 1966)
1900 – Betty Parsons, American artist, art dealer and collector (d. 1982)
1902 – Nat Bailey, Canadian businessman, founded White Spot (d. 1978)
1902 – Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (d. 1968)
1902 – Alva Myrdal, Swedish sociologist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
1902 – Julian Steward, American anthropologist (d. 1972)
1905 – John O’Hara, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1970)
1909 – Miron Grindea, Romanian-English journalist (d. 1995)
1913 – Don Hutson, American football player and coach (d. 1997)
1914 – Jersey Joe Walcott, American boxer and police officer (d. 1994)
1915 – Bobby Hackett, American trumpet player and cornet player (d. 1976)
1915 – Alan Lomax, American historian, author, and scholar (d. 2002)
1915 – Thomas Merton, American monk and author (d. 1968)
1915 – Garry Moore, American comedian and game show host (d. 1993)
1916 – Frank Parker, American tennis player (d. 1997)
1917 – Fred Bassetti, American architect and academic, founded Bassetti Architects (d. 2013)
1919 – Jackie Robinson, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1972)
1920 – Stewart Udall, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 37th United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 2010)
1920 – Bert Williams, English footballer (d. 2004)
1921 – John Agar, American actor (d. 2002)
1921 – Carol Channing, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2019)
1921 – E. Fay Jones, American architect, designed the Thorncrown Chapel (d. 2004)
1921 – Mario Lanza, American tenor and actor (d. 1959)
1922 – Joanne Dru, American actress (d. 1996)
1923 – Norman Mailer, American journalist and author (d. 2007)
1925 – Benjamin Hooks, American minister, lawyer, and activist (d. 2010)
1926 – Tom Alston, American baseball player (d. 1993)
1926 – Chuck Willis, American singer-songwriter (d. 1958)
1927 – Norm Prescott, American animator, producer, and composer, co-founded Filmation Studios (d. 2005)
1928 – Irma Wyman, American computer scientist and engineer (d. 2015)
1929 – Rudolf Mössbauer, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2011)
1929 – Jean Simmons, English-American actress (d. 2010)
1930 – Joakim Bonnier, Swedish race car driver (d. 1972)
1930 – Al De Lory, American composer, conductor, and producer (d. 2012)
1931 – Ernie Banks, American baseball player and coach (d. 2015)
1931 – Christopher Chataway, English runner, journalist, and politician (d. 2014)
1932 – Miron Babiak, Polish sea captain (d. 2013)
1933 – Camille Henry, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1997)
1933 – Morton Mower, American cardiologist and inventor
1934 – Ernesto Brambilla, Italian motorcycle racer and race car driver
1934 – Gene DeWeese, American author (d. 2012)
1934 – James Franciscus, American actor and producer (d. 1991)
1934 – Bob Turner, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2005)
1935 – Kenzaburō Ōe, Japanese author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1936 – Can Bartu, Turkish former basketball and football player
1937 – Regimantas Adomaitis, Lithuanian actor
1937 – Andrée Boucher, Canadian educator and politician, 39th Mayor of Quebec City (d. 2007)
1937 – Philip Glass, American composer
1937 – Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (d. 2008)
1938 – Beatrix of the Netherlands
1938 – Lynn Carlin, American actress
1938 – James G. Watt, American lawyer and politician, 43rd United States Secretary of the Interior
1940 – Kitch Christie, South African rugby player and coach (d. 1998)
1940 – Stuart Margolin, American actor and director
1941 – Dick Gephardt, American lawyer and politician
1941 – Gerald McDermott, American author and illustrator (d. 2012)
1941 – Jessica Walter, American actress
1942 – Daniela Bianchi, Italian actress
1942 – Derek Jarman, English director, stage designer, and author (d. 1994)
1944 – John Inverarity, Australian cricketer and coach
1945 – Rynn Berry, American historian and author (d. 2014)
1945 – Brenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond, English lawyer, judge, and academic
1945 – Joseph Kosuth, American sculptor and theorist
1946 – Terry Kath, American guitarist and singer-songwriter (Chicago) (d. 1978)
1946 – Medin Zhega, Albanian footballer and manager (d. 2012)
1947 – Nolan Ryan, American baseball player
1947 – Matt Minglewood, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1947 – Glynn Turman, American actor
1948 – Volkmar Groß, German footballer (d. 2014)
1948 – Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician
1949 – Johan Derksen, Dutch footballer and journalist
1949 – Norris Church Mailer, American model and educator (d. 2010)
1949 – Ken Wilber, American sociologist, philosopher, and author
1950 – Denise Fleming, American author and illustrator
1950 – Alexander Korzhakov, Russian general and bodyguard
1950 – Janice Rebibo, American-Israeli author and poet (d. 2015)
1951 – Harry Wayne Casey, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
1954 – Faoud Bacchus, Guyanese cricketer
1954 – Adrian Vandenberg, Dutch guitarist and songwriter
1955 – Virginia Ruzici, Romanian tennis player and manager
1956 – Guido van Rossum, Dutch programmer, creator of the Python programming language
1956 – John Lydon, English singer-songwriter
1957 – Shirley Babashoff, American swimmer
1958 – Armin Reichel, German footballer and manager
1959 – Anthony LaPaglia, Australian actor and producer
1959 – Kelly Lynch, American model and actress
1960 – Akbar Ganji, Iranian journalist and author
1960 – Grant Morrison, Scottish author and screenwriter
1960 – Željko Šturanović, Montenegrin politician, 31st Prime Minister of Montenegro (d. 2014)
1961 – Elizabeth Barker, Baroness Barker, English politician
1961 – Fatou Bensouda, Gambian lawyer and judge
1961 – Lloyd Cole, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1963 – Craig Coleman, Australian rugby league player and coach
1963 – Gwen Graham, American lawyer and politician
1964 – Martha MacCallum, American journalist
1964 – Dawn Prince-Hughes, American scientist
1965 – Giorgos Gasparis, Greek basketball player and coach
1965 – Ofra Harnoy, Israeli-Canadian cellist
1965 – Peter Sagal, American author and radio host
1966 – Umar Alisha, Indian journalist and philanthropist
1966 – Thant Myint-U, Myanmar historian, diplomat, conservationist, and former presidential advisor.
1966 – Dexter Fletcher, English actor and director
1967 – Fat Mike, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
1968 – John Collins, Scottish footballer, midfielder and manager
1968 – Matt King, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
1968 – Ulrica Messing, Swedish politician, 2nd Swedish Minister for Infrastructure
1968 – Patrick Stevens, Belgian sprinter
1969 – Dov Charney, Canadian-American fashion designer and businessman, founded American Apparel
1969 – Daniel Moder, American cinematographer
1970 – Minnie Driver, English singer-songwriter and actress
1970 – Danny Michel, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
1971 – Patricia Velásquez, Venezuelan model and actress
1973 – Portia de Rossi, Australian-American actress
1974 – Othella Harrington, American basketball player and coach
1974 – Ariel Pestano, Cuban baseball player
1975 – Fred Coleman, American football player and coach
1975 – Preity Zinta, Indian actress, producer, and television host
1976 – Traianos Dellas, Greek footballer and manager
1976 – Buddy Rice, American race car driver
1976 – Paul Scheer, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
1977 – Suchitra Singh, Indian cricketer
1977 – Kerry Washington, American actress
1978 – Fabián Caballero, Argentinian footballer and manager
1979 – Daniel Tammet, English author and educator
1980 – James Adomian, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter
1980 – Gary Doherty, Irish footballer, centre forward
1980 – Shim Yi-young, South Korean actress
1981 – Julio Arca, Argentinian footballer
1981 – Mark Cameron, Australian cricketer
1981 – Justin Timberlake, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
1982 – Maret Ani, Estonian tennis player
1982 – Yuniesky Betancourt, Cuban baseball player
1982 – Andreas Görlitz, German footballer
1982 – Salvatore Masiello, Italian footballer
1982 – Allan McGregor, Scottish footballer
1982 – Jānis Sprukts, Latvian ice hockey player
1982 – Yukimi Nagano, Swedish singer-songwriter
1982 – Brad Thompson, American baseball player
1983 – James Sutton, English actor
1983 – Fabio Quagliarella, Italian footballer
1984 – Vernon Davis, American football player
1984 – Josh Johnson, Canadian-American baseball player
1984 – Jeremy Wariner, American runner
1984 – Alessandro Zanni, Italian rugby player
1985 – Adam Federici, Australian footballer
1985 – Mario Williams, American football player
1986 – Walter Dix, American sprinter
1986 – Megan Ellison, American film producer, founded Annapurna Pictures
1986 – George Elokobi, Cameroonian footballer
1986 – Yves Ma-Kalambay, Belgian footballer
1986 – Pauline Parmentier, French tennis player
1987 – Marcus Mumford, American-English singer-songwriter
1988 – Brett Pitman, English footballer
1988 – Taijo Teniste, Estonian footballer
1990 – Jacopo Fortunato, Italian footballer
1990 – Jacob Markström, Swedish ice hockey player
1990 – Kota Yabu, Japanese idol, singer-songwriter, model, actor
Deaths on January 31
632 – Máedóc of Ferns, Irish bishop and saint (b. 550)
876 – Hemma of Altdorf, Frankish queen
985 – Ryōgen, Japanese monk and abbot (b. 912)
1030 – William V, duke of Aquitaine (b. 969)
1216 – Theodore II, patriarch of Constantinople
1398 – Sukō, emperor of Japan (b. 1334)
1418 – Mircea I, prince of Wallachia (b. 1355)
1435 – Xuande, emperor of China (b. 1398)
1561 – Bairam Khan, Mughalan general (b. 1501)
1561 – Menno Simons, Dutch minister and theologian (b. 1496)
1580 – Henry, king of Portugal (b. 1512)
1606 – Guy Fawkes, English conspirator, leader of the Gunpowder Plot (b. 1570)
1606 – Ambrose Rookwood, English Gunpowder Plot conspirator (b. 1578)
1606 – Thomas Wintour, English Gunpowder Plot conspirator (b. 1571)
1615 – Claudio Acquaviva, Italian priest, 5th Superior General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1543)
1632 – Jost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker and mathematician (b. 1552)
1665 – Johannes Clauberg, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1622)
1686 – Jean Mairet, French playwright (b. 1604)
1720 – Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford, English politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1654)
1729 – Jacob Roggeveen, Dutch explorer (b. 1659)
1736 – Filippo Juvarra, Italian architect and set designer, designed the Basilica of Superga (b. 1678)
1790 – Thomas Lewis, Irish-born American lawyer and surveyor (b. 1718)
1794 – Mariot Arbuthnot, English admiral and politician, 12th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (b. 1711)
1811 – Manuel Alberti, Argentinian priest and journalist (b. 1763)
1815 – José Félix Ribas, Venezuelan soldier (b. 1775)
1828 – Alexander Ypsilantis, Greek general (b. 1792)
1836 – John Cheyne, English physician and author (b. 1777)
1844 – Henri Gatien Bertrand, French general (b. 1773)
1856 – 11th Dalai Lama (b. 1838)
1870 – Cilibi Moise, Moldavian-Romanian journalist and author (b. 1812)
1888 – John Bosco, Italian priest and educator, founded the Salesian Society (b. 1815)
1892 – Charles Spurgeon, English pastor and author (b. 1834)
1900 – John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry, Scottish nobleman (b. 1844)
1907 – Timothy Eaton, Canadian businessman, founded Eaton’s (b. 1834)
1923 – Eligiusz Niewiadomski, Polish painter and critic (b. 1869)
1933 – John Galsworthy, English novelist and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
1942 – Henry Larkin, American baseball player and manager (b. 1860)
1944 – Jean Giraudoux, French author and playwright (b. 1882)
1954 – Edwin Howard Armstrong, American engineer, invented FM radio (b. 1890)
1954 – Vivian Woodward, English captain and footballer (b. 1879)
1955 – John Mott, American activist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
1956 – A. A. Milne, English author, poet, and playwright, created Winnie-the-Pooh (b. 1882)
1958 – Karl Selter, Estonian politician, 14th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1898)
1960 – Auguste Herbin, French painter (b. 1882)
1961 – Krishna Singh, Indian politician, 1st Chief Minister of Bihar (b. 1887)
1966 – Arthur Percival, English general (b. 1887)
1967 – Eddie Tolan, American sprinter and educator (b. 1908)
1969 – Meher Baba, Indian spiritual master (b. 1894)
1971 – Viktor Zhirmunsky, Russian historian and linguist (b. 1891)
1973 – Ragnar Frisch, Norwegian economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
1974 – Samuel Goldwyn, Polish-American film producer, co-founded Goldwyn Pictures (b. 1882)
1976 – Ernesto Miranda, American criminal (b. 1941)
1976 – Evert Taube, Swedish author and composer (b. 1890)
1985 – Reginald Baker, English-Australian film producer (b. 1896)
1985 – Tatsuzō Ishikawa, Japanese author (b. 1905)
1987 – Yves Allégret, French director and screenwriter (b. 1907)
1989 – William Stephenson, Canadian captain and spy (b. 1896)
1990 – Eveline Du Bois-Reymond Marcus, German zoologist and academic (b. 1901)
1990 – Rashad Khalifa, Egyptian-American biochemist and academic (b. 1935)
1995 – George Abbott, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1887)
1997 – John Joseph Scanlan, Irish-American bishop (b. 1930)
1999 – Giant Baba, Japanese wrestler and trainer, co-founded All Japan Pro Wrestling (b. 1938)
1999 – Norm Zauchin, American baseball player (b. 1929)
2000 – Gil Kane, Latvian-American author and illustrator (b. 1926)
2001 – Gordon R. Dickson, Canadian-American author (b. 1923)
2002 – Gabby Gabreski, American colonel and pilot (b. 1919)
2004 – Eleanor Holm, American swimmer and actress (b. 1913)
2004 – Suraiya, Indian actress and playback singer (b. 1929)
2006 – Moira Shearer, Scottish actress and ballerina (b. 1926)
2007 – Molly Ivins, American journalist and author (b. 1944)
2007 – Adelaide Tambo, South African activist and politician (b. 1929)
2008 – František Čapek, Czechoslovakian canoeist (b. 1914)
2011 – Bartolomeu Anania, Romanian bishop and poet (b. 1921)
2011 – Mark Ryan, English guitarist and playwright (b. 1959)
2012 – Mani Ram Bagri, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1920)
2012 – Anthony Bevilacqua, American cardinal (b. 1923)
2012 – Tristram Potter Coffin, American author, scholar, and academic (b. 1922)
2012 – Dorothea Tanning, American painter and sculptor (b. 1910)
