491 – Odoacer makes a night assault with his Heruli guardsmen, engaging Theoderic the Great in Ad Pinetam. Both sides suffer heavy losses, but in the end Theodoric forces Odoacer back into Ravenna.
551 – A major earthquake strikes Beirut, triggering a devastating tsunami that affected the coastal towns of Byzantine Phoenicia, causing thousands of deaths.
660 – Korean forces under general Kim Yu-sin of Silla defeat the army of Baekje in the Battle of Hwangsanbeol.
869 – The 8.4–9.0 Mw Sanriku earthquake strikes the area around Sendai in northern Honshu, Japan. Inundation from the tsunami extended several kilometers inland.
969 – The Fatimid general Jawhar leads the Friday prayer in Fustat in the name of Caliph al-Mu’izz li-Din Allah, thereby symbolically completing the Fatimid conquest of Egypt.
1357 – Emperor Charles IV assists in laying the foundation stone of Charles Bridge in Prague.
1386 – The Old Swiss Confederacy makes great strides in establishing control over its territory by soundly defeating the Archduchy of Austria in the Battle of Sempach.
1401 – Timur attacks the Jalairid Sultanate and destroys Baghdad.
1540 – King Henry VIII of England annuls his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.
1572 – Nineteen Catholics suffer martyrdom for their beliefs in the Dutch town of Gorkum.
1609 – Bohemia is granted freedom of religion through the Letter of Majesty by the Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II.
1701 – A Bourbon force under Nicolas Catinat withdraws from a smaller Habsburg force under Prince Eugene of Savoy in the Battle of Carpi.
1745 – French victory in the Battle of Melle allows them to capture Ghent in the days after.
1755 – The Braddock Expedition is soundly defeated by a smaller French and Native American force in its attempt to capture Fort Duquesne in what is now downtown Pittsburgh.
1762 – Catherine the Great becomes Empress of Russia following the coup against her husband, Peter III.
1776 – George Washington orders the Declaration of Independence to be read out to members of the Continental Army in Manhattan, while thousands of British troops on Staten Island prepare for the Battle of Long Island.
1789 – In Versailles, the National Assembly reconstitutes itself as the National Constituent Assembly and begins preparations for a French constitution.
1790 – The Swedish Navy captures one third of the Russian Baltic fleet.
1793 – The Act Against Slavery in Upper Canada bans the importation of slaves and will free those who are born into slavery after the passage of the Act at 25 years of age.
1807 – The Treaties of Tilsit are signed by Napoleon I of France and Alexander I of Russia.
1810 – Napoleon annexes the Kingdom of Holland as part of the First French Empire.
1811 – Explorer David Thompson posts a sign near what is now Sacajawea State Park in Washington state, claiming the Columbia District for the United Kingdom.
1815 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord becomes the first Prime Minister of France.
1816 – Argentina declares independence from Spain.
1821 – Four hundred and seventy prominent Cypriots including Archbishop Kyprianos are executed in response to Cypriot aid to the Greek War of Independence.
1850 – U.S. President Zachary Taylor dies after eating raw fruit and iced milk; he is succeeded in office by Vice President Millard Fillmore.
1850 – Persian prophet Báb is executed in Tabriz, Persia.
1863 – American Civil War: The Siege of Port Hudson ends, giving the Union complete control of the Mississippi River.
1868 – The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing African Americans full citizenship and all persons in the United States due process of law.
1875 – The Herzegovina Uprising against Ottoman rule begins, which would last until 1878 and have far-reaching implications throughout the Balkans.
1877 – The inaugural Wimbledon Championships begins.
1893 – Daniel Hale Williams, American heart surgeon, performs the first successful open-heart surgery in United States without anesthesia.
1896 – William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of Gold speech advocating bimetallism at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
1900 – The Federation of Australia is given royal assent.
1900 – The Governor of Shanxi province in North China orders the execution of 45 foreign Christian missionaries and local church members, including children.
1918 – In Nashville, Tennessee, an inbound local train collides with an outbound express, killing 101 and injuring 171 people, making it the deadliest rail accident in United States history.
1922 – Johnny Weissmuller swims the 100 meters freestyle in 58.6 seconds breaking the world swimming record and the ‘minute barrier’.
1932 – The state of São Paulo revolts against the Brazilian Federal Government, starting the Constitutionalist Revolution.
1937 – The silent film archives of Fox Film Corporation are destroyed by the 1937 Fox vault fire.
1943 – World War II: The Allied invasion of Sicily soon causes the downfall of Mussolini and forces Hitler to break off the Battle of Kursk.
1944 – World War II: American forces take Saipan, bringing the Japanese archipelago within range of B-29 raids, and causing the downfall of the Tojo government.
1944 – World War II: Continuation War: Finland wins the Battle of Tali-Ihantala, the largest battle ever fought in northern Europe. The Red Army withdraws its troops from Ihantala and digs into a defensive position, thus ending the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive.
1955 – The Russell–Einstein Manifesto calls for a reduction of the risk of nuclear warfare.
1956 – The 7.7 Mw Amorgos earthquake shakes the Cyclades island group in the Aegean Sea with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The shaking and the destructive tsunami that followed left fifty-three people dead. A damaging M7.2 aftershock occurred minutes after the mainshock.
1958 – A 7.8 Mw strike-slip earthquake in Alaska causes a landslide that produces a megatsunami. The runup from the waves reached 525 m (1,722 ft) on the rim of Lituya Bay; five people were killed.
1962 – Starfish Prime tests the effects of a nuclear test at orbital altitudes.
1979 – A car bomb destroys a Renault motor car owned by “Nazi hunters” Serge and Beate Klarsfeld outside their home in France in an unsuccessful assassination attempt.
1982 – Pan Am Flight 759 crashes in Kenner, Louisiana, killing all 145 people on board and eight others on the ground.
1986 – The New Zealand Parliament passes the Homosexual Law Reform Act legalising homosexuality in New Zealand.
1993 – The Parliament of Canada passes the Nunavut Act leading to the 1999 creation of Nunavut, dividing the Northwest Territories into arctic (Inuit) and sub-arctic (Dene) lands based on a plebiscite.
1995 – The Navaly church bombing is carried out by the Sri Lanka Air Force killing 125 Tamil civilian refugees.
1999 – Days of student protests begin after Iranian police and hardliners attack a student dormitory at the University of Tehran.
2002 – The African Union is established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, replacing the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The organization’s first chairman is Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa.
2006 – One hundred and twenty-five people are killed when S7 Airlines Flight 778, an Airbus A310 passenger jet, veers off the runway while landing in wet conditions at Irkutsk Airport in Siberia.
2011 – South Sudan gains independence and secedes from Sudan.
Births on July 9
1249 – Emperor Kameyama of Japan (d. 1305)
1455 – Frederick IV of Baden, Dutch bishop (d. 1517)
1511 – Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg (d. 1571)
1526 – Elizabeth of Austria, Polish noble (d. 1545)
1577 – Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, English-American soldier and politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (d. 1618)
1578 – Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1637)
1654 – Emperor Reigen of Japan (d. 1732)
1686 – Philip Livingston, American merchant and politician (d. 1749)
1689 – Alexis Piron, French epigrammatist and playwright (d. 1773)
1721 – Johann Nikolaus Götz, German poet and author (d. 1781)
1753 – William Waldegrave, 1st Baron Radstock, English admiral and politician, 34th Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1825)
1764 – Ann Ward, English author and poet (d. 1823)
1775 – Matthew Lewis, English author and playwright (d. 1818)
1800 – Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle, German physician, pathologist, and anatomist (d. 1885)
1808 – Alexander William Doniphan, American lawyer and colonel (d. 1887)
1819 – Elias Howe, American inventor, invented the sewing machine (d. 1867)
1825 – A. C. Gibbs, American lawyer and politician, 2nd Governor of Oregon (d. 1886)
1828 – Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano, Italian cardinal (d. 1913)
1834 – Jan Neruda, Czech journalist and poet (d. 1891)
1836 – Camille of Renesse-Breidbach (d. 1904)
1848 – Robert I, Duke of Parma (d. 1907)
1853 – William Turner Dannat, American painter (d. 1929)
1856 – John Verran, English-Australian politician, 26th Premier of South Australia (d. 1932)
1858 – Franz Boas, German-American anthropologist and linguist (d. 1942)
1867 – Georges Lecomte, French author and playwright (d. 1958)
1879 – Carlos Chagas, Brazilian physician and parasitologist (d. 1934)
1879 – Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer and conductor (d. 1936)
1887 – James Ormsbee Chapin, American-Canadian painter and illustrator (d. 1975)
1887 – Saturnino Herrán, Mexican painter (d. 1918)
1887 – Samuel Eliot Morison, American admiral and historian (d. 1976)
1889 – Léo Dandurand, American-Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and referee (d. 1964)
1893 – George Geary, English cricketer and coach (d. 1981)
1901 – Barbara Cartland, prolific English author (d. 2000)
1902 – Peter Acland, English soldier (d. 1993)
1905 – Clarence Campbell, Canadian ice hockey player and referee (d. 1984)
1907 – Eddie Dean, American singer-songwriter (d. 1999)
1908 – Allamah Rasheed Turabi, Pakistani philosopher and scholar (d. 1973)
1908 – Minor White, American photographer, critic, and educator (d. 1976)
1909 – Basil Wolverton, American author and illustrator (d. 1978)
1910 – Govan Mbeki, South African anti-apartheid and ANC leader and activist (d. 2001)
1911 – Mervyn Peake, English author and illustrator (d. 1968)
1911 – John Archibald Wheeler, American physicist and author (d. 2008)
1914 – Willi Stoph, German engineer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of East Germany (d. 1999)
1914 – Mac Wilson, Australian rules footballer (d. 2017)
1915 – David Diamond, American composer and educator (d. 2005)
1915 – Lee Embree, American sergeant and photographer (d. 2008)
1916 – Dean Goffin, New Zealand composer (d. 1984)
1916 – Edward Heath, English colonel and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 2005)
1917 – Krystyna Dańko, Polish orphan, survivor of Holocaust (d. 2019)
1918 – Nicolaas Govert de Bruijn, Dutch mathematician and academic (d. 2012)
1918 – Jarl Wahlström, Finnish 12th General of The Salvation Army (d. 1999)
1921 – David C. Jones, American general (d. 2013)
1922 – Angelines Fernández, Spanish-Mexican actress (d. 1994)
1922 – Jim Pollard, American basketball player and coach (d. 1993)
1924 – Pierre Cochereau, French organist and composer (d. 1984)
1925 – Guru Dutt, Indian actor, director, and producer (d. 1964)
1925 – Charles E. Wicks, American engineer, author, and academic (d. 2010)
1925 – Ronald I. Spiers, American ambassador
1926 – Murphy Anderson, American illustrator (d. 2015)
1926 – Ben Roy Mottelson, American-Danish physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1926 – Pedro Dellacha, Argentine football defender and coach (d. 2010)
1926 – Mathilde Krim, Italian-American medical researcher and health educator (d. 2018)
1927 – Ed Ames, American singer and actor
1927 – Red Kelly, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and politician (d. 2019)
1928 – Federico Bahamontes, Spanish cyclist
1928 – Vince Edwards, American actor, singer, and director (d. 1996)
1929 – Lee Hazlewood, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2007)
1929 – Jesse McReynolds, American singer and mandolin player
1929 – Chi Haotian, Chinese general
1929 – Hassan II of Morocco (d. 1999)
1930 – K. Balachander, Indian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
1930 – Buddy Bregman, American composer and conductor (d. 2017)
1930 – Janice Lourie, American computer scientist and graphic artist
1930 – Elsa Lystad, Norwegian actress
1930 – Roy McLean, South African cricketer and rugby player (d. 2007)
1931 – Haynes Johnson, American journalist and author (d. 2013)
1931 – Sylvia Bacon, American judge
1932 – Donald Rumsfeld, American captain and politician, 13th United States Secretary of Defense
1932 – Amitzur Shapira, Israeli sprinter and long jumper (d. 1972)
1933 – Oliver Sacks, English-American neurologist, author, and academic (d. 2015)
1934 – Michael Graves, American architect, designed the Portland Building and the Humana Building (d. 2015)
1935 – Wim Duisenberg, Dutch economist and politician, Dutch Minister of Finance (d. 2005)
1935 – Mercedes Sosa, Argentinian singer and activist (d. 2009)
1935 – Michael Williams, English actor (d. 2001)
1936 – June Jordan, American poet and educator (d. 2002)
1936 – David Zinman, American violinist and conductor
1937 – David Hockney, English painter and photographer
1938 – Brian Dennehy, American actor (d. 2020)
1938 – Sanjeev Kumar, Indian film actor (d. 1985)
1940 – David B. Frohnmayer, American lawyer and politician, 12th Oregon Attorney General (d. 2015)
1940 – Eugene Victor Wolfenstein, American psychoanalyst and theorist (d. 2010)
1941 – Mac MacLeod, English musician
1942 – David Chidgey, Baron Chidgey, English engineer and politician
1942 – Richard Roundtree, American actor
1943 – John Casper, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
1944 – Judith M. Brown, Indian-English historian and academic
1944 – John Cunniff, American ice hockey player and coach (d. 2002)
1945 – Dean Koontz, American author and screenwriter
1945 – Root Boy Slim, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1993)
1946 – Bon Scott, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter (d. 1980)
1947 – Haruomi Hosono, Japanese singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
1947 – Mitch Mitchell, English drummer (d. 2008)
1947 – O. J. Simpson, American football player and actor
1947 – Patrick Wormald, English historian (d. 2004)
1948 – Hassan Wirajuda, Indonesian lawyer and politician, 15th Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs
1949 – Raoul Cédras, Haitian military officer and politician
1950 – Amal ibn Idris al-Alami, Moroccan physician and neurosurgeon
1950 – Adriano Panatta, Italian tennis player and sailor
1950 – Viktor Yanukovych, Ukrainian engineer and politician, 4th President of Ukraine
1951 – Chris Cooper, American actor
1951 – Māris Gailis, Latvian politician, businessman, and former Prime Minister of Latvia
1952 – John Tesh, American pianist, composer, and radio and television host
1953 – Margie Gillis, Canadian dancer and choreographer
1953 – Thomas Ligotti, American author
1954 – Théophile Abega, Cameroonian footballer and politician (d. 2012)
1954 – Kevin O’Leary, Canadian journalist and businessman
1955 – Steve Coppell, English footballer and manager
1955 – Lindsey Graham, American colonel, lawyer, and politician
1955 – Jimmy Smits, American actor and producer
1955 – Willie Wilson, American baseball player and manager
1956 – Tom Hanks, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1956 – Michael Lederer, American author, poet, and playwright
1957 – Marc Almond, English singer-songwriter
1957 – Tim Kring, American screenwriter and producer
1957 – Kelly McGillis, American actress
1957 – Paul Merton, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter
1958 – Abdul Latiff Ahmad, Malaysian politician
1958 – Jacob Joseph, Malaysian football coach
1959 – Jim Kerr, Scottish singer-songwriter and keyboard player
1959 – Kevin Nash, American wrestler
1959 – Clive Stafford Smith, English lawyer and author
1960 – Yūko Asano, Japanese actress and singer
1960 – Wally Fullerton Smith, Australian rugby league player
1960 – Eduardo Montes-Bradley, Argentinian journalist, photographer, and author
1963 – Klaus Theiss, German footballer
1964 – Courtney Love, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
1964 – Gianluca Vialli, Italian footballer and coach
1965 – Frank Bello, American bass player
1965 – Thomas Jahn, German director and screenwriter
1965 – Jason Rhoades, American sculptor (d. 2006)
1966 – Pamela Adlon, American actress and voice artist
1966 – Zheng Cao, Chinese-American soprano and actress (d. 2013)
1966 – Gary Glasberg, American television writer and producer (d. 2016)
1966 – Marco Pennette, American screenwriter and producer
1967 – Gunnar Axén, Swedish politician
1967 – Yordan Letchkov, Bulgarian footballer
1967 – Mark Stoops, American football player and coach
1968 – Paolo Di Canio, Italian footballer and manager
1968 – Lars Gyllenhaal, Swedish historian and author
1969 – Nicklas Barker, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist
1969 – Jason Kearton, Australian footballer and coach
1970 – Trent Green, American football player and sportscaster
1970 – Masami Tsuda, Japanese author and illustrator
1971 – Marc Andreessen, American software developer, co-founded Netscape
1972 – Ara Babajian, American drummer and songwriter
1973 – Kelly Holcomb, American football player and sportscaster
1974 – Siân Berry, English environmentalist and politician
1974 – Ian Bradshaw, Barbadian cricketer
1974 – Gary Kelly, Irish footballer
1974 – Nikola Šarčević, Swedish singer-songwriter and bass player
1975 – Shelton Benjamin, American wrestler
1975 – Isaac Brock, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1975 – Robert Koenig, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1975 – Craig Quinnell, Welsh rugby player
1975 – Jack White, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1976 – Thomas Cichon, Polish-German footballer and manager
1976 – Fred Savage, American actor, director, and producer
1976 – Radike Samo, Fijian-Australian rugby player
1978 – Kara Goucher, American runner
1978 – Nuno Santos, Portuguese footballer
1979 – Gary Chaw, Malaysian Chinese singer-songwriter
1981 – Lee Chun-soo, South Korean footballer
1981 – Junauda Petrus, American author and performance artist
1982 – Alecko Eskandarian, American soccer player and manager
1982 – Sakon Yamamoto, Japanese race car driver
1984 – Chris Campoli, Canadian ice hockey player
1984 – Gianni Fabiano, Italian footballer
1984 – Jacob Hoggard, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1984 – Ave Pajo, Estonian footballer
1984 – Piia Suomalainen, Finnish tennis player
1984 – LA Tenorio, Filipino basketball player
1985 – Paweł Korzeniowski, Polish swimmer
1985 – Ashley Young, English footballer
1986 – Sébastien Bassong, Cameroonian footballer
1986 – Simon Dumont, American skier
1986 – Kiely Williams, American singer-songwriter and dancer
1987 – Gert Jõeäär, Estonian cyclist
1987 – Rebecca Sugar, American animator, composer, and screenwriter
1988 – Raul Rusescu, Romanian footballer
1990 – Earl Bamber, New Zealand race car driver
1990 – Fábio, Brazilian footballer
1990 – Rafael, Brazilian footballer
1991 – Mitchel Musso, American actor and singer
1993 – Mitch Larkin, Australian swimmer
1993 – DeAndre Yedlin, American footballer
1999 – Claire Corlett, American voice actress
Deaths on July 9
230 – Empress Dowager Bian, Cao Cao’s wife (b. 159)
518 – Anastasius I Dicorus, Byzantine emperor (b. 430)
715 – Naga, Japanese prince
880 – Ariwara no Narihira, Japanese poet (b. 825)
981 – Ramiro Garcés, king of Viguera
1169 – Guido of Ravenna, Italian cartographer, entomologist and historian
1228 – Stephen Langton, English cardinal and theologian (b. 1150)
1270 – Stephen Báncsa, Hungarian cardinal (b. c. 1205)
1386 – Leopold III, Duke of Austria (b. 1351)
1441 – Jan van Eyck, Dutch painter
1546 – Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell, Scottish statesman (b. c. 1493)
1553 – Maurice, Elector of Saxony (b. 1521)
1654 – Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans (b. 1633)
1706 – Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville, Canadian captain and explorer (b. 1661)
1737 – Gian Gastone de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1671)
1742 – John Oldmixon, English historian, poet, and playwright (b. 1673)
1746 – Philip V of Spain (b. 1683)
1747 – Giovanni Bononcini, Italian cellist and composer (b. 1670)
1766 – Jonathan Mayhew, American minister (b. 1720)
1795 – Henry Seymour Conway, English general and politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (b. 1721)
1797 – Edmund Burke, Irish-English philosopher, academic, and politician (b. 1729)
1828 – Cathinka Buchwieser, German operatic singer and actress (b. 1789)
1850 – Báb, Persian religious leader, founded Bábism (b. 1819)
1850 – Zachary Taylor, American general and politician, 12th President of the United States (b. 1784)
1852 – Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan, American lawyer and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1794)
1856 – Amedeo Avogadro, Italian chemist and academic (b. 1776)
1856 – James Strang, American religious leader and politician (b. 1813)
1880 – Paul Broca, French physician and anatomist (b. 1824)
1882 – Ignacio Carrera Pinto, Chilean captain (b. 1848)
1903 – Alphonse François Renard, Belgian geologist and photographer (b. 1842)
1927 – John Drew, Jr., American actor (b. 1853)
1932 – King Camp Gillette, American businessman, founded the Gillette Company (b. 1855)
1937 – Oliver Law, American commander (b. 1899)
1938 – Benjamin N. Cardozo, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1870)
1947 – Lucjan Żeligowski, Polish-Lithuanian general and politician (b. 1865)
1949 – Fritz Hart, English-Australian composer and conductor (b. 1874)
1951 – Harry Heilmann, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1894)
1955 – Don Beauman, English race car driver (b. 1928)
1955 – Adolfo de la Huerta, Mexican politician and provisional president, 1920 (b. 1881)
1959 – Ferenc Talányi, Slovene journalist and painter (b. 1883)
1962 – Georges Bataille, French philosopher, novelist, and poet (b. 1897)
1961 – Whittaker Chambers, American spy and witness in Hiss case(b. 1901)
1967 – Eugen Fischer, German physician and academic (b. 1874)
1967 – Fatima Jinnah, Pakistani dentist and politician (b. 1893)
1970 – Sigrid Holmquist, Swedish actress (b. 1899)
1971 – Karl Ast, Estonian author and politician (b. 1886)
1972 – Robert Weede, American opera singer (b. 1903)
1974 – Earl Warren, American jurist and politician, 14th Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1891)
1977 – Alice Paul, American activist (b. 1885)
1979 – Cornelia Otis Skinner, American actress and author (b. 1899)
1980 – Vinicius de Moraes, Brazilian poet, playwright, and composer (b. 1913)
1984 – Edna Ernestine Kramer, American mathematician (b. 1902)
1985 – Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (b. 1896)
1985 – Jimmy Kinnon, Scottish-American activist, founded Narcotics Anonymous (b. 1911)
1986 – Patriarch Nicholas VI of Alexandria (b. 1915)
1992 – Kelvin Coe, Australian ballet dancer (b. 1946)
1992 – Eric Sevareid, American journalist (b. 1912)
1993 – Metin Altıok, Turkish poet and educator (b. 1940)
1994 – Bill Mosienko, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1921)
1996 – Melvin Belli, American lawyer (b. 1907)
1999 – Robert de Cotret, Canadian politician, 56th Secretary of State for Canada (b. 1944)
2000 – Doug Fisher, English actor (b. 1941)
2002 – Mayo Kaan, American bodybuilder (b. 1914)
2002 – Rod Steiger, American actor (b. 1925)
2004 – Paul Klebnikov, American journalist and historian (b. 1963)
2004 – Isabel Sanford, American actress (b. 1917)
2005 – Chuck Cadman, Canadian engineer and politician (b. 1948)
293 – Roman Emperors Diocletian and Maximian appoint Galerius as Caesar to Diocletian, beginning the period of four rulers known as the Tetrarchy.
878 – Syracuse, Sicily, is captured by the Muslim Aghlabids after a nine-month siege.
879 – Pope John VIII gives blessings to Branimir of Croatia and to the Croatian people, considered to be international recognition of the Croatian state.
996 – Sixteen-year-old Otto III is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
1349 – Dušan’s Code, the constitution of the Serbian Empire, is enacted by Dušan the Mighty.
1403 – Henry III of Castile sends Ruy González de Clavijo as ambassador to Timur to discuss the possibility of an alliance between Timur and Castile against the Ottoman Empire.
1554 – Queen Mary I grants a royal charter to Derby School, as a grammar school for boys in Derby, England.
1659 – In the Concert of The Hague, the Dutch Republic, the Commonwealth of England and the Kingdom of France set out their views on how the Second Northern War should end.
1660 – The Battle of Long Sault concludes after five days in which French colonial militia, with their Huron and Algonquin allies, are defeated by the Iroquois Confederacy.
1674 – The nobility elect John Sobieski King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.
1703 – Daniel Defoe is imprisoned on charges of seditious libel.
1725 – The Order of St. Alexander Nevsky is instituted in Russia by Empress Catherine I. It would later be discontinued and then reinstated by the Soviet government in 1942 as the Order of Alexander Nevsky.
1758 – Ten-year-old Mary Campbell is abducted in Pennsylvania by Lenape during the French and Indian War. She is returned six and a half years later.
1792 – A lava dome collapses on Mount Unzen, near the city of Shimbara on the Japanese island of Kyūshū, creating a deadly tsunami that kills nearly 15,000 people.
1809 – The first day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling between the Austrian army led by Archduke Charles and the French army led by Napoleon I of France sees the French attack across the Danube held.
1851 – Slavery in Colombia is abolished.
1856 – Lawrence, Kansas is captured and burned by pro-slavery forces.
1863 – American Civil War: The Union Army succeeds in closing off the last escape route from Port Hudson, Louisiana, in preparation for the coming siege.
1864 – Russia declares an end to the Russo-Circassian War and many Circassians are forced into exile. The day is designated the Circassian Day of Mourning.
1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House ends.
1864 – The Ionian Islands reunite with Greece.
1871 – French troops invade the Paris Commune and engage its residents in street fighting. By the close of “Bloody Week”, some 20,000 communards have been killed and 38,000 arrested.
1871 – Opening of the first rack railway in Europe, the Rigi Bahnen on Mount Rigi.
1879 – War of the Pacific: Two Chilean ships blocking the harbor of Iquique (then belonging to Peru) battle two Peruvian vessels in the Battle of Iquique.
1881 – The American Red Cross is established by Clara Barton in Washington, D.C.
1894 – The Manchester Ship Canal in the United Kingdom is officially opened by Queen Victoria, who later knights its designer Sir Edward Leader Williams.
1904 – The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is founded in Paris.
1911 – President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz and the revolutionary Francisco Madero sign the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez to put an end to the fighting between the forces of both men, concluding the initial phase of the Mexican Revolution.
1917 – The Imperial War Graves Commission is established through royal charter to mark, record, and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of the British Empire’s military forces.
1917 – The Great Atlanta fire of 1917 causes $5.5 million in damages, destroying some 300 acres including 2,000 homes, businesses and churches, displacing about 10,000 people but leading to only one fatality (due to heart attack).
1924 – University of Chicago students Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, Jr. murder 14-year-old Bobby Franks in a “thrill killing”.
1927 – Charles Lindbergh touches down at Le Bourget Field in Paris, completing the world’s first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
1932 – Bad weather forces Amelia Earhart to land in a pasture in Derry, Northern Ireland, and she thereby becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
1934 – Oskaloosa, Iowa, becomes the first municipality in the United States to fingerprint all of its citizens.
1936 – Sada Abe is arrested after wandering the streets of Tokyo for days with her dead lover’s severed genitals in her handbag. Her story soon becomes one of Japan’s most notorious scandals.
1937 – A Soviet station, North Pole-1, becomes the first scientific research settlement to operate on the drift ice of the Arctic Ocean.
1939 – The Canadian National War Memorial is unveiled by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
1946 – Physicist Louis Slotin is fatally irradiated in a criticality incident during an experiment with the demon core at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
1951 – The opening of the Ninth Street Show, otherwise known as the 9th Street Art Exhibition: A gathering of a number of notable artists, and the stepping-out of the post war New York avant-garde, collectively known as the New York School.
1961 – American civil rights movement: Alabama Governor John Malcolm Patterson declares martial law in an attempt to restore order after race riots break out.
1966 – The Ulster Volunteer Force declares war on the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland.
1969 – Civil unrest in Rosario, Argentina, known as Rosariazo, following the death of a 15-year-old student.
1972 – Michelangelo’s Pietà in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome is damaged by a vandal, the mentally disturbed Hungarian geologist Laszlo Toth.
1976 – Twenty-nine people are killed in the Yuba City bus disaster in Martinez, California.
1979 – White Night riots in San Francisco following the manslaughter conviction of Dan White for the assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk.
1981 – The Italian government releases the membership list of Propaganda Due, an illegal pseudo-Masonic lodge that was implicated in numerous Italian crimes and mysteries.
1981 – Transamerica Corporation agrees to sell United Artists to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for $380 million after the box office failure of the 1980 film Heaven’s Gate.
1982 – Falklands War: A British amphibious assault during Operation Sutton leads to the Battle of San Carlos.
1991 – Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated by a female suicide bomber near Madras.
1991 – Mengistu Haile Mariam, president of the People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, flees Ethiopia, effectively bringing the Ethiopian Civil War to an end.
1992 – After 30 seasons Johnny Carson hosted his penultimate episode and last featuring guests (Robin Williams and Bette Midler) of The Tonight Show.
1994 – The Democratic Republic of Yemen unsuccessfully attempts to secede from the Republic of Yemen; a war breaks out.
1996 – The ferry MV Bukoba sinks in Tanzanian waters on Lake Victoria, killing nearly 1,000.
1998 – In Miami, five abortion clinics are attacked by a butyric acid attacker.
1998 – President Suharto of Indonesia resigns following the killing of students from Trisakti University earlier that week by security forces and growing mass protests in Jakarta against his ongoing corrupt rule.
2001 – French Taubira law is enacted, officially recognizing the Atlantic slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity.
2003 – The 6.8 Mw Boumerdès earthquake shakes northern Algeria with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). More than 2,200 people were killed and a moderate tsunami sank boats at the Balearic Islands.
2005 – The tallest roller coaster in the world, Kingda Ka opens at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey.
2006 – The Republic of Montenegro holds a referendum proposing independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro; 55% of Montenegrins vote for independence.
2010 – JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, launches the solar-sail spacecraft IKAROS aboard an H-IIA rocket. The vessel would make a Venus flyby late in the year.
2011 – Radio broadcaster Harold Camping predicted that the world would end on this date.
2012 – A bus accident near Himara, Albania kills 13 people and injures 21 others.
2012 – A suicide bombing kills more than 120 people in Sana’a, Yemen.
2017 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus performed their final show at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Births on May 21
1471 – Albrecht Dürer, German painter, engraver, and mathematician (d. 1528)
1497 – Al-Hattab, Muslim jurist (d. 1547)
1527 – Philip II of Spain (d. 1598)
1653 – Eleonore of Austria, Queen of Poland (d. 1697)
1688 – Alexander Pope, English poet, essayist, and translator (d. 1744)
1755 – Alfred Moore, American lawyer and judge (d. 1810)
1756 – William Babington, Irish-born, English physician and mineralogist (d. 1833)
1763 – Joseph Fouché, French lawyer and politician (d. 1820)
1775 – Lucien Bonaparte, French soldier and politician (d. 1840)
1780 – Elizabeth Fry, English prison reformer, philanthropist and Quaker (d. 1845)
1790 – William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire, English politician, Lord Chamberlain of the Household (d. 1858)
1792 – Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis, French mathematician and engineer (d. 1843)
1799 – Mary Anning, English paleontologist (d. 1847)
1801 – Princess Sophie of Sweden, Swedish princess (d. 1865)
1806 – Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland, English duchess (d. 1868)
1808 – David de Jahacob Lopez Cardozo, Dutch Talmudist (d. 1890)
1827 – William P. Sprague, American banker and politician (d. 1899)
1828 – Rudolf Koller, Swiss painter (d. 1905)
1835 – František Chvostek, Czech-Austrian physician and academic (d. 1884)
1837 – Itagaki Taisuke, Japanese soldier and politician (d. 1919)
1843 – Charles Albert Gobat, Swiss lawyer and politician, and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1914)
1843 – Louis Renault, French jurist, educator, and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1918)
1844 – Henri Rousseau, French painter (d. 1910)
1850 – Giuseppe Mercalli, Italian priest and volcanologist (d. 1914)
1851 – Léon Bourgeois, French police officer and politician, 64th Prime Minister of France, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1925)
1853 – Jacques Marie Eugène Godefroy Cavaignac, French politician (d. 1905)
1856 – José Batlle y Ordóñez, Uruguayan journalist and politician, President of Uruguay (d. 1929)
1860 – Willem Einthoven, Indonesian-Dutch physician, physiologist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1927)
1861 – Abel Ayerza, Argentinian physician and academic (d. 1918)
1863 – Archduke Eugen of Austria (d. 1954)
1864 – Princess Stéphanie of Belgium (d. 1945)
1873 – Hans Berger, German neurologist and academic (d. 1941)
1878 – Glenn Curtiss, American cyclist and engineer (d. 1930)
1880 – Tudor Arghezi, Romanian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1967)
1884 – Manuel Pérez y Curis, Uruguayan poet and publisher (d. 1920)
1885 – Princess Sophie of Albania, (Princess Sophie of Schönburg-Waldenburg) (d. 1936)
1893 – Arthur Carr, English cricketer (d. 1963)
1893 – Giles Chippindall, Australian public servant (d. 1969)
1895 – Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexican general, president (1934–1940) and father of Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas (d. 1970)
1898 – Armand Hammer, American physician and businessman, founded Occidental Petroleum (d. 1990)
1898 – Charles Léon Hammes, Luxembourgian lawyer and judge (d. 1967)
1898 – Carl Johnson, American long jumper (d. 1932)
1898 – John McLaughlin, American painter and translator (d. 1976)
1901 – Regina M. Anderson, Multiracial playwright and librarian (d. 1993)
1901 – Horace Heidt, American pianist, bandleader, and radio host (d. 1986)
1901 – Sam Jaffe, American film producer and agent (d. 2000)
1901 – Suzanne Lilar, Belgian author and playwright (d. 1992)
1902 – Earl Averill, American baseball player (d. 1983)
1902 – Marcel Breuer, Hungarian-American architect and academic, designed the Ameritrust Tower (d. 1981)
1902 – Anatole Litvak, Ukrainian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1974)
1903 – Manly Wade Wellman, American author (d. 1986)
1904 – Robert Montgomery, American actor and director (d. 1981)
1904 – Fats Waller, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1943)
1907 – John C. Allen, American roller coaster designer (d. 1979)
1912 – Chen Dayu, Chinese painter and calligrapher (d. 2001)
1912 – John Curtis Gowan, American psychologist and academic (d. 1986)
1912 – Monty Stratton, American baseball player and coach (d. 1982)
1913 – Gina Bachauer, Greek pianist and composer (d. 1976)
1915 – Cathleen Cordell, American actress (d. 1997)
1915 – Chakravarthi V. Narasimhan, Indian Civil Service Officer and former Under Secretary-General of the UN (d. 2003)
1916 – Dennis Day, American singer and actor (d. 1988)
1916 – Tinus Osendarp, Dutch sprinter and police officer (d. 2002)
1916 – Harold Robbins, American author and screenwriter (d. 1997)
1917 – Raymond Burr, Canadian-American actor and director (d. 1993)
1918 – Anthony Steel, English actor and singer (d. 2001)
1919 – George P. Mitchell, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013)
1920 – Bill Barber, American tuba player and educator (d. 2007)
1920 – Forrest White, American businessman, co-founded the Music Man Company (d. 1994)
1921 – Sandy Douglas, English computer scientist and academic, designed OXO (d. 2010)
1921 – Andrei Sakharov, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1989)
1923 – Vernon Biever, American photographer (d. 2010)
1923 – Armand Borel, Swiss-American mathematician and academic (d. 2003)
1923 – Ara Parseghian, American football player and coach (d. 2017)
1923 – Dorothy Hewett, Australian feminist poet, novelist and playwright (d. 2002)
1923 – Evelyn Ward, American actress (d. 2012)
1924 – Peggy Cass, American actress, comedian, and game show panelist (d. 1999)
1926 – Robert Creeley, American novelist, essayist, and poet (d. 2005)
1927 – Kay Kendall, English actress and comedian (d. 1959)
1927 – Péter Zwack, Hungarian businessman and diplomat (d. 2012)
1928 – Tom Donahue, American radio host and producer (d. 1975)
1928 – Alice Drummond, American actress (d. 2016)
1929 – Larance Marable, American drummer (d. 2012)
1929 – Robert Welch, English silversmith and industrial designer (d. 2000)
1930 – Tommy Bryant, American bassist (d. 1982)
1930 – Keith Davis, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2019)
1930 – Malcolm Fraser, Australian politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Australia (d. 2015)
1932 – Inese Jaunzeme, Latvian javelin thrower and surgeon (d. 2011)
1932 – Leonidas Vasilikopoulos, Greek admiral and intelligence chief (d. 2014)
1933 – Maurice André, French trumpet player (d. 2012)
1933 – Yevgeny Minayev, Russian weightlifter (d. 1993)
1934 – Jocasta Innes, Chinese-English journalist and author (d. 2013)
1934 – Bob Northern, American horn player and bandleader
1934 – Bengt I. Samuelsson, Swedish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1935 – Terry Lightfoot, English clarinet player and bandleader (d. 2013)
1936 – Günter Blobel, Polish-American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018)
1938 – Lee “Shot” Williams, American singer (d. 2011)
1939 – Heinz Holliger, Swiss oboist, composer, and conductor
1940 – Tony Sheridan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
1941 – Martin Carthy, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1941 – Bobby Cox, American baseball player and manager
1941 – Ambrose Greenway, 4th Baron Greenway, English photographer and politician
1941 – Ronald Isley, American singer-songwriter and producer
1942 – David Hunt, Baron Hunt of Wirral, English politician, Secretary of State for Wales
1942 – John Konrads, Australian swimmer
1942 – Danny Ongais, American race car driver
1943 – Vincent Crane, English pianist and composer (d. 1989)
1943 – John Dalton, English bass player
1943 – Hilton Valentine, English guitarist and songwriter
1944 – Haleh Afshar, Baroness Afshar, Iranian-English academic and politician
1944 – Marcie Blane, American singer
1944 – Janet Dailey, American author and entrepreneur (d. 2013)
1944 – Mary Robinson, Irish lawyer and politician, 7th President of Ireland
1945 – Ernst Messerschmid, German physicist and astronaut
1945 – Richard Hatch, American actor, writer, and producer (d. 2017)
1946 – Allan McKeown, English-American screenwriter and producer (d. 2013)
1946 – Wayne Roycroft, Australian equestrian rider and coach
1947 – Bill Champlin, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1947 – Linda Laubenstein, American physician and academic (d. 1992)
1947 – İlber Ortaylı, Turkish historian and academic
1948 – Elizabeth Buchan, English author and critic
1948 – Joe Camilleri, Maltese-Australian singer-songwriter and saxophonist
1948 – Jonathan Hyde, Australian-English actor
1948 – Denis MacShane, Scottish journalist and politician, UK Minister of State for Europe
1948 – Leo Sayer, English-Australian singer-songwriter and musician
1949 – Andrew Neil, Scottish journalist and academic
1949 – Denis O’Connor, British police officer
1949 – Rosalind Plowright, English soprano
1950 – Will Hutton, English economist and journalist
1951 – Al Franken, American actor, screenwriter, and politician
1951 – Adrian Hardiman, Irish lawyer and judge (d. 2016)
1952 – Mr. T, American actor and wrestler
1953 – Nora Aunor, Filipino actress and recording artist
1954 – D. B. S. Jeyaraj, Sri Lankan-Canadian journalist and blogger
1954 – Janice Karman, American film producer, record producer, singer, and voice actress
1954 – Marc Ribot, American guitarist and composer
1955 – Paul Barber, English field hockey player
1955 – Stan Lynch, American drummer, songwriter, and producer
1957 – James Bailey, American basketball player
1957 – Nadine Dorries, English nurse and politician
1957 – Judge Reinhold, American actor and producer
1957 – Renée Soutendijk, Dutch actress
1958 – Christian Audigier, French fashion designer (d. 2015)
1958 – Muffy Calder, Canadian-Scottish computer scientist and academic
1958 – Michael Crick, English journalist and author
1958 – Naeem Khan, Indian-American fashion designer
1958 – Jefery Levy, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1959 – Nick Cassavetes, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1959 – Abdulla Yameen, Maldivian politician, 6th President of the Maldives
1960 – Jeffrey Dahmer, American serial killer (d. 1994)
1960 – Kent Hrbek, American baseball player and sportscaster
1960 – Mohanlal, Indian actor
1960 – Mark Ridgway, Australian cricketer
1960 – Vladimir Salnikov, Russian swimmer
1962 – David Crumb, American composer and educator
1963 – Richard Appel, American screenwriter and producer
1963 – Patrick Grant, American musician and producer
1963 – David Lonsdale, English actor
1964 – Pete Sandoval, Salvadoran-American drummer
1963 – Kevin Shields, American-Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1963 – Dave Specter, American guitarist
1963 – Laurie Spina, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
1964 – Danny Bailey, English footballer and coach
1965 – Josh Richman, American actor and producer
1966 – Lisa Edelstein, American actress and playwright
1966 – Tatyana Ledovskaya, Belarusian hurdler
1967 – Chris Benoit, Canadian professional wrestler (d. 2007)
1968 – Ilmar Raag, Estonian director, producer, and screenwriter
1968 – Matthias Ungemach, German-Australian rower
1968 – Julie Vega, Filipino actress and singer (d. 1985)
1969 – Pierluigi Brivio, Italian footballer
1969 – Georgiy Gongadze, Georgian-Ukrainian journalist and director (d. 2000)
1969 – Masayo Kurata, Japanese voice actress and singer
1969 – George LeMieux, American lawyer and politician
1969 – Brian Statham, Rhodesian born English footballer, defender and manager
1970 – Brigita Bukovec, Slovenian hurdler
1970 – Dorsey Levens, American football player and sportscaster
1970 – Pauline Menczer, Australian surfer
1970 – Carl Veart, Australian footballer and coach
1972 – The Notorious B.I.G., American rapper (d. 1997)
1973 – Stewart Cink, American golfer
1973 – Noel Fielding, English comedian, musician and television presenter
1974 – Brad Arthur, Australian rugby league coach
1974 – Fairuza Balk, American actress
1974 – Aditi Gowitrikar, Indian model, actress, and physician, Mrs. World 2001
1974 – Havoc, American rapper and producer
1975 – Anthony Mundine, Australian rugby league player and boxer
1976 – Stuart Bingham, English snooker player
1976 – Abderrahim Goumri, Moroccan runner (d. 2013)
1976 – Deron Miller, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1977 – Quinton Fortune, South African international footballer midfielder and coach
1977 – Michael Fuß, German footballer
1977 – Ricky Williams, American football player and coach
1978 – Max B, American rapper and songwriter
1978 – Briana Banks, German-American porn actress and model
1978 – Jamaal Magloire, Canadian basketball player and coach
2020 – Alan Merten, fifth President of George Mason University (b. 1941)
Holidays and observances on May 21
Afro-Colombian Day (Colombia)
Christian feast day:
Arcangelo Tadini
Blessed Adílio Daronch and Manuel Gómez González
Blessed Franz Jägerstätter
Earliest day on which Corpus Christi can fall, while June 24 is the latest; held on Thursday after Trinity Sunday (often locally moved to Sunday). (Roman Catholic Church)
Emperor Constantine I
Eugène de Mazenod
Helena of Constantinople, also known as “Feast of the Holy Great Sovereigns Constantine and Helen, Equal-to-the-Apostles.” (Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion)
John Elliot (Episcopal Church)
Saints of the Cristero War, including Christopher Magallanes
May 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Circassian Day of Mourning (Circassians)
Day of Patriots and Military (Hungary)
Independence Day, celebrates the Montenegrin independence referendum in 2006, celebrated until the next day. (Montenegro)
Navy Day (Chile)
Saint Helena Day, celebrates the discovery of Saint Helena in 1502. (Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha)
World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development (International)
404 BC – Admiral Lysander and King Pausanias of Sparta blockade Athens and bring the Peloponnesian War to a successful conclusion.
775 – The Battle of Bagrevand puts an end to an Armenian rebellion against the Abbasid Caliphate. Muslim control over Transcaucasia is solidified and its Islamization begins, while several major Armenian nakharar families lose power and their remnants flee to the Byzantine Empire.
799 – After mistreatment and disfigurement by the citizens of Rome, pope Leo III flees to the Frankish court of king Charlemagne at Paderborn for protection.
1134 – The name Zagreb was mentioned for the first time in the Felician Charter relating to the establishment of the Zagreb Bishopric around 1094.
1607 – Eighty Years’ War: The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar.
1644 – The Chongzhen Emperor, the last Emperor of Ming dynasty China, commits suicide during a peasant rebellion led by Li Zicheng.
1707 – A coalition of Britain, the Netherlands and Portugal is defeated by a Franco-Spanish army at Almansa (Spain) in the War of the Spanish Succession.
1792 – Highwayman Nicolas J. Pelletier becomes the first person executed by guillotine.
1792 – “La Marseillaise” (the French national anthem) is composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.
1804 – The western Georgian kingdom of Imereti accepts the suzerainty of the Russian Empire.
1829 – Charles Fremantle arrives in HMS Challenger off the coast of modern-day Western Australia prior to declaring the Swan River Colony for the United Kingdom.
1846 – Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican–American War.
1849 – The Governor General of Canada, Lord Elgin, signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, outraging Montreal’s English population and triggering the Montreal Riots.
1859 – British and French engineers break ground for the Suez Canal.
1862 – American Civil War: Forces under U.S. Admiral David Farragut demand the surrender of the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana.
1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Marks’ Mills.
1882 – French and Vietnamese troops clashed in Tonkin, when Commandant Henri Rivière seized the citadel of Hanoi with a small force of marine infantry.
1898 – Spanish–American War: The United States declares war on Spain.
1901 – New York becomes the first U.S. state to require automobile license plates.
1915 – World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli begins: The invasion of the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsula by British, French, Indian, Newfoundland, Australian and New Zealand troops, begins with landings at Anzac Cove and Cape Helles.
1916 – Anzac Day is commemorated for the first time on the first anniversary of the landing at ANZAC Cove.
1920 – At the San Remo conference, the principal Allied Powers of World War I adopt a resolution to determine the allocation of Class “A” League of Nations mandates for administration of the former Ottoman-ruled lands of the Middle East.
1938 – U.S. Supreme Court delivers its opinion in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins and overturns a century of federal common law.
1940 – Merkið, the flag of the Faroe Islands is approved by the British occupation government.
1944 – The United Negro College Fund is incorporated.
1945 – Elbe Day: United States and Soviet troops meet in Torgau along the River Elbe, cutting the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in two.
1945 – Liberation Day (Italy): The Nazi occupation army surrenders and leaves Northern Italy after a general partisan insurrection by the Italian resistance movement; the puppet fascist regime dissolves and Benito Mussolini is captured after trying to escape. This day was set as a public holiday to celebrate the Liberation of Italy.
1945 – United Nations Conference on International Organization: Founding negotiations for the United Nations begin in San Francisco.
1945 – The last German troops retreat from Finland’s soil in Lapland, ending the Lapland War. Military acts of Second World War end in Finland.
1951 – Korean War: Assaulting Chinese forces are forced to withdraw after heavy fighting with UN forces, primarily made up of Australian and Canadian troops, at the Battle of Kapyong.
1953 – Francis Crick and James Watson publish “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid” describing the double helix structure of DNA.
1954 – The first practical solar cell is publicly demonstrated by Bell Telephone Laboratories.
1959 – The Saint Lawrence Seaway, linking the North American Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, officially opens to shipping.
1960 – The United States Navy submarine USS Triton completes the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe.
1961 – Robert Noyce is granted a patent for an integrated circuit.
1972 – Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive: The North Vietnamese 320th Division forces 5,000 South Vietnamese troops to retreat and traps about 2,500 others northwest of Kontum.
1974 – Carnation Revolution: A leftist military coup in Portugal overthrows the authoritarian-conservative Estado Novo regime and establishes a democratic government.
1975 – As North Vietnamese forces close in on the South Vietnamese capital Saigon, the Australian Embassy is closed and evacuated, almost ten years to the day since the first Australian troop commitment to South Vietnam.
1981 – More than 100 workers are exposed to radiation during repairs of at the Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant in Japan.
1982 – Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula per the Camp David Accords.
1983 – Cold War: American schoolgirl Samantha Smith is invited to visit the Soviet Union by its leader Yuri Andropov after he read her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war.
1983 – Pioneer 10 travels beyond Pluto’s orbit.
1986 – Mswati III is crowned King of Swaziland, succeeding his father Sobhuza II.
1988 – In Israel, John Demjanjuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II.
1990 – Violeta Chamorro takes office as the President of Nicaragua, the first woman to hold the position.
2001 – Michele Alboreto is killed while testing an Audi R8 at the Lausitzring in Germany.
2004 – The March for Women’s Lives brings between 500,000 and 800,000 protesters, mostly pro-choice, to Washington D.C. to protest the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, and other restrictions on abortion.
2005 – The final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937.
2005 – Bulgaria and Romania sign accession treaties to join the European Union.
2007 – Boris Yeltsin’s funeral: The first to be sanctioned by the Russian Orthodox Church for a head of state since the funeral of Emperor Alexander III in 1894.
2015 – Nearly 9,100 are killed after a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake strikes Nepal.
Births on April 25
1214 – Louis IX of France (d. 1270)
1228 – Conrad IV of Germany (d. 1254)
1284 – Edward II of England (d. 1327)
1287 – Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1330)
1502 – Georg Major, German theologian and academic (d. 1574)
1529 – Francesco Patrizi, Italian philosopher and scientist (d. 1597)
1599 – Oliver Cromwell, English general and politician, Lord Protector of Great Britain (d. 1658)
1621 – Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, English soldier and politician (d. 1679)
1666 – Johann Heinrich Buttstett, German organist and composer (d. 1727)
1694 – Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, English architect and politician, Lord High Treasurer of Ireland (d. 1753)
1710 – James Ferguson, Scottish astronomer and author (d. 1776)
1723 – Giovanni Marco Rutini, Italian composer (d. 1797)
1725 – Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel, English admiral and politician (d. 1786)
1767 – Nicolas Oudinot, French general (d. 1847)
1770 – Georg Sverdrup, Norwegian philologist and academic (d. 1850)
1776 – Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh (d. 1857)
1843 – Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (d. 1878)
1849 – Felix Klein, German mathematician and academic (d. 1925)
1850 – Luise Adolpha Le Beau, German composer and educator (d. 1927)
1851 – Leopoldo Alas, Spanish author, critic, and academic (d. 1901)
1854 – Charles Sumner Tainter, American engineer and inventor (d. 1940)
1862 – Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, English ornithologist and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (d. 1933)
1868 – John Moisant, American pilot and engineer (d. 1910)
1871 – Lorne Currie, French-English sailor (d. 1926)
1872 – C. B. Fry, English cricketer, footballer, educator, and politician (d. 1956)
1873 – Walter de la Mare, English poet, short story writer, and novelist (d. 1956)
1873 – Howard Garis, American author, creator of the Uncle Wiggily series of children’s stories (d. 1962)
1874 – Guglielmo Marconi, Italian businessman and inventor, developed Marconi’s law, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1937)
1874 – Ernest Webb, English-Canadian race walker (d. 1937)
1876 – Jacob Nicol, Canadian publisher, lawyer, and politician (d. 1958)
1878 – William Merz, American gymnast and triathlete (d. 1946)
1882 – Fred McLeod, Scottish golfer (d. 1976)
1887 – Kojo Tovalou Houénou, Beninese lawyer and critic (d. 1936)
1892 – Maud Hart Lovelace, American author (d. 1980)
1896 – Fred Haney, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1977)
1897 – Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood (d. 1965)
1900 – Gladwyn Jebb, English politician and diplomat, Secretary-General of the United Nations (d. 1996)
1900 – Wolfgang Pauli, Austrian-Swiss-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
1902 – Werner Heyde, German psychiatrist and academic (d. 1964)
1902 – Mary Miles Minter, American actress (d. 1984)
1903 – Andrey Kolmogorov, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1987)
1905 – George Nepia, New Zealand rugby player and referee (d. 1986)
1906 – William J. Brennan Jr., American colonel and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (d. 1997)
1908 – Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (d. 1965)
1909 – William Pereira, American architect, designed the Transamerica Pyramid (d. 1985)
1910 – Arapeta Awatere, New Zealand interpreter, military leader, politician, and murderer (d. 1976)
1911 – Connie Marrero, Cuban baseball player and coach (d. 2014)
1912 – Earl Bostic, African-American saxophonist (d. 1965)
1913 – Nikolaos Roussen, Greek captain (d. 1944)
1914 – Ross Lockridge Jr., American author and academic (d. 1948)
1915 – Mort Weisinger, American journalist and author (d. 1978)
1916 – Jerry Barber, American golfer (d. 1994)
1917 – Ella Fitzgerald, American singer (d. 1996)
1917 – Jean Lucas, French racing driver (d. 2003)
1918 – Graham Payn, South African-born English actor and singer (d. 2005)
1918 – Gérard de Vaucouleurs, French-American astronomer and academic (d. 1995)
1918 – Astrid Varnay, Swedish-American soprano and actress (d. 2006)
1919 – Finn Helgesen, Norwegian speed skater (d. 2011)
1921 – Karel Appel, Dutch painter and sculptor (d. 2006)
1923 – Francis Graham-Smith, English astronomer and academic
1923 – Melissa Hayden, Canadian ballerina (d. 2006)
1923 – Albert King, African-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1992)
1924 – Ingemar Johansson, Swedish race walker (d. 2009)
1924 – Franco Mannino, Italian pianist, composer, director, and playwright (d. 2005)
1924 – Paulo Vanzolini, Brazilian singer-songwriter and zoologist (d. 2013)
1925 – Tony Christopher, Baron Christopher, English trade union leader and businessman
1925 – Sammy Drechsel, German comedian and journalist (d. 1986)
1925 – Louis O’Neil, Canadian academic and politician (d. 2018)
1926 – Johnny Craig, American author and illustrator (d. 2001)
1926 – Gertrude Fröhlich-Sandner, Austrian politician (d. 2008)
1926 – Patricia Castell, Argentine actress (d. 2013)
1927 – Corín Tellado, Spanish author (d. 2009)
1927 – Albert Uderzo, French author and illustrator (d. 2020)
1928 – Cy Twombly, American-Italian painter and sculptor (d. 2011)
1929 – Yvette Williams, New Zealand long jumper, shot putter, and discus thrower (d. 2019)
1930 – Paul Mazursky, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
1930 – Godfrey Milton-Thompson, English admiral and surgeon (d. 2012)
1930 – Peter Schulz, German lawyer and politician, Mayor of Hamburg (d. 2013)
1931 – Felix Berezin, Russian mathematician and physicist (d. 1980)
1931 – David Shepherd, English painter and author (d. 2017)
1932 – Nikolai Kardashev, Russian astrophysicist (d. 2019)
1932 – Meadowlark Lemon, African-American basketball player and minister (d. 2015)
1932 – Lia Manoliu, Romanian discus thrower and politician (d. 1998)
1933 – Jerry Leiber, American songwriter and producer (d. 2011)
1933 – Joyce Ricketts, American baseball player (d. 1992)
1934 – Peter McParland, Northern Irish footballer and manager
1935 – Bob Gutowski, American pole vaulter (d. 1960)
1935 – Reinier Kreijermaat, Dutch footballer (d. 2018)
1936 – Henck Arron, Surinamese banker and politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Republic of Suriname (d. 2000)
1938 – Roger Boisjoly, American aerodynamicist and engineer (d. 2012)
1938 – Ton Schulten, Dutch painter and graphic designer
1939 – Tarcisio Burgnich, Italian footballer and manager
1939 – Michael Llewellyn-Smith, English academic and diplomat
1939 – Robert Skidelsky, Baron Skidelsky, English historian and academic
1939 – Veronica Sutherland, English academic and British diplomat
1940 – Al Pacino, American actor and director
1941 – Bertrand Tavernier, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1942 – Jon Kyl, American lawyer and politician
1943 – Tony Christie, English singer-songwriter and actor
1944 – Len Goodman, English dancer
1944 – Mike Kogel, German singer-songwriter
1944 – Stephen Nickell, English economist and academic
1944 – Bruce Ponder, English geneticist and cancer researcher
1945 – Stu Cook, American bass player, songwriter, and producer
1945 – Richard C. Hoagland, American theorist and author
1945 – Björn Ulvaeus, Swedish singer-songwriter and producer
1946 – Talia Shire, American actress
1946 – Peter Sutherland, Irish lawyer and politician, Attorney General of Ireland
1946 – Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian colonel, lawyer, and politician
1947 – Johan Cruyff, Dutch footballer and manager (d. 2016)
1947 – Jeffrey DeMunn, American actor
1948 – Mike Selvey, English cricketer and sportscaster
1948 – Yu Shyi-kun, Taiwanese politician, 39th Premier of the Republic of China
1949 – Vicente Pernía, Argentinian footballer and race car driver
1949 – Dominique Strauss-Kahn, French economist, lawyer, and politician, French Minister of Finance
1949 – James Fenton, English poet, journalist and literary critic
1950 – Donnell Deeny, Northern Irish lawyer and judge
1950 – Steve Ferrone, English drummer
1950 – Peter Hintze, German politician (d. 2016)
1950 – Valentyna Kozyr, Ukrainian high jumper
1951 – Ian McCartney, Scottish politician, Minister of State for Trade
1952 – Ketil Bjørnstad, Norwegian pianist and composer
1952 – Vladislav Tretiak, Russian ice hockey player and coach
1952 – Jacques Santini, French footballer and coach
1953 – Ron Clements, American animator, producer, and screenwriter
1953 – Gary Cosier, Australian cricketer
1953 – Anthony Venables, English economist, author, and academic
1954 – Melvin Burgess, English author
1954 – Randy Cross, American football player and sportscaster
1954 – Róisín Shortall, Irish educator and politician
1955 – Américo Gallego, Argentinian footballer and coach
1955 – Parviz Parastui, Iranian actor and singer
1955 – Zev Siegl, American businessman, co-founded Starbucks
1956 – Dominique Blanc, French actress, director, and screenwriter
1956 – Abdalla Uba Adamu, Nigerian professor, media scholar
1957 – Theo de Rooij, Dutch cyclist and manager
1958 – Fish, Scottish singer-songwriter
1958 – Misha Glenny, British journalist
1959 – Paul Madden, English diplomat, British High Commissioner to Australia
1959 – Daniel Kash, Canadian actor and director
1959 – Tony Phillips, American baseball player (d. 2016)
1960 – Paul Baloff, American singer (d. 2002)
1960 – Robert Peston, English journalist
1960 – Bruce Redman, Australian director, producer, and critic
1961 – Dinesh D’Souza, Indian-American journalist and author
1961 – Miran Tepeš, Slovenian ski jumper
1962 – Foeke Booy, Dutch footballer and manager
1963 – Joy Covey, American businesswoman (d. 2013)
1963 – Dave Martin, English footballer
1963 – David Moyes, Scottish footballer and manager
1963 – Bernd Müller, German footballer and manager
1963 – Paul Wassif, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1964 – Hank Azaria, American actor, voice artist, comedian and producer
1964 – Andy Bell, English singer-songwriter
1965 – Eric Avery, American bass player and songwriter
1965 – Mark Bryant, American basketball player and coach
1965 – John Henson, American puppeteer and voice actor (d. 2014)
1966 – Diego Domínguez, Argentinian-Italian rugby player
1966 – Femke Halsema, Dutch sociologist, academic, and politician
1966 – Darren Holmes, American baseball player and coach
1966 – Erik Pappas, American baseball player and coach
1967 – Angel Martino, American swimmer
1968 – Vitaliy Kyrylenko, Ukrainian long jumper
1968 – Thomas Strunz, German footballer
1969 – Joe Buck, American sportscaster
1969 – Martin Koolhoven, Dutch director and screenwriter
1969 – Jon Olsen, American swimmer
1969 – Darren Woodson, American football player and sportscaster
1969 – Renée Zellweger, American actress and producer
1970 – Jason Lee, American skateboarder, actor, comedian and producer
1971 – Sara Baras, Spanish dancer
1971 – Brad Clontz, American baseball player
1973 – Carlota Castrejana, Spanish triple jumper
1973 – Fredrik Larzon, Swedish drummer
1973 – Barbara Rittner, German tennis player
1975 – Jacque Jones, American baseball player and coach
1976 – Gilberto da Silva Melo, Brazilian footballer
1976 – Tim Duncan, American basketball player
1976 – Breyton Paulse, South African rugby player
1976 – Rainer Schüttler, German tennis player and coach
