1302

  • July 31 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 30 BC – Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian’s forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.
    • 781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: 6th day of the 7th month of the 1st year of the Ten’o (天応) era).
    • 1009 – Pope Sergius IV becomes the 142nd pope, succeeding Pope John XVIII.
    • 1201 – Attempted usurpation by John Komnenos the Fat for the throne of Alexios III Angelos.
    • 1423 – Hundred Years’ War: Battle of Cravant: The French army is defeated by the English at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne.
    • 1451 – Jacques Cœur is arrested by order of Charles VII of France.
    • 1492 – The Jews are expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree takes effect.
    • 1498 – On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad.
    • 1588 – The Spanish Armada is spotted off the coast of England.
    • 1618 – Maurice, Prince of Orange disbands the waardgelders militia in Utrecht, a pivotal event in the Remonstrant/Counter-Remonstrant tensions.
    • 1655 – Russo-Polish War (1654–67): The Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for six years.
    • 1658 – Aurangzeb is proclaimed Mughal emperor of India.
    • 1703 – Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers.
    • 1712 – Action of 31 July 1712 (Great Northern War): Danish and Swedish ships clash in the Baltic Sea; the result is inconclusive.
    • 1715 – Seven days after a Spanish treasure fleet of 12 ships left Havana, Cuba for Spain, 11 of them sink in a storm off the coast of Florida. A few centuries later, treasure is salvaged from these wrecks.
    • 1741 – Charles Albert of Bavaria invades Upper Austria and Bohemia.
    • 1763 – Odawa Chief Pontiac’s forces defeat British troops at the Battle of Bloody Run during Pontiac’s War.
    • 1777 – The U.S. Second Continental Congress passes a resolution that the services of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette “be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States.”
    • 1790 – The first U.S. patent is issued, to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.
    • 1856 – Christchurch, New Zealand is chartered as a city.
    • 1865 – The first narrow-gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Queensland, Australia.
    • 1874 – Dr. Patrick Francis Healy became the first African-American inaugurated as president of a predominantly white university, Georgetown University.
    • 1904 – Russo-Japanese War: Battle of Hsimucheng: Units of the Imperial Japanese Army defeat units of the Imperial Russian Army in a strategic confrontation.
    • 1913 – The Balkan States sign an armistice in Bucharest.
    • 1917 – World War I: The Battle of Passchendaele begins near Ypres in West Flanders, Belgium.
    • 1919 – German national assembly adopts the Weimar Constitution, which comes into force on August 14.
    • 1932 – The NSDAP (Nazi Party) wins more than 38% of the vote in German elections.
    • 1938 – Bulgaria signs a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanti (Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia).
    • 1938 – Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis.
    • 1941 – The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring, orders SS General Reinhard Heydrich to “submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired Final Solution of the Jewish question.”
    • 1941 – World War II: The Battle of Smolensk concludes with Germany capturing about 300,000 Soviet Red Army prisoners.
    • 1945 – Pierre Laval, the fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrenders to Allied soldiers in Austria.
    • 1948 – At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.
    • 1948 – USS Nevada is sunk by an aerial torpedo after surviving hits from two atomic bombs (as part of post-war tests) and being used for target practice by three other ships.
    • 1964 – Ranger program: Ranger 7 sends back the first close-up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes.
    • 1970 – Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy.
    • 1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover.
    • 1972 – The Troubles: In Operation Motorman, the British Army re-takes the urban no-go areas of Northern Ireland. It is the biggest British military operation since the Suez Crisis of 1956, and the biggest in Ireland since the Irish War of Independence. Later that day, nine civilians are killed by car bombs in the village of Claudy.
    • 1973 – A Delta Air Lines jetliner, flight DL 723 crashes while landing in fog at Logan International Airport, Boston, Massachusetts killing 89.
    • 1975 – The Troubles: three members of a popular cabaret band and two gunmen are killed during a botched paramilitary attack in Northern Ireland.
    • 1987 – A tornado occurs in Edmonton, Canada.
    • 1988 – Thirty-two people are killed and 1,674 injured when a bridge at the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal collapses in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia.
    • 1991 – The United States and Soviet Union both sign the START I Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the first to reduce (with verification) both countries’ stockpiles.
    • 1992 – The nation of Georgia joins the United Nations.
    • 1992 – Thai Airways International Flight 311 crashes into a mountain north of Kathmandu, Nepal killing all 113 people on board.
    • 1999 – Discovery Program: Lunar Prospector: NASA intentionally crashes the spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the Moon’s surface.
    • 2006 – Fidel Castro hands over power to his brother, Raúl.
    • 2007 – Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end.
    • 2012 – Michael Phelps breaks the record set in 1964 by Larisa Latynina for the most medals won at the Olympics.
    • 2014 – Gas explosions in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung kill at least 20 people and injure more than 270.

    Births on July 31

    • 1143 – Emperor Nijō of Japan (d. 1165)
    • 1396 – Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1467)
    • 1526 – Augustus, Elector of Saxony (d. 1586)
    • 1527 – Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1576)
    • 1595 – Philipp Wolfgang, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (d. 1641)
    • 1598 – Alessandro Algardi, Italian sculptor (d. 1654)
    • 1686 – Charles of France, Duke of Berry (d. 1714)
    • 1702 – Jean Denis Attiret, French missionary and painter (d. 1768)
    • 1704 – Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1752)
    • 1718 – John Canton, English physicist and academic (d. 1772)
    • 1724 – Noël François de Wailly, French lexicographer and author (d. 1801)
    • 1759 – Ignaz Anton von Indermauer, Austrian nobleman and government official (d. 1796)
    • 1777 – Pedro Ignacio de Castro Barros, Argentinian priest and politician (d. 1849)
    • 1796 – Jean-Gaspard Deburau, Czech-French actor and mime (d. 1846)
    • 1800 – Friedrich Wöhler, German chemist and academic (d. 1882)
    • 1803 – John Ericsson, Swedish-American engineer, co-designed the USS Princeton and the Novelty Locomotive (d. 1889)
    • 1816 – George Henry Thomas, American general (d. 1870)
    • 1826 – William S. Clark, American colonel and politician (d. 1886)
    • 1835 – Henri Brisson, French lawyer and politician, 50th Prime Minister of France (d. 1912)
    • 1835 – Paul Du Chaillu, French-American anthropologist and explorer (d. 1903)
    • 1836 – Vasily Sleptsov, Russian author and activist (d. 1878)
    • 1837 – William Quantrill, American captain (d. 1865)
    • 1839 – Ignacio Andrade, Venezuelan general and politician, 25th President of Venezuela (d. 1925)
    • 1843 – Peter Rosegger, Austrian poet and author (d. 1918)
    • 1847 – Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban pianist and composer (d. 1905)
    • 1854 – José Canalejas, Spanish academic and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1912)
    • 1858 – Richard Dixon Oldham, English seismologist and geologist (d. 1936)
    • 1858 – Marion Talbot, influential American educator (d. 1948)
    • 1860 – Mary Vaux Walcott, American painter and illustrator (d. 1940)
    • 1867 – S. S. Kresge, American businessman, founded Kmart (d. 1966)
    • 1875 – Jacques Villon, French painter (d. 1963)
    • 1877 – Louisa Bolus, South African botanist and taxonomist (d. 1970)
    • 1880 – Premchand, Indian author and playwright (d. 1936)
    • 1883 – Ramón Fonst, Cuban fencer (d. 1959)
    • 1884 – Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, Polish-German economist and politician (d. 1945)
    • 1886 – Salvatore Maranzano, Italian-American mob boss (d. 1931)
    • 1886 – Fred Quimby, American animation producer (d. 1965)
    • 1887 – Hans Freyer, German sociologist and philosopher (d. 1969)
    • 1892 – Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist and publisher, founded Worldwide Church of God (d. 1986)
    • 1892 – Joseph Charbonneau, Canadian archbishop (d. 1959)
    • 1894 – Fred Keenor, Welsh footballer (d. 1972)
    • 1901 – Jean Dubuffet, French painter and sculptor (d. 1985)
    • 1902 – Gubby Allen, Australian-English cricketer and soldier (d. 1989)
    • 1904 – Brett Halliday, American engineer, surveyor, and author (d. 1977)
    • 1909 – Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, Austrian theorist and author (d. 1999)
    • 1911 – George Liberace, American violinist (d. 1983)
    • 1912 – Bill Brown, Australian cricketer (d. 2008)
    • 1912 – Milton Friedman, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006)
    • 1912 – Irv Kupcinet, American football player and journalist (d. 2003)
    • 1913 – Bryan Hextall, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1984)
    • 1914 – Paul J. Christiansen, American conductor and composer (d. 1997)
    • 1914 – Louis de Funès, French actor and screenwriter (d. 1983)
    • 1916 – Sibte Hassan, Pakistani journalist, scholar, and activist (d. 1986)
    • 1916 – Billy Hitchcock, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2006)
    • 1916 – Bill Todman, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1979)
    • 1918 – Paul D. Boyer, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018)
    • 1918 – Hank Jones, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2010)
    • 1918 – Frank Renouf, New Zealand businessman and financier (d. 1998)
    • 1919 – Hemu Adhikari, Indian cricketer (d. 2003)
    • 1919 – Curt Gowdy, American sportscaster and actor (d. 2006)
    • 1919 – Primo Levi, Italian chemist and author (d. 1987)
    • 1920 – James E. Faust, American religious leader, lawyer, and politician (d. 2007)
    • 1921 – Peter Benenson, English lawyer and activist, founded Amnesty International (d. 2005)
    • 1921 – Donald Malarkey, American sergeant and author (d. 2017)
    • 1921 – Whitney Young, American activist (d. 1971)
    • 1922 – Hank Bauer, American baseball player and manager (d. 2007)
    • 1923 – Ahmet Ertegun, Turkish-American songwriter and producer, founded Atlantic Records (d. 2006)
    • 1923 – Stephanie Kwolek, American chemist and engineer, invented Kevlar (d. 2014)
    • 1924 – Jimmy Evert, American tennis player and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1925 – Carmel Quinn, Irish singer, actress and writer
    • 1925 – John Swainson, Canadian-American jurist and politician, 42nd Governor of Michigan (d. 1994)
    • 1926 – Bernard Nathanson, American physician and activist (d. 2011)
    • 1926 – Hilary Putnam, American mathematician, computer scientist, and philosopher (d. 2016)
    • 1927 – Peter Nichols, English author and playwright (d. 2019)
    • 1928 – Bill Frenzel, American lieutenant and politician (d. 2014)
    • 1929 – Lynne Reid Banks, English author
    • 1929 – Gilles Carle, Canadian director and screenwriter (d. 2009)
    • 1929 – Don Murray, American actor
    • 1929 – José Santamaría, Uruguayan footballer and manager
    • 1931 – Nick Bollettieri, American tennis player and coach
    • 1931 – Kenny Burrell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1932 – Ted Cassidy, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1979)
    • 1932 – John Searle, American philosopher and academic
    • 1933 – Cees Nooteboom, Dutch journalist, author, and poet
    • 1935 – Yvon Deschamps, Canadian comedian, actor, and producer
    • 1935 – Geoffrey Lewis, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2015)
    • 1939 – Steuart Bedford, English pianist and conductor
    • 1939 – Susan Flannery, American actress
    • 1939 – France Nuyen, Vietnamese-French actress
    • 1941 – Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician, 8th Chief Minister of Gujarat (d. 2004)
    • 1943 – William Bennett, American journalist and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Education
    • 1943 – Lobo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1944 – Geraldine Chaplin, American actress and screenwriter
    • 1944 – Jonathan Dimbleby, English journalist and author
    • 1944 – Sherry Lansing, American film producer
    • 1944 – Robert C. Merton, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1944 – David Norris, Irish scholar and politician
    • 1945 – William Weld, American lawyer and politician, 68th Governor of Massachusetts
    • 1946 – Gary Lewis, American pop-rock musician
    • 1947 – Karl Green, English bass player and songwriter (Herman’s Hermits)
    • 1947 – Richard Griffiths, English actor (d. 2013)
    • 1947 – Mumtaz, Indian actress
    • 1947 – Hubert Védrine, French politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs
    • 1947 – Ian Beck, English children’s illustrator and author
    • 1948 – Russell Morris, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1949 – Mike Jackson, American basketball player
    • 1949 – Alan Meale, English journalist and politician
    • 1950 – Richard Berry, French actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1951 – Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Australian tennis player
    • 1952 – Chris Ahrens, American ice hockey player
    • 1952 – Alan Autry, American football player, actor, and politician, 23rd Mayor of Fresno, California
    • 1952 – Helmuts Balderis, Latvian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1952 – João Barreiros, Portuguese author and critic
    • 1952 – Faye Kellerman, American author
    • 1953 – Ted Baillieu, Australian architect and politician, 46th Premier of Victoria
    • 1953 – Jimmy Cook, South African cricketer and coach
    • 1953 – Hugh McDowell, English cellist
    • 1954 – Derek Smith, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1956 – Michael Biehn, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1956 – Bill Callahan, American football player and coach
    • 1956 – Ron Kuby, American lawyer and radio host
    • 1956 – Deval Patrick, American lawyer and politician, 71st Governor of Massachusetts
    • 1956 – Lynne Rae Perkins, American author and illustrator
    • 1957 – Daniel Ash, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1957 – Mark Thompson, English business executive
    • 1958 – Bill Berry, American drummer and songwriter
    • 1958 – Mark Cuban, American businessman and television personality
    • 1958 – Suzanne Giraud, French music editor and composer
    • 1959 – Stanley Jordan, American guitarist, pianist, and songwriter
    • 1959 – Andrew Marr, Scottish journalist and author
    • 1959 – Kim Newman, English journalist and author
    • 1960 – Dale Hunter, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1960 – Malcolm Ross, Scottish guitarist and songwriter
    • 1961 – Frank Gardner, English captain and journalist
    • 1961 – Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Nigerian banker, royal
    • 1962 – John Chiang, American lawyer and politician, 31st California State Controller
    • 1962 – Kevin Greene, American football player and coach
    • 1962 – Wesley Snipes, American actor and producer
    • 1963 – Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim), English DJ and musician
    • 1963 – Fergus Henderson, English chef and author
    • 1963 – Brian Skrudland, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1964 – Jim Corr, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1964 – Urmas Hepner, Estonian footballer and coach
    • 1965 – Scott Brooks, American basketball player and coach
    • 1965 – John Laurinaitis, American wrestler and producer
    • 1965 – Ian Roberts, English-Australian rugby league player and actor
    • 1965 – J. K. Rowling, English author and film producer
    • 1966 – Dean Cain, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1967 – Tony Massenburg, American basketball player
    • 1967 – Tim Wright, Welsh composer
    • 1968 – Saeed-Al-Saffar, Emirati cricketer
    • 1968 – Julian Richards, Welsh director and producer
    • 1969 – Antonio Conte, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1969 – Loren Dean, American actor
    • 1969 – Kenneth D. Schisler, American lawyer and politician
    • 1970 – Ahmad Akbarpour, Iranian author and poet
    • 1970 – Ben Chaplin, English actor
    • 1970 – Andrzej Kobylański, Polish footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Giorgos Sigalas, Greek basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1971 – Gus Frerotte, American football player and coach
    • 1973 – Nathan Brown, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1974 – Emilia Fox, English actress
    • 1974 – Leona Naess, American-English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1974 – Jonathan Ogden, American football player
    • 1975 – Randy Flores, American baseball player and coach
    • 1975 – Andrew Hall, South African cricketer
    • 1975 – Gabe Kapler, American baseball player and manager
    • 1976 – Joshua Cain, American guitarist and producer
    • 1976 – Paulo Wanchope, Costa Rican footballer and manager
    • 1978 – Zac Brown, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1978 – Nick Sorensen, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1978 – Justin Wilson, English race car driver (d. 2015)
    • 1979 – Jaco Erasmus, South African-Italian rugby player
    • 1979 – J.J. Furmaniak, American baseball player
    • 1979 – Per Krøldrup, Danish footballer
    • 1979 – Carlos Marchena, Spanish footballer
    • 1979 – B.J. Novak, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1980 – Mikko Hirvonen, Finnish race car driver
    • 1980 – Mils Muliaina, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1981 – Titus Bramble, English footballer
    • 1981 – Vernon Carey, American football player
    • 1981 – Paul Whatuira, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1981 – M. Shadows, American musician, lead singer of Avenged Sevenfold
    • 1982 – Anabel Medina Garrigues, Spanish tennis player
    • 1982 – DeMarcus Ware, American football player
    • 1985 – Daniel Ciofani, Italian footballer
    • 1985 – Rémy Di Gregorio, French cyclist
    • 1986 – Evgeni Malkin, Russian ice hockey player
    • 1986 – Brian Orakpo, American football player
    • 1987 – Michael Bradley, American soccer player
    • 1988 – Alex Glenn, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1989 – Victoria Azarenka, Belorussian tennis player
    • 1991 – Réka Luca Jani, Hungarian tennis player
    • 1992 – José Fernández, Cuban baseball player (d. 2016)
    • 1992 – Ryan Johansen, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1992 – Kyle Larson, American race car driver
    • 1994 – Lil Uzi Vert, American hip hop artist

    Deaths on July 31

    • 54 BC – Aurelia Cotta, Roman mother of Gaius Julius Caesar (b. 120 BC)
    • 450 – Peter Chrysologus, Italian bishop and saint (b. 380)
    • 910 – Feng Xingxi, Chinese warlord
    • 975 – Fu Yanqing, Chinese general (b. 898)
    • 1098 – Hugh of Montgomery, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury
    • 1358 – Étienne Marcel, French rebel leader (b. 1302)
    • 1396 – William Courtenay, English archbishop and politician, Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom (b. 1342)
    • 1508 – Na’od, Ethiopian emperor
    • 1556 – Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish priest and theologian, founded the Society of Jesus (b. 1491)
    • 1616 – Roger Wilbraham, Solicitor-General for Ireland (b. 1553)
    • 1638 – Sibylla Schwarz, German poet (b. 1621)
    • 1653 – Thomas Dudley, English soldier and politician, 3rd Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony (b. 1576)
    • 1693 – Willem Kalf, Dutch still life painter (b. 1619)
    • 1726 – Nicolaus II Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician and theorist (b. 1695)
    • 1750 – John V, king of Portugal (b. 1689)
    • 1762 – Luis Vicente de Velasco e Isla, Spanish sailor and commander (b. 1711)
    • 1781 – John Bligh, 3rd Earl of Darnley, British parliamentarian (b. 1719)
    • 1784 – Denis Diderot, French philosopher and critic (b. 1713)
    • 1805 – Dheeran Chinnamalai, Indian soldier (b. 1756)
    • 1864 – Louis Christophe François Hachette, French publisher (b. 1800)
    • 1875 – Andrew Johnson, American general and politician, 17th President of the United States (b. 1808)
    • 1884 – Kiến Phúc, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1869)
    • 1886 – Franz Liszt, Hungarian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1811)
    • 1891 – Jean-Baptiste Capronnier, Belgian stained glass painter (b. 1814)
    • 1913 – John Milne, British geologist and mining engineer. (b. 1850)
    • 1914 – Jean Jaurès, French journalist and politician (b. 1859)
    • 1917 – Hedd Wyn, Welsh language poet (b. 1887)
    • 1917 – Francis Ledwidge, Irish soldier and poet (b. 1881)
    • 1920 – Ion Dragoumis, Greek philosopher and diplomat (b. 1878)
    • 1940 – Udham Singh, Indian activist (b. 1899)
    • 1943 – Hedley Verity, English cricketer and soldier (b. 1905)
    • 1942 – Francis Younghusband, British Army Officer, explorer and spiritual writer (b.1863)
    • 1944 – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French pilot and poet (b. 1900)
    • 1953 – Robert A. Taft, American soldier and politician (b. 1889)
    • 1954 – Onofre Marimón, Argentinian race car driver (b. 1923)
    • 1958 – Eino Kaila, Finnish philosopher and psychologist, attendant of the Vienna circle (b. 1890)
    • 1964 – Jim Reeves, American singer-songwriter (b. 1923)
    • 1966 – Bud Powell, American pianist (b. 1924)
    • 1968 – Jack Pizzey, Australian politician, 29th Premier of Queensland (b. 1911)
    • 1971 – Walter P. Carter, American soldier and activist (b. 1923)
    • 1972 – Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian lawyer and politician, 40th Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1899)
    • 1973 – Azumafuji Kin’ichi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 40th Yokozuna (b. 1921)
    • 1979 – Beatrix Lehmann, English actress and director (b. 1903)
    • 1980 – Pascual Jordan, German physicist, author, and academic (b. 1902)
    • 1980 – Mohammed Rafi, Indian playback singer (b. 1924)
    • 1981 – Omar Torrijos, Panamanian general and politician, Military Leader of Panama (b. 1929)
    • 1985 – Eugene Carson Blake, American religious leader (b. 1906)
    • 1986 – Chiune Sugihara, Japanese diplomat (b. 1900)
    • 1987 – Joseph E. Levine, American film producer (b, 1905)
    • 1990 – Albert Leduc, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902)
    • 1992 – Leonard Cheshire, English captain and pilot (b. 1917)
    • 1992 – Md. Abdul Wajed Chowdhury, Bangladeshi politician.
    • 1993 – Baudouin, King of Belgium (b. 1930)
    • 2000 – William Keepers Maxwell Jr., American editor, novelist, short story writer, and essayist (b. 1908)
    • 2001 – Francisco da Costa Gomes, Portuguese general and politician, 15th President of Portugal (b. 1914)
    • 2001 – Friedrich Franz, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (b. 1910)
    • 2003 – Guido Crepax, Italian author and illustrator (b. 1933)
    • 2004 – Virginia Grey, American actress (b. 1917)
    • 2005 – Wim Duisenberg, Dutch economist and politician, 1st President of the European Central Bank (b. 1935)
    • 2009 – Bobby Robson, English footballer and manager (b. 1933)
    • 2009 – Harry Alan Towers, English-Canadian screenwriter and producer (b. 1920)
    • 2012 – Mollie Hunter, Scottish author and playwright (b. 1922)
    • 2012 – Alfredo Ramos, Brazilian footballer and coach (b. 1924)
    • 2012 – Gore Vidal, American novelist, screenwriter, and critic (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Tony Sly, American musician, singer-songwriter (b. 1970)
    • 2013 – Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor (b. 1922)
    • 2013 – Michel Donnet, English-Belgian general and pilot (b. 1917)
    • 2013 – John Graves, American captain and author (b. 1920)
    • 2013 – Trevor Storer, English businessman, founded Pukka Pies (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Warren Bennis, American scholar, author, and academic (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – Nabarun Bhattacharya, Indian journalist and author (b. 1948)
    • 2014 – Jeff Bourne, English footballer (b. 1948)
    • 2014 – Wilfred Feinberg, American lawyer and judge (b. 1920)
    • 2015 – Alan Cheuse, American writer and critic (b. 1940)
    • 2015 – Howard W. Jones, American surgeon and academic (b. 1910)
    • 2015 – Billy Pierce, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1927)
    • 2015 – Roddy Piper, Canadian wrestler and actor (b. 1954)
    • 2015 – Richard Schweiker, American soldier and politician, 14th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (b. 1926)
    • 2016 – Chiyonofuji Mitsugu, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 58th Yokozuna (b. 1955)
    • 2016 – Seymour Papert, South African mathematician (b. 1928)
    • 2017 – Jeanne Moreau, French actress (b. 1928)
    • 2018 – Tony Bullimore, British sailor & businessman (b. 1939)
    • 2019 – Harold Prince, noted Broadway producer and director, who received more Tony awards than anyone else in history (b. 1928)

    Holidays and observances on July 31

    • Christian feast day:
      • Abanoub
      • Germanus of Auxerre
      • Ignatius of Loyola
      • Neot
      • July 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Earliest day on which the Feast of Kamál (Perfection) can fall, while August 1 is the latest; observed on the first day of the eighth month of the Bahá’í calendar. (Bahá’í Faith)
    • End of the Trinity term (sitting of the High Court of Justice of England)
    • Ka Hae Hawaiʻi Day (Hawaii, United States), and its related observance:
      • Sovereignty Restoration Day (Hawaiian sovereignty movement)
    • Martyrdom Day of Shahid Udham Singh (Haryana and Punjab, India)
    • Treasury Day (Poland)
    • Warriors’ Day (Malaysia)

  • July 27 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1054 – Siward, Earl of Northumbria, invades Scotland and defeats Macbeth, King of Scotland somewhere north of the Firth of Forth.
    • 1189 – Friedrich Barbarossa arrives at Niš, the capital of Serbian King Stefan Nemanja, during the Third Crusade.
    • 1202 – Georgian–Seljuk wars: At the Battle of Basian the Kingdom of Georgia defeats the Sultanate of Rum.
    • 1214 – Battle of Bouvines: Philip II of France decisively defeats Imperial, English and Flemish armies, effectively ending John of England’s Angevin Empire.
    • 1299 – According to Edward Gibbon, Osman I invades the territory of Nicomedia for the first time, usually considered to be the founding day of the Ottoman state.
    • 1302 – Battle of Bapheus: Decisive Ottoman victory over the Byzantines opening up Bithynia for Turkish conquest.
    • 1549 – The Jesuit priest Francis Xavier’s ship reaches Japan.
    • 1663 – The English Parliament passes the second Navigation Act requiring that all goods bound for the American colonies have to be sent in English ships from English ports. After the Acts of Union 1707, Scotland would be included in the Act.
    • 1689 – Glorious Revolution: The Battle of Killiecrankie is a victory for the Jacobites.
    • 1694 – A Royal charter is granted to the Bank of England.
    • 1775 – Founding of the U.S. Army Medical Department: The Second Continental Congress passes legislation establishing “an hospital for an army consisting of 20,000 men.”
    • 1778 – American Revolution: First Battle of Ushant: British and French fleets fight to a standoff.
    • 1789 – The first U.S. federal government agency, the Department of Foreign Affairs, is established (it will be later renamed Department of State).
    • 1794 – French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre is arrested after encouraging the execution of more than 17,000 “enemies of the Revolution”.
    • 1816 – Battle of Negro Fort: The battle ends when a hot shot cannonball fired by US Navy Gunboat No. 154 explodes the Fort’s Powder Magazine, killing approximately 275. It is considered the deadliest single cannon shot in US history.
    • 1857 – Siege of Arrah begins: Sixty-eight men hold out for eight days against a force of 2,500 to 3,000 mutinying sepoys and 8,000 irregular forces.
    • 1865 – Welsh settlers arrive at Chubut in Argentina.
    • 1866 – The first permanent transatlantic telegraph cable is successfully completed, stretching from Valentia Island, Ireland, to Heart’s Content, Newfoundland.
    • 1880 – Second Anglo-Afghan War: Battle of Maiwand: Afghan forces led by Mohammad Ayub Khan defeat the British Army in battle near Maiwand, Afghanistan.
    • 1890 – Vincent van Gogh shoots himself and dies two days later.
    • 1900 – Kaiser Wilhelm II makes a speech comparing Germans to Huns; for years afterwards, “Hun” would be a disparaging name for Germans.
    • 1917 – World War I: The Allies reach the Yser Canal at the Battle of Passchendaele.
    • 1919 – The Chicago Race Riot erupts after a racial incident occurred on a South Side beach, leading to 38 fatalities and 537 injuries over a five-day period.
    • 1921 – Researchers at the University of Toronto, led by biochemist Frederick Banting, prove that the hormone insulin regulates blood sugar.
    • 1929 – The Geneva Convention of 1929, dealing with treatment of prisoners-of-war, is signed by 53 nations.
    • 1940 – The animated short A Wild Hare is released, introducing the character of Bugs Bunny.
    • 1942 – World War II: Allied forces successfully halt the final Axis advance into Egypt.
    • 1949 – Initial flight of the de Havilland Comet, the first jet-powered airliner.
    • 1953 – Cessation of hostilities is achieved in the Korean War when the United States, China, and North Korea sign an armistice agreement. Syngman Rhee, President of South Korea, refuses to sign but pledges to observe the armistice.
    • 1955 – The Austrian State Treaty restores Austrian sovereignty.
    • 1955 – El Al Flight 402 is shot down by two fighter jets after straying into Bulgarian air space. All 58 people onboard are killed.
    • 1959 – The Continental League is announced as baseball’s “3rd major league” in the United States.
    • 1964 – Vietnam War: Five thousand more American military advisers are sent to South Vietnam bringing the total number of United States forces in Vietnam to 21,000.
    • 1974 – Watergate scandal: The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee votes 27 to 11 to recommend the first article of impeachment (for obstruction of justice) against President Richard Nixon.
    • 1975 – Mayor of Jaffna and former MP Alfred Duraiappah is shot dead.
    • 1976 – Former Japanese prime minister Kakuei Tanaka is arrested on suspicion of violating foreign exchange and foreign trade laws in connection with the Lockheed bribery scandals.
    • 1981 – While landing at Chihuahua International Airport, Aeromexico Flight 230 overshoots the runway. Thirty-two of the 66 passengers and crew on board the DC-9 are killed.[2]
    • 1983 – Black July: Eighteen Tamil political prisoners at the Welikada high security prison in Colombo are massacred by Sinhalese prisoners, the second such massacre in two days.
    • 1987 – RMS Titanic Inc. begins the first expedited salvage of wreckage of the RMS Titanic.
    • 1989 – While attempting to land at Tripoli International Airport in Libya, Korean Air Flight 803 crashes just short of the runway. Seventy-five of the 199 passengers and crew and four people on the ground are killed, in the second accident involving a DC-10 in less than two weeks, the first being United Airlines Flight 232.
    • 1990 – The Supreme Soviet of the Belarusian Soviet Republic declares independence of Belarus from the Soviet Union. Until 1996 the day is celebrated as the Independence Day of Belarus; after a referendum held that year the celebration of independence is moved to June 3.
    • 1990 – The Jamaat al Muslimeen attempt a coup d’état in Trinidad and Tobago.
    • 1995 – The Korean War Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C..
    • 1996 – In Atlanta, United States, a pipe bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996 Summer Olympics.
    • 1997 – About 50 people are killed in the Si Zerrouk massacre in Algeria.
    • 2002 – Ukraine airshow disaster: A Sukhoi Su-27 fighter crashes during an air show at Lviv, Ukraine killing 77 and injuring more than 500 others, making it the deadliest air show disaster in history.
    • 2005 – After an incident during STS-114, NASA grounds the Space Shuttle, pending an investigation of the continuing problem with the shedding of foam insulation from the external fuel tank.
    • 2015 – At least seven people are killed and many injured after gunmen attack an Indian police station in Punjab.
    • 2016 – At a news conference in Florida, U.S. Presidential Candidate Donald Trump publicly appealed to Russia to find and release private emails from Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton; a Special Counsel investigation (2017–2019) later alleged that Russian operatives began hacking into servers at the Democratic National Committee on that same day, leading to the July 13, 2018 indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers.[3]

    Births on July 27

    • 1452 – Ludovico Sforza, Italian son of Francesco I Sforza (d. 1508)
    • 1452 – Lucrezia Crivelli, mistress of Ludovico Sforza (d. 1508)
    • 1502 – Francesco Corteccia, Italian composer (d. 1571)
    • 1578 – Frances Howard, Duchess of Richmond (d. 1639)
    • 1612 – Murad IV, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1640)
    • 1625 – Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich (d. 1672)
    • 1667 – Johann Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician and academic (d. 1748)
    • 1733 – Jeremiah Dixon, English surveyor and astronomer (d. 1779)
    • 1740 – Jeanne Baré, French explorer (d. 1803)
    • 1741 – François-Hippolyte Barthélémon, French-English violinist and composer (d. 1808)
    • 1752 – Samuel Smith, American general and politician (d. 1839)
    • 1768 – Charlotte Corday, French assassin of Jean-Paul Marat (d. 1793)
    • 1768 – Joseph Anton Koch, Austrian painter (d. 1839)
    • 1773 – Jacob Aall, Norwegian economist and politician (d. 1844)
    • 1777 – Thomas Campbell, Scottish-French poet and academic (d. 1844)
    • 1777 – Henry Trevor, 21st Baron Dacre, English general (d. 1853)
    • 1781 – Mauro Giuliani, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1828)
    • 1784 – Denis Davydov, Russian general and poet (d. 1839)
    • 1812 – Thomas Lanier Clingman, American general and politician (d. 1897)
    • 1818 – Agostino Roscelli, Italian priest and saint (d. 1902)
    • 1824 – Alexandre Dumas, fils, French novelist and playwright (d. 1895)
    • 1833 – Thomas George Bonney, English geologist, mountaineer, and academic (d. 1923)
    • 1834 – Miguel Grau Seminario, Peruvian admiral (d. 1879)
    • 1835 – Giosuè Carducci, Italian poet and educator, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1907)
    • 1848 – Loránd Eötvös, Hungarian physicist and politician, Minister of Education of Hungary (d. 1919)
    • 1848 – Friedrich Ernst Dorn, German physicist (d.1916)
    • 1853 – Vladimir Korolenko, Ukrainian journalist, author, and activist (d. 1921)
    • 1853 – Elizabeth Plankinton, American philanthropist (d. 1923)
    • 1854 – Takahashi Korekiyo, Japanese accountant and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1936)
    • 1857 – José Celso Barbosa, Puerto Rican physician, sociologist, and politician (d. 1921)
    • 1857 – Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge, English Egyptologist, Orientalist, and philologist (d.1934)
    • 1858 – George Lyon, Canadian golfer and cricketer (d. 1938)
    • 1866 – António José de Almeida, Portuguese physician and politician, 6th President of Portugal (d. 1929)
    • 1867 – Enrique Granados, Spanish pianist and composer (d. 1916)
    • 1870 – Hilaire Belloc, French-born British writer and historian (d. 1953)
    • 1872 – Stanislav Binički, Serbian composer, conductor, and pedagogue. (d. 1942)
    • 1879 – Francesco Gaeta, Italian poet (d. 1927)
    • 1877 – Ernő Dohnányi, Hungarian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1960)
    • 1881 – Hans Fischer, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1945)
    • 1882 – Geoffrey de Havilland, English pilot and engineer, founded the de Havilland Aircraft Company (d. 1965)
    • 1886 – Ernst May, German architect and urban planner (d. 1970)
    • 1889 – Vera Karalli, Russian ballerina, choreographer, and actress (d. 1972)
    • 1890 – Benjamin Miessner, American radio engineer and inventor (d. 1976)
    • 1890 – Armas Taipale, Finnish discus thrower and shot putter (d. 1976)
    • 1891 – Jacob van der Hoeden, Dutch-Israeli veterinarian and academic (d. 1968)
    • 1893 – Ugo Agostoni, Italian cyclist (d. 1941)
    • 1894 – Mientje Kling, Dutch actress (d. 1966)
    • 1896 – Robert George, Scottish air marshal and politician, 24th Governor of South Australia (d. 1967)
    • 1896 – Henri Longchambon, French lawyer and politician (d. 1969)
    • 1899 – Percy Hornibrook, Australian cricketer (d. 1976)
    • 1902 – Yaroslav Halan, Ukrainian playwright and publicist (d. 1949)
    • 1903 – Nikolay Cherkasov, Russian actor (d. 1966)
    • 1903 – Michail Stasinopoulos, Greek jurist and politician, President of Greece (d. 2002)
    • 1903 – Mārtiņš Zīverts, Latvian playwright (d. 1990)
    • 1904 – Lyudmila Rudenko, Soviet chess player (d. 1986)
    • 1905 – Leo Durocher, American baseball player and manager (d. 1991)
    • 1906 – Jerzy Giedroyc, Polish author and activist (d. 2000)
    • 1906 – Herbert Jasper, Canadian psychologist and neurologist (d. 1999)
    • 1907 – Ross Alexander, American stage and film actor (d. 1937)
    • 1907 – Carl McClellan Hill, African American educator and academic administrator (d. 1995)
    • 1907 – Irene Fischer, Austrian-American geodesist and mathematician (d. 2009)
    • 1908 – Joseph Mitchell, American journalist and author (d. 1996)
    • 1910 – Julien Gracq, French author and critic (d. 2007)
    • 1910 – Lupita Tovar, Mexican-American actress (d. 2016)
    • 1911 – Rayner Heppenstall, English author and poet (d. 1981)
    • 1912 – Vernon Elliott, English bassoon player, composer, and conductor (d. 1996)
    • 1913 – George L. Street III, American captain, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2000)
    • 1914 – August Sang, Estonian poet and translator (d. 1969)
    • 1915 – Mario Del Monaco, Italian tenor (d. 1982)
    • 1915 – Josef Priller, German colonel and pilot (d. 1961)
    • 1916 – Elizabeth Hardwick, American literary critic, novelist, and short story writer (d. 2007)
    • 1916 – Skippy Williams, American saxophonist and arranger (d. 1994)
    • 1916 – Keenan Wynn, American actor (d. 1986)
    • 1918 – Leonard Rose, American cellist and educator (d. 1984)
    • 1920 – Henry D. “Homer” Haynes, American comedian and musician (Homer and Jethro) (d. 1971)
    • 1921 – Garry Davis, American pilot and activist, created the World Passport (d. 2013)
    • 1921 – Émile Genest, Canadian-American actor (d. 2003)
    • 1922 – Adolfo Celi, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1986)
    • 1922 – Norman Lear, American screenwriter and producer
    • 1923 – Mas Oyama, South Korean-Japanese martial artist (d. 1994)
    • 1924 – Vincent Canby, American historian and critic (d. 2000)
    • 1924 – Otar Taktakishvili, Georgian composer and conductor (d. 1989)
    • 1927 – Guy Carawan, American singer and musicologist (d. 2015)
    • 1927 – Pierre Granier-Deferre, French director and screenwriter (d. 2007)
    • 1927 – Will Jordan, American comedian and actor (d. 2018)
    • 1927 – C. Rajadurai, Sri Lankan journalist and politician, 1st Mayor of Batticaloa
    • 1927 – John Seigenthaler, American journalist and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1928 – Joseph Kittinger, American colonel and pilot
    • 1929 – Jean Baudrillard, French sociologist and philosopher (d. 2007)
    • 1929 – Harvey Fuqua, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2010)
    • 1929 – Jack Higgins, English author and academic
    • 1929 – Marc Wilkinson, French-Australian composer and conductor
    • 1930 – Joy Whitby, English director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1930 – Shirley Williams, English academic and politician, Secretary of State for Education
    • 1931 – Khieu Samphan, Cambodian academic and politician, 28th Prime Minister of Cambodia
    • 1931 – Jerry Van Dyke, American actor (d. 2018)
    • 1932 – Forest Able, American basketball player
    • 1932 – Diane Webber, American model, dancer and actress
    • 1933 – Nick Reynolds, American singer and bongo player (d. 2008)
    • 1933 – Ted Whitten, Australian footballer and journalist (d. 1995)
    • 1935 – Hillar Kärner, Estonian chess player
    • 1935 – Billy McCullough, Northern Irish footballer
    • 1936 – J. Robert Hooper, American businessman and politician (d. 2008)
    • 1937 – Anna Dawson, English actress and singer
    • 1937 – Don Galloway, American actor (d. 2009)
    • 1937 – Robert Holmes à Court, South African-Australian businessman and lawyer (d. 1990)
    • 1938 – Gary Gygax, American game designer, co-created Dungeons & Dragons (d. 2008)
    • 1939 – William Eggleston, American photographer and academic
    • 1939 – Michael Longley, Northern Irish poet and academic
    • 1939 – Paulo Silvino, Brazilian comedian, composer and actor (d. 2017)
    • 1940 – Pina Bausch, German dancer and choreographer (d. 2009)
    • 1941 – Christian Boesch, Austrian opera singer
    • 1941 – Johannes Fritsch, German viola player and composer (d. 2010)
    • 1942 – Édith Butler, Canadian singer-songwriter
    • 1942 – John Pleshette, American actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1942 – Dennis Ralston, American tennis player
    • 1943 – Jeremy Greenstock, English diplomat, British Ambassador to the United Nations
    • 1944 – Bobbie Gentry, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1944 – Jean-Marie Leblanc, French cyclist and journalist
    • 1944 – Barbara Thomson, English saxophonist and composer
    • 1945 – Edmund M. Clarke, American computer scientist
    • 1946 – Peter Reading, English poet and author (d. 2011)
    • 1947 – Kazuyoshi Miura, Japanese businessman (d. 2008)
    • 1947 – Betty Thomas, American actress, director, and producer
    • 1948 – Peggy Fleming, American figure skater and sportscaster
    • 1948 – James Munby, English lawyer and judge
    • 1948 – Henny Vrienten, Dutch singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1949 – Maury Chaykin, American-Canadian actor (d. 2010)
    • 1949 – André Dupont, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1949 – Rory MacDonald, Scottish singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1949 – Maureen McGovern, American singer and actress
    • 1949 – Robert Rankin, English author and illustrator
    • 1950 – Simon Jones, English actor
    • 1951 – Roseanna Cunningham, Scottish lawyer and politician, Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs
    • 1951 – Bob Diamond, American-English banker and businessman
    • 1951 – Rolf Thung, Dutch tennis player
    • 1952 – Marvin Barnes, American basketball player (d. 2014)
    • 1952 – Roxanne Hart, American actress
    • 1953 – Chung Dong-young, South Korean journalist and politician, 31st South Korean Minister of Unification
    • 1953 – Yahoo Serious, Australian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1954 – Philippe Alliot, French race car driver and sportscaster
    • 1954 – G. S. Bali, Indian lawyer and politician
    • 1954 – Ricardo Uceda, Peruvian journalist and author
    • 1954 – Mark Stanway, English keyboard player Magnum
    • 1955 – Cat Bauer, American journalist, author, and playwright
    • 1955 – Allan Border, Australian cricketer and coach
    • 1955 – John Howell, English journalist and politician
    • 1955 – Bobby Rondinelli, American drummer
    • 1956 – Carol Leifer, American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer
    • 1957 – Bill Engvall, American comedian, actor, and producer
    • 1958 – Christopher Dean, English figure skater and choreographer
    • 1958 – Kimmo Hakola, Finnish composer
    • 1959 – Joe DeSa, American baseball player (d. 1986)
    • 1959 – Hugh Green, American football player
    • 1959 – Yiannos Papantoniou, French-Greek economist and politician, Greek Minister of National Defence
    • 1960 – Jo Durie, English tennis player and sportscaster
    • 1960 – Conway Savage, Australian singer-songwriter and keyboard player (d. 2018)
    • 1960 – Emily Thornberry, English lawyer and politician
    • 1961 – Ed Orgeron, American football coach[4]
    • 1962 – Neil Brooks, Australian swimmer
    • 1962 – Karl Mueller, American bass player (d. 2005)
    • 1963 – Donnie Yen, Chinese-Hong Kong actor, director, producer, and martial artist
    • 1964 – Rex Brown, American bass player and songwriter
    • 1965 – José Luis Chilavert, Paraguayan footballer
    • 1966 – Steve Tilson, English footballer and manager
    • 1967 – Rahul Bose, Indian journalist, actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1967 – Juliana Hatfield, American singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1967 – Hans Mathisen, Norwegian guitarist and composer
    • 1967 – Neil Smith, English cricketer
    • 1967 – Craig Wolanin, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1968 – Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Italian actress and producer
    • 1968 – Tom Goodwin, American baseball player and coach
    • 1968 – Sabina Jeschke, Swedish-German engineer and academic
    • 1968 – Julian McMahon, Australian actor and producer
    • 1968 – Ricardo Rosset, Brazilian race car driver
    • 1969 – Triple H, American wrestler and actor
    • 1969 – Jonty Rhodes, South African cricketer and coach
    • 1970 – Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Danish actor and producer
    • 1970 – David Davies, English-Welsh politician
    • 1971 – Matthew Johns, Australian rugby league player, sportscaster and television host
    • 1972 – Clint Robinson, Australian kayaker[5]
    • 1972 – Maya Rudolph, American actress
    • 1972 – Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, Malaysian surgeon and astronaut
    • 1973 – Cassandra Clare, American journalist and author
    • 1973 – Erik Nys, Belgian long jumper
    • 1973 – Gorden Tallis, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1974 – Eason Chan, Hong Kong singer, actor, and producer
    • 1974 – Pete Yorn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1975 – Serkan Çeliköz, Turkish keyboard player and songwriter
    • 1975 – Shea Hillenbrand, American baseball player
    • 1975 – Fred Mascherino, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1975 – Alessandro Pistone, Italian footballer
    • 1975 – Alex Rodriguez, American baseball player
    • 1976 – Demis Hassabis, English computer scientist and academic
    • 1976 – Scott Mason, Australian cricketer (d. 2005)
    • 1977 – Foo Swee Chin, Singaporean illustrator
    • 1977 – Björn Dreyer, German footballer
    • 1977 – Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Irish actor
    • 1978 – Diarmuid O’Sullivan, Irish hurler and manager
    • 1979 – Marielle Franco, Brazilian politician, feminist, and human rights activist (d. 2018)
    • 1979 – Jorge Arce, Mexican boxer
    • 1979 – Sidney Govou, French footballer
    • 1979 – Shannon Moore, American wrestler and singer
    • 1980 – Allan Davis, Australian cyclist
    • 1980 – Wesley Gonzales, Filipino basketball player
    • 1981 – Susan King Borchardt, American basketball player
    • 1981 – Collins Obuya, Kenyan cricketer
    • 1981 – Dash Snow, American painter and photographer (d. 2009)
    • 1981 – Christopher Weselek, German rugby player
    • 1982 – Neil Harbisson, English-Catalan painter, composer, and activist
    • 1983 – Lorik Cana, Albanian footballer
    • 1983 – Martijn Maaskant, Dutch cyclist
    • 1983 – Goran Pandev, Macedonian footballer
    • 1983 – Soccor Velho, Indian footballer (d. 2013)
    • 1984 – Antoine Bethea, American football player
    • 1984 – Tsuyoshi Nishioka, Japanese baseball player
    • 1984 – Max Scherzer, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Taylor Schilling, American actress
    • 1984 – Kenny Wormald, American actor, dancer, and choreographer
    • 1985 – Husain Abdullah, American football player
    • 1985 – Matteo Pratichetti, Italian rugby player
    • 1985 – Ajmal Shahzad, English cricketer
    • 1986 – DeMarre Carroll, American basketball player
    • 1986 – Ryan Flaherty, American baseball player
    • 1986 – Ryan Griffen, Australian footballer
    • 1987 – Jacoby Ford, American football player
    • 1987 – Marek Hamšík, Slovak footballer
    • 1987 – Jordan Hill, American basketball player
    • 1987 – Sarah Parsons, American ice hockey player
    • 1988 – Adam Biddle, Australian footballer
    • 1988 – Yoervis Medina, Venezuelan baseball player
    • 1988 – Ryan Tannehill, American football player
    • 1989 – Maya Ali, Pakistani actress
    • 1990 – Nick Hogan, American race car driver and actor
    • 1990 – Paolo Hurtado, Peruvian footballer
    • 1990 – Cheyenne Kimball, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1990 – Stephen Li-Chung Kuo, Taiwanese-American figure skater
    • 1990 – Kriti Sanon, Indian actress
    • 1991 – Rena Matsui, Japanese actress and singer
    • 1993 – Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Australian rugby league player
    • 1993 – Max Power, English footballer
    • 1993 – Jordan Spieth, American golfer
    • 2001 – Shin Ki-joon, South Korean actor

    Deaths on July 27

    • 903 – Abdallah II of Ifriqiya, Aghlabid emir
    • 959 – Chai Rong, emperor of Later Zhou
    • 1144 – Salomea of Berg, High Duchess consort of Poland[6]
    • 1061 – Nicholas II, pope of the Catholic Church
    • 1101 – Conrad II, king of Italy (b. 1074)
    • 1101 – Hugh d’Avranches, Earl of Chester (b. c. 1047)
    • 1158 – Geoffrey VI, Count of Anjou (b. 1134)
    • 1276 – James I of Aragon (b. 1208)
    • 1365 – Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria (b. 1339)
    • 1382 – Joanna I of Naples (b. 1326)
    • 1510 – Giovanni Sforza, Italian condottiere (b. 1466)
    • 1469 – William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (b. 1423)
    • 1656 – Salomo Glassius, German theologian and critic (b. 1593)
    • 1675 – Henri de la Tour d’Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne, French general (b. 1611)
    • 1689 – John Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee, Scottish general (b. c. 1648)[7]
    • 1759 – Pierre Louis Maupertuis, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1698)
    • 1770 – Robert Dinwiddie, Scottish merchant and politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1693)
    • 1841 – Mikhail Lermontov, Russian poet and painter (b. 1814)
    • 1844 – John Dalton, English physicist, meteorologist, and chemist (b. 1776)
    • 1863 – William Lowndes Yancey, American journalist and politician (b. 1813)
    • 1865 – Jean-Joseph Dassy, French painter and lithographer (b. 1791)
    • 1875 – Aleksander Kunileid, Estonian composer and educator (b. 1845)
    • 1876 – Albertus van Raalte, Dutch-born American minister and author (b. 1811)
    • 1883 – Montgomery Blair, American lieutenant and politician, 20th United States Postmaster General (b. 1813)
    • 1916 – Charles Fryatt, English captain (b. 1872)
    • 1916 – William Jonas, English footballer (d. 1890)
    • 1917 – Emil Theodor Kocher, Swiss physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1841)
    • 1921 – Myrddin Fardd, Welsh writer and antiquarian scholar (b. 1836)
    • 1924 – Ferruccio Busoni, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1866)
    • 1931 – Auguste Forel, Swiss neuroanatomist and psychiatrist (b. 1848)
    • 1938 – Tom Crean, Irish seaman and explorer (b. 1877)
    • 1941 – Alfred Henry O’Keeffe, New Zealand painter and educator (b. 1858)
    • 1942 – Karl Pärsimägi, Estonian painter (b. 1902)
    • 1946 – Gertrude Stein, American novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1874)
    • 1948 – Woolf Barnato, English race car driver and businessman (b. 1898)
    • 1948 – Joe Tinker, American baseball player and manager (b. 1880)
    • 1948 – Dorothea Bleek, South African anthropologist and philologist (b. 1873)
    • 1951 – Paul Kogerman, Estonian chemist and politician, 22nd Estonian Minister of Education (b. 1891)
    • 1958 – Claire Lee Chennault, American general and pilot (b. 1893)
    • 1960 – Julie Vinter Hansen, Danish-Swiss astronomer and academic (b. 1890)
    • 1962 – Richard Aldington, English poet and author (b. 1892)
    • 1962 – James H. Kindelberger, American pilot and businessman (b. 1895)
    • 1963 – Hooks Dauss, American baseball player (b. 1889)
    • 1963 – Garrett Morgan, African-American inventor (b. 1877)
    • 1964 – Winifred Lenihan, American actress, writer, and director (b. 1898)
    • 1965 – Daniel-Rops, French historian and author (b. 1901)
    • 1968 – Babe Adams, American baseball player and manager (b. 1882)
    • 1970 – António de Oliveira Salazar, Portuguese economist and politician, 100th Prime Minister of Portugal (b. 1889)
    • 1971 – Charlie Tully, Irish footballer and manager (b. 1924)
    • 1975 – Alfred Duraiappah, Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and politician (d. 1926)
    • 1978 – Bob Heffron, New Zealand-Australian miner and politician, 30th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1890)
    • 1978 – Willem van Otterloo, Dutch cellist, composer, and conductor (b. 1907)
    • 1980 – Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Iranian king (b. 1919)
    • 1981 – William Wyler, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1902)
    • 1984 – James Mason, English actor (b. 1909)
    • 1985 – Smoky Joe Wood, American baseball player and coach (b. 1889)
    • 1987 – Travis Jackson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1903)
    • 1988 – Frank Zamboni, American inventor and businessman, founded the Zamboni Company (b. 1901)
    • 1990 – Bobby Day, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (b. 1928)
    • 1990 – René Toribio, Guadeloupean politician (b. 1912)
    • 1991 – John Friedrich, German-Australian engineer and conman (b. 1950)
    • 1992 – Max Dupain, Australian photographer and educator (b. 1911)
    • 1992 – Tzeni Karezi, Greek actress and screenwriter
    • 1993 – Reggie Lewis, American basketball player (b. 1965)
    • 1994 – Kevin Carter, South African photographer and journalist (b. 1960)
    • 1995 – Melih Esenbel, Turkish politician and diplomat, 20th Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1915)
    • 1995 – Rick Ferrell, American baseball player and coach (b. 1905)
    • 1995 – Miklós Rózsa, Hungarian-American composer and conductor (b. 1907)
    • 1998 – Binnie Barnes, English-American actress (b. 1903)
    • 1999 – Aleksandr Danilovich Aleksandrov, Russian mathematician, physicist, and mountaineer (b. 1912)
    • 1999 – Harry Edison, American trumpet player (b. 1915)
    • 2000 – Gordon Solie, American sportscaster (b. 1929)
    • 2001 – Rhonda Sing, Canadian wrestler (b. 1961)
    • 2001 – Leon Wilkeson, American bass player and songwriter (b. 1952)
    • 2003 – Vance Hartke, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (b. 1919)
    • 2003 – Bob Hope, English-American actor, comedian, television personality, and businessman (b. 1903)
    • 2005 – Al Held, American painter and academic (b. 1928)
    • 2005 – Marten Toonder, Dutch author and illustrator (b. 1912)
    • 2006 – Maryann Mahaffey, American academic and politician (b. 1925)
    • 2007 – James Oyebola, Nigerian-English boxer (b. 1961)
    • 2008 – Youssef Chahine, Egyptian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
    • 2008 – Horst Stein, German-born Swiss conductor (b. 1928)
    • 2008 – Isaac Saba Raffoul, Mexican businessman (b. 1923)
    • 2010 – Maury Chaykin, American-Canadian actor (b. 1949)
    • 2010 – Jack Tatum, American football player (b. 1948)
    • 2012 – Norman Alden, American actor (b. 1924)
    • 2012 – R. G. Armstrong, American actor and playwright (b. 1917)
    • 2012 – Darryl Cotton, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (b. 1949)
    • 2012 – Geoffrey Hughes, English actor (b. 1944)
    • 2012 – Tony Martin, American actor and singer (b. 1913)
    • 2012 – Jack Taylor, English footballer and referee (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Fernando Alonso, Cuban dancer, co-founded the Cuban National Ballet (b. 1914)
    • 2013 – Lindy Boggs, American politician and diplomat, 5th United States Ambassador to the Holy See (b. 1916)
    • 2013 – Bud Day, American colonel and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1925)
    • 2013 – Kidd Kraddick, American radio host (b. 1959)
    • 2013 – Ilya Segalovich, Russian businessman, co-founded Yandex (b. 1964)
    • 2014 – Richard Bolt, New Zealand air marshal and pilot (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – George Freese, American baseball player and coach (b. 1926)
    • 2014 – Wallace Jones, American basketball player and coach (b. 1926)
    • 2014 – Francesco Marchisano, Italian cardinal (b. 1929)
    • 2014 – Paul Schell, American lawyer and politician, 50th Mayor of Seattle (b. 1937)
    • 2015 – Rickey Grundy, American singer-songwriter (b. 1959)
    • 2015 – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Indian engineer, academic, and politician, 11th President of India (b. 1931)
    • 2015 – Samuel Pisar, Polish-born American lawyer and author (b. 1929)
    • 2015 – Anthony Shaw, English general (b. 1930)
    • 2016 – Einojuhani Rautavaara, Finnish composer (b.1928)[8]
    • 2016 – James Alan McPherson, American short story writer and essayist (b. 1943)[9]
    • 2016 – Jerry Doyle, American actor and talk show host (b. 1956)[10]
    • 2016 – Piet de Jong, Dutch politician and naval officer, Minister of Defence (1963–67), Prime Minister of the Netherlands (1967–71) (b. 1915)[11]
    • 2017 – Sam Shepard, American playwright, actor, author, screenwriter, and director (b.1943)[12]
    • 2018 – Marco Aurelio Denegri, Peruvian literature critic, television host and sexologist[13]
    • 2018 – Rahim Uddin Bharosha, Bangladeshi politician (b. 1934)

    Holidays and observances on July 27

    • Christian feast day:
      • Arethas (Western Christianity)
      • Aurelius and Natalia and companions of the Martyrs of Córdoba.
      • Maurus, Pantalemon, and Sergius
      • Pantaleon
      • Seven Sleepers of Ephesus (Roman Martyrology)
        • National Sleepy Head Day (Finland)
      • Theobald of Marly
      • Blessed Titus Brandsma, O.Carm.
      • July 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Day of Victory in the Great Fatherland Liberation War (North Korea)
    • Iglesia ni Cristo Day (the Philippines)
    • José Celso Barbosa Day (Puerto Rico)
    • Martyrs and Wounded Soldiers Day (Vietnam)
    • National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day (United States)

  • July 11 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

    July 11 in History

    • 472 – After being besieged in Rome by his own generals, Western Roman Emperor Anthemius is captured in St. Peter’s Basilica and put to death.
    • 813 – Byzantine emperor Michael I, under threat by conspiracies, abdicates in favor of his general Leo the Armenian, and becomes a monk (under the name Athanasius).
    • 911 – Signing of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between Charles the Simple and Rollo of Normandy.
    • 1174 – Baldwin IV, 13, becomes King of Jerusalem, with Raymond III, Count of Tripoli as regent and William of Tyre as chancellor.
    • 1302 – Battle of the Golden Spurs (Guldensporenslag in Dutch): A coalition around the Flemish cities defeats the king of France’s royal army.
    • 1346 – Charles IV, Count of Luxembourg and King of Bohemia, is elected King of the Romans.
    • 1405 – Ming admiral Zheng He sets sail to explore the world for the first time.
    • 1476 – Giuliano della Rovere is appointed bishop of Coutances.
    • 1576 – Martin Frobisher sights Greenland.
    • 1616 – Samuel de Champlain returns to Quebec.
    • 1735 – Mathematical calculations suggest that it is on this day that dwarf planet Pluto moved inside the orbit of Neptune for the last time before 1979.
    • 1789 – Jacques Necker is dismissed as France’s Finance Minister sparking the Storming of the Bastille.
    • 1796 – The United States takes possession of Detroit from Great Britain under terms of the Jay Treaty.
    • 1798 – The United States Marine Corps is re-established; they had been disbanded after the American Revolutionary War.
    • 1801 – French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons makes his first comet discovery. In the next 27 years he discovers another 36 comets, more than any other person in history.
    • 1804 – A duel occurs in which the Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr mortally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton.
    • 1833 – Noongar Australian aboriginal warrior Yagan, wanted for the murder of white colonists in Western Australia, is killed.
    • 1848 – Waterloo railway station in London opens.
    • 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Fort Stevens; Confederate forces attempt to invade Washington, D.C.
    • 1882 – The British Mediterranean Fleet begins the Bombardment of Alexandria in Egypt as part of the Anglo-Egyptian War.
    • 1889 – Tijuana, Mexico, is founded.
    • 1893 – The first cultured pearl is obtained by Kōkichi Mikimoto.
    • 1893 – A revolution led by the liberal general and politician José Santos Zelaya takes over state power in Nicaragua.
    • 1895 – Brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière demonstrate movie film technology to scientists.
    • 1897 – Salomon August Andrée leaves Spitsbergen to attempt to reach the North Pole by balloon. He later crashes and dies.
    • 1899 – Fiat founded by Giovanni Agnelli in Turin, Italy.
    • 1906 – Murder of Grace Brown by Chester Gillette in the United States, inspiration for Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy.
    • 1914 – Babe Ruth makes his debut in Major League Baseball.
    • 1914 – USS Nevada (BB-36) is launched.
    • 1919 – The eight-hour day and free Sunday become law for workers in the Netherlands.
    • 1920 – In the East Prussian plebiscite the local populace decides to remain with Weimar Germany.
    • 1921 – A truce in the Irish War of Independence comes into effect.
    • 1921 – The Red Army captures Mongolia from the White Army and establishes the Mongolian People’s Republic.
    • 1921 – Former president of the United States William Howard Taft is sworn in as 10th chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the only person ever to hold both offices.
    • 1922 – The Hollywood Bowl opens.
    • 1924 – Eric Liddell won the gold medal in 400m at the 1924 Paris Olympics, after refusing to run in the heats for 100m, his favoured distance, on the Sunday.
    • 1934 – Engelbert Zaschka of Germany flies his large human-powered aircraft, the Zaschka Human-Power Aircraft, about 20 meters at Berlin Tempelhof Airport without assisted take-off.
    • 1936 – The Triborough Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic.
    • 1940 – World War II: Vichy France regime is formally established. Philippe Pétain becomes Chief of the French State.
    • 1941 – The Northern Rhodesian Labour Party holds its first congress in Nkana.
    • 1943 – Massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army within the Reichskommissariat Ukraine (Volhynia) peak.
    • 1943 – World War II: Allied invasion of Sicily: German and Italian troops launch a counter-attack on Allied forces in Sicily.
    • 1947 – The Exodus 1947 heads to Palestine from France.
    • 1950 – Pakistan joins the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank.
    • 1957 – Prince Karim Husseini Aga Khan IV inherits the office of Imamat as the 49th Imam of Shia Imami Ismai’li worldwide, after the death of Sir Sultan Mahommed Shah Aga Khan III.
    • 1960 – France legislates for the independence of Dahomey (later Benin), Upper Volta (later Burkina) and Niger.
    • 1960 – Congo Crisis: The State of Katanga breaks away from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
    • 1960 – To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is first published, in the United States.
    • 1962 – First transatlantic satellite television transmission.
    • 1962 – Project Apollo: At a press conference, NASA announces lunar orbit rendezvous as the means to land astronauts on the Moon, and return them to Earth.
    • 1971 – Copper mines in Chile are nationalized.
    • 1972 – The first game of the World Chess Championship 1972 between challenger Bobby Fischer and defending champion Boris Spassky starts.
    • 1973 – Varig Flight 820 crashes near Paris, France on approach to Orly Airport, killing 123 of the 134 on board. In response, the FAA bans smoking in airplane lavatories.
    • 1977 – Martin Luther King, Jr. is posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
    • 1978 – Los Alfaques disaster: A truck carrying liquid gas crashes and explodes at a coastal campsite in Tarragona, Spain killing 216 tourists.
    • 1979 – America’s first space station, Skylab, is destroyed as it re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.
    • 1983 – A TAME airline Boeing 737-200 crashes near Cuenca, Ecuador, killing all 119 passengers and crew on board.
    • 1990 – Oka Crisis: First Nations land dispute in Quebec, Canada begins.
    • 1991 – Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 crashes in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia killing all 261 passengers and crew on board.
    • 1995 – Yugoslav Wars: Srebrenica massacre begins; lasts until 22 July.
    • 2006 – Mumbai train bombings: Two hundred nine people are killed in a series of bomb attacks in Mumbai, India.
    • 2010 – The Islamist militia group Al-Shabaab carried out multiple suicide bombings in Kampala, Uganda, killing 74 people and injuring 85 others.
    • 2011 – Ninety-eight containers of explosives self-detonate killing 13 people in Zygi, Cyprus.

    Births on July 11

    • 154 – Bardaisan, Syrian astrologer, scholar, and philosopher (d. 222)
    • 1274 – Robert the Bruce, Scottish king (d. 1329)
    • 1406 – William, Margrave of Hachberg-Sausenberg (d. 1482)
    • 1459 – Kaspar, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, German nobleman (d. 1527)
    • 1558 – Robert Greene, English author and playwright (d. 1592)
    • 1561 – Luis de Góngora, Spanish cleric and poet (d. 1627)
    • 1603 – Kenelm Digby, English astrologer, courtier, and diplomat (d. 1665)
    • 1628 – Tokugawa Mitsukuni, Japanese daimyō (d. 1701)
    • 1653 – Sarah Good, American woman accused of witchcraft (d. 1692)
    • 1657 – Frederick I of Prussia (d. 1713)
    • 1662 – Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (d. 1726)
    • 1709 – Johan Gottschalk Wallerius, Swedish chemist and mineralogist (d. 1785)
    • 1723 – Jean-François Marmontel, French historian and author (d. 1799)
    • 1751 – Caroline Matilda, British princess, queen consort of Denmark (d. 1775)
    • 1754 – Thomas Bowdler, English physician and philanthropist (d. 1825)
    • 1760 – Peggy Shippen, American wife of Benedict Arnold and American Revolutionary War spy (d. 1804)
    • 1767 – John Quincy Adams, American lawyer and politician, 6th President of the United States (d. 1848)
    • 1826 – Alexander Afanasyev, Russian ethnographer and author (d. 1871)
    • 1832 – Charilaos Trikoupis, Greek lawyer and politician, 55th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1896)
    • 1834 – James Abbott McNeill Whistler, American-English painter and illustrator (d. 1903)
    • 1836 – Antônio Carlos Gomes, Brazilian composer (d. 1896)
    • 1846 – Léon Bloy, French author and poet (d. 1917)
    • 1849 – N. E. Brown, English plant taxonomist and authority on succulents (d. 1934)
    • 1850 – Annie Armstrong, American missionary (d. 1938)
    • 1866 – Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine (d. 1953)
    • 1875 – H. M. Brock, British painter and illustrator (d. 1960)
    • 1880 – Friedrich Lahrs, German architect and academic (d. 1964)
    • 1881 – Isabel Martin Lewis, American astronomer and author (d. 1966)
    • 1882 – James Larkin White, American miner, explorer, and park ranger (d. 1946)
    • 1886 – Boris Grigoriev, Russian painter and illustrator (d. 1939)
    • 1888 – Carl Schmitt, German philosopher and jurist (d. 1985)
    • 1892 – Thomas Mitchell, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (d. 1962)
    • 1894 – Erna Mohr, German zoologist (d. 1968)
    • 1895 – Dorothy Wilde, English author and poet (d. 1941)
    • 1897 – Bull Connor, American police officer (d. 1973)
    • 1899 – Wilfrid Israel, German businessman and philanthropist (d. 1943)
    • 1899 – E. B. White, American essayist and journalist (d. 1985)
    • 1901 – Gwendolyn Lizarraga, Belizean businesswoman, activist, and politician (d. 1975)
    • 1903 – Rudolf Abel, English-Russian colonel (d. 1971)
    • 1903 – Sidney Franklin, American bullfighter (d. 1976)
    • 1904 – Niño Ricardo, Spanish guitarist and composer (d. 1972)
    • 1905 – Betty Allan, Australian statistician and biometrician (d. 1952)
    • 1906 – Harry von Zell, American actor and announcer (d. 1981)
    • 1906 – Herbert Wehner, German politician, Minister of Intra-German Relations (d. 1990)
    • 1909 – Irene Hervey, American actress (d. 1998)
    • 1909 – Jacques Clemens, Dutch catholic priest (d. 2018)
    • 1910 – Sally Blane, American actress (d. 1997)
    • 1911 – Erna Flegel, German Third Reich nurse (d. 2006)
    • 1912 – Sergiu Celibidache, Romanian conductor and composer (d. 1996)
    • 1912 – Peta Taylor, English cricketer (d. 1989)
    • 1912 – William F. Walsh, American captain and politician, 48th Mayor of Syracuse (d. 2011)
    • 1913 – Paul Gibb, English cricketer (d. 1977)
    • 1913 – Cordwainer Smith, American sinologist, author, and academic (d. 1966)
    • 1916 – Mortimer Caplin, American tax attorney, educator, and IRS Commissioner (d. 2019)
    • 1916 – Hans Maier, Dutch water polo player (d. 2018)
    • 1916 – Alexander Prokhorov, Australian-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
    • 1916 – Reg Varney, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2008)
    • 1916 – Gough Whitlam, Australian lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 21st Prime Minister of Australia (d. 2014)
    • 1918 – Venetia Burney, English educator, who named Pluto (d. 2009)
    • 1920 – Yul Brynner, Russian actor and dancer (d. 1985)
    • 1920 – Zecharia Sitchin, Russian-American author (d. 2010)
    • 1922 – Gene Evans, American actor (d. 1998)
    • 1922 – Fritz Riess, German-Swiss racing driver (d. 1991)
    • 1923 – Richard Pipes, Polish-American historian and academic (d. 2018)
    • 1923 – Tun Tun, Indian actress and comedian (d. 2003)
    • 1924 – César Lattes, Brazilian physicist and academic (d. 2005)
    • 1924 – Brett Somers, Canadian-American actress and singer (d. 2007)
    • 1924 – Charlie Tully, Northern Irish footballer and manager (d. 1971)
    • 1924 – Oscar Wyatt, American businessman
    • 1925 – Charles Chaynes, French composer (d. 2016)
    • 1925 – Nicolai Gedda, Swedish operatic tenor (d. 2017)
    • 1925 – Peter Kyros, American lawyer and politician (d. 2012)
    • 1925 – Sid Smith, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2004)
    • 1926 – Frederick Buechner, American minister, theologian, and author
    • 1927 – Theodore Maiman, American-Canadian physicist and engineer (d. 2007)
    • 1927 – Chris Leonard, English footballer
    • 1928 – Greville Janner, Baron Janner of Braunstone, Welsh-English lawyer and politician (d. 2015)
    • 1928 – Bobo Olson, American boxer (d. 2002)
    • 1928 – Andrea Veneracion, Filipina choirmaster (d. 2014)
    • 1929 – Danny Flores, American singer-songwriter and saxophonist (d. 2006)
    • 1929 – David Kelly, Irish actor (d. 2012)
    • 1930 – Jack Alabaster, New Zealand cricketer
    • 1930 – Harold Bloom, American literary critic (d. 2019)
    • 1930 – Trevor Storer, English businessman, founded Pukka Pies (d. 2013)
    • 1931 – Dick Gray, American baseball player (d. 2013)
    • 1931 – Thurston Harris, American doo-wop singer (d. 1990)
    • 1931 – Tab Hunter, American actor and singer (d. 2018)
    • 1931 – Tullio Regge, Italian physicist and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1932 – Alex Hassilev, French-born American folk singer and musician
    • 1932 – Jean-Guy Talbot, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1933 – Jim Carlen, American football player and coach (d. 2012)
    • 1933 – Frank Kelso, American admiral and politician, United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 2013)
    • 1934 – Giorgio Armani, Italian fashion designer, founded the Armani Company
    • 1935 – Frederick Hemke, American saxophonist and educator
    • 1935 – Oliver Napier, Northern Irish lawyer and politician (d. 2011)
    • 1937 – Pai Hsien-yung, Chinese-Taiwanese author
    • 1941 – Bill Boggs, American journalist and producer
    • 1941 – Henry Lowther, English trumpet player
    • 1943 – Richard Carleton, Australian journalist (d. 2006)
    • 1943 – Howard Gardner, American psychologist and academic
    • 1943 – Tom Holland, American actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1943 – Peter Jensen, Australian metropolitan
    • 1943 – Robert Malval, Haitian businessman and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Haiti
    • 1943 – Rolf Stommelen, German racing driver (d. 1983)
    • 1944 – Lou Hudson, American basketball player and coach (d. 2014)
    • 1944 – Michael Levy, Baron Levy, English philanthropist
    • 1944 – Patricia Polacco, American author and illustrator
    • 1946 – Martin Wong, American painter (d. 1999)
    • 1947 – Jeff Hanna, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and drummer
    • 1947 – Norman Lebrecht, English author and critic
    • 1947 – Bo Lundgren, Swedish politician
    • 1950 – Pervez Hoodbhoy, Pakistani physicist and academic
    • 1950 – J. R. Morgan, Welsh author and academic
    • 1950 – Bonnie Pointer, American singer (d. 2020)
    • 1951 – Ed Ott, American baseball player and coach
    • 1952 – Bill Barber, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1952 – Stephen Lang, American actor and playwright
    • 1953 – Piyasvasti Amranand, Thai businessman and politician, Thai Minister of Energy
    • 1953 – Angélica Aragón, Mexican film, television, and stage actress and singer
    • 1953 – Peter Brown, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1953 – Suresh Prabhu, Indian accountant and politician, Indian Minister of Railways
    • 1953 – Patricia Reyes Spíndola, Mexican actress, director, and producer
    • 1953 – Leon Spinks, American boxer
    • 1953 – Mindy Sterling, American actress
    • 1953 – Ivan Toms, South African physician and activist (d. 2008)
    • 1953 – Bramwell Tovey, English-Canadian conductor and composer
    • 1953 – Paul Weiland, English director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1954 – Julia King, English engineer and academic
    • 1955 – Balaji Sadasivan, Singaporean neurosurgeon and politician, Singaporean Minister of Health (d. 2010)
    • 1956 – Amitav Ghosh, Indian-American author and academic
    • 1956 – Robin Renucci, French actor and director
    • 1956 – Sela Ward, American actress
    • 1957 – Johann Lamont, Scottish educator and politician
    • 1957 – Peter Murphy, English singer-songwriter
    • 1957 – Michael Rose, Jamaican singer-songwriter
    • 1958 – Mark Lester, English actor
    • 1958 – Hugo Sánchez, Mexican footballer, coach, and manager
    • 1959 – Richie Sambora, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1959 – Suzanne Vega, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1960 – David Baerwald, American singer-songwriter, composer, and musician
    • 1960 – Caroline Quentin, English actress
    • 1961 – Antony Jenkins, English banker and businessman
    • 1962 – Gaétan Duchesne, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2007)
    • 1962 – Pauline McLynn, Irish actress and author
    • 1962 – Fumiya Fujii, Japanese music artist
    • 1963 – Al MacInnis, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1963 – Dean Richards, English rugby player and coach
    • 1963 – Lisa Rinna, American actress and talk show host
    • 1965 – Tony Cottee, English footballer, manager, and sportscaster
    • 1965 – Ernesto Hoost, Dutch kick-boxer and sportscaster
    • 1965 – Scott Shriner, American singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1966 – Nadeem Aslam, Pakistani-English author
    • 1966 – Kentaro Miura, Japanese author and illustrator
    • 1966 – Rod Strickland, American basketball player and coach
    • 1966 – Ricky Warwick, Northern Irish musician
    • 1967 – Andy Ashby, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1967 – Jhumpa Lahiri, Indian American novelist and short story writer
    • 1968 – Michael Geist, Canadian journalist and academic
    • 1968 – Daniel MacMaster, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 2008)
    • 1968 – Esera Tuaolo, American football player
    • 1969 – Ned Boulting, British sports journalist and television presenter
    • 1970 – Justin Chambers, American actor
    • 1970 – Sajjad Karim, English lawyer and politician
    • 1970 – Eric Owens, American opera singer
    • 1971 – Leisha Hailey, Japanese-American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1972 – Cormac Battle, English-Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1973 – Konstantinos Kenteris, Greek runner
    • 1974 – Alanas Chošnau, Lithuanian singer-songwriter
    • 1974 – Hermann Hreiðarsson, Icelandic footballer and manager
    • 1974 – André Ooijer, Dutch footballer and coach
    • 1975 – Willie Anderson, American football player
    • 1975 – Rubén Baraja, Spanish footballer and manager
    • 1975 – Lil’ Kim, American rapper and producer
    • 1976 – Eduardo Nájera, Mexican-American basketball player and coach
    • 1977 – Brandon Short, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1978 – Kathleen Edwards, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1978 – Massimiliano Rosolino, Italian swimmer
    • 1979 – Raio Piiroja, Estonian footballer
    • 1980 – Tyson Kidd, Canadian wrestler
    • 1980 – Kevin Powers, American soldier and author
    • 1981 – Andre Johnson, American football player
    • 1982 – Chris Cooley, American football player
    • 1983 – Engin Baytar, German-Turkish footballer
    • 1983 – Peter Cincotti, American singer-songwriter and pianist
    • 1983 – Marie Serneholt, Swedish singer and dancer
    • 1984 – Yorman Bazardo, Venezuelan baseball player
    • 1984 – Tanith Belbin, Canadian-American ice dancer
    • 1984 – Jacoby Jones, American football player
    • 1984 – Joe Pavelski, American ice hockey player
    • 1984 – Morné Steyn, South African rugby player
    • 1985 – Robert Adamson, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1985 – Orestis Karnezis, Greek footballer
    • 1986 – Raúl García, Spanish footballer
    • 1986 – Yoann Gourcuff, French footballer
    • 1986 – Ryan Jarvis, English footballer
    • 1987 – Shigeaki Kato, Japanese singer
    • 1988 – Étienne Capoue, French footballer
    • 1988 – Natalie La Rose, Dutch singer, songwriter and dancer
    • 1989 – Tobias Sana, Swedish footballer
    • 1989 – Travis Waddell, Australian rugby league player
    • 1990 – Mona Barthel, German tennis player
    • 1990 – Connor Paolo, American actor
    • 1990 – Adam Jezierski, Polish-Spanish actor and singer
    • 1990 – Patrick Peterson, American football player
    • 1990 – Caroline Wozniacki, Danish tennis player
    • 1993 – Rebecca Bross, American gymnast
    • 1993 – Heini Salonen, Finnish tennis player
    • 1994 – Bartłomiej Kalinkowski, Polish footballer
    • 1994 – Anthony Milford, Australian rugby league player
    • 1994 – Nina Nesbitt, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1994 – Lucas Ocampos, Argentinian footballer
    • 1995 – Joey Bosa, American football player
    • 1995 – Tyler Medeiros, Canadian singer-songwriter and dancer
    • 1996 – Alessia Cara, Canadian singer-songwriter

    Deaths on July 11

    • 472 – Anthemius, Roman emperor (b. 420)
    • 937 – Rudolph II of Burgundy (b. 880)
    • 969 – Olga of Kiev (b. 890)
    • 1174 – Amalric I of Jerusalem (b. 1136)
    • 1183 – Otto I Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1117)
    • 1302 – Robert II, Count of Artois (b. 1250)
    • 1302 – Pierre Flotte, French politician and lawyer
    • 1344 – Ulrich III, Count of Württemberg (b. c. 1286)
    • 1362 – Anna von Schweidnitz, empress of Charles IV (b. 1339)
    • 1382 – Nicole Oresme, French philosopher (b. 1325)
    • 1451 – Barbara of Cilli, Slovenian noblewoman
    • 1484 – Mino da Fiesole, Italian sculptor (b. c. 1429)
    • 1535 – Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1484)
    • 1581 – Peder Skram, Danish admiral and politician (b. 1503)
    • 1593 – Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Italian painter (b. 1527)
    • 1599 – Chōsokabe Motochika, Japanese daimyō (b.1539)
    • 1688 – Narai, Thai king (b. 1629)
    • 1774 – Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet, Irish-English general (b. 1715)
    • 1775 – Simon Boerum, American farmer and politician (b. 1724)
    • 1797 – Ienăchiță Văcărescu, Romanian historian and philologist (b. 1740)
    • 1806 – James Smith, Irish-American lawyer and politician (b. 1719)
    • 1825 – Thomas P. Grosvenor, American soldier and politician (b. 1744)
    • 1844 – Yevgeny Baratynsky, Russian philosopher and poet (b. 1800)
    • 1897 – Patrick Jennings, Irish-Australian politician, 11th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1831)
    • 1905 – Muhammad Abduh, Egyptian jurist and scholar (b. 1849)
    • 1908 – Friedrich Traun, German sprinter and tennis player (b. 1876)
    • 1909 – Simon Newcomb, Canadian-American astronomer and mathematician (b. 1835)
    • 1929 – Billy Mosforth, English footballer and engraver (b. 1857)
    • 1937 – George Gershwin, American pianist, songwriter, and composer (b. 1898)
    • 1959 – Charlie Parker, English cricketer, coach, and umpire (b. 1882)
    • 1966 – Delmore Schwartz, American poet and short story writer (b. 1913)
    • 1967 – Guy Favreau, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician, 28th Canadian Minister of Justice (b. 1917)
    • 1971 – John W. Campbell, American journalist and author (b. 1910)
    • 1971 – Pedro Rodríguez, Mexican racing driver (b. 1940)
    • 1974 – Pär Lagerkvist, Swedish novelist, playwright, and poet Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)
    • 1976 – León de Greiff, Colombian poet and educator (b. 1895)
    • 1979 – Claude Wagner, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1925)
    • 1983 – Ross Macdonald, American-Canadian author (b. 1915)
    • 1987 – Avi Ran, Israeli footballer (b. 1963)
    • 1987 – Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman, American rabbi and scholar (b. 1901)
    • 1989 – Laurence Olivier, English actor, director, and producer (b. 1907)
    • 1991 – Mokhtar Dahari, Malaysian footballer and coach (b. 1953)
    • 1994 – Gary Kildall, American computer scientist, founded Digital Research (b. 1942)
    • 1998 – Panagiotis Kondylis, Greek philosopher and author (b. 1943)
    • 1999 – Helen Forrest, American singer (b. 1917)
    • 1999 – Jan Sloot, Dutch computer scientist and electronics technician (b. 1945)
    • 2000 – Pedro Mir, Dominican lawyer, author, and poet (b. 1913)
    • 2000 – Robert Runcie, English archbishop (b. 1921)
    • 2001 – Herman Brood, Dutch musician and painter (b. 1946)
    • 2003 – Zahra Kazemi, Iranian-Canadian freelance photographer (b. 1948)
    • 2004 – Laurance Rockefeller, American financier and philanthropist (b. 1910)
    • 2004 – Renée Saint-Cyr, French actress and producer (b. 1904)
    • 2005 – Gretchen Franklin, English actress and dancer (b. 1911)
    • 2005 – Jesús Iglesias, Argentinian racing driver (b. 1922)
    • 2005 – Frances Langford, American actress and singer (b. 1913)
    • 2006 – Barnard Hughes, American actor (b. 1915)
    • 2006 – Bronwyn Oliver, Australian sculptor (b. 1959)
    • 2006 – John Spencer, English snooker player and sportscaster (b. 1935)
    • 2007 – Glenda Adams, Australian author and academic (b. 1939)
    • 2007 – Lady Bird Johnson, American beautification activist; 43rd First Lady of the United States (b. 1912)
    • 2007 – Alfonso López Michelsen, Colombian lawyer and politician, 32nd President of Colombia (b. 1913)
    • 2007 – Ed Mirvish, American-Canadian businessman and philanthropist, founded Honest Ed’s (b. 1914)
    • 2008 – Michael E. DeBakey, American surgeon and educator (b. 1908)
    • 2009 – Reg Fleming, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1936)
    • 2009 – Arturo Gatti, Italian-Canadian boxer (b. 1972)
    • 2009 – Ji Xianlin, Chinese linguist and paleographer (b. 1911)
    • 2010 – Walter Hawkins, American singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and pastor (b. 1949)
    • 2011 – Rob Grill, American singer-songwriter and bass player (b. 1943)
    • 2012 – Art Ceccarelli, American baseball player and coach (b. 1930)
    • 2012 – Marion Cunningham, American author (b. 1922)
    • 2012 – Richard Scudder, American journalist and publisher, co-founded MediaNews Group (b. 1913)
    • 2012 – Donald J. Sobol, American soldier and author (b. 1924)
    • 2012 – Marvin Traub, American businessman and author (b. 1925)
    • 2013 – Emik Avakian, Iranian-American inventor (b. 1923)
    • 2013 – Egbert Brieskorn, German mathematician and academic (b. 1936)
    • 2013 – Eugene P. Wilkinson, American admiral (b. 1918)
    • 2014 – Charlie Haden, American bassist and composer (b. 1937)
    • 2014 – Carin Mannheimer, Swedish author and screenwriter (b. 1934)
    • 2014 – Bill McGill, American basketball player (b. 1939)
    • 2014 – Tommy Ramone, Hungarian-American drummer and producer (b. 1949)
    • 2014 – John Seigenthaler, American journalist and academic (b. 1927)
    • 2014 – Randall Stout, American architect, designed the Taubman Museum of Art (b. 1958)
    • 2015 – Giacomo Biffi, Italian cardinal (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – James U. Cross, American general (b. 1925)
    • 2015 – Satoru Iwata, Japanese game programmer and businessman (b. 1959)
    • 2015 – Lawrence K. Karlton, American lawyer and judge (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – André Leysen, Belgian businessman (b. 1927)

    Holidays and observances on July 11

    • Christian Feast Day:
      • Benedict of Nursia
      • Olga of Kiev
      • Pope Pius I
      • July 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • China National Maritime Day (China)
    • Day of the Bandoneón (Argentina)
    • Day of the Flemish Community (Flemish Community of Belgium)
    • Eleventh Night (Northern Ireland)
    • Free Slurpee Day (Participating stores of the 7-Eleven chain in North America)
    • National Day of Remembrance of Victims of Genocide by Ukrainian Nationalists on Citizens of the Second Republic of Poland (Poland)
    • Gospel Day (Kiribati)
    • Imamat Day (Isma’ilism)
    • National Day of Commemoration, held on the nearest Sunday to this date (Ireland)
    • The first day of Naadam (July 11–15) (Mongolia)
    • World Population Day (International)

  • May 18 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 332 – Emperor Constantine the Great announces free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople.
    • 872 – Louis II of Italy is crowned for the second time as Roman Emperor at Rome, at the age of 47. His first coronation was 28 years earlier, in 844, during the reign of his father Lothair I.
    • 1096 – First Crusade: Around 800 Jews are massacred in Worms, Germany.
    • 1152 – The future Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine. He would become king two years later, after the death of his cousin once removed King Stephen of England.
    • 1268 – The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars in the Siege of Antioch.
    • 1291 – Fall of Acre, the end of Crusader presence in the Holy Land.
    • 1302 – Bruges Matins, the nocturnal massacre of the French garrison in Bruges by members of the local Flemish militia.
    • 1388 – During the Battle of Buyur Lake, General Lan Yu leads a Chinese army forward to crush the Mongol hordes of Tögüs Temür, the Khan of Northern Yuan.
    • 1499 – Alonso de Ojeda sets sail from Cádiz on his voyage to what is now Venezuela.
    • 1565 – The Great Siege of Malta begins, in which Ottoman forces attempt and fail to conquer Malta.
    • 1593 – Playwright Thomas Kyd’s accusations of heresy lead to an arrest warrant for Christopher Marlowe.
    • 1631 – In Dorchester, Massachusetts, John Winthrop takes the oath of office and becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts.
    • 1652 – Slavery in Rhode Island is abolished, although the law is not rigorously enforced.
    • 1756 – The Seven Years’ War begins when Great Britain declares war on France.
    • 1783 – First United Empire Loyalists reach Parrtown (later called Saint John, New Brunswick), Canada, after leaving the United States.
    • 1794 – Battle of Tourcoing during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition.
    • 1803 – Napoleonic Wars: The United Kingdom revokes the Treaty of Amiens and declares war on France.
    • 1804 – Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French by the French Senate.
    • 1811 – Battle of Las Piedras: The first great military triumph of the revolution of the Río de la Plata in Uruguay led by José Artigas.
    • 1812 – John Bellingham is found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging for the assassination of British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval.
    • 1843 – The Disruption in Edinburgh of the Free Church of Scotland from the Church of Scotland.
    • 1848 – Opening of the first German National Assembly (Nationalversammlung) in Frankfurt, Germany.
    • 1860 – Abraham Lincoln wins the Republican Party presidential nomination over William H. Seward, who later becomes the United States Secretary of State.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg begins.
    • 1896 – The United States Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson that the “separate but equal” doctrine is constitutional.
    • 1896 – Khodynka Tragedy: A mass panic on Khodynka Field in Moscow during the festivities of the coronation of Russian Tsar Nicholas II results in the deaths of 1,389 people.
    • 1900 – The United Kingdom proclaims a protectorate over Tonga.
    • 1912 – The first Indian film, Shree Pundalik by Dadasaheb Torne, is released in Mumbai.
    • 1917 – World War I: The Selective Service Act of 1917 is passed, giving the President of the United States the power of conscription.
    • 1926 – Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappears in Venice, California.
    • 1927 – The Bath School disaster: Forty-five people, including many children, are killed by bombs planted by a disgruntled school-board member in Michigan.
    • 1927 – After being founded for 20 years, the Government of the Republic of China approves Tongji University to be among the first national universities of the Republic of China.
    • 1933 – New Deal: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.
    • 1944 – World War II: Battle of Monte Cassino: Conclusion after seven days of the fourth battle as German paratroopers evacuate Monte Cassino.
    • 1944 – Deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union government.
    • 1948 – The First Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China officially convenes in Nanking.
    • 1953 – Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier.
    • 1955 – Operation Passage to Freedom, the evacuation of 310,000 Vietnamese civilians, soldiers and non-Vietnamese members of the French Army from communist North Vietnam to South Vietnam following the end of the First Indochina War, ends.
    • 1965 – Israeli spy Eli Cohen is hanged in Damascus, Syria.
    • 1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 10 is launched.
    • 1973 – Aeroflot Flight 109 is hijacked mid-flight and the aircraft is subsequently destroyed when the hijacker’s bomb explodes, killing all 82 people on board.
    • 1974 – Nuclear weapons testing: Under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon becoming the sixth nation to do so.
    • 1977 – Likud party wins the 1977 Israeli legislative election, with Menachem Begin, its founder, as the sixth Prime Minister of Israel.
    • 1980 – Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, United States, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage.
    • 1980 – Students in Gwangju, South Korea begin demonstrations calling for democratic reforms.
    • 1990 – In France, a modified TGV train achieves a new rail world speed record of 515.3 km/h (320.2 mph).
    • 1991 – Northern Somalia declares independence from the rest of Somalia as the Republic of Somaliland but is not recognized by the international community.
    • 1993 – Riots in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, caused by the approval of the four Danish exceptions in the Maastricht Treaty referendum. Police open fire against civilians for the first time since World War II and injure 11 demonstrators.
    • 1994 – Israeli troops finish withdrawing from the Gaza Strip, ceding the area to the Palestinian National Authority to govern.
    • 2005 – A second photo from the Hubble Space Telescope confirms that Pluto has two additional moons, Nix and Hydra.
    • 2006 – The post Loktantra Andolan government passes a landmark bill curtailing the power of the monarchy and making Nepal a secular country.
    • 2009 – The LTTE are defeated by the Sri Lankan government, ending almost 26 years of fighting between the two sides.
    • 2015 – At least 78 people die in a landslide caused by heavy rains in the Colombian town of Salgar.
    • 2018 – A school shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas kills 10 people.

    Births on May 18

    • 1048 – Omar Khayyám, Persian mathematician, astronomer, and poet (d. 1131)
    • 1186 – Konstantin of Rostov (d. 1218)
    • 1450 – Piero Soderini, Italian politician and diplomat (d. 1513)
    • 1537 – Guido Luca Ferrero, Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 1585)
    • 1631 – Stanislaus Papczyński, Polish priest (d. 1701)
    • 1662 – George Smalridge, English bishop (d. 1719)
    • 1692 – Joseph Butler, English bishop, theologian, and apologist (d. 1752)
    • 1711 – Roger Joseph Boscovich, Ragusan physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (d. 1787)
    • 1777 – John George Children, English chemist, mineralogist, and zoologist (d. 1852)
    • 1778 – Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, Irish soldier and diplomat, British Ambassador to Austria (d. 1854)
    • 1785 – John Wilson, Scottish author and critic (d. 1854)
    • 1797 – Frederick Augustus II of Saxony (d. 1854)
    • 1822 – Mathew Brady, American photographer and journalist (d. 1896)
    • 1835 – Charles N. Sims, American Methodist preacher and 3rd chancellor of Syracuse University (d. 1908)
    • 1850 – Oliver Heaviside, English engineer, mathematician, and physicist (d. 1925)
    • 1851 – James Budd, American lawyer and politician, 19th Governor of California (d. 1908)
    • 1852 – Gertrude Käsebier, American photographer (d. 1934)
    • 1854 – Bernard Zweers, Dutch composer and educator (d. 1924)
    • 1855 – Francis Bellamy, American minister and author (d. 1931)
    • 1862 – Josephus Daniels, American publisher and politician, 41st United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 1948)
    • 1867 – Minakata Kumagusu, Japanese author, biologist, naturalist and ethnologist (d. 1941)
    • 1868 – Nicholas II of Russia (d. 1918)
    • 1869 – Lucy Beaumont, English-American actress (d. 1937)
    • 1871 – Denis Horgan, Irish shot putter and weight thrower (d. 1922)
    • 1872 – Bertrand Russell, British mathematician, historian, and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1970)
    • 1876 – Hermann Müller, German journalist and politician, 12th Chancellor of Germany (d. 1931)
    • 1878 – Johannes Terwogt, Dutch rower (d. 1977)
    • 1882 – Babe Adams, American baseball player, manager, and journalist (d. 1968)
    • 1883 – Eurico Gaspar Dutra, Brazilian marshal and politician, 16th President of Brazil (d. 1974)
    • 1883 – Walter Gropius, German-American architect, designed the John F. Kennedy Federal Building (d. 1969)
    • 1886 – Jeanie MacPherson, American actress and screenwriter (d. 1946)
    • 1889 – Thomas Midgley, Jr., American chemist and engineer (d. 1944)
    • 1891 – Rudolf Carnap, German-American philosopher and academic (d. 1970)
    • 1892 – Ezio Pinza, Italian-American actor and singer (d. 1957)
    • 1895 – Augusto César Sandino, Nicaraguan rebel leader (d. 1934)
    • 1896 – Eric Backman, Swedish runner (d. 1965)
    • 1897 – Frank Capra, Italian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1991)
    • 1898 – Faruk Nafiz Çamlıbel, Turkish poet, author, and playwright (d. 1973)
    • 1901 – Henri Sauguet, French composer (d. 1989)
    • 1901 – Vincent du Vigneaud, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1978)
    • 1902 – Meredith Willson, American playwright and composer (d. 1984)
    • 1904 – Shunryū Suzuki, Japanese-American monk and educator (d. 1971)
    • 1904 – Jacob K. Javits, American colonel and politician, 58th New York Attorney General (d. 1986)
    • 1905 – Ruth Alexander, pioneering American pilot (d. 1930)
    • 1905 – Hedley Verity, English cricketer and soldier (d. 1943)
    • 1907 – Irene Hunt, American author and educator (d. 2001)
    • 1909 – Fred Perry, English-Australian tennis player and academic (d. 1995)
    • 1910 – Ester Boserup, Danish economist and author (d. 1999)
    • 1911 – Big Joe Turner, American blues/R&B singer (d. 1985)
    • 1912 – Richard Brooks, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1992)
    • 1912 – Perry Como, American singer and television host (d. 2001)
    • 1912 – Walter Sisulu, South African politician (d. 2003)
    • 1913 – Jane Birdwood, Baroness Birdwood, Canadian-English publisher and politician (d. 2000)
    • 1914 – Pierre Balmain, French fashion designer, founded Balmain (d. 1982)
    • 1914 – Boris Christoff, Bulgarian-Italian opera singer (d. 1993)
    • 1917 – Bill Everett, American author and illustrator (d. 1973)
    • 1919 – Margot Fonteyn, British ballerina (d. 1991)
    • 1920 – Pope John Paul II (d. 2005)
    • 1921 – Michael A. Epstein, English pathologist and academic
    • 1922 – Bill Macy, American actor (d. 2019)
    • 1922 – Kai Winding, Danish-American trombonist and composer (d. 1983)
    • 1923 – Jean-Louis Roux, Canadian actor and politician, 34th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 2013)
    • 1923 – Hugh Shearer, Jamaican journalist and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Jamaica (d. 2004)
    • 1924 – Priscilla Pointer, American actress
    • 1924 – Jack Whitaker, American sportscaster (d. 2019)
    • 1925 – Lillian Hoban, American author and illustrator (d. 1998)
    • 1927 – Richard Body, English politician (d. 2018)
    • 1927 – Ray Nagel, American football player and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1928 – Pernell Roberts, American actor (d. 2010)
    • 1929 – Jack Sanford, American baseball player and coach (d. 2000)
    • 1929 – Norman St John-Stevas, Baron St John of Fawsley, English lawyer and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (d. 2012)
    • 1930 – Warren Rudman, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (d. 2012)
    • 1930 – Fred Saberhagen, American soldier and author (d. 2007)
    • 1931 – Don Martin, American cartoonist (d. 2000)
    • 1931 – Robert Morse, American actor
    • 1931 – Kalju Pitksaar, Estonian chess player (d. 1995)
    • 1931 – Clément Vincent, Canadian farmer and politician (d. 2018)
    • 1933 – Bernadette Chirac, French politician, First Lady of France
    • 1933 – H. D. Deve Gowda, Indian farmer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of India
    • 1933 – Don Whillans, English rock climber and mountaineer (d. 1985)
    • 1934 – Dwayne Hickman, American actor and director
    • 1936 – Leon Ashley, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
    • 1936 – Türker İnanoğlu, Turkish director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1936 – Michael Sandle, English sculptor and academic
    • 1937 – Brooks Robinson, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1937 – Jacques Santer, Luxembourger jurist and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Luxembourg
    • 1938 – Janet Fish, American painter and academic
    • 1939 – Patrick Cormack, Baron Cormack, English historian, journalist, and politician
    • 1939 – Giovanni Falcone, Italian lawyer and judge (d. 1992)
    • 1939 – Gordon O’Connor, Canadian general and politician, 38th Canadian Minister of Defence
    • 1940 – Erico Aumentado, Filipino journalist, lawyer, and politician (d. 2012)
    • 1941 – Gino Brito, Canadian wrestler and promoter
    • 1941 – Malcolm Longair, Scottish astronomer, physicist, and academic
    • 1941 – Miriam Margolyes, English-Australian actress and singer
    • 1942 – Nobby Stiles, English footballer, coach, and manager
    • 1944 – Albert Hammond, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1944 – W. G. Sebald, German novelist, essayist, and poet (d. 2001)
    • 1946 – Frank Hsieh, Taiwanese lawyer and politician, 40th Premier of the Republic of China
    • 1946 – Reggie Jackson, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1946 – Gerd Langguth, German political scientist and author (d. 2013)
    • 1947 – John Bruton, Irish politician, 10th Taoiseach of Ireland
    • 1947 – Gail Strickland, American actress
    • 1948 – Joe Bonsall, American country/gospel singer
    • 1948 – Yi Mun-yol, South Korean author and academic
    • 1948 – Richard Swedberg, Swedish sociologist and academic
    • 1948 – Tom Udall, American lawyer and politician, 28th New Mexico Attorney General, United States Senator from New Mexico
    • 1949 – Rick Wakeman, English progressive rock keyboardist and songwriter (Yes)
    • 1949 – Walter Hawkins, American gospel music singer and pastor (d. 2010)
    • 1950 – Rod Milburn, American hurdler and coach (d. 1997)
    • 1950 – Mark Mothersbaugh, American singer-songwriter and painter
    • 1951 – Richard Clapton, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1951 – Jim Sundberg, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1951 – Angela Voigt, German long jumper (d. 2013)
    • 1952 – Diane Duane, American author and screenwriter
    • 1952 – David Leakey, English general and politician
    • 1952 – George Strait, American singer, guitarist and producer
    • 1952 – Jeana Yeager, American pilot
    • 1953 – Alan Kupperberg, American author and illustrator (d. 2015)
    • 1954 – Wreckless Eric, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1954 – Eric Gerets, Belgian footballer and manager
    • 1955 – Chow Yun-fat, Hong Kong actor and screenwriter
    • 1956 – Catherine Corsini, French director and screenwriter
    • 1956 – John Godber, English playwright and screenwriter
    • 1957 – Michael Cretu, Romanian-German keyboard player and producer
    • 1957 – Henrietta Moore, English anthropologist and academic
    • 1958 – Rubén Omar Romano, Argentinian-Mexican footballer and coach
    • 1958 – Toyah Willcox, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1959 – Graham Dilley, English cricketer and coach (d. 2011)
    • 1959 – Jay Wells, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1960 – Brent Ashton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1960 – Jari Kurri, Finnish ice hockey player, coach, and manager
    • 1960 – Yannick Noah, French tennis player
    • 1961 – Russell Senior, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1963 – Marty McSorley, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1963 – Sam Vincent, American basketball player and coach
    • 1964 – Ignasi Guardans, Spanish academic and politician
    • 1966 – Renata Nielsen, Polish-Danish long jumper and coach
    • 1966 – Michael Tait, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1967 – Nina Björk, Swedish journalist and author
    • 1967 – Heinz-Harald Frentzen, German race car driver
    • 1967 – Nancy Juvonen, American screenwriter and producer, co-founded Flower Films
    • 1967 – Mimi Macpherson, Australian environmentalist, entrepreneur and celebrity
    • 1968 – Philippe Benetton, French rugby player
    • 1968 – Ralf Kelleners, German race car driver
    • 1969 – Troy Cassar-Daley, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1969 – Martika, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1969 – Antônio Carlos Zago, Brazilian footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Tina Fey, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1970 – Tim Horan, Australian rugby player and sportscaster
    • 1970 – Billy Howerdel, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1970 – Javier Cárdenas, Spanish singer, television and radio presenter
    • 1970 – Vicky Sunohara, Canadian former ice hockey player
    • 1971 – Brad Friedel, American international soccer player, goalkeeper, manager and sportscaster
    • 1971 – Mark Menzies, Scottish politician
    • 1971 – Nobuteru Taniguchi, Japanese race car driver
    • 1972 – Turner Stevenson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1973 – Donyell Marshall, American basketball player and coach
    • 1973 – Aleksandr Olerski, Estonian footballer (d. 2011)
    • 1974 – Nelson Figueroa, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1975 – Jem, Welsh singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1975 – John Higgins, Scottish snooker player
    • 1975 – Jack Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1976 – Ron Mercer, American basketball player
    • 1976 – Marko Tomasović, Croatian pianist and composer
    • 1976 – Oleg Tverdovsky, Ukrainian-Russian ice hockey player
    • 1977 – Lee Hendrie, English footballer
    • 1977 – Danny Mills, English footballer and sportscaster
    • 1977 – Li Tie, Chinese footballer and manager
    • 1978 – Ricardo Carvalho, Portuguese footballer
    • 1978 – Marcus Giles, American baseball player
    • 1978 – Charles Kamathi, Kenyan runner
    • 1979 – Jens Bergensten, Swedish video game designer, co-designed Minecraft
    • 1979 – Mariusz Lewandowski, Polish footballer
    • 1979 – Michal Martikán, Slovak slalom canoeist
    • 1979 – Milivoje Novaković, Slovenian footballer
    • 1979 – Julián Speroni, Argentinian footballer
    • 1980 – Reggie Evans, American basketball player
    • 1980 – Michaël Llodra, French tennis player
    • 1980 – Diego Pérez, Uruguayan footballer
    • 1981 – Mahamadou Diarra, Malian international footballer
    • 1981 – Ashley Harrison, Australian rugby league player
    • 1982 – Jason Brown, English footballer
    • 1982 – Marie-Ève Pelletier, Canadian tennis player
    • 1983 – Gary O’Neil, English footballer
    • 1983 – Luis Terrero, Dominican baseball player
    • 1983 – Vince Young, American football player
    • 1984 – Ivet Lalova, Bulgarian sprinter
    • 1984 – Simon Pagenaud, French race car driver
    • 1984 – Darius Šilinskis, Lithuanian basketball player
    • 1984 – Joakim Soria, Mexican baseball player
    • 1984 – Niki Terpstra, Dutch cyclist
    • 1985 – Oliver Sin, Hungarian painter
    • 1985 – Henrique Sereno, Portuguese footballer
    • 1986 – Ahmed Hamada, Egyptian race car driver
    • 1986 – Kevin Anderson, South African tennis player
    • 1988 – Taeyang, South Korean singer
    • 1990 – Dimitri Daeseleire, Belgian footballer
    • 1990 – Yuya Osako, Japanese footballer
    • 1990 – Josh Starling, Australian rugby league player
    • 1992 – Adwoa Aboah, British fashion model
    • 1993 – Stuart Percy, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1993 – Jessica Watson, Australian sailor
    • 1998 – Polina Edmunds, American figure skater
    • 1999 – Laura Omloop, Belgian singer-songwriter
    • 2000 – Ryan Sessegnon, English footballer
    • 2000 – Steven Sessegnon, English footballer
    • 2002 – Alina Zagitova, Russian figure skater

    Deaths on May 18

    • 526 – Pope John I (b. 470)
    • 893 – Stephen I of Constantinople (b. 867)
    • 932 – Ma Shaohong, general of Later Tang
    • 947 – Emperor Taizong of the Liao Dynasty
    • 978 – Frederick I, duke of Upper Lorraine
    • 1065 – Frederick, Duke of Lower Lorraine (b. c. 1003)
    • 1096 – Minna of Worms, Jewish martyr killed during the Worms massacre (1096)
    • 1160 – Eric Jedvardsson (King Eric IX) of Sweden (since 1156); (b. circa 1120)
    • 1297 – Nicholas Longespee, Bishop of Salisbury
    • 1401 – Vladislaus II of Opole (b. 1332)
    • 1410 – Rupert of Germany, Count Palatine of the Rhine (b. 1352)
    • 1550 – Jean, Cardinal of Lorraine (b. 1498)
    • 1551 – Domenico di Pace Beccafumi, Italian painter (b. 1486)
    • 1675 – Stanisław Lubieniecki, Polish astronomer, historian, and theologian (b. 1623)
    • 1675 – Jacques Marquette, French-American missionary and explorer (b. 1637)
    • 1692 – Elias Ashmole, English astrologer and politician (b. 1617)
    • 1721 – Maria Barbara Carillo, victim of the Spanish Inquisition (b.1625)
    • 1733 – Georg Böhm, German organist and composer (b. 1761)
    • 1780 – Charles Hardy, English-American admiral and politician, 29th Colonial Governor of New York (b. 1714)
    • 1781 – Túpac Amaru II, Peruvian-Indian rebel leader (b. 1742)
    • 1792 – Levy Solomons, Canadian merchant and fur trader (b. 1730)
    • 1795 – Robert Rogers, English colonel (b. 1731)
    • 1799 – Pierre Beaumarchais, French playwright and publisher (b. 1732)
    • 1800 – Alexander Suvorov, Russian general (b. 1729)
    • 1807 – John Douglas, Scottish bishop and scholar (b. 1721)
    • 1808 – Elijah Craig, American minister, inventor, and educator, invented Bourbon whiskey (b. 1738)
    • 1844 – Richard McCarty, American lawyer and politician (b. 1780)
    • 1853 – Lionel Kieseritzky, Estonian-French chess player (b. 1806)
    • 1867 – Clarkson Stanfield, English painter (b. 1793)
    • 1889 – Isabella Glyn, Scottish-English actress (b. 1823)
    • 1900 – Félix Ravaisson-Mollien, French archaeologist and philosopher (b. 1813)
    • 1908 – Louis-Napoléon Casault, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1823)
    • 1909 – Isaac Albéniz, Spanish pianist and composer (b. 1860)
    • 1909 – George Meredith, English novelist and poet (b. 1828)
    • 1910 – Eliza Orzeszkowa, Polish author and publisher (b. 1841)
    • 1910 – Pauline Viardot, French soprano and composer (b. 1821)
    • 1911 – Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer and conductor (b. 1860)
    • 1922 – Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, French physician and parasitologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
    • 1941 – Werner Sombart, German economist and sociologist (b. 1863)
    • 1943 – Ōnishiki Daigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 28th Yokozuna (b. 1883)
    • 1947 – Hal Chase, American baseball player and manager (b. 1883)
    • 1955 – Mary McLeod Bethune, American educator and activist (b. 1875)
    • 1956 – Maurice Tate, English cricketer (b. 1895)
    • 1958 – Jacob Fichman, Israeli poet and critic (b. 1881)
    • 1963 – Ernie Davis, American football player, coach, and manager (b. 1939)
    • 1968 – Frank Walsh, Australian politician, 34th Premier of South Australia (b. 1897)
    • 1971 – Aleksandr Gennadievich Kurosh, Russian mathematician and theorist (b. 1908)
    • 1973 – Jeannette Rankin, American social worker and politician (b. 1880)
    • 1974 – Harry Ricardo, English engine designer and researcher (b. 1885)
    • 1975 – Leroy Anderson, American composer and conductor (b. 1908)
    • 1980 – Victims of Mount St. Helens eruption:
      • Reid Blackburn, American photographer and journalist (b. 1952)
      • David A. Johnston, American volcanologist and geologist (b. 1949)
    • 1980 – Ian Curtis, English singer-songwriter (b. 1956)
    • 1981 – Arthur O’Connell, American actor (b. 1908)
    • 1981 – William Saroyan, American novelist, playwright, and short story writer (b. 1908)
    • 1987 – Mahdi Amel, Lebanese journalist, poet, and academic (b. 1936)
    • 1989 – Dorothy Ruth, American horse breeder and author (b. 1921)
    • 1990 – Jill Ireland, English actress (b. 1936)
    • 1995 – Elisha Cook, Jr., American actor (b. 1903)
    • 1995 – Alexander Godunov, Russian-American ballet dancer and actor (b. 1949)
    • 1995 – Brinsley Le Poer Trench, 8th Earl of Clancarty, Irish ufologist and historian (b. 1911)
    • 1995 – Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress (b. 1933)
    • 1998 – Obaidullah Aleem, Indian-Pakistani poet and author (b. 1939)
    • 1999 – Augustus Pablo, Jamaican singer, keyboard player, and producer (b. 1954)
    • 1999 – Betty Robinson, American runner (b. 1911)
    • 2000 – Stephen M. Wolownik, Russian-American composer and musicologist (b. 1946)
    • 2001 – Irene Hunt, American author and illustrator (b. 1907)
    • 2004 – Elvin Jones, American drummer and bandleader (b. 1927)
    • 2006 – Jaan Eilart, Estonian geographer, ecologist, and historian (b. 1933)
    • 2007 – Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1932)
    • 2008 – Joseph Pevney, American actor and director (b. 1911)
    • 2008 – Roberto García-Calvo Montiel, Spanish judge (b. 1942)
    • 2009 – Velupillai Prabhakaran, Sri Lankan rebel leader, founded the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (b. 1954)
    • 2012 – Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, German opera singer and conductor (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Peter Jones, English-Australian drummer and songwriter (b. 1967)
    • 2012 – Alan Oakley, English bicycle designer, designed the Raleigh Chopper (b. 1927)
    • 2013 – Aleksei Balabanov, Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1959)
    • 2013 – Jo Benkow, Norwegian soldier and politician (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Steve Forrest, American actor (b. 1925)
    • 2013 – David McMillan, American football player (b. 1981)
    • 2013 – Lothar Schmid, German chess player (b. 1928)
    • 2014 – Dobrica Ćosić, Serbian politician, 1st President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Hans-Peter Dürr, German physicist and academic (b. 1929)
    • 2014 – Kaiketsu Masateru, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1948)
    • 2014 – Chukwuedu Nwokolo, Nigerian physician and academic (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Wubbo Ockels, Dutch physicist and astronaut (b. 1946)
    • 2015 – Halldór Ásgrímsson, Icelandic accountant and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1947)
    • 2015 – Raymond Gosling, English physicist and academic (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – T. J. Moran, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1930)
    • 2015 – Jean-François Théodore, French businessman (b. 1946)
    • 2017 – Roger Ailes, American businessman (b. 1940)
    • 2017 – Jacque Fresco, American engineer and academic (b. 1916)
    • 2017 – Chris Cornell, American singer (b. 1964)
    • 2020 – Ken Osmond, American actor and the police officer (b. 1943)

    Holidays and observances on May 18

    • Christian feast day:
      • Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury
      • Eric IX of Sweden
      • Felix of Cantalice
      • Pope John I
      • Venantius of Camerino
      • May 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Victoria Day (Canada) (Earliest possible date of the last Monday preceding May 25)
    • Baltic Fleet Day (Russia)
    • Battle of Las Piedras Day (Uruguay)
    • Day of Remembrance of Crimean Tatar genocide (Ukraine)
    • Flag and Universities Day (Haiti)
    • Independence Day (Somaliland) (unrecognized)
    • International Museum Day
    • Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day (Sri Lankan Tamils)
    • Revival, Unity, and Poetry of Magtymguly Day (Turkmenistan)
    • Teacher’s Day (Syria)
    • Victory Day (Sri Lanka)
    • World AIDS Vaccine Day

  • March 20- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    Typically the March equinox falls on March 20, marking the vernal point in the Northern Hemisphere and the autumnal point in the Southern Hemisphere.

    • 235 – Maximinus Thrax is proclaimed emperor.
    • 673 – Emperor Tenmu of Japan assumes the Chrysanthemum Throne at the Palace of Kiyomihara in Asuka.
    • 1206 – Michael IV Autoreianos is appointed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
    • 1600 – The Linköping Bloodbath takes place on Maundy Thursday in Linköping, Sweden: five Swedish noblemen are publicly beheaded in the aftermath of the War against Sigismund (1598–1599).
    • 1602 – The Dutch East India Company is established.
    • 1616 – Sir Walter Raleigh is freed from the Tower of London after 13 years of imprisonment.
    • 1760 – The Great Boston Fire of 1760 destroys 349 buildings.
    • 1815 – After escaping from Elba, Napoleon enters Paris with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000, beginning his “Hundred Days” rule.
    • 1848 – German revolutions of 1848–49: King Ludwig I of Bavaria abdicates.
    • 1852 – Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin is published.
    • 1854 – The Republican Party of the United States is organized in Ripon, Wisconsin, US.
    • 1861 – An earthquake destroys Mendoza, Argentina.
    • 1883 – The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property is signed.
    • 1888 – The premiere of the very first Romani language operetta is staged in Moscow, Russia.
    • 1890 – Prime Minister of the German Empire Otto von Bismarck is dismissed by Emperor Wilhelm II.
    • 1896 – With the approval of Emperor Guangxu, the Qing dynasty post office is opened, marking the beginning of a postal service in China.
    • 1913 – Sung Chiao-jen, a founder of the Chinese Nationalist Party, is wounded in an assassination attempt and dies 2 days later.
    • 1915 – Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity.
    • 1921 – The Upper Silesia plebiscite was a plebiscite mandated by the Versailles Treaty to determine a section of the border between Weimar Germany and Poland.
    • 1922 – The USS Langley is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.
    • 1923 – The Arts Club of Chicago hosts the opening of Pablo Picasso’s first United States showing, entitled Original Drawings by Pablo Picasso, becoming an early proponent of modern art in the United States.
    • 1933 – Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler ordered the creation of Dachau concentration camp as Chief of Police of Munich and appointed Theodor Eicke as the camp commandant.
    • 1942 – World War II: General Douglas MacArthur, at Terowie, South Australia, makes his famous speech regarding the fall of the Philippines, in which he says: “I came out of Bataan and I shall return”.
    • 1948 – With a Musicians Union ban lifted, the first telecasts of classical music in the United States, under Eugene Ormandy and Arturo Toscanini, are given on CBS and NBC.
    • 1951 – Fujiyoshida, a city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, in the center of the Japanese main island of Honshū is founded.
    • 1952 – The US Senate ratifies the Security Treaty Between the United States and Japan.
    • 1956 – Tunisia gains independence from France.
    • 1964 – The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organisation) is established per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962.
    • 1972 – The Troubles: The first Provisional IRA car bombing in Belfast kills seven people and injures 148 others in Northern Ireland.
    • 1985 – Libby Riddles becomes the first woman to win the 1,135-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
    • 1985 – Canadian paraplegic athlete and humanitarian Rick Hansen begins his circumnavigation of the globe in a wheelchair in the name of spinal cord injury medical research.
    • 1987 – The Food and Drug Administration approves the anti-AIDS drug, AZT.
    • 1988 – Eritrean War of Independence: Having defeated the Nadew Command, the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front enters the town of Afabet, victoriously concluding the Battle of Afabet.
    • 1990 – Ferdinand Marcos’s widow, Imelda Marcos, goes on trial for bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering.
    • 1993 – The Troubles: A Provisional IRA bomb kills two children in Warrington, England. It leads to mass protests in both Britain and Ireland.
    • 1995 – The Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo carries out a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, killing 13 and wounding over 6,200 people.
    • 1999 – Legoland California, the first Legoland outside of Europe, opens in Carlsbad, California, US.
    • 2000 – Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther once known as H. Rap Brown, is captured after murdering Georgia sheriff’s deputy Ricky Kinchen and critically wounding Deputy Aldranon English.
    • 2003 – Invasion of Iraq: In the early hours of the morning, the United States and three other countries (the UK, Australia and Poland) begin military operations in Iraq.
    • 2006 – Over 150 Chadian soldiers are killed in eastern Chad by members of the rebel UFDC. The rebel movement sought to overthrow Chadian president Idriss Déby.
    • 2012 – At least 52 people are killed and more than 250 injured in a wave of terror attacks across ten cities in Iraq.
    • 2014 – Four suspected Taliban members attack the Kabul Serena Hotel, killing at least nine people.
    • 2015 – A Solar eclipse, equinox, and a supermoon all occur on the same day.

    Births on March 20

    • 43 BC – Ovid, Roman poet (d. 17)
    • 1253 – Magadu, renamed Wareru, founder of Ramanya Kingdom, renamed Hanthawady Kingdom of Pegu (b. a commoner; d. on a Saturday in January 1307)
    • 1319 – Laurence Hastings, 1st Earl of Pembroke (d. 1348)
    • 1469 – Cecily of York (d. 1507)
    • 1477 – Jerome Emser, German theologian and scholar (d. 1527)
    • 1479 – Ippolito d’Este, Italian cardinal (d. 1520)
    • 1502 – Pierino Belli, Italian soldier and jurist (d. 1575)
    • 1532 – Juan de Ribera, Roman Catholic archbishop (d. 1611)
    • 1612 – Anne Bradstreet, Puritan American poet (d. 1672)
    • 1615 – Dara Shikoh, Indian prince (d. 1659)
    • 1639 – Ivan Mazepa, Ukrainian diplomat, Hetman of Ukraine (d. 1709)
    • 1725 – Abdul Hamid I, Ottoman sultan (d. 1789)
    • 1737 – Rama I, Thai king (d. 1809)
    • 1771 – Heinrich Clauren, German author (d. 1854)
    • 1796 – Edward Gibbon Wakefield, English politician (d. 1862)
    • 1799 – Karl August Nicander, Swedish poet and author (d. 1839)
    • 1800 – Braulio Carrillo Colina, Costa Rican lawyer and politician, President of Costa Rica (d. 1845)
    • 1805 – Thomas Cooper, British poet (d. 1892)
    • 1811 – Napoleon II, French emperor (d. 1832)
    • 1811 – George Caleb Bingham, American painter and politician, State Treasurer of Missouri (d. 1879)
    • 1821 – Ned Buntline, American journalist, author, and publisher (d. 1886)
    • 1824 – Theodor von Heuglin, German explorer and ornithologist (d. 1876)
    • 1828 – Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian poet, playwright, and director (d. 1906)
    • 1831 – Patrick Jennings, Northern Irish-Australian politician, 11th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1897)
    • 1831 – Solomon L. Spink, American lawyer and politician (d. 1881)
    • 1834 – Charles William Eliot, American mathematician and academic (d. 1926)
    • 1836 – Ferris Jacobs, Jr., American general, lawyer, and politician (d. 1886)
    • 1836 – Edward Poynter, English painter, illustrator, and curator (d. 1919)
    • 1840 – Illarion Pryanishnikov, Russian painter (d. 1894)
    • 1851 – Ismail Gasprinski, Ukrainian educator, publisher, and politician (d. 1914)
    • 1856 – John Lavery, Irish painter (d. 1941)
    • 1856 – Frederick Winslow Taylor, American tennis player and engineer (d. 1915)
    • 1870 – Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, German general (d. 1964)
    • 1874 – Börries von Münchhausen, German poet and activist (d. 1945)
    • 1876 – Payne Whitney, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1927)
    • 1879 – Maud Menten, Canadian physician and biochemist (d. 1960)
    • 1882 – René Coty, French lawyer and politician, 17th President of France (d. 1962)
    • 1882 – Harold Weber, American golfer (d. 1933)
    • 1884 – Philipp Frank, Austrian-American physicist, mathematician, and philosopher (d. 1966)
    • 1884 – John Jensen, Australian public servant (d. 1970)
    • 1885 – Vernon Ransford, Australian cricketer (d. 1958)
    • 1888 – Amanda Clement, American baseball player, umpire, and educator (d. 1971)
    • 1890 – Lauritz Melchior, Danish-American tenor and actor (d. 1973)
    • 1894 – Amalie Sara Colquhoun, Australian landscape and portrait painter (d. 1974)
    • 1895 – Fredric Wertham, German-American psychologist and author (d. 1981)
    • 1898 – Eduard Wiiralt, Estonian artist (d. 1954)
    • 1900 – Amelia Chopitea Villa, Bolivia’s first female physician (d. 1942)
    • 1903 – Edgar Buchanan, American actor (d. 1979)
    • 1904 – B. F. Skinner, American psychologist and author (d. 1990)
    • 1905 – Jean Galia, French rugby player and boxer (d. 1949)
    • 1906 – Abraham Beame, American accountant and politician, 104th Mayor of New York City (d. 2001)
    • 1906 – Ozzie Nelson, American actor and bandleader (d. 1975)
    • 1907 – Hugh MacLennan, Canadian author and educator (d. 1990)
    • 1908 – Michael Redgrave, English actor and director (d. 1985)
    • 1910 – Erwin Blask, German hammer thrower (d. 1999)
    • 1911 – Alfonso García Robles, Mexican lawyer and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
    • 1912 – Ralph Hauenstein, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2016)
    • 1913 – Nikolai Stepulov, Russian-Estonian boxer (d. 1968)
    • 1914 – Wendell Corey, American actor and politician (d. 1968)
    • 1915 – Rudolf Kirchschläger, Austrian judge and politician, 8th President of Austria (d. 2000)
    • 1915 – Sviatoslav Richter, Ukrainian pianist and composer (d. 1997)
    • 1915 – Sister Rosetta Tharpe, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1973)
    • 1916 – Pierre Messmer, French lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 2007)
    • 1917 – Vera Lynn, English singer, songwriter and actress (d. 2020)
    • 1917 – Yigael Yadin, Israeli archaeologist, general, and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel (d. 1984)
    • 1918 – Jack Barry, American game show host and producer, co-founded Barry & Enright Productions (d. 1984)
    • 1918 – Donald Featherstone, English soldier and author (d. 2013)
    • 1918 – Marian McPartland, English-American pianist and composer (d. 2013)
    • 1918 – Bernd Alois Zimmermann, German composer (d. 1970)
    • 1919 – Gerhard Barkhorn, German fighter ace (d. 1983)
    • 1920 – Pamela Harriman, English-American diplomat, 58th United States Ambassador to France (d. 1997)
    • 1920 – Rosemary Timperley, English author and screenwriter (d. 1988)
    • 1921 – Usmar Ismail, Indonesian filmmaker (d. 1971)
    • 1921 – Dušan Pirjevec, Slovenian historian and philosopher (d. 1977)
    • 1921 – Alfréd Rényi, Hungarian mathematician and theorist (d. 1970)
    • 1922 – Larry Elgart, American saxophonist and bandleader (d. 2017)
    • 1922 – Ray Goulding, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1990)
    • 1922 – Carl Reiner, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2020)
    • 1923 – Con Martin, Irish footballer and manager (d. 2013)
    • 1923 – Shaukat Siddiqui, Pakistani journalist, author, and activist (d. 2006)
    • 1925 – John Ehrlichman, American lawyer, 12th White House Counsel (d. 1999)
    • 1927 – John Joubert, South African-English composer and academic (d. 2019)
    • 1928 – Jerome Biffle, American long jumper and coach (d. 2002)
    • 1928 – James P. Gordon, American physicist and engineer (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – Fred Rogers, American television host and producer (d. 2003)
    • 1929 – William Andrew MacKay, Canadian lawyer and judge (d. 2013)
    • 1929 – Germán Robles, Spanish-Mexican actor and director (d. 2015)
    • 1930 – S. Arasaratnam, Sri Lankan historian, author, and academic (d. 1998)
    • 1931 – Hal Linden, American actor, singer, and director
    • 1931 – Rein Raamat, Estonian director and screenwriter
    • 1933 – Lateef Adegbite, Nigerian lawyer and politician (d. 2012)
    • 1933 – George Altman, American baseball player
    • 1933 – Ian Walsh, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 2013)
    • 1934 – Willie Brown, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 41st Mayor of San Francisco
    • 1934 – David Malouf, Australian author and playwright
    • 1935 – Ted Bessell, American actor and director (d. 1996)
    • 1935 – Bettye Washington Greene, American chemist (d. 1995)
    • 1936 – Lee “Scratch” Perry, Jamaican singer, songwriter, music producer, and inventor
    • 1936 – Mark Saville, Baron Saville of Newdigate, English lieutenant, lawyer, and judge
    • 1937 – Lois Lowry, American author
    • 1937 – Jerry Reed, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2008)
    • 1938 – Sergei Novikov, Russian mathematician and academic
    • 1939 – Gerald Curran, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1939 – Don Edwards, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1939 – Walter Jakob Gehring, Swiss biologist and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1939 – Brian Mulroney, Canadian lawyer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of Canada
    • 1940 – Stathis Chaitas, Greek footballer and manager
    • 1940 – Mary Ellen Mark, American photographer and journalist (d. 2015)
    • 1940 – Giampiero Moretti, Italian race car driver and businessman, founded the Momo company (d. 2012)
    • 1941 – Pat Corrales, American baseball player and manager
    • 1941 – Kenji Kimihara, Japanese runner
    • 1943 – Gerard Malanga, American poet and photographer
    • 1943 – Douglas Tompkins, American businessman, co-founded The North Face and Esprit Holdings (d. 2015)
    • 1943 – Paul Junger Witt, American director and producer (d. 2018)
    • 1944 – John Cameron, English composer and conductor
    • 1944 – Camille Cosby, American author, producer, and philanthropist
    • 1944 – Alan Harper, English-Irish archbishop
    • 1945 – Henry Bartholomay, American soldier and pilot (d. 2015)
    • 1945 – Jay Ingram, Canadian television host and author
    • 1945 – Pat Riley, American basketball player and coach
    • 1945 – Tim Yeo, English politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Health
    • 1946 – Douglas B. Green, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1946 – Malcolm Simmons, English motorcycle racer (d. 2014)
    • 1947 – John Boswell, American historian, philologist, and academic (d. 1994)
    • 1948 – John de Lancie, American actor
    • 1948 – Bobby Orr, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1948 – Nikos Papazoglou, Greek singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2011)
    • 1949 – Marcia Ball, American blues singer-songwriter and pianist
    • 1949 – Richard Dowden, English journalist and educator
    • 1950 – William Hurt, American actor
    • 1950 – Carl Palmer, English drummer, percussionist, and songwriter
    • 1951 – Jimmie Vaughan, American blues-rock singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1952 – Geoff Brabham, Australian race car driver
    • 1952 – David Greenaway, English economist and academic
    • 1953 – Phil Judd, New Zealand singer-songwriter, guitarist and painter
    • 1954 – Mike Francesa, American radio talk show host and television commentator
    • 1954 – Liana Kanelli, Greek journalist and politician
    • 1954 – Paul Mirabella, American baseball player
    • 1955 – Nina Kiriki Hoffman, American author
    • 1955 – Ian Moss, Australian guitarist and singer-songwriter
    • 1955 – Mariya Takeuchi, Japanese singer-songwriter
    • 1956 – Catherine Ashton, English politician, Vice-President of the European Commission
    • 1956 – Anne Donahue, American lawyer and politician
    • 1956 – Naoto Takenaka, Japanese actor, comedian, singer, and director
    • 1957 – Vanessa Bell Calloway, American actress
    • 1957 – David Foster, Australian woodchopper
    • 1957 – Spike Lee, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1957 – Theresa Russell, American actress
    • 1957 – Chris Wedge, American animator, producer, screenwriter, and voice actor
    • 1958 – Holly Hunter, American actress and producer
    • 1958 – Rickey Jackson, American football player
    • 1958 – Joe Reaiche, Australian rugby player
    • 1959 – Dave Beasant, English footballer and coach
    • 1959 – Mary Roach, American author
    • 1959 – Sting, American wrestler
    • 1959 – Peter Truscott, Baron Truscott, British Labour Party politician and peer
    • 1960 – Norm Magnusson, American painter and sculptor
    • 1960 – Norbert Pohlmann, German computer scientist and academic
    • 1960 – Yuri Shargin, Russian colonel, engineer, and astronaut
    • 1961 – Ingrid Arndt-Brauer, German politician
    • 1961 – Jesper Olsen, Danish footballer and manager
    • 1961 – Sara Wheeler, English author and journalist
    • 1962 – Stephen Sommers, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1963 – Paul Annacone, American tennis player and coach
    • 1963 – Kathy Ireland, American model, actress, and furniture designer
    • 1963 – Yelena Romanova, Russian runner (d. 2007)
    • 1963 – David Thewlis, English-French actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1964 – Natacha Atlas, Belgian singer-songwriter
    • 1965 – William Dalrymple, Scottish historian and author
    • 1967 – Xavier Beauvois, French actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1967 – Mookie Blaylock, American basketball player
    • 1968 – Carlos Almeida, Cape Verdean runner
    • 1968 – A. J. Jacobs, American journalist and author
    • 1968 – Paul Merson, English footballer and manager
    • 1968 – Ultra Naté, American singer, songwriter, record producer, DJ, and promoter
    • 1969 – Yvette Cooper, English economist and politician, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
    • 1969 – Fabien Galthie, French rugby player
    • 1970 – Edoardo Ballerini, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1970 – Josephine Medina, Filipino Paralympic table tennis player
    • 1970 – sj Miller, American academic, public speaker, and social justice activist
    • 1970 – Michael Rapaport, American actor, podcast host, and director
    • 1971 – Manny Alexander, Dominican baseball player
    • 1971 – Touré, American journalist and author
    • 1972 – Chilly Gonzales, Canadian-German singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
    • 1972 – Alex Kapranos, English-Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1972 – Greg Searle, English rower
    • 1972 – Marco Sejna, German footballer
    • 1972 – Cristel Vahtra, Estonian skier
    • 1973 – Nicky Boje, South African cricketer
    • 1973 – Natalya Khrushcheleva, Russian runner
    • 1973 – Talal Khalifa Aljeri, Kuwaiti businessman
    • 1974 – Carsten Ramelow, German footballer
    • 1975 – Ramin Bahrani, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1975 – Isolde Kostner, Italian skier
    • 1976 – Chester Bennington, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (d. 2017)
    • 1978 – Kevin Betsy, English born Seychelles international footballer, midfielder and manager
    • 1978 – Brent Sherwin, Australian rugby league player
    • 1979 – Shinnosuke Abe, Japanese baseball player
    • 1979 – Freema Agyeman, English actress
    • 1979 – Keven Mealamu, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1980 – Jamal Crawford, American basketball player
    • 1980 – Robertas Javtokas, Lithuanian basketball player
    • 1981 – Ian Murray, Scottish footballer
    • 1981 – Carl Webb, Australian rugby league player
    • 1982 – Terrence Duffin, Zimbabwean cricketer
    • 1982 – Tomasz Kuszczak, Polish footballer
    • 1982 – José Moreira, Portuguese footballer
    • 1983 – Carolina Padrón, Venezuelan journalist
    • 1983 – Jenni Vartiainen, Finnish singer
    • 1984 – Vikram Banerjee, English cricketer
    • 1984 – Christy Carlson Romano, American actress and singer
    • 1984 – Fernando Torres, Spanish footballer
    • 1985 – Morgan Amalfitano, French footballer
    • 1985 – Ronnie Brewer, American basketball player
    • 1985 – Nicolas Lombaerts, Belgian footballer
    • 1986 – Dean Geyer, South African-Australian singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1986 – Julián Magallanes, Argentinian footballer
    • 1986 – Ruby Rose, Australian actress and model
    • 1986 – Román Torres, Panamanian footballer
    • 1987 – Daniel Maa Boumsong, Cameroonian footballer
    • 1987 – Jô, Brazilian footballer
    • 1987 – Pedro Ken, Brazilian footballer
    • 1987 – Sergei Kostitsyn, Belarusian ice hockey player
    • 1989 – Xavier Dolan, Canadian actor and director
    • 1989 – Tamim Iqbal, Bangladeshi Cricketer
    • 1990 – Blake Ferguson, Australian rugby league player
    • 1990 – Marcos Rojo, Argentine footballer
    • 1991 – Mattia Destro, Italian footballer
    • 1991 – Michał Kucharczyk, Polish footballer
    • 1991 – Ethan Lowe, Australian rugby league player
    • 1993 – Sloane Stephens, American tennis player
    • 1995 – Jack Bird, Australian rugby league player

    Deaths on March 20

    • 687 – Cuthbert, Northumbrian (English) monk, bishop, and saint (b. 634)
    • 703 – Wulfram, archbishop of Sens
    • 842 – Alfonso II, king of Asturias (Spain) (b. 759)
    • 851 – Ebbo, archbishop of Reims
    • 1181 – Taira no Kiyomori, Japanese general (b. 1118)
    • 1191 – Pope Clement III (b. 1130)
    • 1239 – Hermann von Salza, German knight and diplomat (b. 1179)
    • 1302 – Ralph Walpole, Bishop of Norwich
    • 1336 – Maurice Csák, Hungarian Dominican friar (b. 1270)
    • 1351 – Muhammad bin Tughluq, Sultan of Delhi
    • 1390 – Alexios III Megas Komnenos, Emperor of Trebizond (b. 1338)
    • 1413 – Henry IV of England (b. 1367)
    • 1440 – Sigismund I of Lithuania
    • 1475 – Georges Chastellain, Burgundian chronicler and poet
    • 1549 – Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, English general and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1508)
    • 1568 – Albert, Duke of Prussia (b. 1490)
    • 1619 – Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1557)
    • 1673 – Augustyn Kordecki, Polish monk (b. 1603)
    • 1688 – Maria of Orange-Nassau, Dutch princess (b. 1642)
    • 1730 – Adrienne Lecouvreur, French actress (b. 1692)
    • 1746 – Nicolas de Largillière, French painter and academic (b. 1656)
    • 1780 – Benjamin Truman, English brewer and businessman (b. 1699)
    • 1793 – William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, Scottish judge and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (b. 1705)
    • 1835 – Louis Léopold Robert, French painter (b. 1794)
    • 1849 – James Justinian Morier, Turkish-English author and diplomat (b. 1780)
    • 1855 – Joseph Aspdin, English businessman (b. 1788)
    • 1865 – Yamanami Keisuke, Japanese samurai (b. 1833)
    • 1874 – Hans Christian Lumbye, Danish composer and conductor (b. 1810)
    • 1878 – Julius Robert von Mayer, German physician and physicist (b. 1814)
    • 1894 – Lajos Kossuth, Hungarian lawyer, journalist and politician (b. 1802)
    • 1897 – Apollon Maykov, Russian poet and playwright (b. 1821)
    • 1899 – Franz Ritter von Hauer, Austrian geologist and author (b. 1822)
    • 1909 – Friedrich Amelung, Estonian historian and businessman (b. 1842)
    • 1918 – Lewis A. Grant, American general and lawyer (b. 1828)
    • 1925 – George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, English politician, 35th Governor-General of India (b. 1859)
    • 1929 – Ferdinand Foch, French field marshal (b. 1851)
    • 1930 – Arthur F. Andrews, American cyclist (b. 1876)
    • 1931 – Hermann Müller, German journalist and politician, 12th Chancellor of Germany (b. 1876)
    • 1933 – Giuseppe Zangara, Italian-American assassin of Anton Cermak (b. 1900; executed)
    • 1940 – Alfred Ploetz, German physician, biologist, and eugenicist (b. 1860)
    • 1945 – Dorothy Campbell, Scottish-American golfer (b. 1883)
    • 1946 – Amadeus William Grabau, American-Chinese geologist, paleontologist, and academic (b. 1870)
    • 1947 – Sigurd Wallén, Swedish actor and director (b. 1884)
    • 1952 – Hjalmar Väre, Finnish cyclist (b. 1892)
    • 1958 – Adegoke Adelabu, Nigerian merchant, journalist, and politician (b. 1915)
    • 1964 – Brendan Behan, Irish republican and playwright (b. 1923)
    • 1965 – Daniel Frank, American long jumper (b. 1882)
    • 1966 – Johnny Morrison, American baseball player (b. 1895)
    • 1968 – Carl Theodor Dreyer, Danish director and screenwriter (b. 1889)
    • 1969 – Henri Longchambon, French politician (b. 1896)
    • 1971 – Falih Rıfkı Atay, Turkish journalist and politician (b. 1894)
    • 1972 – Marilyn Maxwell, American actress (b. 1921)
    • 1974 – Chet Huntley, American journalist (b. 1911)
    • 1977 – Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham, English politician, 9th Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1909)
    • 1977 – Terukuni Manzō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 38th Yokozuna (b. 1919)
    • 1978 – Jacques Brugnon, French tennis player (b. 1895)
    • 1981 – Gerry Bertier, American football player (b. 1953)
    • 1983 – Ivan Matveyevich Vinogradov, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1891)
    • 1990 – Maurice Cloche, French director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1907)
    • 1990 – Lev Yashin, Russian footballer (b. 1929)
    • 1992 – Georges Delerue, French composer (b. 1925)
    • 1993 – Polykarp Kusch, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
    • 1994 – Lewis Grizzard, American writer and humorist (b. 1946)
    • 1997 – V. S. Pritchett, English short story writer, essayist, and critic (b. 1900)
    • 1999 – Patrick Heron, British painter (b. 1920)
    • 2000 – Gene Eugene, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1961)
    • 2001 – Luis Alvarado, Puerto Rican-American baseball player (b. 1949)
    • 2004 – Juliana of the Netherlands (b. 1909)
    • 2004 – Pierre Sévigny, Canadian colonel and politician (b. 1917)
    • 2005 – Armand Lohikoski, American-Finnish director and screenwriter (b. 1912)
    • 2007 – Raynald Fréchette, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1933)
    • 2007 – Taha Yassin Ramadan, Iraqi politician, Vice President of Iraq (b. 1938)
    • 2007 – Hawa Yakubu, Ghanaian politician (b. 1948)
    • 2010 – Ai, American poet and academic (b. 1947)
    • 2010 – Girija Prasad Koirala, Indian-Nepalese politician, 30th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1924)
    • 2010 – Stewart Udall, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 37th United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1920)
    • 2011 – Johnny Pearson, English pianist, conductor, and composer (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Lincoln Hall, Australian mountaineer and author (b. 1955)
    • 2012 – Noboru Ishiguro, Japanese animator and director (b. 1938)
    • 2012 – Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, Polish-Israeli rabbi and author (b. 1910)
    • 2012 – Jim Stynes, Irish-Australian footballer (b. 1966)
    • 2013 – James Herbert, English author (b. 1943)
    • 2013 – George Lowe, New Zealand-English mountaineer and explorer (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Zillur Rahman, Bangladeshi lawyer and politician, 19th President of Bangladesh (b. 1929)
    • 2014 – Hennie Aucamp, South African poet, author, and academic (b. 1934)
    • 2014 – Hilderaldo Bellini, Brazilian footballer (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Tonie Nathan, American politician (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – Khushwant Singh, Indian journalist and author (b. 1915)
    • 2015 – Eva Burrows, Australian 13th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1929)
    • 2015 – Malcolm Fraser, Australian politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1930)
    • 2016 – Anker Jørgensen, Danish politician, Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1922)
    • 2017 – David Rockefeller, American billionaire and philanthropist (b. 1915)
    • 2018 – C. K. Mann, a Ghanaian Highlife musician and producer (b. 1936)
    • 2019 – Mary Warnock, English philosopher & writer (b. 1924)
    • 2020 – Kenny Rogers, American singer (b. 1938)

    Holidays and observances on March 20

    • Christian feast day:
      • Alexandra
      • Blessed John of Parma
      • Clement of Ireland
      • Cuthbert of Lindisfarne
      • Herbert of Derwentwater
      • John of Nepomuk
      • Józef Bilczewski
      • María Josefa Sancho de Guerra
      • Martin of Braga
      • Michele Carcano
      • Wulfram
      • March 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Earliest date for the vernal equinox in the Northern hemisphere:
      • Bahá’í Naw-Rúz, started at sunset on March 20. The end of the 19-day sunrise-to-sunset fast. (Bahá’í Faith)
      • Chunfen (China)
      • Earth Equinox Day
      • International Astrology Day
      • New Year (Thelema)
      • Nowruz (Persian, Gilaki, Kurdish, Zoroastrians, and other Iranian people and countries with an Iranian influence)
      • Ostara in the northern hemisphere, Mabon in the southern hemisphere. (Neo-Druidic Wheel of the Year)
      • Shunbun no Hi (Japan)
      • Sun-Earth Day (United States)
      • Vernal Equinox Day/Kōreisai (Japan)
      • World Storytelling Day
    • Earliest day on which Good Friday can fall, while April 23 is the latest; celebrated on Friday before Easter. (Christianity)
    • Great American Meatout (United States)
    • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Tunisia from France in 1956.
    • International Day of Happiness (United Nations)
    • International Francophonie Day (Organisation internationale de la Francophonie), and its related observances:
      • UN French Language Day (United Nations)
    • National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (United States)
    • World Sparrow Day

  • February 22 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 705 – Empress Wu Zetian abdicates the throne, restoring the Tang dynasty.
    • 1316 – The Battle of Picotin, between Ferdinand of Majorca and the forces of Matilda of Hainaut, ends in victory for Ferdinand.
    • 1371 – Robert II becomes King of Scotland, beginning the Stuart dynasty.
    • 1495 – King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city’s throne.
    • 1632 – Ferdinando II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, the dedicatee, receives the first printed copy of Galileo’s Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems .
    • 1651 – St. Peter’s Flood: A storm surge floods the Frisian coast, drowning 15,000 people.
    • 1744 – War of the Austrian Succession: The Battle of Toulon causes several Royal Navy captains to be court-martialed, and the Articles of War to be amended.
    • 1797 – The last Invasion of Britain begins near Fishguard, Wales.
    • 1819 – By the Adams–Onís Treaty, Spain sells Florida to the United States for five million U.S. dollars.
    • 1821 – Greek War of Independence: Alexander Ypsilantis crosses the Prut river at Sculeni into the Danubian Principalities.
    • 1847 – Mexican–American War: The Battle of Buena Vista: Five thousand American troops defeat 15,000 Mexican troops.
    • 1848 – The French Revolution of 1848, which would lead to the establishment of the French Second Republic, begins.
    • 1853 – Washington University in St. Louis is founded as Eliot Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.
    • 1855 – The Pennsylvania State University is founded in State College, Pennsylvania (as the Farmers’ High School of Pennsylvania).
    • 1856 – The United States Republican Party opens its first national convention in Pittsburgh.
    • 1862 – Jefferson Davis is officially inaugurated for a six-year term as the President of the Confederate States of America in Richmond, Virginia. He was previously inaugurated as a provisional president on February 18, 1861.
    • 1872 – The Prohibition Party holds its first national convention in Columbus, Ohio, nominating James Black as its presidential nominee.
    • 1878 – In Utica, New York, Frank Woolworth opens the first of many of five-and-dime Woolworth stores.
    • 1889 – President Grover Cleveland signs a bill admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states.
    • 1899 – Filipino forces led by General Antonio Luna launch counterattacks for the first time against the American forces during the Philippine–American War. The Filipinos fail to regain Manila from the Americans.
    • 1904 – The United Kingdom sells a meteorological station on the South Orkney Islands to Argentina; the islands are subsequently claimed by the United Kingdom in 1908.
    • 1909 – The sixteen battleships of the Great White Fleet, led by USS Connecticut, return to the United States after a voyage around the world.
    • 1915 – World War I: The Imperial German Navy institutes unrestricted submarine warfare.
    • 1921 – After Russian forces under Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg drive the Chinese out, the Bogd Khan is reinstalled as the emperor of Mongolia.
    • 1942 – World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as the Japanese victory becomes inevitable.
    • 1943 – World War II: Members of the White Rose resistance, Sophie Scholl, Hans Scholl, and Christoph Probst are executed in Nazi Germany.
    • 1944 – World War II: American aircraft mistakenly bomb the Dutch towns of Nijmegen, Arnhem, Enschede and Deventer, resulting in 800 dead in Nijmegen alone.
    • 1944 – World War II: The Soviet Red Army recaptures Krivoi Rog.
    • 1946 – The “Long Telegram”, proposing how the United States should deal with the Soviet Union, arrives from the US embassy in Moscow.
    • 1957 – Ngô Đình Diệm of South Vietnam survives a communist shooting assassination attempt in Buôn Ma Thuột.
    • 1958 – Egypt and Syria join to form the United Arab Republic.
    • 1959 – Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500.
    • 1972 – The Official Irish Republican Army detonates a car bomb at Aldershot barracks, killing seven and injuring nineteen others.
    • 1973 – Cold War: Following President Richard Nixon’s visit to the People’s Republic of China, the two countries agree to establish liaison offices.
    • 1974 – The Organisation of the Islamic Conference summit begins in Lahore, Pakistan. Thirty-seven countries attend and twenty-two heads of state and government participate. It also recognizes Bangladesh.
    • 1974 – Samuel Byck attempts to hijack an aircraft at Baltimore/Washington International Airport with the intention of crashing it into the White House to assassinate Richard Nixon, but is killed by police.
    • 1980 – Miracle on Ice: In Lake Placid, New York, the United States hockey team defeats the Soviet Union hockey team 4–3.
    • 1983 – The notorious Broadway flop Moose Murders opens and closes on the same night at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre.
    • 1984 – President of Bangladesh, H M Ershad upgraded South Sylhet’s sub-division status to a district and renamed it back to Moulvibazar.
    • 1986 – Start of the People Power Revolution in the Philippines.
    • 1994 – Aldrich Ames and his wife are charged by the United States Department of Justice with spying for the Soviet Union.
    • 1995 – The Corona reconnaissance satellite program, in existence from 1959 to 1972, is declassified.
    • 1997 – In Roslin, Midlothian, British scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly has been successfully cloned.
    • 2002 – Angolan political and rebel leader Jonas Savimbi is killed in a military ambush.
    • 2005 – The 6.4 Mw  Zarand earthquake shakes the Kerman Province of Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), leaving 612 people dead and 1,411 injured.
    • 2006 – At least six men stage Britain’s biggest robbery, stealing £53m (about $92.5 million or €78 million) from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.
    • 2011 – New Zealand’s second deadliest earthquake strikes Christchurch, killing 185 people.
    • 2011 – Bahraini uprising: Tens of thousands of people march in protest against the deaths of seven victims killed by police and army forces during previous protests.
    • 2012 – A train crash in Buenos Aires, Argentina, kills 51 people and injures 700 others.
    • 2014 – President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine is impeached by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine by a vote of 328–0, fulfilling a major goal of the Euromaidan rebellion.
    • 2015 – A ferry carrying 100 passengers capsizes in the Padma River, killing 70 people.
    • 2018 – A man throws a grenade at the U.S embassy in Podgorica, Montenegro. He dies at the scene from a second explosion, with no one else hurt.

    Births on February 22

    • 1028 – Al-Juwayni, Persian jurist and theologian (died 1085)
    • 1040 – Rashi, French rabbi and author (d. 1105)
    • 1302 – Gegeen Khan, Emperor Yingzong of Yuan (d. 1323)
    • 1403 – Charles VII of France (d. 1461)
    • 1440 – Ladislaus the Posthumous, Hungarian king (d. 1457)
    • 1500 – Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian cardinal (d. 1564)
    • 1514 – Tahmasp I, Iranian shah (d. 1576)
    • 1520 – Moses Isserles, Polish rabbi (d. 1572)
    • 1550 – Charles de Ligne, 2nd Prince of Arenberg (d. 1616)
    • 1592 – Nicholas Ferrar, English scholar (d. 1637)
    • 1631 – Peder Syv, Danish historian (d. 1702)
    • 1649 – Bon Boullogne, French painter (d. 1717)
    • 1715 – Charles-Nicolas Cochin, French artist (d. 1790)
    • 1732 – George Washington, American general and politician, 1st President of the United States (d. 1799)
    • 1749 – Johann Nikolaus Forkel, German musicologist and theorist (d. 1818)
    • 1778 – Rembrandt Peale, American painter and curator (d. 1860)
    • 1788 – Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher and author (d. 1860)
    • 1796 – Alexis Bachelot, French priest and missionary (d. 1837)
    • 1796 – Adolphe Quetelet, Belgian mathematician, astronomer, and sociologist (d. 1874)
    • 1805 – Sarah Fuller Flower Adams, English poet and hymnwriter (d. 1848)
    • 1806 – Józef Kremer, Polish historian and philosopher (d. 1875)
    • 1817 – Carl Wilhelm Borchardt, German mathematician and academic (d. 1880)
    • 1819 – James Russell Lowell, American poet and critic (d. 1891)
    • 1824 – Pierre Janssen, French astronomer and mathematician (d. 1907)
    • 1825 – Jean-Baptiste Salpointe, French-American archbishop (d. 1898)
    • 1836 – Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya, Indian scholar and academic (d. 1906)
    • 1840 – August Bebel, German theorist and politician (d. 1913)
    • 1849 – Nikolay Yakovlevich Sonin, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1915)
    • 1857 – Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, English general, co-founded The Scout Association (d. 1941)
    • 1857 – Heinrich Hertz, German physicist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1894)
    • 1860 – Mary W. Bacheler, American physician and Baptist medical missionary (d. 1939)
    • 1863 – Charles McLean Andrews, American historian, author, and academic (d. 1943)
    • 1864 – Jules Renard, French author and playwright (d. 1910)
    • 1876 – Zitkala-Sa, American author and activist (d. 1938)
    • 1874 – Bill Klem, American baseball player and umpire (d. 1951)
    • 1879 – Johannes Nicolaus Brønsted, Danish chemist and academic (d. 1947)
    • 1880 – Eric Lemming, Swedish athlete (d. 1930)
    • 1881 – Joseph B. Ely, American lawyer and politician, 52nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1956)
    • 1881 – Albin Prepeluh, Slovenian journalist and politician (d. 1937)
    • 1882 – Eric Gill, English sculptor and illustrator (d. 1940)
    • 1883 – Marguerite Clark, American actress (d. 1940)
    • 1886 – Hugo Ball, German author and poet (d. 1927)
    • 1887 – Savielly Tartakower, Polish journalist, author, and chess player (d. 1956)
    • 1887 – Pat Sullivan, Australian-American animator and producer (d. 1933)
    • 1888 – Owen Brewster, American captain and politician, 54th Governor of Maine (d. 1961)
    • 1889 – Olave Baden-Powell, English scout leader, founded the Girl Guides (d. 1977)
    • 1889 – R. G. Collingwood, English historian and philosopher (d. 1943)
    • 1891 – Vlas Chubar, Russian economist and politician (d. 1939)
    • 1892 – Edna St. Vincent Millay, American poet and playwright (d. 1950)
    • 1895 – Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, Peruvian politician (d. 1979)
    • 1897 – Karol Świerczewski, Polish general (d. 1947)
    • 1899 – George O’Hara, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1966)
    • 1900 – Luis Buñuel, Spanish-Mexican director and producer (d. 1983)
    • 1903 – Morley Callaghan, Canadian author and playwright (d. 1990)
    • 1903 – Frank P. Ramsey, English economist, mathematician, and philosopher (d. 1930)
    • 1906 – Constance Stokes, Australian painter (d. 1991)
    • 1907 – Sheldon Leonard, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1997)
    • 1907 – Robert Young, American actor (d. 1998)
    • 1908 – Rómulo Betancourt, Venezuelan politician, 56th President of Venezuela (d. 1981)
    • 1908 – John Mills, English soldier and actor (d. 2005)
    • 1910 – George Hunt, English international footballer, forward (d. 1996)
    • 1914 – Renato Dulbecco, Italian-American virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
    • 1915 – Gus Lesnevich, American boxer (d. 1964)
    • 1917 – Reed Crandall, American illustrator (d. 1982)
    • 1918 – Sid Abel, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2000)
    • 1918 – Don Pardo, American radio and television announcer (d. 2014)
    • 1918 – Robert Wadlow, American man, the tallest person in recorded history (d. 1940)
    • 1921 – Jean-Bédel Bokassa, Central African general and politician, 2nd President of the Central African Republic (d. 1996)
    • 1921 – Giulietta Masina, Italian actress (d. 1994)
    • 1922 – Marshall Teague, American race car driver (d. 1959)
    • 1922 – Joe Wilder, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 2014)
    • 1923 – Bleddyn Williams, Welsh rugby player and sportscaster (d. 2009)
    • 1923 – François Cavanna, French author and editor (d. 2014)
    • 1925 – Edward Gorey, American illustrator and poet (d. 2000)
    • 1925 – Gerald Stern, American poet and academic
    • 1926 – Kenneth Williams, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1988)
    • 1927 – Florencio Campomanes, Filipino political scientist and chess player (d. 2010)
    • 1927 – Guy Mitchell, American singer (d. 1999)
    • 1928 – Clarence 13X, American religious leader, founded the Nation of Gods and Earths (d. 1969)
    • 1928 – Texas Johnny Brown, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – Paul Dooley, American actor
    • 1928 – Bruce Forsyth, English singer and television host (d. 2017)
    • 1929 – James Hong, American actor and director
    • 1929 – Rebecca Schull, American stage, film, and television actress
    • 1930 – Marni Nixon, American soprano and actress (d. 2016)
    • 1932 – Ted Kennedy, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (d. 2009)
    • 1932 – Zenaida Manfugás, Cuban-born American-naturalized pianist (d. 2012)
    • 1933 – Katharine, Duchess of Kent
    • 1933 – Sheila Hancock, English actress and author
    • 1933 – Ernie K-Doe, American R&B singer (d. 2001)
    • 1933 – Bobby Smith, English international footballer, centre forward (d. 2010)
    • 1934 – Sparky Anderson, American baseball player and manager (d. 2010)
    • 1936 – J. Michael Bishop, American microbiologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1937 – Tommy Aaron, American golfer
    • 1937 – Joanna Russ, American author and activist (d. 2011)
    • 1938 – Steve Barber, American baseball player (d. 2007)
    • 1938 – Tony Macedo, Gibraltarian born English footballer, goalkeeper
    • 1938 – Ishmael Reed, American poet, novelist, essayist
    • 1940 – Judy Cornwell, English actress
    • 1940 – Chet Walker, American basketball player
    • 1941 – Hipólito Mejía, Dominican politician, 52nd President of the Dominican Republic
    • 1942 – Christine Keeler, English model and dancer (d. 2017)
    • 1943 – Terry Eagleton, English philosopher and critic
    • 1943 – Horst Köhler, Polish-German economist and politician, 9th President of Germany
    • 1943 – Dick Van Arsdale, American basketball player
    • 1943 – Tom Van Arsdale, American basketball player
    • 1943 – Otoya Yamaguchi, Japanese assassin of Inejiro Asanuma (d. 1960)
    • 1944 – Jonathan Demme, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
    • 1944 – Mick Green, English rock & roll guitarist (d. 2010)
    • 1944 – Robert Kardashian, American lawyer and businessman (d. 2003)
    • 1944 – Christopher Meyer, English diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States
    • 1944 – Tom Okker, Dutch tennis player and painter
    • 1945 – Oliver, American pop singer (d. 2000)
    • 1946 – Kresten Bjerre, Danish footballer and manager (d. 2014)
    • 1947 – Pirjo Honkasalo, Finnish director, cinematographer, and screenwriter
    • 1947 – Harvey Mason, American drummer
    • 1947 – John Radford, English footballer and manager
    • 1947 – Frank Van Dun, Belgian philosopher and theorist
    • 1949 – John Duncan, Scottish footballer, forward and manager
    • 1949 – Niki Lauda, Austrian racing driver (d. 2019)
    • 1949 – Olga Morozova, Russian tennis player and coach
    • 1950 – Julius Erving, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1950 – Lenny Kuhr, Dutch singer-songwriter
    • 1950 – Miou-Miou, French actress
    • 1950 – Genesis P-Orridge, English singer-songwriter (d. 2020)
    • 1950 – Julie Walters, English actress and author
    • 1951 – Ellen Greene, American singer and actress
    • 1952 – Bill Frist, American physician and politician
    • 1952 – Joaquim Pina Moura, Portuguese Minister of Economy and Treasury and MP (d. 2020)
    • 1953 – Nigel Planer, English actor and screenwriter
    • 1955 – David Axelrod, American journalist and political adviser
    • 1955 – Tim Young, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1957 – Willie Smits, Dutch microbiologist and engineer
    • 1958 – Dave Spitz, American bass player and songwriter
    • 1959 – Jiří Čunek, Czech politician
    • 1959 – Kyle MacLachlan, American actor
    • 1959 – Bronwyn Oliver, Australian sculptor (d. 2006)
    • 1960 – Thomas Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde, Scottish politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
    • 1961 – Akira Takasaki, Japanese guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1962 – Steve Irwin, Australian zoologist and television host (d. 2006)
    • 1963 – Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
    • 1963 – Devon Malcolm, Jamaican-English cricketer
    • 1963 – Vijay Singh, Fijian-American golfer
    • 1964 – Ed Boon, American video game designer, co-created Mortal Kombat
    • 1964 – Diane Charlemagne, English singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
    • 1964 – Andy Gray, English footballer, midfielder and manager
    • 1965 – Chris Dudley, American basketball player and politician
    • 1965 – Kieren Fallon, Irish jockey
    • 1965 – Pat LaFontaine, American ice hockey player
    • 1966 – Rachel Dratch, American actress and comedian
    • 1966 – Thorsten Kaye, German-English actor
    • 1967 – Psicosis II, Mexican wrestler
    • 1968 – Shawn Graham, Canadian politician, 31st Premier of New Brunswick
    • 1968 – Bradley Nowell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1996)
    • 1968 – Jeri Ryan, American model and actress
    • 1968 – Jayson Williams, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1969 – Thomas Jane, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1969 – Brian Laudrup, Danish footballer and sportscaster
    • 1969 – Marc Wilmots, Belgian footballer and manager
    • 1971 – Super Caló, Mexican wrestler
    • 1971 – Lea Salonga, Filipino actress and singer
    • 1972 – Michael Chang, American tennis player and coach
    • 1972 – Claudia Pechstein, German speed skater
    • 1973 – Philippe Gaumont, French cyclist (d. 2013)
    • 1973 – Juninho Paulista, Brazilian footballer
    • 1973 – Scott Phillips, American drummer and producer
    • 1974 – James Blunt, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1974 – Chris Moyles, English radio and television host
    • 1975 – Drew Barrymore, American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1977 – Timo Rose, German actor, director, and producer
    • 1977 – Hakan Yakin, Swiss footballer
    • 1978 – Jenny Frost, English singer and dancer
    • 1979 – Brett Emerton, Australian footballer
    • 1979 – Lee Na-young, South Korean actress
    • 1980 – Shamari Fears, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1980 – Kang Sung-hoon, South Korean singer
    • 1980 – Jeanette Biedermann, German singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1983 – Shaun Tait, Australian cricketer
    • 1984 – Tommy Bowe, Irish rugby player
    • 1984 – Branislav Ivanović, Serbian footballer
    • 1985 – Hameur Bouazza, Algerian international footballer, winger
    • 1985 – Georgios Printezis, Greek basketball player
    • 1986 – Rajon Rondo, American basketball player
    • 1987 – Han Hyo-joo, South Korean actress and model
    • 1987 – Sergio Romero, Argentinian footballer
    • 1988 – Jonathan Borlée, Belgian sprinter
    • 1988 – Efraín Juárez, Mexican footballer
    • 1988 – Sebastian Tyrała, Polish-German footballer
    • 1989 – Franco Vázquez, Argentinian footballer
    • 1990 – Luca Profeta, Italian footballer
    • 1992 – Alexander Merkel, Kazakhstani-German footballer
    • 1999 – Harry Brook, English cricketer

    Deaths on February 22

    • 556 – Maximianus, bishop of Ravenna (b. 499)
    • 606 – Sabinian, pope of the Catholic Church
    • 793 – Sicga, Anglo-Saxon nobleman and regicide
    • 845 – Wang, Chinese empress dowager
    • 954 – Guo Wei, Chinese emperor (b. 904)
    • 965 – Otto, duke of Burgundy (b. 944)
    • 970 – García I, king of Pamplona
    • 978 – Lambert, count of Chalon (b. 930)
    • 1071 – Arnulf III, count of Flanders
    • 1072 – Peter Damian, Italian cardinal
    • 1079 – John of Fécamp, Italian Benedictine abbot
    • 1111 – Roger Borsa, king of Sicily (b. 1078)
    • 1297 – Margaret of Cortona, Italian penitent (b. 1247)
    • 1371 – David II, king of Scotland (b. 1324)
    • 1452 – William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas (b. 1425)
    • 1500 – Gerhard VI, German nobleman (b. 1430)
    • 1511 – Henry, duke of Cornwall (b. 1511)
    • 1512 – Amerigo Vespucci, Italian cartographer and explorer (b. 1454)
    • 1627 – Olivier van Noort, Dutch explorer (b. 1558)
    • 1674 – Jean Chapelain, French poet and critic (b. 1595)
    • 1680 – La Voisin, French occultist (b. 1640)
    • 1690 – Charles Le Brun, French painter and theorist (b. 1619)
    • 1731 – Frederik Ruysch, Dutch physician and anatomist (b. 1638)
    • 1732 – Francis Atterbury, English bishop (b. 1663)
    • 1799 – Heshen, Chinese politician (b. 1750)
    • 1816 – Adam Ferguson, Scottish historian and philosopher (b. 1723)
    • 1875 – Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, French painter and illustrator (b. 1796)
    • 1875 – Charles Lyell, Scottish-English geologist and lawyer (b. 1797)
    • 1888 – Anna Kingsford, English physician and activist (b. 1846)
    • 1890 – John Jacob Astor III, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1822)
    • 1890 – Carl Bloch, Danish painter and academic (b. 1834)
    • 1897 – Charles Blondin, French tightrope walker and acrobat (b. 1824)
    • 1898 – Heungseon Daewongun, Korean king (b. 1820)
    • 1903 – Hugo Wolf, Austrian composer (b. 1860)
    • 1904 – Leslie Stephen, English historian, author, and critic (b. 1832)
    • 1913 – Ferdinand de Saussure, Swiss linguist and author (b. 1857)
    • 1913 – Francisco I. Madero, Mexican president and author (b. 1873)
    • 1923 – Théophile Delcassé, French politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1852)
    • 1939 – Antonio Machado, Spanish-French poet and author (b. 1875)
    • 1942 – Stefan Zweig, Austrian journalist, author, and playwright (b. 1881)
    • 1943 – Christoph Probst, German activist (b. 1919)
    • 1943 – Hans Scholl, German activist (b. 1918)
    • 1943 – Sophie Scholl, German activist (b. 1921)
    • 1944 – Kasturba Gandhi, Indian activist (b. 1869)
    • 1945 – Osip Brik, Russian avant garde writer and literary critic (b. 1888)
    • 1958 – Abul Kalam Azad, Indian scholar and politician, Indian Minister of Education (b. 1888)
    • 1960 – Paul-Émile Borduas, Canadian-French painter and critic (b. 1905)
    • 1961 – Nick LaRocca, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1889)
    • 1965 – Felix Frankfurter, Austrian-American lawyer and jurist (b. 1882)
    • 1971 – Frédéric Mariotti, French actor (b. 1883)
    • 1973 – Jean-Jacques Bertrand, Canadian lawyer and politician, 21st Premier of Quebec (b. 1916)
    • 1973 – Elizabeth Bowen, Anglo-Irish author (b. 1899)
    • 1973 – Katina Paxinou, Greek actress (b. 1900)
    • 1973 – Winthrop Rockefeller, American colonel and politician, 37th Governor of Arkansas (b. 1912)
    • 1976 – Angela Baddeley, English actress (b. 1904)
    • 1976 – Florence Ballard, American singer (b. 1943)
    • 1980 – Oskar Kokoschka, Austrian painter, poet and playwright (b. 1886)
    • 1982 – Josh Malihabadi, Indian-Pakistani poet and author (b. 1898)
    • 1983 – Adrian Boult, English conductor (b. 1889)
    • 1983 – Romain Maes, Belgian cyclist (b. 1913)
    • 1985 – Salvador Espriu, Spanish author, poet, and playwright (b. 1913)
    • 1985 – Efrem Zimbalist, Russian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1889)
    • 1986 – John Donnelly, Australian rugby league player (b. 1955)
    • 1987 – David Susskind, American talk show host and producer (b. 1920)
    • 1987 – Andy Warhol, American painter and photographer (b. 1928)
    • 1992 – Markos Vafiadis, Greek general and politician (b. 1906)
    • 1994 – Papa John Creach, American violinist (b. 1917)
    • 1995 – Ed Flanders, American actor (b. 1934)
    • 1997 – Joseph Aiuppa, American gangster (b. 1907)
    • 1998 – Abraham A. Ribicoff, American lawyer and politician, 4th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (b. 1910)
    • 1999 – William Bronk, American poet and academic (b. 1918)
    • 1999 – Menno Oosting, Dutch tennis player (b. 1964)
    • 2002 – Roden Cutler, Australian lieutenant and politician, 32nd Governor of New South Wales (b. 1916)
    • 2002 – Chuck Jones, American animator, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1912)
    • 2002 – Jonas Savimbi, Angolan general, founded UNITA (b. 1934)
    • 2004 – Andy Seminick, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1920)
    • 2005 – Lee Eun-ju, South Korean actress and singer (b. 1980)
    • 2005 – Simone Simon, French actress (b. 1910)
    • 2007 – George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, English politician, Leader of the House of Lords (b. 1918)
    • 2007 – Dennis Johnson, American basketball player and coach (b. 1954)
    • 2012 – Sukhbir, Indian author and poet (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Frank Carson, Irish-English comedian and actor (b. 1926)
    • 2012 – Marie Colvin, American journalist (b. 1956)
    • 2012 – Rémi Ochlik, French photographer and journalist (b. 1983)
    • 2013 – Atje Keulen-Deelstra, Dutch speed skater (b. 1938)
    • 2013 – Jean-Louis Michon, French-Swiss scholar and translator (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Wolfgang Sawallisch, German pianist and conductor (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – Charlotte Dawson, New Zealand–Australian television host (b. 1966)
    • 2014 – Trebor Jay Tichenor, American pianist and composer (b. 1940)
    • 2014 – Leo Vroman, Dutch-American hematologist, poet, and illustrator (b. 1915)
    • 2015 – Chris Rainbow, Scottish singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1946)
    • 2016 – Yolande Fox, American model and singer, Miss America 1951 (b. 1928)
    • 2016 – Sonny James, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1928)
    • 2018 – Forges, Spanish cartoonist (b. 1942)
    • 2019 – Brody Stevens, American comedian and actor (b. 1970)
    • 2019 – Morgan Woodward, American actor (b. 1925)

    Holidays and observances on February 22

    • Birthday of Scouting and Guiding founder Robert Baden-Powell and Olave Baden-Powell, and its related observance:
      • Founder’s Day or “B.-P. day” (World Organization of the Scout Movement)
      • World Thinking Day (World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Baradates
      • Eric Liddell (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter (Roman Catholic Church)
      • Margaret of Cortona
      • February 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Crime Victims Day (Europe)
    • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Saint Lucia from the United Kingdom in 1979.

  • January 27 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • AD 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule, the Roman Empire will reach its maximum extent.
    • 1186 – Henry VI, the son and heir of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, marries Constance of Sicily.
    • 1302 – Dante Alighieri is exiled from Florence.
    • 1343 – Pope Clement VI issues the papal bull Unigenitus to justify the power of the pope and the use of indulgences. Nearly 200 years later, Martin Luther would protest this.
    • 1606 – Gunpowder Plot: The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins, ending with their execution on January 31.
    • 1695 – Mustafa II becomes the Ottoman sultan and Caliph of Islam in Istanbul on the death of Ahmed II. Mustafa rules until his abdication in 1703.
    • 1776 – American Revolutionary War: Henry Knox’s “noble train of artillery” arrives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
    • 1785 – The University of Georgia is founded, the first public university in the United States.
    • 1820 – A Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev discovers the Antarctic continent, approaching the Antarctic coast.
    • 1825 – The U.S. Congress approves Indian Territory (in what is present-day Oklahoma), clearing the way for forced relocation of the Eastern Indians on the “Trail of Tears”.
    • 1868 – Boshin War: The Battle of Toba–Fushimi begins, between forces of the Tokugawa shogunate and pro-Imperial factions; it will end in defeat for the shogunate, and is a pivotal point in the Meiji Restoration.
    • 1869 – Boshin War: Tokugawa rebels establish the Ezo Republic in Hokkaidō.
    • 1880 – Thomas Edison receives a patent for his incandescent lamp.
    • 1916 – World War I: The British government passed a legislation that introduced conscription in the United Kingdom.
    • 1918 – Beginning of the Finnish Civil War.
    • 1927 – Ibn Saud takes the title of King of Nejd.
    • 1939 – First flight of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.
    • 1943 – World War II: The Eighth Air Force sorties ninety-one B-17s and B-24s to attack the U-boat construction yards at Wilhelmshaven, Germany. This was the first American bombing attack on Germany.
    • 1944 – World War II: The 900-day Siege of Leningrad is lifted.
    • 1945 – World War II: The Soviet 322nd Rifle Division liberates the remaining inmates of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
    • 1951 – Nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site begins with Operation Ranger.
    • 1961 – The Soviet submarine S-80 sinks when its snorkel malfunctions, flooding the boat.
    • 1967 – Apollo program: Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during a test of their Apollo 1 spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
    • 1967 – Cold War: The Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom sign the Outer Space Treaty in Washington, D.C., banning deployment of nuclear weapons in space, and limiting use of the Moon and other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes.
    • 1973 – The Paris Peace Accords officially end the Vietnam War. Colonel William Nolde is killed in action becoming the conflict’s last recorded American combat casualty.
    • 1980 – Through cooperation between the U.S. and Canadian governments, six American diplomats secretly escape hostilities in Iran in the culmination of the Canadian Caper.
    • 1983 – The pilot shaft of the Seikan Tunnel, the world’s longest sub-aqueous tunnel (53.85 km) between the Japanese islands of Honshū and Hokkaidō, breaks through.
    • 1996 – In a military coup, Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara deposes the first democratically elected president of Niger, Mahamane Ousmane.
    • 1996 – Germany first observes the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
    • 2002 – An explosion at a military storage facility in Lagos, Nigeria, kills at least 1,100 people and displaces over 20,000 others.
    • 2003 – The first selections for the National Recording Registry are announced by the Library of Congress.
    • 2010 – The 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis ends when Porfirio Lobo Sosa becomes the new President of Honduras.
    • 2011 – Arab Spring: The Yemeni Revolution begins as over 16,000 protestors demonstrate in Sana’a.
    • 2013 – Two hundred and forty-two people die in a nightclub fire in the Brazilian city of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul.

    Births on January 27

    • 1365 – Edward of Angoulême, English noble (d. 1370)
    • 1443 – Albert III, Duke of Saxony (d. 1500)
    • 1546 – Joachim III Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1608)
    • 1571 – Abbas I of Persia (d. 1629)
    • 1585 – Hendrick Avercamp, Dutch painter (d. 1634)
    • 1603 – Sir Harbottle Grimston, 2nd Baronet, English lawyer and politician, Speaker of the House of Commons (d. 1685)
    • 1603 – Humphrey Mackworth, English politician, lawyer and judge (d. 1654)
    • 1621 – Thomas Willis, English physician and anatomist (d. 1675)
    • 1662 – Richard Bentley, English scholar and theologian (d. 1742)
    • 1663 – George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington, Royal Navy admiral (d. 1733)
    • 1687 – Johann Balthasar Neumann, German engineer and architect, designed Würzburg Residence and Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers (d. 1753)
    • 1701 – Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim, German historian and theologian (d. 1790)
    • 1708 – Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia (d. 1728)
    • 1741 – Hester Thrale, Welsh author (d. 1821)
    • 1756 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1791)
    • 1775 – Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, German-Swiss philosopher and academic (d. 1854)
    • 1790 – Juan Álvarez, Mexican general and president (1855) (d. 1867)
    • 1795 – Eli Whitney Blake, American engineer, invented the Mortise lock (d. 1886)
    • 1803 – Eunice Hale Waite Cobb, American writer, public speaker, and activist (d. 1880)
    • 1805 – Maria Anna of Bavaria (d. 1877)
    • 1805 – Samuel Palmer, English painter and etcher (d. 1881)
    • 1806 – Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, Spanish composer and educator (d. 1826)
    • 1808 – David Strauss, German theologian and author (d. 1874)
    • 1814 – Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, French architect, designed the Lausanne Cathedral (d. 1879)
    • 1821 – John Chivington, American colonel and pastor (d. 1892)
    • 1823 – Édouard Lalo, French violinist and composer (d. 1892)
    • 1824 – Urbain Johnson, Canadian farmer and political figure (d. 1917)
    • 1826 – Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Russian journalist and author (d. 1889)
    • 1826 – Richard Taylor, American general, historian, and politician (d. 1879)
    • 1832 – Lewis Carroll, English novelist, poet, and mathematician (d. 1898)
    • 1832 – Carl Friedrich Schmidt, Estonian-Russian geologist and botanist (d. 1908)
    • 1836 – Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Austrian journalist and author (d. 1895)
    • 1842 – Arkhip Kuindzhi, Ukrainian-Russian painter (d. 1910)
    • 1848 – Tōgō Heihachirō, Japanese admiral (d. 1934)
    • 1850 – John Collier, English painter and author (d. 1934)
    • 1850 – Samuel Gompers, English-American labor leader (d. 1924)
    • 1850 – Edward Smith, English captain (d. 1912)
    • 1858 – Neel Doff, Dutch-Belgian author (d. 1942)
    • 1859 – Wilhelm II, German Emperor (d. 1941)
    • 1869 – Will Marion Cook, American violinist and composer (d. 1944)
    • 1878 – Dorothy Scarborough, American author (d. 1935)
    • 1885 – Jerome Kern, American composer and songwriter (d. 1945)
    • 1885 – Seison Maeda, Japanese painter (d. 1977)
    • 1886 – Radhabinod Pal, Indian academic and jurist (d. 1967)
    • 1889 – Balthasar van der Pol, Dutch physicist and academic (d. 1959)
    • 1891 – Ilya Ehrenburg, Russian journalist and author (d. 1967)
    • 1893 – Soong Ching-ling, Chinese politician, Honorary President of the People’s Republic of China (d. 1981)
    • 1895 – Joseph Rosenstock, Polish-American conductor and manager (d. 1985)
    • 1895 – Harry Ruby, American composer and screenwriter (d. 1974)
    • 1900 – Hyman G. Rickover, American admiral (d. 1986)
    • 1901 – Willy Fritsch, German actor (d. 1973)
    • 1901 – Art Rooney, American football player and coach, founded the Pittsburgh Steelers (d. 1988)
    • 1903 – John Eccles, Australian-Swiss neurophysiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1997)
    • 1903 – Otto P. Weyland, American general (d. 1979)
    • 1904 – James J. Gibson, American psychologist and academic (d. 1979)
    • 1905 – Howard McNear, American actor (d. 1969)
    • 1908 – William Randolph Hearst, Jr., American journalist and publisher (d. 1993)
    • 1910 – Edvard Kardelj, Slovene general, economist, and politician, 2nd Foreign Minister of Yugoslavia (d. 1979)
    • 1912 – Arne Næss, Norwegian philosopher and environmentalist (d. 2009)
    • 1912 – Francis Rogallo, American engineer, invented the Rogallo wing (d. 2009)
    • 1915 – Jules Archer, American historian and author (d. 2008)
    • 1915 – Jacques Hnizdovsky, Ukrainian-American painter, sculptor, and illustrator (d. 1985)
    • 1918 – Skitch Henderson, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2005)
    • 1918 – Elmore James, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1963)
    • 1918 – William Seawell, American general (d. 2005)
    • 1919 – Tom Addington, English captain (d. 2011)
    • 1919 – Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., American singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor, created Alvin and the Chipmunks (d. 1972)
    • 1920 – Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, Japanese lieutenant and pilot (d. 1944)
    • 1920 – Helmut Zacharias, German violinist and composer (d. 2002)
    • 1921 – Donna Reed, American actress (d. 1986)
    • 1924 – Rauf Denktaş, Cypriot lawyer and politician, 1st President of Northern Cyprus (d. 2012)
    • 1924 – Brian Rix, English actor, producer, and politician (d. 2016)
    • 1924 – Harvey Shapiro, American poet (d. 2013)
    • 1926 – Fritz Spiegl, Austrian flute player and journalist (d. 2003)
    • 1926 – Ingrid Thulin, Swedish actress (d. 2004)
    • 1928 – Michael Craig, Indian-English actor and screenwriter
    • 1928 – Hans Modrow, Polish-German lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of East Germany
    • 1929 – Mohamed Al-Fayed, Egyptian-Swiss businessman
    • 1929 – Gastón Suárez, Bolivian author and playwright (d. 1984)
    • 1930 – Bobby “Blue” Bland, American blues singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
    • 1931 – Mordecai Richler, Canadian author and screenwriter (d. 2001)
    • 1931 – Nigel Vinson, Baron Vinson, English lieutenant and businessman
    • 1932 – Boris Shakhlin, Russian-Ukrainian gymnast (d. 2008)
    • 1933 – Jerry Buss, American chemist and businessman (d. 2013)
    • 1934 – Édith Cresson, French politician and diplomat, 160th Prime Minister of France
    • 1934 – George Follmer, American race car driver
    • 1935 – Steve Demeter, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2013)
    • 1936 – Troy Donahue, American actor (d. 2001)
    • 1936 – Samuel C. C. Ting, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1937 – Fred Åkerström, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1985)
    • 1940 – Ahmet Kurtcebe Alptemoçin, Turkish engineer and politician, 35th Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs
    • 1940 – James Cromwell, American actor
    • 1940 – Terry Harper, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1940 – Petru Lucinschi, Romanian activist and politician, 2nd President of Moldova
    • 1940 – Reynaldo Rey, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2015)
    • 1941 – Beatrice Tinsley, New Zealand astronomer and cosmologist (d. 1981)
    • 1942 – Maki Asakawa, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2010)
    • 1942 – Tasuku Honjo, Japanese immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology or Medicine
    • 1942 – John Witherspoon, American actor and comedian (d. 2019)
    • 1942 – Kate Wolf, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1986)
    • 1943 – Julia Cumberlege, Baroness Cumberlege, English businesswoman and politician
    • 1944 – Peter Akinola, Nigerian archbishop
    • 1944 – Mairead Maguire, Northern Irish activist, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1944 – Nick Mason, English drummer, songwriter, and producer
    • 1945 – Harold Cardinal, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2005)
    • 1946 – Christopher Hum, English academic and diplomat, British Ambassador to China
    • 1946 – Nedra Talley, American singer
    • 1947 – Björn Afzelius, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1999)
    • 1947 – Vyron Polydoras, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister for Public Order
    • 1947 – Cal Schenkel, American painter and illustrator
    • 1947 – Philip Sugden, English historian and author (d. 2014)
    • 1947 – Perfecto Yasay Jr., Filipino lawyer and Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines
    • 1948 – Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian-American dancer, choreographer, and actor
    • 1948 – Jean-Philippe Collard, French pianist
    • 1951 – Seth Justman, American keyboard player and songwriter
    • 1951 – Cees van der Knaap, Dutch soldier and politician
    • 1952 – Brian Gottfried, American tennis player
    • 1952 – Billy Johnson, American football player and coach
    • 1952 – Tam O’Shaughnessy, American tennis player, psychologist, and academic
    • 1952 – G. E. Smith, American guitarist and songwriter
    • 1954 – Peter Laird, American author and illustrator
    • 1954 – Ed Schultz, American talk show host and sportscaster (d. 2018)
    • 1955 – Brian Engblom, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
    • 1955 – John Roberts, American lawyer and judge, 17th Chief Justice of the United States
    • 1956 – Mimi Rogers, American actress
    • 1957 – Janick Gers, English guitarist and songwriter
    • 1957 – Frank Miller, American illustrator, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1958 – James Grippando, American lawyer and author
    • 1958 – Alan Milburn, English businessman and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
    • 1959 – Cris Collinsworth, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1959 – Göran Hägglund, Swedish lawyer and politician, 28th Swedish Minister for Social Affairs
    • 1959 – Keith Olbermann, American journalist and author
    • 1960 – Fiona O’Donnell, Canadian-Scottish politician
    • 1961 – Narciso Rodriguez, American fashion designer
    • 1961 – Margo Timmins, Canadian singer-songwriter
    • 1962 – Roberto Paci Dalò, Italian director and composer
    • 1963 – George Monbiot, English-Welsh author and activist
    • 1964 – Patrick van Deurzen, Dutch composer and academic
    • 1964 – Bridget Fonda, American actress
    • 1964 – Shahin Shahablou, Iranian photographer (d. 2020)
    • 1965 – Alan Cumming, Scottish-American actor
    • 1965 – Mike Newell, English footballer and manager
    • 1965 – Ignacio Noé, Argentinian author and illustrator
    • 1965 – Attila Sekerlioglu, Austrian footballer and manager
    • 1966 – Tamlyn Tomita, Japanese-American actress and singer
    • 1967 – Dave Manson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1968 – Tracy Lawrence, American country singer
    • 1968 – Mike Patton, American singer, composer, and voice artist
    • 1968 – Matt Stover, American football player
    • 1969 – Michael Kulas, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1969 – Patton Oswalt, American comedian and actor
    • 1969 – Shane Thomson, New Zealand cricketer
    • 1970 – Bradley Clyde, Australian rugby league player
    • 1970 – Dean Headley, English cricketer and coach
    • 1971 – Patrice Brisebois, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1972 – Bibi Gaytán, Mexican singer and actress
    • 1973 – Valyantsin Byalkevich, Belarusian footballer and manager (d. 2014)
    • 1974 – Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Norwegian skier and biathlete
    • 1974 – Andrei Pavel, Romanian tennis player and coach
    • 1974 – Chaminda Vaas, Sri Lankan cricketer and coach
    • 1976 – Ahn Jung-hwan, South Korean footballer
    • 1976 – Clint Ford, American actor, voice actor and novelist
    • 1976 – Danielle George MBE FIET, Professor of Radio frequency engineering at the University of Manchester
    • 1976 – Fred Taylor, American football player
    • 1976 – Michael K. Winder, American businessman and politician
    • 1978 – Pete Laforest, Canadian-American baseball player and manager
    • 1979 – Rosamund Pike, English actress
    • 1979 – Daniel Vettori, New Zealand cricketer and coach
    • 1980 – Chanda Gunn, American ice hockey player and coach
    • 1980 – Marat Safin, Russian tennis player and politician
    • 1981 – Alicia Molik, Australian tennis player and sportscaster
    • 1981 – Tony Woodcock, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1982 – Eva Asderaki, Greek tennis umpire
    • 1983 – Carlo Colaiacovo, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1983 – Paulo Colaiacovo, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1983 – Gavin Floyd, American baseball player
    • 1987 – Katy Rose, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1987 – Anton Shunin, Russian footballer
    • 1987 – Ashley Grace, American singer-songwriter
    • 1988 – Kerlon, Brazilian footballer
    • 1989 – Alberto Botía, Spanish footballer
    • 1991 – Christian Bickel, German footballer
    • 1991 – Sebastine Ikahihifo, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1992 – Stefano Pettinari, Italian footballer
    • 1995 – Harrison Reed, English footballer midfielder

    Deaths on January 27

    • AD 98 – Nerva, Roman emperor (b. 35)
    • 457 – Marcian, Byzantine emperor (b. 392)
    • 555 – Yuan Di, emperor of the Liang Dynasty (b. 508)
    • 672 – Pope Vitalian
    • 847 – Pope Sergius II (b. 790)
    • 906 – Liu Can, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty
    • 931 – Ruotger, archbishop of Trier
    • 947 – Zhang Yanze, Chinese general and governor
    • 1062 – Adelaide of Hungary, (b. c. 1040)
    • 1311 – Külüg Khan, Emperor Wuzong of Yuan
    • 1377 – Frederick the Simple, King of Sicily
    • 1490 – Ashikaga Yoshimasa, Japanese shōgun (b. 1435)
    • 1504 – Ludovico II, Marquess of Saluzzo (b. 1438)
    • 1540 – Angela Merici, Italian educator and saint, founded the Company of St. Ursula (b. 1474)
    • 1592 – Gian Paolo Lomazzo, Italian painter (b. 1538)
    • 1596 – Francis Drake, English captain and explorer (b. 1540)
    • 1629 – Hieronymus Praetorius, German organist and composer (b. 1560)
    • 1638 – Gonzalo de Céspedes y Meneses, Spanish author and poet (b. 1585)
    • 1651 – Abraham Bloemaert, Dutch painter and illustrator (b. 1566)
    • 1689 – Robert Aske, English merchant and philanthropist (b. 1619)
    • 1731 – Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian instrument maker, invented the Piano (b. 1655)
    • 1733 – Thomas Woolston, English theologian and author (b. 1669)
    • 1740 – Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon (b. 1692)
    • 1770 – Philippe Macquer, French historian (b. 1720)
    • 1794 – Antoine Philippe de La Trémoille, French general (b. 1765)
    • 1812 – John Perkins, Anglo-Jamaican captain
    • 1814 – Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher and academic (b. 1762)
    • 1816 – Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, English admiral and politician (b. 1724)
    • 1851 – John James Audubon, French-American ornithologist and painter (b. 1789)
    • 1860 – János Bolyai, Romanian-Hungarian mathematician and academic (b. 1802)
    • 1880 – Edward Middleton Barry, English architect and academic, co-designed the Halifax Town Hall and the Royal Opera House (b. 1830)
    • 1901 – Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer (b. 1813)
    • 1910 – Thomas Crapper, English plumber and businessman (b. 1836)
    • 1919 – Endre Ady, Hungarian poet and journalist (b. 1877)
    • 1921 – Maurice Buckley, Australian sergeant (b. 1891)
    • 1922 – Nellie Bly, American journalist and author (b. 1864)
    • 1927 – Jurgis Matulaitis-Matulevičius, Lithuanian bishop (b. 1871)
    • 1931 – Nishinoumi Kajirō II, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 25th Yokozuna (b. 1880)
    • 1940 – Isaac Babel, Russian short story writer, journalist, and playwright (b. 1894)
    • 1942 – Kaarel Eenpalu, Estonian journalist and politician, Prime Minister of Estonia (b. 1888)
    • 1951 – Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Finnish field marshal and politician, 6th President of Finland (b. 1867)
    • 1956 – Erich Kleiber, Austrian conductor and director (b. 1890)
    • 1961 – Bernard Friedberg, Austrian scholar and author (b. 1876)
    • 1963 – John Farrow, Australian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1904)
    • 1965 – Abraham Walkowitz, American painter (b. 1878)
    • 1967 – crew of Apollo 1
      • Roger B. Chaffee, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1935)
      • Gus Grissom, American pilot and astronaut (b. 1926)
      • Ed White, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1930)
    • 1967 – Alphonse Juin, Algerian-French general (b. 1888)
    • 1970 – Rocco D’Assunta, Italian actor, comedian and playwright (b. 1904)
    • 1971 – Jacobo Árbenz, Guatemalan captain and politician, President of Guatemala (b. 1913)
    • 1972 – Mahalia Jackson, American singer (b. 1911)
    • 1973 – William Nolde, American colonel (b. 1929)
    • 1974 – Georgios Grivas, Cypriot general (b. 1898)
    • 1975 – Bill Walsh, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1913)
    • 1983 – Louis de Funès, French actor and screenwriter (b. 1914)
    • 1986 – Lilli Palmer, German-American actress (b. 1914)
    • 1987 – Norman McLaren, Scottish-Canadian animator and director (b. 1914)
    • 1988 – Massa Makan Diabaté, Malian historian, author, and playwright (b. 1938)
    • 1989 – Thomas Sopwith, English ice hockey player and pilot (b. 1888)
    • 1993 – André the Giant, French professional wrestler and actor (b. 1946)
    • 1994 – Claude Akins, American actor (b. 1918)
    • 1996 – Ralph Yarborough, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (b. 1903)
    • 2000 – Friedrich Gulda, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1930)
    • 2003 – Henryk Jabłoński, Polish historian and politician, President of Poland (b. 1909)
    • 2004 – Salvador Laurel, Filipino lawyer and politician, 10th Vice President of the Philippines (b. 1928)
    • 2004 – Jack Paar, American talk show host and author (b. 1918)
    • 2006 – Gene McFadden, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1948)
    • 2006 – Johannes Rau, German journalist and politician, 8th President of Germany (b. 1931)
    • 2007 – Yang Chuan-kwang, Taiwanese decathlete, long jumper, and hurdler (b. 1933)
    • 2008 – Suharto, Indonesian general and politician, 2nd President of Indonesia (b. 1921)
    • 2008 – Gordon B. Hinckley, American religious leader and author, 15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1910)
    • 2008 – Louie Welch, American businessman and politician, 54th Mayor of Houston (b. 1918)
    • 2009 – John Updike, American novelist, short story writer, and critic (b. 1932)
    • 2009 – R. Venkataraman, Indian lawyer and politician, 8th President of India (b. 1910)
    • 2010 – Zelda Rubinstein, American actress (b. 1933)
    • 2010 – J. D. Salinger, American soldier and author (b. 1919)
    • 2010 – Howard Zinn, American historian, author, and activist (b. 1922)
    • 2011 – Charlie Callas, American comedian and musician (b. 1927)
    • 2012 – Greg Cook, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1946)
    • 2012 – Ted Dicks, English composer and screenwriter (b. 1928)
    • 2012 – Jeannette Hamby, American nurse and politician (b. 1933)
    • 2012 – Kevin White, American politician, 51st Mayor of Boston (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Ivan Bodiul, Ukrainian-Russian politician (b. 1918)
    • 2013 – Stanley Karnow, American journalist and historian (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – Pete Seeger, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and activist (b. 1919)
    • 2014 – Epimaco Velasco, Filipino lawyer and politician, Governor of Cavite (b. 1935)
    • 2014 – Paul Zorner, German soldier and pilot (b. 1920)
    • 2015 – Rocky Bridges, American baseball player and coach (b. 1927)
    • 2015 – David Landau, English-Israeli journalist (b. 1947)
    • 2015 – Joseph Rotman, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Charles Hard Townes, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
    • 2015 – Larry Winters, American wrestler and trainer (b. 1956)
    • 2016 – Carlos Loyzaga, Filipino basketball player and coach (b. 1930)
    • 2017 – Emmanuelle Riva, French actress (b. 1927)
    • 2017 – Arthur H. Rosenfeld, American physicist (b. 1926)
    • 2018 – Ingvar Kamprad, Founder of IKEA (b. 1926)
    • 2018 – Mort Walker, American cartoonist (b. 1923)
    • 2019 – Countess Maya von Schönburg-Glauchau, German socialite (b. 1958)

    Holidays and observances on January 27

    • Christian feast day:
      • Angela Merici
      • Blessed Paul Joseph Nardini
      • Devota (Monaco)
      • Enrique de Ossó y Cercelló
      • John Chrysostom (translation of relics) (Anglican, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox)
      • Sava (Serbia)
      • January 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Day of the lifting of the siege of Leningrad (Russia)
    • Liberation of the remaining inmates of Auschwitz-related observances:
      • Holocaust Memorial Day (UK)
      • International Holocaust Remembrance Day
      • Memorial Day (Italy)
      • Other Holocaust Memorial Days observances

  • January 19 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 379 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium to Augustus, and gives him authority over all the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire.
    • 649 – Conquest of Kucha: The forces of Kucha surrender after a forty-day siege led by Tang dynasty general Ashina She’er, establishing Tang control over the northern Tarim Basin in Xinjiang.
    • 1419 – Hundred Years’ War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England, completing his reconquest of Normandy.
    • 1511 – The Italian city-fortress of Mirandola surrenders to the French.
    • 1520 – Sten Sture the Younger, the Regent of Sweden, is mortally wounded at the Battle of Bogesund and dies on February 3.
    • 1607 – San Agustin Church in Manila is officially completed; it is the oldest church still standing in the Philippines.
    • 1764 – John Wilkes is expelled from the British House of Commons for seditious libel.
    • 1764 – Bolle Willum Luxdorph records in his diary that a mail bomb, possibly the world’s first, has severely injured the Danish Colonel Poulsen, residing at Børglum Abbey.
    • 1788 – The second group of ships of the First Fleet arrive at Botany Bay.
    • 1795 – The Batavian Republic is proclaimed in the Netherlands, bringing to an end the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands.
    • 1806 – Britain occupies the Dutch Cape Colony after the Battle of Blaauwberg.
    • 1817 – An army of 5,423 soldiers, led by General José de San Martín, crosses the Andes from Argentina to liberate Chile and then Peru.
    • 1829 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust: The First Part of the Tragedy receives its premiere performance.
    • 1839 – The British East India Company captures Aden.
    • 1853 – Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Il trovatore receives its premiere performance in Rome.
    • 1861 – American Civil War: Georgia joins South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama in declaring secession from the United States.
    • 1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Mill Springs: The Confederacy suffers its first significant defeat in the conflict.
    • 1871 – Franco-Prussian War: In the Siege of Paris, Prussia wins the Battle of St. Quentin. Meanwhile, the French attempt to break the siege in the Battle of Buzenval will end unsuccessfully the following day.
    • 1883 – The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Edison, begins service at Roselle, New Jersey.
    • 1899 – Anglo-Egyptian Sudan is formed.
    • 1915 – Georges Claude patents the neon discharge tube for use in advertising.
    • 1915 – German strategic bombing during World War I: German zeppelins bomb the towns of Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn in the United Kingdom killing at least 20 people, in the first major aerial bombardment of a civilian target.
    • 1917 – Silvertown explosion: A blast at a munitions factory in London kills 73 and injures over 400. The resulting fire causes over £2,000,000 worth of damage.
    • 1920 – The United States Senate votes against joining the League of Nations.
    • 1920 – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is founded.
    • 1937 – Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles to New York City in 7 hours, 28 minutes, 25 seconds.
    • 1940 – You Nazty Spy!, the first Hollywood film of any kind to satirize Adolf Hitler and the Nazis premieres, starring The Three Stooges, with Moe Howard as the character “Moe Hailstone” satirizing Hitler.
    • 1941 – World War II: HMS Greyhound and other escorts of convoy AS-12 sink Italian submarine Neghelli with all hands 40 miles (64 km) northeast of Falkonera.
    • 1942 – World War II: The Japanese conquest of Burma begins.
    • 1945 – World War II: Soviet forces liberate the Łódź Ghetto. Of more than 200,000 inhabitants in 1940, less than 900 had survived the Nazi occupation.
    • 1946 – General Douglas MacArthur establishes the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo to try Japanese war criminals.
    • 1953 – Almost 72 percent of all television sets in the United States are tuned into I Love Lucy to watch Lucy give birth.
    • 1960 – Japan and the United States sign the US–Japan Mutual Security Treaty
    • 1969 – Student Jan Palach dies after setting himself on fire three days earlier in Prague’s Wenceslas Square to protest about the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union in 1968. His funeral turns into another major protest.
    • 1974 – China gains control over all the Paracel Islands after a military engagement between the naval forces of China and South Vietnam
    • 1977 – President Gerald Ford pardons Iva Toguri D’Aquino (a.k.a. “Tokyo Rose”).
    • 1978 – The last Volkswagen Beetle made in Germany leaves VW’s plant in Emden. Beetle production in Latin America continues until 2003.
    • 1981 – Iran hostage crisis: United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity.
    • 1983 – Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie is arrested in Bolivia.
    • 1983 – The Apple Lisa, the first commercial personal computer from Apple Inc. to have a graphical user interface and a computer mouse, is announced.
    • 1986 – The first IBM PC computer virus is released into the wild. A boot sector virus dubbed (c)Brain, it was created by the Farooq Alvi Brothers in Lahore, Pakistan, reportedly to deter unauthorized copying of the software they had written.
    • 1991 – Gulf War: Iraq fires a second Scud missile into Israel, causing 15 injuries.
    • 1993 – Czech Republic and Slovakia join the United Nations.
    • 1995 – After being struck by lightning the crew of Bristow Flight 56C are forced to ditch. All 18 aboard are later rescued.
    • 1996 – The barge North Cape oil spill occurs as an engine fire forces the tugboat Scandia ashore on Moonstone Beach in South Kingstown, Rhode Island.
    • 1997 – Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city.
    • 1999 – British Aerospace agrees to acquire the defence subsidiary of the General Electric Company plc, forming BAE Systems in November 1999.
    • 2007 – Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink is assassinated in front of his newspaper’s Istanbul office by 17-year-old Turkish ultra-nationalist Ogün Samast.
    • 2007 – Four-man Team N2i, using only skis and kites, completes a 1,093-mile (1,759 km) trek to reach the Antarctic pole of inaccessibility for the first time since 1965 and for the first time ever without mechanical assistance.
    • 2012 – The Hong Kong-based file-sharing website Megaupload is shut down by the FBI.
    • 2014 – A bomb attack on an army convoy in the city of Bannu kills at least 26 Pakistani soldiers and injures 38 others.

    Births on January 19

    • 399 – Pulcheria, Byzantine empress and saint (d. 453)
    • 1200 – Dōgen Zenji, founder of Sōtō Zen (d. 1253)
    • 1544 – Francis II of France (d. 1560)
    • 1617 – Lucas Faydherbe, Flemish sculptor and architect (d. 1697)
    • 1628 – Charles Stanley, 8th Earl of Derby, English noble (d. 1672)
    • 1676 – John Weldon, English organist and composer (d. 1736)
    • 1721 – Jean-Philippe Baratier, German scholar and author (d. 1740)
    • 1736 – James Watt, Scottish-English chemist and engineer (d. 1819)
    • 1737 – Giuseppe Millico, Italian soprano, composer, and educator (d. 1802)
    • 1739 – Joseph Bonomi the Elder, Italian architect, designed Longford Hall and Barrells Hall (d. 1808)
    • 1752 – James Morris III, American captain (d. 1820)
    • 1757 – Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf (d. 1831)
    • 1788 – Pavel Kiselyov, Russian general and politician (d. 1874)
    • 1790 – Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom, Swedish poet and academic (d. 1855)
    • 1798 – Auguste Comte, French economist, sociologist, and philosopher (d. 1857)
    • 1807 – Robert E. Lee, American general and academic (d. 1870)
    • 1808 – Lysander Spooner, American philosopher and author (d. 1887)
    • 1809 – Edgar Allan Poe, American short story writer, poet, and critic (d. 1849)
    • 1810 – Talhaiarn, Welsh poet and architect (d.1869)
    • 1813 – Henry Bessemer, English engineer and businessman (d. 1898)
    • 1832 – Ferdinand Laub, Czech violinist and composer (d. 1875)
    • 1833 – Alfred Clebsch, German mathematician and academic (d. 1872)
    • 1839 – Paul Cézanne, French painter (d. 1906)
    • 1848 – Arturo Graf, Italian poet, of German ancestry (d. 1913).
    • 1848 – John Fitzwilliam Stairs, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1904)
    • 1848 – Matthew Webb, English swimmer and diver (d. 1883)
    • 1851 – Jacobus Kapteyn, Dutch astronomer and academic (d. 1922)
    • 1852 – Thomas Price, Welsh-Australian politician, 24th Premier of South Australia (d. 1909)
    • 1863 – Werner Sombart, German economist and sociologist (d. 1941)
    • 1866 – Harry Davenport, American stage and film actor (d. 1949)
    • 1871 – Dame Gruev, Bulgarian educator and activist, co-founded the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (d. 1906)
    • 1874 – Hitachiyama Taniemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 19th Yokozuna (d. 1922)
    • 1876 – Wakashima Gonshirō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 21st Yokozuna (d. 1943)
    • 1876 – Dragotin Kette, Slovenian poet and author (d. 1899)
    • 1878 – Herbert Chapman, English footballer and manager (d. 1934)
    • 1879 – Boris Savinkov, Russian soldier and author (d. 1925)
    • 1882 – John Cain Sr., Australian politician, 34th Premier of Victoria (d. 1957)
    • 1883 – Hermann Abendroth, German conductor (d. 1956)
    • 1887 – Alexander Woollcott, American actor, playwright, and critic (d. 1943)
    • 1889 – Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Swiss painter and sculptor (d. 1943)
    • 1892 – Ólafur Thors, Icelandic lawyer and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Iceland (d. 1964)
    • 1893 – Magda Tagliaferro, Brazilian pianist and educator (d. 1986)
    • 1903 – Boris Blacher, German composer and playwright (d. 1975)
    • 1905 – Stanley Hawes, English-Australian director and producer (d. 1991)
    • 1907 – Briggs Cunningham, American race car driver, sailor, and businessman (d. 2003)
    • 1908 – Ish Kabibble, American comedian and cornet player (d. 1994)
    • 1908 – Aleksandr Gennadievich Kurosh, Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1971)
    • 1911 – Choor Singh, Indian-Singaporean lawyer and judge (d. 2009)
    • 1912 – Leonid Kantorovich, Russian mathematician and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
    • 1913 – Rex Ingamells, Australian author and poet (d. 1955)
    • 1913 – Rudolf Wanderone, American professional pocket billiards player (d. 1996)
    • 1918 – John H. Johnson, American publisher, founded the Johnson Publishing Company (d. 2005)
    • 1920 – Bernard Dunstan, English painter and educator (d. 2017)
    • 1920 – Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Peruvian politician and diplomat, 135th Prime Minister of Peru (d. 2020)
    • 1921 – Patricia Highsmith, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1995)
    • 1922 – Arthur Morris, Australian cricketer and journalist (d. 2015)
    • 1922 – Miguel Muñoz, Spanish footballer and manager (d. 1990)
    • 1923 – Jean Stapleton, American actress and singer (d. 2013)
    • 1924 – Nicholas Colasanto, American actor and director (d. 1985)
    • 1924 – Jean-François Revel, French philosopher (d. 2006)
    • 1925 – Nina Bawden, English author (d. 2012)
    • 1926 – Hans Massaquoi, German-American journalist and author (d. 2013)
    • 1926 – Fritz Weaver, American actor (d. 2016)
    • 1930 – Tippi Hedren, American model, actress, and animal rights-welfare activist
    • 1930 – John Waite, South African cricketer (d. 2011)
    • 1931 – Robert MacNeil, Canadian-American journalist and author
    • 1932 – Russ Hamilton, English singer-songwriter (d. 2008)
    • 1932 – Richard Lester, American-English director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1932 – Harry Lonsdale, American chemist, businessman, and politician (d. 2014)
    • 1933 – George Coyne, American priest, astronomer, and theologian
    • 1935 – Johnny O’Keefe, Australian singer-songwriter (d. 1978)
    • 1936 – Ziaur Rahman, Bangladeshi general and politician, 7th President of Bangladesh (d. 1981)
    • 1936 – Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, American singer, harmonica player, and drummer (d. 2011)
    • 1936 – Fred J. Lincoln, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
    • 1937 – John Lions, Australian computer scientist and academic (d. 1998)
    • 1939 – Phil Everly, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2014)
    • 1940 – Paolo Borsellino, Italian lawyer and judge (d. 1992)
    • 1940 – Mike Reid, English comedian, actor, and author (d. 2007)
    • 1941 – Colin Gunton, English theologian and academic (d. 2003)
    • 1941 – Pat Patterson, Canadian wrestler, trainer, and referee
    • 1942 – Michael Crawford, English actor and singer
    • 1942 – Paul-Eerik Rummo, Estonian poet and politician
    • 1943 – Larry Clark, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1943 – Janis Joplin, American singer-songwriter (d. 1970)
    • 1943 – Princess Margriet of the Netherlands
    • 1944 – Shelley Fabares, American actress and singer
    • 1944 – Thom Mayne, American architect and academic, designed the San Francisco Federal Building and Phare Tower
    • 1944 – Dan Reeves, American football player and coach
    • 1945 – Trevor Williams, English singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1946 – Julian Barnes, English novelist, short story writer, essayist, and critic
    • 1946 – Dolly Parton, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1947 – Frank Aarebrot, Norwegian political scientist and academic (d. 2017)
    • 1947 – Paula Deen, American chef and author
    • 1947 – Rod Evans, English singer-songwriter
    • 1948 – Nancy Lynch, American computer scientist and academic
    • 1948 – Frank McKenna, Canadian politician and diplomat, 27th Premier of New Brunswick
    • 1948 – Mal Reilly, English rugby league player and coach
    • 1949 – Arend Langenberg, Dutch voice actor and radio host (d. 2012)
    • 1949 – Robert Palmer, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2003)
    • 1950 – Sébastien Dhavernas, Canadian actor
    • 1951 – Martha Davis, American singer
    • 1952 – Dewey Bunnell, British-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1952 – Nadiuska, German television actress
    • 1952 – Bruce Jay Nelson, American computer scientist (d. 1999)
    • 1953 – Desi Arnaz, Jr., American actor and singer
    • 1953 – Richard Legendre, Canadian tennis player and politician
    • 1953 – Wayne Schimmelbusch, Australian footballer and coach
    • 1954 – Katey Sagal, American actress and singer
    • 1954 – Cindy Sherman, American photographer and director
    • 1954 – Esther Shkalim, Israeli poet and Mizrahi feminist
    • 1955 – Paul Rodriguez, Mexican-American comedian and actor
    • 1956 – Carman, American singer-songwriter, actor, and television host
    • 1956 – Susan Solomon, American atmospheric chemist
    • 1957 – Ottis Anderson, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1957 – Roger Ashton-Griffiths, English actor, screenwriter and film director
    • 1957 – Kenneth McClintock, Puerto Rican public servant and politician, 22nd Secretary of State of Puerto Rico
    • 1958 – Thomas Kinkade, American painter (d. 2012)
    • 1959 – Danese Cooper, American computer scientist and programmer
    • 1959 – Jeff Pilson, American bass player, songwriter, and actor
    • 1961 – William Ragsdale, American actor
    • 1961 – Wayne Hemingway, English fashion designer, co-founded Red or Dead
    • 1962 – Hans Daams, Dutch cyclist
    • 1962 – Chris Sabo, American baseball player and coach
    • 1962 – Jeff Van Gundy, American basketball player and coach
    • 1963 – Michael Adams, American basketball player and coach
    • 1963 – Martin Bashir, English journalist
    • 1963 – John Bercow, English politician, Speaker of the House of Commons
    • 1964 – Janine Antoni, Bahamian sculptor and photographer
    • 1964 – Ricardo Arjona, Guatemalan singer-songwriter and basketball player
    • 1966 – Sylvain Côté, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1966 – Stefan Edberg, Swedish tennis player and coach
    • 1966 – Lena Philipsson, Swedish singer-songwriter
    • 1968 – David Bartlett, Australian politician, 43rd Premier of Tasmania
    • 1968 – Whitfield Crane, American singer-songwriter
    • 1969 – Edwidge Danticat, Haitian-American novelist and short story writer
    • 1969 – Luc Longley, Australian basketball player and coach
    • 1969 – Predrag Mijatović, Montenegrin footballer and manager
    • 1969 – Junior Seau, American football player (d. 2012)
    • 1969 – Steve Staunton, Irish footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Steffen Freund, German footballer defensive midfielder and manager
    • 1970 – Kathleen Smet, Belgian triathlete
    • 1970 – Udo Suzuki, Japanese comedian and singer
    • 1971 – Phil Nevin, American baseball player
    • 1971 – Shawn Wayans, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1971 – John Wozniak, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1972 – Ron Killings, American wrestler and rapper
    • 1972 – Troy Wilson, Australian footballer and race car driver
    • 1972 – Sergei Zjukin, Estonian chess player and coach
    • 1972 – Yoon Hae-young, South Korean actress
    • 1973 – Antero Manninen, Finnish cellist
    • 1973 – Yevgeny Sadovyi, Russian swimmer and coach
    • 1974 – Dainius Adomaitis, Lithuanian basketball player and coach
    • 1974 – Frank Caliendo, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter
    • 1974 – Ian Laperrière, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1974 – Jaime Moreno, Bolivian footballer and manager
    • 1975 – Natalie Cook, Australian volleyball player
    • 1975 – Zdeňka Málková, Czech tennis player
    • 1976 – Natale Gonnella, Italian footballer
    • 1976 – Tarso Marques, Brazilian race car driver
    • 1977 – Benjamin Ayres, Canadian actor, director, and photographer
    • 1979 – Svetlana Khorkina, Russian gymnast and sportscaster
    • 1979 – Josu Sarriegi, Spanish footballer
    • 1979 – Wiley, English rapper and producer
    • 1980 – Jenson Button, English race car driver
    • 1980 – Pasha Kovalev, Russian-American dancer and choreographer
    • 1980 – Luke Macfarlane, Canadian-American actor and singer
    • 1980 – Arvydas Macijauskas, Lithuanian basketball player
    • 1980 – Michael Vandort, Sri Lankan cricketer
    • 1981 – Paolo Bugia, Filipino basketball player
    • 1981 – Asier del Horno, Spanish footballer
    • 1981 – Lucho González, Argentinian footballer
    • 1982 – Pete Buttigieg, American politician
    • 1982 – Mike Komisarek, American ice hockey player
    • 1982 – Jodie Sweetin, American actress and singer
    • 1982 – Shane Tronc, Australian rugby league player
    • 1982 – Kim Yoo-suk, South Korean pole vaulter
    • 1982 – Robin tom Rink, German singer-songwriter
    • 1983 – Hikaru Utada, American-Japanese singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1984 – Fabio Catacchini, Italian footballer
    • 1984 – Karun Chandhok, Indian race car driver
    • 1984 – Jimmy Kébé, Malian footballer
    • 1984 – Thomas Vanek, Austrian ice hockey player
    • 1985 – Jake Allen, American football player
    • 1985 – Pascal Behrenbruch, German decathlete
    • 1985 – Benny Feilhaber, American soccer player
    • 1985 – Esteban Guerrieri, Argentinian race car driver
    • 1985 – Rika Ishikawa, Japanese singer and actress
    • 1985 – Elliott Ward, English footballer
    • 1985 – Aleksandr Yevgenyevich Nikulin, Russian footballer
    • 1986 – Claudio Marchisio, Italian footballer
    • 1986 – Oleksandr Miroshnychenko, Ukrainian footballer
    • 1986 – Moussa Sow, Senegalese footballer
    • 1987 – Edgar Manucharyan, Armenian footballer
    • 1988 – JaVale McGee, American basketball player
    • 1988 – Tyler Breeze, Canadian wrestler
    • 1990 – Tatiana Búa, Argentine tennis player
    • 1991 – Petra Martić, Croatian tennis player
    • 1991 – Erin Sanders, American actress
    • 1992 – Shawn Johnson, American gymnast
    • 1992 – Logan Lerman, American actor
    • 1992 – Mac Miller, American rapper (d. 2018)
    • 1993 – Erick Torres Padilla, Mexican footballer
    • 1994 – Matthias Ginter, German footballer
    • 1994 – Alfie Mawson, English footballer, centre back

    Deaths on January 19

    • 520 – John of Cappadocia, patriarch of Constantinople
    • 639 – Dagobert I, Frankish king (b. 603)
    • 914 – García I, king of León
    • 1003 – Kilian of Cologne, Irish abbot
    • 1302 – Al-Hakim I, caliph of Cairo
    • 1401 – Robert Bealknap, British justice
    • 1526 – Isabella of Austria, Danish queen (b. 1501)
    • 1547 – Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, English poet (b. 1516)
    • 1565 – Diego Laynez, Spanish Jesuit theologian (b. 1512)
    • 1571 – Paris Bordone, Venetian painter (b. 1495)
    • 1576 – Hans Sachs, German poet and playwright (b. 1494)
    • 1636 – Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, Flemish painter (b.1561)
    • 1661 – Thomas Venner, English rebel leader (b. 1599)
    • 1729 – William Congreve, English playwright and poet (b. 1670)
    • 1755 – Jean-Pierre Christin, French physicist, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1683)
    • 1757 – Thomas Ruddiman, Scottish scholar and academic (b. 1674)
    • 1766 – Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni, Italian-French architect and painter (b. 1695)
    • 1785 – Jonathan Toup, English scholar and critic (b. 1713)
    • 1833 – Ferdinand Hérold, French pianist and composer (b. 1791)
    • 1847 – Charles Bent, American soldier and politician, 1st Governor of New Mexico (b. 1799)
    • 1847 – Athanasios Christopoulos, Greek poet (b. 1772)
    • 1851 – Esteban Echeverría, Argentinian poet and author (b. 1805)
    • 1853 – Karl Faber, German historian and academic (b. 1773)
    • 1865 – Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French philosopher and politician (b. 1809)
    • 1869 – Carl Reichenbach, German chemist and philosopher (b. 1788)
    • 1874 – August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, German poet and scholar (b. 1798)
    • 1878 – Henri Victor Regnault, French physicist and chemist (b. 1810)
    • 1905 – Debendranath Tagore, Indian philosopher and author (b. 1817)
    • 1906 – Bartolomé Mitre, Argentinian historian and politician, 6th President of Argentina (b. 1821)
    • 1908 – Roberto Bompiani, Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1821)
    • 1929 – Liang Qichao, Chinese journalist, philosopher, and scholar (b. 1873)
    • 1930 – Frank P. Ramsey, British mathematician, philosopher and economist (b. 1903)
    • 1938 – Branislav Nušić, Serbian author, playwright, and journalist (b. 1864)
    • 1945 – Gustave Mesny, French general (b. 1886)
    • 1948 – Tony Garnier, French architect and urban planner, designed the Stade de Gerland (b. 1869)
    • 1954 – Theodor Kaluza, German mathematician and physicist (b. 1885)
    • 1957 – József Dudás, Romanian-Hungarian activist and politician (b. 1912)
    • 1963 – Clement Smoot, American golfer (b. 1884)
    • 1964 – Firmin Lambot, Belgian cyclist (b. 1886)
    • 1965 – Arnold Luhaäär, Estonian weightlifter (b. 1905)
    • 1968 – Ray Harroun, American race car driver and engineer (b. 1879)
    • 1972 – Michael Rabin, American violinist (b. 1936)
    • 1973 – Max Adrian, Irish-English actor (b. 1903)
    • 1975 – Thomas Hart Benton, American painter and educator (b. 1889)
    • 1976 – Hidetsugu Yagi, Japanese engineer and academic (b. 1886)
    • 1979 – Moritz Jahn, German novelist and poet (b. 1884)
    • 1980 – William O. Douglas, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1898)
    • 1981 – Francesca Woodman, American photographer (b. 1958)
    • 1982 – Elis Regina, Brazilian soprano (b. 1945)
    • 1984 – Max Bentley, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1920)
    • 1987 – Lawrence Kohlberg, American psychologist and academic (b. 1927)
    • 1990 – Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Indian guru and mystic (b. 1931)
    • 1990 – Alberto Semprini, English pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1908)
    • 1990 – Herbert Wehner, German politician, 6th Minister of Intra-German Relations (b. 1906)
    • 1991 – Marcel Chaput, Canadian biochemist and journalist (b. 1918)
    • 1995 – Gene MacLellan, Canadian singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
    • 1996 – Don Simpson, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1943)
    • 1997 – James Dickey, American poet and novelist (b. 1923)
    • 1998 – Carl Perkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1932)
    • 1999 – Ivan Francescato, Italian rugby player (b. 1967)
    • 2000 – Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum, Bahá’í Hand of the Cause of God and wife of Shoghi Effendi (b. 1910)
    • 2000 – Bettino Craxi, Italian lawyer and politician, 45th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1934)
    • 2000 – Hedy Lamarr, Austrian-American actress, singer, and mathematician (b. 1913)
    • 2001 – Dario Vittori, Italian-Argentinian actor and producer (b. 1921)
    • 2002 – Vavá, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1934)
    • 2003 – Milton Flores, Honduran footballer (b. 1974)
    • 2003 – Françoise Giroud, French journalist, screenwriter, and politician, French Minister of Culture (b. 1916)
    • 2004 – Harry E. Claiborne, American lawyer and judge (b. 1917)
    • 2004 – David Hookes, Australian cricketer and coach (b. 1955)
    • 2005 – K. Sello Duiker, South African author and screenwriter (b. 1974)
    • 2006 – Anthony Franciosa, American actor (b. 1928)
    • 2006 – Wilson Pickett, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
    • 2006 – Awn Alsharif Qasim, Sudanese author and scholar (b. 1933)
    • 2006 – Geoff Rabone, New Zealand cricketer and pilot (b. 1921)
    • 2007 – Hrant Dink, Turkish-Armenian journalist and activist (b. 1954)
    • 2007 – Denny Doherty, Canadian singer-songwriter (b. 1940)
    • 2007 – Murat Nasyrov, Russian singer-songwriter (b. 1969)
    • 2008 – Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (b. 1937)
    • 2008 – John Stewart, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1939)
    • 2008 – Don Wittman, Canadian sportscaster (b. 1936)
    • 2010 – Bill McLaren, Scottish rugby player and sportscaster (b. 1923)
    • 2012 – Peter Åslin, Swedish ice hockey player (b. 1962)
    • 2012 – Sarah Burke, Canadian skier (b. 1982)
    • 2012 – Winston Riley, Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1943)
    • 2012 – Rudi van Dantzig, Dutch ballet dancer and choreographer (b. 1933)
    • 2013 – Taihō Kōki, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 48th Yokozuna (b. 1940)
    • 2013 – Stan Musial, American baseball player and manager (b. 1920)
    • 2013 – Frank Pooler, American conductor and composer (b. 1926)
    • 2013 – Earl Weaver, American baseball player and manager (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Toktamış Ateş, Turkish academician, political commentator, columnist and writer (b. 1944)
    • 2014 – Azaria Alon, Ukrainian-Israeli environmentalist, co-founded the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (b. 1918)
    • 2014 – Christopher Chataway, English runner, journalist, and politician (b. 1931)
    • 2015 – Justin Capră, Romanian engineer and academic (b. 1933)
    • 2015 – Michel Guimond, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1953)
    • 2015 – Ward Swingle, American-French singer-songwriter and conductor (b. 1927)
    • 2016 – Richard Levins, American ecologist and geneticist (b. 1930)
    • 2016 – Ettore Scola, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1931)
    • 2016 – Sheila Sim, English actress (b. 1922)
    • 2017 – Miguel Ferrer, American actor (b. 1955)

    Holidays and observances on January 19

    • Birthday of Edgar Allan Poe (commemorated by the Poe Toaster at his grave in Baltimore)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Bassianus of Lodi
      • Henry of Uppsala
      • Marius, Martha, Audifax, and Abachum
      • Mark of Ephesus (Eastern Orthodox Church)
      • Pontianus of Spoleto
      • Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester
      • January 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Confederate Heroes Day (Texas), and its related observance:
      • Robert E. Lee Day (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi)
    • Feast of Sultán (Sovereignty), first day of the 17th month of the Bahá’í calendar (Bahá’í Faith) (only if Nowruz falls on March 21, otherwise the dates shifts)
    • Husband’s Day (Iceland)
    • Kokborok Day (Tripura, India)
    • Theophany / Epiphany (Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy), and its related observances:
      • Timkat, or 20 during Leap Year (Ethiopian Orthodox)
      • Vodici or Baptism of Jesus (North Macedonia)

  • January 6 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will eventually lead to the Norman conquest of England.
    • 1205 – Philip of Swabia undergoes a second coronation as King of the Romans.
    • 1322 – Stephen Uroš III is crowned King of Serbia, having defeated his half-brother Stefan Konstantin in battle. His son is crowned “young king” in the same ceremony.
    • 1355 – Charles IV of Bohemia is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy as King of Italy in Milan.
    • 1449 – Constantine XI is crowned Byzantine Emperor at Mystras.
    • 1492 – The Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella enter Granada at the conclusion of the Granada War.
    • 1536 – The first European school of higher learning in the Americas, Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco, is founded by Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza and Bishop Juan de Zumárraga in Mexico City.
    • 1540 – King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves.
    • 1579 – The Union of Arras unites the southern Netherlands under the Duke of Parma (Ottavio Farnese), governor in the name of King Philip II of Spain.
    • 1641 – Arauco War: The first Parliament of Quillín is celebrated, putting a temporary hold on hostilities between Mapuches and Spanish in Chile.
    • 1661 – English Restoration: The Fifth Monarchists unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London, England. The revolt is suppressed after a few days.
    • 1721 – The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings, revealing details of fraud among company directors and corrupt politicians.
    • 1781 – In the Battle of Jersey, the British defeat the last attempt by France to invade Jersey in the Channel Islands.
    • 1809 – Combined British, Portuguese and colonial Brazilian forces begin the Invasion of Cayenne during the Napoleonic Wars.
    • 1838 – Alfred Vail and colleagues demonstrate a telegraph system using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code).
    • 1839 – The Night of the Big Wind, the most damaging storm in 300 years, sweeps across Ireland, damaging or destroying more than 20% of the houses in Dublin.
    • 1847 – Samuel Colt obtains his first contract for the sale of revolver pistols to the United States government.
    • 1870 – The inauguration of the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria.
    • 1893 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress. The charter is signed by President Benjamin Harrison.
    • 1900 – Second Boer War: Having already besieged the fortress at Ladysmith, Boer forces attack it, but are driven back by British defenders.
    • 1907 – Maria Montessori opens her first school and daycare center for working-class children in Rome, Italy.
    • 1912 – New Mexico is admitted to the Union as the 47th U.S. state.
    • 1912 – German geophysicist Alfred Wegener first presents his theory of continental drift.
    • 1929 – King Alexander of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes suspends his country’s constitution (the January 6th Dictatorship).
    • 1929 – Mother Teresa arrives by sea in Calcutta, India, to begin her work among India’s poorest and sick people.
    • 1930 – The first diesel-powered automobile trip is completed, from Indianapolis, Indiana, to New York, New York.
    • 1941 – United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his Four Freedoms speech in the State of the Union address.
    • 1946 – The first general election ever in Vietnam is held.
    • 1947 – Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to offer a round-the-world ticket.
    • 1950 – The United Kingdom recognizes the People’s Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with the UK in response.
    • 1951 – Korean War: Beginning of the Ganghwa massacre, in the course of which an estimated 200–1,300 South Korean communist sympathizers are slaughtered.
    • 1960 – National Airlines Flight 2511 is destroyed in mid-air by a bomb, while en route from New York City to Miami.
    • 1960 – The Associations Law comes into force in Iraq, allowing registration of political parties
    • 1967 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and ARVN troops launch “Operation Deckhouse Five” in the Mekong River delta.
    • 1974 – In response to the 1973 oil crisis, daylight saving time commences nearly four months early in the United States.
    • 1989 – Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh are sentenced to death for conspiracy in the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; the two men are executed the same day.
    • 1992 – President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia flees the country as a result of the military coup.
    • 1993 – Indian Border Security Force units kill 55 Kashmiri civilians in Sopore, Jammu and Kashmir, in revenge after militants ambushed a BSF patrol.
    • 1994 – American figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked and injured by an assailant hired by her rival Tonya Harding’s ex-husband during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships that they were both taking part in.
    • 1995 – A chemical fire in an apartment complex in Manila, Philippines, leads to the discovery of plans for Project Bojinka, a mass-terrorist attack.
    • 2005 – American Civil Rights Movement: Edgar Ray Killen is indicted for the 1964 murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner.
    • 2005 – A train collision in Graniteville, South Carolina, United States, releases about 60 tons of chlorine gas.
    • 2012 – Twenty-six people are killed and 63 wounded when a suicide bomber blows himself up at a police station in Damascus.
    • 2017 – Five people are killed and six others injured in a mass shooting at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in Broward County, Florida.
    • 2019 – Forty people are killed in a gold mine collapse in northern Afghanistan.

    Births on January 6

    • 1256 – Gertrude the Great, German mystic (d. 1302)
    • 1367 – Richard II of England (d. 1400)
    • 1384 – Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent (d. 1408)
    • 1412 – Joan of Arc, French martyr and saint (d. 1431)
    • 1486 – Martin Agricola, German composer and theorist (d. 1556)
    • 1488 – Helius Eobanus Hessus, German poet (d. 1540)
    • 1493 – Olaus Petri, Swedish clergyman (d. 1552)
    • 1500 – John of Ávila, Spanish mystic and saint (d. 1569)
    • 1525 – Caspar Peucer, German physician and scholar (d. 1602)
    • 1538 – Jane Dormer, Duchess of Feria (d. 1612)
    • 1561 – Thomas Fincke, Danish mathematician and physicist (d. 1656)
    • 1587 – Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares (d. 1645)
    • 1595 – Claude Favre de Vaugelas, French educator and courtier (d. 1650)
    • 1617 – Christoffer Gabel, Danish politician (d. 1673)
    • 1632 – Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton, Scottish peeress (d. 1716)
    • 1655 – Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg (d. 1720)
    • 1673 – James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, English academic and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire (d. 1744)
    • 1695 – Giuseppe Sammartini, Italian oboe player and composer (d. 1750)
    • 1702 – José de Nebra, Spanish composer (d. 1768)
    • 1714 – Percivall Pott, English surgeon (d. 1788)
    • 1745 – Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier, French co-inventor of the hot air balloon (d. 1799)
    • 1766 – José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, Paraguayan lawyer and politician, first dictator of Paraguay (d. 1840)
    • 1785 – Andreas Moustoxydis, Greek historian and philologist (d. 1860)
    • 1793 – James Madison Porter, American lawyer and politician, 18th United States Secretary of War (d. 1862)
    • 1795 – Anselme Payen, French chemist and academic (d. 1871)
    • 1799 – Jedediah Smith, American hunter, explorer, and author (d. 1831)
    • 1803 – Henri Herz, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1888)
    • 1807 – Joseph Petzval, German-Hungarian mathematician and physicist (d. 1891)
    • 1808 – Joseph Pitty Couthouy, American conchologist and paleontologist (d. 1864)
    • 1811 – Charles Sumner, American lawyer and politician (d. 1874)
    • 1822 – Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist and businessman (d. 1890)
    • 1832 – Gustave Doré, French painter and sculptor (d. 1883)
    • 1838 – Max Bruch, German composer and conductor (d. 1920)
    • 1842 – Clarence King, American geologist, mountaineer, and critic (d. 1901)
    • 1856 – Giuseppe Martucci, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1909)
    • 1857 – Hugh Mahon, Irish-Australian publisher and politician, 10th Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 1931)
    • 1857 – William Russell, American lawyer and politician, 37th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)
    • 1859 – Samuel Alexander, Australian-English philosopher and academic (d. 1938)
    • 1861 – Victor Horta, Belgian architect, designed Hôtel van Eetvelde (d. 1947)
    • 1861 – George Lloyd, English-Canadian bishop and theologian (d. 1940)
    • 1870 – Gustav Bauer, German journalist and politician, 11th Chancellor of Germany (d. 1944)
    • 1872 – Alexander Scriabin, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1915)
    • 1874 – Fred Niblo, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1948)
    • 1878 – Adeline Genée, Danish-born British ballerina (d. 1970)
    • 1878 – Carl Sandburg, American poet and historian (d. 1967)
    • 1880 – Tom Mix, American cowboy and actor (d. 1940)
    • 1881 – Ion Minulescu, Romanian author, poet, and critic (d. 1944)
    • 1882 – Fan S. Noli, Albanian-American bishop and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Albania (d. 1965)
    • 1882 – Sam Rayburn, American lawyer and politician, 48th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1961)
    • 1883 – Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese-American poet, painter, and philosopher (d. 1931)
    • 1898 – James Fitzmaurice, Irish soldier and pilot (d. 1965)
    • 1899 – Heinrich Nordhoff, German engineer (d. 1968)
    • 1900 – Maria of Yugoslavia, Queen of Yugoslavia from 1922 to 1934 (d. 1961)
    • 1903 – Maurice Abravanel, Greek-American pianist and conductor (d. 1993)
    • 1910 – Wright Morris, American author and photographer (d. 1998)
    • 1910 – Yiannis Papaioannou, Greek composer and educator (d. 1989)
    • 1912 – Jacques Ellul, French philosopher and critic (d. 1994)
    • 1912 – Danny Thomas, American actor, comedian, producer and humanitarian (d. 1991)
    • 1913 – Edward Gierek, Polish lawyer and politician (d. 2001)
    • 1913 – Loretta Young, American actress (d. 2000)
    • 1914 – Godfrey Edward Arnold, Austrian-American physician and academic (d. 1989)
    • 1915 – Don Edwards, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (d. 2015)
    • 1915 – John C. Lilly, American psychoanalyst, physician, and philosopher (d. 2001)
    • 1915 – Alan Watts, English-American philosopher and author (d. 1973)
    • 1916 – Park Mok-wol, influential Korean poet and academic (d. 1978)
    • 1917 – Koo Chen-fu, Taiwanese businessman and diplomat (d. 2005)
    • 1920 – John Maynard Smith, English biologist and geneticist (d. 2004)
    • 1920 – Sun Myung Moon, Korean religious leader; founder of the Unification Church (d. 2012)
    • 1920 – Early Wynn, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 1999)
    • 1921 – Marianne Grunberg-Manago, Russian-French biochemist and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1921 – Cary Middlecoff, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 1998)
    • 1923 – Vladimir Kazantsev, Russian runner (d. 2007)
    • 1923 – Norman Kirk, New Zealand engineer and politician, 29th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1974)
    • 1923 – Jacobo Timerman, Argentinian journalist and author (d. 1999)
    • 1924 – Kim Dae-jung, South Korean soldier and politician, 8th President of South Korea, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
    • 1924 – Earl Scruggs, American banjo player (d. 2012)
    • 1925 – John DeLorean, American engineer and businessman, founded the DeLorean Motor Company (d. 2005)
    • 1926 – Ralph Branca, American baseball player (d. 2016)
    • 1926 – Mickey Hargitay, Hungarian-American actor and bodybuilder (d. 2006)
    • 1927 – Jesse Leonard Steinfeld, American physician and academic, 11th Surgeon General of the United States (d. 2014)
    • 1928 – Capucine, French actress and model (d. 1990)
    • 1931 – E. L. Doctorow, American novelist, playwright, and short story writer (d. 2015)
    • 1931 – Graeme Hole, Australian cricketer (d. 1990)
    • 1931 – Dickie Moore, Canadian ice hockey player and businessman (d. 2015)
    • 1932 – Stuart A. Rice, American chemist and academic
    • 1933 – Oleg Grigoryevich Makarov, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2003)
    • 1934 – Sylvia Syms, English actress
    • 1935 – Nino Tempo, American musician, singer, and actor
    • 1936 – Darlene Hard, American tennis player
    • 1936 – Julio María Sanguinetti, Uruguayan journalist, lawyer and politician, 29th President of Uruguay
    • 1937 – Ludvík Daněk, Czech discus thrower (d. 1998)
    • 1937 – Lou Holtz, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1937 – Doris Troy, American singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
    • 1938 – Adriano Celentano, Italian singer-songwriter, actor, and director
    • 1938 – Adrienne Clarke, Australian botanist and academic
    • 1938 – Larisa Shepitko, Soviet film director, screenwriter, and actress (d. 1979)
    • 1939 – Valeriy Lobanovskyi, Ukrainian footballer and manager (d. 2002)
    • 1939 – Murray Rose, English-Australian swimmer and sportscaster (d. 2012)
    • 1940 – Van McCoy, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1979)
    • 1943 – Terry Venables, English footballer and manager
    • 1944 – Bonnie Franklin, American actress and singer (d. 2013)
    • 1944 – Alan Stivell, French singer-songwriter and harp player
    • 1944 – Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Swiss immunologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1945 – Barry John, Welsh rugby player
    • 1946 – Syd Barrett, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2006)
    • 1947 – Sandy Denny, English folk-rock singer-songwriter (d 1978)
    • 1948 – Guy Gardner, American colonel and astronaut
    • 1948 – Dayle Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer
    • 1949 – Mike Boit, Kenyan runner and academic (estimated date)
    • 1949 – Carolyn D. Wright, American poet and academic (d. 2016)
    • 1950 – Louis Freeh, American lawyer and jurist, 10th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
    • 1951 – Don Gullett, American baseball player and coach
    • 1951 – Kim Wilson, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player
    • 1953 – Malcolm Young, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2017)
    • 1954 – Anthony Minghella, English director and screenwriter (d. 2008)
    • 1955 – Rowan Atkinson, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1956 – Elizabeth Strout, American novelist and short story writer
    • 1956 – Justin Welby, English archbishop
    • 1956 – Clive Woodward, English rugby player and coach
    • 1957 – Michael Foale, British-American astrophysicist and astronaut
    • 1957 – Nancy Lopez, American golfer and sportscaster
    • 1959 – Kapil Dev, Indian cricketer
    • 1960 – Paul Azinger, American golfer and sportscaster
    • 1960 – Kari Jalonen, Finnish ice hockey player and coach
    • 1960 – Nigella Lawson, English chef and author
    • 1960 – Howie Long, American football player and sports commentator
    • 1961 – Georges Jobé, Belgian motocross racer (d. 2012)
    • 1961 – Peter Whittle, British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster
    • 1963 – Norm Charlton, American baseball player and coach
    • 1963 – Paul Kipkoech, Kenyan runner (d. 1995)
    • 1964 – Jacqueline Moore, American wrestler and manager
    • 1965 – Bjørn Lomborg, Danish author and academic
    • 1966 – Sharon Cuneta, Filipino singer and actress
    • 1966 – Attilio Lombardo, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1967 – A. R. Rahman, Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, musician and philanthropist
    • 1968 – John Singleton, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2019)
    • 1969 – Norman Reedus, American actor and model
    • 1970 – Julie Chen, American television journalist, presenter, and producer
    • 1970 – Radoslav Látal, Czech footballer and manager
    • 1973 – Vasso Karantasiou, Greek beach volleyball player
    • 1976 – Richard Zedník, Slovak ice hockey player
    • 1981 – Asante Samuel, American football player
    • 1982 – Eddie Redmayne, English actor and model
    • 1984 – Kate McKinnon, American actress and comedian
    • 1986 – Paul McShane, Irish footballer
    • 1986 – Petter Northug, Norwegian skier
    • 1989 – Andy Carroll, English footballer
    • 1991 – Will Barton, American basketball player
    • 1994 – Lim Jae-beom, South Korean singer and actor (Got7)

    Deaths on January 6

    • 786 – Abo of Tiflis, Iraqi martyr and saint (b. 756)
    • 1088 – Berengar of Tours, French scholar and theologian (b. 999)
    • 1148 – Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke (b. 1100)
    • 1233 – Matilda of Chester, Countess of Huntingdon, Anglo-Norman noblewoman (b. 1171)
    • 1275 – Raymond of Penyafort, Catalan archbishop and saint (b. 1175)
    • 1350 – Giovanni I di Murta, second doge of the Republic of Genoa
    • 1358 – Gertrude van der Oosten, Beguine mystic
    • 1406 – Roger Walden, English bishop
    • 1448 – Christopher of Bavaria, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (b. 1418)
    • 1477 – Jean VIII, Count of Vendôme
    • 1481 – Ahmed Khan bin Küchük, Mongolian ruler
    • 1537 – Alessandro de’ Medici, Duke of Florence (b. 1510)
    • 1537 – Baldassare Peruzzi, Italian architect and painter, designed the Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne (b. 1481)
    • 1616 – Philip Henslowe, English impresario (b. 1550)
    • 1646 – Elias Holl, German architect, designed the Augsburg Town Hall (b. 1573)
    • 1689 – Seth Ward, English bishop, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1617)
    • 1693 – Mehmed IV, Ottoman sultan (b. 1642)
    • 1711 – Philips van Almonde, Dutch admiral (b. 1646)
    • 1718 – Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, Italian lawyer and jurist (b. 1664)
    • 1725 – Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Japanese actor and playwright (b. 1653)
    • 1731 – Étienne François Geoffroy, French physician and chemist (b. 1672)
    • 1734 – John Dennis, English playwright and critic (b. 1657)
    • 1813 – Louis Baraguey d’Hilliers, French general (b. 1764)
    • 1829 – Josef Dobrovský, Czech philologist and historian (b. 1753)
    • 1831 – Rodolphe Kreutzer, French violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1766)
    • 1840 – Frances Burney, English author and playwright (b. 1752)
    • 1852 – Louis Braille, French educator, invented Braille (b. 1809)
    • 1855 – Giacomo Beltrami, Italian jurist, explorer, and author (b. 1779)
    • 1882 – Richard Henry Dana, Jr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1815)
    • 1884 – Gregor Mendel, Czech geneticist and botanist (b. 1822)
    • 1885 – Bharatendu Harishchandra, Indian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1850)
    • 1896 – Thomas W. Knox, American journalist and author (b. 1835)
    • 1902 – Lars Hertervig, Norwegian painter (b. 1830)
    • 1913 – Frederick Hitch, English soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1856)
    • 1917 – Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack, Dutch economist and historian (b. 1834)
    • 1918 – Georg Cantor, German mathematician and philosopher (b. 1845)
    • 1919 – Theodore Roosevelt, American colonel and politician, 26th President of the United States (b. 1858)
    • 1921 – Devil Anse Hatfield, American guerrilla leader (b. 1839)
    • 1922 – Jakob Rosanes, Ukrainian-German mathematician and chess player (b. 1842)
    • 1928 – Alvin Kraenzlein, American hurdler and long jumper (b. 1876)
    • 1933 – Vladimir de Pachmann, Ukrainian-German pianist (b. 1848)
    • 1934 – Herbert Chapman, English footballer and manager (b. 1878)
    • 1937 – André Bessette, Canadian saint (b. 1845)
    • 1939 – Gustavs Zemgals, Latvian journalist and politician, 2nd President of Latvia (b. 1871)
    • 1941 – Charley O’Leary, American baseball player and coach (b. 1882)
    • 1942 – Emma Calvé, French soprano and actress (b. 1858)
    • 1942 – Henri de Baillet-Latour, Belgian businessman, 3rd President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1876)
    • 1944 – Jacques Rosenbaum, Estonian-German architect (b. 1878)
    • 1944 – Ida Tarbell, American journalist, reformer, and educator (b. 1857)
    • 1945 – Vladimir Vernadsky, Russian mineralogist and chemist (b. 1863)
    • 1949 – Victor Fleming, American director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1883)
    • 1966 – Jean Lurçat, French painter (b. 1892)
    • 1972 – Chen Yi, Chinese general and politician, 2nd Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1901)
    • 1974 – David Alfaro Siqueiros, Mexican painter (b. 1896)
    • 1978 – Burt Munro, New Zealand motorcycle racer (b. 1899)
    • 1981 – A. J. Cronin, Scottish physician and author (b. 1896)
    • 1984 – Ernest Laszlo, Hungarian-American cinematographer (b. 1898)
    • 1990 – Ian Charleson, Scottish-English actor (b. 1949)
    • 1990 – Pavel Cherenkov, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
    • 1993 – Dizzy Gillespie, American singer-songwriter and trumpet player (b. 1917)
    • 1993 – Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-French dancer and choreographer (b. 1938)
    • 1995 – Joe Slovo, Lithuanian-South African lawyer and politician (b. 1926)
    • 1999 – Michel Petrucciani, French-American pianist (b. 1962)2000 – Don Martin, American cartoonist (b. 1931)
    • 2004 – Pierre Charles, Dominican educator and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Dominica (b. 1954)
    • 2004 – Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (b. 1921)
    • 2005 – Eileen Desmond, Irish civil servant and politician, 12th Irish Minister for Health (b. 1932)
    • 2005 – Lois Hole, Canadian academic and politician, 15th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta (b. 1929)
    • 2005 – Tarquinio Provini, Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1933)
    • 2005 – Louis Robichaud, Canadian lawyer and politician, 25th Premier of New Brunswick (b. 1925)
    • 2006 – Lou Rawls, American singer-songwriter (b. 1933)
    • 2007 – Roberta Wohlstetter, American political scientist, historian, and academic (b. 1912)
    • 2008 – Shmuel Berenbaum, Rabbi of Mir Yeshiva (Brooklyn)
    • 2009 – Ron Asheton, American guitarist, songwriter, and actor (probable; b. 1948)
    • 2011 – Uche Okafor, Nigerian footballer, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1967)
    • 2012 – Bob Holness, South African-English radio and television host (b. 1928)
    • 2012 – Spike Pola, Australian footballer and soldier (b. 1914)
    • 2013 – Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Pakistani scholar and politician (b. 1938)
    • 2013 – Ruth Carter Stevenson, American art collector, founded the Amon Carter Museum of American Art (b. 1923)
    • 2013 – Gerard Helders, Dutch jurist and politician (b. 1905)
    • 2013 – Cho Sung-min, South Korean baseball player (b. 1973)
    • 2014 – Marina Ginestà, French Resistance soldier and photographer (b. 1919)
    • 2014 – Nelson Ned, Brazilian singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
    • 2014 – Julian Rotter, American psychologist and academic (b. 1916)
    • 2015 – Arthur Jackson, American lieutenant and target shooter (b. 1918)
    • 2015 – Basil John Mason, English meteorologist and academic (b. 1923)
    • 2016 – Pat Harrington, Jr., American actor and screenwriter (b. 1929)
    • 2016 – Florence King, American journalist and author (b. 1936)
    • 2016 – Christy O’Connor Jnr, Irish golfer and architect (b. 1948)
    • 2016 – Silvana Pampanini, Italian model, actress, and director, Miss Italy 1946 (b. 1925)
    • 2017 – Octavio Lepage, Venezuelan politician, President of Venezuela (b. 1923)
    • 2017 – Om Puri, Indian actor (b. 1950)
    • 2019 – José Ramón Fernández, Cuban revolution leader (b. 1923)
    • 2019 – Lamin Sanneh, Gambian-born American professor (b. 1942)
    • 2019 – W. Morgan Sheppard, British actor (b. 1932)
    • 2019 – Paul Streeten, Austrian-born British economics professor (b. 1917)

    Holidays and observances on January 6

    • Armed Forces Day (Iraq)
    • Christian Feast day:
      • André Bessette (Roman Catholic Church)
      • January 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Epiphany or Three Kings’ Day (Western Christianity) or Theophany (Eastern Christianity), and its related observances:
      • Befana Day (Italy)
      • Christmas (Armenian Apostolic Church)
      • Christmas Eve (Russia)
      • Christmas Eve (Ukraine)
      • Christmas Eve (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
      • Christmas Eve (North Macedonia)
      • Little Christmas (Ireland)
      • Þrettándinn (Iceland)
      • Three Wise Men Day
    • Pathet Lao Day (Laos)