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July 20 in history
- AD 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, storms the Fortress of Antonia north of the Temple Mount. The Roman army is drawn into street fights with the Zealots.
- 792 – Kardam of Bulgaria defeats Byzantine Emperor Constantine VI at the Battle of Marcellae.
- 911 – Rollo lays siege to Chartres.
- 1189 – Richard I of England officially invested as Duke of Normandy.
- 1225 – Treaty of San Germano is signed at San Germano between Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and Pope Gregory IX. A Dominican named Guala is responsible for the negotiations.
- 1398 – The Battle of Kellistown was fought on this day between the forces of the English led by Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March against the O’Byrnes and O’Tooles under the command of Art Óg mac Murchadha Caomhánach, the most powerful Chieftain in Leinster.
- 1402 – Ottoman-Timurid Wars: Battle of Ankara: Timur, ruler of Timurid Empire, defeats forces of the Ottoman Empire sultan Bayezid I.
- 1592 – During the first Japanese invasion of Korea, Japanese forces led by Toyotomi Hideyoshi captured Pyongyang, although they were ultimately unable to hold it.
- 1715 – Seventh Ottoman–Venetian War: The Ottoman Empire captures Nauplia, the capital of the Republic of Venice’s “Kingdom of the Morea”, thereby opening the way to the swift Ottoman reconquest of the Morea.
- 1738 – Canadian explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye reaches the western shore of Lake Michigan.
- 1799 – Tekle Giyorgis I begins his first of six reigns as Emperor of Ethiopia.
- 1807 – Nicéphore Niépce is awarded a patent by Napoleon for the Pyréolophore, the world’s first internal combustion engine, after it successfully powered a boat upstream on the river Saône in France.
- 1810 – Citizens of Bogotá, New Granada declare independence from Spain.
- 1831 – Seneca and Shawnee people agree to relinquish their land in western Ohio for 60,000 acres west of the Mississippi River.
- 1848 – The first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, a two-day event, concludes.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Peachtree Creek: Near Atlanta, Georgia, Confederate forces led by General John Bell Hood unsuccessfully attack Union troops under General William T. Sherman.
- 1866 – Austro-Prussian War: Battle of Lissa: The Austrian Navy, led by Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, defeats the Italian Navy near the island of Vis in the Adriatic Sea.
- 1871 – British Columbia joins the confederation of Canada.
- 1885 – The Football Association legalizes professionalism in association football under pressure from the British Football Association.
- 1903 – The Ford Motor Company ships its first automobile.
- 1917 – World War I: The Corfu Declaration, which leads to the creation of the post-war Kingdom of Yugoslavia, is signed by the Yugoslav Committee and Kingdom of Serbia.
- 1920 – The Greek Army takes control of Silivri after Greece is awarded the city by the Paris Peace Conference; by 1923 Greece effectively lost control to the Turks.
- 1922 – The League of Nations awards mandates of Togoland to France and Tanganyika to the United Kingdom.
- 1932 – In the Preußenschlag (“Prussian coup”), German President Paul von Hindenburg dissolves the government of Prussia
- 1934 – Labor unrest in the U.S.: Police in Minneapolis fire upon striking truck drivers, during the Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934, killing two and wounding sixty-seven.
- 1934 – West Coast waterfront strike: In Seattle, police fire tear gas on and club 2,000 striking longshoremen. The governor of Oregon calls out the National Guard to break a strike on the Portland docks.
- 1935 – Switzerland: A Royal Dutch Airlines plane en route from Milan to Frankfurt crashes into a Swiss mountain, killing thirteen.
- 1936 – The Montreux Convention is signed in Switzerland, authorizing Turkey to fortify the Dardanelles and Bosphorus but guaranteeing free passage to ships of all nations in peacetime.
- 1938 – The United States Department of Justice files suit in New York City against the motion picture industry charging violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act in regards to the studio system. The case would eventually result in a break-up of the industry in 1948.
- 1940 – Denmark leaves the League of Nations.
- 1940 – California opens its first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway.
- 1941 – Soviet leader Joseph Stalin consolidates the Commissariats of Home Affairs and National Security to form the NKVD and names Lavrentiy Beria its chief.
- 1944 – World War II: Adolf Hitler survives an assassination attempt led by German Army Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg.
- 1949 – Israel and Syria sign a truce to end their nineteen-month war.
- 1950 – Cold War: In Philadelphia, Harry Gold pleads guilty to spying for the Soviet Union by passing secrets from atomic scientist Klaus Fuchs.
- 1951 – King Abdullah I of Jordan is assassinated by a Palestinian while attending Friday prayers in Jerusalem.
- 1954 – Germany: Otto John, head of West Germany’s secret service, defects to East Germany.
- 1960 – Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) elects Sirimavo Bandaranaike Prime Minister, the world’s first elected female head of government.
- 1960 – The Polaris missile is successfully launched from a submarine, the USS George Washington, for the first time.
- 1961 – French military forces break the Tunisian siege of Bizerte.
- 1964 – Vietnam War: Viet Cong forces attack the capital of Định Tường Province, Cái Bè, killing 11 South Vietnamese military personnel and 40 civilians (30 of whom are children).
- 1968 – The first International Special Olympics Summer Games are held at Soldier Field in Chicago, with about 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities.
- 1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 11’s crew successfully makes the first manned landing on the Moon in the Sea of Tranquility. Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to walk on the Moon six and a half hours later.
- 1969 – A cease fire is announced between Honduras and El Salvador, six days after the beginning of the “Football War”.
- 1974 – Turkish invasion of Cyprus: Forces from Turkey invade Cyprus after a coup d’état, organised by the dictator of Greece, against president Makarios.
- 1976 – The American Viking 1 lander successfully lands on Mars.
- 1977 – The Central Intelligence Agency releases documents under the Freedom of Information Act revealing it had engaged in mind-control experiments.
- 1977 – The Johnstown flood of 1977 kills 84 people and causes millions of dollars in damages.
- 1982 – Hyde Park and Regent’s Park bombings: The Provisional IRA detonates two bombs in Hyde Park and Regent’s Park in central London, killing eight soldiers, wounding forty-seven people, and leading to the deaths of seven horses.
- 1985 – The government of Aruba passes legislation to secede from the Netherlands Antilles.
- 1989 – Burma’s ruling junta puts opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest.
- 1992 – Václav Havel resigns as president of Czechoslovakia.
- 1997 – The fully restored USS Constitution (a.k.a. Old Ironsides) celebrates its 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years.
- 1999 – The Chinese Communist Party begins a persecution campaign against Falun Gong, arresting thousands nationwide.
- 2005 – The Civil Marriage Act legalizes same-sex marriage in Canada.
- 2012 – James Holmes opened fire at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 and injuring 70 others.
- 2013 – Seventeen government soldiers are killed in an attack by FARC revolutionaries in the Colombian department of Arauca.
- 2015 – A huge explosion in the mostly Kurdish border town of Suruç, Turkey, targeting the Socialist Youth Associations Federation, kills at least 31 people and injures over 100.
- 2015 – The United States and Cuba resume full diplomatic relations after five decades.
- 2017 – O. J. Simpson is granted parole to be released from prison after serving nine years of a 33-year sentence after being convicted of armed robbery in Las Vegas.
Births on July 20
- 356 BC – Alexander the Great, Macedonian king (d. 323 BC)
- 647 – Yazid I, Arabian caliph (d. 683)
- 682 – Taichō, Japanese monk and scholar (d. 767)
- 1304 – Petrarch, Italian poet and scholar (d. 1374)
- 1313 – John Tiptoft, 2nd Baron Tibetot (d. 1367)
- 1346 – Margaret, Countess of Pembroke, daughter of King Edward III of England (d. 1361)
- 1470 – John Bourchier, 1st Earl of Bath, English noble (d. 1539)
- 1519 – Pope Innocent IX (d. 1591)
- 1537 – Arnaud d’Ossat, French cardinal (d. 1604)
- 1583 – Alban Roe, English Benedictine martyr (d. 1642)
- 1591 – Anne Hutchinson, English Puritan preacher (d. 1643)
- 1592 – Johan Björnsson Printz, governor of New Sweden (d. 1663)
- 1601 – Robert Wallop, English politician (d. 1667)
- 1620 – Nikolaes Heinsius the Elder, Dutch poet and scholar (d. 1681)
- 1649 – William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland (d. 1709)
- 1754 – Antoine Destutt de Tracy, French philosopher and academic (d. 1836)
- 1757 – Garsevan Chavchavadze, Georgian politician and diplomat (d. 1811)
- 1762 – Jakob Haibel, Austrian tenor and composer (d. 1826)
- 1774 – Auguste de Marmont, French general (d. 1852)
- 1789 – Mahmud II, Ottoman sultan (d. 1839)
- 1804 – Richard Owen, English biologist, anatomist, and paleontologist (d. 1892)
- 1822 – Gregor Mendel, Austro-German monk, geneticist and botanist (d. 1884)
- 1838 – Augustin Daly, American playwright and manager (d. 1899)
- 1838 – William Paine Lord, American lawyer and politician, 9th Governor of Oregon (d. 1911)
- 1838 – Sir George Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet, English civil servant and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (d. 1928)
- 1847 – Max Liebermann, German painter and academic (d. 1935)
- 1849 – Robert Anderson Van Wyck, American lawyer and politician, 91st Mayor of New York City (d. 1918)
- 1852 – Theo Heemskerk, Dutch lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1932)
- 1854 – Philomène Belliveau, Canadian artist (d. 1940)
- 1864 – Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Swedish poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1931)
- 1864 – Ruggero Oddi, Italian physiologist and anatomist (d. 1913)
- 1868 – Miron Cristea, Romanian cleric and politician, 38th Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1939)
- 1873 – Alberto Santos-Dumont, Brazilian pilot (d. 1932)
- 1876 – Otto Blumenthal, German mathematician and academic (d. 1944)
- 1877 – Tom Crean, Irish sailor and explorer (d. 1938)
- 1882 – Olga Hahn-Neurath, Austrian mathematician and philosopher (d. 1937)
- 1889 – John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, Scottish broadcaster, co-founded BBC (d. 1971)
- 1890 – Verna Felton, American actress (d. 1966)
- 1890 – Julie Vinter Hansen, Danish-Swiss astronomer and academic (d. 1960)
- 1890 – Giorgio Morandi, Italian painter (d. 1964)
- 1893 – George Llewelyn Davies, English soldier (d. 1915)
- 1895 – László Moholy-Nagy, Hungarian painter, photographer, and sculptor (d. 1946)
- 1897 – Tadeusz Reichstein, Polish-Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
- 1900 – Maurice Leyland, English cricketer and coach (d. 1967)
- 1901 – Vehbi Koç, Turkish businessman and philanthropist, founded Koç Holding (d. 1996)
- 1901 – Eugenio Lopez Sr., Filipino businessman and founder of the Lopez Group of Companies (d. 1975)
- 1901 – Heinie Manush, American baseball player and manager (d. 1971)
- 1902 – Leonidas Berry, American gastroenterologist (d. 1995)
- 1905 – Joseph Levis, American foil fencer (d. 2005)
- 1909 – Eric Rowan, South African cricketer (d. 1993)
- 1910 – Vilém Tauský, Czech-English conductor and composer (d. 2004)
- 1911 – Baqa Jilani, Indian cricketer (d. 1941)
- 1911 – José Zabala-Santos, Filipino author and illustrator (d. 1985)
- 1912 – George Johnston, Australian journalist and author (d. 1970)
- 1914 – Dobri Dobrev, Bulgarian philanthropist (d. 2018)
- 1914 – Charilaos Florakis, Greek politician (d. 2005)
- 1914 – Ersilio Tonini, Italian cardinal (d. 2013)
- 1918 – Cindy Walker, American singer-songwriter and dancer (d. 2006)
- 1919 – Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer and explorer (d. 2008)
- 1919 – Jacquemine Charrott Lodwidge, English writer (d. 2012)
- 1920 – Elliot Richardson, American lieutenant and politician, 11th United States Secretary of Defense (d. 1999)
- 1921 – Henri Alleg, English-French journalist and author (d. 2013)
- 1922 – Alan Stephenson Boyd, American lawyer and politician, 1st United States Secretary of Transportation
- 1923 – Stanisław Albinowski, Polish economist and journalist (d. 2005)
- 1924 – Lola Albright, American actress and singer (d. 2017)
- 1924 – Thomas Berger, American author and playwright (d. 2014)
- 1924 – Mort Garson, Canadian-American songwriter and composer (d. 2008)
- 1925 – Jacques Delors, French economist and politician, 8th President of the European Commission
- 1925 – Frantz Fanon, French–Algerian psychiatrist and philosopher (d. 1961)
- 1927 – Barbara Bergmann, American economist and academic (d. 2015)
- 1927 – Heather Chasen, English actress (d. 2020)
- 1927 – Michael Gielen, Austrian conductor and composer (d. 2019)
- 1927 – Ian P. Howard, English-Canadian psychologist and academic (d. 2013)
- 1928 – Józef Czyrek, Polish economist and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2013)
- 1928 – Belaid Abdessalam, Prime Minister of Algeria
- 1929 – Hazel Hawke, Australian social worker and pianist, 23rd Spouse of the Prime Minister of Australia (d. 2013)
- 1929 – Mike Ilitch, American businessman, co-founded Little Caesars (d. 2017)
- 1929 – Rajendra Kumar, Pakistani-Indian actor and producer (d. 1999)
- 1929 – David Tonkin, Australian politician, 38th Premier of South Australia (d. 2000)
- 1930 – Giannis Agouris, Greek journalist and author (d. 2006)
- 1930 – Chuck Daly, American basketball player and coach (d. 2009)
- 1930 – William H. Goetzmann, American historian and author (d. 2010)
- 1930 – Sally Ann Howes, English-American singer and actress
- 1931 – Tony Marsh, English race car driver (d. 2009)
- 1932 – Nam June Paik, American artist (d. 2006)
- 1932 – Otto Schily, German lawyer and politician, German Minister of the Interior
- 1933 – Buddy Knox, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1999)
- 1933 – Cormac McCarthy, American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter
- 1933 – Rex Williams, English snooker player
- 1935 – Peter Palumbo, Baron Palumbo, English businessman and art collector
- 1935 – Sleepy LaBeef, American rockabilly singer and musician (d. 2019)
- 1936 – Alistair MacLeod, Canadian novelist and short story writer (d. 2014)
- 1936 – Barbara Mikulski, American social worker and politician
- 1938 – Deniz Baykal, Turkish lawyer and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey
- 1938 – Roger Hunt, English footballer
- 1938 – Tony Oliva, Cuban-American baseball player and coach
- 1938 – Diana Rigg, English actress
- 1938 – Natalie Wood, American actress (d. 1981)
- 1939 – Judy Chicago, American painter and sculptor
- 1941 – Don Chuy, American football player (d. 2014)
- 1941 – Periklis Korovesis, Greek author and journalist
- 1941 – Kurt Raab, German actor, screenwriter, and production designer (d. 1988)
- 1942 – Pete Hamilton, American race car driver
- 1943 – Chris Amon, New Zealand race car driver (d. 2016)
- 1943 – Bob McNab, English footballer
- 1943 – Adrian Păunescu, Romanian poet, journalist, and politician (d. 2010)
- 1943 – Wendy Richard, English actress (d. 2009)
- 1944 – Mel Daniels, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
- 1944 – W. Cary Edwards, American politician (d. 2010)
- 1944 – Olivier de Kersauson, French sailor
- 1944 – T. G. Sheppard, American country music singer-songwriter
- 1945 – Kim Carnes, American singer-songwriter
- 1945 – Larry Craig, American soldier and politician
- 1945 – John Lodge, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
- 1945 – Bo Rein, American football player and coach (d. 1980)
- 1946 – Randal Kleiser, American actor, director, and producer
- 1947 – Gerd Binnig, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1947 – Carlos Santana, Mexican-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1948 – Muse Watson, American actor and producer
- 1950 – Edward Leigh, English lawyer and politician
- 1950 – Lucille Lemay, Canadian archer
- 1951 – Jeff Rawle, English actor and screenwriter
- 1953 – Dave Evans, Welsh-Australian singer-songwriter
- 1953 – Thomas Friedman, American journalist and author
- 1953 – Marcia Hines, American-Australian singer and actress
- 1954 – Moira Harris, American actress
- 1954 – Jay Jay French, American guitarist and producer
- 1955 – Desmond Douglas, Jamaican-English table tennis player
- 1955 – René-Daniel Dubois, Canadian actor and playwright
- 1955 – Jem Finer, English banjo player and songwriter
- 1956 – Paul Cook, English drummer
- 1956 – Thomas N’Kono, Cameroonian footballer
- 1956 – Jim Prentice, Canadian lawyer and politician, 16th Premier of Alberta (d. 2016)
- 1958 – Mick MacNeil, Scottish keyboard player and songwriter
- 1959 – Radney Foster, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1960 – Claudio Langes, Italian race car driver
- 1960 – Prvoslav Vujčić, Serbian-Canadian poet and philosopher
- 1960 – Sudesh Berry, Indian actor
- 1961 – Óscar Elías Biscet, Cuban physician and activist, founded the Lawton Foundation
- 1962 – Carlos Alazraqui, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1962 – Giovanna Amati, Italian race car driver
- 1962 – Julie Bindel, English journalist, author, and academic
- 1963 – Frank Whaley, American actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1964 – Chris Cornell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
- 1964 – Terri Irwin, American-Australian zoologist and author
- 1964 – Sebastiano Rossi, Italian footballer
- 1964 – Bernd Schneider, German race car driver
- 1965 – Jess Walter, American journalist and author
- 1966 – Stone Gossard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1966 – Enrique Peña Nieto, Mexican lawyer and politician, 57th President of Mexico
- 1967 – Courtney Taylor-Taylor, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1968 – Jimmy Carson, American ice hockey player
- 1968 – Hami Mandıralı, Turkish footballer and manager
- 1968 – Kool G Rap, American hip-hop artist
- 1969 – Josh Holloway, American actor
- 1969 – Kreso Kovacec, Croatian-German footballer
- 1969 – Giovanni Lombardi, Italian cyclist
- 1969 – Joon Park, South Korean-American singer
- 1969 – Tobi Vail, American singer and guitarist
- 1971 – Charles Johnson, American baseball player
- 1971 – Sandra Oh, Canadian actress
- 1972 – Jamie Ainscough, Australian rugby league player
- 1972 – Jozef Stümpel, Slovak ice hockey player
- 1972 – Erik Ullenhag, Swedish jurist and politician
- 1972 – Vitamin C, American singer-songwriter
- 1973 – Omar Epps, American actor
- 1973 – Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway
- 1973 – Peter Forsberg, Swedish ice hockey player and manager
- 1973 – Nixon McLean, Caribbean cricketer
- 1973 – Roberto Orci, Mexican-American screenwriter and producer
- 1973 – Claudio Reyna, American soccer player
- 1975 – Ray Allen, American basketball player and actor
- 1975 – Judy Greer, American actress and producer
- 1975 – Erik Hagen, Norwegian footballer
- 1975 – Birgitta Ohlsson, Swedish journalist and politician, 5th Swedish Minister for European Union Affairs
- 1975 – Jason Raize, American singer and actor
- 1975 – Yusuf Şimşek, Turkish footballer and manager
- 1976 – Erica Hill, American journalist
- 1976 – Debashish Mohanty, Indian cricketer and coach
- 1976 – Andrew Stockdale, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1976 – Alex Yoong, Malaysian race car driver
- 1977 – Kiki Musampa, Congolese footballer
- 1977 – Yves Niaré, French shot putter (d. 2012)
- 1977 – Alessandro Santos, Brazilian-Japanese footballer
- 1978 – Pavel Datsyuk, Russian ice hockey player
- 1978 – Will Solomon, American basketball player
- 1978 – Elliott Yamin, American singer-songwriter
- 1978 – Ieva Zunda, Latvian runner and hurdler
- 1979 – Miklós Fehér, Hungarian footballer (d. 2004)
- 1979 – Charlotte Hatherley, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1979 – David Ortega, Spanish swimmer
- 1980 – Tesfaye Bramble, English-Montserratian footballer
- 1980 – Gisele Bündchen, Brazilian model, fashionista, and businesswoman
- 1981 – Viktoria Ladõnskaja, Estonian journalist and politician
- 1982 – Antoine Vermette, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Alexi Casilla, Dominican baseball player
- 1984 – Matt Gilroy, American ice hockey player
- 1985 – John Francis Daley, American actor and screenwriter
- 1985 – Harley Morenstein, Canadian actor and YouTube personality
- 1985 – David Mundy, Australian footballer
- 1986 – Osric Chau, Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1987 – Nicola Benedetti, Scottish violinist
- 1987 – Niall McGinn, Irish footballer
- 1988 – Julianne Hough, American singer-songwriter, actress, and dancer
- 1988 – Stephen Strasburg, American baseball player
- 1988 – Shahram Mahmoudi, Iranian volleyball player
- 1989 – Javier Cortés, Mexican footballer
- 1989 – Cristian Pasquato, Italian footballer
- 1990 – Lars Unnerstall, German footballer
- 1991 – Chiyoshōma Fujio, Mongolian sumo wrestler
- 1991 – Ryan James, Australian rugby league player
- 1991 – Kira Kazantsev, Miss America 2015
- 1991 – Philipp Reiter, German mountaineer and runner
- 1993 – Steven Adams, New Zealand basketball player
- 1995 – Moses Leota, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1996 – Ben Simmons, Australian basketball player
Deaths on July 20
- 518 – Amantius, Byzantine grand chamberlain and Monophysite martyr
- 833 – Ansegisus, Frankish abbot and saint
- 985 – Boniface VII, antipope of Rome
- 1031 – Robert II, king of France (b. 972)
- 1156 – Toba, emperor of Japan (b. 1103)
- 1320 – Oshin, king of Armenia (b. 1282)
- 1332 – Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray, regent of Scotland
- 1387 – Robert IV, French nobleman (b. 1356)
- 1398 – Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, Welsh nobleman (b. 1374)
- 1453 – Enguerrand de Monstrelet, French historian and author (b. 1400)
- 1454 – John II, king of Castile and León (b. 1405)
- 1514 – György Dózsa, Transylvanian peasant revolt leader (b. 1470)
- 1524 – Claude, queen consort of France (b. 1499)
- 1526 – García Jofre de Loaísa, Spanish explorer (b. 1490)
- 1600 – William More, English courtier (b. 1520)
- 1616 – Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, Irish nobleman and rebel soldier (b. 1550)
- 1704 – Peregrine White, English-American farmer and soldier (b. 1620)
- 1752 – Johann Christoph Pepusch, German-English composer and theorist (b. 1667)
- 1816 – Gavrila Derzhavin, Russian poet and politician (b. 1743)
- 1866 – Bernhard Riemann, German mathematician and academic (b. 1826)
- 1897 – Jean Ingelow, English poet and author (b. 1820)
- 1901 – William Cosmo Monkhouse, English poet and critic (b. 1840)
- 1903 – Leo XIII, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1810)
- 1908 – Demetrius Vikelas, Greek businessman and author (b. 1835)
- 1908 – Karl Bernhard Zoeppritz, German geophysicist and seismologist (b. 1881)
- 1910 – Anderson Dawson, Australian politician, 14th Premier of Queensland (b. 1863)
- 1922 – Andrey Markov, Russian mathematician and theorist (b. 1856)
- 1923 – Pancho Villa, Mexican general and politician, Governor of Chihuahua (b. 1878)
- 1926 – Felix Dzerzhinsky, Russian educator and politician (b. 1877)
- 1927 – Ferdinand I, king of Romania (b. 1865)
- 1928 – Kostas Karyotakis, Greek poet and author (b. 1896)
- 1932 – René Bazin, French author and academic (b. 1853)
- 1937 – Olga Hahn-Neurath, Austrian mathematician and philosopher from the Vienna Circle (b. 1882)
- 1937 – Guglielmo Marconi, Italian physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
- 1941 – Lew Fields, American actor and producer (b. 1867)
- 1944 – Ludwig Beck, German general (b. 1880)
- 1945 – Paul Valéry, French author and poet (b. 1871)
- 1951 – Abdullah I, king of Jordan (b. 1882)
- 1953 – Dumarsais Estimé, Haitian lawyer and politician, 33rd President of Haiti (b. 1900)
- 1953 – Jan Struther, English author and hymn-writer (b. 1901)
- 1955 – Calouste Gulbenkian, Armenian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1869)
- 1956 – James Alexander Calder, Canadian educator and politician, Canadian Minister of Militia and Defence (b. 1868)
- 1959 – William D. Leahy, American admiral and diplomat, United States Ambassador to France (b. 1875)
- 1965 – Batukeshwar Dutt, Indian activist (b. 1910)
- 1968 – Bray Hammond, American historian and author (b. 1886)
- 1970 – Iain Macleod, English journalist and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1913)
- 1972 – Geeta Dutt, Indian singer and actress (b. 1930)
- 1973 – Bruce Lee, American actor and martial artist (b. 1940)
- 1973 – Robert Smithson, American photographer and sculptor (b. 1938)
- 1974 – Allen Jenkins, American actor and singer (b. 1900)
- 1974 – Kamal Dasgupta, Bengali music director, composer and folk artist. (b. 1912)
- 1976 – Joseph Rochefort, American captain and cryptanalyst (b. 1900)
- 1977 – Gary Kellgren, American record producer, co-founded Record Plant (b. 1939)
- 1980 – Maria Martinez, San Ildefonso Pueblo (Native American) potter (b. 1887)
- 1981 – Kostas Choumis, Greek-Romanian footballer (b. 1913)
- 1983 – Frank Reynolds, American soldier and journalist (b. 1923)
- 1987 – Richard Egan, American soldier and actor (b. 1921)
- 1989 – Forrest H. Anderson, American judge and politician, 17th Governor of Montana (b. 1913)
- 1990 – Herbert Turner Jenkins, American police officer (b. 1907)
- 1993 – Vince Foster, American lawyer and political figure (b. 1945)
- 1994 – Paul Delvaux, Belgian painter (b. 1897)
- 1997 – M. E. H. Maharoof, Sri Lankan politician (b. 1939)
- 1998 – June Byers, American wrestler (b. 1922)
- 1999 – Sandra Gould, American actress (b. 1916)
- 2002 – Michalis Kritikopoulos, Greek footballer (b. 1946)
- 2003 – Nicolas Freeling, English author (b. 1927)
- 2004 – Lala Mara, Fijian politician (b. 1931)
- 2004 – Valdemaras Martinkėnas, Lithuanian footballer and coach (b. 1965)
- 2005 – James Doohan, Canadian-American actor (b. 1920)
- 2005 – Finn Gustavsen, Norwegian journalist and politician (b. 1926)
- 2005 – Kayo Hatta, American director and cinematographer (b. 1958)
- 2006 – Ted Grant, South African-English theorist and activist (b. 1913)
- 2006 – Gérard Oury, French actor, director, and producer (b. 1919)
- 2007 – Tammy Faye Messner, American Christian evangelist and talk show host (b. 1942)
- 2008 – Artie Traum, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (b. 1943)
- 2008 – Dinko Šakić, Croatian concentration camp commander (b. 1921)
- 2009 – Vedat Okyar, Turkish footballer (b. 1945)
- 2009 – Mark Rosenzweig, American psychologist and academic (b. 1922)
- 2011 – Lucian Freud, German-English painter and illustrator (b. 1922)
- 2012 – Alastair Burnet, English journalist (b. 1928)
- 2012 – Jack Davis, American hurdler (b. 1930)
- 2012 – José Hermano Saraiva, Portuguese historian, jurist, and politician, Portuguese Minister of Education (b. 1919)
- 2013 – Pierre Fabre, French pharmacist and businessman, founded Laboratoires Pierre Fabre (b. 1926)
- 2013 – Khurshed Alam Khan, Indian politician, 2nd Governor of Goa (b. 1919)
- 2013 – Augustus Rowe, Canadian physician and politician (b. 1920)
- 2013 – Helen Thomas, American journalist and author (b. 1920)
- 2014 – Victor G. Atiyeh, American businessman and politician, 32nd Governor of Oregon (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Constantin Lucaci, Romanian sculptor and educator (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Bob McNamara, American football player (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Klaus Schmidt, German archaeologist and academic (b. 1953)
- 2015 – Wayne Carson, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1943)
- 2015 – Fred Else, English footballer and manager (b. 1933)
- 2015 – Dieter Moebius, Swiss-German keyboard player and producer (b. 1944)
- 2016 – Radu Beligan, Romanian actor, director, and essayist (b. 1918)
- 2017 – Chester Bennington, American singer (b. 1976)
Holidays and observances on July 20
- Birthday of Crown Prince Haakon Magnus (Norway)
- Christian feast day:
- Ansegisus
- Apollinaris of Ravenna
- Aurelius
- Ealhswith (or Elswith)
- Elijah
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Amelia Bloomer, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Ross Tubman (Episcopal Church (USA))
- John Baptist Yi (one of The Korean Martyrs)
- Margaret the Virgin
- Thorlac (relic translation)
- Wilgefortis (cult suppressed)
- July 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Día del Amigo (Argentina, Brazil)
- Engineer’s Day (Costa Rica)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence declaration of Colombia from Spain in 1810.
- International Chess Day
- Lempira Day (Honduras)
- Tree Planting Day (Central African Republic)
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June 17 in History
- 653 – Pope Martin I is arrested and taken to Constantinople, due to his opposition to monothelitism.
- 1242 – Following the Disputation of Paris, twenty-four carriage loads of Jewish religious manuscripts were burnt in Paris.
- 1397 – The Kalmar Union is formed under the rule of Margaret I of Denmark.
- 1462 – Vlad III the Impaler attempts to assassinate Mehmed II (The Night Attack at Târgovişte), forcing him to retreat from Wallachia.
- 1497 – Battle of Deptford Bridge: Forces under King Henry VII defeat troops led by Michael An Gof.
- 1565 – Matsunaga Hisahide assassinates the 13th Ashikaga shōgun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru.
- 1579 – Sir Francis Drake claims a land he calls Nova Albion (modern California) for England.
- 1596 – The Dutch explorer Willem Barentsz discovers the Arctic archipelago of Spitsbergen.
- 1631 – Mumtaz Mahal dies during childbirth. Her husband, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I, will spend the next 17 years building her mausoleum, the Taj Mahal.
- 1665 – Battle of Montes Claros: Portugal definitively secured independence from Spain in the last battle of the Portuguese Restoration War.
- 1673 – French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet reach the Mississippi River and become the first Europeans to make a detailed account of its course.
- 1767 – Samuel Wallis, a British sea captain, sights Tahiti and is considered the first European to reach the island.
- 1773 – Cúcuta, Colombia, is founded by Juana Rangel de Cuéllar.
- 1775 – American Revolutionary War: Colonists inflict heavy casualties on British forces while losing the Battle of Bunker Hill.
- 1789 – In France, the Third Estate declares itself the National Assembly.
- 1794 – Foundation of Anglo-Corsican Kingdom.
- 1795 – The burghers of Swellendam expel the Dutch East India Company magistrate and declare a republic.
- 1839 – In the Kingdom of Hawaii, Kamehameha III issues the edict of toleration which gives Roman Catholics the freedom to worship in the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaii Catholic Church and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace are established as a result.
- 1843 – The Wairau Affray, the first serious clash of arms between Māori and British settlers in the New Zealand Wars, takes place.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Vienna, Virginia.
- 1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Aldie in the Gettysburg Campaign.
- 1876 – American Indian Wars: Battle of the Rosebud: 1,500 Sioux and Cheyenne led by Crazy Horse beat back General George Crook’s forces at Rosebud Creek in Montana Territory.
- 1877 – American Indian Wars: Battle of White Bird Canyon: The Nez Perce defeat the U.S. Cavalry at White Bird Canyon in the Idaho Territory.
- 1885 – The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor.
- 1898 – The United States Navy Hospital Corps is established.
- 1900 – Boxer Rebellion: Western Allied and Japanese forces capture the Taku Forts in Tianjin, China.
- 1901 – The College Board introduces its first standardized test, the forerunner to the SAT.
- 1910 – Aurel Vlaicu pilots an A. Vlaicu nr. 1 on its first flight.
- 1922 – Portuguese naval aviators Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral complete the first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic.
- 1929 – The town of Murchison, New Zealand Is rocked by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake killing 17. At the time it was New Zealand’s worst natural disaster.
- 1930 – U.S. President Herbert Hoover signs the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act into law.
- 1932 – Bonus Army: Around a thousand World War I veterans amass at the United States Capitol as the U.S. Senate considers a bill that would give them certain benefits.
- 1933 – Union Station massacre: In Kansas City, Missouri, four FBI agents and captured fugitive Frank Nash are gunned down by gangsters attempting to free Nash.
- 1939 – Last public guillotining in France: Eugen Weidmann, a convicted murderer, is executed in Versailles outside the Saint-Pierre prison.
- 1940 – World War II: RMS Lancastria is attacked and sunk by the Luftwaffe near Saint-Nazaire, France. At least 3,000 are killed in Britain’s worst maritime disaster.
- 1940 – World War II: The British Army’s 11th Hussars assault and take Fort Capuzzo in Libya, Africa from Italian forces.
- 1940 – The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania fall under the occupation of the Soviet Union.
- 1944 – Iceland declares independence from Denmark and becomes a republic.
- 1948 – United Airlines Flight 624, a Douglas DC-6, crashes near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board.
- 1952 – Guatemala passes Decree 900, ordering the redistribution of uncultivated land.
- 1953 – Cold War: East Germany Workers Uprising: In East Germany, the Soviet Union orders a division of troops into East Berlin to quell a rebellion.
- 1958 – The Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing, in the process of being built to connect Vancouver and North Vancouver (Canada), collapses into the Burrard Inlet killing 18 ironworkers and injuring others.
- 1960 – The Nez Perce tribe is awarded $4 million for 7 million acres (28,000 km2) of land undervalued at four cents/acre in the 1863 treaty.
- 1963 – The United States Supreme Court rules 8–1 in Abington School District v. Schempp against requiring the reciting of Bible verses and the Lord’s Prayer in public schools.
- 1963 – A day after South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm announced the Joint Communiqué to end the Buddhist crisis, a riot involving around 2,000 people breaks out. One person is killed.
- 1967 – Nuclear weapons testing: China announces a successful test of its first thermonuclear weapon.
- 1972 – Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives are arrested for burgling the offices of the Democratic National Committee during an attempt by members of the administration of President Richard M. Nixon to illegally wiretap the political opposition as part of a broader campaign to subvert the democratic process
- 1985 – Space Shuttle program: STS-51-G mission: Space Shuttle Discovery launches carrying Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a payload specialist.
- 1987 – With the death of the last individual of the species, the dusky seaside sparrow becomes extinct.
- 1991 – Apartheid: The South African Parliament repeals the Population Registration Act which required racial classification of all South Africans at birth.
- 1992 – A “joint understanding” agreement on arms reduction is signed by U.S. President George Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (this would be later codified in START II).
- 1994 – Following a televised low-speed highway chase, O. J. Simpson is arrested for the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.
- 2015 – Nine people are killed in a mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
- 2017 – A series of wildfires in central Portugal kill at least 64 people and injure 204 others.
Births on June 17
- 801 – Drogo of Metz, Frankish bishop (d. 855)
- 1239 – Edward I, English king (d. 1307)
- 1530 – François de Montmorency, French nobleman (d. 1579)
- 1571 – Thomas Mun, English writer on economics (d. 1641)
- 1603 – Joseph of Cupertino, Italian mystic and saint (d. 1663)
- 1604 – John Maurice, Dutch nobleman (d. 1679)
- 1610 – Birgitte Thott, Danish scholar, writer and translator (b. 1662)
- 1631 – Gauharara Begum, Mughal princess (d. 1706)
- 1682 – Charles XII, Swedish king (d. 1718)
- 1691 – Giovanni Paolo Panini, Italian painter and architect (d. 1765)
- 1693 – Johann Georg Walch, German theologian and author (d. 1775)
- 1704 – John Kay, English engineer, invented the Flying shuttle (d. 1780)
- 1714 – César-François Cassini de Thury, French astronomer and cartographer (d. 1784)
- 1718 – George Howard, English field marshal and politician, Governor of Minorca (d. 1796)
- 1778 – Gregory Blaxland, English-Australian explorer (d. 1853)
- 1800 – William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, English-Irish astronomer and politician (d. 1867)
- 1808 – Henrik Wergeland, Norwegian poet, playwright, and linguist (d. 1845)
- 1810 – Ferdinand Freiligrath, German poet and translator (d. 1876)
- 1811 – Jón Sigurðsson, Icelandic scholar and politician (d. 1879)
- 1818 – Charles Gounod, French composer and academic (d. 1893)
- 1818 – Sophie of Württemberg, queen of the Netherlands (d. 1877)
- 1821 – E. G. Squier, American archaeologist and journalist (d. 1888)
- 1832 – William Crookes, English chemist and physicist (d. 1919)
- 1833 – Manuel González Flores, Mexican general and president (d. 1893)
- 1858 – Eben Sumner Draper, American businessman and politician, 44th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1914)
- 1861 – Pete Browning, American baseball player (d. 1905)
- 1861 – Omar Bundy, American general (d. 1940)
- 1863 – Charles Michael, duke of Mecklenburg (d. 1934)
- 1865 – Susan La Flesche Picotte, Native American physician (d. 1915)
- 1867 – Flora Finch, English-American actress (d. 1940)
- 1867 – John Robert Gregg, Irish-born American educator, publisher, and humanitarian (d. 1948)
- 1867 – Henry Lawson, Australian poet and author (d. 1922)
- 1871 – James Weldon Johnson, American author, journalist, and activist (d. 1938)
- 1876 – William Carr, American rower (d. 1942)
- 1876 – Edward Anthony Spitzka, American anatomist and author (d. 1922)
- 1880 – Carl Van Vechten, American author and photographer (d. 1964)
- 1881 – Tommy Burns, Canadian boxer and promoter (d. 1955)
- 1882 – Adolphus Frederick VI, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. 1918)
- 1882 – Igor Stravinsky, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1971)
- 1888 – Heinz Guderian, German general (d. 1954)
- 1897 – Maria Izilda de Castro Ribeiro, Brazilian girl, popular saint (d. 1911)
- 1898 – M. C. Escher, Dutch illustrator (d. 1972)
- 1898 – Carl Hermann, German physicist and academic (d. 1961)
- 1898 – Harry Patch, English soldier and firefighter (d. 2009)
- 1900 – Martin Bormann, German politician (d. 1945)
- 1900 – Evelyn Irons, Scottish journalist and war correspondent (d. 2000)
- 1902 – Sammy Fain, American pianist and composer (d. 1989)
- 1902 – Alec Hurwood, Australian cricketer (d. 1982)
- 1903 – Ruth Graves Wakefield, American chef, created the chocolate chip cookie (d. 1977)
- 1904 – Ralph Bellamy, American actor (d. 1991)
- 1904 – J. Vernon McGee, American pastor and theologian (d. 1988)
- 1904 – Patrice Tardif, Canadian farmer and politician (d. 1989)
- 1907 – Maurice Cloche, French director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1990)
- 1909 – Elmer L. Andersen, American businessman and politician, 30th Governor of Minnesota (d. 2004)
- 1909 – Ralph E. Winters, Canadian-American film editor (d. 2004)
- 1910 – Red Foley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1968)
- 1910 – George Hees, Canadian football player and politician (d. 1996)
- 1914 – John Hersey, American journalist and author (d. 1993)
- 1915 – David “Stringbean” Akeman, American singer and banjo player (d. 1973)
- 1915 – Marcel Cadieux, Canadian civil servant and diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States (d. 1981)
- 1916 – Terry Gilkyson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1999)
- 1917 – Dufferin Roblin, Canadian politician, 14th Premier of Manitoba (d. 2010)
- 1918 – Ajahn Chah, Thai monk and educator (d. 1992)
- 1919 – William Kaye Estes, American psychologist and academic (d. 2011)
- 1919 – John Moffat, Scottish lieutenant and pilot (d. 2016)
- 1919 – Beryl Reid, English actress (d. 1996)
- 1920 – Jacob H. Gilbert, American lawyer and politician (d. 1981)
- 1920 – Setsuko Hara, Japanese actress (d. 2015)
- 1920 – François Jacob, French biologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
- 1920 – Peter Le Cheminant, English air marshal and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey (d. 2018)
- 1922 – John Amis, English journalist and critic (d. 2013)
- 1923 – Elroy Hirsch, American football player (d. 2004)
- 1923 – Arnold S. Relman, American physician and academic (d. 2014)
- 1923 – Dale C. Thomson, Canadian historian and academic (d. 1999)
- 1925 – Alexander Shulgin, American pharmacologist and chemist (d. 2014)
- 1927 – Martin Böttcher, German composer and conductor (d. 2019)
- 1927 – Wally Wood, American author, illustrator, and publisher (d. 1981)
- 1928 – Juan María Bordaberry, President of Uruguay (d. 2011)
- 1929 – Bud Collins, American journalist and sportscaster (d. 2016)
- 1929 – Tigran Petrosian, Armenian chess player (d. 1984)
- 1930 – Cliff Gallup, American rock & roll guitarist (d. 1988)
- 1930 – Brian Statham, English cricketer (d. 2000)
- 1931 – John Baldessari, American painter and illustrator (d. 2020)
- 1932 – Derek Ibbotson, English runner (d. 2017)
- 1932 – John Murtha, American colonel and politician (d. 2010)
- 1933 – Harry Browne, American soldier and politician (d. 2006)
- 1933 – Christian Ferras, French violinist (d. 1982)
- 1933 – Maurice Stokes, American basketball player (d. 1970)
- 1936 – Vern Harper, Canadian tribal leader and activist (d. 2018)
- 1936 – Ken Loach, English director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1937 – Peter Fitzgerald, Irish footballer and manager (d. 2013)
- 1937 – Ted Nelson, American sociologist and philosopher
- 1937 – Clodovil Hernandes, Brazilian fashion designer, television presenter and politician (d. 2009)
- 1940 – George Akerlof, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1940 – Bobby Bell, American football player
- 1940 – Chuck Rainey, American bassist
- 1941 – Nicholas C. Handy, English chemist and academic (d. 2012)
- 1942 – Mohamed ElBaradei, Egyptian politician, Vice President of Egypt, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1942 – Doğu Perinçek, Turkish lawyer and politician
- 1942 – Roger Steffens, American actor and producer
- 1943 – Newt Gingrich, American historian and politician, 58th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
- 1943 – Barry Manilow, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1943 – Chantal Mouffe, Belgian theorist and author
- 1943 – Burt Rutan, American engineer and pilot
- 1944 – Randy Johnson, American football player (d. 2009)
- 1944 – Chris Spedding, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1945 – Tommy Franks, American general
- 1945 – Ken Livingstone, English politician, 1st Mayor of London
- 1945 – Eddy Merckx, Belgian cyclist and sportscaster
- 1945 – Art Bell, American broadcaster and author (d. 2018)
- 1946 – Peter Rosei, Austrian author, poet, and playwright
- 1947 – Christopher Allport, American actor (d. 2008)
- 1947 – Timothy Wright, American gospel singer, pastor (d. 2009)
- 1947 – Linda Chavez, American journalist and author
- 1947 – George S. Clinton, American composer and songwriter
- 1947 – Gregg Rolie, American rock singer-songwriter and keyboard player
- 1947 – Paul Young, English singer-songwriter (d. 2000)
- 1948 – Dave Concepción, Venezuelan baseball player and manager
- 1948 – Jacqueline Jones, American historian and academic
- 1948 – Aurelio López, Mexican baseball player and politician (d. 1992)
- 1948 – Karol Sikora, English physician and academic
- 1949 – Snakefinger, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1987)
- 1949 – John Craven, English economist and academic
- 1949 – Russell Smith, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2019)
- 1950 – Lee Tamahori, New Zealand film director
- 1951 – Starhawk, American author and activist
- 1951 – John Garrett, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
- 1951 – Joe Piscopo, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter
- 1952 – Mike Milbury, American ice hockey player, coach, and manager
- 1952 – Estelle Morris, Baroness Morris of Yardley, English educator and politician, Secretary of State for Education
- 1953 – Vernon Coaker, English educator and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
- 1953 – Juan Muñoz, Spanish sculptor and storyteller (d. 2001)
- 1954 – Mark Linn-Baker, American actor and director
- 1955 – Mati Laur, Estonian historian, author, and academic
- 1955 – Bob Sauvé, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1955 – Cem Hakko, Turkish fashion designer and businessman
- 1956 – Iain Milne, Scottish rugby player
- 1957 – Philip Chevron, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
- 1957 – Martin Dillon, American tenor and educator (d. 2005)
- 1957 – Uģis Prauliņš, Latvian composer
- 1958 – Pierre Berbizier, French rugby player and coach
- 1958 – Jello Biafra, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1958 – Bobby Farrelly, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1958 – Sam Hamad, Syrian-Canadian academic and politician
- 1958 – Jon Leibowitz, American lawyer and politician
- 1958 – Daniel McVicar, American actor
- 1959 – Carol Anderson, American author and historian
- 1959 – Lawrence Haddad, South African-English economist and academic
- 1959 – Nikos Stavropoulos, Greek basketball player and coach
- 1960 – Adrián Campos, Spanish race car driver
- 1960 – Thomas Haden Church, American actor
- 1961 – Kōichi Yamadera, Japanese actor and singer
- 1962 – Michael Monroe, Finnish singer-songwriter and saxophonist
- 1963 – Greg Kinnear, American actor, television presenter, and producer
- 1964 – Rinaldo Capello, Italian race car driver
- 1964 – Michael Gross, German swimmer
- 1964 – Steve Rhodes, English cricketer and coach
- 1965 – Dermontti Dawson, American football player and coach
- 1965 – Dan Jansen, American speed skater and sportscaster
- 1965 – Dara O’Kearney, Irish runner and poker player
- 1966 – Mohammed Ghazy Al-Akhras, Iraqi journalist and author
- 1966 – Tory Burch, American fashion designer and philanthropist
- 1966 – Ken Clark, American football player (d. 2013)
- 1966 – Diane Modahl, English runner
- 1966 – Jason Patric, American actor
- 1967 – Dorothea Röschmann, German soprano and actress
- 1967 – Eric Stefani, American keyboard player and composer
- 1968 – Steve Georgallis, Australian rugby league player and coach
- 1968 – Minoru Suzuki, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
- 1969 – Paul Tergat, Kenyan runner
- 1969 – Geoff Toovey, Australian rugby league player and coach
- 1969 – Ilya Tsymbalar, Ukrainian-Russian footballer and manager (d. 2013)
- 1970 – Stéphane Fiset, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1970 – Will Forte, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter
- 1970 – Jason Hanson, American football player
- 1970 – Popeye Jones, American basketball player and coach
- 1970 – Michael Showalter, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1970 – Alan Dowson, English football manager and former professional player
- 1971 – Paulina Rubio, Mexican pop singer
- 1971 – Mildred Fox, Irish politician
- 1973 – Leander Paes, Indian tennis player
- 1974 – Evangelia Psarra, Greek archer
- 1975 – Joshua Leonard, American actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1975 – Juan Carlos Valerón, Spanish footballer
- 1975 – Phiyada Akkraseranee, Thai actress and model
- 1976 – Scott Adkins, English actor and martial artist
- 1976 – Sven Nys, Belgian cyclist
- 1977 – Tjaša Jezernik, Slovenian tennis player
- 1977 – Mark Tauscher, American football player and sportscaster
- 1978 – Isabelle Delobel, French ice dancer
- 1978 – Travis Roche, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1979 – Nick Rimando, American soccer player
- 1979 – Tyson Apostol, American television personality
- 1979 – Young Maylay, American rapper, producer, and voice actor
- 1980 – Elisa Rigaudo, Italian race walker
- 1980 – Jeph Jacques, American author and illustrator
- 1980 – Venus Williams, American tennis player
- 1981 – Kyle Boller, American football player
- 1981 – Shane Watson, Australian cricketer
- 1982 – Alex Rodrigo Dias da Costa, Brazilian footballer
- 1982 – Marek Svatoš, Slovak ice hockey player (d. 2016)
- 1982 – Stanislava Hrozenská, Slovak tennis player
- 1982 – Stefan Hodgetts, English racing driver
- 1982 – Arthur Darvill, English actor
- 1982 – Jodie Whittaker, English actress
- 1983 – Lee Ryan, English singer/actor
- 1983 – Vlasis Kazakis, Greek footballer
- 1984 – Michael Mathieu, Bahamian sprinter
- 1984 – Si Tianfeng, Chinese race walker
- 1985 – Özge Akın, Turkish sprinter
- 1985 – Marcos Baghdatis, Cypriot tennis player
- 1985 – Rafael Sóbis, Brazilian footballer
- 1986 – Apoula Edel, Armenian footballer
- 1986 – Helen Glover, English rower
- 1987 – Kendrick Lamar, American rapper
- 1987 – Nozomi Tsuji, Japanese singer and actress
- 1988 – Andrew Ogilvy, Australian basketball player
- 1988 – Shaun MacDonald, Welsh footballer
- 1988 – Stephanie Rice, Australian swimmer
- 1989 – Georgios Tofas, Cypriot footballer
- 1989 – Simone Battle, American singer and actress (d. 2014)
- 1990 – Jordan Henderson, English footballer
- 1990 – Josh Mansour, Australian rugby league player
- 1991 – Daniel Tupou, Australian-Tongan rugby league player
- 1994 – Amari Cooper, American football player
- 1995 – Clément Lenglet, French footballer
Deaths on June 17
- 656 – Uthman, caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate (b. 579)
- 676 – Adeodatus, pope of the Catholic Church
- 811 – Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, Japanese shōgun (b. 758)
- 850 – Tachibana no Kachiko, Japanese empress (b. 786)
- 900 – Fulk, French archbishop and chancellor
- 1025 – Bolesław I the Brave, Polish king (b. 967)
- 1091 – Dirk V, count of Holland (b. 1052)
- 1207 – Daoji, Chinese buddhist monk (b. 1130)
- 1219 – David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntingdon
- 1361 – Ingeborg of Norway, princess consort and regent of Sweden (b. 1301)
- 1400 – Jan of Jenštejn, archbishop of Prague (b. 1348)
- 1463 – Catherine of Portugal, Portuguese princess (b. 1436)
- 1501 – John I Albert, Polish king (b. 1459)
- 1565 – Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Japanese shōgun (b. 1536)
- 1631 – Mumtaz Mahal, Mughal princess (b. 1593)
- 1649 – Injo of Joseon, Korean king (b. 1595)
- 1674 – Jijabai, Dowager Queen, mother of Shivaji (b. 1598)
- 1694 – Philip Howard, English cardinal (b. 1629)
- 1696 – John III Sobieski, Polish king (b. 1629)
- 1719 – Joseph Addison, English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician (b. 1672)
- 1734 – Claude Louis Hector de Villars, French general and politician, French Secretary of State for War (b. 1653)
- 1740 – Sir William Wyndham, 3rd Baronet, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1687)
- 1762 – Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French poet and playwright (b. 1674)
- 1771 – Daskalogiannis, Greek rebel leader (b. 1722)
- 1775 – John Pitcairn, Scottish-English soldier (b. 1722)
- 1797 – Mohammad Khan Qajar, Persian tribal chief (b. 1742)
- 1813 – Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham, Scottish-English admiral and politician (b. 1726)
- 1821 – Martín Miguel de Güemes, Argentinian general and politician (b. 1785)
- 1839 – Lord William Bentinck, English general and politician, 14th Governor-General of India (b. 1774)
- 1866 – Joseph Méry, French poet and author (b. 1798)
- 1889 – Lozen, Chiracaua Apache warrior woman (b. ~1840)
- 1898 – Edward Burne-Jones, English soldier and painter (b. 1833)
- 1904 – Nikolay Bobrikov, Russian soldier and politician, Governor-General of Finland (b. 1839)
- 1936 – Julius Seljamaa, Estonian journalist, politician, and diplomat, Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1883)
- 1939 – Allen Sothoron, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1893)
- 1939 – Eugen Weidmann, German criminal (b. 1908)
- 1940 – Arthur Harden, English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
- 1941 – Johan Wagenaar, Dutch organist and composer (b. 1862)
- 1942 – Charles Fitzpatrick, Canadian lawyer and politician, 5th Chief Justice of Canada (b. 1853)
- 1952 – Jack Parsons, American chemist and engineer (b. 1914)
- 1954 – Danny Cedrone, American guitarist and bandleader (b. 1920)
- 1956 – Percival Perry, 1st Baron Perry, English businessman (b. 1878)
- 1956 – Paul Rostock, German surgeon and academic (b. 1892)
- 1956 – Bob Sweikert, American race car driver (b. 1926)
- 1957 – Dorothy Richardson, English journalist and author (b. 1873)
- 1957 – J. R. Williams, Canadian-American cartoonist (b. 1888)
- 1961 – Jeff Chandler, American actor (b. 1918)
- 1963 – Aleksander Kesküla, Estonian politician (b. 1882)
- 1968 – José Nasazzi, Uruguayan footballer and manager (b. 1901)
- 1974 – Refik Koraltan, Turkish lawyer and politician, 8th Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (b. 1889)
- 1975 – James Phinney Baxter III, American historian and academic (b. 1893)
- 1979 – Hubert Ashton, English cricketer and politician (b. 1898)
- 1979 – Duffy Lewis, American baseball player and manager (b. 1888)
- 1981 – Richard O’Connor, Indian-English general (b. 1889)
- 1981 – Zerna Sharp, American author and educator (b. 1889)
- 1982 – Roberto Calvi, Italian banker (b. 1920)
- 1983 – Peter Mennin, American composer and educator (b. 1923)
- 1985 – John Boulting, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1913)
- 1986 – Kate Smith, American singer (b. 1907)
- 1987 – Dick Howser, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1936)
- 1996 – Thomas Kuhn, American historian and philosopher (b. 1922)
- 1996 – Curt Swan, American illustrator (b. 1920)
- 1999 – Basil Hume, English cardinal (b. 1923)
- 2000 – Ismail Mahomed, South African lawyer and jurist, 17th Chief Justice of South Africa (b. 1931)
- 2001 – Donald J. Cram, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1919)
- 2001 – Thomas Winning, Scottish cardinal (b. 1925)
- 2002 – Willie Davenport, American sprinter and hurdler (b. 1943)
- 2002 – Fritz Walter, German footballer (b. 1920)
- 2004 – Gerry McNeil, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1926)
- 2006 – Bussunda, Brazilian comedian (b. 1962)
- 2007 – Gianfranco Ferré, Italian fashion designer (b. 1944)
- 2007 – Serena Wilson, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1933)
- 2008 – Cyd Charisse, American actress and dancer (b. 1922)
- 2009 – Ralf Dahrendorf, German-English sociologist and politician (b. 1929)
- 2009 – Darrell Powers, American sergeant (b. 1923)
- 2011 – Rex Mossop, Australian rugby player and sportscaster (b. 1928)
- 2012 – Stéphane Brosse, French mountaineer (b. 1971)
- 2012 – Patricia Brown, American baseball player (b. 1931)
- 2012 – Nathan Divinsky, Canadian mathematician and chess player (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Rodney King, American victim of police brutality (b. 1965)
- 2012 – Fauzia Wahab, Pakistani actress and politician (b. 1956)
- 2013 – Michael Baigent, New Zealand-English theorist and author (b. 1948)
- 2013 – Atiqul Haque Chowdhury, Bangladeshi playwright and producer (b. 1930)
- 2013 – Pierre F. Côté, Canadian lawyer and civil servant (b. 1927)
- 2013 – Bulbs Ehlers, American basketball player (b. 1923)
- 2013 – James Holshouser, American politician, 68th Governor of North Carolina (b. 1934)
- 2014 – Patsy Byrne, English actress (b. 1933)
- 2014 – Éric Dewailly, Canadian epidemiologist and academic (b. 1954)
- 2014 – Stanley Marsh 3, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1938)
- 2014 – Arnold S. Relman, American physician and academic (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Larry Zeidel, Canadian-American ice hockey player and sportscaster (b. 1928)
- 2015 – Ron Clarke, Australian runner and politician, Mayor of the Gold Coast (b. 1937)
- 2015 – John David Crow, American football player and coach (b. 1935)
- 2015 – Süleyman Demirel, Turkish engineer and politician, 9th President of Turkey (b. 1924)
- 2015 – Roberto M. Levingston, Argentinian general and politician, 36th President of Argentina (b. 1920)
- 2015 – Clementa C. Pinckney, American minister and politician (b. 1973)
- 2017 – Baldwin Lonsdale, president of Vanuatu (b. 1948)
Holidays and observances on June 17
- Christian feast day:
- Albert Chmielowski
- Botolph (England and Scandinavia)
- Gondulphus of Berry
- Hervé
- Hypatius of Bithynia (Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches)
- Rainerius
- Samuel and Henrietta Barnett (Church of England)
- June 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Father’s Day (El Salvador, Guatemala)
- Icelandic National Day, celebrates the independence of Iceland from Kingdom of Denmark in 1944.
- Occupation of the Latvian Republic Day (Latvia)
- Remembrance to East German uprising of 1953, public holiday in West Germany between 1954 and 1990 (today German Unity Day) is the public holiday day)
- World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought (International)
- Zemla Intifada Day (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic)
-
June 16 in History
- 363 – Emperor Julian marches back up the Tigris and burns his fleet of supply ships. During the withdrawal, Roman forces suffer several attacks from the Persians.
- 632 – Yazdegerd III ascends the throne as king (shah) of the Persian Empire. He becomes the last ruler of the Sasanian dynasty (modern Iran).
- 1407 – Ming–Hồ War: Retired King Hồ Quý Ly and his son King Hồ Hán Thương of Hồ dynasty are captured by the Ming armies.
- 1487 – Battle of Stoke Field: King Henry VII of England defeats the leaders of a Yorkist rebellion in the final engagement of the Wars of the Roses.
- 1586 – Mary, Queen of Scots, recognizes Philip II of Spain as her heir and successor.
- 1745 – War of the Austrian Succession: New England colonial troops under the command of William Pepperrell capture the Fortress of Louisbourg in Louisbourg, New France (Old Style date).
- 1746 – War of the Austrian Succession: Austria and Sardinia defeat a Franco-Spanish army at the Battle of Piacenza.
- 1755 – French and Indian War: The French surrender Fort Beauséjour to the British, leading to the expulsion of the Acadians.
- 1779 – Spain declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Great Siege of Gibraltar begins.
- 1795 – French Revolutionary Wars: In what became known as Cornwallis’s Retreat, a British Royal Navy squadron led by Vice Admiral William Cornwallis strongly resists a much larger French Navy force and withdraws largely intact, setting up the French Navy defeat at the Battle of Groix six days later.
- 1811 – Survivors of an attack the previous day by Tla-o-qui-aht on board the Pacific Fur Company’s ship Tonquin, intentionally detonate a powder magazine on the ship, destroying it and killing about 100 attackers.
- 1815 – Battle of Ligny and Battle of Quatre Bras, two days before the Battle of Waterloo.
- 1819 – A major earthquake strikes the Kutch district of western India, killing over 1,543 people and raising a 6 m high, 6 km wide, ridge, extending for at least 80 km, that was known as the Allah Bund (“Dam of God”).
- 1836 – The formation of the London Working Men’s Association gives rise to the Chartist Movement.
- 1846 – The Papal conclave of 1846 elects Pope Pius IX, beginning the longest reign in the history of the papacy.
- 1858 – Abraham Lincoln delivers his House Divided speech in Springfield, Illinois.
- 1871 – The Universities Tests Act 1871 allows students to enter the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham without religious tests (except for those intending to study theology).
- 1883 – The Victoria Hall theatre panic in Sunderland, England, kills 183 children.
- 1884 – The first purpose-built roller coaster, LaMarcus Adna Thompson’s “Switchback Railway”, opens in New York’s Coney Island amusement park.
- 1897 – A treaty annexing the Republic of Hawaii to the United States is signed; the Republic would not be dissolved until a year later.
- 1903 – The Ford Motor Company is incorporated.
- 1903 – Roald Amundsen leaves Oslo, Norway, to commence the first east-west navigation of the Northwest Passage.
- 1904 – Eugen Schauman assassinates Nikolay Bobrikov, Governor-General of Finland.
- 1904 – Irish author James Joyce begins a relationship with Nora Barnacle and subsequently uses the date to set the actions for his novel Ulysses; this date is now traditionally called “Bloomsday”.
- 1911 – IBM founded as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in Endicott, New York.
- 1922 – General election in the Irish Free State: The pro-Treaty Sinn Féin party wins a large majority.
- 1925 – The most famous Young Pioneer camp of the Soviet Union, Artek, is established.
- 1930 – Sovnarkom establishes decree time in the USSR.
- 1933 – The National Industrial Recovery Act is passed in the United States, allowing businesses to avoid antitrust prosecution if they establish voluntary wage, price, and working condition regulations on an industry-wide basis.
- 1940 – World War II: Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain becomes Chief of State of Vichy France (Chef de l’État Français).
- 1940 – A Communist government is installed in Lithuania.
- 1944 – In a gross miscarriage of justice, George Junius Stinney Jr., age 14, becomes the youngest person executed in the United States in the 20th century after being convicted in a two-hour trial for the rape and murder of two teenage white girls.
- 1948 – Members of the Malayan Communist Party kill three British plantation managers in Sungai Siput; in response, British Malaya declares a state of emergency.
- 1955 – In a futile effort to topple Argentine President Juan Perón, rogue aircraft pilots of the Argentine Navy drop several bombs upon an unarmed crowd demonstrating in favor of Perón in Buenos Aires, killing 364 and injuring at least 800. At the same time on the ground, some soldiers attempt to stage a coup but are suppressed by loyal forces.
- 1958 – Imre Nagy, Pál Maléter and other leaders of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising are executed.
- 1961 – While on tour with the Kirov Ballet in Paris, Rudolf Nureyev defects from the Soviet Union.
- 1963 – Soviet Space Program: Vostok 6 mission: Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space.
- 1972 – The largest single-site hydroelectric power project in Canada is inaugurated at Churchill Falls Generating Station.
- 1976 – Soweto uprising: A non-violent march by 15,000 students in Soweto, South Africa, turns into days of rioting when police open fire on the crowd.
- 1977 – Oracle Corporation is incorporated in Redwood Shores, California, as Software Development Laboratories (SDL), by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates.
- 1981 – US President Ronald Reagan awards the Congressional Gold Medal to Ken Taylor, Canada’s former ambassador to Iran, for helping six Americans escape from Iran during the hostage crisis of 1979–81; he is the first foreign citizen bestowed the honor.
- 1989 – Revolutions of 1989: Imre Nagy, the former Hungarian prime minister, is reburied in Budapest following the collapse of Communism in Hungary.
- 1997 – Fifty people are killed in the Daïat Labguer (M’sila) massacre in Algeria.
- 2000 – The Secretary-General of the UN reports that Israel has complied with United Nations Security Council Resolution 425, 22 years after its issuance, and completely withdrew from Lebanon. The Resolution does not encompass the Shebaa farms, which is claimed by Israel, Syria and Lebanon.
- 2010 – Bhutan becomes the first country to institute a total ban on tobacco.
- 2012 – China successfully launches its Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, carrying three astronauts, including the first female Chinese astronaut Liu Yang, to the Tiangong-1 orbital module.
- 2012 – The United States Air Force’s robotic Boeing X-37B spaceplane returns to Earth after a classified 469-day orbital mission
- 2013 – A multi-day cloudburst, centered on the North Indian state of Uttarakhand, causes devastating floods and landslides, becoming the country’s worst natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami.
- 2016 – Shanghai Disneyland Park, the first Disney Park in Mainland China, opens to the public.
- 2019 – Upwards of 2,000,000 people participate in the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, the largest in Hong Kong’s history.
Births on June 16
- 1139 – Emperor Konoe of Japan (d. 1155)
- 1332 – Isabella de Coucy, English daughter of Edward III of England (d. 1379)
- 1454 – Joanna of Aragon, Queen of Naples (d. 1517)
- 1514 – John Cheke, English academic and politician, English Secretary of State (d. 1557)
- 1516 – Yang Jisheng, Ming dynasty official and Confucian martyr (d. 1555)
- 1583 – Axel Oxenstierna, Swedish politician, Lord High Chancellor of Sweden (d. 1654)
- 1591 – Joseph Solomon Delmedigo, Greek-Italian physician, mathematician, and theorist (d. 1655)
- 1606 – Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall, Irish soldier and politician (d. 1675)
- 1613 – John Cleveland, English poet and educator (d. 1658)
- 1625 – Samuel Chappuzeau, French scholar (d. 1701)
- 1633 – Jean de Thévenot, French linguist and botanist (d. 1667)
- 1644 – Henrietta Anne Stuart, Princess of Scotland, England and Ireland (d. 1670)
- 1653 – James Bertie, 1st Earl of Abingdon, English nobleman (d. 1699)
- 1713 – Meshech Weare, American farmer, lawyer, and politician, 1st Governor of New Hampshire (d. 1786)
- 1723 – Adam Smith, Scottish philosopher and economist (d. 1790)
- 1738 – Mary Katherine Goddard, American publisher (d. 1816)
- 1754 – Salawat Yulayev, Russian poet (d. 1800)
- 1792 – John Linnell, English painter and engraver (d. 1882)
- 1801 – Julius Plücker, German mathematician and physicist (d. 1868)
- 1806 – Edward Davy, English physician and chemist (d. 1885)
- 1813 – Otto Jahn, German archaeologist and philologist (d. 1869)
- 1820 – Athanase Josué Coquerel, Dutch-French preacher and theologian (d. 1875)
- 1821 – Old Tom Morris, Scottish golfer and architect (d. 1908)
- 1826 – Constantin von Ettingshausen, Austrian geologist and botanist (d. 1897)
- 1829 – Geronimo, American tribal leader (d. 1909)
- 1836 – Wesley Merritt, American general and politician, Military Governor of the Philippines (d. 1910)
- 1837 – Ernst Laas, German philosopher and academic (d. 1885)
- 1838 – Frederic Archer, English organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1901)
- 1838 – Cushman Kellogg Davis, American lieutenant and politician, 7th Governor of Minnesota (d. 1900)
- 1840 – Ernst Otto Schlick, German engineer and author (d. 1913)
- 1850 – Max Delbrück, German chemist and academic (d. 1919)
- 1857 – Arthur Arz von Straußenburg, Austrian-Hungarian general (d. 1935)
- 1858 – Gustaf V of Sweden (d. 1950)
- 1863 – Francisco León de la Barra, Mexican politician and diplomat (d. 1939)
- 1866 – Germanos Karavangelis, Greek-Austrian metropolitan (d. 1935)
- 1874 – Arthur Meighen, Canadian lawyer and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1960)
- 1880 – Otto Eisenschiml, Austrian-American chemist and author (d. 1963)
- 1882 – Mohammad Mosaddegh, Iranian educator and politician, 60th Prime Minister of Iran (d. 1967)
- 1885 – Erich Jacoby, Estonian-Polish architect (d. 1941)
- 1888 – Alexander Friedmann, Russian physicist and mathematician (d. 1925)
- 1888 – Peter Stoner, American mathematician and astronomer (d. 1980)
- 1890 – Stan Laurel, English actor and comedian (d. 1965)
- 1896 – Murray Leinster, American author and screenwriter (d. 1976)
- 1897 – Georg Wittig, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
- 1899 – Helen Traubel, American operatic soprano (d. 1972)
- 1902 – Barbara McClintock, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1992)
- 1902 – George Gaylord Simpson, American paleontologist and author (d. 1984)
- 1906 – Alan Fairfax, Australian cricketer (d. 1955)
- 1907 – Jack Albertson, American actor (d. 1981)
- 1909 – Archie Carr, American ecologist and zoologist (d. 1987)
- 1910 – Juan Velasco Alvarado, Peruvian general and politician, 1st President of Peru (d. 1977)
- 1912 – Albert Chartier, Canadian illustrator (d. 2004)
- 1912 – Enoch Powell, English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for Health (d. 1998)
- 1914 – Eleanor Sokoloff, American pianist and teacher
- 1915 – John Tukey, American mathematician and academic (d. 2000)
- 1915 – Marga Faulstich, German glass chemist (d. 1998)
- 1917 – Phaedon Gizikis, Greek general and politician, President of Greece (d. 1999)
- 1917 – Katharine Graham, American publisher (d. 2001)
- 1917 – Aurelio Lampredi, Italian automobile and aircraft engine designer (d. 1989)
- 1917 – Irving Penn, American photographer (d. 2009)
- 1920 – Isabelle Holland, Swiss-American author (d. 2002)
- 1920 – Raymond Lemieux, Canadian chemist and academic (d. 2002)
- 1920 – José López Portillo, Mexican lawyer and politician, 31st President of Mexico (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Hemanta Mukharjee, Indian singer and music director
- 1922 – Ilmar Kullam, Estonian basketball player and coach (d. 2011)
- 1923 – Ron Flockhart, Scottish race car driver (d. 1962)
- 1924 – Faith Domergue, American actress (d. 1999)
- 1925 – Jean d’Ormesson, French journalist and author (d. 2017)
- 1925 – Otto Muehl, Austrian-Portuguese painter and director (d. 2013)
- 1926 – Efraín Ríos Montt, Guatemalan general and politician, 26th President of Guatemala (d. 2018)
- 1927 – Tom Graveney, English cricketer and sportscaster (d. 2015)
- 1927 – Herbert Lichtenfeld, German author and screenwriter (d. 2001)
- 1927 – Ariano Suassuna, Brazilian author and playwright (d. 2014)
- 1929 – Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait
- 1930 – Vilmos Zsigmond, Hungarian-American cinematographer and producer (d. 2016)
- 1934 – Eileen Atkins, English actress and screenwriter
- 1934 – Roger Neilson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2003)
- 1935 – Jim Dine, American painter and illustrator
- 1937 – Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Bulgarian politician, 48th Prime Minister of Bulgaria
- 1937 – Erich Segal, American author and screenwriter (d. 2010)
- 1938 – Thomas Boyd-Carpenter, English general
- 1938 – Torgny Lindgren, Swedish author and poet (d. 2017)
- 1938 – Joyce Carol Oates, American novelist, short story writer, critic, and poet
- 1939 – Billy “Crash” Craddock, American singer-songwriter
- 1940 – Māris Čaklais, Latvian poet, writer, and journalist (d. 2003)
- 1940 – Neil Goldschmidt, American lawyer and politician, 33rd Governor of Oregon
- 1941 – Rosalind Baker, Australian author
- 1941 – Lamont Dozier, American songwriter and producer
- 1941 – Tommy Horton, English golfer (d. 2017)
- 1941 – Mumtaz Hamid Rao, Pakistani journalist (d. 2011)
- 1942 – Giacomo Agostini, Italian motorcycle racer and manager
- 1942 – Eddie Levert, American R&B/soul singer-songwriter, musician, and actor
- 1944 – Henri Richelet, French painter and etcher
- 1945 – Claire Alexander, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1945 – Lucienne Robillard, Canadian social worker and politician, 59th Secretary of State for Canada
- 1946 – Rick Adelman, American basketball player and coach
- 1946 – John Astor, 3rd Baron Astor of Hever, English businessman and politician
- 1946 – Karen Dunnell, English statistician and academic
- 1946 – Tom Harrell, American trumpet player and composer
- 1946 – Neil MacGregor, Scottish historian and curator
- 1946 – Iain Matthews, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1946 – Jodi Rell, American politician, 87th Governor of Connecticut
- 1946 – Mark Ritts, American actor, puppeteer, and producer (d. 2009)
- 1946 – Derek Sanderson, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
- 1946 – Simon Williams, English actor and playwright
- 1947 – Tom Malone, American trombonist, composer, and producer
- 1947 – Buddy Roberts, American wrestler (d. 2012)
- 1947 – Al Cowlings, American ex-NFL player and close friend of O.J. Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson
- 1947 – Tom Wyner, English-American voice actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1948 – Ron LeFlore, American baseball player and manager
- 1949 – Paulo Cézar Caju, Brazilian footballer
- 1949 – Ralph Mann, American hurdler and author
- 1950 – Mithun Chakraborty, Indian actor and politician
- 1950 – Michel Clair, Canadian lawyer and politician
- 1950 – Jerry Petrowski, American politician and farmer
- 1951 – Charlie Dominici, American singer and guitarist
- 1951 – Roberto Durán, Panamanian boxer
- 1952 – George Papandreou, Greek sociologist and politician, 182nd Prime Minister of Greece
- 1952 – Gino Vannelli, Canadian singer-songwriter
- 1953 – Valerie Mahaffey, American actress
- 1953 – Ian Mosley, English drummer
- 1954 – Matthew Saad Muhammad, American boxer and trainer (d. 2014)
- 1954 – Garry Roberts, Irish guitarist
- 1955 – Grete Faremo, Norwegian politician, Norwegian Minister of Defence
- 1955 – Laurie Metcalf, American actress
- 1955 – Artemy Troitsky, Russian journalist and critic
- 1957 – Ian Buchanan, Scottish-American actor
- 1957 – Leeona Dorrian, Lady Dorrian, Scottish lawyer and judge
- 1958 – Darrell Griffith, American basketball player
- 1958 – Ulrike Tauber, German swimmer
- 1958 – Warren Rodwell, Australian soldier, educator and musician
- 1959 – The Ultimate Warrior, American wrestler (d. 2014)
- 1960 – Peter Sterling, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
- 1961 – Can Dündar, Turkish journalist and author
- 1961 – Robbie Kerr, Australian cricketer
- 1961 – Steve Larmer, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1961 – Margus Metstak, Estonian basketball player and coach
- 1962 – Wally Joyner, American baseball player and coach
- 1962 – Arnold Vosloo, South African-American actor
- 1962 – Anthony Wong, Hong Kong singer
- 1963 – The Sandman, American wrestler
- 1964 – Danny Burstein, American actor and singer
- 1965 – Michael Richard Lynch, Irish computer scientist and entrepreneur; co-founded HP Autonomy
- 1965 – Richard Madaleno, American politician
- 1966 – Mark Occhilupo, Australian surfer
- 1966 – Olivier Roumat, French rugby player
- 1966 – Phil Vischer, American voice actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, co-created VeggieTales
- 1966 – Jan Železný, Czech javelin thrower and coach
- 1967 – Charalambos Andreou, Cypriot footballer
- 1967 – Jürgen Klopp, German footballer and manager
- 1968 – Adam Schmitt, American singer-songwriter, musician, and producer
- 1969 – Shami Chakrabarti, English lawyer and academic
- 1969 – Mark Crossley, English-Welsh footballer and manager
- 1970 – Younus AlGohar, Pakistani poet and academic, co-founded Messiah Foundation International
- 1970 – Clifton Collins Jr., American actor
- 1970 – Cobi Jones, American soccer player and manager
- 1970 – Phil Mickelson, American golfer
- 1971 – Tupac Shakur, American rapper and producer (d. 1996)
- 1972 – Kiko Loureiro, Brazilian guitarist
- 1973 – Eddie Cibrian, American actor
- 1974 – Glenicia James, Saint Lucian cricketer
- 1975 – Anthony Carter, American basketball player and coach
- 1977 – Craig Fitzgibbon, Australian rugby league player and coach
- 1977 – Duncan Hames, English accountant and politician
- 1977 – Kerry Wood, American baseball player
- 1978 – Daniel Brühl, Spanish-German actor
- 1978 – Dainius Zubrus, Lithuanian ice hockey player
- 1978 – Fish Leong, Malaysian singer
- 1980 – Brandon Armstrong, American basketball player
- 1980 – Phil Christophers, German-English rugby player
- 1980 – Henry Perenara, New Zealand rugby league player and referee
- 1980 – Martin Stranzl, Austrian footballer
- 1980 – Joey Yung, Hong Kong singer
- 1981 – Benjamin Becker, German tennis player
- 1981 – Kevin Bieksa, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1981 – Alexandre Giroux, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1981 – Ola Kvernberg, Norwegian violinist
- 1981 – Miguel Villalta, Peruvian footballer
- 1982 – May Andersen, Danish model and actress
- 1982 – Missy Peregrym, Canadian model and actress
- 1983 – Armend Dallku, Albanian footballer
- 1984 – Rick Nash, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Dan Ryckert, American writer and entertainer
- 1984 – Steven Whittaker, Scottish footballer
- 1986 – Rodrigo Defendi, Brazilian footballer
- 1986 – Urby Emanuelson, Dutch footballer
- 1986 – Fernando Muslera, Uruguayan footballer
- 1987 – Diana DeGarmo, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1987 – Per Ciljan Skjelbred, Norwegian footballer
- 1987 – Christian Tshimanga Kabeya, Belgian footballer
- 1988 – Keshia Chante, Canadian singer
- 1988 – Jermaine Gresham, American football player
- 1990 – John Newman, English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer
- 1991 – Joe McElderry, English singer-songwriter
- 1991 – Siya Kolisi, South African rugby player
- 1991 – Matt Moylan, Australian rugby league player
- 1992 – Vladimir Morozov, Russian swimmer
- 1993 – Park Bo-gum, South Korean actor
- 1993 – Gnash, American singer, songwriter, rapper, DJ and record producer
- 1994 – Grete-Lilijane Küppas, Estonian footballer
- 1994 – Rezar, Albanian professional wrestler
- 1995 – Euan Aitken, Australian rugby league player
- 1995 – Joseph Schooling, Singaporean swimmer
- 1995 – Akira Ioane, New Zealand rugby Union player
- 2000 – Bianca Andreescu, Canadian tennis player
Deaths on June 16
- 840 – Rorgon I, Frankish nobleman (or 839)
- 924 – Li Cunshen, general of Later Tang (b. 862)
- 956 – Hugh the Great, Frankish nobleman (b. 898)
- 1185 – Richeza of Poland, queen of León (b. c. 1140)
- 1286 – Hugh de Balsham, English bishop
- 1332 – Adam de Brome, founder of Oriel College, Oxford
- 1361 – Johannes Tauler, German mystic theologian
- 1397 – Philip of Artois, Count of Eu, French soldier (b. 1358)
- 1424 – Johannes Ambundii, archbishop of Riga
- 1468 – Jean Le Fèvre de Saint-Remy, Burgundian historian and author (b. 1395)
- 1487 – John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln (b. c. 1463)
- 1540 – Konrad von Thüngen, German nobleman (b. c. 1466)
- 1622 – Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline, Scottish lawyer, judge, and politician, Lord Chancellor of Scotland (b. 1555)
- 1626 – Christian, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Wolfenbüttel, German Protestant military leader (b. 1599)
- 1666 – Sir Richard Fanshawe, 1st Baronet, English poet and diplomat, English Ambassador to Spain (b. 1608)
- 1722 – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire (b. 1650)
- 1743 – Louise-Françoise de Bourbon, eldest daughter of King Louis XIV of France (b. 1673)
- 1752 – Joseph Butler, English bishop and philosopher (b. 1692)
- 1762 – Anne Russell, Countess of Jersey (formerly Duchess of Bedford) (b. c.1705)
- 1777 – Jean-Baptiste-Louis Gresset, French poet and playwright (b. 1709)
- 1779 – Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet, English lawyer and politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (b. 1712)
- 1804 – Johann Adam Hiller, German composer and conductor (b. 1728)
- 1824 – Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance, French lawyer and politician (b. 1739)
- 1849 – Wilhelm Martin Leberecht de Wette, German theologian and scholar (b. 1780)
- 1850 – William Lawson, English-Australian explorer and politician (b. 1774)
- 1858 – John Snow, English epidemiologist and physician (b. 1813)
- 1862 – Hidenoyama Raigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 9th Yokozuna (b. 1808)
- 1869 – Charles Sturt, Indian-English botanist and explorer (b. 1795)
- 1872 – Norman MacLeod, Scottish minister and author (b. 1812)
- 1878 – Crawford Long, American surgeon and pharmacist (b. 1815)
- 1878 – Kikuchi Yōsai, Japanese painter (b. 1781)
- 1881 – Josiah Mason, English businessman and philanthropist (b. 1795)
- 1885 – Wilhelm Camphausen, German painter and academic (b. 1818)
- 1886 – Alexander Stuart, Scottish-Australian politician, 9th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1824)
- 1902 – Ernst Schröder, German mathematician and academic (b. 1841)
- 1918 – Bazil Assan, Romanian engineer and explorer (b. 1860)
- 1925 – Chittaranjan Das, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1870)
- 1929 – Bramwell Booth, English 2nd General of The Salvation Army (b. 1856)
- 1929 – Vernon Louis Parrington, American historian and scholar (b. 1871)
- 1930 – Ezra Fitch, American lawyer and businessman, co-founded Abercrombie & Fitch (b. 1866)
- 1930 – Elmer Ambrose Sperry, American inventor, co-invented the gyrocompass (b. 1860)
- 1939 – Chick Webb, American drummer and bandleader (b. 1905)
- 1940 – DuBose Heyward, American author (b. 1885)
- 1944 – Marc Bloch, French historian and academic (b. 1886)
- 1945 – Aris Velouchiotis, Greek general (b. 1905)
- 1946 – Gordon Brewster, Irish cartoonist (b 1889)
- 1952 – Andrew Lawson, Scottish-American geologist and academic (b. 1861)
- 1953 – Margaret Bondfield, English politician, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (b. 1873)
- 1955 – Ozias Leduc, Canadian painter (b. 1864)
- 1958 – Pál Maléter, Hungarian general and politician, Minister of Defence of Hungary (b. 1917)
- 1958 – Imre Nagy, Hungarian politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1895)
- 1959 – George Reeves, American actor and director (b. 1914)
- 1961 – Marcel Junod, Swiss physician and anesthesiologist (b. 1904)
- 1967 – Reginald Denny, English actor (b. 1891)
- 1969 – Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, English field marshal and politician, 17th Governor General of Canada (b. 1891)
- 1970 – Sydney Chapman, English mathematician and geophysicist (b. 1888)
- 1970 – Brian Piccolo, American football player (b. 1943)
- 1971 – John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, Scottish broadcaster, co-founded BBC (b. 1889)
- 1974 – Amalie Sara Colquhoun, Australian landscape and portrait painter (b. 1894)
- 1977 – Wernher von Braun, German-American physicist and engineer (b. 1912)
- 1979 – Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, Ghanaian general and politician, 6th Head of state of Ghana (b. 1931)
- 1979 – Nicholas Ray, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1911)
- 1981 – Thomas Playford IV, Australian politician, 33rd Premier of South Australia (b. 1896)
- 1982 – James Honeyman-Scott, English guitarist and songwriter (b. 1956)
- 1984 – Lew Andreas, American football player and coach (b. 1895)
- 1984 – Erni Krusten, Estonian author and poet (b. 1900)
- 1986 – Maurice Duruflé, French organist and composer (b. 1902)
- 1987 – Marguerite de Angeli, American author and illustrator (b. 1889)
- 1988 – Miguel Piñero, Puerto Rican-American actor and playwright (b. 1946)
- 1993 – Lindsay Hassett, Australian cricketer and soldier (b. 1913)
- 1994 – Kristen Pfaff, American bass player and songwriter (b. 1967)
- 1996 – Mel Allen, American sportscaster and game show host (b. 1913)
- 1997 – Dal Stivens, Australian soldier and author (b. 1911)
- 1998 – Fred Wacker, American race car driver and engineer (b. 1918)
- 1999 – Screaming Lord Sutch, English singer and activist (b. 1940)
- 2003 – Pierre Bourgault, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1934)
- 2003 – Georg Henrik von Wright, Finnish–Swedish philosopher and author (b. 1916)
- 2004 – Thanom Kittikachorn, Thai field marshal and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Thailand (b. 1911)
- 2004 – Jacques Miquelon, Canadian lawyer and judge (b. 1911)
- 2005 – Enrique Laguerre, Puerto Rican-American author and critic (b. 1906)
- 2008 – Mario Rigoni Stern, Italian soldier and author (b. 1921)
- 2010 – Marc Bazin, Haitian lawyer and politician, 49th President of Haiti (b. 1932)
- 2010 – Maureen Forrester, Canadian singer and academic (b. 1930)
- 2010 – Ronald Neame, English director, producer, cinematographer, and screenwriter (b. 1911)
- 2011 – Östen Mäkitalo, Swedish engineer and academic (b. 1938)
- 2012 – Nils Karlsson, Swedish skier (b. 1917)
- 2012 – Jorge Lankenau, Mexican banker and businessman (b. 1944)
- 2012 – Sławomir Petelicki, Polish general (b. 1946)
- 2012 – Susan Tyrrell, American actress (b. 1945)
- 2013 – Sam Farber, American businessman, co-founded OXO (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Hans Hass, Austrian biologist and diver (b. 1919)
- 2013 – Khondakar Ashraf Hossain, Bangladesh poet and academic (b. 1950)
- 2013 – Norman Ian MacKenzie, English journalist and author (b. 1921)
- 2013 – Ottmar Walter, German footballer (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Tony Gwynn, American baseball player and coach (b. 1960)
- 2014 – Cándido Muatetema Rivas (b. 1960), Equatoguinean politician and diplomat, Prime Minister of Equatorial Guinea
- 2015 – Charles Correa, Indian architect and urban planner (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Jean Vautrin, French director, screenwriter, and critic (b. 1933)
- 2016 – Jo Cox, English political activist and MP (b. 1974)
- 2017 – Helmut Kohl, German politician, 6th Chancellor of Germany (b. 1930)
- 2020 – Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. (b. 1935), Filipino businessman and politician
Holidays and observances on June 16
- Juneteenth (United States)
- Birthday of Leonard P. Howell (Rastafari)
- Bloomsday (Dublin, Ireland)
- Christian feast days:
- Aurelianus of Arles
- Aureus of Mainz (and his sister Justina)
- Benno
- Cettin of Oran
- Curig of Llanbadarn
- Ferreolus and Ferrutio
- George Berkeley and Joseph Butler (Episcopal Church)
- Lutgardis
- Quriaqos and Julietta
- June 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Engineer’s Day (Argentina)
- Father’s Day (Seychelles)
- International Day of the African Child (Organisation of African Unity)
- Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev (Sikhism)
- Sussex Day (Sussex)
- Youth Day (South Africa)
-
June 9 in History
- 411 BC – The Athenian coup succeeds, forming a short-lived oligarchy.
- AD 53 – The Roman emperor Nero marries Claudia Octavia.
- AD 68 – Nero commits suicide, after quoting Homer’s Iliad, thus ending the Julio-Claudian dynasty and starting the civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors.
- 721 – Odo of Aquitaine defeats the Moors in the Battle of Toulouse.
- 747 – Abbasid Revolution: Abu Muslim Khorasani begins an open revolt against Umayyad rule, which is carried out under the sign of the Black Standard.
- 1311 – Duccio’s Maestà, a seminal artwork of the early Italian Renaissance, is unveiled and installed in Siena Cathedral in Siena, Italy.
- 1523 – The Parisian Faculty of Theology fines Simon de Colines for publishing the Biblical commentary Commentarii initiatorii in quatuor Evangelia by Jacques Lefèvre d’Étaples.
- 1534 – Jacques Cartier is the first European to describe and map the Saint Lawrence River.
- 1667 – Second Anglo-Dutch War: The Raid on the Medway by the Dutch fleet begins. It lasts for five days and results in the worst ever defeat of the Royal Navy.
- 1732 – James Oglethorpe is granted a royal charter for the colony of the future U.S. state of Georgia.
- 1772 – The British schooner Gaspee is burned in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.
- 1798 – Irish Rebellion of 1798: Battles of Arklow and Saintfield.
- 1815 – End of the Congress of Vienna: The new European political situation is set.
- 1856 – Five hundred Mormons leave Iowa City, Iowa for the Mormon Trail.
- 1862 – American Civil War: Stonewall Jackson concludes his successful Shenandoah Valley Campaign with a victory in the Battle of Port Republic; his tactics during the campaign are now studied by militaries around the world.
- 1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Brandy Station, Virginia.
- 1885 – Treaty of Tientsin is signed to end the Sino-French War, with China eventually giving up Tonkin and Annam – most of present-day Vietnam – to France.
- 1900 – Indian nationalist Birsa Munda dies of cholera in a British prison.
- 1915 – William Jennings Bryan resigns as Woodrow Wilson’s Secretary of State over a disagreement regarding the United States’ handling of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania.
- 1923 – Bulgaria’s military takes over the government in a coup.
- 1928 – Charles Kingsford Smith completes the first trans-Pacific flight in a Fokker Trimotor monoplane, the Southern Cross.
- 1930 – A Chicago Tribune reporter, Jake Lingle, is killed during rush hour at the Illinois Central train station by Leo Vincent Brothers, allegedly over a $100,000 gambling debt owed to Al Capone.
- 1944 – World War II: Ninety-nine civilians are hanged from lampposts and balconies by German troops in Tulle, France, in reprisal for maquisards attacks.
- 1944 – World War II: The Soviet Union invades East Karelia and the previously Finnish part of Karelia, occupied by Finland since 1941.
- 1948 – Foundation of the International Council on Archives under the auspices of the UNESCO.
- 1953 – The Flint–Worcester tornado outbreak sequence kills 94 people in Massachusetts.
- 1954 – Joseph Welch, special counsel for the United States Army, lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Army–McCarthy hearings, giving McCarthy the famous rebuke, “You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”
- 1957 – First ascent of Broad Peak by Fritz Wintersteller, Marcus Schmuck, Kurt Diemberger, and Hermann Buhl.
- 1959 – The USS George Washington is launched. It is the first nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine.
- 1965 – The civilian Prime Minister of South Vietnam, Phan Huy Quát, resigns after being unable to work with a junta led by Nguyễn Cao Kỳ.
- 1965 – Vietnam War: The Viet Cong commences combat with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam in the Battle of Đồng Xoài, one of the largest battles in the war.
- 1967 – Six-Day War: Israel captures the Golan Heights from Syria.
- 1968 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a national day of mourning following the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
- 1972 – Severe rainfall causes a dam in the Black Hills of South Dakota to burst, creating a flood that kills 238 people and causes $160 million in damage.
- 1973 – In horse racing, Secretariat wins the U.S. Triple Crown.
- 1978 – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opens its priesthood to “all worthy men”, ending a 148-year-old policy of excluding black men.
- 1979 – The Ghost Train fire at Luna Park Sydney, Australia, kills seven.
- 1999 – Kosovo War: The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and NATO sign a peace treaty.
- 2008 – Two bombs explode at a train station near Algiers, Algeria, killing at least 13 people.
- 2009 – An explosion kills 17 people and injures at least 46 at a hotel in Peshawar, Pakistan.
- 2010 – At least 40 people are killed and more than 70 wounded in a suicide bombing at a wedding party in Arghandab, Kandahar.
Births on June 9
- 1016 – Deokjong of Goryeo, ruler of Korea (d. 1034)
- 1424 – Blanche II of Navarre (d. 1464)
- 1580 – Daniel Heinsius, Belgian poet and scholar (d. 1655)
- 1588 – Johann Andreas Herbst, German composer and theorist (d. 1666)
- 1595 – Władysław IV Vasa, Polish king (d. 1648)
- 1597 – Pieter Jansz. Saenredam, Dutch painter (d. 1665)
- 1640 – Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1705)
- 1661 – Feodor III of Russia (d. 1682)
- 1672 – Peter the Great, Russian emperor (d. 1725)
- 1686 – Andrey Osterman, German-Russian politician, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1747)
- 1696 – Shiva Rajaram, infant Chattrapati of the Maratha Empire (d. 1726)
- 1732 – Giuseppe Demachi, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1791)
- 1754 – Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth, English general and politician, Governor of Barbados (d. 1815)
- 1768 – Samuel Slater, English-American engineer and businessman (d. 1835)
- 1781 – George Stephenson, English engineer, designed the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (d. 1848)
- 1810 – Otto Nicolai, German composer and conductor (d. 1849)
- 1812 – Johann Gottfried Galle, German astronomer and academic (d. 1910)
- 1836 – Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, English physician and politician (d. 1917)
- 1837 – Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie, English author (d. 1919)
- 1842 – Hazard Stevens, American military officer, mountaineer, politician and writer (d. 1918)
- 1843 – Bertha von Suttner, Austrian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1914)
- 1845 – Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto, English soldier, academic, and politician, 36th Governor-General of India (d. 1914)
- 1845 – Frank Norton, American baseball player (d. 1920)
- 1849 – Michael Ancher, Danish painter and academic (d. 1927)
- 1851 – Charles Joseph Bonaparte, American lawyer and politician, 46th United States Attorney General (d. 1921)
- 1861 – Pierre Duhem, French physicist, mathematician, and historian (d. 1916)
- 1861 – Gustav Heinrich Johann Apollon Tammann, Russian-German chemist and physicist (d. 1938)
- 1864 – Jeanne Bérangère, French actress (d. 1928)
- 1865 – Albéric Magnard, French composer and educator (d. 1914)
- 1865 – Carl Nielsen, Danish violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1931)
- 1868 – Jane Avril, French model and dancer (d. 1943)
- 1874 – Launceston Elliot, Scottish weightlifter and wrestler (d. 1930)
- 1875 – Henry Hallett Dale, English pharmacologist and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
- 1879 – Harry DeBaecke, American rower (d. 1961)
- 1882 – Robert Kerr, Irish-Canadian sprinter and coach (d. 1963)
- 1885 – Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski, Polish general and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Poland (d. 1962)
- 1890 – Leslie Banks, English actor, director, and producer (d. 1952)
- 1891 – Cole Porter, American composer and songwriter (d. 1964)
- 1893 – Irish Meusel, American baseball player and coach (d. 1963)
- 1895 – Archie Weston, American football player and journalist (d. 1981)
- 1898 – Luigi Fagioli, Italian race car driver (d. 1952)
- 1900 – Fred Waring, American singer, bandleader, and television host (d. 1984)
- 1902 – Skip James, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1969)
- 1903 – Felice Bonetto, Italian race car driver (d. 1953)
- 1903 – Marcia Davenport, American author and critic (d. 1996)
- 1906 – Robert Klark Graham, American eugenicist and businessman, founded Repository for Germinal Choice (d. 1997)
- 1908 – Luis Kutner, American lawyer, author, and activist (d. 1993)
- 1908 – Branch McCracken, American basketball player and coach (d. 1970)
- 1910 – Robert Cummings, American actor, singer, and director (d. 1990)
- 1910 – Ted Hicks, Australian public servant and diplomat, Australian High Commissioner to New Zealand (d. 1984)
- 1912 – Ingolf Dahl, German-American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1970)
- 1915 – Jim McDonald, American football player and coach (d. 1997)
- 1915 – Les Paul, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2009)
- 1916 – Jurij Brězan, German soldier and author (d. 2006)
- 1916 – Siegfried Graetschus, German SS officer (d. 1943)
- 1916 – Robert McNamara, American businessman and politician, 8th United States Secretary of Defense (d. 2009)
- 1917 – Eric Hobsbawm, Egyptian-English historian and author (d. 2012)
- 1918 – John Hospers, American philosopher and politician (d. 2011)
- 1921 – Arthur Hertzberg, American rabbi and scholar (d. 2006)
- 1921 – Jean Lacouture, French journalist, historian, and author (d. 2015)
- 1922 – George Axelrod, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
- 1922 – John Gillespie Magee, Jr., Anglo-American pilot and poet (d. 1941)
- 1922 – Fernand Seguin, Canadian biochemist and academic (d. 1988)
- 1923 – Gerald Götting, German politician (d. 2015)
- 1924 – Ed Farhat, American wrestler and manager (d. 2003)
- 1925 – Keith Laumer, American soldier and author (d. 1993)
- 1925 – Herman Sarkowsky, German-American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded the Seattle Seahawks (d. 2014)
- 1926 – Calvin “Fuzz” Jones, American singer and bass player (d. 2010)
- 1926 – Happy Rockefeller, American philanthropist, 31st Second Lady of the United States (d. 2015)
- 1927 – Jim Nolan, American basketball player (d. 1983)
- 1928 – R. Geraint Gruffydd, Welsh critic and academic (d. 2015)
- 1929 – Johnny Ace, American singer and pianist (d. 1954)
- 1930 – Barbara, French singer (d. 1997)
- 1930 – Jordi Pujol, Spanish physician and politician, 126th President of the Generalitat de Catalunya
- 1931 – Jackie Mason, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter
- 1931 – Nandini Satpathy, Indian author and politician, 8th Chief Minister of Odisha (d. 2006)
- 1931 – Bill Virdon, American baseball player, coach, and manager
- 1933 – Al Cantello, American javelin thrower and coach
- 1934 – Michael Mates, English colonel and politician
- 1934 – Jackie Wilson, American singer-songwriter (d. 1984)
- 1935 – Dutch Savage, American wrestler and promoter (d. 2013)
- 1936 – Nell Dunn, English playwright, screenwriter and author
- 1936 – Mick O’Dwyer, Irish Gaelic footballer and manager
- 1936 – George Radda, Hungarian chemist and academic
- 1937 – Harald Rosenthal, German hydrobiologist and academic
- 1938 – Jeremy Hardie, English economist and businessman
- 1938 – Giles Havergal, Scottish actor, director, and playwright
- 1938 – Charles Wuorinen, American composer and educator (d. 2020)
- 1939 – Ileana Cotrubaș, Romanian soprano and actress
- 1939 – Eric Fernie, Scottish historian and academic
- 1939 – David Hobbs, English race car driver and sportscaster
- 1939 – Dick Vitale, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1939 – Charles Webb, American author
- 1940 – André Vallerand, Canadian businessman and politician
- 1941 – Jon Lord, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player (d. 2012)
- 1942 – Anton Burghardt, German footballer and manager
- 1942 – Nicholas Lloyd, English journalist
- 1943 – John Fitzpatrick, English race car driver
- 1943 – Charles Saatchi, Iraqi-English businessman, co-founded Saatchi & Saatchi
- 1944 – Janric Craig, 3rd Viscount Craigavon, English accountant and politician
- 1944 – Wally Gabler, American football player and sportscaster
- 1946 – Deyda Hydara, Gambian journalist and publisher, co-founded The Point (d. 2004)
- 1946 – James Kelman, Scottish author and playwright
- 1946 – Peter Kilfoyle, English politician
- 1946 – Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata, Italian politician and diplomat, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1947 – Robert Indermaur, Swiss painter
- 1947 – Robbie Vincent, UK disc jockey and radio presenter
- 1948 – Jim Bailey, American football player
- 1948 – Gudrun Schyman, Swedish social worker and politician
- 1949 – Kiran Bedi, Indian police officer and activist
- 1950 – Trevor Bolder, English bass player, songwriter, and producer (d. 2013)
- 1950 – Fred Jackson, American football player and coach
- 1950 – Giorgos Kastrinakis, Greek-American basketball player
- 1951 – Michael Patrick Cronan, American graphic designer and academic (d. 2013)
- 1951 – James Newton Howard, American composer, conductor, and producer
- 1951 – Dave Parker, American baseball player and coach
- 1951 – Brian Taylor, American basketball player
- 1952 – Uzi Hitman, Israeli singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
- 1952 – Billy Knight, American basketball player
- 1953 – Ken Navarro, Italian-American guitarist and composer
- 1954 – Pete Byrne, English singer-songwriter
- 1954 – Paul Chapman, Welsh guitarist and songwriter
- 1954 – Gregory Maguire, American author
- 1954 – Elizabeth May, American-Canadian environmentalist, lawyer, and politician
- 1954 – George Pérez, American author and illustrator
- 1956 – Berit Aunli, Norwegian skier
- 1956 – Patricia Cornwell, American journalist and author
- 1956 – Marek Gazdzicki, Polish nuclear physicist
- 1956 – Joaquín, Spanish footballer
- 1956 – John Le Lievre, British squash player
- 1956 – Kayhan Mortezavi, Iranian director
- 1956 – Francine Raymond, French Canadian singer songwriter
- 1956 – Nikolai Tsonev, Bulgarian politician
- 1956 – Rudolf Wojtowicz, Polish footballer
- 1957 – Randy Read, English crystallographer and academic
- 1958 – David Ancrum, American basketball player and coach
- 1959 – Peter Fowler, Australian golfer
- 1960 – Steve Paikin, Canadian journalist and author
- 1961 – Thomas Benson, American football player
- 1961 – Michael J. Fox, Canadian-American actor, producer, and author
- 1961 – Aaron Sorkin, American screenwriter, producer, and playwright
- 1962 – Yuval Banay, Israeli singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1962 – Ken Rose, American football player
- 1962 – David Trewhella, Australian rugby league player
- 1963 – Gilad Atzmon, Israeli-English saxophonist, author, and activist
- 1963 – Johnny Depp, American actor
- 1963 – David Koepp, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1964 – Gloria Reuben, Canadian-American actress
- 1964 – Wayman Tisdale, American basketball player and bass player (d. 2009)
- 1967 – Rubén Maza, Venezuelan runner
- 1968 – Niki Bakoyianni, Greek high jumper and coach
- 1969 – André Racicot, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1969 – Eric Wynalda, American soccer player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1971 – Gilles De Bilde, Belgian footballer and sportscaster
- 1971 – Jean Galfione, French pole vaulter and sportscaster
- 1971 – Jackie McKeown, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1972 – Matt Horsley, Australian footballer and coach
- 1973 – Aigars Apinis, Latvian discus thrower and shot putter
- 1973 – Tedy Bruschi, American football player and sportscaster
- 1973 – Frédéric Choffat, Swiss director, producer, and cinematographer
- 1973 – Grant Marshall, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1974 – Samoth, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1975 – Otto Addo, German-Ghanaian footballer and manager
- 1975 – Ameesha Patel, Indian actress and model
- 1975 – Andrew Symonds, English-Australian cricketer
- 1977 – Usman Afzaal, Pakistani-English cricketer
- 1977 – Paul Hutchison, English cricketer
- 1977 – Olin Kreutz, American football player
- 1977 – Peja Stojaković, Serbian basketball player
- 1978 – Matt Bellamy, English singer, musician and songwriter
- 1978 – Shandi Finnessey, American model and actress, Miss USA 2004
- 1978 – Miroslav Klose, German footballer
- 1978 – Heather Mitts, American soccer player
- 1978 – Hayden Schlossberg, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1979 – Dario Dainelli, Italian footballer
- 1979 – Amanda Lassiter, American basketball player
- 1980 – D’banj, Nigerian singer-songwriter and harmonica player
- 1980 – Mike Fontenot, American baseball player
- 1980 – Udonis Haslem, American basketball player
- 1980 – Lehlohonolo Seema, South African footballer
- 1981 – Natalie Portman, Israeli-American actress
- 1982 – Parinya Charoenphol, Thai boxer, model, and actress
- 1982 – Yoshito Ōkubo, Japanese footballer
- 1982 – Christina Stürmer, Austrian singer-songwriter
- 1983 – Firas Al-Khatib, Syrian footballer
- 1983 – Josh Cribbs, American football player
- 1983 – Dwayne Jones, American basketball player
- 1983 – Danny Richar, Dominican-American baseball player
- 1984 – Yulieski Gourriel, Cuban baseball player
- 1984 – Jake Newton, Guyanese footballer
- 1984 – Asko Paade, Estonian basketball player
- 1984 – Masoud Shojaei, Iranian footballer
- 1984 – Wesley Sneijder, Dutch footballer
- 1985 – Richard Kahui, New Zealand rugby player
- 1985 – Sonam Kapoor, Indian model and actress
- 1985 – Sebastian Telfair, American basketball player
- 1986 – Doug Legursky, American football player
- 1986 – Yadier Pedroso, Cuban baseball player (d. 2013)
- 1986 – Ashley Postell, American gymnast
- 1987 – Jaan Mölder, Estonian race car driver
- 1988 – Jason Demers, Canadian ice hockey defenseman
- 1988 – Sara Isaković, Slovenian swimmer
- 1989 – Dídac Vilà, Spanish footballer
- 1990 – Matthias Mayer, Austrian skier
- 1992 – Zach Hyman, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1992 – Yannick Agnel, French swimmer
- 1992 – Boyd Cordner, Australian rugby league player
- 1993 – George Jennings, Australian rugby league player
Deaths on June 9
- AD 68 – Nero, Roman emperor (b. 37)
- 373 – Ephrem the Syrian, hymnographer and theologian (b. 306)
- 597 – Columba, Irish missionary and saint (b. 521)
- 630 – Shahrbaraz, king of the Persian Empire
- 889 – Aimoin, Frankish monk and archivist
- 908 – Yang Wo, Prince of Hongnong
- 1075 – Gebhard of Supplinburg, Saxon count
- 1087 – Otto I of Olomouc (b. 1045)
- 1238 – Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester
- 1252 – Otto I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
- 1348 – Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Sienese painter (b. 1290)
- 1361 – Philippe de Vitry, French composer and poet (b. 1291)
- 1563 – William Paget, 1st Baron Paget, English accountant and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1506)
- 1572 – Jeanne d’Albret, Navarrese queen and Huguenot leader (b. 1528)
- 1583 – Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1525)
- 1597 – José de Anchieta, Spanish Jesuit missionary (b. 1534)
- 1647 – Leonard Calvert, Colonial governor of Maryland (b. 1606)
- 1656 – Thomas Tomkins, Welsh-English composer (b. 1572)
- 1716 – Banda Singh Bahadur, Indian commander (b. 1670)
- 1717 – Jeanne Guyon, French mystic and author (b. 1648)
- 1834 – William Carey, English minister and missionary (b. 1761)
- 1870 – Charles Dickens, English novelist and critic (b. 1812)
- 1875 – Gérard Paul Deshayes, French geologist and conchologist (b. 1795)
- 1889 – Mike Burke, American baseball player (b. 1854)
- 1892 – William Grant Stairs, Canadian-English captain and explorer (b. 1863)
- 1901 – Adolf Bötticher, German historian and author (b. 1842)
- 1923 – Princess Helena of the United Kingdom (b. 1846)
- 1927 – Victoria Woodhull, American activist for women’s rights (b. 1838)
- 1929 – Louis Bennison, American stage and silent film actor (b. 1884)
- 1929 – Margaret Lawrence, American stage actress (b. 1889)
- 1942 – František Erben, Czech gymnast (b. 1874)
- 1952 – Adolf Busch, German-Austrian violinist and composer (b. 1891)
- 1953 – Ernest Graves, Sr., American football player, coach, and general (b. 1880)
- 1956 – Chandrashekhar Agashe, Indian industrialist and lawyer (b. 1888)
- 1956 – Hans Bergsland, Norwegian fencer (b. 1878)
- 1956 – Thomas Hicks, Australian tennis player (b. 1869)
- 1956 – Ferdinand Jodl, German general (b. 1896)
- 1958 – Robert Donat, English actor (b. 1905)
- 1959 – Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1876)
- 1960 – Harry S. Hammond, American football player and businessman (b. 1884)
- 1961 – Camille Guérin, French veterinarian, bacteriologist and immunologist (b. 1872)
- 1963 – Jacques Villon, French painter (b.1875)
- 1964 – Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, British businessman and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1879)
- 1968 – Bernard Cronin, Australian author and journalist (b. 1884)
- 1972 – Gilberto Parlotti, Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1940)
- 1973 – Chuck Bennett, American football player and coach (b. 1907)
- 1973 – John Creasey, English author and politician (b. 1908)
- 1973 – Erich von Manstein, German general (b. 1887)
- 1974 – Miguel Ángel Asturias, Guatemalan journalist, author, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
- 1979 – Cyclone Taylor, Canadian ice hockey player and civil servant (b. 1884)
- 1981 – Allen Ludden, American game show host (b. 1917)
- 1984 – Helen Hardin, American painter (b. 1943)
- 1989 – George Wells Beadle, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
- 1991 – Claudio Arrau, Chilean-American pianist and educator (b. 1903)
- 1993 – Alexis Smith, Canadian-born American actress (b. 1921)
- 1994 – Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
- 1997 – Stanley Knowles, American-Canadian academic and politician (b. 1908)
- 1998 – Lois Mailou Jones, American painter and academic (b. 1905)
- 2000 – John Abramovic, American basketball player (b. 1919)
- 2000 – Jacob Lawrence, American painter and academic (b. 1917)
- 2004 – Rosey Brown, American football player and coach (b. 1932)
- 2004 – Brian Williamson, Jamaican activist, co-founded J-FLAG (b. 1945)
- 2006 – Drafi Deutscher, German singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
- 2007 – Frankie Abernathy, American purse designer, cast-member on The Real World: San Diego (b. 1981)
- 2008 – Algis Budrys, Lithuanian-American author and critic (b. 1931)
- 2008 – Suleiman Mousa, Jordanian historian and author (b. 1919)
- 2009 – Dick May, American race car driver (b. 1930)
- 2010 – Ken Brown, British Guitarist who was a member of The Quarrymen (b. 1940)
- 2011 – M. F. Husain, Indian painter and director (b. 1915)
- 2011 – Tomoko Kawakami, Japanese voice actress (b. 1970)
- 2011 – Mike Mitchell, American basketball player (b. 1956)
- 2012 – Régis Clère, French cyclist (b. 1956)
- 2012 – John Maples, Baron Maples, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence (b. 1943)
- 2012 – Ivan Minatti, Slovene poet and translator (b. 1924)
- 2012 – Hawk Taylor, American baseball player and coach (b. 1939)
- 2012 – Abram Wilson, American-English trumpet player and educator (b. 1973)
- 2013 – Iain Banks, Scottish author (b. 1954)
- 2013 – Bruno Bartoletti, Italian conductor (b. 1926)
- 2013 – John Burke, English rugby player (b. 1948)
- 2013 – Walter Jens, German philologist, historian, and academic (b. 1923)
- 2013 – Zdeněk Rotrekl, Czech poet and historian (b. 1920)
- 2014 – Bernard Agré, Ivorian cardinal (b. 1926)
- 2014 – Rik Mayall, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1958)
- 2014 – Elsie Quarterman, American ecologist and academic (b. 1910)
- 2014 – Alicemarie Huber Stotler, American lawyer and judge (b. 1942)
- 2014 – Gustave Tassell, American fashion designer (b. 1926)
- 2014 – Bob Welch, American baseball player and coach (b. 1956)
- 2015 – Pumpkinhead, American rapper (b. 1975)
- 2015 – Pedro Zerolo, Spanish lawyer and politician (b. 1960)
- 2017 – Adam West, American actor and investor (b. 1928)
- 2018 – Fadil Vokrri, Kosovo Albanian football administrator and player (b. 1960)
- 2019 – Bushwick Bill, Jamaican-American rapper (b. 1966)
Holidays and observances on June 9
- Anniversary of the Accession of King Abdullah II (Jordan)
- Autonomy Day (Åland Islands)
- Christian feast day:
- Aidan of Lindisfarne (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
- Bede (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
- Columba
- Ephrem the Syrian (Roman Catholic Church and Church of England)
- José de Anchieta
- Primus and Felician
- June 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Coral Triangle Day
- La Rioja Day (La Rioja)
- Murcia Day (Murcia)
- National Heroes’ Day (Uganda)
-
March 23 in History
- 1400 – The Trần dynasty of Vietnam is deposed, after one hundred and seventy-five years of rule, by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official.
- 1540 – Waltham Abbey is surrendered to King Henry VIII of England; the last religious community to be closed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
- 1568 – The Peace of Longjumeau is signed, ending the second phase of the French Wars of Religion.
- 1708 – James Francis Edward Stuart lands at the Firth of Forth as part of the planned French invasion of Britain.
- 1775 – American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivers his speech – “Give me liberty, or give me death!” – at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia.
- 1801 – Tsar Paul I of Russia is struck with a sword, then strangled, and finally trampled to death inside his bedroom at St. Michael’s Castle.
- 1806 – After traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean, explorers Lewis and Clark and their “Corps of Discovery” begin their arduous journey home.
- 1821 – Greek War of Independence: Battle and fall of city of Kalamata.
- 1848 – The ship John Wickliffe arrives at Port Chalmers carrying the first Scottish settlers for Dunedin, New Zealand. Otago province is founded.
- 1857 – Elisha Otis’s first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway New York City.
- 1862 – American Civil War: The First Battle of Kernstown, Virginia, marks the start of Stonewall Jackson’s Valley Campaign. Although a Confederate defeat, the engagement distracts Federal efforts to capture Richmond.
- 1868 – The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into law.
- 1879 – War of the Pacific: The Battle of Topáter, the first battle of the war is fought between Chile and the joint forces of Bolivia and Peru.
- 1885 – Sino-French War: Chinese victory in the Battle of Phu Lam Tao near Hưng Hóa, northern Vietnam.
- 1888 – In England, The Football League, the world’s oldest professional association football league, meets for the first time.
- 1889 – The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is established by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in Qadian, British India.
- 1901 – Emilio Aguinaldo, only President of the First Philippine Republic, was captured at Palanan, Isabela by the forces of General Frederick Funston.
- 1905 – Eleftherios Venizelos calls for Crete’s union with Greece, and begins what is to be known as the Theriso revolt.
- 1909 – Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society.
- 1918 – First World War: On the third day of the German Spring Offensive, the 10th Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment is annihilated with many of the men becoming prisoners of war
- 1919 – In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement.
- 1931 – Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar are hanged for the killing of a deputy superintendent of police during the Indian independence movement.
- 1933 – The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.
- 1935 – Signing of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
- 1939 – The Hungarian air force attacks the headquarters of the Slovak air force in Spišská Nová Ves, killing 13 people and beginning the Slovak–Hungarian War.
- 1940 – The Lahore Resolution (Qarardad-e-Pakistan or Qarardad-e-Lahore) is put forward at the Annual General Convention of the All-India Muslim League.
- 1956 – Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world. This date is now celebrated as Republic Day in Pakistan.
- 1965 – NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States’ first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young).
- 1977 – The first of The Nixon Interviews (12 will be recorded over four weeks) is videotaped with British journalist David Frost interviewing former United States President Richard Nixon about the Watergate scandal and the Nixon tapes.
- 1978 – The first UNIFIL troops arrived in Lebanon for peacekeeping mission along the Blue Line.
- 1980 – Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador gives his famous speech appealing to men of the El Salvadoran armed forces to stop killing the Salvadorans.
- 1982 – Guatemala’s government, headed by Fernando Romeo Lucas García is overthrown in a military coup by right-wing General Efraín Ríos Montt.
- 1983 – Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.
- 1991 – The Revolutionary United Front, with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia, invades Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow Joseph Saidu Momoh, sparking the 11-year Sierra Leone Civil War.
- 1994 – At an election rally in Tijuana, Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio is assassinated by Mario Aburto Martínez.
- 1994 – A United States Air Force (USAF) F-16 aircraft collides with a USAF C-130 at Pope Air Force Base and then crashes, killing 24 United States Army soldiers on the ground. This later became known as the Green Ramp disaster.
- 1994 – Aeroflot Flight 593 crashed into the Kuznetsk Alatau mountain, Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, killing 75.
- 1996 – Taiwan holds its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President.
- 1999 – Gunmen assassinate Paraguay’s Vice President Luis María Argaña.
- 2001 – The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.
- 2003 – Battle of Nasiriyah, first major conflict during the invasion of Iraq.
- 2008 – Official opening of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, India
- 2009 – FedEx Express Flight 80: A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 flying from Guangzhou, China crashes at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, killing both the captain and the co-pilot.
- 2018 – President of Peru Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigns from the presidency amid a mass corruption scandal before certain impeachment by the opposition-majority Congress of Peru.
- 2019 – The Kazakh capital of Astana was renamed to Nur-Sultan.
- 2019 – The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces declared military victory over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant after four years of fighting, although the group maintains a scattered presence and sleeper cells across Syria and Iraq.
Births on March 23
- 1338 – Emperor Go-Kōgon of Japan (d. 1374)
- 1430 – Margaret of Anjou (d. 1482)
- 1514 – Lorenzino de’ Medici, Italian writer and assassin (d. 1548)
- 1599 – Thomas Selle, German composer (d. 1663)
- 1614 – Jahanara Begum, Mughal princess (d. 1681)
- 1643 – Mary of Jesus de León y Delgado, Spanish Dominican lay sister and mystic (d. 1731)
- 1699 – John Bartram, American botanist and explorer (d. 1777)
- 1732 – Princess Marie Adélaïde of France (d. 1800)
- 1749 – Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1827)
- 1750 – Johannes Matthias Sperger, Austrian bassist and composer (d. 1812)
- 1754 – Jurij Vega, Slovene mathematician, physicist and artillery officer (d. 1802)
- 1769 – Augustin Daniel Belliard, French general and diplomat (d. 1832)
- 1769 – William Smith, English geologist and cartographer (d. 1839)
- 1823 – Schuyler Colfax, American journalist and politician, 17th Vice President of the United States (d. 1885)
- 1826 – Ludwig Minkus, Austrian violinist and composer (d. 1917)
- 1834 – Julius Reubke, German pianist and composer (d. 1858)
- 1838 – Marie Adam-Doerrer, Swiss women’s rights activist and unionist (d. 1908)
- 1842 – Friedrich Amelung, Estonian-German historian, businessman and composer (d. 1909)
- 1842 – Susan Jane Cunningham, American mathematician (d. 1921)
- 1858 – Ludwig Quidde, German activist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1941)
- 1862 – Nathaniel Reed, American criminal (d. 1950)
- 1868 – Dietrich Eckart, German journalist and politician (d. 1923)
- 1869 – Emilio Aguinaldo, Filipino general and politician, 1st President of the Philippines (d. 1964)
- 1869 – Calouste Gulbenkian, Turkish-Armenian businessman and philanthropist (d. 1955)
- 1872 – Michael Joseph Savage, Australian-New Zealand union leader and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1940)
- 1874 – Grantley Goulding, English hurdler (d. 1947)
- 1874 – J. C. Leyendecker, German-American painter and illustrator (d. 1951)
- 1876 – Ziya Gökalp, Turkish sociologist, poet and activist (d. 1924)
- 1876 – Thakin Kodaw Hmaing, Burmese poet, writer and political leader (d. 1964)
- 1878 – Franz Schreker, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1934)
- 1880 – Heikki Ritavuori, Finnish lawyer and politician, Finnish Minister of the Interior (d. 1922)
- 1881 – Lacey Hearn, American sprinter (d. 1969)
- 1881 – Roger Martin du Gard, French novelist and paleographer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
- 1881 – Hermann Staudinger, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
- 1882 – Emmy Noether, Jewish German-American mathematician, physicist and academic (d. 1935)
- 1884 – Joseph Boxhall, English sailor (d. 1967)
- 1885 – Platt Adams, American jumper and politician (d. 1961)
- 1885 – Roque González Garza, Mexican general and acting president (1915) (d. 1962)
- 1886 – Frank Irons, American long jumper (d. 1942)
- 1887 – Josef Čapek, Czech painter and poet (d. 1945)
- 1887 – Rudolf Kinau, German author (d. 1975)
- 1887 – Juan Gris, Spanish painter and sculptor (d. 1927)
- 1887 – Sidney Hillman, Lithuanian-born American labor leader (d. 1946)
- 1891 – Po Kya, Burmese author and educationist (d. 1942)
- 1893 – Cedric Gibbons, Irish-American art director and production designer (d. 1960)
- 1893 – Gopalswamy Doraiswamy Naidu, Indian engineer and businessman (d. 1974)
- 1894 – Arthur Grimsdell, English international footballer wing half and cricketer (d. 1963)
- 1895 – Encarnacion Alzona, Filipino historian and educator (d. 2001)
- 1895 – Dane Rudhyar, French-American astrologer, author and composer (d. 1985)
- 1898 – Louis Adamic, Slovenian-American author, translator and politician (d. 1951)
- 1898 – Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset, Duchess of Parma (d. 1984)
- 1899 – Dora Gerson, German actress and singer (d. 1943)
- 1900 – Erich Fromm, German psychologist and sociologist (d. 1980)
- 1901 – Bon Maharaja, Indian guru and religious writer (d. 1982)
- 1903 – Frank Sargeson, New Zealand author (d. 1982)
- 1904 – Joan Crawford, American film actress (d. 1977)
- 1905 – Lale Andersen, German chanson singer-songwriter (d. 1972)
- 1907 – Daniel Bovet, Swiss-Italian pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1992)
- 1909 – Charles Werner, American cartoonist (d. 1997)
- 1910 – Jerry Cornes, English runner, colonial officer and educator (d. 2001)
- 1910 – Akira Kurosawa, Japanese director, producer and screenwriter (d. 1998)
- 1912 – Eleanor Cameron, Canadian-American author and critic (d. 1996)
- 1912 – Neil McCorkell, English-South African cricketer and coach (d. 2013)
- 1912 – Wernher von Braun, German-American physicist and engineer (d. 1977)
- 1913 – Abidin Dino, Turko-French painter and illustrator (d. 1993)
- 1914 – Milbourne Christopher, American magician and author (d. 1984)
- 1915 – Mary Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe (d. 2014)
- 1915 – Vasily Zaytsev, Russian captain (d. 1991)
- 1917 – Harry Cranbrook Allen, English historian (d. 1998)
- 1918 – Stanley Armour Dunham, American sergeant (d. 1992)
- 1918 – Helene Hale, American politician (d. 2013)
- 1918 – Naoki Kazu, Japanese football player (d.1940s)
- 1919 – Carl Graffunder, American architect and educator (d. 2013)
- 1920 – Neal Edward Smith, American pilot, lawyer and politician
- 1920 – Tetsuharu Kawakami, Japanese baseball player and manager (d. 2013)
- 1921 – Donald Campbell, English race car driver (d. 1967)
- 1921 – Peter Lawler, Australian public servant (d. 2017)
- 1922 – Marty Allen, American comedian and actor (d. 2018)
- 1922 – Ugo Tognazzi, Italian actor (d. 1990)
- 1923 – Angelo Ingrassia, American soldier and judge (d. 2013)
- 1924 – Rodney Mims Cook, Sr., American lieutenant and politician (d. 2013)
- 1924 – Bette Nesmith Graham, American inventor, invented Liquid Paper (d. 1980)
- 1924 – Olga Kennard, English crystallographer and academic
- 1924 – John Madin, English architect (d. 2012)
- 1925 – David Watkin, English cinematographer (d. 2008)
- 1929 – Roger Bannister, English runner, neurologist and academic (d. 2018)
- 1929 – Michael Manser, English architect and engineer (d. 2016)
- 1931 – Yevgeny Grishin, Russian speed skater (d. 2005)
- 1931 – Viktor Korchnoi, Russian chess player and author (d. 2016)
- 1931 – Yevdokiya Mekshilo, Russian skier (d. 2013)
- 1932 – Don Marshall, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1933 – Norman Bailey, English opera singer and educator
- 1933 – Philip Zimbardo, American psychologist and academic
- 1934 – Ludvig Faddeev, Russian mathematician and physicist (d. 2017)
- 1934 – Mark Rydell, American actor, director and producer
- 1935 – Barry Cryer, English comedian, actor and screenwriter
- 1936 – Jannis Kounellis, Greek painter and sculptor (d. 2017)
- 1937 – Craig Breedlove, American race car driver
- 1937 – Tony Burton, American actor, comedian, boxer and football player (d. 2016)
- 1937 – Robert Gallo, American physician and academic
- 1938 – Jon Finlayson, Australian actor and screenwriter (d. 2012)
- 1942 – Michael Haneke, Austrian director, producer and screenwriter
- 1942 – Jimmy Miller, American record producer and musician (d. 1994)
- 1942 – Walter Rodney, Guyanese historian, scholar and activist (d. 1980)
- 1943 – Andrew Crockett, Scottish-English economist and banker (d. 2012)
- 1943 – Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, Finnish singer, author and director (d. 2001)
- 1944 – B. P. Gavrilov, Russian rugby player (d. 2006)
- 1944 – Tony McPhee, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1944 – Michael Nyman, English composer of minimalist music and pianist
- 1945 – Franco Battiato, Italian singer-songwriter and director
- 1945 – David Grisman, American mandolin player and composer
- 1946 – Alan Bleasdale, English screenwriter and producer
- 1947 – Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, American author
- 1948 – Wasim Bari, Pakistani cricketer
- 1948 – Marie Malavoy, German-Canadian educator and politician
- 1949 – Ric Ocasek, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer (d. 2019)
- 1950 – Corinne Cléry, French actress
- 1950 – Phil Lanzon, English keyboard player and songwriter
- 1950 – Ahdaf Soueif, Egyptian author and translator
- 1951 – Ron Jaworski, American football player and sportscaster
- 1951 – Adrian Reynard, English businessman, founded Reynard Motorsport
- 1952 – Francesco Clemente, Italian painter and illustrator
- 1952 – Kent Lambert, New Zealand rugby player
- 1952 – Kim Stanley Robinson, American author
- 1952 – Rex Tillerson, American businessman, engineer and diplomat; 69th United States Secretary of State
- 1953 – Bo Díaz, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 1990)
- 1953 – Chaka Khan, American singer-songwriter
- 1953 – Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Indian zoologist and businesswoman
- 1954 – Geno Auriemma, Italian-American basketball player and coach
- 1954 – Kenneth Cole, American fashion designer, founded Kenneth Cole Productions
- 1954 – Paul Price, English born, Welsh international footballer, defender and manager
- 1955 – Moses Malone, American basketball player and sportscaster (d. 2015)
- 1956 – José Manuel Barroso, Portuguese academic and politician, 115th Prime Minister of Portugal
- 1957 – Lucio Gutiérrez, Ecuadorian politician, 52nd President of Ecuador
- 1957 – Robbie James, Welsh footballer and manager (d. 1998)
- 1957 – Amanda Plummer, American actress
- 1958 – Etienne De Wilde, Belgian cyclist
- 1958 – Bengt-Åke Gustafsson, Swedish ice hockey player and coach
- 1958 – Hugh Grant, Scottish business executive
- 1959 – Catherine Keener, American actress
- 1960 – Nicol Stephen, Baron Stephen, Scottish lawyer and politician, 2nd Deputy First Minister of Scotland
- 1961 – Roger Crisp, English philosopher and academic
- 1961 – Craig Green, New Zealand rugby player
- 1961 – Helmi Johannes, Indonesian journalist and producer
- 1962 – Steve Redgrave, English rower
- 1963 – Míchel, Spanish footballer and manager
- 1963 – Juan Ramón López Caro, Spanish footballer and manager
- 1963 – Ana Fidelia Quirot, Cuban runner
- 1964 – Hope Davis, American actress
- 1965 – Gary Whitehead, American poet and painter
- 1966 – Lorenzo Daniel, American sprinter
- 1966 – Vasilis Vouzas, Greek footballer and manager
- 1968 – Damon Albarn, English singer-songwriter, producer and actor
- 1968 – Mike Atherton, English cricketer and journalist
- 1968 – Fernando Hierro, Spanish footballer and manager
- 1968 – Pierre Palmade, French actor and screenwriter
- 1971 – Yasmeen Ghauri, Canadian model
- 1971 – Gail Porter, Scottish model and television host
- 1971 – Alexander Selivanov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1971 – Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Japanese wrestler
- 1972 – Jonas Björkman, Swedish-Monégasque tennis player and coach
- 1972 – Joe Calzaghe, Welsh boxer
- 1972 – Judith Godrèche, French actress and author
- 1973 – Jerzy Dudek, Polish footballer
- 1973 – Wim Eyckmans, Belgian race car driver
- 1973 – Jason Kidd, American basketball player and coach
- 1974 – Randall Park, American actor, director and screenwriter
- 1975 – Burak Gürpınar, Turkish drummer
- 1975 – Andy Turner, English footballer, winger and manager
- 1976 – Chris Hoy, Scottish cyclist and race car driver
- 1976 – Smriti Irani, Indian actress, producer and politician, Indian Minister of Human Resource Development
- 1976 – Dougie Lampkin, English motorcycle racer
- 1976 – Michelle Monaghan, American actress
- 1976 – Joel Peralta, Dominican baseball player
- 1976 – Keri Russell, American actress
- 1976 – Ricardo Zonta, Brazilian race car driver
- 1976 – Sa Beining, Chinese host
- 1977 – Miklos Perlus, Canadian actor and screenwriter
- 1978 – Simon Gärdenfors, Swedish illustrator
- 1978 – Walter Samuel, Argentinian footballer
- 1979 – Mark Buehrle, American baseball player
- 1979 – Donncha O’Callaghan, Irish rugby player
- 1981 – Erin Crocker, American race car driver
- 1981 – Tony Peña, Jr., Dominican baseball player
- 1981 – Shelley Rudman, English bobsledder
- 1981 – Giuseppe Sculli, Italian footballer
- 1981 – Brett Young, American country music singer
- 1982 – José Contreras Arrau, Chilean footballer
- 1982 – Andrea Musacco, Italian footballer
- 1982 – Evgeni Striganov, Estonian ice dancer
- 1983 – Hakan Balta, Turkish footballer
- 1983 – Mo Farah, Somali-English runner
- 1983 – Sascha Riether, German international footballer
- 1983 – Jerome Thomas, English footballer
- 1984 – Ryan Araña, Filipino basketball player
- 1984 – Brandon Marshall, American football player
- 1985 – Maurice Jones-Drew, American football player
- 1985 – Bethanie Mattek-Sands, American tennis player
- 1986 – Patrick Bordeleau, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986 – Andrea Dovizioso, Italian motorcycle racer
- 1986 – Brett Eldredge, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1986 – Kangana Ranaut, Indian actress
- 1987 – Alan Toovey, Australian footballer
- 1988 – Dellin Betances, American baseball player
- 1988 – Jason Kenny, English cyclist
- 1988 – Michal Neuvirth, Czech ice hockey player
- 1989 – Ayesha Curry, Canadian-American chef, author and television personality
- 1989 – Nikola Gulan, Serbian footballer
- 1989 – Sarah McKenna, English rugby player
- 1989 – Luis Fernando Silva, Mexican footballer
- 1990 – Jaime Alguersuari, Spanish race car driver
- 1990 – Robert Zickert, German footballer
- 1991 – Gregg Wylde, Scottish footballer
- 1992 – Tolga Ciğerci, German-Turkish footballer
- 1992 – Kyrie Irving, Australian-American basketball player
- 1993 – Kyle Lovett, Australian rugby league player
- 1993 – Aytaç Kara, Turkish footballer
- 1994 – Nick Powell, English footballer
- 1995 – Kevin Kauber, Estonian footballer
- 1995 – Jan Lisiecki, Canadian pianist
- 1995 – Ozan Tufan, Turkish footballer
- 1996 – Alexander Albon, Thai-British race car driver
Deaths on March 23
- 851 – Zhou Chi, Chinese historian and politician (b. 793)
- 1022 – Zhen Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 968)
- 1103 – Eudes I, duke of Burgundy (b. 1058)
- 1361 – Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, English politician, Lord High Steward of England (b. 1310)
- 1369 – Peter, king of Castile and León (b. 1334)
- 1483 – Yolande, duchess of Lorraine (b. 1428)
- 1548 – Itagaki Nobukata, Japanese samurai (b. 1489)
- 1555 – Julius III, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1487)
- 1559 – Gelawdewos, Ethiopian emperor (b. 1521)
- 1596 – Henry Unton, English diplomat (b. 1557)
- 1606 – Justus Lipsius, Flemish philologist and scholar (b. 1547)
- 1618 – James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Abercorn, Scottish police officer and politician (b. 1575)
- 1629 – Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland, English landowner and politician (b. 1580)
- 1675 – Anthoni van Noordt, Dutch organist and composer (b. 1619)
- 1680 – Nicolas Fouquet, French politician (b. 1615)
- 1742 – Jean-Baptiste Dubos, French historian and author (b. 1670)
- 1747 – Claude Alexandre de Bonneval, French general (b. 1675)
- 1748 – Johann Gottfried Walther, German organist and composer (b. 1684)
- 1754 – Johann Jakob Wettstein, Swiss theologian and critic (b. 1693)
- 1783 – Charles Carroll, English barrister and politician (b. 1723)
- 1801 – Paul I, Russian emperor (b. 1754)
- 1842 – Stendhal, French novelist (b. 1783)
- 1862 – Manuel Robles Pezuela, Unconstitutional Mexican interim president, 1858–1859 (b. 1817)
- 1883 – Arthur Macalister, Scottish-Australian politician, 2nd Premier of Queensland (b. 1818)
- 1884 – Henry C. Lord, American businessman (b. 1824)
- 1910 – Nadar, French photographer, journalist, and author (b. 1820)
- 1914 – Rafqa Pietra Choboq Ar-Rayès, Lebanese saint (b. 1832)
- 1923 – Hovhannes Tumanyan, Armenian poet and author (b. 1869)
- 1927 – Paul César Helleu, French painter and etcher (b. 1859)
- 1931 – Shivaram Rajguru, Indian activist (b. 1908)
- 1931 – Bhagat Singh, Indian activist (b. 1907)
- 1931 – Sukhdev Thapar, Indian activist (b. 1907)
- 1953 – Raoul Dufy, French painter and illustrator (b. 1877)
- 1953 – Oskar Luts, Estonian author and playwright (b. 1887)
- 1955 – Arthur Bernardes, Brazilian politician, 12th President of Brazil (b. 1875)
- 1960 – Franklin Pierce Adams, American journalist and author (b. 1881)
- 1960 – Said Nursî, Turkish theologian and scholar (b. 1878)
- 1961 – Albert Bloch, American painter and educator (b. 1882)
- 1961 – Jack Russell, English cricketer (b. 1887)
- 1963 – Thoralf Skolem, Norwegian mathematician and logician (b. 1887)
- 1964 – Peter Lorre, American actor (b. 1904)
- 1965 – Mae Murray, American actress, dancer, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1885)
- 1968 – Edwin O’Connor, American journalist and author (b. 1918)
- 1972 – Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish fashion designer, founded Balenciaga (b. 1895)
- 1973 – Bertram Stevens, Australian accountant and politician, 25th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1889)
- 1978 – Haim Ernst Wertheimer, Israeli biochemist and academic (b. 1893)
- 1979 – Ted Anderson, English footballer (b. 1911)
- 1980 – Arthur Melvin Okun, American economist and academic (b. 1928)
- 1981 – Beatrice Tinsley, English-New Zealand astronomer and cosmologist (b. 1941)
- 1981 – Mike Hailwood, English motorcyclist (b. 1940)
- 1985 – Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching, English physicist and engineer (b. 1913)
- 1985 – Peter Charanis, Greek-American scholar and educator (b. 1908)
- 1987 – Olev Roomet, Estonian singer and violinist (b. 1901)
- 1990 – John Dexter, English director and producer (b. 1925)
- 1991 – Margaret Atwood Judson, American historian and author (b. 1899)
- 1991 – Parkash Singh, Indian soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1913)
- 1992 – Friedrich Hayek, Austrian-German economist, philosopher, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
- 1992 – Ron Lapointe, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1949)
- 1994 – Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican economist and politician (b. 1950)
- 1994 – Giulietta Masina, Italian actress (b. 1921)
- 1995 – Davie Cooper, Scottish footballer and coach (b. 1956)
- 1999 – Luis María Argaña, Paraguayan judge and politician, Vice President of Paraguay (b. 1932)
- 1999 – Osmond Borradaile, Canadian director and cinematographer (b. 1898)
- 2001 – Rowland Evans, American journalist (b. 1921)
- 2001 – Margaret Jones, British archaeologist (b. 1916)
- 2001 – Robert Laxalt, American author (b. 1923)
- 2001 – David McTaggart, Canadian badminton player and environmentalist (b. 1932)
- 2002 – Eileen Farrell, American soprano (b. 1920)
- 2002 – Ben Hollioake, Australian-English cricketer (b. 1977)
- 2003 – Fritz Spiegl, Austrian-English flute player and journalist (b. 1926)
- 2004 – Rupert Hamer, Australian soldier, lawyer, and politician, 39th Premier of Victoria (b. 1916)
- 2006 – David B. Bleak, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1932)
- 2006 – Desmond Doss, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1919)
- 2006 – Cindy Walker, American singer-songwriter and dancer (b. 1918)
- 2007 – Paul Cohen, American mathematician and theorist (b. 1934)
- 2007 – Eric Medlen, American race car driver (b. 1973)
- 2008 – Vaino Vahing, Estonian psychiatrist, author, and playwright (b. 1940)
- 2009 – Ghukas Chubaryan, Armenian sculptor (b. 1923)
- 2009 – Raúl Macías, Mexican boxer and trainer (b. 1934)
- 2011 – Jean Bartik, American computer scientist and engineer (b. 1924)
- 2011 – Rosario Morales, Puerto Rican poet and writer (b.1930)
- 2011 – Elizabeth Taylor, American-British actress, socialite and humanitarian (b. 1932)
- 2012 – Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, Somalian politician, President of Somalia (b. 1934)
- 2012 – Jim Duffy, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1937)
- 2012 – Naji Talib, Iraqi politician, 52nd Prime Minister of Iraq (b. 1917)
- 2012 – Lonnie Wright, American basketball and football player (b. 1945)
- 2013 – Boris Berezovsky, Russian-born Soviet-British mathematician and businessman (b. 1946)
- 2013 – Onofre Corpuz, Filipino economist, historian, and academic (b. 1926)
- 2013 – Virgil Trucks, American baseball player and coach (b. 1917)
- 2013 – Joe Weider, Canadian-American bodybuilder and publisher, co-founded the International Federation of BodyBuilding & Fitness (b. 1919)
- 2014 – Dave Brockie, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and bass player (b. 1963)
- 2014 – Jaroslav Šerých, Czech painter and illustrator (b. 1928)
- 2014 – Adolfo Suárez, Spanish lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1932)
- 2015 – Gian Vittorio Baldi, Italian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Lee Kuan Yew, Singaporean lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Singapore (b. 1923)
- 2015 – Bobby Lowther, American basketball player and lieutenant (b. 1923)
- 2015 – Lil’ Chris, English singer-songwriter, actor, and television personality (b. 1990)
- 2016 – Joe Garagiola, Sr., American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1926)
- 2016 – Ken Howard, American actor (b. 1944)
Holidays and observances on March 23
- Christian feast day:
- Gregory the Illuminator (Episcopal Church)
- Gwinear
- Joseph Oriol
- Ottone Frangipane
- Rafqa Pietra Choboq Ar-Rayès (Maronite Church)
- Turibius of Mogrovejo
- Victorian, Frumentius and Companions
- March 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Day of Hungarian-Polish Friendship (Hungary and Poland)
- Day of the Sea (Bolivia)
- Earliest day on which Easter Monday can fall, while April 26 is the latest; celebrated on Monday after Easter. (Western Christianity)
- Family Day (South Africa)
- Śmigus-Dyngus (Poland, Ukraine), Polish diaspora communities)
- Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Day (Azerbaijan)
- Pakistan Day (Pakistan)
- Promised Messiah Day (Ahmadiyya)
- World Meteorological Day
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March 17 in History
- 45 BC – In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
- 180 – Commodus becomes sole emperor of the Roman Empire at the age of eighteen, following the death of his father, Marcus Aurelius.
- 455 – Petronius Maximus becomes, with support of the Roman Senate, emperor of the Western Roman Empire; he forces Licinia Eudoxia, the widow of his predecessor, Valentinian III, to marry him.
- 1001 – The Raja of Butuan in what is now the Philippines sends a tributary mission to the Song dynasty.
- 1337 – Edward, the Black Prince is made Duke of Cornwall, the first Duchy in England.
- 1452 – The Battle of Los Alporchones is fought in the context of the Spanish Reconquista between the Emirate of Granada and the combined forces of the Kingdom of Castile and Murcia resulting in a Christian victory.
- 1560 – Fort Coligny on Villegagnon Island in Rio de Janeiro is attacked and destroyed during the Portuguese campaign against France Antarctique.
- 1677 – The Siege of Valenciennes, during the Franco-Dutch War, ends with France’s taking of the city.
- 1776 – American Revolution: The British Army evacuates Boston, ending the Siege of Boston, after George Washington and Henry Knox place artillery in positions overlooking the city.
- 1780 – American Revolution: George Washington grants the Continental Army a holiday “as an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence”.
- 1805 – The Italian Republic, with Napoleon as president, becomes the Kingdom of Italy, with Napoleon as King of Italy.
- 1824 – The Anglo-Dutch Treaty is signed in London, dividing the Malay archipelago. As a result, the Malay Peninsula is dominated by the British, while Sumatra and Java and surrounding areas are dominated by the Dutch.
- 1842 – The Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is formed.
- 1852 – Annibale De Gasparis discovers in Naples the asteroid Psyche from the north dome of the Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte
- 1860 – The First Taranaki War begins in Taranaki, New Zealand, a major phase of the New Zealand Wars.
- 1861 – The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed.
- 1891 – SS Utopia collides with HMS Anson in the Bay of Gibraltar and sinks, killing 562 of the 880 passengers on board.
- 1921 – The Second Polish Republic adopts the March Constitution.
- 1939 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanchang between the Kuomintang and Japan begins.
- 1941 – In Washington, D.C., the National Gallery of Art is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
- 1942 – Holocaust: The first Jews from the Lvov Ghetto are gassed at the Belzec death camp in what is today eastern Poland.
- 1945 – The Ludendorff Bridge in Remagen, Germany, collapses, ten days after its capture.
- 1947 – First flight of the B-45 Tornado strategic bomber.
- 1948 – Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Brussels, a precursor to the North Atlantic Treaty establishing NATO.
- 1950 – Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley announce the creation of element 98, which they name “californium”.
- 1957 – A plane crash in Cebu, Philippines kills Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others.
- 1958 – The United States launches the first solar-powered satellite.
- 1960 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the National Security Council directive on the anti-Cuban covert action program that will ultimately lead to the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
- 1963 – Mount Agung erupted on Bali killing more than 1,100 people.
- 1966 – Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the DSV Alvin submarine finds a missing American hydrogen bomb.
- 1968 – As a result of nerve gas testing by the U.S. Army Chemical Corps in Skull Valley, Utah, over 6,000 sheep are found dead.
- 1969 – Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister of Israel.
- 1973 – The Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Burst of Joy is taken, depicting a former prisoner of war being reunited with his family, which came to symbolize the end of United States involvement in the Vietnam War.
- 1979 – The Penmanshiel Tunnel collapses during engineering works, killing two workers.
- 1985 – Serial killer Richard Ramirez, aka the “Night Stalker”, commits the first two murders in his Los Angeles murder spree.
- 1988 – A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into a mountainside near the Venezuelan border killing 143.
- 1988 – Eritrean War of Independence: The Nadew Command, an Ethiopian army corps in Eritrea, is attacked on three sides by military units of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front in the opening action of the Battle of Afabet.
- 1992 – Israeli Embassy attack in Buenos Aires: Car bomb attack kills 29 and injures 242.
- 1992 – A referendum to end apartheid in South Africa is passed 68.7% to 31.2%.
- 2000 – Five hundred and thirty members of the Ugandan cult Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God die in a fire, considered to be a mass murder or suicide orchestrated by leaders of the cult. Elsewhere another 248 members are later found dead.
- 2003 – Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Robin Cook, resigns from the British Cabinet in disagreement with government plans for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
- 2004 – Unrest in Kosovo: More than 22 are killed and 200 wounded. Thirty-five Serbian Orthodox shrines in Kosovo and two mosques in Serbia are destroyed.
Births on March 17
- 763 – Harun al-Rashid, Abbasid caliph (d. 809)
- 1231 – Emperor Shijō of Japan (d. 1242)
- 1473 – James IV of Scotland (d. 1513)
- 1523 – Giovanni Francesco Commendone, Catholic cardinal (d. 1584)
- 1537 – Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Japanese daimyō (d. 1598)
- 1611 – Robert Douglas, Count of Skenninge, Swedish field marshal (d. 1662)
- 1665 – Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, French harpsichord player and composer (d. 1729)
- 1676 – Thomas Boston, Scottish philosopher and theologian (d. 1732)
- 1686 – Jean-Baptiste Oudry, French painter and engraver (d. 1755)
- 1725 – Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-American general and politician (d. 1806)
- 1777 – Patrick Brontë, Irish-English priest and author (d. 1861)
- 1777 – Roger B. Taney, American politician and jurist, 5th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1864)
- 1780 – Thomas Chalmers, Scottish minister, economist, and educator (d. 1847)
- 1781 – Ebenezer Elliott, English poet and educator (d. 1849)
- 1804 – Jim Bridger, American fur trader and explorer (d. 1881)
- 1806 – Norbert Rillieux, African American inventor and chemical engineer (d. 1894)
- 1820 – Jean Ingelow, English poet and author (d. 1897)
- 1834 – Gottlieb Daimler, German engineer and businessman, co-founded Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (d. 1900)
- 1839 – Josef Rheinberger, Liechtensteiner-German organist and composer (d. 1901)
- 1846 – Kate Greenaway, English author and illustrator (d. 1901)
- 1849 – Charles F. Brush, American businessman and philanthropist, co-invented the Arc lamp (d. 1929)
- 1849 – Cornelia Clapp, American marine biologist (d. 1934)
- 1856 – Mikhail Vrubel, Russian painter (d. 1910)
- 1862 – Silvio Gesell, Belgian merchant and economist (d. 1930)
- 1864 – Joseph Baptista, Indian engineer, lawyer, and politician (d. 1930)
- 1866 – Pierce Butler, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1939)
- 1867 – Patrice Contamine de Latour, Spanish poet (d. 1926)
- 1877 – Edith New, British militant suffragette (d. 1951)
- 1877 – Otto Gross, Austrian-German psychoanalyst and philosopher (d. 1920)
- 1880 – Patrick Hastings, English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (d. 1952)
- 1880 – Lawrence Oates, English lieutenant and explorer (d. 1912)
- 1881 – Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
- 1884 – Alcide Nunez, American clarinet player (d. 1934)
- 1885 – Ralph Rose, American track and field athlete (d. 1913)
- 1886 – Princess Patricia of Connaught (d. 1974)
- 1888 – Paul Ramadier, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1961)
- 1889 – Harry Clarke, Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator (d. 1931)
- 1891 – Ross McLarty, Australian politician, 17th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1962)
- 1892 – Sayed Darwish, Egyptian singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1923)
- 1894 – Paul Green, American playwright and academic (d. 1981)
- 1895 – Lloyd Rees, Australian painter (d. 1988)
- 1901 – Alfred Newman, American composer and conductor (d. 1970)
- 1902 – Bobby Jones, American golfer and lawyer (d. 1971)
- 1904 – Chaim Gross, Austrian-American sculptor and educator (d. 1991)
- 1906 – Brigitte Helm, German-Swiss actress (d. 1996)
- 1907 – Jean Van Houtte, Belgian academic and politician, 50th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 1991)
- 1907 – Takeo Miki, Japanese politician, 41st Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1988)
- 1910 – Sonny Werblin, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1991)
- 1912 – Bayard Rustin, American activist (d. 1987)
- 1914 – Sammy Baugh, American football player and coach (d. 2008)
- 1915 – Robert S. Arbib Jr., American ornithologist, writer and conservationist (d. 1987)
- 1915 – Ray Ellington, English drummer and bandleader (d. 1985)
- 1915 – Bill Roycroft, Australian equestrian rider (d. 2011)
- 1919 – Nat King Cole, American singer, pianist, and television host (d. 1965)
- 1920 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladeshi politician, 1st President of Bangladesh (d. 1975)
- 1921 – Meir Amit, Israeli general and politician, 12th Israeli Minister of Communications (d. 2009)
- 1922 – Patrick Suppes, American psychologist and philosopher (d. 2014)
- 1924 – Stephen Dodgson, English composer and educator (d. 2013)
- 1925 – Gabriele Ferzetti, Italian actor (d. 2015)
- 1926 – Siegfried Lenz, Polish-German author and playwright (d. 2014)
- 1927 – Betty Allen, American soprano and educator (d. 2009)
- 1928 – William John McKeag, Canadian businessman and politician, 17th Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (d. 2007)
- 1930 – Paul Horn, American-Canadian flute player and saxophonist (d. 2014)
- 1930 – James Irwin, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1991)
- 1931 – Patricia Breslin, American actress (d. 2011)
- 1931 – David Peakall, English-American chemist and toxicologist (d. 2001)
- 1933 – Myrlie Evers-Williams, American journalist and activist
- 1933 – Penelope Lively, English author
- 1935 – Fred T. Mackenzie, American biologist and academic
- 1935 – Adam Wade, American singer, drummer, and actor
- 1936 – Ida Kleijnen, Dutch chef (d. 2019)
- 1936 – Ladislav Kupkovič, Slovakian composer and conductor (d. 2016)
- 1936 – Ken Mattingly, American admiral, pilot, and astronaut
- 1937 – Galina Samsova, Russian ballerina
- 1938 – Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-French dancer and choreographer (d. 1993)
- 1938 – Keith O’Brien, Northern Ireland-born Scottish cleric, theologian, and cardinal (d. 2018)
- 1938 – Zola Taylor, American singer (d. 2007)
- 1939 – Jim Gary, American sculptor (d. 2006)
- 1939 – Bill Graham, Canadian academic and politician, 4th Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1939 – Robin Knox-Johnston, English sailor and first person to perform a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation of the globe
- 1939 – Giovanni Trapattoni, Italian footballer and manager
- 1940 – Mark White, American lawyer and politician, 43rd Governor of Texas (d. 2017)
- 1941 – Wang Jin-pyng, Taiwanese soldier and politician
- 1941 – Paul Kantner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)
- 1941 – Max Stafford-Clark, English director and academic
- 1942 – John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer and rapist (d. 1994)
- 1943 – Jeff Banks, Welsh fashion designer
- 1943 – Andrew Brook, Canadian philosopher, author, and academic
- 1944 – Pattie Boyd, English model, author, and photographer
- 1944 – Cito Gaston, American baseball player and manager
- 1944 – John Sebastian, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1945 – Michael Hayden, American general, 20th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
- 1947 – Dennis Bond, English footballer, midfielder
- 1947 – Yury Chernavsky, Russian-American songwriter and producer
- 1948 – William Gibson, American-Canadian author and screenwriter
- 1948 – Alex MacDonald, Scottish footballer and manager
- 1949 – Patrick Duffy, American actor, director, and producer
- 1949 – Pat Rice, Irish footballer and coach
- 1949 – Stuart Rose, English businessman
- 1951 – Scott Gorham, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1951 – Craig Ramsay, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1951 – Kurt Russell, American actor and producer
- 1952 – Barry Horne, English activist (d. 2001)
- 1953 – Filemon Lagman, Filipino activist (d. 2001)
- 1953 – Chuck Muncie, American football player (d. 2013)
- 1954 – Lesley-Anne Down, English actress
- 1955 – Cynthia McKinney, American activist and politician
- 1955 – Paul Overstreet, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1955 – Gary Sinise, American actor, director, and bass player
- 1956 – Patrick McDonnell, American author and illustrator
- 1956 – Rory McGrath, British comedian, television personality, and writer
- 1957 – Michael Kelly, American journalist and author (d. 2003)
- 1958 – Christian Clemenson, American actor
- 1959 – Danny Ainge, American baseball and basketball player
- 1959 – Paul Black, American singer-songwriter and drummer
- 1960 – Arye Gross, American actor
- 1960 – Vicki Lewis, American actress and singer
- 1961 – Sam Bowie, American basketball player
- 1961 – Dana Reeve, American actress, singer, and activist (d. 2006)
- 1961 – Casey Siemaszko, American actor
- 1962 – Carsten Almqvist, Swedish business executive
- 1962 – Ank Bijleveld, Dutch politician
- 1962 – Janet Gardner, American singer and guitarist
- 1962 – Clare Grogan, Scottish singer and actress
- 1962 – Rob Sitch, Australian actor, director, and producer
- 1963 – Roger Harper, Guyanese cricketer and coach
- 1964 – Stefano Borgonovo, Italian footballer (d. 2013)
- 1964 – Lee Dixon, English footballer and journalist
- 1964 – Rob Lowe, American actor and producer
- 1964 – Jacques Songo’o, Cameroonian footballer and coach
- 1965 – Andrew Hudson, South African cricketer
- 1966 – Andrew Rosindell, English journalist and politician
- 1967 – Jason Alchin, Australian rugby league player
- 1967 – Billy Corgan, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and producer
- 1967 – Barry Minkow, American pastor and businessman
- 1968 – Eri Nitta, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress
- 1968 – Mathew St. Patrick, American actor and producer
- 1969 – Edgar Grospiron, French skier
- 1969 – Alexander McQueen, English fashion designer, founded own eponymous brand (d. 2010)
- 1970 – Patrick Lebeau, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1970 – Gene Ween, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1971 – Bill Mueller, American baseball player and coach
- 1972 – Melissa Auf der Maur, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1972 – Torquil Campbell, English-Canadian singer-songwriter and actor
- 1972 – Mia Hamm, American soccer player
- 1973 – Rico Blanco, Filipino singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor
- 1973 – Caroline Corr, Irish singer and drummer
- 1973 – Vance Wilson, American baseball player and manager
- 1974 – Mark Dolan, English comedian and television host
- 1975 – Justin Hawkins, English singer-songwriter
- 1975 – Puneeth Rajkumar, Indian actor, singer, and producer
- 1975 – Test, Canadian-American wrestler (d. 2009)
- 1975 – Natalie Zea, American actress
- 1976 – Scott Downs, American baseball player
- 1976 – Stephen Gately, Irish singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2009)
- 1976 – Álvaro Recoba, Uruguayan footballer
- 1977 – Tamar Braxton, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1978 – Zachery Kouwe, American journalist
- 1979 – Stormy Daniels, born Stephanie Gregory, American adult film actress
- 1979 – Andrew Ference, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1979 – Stephen Kramer Glickman, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and fashion designer
- 1979 – Samoa Joe, American professional wrestler
- 1980 – Danny Califf, American soccer player
- 1980 – Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, Pakistani tennis player
- 1981 – Aaron Baddeley, American-Australian golfer
- 1981 – Servet Çetin, Turkish footballer
- 1981 – Kyle Korver, American basketball player
- 1981 – Nicky Jam, American-Puerto-Rican singer and songwriter
- 1982 – Steven Pienaar, South African footballer
- 1983 – James Heath, English golfer
- 1983 – Raul Meireles, Portuguese footballer
- 1983 – Attila Vajda, Hungarian sprint canoeist
- 1984 – Ryan Rottman, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1985 – Tuğba Karademir, Turkish-Canadian figure skater
- 1986 – Chris Davis, American baseball player
- 1986 – Edin Džeko, Bosnian footballer
- 1986 – Miles Kane, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1986 – Silke Spiegelburg, German pole vaulter
- 1987 – Federico Fazio, Argentinian international footballer, centre backland rugby league player
- 1987 – Ryan Parent, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1987 – Bobby Ryan, American ice hockey player
- 1987 – Emmanuel Sanders, American football player
- 1988 – Rasmus Elm, Swedish footballer
- 1988 – Fraser Forster, English footballer
- 1988 – Grimes, Canadian artist, musician and music video director
- 1988 – Ryan White, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1989 – Shinji Kagawa, Japanese footballer
- 1990 – Hozier, Irish singer-songwriter and musician
- 1990 – Saina Nehwal, Indian badminton player
- 1991 – Jack De Belin, Australian rugby league player
- 1992 – Patrick Cantlay, American golfer
- 1992 – John Boyega, English actor
- 1993 – Matteo Bianchetti, Italian footballer
- 1994 – Dean Britt, Australian rugby league player
- 1995 – Ashley Taylor, Australian rugby league player
- 1997 – Katie Ledecky, American swimmer
Deaths on March 17
- 45 BC – Titus Labienus, Roman general (b. 100 BC)
- 45 BC – Publius Attius Varus, Roman governor of Africa
- 180 – Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (b. 121)
- 624 – Amr ibn Hishām, Arab polytheist
- 659 – Gertrude of Nivelles, Frankish abbess
- 836 – Haito, bishop of Basel
- 905 – Li Yu, Prince of De, prince and emperor of the Tang Dynasty
- 1008 – Kazan, emperor of Japan (b. 968)
- 1040 – Harold Harefoot, king of England
- 1058 – Lulach, king of Scotland
- 1199 – Jocelin of Glasgow, Scottish monk and bishop (b. 1130)
- 1267 – Pierre de Montreuil, French architect
- 1270 – Philip of Montfort, French knight and nobleman
- 1272 – Go-Saga, emperor of Japan (b. 1220)
- 1361 – An-Nasir Hasan, Mamluk sultan of Egypt
- 1394 – Louis of Enghien, French nobleman
- 1406 – Ibn Khaldun, Tunisian sociologist, historian, and scholar (b. 1332)
- 1425 – Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Japanese shōgun (b. 1407)
- 1516 – Giuliano de’ Medici, Italian nobleman (b. 1479)
- 1527 – Rana Sanga, Indian ruler (b. 1482)
- 1565 – Alexander Ales, Scottish theologian and academic (b. 1500)
- 1611 – Sophia of Sweden, duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg (b. 1547)
- 1620 – John Sarkander, Polish-Moravian priest and saint (b. 1576)
- 1640 – Philip Massinger, English playwright (b. 1583)
- 1649 – Gabriel Lalemant, French missionary and saint (b. 1610)
- 1663 – Jerome Weston, 2nd Earl of Portland, English diplomat (b. 1605)
- 1680 – François de La Rochefoucauld, French author (b. 1613)
- 1704 – Menno van Coehoorn, Dutch soldier and engineer (b. 1641)
- 1715 – Gilbert Burnet, Scottish bishop and historian (b. 1643)
- 1741 – Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, French poet and playwright (b. 1671)
- 1764 – George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, English astronomer and politician (b. 1695)
- 1782 – Daniel Bernoulli, Dutch-Swiss mathematician and physicist (b. 1700)
- 1828 – James Edward Smith, English botanist and entomologist (b. 1759)
- 1829 – Sophia Albertina, princess-abbess of Quedlinburg (b. 1753)
- 1830 – Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, French general and politician (b. 1764)
- 1846 – Friedrich Bessel, German astronomer, mathematician, and physicist (b. 1784)
- 1849 – William II, Dutch sovereign prince and king (b. 1792)
- 1853 – Christian Doppler, Austrian physicist and mathematician (b. 1803)
- 1871 – Robert Chambers, Scottish geologist and publisher, co-founded Chambers Harrap (b. 1802)
- 1875 – Ferdinand Laub, Czech violinist and composer (b. 1832)
- 1893 – Jules Ferry, French lawyer and politician, 44th Prime Minister of France (b. 1832)
- 1917 – Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (b. 1838)
- 1926 – Aleksei Brusilov, Georgian-Russian general (b. 1853)
- 1937 – Austen Chamberlain, English politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1863)
- 1940 – Philomène Belliveau, Canadian artist (b. 1854)
- 1946 – Dai Li, Chinese general (b. 1897)
- 1949 – Aleksandra Ekster, Russian-French painter and set designer (b. 1882)
- 1956 – Fred Allen, American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and author (b. 1894)
- 1956 – Irène Joliot-Curie, French physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
- 1957 – Ramon Magsaysay, Filipino captain and politician, 7th President of the Philippines (b. 1907)
- 1958 – John Pius Boland, Irish tennis player and politician (b. 1870)
- 1958 – Bertha De Vriese, Belgian physician (b. 1877)
- 1961 – Susanna M. Salter, American activist and politician (b. 1860)
- 1965 – Amos Alonzo Stagg, American football player and coach (b. 1862)
- 1974 – Louis Kahn, American architect and academic, designed Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban (b. 1901)
- 1976 – Luchino Visconti, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1906)
- 1981 – Paul Dean, American baseball player (b. 1913)
- 1983 – Haldan Keffer Hartline, American physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
- 1983 – Louisa E. Rhine, American botanist and parapsychologist (b. 1891)
- 1986 – Clarence D. Lester, African-American fighter pilot (b.1923)
- 1990 – Capucine, French model and actress (b. 1928)
- 1992 – Grace Stafford, American actress (b. 1903)
- 1993 – Helen Hayes, American actress (b. 1900)
- 1994 – Mai Zetterling, Swedish-English actress and director (b. 1925)
- 1996 – René Clément, French director and screenwriter (b. 1913)
- 1996 – Terry Stafford, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
- 1997 – Jermaine Stewart, American singer-songwriter and dancer (b. 1957)
- 1999 – Ernest Gold, Austrian-American composer (b. 1921)
- 1999 – Jean Pierre-Bloch, French activist (b. 1905)
- 2002 – Rosetta LeNoire, American actress and producer (b. 1911)
- 2002 – Văn Tiến Dũng, Vietnamese general and politician, 6th Minister of Defence for Vietnam (b. 1917)
- 2002 – Sylvester “Pat” Weaver, American television broadcaster and producer (b. 1908)
- 2005 – Royce Frith, Canadian lawyer, politician, and diplomat, Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (b. 1923)
- 2005 – George F. Kennan, American historian and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union (b. 1904)
- 2005 – Andre Norton, American author (b. 1912)
- 2006 – Oleg Cassini, French-American fashion designer (b. 1913)
- 2006 – Ray Meyer, American basketball player and coach (b. 1913)
- 2006 – İstemihan Taviloğlu, Turkish composer and educator (b. 1945)
- 2007 – John Backus, American mathematician and computer scientist, designed Fortran (b. 1924)
- 2007 – Roger Bennett, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1959)
- 2008 – Roland Arnall, French-American businessman and diplomat, 63rd United States Ambassador to the Netherlands (b. 1939)
- 2009 – Clodovil Hernandes, Brazilian television host and politician (b. 1937)
- 2010 – Alex Chilton, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1950)
- 2010 – Sid Fleischman, American author and screenwriter (b. 1920)
- 2011 – Michael Gough, English actor (b. 1916)
- 2011 – Ferlin Husky, American country music singer (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Shenouda III, pope of Alexandria (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Margaret Whitlam, Australian swimmer and author (b. 1919)
- 2013 – William B. Caldwell III, American general (b. 1925)
- 2013 – Lawrence Fuchs, American scholar and academic (b. 1927)
- 2013 – A.B.C. Whipple, American journalist and historian (b. 1918)
- 2014 – Marek Galiński, Polish cyclist (b. 1974)
- 2014 – Joseph Kerman, American musicologist and critic (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Rachel Lambert Mellon, American gardener, philanthropist, art collector and political patron (b. 1910)
- 2015 – Frank Perris, Canadian motorcycle racer (b. 1931)
- 2016 – Meir Dagan, Israeli general (b. 1945)
- 2016 – Zoltán Kamondi, Hungarian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1960)
- 2018 – Mike MacDonald, Canadian comedian (b. 1954)
- 2018 – Phan Văn Khải, the fifth Prime Minister of Vietnam (b. 1933)
Holidays and observances on March 17
- Children’s Day (Bangladesh)
- Christian feast day:
- Alexius of Rome (Eastern Church)
- Gertrude of Nivelles
- John Sarkander
- Joseph of Arimathea (Western Church)
- Patrick of Ireland
- March 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Evacuation Day (Suffolk County, Massachusetts)
- Saint Patrick’s Day, a public holiday in Ireland, Montserrat and the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, widely celebrated in the English-speaking world and to a lesser degree in other parts of the world.
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February 26 in History
- 747 BC – Epoch (origin) of Ptolemy’s Nabonassar Era.
- 364 – Valentinian I is proclaimed Roman emperor
- 1233 – Mongol–Jin War: The Mongols capture Kaifeng, the capital of the Jin dynasty, after besieging it for months.
- 1266 – Battle of Benevento: An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by Manfred, King of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.
- 1365 – The Ava Kingdom and the royal city of Ava (Inwa) founded by King Thado Minbya
- 1606 – The Janszoon voyage of 1605–06 becomes the first European expedition to set foot on Australia, although it is mistaken as a part of New Guinea.
- 1616 – Galileo Galilei is formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun.
- 1775 – The British East India Company factory on Balambangan Island is destroyed by Moro pirates
- 1794 – The first Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen burns down.
- 1815 – Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba.
- 1876 – Japan and Korea sign a treaty granting Japanese citizens extraterritoriality rights, opening three ports to Japanese trade, and ending Korea’s status as a tributary state of Qing dynasty China.
- 1909 – Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, is first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London.
- 1914 – HMHS Britannic, sister to the RMS Titanic, is launched at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.
- 1919 – President Woodrow Wilson signs an act of Congress establishing the Grand Canyon National Park.
- 1929 – President Calvin Coolidge signs an executive order establishing the 96,000 acre Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
- 1935 – Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.
- 1935 – Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads directly to the development of radar in the United Kingdom.
- 1936 – In the February 26 Incident, young Japanese military officers attempt to stage a coup against the government.
- 1952 – Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada.
- 1960 – A New York-bound Alitalia airliner crashes into a cemetery in Shannon, Ireland, shortly after takeoff, killing 34 of the 52 persons on board.
- 1966 – Apollo program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket
- 1971 – U.N. Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.
- 1979 – The Superliner railcar enters revenue service with Amtrak.
- 1980 – Egypt and Israel establish full diplomatic relations.
- 1987 – Iran–Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.
- 1992 – Nagorno-Karabakh War: Khojaly Massacre: Armenian armed forces open fire on Azeri civilians at a military post outside the town of Khojaly leaving hundreds dead.
- 1993 – World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing six and injuring over a thousand people.
- 1995 – The UK’s oldest investment banking institute, Barings Bank, collapses after a rogue securities broker Nick Leeson loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange using futures contracts.
- 2008 – The New York Philharmonic performs in Pyongyang, North Korea; this is the first event of its kind to take place in North Korea.
- 2012 – Trayvon Martin was shot and killed at the age of 17 in Sanford, Florida.
- 2012 – A train derails in Burlington, Ontario, Canada killing at least three people and injuring 45.
- 2013 – A hot air balloon crashes near Luxor, Egypt, killing 19 people.
Births on February 26
- 1361 – Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia (d. 1419)
- 1416 – Christopher of Bavaria (d. 1448)
- 1564 – Christopher Marlowe, English playwright, poet and translator (d. 1593)
- 1584 – Albert VI, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1666)
- 1587 – Stefano Landi, Italian composer and educator (d. 1639)
- 1629 – Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, Scottish peer (d. 1685)
- 1651 – Quirinus Kuhlmann, German Baroque poet and mystic (d. 1689)
- 1671 – Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English philosopher and politician (d. 1713)
- 1672 – Antoine Augustin Calmet, French monk and theologian (d. 1757)
- 1677 – Nicola Fago, Italian composer and teacher (d. 1745)
- 1718 – Johan Ernst Gunnerus, Norwegian bishop, botanist and zoologist (d. 1773)
- 1720 – Gian Francesco Albani, Italian cardinal (d. 1803)
- 1746 – Maria Amalia, Duchess of Parma (d. 1806)
- 1770 – Anton Reicha, Bohemian composer and flautist (d. 1836)
- 1777 – Matija Nenadović, Serbian priest, historian, and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Serbia (d. 1854)
- 1786 – François Arago, French mathematician and politician, 25th Prime Minister of France (d. 1853)
- 1799 – Benoît Paul Émile Clapeyron, French physicist and engineer (d. 1864)
- 1802 – Victor Hugo, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1885)
- 1808 – Honoré Daumier, French painter, illustrator, and sculptor (d. 1879)
- 1808 – Nathan Kelley, American architect, designed the Ohio Statehouse (d. 1871)
- 1829 – Levi Strauss, German-American fashion designer, founded Levi Strauss & Co. (d. 1902)
- 1842 – Camille Flammarion, French astronomer and author (d. 1925)
- 1846 – Buffalo Bill, American soldier and hunter (d. 1917)
- 1852 – John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon, co-created Corn flakes (d. 1943)
- 1857 – Émile Coué, French psychologist and pharmacist (d. 1926)
- 1861 – Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (d. 1948)
- 1861 – Nadezhda Krupskaya, Russian soldier and politician (d. 1939)
- 1866 – Herbert Henry Dow, Canadian-American businessman, founded the Dow Chemical Company (d. 1930)
- 1877 – Henry Barwell, Australian politician, 28th Premier of South Australia (d. 1959)
- 1877 – Rudolph Dirks, German-American illustrator (d. 1968)
- 1879 – Frank Bridge, English viola player and composer (d. 1941)
- 1880 – Kenneth Edgeworth, Irish astronomer (d. 1972)
- 1881 – Janus Djurhuus, Faroese poet (d. 1948)
- 1882 – Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (d. 1968)
- 1885 – Aleksandras Stulginskis, Lithuanian farmer and politician, 2nd President of Lithuania (d. 1969)
- 1887 – Grover Cleveland Alexander, American baseball player and coach (d. 1950)
- 1887 – William Frawley, American actor and vaudevillian (d. 1966)
- 1887 – Stefan Grabiński, Polish author and educator (d. 1936)
- 1893 – Wallace Fard Muhammad, American religious leader, founded the Nation of Islam (disappeared 1934)
- 1893 – Dorothy Whipple, English novelist (d. 1966)
- 1896 – Andrei Zhdanov, Ukrainian-Russian civil servant and politician (d. 1948)
- 1899 – Max Petitpierre, Swiss jurist and politician, 54th President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1994)
- 1900 – Halina Konopacka, Polish discus thrower and poet (d. 1989)
- 1900 – Fritz Wiessner, German-American mountaineer (d. 1988)
- 1902 – Jean Bruller, French author and illustrator, co-founded Les Éditions de Minuit (d. 1991)
- 1903 – Giulio Natta, Italian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
- 1903 – Orde Wingate, English general (d. 1944)
- 1906 – Madeleine Carroll, English actress (d. 1987)
- 1908 – Tex Avery, American animator, producer, and voice actor (d. 1980)
- 1908 – Nestor Mesta Chayres, Mexican operatic tenor and bolero vocalist (d. 1971)
- 1908 – Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (d. 1949)
- 1909 – Fanny Cradock, English chef, author, and critic (d. 1994)
- 1909 – Talal of Jordan (d. 1972)
- 1910 – Vic Woodley, English footballer (d. 1978)
- 1911 – Tarō Okamoto, Japanese painter and sculptor (d. 1996)
- 1912 – Dane Clark, American actor and director (d. 1998)
- 1913 – George Barker, English author and poet (d. 1991)
- 1914 – Robert Alda, American actor, singer, and director (d. 1986)
- 1916 – Jackie Gleason, American actor and singer (d. 1987)
- 1918 – Otis R. Bowen, American physician and politician, 44th Governor of Indiana (d. 2013)
- 1918 – Pyotr Masherov, Leader of Soviet Belarus (d. 1980)
- 1918 – Theodore Sturgeon, American author and critic (d. 1985)
- 1919 – Mason Adams, American actor (d. 2005)
- 1920 – Danny Gardella, American baseball player and trainer (d. 2005)
- 1920 – Tony Randall, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist and author (d. 2006)
- 1921 – Betty Hutton, American actress and singer (d. 2007)
- 1922 – Bill Johnston, Australian cricketer and businessman (d. 2007)
- 1922 – Margaret Leighton, English actress (d. 1976)
- 1924 – Noboru Takeshita, Japanese soldier and politician, 74th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2000)
- 1924 – Marc Bucci, American composer, lyricist, and dramatist (d. 2002)
- 1925 – Everton Weekes, Barbadian cricketer and referee
- 1926 – Doris Belack, American actress (d. 2011)
- 1926 – Verne Gagne, American football player, wrestler, and trainer (d. 2015)
- 1927 – Tom Kennedy, American game show host and actor
- 1928 – Fats Domino, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2017)
- 1928 – Ariel Sharon, Israeli general and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Israel (d. 2014)
- 1931 – Ally MacLeod, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2004)
- 1931 – Robert Novak, American journalist and author (d. 2009)
- 1931 – Josephine Tewson, English actress
- 1932 – Johnny Cash, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2003)
- 1933 – James Goldsmith, French-British businessman and politician (d. 1997)
- 1934 – Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, Algerian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1936 – José Policarpo, Portuguese cardinal (d. 2014)
- 1937 – Paul Dickson, American football player and coach (d. 2011)
- 1939 – Chuck Wepner, American professional boxer
- 1940 – Oldřich Kulhánek, Czech painter, illustrator, and stage designer (d. 2013)
- 1942 – Jozef Adamec, Slovak footballer and manager (d. 2018)
- 1943 – Paul Cotton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1943 – Bill Duke, American actor and director
- 1943 – Dante Ferretti, Italian art director and costume designer
- 1943 – Bob “The Bear” Hite, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 1981)
- 1944 – Christopher Hope, South African author and poet
- 1944 – Ronald Lauder, American businessman and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Austria
- 1945 – Peter Brock, Australian race car driver (d. 2006)
- 1945 – Marta Kristen, Norwegian-American actress
- 1945 – Mitch Ryder, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1946 – Colin Bell, English footballer
- 1946 – Ahmed Zewail, Egyptian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016)
- 1947 – Sandie Shaw, English singer and psychotherapist
- 1948 – Sharyn McCrumb, American author
- 1949 – Simon Crean, Australian trade union leader and politician, 14th Australian Minister for the Arts
- 1949 – Elizabeth George, American author and educator
- 1949 – Emma Kirkby, English soprano
- 1950 – Jonathan Cain, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
- 1950 – Helen Clark, New Zealand academic and politician, 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand
- 1951 – Steve Bell, English cartoonist
- 1951 – Wayne Goss, Australian lawyer and politician, 34th Premier of Queensland (d. 2014)
- 1953 – Michael Bolton, American singer-songwriter and actor
- 1954 – Prince Ernst August of Hanover
- 1954 – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkish politician, 12th President of Turkey
- 1955 – Andreas Maislinger, Austrian historian and academic, founded the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service
- 1956 – Michel Houellebecq, French author, poet, screenwriter, and director
- 1957 – David Beasley, American lawyer and politician, 113th Governor of South Carolina
- 1957 – Joe Mullen, American ice hockey player and coach
- 1957 – Keena Rothhammer, American swimmer
- 1958 – Paul Ackford, English rugby player
- 1958 – Greg Germann, American actor and director
- 1958 – Susan Helms, American general, engineer, and astronaut
- 1958 – Tim Kaine, American lawyer and politician, 70th Governor of Virginia
- 1959 – Rolando Blackman, American basketball player and coach
- 1959 – Ahmet Davutoğlu, Turkish political scientist, academic, and politician, 37th Prime Minister of Turkey
- 1960 – Jaz Coleman, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
- 1962 – Ahn Cheol-soo, South Korean physician, academic, and politician
- 1963 – Chase Masterson, American actress, singer, and activist
- 1965 – James Mitchell, American wrestler and manager
- 1966 – Garry Conille, Haitian physician and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Haiti
- 1966 – Marc Fortier, French-Canadian ice hockey player
- 1966 – Najwa Karam, Lebanese singer
- 1967 – Mark Carroll, Australian rugby league player
- 1967 – Kazuyoshi Miura, Japanese footballer
- 1968 – Tim Commerford, American bass player
- 1969 – Hitoshi Sakimoto, Japanese composer and producer
- 1970 – Mark Harper, English accountant and politician, Minister of State for Immigration
- 1970 – Scott Mahon, Australian rugby league player
- 1971 – Erykah Badu, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
- 1971 – Max Martin, Swedish-American record producer and songwriter
- 1971 – Hélène Segara, French singer-songwriter and actress
- 1973 – Marshall Faulk, American football player
- 1973 – Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Norwegian footballer and manager
- 1973 – Jenny Thompson, American swimmer
- 1974 – Sébastien Loeb, French race car driver
- 1974 – Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, Filipina television actress, host and equestrienne
- 1976 – Nalini Anantharaman, French mathematician
- 1976 – Chad Urmston, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1977 – Marty Reasoner, American ice hockey player and coach
- 1977 – Tim Thomas, American basketball player
- 1977 – Shane Williams, Welsh rugby union player
- 1978 – Abdoulaye Faye, Senegalese footballer
- 1979 – Corinne Bailey Rae, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1979 – Steve Evans, Welsh footballer
- 1979 – Pedro Mendes, Portuguese international footballer, midfielder
- 1980 – Steve Blake, American basketball player
- 1981 – Kertus Davis, American race car driver
- 1981 – Oh Seung-bum, South Korean footballer
- 1982 – Li Na, Chinese tennis player
- 1982 – Matt Prior, South African-English cricketer
- 1982 – Nate Ruess, American singer-songwriter
- 1983 – Jerome Harrison, American football player
- 1983 – Pepe, Brazilian-Portuguese footballer
- 1984 – Emmanuel Adebayor, Togolese international footballer, forward
- 1984 – Natalia Lafourcade, Mexican singer-songwriter
- 1984 – Beren Saat, Turkish actress
- 1985 – Fernando Llorente, Spanish international footballer, striker
- 1986 – Hannah Kearney, American skier
- 1989 – Gabriel Obertan, French footballer
- 1990 – Kateřina Cachová, Czech heptathlete
- 1990 – Takanoiwa Yoshimori, Mongolian sumo wrestler
- 1991 – Lee Chae-rin, South Korean singer
- 1992 – Mikael Granlund, Finnish professional hockey player
- 1992 – Michael Chee Kam, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1997 – Reghan Tumilty, Scottish footballer
Deaths on February 26
- 420 – Porphyry of Gaza, Greek bishop and saint (b. 347)
- 943 – Muirchertach mac Néill, king of Ailech (Ireland)
- 1154 – Roger II of Sicily (b. 1093)
- 1266 – Manfred, King of Sicily (b. 1232)
- 1275 – Margaret of England, Queen consort of Scots (b. 1240)
- 1349 – Fatima bint al-Ahmar, Nasrid princess in the Emirate of Granada (b. c.1260)
- 1360 – Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, English commander (b. 1328)
- 1462 – John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, English politician (b. 1408)
- 1548 – Lorenzino de’ Medici, Italian writer and assassin (b. 1514)
- 1577 – Eric XIV of Sweden (b. 1533)
- 1603 – Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress, spouse of Maximilian II (b. 1528)
- 1608 – John Still, English bishop (b. 1543)
- 1611 – Antonio Possevino, Italian priest and diplomat (b. 1533)
- 1625 – Anna Vasa of Sweden, Polish and Swedish princess (b. 1568)
- 1630 – William Brade, English violinist and composer (b. 1560)
- 1638 – Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac, French mathematician and linguist (b. 1581)
- 1723 – Thomas d’Urfey, English poet and playwright (b. 1653)
- 1726 – Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1662)
- 1770 – Giuseppe Tartini, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1692)
- 1790 – Joshua Rowley, English admiral (b. 1730)
- 1802 – Esek Hopkins, American admiral (b. 1718)
- 1806 – Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, Haitian-French general (b. 1762)
- 1813 – Robert R. Livingston, American lawyer and politician, 1st United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs (b. 1746)
- 1815 – Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (b. 1737)
- 1821 – Joseph de Maistre, French lawyer and diplomat (b. 1753)
- 1864 – Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, Canadian jurist and politician, 3rd Premier of Canada East (b. 1807)
- 1883 – Alexandros Koumoundouros, Greek lawyer and politician, 56th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1817)
- 1887 – Anandi Gopal Joshi, First Indian women physician (b. 1865)
- 1889 – Karl Davydov, Russian cellist and composer (b. 1838)
- 1903 – Richard Jordan Gatling, American engineer, invented the Gatling gun (b. 1818)
- 1906 – Jean Lanfray, Swiss convicted murderer (b. 1874)
- 1913 – Felix Draeseke, German composer and academic (b. 1835)
- 1921 – Carl Menger, Polish-Austrian economist and academic (b. 1840)
- 1930 – Mary Whiton Calkins, American philosopher and psychologist (b. 1863)
- 1931 – Otto Wallach, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1847)
- 1936 – February 26 Incident:
- Takahashi Korekiyo, Japanese accountant and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1854)
- Saitō Makoto, Japanese admiral and politician, 30th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1858)
- Jōtarō Watanabe, Japanese general (b. 1874)
- 1943 – Theodor Eicke, German general (b. 1892)
- 1945 – Sándor Szurmay, Minister of Defence of the Hungarian portion of Austria-Hungary (b. 1860)
- 1947 – Heinrich Häberlin, Swiss judge and politician, President of the Swiss National Council (b. 1868)
- 1950 – Harry Lauder, Scottish comedian and singer (b. 1870)
- 1951 – Sabiha Kasimati, Albanian ichthyologist (b. 1912) executed with 20 others
- 1952 – Theodoros Pangalos, Greek general and politician, President of Greece (b. 1878)
- 1961 – Karl Albiker, German sculptor, lithographer, and educator (b. 1878)
- 1961 – Mohammed V of Morocco (b. 1909)
- 1966 – Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian poet and politician (b. 1883)
- 1969 – Levi Eshkol, Israeli soldier and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1895)
- 1969 – Karl Jaspers, German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher (b. 1883)
- 1981 – Robert Aickman, English author and activist (b. 1914)
- 1981 – Howard Hanson, American composer, conductor, and educator (b. 1896)
- 1985 – Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch-American economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
- 1989 – Roy Eldridge, American trumpet player (b. 1911)
- 1993 – Constance Ford, American model and actress (b. 1923)
- 1994 – Bill Hicks, American comedian (b. 1961)
- 1995 – Jack Clayton, English director and producer (b. 1921)
- 1997 – David Doyle, American actor (b. 1929)
- 1998 – Theodore Schultz, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
- 2000 – George L. Street III, American captain, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1913)
- 2002 – Lawrence Tierney, American actor (b. 1919)
- 2004 – Adolf Ehrnrooth, Finnish general (b. 1905)
- 2004 – Boris Trajkovski, Macedonian politician, 2nd President of the Republic of Macedonia (b. 1956)
- 2005 – Jef Raskin, American computer scientist, created Macintosh (b. 1943)
- 2006 – Georgina Battiscombe, British biographer (b. 1905)
- 2008 – Bodil Udsen, Danish actress (b. 1925)
- 2009 – Johnny Kerr, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1932)
- 2009 – Wendy Richard, English actress (b. 1943)
- 2009 – Norm Van Lier, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1947)
- 2010 – Jun Seba, also known as “Nujabes”, Japanese record producer, DJ, composer and arranger (b. 1974)
- 2011 – Arnošt Lustig, Czech author, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
- 2012 – Richard Carpenter, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1929)
- 2013 – Marie-Claire Alain, French organist and educator (b. 1926)
- 2013 – Stéphane Hessel, German-French diplomat and author (b. 1917)
- 2013 – Simon Li, Hong Kong judge and politician (b. 1922)
- 2014 – Sorel Etrog, Romanian-Canadian sculptor, painter, and illustrator (b. 1933)
- 2014 – Phyllis Krasilovsky, American author and academic (b. 1927)
- 2014 – Paco de Lucía, Spanish guitarist, songwriter, and producer (b. 1947)
- 2015 – Sheppard Frere, English historian and archaeologist (b. 1916)
- 2015 – Theodore Hesburgh, American priest, theologian, educator, and academic (b. 1917)
- 2015 – Earl Lloyd, American basketball player and coach (b. 1928)
- 2015 – Tom Schweich, American lawyer and politician, 36th State Auditor of Missouri (b. 1960)
- 2016 – Andy Bathgate, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1932)
- 2016 – Don Getty, Canadian football player and politician, 11th Premier of Alberta (b. 1933)
- 2017 – Joseph Wapner, American lieutenant and judge (b. 1919)
Holidays and observances on February 26
- Christian feast day:
- Alexander of Alexandria
- Emily Malbone Morgan (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Isabelle of France
- Li Tim-Oi (Anglican Church of Canada)
- Porphyry of Gaza
- February 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- The first day of Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá’í Faith) (Please note that this observance is only locked into this date the Gregorian calendar on this date if Bahá’í Naw-Rúz takes place on March 21, which it doesn’t in all years)
- Day of Remembrance for Victims of Khojaly Massacre (Azerbaijan)
- Liberation Day (Kuwait)
- Saviours’ Day (Nation of Islam)