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

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

    Births on July 31

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

    Deaths on July 31

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

    Holidays and observances on July 31

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

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

    • 1358 – The Republic of Ragusa is founded.
    • 1497 – Cornish rebels Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank are executed at Tyburn, London, England.
    • 1556 – The thirteen Stratford Martyrs are burned at the stake near London for their Protestant beliefs.
    • 1743 – In the Battle of Dettingen, George II becomes the last reigning British monarch to participate in a battle.
    • 1760 – Anglo-Cherokee War: Cherokee warriors defeat British forces at the Battle of Echoee near present-day Otto, North Carolina.
    • 1806 – British forces take Buenos Aires during the first of the British invasions of the River Plate.
    • 1844 – Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, and his brother Hyrum Smith, are killed by a mob at the Carthage, Illinois jail.
    • 1864 – American Civil War: Confederate forces defeat Union forces during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain during the Atlanta Campaign.
    • 1869 – The Republic of Ezo on the island of Hokkaido ends after being defeated by Japanese Imperial troops.
    • 1895 – The inaugural run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s Royal Blue from Washington, D.C., to New York City, the first U.S. passenger train to use electric locomotives.
    • 1898 – The first solo circumnavigation of the globe is completed by Joshua Slocum from Briar Island, Nova Scotia.
    • 1905 – During the Russo-Japanese War, sailors start a mutiny aboard the Russian battleship Potemkin.
    • 1908 – A group of Vietnamese tirailleurs conducts a failed attempt to poison the entire French army’s garrison in the Hanoi Citadel with the aim to make way for Hoàng Hoa Thám’s rebel army to capture Hanoi.
    • 1923 – Capt. Lowell H. Smith and Lt. John P. Richter perform the first ever aerial refueling in a DH.4B biplane.
    • 1927 – Prime Minister of Japan Tanaka Giichi convenes an eleven-day conference to discuss Japan’s strategy in China. The Tanaka Memorial, a forged plan for world domination, is later claimed to be a secret report leaked from this conference.
    • 1941 – Romanian authorities launch one of the most violent pogroms in Jewish history in the city of Iași, resulting in the murder of at least 13,266 Jews.
    • 1941 – World War II: German troops capture the city of Białystok during Operation Barbarossa.
    • 1946 – In the Canadian Citizenship Act, the Parliament of Canada establishes the definition of Canadian citizenship.
    • 1950 – The United States decides to send troops to fight in the Korean War.
    • 1954 – The Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant, the Soviet Union’s first nuclear power station, opens in Obninsk, near Moscow.
    • 1954 – The FIFA World Cup quarterfinal match between Hungary and Brazil, highly anticipated to be exciting, instead turns violent, with three players ejected and further fighting continuing after the game.
    • 1957 – Hurricane Audrey makes landfall near the Texas–Louisiana border, killing over 400 people, mainly in and around Cameron, Louisiana.
    • 1973 – The President of Uruguay Juan María Bordaberry dissolves Parliament and establishes a dictatorship.
    • 1974 – U.S. president Richard Nixon visits the Soviet Union.
    • 1976 – Air France Flight 139 (Tel Aviv-Athens-Paris) is hijacked en route to Paris by the PLO and redirected to Entebbe, Uganda.
    • 1977 – France grants independence to Djibouti.
    • 1980 – The ‘Ustica massacre’: Itavia Flight 870 crashes in the sea while en route from Bologna to Palermo, Italy, killing all 81 on board.
    • 1981 – The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issues its “Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of the People’s Republic of China”, laying the blame for the Cultural Revolution on Mao Zedong.
    • 1982 – Space Shuttle Columbia launched from the Kennedy Space Center on the final research and development flight mission, STS-4.
    • 1988 – The Gare de Lyon rail accident in Paris, France, kills 56 people.
    • 1991 – Slovenia, after declaring independence two days before is invaded by Yugoslav troops, tanks, and aircraft starting the Ten-Day War.
    • 1994 – Members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult release sarin gas in Matsumoto, Japan. Seven people are killed, 660 injured.
    • 2007 – Tony Blair resigns as British Prime Minister, a position he had held since 1997. His Chancellor, Gordon Brown succeeds him.
    • 2007 – The Brazilian Military Police invades the favelas of Complexo do Alemão in an episode which is remembered as the Complexo do Alemão massacre.
    • 2008 – In a highly scrutinized election President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe is re-elected in a landslide after his opponent Morgan Tsvangirai had withdrawn a week earlier, citing violence against his party’s supporters.
    • 2013 – NASA launches the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, a space probe to observe the Sun.
    • 2014 – At least fourteen people are killed when a Gas Authority of India Limited pipeline explodes in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, India.
    • 2015 – Formosa Fun Coast fire: A dust fire occurs at a recreational water park in Taiwan, killing 15 people and injuring 497 others, 199 critically.
    • 2017 – A series of powerful cyberattacks using the Petya malware target websites of Ukrainian organizations and counterparts with Ukrainian connections around the globe.

    Births on June 27

    • 850 – Ibrahim II of Ifriqiya, Aghlabid emir (d. 902)
    • 1350 – Manuel II Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (d. 1425)
    • 1430 – Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter, Lancastrian leader (d. 1475)
    • 1462 – Louis XII, king of France (d. 1515)
    • 1464 – Ernst II of Saxony, Archbishop of Magdeburg (1476–1513) (d. 1513)
    • 1497 – Ernest I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1546)
    • 1550 – Charles IX, king of France (d. 1574)
    • 1596 – Maximilian, Prince of Dietrichstein (d. 1655)
    • 1696 – William Pepperrell, American merchant and soldier (d. 1759)
    • 1717 – Louis-Guillaume Le Monnier, French botanist and physicist (d. 1799)
    • 1767 – Alexis Bouvard, French astronomer and academic (d. 1843)
    • 1805 – Napoléon Coste, French guitarist and composer (d. 1883)
    • 1806 – Augustus De Morgan, English mathematician and logician (d. 1871)
    • 1812 – Anna Cabot Lowell Quincy Waterston, American writer (d. 1899)
    • 1817 – Louise von François, German author (d. 1893)
    • 1828 – Bryan O’Loghlen, Irish-Australian politician, 13th Premier of Victoria (d. 1905)
    • 1838 – Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Indian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1894)
    • 1838 – Paul Mauser, German weapon designer, designed the Gewehr 98 (d. 1914)
    • 1846 – Charles Stewart Parnell, Irish politician (d. 1891)
    • 1850 – Jørgen Pedersen Gram, Danish mathematician and academic (d. 1919)
    • 1850 – Lafcadio Hearn, Greek-Japanese historian and author (d. 1904)
    • 1862 – May Irwin, Canadian-American actress and singer (d. 1938)
    • 1865 – John Monash, Australian engineer and general (d. 1931)
    • 1869 – Kate Carew, American illustrator and journalist (d. 1961)
    • 1869 – Emma Goldman, Lithuanian-Canadian philosopher and activist (d. 1940)
    • 1869 – Hans Spemann, German embryologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1941)
    • 1870 – Frank Rattray Lillie, American zoologist and embryologist (d. 1947)
    • 1872 – Heber Doust Curtis, American astronomer (d. 1942)
    • 1872 – Paul Laurence Dunbar, American author, poet, and playwright (d. 1906)
    • 1880 – Helen Keller, American author, academic, and activist (d. 1968)
    • 1882 – Eduard Spranger, German philosopher and academic (d. 1963)
    • 1884 – Gaston Bachelard, French philosopher and poet (d. 1962)
    • 1885 – Pierre Montet, French historian and academic (d. 1966)
    • 1885 – Guilhermina Suggia, Portuguese cellist (d. 1950)
    • 1886 – Charlie Macartney, Australian cricketer and soldier (d. 1958)
    • 1888 – Lewis Bernstein Namier, Polish-English historian and academic (d. 1960)
    • 1888 – Antoinette Perry, American actress and director (d. 1946)
    • 1892 – Paul Colin, French illustrator (d. 1985)
    • 1899 – Juan Trippe, American businessman, founded Pan American World Airways (d. 1981)
    • 1900 – Dixie Brown, British boxer (d. 1957)
    • 1901 – Merle Tuve, American geophysicist and academic (d. 1982)
    • 1905 – Armand Mondou, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1976)
    • 1906 – Catherine Cookson, English author and philanthropist (d. 1998)
    • 1906 – Vernon Watkins, Welsh-American poet and painter (d. 1967)
    • 1907 – John McIntire, American actor (d. 1991)
    • 1908 – João Guimarães Rosa, Brazilian physician and author (d. 1967)
    • 1911 – Marion M. Magruder, American Marine officer, commander of the VMF(N)-533 squadron. (d. 1997)
    • 1912 – E. R. Braithwaite, Guyanese novelist, writer, teacher, and diplomat (d. 2016)
    • 1913 – Elton Britt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1972)
    • 1913 – Philip Guston, American painter and academic (d. 1980)
    • 1913 – Willie Mosconi, American pool player (d. 1993)
    • 1914 – Robert Aickman, English author and activist, co-founded the Inland Waterways Association (d. 1981)
    • 1914 – Helena Benitez, Filipina academic and administrator (d. 2016)
    • 1914 – Margaret Ekpo, Nigerian women’s rights activist, social mobilizer and politician (d. 2006)
    • 1914 – Giorgio Almirante, Italian journalist and politician (d. 1988)
    • 1915 – Grace Lee Boggs, American philosopher, author, and activist (d. 2015)
    • 1915 – Aideu Handique, Indian actress (d. 2002)
    • 1915 – John Alexander Moore, American zoologist and academic (d. 2002)
    • 1916 – Robert Normann, Norwegian guitarist (d. 1998)
    • 1918 – Adolph Kiefer, American swimmer (d. 2017)
    • 1919 – M. Carl Holman, American author, educator, poet, and playwright (d. 1988)
    • 1919 – Amala Shankar, Indian danseuse
    • 1920 – Fernando Riera, Chilean football player and manager (d. 2010)
    • 1921 – Muriel Pavlow, English actress (d. 2019)
    • 1922 – George Walker, American composer (d. 2018)
    • 1923 – Jacques Berthier, French organist and composer (d. 1994)
    • 1923 – Elmo Hope, American pianist and composer (d. 1967)
    • 1924 – Bob Appleyard, English cricketer and businessman (d. 2015)
    • 1925 – Leonard Lerman, American geneticist and biologist (d. 2012)
    • 1925 – Doc Pomus, American singer-songwriter (d. 1991)
    • 1925 – Wayne Terwilliger, American second baseman, coach, and manager
    • 1927 – Bob Keeshan, American actor and producer (d. 2004)
    • 1928 – James Lincoln Collier, American journalist and author
    • 1928 – Rudy Perpich, American dentist and politician, 34th Governor of Minnesota (d. 1995)
    • 1929 – Dick the Bruiser, American football player and wrestler (d. 1991)
    • 1929 – Peter Maas, American journalist and author (d. 2001)
    • 1930 – Ross Perot, American businessman and politician (d. 2019)
    • 1931 – Charles Bronfman, Canadian-American businessman and philanthropist
    • 1931 – Martinus J. G. Veltman, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1932 – Eddie Kasko, American baseball player and manager (d. 2020)
    • 1932 – Anna Moffo, American operatic soprano (d. 2006)
    • 1932 – Hugh Wood, English composer
    • 1936 – Lucille Clifton, American author and poet (d. 2010)
    • 1936 – Shirley Anne Field, English actress
    • 1937 – Joseph P. Allen, American physicist and astronaut
    • 1937 – Otto Herrigel, Namibian lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1937 – Kirkpatrick Sale, American author and scholar
    • 1938 – Bruce Babbitt, American lawyer and politician, 47th United States Secretary of the Interior
    • 1938 – David Hope, Baron Hope of Craighead, Scottish lieutenant and judge
    • 1938 – Konrad Kujau, German illustrator (d. 2000)
    • 1939 – R. D. Burman, Indian singer-songwriter (d. 1994)
    • 1939 – Neil Hawke, Australian cricketer and footballer (d. 2000)
    • 1940 – Ian Lang, Baron Lang of Monkton, Scottish politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
    • 1941 – Bill Baxley, American lawyer and politician, 24th Lieutenant Governor of Alabama
    • 1941 – James P. Hogan, English-Irish author (d. 2010)
    • 1941 – Krzysztof Kieślowski, Polish director and screenwriter (d. 1996)
    • 1942 – Bruce Johnston, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1942 – Frank Mills, Canadian pianist and composer
    • 1942 – Danny Schechter, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
    • 1943 – Ravi Batra, Indian-American economist and academic
    • 1944 – Angela King, English environmentalist and author, co-founded Common Ground
    • 1944 – Patrick Sercu, Belgian cyclist (d. 2019)
    • 1945 – Joey Covington, American drummer, songwriter, and producer (d. 2013)
    • 1945 – Norma Kamali, American fashion designer
    • 1945 – Ragnar Søderlind, Norwegian composer
    • 1948 – Camile Baudoin, American guitarist
    • 1949 – Vera Wang, American fashion designer
    • 1951 – Ulf Andersson, Swedish chess player
    • 1951 – Julia Duffy, American actress
    • 1951 – Gilson Lavis, English drummer and portrait artist
    • 1951 – Mary McAleese, Irish academic and politician, 8th President of Ireland
    • 1952 – Madan Bhandari, Nepalese politician (d. 1993)
    • 1953 – Igor Gräzin, Estonian academic and politician
    • 1953 – Alice McDermott, American novelist
    • 1954 – Richard Ibbotson, English admiral
    • 1955 – Isabelle Adjani, French actress
    • 1956 – Heiner Dopp, German field hockey player and politician
    • 1957 – Gabriella Dorio, Italian runner
    • 1958 – Lisa Germano, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1958 – Jeffrey Lee Pierce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1996)
    • 1959 – Dan Jurgens, American author and illustrator
    • 1959 – Lorrie Morgan, American singer
    • 1960 – Craig Hodges, American basketball player and coach
    • 1960 – Robert King, English harpsichordist and conductor
    • 1960 – Jeremy Swift, English actor
    • 1962 – Michael Ball, English actor and singer
    • 1962 – Sunanda Pushkar, India-born Canadian businesswoman (d. 2014)
    • 1963 – Wendy Alexander, Scottish politician, Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning
    • 1963 – Johnny Benson Jr., American race car driver
    • 1964 – Stephan Brenninkmeijer, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1964 – Chuck Person, American basketball player and coach
    • 1965 – Simon Sebag Montefiore, English journalist, historian, and author
    • 1965 – S. Manikavasagam, Malaysian politician and social activist
    • 1965 – Óscar Vega, Spanish boxer
    • 1966 – J.J. Abrams, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1966 – Jörg Bergen, German footballer and manager
    • 1966 – Jeff Conine, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1966 – Aigars Kalvītis, Latvian politician, businessman, and former Prime Minister of Latvia
    • 1967 – Sylvie Fréchette, Canadian swimmer and coach
    • 1967 – George Hamilton, Northern Irish police officer
    • 1967 – Vasiliy Kaptyukh, Belarusian discus thrower
    • 1967 – Phil Kearns, Australian rugby player and sportscaster
    • 1968 – Kelly Ayotte, American lawyer and politician, New Hampshire Attorney General
    • 1969 – Viktor Petrenko, Ukrainian figure skater
    • 1970 – Régine Cavagnoud, French skier (d. 2001)
    • 1970 – John Eales, Australian rugby player and businessman
    • 1970 – Jim Edmonds, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1971 – Jo Frost, English nanny, television personality, and author
    • 1971 – Serginho, Brazilian footballer
    • 1972 – Dawud Wharnsby, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1973 – Abbath Doom Occulta, Norwegian musician
    • 1973 – Simon Archer, English badminton player
    • 1974 – Christian Kane, American singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1974 – Christopher O’Neill, English-American businessman
    • 1975 – Ace Darling, American wrestler
    • 1975 – Bianca Del Rio, American drag queen & comedian
    • 1975 – Sarah Evanetz, Canadian swimmer
    • 1975 – Tobey Maguire, American actor
    • 1975 – Daryle Ward, American baseball player
    • 1976 – Johnny Estrada, American baseball player
    • 1976 – Leigh Nash, American singer-songwriter
    • 1977 – Arkadiusz Radomski, Polish footballer
    • 1978 – Apparat, German musician
    • 1980 – Hugo Campagnaro, Argentinian footballer
    • 1980 – Jennifer Goodridge, American keyboard player
    • 1980 – Alexander Peya, Austrian tennis player
    • 1980 – Kevin Pietersen, South African-English cricketer
    • 1980 – Craig Terrill, American football player
    • 1981 – Andrew Embley, Australian footballer
    • 1983 – Jim Johnson, American baseball player
    • 1983 – Dale Steyn, South African cricketer
    • 1983 – Nikola Rakočević, Serbian actor
    • 1984 – Khloé Kardashian, American model, businesswoman, and radio host
    • 1984 – D.J. King, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1984 – Jose Holebas, German-Greek footballer
    • 1984 – Gökhan Inler, Swiss footballer
    • 1985 – James Hook, Welsh rugby player
    • 1985 – Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russian tennis player
    • 1985 – Nico Rosberg, German race car driver
    • 1986 – Sam Claflin, British actor
    • 1986 – Drake Bell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
    • 1986 – Bryan Fletcher, American skier
    • 1986 – LaShawn Merritt, American sprinter
    • 1987 – India de Beaufort, English actress
    • 1987 – Ed Westwick, English actor
    • 1988 – Stefani Bismpikou, Greek gymnast
    • 1988 – Matthew Spiranovic, Australian footballer
    • 1988 – Kate Ziegler, American swimmer
    • 1989 – Hana Birnerová, Czech tennis player
    • 1989 – Matthew Lewis, English actor
    • 1992 – Ahn So-hee, South Korean singer and actress
    • 1992 – Karthika Nair, Indian film actress
    • 1993 – Johanna Talihärm, Estonian biathlete
    • 1993 – Alberto Campbell-Staines, Australian athlete
    • 1994 – Anita Husarić, Bosnian tennis player
    • 1995 – Monté Morris, American basketball player

    Deaths on June 27

    • 992 – Conan I of Rennes, Duke of Brittany
    • 1162 – Odo II, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1118)
    • 1194 – King Sancho VI of Navarre (b. 1132)
    • 1296 – Floris V, Count of Holland (b. 1254)
    • 1458 – Alfonso V of Aragon (b. 1396)
    • 1497 – Michael An Gof, rebel leader
    • 1497 – Thomas Flamank, rebel leader
    • 1574 – Giorgio Vasari, Italian historian, painter, and architect (b. 1511)
    • 1601 – Henry Norris, 1st Baron Norreys (b. 1525)
    • 1603 – Jan Dymitr Solikowski, Polish archbishop (b. 1539)
    • 1627 – John Hayward, English historian, journalist, and politician (b. 1564)
    • 1636 – Date Masamune, Japanese strongman (b. 1567)
    • 1654 – Johannes Valentinus Andreae, German theologian (b. 1586)
    • 1655 – Eleonora Gonzaga, Holy Roman Empress (b. 1598)
    • 1672 – Roger Twysden, English historian and politician (b. 1597)
    • 1720 – Guillaume Amfrye de Chaulieu, French poet and author (b. 1639)
    • 1794 – Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg (b. 1711)
    • 1794 – Philippe de Noailles, French general (b. 1715)
    • 1827 – Johann Gottfried Eichhorn, German theologian and academic (b. 1754)
    • 1829 – James Smithson, English chemist and mineralogist (b. 1765)
    • 1831 – Sophie Germain, French mathematician and physicist (b. 1776)
    • 1839 – Ranjit Singh, founder of the Sikh Empire (b. 1780)
    • 1844 – Hyrum Smith, American religious leader (b. 1800)
    • 1844 – Joseph Smith, American religious leader, founded the Latter Day Saint movement (b. 1805)
    • 1878 – Sidney Breese, American jurist and politician (b. 1800)
    • 1894 – Giorgio Costantino Schinas, Maltese architect and civil engineer (b. 1834)
    • 1896 – John Berryman, English soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1825)
    • 1905 – Harold Mahony, Scottish-Irish tennis player (b. 1867)
    • 1907 – Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, American educator, co-founded Radcliffe College (b. 1822)
    • 1911 – Victor Surridge, English motorcycle racer (b. 1882)
    • 1912 – George Bonnor, Australian cricketer (b. 1855)
    • 1917 – Karl Allmenröder, German soldier and pilot (b. 1896)
    • 1919 – Peter Sturholdt, American boxer (b. 1885)
    • 1920 – Adolphe-Basile Routhier, Canadian lawyer and judge (b. 1839)
    • 1934 – Francesco Buhagiar, Maltese politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Malta (b. 1876)
    • 1935 – Eugene Augustin Lauste, French-American inventor (b. 1857)
    • 1944 – Milan Hodža, Czech journalist and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia (b. 1878)
    • 1946 – Wanda Gág, American author and illustrator (b. 1893)
    • 1949 – Frank Smythe, English botanist and mountaineer (b. 1900)
    • 1950 – Milada Horáková, Czech politician, victim of judicial murder (b. 1901)
    • 1952 – Max Dehn, German-American mathematician and academic (b. 1878)
    • 1957 – Hermann Buhl, Austrian soldier and mountaineer (b. 1924)
    • 1960 – Lottie Dod, English tennis player, golfer, and archer (b. 1871)
    • 1962 – Paul Viiding, Estonian author, poet, and critic (b. 1904)
    • 1967 – Jaan Lattik, Estonian pastor and politician, 9th Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia (b. 1878)
    • 1970 – Daniel Kinsey, American hurdler and scholar (b. 1902)
    • 1975 – G.I. Taylor, English mathematician and physicist (b. 1886)
    • 1986 – George Nepia, New Zealand rugby player and referee (b. 1905)
    • 1987 – Billy Snedden, Australian lawyer and politician, 17th Attorney-General for Australia (b. 1926)
    • 1989 – A. J. Ayer, English philosopher and academic (b. 1910)
    • 1991 – Milton Subotsky, American-English screenwriter and producer (b. 1921)
    • 1996 – Albert R. Broccoli, American film producer (b. 1909)
    • 1998 – Gilles Rocheleau, Canadian businessman and politician (b. 1935)
    • 1999 – Georgios Papadopoulos, Greek colonel and politician, 169th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1919)
    • 2000 – Pierre Pflimlin, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1907)
    • 2001 – Tove Jansson, Finnish author, illustrator, and painter (b. 1914)
    • 2001 – Jack Lemmon, American actor (b. 1925)
    • 2001 – Joan Sims, English actress (b. 1930)
    • 2002 – John Entwistle, English singer-songwriter, bass guitarist, and producer (b. 1944)
    • 2002 – Robert L. J. Long, American admiral (b. 1920)
    • 2003 – David Newman, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1937)
    • 2004 – George Patton IV, American general (b. 1923)
    • 2004 – Darrell Russell, American race car driver (b. 1968)
    • 2005 – Shelby Foote, American historian and author (b. 1917)
    • 2005 – Ray Holmes, English lieutenant and pilot (b. 1914)
    • 2005 – John T. Walton, American businessman, co-founded the Children’s Scholarship Fund (b. 1946)
    • 2006 – Ángel Maturino Reséndiz, Mexican serial killer (b. 1959)
    • 2007 – William Hutt, Canadian actor (b. 1920)
    • 2008 – Sam Manekshaw, Indian field marshal (b. 1914)
    • 2009 – Gale Storm, American actress (b. 1922)
    • 2010 – Corey Allen, American film and television actor, writer, director, and producer (b. 1934)
    • 2011 – Mike Doyle, English footballer (b. 1946)
    • 2012 – Stan Cox, English runner (b. 1918)
    • 2012 – Rosemary Dobson, Australian poet and illustrator (b. 1920)
    • 2013 – Stefano Borgonovo, Italian footballer (b. 1964)
    • 2013 – Ian Scott, English-New Zealand painter (b. 1945)
    • 2014 – Edmond Blanchard, Canadian jurist and politician (b. 1954)
    • 2014 – Allen Grossman, American poet, critic, and academic (b. 1932)
    • 2014 – Leslie Manigat, Haitian educator and politician, 43rd President of Haiti (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Violet Milstead, Canadian World War II aviator and bush pilot (b. 1919)
    • 2014 – Rachid Solh, Lebanese politician, 48th Prime Minister of Lebanon (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – Zvi Elpeleg, Polish-Israeli diplomat, author, and academic (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – Knut Helle, Norwegian historian and professor (b. 1930)
    • 2015 – Chris Squire, English musician (bass guitarist), singer and songwriter, member of the rock band Yes (b. 1948)
    • 2016 – Bud Spencer, Italian swimmer, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1929)
    • 2017 – Peter L. Berger, Austrian sociologist (b. 1929)
    • 2018 – Joe Jackson, American manager, father of Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson (b. 1928)
    • 2018 – Liz Jackson, Australian journalist and former barrister (b. 1951)
    • 2018 – William McBridge, Australian obstetrician (b. 1927)

    Holidays and observances on June 27

    • Christian feast day:
      • Arialdo
      • Crescens, one of the Seventy disciples
      • Cyril of Alexandria (Coptic Church, Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion and Lutheran Church)
      • Ladislaus I of Hungary
      • Our Lady of Perpetual Help
      • Sampson the Hospitable
      • Zoilus
      • June 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Canadian Multiculturalism Day (Canada)
    • Commemoration Day for the Victims of the Communist Regime (Czech Republic)
    • Day of Turkmen Workers of Culture and Art (Turkmenistan)
    • Helen Keller Day (United States)
    • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Djibouti from France in 1977.
    • Mixed Race Day (Brazil)
    • National HIV Testing Day (United States)
    • National PTSD Awareness Day (United States)
    • Seven Sleepers’ Day or Siebenschläfertag (Germany)
    • Unity Day (Tajikistan)

  • June 15 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 763 BC – Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history.
    • 844 – Louis II is crowned as king of Italy at Rome by pope Sergius II.
    • 923 – Battle of Soissons: King Robert I of France is killed and King Charles the Simple is arrested by the supporters of Duke Rudolph of Burgundy.
    • 1184 – The naval Battle of Fimreite is won by the Birkebeiner pretender Sverre Sigurdsson. Sigurdsson takes the Norwegian throne and King Magnus V of Norway is killed.
    • 1215 – King John of England puts his seal to Magna Carta.
    • 1219 – Northern Crusades: Danish victory at the Battle of Lindanise (modern-day Tallinn) establishes the Danish Duchy of Estonia.
    • 1246 – With the death of Frederick II, Duke of Austria, the Babenberg dynasty ends in Austria.
    • 1300 – The city of Bilbao is founded.
    • 1312 – At the Battle of Rozgony, King Charles I of Hungary wins a decisive victory over the family of Palatine Amade Aba.
    • 1389 – Battle of Kosovo: The Ottoman Empire defeats Serbs and Bosnians.
    • 1410 – In a decisive battle at Onon River, the Mongol forces of Oljei Temur were decimated by the Chinese armies of the Yongle Emperor.
    • 1502 – Christopher Columbus lands on the island of Martinique on his fourth voyage.
    • 1520 – Pope Leo X threatens to excommunicate Martin Luther in Exsurge Domine.
    • 1648 – Margaret Jones is hanged in Boston for witchcraft in the first such execution for the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
    • 1667 – The first human blood transfusion is administered by Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys.
    • 1670 – The first stone of Fort Ricasoli is laid down in Malta.
    • 1752 – Benjamin Franklin proves that lightning is electricity (traditional date, the exact date is unknown).
    • 1776 – Delaware Separation Day: Delaware votes to suspend government under the British Crown and separate officially from Pennsylvania.
    • 1800 – The Provisional Army of the United States is dissolved.
    • 1804 – New Hampshire approves the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratifying the document.
    • 1808 – Joseph Bonaparte becomes King of Spain.
    • 1836 – Arkansas is admitted as the 25th U.S. state.
    • 1844 – Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber.
    • 1846 – The Oregon Treaty extends the border between the United States and British North America, established by the Treaty of 1818, westward to the Pacific Ocean.
    • 1859 – Ambiguity in the Oregon Treaty leads to the “Northwestern Boundary Dispute” between American and British/Canadian settlers.
    • 1864 – American Civil War: The Second Battle of Petersburg begins.
    • 1864 – Arlington National Cemetery is established when 200 acres (0.81 km2) of the Arlington estate (formerly owned by Confederate General Robert E. Lee) are officially set aside as a military cemetery by U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.
    • 1877 – Henry Ossian Flipper becomes the first African American cadet to graduate from the United States Military Academy.
    • 1878 – Eadweard Muybridge takes a series of photographs to prove that all four feet of a horse leave the ground when it runs; the study becomes the basis of motion pictures.
    • 1888 – Crown Prince Wilhelm becomes Kaiser Wilhelm II; he will be the last Emperor of the German Empire. Due to the death of his predecessors Wilhelm I and Frederick III, 1888 is the Year of the Three Emperors.
    • 1896 – The deadliest tsunami in Japan’s history kills more than 22,000 people.
    • 1904 – A fire aboard the steamboat SS General Slocum in New York City’s East River kills 1,000.
    • 1916 – United States President Woodrow Wilson signs a bill incorporating the Boy Scouts of America, making them the only American youth organization with a federal charter.
    • 1919 – John Alcock and Arthur Brown complete the first nonstop transatlantic flight when they reach Clifden, County Galway, Ireland.
    • 1920 – Following the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites, Northern Schleswig is transferred from Germany to Denmark.
    • 1921 – Bessie Coleman earns her pilot’s license, becoming the first female pilot of African-American descent.
    • 1934 – The United States Great Smoky Mountains National Park is founded.
    • 1936 – First flight of the Vickers Wellington bomber.
    • 1937 – A German expedition led by Karl Wien loses sixteen members in an avalanche on Nanga Parbat. It is the worst single disaster to occur on an 8000m peak.
    • 1940 – World War II: Operation Ariel begins: Allied troops start to evacuate France, following Germany’s takeover of Paris and most of the nation.
    • 1944 – World War II: The United States invades Saipan, capital of Japan’s South Seas Mandate.
    • 1944 – In the Saskatchewan general election, the CCF, led by Tommy Douglas, is elected and forms the first socialist government in North America.
    • 1970 – Charles Manson goes on trial for the Sharon Tate murders.
    • 1972 – Red Army Faction co-founder Ulrike Meinhof is captured by police in Langenhagen.
    • 1977 – After the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, the first democratic elections took place in Spain.
    • 1978 – King Hussein of Jordan marries American Lisa Halaby, who takes the name Queen Noor.
    • 1985 – Rembrandt’s painting Danaë is attacked by a man (later judged insane) who throws sulfuric acid on the canvas and cuts it twice with a knife.
    • 1991 – In the Philippines, Mount Pinatubo erupts in the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, killing over 800 people.
    • 1992 – The United States Supreme Court rules in United States v. Álvarez-Machaín that it is permissible for the United States to forcibly extradite suspects in foreign countries and bring them to the United States for trial, without approval from those other countries.
    • 1994 – Israel and Vatican City establish full diplomatic relations.
    • 1996 – The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonates a powerful truck bomb in the middle of Manchester, England, devastating the city centre and injuring 200 people.
    • 2001 – Leaders of the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan formed the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
    • 2012 – Nik Wallenda becomes the first person to successfully tightrope walk directly over Niagara Falls.
    • 2013 – A bomb explodes on a bus in the Pakistani city of Quetta, killing at least 25 people and wounding 22 others.

    Births on June 15

    • 1330 – Edward, the Black Prince of England (d. 1376)
    • 1479 – Lisa del Giocondo, Italian model, subject of the Mona Lisa (d. 1542)
    • 1519 – Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1536)
    • 1542 – Richard Grenville, English captain and explorer (d. 1591)
    • 1549 – Elizabeth Knollys, English noblewoman (d. 1605)
    • 1553 – Archduke Ernest of Austria (d. 1595)
    • 1605 – Thomas Randolph, English poet and playwright (d. 1635)
    • 1618 – François Blondel, French architect (d. 1686)
    • 1623 – Cornelis de Witt, Dutch politician (d. 1672)
    • 1624 – Hiob Ludolf, German orientalist and philologist (d. 1704)
    • 1640 – Bernard Lamy, French mathematician and theologian (d. 1715)
    • 1645 – Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, English politician (d. 1712)
    • 1749 – Georg Joseph Vogler, German organist, composer, and theorist (d. 1814)
    • 1754 – Juan José Elhuyar, Spanish chemist and mineralogist (d. 1796)
    • 1755 – Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy, French chemist and entomologist (d. 1809)
    • 1763 – Franz Danzi, German cellist, composer, and conductor (d. 1826)
    • 1763 – Kobayashi Issa, Japanese priest and poet (d. 1827)
    • 1765 – Martin Baum, American businessman and politician, Mayor of Cincinnati (d. 1831)
    • 1765 – Johann Gottlieb Friedrich von Bohnenberger, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1831)
    • 1767 – Rachel Jackson, American wife of Andrew Jackson (d. 1828)
    • 1777 – David Daniel Davis, Welsh physician and academic (d. 1841)
    • 1789 – Josiah Henson, American minister, author, and activist (d. 1883)
    • 1792 – Thomas Mitchell, Scottish-Australian colonel and explorer (d. 1855)
    • 1801 – Benjamin Wright Raymond, American merchant and politician, 3rd Mayor of Chicago (d. 1883)
    • 1805 – William B. Ogden, American businessman and politician, 1st Mayor of Chicago (d. 1877)
    • 1809 – François-Xavier Garneau, Canadian poet and historian (d. 1866)
    • 1835 – Adah Isaacs Menken, American actress, painter, and poet (d. 1868)
    • 1843 – Edvard Grieg, Norwegian pianist and composer (d. 1907)
    • 1848 – Gheevarghese Mar Gregorios of Parumala, Indian bishop and saint (d. 1902)
    • 1872 – Thomas William Burgess, English swimmer and water polo player (d. 1950)
    • 1875 – Herman Smith-Johannsen, Norwegian-Canadian skier (d. 1987)
    • 1878 – Margaret Abbott, Indian-American golfer (d. 1955)
    • 1881 – Kesago Nakajima, Japanese lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army (d. 1945)
    • 1884 – Harry Langdon, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1944)
    • 1886 – Frank Clement, British racing driver (d. 1970)
    • 1888 – Ramón López Velarde, Mexican poet and author (d. 1921)
    • 1890 – Georg Wüst, German oceanographer and academic (d. 1977)
    • 1894 – Robert Russell Bennett, American composer and conductor (d. 1981)
    • 1894 – Nikolai Chebotaryov, Ukrainian-Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1947)
    • 1898 – Hubertus Strughold, German-American physiologist and academic (d. 1986)
    • 1900 – Gotthard Günther, German philosopher and academic (d. 1984)
    • 1900 – Otto Luening, German-American composer and conductor (d. 1996)
    • 1901 – Elmar Lohk, Russian-Estonian architect (d. 1963)
    • 1902 – Erik Erikson, German-American psychologist and psychoanalyst (d. 1994)
    • 1906 – Gordon Welchman, English-American mathematician and author (d. 1985)
    • 1906 – Léon Degrelle, Belgian SS officer (d. 1994)
    • 1907 – James Robertson Justice, English actor and educator (d. 1975)
    • 1909 – Elena Nikolaidi, Greek-American soprano and educator (d. 2002)
    • 1910 – David Rose, English-American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1990)
    • 1911 – Wilbert Awdry, English author, co-created Thomas the Tank Engine (d. 1997)
    • 1913 – Tom Adair, American songwriter, composer, and screenwriter (d. 1988)
    • 1914 – Yuri Andropov, Russian politician (d. 1984)
    • 1914 – Saul Steinberg, Romanian-American cartoonist (d. 1999)
    • 1914 – Hilda Terry, American cartoonist (d. 2006)
    • 1915 – Nini Theilade, Danish ballet dancer, choreographer, and educator (d. 2018)
    • 1915 – Thomas Huckle Weller, American biologist and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2008)
    • 1916 – Olga Erteszek, Polish-American fashion designer (d. 1989)
    • 1916 – Horacio Salgán, Argentinian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2016)
    • 1916 – Herbert A. Simon, American political scientist and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2001)
    • 1917 – John Fenn, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
    • 1917 – Michalis Genitsaris, Greek singer-songwriter (d. 2005)
    • 1917 – Lash LaRue, American actor and producer (d. 1996)
    • 1918 – François Tombalbaye, Chadian politician, 1st President of Chad (d. 1975)
    • 1920 – Keith Andrews, American race car driver (d. 1957)
    • 1920 – Alla Kazanskaya, Russian actress (d. 2008)
    • 1920 – Sam Sniderman, Canadian businessman, founded Sam the Record Man (d. 2012)
    • 1920 – Alberto Sordi, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
    • 1921 – Erroll Garner, American pianist and composer (d. 1977)
    • 1922 – Jaki Byard, American pianist and composer (d. 1999)
    • 1923 – Erland Josephson, Swedish actor and director (d. 2012)
    • 1923 – Ninian Stephen, English-Australian lieutenant, judge, and politician, 20th Governor-General of Australia (d. 2017)
    • 1924 – Hédi Fried, Swedish author and psychologist
    • 1924 – Ezer Weizman, Israeli general and politician, 7th President of Israel (d. 2005)
    • 1925 – Richard Baker, English journalist and author (d. 2018)
    • 1925 – Attilâ İlhan, Turkish poet, author, and critic (d. 2005)
    • 1926 – Alfred Duraiappah, Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and politician (d. 1975)
    • 1927 – Ross Andru, American illustrator (d. 1993)
    • 1927 – Ibn-e-Insha, Indian-Pakistani poet and author (d. 1978)
    • 1927 – Hugo Pratt, Italian author and illustrator (d. 1995)
    • 1930 – Miguel Méndez, American author and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1930 – Marcel Pronovost, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1931 – Joseph Gilbert, English air marshal
    • 1931 – Brian Sewell, English art dealer and critic (d. 2015)
    • 1932 – David Alliance, Baron Alliance, Iranian-English businessman and politician
    • 1932 – Mario Cuomo, American lawyer and politician, 52nd Governor of New York (d. 2015)
    • 1932 – Zia Fariduddin Dagar, Indian singer (d. 2013)
    • 1932 – Bernie Faloney, American-Canadian football player and sportscaster (d. 1999)
    • 1933 – Mohammad-Ali Rajai, Iranian politician, 2nd President of Iran (d. 1981)
    • 1933 – Predrag Koraksić Corax, Serbian political caricaturist
    • 1934 – Ruby Nash Garnett, American R&B singer
    • 1936 – William Levada, American cardinal
    • 1937 – Pierre Billon, Swiss-Canadian author and screenwriter
    • 1937 – Waylon Jennings, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2002)
    • 1938 – Billy Williams, American baseball player and coach
    • 1939 – Ward Connerly, American activist and businessman, founded the American Civil Rights Institute
    • 1941 – Neal Adams, American illustrator
    • 1941 – Harry Nilsson, American singer-songwriter (d. 1994)
    • 1942 – Ian Greenberg, Canadian broadcaster, founded Astral Media
    • 1942 – John E. McLaughlin, American diplomat
    • 1942 – Peter Norman, Australian sprinter (d. 2006)
    • 1943 – Johnny Hallyday, French singer and actor (d. 2017)
    • 1943 – Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, Danish politician, 38th Prime Minister of Denmark
    • 1944 – Robert D. Keppel, American police officer and academic
    • 1945 – Miriam Defensor Santiago, Filipino judge and politician (d. 2016)
    • 1945 – Robert Sarah, Guinean cardinal
    • 1945 – Lawrence Wilkerson, American colonel
    • 1946 – Noddy Holder, English rock singer-songwriter, musician, and actor
    • 1946 – John Horner, American paleontologist and academic
    • 1946 – Demis Roussos, Egyptian-Greek singer-songwriter and bass player (d. 2015)
    • 1947 – John Hoagland, American photographer and journalist (d. 1984)
    • 1948 – Mike Holmgren, American football player and coach
    • 1948 – Alan Huckle, English politician and diplomat, Governor of Anguilla
    • 1948 – Henry McLeish, Scottish footballer, academic, and politician, 2nd First Minister of Scotland
    • 1949 – Dusty Baker, American baseball player and manager
    • 1949 – Simon Callow, English actor and director
    • 1949 – Russell Hitchcock, Australian singer-songwriter
    • 1949 – Jim Varney, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter (d. 2000)
    • 1950 – Uğur Erdener, Turkish ophthalmologist and professor
    • 1950 – Juliana Azumah-Mensah, Ghanaian nurse and politician
    • 1950 – Deney Terrio, American choreographer and host of the television musical variety series Dance Fever
    • 1950 – Lakshmi Mittal, Indian-English businessman
    • 1951 – Jane Amsterdam, American magazine and newspaper editor (Manhattan, inc., New York Post)
    • 1951 – Vance A. Larson, American painter (d. 2000)
    • 1951 – John Redwood, English politician, Secretary of State for Wales
    • 1951 – Steve Walsh, American rock singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1952 – Satya Pal Jain, Indian lawyer and politician, Additional Solicitor General of India
    • 1953 – Vilma Bardauskienė, Lithuanian long jumper
    • 1953 – Marc Brickman, American lighting and production designer
    • 1953 – Eje Elgh, Swedish racing driver and sportscaster
    • 1953 – Xi Jinping, Chinese engineer and politician, General Secretary of the Communist Party and President of China
    • 1953 – Raphael Wallfisch, English cellist and educator
    • 1954 – Jim Belushi, American actor
    • 1954 – Terri Gibbs, American country music singer and keyboard player
    • 1954 – Paul Rusesabagina, Rwandan humanitarian
    • 1954 – Zdeňka Šilhavá, Czech discus thrower and shot putter
    • 1954 – Beverley Whitfield, Australian swimmer (d. 1996)
    • 1955 – Polly Draper, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1955 – Julie Hagerty, American model and actress
    • 1956 – Yevgeny Kiselyov, Russian-Ukrainian journalist
    • 1956 – Lance Parrish, American baseball player, coach, and manager
    • 1958 – Wade Boggs, American baseball player
    • 1958 – Riccardo Paletti, Italian racing driver (d. 1982)
    • 1959 – Alan Brazil, Scottish footballer and sportscaster
    • 1959 – Eileen Davidson, American model and actress
    • 1960 – Michèle Laroque, French actress, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1960 – Marieke van Doorn, Dutch field hockey player and coach
    • 1961 – Dave McAuley, Irish boxer and sportscaster
    • 1961 – Scott Norton, American wrestler
    • 1962 – Brad Armstrong, American wrestler (d. 2012)
    • 1962 – Chris Morris, English actor, satirist, director, and producer
    • 1962 – Andrea Rost, Hungarian soprano
    • 1963 – Marina Azyabina, Russian hurdler
    • 1963 – Mario Gosselin, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
    • 1963 – Helen Hunt, American actress, director, and producer
    • 1964 – Courteney Cox, American actress and producer
    • 1964 – Michael Laudrup, Danish footballer and manager
    • 1965 – Annelies Bredael, Belgian rower
    • 1965 – Karim Massimov, Kazakhstani politician, 7th Prime Minister of Kazakhstan
    • 1965 – Adam Smith, American lawyer and politician
    • 1966 – Raimonds Vējonis, Latvian politician, 9th President of Latvia
    • 1968 – Károly Güttler, Hungarian swimmer
    • 1969 – Jesse Bélanger, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1969 – Ice Cube, American rapper, producer, and actor
    • 1969 – Idalis DeLeón, American singer and actress
    • 1969 – Nasos Galakteros, Greek basketball player
    • 1969 – Oliver Kahn, German footballer and sportscaster
    • 1969 – Maurice Odumbe, Kenyan cricketer
    • 1969 – Cédric Pioline, French tennis player
    • 1970 – Christian Bauman, American soldier and author
    • 1970 – David Bayssari, Australian rugby league player
    • 1970 – Gaëlle Méchaly, French soprano
    • 1970 – Leah Remini, American actress and producer
    • 1970 – Žan Tabak, Croatian basketball player and coach
    • 1971 – Christos Myriounis, Greek basketball player
    • 1971 – Jake Busey, American actor, musician, and film producer
    • 1972 – Justin Leonard, American golfer
    • 1972 – Andy Pettitte, American baseball player
    • 1973 – Tore Andre Flo, Norwegian footballer and coach
    • 1973 – Neil Patrick Harris, American actor and singer
    • 1973 – Pia Miranda, Australian actress
    • 1976 – Jiří Ryba, Czech decathlete
    • 1977 – Michael Doleac, American basketball player and manager
    • 1978 – Wilfred Bouma, Dutch footballer
    • 1978 – Zach Day, American baseball player
    • 1979 – Yulia Nestsiarenka, Belarusian sprinter
    • 1979 – Christian Rahn, German footballer
    • 1979 – Charles Zwolsman, Jr., Dutch racing driver
    • 1980 – David Lyons, Australian rugby player
    • 1981 – John Paintsil, Ghanaian footballer
    • 1982 – Mike Delany, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1982 – Abdur Razzak, Bangladeshi cricketer
    • 1983 – Julia Fischer, German violinist and pianist[citation needed]
    • 1983 – Laura Imbruglia, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist[citation needed]
    • 1983 – Josh McGuire, Canadian fencer
    • 1984 – Luke Hodge, Australian footballer
    • 1984 – Eva Hrdinová, Czech tennis player
    • 1984 – Tim Lincecum, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Edison Toloza, Colombian footballer
    • 1985 – Ashley Nicole Black, American comedian, actress, and writer
    • 1986 – James Maloney, Australian rugby league player
    • 1986 – Trevor Plouffe, American baseball player
    • 1989 – Víctor Cabedo, Spanish cyclist (d. 2012)
    • 1989 – Bryan Clauson, American race car driver (d. 2016)
    • 1992 – Michał Kopczyński, Polish footballer
    • 1992 – Mohamed Salah, Egyptian footballer
    • 1992 – Dafne Schippers, Dutch heptathlete and sprinter
    • 1993 – Irfan Hadžić, Bosnian footballer
    • 1994 – Inaki Williams, Basque footballer
    • 1997 – Madison Kocian, American gymnast

    Deaths on June 15

    • 923 – Robert I of France (b. 866)
    • 948 – Romanos I Lekapenos, Byzantine Emperor (b. c. 870)
    • 952 – Murong Yanchao, Chinese general
    • 960 – Eadburh of Winchester, English princess and saint
    • 970 – Adalbert, bishop of Passau
    • 991 – Theophanu, Byzantine wife of Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 960)
    • 1073 – Emperor Go-Sanjō of Japan (b. 1034)
    • 1184 – Magnus Erlingsson, King of Norway (b. 1156)
    • 1189 – Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Japanese general (b. 1159)
    • 1246 – Frederick II, Duke of Austria (b. 1219)
    • 1337 – Angelo da Clareno, Italian Franciscan and leader of a group of Fraticelli (b. 1247)
    • 1341 – Andronikos III Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1297)
    • 1381 – John Cavendish, English lawyer and judge (b. 1346)
    • 1381 – Wat Tyler, English rebel leader (b. 1341)
    • 1383 – John VI Kantakouzenos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1292)
    • 1383 – Matthew Kantakouzenos, Byzantine emperor
    • 1389 – Lazar of Serbia (b. 1329)
    • 1389 – Murad I, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1319)
    • 1389 – Miloš Obilić, Serbian knight.
    • 1416 – John, Duke of Berry (b. 1340)
    • 1467 – Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1396)
    • 1521 – Tamás Bakócz, Hungarian cardinal (b. 1442)
    • 1614 – Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton, English courtier and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1540)
    • 1724 – Henry Sacheverell, English minister and politician (b. 1674)
    • 1768 – James Short, Scottish mathematician and optician (b. 1710)
    • 1772 – Louis-Claude Daquin, French organist and composer (b. 1694)
    • 1844 – Thomas Campbell, Scottish poet and academic (b. 1777)
    • 1849 – James K. Polk, American lawyer and politician, 11th President of the United States (b. 1795)
    • 1858 – Ary Scheffer, Dutch-French painter and academic (b. 1795)
    • 1888 – Frederick III, German Emperor (b. 1831)
    • 1889 – Mihai Eminescu, Romanian journalist, author, and poet (b. 1850)
    • 1890 – Unryū Kyūkichi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 10th Yokozuna (b. 1822)
    • 1917 – Kristian Birkeland, Norwegian physicist and academic (b. 1867)
    • 1934 – Alfred Bruneau, French cellist and composer (b. 1857)
    • 1938 – Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German painter and illustrator (b. 1880)
    • 1941 – Otfrid Foerster, German neurologist and physician (b. 1873)
    • 1941 – Evelyn Underhill, English mystic and author (b. 1875)
    • 1945 – Count Albert von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein, Austrian diplomat
    • 1961 – Giulio Cabianca, Italian racing driver (b. 1923)
    • 1961 – Peyami Safa, Turkish journalist and author (b. 1899)
    • 1962 – Alfred Cortot, Swiss pianist and conductor (b. 1877)
    • 1967 – Tatu Kolehmainen, Finnish runner (b. 1885)
    • 1968 – Sam Crawford, American baseball player, coach, and umpire (b. 1880)
    • 1968 – Wes Montgomery, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1925)
    • 1971 – Wendell Meredith Stanley, American biochemist and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
    • 1976 – Jimmy Dykes, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1896)
    • 1984 – Meredith Willson, American playwright, composer, and conductor (b. 1902)
    • 1985 – Andy Stanfield, American sprinter (b. 1927)
    • 1989 – Maurice Bellemare, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1912)
    • 1989 – Ray McAnally, Irish actor (b. 1926)
    • 1991 – Happy Chandler, American businessman and politician, 49th Governor of Kentucky (b. 1898)
    • 1991 – Arthur Lewis, Saint Lucian economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
    • 1992 – Chuck Menville, American animator, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1940)
    • 1992 – Brett Whiteley, Australian painter (b. 1939)
    • 1993 – John Connally, American commander, lawyer, and politician, 61st United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1917)
    • 1993 – James Hunt, English racing driver and sportscaster (b. 1947)
    • 1994 – Manos Hatzidakis, Greek composer and theorist (b. 1925)
    • 1995 – John Vincent Atanasoff, American physicist and inventor, invented the Atanasoff–Berry computer (b. 1903)
    • 1996 – Ella Fitzgerald, American singer and actress (b. 1917)
    • 1996 – Sir Fitzroy Maclean, 1st Baronet, Scottish general and politician (b. 1911)
    • 1996 – Dick Murdoch, American wrestler (b. 1946)
    • 1999 – Omer Côté, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1906)
    • 2000 – Jules Roy, French author, poet, and playwright (b. 1907)
    • 2001 – Henri Alekan, French cinematographer (b. 1909)
    • 2002 – Choi Hong Hi, South Korean general and martial artist, founded Taekwondo (b. 1918)
    • 2003 – Hume Cronyn, Canadian-American actor (b. 1911)
    • 2004 – Ahmet Piriştina, Turkish politician and mayor of İzmir (b. 1952)
    • 2005 – Suzanne Flon, French actress (b. 1918)
    • 2006 – Raymond Devos, Belgian-French comedian and clown (b. 1922)
    • 2006 – Herb Pearson, New Zealand cricketer (b. 1910)
    • 2008 – Ray Getliffe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1914)
    • 2011 – Bill Haast, American herpetologist and academic (b. 1910)
    • 2012 – Phillip D. Cagan, American economist and author (b. 1927)
    • 2012 – Capitola Dickerson, American pianist and educator (b. 1913)
    • 2012 – Barry MacKay, American tennis player and sportscaster (b. 1935)
    • 2012 – Israel Nogueda Otero, Mexican economist and politician, 10th Governor of Guerrero (b. 1935)
    • 2012 – Jerry Tubbs, American football player and coach (b. 1935)
    • 2013 – Heinz Flohe, German footballer and manager (b. 1948)
    • 2013 – José Froilán González, Argentinian racing driver (b. 1922)
    • 2013 – Dennis O’Rourke, Australian director and producer (b. 1945)
    • 2013 – Kenneth G. Wilson, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1936)
    • 2014 – Jacques Bergerac, French actor and businessman (b. 1927)
    • 2014 – Casey Kasem, American radio host, producer, and voice actor, co-created American Top 40 (b. 1932)
    • 2014 – Daniel Keyes, American short story writer and novelist (b. 1927)
    • 2014 – Moise Safra, Brazilian businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Banco Safra (b. 1934)
    • 2015 – Kirk Kerkorian, American businessman, founded the Tracinda Corporation (b. 1917)
    • 2016 – Lois Duncan, American author (b. 1934)
    • 2018 – Matt “Guitar” Murphy, American Blues guitarist (The Blues Brothers) (b. 1929)
    • 2019 – Franco Zeffirelli, Italian film director (b. 1923)

    Holidays and observances on June 15

    • Arbor Day (Costa Rica)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Abraham of Clermont (or of St Cyriacus)
      • Alice (or Adelaide) of Schaerbeek
      • Augustine of Hippo (Eastern Orthodox Church)
      • Blessed Albertina Berkenbrock
      • Blessed Clement Vismara
      • Edburga of Winchester
      • Evelyn Underhill (Church of England and The Episcopal Church)
      • Germaine Cousin
      • Landelin (of Crespin or of Lobbes)
      • Trillo
      • Vitus (Guy), Modestus and Crescentia
      • June 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Day of Valdemar and Reunion Day (Flag Day) (Denmark)
    • Earliest day on which Father’s Day can fall, while June 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Sunday in June. (United States, and most other countries.)
    • Engineer’s Day (Italy)
    • Global Wind Day (international)
    • National Beer Day (United Kingdom)
    • National Salvation Day (Azerbaijan)

  • May 24 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 919 – The nobles of Franconia and Saxony elect Henry the Fowler at the Imperial Diet in Fritzlar as king of the East Frankish Kingdom.
    • 1218 – The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.
    • 1276 – Magnus Ladulås is crowned King of Sweden in Uppsala Cathedral.
    • 1487 – The ten-year-old Lambert Simnel is crowned in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland, with the name of Edward VI in a bid to threaten King Henry VII’s reign.
    • 1567 – Erik XIV of Sweden and his guards murder five incarcerated Swedish nobles.
    • 1595 – Nomenclator of Leiden University Library appears, the first printed catalog of an institutional library.
    • 1607 – One hundred English settlers disembark in Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in America.
    • 1621 – The Protestant Union is formally dissolved.
    • 1626 – Peter Minuit buys Manhattan.
    • 1667 – The French Royal Army crosses the border into the Spanish Netherlands, starting the War of Devolution opposing France to the Spanish Empire and the Triple Alliance.
    • 1683 – The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, opens as the world’s first university museum.
    • 1689 – The English Parliament passes the Act of Toleration protecting dissenting Protestants but excluding Roman Catholics.
    • 1738 – John Wesley is converted, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day and a church service is generally held on the preceding Sunday.
    • 1798 – The Irish Rebellion of 1798 led by the United Irishmen against British rule begins.
    • 1813 – South American independence leader Simón Bolívar enters Mérida, leading the invasion of Venezuela, and is proclaimed El Libertador (“The Liberator”).
    • 1822 – Battle of Pichincha: Antonio José de Sucre secures the independence of the Presidency of Quito.
    • 1832 – The First Kingdom of Greece is declared in the London Conference.
    • 1844 – Samuel Morse sends the message “What hath God wrought” (a biblical quotation, Numbers 23:23) from a committee room in the United States Capitol to his assistant, Alfred Vail, in Baltimore, Maryland, to inaugurate a commercial telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington D.C.
    • 1856 – John Brown and his men kill five slavery supporters at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas.
    • 1861 – American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia.
    • 1883 – The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction.
    • 1900 – Second Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State.
    • 1915 – World War I: Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary, joining the conflict on the side of the Allies.
    • 1930 – Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Northern Territory, becoming the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia (she left on May 5 for the 11,000 mile flight).
    • 1935 – The first night game in Major League Baseball history is played in Cincinnati, Ohio, with the Cincinnati Reds beating the Philadelphia Phillies 2–1 at Crosley Field.
    • 1940 – Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight.
    • 1940 – Acting on the orders of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, NKVD agent Iosif Grigulevich orchestrates an unsuccessful assassination attempt on exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky in Coyoacán, Mexico.
    • 1941 – World War II: In the Battle of the Atlantic, the German Battleship Bismarck sinks then-pride of the Royal Navy, HMS Hood, killing all but three crewmen.
    • 1948 – Arab–Israeli War: Egypt captures the Israeli kibbutz of Yad Mordechai, but the five-day effort gives Israeli forces time to prepare enough to stop the Egyptian advance a week later.
    • 1956 – The first Eurovision Song Contest is held in Lugano, Switzerland.
    • 1958 – United Press International is formed through a merger of the United Press and the International News Service.
    • 1960 – Following the 1960 Valdivia earthquake, the largest ever recorded earthquake, Cordón Caulle begins to erupt.
    • 1961 – American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, for “disturbing the peace” after disembarking from their bus.
    • 1962 – Project Mercury: American astronaut Scott Carpenter orbits the Earth three times in the Aurora 7 space capsule.
    • 1967 – Egypt imposes a blockade and siege of the Red Sea coast of Israel.
    • 1976 – The Judgment of Paris takes place in France, launching California as a worldwide force in the production of quality wine.
    • 1981 – Ecuadorian president Jaime Roldós Aguilera, his wife, and his presidential committee die in an aircraft accident while travelling from Quito to Zapotillo minutes after the president gave a famous speech regarding the 24 de mayo anniversary of the Battle of Pichincha.
    • 1982 – Liberation of Khorramshahr: Iranians recapture of the port city of Khorramshahr from the Iraqis during the Iran–Iraq War.
    • 1988 – Section 28 of the United Kingdom’s Local Government Act 1988, a controversial amendment stating that a local authority cannot intentionally promote homosexuality, is enacted.
    • 1991 – Israel conducts Operation Solomon, evacuating Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
    • 1992 – The last Thai dictator, General Suchinda Kraprayoon, resigns following pro-democracy protests.
    • 1992 – The ethnic cleansing in Kozarac, Bosnia and Herzegovina begins when Serbian militia and police forces enter the town.
    • 1993 – Eritrea gains its independence from Ethiopia.
    • 1993 – Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo and five other people are assassinated in a shootout at Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International Airport in Mexico.
    • 1994 – Four men convicted of bombing the World Trade Center in New York in 1993 are each sentenced to 240 years in prison.
    • 1995 – While attempting to return to Leeds Bradford Airport in the United Kingdom, Knight Air Flight 816 crashes in Harewood, North Yorkshire, killing all 12 people on board.
    • 1999 – The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands indicts Slobodan Milošević and four others for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Kosovo.
    • 2000 – Israeli troops withdraw from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation.
    • 2002 – Russia and the United States sign the Moscow Treaty.
    • 2014 – A 6.4 magnitude earthquake occurs in the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey, injuring 324 people.
    • 2014 – At least three people are killed in a shooting at Brussels’ Jewish Museum of Belgium.
    • 2019 – Twenty-two students die in a fire in Surat (India).
    • 2019 – Under pressure over her handling of Brexit, British Prime Minister Theresa May announces her resignation as Leader of the Conservative Party, effective as of June 7.

    Births on May 24

    • 15 BC – Germanicus, Roman general (d. 19)
    • 1335 – Margaret of Bohemia, Queen of Hungary (d. 1349)
    • 1494 – Pontormo, Italian painter (d. 1557)
    • 1522 – John Jewel, English bishop (d. 1571)
    • 1544 – William Gilbert, English physician, physicist, and astronomer (d. 1603)
    • 1576 – Elizabeth Carey, Lady Berkeley, English courtier (d. 1635)
    • 1616 – John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale, Scottish politician, Secretary of State, Scotland (d. 1682)
    • 1628 – Marek Sobieski, Polish noble (d. 1652)
    • 1669 – Emerentia von Düben, Swedish royal favorite (d. 1743)
    • 1671 – Gian Gastone de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1737)
    • 1686 – Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, Polish-German physicist and engineer, developed the Fahrenheit scale (d. 1736)
    • 1689 – Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea, English politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1769)
    • 1743 – Jean-Paul Marat, Swiss-French physician, journalist, and politician (d. 1793)
    • 1789 – Cathinka Buchwieser, German operatic singer and actress (d.1828)
    • 1794 – William Whewell, English priest and philosopher (d. 1866)
    • 1803 – Alexander von Nordmann, Finnish biologist and paleontologist (d. 1866)
    • 1810 – Abraham Geiger, German rabbi and scholar (d. 1874)
    • 1816 – Emanuel Leutze, German-American painter (d. 1868)
    • 1819 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (d. 1901)
    • 1830 – Alexei Savrasov, Russian painter and academic (d. 1897)
    • 1855 – Arthur Wing Pinero, English actor, director, and playwright (d. 1934)
    • 1861 – Gerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland, Maltese lawyer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Malta (d. 1940)
    • 1863 – George Grey Barnard, American sculptor (d. 1938)
    • 1868 – Charlie Taylor, American engineer and mechanic (d. 1956)
    • 1870 – Benjamin N. Cardozo, American lawyer and judge (d. 1938)
    • 1870 – Jan Smuts, South African lawyer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of South Africa (d. 1950)
    • 1874 – Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (d. 1878)
    • 1875 – Robert Garrett, American discus thrower and shot putter (d. 1961)
    • 1878 – Lillian Moller Gilbreth, American psychologist and engineer (d. 1972)
    • 1879 – H. B. Reese, American candy maker, created Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (d. 1956)
    • 1886 – Paul Paray, French organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1979)
    • 1887 – Mick Mannock, Irish soldier and pilot, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1918)
    • 1891 – William F. Albright, American archaeologist, philologist, and scholar (d. 1971)
    • 1895 – Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr., American publisher, founded Advance Publications (d. 1979)
    • 1899 – Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player (d. 1938)
    • 1899 – Henri Michaux, Belgian-French poet and painter (d. 1984)
    • 1900 – Eduardo De Filippo, Italian actor and screenwriter (d. 1984)
    • 1901 – José Nasazzi, Uruguayan footballer and manager (d. 1968)
    • 1902 – Lionel Conacher, Canadian football player and politician (d. 1954)
    • 1902 – Sylvia Daoust, Canadian sculptor (d. 2004)
    • 1905 – George Nakashima, American woodworker and architect(d. 1990)
    • 1905 – Mikhail Sholokhov, Russian novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
    • 1909 – Wilbur Mills, American banker and politician (d. 1992)
    • 1910 – Jimmy Demaret, American golfer (d. 1983)
    • 1913 – Joe Abreu, American baseball player and soldier (d. 1993)
    • 1914 – Lilli Palmer, German-American actress (d. 1986)
    • 1916 – Roden Cutler, Australian lieutenant and politician, 32nd Governor of New South Wales (d. 2002)
    • 1917 – Alan Campbell, Baron Campbell of Alloway, English lawyer and judge (d. 2013)
    • 1918 – Coleman Young, American politician, 66th Mayor of Detroit (d. 1997)
    • 1923 – Siobhán McKenna, Irish actress (d. 1986)
    • 1924 – Philip Pearlstein, American soldier and painter
    • 1925 – Carmine Infantino, American illustrator and educator (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Mai Zetterling, Swedish actress and director (d. 1994)
    • 1926 – Stanley Baxter, Scottish actor and screenwriter
    • 1928 – William Trevor, Irish novelist, playwright and short story writer (d. 2016)
    • 1932 – Arnold Wesker, English playwright and producer (d. 2016)
    • 1933 – Jane Byrne, American lawyer and politician, 50th Mayor of Chicago (d. 2014)
    • 1933 – Réal Giguère, Canadian television host and actor
    • 1933 – Aharon Lichtenstein, French-Israeli rabbi and author (d. 2015)
    • 1935 – Joan Micklin Silver, American director and screenwriter
    • 1936 – Harold Budd, American composer and poet
    • 1937 – Maryvonne Dupureur, French runner and educator (d. 2008)
    • 1937 – Archie Shepp, American saxophonist and composer
    • 1938 – Prince Buster, Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2016)
    • 1938 – Tommy Chong, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1940 – Joseph Brodsky, Russian-American poet and essayist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
    • 1941 – Bob Dylan, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, artist, writer, and producer; Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1941 – Patricia Hollis, Baroness Hollis of Heigham, English academic and politician
    • 1942 – Ali Bacher, South African cricketer and manager
    • 1942 – Hannu Mikkola, Finnish race car driver
    • 1942 – Ichirō Ozawa, Japanese lawyer and politician, Japanese Minister of Home Affairs
    • 1943 – Gary Burghoff, American actor
    • 1944 – Patti LaBelle, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1944 – Dominique Lavanant, French actress
    • 1945 – Terry Callier, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2012)
    • 1945 – Steven Norris, English engineer and politician
    • 1945 – Richard Ottaway, English lieutenant and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
    • 1945 – Priscilla Presley, American actress and businesswoman
    • 1946 – Tansu Çiller, Turkish economist and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Turkey
    • 1946 – Jesualdo Ferreira, Portuguese footballer and manager
    • 1946 – Irena Szewińska, Russian-Polish sprinter
    • 1947 – Albert Bouchard, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and drummer
    • 1947 – Mike De Leon, Filipino director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer
    • 1947 – Mike Reid, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and American football player
    • 1947 – Waddy Wachtel, American guitarist, singer-songwriter, and record producer
    • 1947 – Martin Winterkorn, German businessman
    • 1948 – Richard Dembo, French director and screenwriter (d. 2004)
    • 1949 – Jim Broadbent, English actor
    • 1949 – Roger Deakins , English cinematographer
    • 1953 – Alfred Molina, English actor
    • 1955 – Rosanne Cash, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1955 – Philippe Lafontaine, Belgian singer and songwriter
    • 1955 – Rajesh Roshan, Indian composer
    • 1956 – R. B. Bernstein, American constitutional historian
    • 1956 – Larry Blackmon, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1956 – Dominic Grieve, English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales
    • 1956 – Michael Jackson, Irish archbishop
    • 1958 – Chip Ganassi, American race car driver, team owner and businessman
    • 1959 – Pelle Lindbergh, Swedish-American ice hockey player (d. 1985)
    • 1959 – Barry O’Farrell, Australian politician, 43rd Premier of New South Wales
    • 1960 – Guy Fletcher, English keyboard player, guitarist, and producer
    • 1960 – Bill Harrigan, Australian rugby league referee and sportscaster
    • 1960 – Kristin Scott Thomas, English actress
    • 1961 – Lorella Cedroni, Italian philosopher and theorist (d. 2013)
    • 1961 – Alain Lemieux, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
    • 1962 – Héctor Camacho, Puerto Rican-American boxer (d. 2012)
    • 1962 – Gene Anthony Ray, American actor, dancer, and choreographer (d. 2003)
    • 1963 – Ivan Capelli, Italian race car driver and sportscaster
    • 1963 – Michael Chabon, American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter
    • 1963 – Joe Dumars, American basketball player
    • 1963 – Rich Rodriguez, American football player and coach
    • 1963 – Valerie Taylor, American computer scientist and educator
    • 1964 – Liz McColgan, Scottish educator and runner
    • 1964 – Adrian Moorhouse, English swimmer
    • 1964 – Isidro Pérez, Mexican boxer (d. 2013)
    • 1964 – Pat Verbeek, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
    • 1965 – John C. Reilly, American actor
    • 1965 – Shinichirō Watanabe, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1966 – Éric Cantona, French footballer, manager, and actor
    • 1966 – Ricky Craven, American race car driver and sportscaster
    • 1967 – Tamer Karadağlı, Turkish actor
    • 1967 – Andrey Borodin, Russian-English economist and businessman
    • 1967 – Eric Close, American actor
    • 1967 – Heavy D, Jamaican-American rapper, producer, and actor (d. 2011)
    • 1967 – Carlos Hernández, Venezuelan-American baseball player and manager
    • 1969 – Martin McCague, Northern Irish-English cricketer
    • 1969 – Jacob Rees-Mogg, English politician
    • 1969 – Rich Robinson, American guitarist and songwriter
    • 1971 – Kris Draper, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
    • 1972 – Greg Berlanti, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1973 – Rodrigo, Argentinian singer-songwriter (d. 2000)
    • 1973 – Bartolo Colón, Dominican-American baseball player
    • 1973 – Shirish Kunder, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1973 – Vladimír Šmicer, Czech footballer and manager
    • 1974 – Sébastien Foucan, French runner and actor
    • 1974 – Masahide Kobayashi, Japanese baseball player and coach
    • 1974 – Magnus Manske, German biochemist and computer programmer, developed MediaWiki
    • 1975 – Will Sasso, Canadian actor and comedian
    • 1975 – Marc Gagnon, Canadian speed skater
    • 1975 – Giannis Goumas, Greek footballer and coach
    • 1975 – Maria Lawson, English singer-songwriter
    • 1976 – Alessandro Cortini, Italian-American singer and keyboard player
    • 1976 – Catherine Cox, New Zealand-Australian netball player
    • 1976 – Silje Vige, Norwegian singer
    • 1977 – Jeet Gannguli, Indian score composer, music director and singer
    • 1978 – Elijah Burke, American wrestler
    • 1978 – Johan Holmqvist, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1978 – Brad Penny, American baseball player
    • 1978 – Rose, French singer, songwriter and composer
    • 1979 – Tracy McGrady, American basketball player
    • 1979 – Kareem McKenzie, American football player
    • 1980 – Jason Babin, American football player
    • 1980 – Anthony Minichiello, Australian rugby league player
    • 1981 – Andy Lee, Australian comedian, actor, and screenwriter
    • 1982 – Issah Gabriel Ahmed, Ghanaian footballer
    • 1982 – Rian Wallace, American football player
    • 1983 – Custódio Castro, Portuguese footballer
    • 1983 – Pedram Javaheri, Iranian-American meteorologist and journalist
    • 1983 – Woo Seung-yeon, South Korean model and actress (d. 2009)
    • 1984 – Sarah Hagan, American actress
    • 1984 – Dmitri Kruglov, Estonian footballer
    • 1985 – Tim Bridgman, English race car driver
    • 1986 – Mark Ballas, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, dancer, and actor
    • 1986 – Giannis Kontoes, Greek footballer
    • 1987 – Guillaume Latendresse, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1988 – Artem Anisimov, Russian ice hockey player
    • 1988 – Monica Lin Brown, American sergeant
    • 1988 – Billy Gilman, American musician
    • 1988 – Lucian Wintrich, American political artist and White House correspondent
    • 1989 – G-Eazy, American rapper
    • 1989 – Andrew Jordan, English race car driver
    • 1990 – Mattias Ekholm, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1991 – Aled Davies, Welsh discus thrower
    • 1991 – Cody Eakin, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1992 – Marcus Bettinelli, English footballer, goalkeeper
    • 1994 – Daiya Seto, Japanese swimmer
    • 1994 – Emily Nicholl, Scottish netball player
    • 1994 – Daiya Seto, Japanese swimmer
    • 1994 – Emily Temple Wood, American 2016 Wikipedian of the Year award
    • 1999 – Tarjei Sandvik Moe, Norwegian actor

    Deaths on May 24

    • 688 – Ségéne, bishop of Armagh (b. c. 610)
    • 1089 – Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury
    • 1136 – Hugues de Payens, first Grand Master of the Knights Templar (b. c. 1070)
    • 1153 – David I of Scotland (b. 1083)
    • 1201 – Theobald III, Count of Champagne (b. 1179)
    • 1351 – Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Othman, Moroccan sultan (b. 1297)
    • 1408 – Taejo of Joseon (b. 1335)
    • 1425 – Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, Scottish politician (b. 1362)
    • 1456 – Ambroise de Loré, French commander (b. 1396)
    • 1543 – Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish mathematician and astronomer (b. 1473)
    • 1612 – Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, English politician, Lord High Treasurer (b. 1563)
    • 1627 – Luis de Góngora, Spanish poet and cleric (b. 1561)
    • 1632 – Robert Hues, English mathematician and geographer (b. 1553)
    • 1665 – Mary of Jesus of Ágreda, Spanish Franciscan abbess and mystic (b. 1602)
    • 1734 – Georg Ernst Stahl, German physician and chemist (b. 1660)
    • 1792 – George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, English admiral and politician, 16th Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1718)
    • 1806 – John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll, Scottish field marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Argyllshire (b. 1723)
    • 1843 – Sylvestre François Lacroix, French mathematician and academic (b. 1765)
    • 1848 – Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, German author and composer (b. 1797)
    • 1861 – Elmer E. Ellsworth, American colonel (b. 1837)
    • 1872 – Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, German painter and illustrator (b. 1794)
    • 1879 – William Lloyd Garrison, American journalist and activist (b. 1805)
    • 1881 – Samuel Palmer, English painter and illustrator (b. 1805)
    • 1901 – Louis-Zéphirin Moreau, Canadian bishop (b. 1824)
    • 1908 – Old Tom Morris, Scottish golfer and architect (b. 1821)
    • 1915 – John Condon, Irish-English soldier (b. 1896)
    • 1919 – Amado Nervo, Mexican poet, journalist, and educator (b. 1870)
    • 1929 – Nikolai von Meck, Russian engineer (b. 1863)
    • 1941 – Lancelot Holland, English admiral (b. 1887)
    • 1945 – Robert Ritter von Greim, German field marshal and pilot (b. 1892)
    • 1948 – Jacques Feyder, Belgian actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1885)
    • 1949 – Alexey Shchusev, Russian architect, designed Lenin’s Mausoleum and Moscow Kazanskaya railway station (b. 1873)
    • 1950 – Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, English field marshal and politician, 43rd Governor-General of India (b. 1883)
    • 1951 – Thomas N. Heffron, American actor, director, screenwriter (b. 1872)
    • 1956 – Martha Annie Whiteley, English chemist and mathematician (b. 1866)
    • 1958 – Frank Rowe, Australian public servant (b. 1895)
    • 1959 – John Foster Dulles, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 52nd United States Secretary of State (b. 1888)
    • 1963 – Elmore James, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1918)
    • 1965 – Sonny Boy Williamson II, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player (b. 1908)
    • 1974 – Duke Ellington, American pianist and composer (b. 1899)
    • 1976 – Denise Pelletier, Canadian actress (b. 1923)
    • 1979 – Ernest Bullock, English organist, composer, and educator (b. 1890)
    • 1981 – Herbert Müller, Swiss race car driver (b. 1940)
    • 1984 – Vince McMahon Sr., American wrestling promoter and businessman, founded WWE (b. 1914)
    • 1988 – Freddie Frith, English motorcycle road racer (b. 1909)
    • 1990 – Arthur Villeneuve, Canadian painter (b. 1910)
    • 1991 – Gene Clark, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1944)
    • 1992 – Hitoshi Ogawa, Japanese race car driver (b. 1956)
    • 1995 – Harold Wilson, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1916)
    • 1996 – Enrique Álvarez Félix, Mexican actor (b. 1934)
    • 1996 – Joseph Mitchell, American journalist and author (b. 1908)
    • 1997 – Edward Mulhare, Irish actor (b. 1923)
    • 2000 – Kurt Schork, American journalist and scholar (b. 1947)
    • 2000 – Majrooh Sultanpuri, Indian poet and songwriter (b. 1919)
    • 2002 – Wallace Markfield, American author (b. 1926)
    • 2003 – Rachel Kempson, English actress (b. 1910)
    • 2004 – Henry Ries, German-American photographer (b. 1917)
    • 2004 – Milton Shulman, Canadian author and critic (b. 1913)
    • 2004 – Edward Wagenknecht, American critic and educator (b. 1900)
    • 2005 – Carl Amery, German activist and author (b. 1922)
    • 2005 – Arthur Haulot, Belgian journalist and poet (b. 1913)
    • 2005 – Guy Tardif, Canadian academic and politician (b. 1935)
    • 2006 – Henry Bumstead, American art director and production designer (b. 1915)
    • 2006 – Claude Piéplu, French actor (b. 1923)
    • 2006 – Michał Życzkowski, Polish technician and educator (b. 1930)
    • 2008 – Dick Martin, American actor, comedian, and director (b. 1922)
    • 2008 – Jimmy McGriff, American organist and bandleader (b. 1936)
    • 2009 – Jay Bennett, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1963)
    • 2010 – Ray Alan, English ventriloquist, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1930)
    • 2010 – Paul Gray, American bass player and songwriter (b. 1972)
    • 2010 – Raymond V. Haysbert, American businessman and activist (b. 1920)
    • 2010 – Petr Muk, Czech singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1965)
    • 2010 – Anneliese Rothenberger, German soprano and actress (b. 1926)
    • 2011 – Huguette Clark, American heiress, painter, and philanthropist (b. 1906)
    • 2011 – Hakim Ali Zardari, Indian-Pakistani businessman and politician (b. 1930)
    • 2012 – Klaas Carel Faber, Dutch-German SS officer (b. 1922)
    • 2012 – Kathi Kamen Goldmark, American journalist and author (b. 1948)
    • 2012 – Jacqueline Harpman, Belgian psychoanalyst and author (b. 1929)
    • 2012 – Juan Francisco Lombardo, Argentinian footballer (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Lee Rich, American production manager and producer (b. 1918)
    • 2013 – Helmut Braunlich, German-American violinist and composer (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Ron Davies, Welsh footballer (b. 1942)
    • 2013 – Gotthard Graubner, German painter (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Haynes Johnson, American journalist and author (b. 1931)
    • 2013 – Pyotr Todorovsky, Ukrainian-Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – David Allen, English cricketer (b. 1935)
    • 2014 – Stormé DeLarverie, known as the “Rosa Parks of the lesbian community” (b. 1920)
    • 2014 – Mahafarid Amir Khosravi, Iranian businessman (b. 1969)
    • 2014 – Knowlton Nash, Canadian journalist and author (b. 1927)
    • 2014 – John Vasconcellos, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (b. 1932)
    • 2015 – Dean Carroll, English rugby player (b. 1962)
    • 2015 – Kenneth Jacobs, Australian lawyer and judge (b. 1917)
    • 2015 – Tanith Lee, English author (b. 1947)
    • 2018 – Gudrun Burwitz, daughter of Margarete Himmler and Heinrich Himmler (b. 1929)
    • 2018 – John Bain (TotalBiscuit), English gaming commentator and critic (b. 1984)

    Holidays and observances on May 24

    • Aldersgate Day/Wesley Day (Methodism)
    • Battle of Pichincha Day (Ecuador)
    • Bermuda Day (Bermuda), celebrated on the nearest weekday if May 24 falls on the weekend.
    • Christian feast day:
      • Anna Pak Agi (one of The Korean Martyrs)
      • Donatian and Rogatian
      • Jackson Kemper (Episcopal Church)
      • Joanna
      • Mary, Help of Christians
      • Sarah (celebrated by the Romani people of Camargue)
      • Vincent of Lérins
      • May 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Commonwealth Day (Belize)
    • Earliest day on which El Colacho tradition can fall, while June 27 is the latest; celebrated on Sunday after Corpus Christi. (Castrillo de Murcia, near Burgos)
    • Independence Day (Eritrea), celebrates the independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia in 1993.
    • Lubiri Memorial Day (Buganda)
    • Saints Cyril and Methodius Day (Eastern Orthodox Church, Julian Calendar) and its related observance:
      • Bulgarian Education and Culture and Slavonic Literature Day (Bulgaria)
      • Saints Cyril and Methodius, Slavonic Enlighteners’ Day (North Macedonia)
    • Victoria Day; celebrated on Monday on or before May 24. (Canada), and its related observance:
      • National Patriots’ Day or Journée nationale des patriotes (Quebec)

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

    • 639 – Ashina Jiesheshuai and his tribesmen assaulted Emperor Taizong at Jiucheng Palace.
    • 715 – Pope Gregory II is elected.
    • 1051 – Henry I of France marries the Russian princess, Anne of Kiev.
    • 1445 – John II of Castile defeats the Infantes of Aragon at the First Battle of Olmedo.
    • 1499 – Catherine of Aragon is married by proxy to Arthur, Prince of Wales. Catherine is 13 and Arthur is 12.
    • 1535 – French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships, 110 men, and Chief Donnacona’s two sons (whom Cartier had kidnapped during his first voyage).
    • 1536 – Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England, is beheaded for adultery, treason, and incest.
    • 1542 – The Prome Kingdom falls to the Taungoo Dynasty in present-day Myanmar.
    • 1568 – Queen Elizabeth I of England orders the arrest of Mary, Queen of Scots.
    • 1643 – Thirty Years’ War: French forces under the duc d’Enghien decisively defeat Spanish forces at the Battle of Rocroi, marking the symbolic end of Spain as a dominant land power.
    • 1649 – An Act of Parliament declaring England a Commonwealth is passed by the Long Parliament. England would be a republic for the next eleven years.
    • 1655 – The Invasion of Jamaica begins during the Anglo-Spanish War.
    • 1743 – Jean-Pierre Christin developed the centigrade temperature scale.
    • 1749 – King George II of Great Britain grants the Ohio Company a charter of land around the forks of the Ohio River.
    • 1776 – American Revolutionary War: A Continental Army garrison surrenders in the Battle of The Cedars.
    • 1780 – New England’s Dark Day, an unusual darkening of the day sky, was observed over the New England states and parts of Canada.
    • 1802 – Napoleon Bonaparte founds the Legion of Honour.
    • 1828 – U.S. President John Quincy Adams signs the Tariff of 1828 into law, protecting wool manufacturers in the United States.
    • 1845 – Captain Sir John Franklin and his ill-fated Arctic expedition depart from Greenhithe, England.
    • 1848 – Mexican–American War: Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo thus ending the war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of four other modern-day U.S. states to the United States for US$15 million.
    • 1911 – Parks Canada, the world’s first national park service, is established as the Dominion Parks Branch under the Department of the Interior.
    • 1917 – The Norwegian football club Rosenborg BK is founded.
    • 1919 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk lands at Samsun on the Anatolian Black Sea coast, initiating what is later termed the Turkish War of Independence.
    • 1921 – The United States Congress passes the Emergency Quota Act establishing national quotas on immigration.
    • 1922 – The Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union is established.
    • 1934 – Zveno and the Bulgarian Army engineer a coup d’état and install Kimon Georgiev as the new Prime Minister of Bulgaria.
    • 1942 – World War II: In the aftermath of the Battle of the Coral Sea, Task Force 16 heads to Pearl Harbor.
    • 1950 – A barge containing munitions destined for Pakistan explodes in the harbor at South Amboy, New Jersey, devastating the city.
    • 1950 – Egypt announces that the Suez Canal is closed to Israeli ships and commerce.
    • 1959 – The North Vietnamese Army establishes Group 559, whose responsibility is to determine how to maintain supply lines to South Vietnam; the resulting route is the Ho Chi Minh trail.
    • 1961 – Venera program: Venera 1 becomes the first man-made object to fly by another planet by passing Venus (the probe had lost contact with Earth a month earlier and did not send back any data).
    • 1961 – At Silchar Railway Station, Assam, 11 Bengalis die when police open fire on protesters demanding state recognition of Bengali language in the Bengali Language Movement.
    • 1962 – A birthday salute to U.S. President John F. Kennedy takes place at Madison Square Garden, New York City. The highlight is Marilyn Monroe’s rendition of “Happy Birthday”.
    • 1963 – The New York Post Sunday Magazine publishes Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail.
    • 1971 – Mars probe program: Mars 2 is launched by the Soviet Union.
    • 1986 – The Firearm Owners Protection Act is signed into law by U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
    • 1991 – Croatians vote for independence in a referendum.
    • 1997 – The Sierra Gorda biosphere, the most ecologically diverse region in Mexico, is established as a result of grassroots efforts.
    • 2007 – President of Romania Traian Băsescu survives an impeachment referendum and returns to office from suspension.
    • 2010 – The Royal Thai Armed Forces concludes its crackdown on protests by forcing the surrender of United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship leaders.
    • 2012 – Three gas cylinder bombs explode in front of a vocational school in the Italian city of Brindisi, killing one person and injuring five others.
    • 2012 – A car bomb explodes near a military complex in the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, killing nine people.
    • 2015 – The Refugio oil spill deposited 142,800 U.S. gallons (3,400 barrels) of crude oil onto an area in California considered one of the most biologically diverse coastlines of the west coast.
    • 2016 – EgyptAir Flight 804 crashes into the Mediterranean Sea while traveling from Paris to Cairo, killing all on board.
    • 2018 – The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is held at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, with an estimated global audience of 1.9 billion.

    Births on May 19

    • 1400 – John Stourton, 1st Baron Stourton, English soldier and politician (d. 1462)
    • 1462 – Baccio D’Agnolo, Italian woodcarver, sculptor and architect (d. 1543)
    • 1476 (or 1474) – Helena of Moscow, Grand Duchess consort of Lithuania and Queen consort of Poland (d. 1513)
    • 1593 – Claude Vignon, French painter (d. 1670)
    • 1616 – Johann Jakob Froberger, German organist and composer (d. 1667)
    • 1639 – Charles Weston, 3rd Earl of Portland, English soldier and noble (d. 1665)
    • 1700 – José de Escandón, 1st Count of Sierra Gorda, Spanish sergeant and politician (d. 1770)
    • 1724 – Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol, English admiral and politician, Chief Secretary for Ireland (d. 1779)
    • 1744 – Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, German-born Queen to George III of the United Kingdom (d. 1818)
    • 1762 – Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher and academic (d. 1814)
    • 1773 – Arthur Aikin, English chemist and mineralogist (d. 1854)
    • 1795 – Johns Hopkins, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1873)
    • 1827 – Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour, French academic and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1896)
    • 1832 – James Watney, Jr., English politician, brewer and cricketer (d. 1886)
    • 1857 – John Jacob Abel, American biochemist and pharmacologist (d. 1938)
    • 1861 – Nellie Melba, Australian soprano and actress (d. 1931)
    • 1871 – Walter Russell, American painter, sculptor, and author (d. 1963)
    • 1874 – Gilbert Jessop, English cricketer and soldier (d. 1955)
    • 1878 – Alfred Laliberté, Canadian sculptor and painter (d. 1953)
    • 1879 – Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, American-English politician (d. 1964)
    • 1880 – Albert Richardson, English architect and educator, designed the Manchester Opera House (d. 1964)
    • 1881 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (official birthday), Turkish field marshal and statesman, 1st President of Turkey (d. 1938)
    • 1884 – David Munson, American runner (d. 1953)
    • 1886 – Francis Biddle, American lawyer and judge, 58th United States Attorney General (d. 1968)
    • 1887 – Ion Jalea, Romanian soldier and sculptor (d. 1983)
    • 1889 – Tản Đà, Vietnamese poet and author (d. 1939)
    • 1889 – Henry B. Richardson, American archer (d. 1963)
    • 1890 – Eveline Adelheid von Maydell, German-American illustrator (d. 1962)
    • 1890 – Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese politician, 1st President of Vietnam (d. 1969)
    • 1891 – Oswald Boelcke, German captain and pilot (d. 1916)
    • 1893 – H. Bonciu, Romanian author, poet, and journalist (d. 1950)
    • 1897 – Frank Luke, American lieutenant and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1918)
    • 1898 – Julius Evola, Italian philosopher and painter (d. 1974)
    • 1899 – Lothar Rădăceanu, Romanian journalist, linguist, and politician (d. 1955)
    • 1902 – Lubka Kolessa, Ukrainian-Canadian pianist and educator (d. 1997)
    • 1903 – Ruth Ella Moore, American scientist (d. 1994)
    • 1906 – Bruce Bennett, American shot putter and actor (d. 2007)
    • 1908 – Manik Bandopadhyay, Indian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1956)
    • 1908 – Merriam Modell, American author (d. 1994)
    • 1908 – Percy Williams, Canadian sprinter (d. 1982)
    • 1909 – Nicholas Winton, English banker and humanitarian (d. 2015)
    • 1910 – Alan Melville, South African cricketer (d. 1983)
    • 1913 – Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, Indian lawyer and politician, 6th President of India (d. 1996)
    • 1914 – Max Perutz, Austrian-English biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
    • 1914 – Alex Shibicky, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2005)
    • 1914 – John Vachon, American photographer and journalist (d. 1975)
    • 1915 – Renée Asherson, English actress (d. 2014)
    • 1918 – Abraham Pais, Dutch-American physicist, historian, and academic (d. 2000)
    • 1919 – Georgie Auld, Canadian-American saxophonist, clarinet player, and bandleader (d. 1990)
    • 1919 – Mitja Ribičič, Italian-Slovenian soldier and politician, 25th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (d. 2013)
    • 1920 – Tina Strobos, Dutch psychiatrist known for rescuing Jews during World War II (d. 2012)
    • 1921 – Leslie Broderick, English lieutenant and pilot (d. 2013)
    • 1921 – Harry W. Brown, American colonel and pilot (d. 1991)
    • 1921 – Daniel Gélin, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2002)
    • 1921 – Yuri Kochiyama, American activist (d. 2014)
    • 1921 – Karel van het Reve, Dutch historian and author (d. 1999)
    • 1922 – Arthur Gorrie, Australian hobby shop proprietor (d. 1992)
    • 1924 – Sandy Wilson, English composer and songwriter (d. 2014)
    • 1925 – Pol Pot, Cambodian general and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Cambodia (d. 1998)
    • 1925 – Malcolm X, American minister and activist (d. 1965)
    • 1926 – Edward Parkes, English engineer and academic (d. 2019)
    • 1926 – Peter Zadek, German director and screenwriter (d. 2009)
    • 1927 – Serge Lang, French-American mathematician, author and academic (d. 2005)
    • 1928 – Colin Chapman, English engineer and businessman, founded Lotus Cars (d. 1982)
    • 1928 – Thomas Kennedy, English air marshal (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – Gil McDougald, American baseball player and coach (d. 2010)
    • 1928 – Dolph Schayes, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1929 – Helmut Braunlich, German-American violinist and composer (d. 2013)
    • 1929 – Richard Larter, Australian painter (d. 2014)
    • 1929 – John Stroger, American politician (d. 2008)
    • 1930 – Eugene Genovese, American historian and author (d. 2012)
    • 1930 – Lorraine Hansberry, American playwright and director (d. 1965)
    • 1931 – Bob Anderson, English race car driver (d. 1967)
    • 1931 – Trevor Peacock, English actor, screenwriter and songwriter
    • 1932 – Alma Cogan, English singer (d. 1966)
    • 1932 – Paul Erdman, American economist and author (d. 2007)
    • 1932 – Bill Fitch, American basketball player and coach
    • 1932 – Elena Poniatowska, Mexican intellectual and journalist
    • 1933 – Edward de Bono, Maltese physician, author, and academic
    • 1934 – Ruskin Bond, Indian author and poet
    • 1934 – Jim Lehrer, American journalist and author (d. 2020)
    • 1935 – David Hartman, American journalist and television personality
    • 1937 – Pat Roach, English wrestler (d. 2004)
    • 1938 – Moisés da Costa Amaral, East Timorese politician (d. 1989)
    • 1938 – Herbie Flowers, English musician
    • 1938 – Igor Ter-Ovanesyan, Ukrainian long jumper and coach
    • 1939 – Livio Berruti, Italian sprinter
    • 1939 – James Fox, English actor
    • 1939 – Nancy Kwan, Hong Kong-American actress and makeup artist
    • 1939 – Jānis Lūsis, Latvian javelin thrower and coach (d. 2020)
    • 1939 – Dick Scobee, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1986)
    • 1940 – Jan Janssen, Dutch cyclist
    • 1940 – Mickey Newbury, American country/pop singer-songwriter (d. 2002)
    • 1941 – Nora Ephron, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
    • 1941 – Igor Judge, Baron Judge, Maltese-English lawyer and judge, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
    • 1942 – Gary Kildall, American computer scientist, founded Digital Research Inc. (d. 1994)
    • 1942 – Robert Kilroy-Silk, English television host and politician
    • 1943 – Eddie May, English footballer and manager (d. 2012)
    • 1943 – Shirrel Rhoades, American author, publisher, and academic
    • 1944 – Peter Mayhew, English-American actor (d. 2019)
    • 1945 – Pete Townshend, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1946 – Claude Lelièvre, Belgian activist
    • 1946 – Michele Placido, Italian actor and director
    • 1946 – André the Giant, French-American wrestler and actor (d. 1993)
    • 1947 – Paul Brady, Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1947 – Christopher Chope, English lawyer and politician
    • 1947 – David Helfgott, Australian pianist
    • 1948 – Grace Jones, Jamaican-American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1949 – Dusty Hill, American singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1949 – Philip Hunt, Baron Hunt of Kings Heath, English politician
    • 1949 – Archie Manning, American football player
    • 1950 – Tadeusz Ślusarski, Polish pole vaulter (d. 1998)
    • 1951 – Joey Ramone, American singer-songwriter (d. 2001)
    • 1951 – Dick Slater, American wrestler
    • 1952 – Charlie Spedding, English runner
    • 1952 – Bert van Marwijk, Dutch footballer, coach, and manager
    • 1953 – Patrick Hodge, Lord Hodge, Scottish lawyer and judge
    • 1953 – Shavarsh Karapetyan, Armenian finswimmer
    • 1953 – Florin Marin, Romanian footballer and manager
    • 1953 – Victoria Wood, English actress, singer, director, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
    • 1954 – Rick Cerone, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1954 – Hōchū Ōtsuka, Japanese voice actor
    • 1954 – Phil Rudd, Australian-New Zealand drummer
    • 1955 – James Gosling, Canadian-American computer scientist, created Java
    • 1956 – Oliver Letwin, English philosopher and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
    • 1956 – Martyn Ware, English keyboard player, songwriter, and producer
    • 1957 – Bill Laimbeer, American basketball player and coach
    • 1957 – James Reyne, Nigerian-Australian singer-songwriter
    • 1961 – Vadim Cojocaru, Moldovan politician
    • 1961 – Gregory Poirier, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1961 – Wayne Van Dorp, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1963 – Filippo Galli, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1964 – Peter Jackson, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster (d. 1997)
    • 1964 – John Lee, South Korean-American football player
    • 1964 – Miloslav Mečíř, Slovak tennis player
    • 1965 – Maile Flanagan, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1966 – Marc Bureau, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
    • 1966 – Jodi Picoult, American author and educator
    • 1966 – Polly Walker, English actress
    • 1967 – Alexia, Italian singer
    • 1967 – Geraldine Somerville, Irish-born English actress
    • 1968 – Kyle Eastwood, American actor and bass player
    • 1970 – Stuart Cable, Welsh drummer (d. 2010)
    • 1970 – K. J. Choi, South Korean golfer
    • 1970 – Regina Narva, Estonian chess player
    • 1970 – Nia Zulkarnaen, Indonesian actress, singer and producer
    • 1971 – Ross Katz, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1971 – Andres Salumets, Estonian biologist, biochemist, and educator
    • 1972 – Jenny Berggren, Swedish singer-songwriter
    • 1972 – Claudia Karvan, Australian actress, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1973 – Dario Franchitti, Scottish race car driver
    • 1974 – Andrew Johns, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1974 – Emma Shapplin, French soprano
    • 1974 – Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Indian actor
    • 1975 – Pretinha, Brazilian footballer
    • 1975 – London Fletcher, American football player
    • 1975 – Josh Paul, American baseball player and manager
    • 1975 – Jonas Renkse, Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1976 – Ed Cota, American basketball player
    • 1976 – Kevin Garnett, American basketball player
    • 1977 – Manuel Almunia, Spanish footballer
    • 1977 – Wouter Hamel, Dutch singer and guitarist
    • 1977 – Brandon Inge, American baseball player
    • 1977 – Natalia Oreiro, Uruguayan singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1978 – Marcus Bent, English footballer
    • 1978 – Dave Bus, Dutch footballer
    • 1979 – Andrea Pirlo, Italian footballer
    • 1979 – Diego Forlan, Uruguayan footballer
    • 1980 – Tony Hackworth, English footballer
    • 1981 – Luciano Figueroa, Argentinian footballer
    • 1981 – Yo Gotti, American rapper
    • 1981 – Michael Leighton, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1981 – Sina Schielke, German sprinter
    • 1981 – Klaas-Erik Zwering, Dutch swimmer
    • 1982 – Kevin Amankwaah, English footballer
    • 1982 – Pål Steffen Andresen, Norwegian footballer
    • 1982 – Klaas Vantornout, Belgian cyclist
    • 1983 – Michael Che, American comedian
    • 1983 – Jessica Fox, English actress
    • 1984 – Marcedes Lewis, American football player
    • 1985 – Aleister Black, Dutch professional wrestler
    • 1986 – Mario Chalmers, American basketball player
    • 1987 – Michael Angelakos, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1987 – David Edgar, Canadian soccer player
    • 1987 – Mariano Torres, Argentinian footballer
    • 1987 – Jayne Wisener, Northern Irish actress
    • 1991 – Jordan Pruitt, American singer-songwriter
    • 1992 – Marshmello, American electronic music producer and DJ
    • 1992 – Michele Camporese, Italian footballer
    • 1992 – Ola John, Dutch footballer
    • 1992 – Felise Kaufusi, New Zealand-Tongan rugby league player
    • 1992 – Evgeny Kuznetsov, Russian ice hockey player
    • 1992 – Sam Smith, English singer-songwriter
    • 1994 – Carlos Guzmán, Mexican footballer
    • 1995 – Taane Milne, New Zealand rugby league player

    Deaths on May 19

    • 804 – Alcuin, English monk and scholar (b. 735)
    • 956 – Robert, archbishop of Trier
    • 988 – Dunstan, English archbishop and saint (b. 909)
    • 1102 – Stephen, Count of Blois (b. 1045)
    • 1125 – Vladimir II Monomakh, Grand Duke of Kiev
    • 1164 – Saint Bashnouna, Egyptian saint and martyr
    • 1218 – Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor
    • 1296 – Pope Celestine V (b. 1215)
    • 1303 – Saint Ivo of Kermartin, French canon lawyer (b. 1253)
    • 1319 – Louis, Count of Évreux (b. 1276)
    • 1389 – Dmitry Donskoy, Grand Prince of Muscovy (b. 1350)
    • 1396 – John I of Aragon (b. 1350)
    • 1526 – Emperor Go-Kashiwabara of Japan (b. 1464)
    • 1531 – Jan Łaski, Polish archbishop and diplomat (b. 1456)
    • 1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England (1533–1536); second wife of Henry VIII of England (b. c. 1501)
    • 1601 – Costanzo Porta, Italian composer (b. 1528)
    • 1609 – García Hurtado de Mendoza, 5th Marquis of Cañete (b. 1535)
    • 1610 – Thomas Sanchez, Spanish priest and theologian (b. 1550)
    • 1623 – Mariam-uz-Zamani, Empress of the Mughal Empire (b. 1542)
    • 1637 – Isaac Beeckman, Dutch scientist and philosopher (b. 1588)
    • 1715 – Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, English poet and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1661)
    • 1786 – John Stanley, English organist and composer (b. 1712)
    • 1795 – Josiah Bartlett, American physician and politician, 4th Governor of New Hampshire (b. 1729)
    • 1795 – James Boswell, Scottish biographer (b. 1740)
    • 1798 – William Byron, 5th Baron Byron, English lieutenant and politician (b. 1722)
    • 1821 – Camille Jordan, French lawyer and politician (b. 1771)
    • 1825 – Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon, French philosopher and theorist (b. 1760)
    • 1831 – Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, Estonian-German physician, botanist, and entomologist (b. 1793)
    • 1864 – Nathaniel Hawthorne, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1804)
    • 1865 – Sengge Rinchen, Mongolian general (b. 1811)
    • 1872 – John Baker, English-Australian politician, 2nd Premier of South Australia (b. 1813)
    • 1876 – Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer, Dutch historian and politician (b. 1801)
    • 1885 – Peter W. Barlow, English engineer (b. 1809)
    • 1895 – José Martí, Cuban journalist, poet, and philosopher (b. 1853)
    • 1898 – William Ewart Gladstone, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1809)
    • 1901 – Marthinus Wessel Pretorius, South African general and politician, 1st President of the South African Republic (b. 1819)
    • 1903 – Arthur Shrewsbury, English cricketer (b. 1856)
    • 1904 – Auguste Molinier, French librarian and historian (b. 1851)
    • 1904 – Jamsetji Tata, Indian businessman, founded Tata Group (b. 1839)
    • 1906 – Gabriel Dumont, Canadian Métis leader (b. 1837)
    • 1907 – Benjamin Baker, English engineer, designed the Forth Bridge (b. 1840)
    • 1912 – Bolesław Prus, Polish journalist and author (b. 1847)
    • 1915 – John Simpson Kirkpatrick, English-Australian soldier (b. 1892)
    • 1918 – Gervais Raoul Lufbery, French-American soldier and pilot (b. 1885)
    • 1935 – T. E. Lawrence, British colonel and archaeologist (b. 1888)
    • 1936 – Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, British Islamic scholar (b. 1875)
    • 1939 – Ahmet Ağaoğlu, Azerbaijani-Turkish journalist and publicist (b. 1869)
    • 1943 – Kristjan Raud, Estonian painter and illustrator (b. 1865)
    • 1945 – Philipp Bouhler, German soldier and politician (b. 1889)
    • 1946 – Booth Tarkington, American novelist and dramatist (b. 1869)
    • 1950 – Daniel Ciugureanu, Romanian physician and politician, Prime Minister of Moldova (b. 1884)
    • 1954 – Charles Ives, American composer and educator (b. 1874)
    • 1958 – Jadunath Sarkar, Indian historian (b. 1870)
    • 1958 – Archie Scott Brown, Scottish race car driver (b. 1927)
    • 1958 – Ronald Colman, English actor (b. 1891)
    • 1963 – Walter Russell, American painter, sculptor, and author (b. 1871)
    • 1969 – Coleman Hawkins, American saxophonist and clarinet player (b. 1901)
    • 1971 – Ogden Nash, American poet (b. 1902)
    • 1978 – Albert Kivikas, Estonian-Swedish journalist and author (b. 1898)
    • 1980 – Joseph Schull, Canadian playwright and historian (b. 1906)
    • 1983 – Jean Rey, Belgian lawyer and politician, 2nd President of the European Commission (b. 1902)
    • 1984 – John Betjeman, English poet and academic (b. 1906)
    • 1986 – Jimmy Lyons, American saxophonist (b. 1931)
    • 1987 – James Tiptree, Jr., American psychologist and author (b. 1915)
    • 1989 – Yiannis Papaioannou, Greek composer and educator (b. 1910)
    • 1994 – Jacques Ellul, French sociologist, philosopher, and academic (b. 1912)
    • 1994 – Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, American journalist, 37th First Lady of the United States (b. 1929)
    • 1994 – Luis Ocaña, Spanish cyclist (b. 1945)
    • 1996 – John Beradino, American baseball player and actor (b. 1917)
    • 1998 – Sōsuke Uno, Japanese soldier and politician, 75th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1922)
    • 2001 – Alexey Maresyev, Russian soldier and pilot (b. 1916)
    • 2001 – Susannah McCorkle, American singer (b. 1946)
    • 2002 – John Gorton, Australian lieutenant and politician, 19th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1911)
    • 2002 – Walter Lord, American historian and author (b. 1917)
    • 2004 – Mary Dresselhuys, Dutch actress and screenwriter (b. 1907)
    • 2007 – Bernard Blaut, Polish footballer and coach (b. 1940)
    • 2007 – Dean Eyre, New Zealand politician (b. 1914)
    • 2008 – Vijay Tendulkar, Indian playwright and screenwriter (b. 1928)
    • 2009 – Robert F. Furchgott, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
    • 2009 – Nicholas Maw, English composer and academic (b. 1935)
    • 2009 – Clint Smith, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1913)
    • 2011 – Garret FitzGerald, Irish lawyer and politician, 8th Taoiseach of Ireland (b. 1926)
    • 2011 – Jeffrey Catherine Jones, American artist (b.1944)
    • 2012 – Bob Boozer, American basketball player (b. 1937)
    • 2012 – Tamara Brooks, American conductor and educator (b. 1941)
    • 2012 – Ian Burgess, English race car driver (b. 1930)
    • 2012 – Gerhard Hetz, German-Mexican swimmer (b. 1942)
    • 2012 – Phil Lamason, New Zealand soldier and pilot (b. 1918)
    • 2013 – G. Sarsfield Ford, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1933)
    • 2013 – Robin Harrison, English-Canadian pianist and composer (b. 1932)
    • 2013 – Neil Reynolds, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1940)
    • 2014 – Simon Andrews, English motorcycle racer (b. 1982)
    • 2014 – Jack Brabham, Australian race car driver (b. 1926)
    • 2014 – Terry W. Gee, American businessman and politician (b. 1940)
    • 2014 – Sam Greenlee, American author and poet (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Vincent Harding, American historian and scholar (b. 1931)
    • 2014 – Gabriel Kolko, American historian and author (b. 1932)
    • 2014 – Zbigniew Pietrzykowski, Polish boxer (b. 1934)
    • 2015 – Bruce Lundvall, American businessman (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Ted McWhinney, Australian-Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1924)
    • 2015 – Happy Rockefeller, American philanthropist, socialite; 31st Second Lady of the United States (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – Robert S. Wistrich, English historian, author, and academic (b. 1945)
    • 2016 – Alan Young, English-born Canadian-American actor (b. 1919)
    • 2016 – Morley Safer, Canadian-born American journalist (b. 1931)
    • 2017 – Nawshirwan Mustafa, General coordinator of the Movement for Change (Gorran) (b. 1944)
    • 2018 – Zhengzhang Shangfang, Chinese linguist (b. 1933)

    Holidays and observances on May 19

    • Christian feast day:
      • Calocerus (Eastern Orthodox Church)
      • Crispin of Viterbo
      • Dunstan (Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox Church; commemoration, Anglicanism)
      • Ivo of Kermartin
      • Joaquina Vedruna de Mas
      • Maria Bernarda Bütler
      • Peter Celestine
      • Pudentiana (Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox Church)
      • May 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day (Turkey, Northern Cyprus)
    • Greek Genocide Remembrance Day (Greece)
    • Hồ Chí Minh’s Birthday (Vietnam)
    • Malcolm X Day (United States of America)
    • National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (United States)
    • Hepatitis Testing Day (United States)
    • Mother’s Day (Kyrgyzstan)

  • May 2 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    May 2 in History

    • 1194 – King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter
    • 1230 – William de Braose is hanged by Prince Llywelyn the Great.
    • 1335 – Otto the Merry, Duke of Austria, becomes Duke of Carinthia.
    • 1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, is arrested and imprisoned on charges of adultery, incest, treason and witchcraft.
    • 1559 – John Knox returns from exile to Scotland to become the leader of the nascent Scottish Reformation.
    • 1568 – Mary, Queen of Scots, escapes from Loch Leven Castle.
    • 1611 – The King James Version of the Bible is published for the first time in London, England, by printer Robert Barker.
    • 1625 – Afonso Mendes, appointed by Pope Gregory XV as Latin Patriarch of Ethiopia, arrives at Beilul from Goa.
    • 1670 – King Charles II of England grants a permanent charter to the Hudson’s Bay Company to open up the fur trade in North America.
    • 1672 – John Maitland becomes Duke of Lauderdale and Earl of March.
    • 1808 – Outbreak of the Peninsular War: The people of Madrid rise up in rebellion against French occupation. Francisco de Goya later memorializes this event in his painting The Second of May 1808.
    • 1812 – The Siege of Cuautla during the Mexican War of Independence ends with both sides claiming victory after Mexican rebels under José María Morelos y Pavón abandon the city after 72 days under siege by royalist Spanish troops under Félix María Calleja.
    • 1816 – Marriage of Léopold of Saxe-Coburg and Princess Charlotte of Wales.
    • 1829 – After anchoring nearby, Captain Charles Fremantle of HMS Challenger, declares the Swan River Colony in Australia.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: Stonewall Jackson is wounded by friendly fire while returning to camp after reconnoitering during the Battle of Chancellorsville. He succumbs to pneumonia eight days later.
    • 1866 – Peruvian defenders fight off the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Callao.
    • 1876 – The April Uprising breaks out in Ottoman Bulgaria.
    • 1879 – The Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party is founded in Madrid by Pablo Iglesias.
    • 1885 – Cree and Assiniboine warriors win the Battle of Cut Knife, their largest victory over Canadian forces during the North-West Rebellion.
    • 1889 – Menelik II, Emperor of Ethiopia, signs the Treaty of Wuchale, giving Italy control over Eritrea.
    • 1906 – Closing ceremony of the Intercalated Games in Athens, Greece.
    • 1918 – General Motors acquires the Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware.
    • 1920 – The first game of the Negro National League baseball is played in Indianapolis.
    • 1933 – Germany’s independent labor unions are replaced by the German Labour Front.
    • 1941 – Following the coup d’état against Iraq Crown Prince ‘Abd al-Ilah earlier that year, the United Kingdom launches the Anglo-Iraqi War to restore him to power.
    • 1945 – World War II: The Soviet Union announces the fall of Berlin.
    • 1945 – World War II: The surrender of Caserta comes into effect, by which German troops in Italy cease fighting.
    • 1945 – World War II: The US 82nd Airborne Division liberates Wöbbelin concentration camp finding 1000 dead prisoners, most of whom starved to death.
    • 1945 – World War II: A death march from Dachau to the Austrian border is halted by the segregated, all-Nisei 522nd Field Artillery Battalion of the U.S. Army in southern Bavaria, saving several hundred prisoners.
    • 1952 – A De Havilland Comet makes the first jetliner flight with fare-paying passengers, from London to Johannesburg.
    • 1955 – Tennessee Williams wins the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
    • 1963 – Berthold Seliger launches a rocket with three stages and a maximum flight altitude of more than 100 kilometres near Cuxhaven. It is the only sounding rocket developed in Germany.
    • 1964 – Vietnam War: An explosion sinks the American aircraft carrier USNS Card while it is docked at Saigon. Two Viet Cong combat swimmers had placed explosives on the ship’s hull. She is raised and returned to service less than seven months later.
    • 1964 – First ascent of Shishapangma, the fourteenth highest mountain in the world and the lowest of the Eight-thousanders.
    • 1969 – The British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 departs on her maiden voyage to New York City.
    • 1972 – In the early morning hours a fire breaks out at the Sunshine Mine located between Kellogg and Wallace, Idaho, killing 91 workers.
    • 1982 – Falklands War: The British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano.
    • 1986 – Chernobyl disaster: The City of Chernobyl is evacuated six days after the disaster.
    • 1989 – Cold War: Hungary begins dismantling its border fence with Austria, which allows a number of East Germans to defect.
    • 1994 – A bus crashes in Gdańsk, Poland killing 32 people.
    • 1995 – During the Croatian War of Independence, the Army of the Republic of Serb Krajina fires cluster bombs at Zagreb, killing seven and wounding over 175 civilians.
    • 1998 – The European Central Bank is founded in Brussels in order to define and execute the European Union’s monetary policy.
    • 1999 – Panamanian general election, 1999: Mireya Moscoso becomes the first woman to be elected President of Panama.
    • 2000 – President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military.
    • 2004 – The Yelwa massacre concludes. It began on 4 February 2004 when armed Muslims killed 78 Christians at Yelwa. In response, about 630 Muslims were killed by Christians on May 2nd.
    • 2008 – Cyclone Nargis makes landfall in Burma killing over 138,000 people and leaving millions of people homeless.
    • 2008 – Chaitén Volcano begins erupting in Chile, forcing the evacuation of more than 4,500 people.
    • 2011 – Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and the FBI’s most wanted man, is killed by the United States special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
    • 2011 – An E. coli outbreak strikes Europe, mostly in Germany, leaving more than 30 people dead and many others sick from the bacteria outbreak.
    • 2012 – A pastel version of The Scream, by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, sells for $120 million in a New York City auction, setting a new world record for a work of art at auction.
    • 2014 – Two mudslides in Badakhshan, Afghanistan, leave up to 2,500 people missing.

    Births on May 2

    • 1360 – Yongle Emperor of China (d. 1424)
    • 1402 – Eleanor of Aragon, Queen of Portugal (d. 1445)
    • 1451 – René II, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1508)
    • 1458 – Eleanor of Viseu (d. 1525)
    • 1476 – Charles I, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels, Count of Kladsko, Governor of Bohemia and Silesia (d. 1536)
    • 1533 – Philip II, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen (d. 1596)
    • 1551 – William Camden, English historian and topographer (d. 1623)
    • 1567 – Sebald de Weert, Dutch captain, vice-admiral of the Dutch East India Company (d. 1603)
    • 1579 – Tokugawa Hidetada, Japanese shōgun (d. 1632)
    • 1601 – Athanasius Kircher, German priest and scholar (d. 1680)
    • 1660 – Alessandro Scarlatti, Italian composer (d. 1725)
    • 1695 – Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni, Italian-French painter and architect (d. 1766)
    • 1702 – Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, German theologian and theosopher (d. 1782)
    • 1707 – Jean-Baptiste Barrière, French cellist and composer (d. 1747)
    • 1729 – Catherine the Great of Russia (d. 1796)
    • 1737 – William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, Irish-English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1805)
    • 1740 – Elias Boudinot, American lawyer and politician, 10th President of the Continental Congress (d. 1821)
    • 1750 – John André, English soldier and spy (d. 1780)
    • 1752 – Ludwig August Lebrun, German oboe player and composer (d. 1790)
    • 1754 – Vicente Martín y Soler, Spanish composer (d. 1806)
    • 1772 – Novalis, German author and poet (d. 1801)
    • 1773 – Henrik Steffens, Norwegian philosopher and poet (d. 1845)
    • 1797 – Abraham Pineo Gesner, Canadian physician and geologist (d. 1864)
    • 1802 – Heinrich Gustav Magnus, German chemist and physicist (d. 1870)
    • 1806 – Catherine Labouré, French nun and saint (d. 1876)
    • 1810 – Hans Christian Lumbye, Danish composer and conductor (d. 1874)
    • 1813 – Caroline Leigh Gascoigne, English novelist and poet (d. 1883)
    • 1815 – William Buell Richards, Canadian lawyer and judge, 1st Chief Justice of Canada (d. 1889)
    • 1822 – Jane Miller Thengberg, Scottish-Swedish governess and educator (d. 1902)
    • 1828 – Désiré Charnay, French archaeologist and photographer (d. 1915)
    • 1830 – Otto Staudinger, German entomologist and author (d. 1900)
    • 1843 – Elijah McCoy, Canadian-American engineer (d. 1929)
    • 1859 – Jerome K. Jerome, English author and playwright (d. 1927)
    • 1860 – John Scott Haldane, Scottish physiologist, physician, and academic (d. 1936)
    • 1860 – Theodor Herzl, Austro-Hungarian Zionist philosopher, journalist and author (d. 1904)
    • 1865 – Clyde Fitch, American playwright (d. 1909)
    • 1867 – Giuseppe Morello, Italian-American mobster (d. 1930)
    • 1873 – Jurgis Baltrušaitis, Lithuanian poet, critic, and translator (d. 1944)
    • 1879 – James F. Byrnes, American stenographer and politician, 49th United States Secretary of State (d. 1972)
    • 1880 – Bill Horr, American football player, discus thrower, and coach (d. 1955)
    • 1882 – Isabel González, Puerto Rican activist who helped pave the way for Puerto Ricans’ American citizenship (d. 1971)
    • 1885 – Hedda Hopper, American actress and gossip columnist (d. 1966)
    • 1886 – Gottfried Benn, German author and poet (d. 1956)
    • 1887 – Vernon Castle, English-American dancer (d. 1918)
    • 1887 – Eddie Collins, American baseball player and manager (d. 1951)
    • 1889 – Ki Hajar Dewantara, Indonesian philosopher, academic, and politician (d. 1959)
    • 1890 – E. E. Smith, American engineer and author (d. 1965)
    • 1892 – Manfred von Richthofen, German captain and pilot (d. 1918)
    • 1894 – Norma Talmadge, leading US actress of the silent era (d. 1957)
    • 1894 – Joseph Henry Woodger, English biologist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1981)
    • 1895 – Lorenz Hart, American playwright and lyricist (d. 1943)
    • 1897 – John Frederick Coots, American songwriter (d. 1985)
    • 1898 – Henry Hall, English bandleader, composer, and actor (d. 1989)
    • 1901 – Bob Wyatt, English cricketer (d. 1995)
    • 1901 – Edouard Zeckendorf, Belgian doctor, army officer and mathematician (d. 1983)
    • 1901 – Willi Bredel, German writer (d. 1964)
    • 1902 – Brian Aherne, English actor (d. 1986)
    • 1902 – Werner Finck, German Kabarett comedian, actor and author (d. 1978)
    • 1903 – Benjamin Spock, American rower, pediatrician, and author (d. 1998)
    • 1904 – Bill Brandt, German-English photographer and journalist (d. 1983)
    • 1905 – Alan Rawsthorne, British composer (d. 1971)
    • 1905 – Charlotte Armstrong, American author (d. 1969)
    • 1906 – Philippe Halsman, Latvian-American photographer (d. 1979)
    • 1907 – Pinky Lee, American comedian and television host (d. 1993)
    • 1908 – Frank Rowlett, American cryptologist (d. 1998)
    • 1909 – Teddy Stauffer, Swiss bandleader, musician, and actor (d. 1991)
    • 1910 – Alexander Bonnyman, Jr., American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1943)
    • 1910 – Edmund Bacon, American urban planner, architect, educator, and author (d. 2005)
    • 1912 – Axel Springer, German journalist and publisher, founded Axel Springer AG (d. 1985)
    • 1912 – Karl Adam, German rowing coaches (d. 1976)
    • 1912 – Marten Toonder, Dutch comic strip creator (d. 2005)
    • 1912 – Nigel Patrick, English actor and director (d. 1981)
    • 1913 – Pietro Frua, Italian coachbuilder and car designer (d. 1983)
    • 1913 – Aydın Sayılı, Turkish historian and academic (d. 1993)
    • 1915 – Doris Fisher, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
    • 1915 – Peggy Mount, English actress (d. 2001)
    • 1917 – Albert Castelyns, Belgian water polo player and bobsledder
    • 1917 – Văn Tiến Dũng, Vietnamese general and politician, 6th Minister of Defence for Vietnam (d. 2002)
    • 1920 – Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss violinist and conductor (d. 2004)
    • 1920 – Otto Buchsbaum, Austrian-Brazilian journalist and activist (d. 2000)
    • 1920 – Vasantrao Deshpande, Indian singer and sitar player (d. 1983)
    • 1920 – Guinn Smith, American pole vaulter, soldier, and pilot (d. 2004)
    • 1920 – Jacob Gilboa, Israeli composer (d. 2007)
    • 1921 – B. B. Lal, Indian archaeologist
    • 1921 – Satyajit Ray, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1992)
    • 1922 – Roscoe Lee Browne, American actor and director (d. 2007)
    • 1922 – A. M. Rosenthal, Canadian-born American journalist and author (d. 2006)
    • 1922 – Serge Reggiani, Italian-born French singer and actor (d. 2004)
    • 1923 – Patrick Hillery, Irish physician and politician, 6th President of Ireland (d. 2008)
    • 1923 – Albert Nordengen, Norwegian banker and politician (d. 2004)
    • 1924 – Jamal Abro, Pakistani lawyer and author (d. 2004)
    • 1924 – Theodore Bikel, Austrian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2015)
    • 1924 – Arthur Clues, Australian rugby league player (d. 1998)
    • 1924 – Hugh Cortazzi, English soldier, historian, and diplomat, British Ambassador to Japan (d. 2018)
    • 1925 – John Neville, English-Canadian actor (d. 2011)
    • 1926 – Gérard D. Levesque, Canadian lawyer and politician, 5th Deputy Premier of Quebec (d. 1993)
    • 1927 – Ray Barrett, Australian actor and singer (d. 2009)
    • 1927 – Amos Kenan, Israeli columnist, painter, sculptor, playwright and novelist (d. 2009)
    • 1927 – Michael Broadbent, British wine critic and writer (d. 2020)
    • 1928 – Hans Trass, Estonian ecologist and botanist (d. 2017)
    • 1928 – Georges-Arthur Goldschmidt, French writer and translator of German origin
    • 1928 – Horst Stein, German conductor (d. 2008)
    • 1929 – Édouard Balladur, Turkish-French economist and politician, 162nd Prime Minister of France
    • 1929 – James Dillion, American discus thrower (d. 2010)
    • 1929 – Link Wray, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2005)
    • 1929 – Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan (d. 1972)
    • 1930 – Yoram Kaniuk, Israeli painter and critic (d. 2013)
    • 1930 – Marco Pannella, Italian journalist and politician (d. 2016)
    • 1931 – Phil Bruns, American actor and stuntman (d. 2012)
    • 1931 – Martha Grimes, American author and poet
    • 1932 – Maury Allen, American journalist, actor, and author (d. 2010)
    • 1933 – Bunk Gardner, American musician
    • 1933 – Harry Woolf, Baron Woolf, English lawyer and judge, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
    • 1934 – Manfred Durniok, German film producer, director and screenwriter (d. 2003)
    • 1935 – Luis Suárez Miramontes, Spanish footballer and manager
    • 1935 – Faisal II of Iraq, the last King of Iraq (d.1958)
    • 1936 – Norma Aleandro, Argentinian actress, director, and screenwriter
    • 1936 – Engelbert Humperdinck, English singer and pianist
    • 1936 – Michael Rabin, American violinist (d. 1972)
    • 1937 – Klaus Enders, German motorcycle sidecar racer (d. 2019)
    • 1937 – Lorenzo Music, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2001)
    • 1937 – Gisela Elsner, German writer (d. 1992)
    • 1938 – Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho (d. 1996)
    • 1939 – Sumio Iijima, Japanese physicist and engineer
    • 1939 – Ernesto Castano, Italian football player
    • 1940 – Jules Albert Wijdenbosch, Surinamese politician
    • 1941 – Tony Adamowicz, American race car driver (d. 2016)
    • 1941 – Bruce Cameron, Scottish bishop
    • 1941 – Clay Carroll, American baseball player
    • 1941 – Eddy Louiss, French jazz musician (d. 2015)
    • 1942 – Jacques Rogge, Belgian businessman
    • 1942 – Wojciech Pszoniak, Polish film and theater actor
    • 1944 – Robert G. W. Anderson, English chemist, historian, and curator
    • 1945 – Randy Cain, American soul singer (d. 2009)
    • 1945 – Judge Dread, English singer-songwriter (d. 1998)
    • 1945 – Bianca Jagger, Nicaraguan-American model, actress, and activist
    • 1945 – Goldy McJohn, Canadian keyboard player (d. 2017)
    • 1946 – Peter L. Benson, American psychologist and academic (d. 2011)
    • 1946 – Lesley Gore, American singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
    • 1946 – David Suchet, English actor
    • 1947 – James Dyson, English businessman, founded the Dyson Company
    • 1947 – Lynda Myles, English screenwriter and producer
    • 1947 – Philippe Herreweghe, Belgian conductor
    • 1948 – Larry Gatlin, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
    • 1949 – Alan Titchmarsh, English gardener and author
    • 1949 – Alfons Schuhbeck, German celebrity chef, author and businessman
    • 1950 – Simon Gaskell, English chemist and academic
    • 1950 – Duncan Gay, Australian businessman and politician
    • 1950 – Lou Gramm, American singer-songwriter
    • 1950 – Richard Ground, English lawyer and judge (d. 2014)
    • 1950 – Fausto Silva, Brazilian television presenter
    • 1951 – John Glascock, English singer and bass player (d. 1979)
    • 1952 – Chris Anderson, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1952 – Christine Baranski, American actress and singer
    • 1952 – Isla St Clair, Scottish singer and actress
    • 1953 – Valery Gergiev, Russian conductor and director
    • 1953 – Jamaal Wilkes, American basketball player
    • 1954 – Elliot Goldenthal, American composer and conductor
    • 1954 – Dawn Primarolo, English politician
    • 1954 – Stephen Venables, English mountaineer and author
    • 1955 – Willie Miller, Scottish footballer
    • 1955 – Donatella Versace, Italian fashion designer
    • 1956 – Régis Labeaume, Canadian businessman and politician, 41st Mayor of Quebec City
    • 1958 – Yasushi Akimoto, Japanese songwriter and producer
    • 1958 – Stanislav Levý, Czech footballer and manager
    • 1958 – David O’Leary, English-Irish footballer and manager
    • 1959 – Alan Best, Canadian animator, director, and producer
    • 1959 – Tony Wakeford, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1960 – Stephen Daldry, English director and producer
    • 1961 – Steve James, English snooker player
    • 1961 – Sophie Thibault, Canadian journalist
    • 1961 – Phil Vickery, English chef and author
    • 1962 – Elizabeth Berridge, American actress
    • 1962 – Michael Grandage, English director and producer
    • 1962 – Jimmy White, English snooker player
    • 1965 – Félix José, Dominican-American baseball player
    • 1966 – Uwe Freiler, German footballer
    • 1966 – Margus Kolga, Estonian diplomat
    • 1966 – Belinda Stronach, Canadian businesswoman, philanthropist, and politician
    • 1967 – Bengt Åkerblom, Swedish ice hockey player (d. 1995)
    • 1967 – Mika Brzezinski, American journalist and author
    • 1967 – David Rocastle, English footballer (d. 2001)
    • 1968 – Jeff Agoos, Swiss-American soccer player, manager, and sportscaster
    • 1968 – Julia Hartley-Brewer, English broadcaster and columnist
    • 1968 – Ziana Zain, Malaysian singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1969 – Brian Lara, Trinidadian cricketer
    • 1970 – Marco Walker, Swiss footballer and coach
    • 1971 – Musashimaru Kōyō, Samoan-American sumo wrestler, the 67th Yokozuna
    • 1971 – Fatima Yusuf, Nigerian sprinter
    • 1972 – Paul Adcock, English footballer
    • 1972 – Ahti Heinla, Estonian programmer and businessman, co-developed Skype
    • 1972 – Dwayne Johnson, American-Canadian wrestler, actor, and producer
    • 1973 – Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, German director and screenwriter
    • 1974 – Horacio Carbonari, Argentinian footballer and manager
    • 1974 – Andy Johnson, English-Welsh footballer
    • 1974 – Janek Meet, Estonian footballer
    • 1975 – David Beckham, English footballer, coach, and model
    • 1975 – Joe Wilkinson, English comedian, actor and writer
    • 1976 – Jeff Gutt, American singer-songwriter
    • 1977 – Brian Cardinal, American basketball player
    • 1977 – Jan Fitschen, German runner
    • 1977 – Luke Hudson, American baseball player
    • 1977 – Fredrik Malm, Swedish journalist and politician
    • 1977 – Jenna von Oÿ, American actress and singer
    • 1977 – Kalle Palander, Finnish skier
    • 1978 – Melvin Ely, American basketball player
    • 1978 – Mike Weaver, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1979 – Jason Chimera, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1979 – Ioannis Kanotidis, Greek footballer
    • 1979 – Defne Joy Foster, Turkish-American actress, presenter and VJ (d. 2011)
    • 1980 – Tim Borowski, German footballer
    • 1980 – Pierre-Luc Gagnon, Canadian skateboarder
    • 1980 – Ellie Kemper, American actress, comedian and writer
    • 1980 – Zat Knight, English footballer
    • 1980 – Artūras Masiulis, Lithuanian basketball player
    • 1980 – Troy Murphy, American basketball player
    • 1980 – Lassaâd Ouertani, Tunisian footballer (d. 2013)
    • 1980 – Brad Richards, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1980 – Vincent Tong, Canadian actor, singer, voice actor and director
    • 1981 – Robert Buckley, American actor
    • 1981 – Chris Kirkland, English footballer
    • 1981 – Tiago Mendes, Portuguese footballer
    • 1981 – Matt Murray, English footballer
    • 1981 – Rina Satō, Japanese voice actress and singer
    • 1982 – Timothy Benjamin, Welsh sprinter
    • 1982 – Johan Botha, South African cricketer
    • 1983 – Alessandro Diamanti, Italian footballer
    • 1983 – Maynor Figueroa, Honduran footballer
    • 1983 – Tina Maze, Slovenian skier
    • 1983 – Daniel Sordo, Spanish race car driver
    • 1983 – Ove Vanebo, Norwegian politician
    • 1984 – Saulius Mikoliūnas, Lithuanian footballer
    • 1984 – Thabo Sefolosha, Swiss basketball player
    • 1985 – Lily Allen, English singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1985 – Kyle Busch, American race car driver
    • 1985 – Ashley Harkleroad, American tennis player
    • 1985 – Sarah Hughes, American figure skater
    • 1987 – Saara Aalto, Finnish singer and actress
    • 1987 – Nana Kitade, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1987 – Pat McAfee, American football player
    • 1987 – Kris Russell, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1987 – Justin Young, English singer and songwriter
    • 1988 – Neftalí Feliz, Dominican baseball player
    • 1988 – Stephen Henderson, Irish footballer
    • 1989 – Jeanette Pohlen, American basketball player
    • 1990 – Kay Panabaker, American actress
    • 1990 – Paul George, American basketball player
    • 1991 – Jeong Jinwoon, South Korean actor and singer
    • 1992 – Sunmi, South Korean singer
    • 1992 – María Teresa Torró Flor, Spanish tennis player
    • 1993 – Owain Doull, Welsh track cyclist
    • 1993 – Isyana Sarasvati, Indonesian singer
    • 1993 – Huang Zitao, Chinese singer and rapper
    • 1996 – Cherprang Areekul, Thai singer
    • 1996 – Julian Brandt, German footballer
    • 1996 – Schuyler Bailar, American swimmer
    • 2015 – Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, British royal, and fourth in line to the British throne

    Deaths on May 2

    • 373 – Athanasius of Alexandria, Egyptian bishop and saint (b. 298)
    • 649 – Marutha of Tikrit, Persian theologian of the Syriac Orthodox Church (b. 565)
    • 821 – Liu Zong, general of the Tang Dynasty
    • 907 – Boris I of Bulgaria
    • 1219 – Leo I, King of Armenia (b. 1150)
    • 1230 – William de Braose, English son of Reginald de Braose (b. 1197)
    • 1293 – Meir of Rothenburg, German rabbi (b. c.1215)
    • 1300 – Blanche of Artois (b. 1248)
    • 1450 – William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English admiral (b. 1396)
    • 1519 – Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (b. 1452)
    • 1564 – Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian cardinal (b. 1500)
    • 1627 – Lodovico Grossi da Viadana, Italian composer and educator (b. 1560)
    • 1667 – George Wither, English poet and author (b. 1588)
    • 1683 – Stjepan Gradić, Croatian philosopher and mathematician (b. 1613)
    • 1711 – Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester, English politician, First Lord of the Treasury (b. 1641)
    • 1799 – Juan Vicente de Güemes, 2nd Count of Revillagigedo (b. 1740)
    • 1802 – Herman Willem Daendels, Dutch general and politician, Governor-General of the Dutch Gold Coast (b. 1762)
    • 1810 – Henry Jerome de Salis, English priest (b. 1740)
    • 1819 – Mary Moser, English painter and academic (b. 1744)
    • 1857 – Alfred de Musset, French dramatist, poet, and novelist (b. 1810)
    • 1864 – Giacomo Meyerbeer, German composer and educator (b. 1791)
    • 1880 – Eberhard Anheuser, German-American businessman, co-founded Anheuser-Busch (b. 1805)
    • 1880 – Tom Wills, Australian cricketer, co-created Australian rules football (b. 1835)
    • 1885 – Terézia Zakoucs, Hungarian-Slovene author (b. 1817)
    • 1915 – Clara Immerwahr, German chemist (b. 1870)
    • 1918 – Jüri Vilms, Estonian lawyer and politician (b. 1889)
    • 1925 – Antun Branko Šimić, Croatian and Bosnian-Herzegovinian poet (b. 1898)
    • 1927 – Ernest Starling, English physiologist and academic (b. 1866)
    • 1929 – Charalambos Tseroulis, Greek general and politician, Greek Minister for Military Affairs (b. 1879)
    • 1941 – Penelope Delta, Greek author (b. 1874)
    • 1945 – Martin Bormann, German politician (b. 1900)
    • 1945 – Joe Corbett, American baseball player and journalist (b. 1875)
    • 1947 – Dorothea Binz, German SS officer (b. 1920)
    • 1953 – Wallace Bryant, American archer (b. 1863)
    • 1957 – Joseph McCarthy, American captain, lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1908)
    • 1963 – Ronald Barnes, 3rd Baron Gorell, English cricketer, peer, politician, poet, author and newspaper editor (b. 1884)
    • 1964 – Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, American-English politician (b. 1879)
    • 1969 – Franz von Papen, German general and politician, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1879)
    • 1972 – J. Edgar Hoover, American 1st director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (b. 1895)
    • 1974 – James O. Richardson, American admiral (b. 1878)
    • 1977 – Nicholas Magallanes, American principal dancer and charter member of the New York City Ballet (b. 1922)
    • 1979 – Giulio Natta, Italian chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
    • 1980 – Clarrie Grimmett, New Zealand-Australian cricketer (b. 1891)
    • 1980 – George Pal, Hungarian-American animator and producer (b. 1908)
    • 1983 – Norm Van Brocklin, American football player and coach (b. 1926)
    • 1984 – Jack Barry, American game show host and producer, co-founded Barry & Enright Productions (b. 1918)
    • 1984 – Bob Clampett, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1913)
    • 1985 – Attilio Bettega, Italian race car driver (b. 1951)
    • 1985 – Larry Clinton, American trumpet player and bandleader (b. 1909)
    • 1986 – Sergio Cresto, American race car driver (b. 1956)
    • 1986 – Henri Toivonen, Finnish race car driver (b. 1956)
    • 1989 – Veniamin Kaverin, Russian author (b. 1902)
    • 1989 – Giuseppe Siri, Italian cardinal (b. 1906)
    • 1990 – David Rappaport, English-American actor (b. 1951)
    • 1991 – Gauri Shankar Rai, Indian Politician(b.1924)
    • 1991 – Ronald McKie, Australian journalist and author (b. 1909)
    • 1992 – Wilbur Mills, American lawyer and politician (b. 1909)
    • 1993 – André Moynet, French race car driver, pilot, and politician (b. 1921)
    • 1994 – Dorothy Marie Donnelly, American poet and author (b. 1903)
    • 1995 – John Bunting, Australian public servant and diplomat, (b. 1918)
    • 1995 – Michael Hordern, English actor (b. 1911)
    • 1997 – John Eccles, Australian neurophysiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
    • 1997 – Paulo Freire, Brazilian philosopher and academic (b. 1921)
    • 1998 – hide, Japanese singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1964)
    • 1998 – Justin Fashanu, English footballer (b. 1961)
    • 1998 – Gene Raymond, American actor (b. 1908)
    • 1998 – Lord Voldemort, English wizard and terrorist (b. 1926)
    • 1999 – Douglas Harkness, Canadian colonel and politician (b. 1903)
    • 1999 – Oliver Reed, English actor (b. 1938)
    • 2000 – Sundar Popo, Indo-Trinidadian musician (b. 1943)
    • 2002 – W. T. Tutte, English-Canadian mathematician and academic (b. 1917)
    • 2005 – Wee Kim Wee, Singaporean journalist and politician, 4th President of Singapore (b. 1915)
    • 2006 – Louis Rukeyser, American journalist and author (b. 1933)
    • 2007 – Brad McGann, New Zealand director and screenwriter (b. 1964)
    • 2008 – Beverlee McKinsey, American actress (b. 1940)
    • 2008 – Izold Pustõlnik, Ukrainian-Estonian astronomer and academic (b. 1938)
    • 2009 – Marilyn French, American author and academic (b. 1929)
    • 2009 – Kiyoshiro Imawano, Japanese singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (b. 1951)
    • 2009 – Jack Kemp, American football player and politician, 9th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (b. 1935)
    • 2010 – Lynn Redgrave, English-American actress and singer (b. 1943)
    • 2011 – Osama bin Laden, Saudi Arabian terrorist, founder of Al-Qaeda (b. 1957)
    • 2012 – Fernando Lopes, Portuguese director and screenwriter (b. 1935)
    • 2012 – Zenaida Manfugás, Cuban-born American-naturalized pianist (b. 1932)
    • 2012 – Tufan Miñnullin, Russian playwright and politician (b. 1936)
    • 2012 – Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih, Indonesian physician and politician, Indonesian Minister of Health (b. 1955)
    • 2012 – Akira Tonomura, Japanese physicist, author, and academic (b. 1942)
    • 2013 – Ernie Field, English boxer (b. 1943)
    • 2013 – Jeff Hanneman, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1964)
    • 2013 – Joseph P. McFadden, American bishop (b. 1947)
    • 2013 – Dvora Omer, Israeli author and educator (b. 1932)
    • 2013 – Ivan Turina, Croatian footballer (b. 1980)
    • 2013 – Charles Banks Wilson, American painter and illustrator (b. 1918)
    • 2014 – Tomás Balduino, Brazilian bishop (b. 1922)
    • 2014 – Žarko Petan, Slovenian director, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1929)
    • 2014 – Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., American actor (b. 1918)
    • 2015 – Stuart Archer, English colonel and architect (b. 1915)
    • 2015 – Michael Blake, American author and screenwriter (b. 1945)
    • 2015 – Guy Carawan, American singer and musicologist (b. 1927)
    • 2015 – Maya Plisetskaya, Russian-Lithuanian ballerina, choreographer, actress, and director (b. 1925)
    • 2015 – Ruth Rendell, English author (b. 1930)
    • 2016 – Afeni Shakur, American music businesswoman, activist, and Black Panther (b. 1947)
    • 2020 – Arif Wazir, Pakistani politician, leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (b. 1982)

    Holidays and observances on May 2

    • Christian feast day:
      • Athanasius of Alexandria (Western Christianity)
      • Boris I of Bulgaria (Bulgarian Orthodox Church)
      • Germanus of Normandy
      • May 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • International Harry Potter Day
    • The last day of the Festival of Ridván (Bahá’í Faith) (Note that this date is non-Gregorian and may change according to the March equinox, see List of observances set by the Baháʼí calendar)
    • Anniversary of the Dos de Mayo Uprising (Community of Madrid, Spain)
    • Birth Anniversary of Third Druk Gyalpo (Bhutan)
    • Flag Day (Poland)
    • Indonesia National Education Day
    • Teachers’ Day (Iran) (Note that this date is non-Gregorian and may change according to the March Equinox, see List of observances set by the Solar Hijri calendar)

  • March 24 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    March 24th is the 365th and last day of the year in many European implementations of the Julian calendar.

    March 24 in History

    • 1199 – King Richard I of England is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting in France, leading to his death on April 6.
    • 1387 – English victory over a Franco-Castilian-Flemish fleet in the Battle of Margate off the coast of Margate.
    • 1401 – Turco-Mongol emperor Timur sacks Damascus.
    • 1603 – James VI of Scotland is proclaimed King James I of England and Ireland, upon the death of Elizabeth I.
    • 1603 – Tokugawa Ieyasu is granted the title of shōgun from Emperor Go-Yōzei, and establishes the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo, Japan.
    • 1663 – The Province of Carolina is granted by charter to eight Lords Proprietor in reward for their assistance in restoring Charles II of England to the throne.
    • 1720 – Count Frederick of Hesse-Kassel is elected King of Sweden by the Riksdag of the Estates, after his consort Ulrika Eleonora abdicated the throne on 29 February
    • 1721 – Johann Sebastian Bach dedicated six concertos to Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt, now commonly called the Brandenburg Concertos, BWV 1046–1051.
    • 1731 – Naturalization of Hieronimus de Salis Parliamentary Act is passed.
    • 1765 – Great Britain passes the Quartering Act, which requires the Thirteen Colonies to house British troops.
    • 1794 – In Kraków, Tadeusz Kościuszko announces a general uprising against Imperial Russia and the Kingdom of Prussia, and assumes the powers of the Commander in Chief of all of the Polish forces.
    • 1829 – The Parliament of the United Kingdom passes the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, allowing Catholics to serve in Parliament.
    • 1832 – In Hiram, Ohio, a group of men beat and tar and feather Mormon leader Joseph Smith.
    • 1854 – President José Gregorio Monagas abolishes slavery in Venezuela.
    • 1860 – Sakuradamon Incident: Assassination of Japanese Chief Minister (Tairō) Ii Naosuke.
    • 1869 – The last of Titokowaru’s forces surrendered to the New Zealand government, ending his uprising.
    • 1878 – The British frigate HMS Eurydice sinks, killing more than 300.
    • 1882 – Robert Koch announces the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis.
    • 1885 – Sino-French War: Chinese victory in the Battle of Bang Bo on the Tonkin–Guangxi border.
    • 1900 – Mayor of New York City Robert Anderson Van Wyck breaks ground for a new underground “Rapid Transit Railroad” that would link Manhattan and Brooklyn.
    • 1907 – The first issue of the Georgian Bolshevik newspaper Dro is published.
    • 1921 – The 1921 Women’s Olympiad begins in Monte Carlo, first international women’s sports event.
    • 1927 – Nanking Incident: Foreign warships bombard Nanjing, China, in defense of the foreign citizens within the city.
    • 1934 – United States Congress passes the Tydings–McDuffie Act, allowing the Philippines to become a self-governing commonwealth.
    • 1944 – Ardeatine massacre: German troops murder 335 Italian civilians in Rome.
    • 1944 – World War II: In an event later dramatized in the movie The Great Escape, 76 Allied prisoners of war begin breaking out of the German camp Stalag Luft III.
    • 1946 – A British Cabinet Mission arrives in India to discuss and plan for the transfer of power from the British Raj to Indian leadership.
    • 1958 – Rock ‘n’ roll teen idol Elvis Presley is drafted in the U.S. Army.
    • 1961 – Quebec Board of the French Language is established.
    • 1965 – Images from the Ranger 9 lunar probe are broadcast live on network television.
    • 1973 – Kenyan athlete Kip Keino defeats Jim Ryun at the first-ever professional track meet in Los Angeles.
    • 1976 – In Argentina, the armed forces overthrow the constitutional government of President Isabel Perón and start a 7-year dictatorial period self-styled the National Reorganization Process.
    • 1977 – Morarji Desai became the Prime Minister of India, the first Prime Minister not to belong to Indian National Congress.
    • 1980 – El Salvadorian Archbishop Óscar Romero is assassinated while celebrating Mass in San Salvador.
    • 1986 – The Loscoe gas explosion leads to new UK laws on landfill gas migration and gas protection on landfill sites.
    • 1989 – In Prince William Sound in Alaska, the Exxon Valdez spills 240,000 barrels (38,000 m3) of crude oil after running aground.
    • 1993 – Discovery of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9.
    • 1998 – Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden, aged 11 and 13 respectively, fire upon teachers and students at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas; five people are killed and ten are wounded.
    • 1998 – A tornado sweeps through Dantan in India, killing 250 people and injuring 3,000 others.
    • 1998 – First computer-assisted Bone Segment Navigation, performed at the University of Regensburg, Germany
    • 1999 – Kosovo war: NATO began attacks on Yugoslavia without United Nations Security Council (UNSC) approval, marking the first time NATO has attacked a sovereign country.
    • 1999 – A lorry carrying margarine and flour catches fire inside the Mont Blanc Tunnel. The resulting inferno kills 38 people.
    • 2003 – The Arab League votes 21–1 in favor of a resolution demanding the immediate and unconditional removal of U.S. and British soldiers from Iraq.
    • 2008 – Bhutan officially becomes a democracy, with its first ever general election.
    • 2015 – Germanwings Flight 9525 crashes in the French Alps in an apparent pilot mass murder-suicide, killing all 150 people on board.

    Births on March 24

    • 1103 – Yue Fei, Chinese military general (d. 1142)
    • 1441 – Ernest, Elector of Saxony, German ruler of Saxony (d. 1486)
    • 1494 – Georgius Agricola, German mineralogist and scholar (d. 1555)
    • 1577 – Francis, Duke of Pomerania-Stettin, Bishop of Cammin (d. 1620)
    • 1607 – Michiel de Ruyter, Dutch admiral (d. 1667)
    • 1628 – Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1685)
    • 1657 – Arai Hakuseki, Japanese academic and politician (d. 1725)
    • 1693 – John Harrison, English carpenter and clock-maker, invented the Marine chronometer (d. 1776)
    • 1725 – Samuel Ashe, American lawyer and politician, 9th Governor of North Carolina (d. 1813)
    • 1725 – Thomas Cushing, American lawyer and politician, 1st Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1788)
    • 1755 – Rufus King, American lawyer and politician, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (d. 1827)
    • 1762 – Marcos Portugal, Portuguese organist and composer (d. 1830)
    • 1775 – Muthuswami Dikshitar, Indian poet and composer (d. 1835)
    • 1782 – Orest Kiprensky, Russian-Italian painter (d. 1836)
    • 1796 – Zulma Carraud, French author (d. 1889)
    • 1796 – John Corry Wilson Daly, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1878)
    • 1803 – Egerton Ryerson, Canadian minister, educator, and politician (d. 1882)
    • 1808 – Maria Malibran, Spanish-French soprano (d. 1836)
    • 1809 – Mariano José de Larra, Spanish journalist and author (d. 1837)
    • 1809 – Joseph Liouville, French mathematician and academic (d. 1882)
    • 1816 – Pelagio Antonio de Labastida y Dávalos, Roman Catholic archbishop and Mexican politician who served as regent during the Second Mexican Empire (1863-1864) (d. 1891)
    • 1820 – Edmond Becquerel, French physicist and academic (d. 1891)
    • 1820 – Fanny Crosby, American poet and composer (d. 1915)
    • 1823 – Thomas Spencer Baynes, English philosopher and critic (d. 1887)
    • 1826 – Matilda Joslyn Gage, American activist and author (d. 1898)
    • 1828 – Horace Gray, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1902)
    • 1829 – George Francis Train, American businessman (d. 1904)
    • 1829 – Ignacio Zaragoza, Mexican general (d. 1862)
    • 1830 – Robert Hamerling, Austrian poet and playwright (d. 1889)
    • 1834 – William Morris, English textile designer, poet, and author (d. 1896)
    • 1834 – John Wesley Powell, American soldier, geologist, and explorer (d. 1902)
    • 1835 – Joseph Stefan, Austrian physicist, mathematician, and poet (d. 1893)
    • 1848 – Honoré Beaugrand, Canadian journalist and politician, 18th Mayor of Montreal (d. 1906)
    • 1850 – Silas Hocking, English minister and author (d. 1935)
    • 1854 – Henry Lefroy, Australian politician, 11th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1930)
    • 1855 – Andrew W. Mellon, American banker, financier, and diplomat, 49th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1937)
    • 1855 – Olive Schreiner, South African author and activist (d. 1920)
    • 1862 – Frank Weston Benson, American painter and educator (d. 1951)
    • 1869 – Émile Fabre, French author and playwright (d. 1955)
    • 1871 – Alec Hurley, English music hall singer (d. 1913)
    • 1874 – Luigi Einaudi, Italian economist and politician, 2nd President of the Italian Republic (d. 1961)
    • 1874 – Harry Houdini, Hungarian-Jewish American magician and actor (d. 1926)
    • 1875 – William Burns, Canadian lacrosse player (d. 1953)
    • 1879 – Neyzen Tevfik, Turkish philosopher, poet, and composer (d. 1953)
    • 1882 – Marcel Lalu, French gymnast (d. 1951)
    • 1882 – George Monckton-Arundell, 8th Viscount Galway, English politician, 5th Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 1943)
    • 1883 – Dorothy Campbell, Scottish-American golfer (d. 1945)
    • 1884 – Peter Debye, Dutch-American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1966)
    • 1884 – Chika Kuroda, Japanese chemist (d. 1968)
    • 1884 – Eugène Tisserant, French cardinal (d. 1972)
    • 1885 – Charles Daniels, American swimmer (d. 1973)
    • 1885 – Dimitrie Cuclin, Romanian violinist and composer (d. 1978)
    • 1886 – Edward Weston, American photographer (d. 1958)
    • 1886 – Robert Mallet-Stevens, French architect and designer (d. 1945)
    • 1887 – Roscoe Arbuckle, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1933)
    • 1888 – Viktor Kingissepp, Estonian politician (d. 1922)
    • 1889 – Albert Hill, English-Canadian runner (d. 1969)
    • 1890 – Agnes Macphail, Canadian educator and politician (d. 1954)
    • 1891 – Sergey Ivanovich Vavilov, Russian physicist and academic (d. 1951)
    • 1892 – Marston Morse, American mathematician and academic (d. 1977)
    • 1893 – Walter Baade, German astronomer and author (d. 1960)
    • 1893 – George Sisler, American baseball player and scout (d. 1973)
    • 1897 – Wilhelm Reich, Austrian-American psychotherapist and academic (d. 1957)
    • 1901 – Ub Iwerks, American animator, director, and producer, co-created Mickey Mouse (d. 1971)
    • 1902 – Thomas E. Dewey, American lawyer and politician, 47th Governor of New York (d. 1971)
    • 1903 – Adolf Butenandt, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)
    • 1903 – Malcolm Muggeridge, English journalist, author, and scholar (d. 1990)
    • 1905 – Pura Santillan-Castrence, Filipino author and diplomat (d. 2007)
    • 1907 – Paul Sauvé, Canadian lawyer and politician, 17th Premier of Quebec (d. 1960)
    • 1909 – Clyde Barrow, American criminal (d. 1934)
    • 1909 – Richard Wurmbrand, Romanian Pastor and Evangelist (d. 2001)
    • 1910 – Richard Conte, American actor, singer, and director (d. 1975)
    • 1911 – Joseph Barbera, American animator, director, and producer, co-founded Hanna-Barbera (d. 2006)
    • 1912 – Dorothy Height, African-American educator and activist (d. 2010)
    • 1915 – Eugène Martin, French racing driver (d. 2006)
    • 1916 – Donald Hamilton, Swedish-American soldier and author (d. 2006)
    • 1916 – Harry B. Whittington, English palaeontologist and academic (d. 2010)
    • 1917 – John Kendrew, English biochemist and crystallographer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1997)
    • 1919 – Lawrence Ferlinghetti, American poet and publisher, co-founded City Lights Bookstore
    • 1919 – Robert Heilbroner, American economist and historian (d. 2005)
    • 1920 – Gene Nelson, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1996)
    • 1920 – Mary Stolz, American author (d. 2006)
    • 1921 – Vasily Smyslov, Russian chess player (d. 2010)
    • 1922 – Onna White, Canadian dancer and choreographer (d. 2005)
    • 1923 – Murray Hamilton, American actor (d. 1986)
    • 1923 – Michael Legat, English author and publisher (d. 2011)
    • 1924 – Norman Fell, American actor (d. 1998)
    • 1925 – Puig Aubert, German-French rugby league player and coach (d. 1994)
    • 1926 – Desmond Connell, Irish cardinal (d. 2017)
    • 1926 – Dario Fo, Italian playwright, actor, director, and composer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016)
    • 1926 – William Porter, American hurdler (d. 2000)
    • 1927 – John Woodland Hastings, American biochemist and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1927 – Martin Walser, German author and playwright
    • 1928 – Byron Janis, American pianist and composer
    • 1929 – Pat Renella, Italian-American actor (d. 2012)
    • 1930 – David Dacko, Central African politician, 1st President of the Central African Republic (d. 2003)
    • 1930 – Steve McQueen, American actor and producer (d. 1980)
    • 1931 – Hanno Drechsler, German educator and politician, Mayor of Marburg (d. 2003)
    • 1933 – Stephen De Staebler, American sculptor and educator (d. 2011)
    • 1933 – Lee Mendelson, American television producer (d. 2019)
    • 1936 – Don Covay, American singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
    • 1936 – Alex Olmedo, Peruvian-American tennis player
    • 1937 – Billy Stewart, American singer and pianist (d. 1970)
    • 1938 – David Irving, English historian and author
    • 1940 – Bob Mackie, American fashion designer
    • 1941 – Michael Masser, American songwriter, composer and producer (d. 2015)
    • 1944 – R. Lee Ermey, American sergeant and actor (d. 2018)
    • 1944 – Vojislav Koštunica, Serbian academic and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Serbia
    • 1945 – Robert T. Bakker, American paleontologist and academic
    • 1945 – Curtis Hanson, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
    • 1945 – Patrick Malahide, English actor and screenwriter
    • 1946 – Klaus Dinger, German guitarist and songwriter (d. 2008)
    • 1946 – Kitty O’Neil, American stuntwoman (d. 2018)
    • 1947 – Dennis Erickson, American football player and coach
    • 1947 – Christine Gregoire, American lawyer and politician, 22nd Governor of Washington
    • 1947 – Mick Jones, English footballer and coach
    • 1947 – Alan Sugar, English businessman
    • 1948 – Javier Diez Canseco, Peruvian sociologist and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1948 – Jerzy Kukuczka, Polish mountaineer (d. 1989)
    • 1948 – Lee Oskar, Jewish-Danish musician
    • 1949 – Tabitha King, American author and poet
    • 1949 – Ruud Krol, Dutch footballer and coach
    • 1949 – Steve Lang, Canadian bass player (April Wine) (d. 2017)
    • 1949 – Nick Lowe, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
    • 1949 – Ali Akbar Salehi, Iranian academic and politician, 36th Foreign Affairs Minister of Iran
    • 1949 – Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
    • 1950 – Gary Wichard, American football player and agent (d. 2011)
    • 1951 – Peter Boyle, Scottish-Australian footballer and manager (d. 2013)
    • 1951 – Pat Bradley, American golfer
    • 1951 – Tommy Hilfiger, American fashion designer, founded the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation
    • 1951 – Dougie Thomson, Scottish bass player
    • 1951 – Anna Włodarczyk, Polish long jumper and coach
    • 1952 – Greg McCrary, American football player (d. 2013)
    • 1953 – Anita L. Allen, African-American lawyer, philosopher, and academic
    • 1953 – Louie Anderson, American actor and comedian
    • 1955 – Doug Jarvis, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1955 – Pat Price, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1956 – Steve Ballmer, American businessman
    • 1956 – Bill Wray, American cartoonist and painter
    • 1957 – Pierre Harvey, Canadian cyclist and skier
    • 1957 – Pat Jarvis, Australian rugby league player
    • 1958 – Mike Woodson, American basketball player and coach
    • 1959 – Emmit King, American sprinter
    • 1959 – Renaldo Nehemiah, American hurdler and football player
    • 1959 – Derek Statham, English footballer
    • 1960 – Jan Berglin, Swedish cartoonist
    • 1960 – Barry Horowitz, American wrestler
    • 1960 – Kelly Le Brock, English-American actress and model
    • 1960 – Nena, German singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1960 – Scott Pruett, American race car driver
    • 1960 – Annabella Sciorra, American actress
    • 1961 – Dean Jones, Australian cricketer and coach
    • 1961 – Yanis Varoufakis, Greek economist and politician, Greek Minister of Finance
    • 1962 – Angèle Dubeau, Canadian violinist
    • 1962 – Star Jones, African-American lawyer, journalist, and talk show host
    • 1962 – Irina Meszynski, German discus thrower
    • 1963 – Raimond van der Gouw, Dutch footballer and coach
    • 1963 – Vadym Tyshchenko, Ukrainian footballer and manager (d. 2015)
    • 1963 – Torsten Voss, German decathlete and bobsledder
    • 1965 – The Undertaker, American wrestler and actor
    • 1966 – Floyd Heard, American sprinter and coach
    • 1967 – Diann Roffe, American skier
    • 1968 – Minarti Timur, Indonesian badminton player
    • 1969 – Stephan Eberharter, Austrian skier
    • 1970 – Lara Flynn Boyle, American actress
    • 1970 – Sharon Corr, Irish singer-songwriter and violinist
    • 1970 – Judith Draxler, Austrian swimmer
    • 1970 – Erica Kennedy, African-American journalist and author (d. 2012)
    • 1970 – Mike Vanderjagt, Canadian-American football player
    • 1971 – Tig Notaro, American comedian and actor
    • 1972 – Christophe Dugarry, French footballer
    • 1972 – Steve Karsay, American baseball player and coach
    • 1973 – Jacek Bąk, Polish footballer
    • 1973 – Philippe Boucher, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
    • 1973 – Steve Corica, Australian footballer and coach
    • 1973 – Jure Ivanušič, Slovenian actor, concert pianist and chansonnier
    • 1973 – Mette Jacobsen, Danish swimmer
    • 1973 – Glen Jakovich, Australian footballer
    • 1973 – Jim Parsons, American actor
    • 1974 – Alyson Hannigan, American actress
    • 1974 – Sergey Klyugin, Russian high jumper
    • 1974 – Tado, Filipino comedian and activist (d. 2014)
    • 1975 – Thomas Johansson, Swedish-Monacan tennis player
    • 1976 – Aaron Brooks, American football player
    • 1976 – Aliou Cissé, Senegalese footballer and coach
    • 1976 – Athanasios Kostoulas, Greek footballer
    • 1976 – Peyton Manning, American football player and entrepreneur
    • 1977 – Jessica Chastain, American actress
    • 1977 – Maxim Kuznetsov, Russian ice hockey player
    • 1977 – Darren Lockyer, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
    • 1978 – Michael Braun, Australian footballer and coach
    • 1978 – Tomáš Ujfaluši, Czech footballer and manager
    • 1978 – José Valverde, Dominican baseball player
    • 1979 – Lake Bell, Jewish-American actress, director, and screenwriter
    • 1979 – Norris Hopper, American baseball player
    • 1979 – Periklis Iakovakis, Greek hurdler
    • 1979 – Graeme Swann, English cricketer
    • 1980 – Tassos Venetis, Greek footballer
    • 1981 – Mike Adams, American football player
    • 1981 – Ron Hainsey, American ice hockey player
    • 1981 – Dirk Hayhurst, American baseball player
    • 1981 – Mark Looms, Dutch footballer
    • 1981 – Gary Paffett, English racing driver
    • 1982 – Corey Hart, American baseball player
    • 1982 – Jack Swagger, American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler
    • 1982 – Epico Colon, Puerto Rican professional wrestler
    • 1982 – Jimmy Hempte, Belgian footballer
    • 1982 – Dustin McGowan, American baseball player
    • 1983 – Luca Ceccarelli, Italian footballer
    • 1983 – Riccardo Musetti, Italian footballer
    • 1983 – Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1983 – T.J. Ford, American basketball player
    • 1984 – Benoît Assou-Ekotto, French born Cameroonian international footballer, left-back
    • 1984 – Chris Bosh, American basketball player
    • 1984 – Adrian D’Souza, Indian field hockey player
    • 1984 – Lucy Wangui Kabuu, Kenyan runner
    • 1984 – Park Bom, South Korean singer
    • 1984 – Philipp Petzschner, German tennis player
    • 1985 – Lana, American wrestler and manager
    • 1985 – Haruka Ayase, Japanese actress and singer
    • 1987 – Ramires, Brazilian footballer
    • 1987 – Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladeshi cricketer
    • 1987 – Billy Jones, English footballer
    • 1987 – Yuma Asami, Japanese actress and singer
    • 1988 – Aiga Grabuste, Latvian heptathlete
    • 1988 – Ryan Higgins, Zimbabwean cricketer
    • 1988 – Matías Martínez, Argentinian footballer
    • 1988 – Kardo Ploomipuu, Estonian swimmer
    • 1988 – Matt Todd, New Zealand rugby union player
    • 1990 – Starlin Castro, American baseball player
    • 1990 – Aljur Abrenica, Filipino actor
    • 1990 – Keisha Castle-Hughes, Australian-New Zealand actress
    • 1990 – Lacey Evans, American wrestler
    • 1991 – Nick Browne, English cricketer
    • 1991 – Dalila Jakupovic, Slovenian tennis player
    • 1995 – Enzo Fernandez, French-Spanish footballer

    Deaths on March 24

    • 809 – Harun al-Rashid, Arab caliph (b. 763)
    • 832 – Wulfred, archbishop of Canterbury
    • 1284 – Hugh III of Cyprus (b. 1235)
    • 1296 – Odon de Pins, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller
    • 1381 – Catherine of Vadstena, Swedish saint (b. 1332)
    • 1394 – Constance of Castile, claimant to the throne of Castile
    • 1396 – Walter Hilton, English mystic and saint (b. 1340)
    • 1399 – Margaret, Duchess of Norfolk (b.c. 1320)
    • 1443 – James Douglas, 7th Earl of Douglas (b. 1371)
    • 1455 – Pope Nicholas V (b. 1397)
    • 1499 – Edward Stafford, 2nd Earl of Wiltshire, English nobleman (b. 1470)
    • 1563 – Hosokawa Harumoto, Japanese daimyō (b. 1514)
    • 1575 – Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, Spanish-Portuguese rabbi and author (b. 1488)
    • 1603 – Elizabeth I of England (b. 1533)
    • 1653 – Samuel Scheidt, German organist and composer (b. 1587)
    • 1684 – Pieter de Hooch, Dutch painter (b. 1629)
    • 1684 – Elizabeth Ridgeway, English woman convicted of poisoning her husband
    • 1773 – Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, English politician, Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard (b. 1694)
    • 1776 – John Harrison, English carpenter and clockmaker, invented the Marine chronometer (b. 1693)
    • 1824 – Louis Marie de La Révellière-Lépeaux, French lawyer (b. 1753)
    • 1838 – Abraham Hume, English floriculturist and Tory politician (b. 1748/49)
    • 1869 – Antoine-Henri Jomini, French-Russian general (b. 1779)
    • 1881 – Achille Ernest Oscar Joseph Delesse, French geologist and mineralogist (b. 1817)
    • 1882 – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet and educator (b. 1807)
    • 1887 – Ivan Kramskoi, Russian painter and critic (b. 1837)
    • 1888 – Vsevolod Garshin, Russian author (b. 1855)
    • 1905 – Jules Verne, French novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1828)
    • 1909 – John Millington Synge, Irish playwright and poet (b. 1871)
    • 1915 – Margaret Lindsay Huggins, Anglo-Irish astronomer (b. 1848)
    • 1915 – Karol Olszewski, Polish chemist, mathematician, and physicist (b. 1846)
    • 1916 – Enrique Granados, Spanish pianist and composer (b. 1867)
    • 1926 – Phan Châu Trinh, Vietnamese activist (b. 1872)
    • 1940 – Édouard Branly, French physicist and academic (b. 1844)
    • 1944 – Orde Wingate, Indian-English general (b. 1903)
    • 1946 – Alexander Alekhine, Russian chess player (b. 1892)
    • 1946 – Carl Schuhmann, German gymnast, shot putter, and jumper (b. 1869)
    • 1948 – Sigrid Hjertén, Swedish painter and illustrator (b. 1885)
    • 1950 – James Rudolph Garfield, American lawyer and politician, 23rd United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1865)
    • 1951 – Lorna Hodgkinson, Australian educator and educational psychologist (b. 1887)
    • 1953 – Mary of Teck (b. 1867)
    • 1962 – Jean Goldkette, French-American pianist and bandleader (b. 1899)
    • 1962 – Auguste Piccard, Swiss physicist and explorer (b. 1884)
    • 1968 – Alice Guy-Blaché, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1873)
    • 1971 – Arne Jacobsen, Danish architect, designed the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel and Aarhus City Hall (b. 1902)
    • 1971 – Arthur Metcalfe, Australian public servant (b. 1895)
    • 1976 – Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, English field marshal (b. 1887)
    • 1978 – Park Mok-wol, influential Korean poet and academic (b. 1916)
    • 1980 – Óscar Romero, Salvadoran archbishop (b. 1917)
    • 1984 – Sam Jaffe, American actor (b. 1891)
    • 1985 – Raoul Ubac, French painter, sculptor, photographer and engraver (b. 1910)
    • 1988 – Turhan Feyzioğlu, Turkish academic and politician, 27th Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1922)
    • 1990 – Ray Goulding, American comedian and radio host (b. 1922)
    • 1991 – John Kerr, Australian lawyer and politician, 18th Governor-General of Australia (b. 1914)
    • 1993 – Albert Arlen, Australian pianist, composer, actor, and playwright (b. 1905)
    • 1993 – John Hersey, American journalist and author (b. 1914)
    • 1995 – Joseph Needham, English historian and academic (b. 1900)
    • 1999 – Gertrud Scholtz-Klink, German politician (b. 1902)
    • 1999 – Birdie Tebbetts, American baseball player and manager (b. 1912)
    • 2001 – Muriel Young, English television host and producer (b. 1928)
    • 2002 – César Milstein, Argentinian-English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1927)
    • 2002 – Bob Said, American race car driver and bobsledder (b. 1932)
    • 2003 – Hans Hermann Groër, Austrian cardinal (b. 1919)
    • 2006 – Rudra Rajasingham, Sri Lankan police officer and diplomat (b. 1926)
    • 2007 – Shripad Narayan Pendse, Indian Marathi novelist (b. 1913)
    • 2008 – Chalmers Alford, American guitarist (b. 1955)
    • 2008 – Neil Aspinall, Welsh-English record producer and manager (b. 1941)
    • 2008 – Rafael Azcona, Spanish author and screenwriter (b. 1926)
    • 2008 – Richard Widmark, American actor (b. 1914)
    • 2009 – George Kell, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1922)
    • 2009 – Hans Klenk, German racing driver (b. 1919)
    • 2009 – Gábor Ocskay, Hungarian ice hockey player (b. 1975)
    • 2010 – Robert Culp, American actor (b. 1930)
    • 2010 – Jim Marshall, American photographer (b. 1936)
    • 2012 – Paul Callaghan, New Zealand physicist and academic (b. 1947)
    • 2012 – Nick Noble, American singer-songwriter (b. 1926)
    • 2013 – Barbara Anderson, New Zealand author (b. 1926)
    • 2013 – Inge Lønning, Norwegian theologian, academic, and politician (b. 1938)
    • 2013 – Gury Marchuk, Russian physicist, mathematician, and academic (b. 1925)
    • 2013 – Paolo Ponzo, Italian footballer (b. 1972)
    • 2013 – Mohamed Yousri Salama, Egyptian dentist and politician (b. 1974)
    • 2013 – Francis Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce, 8th Baron Thurlow, English diplomat (b. 1912)
    • 2014 – Oleksandr Muzychko, Ukrainian activist (b. 1962)
    • 2014 – John Rowe Townsend, English author and scholar (b. 1922)
    • 2014 – David A. Trampier, American illustrator (b. 1954)
    • 2015 – Yehuda Avner, English-Israeli diplomat (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – notable deaths of the Germanwings Flight 9525 crash:
      • Oleg Bryjak, Kazakhstani-German opera singer (b. 1960)
      • Maria Radner, German opera singer (b. 1981)
    • 2016 – Johan Cruyff, Dutch footballer (b. 1947)
    • 2016 – Garry Shandling, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1949)
    • 2018 – Lys Assia, Swiss singer and First Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest (b. 1924)
    • 2019 – Joseph Pilato, American film and voice actor (b.1949)
    • 2020 – Albert Uderzo, French comic book artist (b. 1927)

    Holidays and observances on March 24

    • Christian feast day:
      • Catherine of Vadstena
      • Hildelith of Barking
      • Mac Cairthinn of Clogher
      • Óscar Romero (Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Lutheranism)
      • Paul Couturier (Church of England)
      • Walter Hilton (Church of England)
      • March 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice (Argentina)
    • National Tree Planting Day (Uganda)
    • Student Day (Scientology)
    • World Tuberculosis Day (International)

  • February 21 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is granted resignation after confessing to torture and forgery.
    • 1440 – The Prussian Confederation is formed.
    • 1613 – Mikhail I is unanimously elected Tsar by a national assembly, beginning the Romanov dynasty of Imperial Russia.
    • 1797 – A force of 1,400 French soldiers invaded Britain at Fishguard in support of the Society of United Irishmen. They were defeated by 500 British reservists.
    • 1804 – The first self-propelling steam locomotive makes its outing at the Pen-y-Darren Ironworks in Wales.
    • 1808 – Without a previous declaration of war, Russian troops cross the border to Sweden at Abborfors in eastern Finland, thus beginning the Finnish War, in which Sweden will lose the eastern half of the country (i.e. Finland) to Russia.
    • 1828 – Initial issue of the Cherokee Phoenix is the first periodical to use the Cherokee syllabary invented by Sequoyah.
    • 1842 – John Greenough is granted the first U.S. patent for the sewing machine.
    • 1848 – Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto.
    • 1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Valverde is fought near Fort Craig in New Mexico Territory.
    • 1866 – Lucy Hobbs Taylor becomes the first American woman to graduate from dental school.
    • 1874 – The Oakland Daily Tribune publishes its first edition.
    • 1878 – The first telephone directory is issued in New Haven, Connecticut.
    • 1885 – The newly completed Washington Monument is dedicated.
    • 1896 – An Englishman raised in Australia, Bob Fitzsimmons, fought an Irishman, Peter Maher, in an American promoted event which technically took place in Mexico, winning the 1896 World Heavyweight Championship in boxing.
    • 1913 – Ioannina is incorporated into the Greek state after the Balkan Wars.
    • 1916 – World War I: In France, the Battle of Verdun begins.
    • 1918 – The last Carolina parakeet dies in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo.
    • 1919 – German socialist Kurt Eisner is assassinated. His death results in the establishment of the Bavarian Soviet Republic and parliament and government fleeing Munich, Germany.
    • 1921 – Constituent Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Georgia adopts the country’s first constitution.
    • 1921 – Rezā Shāh takes control of Tehran during a successful coup.
    • 1925 – The New Yorker publishes its first issue.
    • 1929 – In the first battle of the Warlord Rebellion in northeastern Shandong against the Nationalist government of China, a 24,000-strong rebel force led by Zhang Zongchang was defeated at Zhifu by 7,000 NRA troops.1934 – Augusto Sandino is executed.
    • 1937 – The League of Nations bans foreign national “volunteers” in the Spanish Civil War.
    • 1945 – World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, Japanese kamikaze planes sink the escort carrier USS Bismarck Sea and damage the USS Saratoga.
    • 1945 – World War II: the Brazilian Expeditionary Force defeat the German forces in the Battle of Monte Castello on the Italian front.
    • 1947 – In New York City, Edwin Land demonstrates the first “instant camera”, the Polaroid Land Camera, to a meeting of the Optical Society of America.
    • 1948 – NASCAR is incorporated.
    • 1952 – The British government, under Winston Churchill, abolishes identity cards in the UK to “set the people free”.
    • 1952 – The Bengali Language Movement protests occur at the University of Dhaka in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
    • 1958 – The CND symbol, aka peace symbol, commissioned by the Direct Action Committee in protest against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, is designed and completed by Gerald Holtom.
    • 1965 – Malcolm X is assassinated while giving a talk at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem.
    • 1971 – The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.
    • 1972 – United States President Richard Nixon visits the People’s Republic of China to normalize Sino-American relations.
    • 1972 – The Soviet unmanned spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon.
    • 1973 – Over the Sinai Desert, Israeli fighter aircraft shoot down Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 jet killing 108 people.
    • 1974 – The last Israeli soldiers leave the west bank of the Suez Canal pursuant to a truce with Egypt.
    • 1975 – Watergate scandal: Former United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are sentenced to prison.
    • 1995 – Steve Fossett lands in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon.
    • 2013 – At least 17 people are killed and 119 injured following several bombings in the Indian city of Hyderabad.

    Births on February 21

    • 921 – Abe no Seimei, Japanese astrologer (d. 1005)
    • 1397 – Isabella of Portugal (d. 1471)
    • 1462 – Joanna la Beltraneja, princess of Castile (d. 1530)
    • 1484 – Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1535)
    • 1498 – Ralph Neville, 4th Earl of Westmorland, English Earl (d. 1549)
    • 1541 – Philipp V, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (d. 1599)
    • 1556 – Sethus Calvisius, German astronomer, composer, and theorist (d. 1615)
    • 1559 – Nurhaci, Manchu emperor (d. 1626)
    • 1609 – Raimondo Montecuccoli, Italian military commander (d. 1680)
    • 1621 – Rebecca Nurse, Massachusetts colonist, executed as a witch (d. 1692)
    • 1705 – Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, English admiral and politician (d. 1781)
    • 1728 – Peter III of Russia (d. 1762)
    • 1783 – Catharina of Württemberg (d. 1835)
    • 1788 – Francis Ronalds, British scientist, inventor and engineer who was knighted for developing the first working electric telegraph (d. 1873)
    • 1791 – Carl Czerny, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1857)
    • 1794 – Antonio López de Santa Anna, Mexican general and politician, 8th President of Mexico (d. 1876)
    • 1801 – John Henry Newman, English cardinal (d. 1890)
    • 1817 – José Zorrilla, Spanish poet and playwright (d. 1893)
    • 1821 – Charles Scribner I, American publisher, founded Charles Scribner’s Sons (d. 1871)
    • 1836 – Léo Delibes, French pianist and composer (d. 1891)
    • 1844 – Charles-Marie Widor, French organist and composer (d. 1937)
    • 1860 – Goscombe John, Welsh-English sculptor and academic (d. 1952)
    • 1865 – John Haden Badley, English author and educator, founded the Bedales School (d. 1967)
    • 1867 – Otto Hermann Kahn, German banker and philanthropist (d. 1934)
    • 1875 – Jeanne Calment, French super-centenarian, oldest verified person ever (d. 1997)
    • 1878 – Mirra Alfassa, French-Indian spiritual leader (d. 1973)
    • 1881 – Kenneth J. Alford, English soldier, bandmaster, and composer (d. 1945)
    • 1885 – Sacha Guitry, Russian-French actor, director, and playwright (d. 1957)
    • 1887 – Korechika Anami, Japanese general and politician, 54th Japanese Minister of War (d. 1945)
    • 1888 – Clemence Dane, English author and playwright (d. 1965)
    • 1892 – Harry Stack Sullivan, American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst (d. 1949)
    • 1893 – Celia Lovsky, Austrian-American actress (d. 1979)
    • 1893 – Andrés Segovia, Spanish guitarist (d. 1987)
    • 1894 – Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar, Indian chemist and academic (d. 1955)
    • 1895 – Henrik Dam, Danish biochemist and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1976)
    • 1896 – Nirala, Indian poet and author (d. 1961)
    • 1900 – Jeanne Aubert, French singer and actress (d. 1988)
    • 1902 – Arthur Nock, English theologian and academic (d. 1963)
    • 1903 – Anaïs Nin, French-American essayist and memoirist (d. 1977)
    • 1903 – Raymond Queneau, French poet and author (d. 1976)
    • 1907 – W. H. Auden, English-American poet, playwright, and composer (d. 1973)
    • 1909 – Hans Erni, Swiss painter, sculptor, and illustrator (d. 2015)
    • 1910 – Douglas Bader, English captain and pilot (d. 1982)
    • 1912 – Arline Judge, American actress and singer (d. 1974)
    • 1914 – Ilmari Juutilainen, Finnish soldier and pilot (d. 1999)
    • 1914 – Zachary Scott, American actor (d. 1965)
    • 1914 – Jean Tatlock, American psychiatrist and physician (d. 1944)
    • 1915 – Claudia Jones, Trinidad-British journalist and activist (d. 1964)
    • 1915 – Ann Sheridan, American actress and singer (d. 1967)
    • 1915 – Anton Vratuša, Prime Minister of Slovenia (1978–1980) (d. 2017)
    • 1917 – Lucille Bremer, American actress and dancer (d. 1996)
    • 1917 – Tadd Dameron, American pianist and composer (d. 1965)
    • 1921 – John Rawls, American philosopher and academic (d. 2002)
    • 1921 – Richard T. Whitcomb, American aeronautical engineer (d. 2009)
    • 1924 – Thelma Estrin, American computer scientist and engineer (d. 2014)
    • 1924 – Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwean educator and politician, 2nd President of Zimbabwe (d. 2019)
    • 1924 – Dorothy Blum, American computer scientist and cryptanalyst (d. 1980)
    • 1925 – Sam Peckinpah, American director and screenwriter (d. 1984)
    • 1925 – Jack Ramsay, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2014)
    • 1927 – Erma Bombeck, American journalist and author (d. 1996)
    • 1929 – Chespirito, Mexican actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
    • 1933 – Nina Simone, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2003)
    • 1934 – Rue McClanahan, American actress (d. 2010)
    • 1935 – Richard A. Lupoff, American author
    • 1936 – Barbara Jordan, American lawyer and politician (d. 1996)
    • 1937 – Ron Clarke, Australian runner and politician, Mayor of the Gold Coast (d. 2015)
    • 1937 – Harald V of Norway
    • 1938 – Bobby Charles, American singer-songwriter (d. 2010)
    • 1938 – Kel Tremain, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1992)
    • 1940 – Peter Gethin, English race car driver (d. 2011)
    • 1940 – John Lewis, American activist and politician
    • 1942 – Tony Martin, Trinidadian-American historian and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1942 – Margarethe von Trotta, German actress, director, and screenwriter
    • 1943 – David Geffen, American businessman, co-founded DreamWorks and Geffen Records
    • 1945 – Maurice Bembridge, English golfer
    • 1946 – Tyne Daly, American actress and singer
    • 1946 – Anthony Daniels, English actor and producer
    • 1946 – Alan Rickman, English actor and director (d. 2016)
    • 1946 – Bob Ryan, American journalist and author
    • 1947 – Johnny Echols, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1947 – Olympia Snowe, American politician
    • 1948 – Bill Slayback, American baseball player and singer (d. 2015)
    • 1949 – Frank Brunner, American illustrator
    • 1949 – Jerry Harrison, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1949 – Ronnie Hellström, Swedish footballer
    • 1950 – Larry Drake, American actor (d. 2016)
    • 1951 – Vince Welnick, American keyboard player (d. 2006)
    • 1952 – Jean-Jacques Burnel, English bass player, songwriter, and producer
    • 1952 – Vitaly Churkin, Russian diplomat, former Ambassador of Russia to the United Nations (d. 2017)
    • 1953 – Christine Ebersole, American actress and singer
    • 1953 – William Petersen, American actor and producer
    • 1954 – Christina Rees, British politician
    • 1955 – Kelsey Grammer, American actor, singer, and producer
    • 1958 – Jake Burns, Northern Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1958 – Mary Chapin Carpenter, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1958 – Kim Coates, Canadian actor
    • 1958 – Alan Trammell, American baseball player, coach, and manager
    • 1959 – José María Cano, Spanish singer-songwriter and painter
    • 1960 – Plamen Oresharski, Bulgarian economist and politician, 52nd Prime Minister of Bulgaria
    • 1960 – Steve Wynn, American singer-songwriter
    • 1961 – Christopher Atkins, American actor and businessman
    • 1962 – Chuck Palahniuk, American novelist and journalist
    • 1962 – David Foster Wallace, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (d. 2008)
    • 1963 – William Baldwin, American actor
    • 1963 – Ranking Roger, English singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2019)
    • 1963 – Greg Turner, New Zealand golfer
    • 1964 – Mark Kelly, American captain, pilot, and astronaut
    • 1964 – Scott Kelly, American captain, pilot, and astronaut
    • 1965 – Mark Ferguson, Australian journalist
    • 1967 – Leroy Burrell, American runner and coach
    • 1967 – Sari Essayah, Finnish athlete and politician
    • 1969 – James Dean Bradfield, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist (Manic Street Preachers)
    • 1969 – Aunjanue Ellis, American actress and producer
    • 1969 – Petra Kronberger, Austrian skier
    • 1969 – Tony Meola, American soccer player and manager
    • 1969 – Cathy Richardson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1970 – Michael Slater, Australian cricketer and sportscaster
    • 1970 – Eric Wilson, American bass player and drummer
    • 1971 – Pierre Fulke, Swedish golfer
    • 1972 – Seo Taiji, South Korean singer-songwriter
    • 1973 – Heri Joensen, Faroese singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1973 – Brian Rolston, American ice hockey player and coach
    • 1974 – Iván Campo, Spanish footballer
    • 1975 – Scott Miller, Australian swimmer
    • 1976 – Ryan Smyth, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1976 – Michael McIntyre, English comedian, actor and television presenter
    • 1977 – Jonathan Safran Foer, American novelist
    • 1977 – Steve Francis, American basketball player
    • 1977 – Owen King, American author
    • 1977 – Kevin Rose, American businessman and television host, founded Digg
    • 1978 – Kumail Nanjiani, Pakistani-American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and podcast host
    • 1979 – Pascal Chimbonda, Guadeloupean-French footballer, defender
    • 1979 – Shane Gibson, American guitarist (stOrk and Jonathan Davis and the SFA) (d. 2014)
    • 1979 – Jennifer Love Hewitt, American actress and producer
    • 1979 – Carly Colón, Puerto Rican professional wrestler
    • 1979 – Jordan Peele, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1980 – Brad Fast, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1980 – Tiziano Ferro, Italian singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1980 – Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, 5th King of Bhutan
    • 1980 – Justin Roiland, American animator, writer and voice actor
    • 1981 – Floor Jansen, Dutch singer, songwriter, and vocal coach
    • 1982 – Andre Barrett, American basketball player
    • 1982 – Chantal Claret, American singer-songwriter
    • 1982 – Tebogo Jacko Magubane, South African DJ and producer
    • 1983 – Braylon Edwards, American football player
    • 1983 – Franklin Gutiérrez, Venezuelan baseball player
    • 1983 – Mélanie Laurent, French actress
    • 1984 – Andrew Ellis, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1984 – David Odonkor, German footballer
    • 1984 – Marco Paoloni, Italian footballer
    • 1984 – James Wisniewski, American ice hockey player
    • 1985 – Georgios Samaras, Greek footballer
    • 1985 – Jamaal Westerman, American football player
    • 1986 – Charlotte Church, Welsh singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1987 – Ellen Page, Canadian actress
    • 1989 – Corbin Bleu, American actor, model, dancer, film producer and singer-songwriter
    • 1990 – Mattias Tedenby, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1991 – Joe Alwyn, English actor
    • 1991 – Riyad Mahrez, Algerian footballer
    • 1991 – Ji So-yun, South Korean footballer
    • 1991 – Devon Travis, American baseball player
    • 1991 – Suppasit Jongcheveevat, Thai actor
    • 1993 – Steve Leo Beleck, Cameroonian footballer
    • 1993 – Davy Klaassen, Dutch footballer
    • 1993 – Masaki Suda, Japanese actor
    • 1994 – Tang Haochen, Chinese tennis player
    • 1994 – Charalampos Mavrias, Greek footballer
    • 1996 – Sophie Turner, English actress

    Deaths on February 21

    • 4 AD – Gaius Caesar, Roman consul and grandson of Augustus (b. 20 BC)
    • 675 – Randoald of Grandval, prior of the Benedictine monastery of Grandval
    • 1184 – Minamoto no Yoshinaka, Japanese shōgun (b. 1154)
    • 1267 – Baldwin of Ibelin, Seneschal of Cyprus
    • 1437 – James I of Scotland (b. 1394; assassinated)
    • 1471 – Jan Rokycana, Czech bishop and theologian (b. 1396)
    • 1513 – Pope Julius II (b. 1443)
    • 1543 – Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, Somalian general (b. 1507)
    • 1554 – Hieronymus Bock, German botanist and physician (b. 1498)
    • 1572 – Cho Shik, Korean poet and scholar (d. 1501)
    • 1590 – Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, English nobleman and general (b. 1528)
    • 1595 – Robert Southwell, English priest and poet (b. 1561)
    • 1677 – Baruch Spinoza, Dutch philosopher and scholar (b. 1632)
    • 1715 – Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, English politician (b. 1637)
    • 1730 – Pope Benedict XIII (b. 1649)
    • 1821 – Georg Friedrich von Martens, German jurist and diplomat (b. 1756)
    • 1824 – Eugène de Beauharnais, French general (b. 1781)
    • 1829 – Kittur Chennamma, Indian queen and freedom fighter (b. 1778)
    • 1846 – Emperor Ninkō of Japan (b. 1800)
    • 1862 – Justinus Kerner, German poet and physician (b. 1786)
    • 1888 – William Weston, English-Australian politician, 3rd Premier of Tasmania (b. 1804)
    • 1891 – James Timberlake, American lieutenant and police officer (b. 1846)
    • 1919 – Kurt Eisner, German journalist and politician, Minister-President of Bavaria (b. 1867)
    • 1926 – Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1853)
    • 1934 – Augusto César Sandino, Nicaraguan rebel leader (b. 1895)
    • 1938 – George Ellery Hale, American astronomer and academic (b. 1868)
    • 1941 – Frederick Banting, Canadian physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)
    • 1944 – Ferenc Szisz, Hungarian-French race car driver (b. 1873)
    • 1945 – Eric Liddell, Scottish rugby player and runner (b. 1902)
    • 1946 – José Streel, Belgian journalist (b. 1911)
    • 1958 – Duncan Edwards, English footballer (b. 1936)
    • 1965 – Malcolm X, American minister and activist (b. 1925; assassinated)
    • 1967 – Charles Beaumont, American author and screenwriter (b. 1929)
    • 1968 – Howard Florey, Australian pathologist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898)
    • 1972 – Zhang Guohua, Chinese general and politician (b. 1914)
    • 1972 – Bronislava Nijinska, Russian-American dancer and choreographer (b. 1891)
    • 1972 – Eugène Tisserant, French cardinal (b. 1884)
    • 1974 – Tim Horton, Canadian ice hockey player and businessman, co-founded Tim Hortons (b. 1930)
    • 1980 – Alfred Andersch, German-Swiss author (b. 1914)
    • 1982 – Gershom Scholem, German-Israeli historian and philosopher (b. 1897)
    • 1984 – Mikhail Sholokhov, Russian novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
    • 1985 – Louis Hayward, South African-American actor (b. 1909)
    • 1986 – Helen Hooven Santmyer, American novelist (b. 1895)
    • 1991 – Dorothy Auchterlonie Green, Australian poet, critic, and academic (b. 1915)
    • 1993 – Inge Lehmann, Danish seismologist and geophysicist (b. 1888)
    • 1994 – Johannes Steinhoff, German general and pilot (b. 1913)
    • 1996 – Morton Gould, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1913)
    • 1999 – Gertrude B. Elion, American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
    • 1999 – Ilmari Juutilainen, Finnish soldier and pilot (b. 1914)
    • 1999 – Wilmer Mizell, American baseball player and politician (b. 1930)
    • 2002 – John Thaw, English actor and producer (b. 1942)
    • 2004 – John Charles, Welsh footballer and manager (b. 1931)
    • 2005 – Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Cuban author, screenwriter, and critic (b. 1929)
    • 2005 – Zdzisław Beksiński, Polish painter, photographer, and sculptor (b. 1929)
    • 2008 – Ben Chapman, American actor (b. 1928)
    • 2011 – Dwayne McDuffie, American author and screenwriter, co-founded Milestone Media (b. 1962)
    • 2011 – Bernard Nathanson, American physician and activist (b. 1926)
    • 2012 – H. M. Darmstandler, American general (b. 1922)
    • 2013 – Hasse Jeppson, Swedish footballer (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – Héctor Maestri, Cuban-American baseball player (b. 1935)
    • 2014 – Matthew Robinson, Australian snowboarder (b. 1985)
    • 2014 – Cornelius Schnauber, German–American historian, playwright, and academic (b. 1939)
    • 2015 – Aleksei Gubarev, Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1931)
    • 2015 – Sadeq Tabatabaei, Iranian journalist and politician (b. 1943)
    • 2015 – Clark Terry, American trumpet player, composer, and educator (b. 1920)
    • 2016 – Eric Brown, Scottish-English captain and pilot (b. 1919)
    • 2017 – Jeanne Martin Cissé, Guinean teacher and politician (b. 1926)
    • 2018 – Billy Graham, American evangelist (b. 1918)
    • 2019 – Stanley Donen, American film director (b. 1924)
    • 2019 – Peter Tork, American musician and actor (b. 1942)

    Holidays and observances on February 21

    • Armed Forces Day (South Africa)
    • Birthday of King Harald V (Norway)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Felix of Hadrumetum
      • Pepin of Landen
      • Peter Damian
      • Randoald of Grandval
      • February 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Father Lini Day (Vanuatu)
    • Language Movement Day (Bangladesh)
      • International Mother Language Day (UNESCO)
    • The first day of the Birth Anniversary of Fifth Druk Gyalpo, celebrated until February 23. (Bhutan)
    • The first day of the Musikahan Festival, celebrated until February 27. (Tagum City, Philippines)
    • Feralia (Ancient Rome)

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

    • 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople: A quarrel between supporters of different chariot teams—the Blues and the Greens—in the Hippodrome escalates into violence.
    • 630 – Conquest of Mecca: The prophet Muhammad and his followers conquer the city, Quraysh surrender.
    • 947 – Emperor Tai Zong of the Khitan-led Liao Dynasty invades the Later Jin, resulting in the destruction of the Later Jin.
    • 1055 – Theodora is crowned empress of the Byzantine Empire.
    • 1158 – Vladislaus II, Duke of Bohemia becomes King of Bohemia.
    • 1569 – First recorded lottery in England.
    • 1571 – Austrian nobility is granted freedom of religion.
    • 1654 – Arauco War: A Spanish army is defeated by local Mapuche-Huilliches as it tries to cross Bueno River in Southern Chile.
    • 1693 – A powerful earthquake destroys parts of Sicily and Malta.
    • 1759 – The first American life insurance company, the Corporation for Relief of Poor and Distressed Presbyterian Ministers and of the Poor and Distressed Widows and Children of the Presbyterian Ministers (now part of Unum Group), is incorporated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
    • 1779 – Ching-Thang Khomba is crowned King of Manipur.
    • 1787 – William Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon, two moons of Uranus.
    • 1805 – The Michigan Territory is created.
    • 1861 – American Civil War: Alabama secedes from the United States.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Arkansas Post: General John McClernand and Admiral David Dixon Porter capture the Arkansas River for the Union.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: CSS Alabama encounters and sinks the USS Hatteras off Galveston Lighthouse in Texas.
    • 1879 – The Anglo-Zulu War begins.
    • 1908 – Grand Canyon National Monument is created.
    • 1912 – Immigrant textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts, go on strike when wages are reduced in response to a mandated shortening of the work week.
    • 1917 – The Kingsland munitions factory explosion occurs as a result of sabotage.
    • 1922 – First use of insulin to treat diabetes in a human patient.
    • 1923 – Occupation of the Ruhr: Troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area to force Germany to make its World War I reparation payments.
    • 1927 – Louis B. Mayer, head of film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), announces the creation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, at a banquet in Los Angeles, California.
    • 1935 – Amelia Earhart becomes the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California.
    • 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces capture Kuala Lumpur, the capital of the Federated Malay States.
    • 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces attack Tarakan in Borneo, Netherlands Indies (Battle of Tarakan)
    • 1943 – The Republic of China agrees to the Sino-British New Equal Treaty and the Sino-American New Equal Treaty.
    • 1943 – Italian-American anarchist Carlo Tresca is assassinated in New York City.
    • 1946 – Enver Hoxha, Secretary General of the Communist Party of Albania, declares the People’s Republic of Albania with himself as head of state.
    • 1949 – The first “networked” television broadcasts took place as KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania goes on the air connecting the east coast and mid-west programming.
    • 1957 – The African Convention is founded in Dakar, Senegal.
    • 1961 – Throgs Neck Bridge over the East River, linking New York City’s boroughs of The Bronx and Queens, opens to road traffic.
    • 1962 – Cold War: While tied to its pier in Polyarny, the Soviet submarine B-37 is destroyed when fire breaks out in its torpedo compartment.
    • 1962 – An avalanche on Huascarán in Peru causes around 4,000 deaths.
    • 1964 – Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Luther Terry, M.D., publishes the landmark report Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the United States saying that smoking may be hazardous to health, sparking national and worldwide anti-smoking efforts.
    • 1972 – East Pakistan renames itself Bangladesh.
    • 1973 – Major League Baseball owners vote in approval of the American League adopting the designated hitter position.
    • 1986 – The Gateway Bridge, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia is officially opened.
    • 1994 – The Irish Government announces the end of a 15-year broadcasting ban on the IRA and its political arm Sinn Féin.
    • 1996 – Space Shuttle program: STS-72 launches from the Kennedy Space Center marking the start of the 74th Space Shuttle mission and the 10th flight of Endeavour.
    • 1998 – Over 100 people are killed in the Sidi-Hamed massacre in Algeria.
    • 2003 – Illinois Governor George Ryan commutes the death sentences of 167 prisoners on Illinois’s death row based on the Jon Burge scandal.
    • 2013 – One French soldier and 17 militants are killed in a failed attempt to free a French hostage in Bulo Marer, Somalia.

    Births on January 11

    • 347 – Theodosius I, Roman emperor (d. 395)
    • 889 – Abd-ar-Rahman III, first Caliph of Córdoba (d. 961)
    • 1113 – Wang Chongyang, Chinese religious leader and poet (d. 1170)
    • 1209 – Möngke Khan, Mongolian emperor (d. 1259)
    • 1322 – Emperor Kōmyō of Japan (d. 1380)
    • 1359 – Emperor Go-En’yū of Japan (d. 1393)
    • 1395 – Michele of Valois, daughter of Charles VI of France (d. 1422)
    • 1503 – Parmigianino, Italian artist (d. 1540)
    • 1589 – William Strode, English politician (d. 1666)
    • 1591 – Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire (d. 1646)
    • 1624 – Bastiaan Govertsz van der Leeuw, Dutch painter (d. 1680)
    • 1630 – John Rogers, English-American minister, physician, and academic (d. 1684)
    • 1638 – Nicolas Steno, Danish bishop and anatomist (d. 1686)
    • 1642 – Johann Friedrich Alberti, German organist and composer (d. 1710)
    • 1650 – Diana Glauber, Dutch-German painter (d. 1721)
    • 1671 – François-Marie, 1st duc de Broglie, French general and diplomat (d. 1745)
    • 1755 – Alexander Hamilton, Nevisian-American general, economist and politician, 1st United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1804)
    • 1757 – Samuel Bentham, English engineer and architect (d. 1831)
    • 1760 – Oliver Wolcott Jr., American lawyer and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of the Treasury, 24th Governor of Connecticut (d. 1833)
    • 1777 – Vincenzo Borg, Maltese merchant and rebel leader (d. 1837)
    • 1786 – Joseph Jackson Lister, English physicist (d. 1869)
    • 1788 – William Thomas Brande, English chemist and academic (d. 1866)
    • 1800 – Ányos Jedlik, Hungarian physicist and engineer (d. 1895)
    • 1807 – Ezra Cornell, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Western Union and Cornell University (d. 1874)
    • 1814 – James Paget, English surgeon and pathologist (d. 1899)
    • 1815 – John A. Macdonald, Scottish-Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1891)
    • 1825 – Bayard Taylor, American poet, author, and critic (d. 1878)
    • 1839 – Eugenio María de Hostos, Puerto Rican lawyer, philosopher, and sociologist (d. 1903)
    • 1842 – William James, American psychologist and philosopher (d. 1910)
    • 1843 – Adolf Eberle, German painter (d. 1914)
    • 1845 – Albert Victor Bäcklund, Swedish mathematician and physicist (d. 1912)
    • 1850 – Joseph Charles Arthur, American pathologist and mycologist (d. 1942)
    • 1852 – Constantin Fehrenbach, German lawyer and politician, 4th Chancellor of Weimar Germany (d. 1926)
    • 1853 – Georgios Jakobides, Greek painter and sculptor (d. 1932)
    • 1856 – Christian Sinding, Norwegian pianist and composer (d. 1941)
    • 1857 – Fred Archer, English jockey (d. 1886)
    • 1858 – Harry Gordon Selfridge, American-English businessman, founded Selfridges (d. 1947)
    • 1859 – George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, English politician, 35th Governor-General of India (d. 1925)
    • 1864 – Thomas Dixon, Jr., American minister, lawyer, and politician (d. 1946)
    • 1867 – Edward B. Titchener, English psychologist and academic (d. 1927)
    • 1868 – Cai Yuanpei, Chinese philosopher, academic, and politician (d. 1940)
    • 1870 – Alexander Stirling Calder, American sculptor and educator (d. 1945)
    • 1872 – G. W. Pierce, American physicist and academic (d. 1956)
    • 1873 – John Callan O’Laughlin, American soldier and journalist (d. 1949)
    • 1875 – Reinhold Glière, Russian composer and academic (d. 1956)
    • 1876 – Elmer Flick, American baseball player (d. 1971)
    • 1876 – Thomas Hicks, American runner (d. 1952)
    • 1878 – Theodoros Pangalos, Greek general and politician, President of Greece (d. 1952)
    • 1885 – Alice Paul, American activist and suffragist (d. 1977)
    • 1887 – Aldo Leopold, American ecologist and author (d. 1948)
    • 1888 – Joseph B. Keenan, American jurist and politician (d. 1954)
    • 1889 – Calvin Bridges, American geneticist and academic (d. 1938)
    • 1890 – Max Carey, American baseball player and manager (d. 1976)
    • 1890 – Oswald de Andrade, Brazilian poet and critic (d. 1954)
    • 1891 – Andrew Sockalexis, American runner (d. 1919)
    • 1893 – Ellinor Aiki, Estonian painter (d. 1969)
    • 1893 – Charles Fraser, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1981)
    • 1893 – Anthony M. Rud, American journalist and author (d. 1942)
    • 1895 – Laurens Hammond, American engineer and businessman, founded the Hammond Clock Company (d. 1973)
    • 1897 – Bernard DeVoto, American historian and author (d. 1955)
    • 1897 – August Heissmeyer, German SS officer (d. 1979)
    • 1899 – Eva Le Gallienne, English-American actress, director, and producer (d. 1991)
    • 1901 – Kwon Ki-ok, Korean pilot (d. 1988)
    • 1902 – Maurice Duruflé, French organist and composer (d. 1986)
    • 1903 – Alan Paton, South African author and activist (d. 1988)
    • 1905 – Clyde Kluckhohn, American anthropologist and theorist (d. 1960)
    • 1906 – Albert Hofmann, Swiss chemist and academic, discoverer of LSD (d. 2008)
    • 1907 – Pierre Mendès France, French lawyer and politician, 142nd Prime Minister of France (d. 1982)
    • 1907 – Abraham Joshua Heschel, Polish-American rabbi, theologian, and philosopher (d. 1972)
    • 1908 – Lionel Stander, American actor and activist (d. 1994)
    • 1910 – Arthur Lambourn, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1999)
    • 1910 – Shane Paltridge, Australian soldier and politician (d. 1966)
    • 1911 – Tommy Duncan, American singer-songwriter (d. 1967)
    • 1911 – Nora Heysen, Australian painter (d. 2003)
    • 1911 – Zenkō Suzuki, Japanese politician, 70th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2004)
    • 1912 – Don “Red” Barry, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1980)
    • 1913 – Karl Stegger, Danish actor (d. 1980)
    • 1915 – Luise Krüger, German javelin thrower (d. 2001)
    • 1915 – Paddy Mayne, British colonel and lawyer (d. 1955)
    • 1916 – Bernard Blier, Argentinian-French actor (d. 1989)
    • 1917 – John Robarts, Canadian lawyer and politician, 17th Premier of Ontario (d. 1982)
    • 1918 – Robert C. O’Brien, American author and journalist (d. 1973)
    • 1920 – Mick McManus, English wrestler (d. 2013)
    • 1921 – Gory Guerrero, American wrestler and trainer (d. 1990)
    • 1921 – Juanita M. Kreps, American economist and politician, 24th United States Secretary of Commerce (d. 2010)
    • 1923 – Jerome Bixby, American author and screenwriter (d. 1998)
    • 1923 – Ernst Nolte, German historian and philosopher (d. 2016)
    • 1923 – Carroll Shelby, American race car driver, engineer, and businessman, founded Carroll Shelby International (d. 2012)
    • 1924 – Roger Guillemin, French-American physician and endocrinologist, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1924 – Sam B. Hall, Jr., American lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 1994)
    • 1924 – Slim Harpo, American blues singer-songwriter and musician (d. 1970)
    • 1925 – Grant Tinker, American television producer, co-founded MTM Enterprises (d. 2016)
    • 1926 – Lev Dyomin, Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1998)
    • 1928 – David L. Wolper, American director and producer (d. 2010)
    • 1929 – Dmitri Bruns, Estonian architect and theorist (d. 2020)
    • 1930 – Ron Mulock, Australian lawyer and politician, 10th Deputy Premier of New South Wales (d. 2014)
    • 1930 – Rod Taylor, Australian-American actor and screenwriter (d. 2015)
    • 1931 – Betty Churcher, Australian painter, historian, and curator (d. 2015)
    • 1931 – Mary Rodgers, American composer and author (d. 2014)
    • 1932 – Alfonso Arau, Mexican actor and director
    • 1933 – Goldie Hill, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2005)
    • 1934 – Jean Chrétien, Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Canada
    • 1936 – Eva Hesse, German-American sculptor and educator (d. 1970)
    • 1938 – Arthur Scargill, English miner, activist, and politician
    • 1939 – Anne Heggtveit, Canadian alpine skier
    • 1940 – Andres Tarand, Estonian geographer and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Estonia
    • 1941 – Gérson, Brazilian footballer
    • 1942 – Bud Acton, American basketball player
    • 1942 – Clarence Clemons, American saxophonist and actor (d. 2011)
    • 1944 – Mohammed Abdul-Hayy, Sudanese poet and academic (d. 1989)
    • 1944 – Shibu Soren, Indian politician, 3rd Chief Minister of Jharkhand
    • 1945 – Christine Kaufmann, German actress, author, and businesswoman (d. 2017)
    • 1946 – Naomi Judd, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1946 – Tony Kaye, English progressive rock keyboard player and songwriter (Yes)
    • 1946 – John Piper, American theologian and author
    • 1947 – Hamish Macdonald, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1948 – Fritz Bohla, German footballer and manager
    • 1948 – Joe Harper, Scottish footballer and manager
    • 1948 – Madeline Manning, American runner and coach
    • 1948 – Wajima Hiroshi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 54th Yokozuna
    • 1948 – Terry Williams, Welsh drummer
    • 1949 – Daryl Braithwaite, Australian singer-songwriter
    • 1949 – Mohammad Reza Rahimi, Iranian lawyer and politician, 2nd Vice President of Iran
    • 1951 – Charlie Huhn, American rock singer and guitarist
    • 1951 – Willie Maddren, English footballer and manager (d. 2000)
    • 1951 – Philip Tartaglia, Scottish archbishop
    • 1952 – Bille Brown, Australian actor and playwright (d. 2013)
    • 1952 – Ben Crenshaw, American golfer and architect
    • 1952 – Michael Forshaw, Australian lawyer and politician
    • 1952 – Diana Gabaldon, American author
    • 1952 – Lee Ritenour, American guitarist, composer, and producer
    • 1953 – Graham Allen, English politician, Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
    • 1953 – Kostas Skandalidis, Greek engineer and politician, Greek Minister of Agricultural Development and Food
    • 1954 – Jaak Aaviksoo, Estonian physicist and politician, 26th Estonian Minister of Defence
    • 1954 – Kailash Satyarthi, Indian engineer, academic, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1956 – Big Bank Hank, American rapper (d. 2014)
    • 1957 – Darryl Dawkins, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1957 – Peter Moore, Australian rules footballer and coach
    • 1957 – Bryan Robson, English footballer and manager
    • 1958 – Vicki Peterson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1959 – Brett Bodine, American NASCAR driver
    • 1959 – Rob Ramage, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1961 – Lars-Erik Torph, Swedish racing driver (d. 1989)
    • 1962 – Chris Bryant, Welsh politician, Minister of State for Europe
    • 1962 – Susan Lindauer, American journalist and activist
    • 1962 – Brian Moore, English rugby player
    • 1963 – Tracy Caulkins, American-Australian swimmer
    • 1963 – Petra Schneider, German swimmer
    • 1964 – Ralph Recto, Filipino lawyer and politician
    • 1964 – Albert Dupontel, French actor and director
    • 1965 – Mascarita Sagrada, Mexican wrestler
    • 1965 – Aleksey Zhukov, Russian footballer and coach
    • 1966 – Marc Acito, American author and screenwriter
    • 1967 – Michael Healy-Rae, Irish politician
    • 1968 – Anders Borg, Swedish economist and politician, Swedish Minister for Finance
    • 1968 – Tom Dumont, American guitarist and producer
    • 1969 – Manny Acta, Dominican-American baseball player, coach, manager, and sportscaster
    • 1970 – Manfredi Beninati, Italian painter and sculptor
    • 1970 – Chris Jent, American basketball player and coach
    • 1970 – Malcolm D. Lee, American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor
    • 1970 – Ken Ueno, American composer
    • 1971 – Mary J. Blige, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1971 – Jeff Orford, Australian rugby league player
    • 1971 – Chris Willsher, English singer-songwriter, drummer, and actor
    • 1972 – Christian Jacobs, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
    • 1972 – Anthony Lledo, Danish composer
    • 1972 – Amanda Peet, American actress and playwright
    • 1973 – Rockmond Dunbar, American actor
    • 1973 – Rahul Dravid, Indian cricketer and captain
    • 1974 – Roman Görtz, German footballer
    • 1974 – Cody McKay, Canadian baseball player
    • 1974 – Jens Nowotny, German footballer
    • 1975 – Rory Fitzpatrick, American ice hockey player
    • 1975 – Dan Luger, English rugby player and coach
    • 1975 – Matteo Renzi, Italian politician, 56th Prime Minister of Italy
    • 1976 – Efthimios Rentzias, Greek basketball player
    • 1977 – Shamari Buchanan, American football player
    • 1977 – Anni Friesinger-Postma, German speed skater
    • 1977 – Olexiy Lukashevych, Ukrainian long jumper
    • 1978 – Vallo Allingu, Estonian basketball player
    • 1978 – Holly Brisley, Australian actress
    • 1978 – Michael Duff, Irish footballer
    • 1978 – Emile Heskey, English footballer
    • 1979 – Darren Lynn Bousman, American director and screenwriter
    • 1979 – Michael Lorenz, German footballer
    • 1979 – Henry Shefflin, Irish hurler
    • 1980 – Josh Hannay, Australian rugby league player
    • 1980 – Mike Williams, American football player
    • 1982 – Tony Allen, American basketball player
    • 1982 – Blake Heron, American actor (d. 2017)
    • 1982 – Son Ye-jin, South Korean actress
    • 1983 – Turner Battle, American basketball player
    • 1983 – André Myhrer, Swedish skier
    • 1983 – Ted Richards, Australian rules footballer
    • 1983 – Adrian Sutil, German racing driver
    • 1984 – Kevin Boss, American football player
    • 1984 – Dario Krešić, Croatian footballer
    • 1984 – Matt Mullenweg, American web developer and businessman, co-created WordPress
    • 1984 – Stijn Schaars, Dutch footballer
    • 1985 – Newton Faulkner, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1985 – Lucy Knisley, American author and illustrator
    • 1987 – Scotty Cranmer, American Professional BMX rider
    • 1987 – Danuta Kozák, Hungarian sprint canoer
    • 1987 – Daniel Semenzato, Italian footballer
    • 1987 – Jamie Vardy, English footballer
    • 1987 – Kim Young-kwang, South Korean actor and model
    • 1988 – Rodrigo José Pereira, Brazilian footballer
    • 1989 – Kane Linnett, Australian rugby league player
    • 1990 – Ryan Griffin, American football player
    • 1991 – Andrea Bertolacci, Italian footballer
    • 1992 – Dani Carvajal, Spanish footballer
    • 1992 – Lee Seung-hoon, South Korean rapper and dancer
    • 1993 – Michael Keane, English footballer
    • 1993 – Will Keane, English footballer
    • 1996 – Leroy Sané, German footballer
    • 1997 – Cody Simpson, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor

    Deaths on January 11

    • 140 – Pope Hyginus, Bishop of Rome (b. 74)
    • 705 – Pope John VI (b. 655)
    • 782 – Emperor Kōnin of Japan (b. 709)
    • 812 – Staurakios, Byzantine emperor
    • 844 – Michael I Rangabe, Byzantine emperor (b. 770)
    • 887 – Boso of Provence, Frankish nobleman
    • 937 – Cao, empress of Later Tang
    • 937 – Li Chongmei, prince of Later Tang
    • 937 – Li Congke, emperor of Later Tang (b. 885)
    • 937 – Liu, empress of Later Tang
    • 1055 – Constantine IX Monomachos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1000)
    • 1068 – Egbert I, Margrave of Meissen
    • 1083 – Otto of Nordheim (b. 1020)
    • 1266 – Swietopelk II, Duke of Pomerania
    • 1344 – Thomas Charlton, Bishop of Hereford and Lord Chancellor of Ireland
    • 1372 – Eleanor of Lancaster, English noblewoman (b. 1318)
    • 1396 – Isidore Glabas, Metropolitan bishop of Thessalonica (b.c. 1341)
    • 1397 – Skirgaila, Grand Duke of Lithuania
    • 1494 – Domenico Ghirlandaio, Italian painter (b. 1449)
    • 1495 – Pedro González de Mendoza, Spanish cardinal (b. 1428)
    • 1546 – Gaudenzio Ferrari, Italian painter and sculptor (b. c. 1471)
    • 1547 – Pietro Bembo, Italian poet, scholar, and theorist (b. 1470)
    • 1554 – Min Bin, king of Arakan (b. 1493)
    • 1641 – Juan Martínez de Jáuregui y Aguilar, Spanish poet and painter (b. 1583)
    • 1696 – Charles Albanel, French priest, missionary, and explorer (b. 1616)
    • 1703 – Johann Georg Graevius, German scholar and critic (b. 1632)
    • 1713 – Pierre Jurieu, French priest and theologian (b. 1637)
    • 1735 – Danilo I, Metropolitan of Cetinje (b. 1670)
    • 1753 – Hans Sloane, Irish-English physician and academic (b. 1660)
    • 1757 – Louis Bertrand Castel, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1688)
    • 1762 – Louis-François Roubiliac, French-English sculptor (b. 1695)
    • 1763 – Caspar Abel, German poet, historian, and theologian (b. 1676)
    • 1771 – Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d’Argens, French philosopher and author (b. 1704)
    • 1788 – François Joseph Paul de Grasse, French admiral (b. 1722)
    • 1791 – William Williams Pantycelyn, Welsh composer and poet (b. 1717)
    • 1798 – Heraclius II of Georgia (b. 1720)
    • 1801 – Domenico Cimarosa, Italian composer and educator (b. 1749)
    • 1824 – Thomas Mullins, 1st Baron Ventry, Anglo-Irish politician and peer (b. 1736)
    • 1836 – John Molson, Canadian businessman, founded the Molson Brewing Company (b. 1763)
    • 1843 – Francis Scott Key, American lawyer, author, and songwriter (b. 1779)
    • 1866 – Gustavus Vaughan Brooke, Irish actor (b. 1818)
    • 1866 – John Woolley, English minister and academic (b. 1816)
    • 1867 – Stuart Donaldson, English-Australian businessman and politician, 1st Premier of New South Wales (b. 1812)
    • 1882 – Theodor Schwann, German physiologist and biologist (b. 1810)
    • 1891 – Georges-Eugène Haussmann, French urban planner (b. 1809)
    • 1902 – Johnny Briggs, English cricketer and rugby player (b. 1862)
    • 1904 – William Sawyer, Canadian merchant and politician (b. 1815)
    • 1914 – Carl Jacobsen, Danish brewer and philanthropist (b. 1842)
    • 1920 – Steinar Schjøtt, Norwegian philologist and lexicographer (b. 1844)
    • 1923 – Constantine I of Greece (b. 1868)
    • 1928 – Thomas Hardy, English novelist and poet (b. 1840)
    • 1931 – James Milton Carroll, American pastor, historian, and author (b. 1852)
    • 1937 – Nuri Conker, Turkish colonel and politician (b. 1882)
    • 1941 – Emanuel Lasker, German mathematician, philosopher, and chess player (b. 1868)
    • 1944 – Galeazzo Ciano, Italian politician, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1903)
    • 1947 – Eva Tanguay, Canadian singer (b. 1879)
    • 1952 – Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, French general (b. 1889)
    • 1952 – Aureliano Pertile, Italian tenor and educator (b. 1885)
    • 1953 – Noe Zhordania, Georgian journalist and politician, Prime Minister of Georgia (b. 1868)
    • 1954 – Oscar Straus, Austrian composer (b. 1870)
    • 1957 – Robert Garran, Australian lawyer and politician, Solicitor-General of Australia (b. 1867)
    • 1958 – Alec Rowley, English organist and composer (b. 1892)
    • 1958 – Edna Purviance, American actress (b. 1895)
    • 1961 – Elena Gerhardt, German soprano and actress (b. 1883)
    • 1963 – Arthur Nock, English-American scholar, theologian, and academic (b. 1902)
    • 1965 – Wally Pipp, American baseball player (b. 1893)
    • 1966 – Alberto Giacometti, Swiss sculptor and painter (b. 1901)
    • 1966 – Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indian academic and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of India (b. 1904)
    • 1968 – Moshe Zvi Segal, Israeli linguist and scholar (b. 1876)
    • 1969 – Richmal Crompton, English author and educator (b. 1890)
    • 1972 – Padraic Colum, Irish poet and playwright (b. 1881)
    • 1975 – Max Lorenz, German tenor and actor (b. 1901)
    • 1980 – Barbara Pym, English author (b. 1913)
    • 1981 – Beulah Bondi, American actress (b. 1889)
    • 1982 – Paul Lynde, American Actor and comedian (b. 1926)
    • 1985 – Edward Buzzell, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1895)
    • 1985 – William McKell, Australian lawyer and politician, 12th Governor-General of Australia (b. 1891)
    • 1986 – Sid Chaplin, English author and screenwriter (b. 1916)
    • 1986 – Andrzej Czok, Polish mountaineer (b. 1948)
    • 1987 – Albert Ferber, Swiss-English pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1911)
    • 1988 – Pappy Boyington, American colonel and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1912)
    • 1988 – Isidor Isaac Rabi, Polish-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898)
    • 1989 – Ray Moore, English radio host (b. 1942)
    • 1990 – Carolyn Haywood, American author and illustrator (b. 1898)
    • 1991 – Carl David Anderson, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
    • 1994 – Helmut Poppendick, German physician (b. 1902)
    • 1995 – Josef Gingold, Belarusian-American violinist and educator (b. 1909)
    • 1995 – Onat Kutlar, Turkish author and poet (b. 1936)
    • 1995 – Lewis Nixon, U.S. Army captain (b. 1918)
    • 1995 – Theodor Wisch, German general (b. 1907)
    • 1996 – Roger Crozier, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1942)
    • 1999 – Fabrizio De André, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1940)
    • 1999 – Naomi Mitchison, Scottish author and poet (b. 1897)
    • 1999 – Brian Moore, Irish-Canadian author and screenwriter (b. 1921)
    • 2000 – Ivan Combe, American businessman, invented Clearasil (b. 1911)
    • 2000 – Bob Lemon, American baseball player and manager (b. 1920)
    • 2001 – Denys Lasdun, English architect, co-designed the Royal National Theatre (b. 1914)
    • 2002 – Henri Verneuil, French-Armenian director and playwright (b. 1920)
    • 2003 – Jože Pučnik, Slovenian sociologist and politician (b. 1932)
    • 2007 – Solveig Dommartin, French-German actress (b. 1961)
    • 2007 – Robert Anton Wilson, American psychologist, author, poet, and playwright (b. 1932)
    • 2008 – Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer and explorer (b. 1919)
    • 2008 – Carl Karcher, American businessman, co-founded Carl’s Jr. (b. 1917)
    • 2010 – Miep Gies, Austrian-Dutch humanitarian (b. 1909)
    • 2010 – Éric Rohmer, French director, screenwriter, and critic (b. 1920)
    • 2011 – David Nelson, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1936)
    • 2012 – Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, Iranian physicist and academic (b. 1980)
    • 2012 – Gilles Jacquier, French journalist and photographer (b. 1968)
    • 2012 – Edgar Kaiser, Jr, American-Canadian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1942)
    • 2012 – Wally Osterkorn, American basketball player (b. 1928)
    • 2012 – Steven Rawlings, English astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic (b. 1961)
    • 2012 – David Whitaker, English composer and conductor (b. 1931)
    • 2013 – Aaron Swartz, American programmer (b. 1986)
    • 2013 – Guido Forti, Italian businessman, founded the Forti Racing Team (b. 1940)
    • 2013 – Nguyễn Khánh, Vietnamese general and politician, 3rd President of South Vietnam (b. 1927)
    • 2013 – Mariangela Melato, Italian actress (b. 1941)
    • 2013 – Tom Parry Jones, Welsh chemist, invented the breathalyzer (b. 1935)
    • 2013 – Alemayehu Shumye, Ethiopian runner (b. 1988)
    • 2014 – Keiko Awaji, Japanese actress (b. 1933)
    • 2014 – Muhammad Habibur Rahman, Indian-Bangladeshi jurist and politician, Prime Minister of Bangladesh (b. 1928)
    • 2014 – Chai Trong-rong, Taiwanese educator and politician (b. 1935)
    • 2014 – Ariel Sharon, Israeli general and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Jenő Buzánszky, Hungarian footballer and coach (b. 1925)
    • 2015 – Anita Ekberg, Swedish-Italian model and actress (b. 1931)
    • 2015 – Chashi Nazrul Islam, Bangladeshi director and producer (b. 1941)
    • 2015 – Vernon Benjamin Mountcastle, American neuroscientist and academic (b. 1918)
    • 2016 – Monte Irvin, American baseball player (b. 1919)
    • 2016 – David Margulies, American actor (b. 1937)
    • 2017 – Adenan Satem, Malaysian politician and Chief Minister of Sarawak, Malaysia (b. 1944)
    • 2018 – Edgar Ray Killen, American murderer (b.1925)
    • 2019 – Michael Atiyah, British-Lebanese mathematician (b.1929)

    Holidays and observances on January 11

    • Children’s Day (Tunisia)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Anastasius of Suppentonia (Roman Catholic)
      • Leucius of Brindisi (Roman Catholic)
      • Mary Slessor (Church of England)
      • Paulinus II of Aquileia
      • Pope Hyginus
      • Theodosius the Cenobiarch
      • Thomas of Cori
      • Vitalis of Gaza (Roman Catholic)
      • January 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Earliest day on which Triodion can fall, while February 14 is the latest; celebrated 70 days before Easter. (Eastern Orthodox)
    • Eugenio María de Hostos Day (Puerto Rico)
    • Independence Resistance Day (Morocco)
    • Kagami biraki (Japan)
    • National Human Trafficking Awareness Day (United States)
    • Republic Day (Albania)
    • Carmentalia (January 11th and January 15th), (Rome)