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June 12 in History
- 910 – Battle of Augsburg: The Hungarians defeat the East Frankish army under King Louis the Child, using the famous feigned retreat tactic of the nomadic warriors.
- 1240 – At the instigation of Louis IX of France, an inter-faith debate, known as the Disputation of Paris, starts between a Christian monk and four rabbis.
- 1381 – Peasants’ Revolt: In England, rebels assemble at Blackheath, just outside London.
- 1418 – Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War: Parisians slaughter Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac and his suspected sympathizers, along with all prisoners, foreign bankers, and students and faculty of the College of Navarre.
- 1429 – Hundred Years’ War: On the second day of the Battle of Jargeau, Joan of Arc leads the French army in their capture of the city and the English commander, William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk.
- 1550 – The city of Helsinki, Finland (belonging to Sweden at the time) is founded by King Gustav I of Sweden.
- 1653 – First Anglo-Dutch War: The Battle of the Gabbard begins, lasting until the following day.
- 1665 – Thomas Willett is appointed the first mayor of New York City.
- 1758 – French and Indian War: Siege of Louisbourg: James Wolfe’s attack at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, commences
- 1772 – French explorer Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne and 25 of his men killed by Māori in New Zealand.
- 1775 – American Revolution: British general Thomas Gage declares martial law in Massachusetts. The British offer a pardon to all colonists who lay down their arms. There would be only two exceptions to the amnesty: Samuel Adams and John Hancock, if captured, were to be hanged.
- 1776 – The Virginia Declaration of Rights is adopted.
- 1798 – Irish Rebellion of 1798: Battle of Ballynahinch.
- 1817 – The earliest form of bicycle, the dandy horse, is driven by Karl von Drais.
- 1821 – Badi VII, king of Sennar, surrenders his throne and realm to Isma’il Pasha, general of the Ottoman Empire, ending the existence of that Sudanese kingdom.
- 1830 – Beginning of the Invasion of Algiers: Thiry-four thousand French soldiers land 27 kilometers west of Algiers, at Sidi Ferruch.
- 1864 – American Civil War, Overland Campaign: Battle of Cold Harbor: Ulysses S. Grant gives the Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee a victory when he pulls his Union troops from their position at Cold Harbor, Virginia and moves south.
- 1898 – Philippine Declaration of Independence: General Emilio Aguinaldo declares the Philippines’ independence from Spain.
- 1899 – New Richmond tornado: The eighth deadliest tornado in U.S. history kills 117 people and injures around 200.
- 1914 – Massacre of Phocaea: Turkish irregulars slaughter 50 to 100 Greeks and expel thousands of others in an ethnic cleansing operation in the Ottoman Empire.
- 1921 – Mikhail Tukhachevsky orders the use of chemical weapons against the Tambov Rebellion, bringing an end to the peasant uprising.
- 1935 – A ceasefire is negotiated between Bolivia and Paraguay, ending the Chaco War.
- 1939 – Shooting begins on Paramount Pictures’ Dr. Cyclops, the first horror film photographed in three-strip Technicolor.
- 1939 – The Baseball Hall of Fame opens in Cooperstown, New York.
- 1940 – World War II: Thirteen thousand British and French troops surrender to Major General Erwin Rommel at Saint-Valery-en-Caux.
- 1942 – Anne Frank receives a diary for her thirteenth birthday.
- 1943 – The Holocaust: Germany liquidates the Jewish Ghetto in Brzeżany, Poland (now Berezhany, Ukraine). Around 1,180 Jews are led to the city’s old Jewish graveyard and shot.
- 1944 – World War II: Operation Overlord: American paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division secure the town of Carentan, Normandy, France.
- 1954 – Pope Pius XII canonises Dominic Savio, who was 14 years old at the time of his death, as a saint, making him at the time the youngest unmartyred saint in the Roman Catholic Church. In 2017, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, aged ten and nine at the time of their deaths, are declared saints.
- 1963 – NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers is murdered in front of his home in Jackson, Mississippi by Ku Klux Klan member Byron De La Beckwith during the civil rights movement.
- 1964 – Anti-apartheid activist and ANC leader Nelson Mandela is sentenced to life in prison for sabotage in South Africa.
- 1967 – The United States Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia declares all U.S. state laws which prohibit interracial marriage to be unconstitutional.
- 1975 – India, Judge Jagmohanlal Sinha of the city of Allahabad ruled that India’s Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had used corrupt practices to win her seat in the Indian Parliament, and that she should be banned from holding any public office. Mrs. Gandhi sent word that she refused to resign.
- 1979 – Bryan Allen wins the second Kremer prize for a man powered flight across the English Channel in the Gossamer Albatross.
- 1987 – The Central African Republic’s former emperor Jean-Bédel Bokassa is sentenced to death for crimes he had committed during his 13-year rule.
- 1987 – Cold War: At the Brandenburg Gate, U.S. President Ronald Reagan publicly challenges Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.
- 1988 – Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 46, a McDonnell Douglas MD-81, crashes short of the runway at Libertador General José de San Martín Airport, killing all 22 people on board.
- 1990 – Russia Day: The parliament of the Russian Federation formally declares its sovereignty.
- 1991 – Russians first democratically elected Boris Yeltsin as the President of Russia.
- 1991 – Kokkadichcholai massacre: The Sri Lankan Army massacres 152 minority Tamil civilians in the village of Kokkadichcholai near the eastern province town of Batticaloa.
- 1993 – An election takes place in Nigeria and is won by Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola. Its results are later annulled by the military Government of Ibrahim Babangida.
- 1994 – Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman are murdered outside Simpson’s home in Los Angeles. Her estranged husband, O.J. Simpson is later charged with the murders, but is acquitted by a jury.
- 1997 – Queen Elizabeth II reopens the Globe Theatre in London.
- 1999 – Kosovo War: Operation Joint Guardian begins when a NATO-led United Nations peacekeeping force (KFor) enters the province of Kosovo in Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
- 2009 – Analog television stations (excluding low-powered stations) switch to digital television following the DTV Delay Act.
- 2009 – A disputed presidential election in Iran leads to wide-ranging local and international protests.
- 2016 – Forty-nine civilians are killed and 58 others injured in an attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida; the gunman, Omar Mateen, is killed in a gunfight with police.
- 2017 – American student Otto Warmbier returns home in a coma after spending 17 months in a North Korean prison and dies a week later.
- 2018 – United States President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un of North Korea held the first meeting between leaders of their two countries in Singapore.
Births on June 12
- 950 – Reizei, Japanese emperor (d. 1011)
- 1107 – Gao Zong, Chinese emperor (d. 1187)
- 1161 – Constance, Duchess of Brittany (d. 1201)
- 1519 – Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1574)
- 1561 – Anna of Württemberg, German princess (d. 1616)
- 1564 – John Casimir, Duke of Saxe-Coburg (d. 1633)
- 1573 – Robert Radclyffe, 5th Earl of Sussex, soldier (d. 1629)
- 1577 – Paul Guldin, Swiss astronomer and mathematician (d. 1643)
- 1580 – Adriaen van Stalbemt, Flemish painter (d. 1662)
- 1653 – Maria Amalia of Courland, Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1711)
- 1686 – Marie-Catherine Homassel Hecquet, French writer (d. 1764)
- 1711 – Louis Legrand, French priest and theologian (d. 1780)
- 1760 – Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvrai, French author, playwright, journalist, and politician (d. 1797)
- 1771 – Patrick Gass, American sergeant (Lewis and Clark Expedition) and author (d. 1870)
- 1775 – Karl Freiherr von Müffling, Prussian field marshal (d. 1851)
- 1777 – Robert Clark, American physician and politician (d. 1837)
- 1795 – John Marston, American sailor (d. 1885)
- 1798 – Samuel Cooper, American general (d. 1876)
- 1800 – Samuel Wright Mardis, American politician (d. 1836)
- 1802 – Harriet Martineau, English sociologist and author (d. 1876)
- 1806 – John A. Roebling, German-American engineer, designed the Brooklyn Bridge (d. 1869)
- 1807 – Ante Kuzmanić, Croatian physician and journalist (d. 1879)
- 1812 – Edmond Hébert, French geologist and academic (d. 1890)
- 1819 – Charles Kingsley, English priest, historian, and author (d. 1875)
- 1827 – Johanna Spyri, Swiss author, best known for Heidi (d. 1901)
- 1831 – Robert Herbert, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of Queensland (d. 1905)
- 1841 – Watson Fothergill, English architect, designed the Woodborough Road Baptist Church (d. 1928)
- 1843 – David Gill, Scottish-English astronomer and author (d. 1914)
- 1851 – Oliver Lodge, English physicist and academic (d. 1940)
- 1857 – Maurice Perrault, Canadian architect, engineer, and politician, 15th Mayor of Longueuil (d. 1909)
- 1858 – Harry Johnston, English botanist and explorer (d. 1927)
- 1858 – Henry Scott Tuke, English painter and photographer (d. 1929)
- 1861 – William Attewell, English cricketer and umpire (d. 1927)
- 1864 – Frank Chapman, American ornithologist, photographer, and author (d. 1945)
- 1877 – Thomas C. Hart, American admiral and politician (d. 1971)
- 1883 – Fernand Gonder, French pole vaulter (d. 1969)
- 1883 – Robert Lowie, Austrian-American anthropologist and academic (d. 1957)
- 1888 – Zygmunt Janiszewski, Polish mathematician and academic (d. 1920)
- 1890 – Egon Schiele, Austrian soldier and painter (d. 1918)
- 1892 – Djuna Barnes, American novelist, journalist, and playwright (d. 1982)
- 1895 – Eugénie Brazier, French chef (d. 1977)
- 1897 – Anthony Eden, English soldier and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1977)
- 1899 – Fritz Albert Lipmann, German-American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
- 1899 – Weegee, Ukrainian-American photographer and journalist (d. 1968)
- 1902 – Hendrik Elias, Belgian lawyer and politician, Mayor of Ghent (d. 1973)
- 1905 – Ray Barbuti, American sprinter and football player (d. 1988)
- 1906 – Sandro Penna, Italian poet (d. 1977)
- 1908 – Alphonse Ouimet, Canadian broadcaster (d. 1988)
- 1908 – Marina Semyonova, Russian ballerina and educator (d. 2010)
- 1908 – Otto Skorzeny, German SS officer (d. 1975)
- 1910 – Bill Naughton, Irish-English playwright and author (d. 1992)
- 1912 – Bill Cowley, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1993)
- 1912 – Carl Hovland, American psychologist and academic (d. 1961)
- 1913 – Jean Victor Allard, Canadian general (d. 1996)
- 1913 – Desmond Piers, Canadian admiral (d. 2005)
- 1914 – William Lundigan, American actor (d. 1975)
- 1914 – Go Seigen, Chinese-Japanese Go player (d. 2014)
- 1915 – Priscilla Lane, American actress (d. 1995)
- 1915 – Christopher Mayhew, English soldier and politician (d. 1997)
- 1915 – David Rockefeller, American banker and businessman (d. 2017)
- 1916 – Irwin Allen, American director and producer (d. 1991)
- 1916 – Raúl Héctor Castro, Mexican-American politician and diplomat, 14th Governor of Arizona (d. 2015)
- 1918 – Samuel Z. Arkoff, American film producer (d. 2001)
- 1918 – Georgia Louise Harris Brown, American architect (d. 1999)
- 1918 – Christie Jayaratnam Eliezer, Sri Lankan-Australian mathematician and academic (d. 2001)
- 1919 – Uta Hagen, German-American actress and educator (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Dave Berg, American soldier and cartoonist (d. 2002)
- 1920 – Peter Jones, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2000)
- 1921 – Luis García Berlanga, Spanish director and screenwriter (d. 2010)
- 1921 – Christopher Derrick, English author, critic, and academic (d. 2007)
- 1921 – James Archibald Houston, Canadian author and illustrator (d. 2005)
- 1922 – Margherita Hack, Italian astrophysicist and author (d. 2013)
- 1924 – George H. W. Bush, American lieutenant and politician, 41st President of the United States (d. 2018)
- 1924 – Grete Dollitz, German-American guitarist and radio host (d. 2013)
- 1928 – Vic Damone, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2018)
- 1928 – Petros Molyviatis, Greek politician and diplomat, Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs
- 1928 – Richard M. Sherman, American composer and director
- 1929 – Brigid Brophy, English author and critic (d. 1995)
- 1929 – Anne Frank, German-Dutch diarist; victim of the Holocaust (d. 1945)
- 1929 – Jameel Jalibi, Pakistani linguist and academic
- 1929 – John McCluskey, Baron McCluskey, Scottish lawyer, judge, and politician, Solicitor General for Scotland (d. 2017)
- 1930 – Jim Burke, Australian cricketer (d. 1979)
- 1930 – Donald Byrne, American chess player (d. 1976)
- 1930 – Innes Ireland, Scottish race car driver and engineer (d. 1993)
- 1930 – Jim Nabors, American actor and singer (d. 2017)
- 1931 – Trevanian, American author and scholar (d. 2005)
- 1931 – Rona Jaffe, American novelist (d. 2005)
- 1932 – Mimi Coertse, South African soprano and producer
- 1932 – Mamo Wolde, Ethiopian runner (d. 2002)
- 1933 – Eddie Adams, American photographer and journalist (d. 2004)
- 1934 – John A. Alonzo, American actor and cinematographer (d. 2001)
- 1934 – Kevin Billington, English director and producer
- 1935 – Ian Craig, Australian cricketer (d. 2014)
- 1935 – Paul Kennedy, English lawyer and judge
- 1937 – Vladimir Arnold, Russian-French mathematician and academic (d. 2010)
- 1937 – Klaus Basikow, German footballer and manager (d. 2015)
- 1937 – Antal Festetics, Hungarian-Austrian biologist and zoologist
- 1937 – Chips Moman, American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter (d. 2016)
- 1938 – Jean-Marie Doré, Guinean lawyer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Guinea (d. 2016)
- 1938 – Tom Oliver, English-Australian actor
- 1939 – Ron Lynch, Australian rugby league player and coach
- 1939 – Frank McCloskey, American sergeant and politician (d. 2003)
- 1940 – Jacques Brassard, Canadian educator and politician
- 1941 – Marv Albert, American sportscaster
- 1941 – Chick Corea, American pianist and composer
- 1941 – Roy Harper, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1941 – Reg Presley, English singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
- 1941 – Lucille Roybal-Allard, American politician
- 1942 – Len Barry, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1942 – Bert Sakmann, German physiologist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1945 – Pat Jennings, Irish footballer and coach
- 1946 – Michel Bergeron, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1946 – Bobby Gould, English footballer and manager
- 1946 – Catherine Bréchignac, French physicist and academic
- 1948 – Hans Binder, Austrian race car driver
- 1948 – Herbert Meyer, German footballer
- 1948 – Len Wein, American comic book writer and editor (d. 2017)
- 1949 – Jens Böhrnsen, German judge and politician
- 1949 – Marc Tardif, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1949 – John Wetton, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (d. 2017)
- 1950 – Oğuz Abadan, Turkish singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1950 – Michael Fabricant, English politician
- 1950 – Sonia Manzano, American actress of Puerto Rican descent, noted for playing Maria on Sesame Street
- 1950 – Bun E. Carlos, American drummer
- 1951 – Brad Delp, American musician and singer (d. 2007)
- 1951 – Andranik Margaryan, Armenian engineer and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Armenia (d. 2007)
- 1952 – Spencer Abraham, American academic and politician, 10th United States Secretary of Energy
- 1952 – Junior Brown, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1952 – Pete Farndon, English bass player and songwriter (d. 1983)
- 1953 – Rocky Burnette, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1954 – Tim Razzall, Baron Razzall, English lawyer and politician
- 1956 – Terry Alderman, Australian cricketer and sportscaster
- 1957 – Timothy Busfield, American actor, director, and producer
- 1957 – Javed Miandad, Pakistani cricketer and coach
- 1958 – Meredith Brooks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1959 – John Linnell, American singer-songwriter and musician
- 1959 – Scott Thompson, Canadian actor and comedian
- 1960 – Joe Kopicki, American basketball player and coach
- 1962 – Jordan Peterson, Canadian psychologist, professor and cultural critic
- 1963 – Philippe Bugalski, French race car driver (d. 2012)
- 1963 – Warwick Capper, Australian footballer, coach, and actor
- 1963 – Tim DeKay, American actor
- 1963 – Jerry Lynn, American wrestler
- 1964 – Derek Higgins, Irish race car driver
- 1964 – Kent Jones, American journalist
- 1964 – Paula Marshall, American actress
- 1964 – Peter Such, Scottish-born, English cricketer
- 1965 – Adrian Toole, Australian rugby league player
- 1965 – Gwen Torrence, American sprinter
- 1965 – Cathy Tyson, English actress
- 1966 – Marc Glanville, Australian rugby league player
- 1966 – Tom Misteli, Swiss cell biologist
- 1967 – Aivar Kuusmaa, Estonian basketball player and coach
- 1967 – Frances O’Connor, English-Australian actress
- 1968 – Scott Aldred, American baseball player and coach
- 1968 – Htay Kywe, Burmese activist
- 1968 – Bobby Sheehan, American bass player and songwriter (d. 1999)
- 1969 – Zsolt Daczi, Hungarian guitarist (d. 2007)
- 1969 – Héctor Garza, Mexican wrestler (d. 2013)
- 1969 – Mathieu Schneider, American ice hockey player
- 1969 – Heinz-Christian Strache, Austrian politician
- 1971 – Mark Henry, American weightlifter and wrestler
- 1971 – Ryan Klesko, American baseball player
- 1971 – Jérôme Romain, Caribbean-Dominican triple jumper and coach
- 1973 – Jason Caffey, American basketball player and coach
- 1973 – Darryl White, Australian footballer
- 1974 – Flávio Conceição, Brazilian footballer
- 1974 – Hideki Matsui, Japanese baseball player
- 1974 – Jason Mewes, American actor and producer
- 1974 – Kerry Kittles, American basketball player
- 1975 – Bryan Alvarez, American wrestler and journalist
- 1975 – Stéphanie Szostak, French-American actress
- 1976 – Antawn Jamison, American basketball player and sportscaster
- 1976 – Ray Price, Zimbabwean cricketer
- 1976 – Thomas Sørensen, Danish footballer
- 1977 – Wade Redden, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1977 – Kenny Wayne Shepherd, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1978 – Lewis Moody, English rugby player
- 1979 – Dallas Clark, American football player
- 1979 – Martine Dugrenier, Canadian wrestler
- 1979 – Diego Milito, Argentine footballer
- 1979 – Robyn, Swedish singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer
- 1979 – Earl Watson, American basketball player and coach
- 1980 – Marco Bortolami, Italian rugby player
- 1980 – Larry Foote, American football player
- 1980 – Ifet Taljević, German footballer
- 1981 – Raitis Grafs, Latvian basketball player
- 1981 – Paul Hasleby, Australian footballer
- 1981 – Adriana Lima, Brazilian model and actress
- 1982 – Ben Blackwell, American drummer
- 1982 – Diem Brown, German-American journalist and activist (d. 2014)
- 1982 – Jason David, American football player
- 1982 – Shailaja Pujari, Indian weightlifter
- 1982 – James Tomlinson, English cricketer
- 1983 – Bryan Habana, South African rugby player
- 1983 – Alexander Pipa, German rugby player
- 1983 – Christine Sinclair, Canadian soccer player
- 1984 – James Kwalia, Kenyan-Qatari runner
- 1984 – Bruno Soriano, Spanish footballer
- 1985 – Blake Ross, American computer programmer, co-created Mozilla Firefox
- 1985 – Sam Thaiday, Australian rugby league player
- 1985 – Kendra Wilkinson, American model, actress, and author
- 1985 – Chris Young, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1986 – Salim Mehajer, Australian politician
- 1986 – Harry Taylor, Australian footballer
- 1987 – Seyi Ajirotutu, American football player
- 1987 – Antonio Barragán, Spanish footballer
- 1988 – Artūrs Bērziņš, Latvian basketball player
- 1988 – Eren Derdiyok, Swiss footballer
- 1988 – Mauricio Isla, Chilean footballer
- 1988 – Dave Melillo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1988 – Dakota Morton, Canadian actor and radio host
- 1989 – Emma Eliasson, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1989 – Ibrahim Jeilan, Ethiopian runner
- 1990 – Jrue Holiday, American basketball player
- 1990 – Kevin López, Spanish runner
- 1990 – David Worrall, English footballer
- 1991 – Avisail García, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1992 – Philippe Coutinho, Brazilian footballer
Deaths on June 12
- 796 – Hisham I, Muslim emir (b. 757)
- 816 – Pope Leo III (b. 750)
- 918 – Æthelflæd, Mercian daughter of Alfred the Great (b. 870)
- 1020 – Lyfing, English archbishop (b. 999)
- 1036 – Tedald, Italian bishop (b. 990)
- 1144 – Al-Zamakhshari, Persian theologian (b. 1075)
- 1152 – Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon (b. 1114)
- 1266 – Henry II, Prince of Anhalt-Aschersleben (b. 1215)
- 1294 – John I of Brienne, Count of Eu
- 1418 – Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac (b. 1360)
- 1435 – John FitzAlan, 14th Earl of Arundel, English commander (b. 1408)
- 1478 – Ludovico III Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua (b. 1412)
- 1524 – Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, Spanish conquistador (b. 1465)
- 1560 – Ii Naomori, Japanese warrior (b. 1506)
- 1560 – Imagawa Yoshimoto, Japanese daimyō (b. 1519)
- 1565 – Adrianus Turnebus, French philologist and scholar (b. 1512)
- 1567 – Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich, English politician, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1490)
- 1647 – Thomas Farnaby, English scholar and educator (b. 1575)
- 1668 – Charles Berkeley, 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge, English politician (b. 1599)
- 1675 – Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy (b. 1634)
- 1734 – James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, French-English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire (b. 1670)
- 1758 – Prince Augustus William of Prussia (b. 1722)
- 1772 – Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, French explorer (b. 1724)
- 1778 – Philip Livingston, American merchant and politician (b. 1716)
- 1816 – Pierre Augereau, French general (b. 1757)
- 1818 – Egwale Seyon, Ethiopian emperor
- 1841 – Konstantinos Nikolopoulos, Greek composer, archaeologist, and philologist (b. 1786)
- 1900 – Lucretia Peabody Hale, American journalist and author (b. 1820)
- 1904 – Camille of Renesse-Breidbach (b. 1836)
- 1912 – Frédéric Passy, French economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1822)
- 1917 – Teresa Carreño, Venezuelan-American singer-songwriter, pianist, and conductor (b. 1853)
- 1932 – Theo Heemskerk, Dutch lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1852)
- 1937 – Mikhail Tukhachevsky, Russian general (b. 1893)
- 1944 – Erich Marcks, German general (b. 1891)
- 1946 – Médéric Martin, Canadian politician, mayor of Montreal (b. 1869)
- 1952 – Harry Lawson, Australian politician, 27th Premier of Victoria (b. 1875)
- 1957 – Jimmy Dorsey, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (The Dorsey Brothers and The California Ramblers) (b. 1904)
- 1962 – John Ireland, English composer and educator (b. 1879)
- 1963 – Medgar Evers, American soldier and activist (b. 1925)
- 1966 – Hermann Scherchen, German viola player and conductor (b. 1891)
- 1968 – Herbert Read, English poet and critic (b. 1893)
- 1969 – Aleksandr Deyneka, Ukrainian-Russian painter and sculptor (b. 1899)
- 1972 – Edmund Wilson, American critic, essayist, and editor (b. 1895)
- 1972 – Dinanath Gopal Tendulkar, Indian writer and documentary filmmaker (b. 1909)
- 1976 – Gopinath Kaviraj, Indian philosopher and scholar (b. 1887)
- 1978 – Guo Moruo, Chinese historian, author, and poet (b. 1892)
- 1978 – Georg Siimenson, Estonian footballer (b. 1912)
- 1980 – Billy Butlin, South African-English businessman, founded the Butlins Company (b. 1899)
- 1980 – Masayoshi Ōhira, Japanese politician, 68th Prime minister of Japan (b. 1910)
- 1980 – Milburn Stone, American actor (b. 1904)
- 1982 – Ian McKay, English sergeant, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1953)
- 1982 – Karl von Frisch, Austrian-German ethologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)
- 1983 – Norma Shearer, Canadian-American actress (b. 1902)
- 1989 – Bruce Hamilton, Australian public servant (b. 1911)
- 1990 – Terence O’Neill, Baron O’Neill of the Maine, English captain and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (b. 1914)
- 1994 – Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Russian-French rabbi and author (b. 1902)
- 1995 – Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian pianist (b. 1920)
- 1995 – Pierre Russell, American basketball player (b. 1949)
- 1997 – Bulat Okudzhava, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1924)
- 1998 – Leo Buscaglia, American author and educator (b. 1924)
- 1998 – Theresa Merritt, American actress and singer (b. 1922)
- 1999 – J. F. Powers, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1917)
- 2000 – Purushottam Laxman Deshpande, Indian actor, director, and producer (b. 1919)
- 2000 – Sandro Rosa do Nascimento, Brazilian criminal (b. 1978)
- 2002 – Bill Blass, American fashion designer, founded Bill Blass Limited (b. 1922)
- 2002 – Zena Sutherland, American reviewer of children’s literature (b. 1915)
- 2003 – Gregory Peck, American actor and political activist (b. 1916)
- 2005 – Scott Young, Canadian journalist and author (b. 1918)
- 2006 – Nicky Barr, Australian rugby player and fighter pilot (b. 1915)
- 2006 – György Ligeti, Romanian-Hungarian composer and educator (b. 1923)
- 2006 – Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet, Canadian businessman and art collector (b. 1923)
- 2008 – Miroslav Dvořák, Czech ice hockey player (b. 1951)
- 2008 – Derek Tapscott, Welsh footballer and manager (b. 1932)
- 2010 – Al Williamson, American illustrator (b. 1931)
- 2011 – René Audet, Canadian bishop (b. 1920)
- 2011 – Carl Gardner, American singer (The Coasters) (b. 1928)
- 2012 – Hector Bianciotti, Argentinian-French journalist and author (b. 1930)
- 2012 – Henry Hill, American mobster (b. 1943)
- 2012 – Margarete Mitscherlich-Nielsen, Danish-German psychoanalyst and author (b. 1917)
- 2012 – Medin Zhega, Albanian footballer and manager (b. 1946)
- 2012 – Elinor Ostrom, American political scientist and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1933)
- 2012 – Pahiño, Spanish footballer (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Frank Walker, Australian judge and politician, 41st Attorney General of New South Wales (b. 1942)
- 2013 – Teresita Barajuen, Spanish nun (b. 1908)
- 2013 – Jason Leffler, American race car driver (b. 1975)
- 2013 – Joseph A. Unanue, American sergeant and businessman (b. 1925)
- 2014 – Nabil Hemani, Algerian footballer (b. 1979)
- 2014 – Dan Jacobson, South African-English author and critic (b. 1929)
- 2014 – Frank Schirrmacher, German journalist (b. 1959)
- 2015 – Fernando Brant, Brazilian journalist, poet, and composer (b. 1946)
- 2015 – Frederick Pei Li, Chinese-American physician and academic (b. 1940)
- 2015 – Patrick Lennox Tierney, American historian and academic (b. 1914)
- 2016 – Omar Mateen, American mass murderer (b. 1986)
- 2016 – George Voinovich, American politician (b. 1936)
- 2016 – Janet Waldo, American actress and voice artist (b. 1920)
Holidays and observances on June 12
- Chaco Armistice Day (Paraguay)
- Christian feast day:
- 108 Martyrs of World War II
- Basilides, Cyrinus, Nabor and Nazarius
- Blessed Hildegard Burjan
- Enmegahbowh (Episcopal Church)
- Eskil
- First Ecumenical Council (Lutheran)
- Gaspar Bertoni
- John of Sahagún
- Onuphrius
- Pope Leo III
- Ternan
- June 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Dia dos Namorados (Brazil)
- Helsinki Day (Finland)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of the Philippines from Spain in 1898.
- June 12 Commemoration (Lagos State)
- Loving Day (United States)
- Russia Day (Russia)
- World Day Against Child Labour, and its related observances:
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June 2 in History
- 455 – Sack of Rome: Vandals enter Rome, and plunder the city for two weeks.
- 1098 – First Crusade: The first Siege of Antioch ends as Crusader forces take the city; the second siege began five days later.
- 1615 – The first Récollet missionaries arrive at Quebec City, from Rouen, France.
- 1676 – Franco-Dutch War: France ensured the supremacy of its naval fleet for the remainder of the war with its victory in the Battle of Palermo.
- 1692 – Bridget Bishop is the first person to be tried for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts; she was found guilty and later hanged.
- 1763 – Pontiac’s Rebellion: At what is now Mackinaw City, Michigan, Chippewas capture Fort Michilimackinac by diverting the garrison’s attention with a game of lacrosse, then chasing a ball into the fort.
- 1774 – Intolerable Acts: The Quartering Act is enacted, allowing a governor in colonial America to house British soldiers in uninhabited houses, outhouses, barns, or other buildings if suitable quarters are not provided.
- 1793 – French Revolution: François Hanriot, leader of the Parisian National Guard, arrests 22 Girondists selected by Jean-Paul Marat, setting the stage for the Reign of Terror.
- 1805 – Napoleonic Wars: A Franco-Spanish fleet recaptures Diamond Rock, an uninhabited island at the entrance to the bay leading to Fort-de-France, from the British.
- 1835 – P. T. Barnum and his circus start their first tour of the United States.
- 1848 – The Slavic congress in Prague begins.
- 1866 – The Fenians defeat Canadian forces at Ridgeway and Fort Erie, but the raids end soon after.
- 1896 – Guglielmo Marconi applies for a patent for his wireless telegraph.
- 1909 – Alfred Deakin becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.
- 1910 – Charles Rolls, a co-founder of Rolls-Royce Limited, becomes the first man to make a non-stop double crossing of the English Channel by plane.
- 1919 – Anarchists simultaneously set off bombs in eight separate U.S. cities.
- 1924 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signs the Indian Citizenship Act into law, granting citizenship to all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the United States.
- 1941 – World War II: German paratroopers murder Greek civilians in the villages of Kondomari and Alikianos.
- 1946 – Birth of the Italian Republic: In a referendum, Italians vote to turn Italy from a monarchy into a Republic. After the referendum, King Umberto II of Italy is exiled.
- 1953 – The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, who is crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Her Other Realms and Territories & Head of the Commonwealth, the first major international event to be televised.
- 1955 – The USSR and Yugoslavia sign the Belgrade declaration and thus normalize relations between both countries, discontinued since 1948.
- 1962 – During the FIFA World Cup, police had to intervene multiple times in fights between Chilean and Italian players in one of the most violent games in football history.
- 1964 – The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is formed.
- 1966 – Surveyor program: Surveyor 1 lands in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon, becoming the first U.S. spacecraft to soft-land on another world.
- 1967 – Luis Monge is executed in Colorado’s gas chamber, in the last pre-Furman execution in the United States.
- 1967 – Protests in West Berlin against the arrival of the Shah of Iran turn into riots, during which Benno Ohnesorg is killed by a police officer. His death results in the founding of the terrorist group Movement 2 June.
- 1979 – Pope John Paul II starts his first official visit to his native Poland, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country.
- 1983 – After an emergency landing because of an in-flight fire, twenty-three passengers aboard Air Canada Flight 797 are killed when a flashover occurs as the plane’s doors open. Because of this incident, numerous new safety regulations are put in place.
- 1990 – The Lower Ohio Valley tornado outbreak spawns 66 confirmed tornadoes in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, killing 12.
- 1997 – In Denver, Timothy McVeigh is convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, in which 168 people died. He was executed four years later.
- 2003 – Europe launches its first voyage to another planet, Mars. The European Space Agency’s Mars Express probe launches from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.
- 2012 – Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the killing of demonstrators during the 2011 Egyptian revolution.
- 2014 – Telangana officially becomes the 29th state of India, formed from ten districts of northwestern Andhra Pradesh.
Births on June 2
- 1305 – Abu Sa’id Bahadur Khan, ruler of Ilkhanate (d. 1335)
- 1423 – Ferdinand I of Naples (d. 1494)
- 1489 – Charles, Duke of Vendôme (d. 1537)
- 1535 – Pope Leo XI (d. 1605)
- 1602 – Rudolf Christian, Count of East Frisia, Ruler of East Frisia (d. 1628)
- 1621 – Rutger von Ascheberg, Courland-born soldier in Swedish service (d. 1693)
- 1621 – (baptized) Isaac van Ostade, Dutch painter (d. 1649)
- 1638 – Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon (d. 1709)
- 1644 – William Salmon, English medical writer (d. 1713)
- 1739 – Jabez Bowen, American colonel and politician, 45th Deputy Governor of Rhode Island (d. 1815)
- 1740 – Marquis de Sade, French philosopher and politician (d. 1814)
- 1743 – Alessandro Cagliostro, Italian occultist and explorer (d. 1795)
- 1773 – John Randolph of Roanoke, American planter and politician, 8th United States Ambassador to Russia (d. 1833)
- 1774 – William Lawson, English-Australian explorer and politician (d. 1850)
- 1813 – Daniel Pollen, Irish-New Zealand politician, 9th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1896)
- 1823 – Gédéon Ouimet, Canadian lawyer and politician, 2nd Premier of Quebec (d. 1905)
- 1835 – Pope Pius X (d. 1914)
- 1838 – Duchess Alexandra Petrovna of Oldenburg (d. 1900)
- 1840 – Thomas Hardy, English novelist and poet (d. 1928)
- 1840 – Émile Munier, French artist (d. 1895)
- 1857 – Edward Elgar, English composer and educator (d. 1934)
- 1857 – Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Danish author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1919)
- 1861 – Concordia Selander, Swedish actress and manager (d. 1935)
- 1863 – Felix Weingartner, Croatian-Austrian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1942)
- 1865 – George Lohmann, English cricketer (d. 1901)
- 1865 – Adelaide Casely-Hayford, Sierra Leone Creole advocate and activist for cultural nationalism (d. 1960)
- 1869 – Jack O’Connor, American baseball player and manager (d. 1937)
- 1875 – Charles Stewart Mott, American businessman and politician, 50th Mayor of Flint, Michigan (d. 1973)
- 1878 – Wallace Hartley, English violinist and bandleader (d. 1912)
- 1881 – Walter Egan, American golfer (d. 1971)
- 1891 – Thurman Arnold, American lawyer and judge (d. 1969)
- 1891 – Takijirō Ōnishi, Japanese admiral and pilot (d. 1945)
- 1899 – Lotte Reiniger, German animator and director (d. 1981)
- 1899 – Edwin Way Teale, American environmentalist and photographer (d. 1980)
- 1904 – Frank Runacres, English painter and educator (d. 1974)
- 1904 – Johnny Weissmuller, Hungarian-American swimmer and actor (d. 1984)
- 1907 – Dorothy West, American journalist and author (d. 1998)
- 1907 – John Lehmann, English poet and publisher (d. 1987)
- 1910 – Hector Dyer, American sprinter (d. 1990)
- 1911 – Joe McCluskey, American runner (d. 2002)
- 1913 – Barbara Pym, English author (d. 1980)
- 1913 – Elsie Tu, English-Hong Kong educator and politician (d. 2015)
- 1914 – Johnny Bulla, American golfer (d. 2003)
- 1915 – Alexandru Nicolschi, Romanian spy (d. 1992)
- 1917 – Heinz Sielmann, German photographer and director (d. 2006)
- 1918 – Ruth Atkinson, Canadian-American illustrator (d. 1997)
- 1918 – Kathryn Tucker Windham, American journalist and author (d. 2011)
- 1919 – Nat Mayer Shapiro, American painter (d. 2005)
- 1920 – Frank G. Clement, American lawyer and politician, 41st Governor of Tennessee (d. 1969)
- 1920 – Yolande Donlan, American-English actress (d. 2014)
- 1920 – Marcel Reich-Ranicki, Polish-German author and critic (d. 2013)
- 1920 – Tex Schramm, American businessman (d. 2003)
- 1920 – Johnny Speight, English screenwriter and producer (d. 1998)
- 1921 – Betty Freeman, American photographer and philanthropist (d. 2009)
- 1921 – Ernie Royal, American trumpet player (d. 1983)
- 1921 – Sigmund Sternberg, Hungarian-English businessman and philanthropist (d. 2016)
- 1921 – András Szennay, Hungarian priest (d. 2012)
- 1922 – Juan Antonio Bardem, Spanish director and screenwriter (d. 2002)
- 1922 – Carmen Silvera, Canadian-English actress (d. 2002)
- 1923 – Lloyd Shapley, American mathematician and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016)
- 1924 – June Callwood, Canadian journalist, author, and activist (d. 2007)
- 1926 – Chiyonoyama Masanobu, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 41st Yokozuna (d. 1977)
- 1926 – Milo O’Shea, Irish-American actor (d. 2013)
- 1927 – W. Watts Biggers, American author, screenwriter, and animator (d. 2013)
- 1927 – Colin Brittan, English footballer (d. 2013)
- 1927 – Christopher Slade, English lawyer and judge
- 1928 – Erzsi Kovács, Hungarian singer (d. 2014)
- 1928 – Rafael A. Lecuona, Cuban-American gymnast and academic (d. 2014)
- 1928 – Ron Reynolds, English footballer (d. 1999)
- 1929 – Norton Juster, American architect, author, and academic
- 1929 – Ken McGregor, Australian tennis player (d. 2007)
- 1930 – Pete Conrad, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1999)
- 1933 – Jerry Lumpe, American baseball player and coach (d. 2014)
- 1933 – Lew “Sneaky Pete” Robinson, drag racer (d. 1971)
- 1934 – Johnny Carter, American singer (d. 2009)
- 1935 – Carol Shields, American-Canadian novelist and short story writer (d. 2003)
- 1935 – Dimitri Kitsikis, Greek poet and educator
- 1936 – Volodymyr Holubnychy, Ukrainian race walker
- 1937 – Rosalyn Higgins, English lawyer and judge
- 1937 – Sally Kellerman, American actress
- 1937 – Jimmy Jones, American singer-songwriter (d. 2012)
- 1937 – Robert Paul, Canadian figure skater and choreographer
- 1937 – Deric Washburn, American screenwriter and playwright
- 1938 – Kevin Brownlow, English historian and author
- 1938 – George William Penrose, Lord Penrose, Scottish lawyer and judge
- 1939 – Charles Miller, American musician (d. 1980)
- 1939 – John Schlee, American golfer (d. 2000)
- 1940 – Constantine II of Greece
- 1941 – Ünal Aysal, Turkish businessman
- 1941 – Stacy Keach, American actor
- 1941 – Lou Nanne, Canadian-American ice hockey player and manager
- 1941 – Charlie Watts, English drummer, songwriter, and producer
- 1942 – Mike Ahern, Australian politician, 32nd Premier of Queensland
- 1943 – Charles Haid, American actor and director
- 1943 – Crescenzio Sepe, Italian cardinal
- 1944 – Robert Elliott, American actor (d. 2004)
- 1944 – Marvin Hamlisch, American composer and conductor (d. 2012)
- 1945 – Richard Long, English painter, sculptor, and photographer
- 1945 – Bonnie Newman, American businesswoman and politician
- 1946 – Lasse Hallström, Swedish director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1946 – Peter Sutcliffe, UK serial killer
- 1948 – Jerry Mathers, American actor
- 1949 – Heather Couper, English astronomer and physicist (d. 2020)
- 1949 – Frank Rich, American journalist and critic
- 1950 – Jonathan Evans, Welsh lawyer and politician
- 1950 – Joanna Gleason, Canadian actress and singer
- 1950 – Anne Phillips, English theorist and academic
- 1950 – Momčilo Vukotić, Serbian footballer and manager
- 1951 – Gilbert Baker, American artist, gay rights activist, and designer of the rainbow flag (d. 2017)
- 1951 – Arnold Mühren, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1951 – Larry Robinson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1951 – Alexander Wylie, Lord Kinclaven, Scottish lawyer, judge, and educator
- 1952 – Gary Bettman, American commissioner of the National Hockey League
- 1953 – Vidar Johansen, Norwegian saxophonist
- 1953 – Craig Stadler, American golfer
- 1953 – Cornel West, American philosopher, author, and academic
- 1954 – Dennis Haysbert, American actor and producer
- 1955 – Dana Carvey, American comedian and actor
- 1955 – Nandan Nilekani, Indian businessman, co-founded Infosys
- 1955 – Mani Ratnam, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1955 – Michael Steele, American singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1956 – Jan Lammers, Dutch race car driver
- 1957 – Mark Lawrenson, English footballer and manager
- 1958 – Lex Luger, American wrestler and football player
- 1959 – Rineke Dijkstra, Dutch photographer
- 1959 – Lydia Lunch, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
- 1959 – Erwin Olaf, Dutch photographer
- 1960 – Olga Bondarenko, Russian runner
- 1960 – Tony Hadley, English singer-songwriter and actor
- 1960 – Kyle Petty, American race car driver and sportscaster
- 1961 – Dez Cadena, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1962 – Mark Plaatjes, South African-American runner and coach
- 1963 – Anand Abhyankar, Indian actor (d. 2012)
- 1964 – Caroline Link, German director and screenwriter
- 1965 – Russ Courtnall, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1965 – Mark Waugh, Australian cricketer and journalist
- 1965 – Steve Waugh, Australian cricketer
- 1966 – Dayana Cadeau, Haitian born Canadian-American professional bodybuilder
- 1966 – Candace Gingrich, American activist
- 1966 – Pedro Guerra, Spanish singer-songwriter
- 1966 – Petra van Staveren, Dutch swimmer
- 1967 – Remigija Nazarovienė, Lithuanian heptathlete and coach
- 1967 – Mike Stanton, American baseball player
- 1968 – Merril Bainbridge, Australian singer-songwriter
- 1968 – Andy Cohen, American television host
- 1969 – Kurt Abbott, American baseball player
- 1969 – Paulo Sérgio, Brazilian footballer
- 1969 – David Wheaton, American tennis player, radio host, and author
- 1970 – B Real, American rapper and actor
- 1971 – Kateřina Jacques, Czech translator and politician
- 1972 – Wayne Brady, American actor, comedian, game show host, and singer
- 1972 – Raúl Ibañez, American baseball player
- 1972 – Wentworth Miller, American actor and screenwriter
- 1973 – Marko Kristal, Estonian footballer and manager
- 1973 – Neifi Pérez, Dominican-American baseball player
- 1974 – Gata Kamsky, Russian-American chess player
- 1974 – Matt Serra, American mixed martial artist
- 1975 – Salvatore Scibona, American author
- 1976 – Earl Boykins, American basketball player
- 1976 – Martin Čech, Czech ice hockey player (d. 2007)
- 1976 – Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, Brazilian mixed martial artist and boxer
- 1976 – Tim Rice-Oxley, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
- 1977 – Teet Allas, Estonian footballer
- 1977 – A.J. Styles, American wrestler
- 1977 – Zachary Quinto, American actor and producer
- 1978 – Dominic Cooper, English actor
- 1978 – Nikki Cox, American actress
- 1978 – Justin Long, American actor
- 1978 – Yi So-yeon, biotechnologist and astronaut, the first Korean in space
- 1978 – Luke Williamson, Australian rugby league player
- 1979 – Morena Baccarin, Brazilian-American actress
- 1979 – Butterfly Boucher, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1979 – Natalia Rodríguez, Spanish runner
- 1980 – Fabrizio Moretti, Brazilian-American drummer
- 1980 – Bobby Simmons, American basketball player
- 1980 – Richard Skuse, English rugby player
- 1980 – Abby Wambach, American soccer player and coach
- 1980 – Tomasz Wróblewski, Polish bass player and songwriter
- 1981 – Nikolay Davydenko, Russian tennis player
- 1981 – Chin-hui Tsao, Taiwanese baseball player
- 1982 – Jewel Staite, Canadian actress
- 1983 – Chris Higgins, American ice hockey player
- 1983 – Leela James, American singer-songwriter
- 1983 – Toni Livers, Swiss skier
- 1983 – Brooke White, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1984 – Jack Afamasaga, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1984 – Max Boyer, Canadian wrestler
- 1984 – Feleti Mateo, Australian-Tongan rugby league player
- 1985 – Miyuki Sawashiro, Japanese voice actress and singer
- 1985 – Maggie Thrash, American graphic novelist and writer
- 1986 – Todd Carney, Australian rugby league player
- 1987 – Maryka Holtzhausen, South African netball player
- 1987 – Yoann Huget, French rugby player
- 1987 – Matthew Koma, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1987 – Angelo Mathews, Sri Lankan cricketer
- 1987 – Darin Zanyar, Swedish singer-songwriter
- 1987 – Sonakshi Sinha, Indian actress
- 1988 – Sergio Agüero, Argentinian footballer
- 1988 – Patrik Berglund, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1988 – Staniliya Stamenova, Bulgarian canoeist
- 1989 – Freddy Adu, Ghanaian-American footballer
- 1989 – Steve Smith, Australian cricketer
- 1990 – Jack Lowden, Scottish actor
- 1992 – Pajtim Kasami, Swiss footballer
- 1993 – Adam Taggart, Australian footballer
- 1994 – Mike Grzesiek, Esports player and streamer
- 1999 – Campbell Graham, Australian rugby league player
- 2000 – Lilimar Hernandez, Venezuelan actress
Deaths on June 2
- 657 – Pope Eugene I
- 891 – Al-Muwaffaq, Abbasid general (b. 842)
- 910 – Richilde of Provence (b. 845)
- 1200 – Bishop John of Oxford
- 1258 – Peter I, Count of Urgell
- 1292 – Rhys ap Maredudd, Welsh nobleman and rebel leader
- 1418 – Katherine of Lancaster, queen of Henry III of Castile
- 1453 – Álvaro de Luna, Duke of Trujillo, Constable of Castile
- 1567 – Shane O’Neill, head of the O’Neill dynasty in Ireland (b. 1530)
- 1572 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk (b. 1536)
- 1581 – James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, Scottish soldier and politician, Lord Chancellor of Scotland (b. 1525)
- 1603 – Bernard of Wąbrzeźno, Roman Catholic priest (b. 1575)
- 1693 – John Wildman, English soldier and politician, Postmaster General of the United Kingdom (b. 1621)
- 1701 – Madeleine de Scudéry, French author (b. 1607)
- 1716 – Ogata Kōrin, Japanese painter and educator (b. 1658)
- 1754 – Ebenezer Erskine, Scottish minister and theologian (b. 1680)
- 1761 – Jonas Alströmer, Swedish businessman (b. 1685)
- 1785 – Jean Paul de Gua de Malves, French mathematician and academic (b. 1713)
- 1806 – William Tate, English painter (b. 1747)
- 1853 – Henry Trevor, 21st Baron Dacre, English general (b. 1777)
- 1865 – Ner Middleswarth, American judge and politician (b. 1783)
- 1875 – Józef Kremer, Polish psychologist, historian, and philosopher (b. 1806)
- 1881 – Émile Littré, French lexicographer and philosopher (b. 1801)
- 1882 – Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian general and politician (b. 1807)
- 1901 – George Leslie Mackay, Canadian missionary and author (b. 1844)
- 1927 – Hüseyin Avni Lifij, Turkish painter (b. 1886)
- 1929 – Enrique Gorostieta, Mexican general (b. 1889)
- 1933 – Frank Jarvis, American runner and triple jumper (b. 1878)
- 1937 – Louis Vierne, French organist and composer (b. 1870)
- 1941 – Lou Gehrig, American baseball player (b. 1903)
- 1942 – Bunny Berigan, American singer and trumpet player (b. 1908)
- 1947 – John Gretton, 1st Baron Gretton, English sailor and politician (b. 1867)
- 1948 – Viktor Brack, German physician (b. 1904)
- 1948 – Karl Brandt, German SS officer (b. 1904)
- 1948 – Karl Gebhardt, German physician (b. 1897)
- 1948 – Waldemar Hoven, German physician (b. 1903)
- 1948 – Wolfram Sievers, German SS officer (b. 1905)
- 1952 – Naum Torbov, Bulgarian architect, designed the Central Sofia Market Hall (b. 1880)
- 1956 – Jean Hersholt, Danish-American actor and director (b. 1886)
- 1959 – Lyda Borelli, Italian actress (b. 1884)
- 1961 – George S. Kaufman, American director, producer, and playwright (b. 1889)
- 1962 – Vita Sackville-West, English author and poet (b. 1892)
- 1967 – Benno Ohnesorg, German student and activist (b. 1940)
- 1968 – André Mathieu, Canadian pianist and composer (b. 1929)
- 1969 – Leo Gorcey, American actor (b. 1917)
- 1970 – Orhan Kemal, Turkish author (b. 1914)
- 1970 – Albert Lamorisse, French director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1922)
- 1970 – Bruce McLaren, New Zealand race car driver and engineer, founded the McLaren racing team (b. 1937)
- 1970 – Giuseppe Ungaretti, Italian soldier, journalist, and academic (b. 1888)
- 1974 – Hiroshi Kazato, Japanese race car driver (b. 1949)
- 1976 – Kenneth Mason, English soldier and geographer (b. 1887)
- 1976 – Juan José Torres, Bolivian general and politician, 61st President of Bolivia (b. 1920)
- 1977 – Albert Bittlmayer, German footballer (b. 1952)
- 1977 – Stephen Boyd, Northern Irish-born American actor (b. 1931)
- 1978 – Santiago Bernabéu Yeste, Spanish footballer and coach (b. 1895)
- 1979 – Jim Hutton, American actor (b. 1934)
- 1982 – Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, Pakistani lawyer and politician, 5th President of Pakistan (b. 1904)
- 1983 – Stan Rogers, Canadian singer-songwriter (b. 1949)
- 1983 – Ray Stehr, Australian rugby league player and coach (b. 1913)
- 1986 – Aurèle Joliat, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1901)
- 1987 – Anthony de Mello, Indian-American priest and psychotherapist (b. 1931)
- 1987 – Sammy Kaye, American bandleader and songwriter (b. 1910)
- 1987 – Andrés Segovia, Spanish guitarist (b. 1893)
- 1988 – Raj Kapoor, Indian actor, director, and producer (b. 1924)
- 1989 – Ted a’Beckett, Australian cricketer and footballer (b. 1907)
- 1990 – Jack Gilford, American actor and comedian (b. 1908)
- 1990 – Rex Harrison, English actor (b. 1908)
- 1991 – Ahmed Arif, Turkish poet and author (b. 1927)
- 1992 – Philip Dunne, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1908)
- 1993 – Johnny Mize, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1913)
- 1993 – Tahar Djaout, Algerian journalist, writer and poet (b. 1954)
- 1994 – David Stove, Australian philosopher, author, and academic (b. 1927)
- 1996 – John Alton, Hungarian-American cinematographer and director (b. 1901)
- 1996 – Leon Garfield, English author (b. 1921)
- 1996 – Ray Combs, American game show host (b. 1956)
- 1997 – Doc Cheatham, American trumpet player, singer, and bandleader (b. 1905)
- 1999 – Junior Braithwaite, Jamaican singer (b. 1949)
- 2000 – Svyatoslav Fyodorov, Russian ophthalmologist, academic, and politician (b. 1927)
- 2000 – John Schlee, American golfer (b. 1939)
- 2000 – Gerald James Whitrow, English mathematician, cosmologist, and historian (b. 1912)
- 2001 – Imogene Coca, American actress and comedian (b. 1908)
- 2001 – Joey Maxim, American boxer (b. 1922)
- 2002 – Hugo van Lawick, Dutch director and photographer (b. 1937)
- 2003 – Freddie Blassie, American wrestler and manager (b. 1918)
- 2003 – Alma Ricard, Canadian broadcaster and philanthropist (b. 1906)
- 2005 – Lucien Cliche, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1916)
- 2005 – Gunder Gundersen, Norwegian skier (b. 1930)
- 2005 – Samir Kassir, Lebanese journalist and educator (b. 1950)
- 2005 – Melita Norwood, English civil servant and spy (b. 1912)
- 2006 – Keith Smith, English rugby player and coach (b. 1952)
- 2007 – Kentarō Haneda, Japanese pianist and composer (b. 1949)
- 2007 – Huang Ju, Chinese engineer and politician, 1st Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1938)
- 2008 – Bo Diddley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1928)
- 2008 – Mel Ferrer, American actor (b. 1917)
- 2008 – Cevher Özden, Turkish banker and businessman (b. 1933)
- 2009 – David Eddings, American author (b. 1931)
- 2012 – Avraham Botzer, Polish-Israeli commander (b. 1929)
- 2012 – Adolfo Calero, Nicaraguan businessman and political activist (b. 1931)
- 2012 – Richard Dawson, English-American soldier, actor, television personality, and game show host (b. 1932)
- 2012 – LeRoy Ellis, American basketball player (b. 1940)
- 2012 – Kathryn Joosten, American actress (b. 1939)
- 2012 – Jan Gmelich Meijling, Dutch commander and politician (b. 1943)
- 2013 – Mario Bernardi, Canadian pianist and conductor (b. 1930)
- 2013 – Chen Xitong, Chinese politician, 8th Mayor of Beijing (b. 1930)
- 2013 – Mandawuy Yunupingu, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1956)
- 2014 – Ivica Brzić, Serbian footballer and manager (b. 1941)
- 2014 – Anjan Das, Indian director and producer (b. 1951)
- 2014 – Gennadi Gusarov, Russian footballer and manager (b. 1937)
- 2014 – Nikolay Khrenkov, Russian bobsledder (b. 1984)
- 2014 – Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy, Indian cardinal (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Kuaima Riruako, Namibian politician (b. 1935)
- 2014 – Alexander Shulgin, American pharmacologist and chemist (b. 1925)
- 2015 – Fernando de Araújo, East Timorese politician, President of East Timor (b. 1963)
- 2015 – Irwin Rose, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1926)
- 2017 – Peter Sallis, English actor (b. 1921)
Holidays and observances on June 2
- Children’s Day (North Korea)
- Christian feast day:
- Alexander (martyr)
- Elmo
- Felix of Nicosia
- Marcellinus and Peter
- Martyrs of Lyon, including Blandina
- Pope Eugene I
- Pothinus
- June 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Civil Aviation Day (Azerbaijan)
- Coronation of King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, also Social Forestry Day (Bhutan)
- Day of Hristo Botev (Bulgaria)
- Decoration Day (Canada)
- Festa della Repubblica (Italy)
- International Sex Workers Day
- Telangana Day (Telangana, India)
-
May 16 in History
- 946 – Emperor Suzaku abdicates the throne in favor of his brother Murakami who becomes the 62nd emperor of Japan.
- 1204 – Having been elected on May 9, Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire.
- 1426 – Gov. Thado of Mohnyin becomes king of Ava.
- 1527 – The Florentines drive out the Medici for a second time and Florence re-establishes itself as a republic.
- 1532 – Sir Thomas More resigns as Lord Chancellor of England.
- 1568 – Mary, Queen of Scots, flees to England.
- 1584 – Santiago de Vera becomes sixth Governor-General of the Spanish colony of the Philippines.
- 1739 – The Battle of Vasai concludes as the Marathas defeat the Portuguese army.
- 1770 – The 14-year-old Marie Antoinette marries 15-year-old Louis-Auguste, who later becomes king of France.
- 1771 – The Battle of Alamance, a pre-American Revolutionary War battle between local militia and a group of rebels called The “Regulators”, occurs in present-day Alamance County, North Carolina.
- 1811 – Peninsular War: The allies Spain, Portugal and United Kingdom, defeat the French at the Battle of Albuera.
- 1812 – Imperial Russia signs the Treaty of Bucharest, ending the Russo-Turkish War. The Ottoman Empire cedes Bessarabia to Russia.
- 1822 – Greek War of Independence: The Turks capture the Greek town of Souli.
- 1832 – Juan Godoy discovers the rich silver outcrops of Chañarcillo sparking the Chilean silver rush.
- 1834 – The Battle of Asseiceira is fought, the last and decisive engagement of the Liberal Wars in Portugal.
- 1842 – The first major wagon train heading for the Pacific Northwest sets out on the Oregon Trail from Elm Grove, Missouri, with 100 pioneers.
- 1866 – The United States Congress establishes the nickel.
- 1868 – The United States Senate fails to convict President Andrew Johnson by one vote.
- 1874 – A flood on the Mill River in Massachusetts destroys much of four villages and kills 139 people.
- 1877 – The 16 May 1877 crisis occurs in France, ending with the dissolution of the National Assembly 22 June and affirming the interpretation of the Constitution of 1875 as a parliamentary rather than presidential system. The elections held in October 1877 led to the defeat of the royalists as a formal political movement in France.
- 1888 – Nikola Tesla delivers a lecture describing the equipment which will allow efficient generation and use of alternating currents to transmit electric power over long distances.
- 1891 – The International Electrotechnical Exhibition opens in Frankfurt, Germany, and will feature the world’s first long-distance transmission of high-power, three-phase electric current (the most common form today).
- 1916 – The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the French Third Republic sign the secret wartime Sykes-Picot Agreement partitioning former Ottoman territories such as Iraq and Syria.
- 1918 – The Sedition Act of 1918 is passed by the U.S. Congress, making criticism of the government during wartime an imprisonable offense. It will be repealed less than two years later.
- 1919 – A naval Curtiss NC-4 aircraft commanded by Albert Cushing Read leaves Trepassey, Newfoundland, for Lisbon via the Azores on the first transatlantic flight.
- 1920 – In Rome, Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan of Arc.
- 1929 – In Hollywood, the first Academy Awards ceremony takes place.
- 1943 – The Holocaust: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ends.
- 1951 – The first regularly scheduled transatlantic flights begin between Idlewild Airport (now John F Kennedy International Airport) in New York City and Heathrow Airport in London, operated by El Al Israel Airlines.
- 1959 – The Triton Fountain in Valletta, Malta is turned on for the first time.
- 1960 – Theodore Maiman operates the first optical laser (a ruby laser), at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California.
- 1961 – Park Chung-hee leads a coup d’état to overthrow the Second Republic of South Korea.
- 1966 – The Communist Party of China issues the “May 16 Notice”, marking the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.
- 1969 – Venera program: Venera 5, a Soviet space probe, lands on Venus.
- 1974 – Josip Broz Tito is elected president for life of Yugoslavia.
- 1988 – A report by the Surgeon General of the United States C. Everett Koop states that the addictive properties of nicotine are similar to those of heroin and cocaine.
- 1991 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom addresses a joint session of the United States Congress. She is the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress.
- 1997 – Mobutu Sese Seko, the President of Zaire, flees the country.
- 2003 – In Morocco, 33 civilians are killed and more than 100 people are injured in the Casablanca terrorist attacks.
- 2005 – Kuwait permits women’s suffrage in a 35–23 National Assembly vote.
- 2011 – STS-134 (ISS assembly flight ULF6), launched from the Kennedy Space Center on the 25th and final flight for Space Shuttle Endeavour.
- 2014 – Twelve people are killed in two explosions in the Gikomba market area of Nairobi, Kenya.
Births on May 16
- 1418 – John II of Cyprus, King of Cyprus and Armenia and also titular King of Jerusalem from 1432 to 1458 (probable; d. 1458)
- 1455 – Wolfgang I of Oettingen, German count (d. 1522)
- 1542 – Anna Sibylle of Hanau-Lichtenberg, German noblewoman (d. 1580)
- 1606 – John Bulwer, British doctor (d. 1656)
- 1611 – Pope Innocent XI (d. 1689)
- 1641 – Dudley North, English economist and politician (d. 1691)
- 1710 – William Talbot, 1st Earl Talbot, English politician, Lord Steward of the Household (d. 1782)
- 1718 – Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Italian mathematician and philosopher (d. 1799)
- 1763 – Louis Nicolas Vauquelin, French pharmacist and chemist (d. 1829)
- 1788 – Friedrich Rückert, German poet and translator (d. 1866)
- 1801 – William H. Seward, American lawyer and politician, 24th United States Secretary of State (d. 1872)
- 1804 – Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, American educator who founded the first U.S. kindergarten (d. 1894)
- 1819 – Johann Voldemar Jannsen, Estonian journalist and poet (d. 1890)
- 1821 – Pafnuty Chebyshev, Russian mathematician and statistician (d. 1894)
- 1824 – Levi P. Morton, American banker and politician, 22nd United States Vice President (d. 1920)
- 1824 – Edmund Kirby Smith, American general (d. 1893)
- 1827 – Pierre Cuypers, Dutch architect, designed the Amsterdam Centraal railway station and Rijksmuseum (d. 1921)
- 1831 – David Edward Hughes, Welsh-American physicist, co-invented the microphone (d. 1900)
- 1862 – Margaret Fountaine, English lepidopterist and diarist (d.1940)
- 1876 – Fred Conrad Koch, American biochemist and endocrinologist (d. 1948)
- 1879 – Pierre Gilliard, Swiss author and academic (d. 1962)
- 1882 – Simeon Price, American golfer (d. 1945)
- 1883 – Celâl Bayar, Turkish politician, 3rd President of Turkey (d. 1986)
- 1888 – Royal Rife, American microbiologist and instrument maker (d. 1971)
- 1890 – Edith Grace White, American ichthyologist (d. 1975)
- 1892 – Osgood Perkins, American actor (d. 1937)
- 1894 – Walter Yust, American journalist and writer (d. 1960)
- 1897 – Zvi Sliternik, Israeli entomologist and academic (d. 1994)
- 1898 – Tamara de Lempicka, Polish-American painter (d. 1980)
- 1898 – Desanka Maksimović, Serbian poet and academic (d. 1993)
- 1898 – Kenji Mizoguchi, Japanese director and screenwriter (d. 1956)
- 1903 – Charles F. Brannock, American inventor and manufacturer (d. 1992)
- 1905 – Henry Fonda, American actor (d. 1982)
- 1906 – Ernie McCormick, Australian cricketer (d. 1991)
- 1906 – Alfred Pellan, Canadian painter and educator (d. 1988)
- 1906 – Arturo Uslar Pietri, Venezuelan lawyer, journalist, and author (d. 2001)
- 1906 – Margret Rey, German author and illustrator (d. 1996)
- 1907 – Bob Tisdall, Irish hurdler (d. 2004)
- 1909 – Margaret Sullavan, American actress and singer (d. 1960)
- 1909 – Luigi Villoresi, Italian race car driver (d. 1997)
- 1910 – Olga Bergholz, Russian poet and author (d. 1975)
- 1910 – Higashifushimi Kunihide, Japanese monk and educator (d. 2014)
- 1910 – Aleksandr Ivanovich Laktionov, Russian painter and educator (d. 1972)
- 1912 – Studs Terkel, American historian and author (d. 2008)
- 1913 – Gordon Chalk, Australian politician, 30th Premier of Queensland (d. 1991)
- 1913 – Woody Herman, American singer, saxophonist, and clarinet player (d. 1987)
- 1914 – Edward T. Hall, American anthropologist and author (d. 2009)
- 1915 – Mario Monicelli, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 2010)
- 1916 – Ephraim Katzir, Israeli biophysicist and politician, 4th President of Israel (d. 2009)
- 1917 – Ben Kuroki, American sergeant and pilot (d. 2015)
- 1917 – James C. Murray, American lawyer and politician (d. 1999)
- 1917 – Juan Rulfo, Mexican author and photographer (d. 1986)
- 1918 – Wilf Mannion, English footballer and manager (d. 2000)
- 1919 – Liberace, American pianist and entertainer (d. 1987)
- 1919 – Ramon Margalef, Spanish ecologist and biologist (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Martine Carol, French actress (d. 1967)
- 1921 – Harry Carey, Jr., American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
- 1923 – Victoria Fromkin, American linguist and academic (d. 2000)
- 1923 – Merton Miller, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2000)
- 1923 – Peter Underwood, English parapsychologist and author (d. 2014)
- 1924 – Dawda Jawara, 1st President of the Gambia (d. 2019)
- 1925 – Nancy Roman, American astronomer (d. 2018)
- 1925 – Ola Vincent, Nigerian banker and economist (d. 2012)
- 1925 – Nílton Santos, Brazilian footballer (d. 2013)
- 1928 – Billy Martin, American baseball player and coach (d. 1989)
- 1929 – Betty Carter, American singer-songwriter (d. 1998)
- 1929 – John Conyers, American lawyer and politician (d. 2019)
- 1929 – Claude Morin, Canadian academic and politician
- 1929 – Adrienne Rich, American poet, essayist, and feminist (d. 2012)
- 1930 – Friedrich Gulda, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 2000)
- 1931 – Vujadin Boškov, Serbian footballer, coach, and manager (d. 2014)
- 1931 – Hana Brady, Jewish-Czech Holocaust victim (d.1944)
- 1931 – K. Natwar Singh, Indian scholar and politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs
- 1931 – Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., American soldier and politician, 85th Governor of Connecticut
- 1934 – Kenneth O. Morgan, Welsh historian and author
- 1934 – Antony Walker, English general
- 1935 – Floyd Smith, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1936 – Karl Lehmann, German cardinal (d. 2018)
- 1937 – Yvonne Craig, American ballet dancer and actress (d. 2015)
- 1938 – Stuart Bell, English lawyer and politician (d. 2012)
- 1938 – Ivan Sutherland, American computer scientist and academic
- 1938 – Marco Aurelio Denegri, Peruvian television host and sexologist (d. 2018)
- 1941 – Denis Hart, Australian archbishop
- 1942 – David Penry-Davey, English lawyer and judge (d. 2015)
- 1943 – Kay Andrews, Baroness Andrews, English politician
- 1943 – Dan Coats, American politician and diplomat, 29th United States Ambassador to Germany
- 1943 – Wieteke van Dort, Dutch actress, comedian, singer, writer and artist
- 1944 – Billy Cobham, Panamanian-American drummer, composer, and bandleader
- 1944 – Antal Nagy, Hungarian footballer
- 1944 – Danny Trejo, American actor
- 1946 – John Law, English sociologist and academic
- 1946 – Robert Fripp, English guitarist, songwriter and producer
- 1947 – Cheryl Clarke, American writer
- 1947 – Darrell Sweet, Scottish drummer (d. 1999)
- 1947 – Roch Thériault, Canadian religious leader (d. 2011)
- 1948 – Jesper Christensen, Danish actor, director, and producer
- 1948 – Judy Finnigan, English talk show host and author
- 1948 – Enrico Fumia, Italian automobile and product designer
- 1948 – Emma Georgina Rothschild, English historian and academic
- 1948 – Staf Van Roosbroeck, Belgian cyclist
- 1949 – Rick Reuschel, American baseball player
- 1950 – Georg Bednorz, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1950 – Ray Condo, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2004)
- 1950 – Bruce Coville, American author
- 1951 – Christian Lacroix, French fashion designer
- 1951 – Jonathan Richman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1951 – Janet Soskice, Canadian philosopher and theologian
- 1952 – James Herndon, American psychologist and academic
- 1953 – Pierce Brosnan, Irish-American actor and producer
- 1953 – Peter Onorati, American actor
- 1953 – Richard Page, American singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1953 – Kitanoumi Toshimitsu, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 55th Yokozuna (d. 2015)
- 1953 – David Maclean, Scottish politician
- 1953 – Stephen Woolman, Lord Woolman, Scottish judge and academic
- 1954 – Dafydd Williams, Canadian physician and astronaut
- 1955 – Olga Korbut, Soviet gymnast
- 1955 – Jack Morris, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1955 – Hazel O’Connor, English-born Irish singer-songwriter and actress
- 1955 – Páidí Ó Sé, Irish footballer and manager (d. 2012)
- 1955 – Debra Winger, American actress
- 1956 – Loretta Schrijver, Dutch television host, news anchor
- 1957 – Joan Benoit, American runner
- 1957 – Benjamin Mancroft, 3rd Baron Mancroft, English politician
- 1957 – Yuri Shevchuk, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1957 – Anthony St John, 22nd Baron St John of Bletso, English lawyer and businessman
- 1957 – Bob Suter, American ice hockey player and coach (d. 2014)
- 1959 – Mitch Webster, American baseball player
- 1959 – Mare Winningham, American actress and singer-songwriter
- 1960 – Landon Deireragea, Nauruan politician, Nauruan Speaker of Parliament
- 1960 – S. Shanmuganathan, Sri Lankan commander and politician (d. 1998)
- 1961 – Kevin McDonald, Canadian actor and screenwriter
- 1961 – Charles Wright, American wrestler
- 1962 – Jimmy Hood, Scottish engineer and politician (d. 2017)
- 1962 – Helga Radtke, German long jumper
- 1963 – Rachel Griffith, Anglo-American economist
- 1963 – David Wilkinson, English theologian and academic
- 1964 – John Salley, American basketball player and actor
- 1964 – Boyd Tinsley, American singer-songwriter and violinist
- 1964 – Milton Jones, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter
- 1965 – Krist Novoselic, American bass player, songwriter, author, and activist
- 1965 – Tanel Tammet, Estonian computer scientist, engineer, and academic
- 1966 – Janet Jackson, American singer-songwriter, producer, dancer, and actress
- 1966 – Scott Reeves, American singer-songwriter and actor
- 1966 – Thurman Thomas, American football player
- 1967 – Doug Brocail, American baseball player and coach
- 1967 – Susan Williams, Baroness Williams of Trafford, British politician
- 1968 – Ralph Tresvant, American singer and producer
- 1969 – David Boreanaz, American actor
- 1969 – Tucker Carlson, American journalist, co-founded The Daily Caller
- 1969 – Steve Lewis, American sprinter
- 1970 – Gabriela Sabatini, Argentinian tennis player
- 1970 – Danielle Spencer, Australian singer-songwriter and actress
- 1971 – Phil Clarke, English rugby league player and sportscaster
- 1971 – Rachel Goswell, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1972 – Christian Califano, French rugby player
- 1972 – Matthew Hart, New Zealand cricketer
- 1973 – Tori Spelling, American actress, reality television personality, and author
- 1974 – Laura Pausini, Italian singer-songwriter and producer
- 1974 – Sonny Sandoval, American singer-songwriter and rapper
- 1975 – Tony Kakko, Finnish musician, composer, and vocalist
- 1975 – Simon Whitfield, Canadian triathlete
- 1976 – Dirk Nannes, Australian-Dutch cricketer
- 1977 – Melanie Lynskey, New Zealand actress
- 1977 – Emilíana Torrini, Icelandic singer-songwriter
- 1978 – Scott Nicholls, English motorcycle racer
- 1978 – Lionel Scaloni, Argentinian footballer
- 1980 – Nuria Llagostera Vives, Spanish tennis player
- 1981 – Ricardo Costa, Portuguese footballer
- 1982 – Łukasz Kubot, Polish tennis player
- 1983 – Daniel Kerr, Australian footballer
- 1983 – Kyle Wellwood, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Darío Cvitanich, Argentinian footballer
- 1984 – Tomáš Fleischmann, Czech ice hockey player
- 1984 – Jensen Lewis, American baseball player
- 1984 – Rick Rypien, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2011)
- 1985 – Anja Mittag, German footballer
- 1985 – Rodrigo Peters Marques, Brazilian footballer
- 1985 – Corey Perry, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986 – Megan Fox, American actress
- 1986 – Andy Keogh, Irish footballer
- 1986 – Shamcey Supsup, Filipino model and architect
- 1987 – Tom Onslow-Cole, English race car driver
- 1988 – Jesús Castillo, Mexican footballer
- 1988 – Martynas Gecevičius, Lithuanian basketball player
- 1988 – Jaak Põldma, Estonian tennis player
- 1989 – Behati Prinsloo, Namibian model
- 1990 – Amanda Carreras, Gibraltarian tennis player
- 1990 – Thomas Brodie-Sangster, English actor
- 1990 – Darko Šarović, Serbian sprinter
- 1990 – Omar Strong, American basketball player
- 1991 – Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgarian tennis player
- 1991 – Joey Graceffa, American internet celebrity
- 1991 – Ashley Wagner, American figure skater
- 1992 – Jeff Skinner, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1992 – Kirstin Maldonado, American singer and songwriter
- 1993 – Johannes Thingnes Bø, Norwegian biathlete
- 1993 – Karol Mets, Estonian footballer
- 1993 – IU, Korean singer-songwriter and actress
- 1995 – Elizabeth Ralston, Australian footballer
- 1996 – Louisa Chirico, an American tennis player
Deaths on May 16
- 290 – Emperor Wu of Jin, Chinese emperor (b. 236)
- 895 – Qian Kuan, Chinese nobleman
- 934 – Meng Hanqiong, eunuch official of Later Tang
- 995 – Fujiwara no Michitaka, Japanese nobleman (b. 953)
- 1182 – John Komnenos Vatatzes, Byzantine general (b. 1132)
- 1265 – Simon Stock, English-French saint (b. 1165)
- 1375 – Liu Bowen, Chinese military strategist, officer, statesman and poet (b. 1311)
- 1412 – Gian Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan (b. 1388)
- 1561 – Jan Tarnowski, Polish noble and statesman (b. 1488)
- 1620 – William Adams, English sailor and navigator (b. 1564)
- 1657 – Andrew Bobola, Polish missionary and martyr (b. 1591)
- 1667 – Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton, English politician, Lord High Treasurer (b. 1607)
- 1669 – Pietro da Cortona, Italian painter and architect, designed the Santi Luca e Martina (b. 1596)
- 1691 – Jacob Leisler, German-American politician, 8th Colonial Governor of New York (b. 1640)
- 1696 – Mariana of Austria, Queen consort of Spain (b. 1634)
- 1703 – Charles Perrault, French author and academic (b. 1628)
- 1778 – Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, English politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (b. 1718)
- 1790 – Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire (b. 1720)
- 1818 – Matthew Lewis, English author and playwright (b. 1775)
- 1823 – Grace Elliott, Scottish courtesan and spy (b. c.1754)
- 1830 – Joseph Fourier, French mathematician and physicist (b. 1768)
- 1862 – Edward Gibbon Wakefield, English politician (b. 1796)
- 1882 – Reuben Chapman, American lawyer and politician, 13th Governor of Alabama (b. 1799)
- 1890 – Mihkel Veske, Estonian poet, linguist and theologist (b. 1843)
- 1891 – Ion C. Brătianu, Romanian politician, 14th Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1821)
- 1910 – Henri-Edmond Cross, French Neo-Impressionist painter (b. 1856)
- 1913 – Louis Perrier, Swiss architect and politician (b. 1849)
- 1920 – Levi P. Morton, American politician, 22nd United States Vice President (b. 1824)
- 1926 – Mehmed VI, Ottoman sultan (b. 1861)
- 1936 – Leonidas Paraskevopoulos, Greek general and politician (b. 1860)
- 1938 – Joseph Strauss, American engineer, co designed The Golden Gate Bridge (b. 1870)
- 1943 – Alfred Hoche, German psychiatrist and academic (b. 1865)
- 1944 – George Ade, American journalist, author, and playwright (b. 1866)
- 1946 – Bruno Tesch, German chemist and businessman (b. 1890)
- 1947 – Frederick Gowland Hopkins, English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1861)
- 1947 – Zhang Lingfu, Chinese general (b. 1903)
- 1953 – Django Reinhardt, Belgian guitarist and composer (b. 1910)
- 1954 – Clemens Krauss, Austrian conductor and manager (b. 1893)
- 1955 – James Agee, American novelist, screenwriter, and critic(b. 1909)
- 1955 – Manny Ayulo, American race car driver (b. 1921)
- 1956 – H. B. Reese, American candy-maker and businessman, created Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (b. 1876)
- 1957 – Eliot Ness, American federal agent (b. 1903)
- 1961 – George A. Malcolm, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1881)
- 1973 – Jacques Lipchitz, Lithuanian-American sculptor (b. 1891)
- 1977 – Modibo Keïta, Malian politician, 1st President of Mali (b. 1915)
- 1979 – A. Philip Randolph, American union leader and activist (b. 1889)
- 1981 – Ernie Freeman, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1922)
- 1981 – Willy Hartner, German physician and academic (b. 1905)
- 1984 – Andy Kaufman, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter (b. 1949)
- 1984 – Irwin Shaw, American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and short story writer (b. 1913)
- 1985 – Margaret Hamilton, American actress (b. 1902)
- 1989 – Leila Kasra, Iranian poet and songwriter (b. 1939)
- 1990 – Sammy Davis Jr., American singer, dancer, and actor (b. 1925)
- 1990 – Jim Henson, American puppeteer, director, producer, and screenwriter, created The Muppets (b. 1936)
- 1993 – Marv Johnson, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1938)
- 1994 – Alain Cuny, French actor (b. 1908)
- 1996 – Jeremy Michael Boorda, American admiral (b. 1939)
- 1997 – Elbridge Durbrow, American diplomat (b. 1903)
- 2002 – Alec Campbell, Australian soldier (b. 1899)
- 2003 – Mark McCormack, American lawyer and sports agent, founded IMG (b. 1930)
- 2005 – Andrew Goodpaster, American general (b. 1915)
- 2008 – Robert Mondavi, American winemaker, co-founded the Opus One Winery (b. 1913)
- 2010 – Ronnie James Dio, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1942)
- 2010 – Hank Jones, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1918)
- 2011 – Ralph Barker, English author (b. 1917)
- 2011 – Bob Davis, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1928)
- 2011 – Edward Hardwicke, English actor (b. 1932)
- 2011 – Kiyoshi Kodama, Japanese actor (b. 1934)
- 2012 – Patricia Aakhus, American author and academic (b. 1952)
- 2012 – James Abdnor, American soldier and politician, 30th Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Chuck Brown, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1936)
- 2012 – Ernie Chan, Filipino-American illustrator (b. 1940)
- 2012 – Kevin Hickey, American baseball player (b. 1956)
- 2013 – Angelo Errichetti, American politician (b. 1928)
- 2013 – Bryan Illerbrun, Canadian football player (b. 1957)
- 2013 – Frankie Librán, Puerto Rican-American baseball player (b. 1948)
- 2013 – Heinrich Rohrer, Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1933)
- 2013 – Dick Trickle, American race car driver (b. 1941)
- 2013 – Bernard Waber, American author and illustrator (b. 1921)
- 2014 – Chris Duckworth, Zimbabwean-South African cricketer (b. 1933)
- 2014 – Vito Favero, Italian cyclist (b. 1932)
- 2014 – Bud Hollowell, American baseball player and manager (b. 1943)
- 2014 – Clyde Snow, American anthropologist and author (b. 1928)
- 2015 – Prashant Bhargava, American director and producer (b. 1973)
- 2015 – Moshe Levinger, Israeli rabbi and author (b. 1935)
- 2015 – Flora MacNeil, Scottish Gaelic singer (b. 1928)
- 2019 – Piet Blauw, Dutch politician (b. 1937)
- 2019 – Bob Hawke, Australian politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1929)
- 2019 – I. M. Pei, Chinese-American architect (b. 1917)
Holidays and observances on May 16
- Christian feast day:
- Aaron (Coptic Church)
- Abda and Abdjesus, and companions:
- Andrew Bobola
- Brendan the Navigator (Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Eastern Orthodox Church)
- Caroline Chisholm (Church of England)
- Gemma Galgani (Passionists Calendar)
- Germerius
- Honoratus of Amiens
- John of Nepomuk
- Margaret of Cortona
- Peregrine of Auxerre
- Simon Stock
- Ubald (see Saint Ubaldo Day)
- Martyrs of Sudan (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Mass Graves Day (Iraq)
- National Day, declared by Salva Kiir Mayardit (South Sudan)
- Teachers’ Day (Malaysia)
-
May 6 in History
- 1527 – Spanish and German troops sack Rome; many scholars consider this the end of the Renaissance.
- 1536 – The Siege of Cuzco commences, in which Incan forces attempt to retake the city of Cuzco from the Spanish.
- 1536 – King Henry VIII orders English-language Bibles be placed in every church. In 1539 the Great Bible would be provided for this purpose.
- 1542 – Francis Xavier reaches Old Goa, the capital of Portuguese India at the time.
- 1659 – English Restoration: A faction of the British Army removes Richard Cromwell as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth and reinstalls the Rump Parliament.
- 1682 – Louis XIV of France moves his court to the Palace of Versailles.
- 1757 – Battle of Prague: A Prussian army fights an Austrian army in Prague during the Seven Years’ War.
- 1757 – The end of Konbaung–Hanthawaddy War, and the end of Burmese Civil War (1740–1757).
- 1757 – English poet Christopher Smart is admitted into St Luke’s Hospital for Lunatics in London, beginning his six-year confinement to mental asylums.
- 1782 – Construction begins on the Grand Palace, the royal residence of the King of Siam in Bangkok, at the command of King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke.
- 1801 – Captain Thomas Cochrane in the 14-gun HMS Speedy captures the 32-gun Spanish frigate El Gamo.
- 1835 – James Gordon Bennett, Sr. publishes the first issue of the New York Herald.
- 1840 – The Penny Black postage stamp becomes valid for use in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
- 1857 – The East India Company disbands the 34th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry whose sepoy Mangal Pandey had earlier revolted against the British in the lead up to the War of Indian Independence.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Arkansas secedes from the Union.
- 1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville ends with the defeat of the Army of the Potomac by the Army of Northern Virginia.
- 1877 – Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Lakota surrenders to United States troops in Nebraska.
- 1882 – Thomas Henry Burke and Lord Frederick Cavendish are stabbed to death by Fenian assassins in Phoenix Park, Dublin.
- 1882 – The United States Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act.
- 1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris.
- 1906 – The Russian Constitution of 1906 is adopted (on April 23 by the Julian calendar).
- 1910 – George V becomes King of Great Britain, Ireland, and many overseas territories, on the death of his father, Edward VII.
- 1915 – Babe Ruth, then a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, hits his first major league home run.
- 1916 – Twenty-one Lebanese nationalists are executed in Martyrs’ Square, Beirut by Djemal Pasha.
- 1916 – Vietnamese Emperor Duy Tân is captured while calling upon the people to rise up against the French, and is later deposed and exiled to Réunion island.
- 1933 – The Deutsche Studentenschaft attacked Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, later burning many of its books.
- 1935 – New Deal: Under the authority of the newly-enacted Federal Emergency Relief Administration, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues Executive Order 7034 to create the Works Progress Administration.
- 1937 – Hindenburg disaster: The German zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and is destroyed within a minute while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people are killed.
- 1940 – John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.
- 1941 – At California’s March Field, Bob Hope performs his first USO show.
- 1941 – The first flight of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.
- 1942 – World War II: On Corregidor, the last American forces in the Philippines surrender to the Japanese.
- 1945 – World War II: Axis Sally delivers her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops.
- 1945 – World War II: The Prague Offensive, the last major battle of the Eastern Front, begins.
- 1949 – EDSAC, the first practical electronic digital stored-program computer, runs its first operation.
- 1954 – Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run the mile in under four minutes.
- 1960 – More than 20 million viewers watch the first televised royal wedding when Princess Margaret marries Anthony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey.
- 1966 – Myra Hindley and Ian Brady are sentenced to life imprisonment for the Moors murders in England.
- 1972 – Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin İnan are executed in Ankara after being convicted of attempting to overthrow the Constitutional order.
- 1975 – During a lull in fighting, 100,000 Armenians gather in Beirut for the 60th anniversary commemorations of the Armenian Genocide.
- 1976 – The 6.5 Mw Friuli earthquake affected Northern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), leaving 900–978 dead and 1,700–2,400 injured.
- 1983 – The Hitler Diaries are revealed as a hoax after being examined by new experts.
- 1984 – One hundred three Korean Martyrs are canonized by Pope John Paul II in Seoul.
- 1988 – All thirty-six passengers and crew were killed when Widerøe Flight 710 crashed into Mt. Torghatten in Brønnøy.
- 1994 – Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and French President François Mitterrand officiate at the opening of the Channel Tunnel.
- 1996 – The body of former CIA director William Colby is found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he disappeared.
- 1997 – The Bank of England is given independence from political control, the most significant change in the bank’s 300-year history.
- 1998 – Kerry Wood strikes out 20 Houston Astros to tie the major league record held by Roger Clemens. He threw a one-hitter and did not walk a batter in his fifth career start.
- 1998 – Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. unveils the first iMac.
- 1999 – The first elections to the devolved Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly are held.
- 2001 – During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque.
- 2002 – Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is assassinated following a radio-interview at the Mediapark in Hilversum.
- 2010 – In just 36 minutes, the Dow-Jones average plunged nearly 1000 points in what is known as the 2010 Flash Crash.
- 2013 – Three women, kidnapped and missing for more than a decade, are found alive in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States.
Births on May 6
- 973 – Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1024)
- 1464 – Sophia Jagiellon, Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Polish princess (d. 1512)
- 1493 – Girolamo Seripando, Italian theologian and cardinal (d. 1563)
- 1501 – Marcellus II, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1555)
- 1574 – Innocent X, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1655)
- 1580 – Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat, French noble (d. 1637)
- 1635 – Johann Joachim Becher, German physician and alchemist (d. 1682)
- 1668 – Alain-René Lesage, French author and playwright (d. 1747)
- 1680 – Jean-Baptiste Stuck, Italian-French cellist and composer (d. 1755)
- 1713 – Charles Batteux, French philosopher and academic (d. 1780)
- 1714 – Anton Raaff, German tenor (d. 1797)
- 1742 – Jean Senebier, Swiss pastor and physiologist (d. 1809)
- 1758 – André Masséna, French general (d. 1817)
- 1758 – Maximilien Robespierre, French lawyer and politician (d. 1794)
- 1769 – Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1824)
- 1769 – Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, French mathematician and academic (d. 1834)
- 1781 – Karl Christian Friedrich Krause, German philosopher and author (d. 1832)
- 1797 – Joseph Brackett, American religious leader and composer (d. 1882)
- 1800 – Roman Sanguszko, Polish general (d. 1881)
- 1827 – Hermann Raster, German-American journalist and politician (d. 1891)
- 1836 – Max Eyth, German engineer and author (d. 1906)
- 1843 – Grove Karl Gilbert, American geologist and academic (d. 1918)
- 1848 – Henry Edward Armstrong, English chemist and academic (d. 1937)
- 1851 – Aristide Bruant, French singer and actor (d. 1925)
- 1856 – Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist and psychoanalyst (d. 1939)
- 1856 – Robert Peary, American admiral and explorer (d. 1920)
- 1861 – Motilal Nehru, Indian lawyer and politician, President of the Indian National Congress (d. 1931)
- 1868 – Gaston Leroux, French journalist and author (d. 1927)
- 1869 – Junnosuke Inoue, Japanese businessman and central banker, 8th and 11th Governor of the Bank of Japan (d. 1932)
- 1870 – Walter Rutherford, Scottish golfer (d. 1936)
- 1871 – Victor Grignard, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1935)
- 1871 – Christian Morgenstern, German author and poet (d. 1914)
- 1872 – Willem de Sitter, Dutch mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (d. 1934)
- 1872 – Djemal Pasha, Ottoman general (d. 1922)
- 1879 – Bedřich Hrozný, Czech orientalist and linguist (d. 1952)
- 1879 – Hendrik van Heuckelum, Dutch footballer (d. 1929)
- 1880 – Winifred Brunton, English-South African painter and illustrator (d. 1959)
- 1880 – Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German-Swiss painter (d. 1938)
- 1883 – Alberto Collo, Italian actor (d. 1955)
- 1895 – Júlio César de Mello e Souza, Brazilian mathematician and author (d. 1974)
- 1895 – Fidél Pálffy, Hungarian soldier and politician, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture (d. 1946)
- 1895 – Rudolph Valentino, Italian actor (d. 1926)
- 1896 – Rolf Maximilian Sievert, Swedish physicist and academic (d. 1966)
- 1897 – Paul Alverdes, German author and poet (d. 1979)
- 1898 – Konrad Henlein, Czech soldier and politician (d. 1945)
- 1902 – Harry Golden, Ukrainian-American journalist and author (d. 1981)
- 1902 – Max Ophüls, German-American director and screenwriter (d. 1957)
- 1903 – Toots Shor, American businessman, founded Toots Shor’s Restaurant (d. 1977)
- 1904 – Moshé Feldenkrais, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (d. 1984)
- 1904 – Catherine Lacey, English actress (d. 1979)
- 1904 – Harry Martinson, Swedish novelist, essayist, and poet Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1978)
- 1905 – Philip N. Krasne, American lawyer and producer (d. 1999)
- 1906 – André Weil, French mathematician and academic (d. 1998)
- 1907 – Weeb Ewbank, American football player and coach (d. 1998)
- 1911 – Guy des Cars, French journalist and author (d. 1993)
- 1913 – Carmen Cavallaro, American pianist (d. 1989)
- 1913 – Stewart Granger, English-American actor (d. 1993)
- 1915 – Orson Welles, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1985)
- 1915 – Theodore H. White, American historian, journalist, and author (d. 1986)
- 1916 – Robert H. Dicke, American physicist and astronomer (d. 1997)
- 1917 – Kal Mann, American songwriter (d. 2001)
- 1918 – Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, emir of Abu Dhabi and first president of the United Arab Emirates (d. 2004)
- 1919 – André Guelfi, French race car driver (d. 2016)
- 1920 – Kamisese Mara, Fijian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Fiji (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Marguerite Piazza, American soprano and actress (d. 2012)
- 1921 – Erich Fried, Austrian-German author, poet, and translator (d. 1988)
- 1922 – Camille Laurin, Canadian psychiatrist and politician, 7th Deputy Premier of Quebec (d. 1999)
- 1923 – Harry Watson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2002)
- 1924 – Nestor Basterretxea, Spanish painter and sculptor (d. 2014)
- 1924 – Patricia Helen Kennedy, American socialite, activist, and author (d. 2006)
- 1924 – Denny Wright, English guitarist, composer, and producer (d. 1992)
- 1926 – Gilles Grégoire, Canadian politician, co-founded the Parti Québécois (d. 2006)
- 1929 – Rosemary Cramp, English archaeologist and academic
- 1929 – Paul Lauterbur, American chemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2007)
- 1929 – John Taylor, English bishop and theologian (d. 2016)
- 1931 – Willie Mays, American baseball player and coach
- 1931 – Louis Gambaccini, American government official (d. 2018)
- 1932 – Ahmet Haxhiu, Kosovan activist (d. 1994)
- 1932 – Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath, English lieutenant and politician (d. 2020)
- 1934 – Richard Shelby, American lawyer and politician
- 1937 – Rubin Carter, American-Canadian boxer (d. 2014)
- 1938 – Jean Garon, Canadian economist, lawyer, and politician (d. 2014)
- 1939 – Eddie C. Campbell, American singer and guitarist (d. 2018)
- 1939 – Chet Allen, American child actor (d. 1984)
- 1942 – Ariel Dorfman, Argentinian author, playwright, and academic
- 1943 – Andreas Baader, German terrorist, co-founded the Red Army Faction (d. 1977)
- 1943 – Milton William Cooper, American theorist and author (d. 2001)
- 1943 – Wolfgang Reinhardt, German pole vaulter (d. 2011)
- 1943 – James Turrell, American sculptor and illustrator
- 1944 – Anton Furst, English-American production designer and art director (d. 1991)
- 1944 – Masanori Murakami, Japanese baseball player and coach
- 1945 – Jimmie Dale Gilmore, American country singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and producer
- 1945 – Bob Seger, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1947 – Alan Dale, New Zealand actor
- 1947 – Martha Nussbaum, American philosopher and author
- 1947 – Ljubomir Vračarević, Serbian martial artist, founded Real Aikido (d. 2013)
- 1948 – Frankie Librán, Puerto Rican-American baseball player (d. 2013)
- 1950 – Jeffery Deaver, American journalist and author
- 1951 – Samuel Doe, Liberian sergeant and politician, 21st President of Liberia (d. 1990)
- 1952 – Gerrit Zalm, Dutch economist and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands
- 1953 – Alexander Akimov, Ukrainian Chernobyl worker (d. 1986)
- 1953 – Tony Blair, British politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- 1953 – Michelle Courchesne, Canadian urban planner and politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec
- 1953 – Ülle Rajasalu, Estonian politician
- 1953 – Graeme Souness, Scottish international footballer and manager
- 1953 – Lynn Whitfield, American actress and producer
- 1954 – Tom Abernethy, American basketball player
- 1954 – Dora Bakoyannis, Greek politician, 120th Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs
- 1954 – Angela Hernández Nuñez, Dominican author and poet
- 1954 – Ain Lutsepp, Estonian actor and politician
- 1955 – Nicholas Alexander, 7th Earl of Caledon, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Armagh
- 1955 – Tom Bergeron, American television host
- 1955 – John Hutton, Baron Hutton of Furness, English academic and politician, Secretary of State for Defence
- 1956 – Lakis Lazopoulos, Greek actor and screenwriter
- 1956 – Cindy Lovell, American educator and writer
- 1956 – Roland Wieser, German race walker and coach
- 1958 – Randall Stout, American architect, designed the Taubman Museum of Art (d. 2014)
- 1959 – Andreas Busse, German runner
- 1959 – Charles Hendry, English politician
- 1960 – Lyudmila Andonova, Bulgarian high jumper
- 1960 – Keith Dowding, English political scientist, philosopher, and academic
- 1960 – Roma Downey, Irish-American actress and producer
- 1960 – John Flansburgh, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1960 – Aleksei Lotman, Estonian biologist and politician
- 1960 – Anne Parillaud, French actress
- 1961 – Oleksandr Apaychev, Ukrainian decathlete and coach
- 1961 – George Clooney, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1961 – Tom Hunter, Scottish businessman and philanthropist
- 1961 – Gina Riley, Australian actress, producer, and screenwriter
- 1961 – Frans Timmermans, Dutch politician and diplomat, First Vice President of the European Commission
- 1962 – Tom Brake, English politician
- 1962 – Brad Izzard, Australian rugby league player
- 1963 – Alessandra Ferri, Italian ballerina
- 1965 – Leslie Hope, Canadian actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1968 – Worku Bikila, Ethiopian runner
- 1968 – Lætitia Sadier, French singer and keyboard player
- 1969 – Jim Magilton, Northern Irish footballer and manager
- 1970 – Roland Kun, Nauruan politician
- 1970 – Kavan Smith, Canadian actor
- 1971 – Chris Shiflett, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1972 – Martin Brodeur, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1972 – Naoko Takahashi, Japanese runner
- 1974 – Bernard Barmasai, Kenyan runner
- 1974 – Daniela Bártová, Czech pole vaulter and gymnast
- 1975 – Alan Richardson, English cricketer and coach
- 1976 – Dean Chandler, English footballer
- 1976 – Iván de la Peña, Spanish footballer
- 1977 – Christophe Brandt, Belgian cyclist
- 1977 – Marc Chouinard, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1977 – Mark Eaton, American ice hockey player and coach
- 1977 – Chantelle Newbery, Australian diver
- 1978 – John Abraham, American football player
- 1978 – Tony Estanguet, French slalom canoeist
- 1978 – Fredrick Federley, Swedish journalist and politician
- 1978 – Alexandr Fedorov, Russian bodybuilder
- 1979 – Gerd Kanter, Estonian discus thrower
- 1979 – Jan Erik Mikalsen, Norwegian composer
- 1979 – Jon Montgomery, Canadian skeleton racer and television host
- 1980 – Brooke Bennett, American swimmer
- 1980 – Dimitris Diamantidis, Greek professional basketball player
- 1980 – Ricardo Oliveira, Brazilian footballer
- 1980 – Matthew Whiley, English cricketer
- 1982 – Jason Witten, American football player
- 1983 – Dani Alves, Brazilian footballer
- 1983 – Ingrid Jonach, Australian author
- 1983 – Gabourey Sidibe, American actress
- 1983 – Trinley Thaye Dorje, Tibetan religious leader, the 17th Karmapa Lama
- 1983 – Fredrik Sjöström, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1984 – Anton Babchuk, Ukrainian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Juan Pablo Carrizo, Argentinian footballer
- 1985 – Chris Paul, American basketball player
- 1986 – Goran Dragic, Slovenian basketball player
- 1987 – Dries Mertens, Belgian footballer
- 1987 – Meek Mill, American rapper
- 1987 – Adrienne Warren, American actress
- 1988 – Ryan Anderson, American basketball player
- 1988 – Dakota Kai, New Zealander profesional wrestler
- 1989 – Dominika Cibulková, Slovak tennis player
- 1989 – Jesse Hughes, Canadian DJ and producer
- 1990 – José Altuve, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1992 – Brendan Gallagher, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1992 – Byun Baekhyun, South Korean musician and actor
- 1992 – Jonas Valančiūnas, Lithuanian professional basketball player
- 1993 – Gustavo Gómez, Paraguayan footballer
- 1994 – Mateo Kovačić, Austrian-Croatian footballer
- 1997 – Duncan Scott, Scottish swimmer
- 2019 – Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, British royal
Deaths on May 6
- 698 – Eadberht, bishop of Lindisfarne
- 850 – Ninmyō, Japanese emperor (b. 808)
- 932 – Qian Liu, Chinese warlord and king (b. 852)
- 988 – Dirk II, count of Frisia and Holland
- 1002 – Ealdwulf, Archbishop of York, Abbot of Peterborough and Bishop of Worcester
- 1187 – Ruben III, Prince of Armenia (b. 1145)
- 1236 – Roger of Wendover, Benedictine monk and chronicler
- 1471 – Edmund Beaufort, English commander (b. 1438)
- 1471 – Thomas Tresham, Speaker of the House of Commons
- 1475 – Dieric Bouts, Flemish painter (b. 1415)
- 1483 – Queen Jeonghui, Korean regent (b. 1418)
- 1502 – James Tyrrell, English knight (b. 1450)
- 1527 – Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, Count of Montpensier and Dauphin of Auvergne (b.1490)
- 1540 – Juan Luís Vives, Spanish scholar (b. 1492)
- 1596 – Giaches de Wert, Flemish-Italian composer (b. 1535)
- 1631 – Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet, of Connington, English historian and politician, founded the Cotton library (b. 1570)
- 1638 – Cornelius Jansen, Dutch-French bishop and theologian (b. 1585)
- 1708 – François de Laval, French-Canadian bishop (b. 1623)
- 1757 – Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1683)
- 1757 – Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin, Prussian field marshal (b. 1684)
- 1782 – Christine Kirch, German astronomer and academic (b. 1696)
- 1840 – Francisco de Paula Santander, Colombian general and politician, 4th President of the Republic of the New Granada (b. 1792)
- 1859 – Alexander von Humboldt, German geographer and explorer (b. 1769)
- 1862 – Henry David Thoreau, American essayist, poet, and philosopher (b. 1817)
- 1877 – Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Swedish-Finnish poet and hymn-writer (b. 1804)
- 1882 – Thomas Henry Burke, Irish civil servant (b. 1829)
- 1882 – Lord Frederick Cavendish, British politician, Chief Secretary for Ireland (b. 1836)
- 1902 – Bret Harte, American author and poet (b. 1836)
- 1905 – Robert Herbert, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of Queensland (b. 1831)
- 1907 – Emanuele Luigi Galizia, Maltese architect and civil engineer (b. 1830)
- 1910 – Edward VII of the United Kingdom (b. 1841)
- 1919 – L. Frank Baum, American novelist (b. 1856)
- 1939 – Konstantin Somov, Russian-French painter and illustrator (b. 1869)
- 1949 – Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian-French poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
- 1951 – Élie Cartan, French mathematician and physicist (b. 1869)
- 1952 – Maria Montessori, Italian-Dutch physician and educator (b. 1870)
- 1959 – Maria Dulęba, Polish actress (b. 1881)
- 1959 – Ragnar Nurkse, Estonian-American economist and academic (b. 1907)
- 1961 – Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher (b. 1895)
- 1963 – Theodore von Kármán, Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, and engineer (b. 1881)
- 1963 – Ted Weems, American violinist, trombonist, and bandleader (b. 1901)
- 1963 – Monty Woolley, American raconteur, actor, and director (b. 1888)
- 1967 – Zhou Zuoren, Chinese author and translator (b. 1885)
- 1970 – Alexander Rodzyanko, Russian general (b. 1879)
- 1973 – Ernest MacMillan, Canadian conductor and composer (b. 1893)
- 1975 – József Mindszenty, Hungarian cardinal (b. 1892)
- 1980 – María Luisa Bombal, Chilean writer (b. 1910)
- 1983 – Ezra Jack Keats, American author and illustrator (b. 1916)
- 1983 – Kai Winding, Danish-American trombonist and composer (b. 1922)
- 1984 – Mary Cain, American journalist and politician (b. 1904)
- 1984 – Bonner Pink, English politician (b. 1912)
- 1987 – William J. Casey, American politician, 13th Director of Central Intelligence (b. 1913)
- 1989 – Earl Blaik, American football player and coach (b. 1897)
- 1990 – Charles Farrell, American actor (b. 1901)
- 1991 – Wilfrid Hyde-White, English actor (b. 1903)
- 1992 – Marlene Dietrich, German-American actress and singer (b. 1901)
- 1993 – Ann Todd, English actress and producer (b. 1909)
- 1995 – Noel Brotherston, Northern Irish footballer (b. 1956)
- 2000 – Gordon McClymont, Australian ecologist and academic (b. 1920)
- 2002 – Murray Adaskin, Canadian violinist, composer, conductor, and educator (b. 1906)
- 2002 – Otis Blackwell, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1932)
- 2002 – Pim Fortuyn, Dutch sociologist, academic, and politician (b. 1948)
- 2002 – Bjørn Johansen, Norwegian saxophonist (b. 1940)
- 2003 – Art Houtteman, American baseball player and journalist (b. 1927)
- 2004 – Virginia Capers, American actress and singer (b. 1925)
- 2004 – Philip Kapleau, American monk and educator (b. 1912)
- 2004 – Barney Kessel, American guitarist and composer (b. 1923)
- 2006 – Grant McLennan, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1958)
- 2006 – Lorne Saxberg, Canadian journalist (b. 1958)
- 2007 – Enéas Carneiro, Brazilian physician and politician (b. 1938)
- 2007 – Curtis Harrington, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
- 2009 – Kevin Grubb, American race car driver (b. 1978)
- 2010 – Robin Roberts, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1926)
- 2012 – James R. Browning, American lieutenant, lawyer, and judge (b. 1918)
- 2012 – James Isaac, American director and producer (b. 1960)
- 2012 – Jean Laplanche, French psychoanalyst and author (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Giulio Andreotti, Italian journalist and politician, 41st Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1919)
- 2013 – Severo Aparicio Quispe, Peruvian bishop (b. 1923)
- 2013 – Michelangelo Spensieri, Italian-Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1949)
- 2014 – Wil Albeda, Dutch economist and politician, Dutch Minister of Social Affairs (b. 1925)
- 2014 – William H. Dana, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Jimmy Ellis, American boxer (b. 1940)
- 2014 – Billy Harrell, American baseball player and scout (b. 1928)
- 2014 – Antony Hopkins, English pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1921)
- 2014 – Maria Lassnig, Austrian painter and academic (b. 1919)
- 2014 – Farley Mowat, Canadian environmentalist and author (b. 1921)
- 2015 – Novera Ahmed, Bangladeshi sculptor (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Denise McCluggage, American race car driver and journalist (b. 1927)
- 2015 – Jim Wright, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 56th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1922)
- 2016 – Patrick Ekeng, Cameroonian footballer (b. 1990)
- 2016 – Reg Grundy, Australian businessman (b. 1923)
Holidays and observances on May 6
- Christian Feast Day:
- Dominic Savio
- Evodius of Antioch (Roman Catholic Church)
- François de Laval
- Gerard of Lunel
- Lucius of Cyrene
- Petronax of Monte Cassino
- St George’s Day related observances (Eastern Orthodox Church):
- Day of Bravery, also known as Gergyovden (Bulgaria)
- Đurđevdan (Gorani, Roma)
- Police Day (Georgia)
- Yuri’s Day in the Spring (Russian Orthodox Church)
- St John before the Latin Gate
- May 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Earliest day on which Military Spouse Day can fall, while May 12 is the latest; celebrated on Friday before Mother’s Day (United States)
- International No Diet Day
- Martyrs’ Day (Gabon)
- Martyrs’ Day (Lebanon and Syria)
- Teachers’ Day (Jamaica)
- The first day of Hıdırellez (Turkey)
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March 22 in History
- 106 – Start of the Bostran era, the calendar of the province of Arabia Petraea.
- 238 – Gordian I and his son Gordian II are proclaimed Roman emperors.
- 871 – Æthelred of Wessex is defeated by a Danish invasion army at the Battle of Marton.
- 1508 – Ferdinand II of Aragon commissions Amerigo Vespucci chief navigator of the Spanish Empire.
- 1621 – The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony sign a peace treaty with Massasoit of the Wampanoags.
- 1622 – Jamestown massacre: Algonquians kill 347 English settlers around Jamestown, Virginia, a third of the colony’s population, during the Second Anglo-Powhatan War.
- 1630 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony outlaws the possession of cards, dice, and gaming tables.
- 1638 – Anne Hutchinson is expelled from Massachusetts Bay Colony for religious dissent.
- 1713 – The Tuscarora War comes to an end with the fall of Fort Neoheroka, effectively opening up the interior of North Carolina to European colonization.
- 1739 – Nader Shah occupies Delhi in India and sacks the city, stealing the jewels of the Peacock Throne.
- 1765 – The British Parliament passes the Stamp Act that introduces a tax to be levied directly on its American colonies.
- 1784 – The Emerald Buddha is moved with great ceremony to its current location in Wat Phra Kaew, Thailand.
- 1829 – In the London Protocol, the three protecting powers (United Kingdom, France and Russia) establish the borders of Greece.
- 1849 – The Austrians defeat the Piedmontese at the Battle of Novara.
- 1871 – In North Carolina, William Woods Holden becomes the first governor of a U.S. state to be removed from office by impeachment.
- 1872 – Illinois becomes the first state to require gender equality in employment.
- 1873 – The Spanish National Assembly abolishes slavery in Puerto Rico.
- 1894 – The first playoff game for the Stanley Cup starts.
- 1906 – The first England vs France rugby union match is played at Parc des Princes in Paris
- 1920 – Azeri and Turkish army soldiers with participation of Kurdish gangs attacked the Armenian inhabitants of Shushi (Nagorno Karabakh).
- 1933 – Cullen–Harrison Act: President Franklin Roosevelt signs an amendment to the Volstead Act, legalizing the manufacture and sale of “3.2 beer” (3.2% alcohol by weight, approximately 4% alcohol by volume) and light wines.
- 1939 – Germany takes Memel from Lithuania.
- 1942 – World War II: In the Mediterranean Sea, the Royal Navy confronts Italy’s Regia Marina in the Second Battle of Sirte.
- 1943 – World War II: The entire village of Khatyn (in what is the present-day Republic of Belarus) is burnt alive by Schutzmannschaft Battalion 118.
- 1945 – World War II: The city of Hildesheim, Germany heavily damaged in a British air raid, though it had little military significance and Germany was on the verge of final defeat.
- 1945 – The Arab League is founded when a charter is adopted in Cairo, Egypt.
- 1960 – Arthur Leonard Schawlow and Charles Hard Townes receive the first patent for a laser.
- 1972 – The United States Congress sends the Equal Rights Amendment to the states for ratification.
- 1972 – In Eisenstadt v. Baird, the United States Supreme Court decides that unmarried persons have the right to possess contraceptives.
- 1975 – A fire at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant in Decatur, Alabama causes a dangerous reduction in cooling water levels.
- 1978 – Karl Wallenda of The Flying Wallendas dies after falling off a tight-rope suspended between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
- 1982 – NASA’s Space Shuttle Columbia is launched from the Kennedy Space Center on its third mission, STS-3.
- 1992 – USAir Flight 405 crashes shortly after takeoff from New York City’s LaGuardia Airport, leading to a number of studies into the effect that ice has on aircraft.
- 1992 – Fall of communism in Albania: The Democratic Party of Albania wins a decisive majority in the parliamentary election.
- 1993 – The Intel Corporation ships the first Pentium chips (80586), featuring a 60 MHz clock speed, 100+ MIPS, and a 64 bit data path.
- 1995 – Cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov returns to earth after setting a record of 438 days in space.
- 1997 – Tara Lipinski, aged 14 years and nine months, becomes the youngest women’s World Figure Skating Champion.
- 2004 – Ahmed Yassin, co-founder and leader of the Palestinian Sunni Islamist group Hamas, two bodyguards, and nine civilian bystanders are killed in the Gaza Strip when hit by Israeli Air Force Hellfire missiles.
- 2006 – Three Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) hostages are freed by British forces in Baghdad after 118 days of captivity and the murder of their colleague from the U.S., Tom Fox.
- 2013 – At least 37 people are killed and 200 are injured after a fire destroys a camp containing Burmese refugees near Ban Mae, Thailand.
- 2016 – Three suicide bombers kill 32 people and injure 316 in the 2016 Brussels bombings at the airport and at the Maelbeek/Maalbeek metro station.
- 2017 – A terrorist attack in London near the Houses of Parliament leaves four people dead and at least 20 injured.
- 2019 – Robert S. Mueller III delivers his report on the Russian government’s influence on the election of Donald Trump in the 2016 United States presidential election.
- 2019 – Two buses crashes in Kitampo, a town north of Ghana’s capital Accra, killing at least 50 people.
- 2020 – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announces the country’s largest ever self-imposed curfew, in an effort to fight the spread of COVID-19.
Births on March 22
- 841 – Bernard Plantapilosa, Frankish son of Bernard of Septimania (d. 885)
- 875 – William I, Duke of Aquitaine (d. 918)
- 1212 – Emperor Go-Horikawa of Japan (d. 1235)
- 1367 – Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, English politician, Earl Marshal of the United Kingdom (probable; d. 1399)
- 1394 – Ulugh Beg, Persian astronomer and mathematician (d. 1449)
- 1459 – Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1519)
- 1499 – Johann Carion, German astrologer and chronicler (d. 1537)
- 1503 – Antonio Francesco Grazzini, Italian author and educator (d. 1583)
- 1517 – Gioseffo Zarlino, Italian composer (d. 1590)
- 1519 – Catherine Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk, English noblewoman (d. 1580)
- 1582 – John Williams, Archbishop of York (d. 1650)
- 1599 – Anthony van Dyck, Flemish-English painter and etcher (d. 1641)
- 1609 – John II Casimir Vasa, Polish king (d. 1672)
- 1615 – Katherine Jones, Viscountess Ranelagh, British scientist (d. 1691)
- 1663 – August Hermann Francke, German clergyman, philanthropist, and scholar (d. 1727)
- 1684 – William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath, English politician, Secretary at War (d. 1764)
- 1712 – Edward Moore, English poet and playwright (d. 1757)
- 1720 – Nicolas-Henri Jardin, French architect, designed the Yellow Palace and Bernstorff Palace (d. 1799)
- 1723 – Charles Carroll, American lawyer and politician (d. 1783)
- 1728 – Anton Raphael Mengs, German painter and theorist (d. 1779)
- 1785 – Adam Sedgwick, English scientist (d. 1873)
- 1797 – William I, German Emperor (d. 1888)
- 1808 – Caroline Norton, English feminist, social reformer, and author (d. 1877)
- 1808 – David Swinson Maynard, American physician and lawyer (d. 1873)
- 1812 – Stephen Pearl Andrews, American author and activist (d. 1886)
- 1814 – Thomas Crawford, American sculptor, designed the Statue of Freedom (d. 1857)
- 1817 – Braxton Bragg, American general (d. 1876)
- 1818 – John Ainsworth Horrocks, English-Australian explorer, founded Penwortham (d. 1846)
- 1822 – Ahmed Cevdet Pasha, Ottoman sociologist, historian, scholar, statesman and jurist (d. 1895)
- 1842 – Mykola Lysenko, Ukrainian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1912)
- 1846 – Randolph Caldecott, English illustrator and painter (d. 1886)
- 1846 – James Timberlake, American lieutenant, police officer, and farmer (d. 1891)
- 1852 – Otakar Ševčík, Czech violinist and educator (d. 1934)
- 1852 – Hector Sévin, French cardinal (d. 1916)
- 1855 – Dorothy Tennant, British painter (d. 1926)
- 1857 – Paul Doumer, French mathematician, journalist, and politician, 14th President of France (d. 1932)
- 1866 – Jack Boyle, American baseball player and umpire (d. 1913)
- 1868 – Robert Andrews Millikan, American colonel and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1953)
- 1869 – Tom McInnes, Scottish-English footballer (d. 1939)
- 1873 – Ernest Lawson, Canadian-American painter (d. 1939)
- 1880 – Ernest C. Quigley, Canadian-American football player and coach (d. 1960)
- 1884 – Arthur H. Vandenberg, American journalist and politician (d. 1951)
- 1884 – Lyda Borelli, Italian actress (d. 1959)
- 1885 – Aryeh Levin, Polish-Lithuanian rabbi and educator (d. 1969)
- 1886 – August Rei, Estonian lawyer and politician, Head of State of Estonia (d. 1963)
- 1887 – Chico Marx, American actor (d. 1961)
- 1890 – George Clark, American race car driver (d. 1978)
- 1892 – Charlie Poole, American country banjo player (d. 1931)
- 1892 – Johannes Semper, Estonian poet and scholar (d. 1970)
- 1896 – He Long, Chinese general and politician, 1st Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China (d. 1969)
- 1896 – Joseph Schildkraut, Austrian-American actor (d. 1964)
- 1899 – Ruth Page, American ballerina and choreographer (d. 1991)
- 1901 – Greta Kempton, Austrian-American painter (d. 1991)
- 1902 – Johannes Brinkman, Dutch architect, designed the Van Nelle Factory (d. 1949)
- 1902 – Madeleine Milhaud, French actress and composer (d. 2008)
- 1903 – Bill Holman, American cartoonist (d. 1987)
- 1907 – James M. Gavin, American general and diplomat, United States Ambassador to France (d. 1990)
- 1908 – Jack Crawford, Australian tennis player (d. 1991)
- 1908 – Louis L’Amour, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1988)
- 1909 – Gabrielle Roy, Canadian author and educator (d. 1983)
- 1910 – Nicholas Monsarrat, English sailor and author (d. 1979)
- 1912 – Wilfrid Brambell, Irish actor and performer (d. 1985)
- 1912 – Karl Malden, American actor (d. 2009)
- 1912 – Agnes Martin, Canadian-American painter and educator (d. 2004)
- 1912 – Leslie Johnson, English race car driver (d. 1959)
- 1913 – Tom McCall, American journalist and politician, 30th Governor of Oregon (d. 1983)
- 1913 – Lew Wasserman, American businessman and talent agent (d. 2002)
- 1913 – James Westerfield, American actor (d. 1971)
- 1914 – John Stanley, American author and illustrator (d. 1993)
- 1914 – Donald Stokes, Baron Stokes, English businessman (d. 2008)
- 1917 – Virginia Grey, American actress (d. 2004)
- 1917 – Irving Kaplansky, Canadian-American mathematician and academic (d. 2006)
- 1917 – Paul Rogers, English actor (d. 2013)
- 1918 – Cheddi Jagan, Guyanese politician, 4th President of Guyana (d. 1997)
- 1919 – Bernard Krigstein, American illustrator (d. 1990)
- 1920 – James Brown, American actor and singer (d. 1992)
- 1920 – Werner Klemperer, German-American actor (d. 2000)
- 1920 – Lloyd MacPhail, Canadian businessman and politician, 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island (d. 1995)
- 1920 – Fanny Waterman, English pianist and educator, founded the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition
- 1920 – Katsuko Saruhashi, Japanese geochemist (d. 2007)
- 1920 – Ross Martin, American actor (d. 1981)
- 1921 – Nino Manfredi, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
- 1922 – John J. Gilligan, American lieutenant and politician, 62nd Governor of Ohio (d. 2013)
- 1922 – Stewart Stern, American screenwriter (d. 2015)
- 1923 – Marcel Marceau, French mime and actor (d. 2007)
- 1924 – Al Neuharth, American journalist and author, founded USA Today (d. 2013)
- 1924 – Yevgeny Ostashev, Russian test pilot, participant in the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite (d. 1960)
- 1924 – Osman F. Seden, Turkish director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1998)
- 1924 – Bill Wendell, American television announcer (d. 1999)
- 1927 – Marty Blake, American basketball player and manager (d. 2013)
- 1927 – Nicolas Tikhomiroff, Russian photographer (d. 2016)
- 1928 – Carrie Donovan, American journalist (d. 2001)
- 1928 – E. D. Hirsch, American author, critic, and academic
- 1928 – Ed Macauley, American basketball player, coach, and priest (d. 2011)
- 1929 – Yayoi Kusama, Japanese artist
- 1929 – P. Ramlee, Malaysian actor, director, singer, songwriter, composer, and producer. (d. 1973)
- 1930 – Derek Bok, American lawyer and academic
- 1930 – Pat Robertson, American minister and broadcaster, founded the Christian Broadcasting Network
- 1930 – Stephen Sondheim, American composer and songwriter
- 1931 – Burton Richter, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018)
- 1931 – William Shatner, Canadian actor
- 1931 – Leslie Thomas, Welsh journalist and author (d. 2014)
- 1932 – Els Borst, Dutch physician and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 2014)
- 1932 – Larry Evans, American chess player and journalist (d. 2010)
- 1933 – Abolhassan Banisadr, Iranian economist and politician, 1st President of Iran
- 1934 – May Britt, Swedish actress
- 1934 – Sheila Cameron, English lawyer and judge
- 1934 – Orrin Hatch, American lawyer and politician
- 1935 – Lea Pericoli, Italian tennis player and journalist
- 1935 – Frank Pulli, American baseball player and umpire (d. 2013)
- 1935 – M. Emmet Walsh, American actor
- 1936 – Ron Carey, American trade union leader (d. 2008)
- 1936 – Roger Whittaker, Kenyan-English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1936 – Erol Büyükburç, Turkish singer-songwriter, pop music composer, and actor (d. 2015)
- 1937 – Angelo Badalamenti, American pianist and composer
- 1937 – Armin Hary, German sprinter
- 1937 – Jon Hassell, American trumpet player and composer
- 1938 – Rein Etruk, Estonian chess player (d. 2012)
- 1940 – Dave Keon, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1940 – Haing S. Ngor, Cambodian-American physician and author (d. 1996)
- 1940 – George Edward Alcorn, Jr. American physicist and inventor
- 1941 – Billy Collins, American poet
- 1941 – Jeremy Clyde, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1941 – Bruno Ganz, Swiss actor (d. 2019)
- 1941 – Cassam Uteem, Mauritian politician, 2nd President of Mauritius
- 1942 – Jorge Ben Jor, Brazilian singer-songwriter
- 1942 – Dick Pound, Canadian lawyer and academic
- 1943 – George Benson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1943 – Nazem Ganjapour, Iranian footballer and manager (d. 2013)
- 1943 – Keith Relf, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1976)
- 1945 – Eric Roth, American screenwriter and producer
- 1946 – Don Chaney, American basketball player and coach
- 1946 – Rivka Golani, Israeli viola player and composer
- 1946 – Rudy Rucker, American mathematician, computer scientist, and author
- 1946 – Harry Vanda, Dutch-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1947 – George Ferguson, English architect and politician, 1st Mayor of Bristol
- 1947 – James Patterson, American author and producer
- 1947 – Maarten van Gent, Dutch basketball player and coach
- 1948 – Andrew Lloyd Webber, English composer and director
- 1949 – Fanny Ardant, French actress, director, and screenwriter
- 1949 – Brian Hanrahan, English journalist (d. 2010)
- 1952 – Des Browne, Scottish lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
- 1953 – Kenneth Rogoff, American economist and chess grandmaster
- 1955 – Lena Olin, Swedish actress
- 1955 – Pete Sessions, American politician
- 1955 – Valdis Zatlers, Latvian physician and politician, 7th President of Latvia
- 1956 – Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (born María Teresa Mestre y Batista)
- 1957 – Jürgen Bucher, German footballer
- 1957 – Stephanie Mills, American actress and singer
- 1959 – Matthew Modine, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1960 – Tarmo Laht, Estonian architect
- 1960 – Lauri Vahtre, Estonian historian and politician
- 1961 – Simon Furman, British comic book writer
- 1963 – Deborah Bull, English ballerina
- 1963 – Susan Ann Sulley, English pop singer (The Human League)
- 1963 – Martin Vizcarra, Peruvian engineer and politician, 67th President of Peru
- 1964 – David Gillespie, Australian rugby league player
- 1966 – Pia Cayetano, Filipino lawyer and politician
- 1966 – Todd Ewen, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2015)
- 1966 – Artis Pabriks, Latvian academic and politician, 11th Minister for Defence of Latvia
- 1966 – António Pinto, Portuguese runner
- 1966 – Brian Shaw, American basketball player and coach
- 1967 – Mario Cipollini, Italian cyclist
- 1967 – Bernie Gallacher, Scottish-English footballer (d. 2011)
- 1970 – Andreas Johnson, Swedish singer-songwriter
- 1970 – Leontien van Moorsel, Dutch cyclist
- 1970 – Hwang Young-cho, South Korean runner
- 1971 – Keegan-Michael Key, American actor, comedian, and writer
- 1972 – Shawn Bradley, German-American basketball player, coach, and actor
- 1972 – Cory Lidle, American baseball player (d. 2006)
- 1972 – Elvis Stojko, Canadian figure skater and sportscaster
- 1973 – Beverley Knight, English singer-songwriter and producer
- 1974 – Marcus Camby, American basketball player
- 1974 – Philippe Clement, Belgian footballer
- 1974 – Geo Meneses, Mexican producer and singer
- 1975 – Cole Hauser, American actor and producer
- 1975 – Jiří Novák, Czech-Monegasque tennis player
- 1976 – Teun de Nooijer, Dutch field hockey player
- 1976 – Kathryn Jean Lopez, American journalist
- 1976 – Asako Toki, Japanese singer-songwriter
- 1976 – Kellie Shanygne Williams, American actress
- 1976 – Reese Witherspoon, American actress and producer
- 1977 – Joey Porter, American football player and coach
- 1977 – Tom Poti, American ice hockey player
- 1979 – Aaron North, American guitarist
- 1979 – Juan Uribe, Dominican baseball player
- 1981 – Arne Gabius, German runner
- 1982 – Piá, Brazilian footballer
- 1982 – Enrico Gasparotto, Italian cyclist
- 1982 – Michael Janyk, Canadian skier
- 1984 – Piotr Trochowski, German footballer
- 1985 – Mayola Biboko, Belgian footballer
- 1985 – Jakob Fuglsang, Danish cyclist
- 1985 – Mike Jenkins, American football player
- 1985 – Justin Masterson, American baseball player
- 1985 – Kelli Waite, Australian swimmer
- 1986 – David Choi, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1986 – Dexter Fowler, American baseball player
- 1987 – Ike Davis, American baseball player
- 1987 – Jairo Mora Sandoval, Costa Rican environmentalist (d. 2013)
- 1987 – Liam Doran, British rally cross driver
- 1989 – Ruben Popa, Romanian footballer
- 1989 – J. J. Watt, American football player
- 1989 – Tyler Oakley, American internet celebrity
Deaths on March 22
- 880 – Carloman of Bavaria, Frankish king
- 1144 – William of Norwich, child murder victim
- 1322 – Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, English politician, Lord High Steward of England (b. 1278)
- 1418 – Dietrich of Nieheim, German bishop and historian (b. 1345)
- 1421 – Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence, English soldier and politician, Lord High Steward of England (b. 1388)
- 1454 – John Kemp, Archbishop of Canterbury
- 1471 – George of Poděbrady (b. 1420)
- 1544 – Johannes Magnus, Swedish archbishop and theologian (b. 1488)
- 1602 – Agostino Carracci, Italian painter and educator (b. 1557)
- 1685 – Emperor Go-Sai of Japan (b. 1638)
- 1687 – Jean-Baptiste Lully, Italian-French composer and conductor (b. 1632)
- 1758 – Jonathan Edwards, English minister, theologian, and philosopher (b. 1703)
- 1772 – John Canton, English physicist and academic (b. 1718)
- 1820 – Stephen Decatur, American commander (b. 1779)
- 1832 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German novelist, poet, playwright, and diplomat (b. 1749)
- 1840 – Étienne Bobillier, French mathematician and academic (b. 1798)
- 1864 – Konstanty Kalinowski, writer, journalist, lawyer and revolutionary (b. 1838)
- 1881 – Samuel Courtauld, English businessman (b. 1793)
- 1896 – Thomas Hughes, English lawyer and politician (b. 1822)
- 1913 – Song Jiaoren, Chinese educator and politician (b. 1882)
- 1913 – Ruggero Oddi, Italian physiologist and anatomist (b.1864)
- 1924 – William Macewen, Scottish surgeon and neuroscientist (b. 1848)
- 1931 – James Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy, Irish lawyer and politician (b. 1851)
- 1942 – Frederick Cuming, English cricketer (b. 1875)
- 1942 – William Donne, English captain and cricketer (b. 1875)
- 1945 – John Hessin Clarke, American lawyer and judge (b. 1857)
- 1952 – D. S. Senanayake, 1st Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (b. 1883)
- 1955 – Ivan Šubašić, Croatian lawyer and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (b. 1892)
- 1958 – Mike Todd, American film producer (b. 1909)
- 1960 – José Antonio Aguirre, Spanish lawyer and politician, 1st President of the Basque Country (b. 1904)
- 1966 – John Harlin, American mountaineer and pilot (b. 1935)
- 1971 – Johannes Villemson, Estonian-American runner (b. 1893)
- 1971 – Nella Walker, American actress and vaudevillian (b. 1886)
- 1974 – Peter Revson, American race car driver (b. 1939)
- 1974 – Orazio Satta Puliga, Italian automobile designer (b. 1910)
- 1976 – John Dwyer McLaughlin, American painter (b. 1898)
- 1977 – A. K. Gopalan, Indian educator and politician (b. 1904)
- 1978 – Karl Wallenda, German-American acrobat and tightrope walker, founded The Flying Wallendas (b. 1905)
- 1979 – Ben Lyon, American actor and studio executive (b. 1901)
- 1981 – James Elliott, American runner and coach (b. 1915)
- 1981 – Gil Puyat, Filipino businessman and politician, 13th President of the Senate of the Philippines (b. 1907)
- 1986 – Olive Deering, American actress (b. 1918)
- 1986 – Mark Dinning, American singer (b. 1933)
- 1987 – Odysseas Angelis, Greek general and politician (b. 1912)
- 1989 – Peta Taylor, English cricketer (b. 1912)
- 1990 – Gerald Bull, Canadian engineer and academic (b. 1928)
- 1991 – Léon Balcer, Canadian lawyer and politician, 19th Solicitor General of Canada (b. 1917)
- 1991 – Paul Engle, American novelist, poet, playwright, and critic (b. 1908)
- 1991 – Dave Guard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1934)
- 1991 – Gloria Holden, English-American actress (b. 1908)
- 1993 – Steve Olin, American baseball player (b. 1965)
- 1994 – Dan Hartman, American singer-songwriter, and producer (b. 1950)
- 1994 – Walter Lantz, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1899)
- 1996 – Don Murray, American drummer (b. 1945)
- 1996 – Robert F. Overmyer, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1936)
- 1996 – Billy Williamson, American guitarist (b. 1925)
- 1999 – Max Beloff, Baron Beloff, English historian and academic (b. 1913)
- 1999 – David Strickland, American actor (b. 1969)
- 2000 – Carlo Parola, Italian footballer and manager (b. 1921)
- 2001 – Stepas Butautas, Lithuanian basketball player and coach (b. 1925)
- 2001 – Sabiha Gökçen, Turkish soldier and pilot (b. 1913)
- 2001 – William Hanna, American animator, director, producer, and voice actor, co-founded Hanna-Barbera (b. 1910)
- 2001 – Robert Fletcher Shaw, Canadian businessman, academic, and civil servant (b. 1910)
- 2002 – Rudolf Baumgartner, Swiss violinist and conductor (b. 1917)
- 2003 – Terry Lloyd, English journalist (b. 1952)
- 2004 – Janet Akyüz Mattei, Turkish-American astronomer and academic (b. 1943)
- 2004 – Ahmed Yassin, Co-founded Hamas (b. 1937)
- 2004 – V. M. Tarkunde, Indian lawyer and civil rights activist (b. 1909)
- 2005 – Rod Price, English guitarist and songwriter (b. 1947)
- 2005 – Gemini Ganesan, Indian film actor (b. 1920)
- 2005 – Kenzō Tange, Japanese architect, designed the Yoyogi National Gymnasium and Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (b. 1913)
- 2006 – Pierre Clostermann, French soldier, pilot, and politician (b. 1921)
- 2006 – Pío Leyva, Cuban singer and author (b. 1917)
- 2006 – Kurt von Trojan, Austrian-Australian journalist and author (b. 1937)
- 2007 – U. G. Krishnamurti, Indian-Italian philosopher and educator (b. 1918)
- 2008 – Cachao López, Cuban-American bassist and composer (b. 1918)
- 2010 – James Black, Scottish biologist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1924)
- 2010 – Özhan Canaydın, Turkish basketball player and businessman (b. 1943)
- 2011 – Artur Agostinho, Portuguese journalist (b. 1920)
- 2011 – Victor Bouchard, Canadian pianist and composer (b. 1926)
- 2012 – Joe Blanchard, American football player and wrestler (b. 1928)
- 2012 – John Payton, American lawyer and activist (b. 1946)
- 2012 – Matthew White Ridley, 4th Viscount Ridley, English academic and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Mickey Sullivan, American baseball player and coach (b. 1932)
- 2012 – David Waltz, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1943)
- 2012 – Neil L. Whitehead, English anthropologist and author (b. 1956)
- 2013 – Vladimír Čech, Czech actor and politician (b. 1951)
- 2013 – James Nabrit, American lawyer and academic (b. 1932)
- 2013 – Bebo Valdés, Cuban-Swedish pianist and composer (b. 1918)
- 2013 – Derek Watkins, English trumpet player and composer (b. 1945)
- 2013 – Ray Williams, American basketball player and coach (b. 1954)
- 2014 – Yashwant Vithoba Chittal, Indian author (b. 1928)
- 2014 – Mickey Duff, Polish-English boxer and manager (b. 1929)
- 2014 – Thor Listau, Norwegian soldier and politician (b. 1938)
- 2014 – Tasos Mitsopoulos, Cypriot politician, Cypriot Minister of Defence (b. 1965)
- 2015 – Arkady Arkanov, Ukrainian-Russian actor and playwright (b. 1933)
- 2015 – Horst Buhtz, German footballer and manager (b. 1923)
- 2015 – George Neel, Jr., American businessman (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Norman Scribner, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1936)
- 2016 – Phife Dawg, American rapper (b. 1970)
- 2016 – Rob Ford, Canadian businessman and politician, 64th Mayor of Toronto (b. 1969)
- 2016 – Rita Gam, American actress (b. 1927)
- 2018 – Johan van Hulst, Dutch politician, academic and author, Yad Vashem recipient (b. 1911)
Holidays and observances on March 22
- Bihar Day (Bihar, India)
- Christian feast day:
- Basil of Ancyra
- Blessed Clemens August Graf von Galen
- Darerca of Ireland
- Epaphroditus
- Jonathan Edwards (Lutheranism)
- Lea of Rome
- Nicholas Owen
- Paul of Narbonne
- March 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Earliest day on which Easter Sunday can fall (last in 1818, will not happen again until 2285), while April 25 is the latest. (Christianity)
- Emancipation Day or Día de la Abolición de la Esclavitud (Puerto Rico)
- World Water Day (International)
-
January 31 in History
- 314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as a successor to the late Pope Miltiades.
- 1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the throne as King Eric X of Sweden.
- 1504 – The Treaty of Lyon ends the Italian War, confirming French domination of northern Italy, while Spain receives the Kingdom of Naples.
- 1578 – Eighty Years’ War and Anglo-Spanish War: The Battle of Gembloux is a victory for Spanish forces led by Don John of Austria over a rebel army of Dutch, Flemish, English, Scottish, German, French and Walloons.
- 1606 – Gunpowder Plot: Four of the conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, are executed for treason by hanging, drawing and quartering, for plotting against Parliament and King James.
- 1747 – The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.
- 1814 – Gervasio Antonio de Posadas becomes Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (present-day Argentina).
- 1846 – After the Milwaukee Bridge War, the United States towns of Juneautown and Kilbourntown unify to create the City of Milwaukee.
- 1848 – John C. Frémont is court-martialed for mutiny and disobeying orders.
- 1862 – Alvan Graham Clark discovers the white dwarf star Sirius B, a companion of Sirius, through an 18.5-inch (47 cm) telescope now located at Northwestern University.
- 1865 – American Civil War: The United States Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, abolishing slavery and submits it to the states for ratification.
- 1865 – American Civil War: Confederate General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief.
- 1891 – History of Portugal: The first attempt at a Portuguese republican revolution breaks out in the northern city of Porto.
- 1897 – Czechoslav Trade Union Association is founded in Prague.
- 1900 – Datu Muhammad Salleh is killed in Kampung Teboh, Tambunan, ending the Mat Salleh Rebellion.
- 1915 – World War I: Germany is the first to make large-scale use of poison gas in warfare in the Battle of Bolimów against Russia.
- 1917 – World War I: Germany announces that its U-boats will resume unrestricted submarine warfare after a two-year hiatus.
- 1918 – A series of accidental collisions on a misty Scottish night leads to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another five British warships.
- 1919 – The Battle of George Square takes place in Glasgow, Scotland, during a campaign for shorter working hours.
- 1928 – Leon Trotsky is exiled to Alma-Ata.
- 1930 – 3M begins marketing Scotch Tape.
- 1942 – World War II: Allied forces are defeated by the Japanese at the Battle of Malaya and retreat to Singapore.
- 1943 – World War II: German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrenders to the Soviets at Stalingrad, followed 2 days later by the remainder of his Sixth Army, ending one of the war’s fiercest battles.
- 1944 – World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
- 1944 – World War II: During the Anzio campaign, the 1st Ranger Battalion (Darby’s Rangers) is destroyed behind enemy lines in a heavily outnumbered encounter at Battle of Cisterna, Italy.
- 1945 – US Army private Eddie Slovik is executed for desertion, the first such execution of an American soldier since the Civil War.
- 1945 – World War II: About 3,000 inmates from the Stutthof concentration camp are forcibly marched into the Baltic Sea at Palmnicken (now Yantarny, Russia) and executed.
- 1945 – World War II: The end of fighting in the Battle of Hill 170 during the Burma Campaign, in which the British 3 Commando Brigade repulsed a Japanese counterattack on their positions and precipitated a general retirement from the Arakan Peninsula.
- 1946 – Cold War: Yugoslavia’s new constitution, modeling that of the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia).
- 1946 – The Democratic Republic of Vietnam introduces the đồng to replace the French Indochinese piastre at par.
- 1949 – These Are My Children, the first television daytime soap opera, is broadcast by the NBC station in Chicago.
- 1950 – Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.
- 1951 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 90 relating to Korean War is adopted.
- 1953 – A North Sea flood causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands and over 300 in the United Kingdom.
- 1957 – Eight people (5 total crew from 2 aircraft and 3 on the ground) in Pacoima, California are killed following the mid-air collision between a Douglas DC-7 airliner and a Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet.
- 1958 – Cold War: Space Race: The first successful American satellite detects the Van Allen radiation belt.
- 1961 – Project Mercury: Mercury-Redstone 2: Ham the Chimp travels into outer space.
- 1966 – The Soviet Union launches the unmanned Luna 9 spacecraft as part of the Luna program.
- 1968 – Vietnam War: Viet Cong guerrillas attack the United States embassy in Saigon, and other attacks, in the early morning hours, later grouped together as the Tet Offensive.
- 1968 – Nauru gains independence from Australia.
- 1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 14: Astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell, aboard a Saturn V, lift off for a mission to the Fra Mauro Highlands on the Moon.
- 1971 – The Winter Soldier Investigation, organized by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War to publicize war crimes and atrocities by Americans and allies in Vietnam, begins in Detroit.
- 1978 – The Crown of St. Stephen (also known as the Holy Crown of Hungary) goes on public display after being returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held after World War II.
- 1996 – An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in Colombo, killing at least 86 people and injuring 1,400.
- 2000 – Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crash: An MD-83, experiencing horizontal stabilizer problems, crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Point Mugu, California, killing all 88 aboard.
- 2001 – In the Netherlands, a Scottish court convicts Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and acquits another Libyan citizen for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
- 2009 – In Kenya, at least 113 people are killed and over 200 injured following an oil spillage ignition in Molo, days after a massive fire at a Nakumatt supermarket in Nairobi killed at least 25 people.
- 2018 – Both a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse occur.
- 2019 – Abdullah of Pahang is sworn in as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
- 2020 – The United Kingdom’s membership within the European Union ceases in accordance with Article 50, after 47 years of being a member state.
Births on January 31
- 1512 – Henry, King of Portugal (d. 1580)
- 1543 – Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japanese shōgun (d. 1616)
- 1583 – Peter Bulkley, English and later American Puritan (d. 1659)
- 1597 – John Francis Regis, French priest and saint (d. 1640)
- 1607 – James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby (d. 1651)
- 1624 – Arnold Geulincx, Flemish philosopher and academic (d. 1669)
- 1673 – Louis de Montfort, French priest and saint (d. 1716)
- 1686 – Hans Egede, Norwegian missionary and explorer (d. 1758)
- 1752 – Gouverneur Morris, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to France (d. 1816)
- 1759 – François Devienne, French flute player and composer (d. 1803)
- 1769 – André-Jacques Garnerin, French balloonist and the inventor of the frameless parachute (d. 1823)
- 1785 – Magdalena Dobromila Rettigová, Czech cook book author (d. 1845)
- 1797 – Franz Schubert, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1828)
- 1799 – Rodolphe Töpffer, Swiss teacher, author, painter, cartoonist, and caricaturist (d. 1846)
- 1820 – William B. Washburn, American politician, 28th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1887)
- 1835 – Lunalilo of Hawaii (d. 1874)
- 1854 – David Emmanuel, Romanian mathematician and academic (d. 1941)
- 1865 – Henri Desgrange, French cyclist and journalist (d. 1940)
- 1865 – Shastriji Maharaj, Indian spiritual leader, founded BAPS (d. 1951)
- 1868 – Theodore William Richards, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
- 1872 – Zane Grey, American author (d. 1939)
- 1881 – Irving Langmuir, American chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
- 1884 – Theodor Heuss, German journalist and politician, 1st President of the Federal Republic of Germany (d. 1963)
- 1884 – Mammad Amin Rasulzade, Azerbaijani scholar and politician, 1st President of The Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan (d. 1955)
- 1889 – Frank Foster, English cricketer (d. 1958)
- 1892 – Eddie Cantor, American singer-songwriter, actor, and dancer (d. 1964)
- 1894 – Isham Jones, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1956)
- 1896 – Sofya Yanovskaya, Russian mathematician and historian (d. 1966)
- 1900 – Betty Parsons, American artist, art dealer and collector (d. 1982)
- 1902 – Nat Bailey, Canadian businessman, founded White Spot (d. 1978)
- 1902 – Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (d. 1968)
- 1902 – Alva Myrdal, Swedish sociologist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
- 1902 – Julian Steward, American anthropologist (d. 1972)
- 1905 – John O’Hara, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1970)
- 1909 – Miron Grindea, Romanian-English journalist (d. 1995)
- 1913 – Don Hutson, American football player and coach (d. 1997)
- 1914 – Jersey Joe Walcott, American boxer and police officer (d. 1994)
- 1915 – Bobby Hackett, American trumpet player and cornet player (d. 1976)
- 1915 – Alan Lomax, American historian, author, and scholar (d. 2002)
- 1915 – Thomas Merton, American monk and author (d. 1968)
- 1915 – Garry Moore, American comedian and game show host (d. 1993)
- 1916 – Frank Parker, American tennis player (d. 1997)
- 1917 – Fred Bassetti, American architect and academic, founded Bassetti Architects (d. 2013)
- 1919 – Jackie Robinson, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1972)
- 1920 – Stewart Udall, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 37th United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 2010)
- 1920 – Bert Williams, English footballer (d. 2004)
- 1921 – John Agar, American actor (d. 2002)
- 1921 – Carol Channing, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2019)
- 1921 – E. Fay Jones, American architect, designed the Thorncrown Chapel (d. 2004)
- 1921 – Mario Lanza, American tenor and actor (d. 1959)
- 1922 – Joanne Dru, American actress (d. 1996)
- 1923 – Norman Mailer, American journalist and author (d. 2007)
- 1925 – Benjamin Hooks, American minister, lawyer, and activist (d. 2010)
- 1926 – Tom Alston, American baseball player (d. 1993)
- 1926 – Chuck Willis, American singer-songwriter (d. 1958)
- 1927 – Norm Prescott, American animator, producer, and composer, co-founded Filmation Studios (d. 2005)
- 1928 – Irma Wyman, American computer scientist and engineer (d. 2015)
- 1929 – Rudolf Mössbauer, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2011)
- 1929 – Jean Simmons, English-American actress (d. 2010)
- 1930 – Joakim Bonnier, Swedish race car driver (d. 1972)
- 1930 – Al De Lory, American composer, conductor, and producer (d. 2012)
- 1931 – Ernie Banks, American baseball player and coach (d. 2015)
- 1931 – Christopher Chataway, English runner, journalist, and politician (d. 2014)
- 1932 – Miron Babiak, Polish sea captain (d. 2013)
- 1933 – Camille Henry, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1997)
- 1933 – Morton Mower, American cardiologist and inventor
- 1934 – Ernesto Brambilla, Italian motorcycle racer and race car driver
- 1934 – Gene DeWeese, American author (d. 2012)
- 1934 – James Franciscus, American actor and producer (d. 1991)
- 1934 – Bob Turner, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2005)
- 1935 – Kenzaburō Ōe, Japanese author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1936 – Can Bartu, Turkish former basketball and football player
- 1937 – Regimantas Adomaitis, Lithuanian actor
- 1937 – Andrée Boucher, Canadian educator and politician, 39th Mayor of Quebec City (d. 2007)
- 1937 – Philip Glass, American composer
- 1937 – Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (d. 2008)
- 1938 – Beatrix of the Netherlands
- 1938 – Lynn Carlin, American actress
- 1938 – James G. Watt, American lawyer and politician, 43rd United States Secretary of the Interior
- 1940 – Kitch Christie, South African rugby player and coach (d. 1998)
- 1940 – Stuart Margolin, American actor and director
- 1941 – Dick Gephardt, American lawyer and politician
- 1941 – Gerald McDermott, American author and illustrator (d. 2012)
- 1941 – Jessica Walter, American actress
- 1942 – Daniela Bianchi, Italian actress
- 1942 – Derek Jarman, English director, stage designer, and author (d. 1994)
- 1944 – John Inverarity, Australian cricketer and coach
- 1945 – Rynn Berry, American historian and author (d. 2014)
- 1945 – Brenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond, English lawyer, judge, and academic
- 1945 – Joseph Kosuth, American sculptor and theorist
- 1946 – Terry Kath, American guitarist and singer-songwriter (Chicago) (d. 1978)
- 1946 – Medin Zhega, Albanian footballer and manager (d. 2012)
- 1947 – Nolan Ryan, American baseball player
- 1947 – Matt Minglewood, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1947 – Glynn Turman, American actor
- 1948 – Volkmar Groß, German footballer (d. 2014)
- 1948 – Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician
- 1949 – Johan Derksen, Dutch footballer and journalist
- 1949 – Norris Church Mailer, American model and educator (d. 2010)
- 1949 – Ken Wilber, American sociologist, philosopher, and author
- 1950 – Denise Fleming, American author and illustrator
- 1950 – Alexander Korzhakov, Russian general and bodyguard
- 1950 – Janice Rebibo, American-Israeli author and poet (d. 2015)
- 1951 – Harry Wayne Casey, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
- 1954 – Faoud Bacchus, Guyanese cricketer
- 1954 – Adrian Vandenberg, Dutch guitarist and songwriter
- 1955 – Virginia Ruzici, Romanian tennis player and manager
- 1956 – Guido van Rossum, Dutch programmer, creator of the Python programming language
- 1956 – John Lydon, English singer-songwriter
- 1957 – Shirley Babashoff, American swimmer
- 1958 – Armin Reichel, German footballer and manager
- 1959 – Anthony LaPaglia, Australian actor and producer
- 1959 – Kelly Lynch, American model and actress
- 1960 – Akbar Ganji, Iranian journalist and author
- 1960 – Grant Morrison, Scottish author and screenwriter
- 1960 – Željko Šturanović, Montenegrin politician, 31st Prime Minister of Montenegro (d. 2014)
- 1961 – Elizabeth Barker, Baroness Barker, English politician
- 1961 – Fatou Bensouda, Gambian lawyer and judge
- 1961 – Lloyd Cole, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1963 – Craig Coleman, Australian rugby league player and coach
- 1963 – Gwen Graham, American lawyer and politician
- 1964 – Martha MacCallum, American journalist
- 1964 – Dawn Prince-Hughes, American scientist
- 1965 – Giorgos Gasparis, Greek basketball player and coach
- 1965 – Ofra Harnoy, Israeli-Canadian cellist
- 1965 – Peter Sagal, American author and radio host
- 1966 – Umar Alisha, Indian journalist and philanthropist
- 1966 – Thant Myint-U, Myanmar historian, diplomat, conservationist, and former presidential advisor.
- 1966 – Dexter Fletcher, English actor and director
- 1967 – Fat Mike, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
- 1968 – John Collins, Scottish footballer, midfielder and manager
- 1968 – Matt King, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1968 – Ulrica Messing, Swedish politician, 2nd Swedish Minister for Infrastructure
- 1968 – Patrick Stevens, Belgian sprinter
- 1969 – Dov Charney, Canadian-American fashion designer and businessman, founded American Apparel
- 1969 – Daniel Moder, American cinematographer
- 1970 – Minnie Driver, English singer-songwriter and actress
- 1970 – Danny Michel, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
- 1971 – Patricia Velásquez, Venezuelan model and actress
- 1973 – Portia de Rossi, Australian-American actress
- 1974 – Othella Harrington, American basketball player and coach
- 1974 – Ariel Pestano, Cuban baseball player
- 1975 – Fred Coleman, American football player and coach
- 1975 – Preity Zinta, Indian actress, producer, and television host
- 1976 – Traianos Dellas, Greek footballer and manager
- 1976 – Buddy Rice, American race car driver
- 1976 – Paul Scheer, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1977 – Suchitra Singh, Indian cricketer
- 1977 – Kerry Washington, American actress
- 1978 – Fabián Caballero, Argentinian footballer and manager
- 1979 – Daniel Tammet, English author and educator
- 1980 – James Adomian, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter
- 1980 – Gary Doherty, Irish footballer, centre forward
- 1980 – Shim Yi-young, South Korean actress
- 1981 – Julio Arca, Argentinian footballer
- 1981 – Mark Cameron, Australian cricketer
- 1981 – Justin Timberlake, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
- 1982 – Maret Ani, Estonian tennis player
- 1982 – Yuniesky Betancourt, Cuban baseball player
- 1982 – Andreas Görlitz, German footballer
- 1982 – Salvatore Masiello, Italian footballer
- 1982 – Allan McGregor, Scottish footballer
- 1982 – Jānis Sprukts, Latvian ice hockey player
- 1982 – Yukimi Nagano, Swedish singer-songwriter
- 1982 – Brad Thompson, American baseball player
- 1983 – James Sutton, English actor
- 1983 – Fabio Quagliarella, Italian footballer
- 1984 – Vernon Davis, American football player
- 1984 – Josh Johnson, Canadian-American baseball player
- 1984 – Jeremy Wariner, American runner
- 1984 – Alessandro Zanni, Italian rugby player
- 1985 – Adam Federici, Australian footballer
- 1985 – Mario Williams, American football player
- 1986 – Walter Dix, American sprinter
- 1986 – Megan Ellison, American film producer, founded Annapurna Pictures
- 1986 – George Elokobi, Cameroonian footballer
- 1986 – Yves Ma-Kalambay, Belgian footballer
- 1986 – Pauline Parmentier, French tennis player
- 1987 – Marcus Mumford, American-English singer-songwriter
- 1988 – Brett Pitman, English footballer
- 1988 – Taijo Teniste, Estonian footballer
- 1990 – Jacopo Fortunato, Italian footballer
- 1990 – Jacob Markström, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1990 – Kota Yabu, Japanese idol, singer-songwriter, model, actor
Deaths on January 31
- 632 – Máedóc of Ferns, Irish bishop and saint (b. 550)
- 876 – Hemma of Altdorf, Frankish queen
- 985 – Ryōgen, Japanese monk and abbot (b. 912)
- 1030 – William V, duke of Aquitaine (b. 969)
- 1216 – Theodore II, patriarch of Constantinople
- 1398 – Sukō, emperor of Japan (b. 1334)
- 1418 – Mircea I, prince of Wallachia (b. 1355)
- 1435 – Xuande, emperor of China (b. 1398)
- 1561 – Bairam Khan, Mughalan general (b. 1501)
- 1561 – Menno Simons, Dutch minister and theologian (b. 1496)
- 1580 – Henry, king of Portugal (b. 1512)
- 1606 – Guy Fawkes, English conspirator, leader of the Gunpowder Plot (b. 1570)
- 1606 – Ambrose Rookwood, English Gunpowder Plot conspirator (b. 1578)
- 1606 – Thomas Wintour, English Gunpowder Plot conspirator (b. 1571)
- 1615 – Claudio Acquaviva, Italian priest, 5th Superior General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1543)
- 1632 – Jost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker and mathematician (b. 1552)
- 1665 – Johannes Clauberg, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1622)
- 1686 – Jean Mairet, French playwright (b. 1604)
- 1720 – Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford, English politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1654)
- 1729 – Jacob Roggeveen, Dutch explorer (b. 1659)
- 1736 – Filippo Juvarra, Italian architect and set designer, designed the Basilica of Superga (b. 1678)
- 1790 – Thomas Lewis, Irish-born American lawyer and surveyor (b. 1718)
- 1794 – Mariot Arbuthnot, English admiral and politician, 12th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (b. 1711)
- 1811 – Manuel Alberti, Argentinian priest and journalist (b. 1763)
- 1815 – José Félix Ribas, Venezuelan soldier (b. 1775)
- 1828 – Alexander Ypsilantis, Greek general (b. 1792)
- 1836 – John Cheyne, English physician and author (b. 1777)
- 1844 – Henri Gatien Bertrand, French general (b. 1773)
- 1856 – 11th Dalai Lama (b. 1838)
- 1870 – Cilibi Moise, Moldavian-Romanian journalist and author (b. 1812)
- 1888 – John Bosco, Italian priest and educator, founded the Salesian Society (b. 1815)
- 1892 – Charles Spurgeon, English pastor and author (b. 1834)
- 1900 – John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry, Scottish nobleman (b. 1844)
- 1907 – Timothy Eaton, Canadian businessman, founded Eaton’s (b. 1834)
- 1923 – Eligiusz Niewiadomski, Polish painter and critic (b. 1869)
- 1933 – John Galsworthy, English novelist and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
- 1942 – Henry Larkin, American baseball player and manager (b. 1860)
- 1944 – Jean Giraudoux, French author and playwright (b. 1882)
- 1954 – Edwin Howard Armstrong, American engineer, invented FM radio (b. 1890)
- 1954 – Vivian Woodward, English captain and footballer (b. 1879)
- 1955 – John Mott, American activist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
- 1956 – A. A. Milne, English author, poet, and playwright, created Winnie-the-Pooh (b. 1882)
- 1958 – Karl Selter, Estonian politician, 14th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1898)
- 1960 – Auguste Herbin, French painter (b. 1882)
- 1961 – Krishna Singh, Indian politician, 1st Chief Minister of Bihar (b. 1887)
- 1966 – Arthur Percival, English general (b. 1887)
- 1967 – Eddie Tolan, American sprinter and educator (b. 1908)
- 1969 – Meher Baba, Indian spiritual master (b. 1894)
- 1971 – Viktor Zhirmunsky, Russian historian and linguist (b. 1891)
- 1973 – Ragnar Frisch, Norwegian economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
- 1974 – Samuel Goldwyn, Polish-American film producer, co-founded Goldwyn Pictures (b. 1882)
- 1976 – Ernesto Miranda, American criminal (b. 1941)
- 1976 – Evert Taube, Swedish author and composer (b. 1890)
- 1985 – Reginald Baker, English-Australian film producer (b. 1896)
- 1985 – Tatsuzō Ishikawa, Japanese author (b. 1905)
- 1987 – Yves Allégret, French director and screenwriter (b. 1907)
- 1989 – William Stephenson, Canadian captain and spy (b. 1896)
- 1990 – Eveline Du Bois-Reymond Marcus, German zoologist and academic (b. 1901)
- 1990 – Rashad Khalifa, Egyptian-American biochemist and academic (b. 1935)
- 1995 – George Abbott, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1887)
- 1997 – John Joseph Scanlan, Irish-American bishop (b. 1930)
- 1999 – Giant Baba, Japanese wrestler and trainer, co-founded All Japan Pro Wrestling (b. 1938)
- 1999 – Norm Zauchin, American baseball player (b. 1929)
- 2000 – Gil Kane, Latvian-American author and illustrator (b. 1926)
- 2001 – Gordon R. Dickson, Canadian-American author (b. 1923)
- 2002 – Gabby Gabreski, American colonel and pilot (b. 1919)
- 2004 – Eleanor Holm, American swimmer and actress (b. 1913)
- 2004 – Suraiya, Indian actress and playback singer (b. 1929)
- 2006 – Moira Shearer, Scottish actress and ballerina (b. 1926)
- 2007 – Molly Ivins, American journalist and author (b. 1944)
- 2007 – Adelaide Tambo, South African activist and politician (b. 1929)
- 2008 – František Čapek, Czechoslovakian canoeist (b. 1914)
- 2011 – Bartolomeu Anania, Romanian bishop and poet (b. 1921)
- 2011 – Mark Ryan, English guitarist and playwright (b. 1959)
- 2012 – Mani Ram Bagri, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Anthony Bevilacqua, American cardinal (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Tristram Potter Coffin, American author, scholar, and academic (b. 1922)
- 2012 – Dorothea Tanning, American painter and sculptor (b. 1910)
- 2013 – Rubén Bonifaz Nuño, Mexican poet and scholar (b. 1923)
- 2013 – Hassan Habibi, Iranian lawyer and politician, 1st Vice President of Iran (b. 1937)
- 2014 – Francis M. Fesmire, American cardiologist and physician (b. 1959)
- 2014 – Anna Gordy Gaye, American songwriter and producer, co-founded Anna Records (b. 1922)
- 2014 – Abdirizak Haji Hussein, Somalian politician, 4th Prime Minister of Somalia (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Miklós Jancsó, Hungarian director and screenwriter (b. 1921)
- 2014 – Joseph Willcox Jenkins, American composer, conductor, and educator (b. 1928)
- 2014 – Christopher Jones, American actor (b. 1941)
- 2015 – Vic Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
- 2015 – Udo Lattek, German footballer, coach, and journalist (b. 1935)
- 2015 – Lizabeth Scott, American actress (b. 1922)
- 2015 – Richard von Weizsäcker, German captain and politician, 6th President of Germany (b. 1920)
- 2016 – Gil Carmichael, American businessman and politician (b. 1927)
- 2016 – Terry Wogan, Irish-British radio and television host (b. 1938)
- 2017 – Rob Stewart, Canadian filmmaker (b. 1979)
- 2018 – Rasual Butler, American professional basketball player (b. 1979)
- 2018 – Leah LaBelle, American singer (b. 1986)
Holidays and observances on January 31
- Christian feast day:
- Domitius (Domice) of Amiens
- Francis Xavier Bianchi
- Geminianus
- John Bosco
- Julius of Novara
- Blessed Ludovica
- Máedóc (Mogue, Aiden)
- Marcella
- Samuel Shoemaker (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Tysul
- Ulphia
- Wilgils
- January 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Amartithi (Meherabad, India, followers of Meher Baba)
- Independence Day (Nauru), celebrates independence from Australia in 1968.
- Street Children’s Day (Austria)
-
January 9 in History
- 475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire.
- 681 – Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews in Spain.
- 1127 – Jin–Song Wars: Invading Jurchen soldiers from the Jin dynasty besiege and sack Bianjing (Kaifeng), the capital of the Song dynasty of China, and abduct Emperor Qinzong of Song and others, ending the Northern Song dynasty.
- 1349 – The Jewish population of Basel, believed by the residents to be the cause of the ongoing Black Death, is rounded up and incinerated.
- 1431 – The trial of Joan of Arc begins in Rouen.
- 1760 – Ahmad Shah Durrani defeats the Marathas in the Battle of Barari Ghat.<refFrançois Xavier Wendel (1991). Wendel’s memoirs on the origin, growth and present state of Jat power in Hindustan (1768). Institut français de Pondichéry. p. 61.</ref>
- 1788 – Connecticut becomes the fifth state to ratify the Constitution.
- 1792 – Treaty of Jassy between Russian and Ottoman Empire is signed.
- 1793 – Jean-Pierre Blanchard becomes the first person to fly in a balloon in the United States.
- 1799 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound to raise funds for Great Britain’s war effort in the Napoleonic Wars.
- 1806 – Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson receives a state funeral and is interred in St Paul’s Cathedral.
- 1816 – Humphry Davy tests his safety lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery.
- 1822 – The Portuguese prince Pedro I of Brazil decides to stay in Brazil against the orders of the Portuguese King João VI, beginning the Brazilian independence process.
- 1839 – The French Academy of Sciences announces the Daguerreotype photography process.
- 1857 – The 7.9 Mw Fort Tejon earthquake shakes Central and Southern California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent).
- 1858 – Anson Jones, the last President of the Republic of Texas, commits suicide.
- 1861 – American Civil War: “Star of the West” incident occurs near Charleston, South Carolina.
- 1861 – Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union before the outbreak of the American Civil War.
- 1878 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy.
- 1894 – New England Telephone and Telegraph installs the first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts.
- 1903 – Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, son of the poet Alfred Tennyson, becomes the second Governor-General of Australia.
- 1909 – Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole, plants the British flag 97 nautical miles (180 km; 112 mi) from the South Pole, the farthest anyone had ever reached at that time.
- 1914 – The Phi Beta Sigma fraternity is founded by African-American students at Howard University in Washington D.C., United States.
- 1916 – World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli concludes with an Ottoman Empire victory when the last Allied forces are evacuated from the peninsula.
- 1917 – World War I: The Battle of Rafa is fought near the Egyptian border with Palestine.
- 1918 – Battle of Bear Valley: The last battle of the American Indian Wars.
- 1921 – Greco-Turkish War: The First Battle of İnönü, the first battle of the war, begins near Eskişehir in Anatolia.
- 1923 – Juan de la Cierva makes the first autogyro flight.
- 1923 – Lithuanian residents of the Memel Territory rebel against the League of Nations’ decision to leave the area as a mandated region under French control.
- 1927 – A fire at the Laurier Palace movie theatre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, kills 78 children.
- 1941 – World War II: First flight of the Avro Lancaster.
- 1945 – World War II: The Sixth United States Army begins the invasion of Lingayen Gulf.
- 1957 – British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden resigns from office following his failure to retake the Suez Canal from Egyptian sovereignty.
- 1960 – President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser opens construction on the Aswan Dam by detonating ten tons of dynamite to demolish twenty tons of granite on the east bank of the Nile.
- 1961 – British authorities announce they have uncovered the Soviet Portland Spy Ring in London.
- 1964 – Martyrs’ Day: Several Panamanian youths try to raise the Panamanian flag in the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal Zone, leading to fighting between U.S. military and Panamanian civilians.
- 1965 – The Mirzapur Cadet College formally opens for academic activities in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
- 1991 – Representatives from the United States and Iraq meet at the Geneva Peace Conference to try to find a peaceful resolution to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
- 1992 – The Assembly of the Serb People in Bosnia and Herzegovina proclaims the creation of Republika Srpska, a new state within Yugoslavia.
- 1992 – The first discoveries of extrasolar planets are announced by astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail. They discovered two planets orbiting the pulsar PSR 1257+12.
- 1996 – First Chechen War: Chechen separatists launch a raid against the helicopter airfield and later a civilian hospital in the city of Kizlyar in the neighboring Dagestan, which turns into a massive hostage crisis involving thousands of civilians.
- 2004 – An inflatable boat carrying illegal Albanian emigrants stalls near the Karaburun Peninsula en route to Brindisi, Italy; exposure to the elements kills 28. This is the second deadliest marine disaster in Albanian history.
- 2005 – Mahmoud Abbas wins the election to succeed Yasser Arafat as President of the Palestinian National Authority, replacing interim president Rawhi Fattouh.
- 2005 – The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and the Government of Sudan sign the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to end the Second Sudanese Civil War.
- 2007 – Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduces the original iPhone at a Macworld keynote in San Francisco.
- 2011 – Iran Air Flight 277 crashes near Urmia in the northwest of the country, killing 77 people.
- 2014 – An explosion at a Mitsubishi Materials chemical plant in Yokkaichi, Japan, kills at least five people and injures 17 others.
- 2015 – The perpetrators of the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris two days earlier are both killed after a hostage situation; a second hostage situation, related to the Charlie Hebdo shooting, occurs at a Jewish market in Vincennes.
- 2015 – A mass poisoning at a funeral in Mozambique involving beer that was contaminated with Burkholderia gladioli leaves 75 dead and over 230 people ill.
Births on January 9
- 727 – Emperor Daizong of Tang (d. 779)
- 1418 – Juan Ramón Folch III de Cardona, Aragonese admiral (d. 1485)
- 1475 – Crinitus, Italian scholar and author (d. 1507)
- 1554 – Pope Gregory XV (d. 1623)
- 1571 – Charles Bonaventure de Longueval, Count of Bucquoy, French commander (d. 1621)
- 1590 – Simon Vouet, French painter (d. 1649)
- 1606 – William Dugard, English printer (d. 1662)
- 1624 – Empress Meishō of Japan (d. 1696)
- 1645 – Sir William Villiers, 3rd Baronet, English noble and politician (d. 1712)
- 1674 – Reinhard Keiser, German composer (d. 1739)
- 1685 – Tiberius Hemsterhuis, Dutch philologist and critic (d. 1766)
- 1728 – Thomas Warton, English poet, historian, and critic (d. 1790)
- 1735 – John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent, English admiral and politician (d. 1823)
- 1745 – Caleb Strong, American lawyer and politician, 6th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1819)
- 1753 – Luísa Todi, Portuguese soprano and actress (d. 1833)
- 1773 – Cassandra Austen, English painter and illustrator (d. 1845)
- 1778 – Hammamizade İsmail Dede Efendi, Turkish Ney player and composer (d. 1846)
- 1811 – Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, English journalist and author (d. 1856)
- 1818 – Antoine Samuel Adam-Salomon, French sculptor and photographer (d. 1881)
- 1819 – James Francis, English-Australian businessman and politician, 9th Premier of Victoria (d. 1884)
- 1822 – Carol Benesch, Czech-Romanian architect, designed the Peleș Castle (d. 1896)
- 1823 – Friedrich von Esmarch, German surgeon and academic (d. 1908)
- 1829 – Thomas William Robertson, English director and playwright (d. 1871)
- 1829 – Adolf Schlagintweit, German botanist and explorer (d. 1857)
- 1832 – Félix-Gabriel Marchand, Canadian journalist and politician, 11th Premier of Quebec (d. 1900)
- 1839 – John Knowles Paine, American composer and academic (d. 1906)
- 1848 – Princess Frederica of Hanover (d. 1926)
- 1849 – John Hartley, English tennis player (d. 1935)
- 1854 – Lady Randolph Churchill, American-born wife of Lord Randolph Churchill, mother of Sir Winston Churchill (d. 1921)
- 1856 – Anton Aškerc, Slovenian priest and poet (d. 1912)
- 1859 – Carrie Chapman Catt, American activist, founded the League of Women Voters and International Alliance of Women (d. 1947)
- 1864 – Vladimir Steklov, Russian mathematician and physicist (d. 1926)
- 1868 – S. P. L. Sørensen, Danish chemist and academic (d. 1939)
- 1870 – Joseph Strauss, American engineer, co-designed the Golden Gate Bridge (d. 1938)
- 1873 – Hayim Nahman Bialik, Ukrainian-Austrian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1934)
- 1873 – Thomas Curtis, American sprinter and hurdler (d. 1944)
- 1873 – John Flanagan, Irish-American hammer thrower (d. 1938)
- 1875 – Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, American sculptor and art collector, founded the Whitney Museum of American Art (d. 1942)
- 1879 – John B. Watson, American psychologist and academic (d. 1958)
- 1881 – Lascelles Abercrombie, English poet and critic (d. 1938)
- 1881 – Giovanni Papini, Italian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1956)
- 1885 – Charles Bacon, American runner and hurdler (d. 1968)
- 1886 – Lloyd Loar, American sound engineer and instrument designer (d. 1943)
- 1889 – Vrindavan Lal Verma, Indian author and playwright (d. 1969)
- 1890 – Karel Čapek, Czech author and playwright (d. 1938)
- 1890 – Kurt Tucholsky, German-Swedish journalist and author (d. 1935)
- 1891 – August Gailit, Estonian journalist and author (d. 1960)
- 1892 – Eva Bowring, American lawyer and politician (d. 1985)
- 1893 – Edwin Baker, Canadian soldier and educator, co-founded the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (d. 1968)
- 1896 – Warwick Braithwaite, New Zealand-English conductor and director (d. 1971)
- 1897 – Karl Löwith, German philosopher, author, and academic (d. 1973)
- 1898 – Gracie Fields, English actress and singer (d. 1979)
- 1899 – Harald Tammer, Estonian journalist and weightlifter (d. 1942)
- 1900 – Richard Halliburton, American journalist and author (d. 1939)
- 1901 – Vilma Bánky, Hungarian-American actress (d. 1991)
- 1901 – Chic Young, American cartoonist (d. 1973)
- 1902 – Rudolf Bing, American impresario and businessman (d. 1997)
- 1902 – Josemaría Escrivá, Spanish priest and saint, founded Opus Dei (d. 1975)
- 1907 – Eldred G. Smith, American patriarch (d. 2013)
- 1907 – Earl W. Renfroe, African American orthodontist, educator, and activist (d. 2000)
- 1908 – Simone de Beauvoir, French philosopher and author (d. 1986)
- 1909 – Anthony Mamo, Maltese lawyer and politician, 1st President of Malta (d. 2008)
- 1909 – Patrick Peyton, Irish-American priest, television personality, and activist (d. 1992)
- 1910 – Tom Evenson, English runner (d. 1997)
- 1912 – Ralph Tubbs, English architect, designed the Dome of Discovery (d. 1996)
- 1913 – Richard Nixon, American commander, lawyer, and politician, 37th President of the United States (d. 1994)
- 1914 – Kenny Clarke, American jazz drummer and bandleader (d. 1985)
- 1915 – Anita Louise, American actress (d. 1970)
- 1916 – Fernando Lamas, Argentinian-American actor, singer, and director (d. 1982)
- 1916 – Vic Mizzy, American soldier, pianist, and composer (d. 2009)
- 1918 – Alma Ziegler, American baseball player and golfer (d. 2005)
- 1919 – William Morris Meredith, Jr., American poet and academic (d. 2007)
- 1920 – Clive Dunn, English actor (d. 2012)
- 1920 – Hakim Said, Pakistani scholar and politician, 20th Governor of Sindh (d. 1998)
- 1921 – Ágnes Keleti, Hungarian Olympic gymnast
- 1921 – Lister Sinclair, Indian-Canadian broadcaster and playwright (d. 2006)
- 1922 – Har Gobind Khorana, Indian-American biochemist and academic, Nobel laureate (d. 2011)
- 1922 – Ahmed Sékou Touré, Guinean politician, 1st President of Guinea (d. 1984)
- 1924 – Sergei Parajanov, Georgian-Armenian director and screenwriter (d. 1990)
- 1925 – Len Quested, English footballer defender and manager (d. 2012)
- 1925 – Lee Van Cleef, American actor (d. 1989)
- 1926 – Jean-Pierre Côté, Canadian lawyer and politician, 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 2002)
- 1928 – Judith Krantz, American novelist (d. 2019)
- 1928 – Domenico Modugno, Italian singer-songwriter, actor, and politician (d. 1994)
- 1929 – Brian Friel, Irish author, playwright, and director (d. 2015)
- 1929 – Heiner Müller, German poet, playwright, and director (d. 1995)
- 1931 – Algis Budrys, Lithuanian-American author and critic (d. 2008)
- 1933 – Robert García, American soldier and politician (d. 2017)
- 1933 – Roy Dwight, English footballer, outside forward
- 1933 – Wilbur Smith, Zambian-English journalist and author
- 1934 – Bart Starr, American football player and coach (d. 2019)
- 1935 – Bob Denver, American actor (d. 2005)
- 1935 – Dick Enberg, American sportscaster (d. 2017)
- 1935 – John Graham, New Zealand rugby player and educator (d. 2017)
- 1935 – Brian Harradine, Australian politician (d. 2014)
- 1936 – Anne Rivers Siddons, American author
- 1936 – Marko Veselica, Croatian academic and politician (d. 2017)
- 1938 – Claudette Boyer, Canadian educator and politician (d. 2013)
- 1939 – Susannah York, English actress and activist (d. 2011)
- 1940 – Barbara Buczek, Polish composer (d. 1993)
- 1940 – Ruth Dreifuss, Swiss journalist and politician, 86th President of the Swiss Confederation
- 1941 – Joan Baez, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and activist
- 1941 – Gilles Vaillancourt, Canadian politician
- 1942 – John Dunning, American author
- 1942 – Judy Malloy, American poet and author
- 1943 – Robert Drewe, Australian author and playwright
- 1943 – Elmer MacFadyen, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2007)
- 1943 – Scott Walker, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (d. 2019)
- 1944 – Harun Farocki, German filmmaker (d. 2014)
- 1944 – Jimmy Page, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer
- 1944 – Mihalis Violaris, Cypriot singer-songwriter and actor
- 1945 – Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Syrian-Armenian scholar and politician, 1st President of Armenia
- 1946 – Mohammad Ishaq Khan, Indian historian and academic (d. 2013)
- 1946 – Mogens Lykketoft, Danish politician, 45th Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1947 – Ronnie Landfield, American painter and educator
- 1948 – Bill Cowsill, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2006)
- 1948 – Jan Tomaszewski, Polish footballer, manager, and politician
- 1950 – Alec Jeffreys, English geneticist and academic
- 1950 – David Johansen, American musician and actor
- 1950 – Sandy Martin, American actress
- 1951 – Crystal Gayle, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1952 – Kaushik Basu, Indian economist and academic
- 1952 – Hugh Bayley, English politician
- 1952 – Mike Capuano, American lawyer and politician
- 1953 – Javad Alizadeh, Iranian cartoonist and painter
- 1954 – Philippa Gregory, Kenyan-English author and academic
- 1955 – Michiko Kakutani, American journalist and critic
- 1955 – J.K. Simmons, American actor
- 1956 – Waltraud Meier, German soprano and actress
- 1956 – Imelda Staunton, English actress and singer
- 1958 – Stephen Neale, English philosopher and academic
- 1959 – Mark Martin, American race car driver and coach
- 1959 – Rigoberta Menchú, Guatemalan activist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1959 – Otis Nixon, American baseball player
- 1960 – Lisa Walters, Canadian golfer
- 1961 – Didier Camberabero, French rugby player
- 1961 – Oliver Goldstick, American screenwriter and producer
- 1961 – Henry Omaga-Diaz, Filipino journalist
- 1962 – Ray Houghton, Scottish-born footballer
- 1963 – Irwin McLean, Northern Irish biologist and academic
- 1964 – Stan Javier, Dominican baseball player and manager
- 1965 – Iain Dowie, English-Northern Irish footballer and coach
- 1965 – Eric Erlandson, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
- 1965 – Haddaway, Trinidadian-German singer and musician
- 1965 – Andrei Nazarov, Estonian decathlete and coach
- 1965 – Joely Richardson, English actress
- 1966 – Stephen Metcalfe, English politician
- 1967 – Matt Bevin, American politician, 62nd governor of Kentucky
- 1967 – Claudio Caniggia, Argentinian footballer
- 1967 – Dave Matthews, South African-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1967 – Gary Teichmann, South African rugby player
- 1968 – Jimmy Adams, Jamaican cricketer and coach
- 1968 – Joey Lauren Adams, American actress
- 1968 – Mardi Lunn, Australian golfer
- 1968 – Giorgos Theofanous, Greek-Cypriot composer and producer
- 1970 – Lara Fabian, Belgian-Italian singer-songwriter and actress
- 1971 – Angie Martinez, American rapper, actress, and radio host
- 1971 – Hal Niedzviecki, Canadian author and critic
- 1971 – Scott Thornton, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1972 – Jay Powell, American baseball player
- 1972 – Rawson Stovall, American video game producer and author
- 1973 – Sean Paul, Jamaican rapper, singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and actor
- 1975 – James Beckford, Jamaican long jumper
- 1976 – Radek Bonk, Czech ice hockey player
- 1978 – Mathieu Garon, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1978 – Gennaro Gattuso, Italian footballer and manager
- 1978 – Chad Johnson, American football player and actor
- 1978 – AJ McLean, American singer
- 1980 – Édgar Álvarez, Honduran footballer
- 1980 – Sergio García, Spanish golfer
- 1980 – Luke Patten, Australian rugby league player and referee
- 1980 – Francisco Pavón, Spanish footballer
- 1980 – Wang Zulan, Hong Kong singer
- 1981 – Euzebiusz Smolarek, Polish footballer and manager
- 1982 – Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
- 1984 – Drew Brown, American musician and songwriter
- 1984 – Benjamin Danso, German rugby player
- 1985 – Juan Francisco Torres, Spanish footballer
- 1986 – Jéferson Gomes, Brazilian footballer
- 1986 – Uwe Hünemeier, German footballer
- 1986 – Amanda Mynhardt, South African netball player
- 1987 – Sam Bird, English race car driver
- 1987 – Lucas Leiva, Brazilian footballer
- 1987 – Paolo Nutini, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1987 – Jami Puustinen, Finnish footballer
- 1988 – Katherine Copely, American ice dancer
- 1988 – Marc Crosas, Spanish footballer
- 1988 – Lee Yeon-hee, South Korean actress
- 1989 – Michael Beasley, American basketball player
- 1989 – Nina Dobrev, Bulgarian-Canadian actress
- 1989 – Michaëlla Krajicek, Dutch tennis player
- 1989 – Yana Maksimava, Belarusian heptathlete
- 1989 – Chris Sandow, Australian rugby league player
- 1989 – Jordan Turner, English rugby league player
- 1990 – Justin Blackmon, American football player
- 1991 – Edon Hasani, Albanian football player
- 1991 – Alvaro Soler, Spanish singer-songwriter
- 1993 – Katarina Johnson-Thompson, English long jumper and heptathlete
- 1993 – Marcus Peters, American football player
- 1993 – Kevin Korjus, Estonian race car driver
- 1995 – Braden Uele, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1999 – Shannon Tavarez, American actress (d. 2010)
Deaths on January 9
- 710 – Adrian of Canterbury, abbot and scholar
- 1150 – Emperor Xizong of Jin (b. 1119)
- 1202 – Birger Brosa, Jarl of Sweden
- 1282 – Abû ‘Uthmân Sa’îd ibn Hakam al Qurashi, Minorcan ruler (b. 1204)
- 1283 – Wen Tianxiang, Chinese general and scholar (b. 1236)
- 1367 – Giulia della Rena, Italian saint (b. 1319)
- 1450 – Adam Moleyns, Bishop of Chichester
- 1463 – William Neville, 1st Earl of Kent, English soldier (b. 1405)
- 1499 – John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1455)
- 1511 – Demetrios Chalkokondyles, Greek scholar and academic (b. 1423)
- 1514 – Anne of Brittany, queen of Charles VIII of France and Louis XII of France (b. 1477)
- 1529 – Wang Yangming, Chinese Neo-Confucian scholar (b. 1472)
- 1534 – Johannes Aventinus, Bavarian historian and philologist (b. 1477)
- 1543 – Guillaume du Bellay, French general and diplomat (b. 1491)
- 1561 – Amago Haruhisa, Japanese warlord (b. 1514)
- 1571 – Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon, French admiral (b. 1510)
- 1598 – Jasper Heywood, English poet and scholar (b. 1553)
- 1612 – Leonard Holliday, Lord Mayor of London (b. 1550)
- 1622 – Alix Le Clerc, French Canoness Regular and foundress (b. 1576)
- 1757 – Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, French author, poet, and playwright (b. 1657)
- 1762 – Antonio de Benavides, colonial governor of Florida (b. 1678)
- 1766 – Thomas Birch, English historian and author (b. 1705)
- 1799 – Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Italian mathematician and philosopher (b. 1718)
- 1800 – Jean Étienne Championnet, French general (b. 1762)
- 1805 – Noble Wimberly Jones, American physician and politician (b. 1723)
- 1843 – William Hedley, English engineer (b. 1773)
- 1848 – Caroline Herschel, German-English astronomer (b. 1750)
- 1856 – Neophytos Vamvas, Greek cleric and educator (b. 1770)
- 1858 – Anson Jones, American physician and politician; 4th President of the Republic of Texas (b. 1798)
- 1873 – Napoleon III, French politician, 1st President of France (b. 1808)
- 1876 – Samuel Gridley Howe, American physician and activist (b. 1801)
- 1878 – Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (b. 1820)
- 1895 – Aaron Lufkin Dennison, American-English businessman (b. 1812)
- 1901 – Richard Copley Christie, English lawyer and academic (b. 1830)
- 1908 – Wilhelm Busch, German poet, illustrator, and painter (b. 1832)
- 1908 – Abraham Goldfaden, Russian actor, playwright, and author (b. 1840)
- 1911 – Edwin Arthur Jones, American violinist and composer (b. 1853)
- 1911 – Edvard Rusjan, Italian-Slovene pilot and engineer (b. 1886)
- 1917 – Luther D. Bradley, American cartoonist (b. 1853)
- 1918 – Charles-Émile Reynaud, French scientist and educator, invented the Praxinoscope (b. 1844)
- 1923 – Katherine Mansfield, New Zealand novelist, short story writer, and essayist (b. 1888)
- 1924 – Ponnambalam Arunachalam, Sri Lankan civil servant and politician (b. 1853)
- 1927 – Houston Stewart Chamberlain, English-German philosopher and author (b. 1855)
- 1930 – Edward Bok, Dutch-American journalist and author (b. 1863)
- 1931 – Wayne Munn, American football player and wrestler (b. 1896)
- 1936 – John Gilbert, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1899)
- 1939 – Johann Strauss III, Austrian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1866)
- 1941 – Dimitrios Golemis, Greek runner (b. 1874)
- 1945 – Shigekazu Shimazaki, Japanese admiral and pilot (b. 1908)
- 1945 – Jüri Uluots, Estonian journalist and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Estonia (b. 1890)
- 1945 – Osman Cemal Kaygılı, Turkish journalist, author, and playwright (b. 1890)
- 1946 – Countee Cullen, American poet and playwright (b. 1903)
- 1947 – Karl Mannheim, Hungarian-English sociologist and academic (b. 1893)
- 1960 – Elsie J. Oxenham, English author and educator (b. 1880)
- 1961 – Emily Greene Balch, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
- 1964 – Halide Edib Adıvar, Turkish author and academic (b. 1884)
- 1971 – Elmer Flick, American baseball player and scout (b. 1876)
- 1972 – Ted Shawn, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1891)
- 1975 – Pierre Fresnay, French actor and screenwriter (b. 1897)
- 1975 – Pyotr Novikov, Russian mathematician and theorist (b. 1901)
- 1979 – Pier Luigi Nervi, Italian engineer and architect, designed the Tour de la Bourse and Pirelli Tower (b. 1891)
- 1981 – Kazimierz Serocki, Polish pianist and composer (b. 1922)
- 1984 – Bob Dyer, American-Australian radio and television host (b. 1909)
- 1985 – Robert Mayer, German-English businessman and philanthropist (b. 1879)
- 1987 – Arthur Lake, American actor (b. 1905)
- 1988 – Peter L. Rypdal, Norwegian fiddler and composer (b. 1909)
- 1989 – Bill Terry, American baseball player and manager (b. 1898)
- 1990 – Spud Chandler, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1907)
- 1990 – Cemal Süreya, Turkish poet and journalist (b. 1931)
- 1992 – Steve Brodie, American actor (b. 1919)
- 1992 – Bill Naughton, English playwright and screenwriter (b. 1910)
- 1993 – Paul Hasluck, Australian historian and politician, 17th Governor-General of Australia (b. 1905)
- 1994 – Johnny Temple, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1927)
- 1995 – Souphanouvong, Laotian politician, 1st President of Laos (b. 1909)
- 1995 – Peter Cook, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1937)
- 1996 – Walter M. Miller, Jr., American soldier and author (b. 1923)
- 1996 – Abdullah al-Qasemi, Saudi atheist, writer, and intellectual (b. 1907)
- 1997 – Edward Osóbka-Morawski, Polish politician, Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1909)
- 1997 – Jesse White, American actor (b. 1917)
- 1998 – Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
- 1998 – Imi Lichtenfeld, Slovakian-Israeli martial artist, founded Krav Maga (b. 1910)
- 2000 – Arnold Alexander Hall, English engineer and academic (b. 1915)
- 2000 – Nigel Tranter, Scottish historian and author (b. 1909)
- 2001 – Maurice Prather, American photographer and director (b. 1926)
- 2003 – Will McDonough, American journalist (b. 1935)
- 2004 – Norberto Bobbio, Italian philosopher and academic (b. 1909)
- 2006 – Andy Caldecott, Australian motorcycle racer (b. 1964)
- 2006 – W. Cleon Skousen, American author and academic (b. 1913)
- 2007 – Elmer Symons, South African motorcycle racer (b. 1977)
- 2007 – Jean-Pierre Vernant, French anthropologist and historian (b. 1914)
- 2008 – Johnny Grant, American radio host and producer (b. 1923)
- 2008 – John Harvey-Jones, English businessman and television host (b. 1924)
- 2009 – Rob Gauntlett, English mountaineer and explorer (b. 1987)
- 2009 – T. Llew Jones, Welsh author and poet (b. 1914)
- 2011 – Makinti Napanangka, Australian painter (b. 1930)
- 2012 – Brian Curvis, Welsh boxer (b. 1937)
- 2012 – Augusto Gansser-Biaggi, Swiss geologist and academic (b. 1910)
- 2012 – William G. Roll, German-American psychologist and parapsychologist (b. 1926)
- 2012 – Malam Bacai Sanhá, Guinea-Bissau politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1947)
- 2012 – László Szekeres, Hungarian physician and academic (b. 1921)
- 2013 – Brigitte Askonas, Austrian-English immunologist and academic (b. 1923)
- 2013 – James M. Buchanan, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1919)
- 2013 – Robert L. Rock, American businessman and politician, 42nd Lieutenant Governor of Indiana (b. 1927)
- 2013 – John Wise, Canadian farmer and politician, 23rd Canadian Minister of Agriculture (b. 1935)
- 2014 – Amiri Baraka, American poet, playwright, and academic (b. 1934)
- 2014 – Josep Maria Castellet, Spanish poet and critic (b. 1926)
- 2014 – Paul du Toit, South African painter and sculptor (b. 1965)
- 2014 – Dale T. Mortensen, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1939)
- 2015 – Michel Jeury, French author (b. 1934)
- 2015 – Robert V. Keeley, Lebanese-American soldier and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Greece (b. 1929)
- 2015 – Józef Oleksy, Polish economist and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1946)
- 2015 – Bud Paxson, American broadcaster and businessman, founded the Home Shopping Network and Pax TV (b. 1935)
- 2015 – Abdul Rahman Ya’kub, Malaysian politician, 3rd Chief Minister of Sarawak (b. 1928)
- 2015 – Roy Tarpley, American basketball player (b. 1964)
- 2016 – John Harvard, Canadian journalist and politician, 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (b. 1938)
- 2016 – Angus Scrimm, American actor and author (b. 1926)
- 2017 – Zygmunt Bauman, Polish sociologist (b. 1925)
- 2018 – Kato Ottio, Papua New Guinean rugby league player (b. 1994)
- 2019 – Verna Bloom, American actress (b. 1938)
- 2019 – Paul Koslo, German-Canadian actor (b. 1944)
Holidays and observances on January 9
- Christian feast day:
- Adrian of Canterbury
- Berhtwald
- Translation of the Black Nazarene (Manila, Philippines)
- Philip II, Metropolitan of Moscow
- Julia Chester Emery (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Stephen (old calendar Eastern Orthodox)
- January 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Start of Hōonkō (Nishi Honganji) January 9–16 (Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism)
- Martyrs’ Day (Panama)
- Non-Resident Indian Day (India)
-
January 6 in History
- 1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will eventually lead to the Norman conquest of England.
- 1205 – Philip of Swabia undergoes a second coronation as King of the Romans.
- 1322 – Stephen Uroš III is crowned King of Serbia, having defeated his half-brother Stefan Konstantin in battle. His son is crowned “young king” in the same ceremony.
- 1355 – Charles IV of Bohemia is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy as King of Italy in Milan.
- 1449 – Constantine XI is crowned Byzantine Emperor at Mystras.
- 1492 – The Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella enter Granada at the conclusion of the Granada War.
- 1536 – The first European school of higher learning in the Americas, Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco, is founded by Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza and Bishop Juan de Zumárraga in Mexico City.
- 1540 – King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves.
- 1579 – The Union of Arras unites the southern Netherlands under the Duke of Parma (Ottavio Farnese), governor in the name of King Philip II of Spain.
- 1641 – Arauco War: The first Parliament of Quillín is celebrated, putting a temporary hold on hostilities between Mapuches and Spanish in Chile.
- 1661 – English Restoration: The Fifth Monarchists unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London, England. The revolt is suppressed after a few days.
- 1721 – The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings, revealing details of fraud among company directors and corrupt politicians.
- 1781 – In the Battle of Jersey, the British defeat the last attempt by France to invade Jersey in the Channel Islands.
- 1809 – Combined British, Portuguese and colonial Brazilian forces begin the Invasion of Cayenne during the Napoleonic Wars.
- 1838 – Alfred Vail and colleagues demonstrate a telegraph system using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code).
- 1839 – The Night of the Big Wind, the most damaging storm in 300 years, sweeps across Ireland, damaging or destroying more than 20% of the houses in Dublin.
- 1847 – Samuel Colt obtains his first contract for the sale of revolver pistols to the United States government.
- 1870 – The inauguration of the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria.
- 1893 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress. The charter is signed by President Benjamin Harrison.
- 1900 – Second Boer War: Having already besieged the fortress at Ladysmith, Boer forces attack it, but are driven back by British defenders.
- 1907 – Maria Montessori opens her first school and daycare center for working-class children in Rome, Italy.
- 1912 – New Mexico is admitted to the Union as the 47th U.S. state.
- 1912 – German geophysicist Alfred Wegener first presents his theory of continental drift.
- 1929 – King Alexander of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes suspends his country’s constitution (the January 6th Dictatorship).
- 1929 – Mother Teresa arrives by sea in Calcutta, India, to begin her work among India’s poorest and sick people.
- 1930 – The first diesel-powered automobile trip is completed, from Indianapolis, Indiana, to New York, New York.
- 1941 – United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his Four Freedoms speech in the State of the Union address.
- 1946 – The first general election ever in Vietnam is held.
- 1947 – Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to offer a round-the-world ticket.
- 1950 – The United Kingdom recognizes the People’s Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with the UK in response.
- 1951 – Korean War: Beginning of the Ganghwa massacre, in the course of which an estimated 200–1,300 South Korean communist sympathizers are slaughtered.
- 1960 – National Airlines Flight 2511 is destroyed in mid-air by a bomb, while en route from New York City to Miami.
- 1960 – The Associations Law comes into force in Iraq, allowing registration of political parties
- 1967 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and ARVN troops launch “Operation Deckhouse Five” in the Mekong River delta.
- 1974 – In response to the 1973 oil crisis, daylight saving time commences nearly four months early in the United States.
- 1989 – Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh are sentenced to death for conspiracy in the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; the two men are executed the same day.
- 1992 – President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia flees the country as a result of the military coup.
- 1993 – Indian Border Security Force units kill 55 Kashmiri civilians in Sopore, Jammu and Kashmir, in revenge after militants ambushed a BSF patrol.
- 1994 – American figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked and injured by an assailant hired by her rival Tonya Harding’s ex-husband during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships that they were both taking part in.
- 1995 – A chemical fire in an apartment complex in Manila, Philippines, leads to the discovery of plans for Project Bojinka, a mass-terrorist attack.
- 2005 – American Civil Rights Movement: Edgar Ray Killen is indicted for the 1964 murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner.
- 2005 – A train collision in Graniteville, South Carolina, United States, releases about 60 tons of chlorine gas.
- 2012 – Twenty-six people are killed and 63 wounded when a suicide bomber blows himself up at a police station in Damascus.
- 2017 – Five people are killed and six others injured in a mass shooting at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in Broward County, Florida.
- 2019 – Forty people are killed in a gold mine collapse in northern Afghanistan.
Births on January 6
- 1256 – Gertrude the Great, German mystic (d. 1302)
- 1367 – Richard II of England (d. 1400)
- 1384 – Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent (d. 1408)
- 1412 – Joan of Arc, French martyr and saint (d. 1431)
- 1486 – Martin Agricola, German composer and theorist (d. 1556)
- 1488 – Helius Eobanus Hessus, German poet (d. 1540)
- 1493 – Olaus Petri, Swedish clergyman (d. 1552)
- 1500 – John of Ávila, Spanish mystic and saint (d. 1569)
- 1525 – Caspar Peucer, German physician and scholar (d. 1602)
- 1538 – Jane Dormer, Duchess of Feria (d. 1612)
- 1561 – Thomas Fincke, Danish mathematician and physicist (d. 1656)
- 1587 – Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares (d. 1645)
- 1595 – Claude Favre de Vaugelas, French educator and courtier (d. 1650)
- 1617 – Christoffer Gabel, Danish politician (d. 1673)
- 1632 – Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton, Scottish peeress (d. 1716)
- 1655 – Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg (d. 1720)
- 1673 – James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, English academic and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire (d. 1744)
- 1695 – Giuseppe Sammartini, Italian oboe player and composer (d. 1750)
- 1702 – José de Nebra, Spanish composer (d. 1768)
- 1714 – Percivall Pott, English surgeon (d. 1788)
- 1745 – Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier, French co-inventor of the hot air balloon (d. 1799)
- 1766 – José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, Paraguayan lawyer and politician, first dictator of Paraguay (d. 1840)
- 1785 – Andreas Moustoxydis, Greek historian and philologist (d. 1860)
- 1793 – James Madison Porter, American lawyer and politician, 18th United States Secretary of War (d. 1862)
- 1795 – Anselme Payen, French chemist and academic (d. 1871)
- 1799 – Jedediah Smith, American hunter, explorer, and author (d. 1831)
- 1803 – Henri Herz, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1888)
- 1807 – Joseph Petzval, German-Hungarian mathematician and physicist (d. 1891)
- 1808 – Joseph Pitty Couthouy, American conchologist and paleontologist (d. 1864)
- 1811 – Charles Sumner, American lawyer and politician (d. 1874)
- 1822 – Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist and businessman (d. 1890)
- 1832 – Gustave Doré, French painter and sculptor (d. 1883)
- 1838 – Max Bruch, German composer and conductor (d. 1920)
- 1842 – Clarence King, American geologist, mountaineer, and critic (d. 1901)
- 1856 – Giuseppe Martucci, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1909)
- 1857 – Hugh Mahon, Irish-Australian publisher and politician, 10th Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 1931)
- 1857 – William Russell, American lawyer and politician, 37th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)
- 1859 – Samuel Alexander, Australian-English philosopher and academic (d. 1938)
- 1861 – Victor Horta, Belgian architect, designed Hôtel van Eetvelde (d. 1947)
- 1861 – George Lloyd, English-Canadian bishop and theologian (d. 1940)
- 1870 – Gustav Bauer, German journalist and politician, 11th Chancellor of Germany (d. 1944)
- 1872 – Alexander Scriabin, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1915)
- 1874 – Fred Niblo, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1948)
- 1878 – Adeline Genée, Danish-born British ballerina (d. 1970)
- 1878 – Carl Sandburg, American poet and historian (d. 1967)
- 1880 – Tom Mix, American cowboy and actor (d. 1940)
- 1881 – Ion Minulescu, Romanian author, poet, and critic (d. 1944)
- 1882 – Fan S. Noli, Albanian-American bishop and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Albania (d. 1965)
- 1882 – Sam Rayburn, American lawyer and politician, 48th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1961)
- 1883 – Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese-American poet, painter, and philosopher (d. 1931)
- 1898 – James Fitzmaurice, Irish soldier and pilot (d. 1965)
- 1899 – Heinrich Nordhoff, German engineer (d. 1968)
- 1900 – Maria of Yugoslavia, Queen of Yugoslavia from 1922 to 1934 (d. 1961)
- 1903 – Maurice Abravanel, Greek-American pianist and conductor (d. 1993)
- 1910 – Wright Morris, American author and photographer (d. 1998)
- 1910 – Yiannis Papaioannou, Greek composer and educator (d. 1989)
- 1912 – Jacques Ellul, French philosopher and critic (d. 1994)
- 1912 – Danny Thomas, American actor, comedian, producer and humanitarian (d. 1991)
- 1913 – Edward Gierek, Polish lawyer and politician (d. 2001)
- 1913 – Loretta Young, American actress (d. 2000)
- 1914 – Godfrey Edward Arnold, Austrian-American physician and academic (d. 1989)
- 1915 – Don Edwards, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (d. 2015)
- 1915 – John C. Lilly, American psychoanalyst, physician, and philosopher (d. 2001)
- 1915 – Alan Watts, English-American philosopher and author (d. 1973)
- 1916 – Park Mok-wol, influential Korean poet and academic (d. 1978)
- 1917 – Koo Chen-fu, Taiwanese businessman and diplomat (d. 2005)
- 1920 – John Maynard Smith, English biologist and geneticist (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Sun Myung Moon, Korean religious leader; founder of the Unification Church (d. 2012)
- 1920 – Early Wynn, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 1999)
- 1921 – Marianne Grunberg-Manago, Russian-French biochemist and academic (d. 2013)
- 1921 – Cary Middlecoff, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 1998)
- 1923 – Vladimir Kazantsev, Russian runner (d. 2007)
- 1923 – Norman Kirk, New Zealand engineer and politician, 29th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1974)
- 1923 – Jacobo Timerman, Argentinian journalist and author (d. 1999)
- 1924 – Kim Dae-jung, South Korean soldier and politician, 8th President of South Korea, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
- 1924 – Earl Scruggs, American banjo player (d. 2012)
- 1925 – John DeLorean, American engineer and businessman, founded the DeLorean Motor Company (d. 2005)
- 1926 – Ralph Branca, American baseball player (d. 2016)
- 1926 – Mickey Hargitay, Hungarian-American actor and bodybuilder (d. 2006)
- 1927 – Jesse Leonard Steinfeld, American physician and academic, 11th Surgeon General of the United States (d. 2014)
- 1928 – Capucine, French actress and model (d. 1990)
- 1931 – E. L. Doctorow, American novelist, playwright, and short story writer (d. 2015)
- 1931 – Graeme Hole, Australian cricketer (d. 1990)
- 1931 – Dickie Moore, Canadian ice hockey player and businessman (d. 2015)
- 1932 – Stuart A. Rice, American chemist and academic
- 1933 – Oleg Grigoryevich Makarov, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2003)
- 1934 – Sylvia Syms, English actress
- 1935 – Nino Tempo, American musician, singer, and actor
- 1936 – Darlene Hard, American tennis player
- 1936 – Julio María Sanguinetti, Uruguayan journalist, lawyer and politician, 29th President of Uruguay
- 1937 – Ludvík Daněk, Czech discus thrower (d. 1998)
- 1937 – Lou Holtz, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1937 – Doris Troy, American singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
- 1938 – Adriano Celentano, Italian singer-songwriter, actor, and director
- 1938 – Adrienne Clarke, Australian botanist and academic
- 1938 – Larisa Shepitko, Soviet film director, screenwriter, and actress (d. 1979)
- 1939 – Valeriy Lobanovskyi, Ukrainian footballer and manager (d. 2002)
- 1939 – Murray Rose, English-Australian swimmer and sportscaster (d. 2012)
- 1940 – Van McCoy, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1979)
- 1943 – Terry Venables, English footballer and manager
- 1944 – Bonnie Franklin, American actress and singer (d. 2013)
- 1944 – Alan Stivell, French singer-songwriter and harp player
- 1944 – Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Swiss immunologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1945 – Barry John, Welsh rugby player
- 1946 – Syd Barrett, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2006)
- 1947 – Sandy Denny, English folk-rock singer-songwriter (d 1978)
- 1948 – Guy Gardner, American colonel and astronaut
- 1948 – Dayle Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer
- 1949 – Mike Boit, Kenyan runner and academic (estimated date)
- 1949 – Carolyn D. Wright, American poet and academic (d. 2016)
- 1950 – Louis Freeh, American lawyer and jurist, 10th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
- 1951 – Don Gullett, American baseball player and coach
- 1951 – Kim Wilson, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player
- 1953 – Malcolm Young, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2017)
- 1954 – Anthony Minghella, English director and screenwriter (d. 2008)
- 1955 – Rowan Atkinson, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1956 – Elizabeth Strout, American novelist and short story writer
- 1956 – Justin Welby, English archbishop
- 1956 – Clive Woodward, English rugby player and coach
- 1957 – Michael Foale, British-American astrophysicist and astronaut
- 1957 – Nancy Lopez, American golfer and sportscaster
- 1959 – Kapil Dev, Indian cricketer
- 1960 – Paul Azinger, American golfer and sportscaster
- 1960 – Kari Jalonen, Finnish ice hockey player and coach
- 1960 – Nigella Lawson, English chef and author
- 1960 – Howie Long, American football player and sports commentator
- 1961 – Georges Jobé, Belgian motocross racer (d. 2012)
- 1961 – Peter Whittle, British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster
- 1963 – Norm Charlton, American baseball player and coach
- 1963 – Paul Kipkoech, Kenyan runner (d. 1995)
- 1964 – Jacqueline Moore, American wrestler and manager
- 1965 – Bjørn Lomborg, Danish author and academic
- 1966 – Sharon Cuneta, Filipino singer and actress
- 1966 – Attilio Lombardo, Italian footballer and manager
- 1967 – A. R. Rahman, Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, musician and philanthropist
- 1968 – John Singleton, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2019)
- 1969 – Norman Reedus, American actor and model
- 1970 – Julie Chen, American television journalist, presenter, and producer
- 1970 – Radoslav Látal, Czech footballer and manager
- 1973 – Vasso Karantasiou, Greek beach volleyball player
- 1976 – Richard Zedník, Slovak ice hockey player
- 1981 – Asante Samuel, American football player
- 1982 – Eddie Redmayne, English actor and model
- 1984 – Kate McKinnon, American actress and comedian
- 1986 – Paul McShane, Irish footballer
- 1986 – Petter Northug, Norwegian skier
- 1989 – Andy Carroll, English footballer
- 1991 – Will Barton, American basketball player
- 1994 – Lim Jae-beom, South Korean singer and actor (Got7)
Deaths on January 6
- 786 – Abo of Tiflis, Iraqi martyr and saint (b. 756)
- 1088 – Berengar of Tours, French scholar and theologian (b. 999)
- 1148 – Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke (b. 1100)
- 1233 – Matilda of Chester, Countess of Huntingdon, Anglo-Norman noblewoman (b. 1171)
- 1275 – Raymond of Penyafort, Catalan archbishop and saint (b. 1175)
- 1350 – Giovanni I di Murta, second doge of the Republic of Genoa
- 1358 – Gertrude van der Oosten, Beguine mystic
- 1406 – Roger Walden, English bishop
- 1448 – Christopher of Bavaria, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (b. 1418)
- 1477 – Jean VIII, Count of Vendôme
- 1481 – Ahmed Khan bin Küchük, Mongolian ruler
- 1537 – Alessandro de’ Medici, Duke of Florence (b. 1510)
- 1537 – Baldassare Peruzzi, Italian architect and painter, designed the Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne (b. 1481)
- 1616 – Philip Henslowe, English impresario (b. 1550)
- 1646 – Elias Holl, German architect, designed the Augsburg Town Hall (b. 1573)
- 1689 – Seth Ward, English bishop, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1617)
- 1693 – Mehmed IV, Ottoman sultan (b. 1642)
- 1711 – Philips van Almonde, Dutch admiral (b. 1646)
- 1718 – Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, Italian lawyer and jurist (b. 1664)
- 1725 – Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Japanese actor and playwright (b. 1653)
- 1731 – Étienne François Geoffroy, French physician and chemist (b. 1672)
- 1734 – John Dennis, English playwright and critic (b. 1657)
- 1813 – Louis Baraguey d’Hilliers, French general (b. 1764)
- 1829 – Josef Dobrovský, Czech philologist and historian (b. 1753)
- 1831 – Rodolphe Kreutzer, French violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1766)
- 1840 – Frances Burney, English author and playwright (b. 1752)
- 1852 – Louis Braille, French educator, invented Braille (b. 1809)
- 1855 – Giacomo Beltrami, Italian jurist, explorer, and author (b. 1779)
- 1882 – Richard Henry Dana, Jr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1815)
- 1884 – Gregor Mendel, Czech geneticist and botanist (b. 1822)
- 1885 – Bharatendu Harishchandra, Indian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1850)
- 1896 – Thomas W. Knox, American journalist and author (b. 1835)
- 1902 – Lars Hertervig, Norwegian painter (b. 1830)
- 1913 – Frederick Hitch, English soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1856)
- 1917 – Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack, Dutch economist and historian (b. 1834)
- 1918 – Georg Cantor, German mathematician and philosopher (b. 1845)
- 1919 – Theodore Roosevelt, American colonel and politician, 26th President of the United States (b. 1858)
- 1921 – Devil Anse Hatfield, American guerrilla leader (b. 1839)
- 1922 – Jakob Rosanes, Ukrainian-German mathematician and chess player (b. 1842)
- 1928 – Alvin Kraenzlein, American hurdler and long jumper (b. 1876)
- 1933 – Vladimir de Pachmann, Ukrainian-German pianist (b. 1848)
- 1934 – Herbert Chapman, English footballer and manager (b. 1878)
- 1937 – André Bessette, Canadian saint (b. 1845)
- 1939 – Gustavs Zemgals, Latvian journalist and politician, 2nd President of Latvia (b. 1871)
- 1941 – Charley O’Leary, American baseball player and coach (b. 1882)
- 1942 – Emma Calvé, French soprano and actress (b. 1858)
- 1942 – Henri de Baillet-Latour, Belgian businessman, 3rd President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1876)
- 1944 – Jacques Rosenbaum, Estonian-German architect (b. 1878)
- 1944 – Ida Tarbell, American journalist, reformer, and educator (b. 1857)
- 1945 – Vladimir Vernadsky, Russian mineralogist and chemist (b. 1863)
- 1949 – Victor Fleming, American director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1883)
- 1966 – Jean Lurçat, French painter (b. 1892)
- 1972 – Chen Yi, Chinese general and politician, 2nd Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1901)
- 1974 – David Alfaro Siqueiros, Mexican painter (b. 1896)
- 1978 – Burt Munro, New Zealand motorcycle racer (b. 1899)
- 1981 – A. J. Cronin, Scottish physician and author (b. 1896)
- 1984 – Ernest Laszlo, Hungarian-American cinematographer (b. 1898)
- 1990 – Ian Charleson, Scottish-English actor (b. 1949)
- 1990 – Pavel Cherenkov, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
- 1993 – Dizzy Gillespie, American singer-songwriter and trumpet player (b. 1917)
- 1993 – Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-French dancer and choreographer (b. 1938)
- 1995 – Joe Slovo, Lithuanian-South African lawyer and politician (b. 1926)
- 1999 – Michel Petrucciani, French-American pianist (b. 1962)2000 – Don Martin, American cartoonist (b. 1931)
- 2004 – Pierre Charles, Dominican educator and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Dominica (b. 1954)
- 2004 – Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (b. 1921)
- 2005 – Eileen Desmond, Irish civil servant and politician, 12th Irish Minister for Health (b. 1932)
- 2005 – Lois Hole, Canadian academic and politician, 15th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta (b. 1929)
- 2005 – Tarquinio Provini, Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1933)
- 2005 – Louis Robichaud, Canadian lawyer and politician, 25th Premier of New Brunswick (b. 1925)
- 2006 – Lou Rawls, American singer-songwriter (b. 1933)
- 2007 – Roberta Wohlstetter, American political scientist, historian, and academic (b. 1912)
- 2008 – Shmuel Berenbaum, Rabbi of Mir Yeshiva (Brooklyn)
- 2009 – Ron Asheton, American guitarist, songwriter, and actor (probable; b. 1948)
- 2011 – Uche Okafor, Nigerian footballer, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1967)
- 2012 – Bob Holness, South African-English radio and television host (b. 1928)
- 2012 – Spike Pola, Australian footballer and soldier (b. 1914)
- 2013 – Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Pakistani scholar and politician (b. 1938)
- 2013 – Ruth Carter Stevenson, American art collector, founded the Amon Carter Museum of American Art (b. 1923)
- 2013 – Gerard Helders, Dutch jurist and politician (b. 1905)
- 2013 – Cho Sung-min, South Korean baseball player (b. 1973)
- 2014 – Marina Ginestà, French Resistance soldier and photographer (b. 1919)
- 2014 – Nelson Ned, Brazilian singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
- 2014 – Julian Rotter, American psychologist and academic (b. 1916)
- 2015 – Arthur Jackson, American lieutenant and target shooter (b. 1918)
- 2015 – Basil John Mason, English meteorologist and academic (b. 1923)
- 2016 – Pat Harrington, Jr., American actor and screenwriter (b. 1929)
- 2016 – Florence King, American journalist and author (b. 1936)
- 2016 – Christy O’Connor Jnr, Irish golfer and architect (b. 1948)
- 2016 – Silvana Pampanini, Italian model, actress, and director, Miss Italy 1946 (b. 1925)
- 2017 – Octavio Lepage, Venezuelan politician, President of Venezuela (b. 1923)
- 2017 – Om Puri, Indian actor (b. 1950)
- 2019 – José Ramón Fernández, Cuban revolution leader (b. 1923)
- 2019 – Lamin Sanneh, Gambian-born American professor (b. 1942)
- 2019 – W. Morgan Sheppard, British actor (b. 1932)
- 2019 – Paul Streeten, Austrian-born British economics professor (b. 1917)
Holidays and observances on January 6
- Armed Forces Day (Iraq)
- Christian Feast day:
- André Bessette (Roman Catholic Church)
- January 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Epiphany or Three Kings’ Day (Western Christianity) or Theophany (Eastern Christianity), and its related observances:
- Befana Day (Italy)
- Christmas (Armenian Apostolic Church)
- Christmas Eve (Russia)
- Christmas Eve (Ukraine)
- Christmas Eve (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
- Christmas Eve (North Macedonia)
- Little Christmas (Ireland)
- Þrettándinn (Iceland)
- Three Wise Men Day
- Pathet Lao Day (Laos)