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1650

July 25 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

  • 306 – Constantine I is proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops.
  • 315 – The Arch of Constantine is completed near the Colosseum in Rome to commemorate Constantine I’s victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge.
  • 677 – Climax of the Siege of Thessalonica by the Slavs in a three-day assault on the city walls.
  • 864 – The Edict of Pistres of Charles the Bald orders defensive measures against the Vikings.
  • 1137 – Eleanor of Aquitaine marries Prince Louis, later King Louis VII of France, at the Cathedral of Saint-André in Bordeaux.
  • 1139 – Battle of Ourique: The Almoravids, led by Ali ibn Yusuf, are defeated by Prince Afonso Henriques who is proclaimed King of Portugal.
  • 1261 – The city of Constantinople is recaptured by Nicaean forces under the command of Alexios Strategopoulos, re-establishing the Byzantine Empire.
  • 1278 – The naval Battle of Algeciras takes place in the context of the Spanish Reconquista resulting in a victory for the Emirate of Granada and the Maranid Dynasty over the Kingdom of Castile.
  • 1467 – The Battle of Molinella: The first battle in Italy in which firearms are used extensively.
  • 1536 – Sebastián de Belalcázar on his search of El Dorado founds the city of Santiago de Cali.
  • 1538 – The city of Guayaquil is founded by the Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Orellana and given the name Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de Guayaquil.
  • 1547 – Henry II of France is crowned.
  • 1554 – Mary I marries Philip II of Spain at Winchester Cathedral.
  • 1567 – Don Diego de Losada founds the city of Santiago de Leon de Caracas, modern-day Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela.
  • 1593 – Henry IV of France publicly converts from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism.
  • 1603 – James VI of Scotland is crowned king of England (James I of England), bringing the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into personal union. Political union would occur in 1707.
  • 1609 – The English ship Sea Venture, en route to Virginia, is deliberately driven ashore during a storm at Bermuda to prevent its sinking; the survivors go on to found a new colony there.
  • 1693 – Ignacio de Maya founds the Real Santiago de las Sabinas, now known as Sabinas Hidalgo, Nuevo León, Mexico.
  • 1722 – Dummer’s War begins along the Maine-Massachusetts border.
  • 1755 – British governor Charles Lawrence and the Nova Scotia Council order the deportation of the Acadians.
  • 1759 – French and Indian War: In Western New York, British forces capture Fort Niagara from the French, who subsequently abandon Fort Rouillé.
  • 1783 – American Revolutionary War: The war’s last action, the Siege of Cuddalore, is ended by a preliminary peace agreement.
  • 1788 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completes his Symphony No. 40 in G minor (K550).
  • 1792 – The Brunswick Manifesto is issued to the population of Paris promising vengeance if the French royal family is harmed.
  • 1797 – Horatio Nelson loses more than 300 men and his right arm during the failed conquest attempt of Tenerife (Spain).
  • 1799 – At Abu Qir in Egypt, Napoleon I of France defeats 10,000 Ottomans under Mustafa Pasha.
  • 1814 – War of 1812: An American attack on Canada is repulsed.
  • 1824 – Costa Rica annexes Guanacaste from Nicaragua.
  • 1837 – The first commercial use of an electrical telegraph is successfully demonstrated in London by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone.
  • 1853 – Joaquin Murrieta, the famous Californio bandit known as the “Robin Hood of El Dorado”, is killed.
  • 1861 – American Civil War: The United States Congress passes the Crittenden–Johnson Resolution, stating that the war is being fought to preserve the Union and not to end slavery.
  • 1866 – The United States Congress passes legislation authorizing the rank of General of the Army. Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant becomes the first to be promoted to this rank.
  • 1868 – The Wyoming Territory is established.
  • 1869 – The Japanese daimyōs begin returning their land holdings to the emperor as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms. (Traditional Japanese Date: June 17, 1869).
  • 1894 – The First Sino-Japanese War begins when the Japanese fire upon a Chinese warship.
  • 1898 – In the Puerto Rican Campaign, the United States seizes Puerto Rico from Spain.
  • 1908 – Ajinomoto is founded. Kikunae Ikeda of the Tokyo Imperial University discovers that a key ingredient in kombu soup stock is monosodium glutamate (MSG), and patents a process for manufacturing it.
  • 1909 – Louis Blériot makes the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air machine from Calais to Dover, England, United Kingdom in 37 minutes.
  • 1915 – RFC Captain Lanoe Hawker becomes the first British pursuit aviator to earn the Victoria Cross.
  • 1917 – Sir Robert Borden introduces the first income tax in Canada as a “temporary” measure (lowest bracket is 4% and highest is 25%).
  • 1925 – Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS) is established.
  • 1934 – The Nazis assassinate Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss in a failed coup attempt.
  • 1940 – General Henri Guisan orders the Swiss Army to resist German invasion and makes surrender illegal.
  • 1942 – The Norwegian Manifesto calls for nonviolent resistance to the German occupation.
  • 1943 – World War II: Benito Mussolini is forced out of office by the Grand Council of Fascism and is replaced by Pietro Badoglio.
  • 1944 – World War II: Operation Spring is one of the bloodiest days for the First Canadian Army during the war.
  • 1946 – Nuclear weapons testing: Operation Crossroads: An atomic bomb is detonated underwater in the lagoon of Bikini Atoll.
  • 1956 – Forty-five miles south of Nantucket Island, the Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria collides with the MS Stockholm in heavy fog and sinks the next day, killing 51.
  • 1957 – The Republic of Tunisia is proclaimed, under President Habib Bourguiba.
  • 1958 – The African Regroupment Party (PRA) holds its first congress in Cotonou.
  • 1961 – Cold War: In a speech John F. Kennedy emphasizes that any attack on Berlin is an attack on NATO.
  • 1965 – Bob Dylan goes electric at the Newport Folk Festival, signaling a major change in folk and rock music.
  • 1969 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon declares the Nixon Doctrine, stating that the United States now expects its Asian allies to take care of their own military defense. This is the start of the “Vietnamization” of the war.
  • 1973 – Soviet Mars 5 space probe is launched.
  • 1976 – Viking program: Viking 1 takes the famous Face on Mars photo.
  • 1978 – Puerto Rican police shoot two nationalists in the Cerro Maravilla murders.
  • 1978 – Birth of Louise Joy Brown, the first human to have been born after conception by in vitro fertilisation, or IVF.
  • 1979 – Another section of the Sinai Peninsula is peacefully returned by Israel to Egypt.
  • 1983 – Black July: Thirty-seven Tamil political prisoners at the Welikada high security prison in Colombo are massacred by the fellow Sinhalese prisoners.
  • 1984 – Salyut 7 cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya becomes the first woman to perform a space walk.
  • 1993 – Israel launches a massive attack against Lebanon in what the Israelis call Operation Accountability, and the Lebanese call the Seven-Day War.
  • 1993 – The Saint James Church massacre occurs in Kenilworth, Cape Town, South Africa.
  • 1994 – Israel and Jordan sign the Washington Declaration, that formally ends the state of war that had existed between the nations since 1948.
  • 1995 – A gas bottle explodes in Saint Michel station of line B of the RER (Paris regional train network). Eight are killed and 80 wounded.
  • 1996 – In a military coup in Burundi, Pierre Buyoya deposes Sylvestre Ntibantunganya.
  • 2000 – Concorde Air France Flight 4590 crashes at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, killing 113 people.
  • 2007 – Pratibha Patil is sworn in as India’s first female president.
  • 2010 – WikiLeaks publishes classified documents about the War in Afghanistan, one of the largest leaks in U.S. military history.
  • 2018 – As-Suwayda attacks: Coordinated attacks occur in Syria.
  • 2019 – National extreme heat records set this day in the UK, Belgium and Germany during the July 2019 European heatwave.

Births on July 25

  • 975 – Thietmar, bishop of Merseburg (d. 1018)
  • 1016 – Casimir I the Restorer, duke of Poland (d. 1058)
  • 1109 – Afonso I, king of Portugal (d. 1185)
  • 1165 – Ibn Arabi, Andalusian Sufi mystic, poet, and philosopher (d. 1240)
  • 1261 – Arthur II, Duke of Brittany (d. 1312)
  • 1291 – Hawys Gadarn, Welsh noblewoman (d. 1353)
  • 1336 – Albert I, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1404)
  • 1394 – James I, king of Scotland (d. 1437)
  • 1404 – Philip I, Duke of Brabant (d. 1430)
  • 1421 – Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland, English politician (d. 1461)
  • 1450 – Jakob Wimpfeling, Renaissance humanist (d. 1528)
  • 1486 – Albrecht VII, Duke of Mecklenburg (d. 1547)
  • 1498 – Hernando de Aragón, Archbishop of Zaragoza (d. 1575)
  • 1532 – Alphonsus Rodriguez, Jesuit lay brother and saint (d. 1617)
  • 1556 – George Peele, English translator, poet, and dramatist (d. 1596)
  • 1562 – Katō Kiyomasa, Japanese warlord (d. 1611)
  • 1573 – Christoph Scheiner, German astronomer and Jesuit (d. 1650)
  • 1581 – Brian Twyne, English archivist (d. 1644)
  • 1605 – Theodore Haak, German scholar (d. 1690)
  • 1633 – Joseph Williamson, English politician (d. 1701)
  • 1654 – Agostino Steffani, Italian composer and diplomat (d. 1728)
  • 1657 – Philipp Heinrich Erlebach, German composer (d. 1714)
  • 1658 – Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll, Scottish general (d. 1703)
  • 1683 – Pieter Langendijk, Dutch playwright and poet (d. 1756)
  • 1750 – Henry Knox, American general and politician, 1st United States Secretary of War (d. 1806)
  • 1753 – Santiago de Liniers, 1st Count of Buenos Aires, French-Spanish captain and politician, 10th Viceroy of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (d. 1810)
  • 1797 – Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1889)
  • 1806 – Maria Weston Chapman, American abolitionist (d. 1885)
  • 1839 – Francis Garnier, French captain and explorer (d. 1873)
  • 1844 – Thomas Eakins, American painter, sculptor, and photographer (d. 1916)
  • 1847 – Paul Langerhans, German pathologist, physiologist and biologist (d. 1888)
  • 1848 – Arthur Balfour, Scottish-English lieutenant and politician, 33rd Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1930)
  • 1857 – Frank J. Sprague, American naval officer and inventor (d. 1934)
  • 1865 – Jac. P. Thijsse, Dutch botanist and conservationist (d. 1945)
  • 1866 – Frederick Blackman, English physiologist and academic (d. 1947)
  • 1867 – Max Dauthendey, German author and painter (d. 1918)
  • 1867 – Alexander Rummler, American painter (d. 1959)
  • 1869 – Platon, Estonian bishop and saint (d. 1919)
  • 1870 – Maxfield Parrish, American painter and illustrator (d. 1966)
  • 1875 – Jim Corbett, Indian hunter, environmentalist, and author (d. 1955)
  • 1878 – Masaharu Anesaki, Japanese philosopher and scholar (d. 1949)
  • 1882 – George S. Rentz, American commander (d. 1942)
  • 1883 – Alfredo Casella, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1947)
  • 1886 – Edward Cummins, American golfer (d. 1926)
  • 1894 – Walter Brennan, American actor (d. 1974)
  • 1894 – Gavrilo Princip, Bosnian Serb revolutionary (d. 1918)
  • 1895 – Ingeborg Spangsfeldt, Danish actress (d. 1968)
  • 1896 – Jack Perrin, American actor and stuntman (d. 1967)
  • 1896 – Josephine Tey, Scottish author and playwright (d. 1952)
  • 1901 – Ruth Krauss, American author and poet (d. 1993)
  • 1901 – Mohammed Helmy, Egyptian physician and Righteous Among the Nations (d.1982)
  • 1901 – Lila Lee, American actress and singer (d. 1973)
  • 1902 – Eric Hoffer, American philosopher and author (d. 1983)
  • 1905 – Elias Canetti, Bulgarian-Swiss novelist, playwright, and memoirist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
  • 1905 – Georges Grignard, French race car driver (d. 1977)
  • 1905 – Denys Watkins-Pitchford, English author and illustrator (d. 1990)
  • 1906 – Johnny Hodges, American saxophonist and clarinet player (d. 1970)
  • 1908 – Bill Bowes, English cricketer (d. 1987)
  • 1908 – Ambroise-Marie Carré, French priest and author (d. 2004)
  • 1908 – Jack Gilford, American actor (d. 1990)
  • 1914 – Woody Strode, American football player and actor (d. 1994)
  • 1915 – S. U. Ethirmanasingham, Sri Lankan businessman and politician
  • 1915 – Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., American lieutenant and pilot (d. 1944)
  • 1916 – Lucien Saulnier, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1989)
  • 1917 – Fritz Honegger, Swiss lawyer and politician (d. 1999)
  • 1918 – Jane Frank, American painter and sculptor (d. 1986)
  • 1920 – Rosalind Franklin, English biophysicist, chemist, and academic (d. 1958)
  • 1921 – Adolph Herseth, American soldier and trumpet player (d. 2013)
  • 1921 – Lionel Terray, French mountaineer (d. 1965)
  • 1923 – Estelle Getty, American actress (d. 2008)
  • 1923 – Edgar Gilbert, American mathematician and theorist (d. 2013)
  • 1923 – Maria Gripe, Swedish journalist and author (d. 2007)
  • 1924 – Frank Church, American lawyer and politician (d. 1984)
  • 1924 – Scotch Taylor, South African cricketer and hockey player (d. 2004)
  • 1925 – Benny Benjamin, American R&B drummer (The Funk Brothers) (d. 1969)
  • 1925 – Jerry Paris, American actor and director (d. 1986)
  • 1925 – Dick Passwater, American race car driver
  • 1925 – Jutta Zilliacus, Finnish journalist and politician
  • 1926 – Whitey Lockman, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2009)
  • 1926 – Bernard Thompson, British television producer and director (d. 1998)
  • 1926 – Beatriz Segall, Brazilian actress (d. 2018)
  • 1927 – Daniel Ceccaldi, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
  • 1927 – Midge Decter, American journalist and author
  • 1927 – Sadiq Hussain Qureshi, Pakistani politician, 10th Governor of Punjab (d. 2000)
  • 1927 – Jean-Marie Seroney, Kenyan activist and politician (d. 1982)
  • 1928 – Dolphy, Filipino actor, singer, and producer (d. 2012)
  • 1928 – Mario Montenegro, Filipino actor (d. 1988)
  • 1928 – Nils Taube, Estonian-English businessman (d. 2008)
  • 1929 – Judd Buchanan, Canadian businessman and politician, 36th Canadian Minister of Public Works
  • 1929 – Somnath Chatterjee, Indian lawyer and politician, 14th Speaker of the Lok Sabha (d. 2018)
  • 1929 – Eddie Mazur, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1995)
  • 1930 – Murray Chapple, New Zealand cricketer and manager (d. 1985)
  • 1930 – Maureen Forrester, Canadian actress and singer (d. 2010)
  • 1930 – Alice Parizeau, Polish-Canadian journalist and criminologist (d. 1990)
  • 1930 – Herbert Scarf, American economist and academic (d. 2015)
  • 1930 – Annie Ross, Scottish-American singer and actress
  • 1931 – James Butler, English sculptor and educator
  • 1932 – Paul J. Weitz, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2017)
  • 1934 – Don Ellis, American trumpet player and composer (d. 1978)
  • 1934 – Claude Zidi, French director and screenwriter
  • 1935 – Barbara Harris, American actress and singer (d. 2018)
  • 1935 – Adnan Khashoggi, Saudi Arabian businessman (d. 2017)
  • 1935 – Gilbert Parent, Canadian educator and politician, 33rd Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada (d. 2009)
  • 1935 – John Robinson, American football player and coach
  • 1935 – Larry Sherry, American baseball player and coach (d. 2006)
  • 1935 – Lars Werner, Swedish lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
  • 1936 – Gerry Ashmore, English race car driver
  • 1936 – Glenn Murcutt, English-Australian architect and academic
  • 1937 – Colin Renfrew, Baron Renfrew of Kaimsthorn, English archaeologist and academic
  • 1940 – Richard Ballantine, American-English journalist and author (d. 2013)
  • 1941 – Manny Charlton, Spanish-born Scottish rock musician and songwriter
  • 1941 – Nate Thurmond, American basketball player (d. 2016)
  • 1941 – Emmett Till, American lynching victim (d. 1955)
  • 1942 – Bruce Woodley, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1943 – Jim McCarty, English singer and drummer
  • 1943 – Erika Steinbach, Polish-German politician
  • 1944 – Sally Beauman, English journalist and author (d. 2016)
  • 1946 – José Areas, Nicaraguan drummer
  • 1946 – Nicole Farhi, French fashion designer and sculptor
  • 1946 – John Gibson, American radio host
  • 1946 – Rita Marley, Cuban-Jamaican singer
  • 1946 – P. Selvarasa, Sri Lankan politician
  • 1946 – Ljupka Dimitrovska, Macedonian-Croatian pop singer (d. 2016)
  • 1948 – Steve Goodman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1984)
  • 1950 – Mark Clarke, English singer-songwriter and bass player
  • 1951 – Jack Thompson, American lawyer and activist
  • 1951 – Verdine White, American bass player and producer
  • 1952 – Eduardo Souto de Moura, Portuguese architect, designed the Estádio Municipal de Braga
  • 1953 – Joseph A. Tunzi, Chicago based author, foremost expert on Elvis Presley
  • 1953 – Robert Zoellick, American banker and politician, 14th United States Deputy Secretary of State
  • 1954 – Ken Greer, Canadian guitarist, keyboard player, and producer
  • 1954 – Sheena McDonald, Scottish journalist
  • 1954 – Walter Payton, American football player and race car driver (d. 1999)
  • 1954 – Jochem Ziegert, German footballer and manager
  • 1955 – Iman, Somalian-English model and actress
  • 1955 – Randall Bewley, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2009)
  • 1956 – Andy Goldsworthy, English-Scottish sculptor and photographer
  • 1956 – Frances Arnold, American scientist and engineer
  • 1957 – Mark Hunter, English politician
  • 1957 – Steve Podborski, Canadian skier
  • 1958 – Alexei Filippenko, American astrophysicist and academic
  • 1958 – Thurston Moore, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1959 – Fyodor Cherenkov, Russian footballer and manager (d. 2014)
  • 1959 – Geoffrey Zakarian, American chef and author
  • 1960 – Alain Robidoux, Canadian snooker player
  • 1960 – Justice Howard, American photographer
  • 1960 – Māris Martinsons, Latvian film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor
  • 1962 – Carin Bakkum, Dutch tennis player
  • 1962 – Doug Drabek, American baseball player and coach
  • 1963 – Denis Coderre, Canadian politician, 44th Mayor of Montreal
  • 1963 – Julian Hodgson, Welsh chess player
  • 1964 – Anne Applebaum, American journalist and author
  • 1964 – Tony Granato, American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1964 – Breuk Iversen, American designer and journalist
  • 1965 – Marty Brown, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1965 – Illeana Douglas, American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1965 – Dale Shearer, Australian rugby league player
  • 1966 – Daryl Halligan, New Zealand rugby player and sportscaster
  • 1966 – Maureen Herman, American bass player
  • 1966 – Diana Johnson, English politician
  • 1967 – Matt LeBlanc, American actor and producer
  • 1967 – Ruth Peetoom, Dutch minister and politician
  • 1967 – Tommy Skjerven, Norwegian footballer and referee
  • 1968 – Rudi Bryson, South African cricketer
  • 1968 – Shi Tao, Chinese journalist and poet
  • 1969 – Jon Barry, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1969 – Annastacia Palaszczuk, Australian politician, 39th Premier of Queensland
  • 1971 – Roger Creager, American singer-songwriter
  • 1971 – Tracy Murray, American basketball player
  • 1971 – Billy Wagner, American baseball player and coach
  • 1972 – David Penna, Australian rugby league player and coach
  • 1973 – Dani Filth, English singer-songwriter
  • 1973 – Kevin Phillips, English footballer
  • 1973 – Igli Tare, Albanian footballer
  • 1974 – Lauren Faust, American animator, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1974 – Julia Laffranque, Estonian lawyer and judge
  • 1974 – Kenzo Suzuki, Japanese rugby player and wrestler
  • 1975 – Jody Craddock, English footballer and coach
  • 1975 – Jean-Claude Darcheville, Guianan-French footballer
  • 1975 – El Zorro, Mexican wrestler
  • 1975 – Brian Gibson, American bass player
  • 1975 – Evgeni Nabokov, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1976 – Marcos Assunção, Brazilian footballer
  • 1976 – Jovica Tasevski-Eternijan, Macedonian poet and critic
  • 1976 – Javier Vázquez, Puerto Rican-American baseball player
  • 1977 – Kenny Thomas, American basketball player
  • 1978 – Gerard Warren, American football player
  • 1978 – Louise Brown, first human to be born via IVF
  • 1979 – Ali Carter, English snooker player
  • 1979 – Tom Lungley, English cricketer and umpire
  • 1980 – Shawn Riggans, American baseball player
  • 1980 – Toni Vilander, Finnish race car driver
  • 1980 – David Wachs, American actor and producer
  • 1980 – Scott Waldrom, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1981 – Conor Casey, American soccer player
  • 1981 – Constantinos Charalambidis, Cypriot footballer
  • 1981 – Yūichi Komano, Japanese footballer
  • 1981 – Mac Lethal, American rapper and producer
  • 1981 – Jani Rita, Finnish ice hockey player
  • 1982 – Brad Renfro, American actor and musician (d. 2008)
  • 1982 – Jason Dundas, Australian TV host
  • 1983 – Nenad Krstić, Serbian basketball player
  • 1984 – Loukas Mavrokefalidis, Greek basketball player
  • 1985 – James Lafferty, American actor and athlete
  • 1985 – Nelson Piquet Jr., Brazilian race car driver
  • 1985 – Hugo Rodallega, Colombian footballer
  • 1986 – Abraham Gneki Guié, Ivorian footballer
  • 1986 – Hulk, Brazilian footballer
  • 1987 – Richard Bachman, American ice hockey player
  • 1987 – Mitchell Burgzorg, Dutch footballer and rapper
  • 1987 – Fernando, Brazilian footballer
  • 1987 – Jax Jones, English DJ, singer and songwriter
  • 1987 – Eran Zahavi, Israeli footballer
  • 1988 – John Goossens, Dutch footballer
  • 1988 – Tom Hiariej, Dutch footballer
  • 1988 – Stacey Kemp, English skater
  • 1988 – Paulinho, Brazilian footballer
  • 1988 – Anthony Stokes, Irish footballer
  • 1989 – Natalia Vieru, Russian basketball player
  • 1990 – Thodoris Karapetsas, Greek footballer
  • 1991 – Toni Duggan, English footballer
  • 1992 – Sergei Simonov, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2016)
  • 1997 – Nat Butcher, Australian rugby league player

Deaths on July 25

  • 306 – Constantius Chlorus, Roman emperor (b. 250)
  • 885 – Ragenold, margrave of Neustria
  • 1011 – Ichijō, emperor of Japan (b. 980)
  • 1190 – Sibylla, queen of Jerusalem
  • 1409 – Martin I, king of Sicily (b. 1376)
  • 1471 – Thomas à Kempis, German priest and mystic
  • 1472 – Charles of Artois, French nobleman (b. 1394)
  • 1492 – Innocent VIII, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1432)
  • 1564 – Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1503)
  • 1572 – Isaac Luria, Ottoman rabbi and mystic (b. 1534)
  • 1608 – Pomponio Nenna, Italian composer (b. 1556)
  • 1616 – Andreas Libavius, German physician and chemist (b. 1550)
  • 1643 – Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull, English general and politician (b. 1584)
  • 1681 – Urian Oakes, English-American minister and educator (b. 1631)
  • 1790 – Johann Bernhard Basedow, German educator and reformer (b. 1723)
  • 1790 – William Livingston, American soldier and politician, 1st Governor of New Jersey (b. 1723)
  • 1791 – Isaac Low, American merchant and politician (b. 1735)
  • 1794 – André Chénier, Greek-French poet and author (b. 1762)
  • 1794 – Jean-Antoine Roucher, French poet and author (b. 1745)
  • 1794 – Friedrich von der Trenck, Prussian adventurer and author (b. 1726)
  • 1826 – Kondraty Ryleyev, Russian poet and publisher (b. 1795)
  • 1831 – Maria Szymanowska, Polish composer and pianist (b. 1789)
  • 1834 – Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English philosopher, poet, and critic (b. 1772)
  • 1842 – Dominique Jean Larrey, French physician and surgeon (b. 1766)
  • 1843 – Charles Macintosh, Scottish chemist and engineer (b. 1766)
  • 1861 – Jonas Furrer, Swiss lawyer and politician, President of the Swiss Confederation (b. 1805)
  • 1865 – James Barry, English soldier and surgeon (b. 1799)
  • 1887 – John Taylor, American religious leader, 3rd President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1808)
  • 1934 – François Coty, French businessman, founded Coty, Inc. (b. 1874)
  • 1934 – Engelbert Dollfuss, Austrian politician, 14th Chancellor of Austria (b. 1892)
  • 1942 – Fred Englehardt, American triple jumper (b. 1879)
  • 1952 – Herbert Murrill, English organist and composer (b. 1909)
  • 1958 – Otto Lasanen, Finnish wrestler (b. 1891)
  • 1959 – Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, Polish-born Irish rabbi and author (b. 1888)
  • 1962 – Thibaudeau Rinfret, Canadian lawyer and jurist, 9th Chief Justice of Canada (b. 1879)
  • 1963 – Ugo Cerletti, Italian neurologist and academic (b. 1877)
  • 1966 – Frank O’Hara, American poet and critic (b. 1926)
  • 1967 – Konstantinos Parthenis, Egyptian-Greek painter (b. 1878)
  • 1971 – John Meyers, American swimmer and water polo player (b. 1880)
  • 1971 – Leroy Robertson, American composer and educator (b. 1896)
  • 1973 – Amy Jacques Garvey, Jamaican-American journalist and activist (b. 1895)
  • 1973 – Louis St. Laurent, Canadian lawyer and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1882)
  • 1980 – Vladimir Vysotsky, Russian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (b. 1938)
  • 1981 – Rosa A. González, Puerto Rican nurse, author, feminist, and activist (b. 1889)
  • 1982 – Hal Foster, Canadian-American author and illustrator (b. 1892)
  • 1984 – Bryan Hextall, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1913)
  • 1984 – Big Mama Thornton, American singer-songwriter (b. 1926)
  • 1986 – Vincente Minnelli, American director and screenwriter (b. 1903)
  • 1988 – Judith Barsi, American child actress (b. 1978)
  • 1989 – Steve Rubell, American businessman, co-owner of Studio 54 (b. 1943)
  • 1991 – Lazar Kaganovich, Soviet politician (b. 1893)
  • 1992 – Alfred Drake, American actor and singer (b. 1914)
  • 1995 – Charlie Rich, American singer-songwriter (b. 1932)
  • 1997 – Ben Hogan, American golfer (b. 1912)
  • 1998 – Evangelos Papastratos, Greek businessman, co-founded Papastratos (b. 1910)
  • 2000 – Rudi Faßnacht, German footballer, coach, and manager (b. 1934)
  • 2002 – Abdel Rahman Badawi, Egyptian philosopher and poet (b. 1917)
  • 2003 – Ludwig Bölkow, German engineer (b. 1912)
  • 2003 – John Schlesinger, English actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
  • 2004 – John Passmore, Australian philosopher and academic (b. 1914)
  • 2005 – Albert Mangelsdorff, German trombonist (b. 1928)
  • 2006 – Ezra Fleischer, Romanian-Israeli poet and philologist (b. 1928)
  • 2007 – Bernd Jakubowski, German footballer and manager (b. 1952)
  • 2008 – Jeff Fehring, Australian footballer (b. 1955)
  • 2008 – Tracy Hall, American chemist and academic (b. 1919)
  • 2008 – Randy Pausch, American computer scientist and educator (b. 1960)
  • 2009 – Vernon Forrest, American boxer (b. 1971)
  • 2009 – Stanley Middleton, English author (b. 1919)
  • 2009 – Harry Patch, English soldier (b. 1898)
  • 2011 – Michael Cacoyannis, Cypriot-Greek director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1922)
  • 2012 – B. R. Ishara, Indian director and screenwriter (b. 1934)
  • 2012 – Barry Langford, English director and producer (b. 1926)
  • 2012 – Greg Mohns, American-Canadian football player and coach (b. 1950)
  • 2012 – Franz West, Austrian painter and sculptor (b. 1947)
  • 2013 – Walter De Maria, American sculptor, illustrator, and composer (b. 1935)
  • 2013 – William J. Guste, American lawyer and politician (b. 1922)
  • 2013 – Hugh Huxley, English-American biologist and academic (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Bel Kaufman, German-American author and academic (b. 1911)
  • 2014 – Richard Larter, Australian painter and illustrator (b. 1929)
  • 2015 – Jacques Andreani, French diplomat, French ambassador to the United States (b. 1929)
  • 2015 – R. S. Gavai, Indian lawyer and politician, 18th Governor of Kerala (b. 1929)
  • 2015 – Bob Kauffman, American basketball player and coach (b. 1946)
  • 2017 – Michael Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1944)
  • 2018 – Sergio Marchionne, Italian-Canadian businessman(b. 1952)
  • 2019 – Beji Caid Essebsi , 4th President and 9th Prime Minister of Tunisia (b. 1926)

Holidays and observances on July 25

  • Christian feast day:
    • Anne (Eastern Christianity)
    • Christopher (Western Christianity)
    • Cucuphas
    • Glodesind
    • James the Great (Western Christianity)
    • John I Agnus
    • Julian of Le Mans (translation)
    • Magnerich of Trier
    • July 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Father’s Day can fall, while July 31 is the latest; celebrated on last Sunday in July. (Dominican Republic)
  • Earliest day on which National Tree Planting Day can fall, while July 31 is the latest; celebrated on last Sunday in July. (Australia)
  • Earliest day on which Navy Day can fall, while July 31 is the latest; celebrated on last Sunday in July. (Russia)
  • Guanacaste Day (Costa Rica)
  • National Baha’i Day (Jamaica)
  • National Day of Galicia (Galicia)
  • Puerto Rico Constitution Day (Puerto Rico)
  • Republic Day (Tunisia)

July 25 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

July 18- History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

  • 477 BC – Battle of the Cremera as part of the Roman–Etruscan Wars. Veii ambushes and defeats the Roman army.
  • 387 BC– Roman-Gaulish Wars: Battle of the Allia: A Roman army is defeated by raiding Gauls, leading to the subsequent sacking of Rome.
  • 362 – Roman–Persian Wars: Emperor Julian arrives at Antioch with a Roman expeditionary force (60,000 men) and stays there for nine months to launch a campaign against the Persian Empire.
  • 452 – Sack of Aquileia: After an earlier defeat on the Catalaunian Plains, Attila lays siege to the metropolis of Aquileia and eventually destroys it.
  • 645 – Chinese forces under general Li Shiji besiege the strategic fortress city of Anshi (Liaoning) during the Goguryeo–Tang War.
  • 1195 – Battle of Alarcos: Almohad forces defeat the Castilian army of Alfonso VIII and force its retreat to Toledo.
  • 1290 – King Edward I of England issues the Edict of Expulsion, banishing all Jews (numbering about 16,000) from England; this was Tisha B’Av on the Hebrew calendar, a day that commemorates many Jewish calamities.
  • 1334 – The bishop of Florence blesses the first foundation stone for the new campanile (bell tower) of the Florence Cathedral, designed by the artist Giotto di Bondone.
  • 1389 – France and England agree to the Truce of Leulinghem, inaugurating a 13-year peace, the longest period of sustained peace during the Hundred Years’ War.
  • 1391 – Tokhtamysh–Timur war: Battle of the Kondurcha River: Timur defeats Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde in present-day southeast Russia.
  • 1507 – In Brussels, Prince Charles I, is crowned Duke of Burgundy and Count of Flanders, a year after inheriting the title.
  • 1555 – The College of Arms is reincorporated by Royal charter signed by Queen Mary I of England and King Philip II of Spain.
  • 1806 – A gunpowder magazine explosion in Birgu, Malta, kills around 200 people.
  • 1812 – The Treaties of Orebro end both the Anglo-Russian and Anglo-Swedish Wars.
  • 1841 – Coronation of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil.
  • 1857 – Louis Faidherbe, French governor of Senegal, arrives to relieve French forces at Kayes, effectively ending El Hajj Umar Tall’s war against the French.
  • 1862 – First ascent of Dent Blanche, one of the highest summits in the Alps.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Fort Wagner: One of the first formal African American military units, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, supported by several white regiments, attempts an unsuccessful assault on Confederate-held Battery Wagner.
  • 1870 – The First Vatican Council decrees the dogma of papal infallibility.
  • 1872 – The Ballot Act 1872 in the United Kingdom introduced the requirement that parliamentary and local government elections be held by secret ballot.
  • 1914 – The U.S. Congress forms the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, giving official status to aircraft within the U.S. Army for the first time.
  • 1925 – Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf.
  • 1936 – On the Spanish mainland, a faction of the army supported by fascists, rises up against the Second Spanish Republic in a coup d’etat starting the 3-year-long Civil War, resulting in the longest dictatorship in modern European history.
  • 1942 – World War II: During the Beisfjord massacre in Norway, 15 Norwegian paramilitary guards help members of the SS to kill 288 political prisoners from Yugoslavia.
  • 1942 – The Germans test fly the Messerschmitt Me 262 using its jet engines for the first time.
  • 1944 – World War II: Hideki Tōjō resigns as Prime Minister of Japan because of numerous setbacks in the war effort.
  • 1966 – Human spaceflight: Gemini 10 is launched from Cape Kennedy on a 70-hour mission that includes docking with an orbiting Agena target vehicle.
  • 1966 – A racially charged incident in a bar sparks the six-day Hough riots in Cleveland, Ohio; 1,700 Ohio National Guard troops intervene to restore order.
  • 1968 – Intel is founded in Mountain View, California.
  • 1976 – Nadia Comăneci becomes the first person in Olympic Games history to score a perfect 10 in gymnastics at the 1976 Summer Olympics.
  • 1982 – Two hundred sixty-eight Guatemalan campesinos (“peasants” or “country people”) are slain in the Plan de Sánchez massacre.
  • 1984 – McDonald’s massacre in San Ysidro, California: In a fast-food restaurant, James Oliver Huberty opens fire, killing 21 people and injuring 19 others before being shot dead by police.
  • 1992 – A picture of Les Horribles Cernettes was taken, which became the first ever photo posted to the World Wide Web.
  • 1994 – The bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (Argentine Jewish Community Center) in Buenos Aires kills 85 people (mostly Jewish) and injures 300.
  • 1994 – Rwandan genocide: The Rwandan Patriotic Front takes control of Gisenyi and north western Rwanda, forcing the interim government into Zaire and ending the genocide.
  • 1995 – On the Caribbean island of Montserrat, the Soufrière Hills volcano erupts. Over the course of several years, it devastates the island, destroying the capital, forcing most of the population to flee.
  • 1996 – Storms provoke severe flooding on the Saguenay River, beginning one of Quebec’s costliest natural disasters ever.
  • 1996 – Battle of Mullaitivu: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam capture the Sri Lanka Army’s base, killing over 1200 soldiers.
  • 2012 – At least seven people are killed and 32 others are injured after a bomb explodes on an Israeli tour bus at Burgas Airport, Bulgaria.
  • 2013 – The Government of Detroit, with up to $20 billion in debt, files for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
  • 2019 – A man sets fire to an anime studio in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan, killing at 35 people and injuring dozens of others.

Births on July 18

  • 1013 – Hermann of Reichenau, German composer, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1013)
  • 1501 – Isabella of Austria, queen of Denmark (d. 1526)
  • 1504 – Heinrich Bullinger, Swiss pastor and reformer (d. 1575)
  • 1534 – Zacharius Ursinus, German theologian (d. 1583)
  • 1552 – Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1612)
  • 1634 – Johannes Camphuys, Dutch politician, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1695)
  • 1659 – Hyacinthe Rigaud, French painter (d. 1743)
  • 1670 – Giovanni Bononcini, Italian cellist and composer (d. 1747)
  • 1702 – Maria Clementina Sobieska, Polish noble (d. 1735)
  • 1718 – Saverio Bettinelli, Italian poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1808)
  • 1720 – Gilbert White, English ornithologist and ecologist (d. 1793)
  • 1724 – Maria Antonia of Bavaria, Electress of Saxony (d. 1780)
  • 1750 – Frederick Adolf, duke of Östergötland (d. 1803)
  • 1796 – Immanuel Hermann Fichte, German philosopher and academic (d. 1879)
  • 1811 – William Makepeace Thackeray, English author and poet (d. 1863)
  • 1818 – Louis Gerhard De Geer, Swedish lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1896)
  • 1821 – Pauline Viardot, French soprano and composer (d. 1910)
  • 1837 – Vasil Levski, Bulgarian priest and activist (d. 1873)
  • 1843 – Virgil Earp, American marshal (d. 1905)
  • 1845 – Tristan Corbière, French poet (d. 1875)
  • 1848 – W. G. Grace, English cricketer and physician (d. 1915)
  • 1853 – Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
  • 1861 – Kadambini Ganguly, Indian physician, one of the first Indian women to obtain a degree (d. 1923)
  • 1864 – Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 1937)
  • 1867 – Margaret Brown, American philanthropist and activist (d. 1932)
  • 1871 – Giacomo Balla, Italian painter (d.1958)
  • 1871 – Sada Yacco, Japanese actress and dancer (d. 1946)
  • 1881 – Larry McLean, Canadian-American baseball player (d. 1921)
  • 1884 – Alberto di Jorio, Italian cardinal (d. 1979)
  • 1886 – Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., American general (d. 1945)
  • 1887 – Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian military officer and politician, Minister President of Norway (d. 1945)
  • 1889 – Kōichi Kido, Japanese politician, 13th Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan (d. 1977)
  • 1890 – Frank Forde, Australian educator and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1983)
  • 1892 – Arthur Friedenreich, Brazilian footballer (d. 1969)
  • 1893 – David Ogilvy, 12th Earl of Airlie, Scottish peer, soldier and courtier (d. 1968)
  • 1895 – Olga Spessivtseva, Russian-American ballerina (d. 1991)
  • 1895 – Machine Gun Kelly, American gangster (d. 1954)
  • 1897 – Ernest Eldridge, English race car driver and engineer (d. 1935)
  • 1898 – John Stuart, Scottish-English actor (d. 1979)
  • 1899 – Ernst Scheller, German soldier and politician, 8th Mayor of Marburg (d. 1942)
  • 1900 – Nathalie Sarraute, French lawyer and author (d. 1999)
  • 1902 – Jessamyn West, American author (d. 1984)
  • 1902 – Chill Wills, American actor (d. 1978)
  • 1905 – Robert Elton Brooker, American business executive (d. 2000)
  • 1906 – S. I. Hayakawa, Canadian-American academic and politician (d. 1992)
  • 1906 – Clifford Odets, American director, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1963)
  • 1908 – Peace Pilgrim, American mystic and activist (d. 1981)
  • 1908 – Lupe Vélez, Mexican-American actress and dancer (d. 1944)
  • 1908 – Beatrice Aitchison, American mathematician, statistician, and transportation economist (d. 1997)
  • 1909 – Bishnu Dey, Indian poet, critic, and academic (d. 1982)
  • 1909 – Andrei Gromyko, Belarusian-Russian economist and politician, Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1989)
  • 1909 – Mohammed Daoud Khan, Afghan commander and politician, 1st President of Afghanistan (d. 1978)
  • 1909 – Harriet Nelson, American singer and actress (d. 1994)
  • 1910 – Diptendu Pramanick, Indian businessman (d. 1989)
  • 1910 – Mamadou Dia, Senegalese politician; 1st Prime Minister of Senegal (d. 2009)
  • 1911 – Hume Cronyn, Canadian-American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
  • 1913 – Red Skelton, American actor and comedian (d. 1997)
  • 1914 – Gino Bartali, Italian cyclist (d. 2000)
  • 1914 – Oscar Heisserer, French footballer (d. 2004)
  • 1915 – Carequinha, Brazilian clown and actor (d. 2006)
  • 1915 – Roxana Cannon Arsht, American judge (d. 2003)
  • 1915 – Louis Le Bailly, British Royal Navy officer (d. 2010)
  • 1916 – Charles Kittel, American physicist (d. 2019)
  • 1917 – Henri Salvador, French singer and guitarist (d. 2008)
  • 1917 – Paul Streeten, Austrian-born British economics professor (d. 2019)
  • 1918 – Nelson Mandela, South African lawyer and politician, 1st President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
  • 1919 – Lilia Dale, Italian actress
  • 1920 – Eric Brandon, English race car driver and businessman (d. 1982)
  • 1921 – Peter Austin, English brewer, founded Ringwood Brewery (d. 2014)
  • 1921 – Aaron T. Beck, American psychiatrist and academic
  • 1921 – John Glenn, American colonel, astronaut, and politician (d. 2016)
  • 1921 – Richard Leacock, English-French director and producer (d. 2011)
  • 1921 – Heinz Bennent, German actor (d. 2011)
  • 1922 – Thomas Kuhn, American physicist, historian, and philosopher (d. 1996)
  • 1923 – Jerome H. Lemelson, American engineer and businessman (d. 1997)
  • 1923 – Michael Medwin, English actor (d. 2020)
  • 1924 – Inge Sørensen, Danish swimmer (d. 2011)
  • 1924 – Tullio Altamura, Italian actor
  • 1925 – Shirley Strickland, Australian runner and hurdler (d. 2004)
  • 1925 – Friedrich Zimmermann, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of the Interior (d. 2012)
  • 1925 – Raymond Jones, Australian Modernist architect
  • 1925 – Windy McCall, American baseball relief pitcher (d. 2015)
  • 1926 – Margaret Laurence, Canadian author and academic (d. 1987)
  • 1926 – Nita Bieber, American actress (d. 2019)
  • 1926 – Bernard Pons, French politician and medical doctor
  • 1926 – Maunu Kurkvaara, Finnish film director and screenwriter
  • 1927 – Mehdi Hassan, Pakistani ghazal singer and playback singer (d. 2012)
  • 1927 – Kurt Masur, German conductor and educator (d. 2015)
  • 1927 – Antonio García-Trevijano, Spanish republican, political activist, and author (d. 2018)
  • 1927 – Keith MacDonald, Canadian politician
  • 1927 – Anthony Mirra, American gangster, member of the Bonanno Crime Family (d. 1982)
  • 1928 – Andrea Gallo, Italian priest and author (d. 2013)
  • 1928 – Baddiewinkle, American internet personality
  • 1929 – Dick Button, American figure skater and actor
  • 1929 – Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, American R&B singer-songwriter, musician, and actor (d. 2000)
  • 1932 – Robert Ellis Miller, American director and screenwriter (d. 2017)
  • 1933 – Jean Yanne, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
  • 1933 – Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Russian poet and playwright (d. 2017)
  • 1934 – Edward Bond, English director, playwright, and screenwriter
  • 1934 – Darlene Conley, American actress (d. 2007)
  • 1935 – Tenley Albright, American figure skater and physician
  • 1935 – Jayendra Saraswathi, Indian guru, 69th Shankaracharya
  • 1937 – Roald Hoffmann, Polish chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1937 – Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author (d. 2005)
  • 1938 – John Connelly, English footballer (d. 2012)
  • 1938 – Ian Stewart, Scottish keyboard player and manager (d. 1985)
  • 1938 – Paul Verhoeven, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1939 – Brian Auger, English rock and jazz keyboard player
  • 1939 – Dion DiMucci, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1939 – Jerry Moore, American football player and coach
  • 1940 – James Brolin, American actor
  • 1940 – Joe Torre, American baseball player and manager
  • 1941 – Frank Farian, German songwriter and producer
  • 1941 – Lonnie Mack, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)
  • 1941 – Martha Reeves, American singer and politician
  • 1942 – Giacinto Facchetti, Italian footballer (d. 2006)
  • 1942 – Adolf Ogi, Swiss politician, 84th President of the Swiss Confederation
  • 1943 – Joseph J. Ellis, American historian and author
  • 1944 – David Hemery, English hurdler and author
  • 1945 – Pat Doherty, Irish Republican politician
  • 1946 – Kalpana Mohan, Indian actress
  • 1946 – John Naughton, Scottish-Irish journalist, author, and academic
  • 1947 – Steve Forbes, American publisher and politician
  • 1948 – Carlos Colón Sr., Puerto Rican-American wrestler and promoter
  • 1948 – Jeanne Córdova, American journalist and activist (d. 2016)
  • 1948 – Graham Spanier, 16th President of Pennsylvania State University
  • 1948 – Hartmut Michel, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1949 – Dennis Lillee, Australian cricketer and coach
  • 1950 – Richard Branson, English businessman, founded Virgin Group
  • 1950 – Jack Dongarra, American computer scientist and academic
  • 1950 – Kostas Eleftherakis, Greek footballer
  • 1950 – Glenn Hughes, American disco singer (Village People) and actor (d. 2001)
  • 1950 – Jack Layton, Canadian political scientist, academic, and politician (d. 2011)
  • 1950 – Mark Udall, American educator and politician
  • 1951 – Elio Di Rupo, Belgian chemist, academic, and politician, 68th Prime Minister of Belgium
  • 1951 – Margo Martindale, American actress
  • 1954 – Ricky Skaggs, American singer-songwriter, mandolin player, and producer
  • 1955 – Bernd Fasching, Austrian painter and sculptor
  • 1957 – Nick Faldo, English golfer and sportscaster
  • 1957 – Keith Levene, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer
  • 1960 – Simon Heffer, English journalist and author
  • 1961 – Elizabeth McGovern, American actress
  • 1961 – Alan Pardew, English footballer and manager
  • 1961 – Pasi Rautiainen, Finnish footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1962 – Shaun Micallef, Australian comedian, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1963 – Marc Girardelli, Austrian-Luxembourgian skier
  • 1963 – Martín Torrijos, Panamanian economist and politician, 35th President of Panama
  • 1964 – Wendy Williams, American talk show host
  • 1965 – Vesselina Kasarova, Bulgarian soprano
  • 1966 – Dan O’Brien, American decathlete and coach
  • 1967 – Vin Diesel, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter1968 – Grant Bowler, New Zealand-Australian actor
  • 1968 – Scott Gourley, Australian rugby player
  • 1969 – Elizabeth Gilbert, American author
  • 1969 – The Great Sasuke, Japanese wrestler and politician
  • 1971 – Penny Hardaway, American basketball player and coach
  • 1971 – Sukhwinder Singh, Indian singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1974 – Alan Morrison, British poet
  • 1975 – Torii Hunter, American baseball player
  • 1975 – Daron Malakian, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1975 – M.I.A., English rapper and producer5
  • 1976 – Elsa Pataky, Spanish actress
  • 1976 – Go Soo-hee, South Korean actress
  • 1977 – Alexander Morozevich, Russian chess player and author
  • 1978 – Adabel Guerrero, Argentinian actress, singer, and dancer
  • 1978 – Shane Horgan, Irish rugby player and sportscaster
  • 1978 – Crystal Mangum, American murderer responsible for making false rape allegations in the Duke lacrosse case
  • 1978 – Joo Sang-wook, South Korean actor
  • 1978 – Ben Sheets, American baseball player and coach
  • 1978 – Mélissa Theuriau, French journalist
  • 1979 – Deion Branch, American football player
  • 1979 – Joey Mercury, American wrestler and producer
  • 1980 – Kristen Bell, American actress
  • 1981 – Dennis Seidenberg, German ice hockey player
  • 1982 – Ryan Cabrera, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1982 – Priyanka Chopra, Indian actress, singer, and film producer
  • 1982 – Carlo Costly, Honduran footballer
  • 1983 – Carlos Diogo, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1983 – Aaron Gillespie, American singer-songwriter and drummer
  • 1983 – Mikk Pahapill, Estonian decathlete
  • 1983 – Jan Schlaudraff, German footballer
  • 1985 – Chace Crawford, American actor
  • 1985 – Panagiotis Lagos, Greek footballer
  • 1985 – James Norton, English actor
  • 1986 – Natalia Mikhailova, Russian ice dancer
  • 1987 – Tontowi Ahmad, Indonesian badminton player
  • 1988 – Änis Ben-Hatira, German-Tunisian footballer
  • 1988 – César Villaluz, Mexican footballer
  • 1989 – Jamie Benn, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1989 – Sebastian Mielitz, German footballer
  • 1989 – Yohan Mollo, French footballer
  • 1993 – Lee Tae-min, South Korean singer and actor
  • 1993 – Michael Lichaa, Australian rugby league player
  • 1994 – Nilo Soares, East Timorese footballer
  • 1997 – Noah Lyles, American sprinter
  • 2001 – Agustina Roth, Argentine BMX rider

Deaths on July 18

  • 707 – Emperor Monmu of Japan (b. 683)
  • 715 – Muhammad bin Qasim, Umayyad general (b. 695)
  • 912 – Zhu Wen, Chinese emperor (b. 852)
  • 924 – Abu’l-Hasan Ali ibn al-Furat, Abbasid vizier (b. 855)
  • 928 – Stephen II, patriarch of Constantinople
  • 984 – Dietrich I, bishop of Metz
  • 1100 – Godfrey of Bouillon, Frankish knight (b. 1016)
  • 1185 – Stefan, first Archbishop of Uppsala (b. before 1143)
  • 1194 – Guy of Lusignan, king consort of Jerusalem (b. c. 1150)
  • 1232 – John de Braose, Marcher Lord of Bramber and Gower
  • 1270 – Boniface of Savoy, Archbishop of Canterbury
  • 1300 – Gerard Segarelli, Italian religious leader, founded the Apostolic Brethren (b. 1240)
  • 1450 – Francis I, Duke of Brittany (b. 1414)
  • 1488 – Alvise Cadamosto, Italian explorer (b. 1432)
  • 1566 – Bartolomé de las Casas, Spanish bishop and historian (b. 1484)
  • 1591 – Jacobus Gallus, Slovenian composer (b. 1550)
  • 1608 – Joachim Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1546)
  • 1610 – Caravaggio, Italian painter (b. 1571)
  • 1639 – Bernard of Saxe-Weimar, German general (b. 1604)
  • 1650 – Robert Levinz, English Royalist, hanged in London by Parliamentary forces as a spy (b. 1615)
  • 1695 – Johannes Camphuys, Dutch politician, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (b. 1634)
  • 1698 – Johann Heinrich Heidegger, Swiss theologian and author (b. 1633)
  • 1721 – Jean-Antoine Watteau, French painter (b. 1684)
  • 1730 – François de Neufville, duc de Villeroy, French general (b. 1644)
  • 1756 – Pieter Langendijk, Dutch poet and playwright (b. 1683)
  • 1792 – John Paul Jones, Scottish-American admiral and diplomat (b. 1747)
  • 1817 – Jane Austen, English novelist (b. 1775)
  • 1837 – Vincenzo Borg, Maltese merchant and rebel leader (b. 1777)
  • 1863 – Robert Gould Shaw, American colonel (b. 1837)
  • 1872 – Benito Juárez, Mexican lawyer and politician, 26th President of Mexico (b. 1806)
  • 1884 – Ferdinand von Hochstetter, Austrian geologist and academic (b. 1829)
  • 1887 – Dorothea Dix, American social reformer and activist (b. 1802)
  • 1890 – Lydia Becker, English journalist, author, and activist, co-founded the Women’s Suffrage Journal (b. 1827)
  • 1892 – Thomas Cook, English travel agent, founded the Thomas Cook Group (b. 1808)
  • 1899 – Horatio Alger, American novelist and journalist (b. 1832)
  • 1916 – Benjamin C. Truman, American journalist and author (b. 1835)
  • 1925 – Louis-Nazaire Bégin, Canadian cardinal (b. 1840)
  • 1932 – Jean Jules Jusserand, French author and diplomat, French Ambassador to the United States (b. 1855)
  • 1937 – Julian Bell, English poet and academic (b. 1908)
  • 1938 – Marie of Romania (b. 1875)
  • 1944 – Thomas Sturge Moore, English author, poet, and playwright (b. 1870)
  • 1947 – Evald Tipner, Estonian footballer and ice hockey player (b. 1906)
  • 1948 – Herman Gummerus, Finnish historian, academic, and politician (b. 1877)
  • 1949 – Vítězslav Novák, Czech composer and educator (b. 1870)
  • 1949 – Francisco Javier Arana, Guatemalan Army colonel and briefly Guatemalan head of state (b.1905)
  • 1950 – Carl Clinton Van Doren, American critic and biographer (b. 1885)
  • 1952 – Paul Saintenoy, Belgian architect and historian (b. 1862)
  • 1954 – Machine Gun Kelly, American gangster (b. 1895)
  • 1966 – Bobby Fuller, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1942)
  • 1968 – Corneille Heymans, Belgian physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)
  • 1969 – Mary Jo Kopechne, American educator and secretary (b. 1940)
  • 1973 – Jack Hawkins, English actor (b. 1910)
  • 1975 – Vaughn Bodē, American illustrator (b. 1941)
  • 1981 – Sonja Branting-Westerståhl, Swedish lawyer (b. 1890)
  • 1982 – Roman Jakobson, Russian–American linguist and theorist (b. 1896)
  • 1984 – Lally Bowers, English actress (b. 1914)
  • 1984 – Grigori Kromanov, Estonian director and screenwriter (b. 1926)
  • 1987 – Gilberto Freyre, Brazilian sociologist, anthropologist, historian, writer, painter, journalist and congressman (b. 1907)
  • 1988 – Nico, German singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and actress (b. 1938)
  • 1988 – Joly Braga Santos, Portuguese composer and conductor (b. 1924)
  • 1989 – Donnie Moore, American baseball player (b. 1954)
  • 1989 – Rebecca Schaeffer, American model and actress (b.1967)
  • 1990 – Karl Menninger, American psychiatrist and author (b. 1896)
  • 1990 – Yun Posun, South Korean politician, 2nd President of South Korea (b. 1897)
  • 2001 – Mimi Fariña, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1945)
  • 2002 – Metin Toker, Turkish journalist and author (b. 1924)
  • 2004 – André Castelot, Belgian-French historian and author (b. 1911)
  • 2004 – Émile Peynaud, French wine maker (b. 1912)
  • 2005 – Amy Gillett, Australian cyclist and rower (b. 1976)
  • 2005 – William Westmoreland, American general (b. 1914)
  • 2006 – Henry Hewes, American theater writer (b. 1917)
  • 2007 – Jerry Hadley, American tenor (b. 1952)
  • 2007 – Kenji Miyamoto, Japanese politician (b. 1908)
  • 2009 – Henry Allingham, English soldier (b. 1896)
  • 2009 – Jill Balcon, English actress (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, Lithuanian-Israeli rabbi and author (b. 1910)
  • 2012 – Jean François-Poncet, French politician and diplomat, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Dawoud Rajiha, Syrian general and politician, Syrian Minister of Defense (b. 1947)
  • 2012 – Assef Shawkat, Syrian general and politician (b. 1950)
  • 2012 – Hasan Turkmani, Syrian general and politician, Syrian Minister of Defense (b. 1935)
  • 2012 – Rajesh Khanna, Indian actor (b. 1942)
  • 2013 – Vaali, Indian poet, songwriter, and actor (b. 1931)
  • 2013 – Olivier Ameisen, French-American cardiologist and academic (b. 1953)
  • 2014 – Andreas Biermann, German footballer (b. 1980)
  • 2014 – João Ubaldo Ribeiro, Brazilian journalist, author, and academic (b. 1941)
  • 2014 – Dietmar Schönherr, Austrian-Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
  • 2015 – Alex Rocco, American actor (b. 1936)
  • 2018 – Jonathan Gold, American food critic (b. 1960)
  • 2018 – Adrian Cronauer, American Radio personality (b. 1938)

Holidays and observances on July 18

  • Christian feast day:
    • Arnulf of Metz
    • Bartolomé de las Casas (Episcopal Church (USA))
    • Bruno of Segni
    • Camillus de Lellis (optional memorial, United States only)
    • Eadburh (or Edburga) of Bicester
    • Elizabeth Ferard (Church of England)
    • Frederick of Utrecht
    • Goneri of Brittany
    • Gundenis
    • Marina of Aguas Santas
    • Maternus of Milan
    • Minnborinus of Cologne
    • Pambo
    • Philastrius (or Filaster)
    • Symphorosa
    • Teneu (or Theneva)
    • Theodosia of Constantinople
    • July 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Constitution Day (Uruguay)
  • Nelson Mandela International Day

July 18- History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

  • 325 – The original Nicene Creed is adopted at the First Council of Nicaea.
  • 1179 – The Battle of Kalvskinnet takes place outside Nidaros (now Trondheim), Norway. Earl Erling Skakke is killed, and the battle changes the tide of the civil wars.
  • 1306 – The Earl of Pembroke’s army defeats Bruce’s Scottish army at the Battle of Methven.
  • 1586 – English colonists leave Roanoke Island, after failing to establish England’s first permanent settlement in North America.
  • 1770 – New Church Day: Emanuel Swedenborg writes: “The Lord sent forth His twelve disciples, who followed Him in the world into the whole spiritual world to preach the Gospel that the Lord God Jesus Christ reign. This took place on the 19th day of June, in the year 1770.”
  • 1800 – War of the Second Coalition Battle of Höchstädt results in a French victory over Austria.
  • 1816 – Battle of Seven Oaks between North West Company and Hudson’s Bay Company, near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
  • 1821 – Decisive defeat of the Filiki Eteria by the Ottomans at Drăgășani (in Wallachia).
  • 1846 – The first officially recorded, organized baseball game is played under Alexander Cartwright’s rules on Hoboken, New Jersey’s Elysian Fields with the New York Base Ball Club defeating the Knickerbockers 23–1. Cartwright umpired.
  • 1850 – Princess Louise of the Netherlands marries Crown Prince Karl of Sweden–Norway.
  • 1862 – The U.S. Congress prohibits slavery in United States territories, nullifying Dred Scott v. Sandford.
  • 1865 – Over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves in Galveston, Texas, United States, are finally informed of their freedom. The anniversary is still officially celebrated in Texas and 41 other contiguous states as Juneteenth.
  • 1867 – Maximilian I of the Second Mexican Empire is executed by a firing squad in Querétaro, Querétaro.
  • 1875 – The Herzegovinian rebellion against the Ottoman Empire begins.
  • 1903 – Benito Mussolini, at the time a radical Socialist, is arrested by Bern police for advocating a violent general strike.
  • 1910 – The first Father’s Day is celebrated in Spokane, Washington.
  • 1913 – Natives Land Act, 1913 in South Africa implemented.
  • 1934 – The Communications Act of 1934 establishes the United States’ Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
  • 1943 – The Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL merge for one season due to player shortages caused by World War II.
  • 1953 – Cold War: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are executed at Sing Sing, in New York.
  • 1960 – The first NASCAR race was held at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
  • 1961 – Kuwait declares independence from the United Kingdom.
  • 1964 – The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is approved after surviving an 83-day filibuster in the United States Senate.
  • 1965 – Nguyễn Cao Kỳ becomes Prime Minister of South Vietnam at the head of a military junta; General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu becomes the figurehead chief of state.
  • 1985 – Members of the Revolutionary Party of Central American Workers, dressed as Salvadoran soldiers, attack the Zona Rosa area of San Salvador.
  • 1987 – Basque separatist group ETA commits one of its most violent attacks, in which a bomb is set off in a supermarket, Hipercor, killing 21 and injuring 45.
  • 1988 – Pope John Paul II canonizes 117 Vietnamese Martyrs.
  • 1990 – The current international law defending indigenous peoples, Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989, is ratified for the first time by Norway.
  • 1990 – The Communist Party of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic is founded in Moscow.
  • 1991 – The last Soviet army units in Hungary are withdrawn.
  • 2007 – The al-Khilani Mosque bombing in Baghdad leaves 78 people dead and another 218 injured.
  • 2009 – Mass riots involving over 10,000 people and 10,000 police officers break out in Shishou, China, over the dubious circumstances surrounding the death of a local chef.
  • 2009 – War in North-West Pakistan: The Pakistani Armed Forces open Operation Rah-e-Nijat against the Taliban and other Islamist rebels in the South Waziristan area of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
  • 2012 – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange requested asylum in London’s Ecuadorian Embassy for fear of extradition to the US after publication of previously classified documents including footage of civilian killings by the US army.
  • 2018 – The 10,000,000th United States Patent is issued.

Births on June 19

  • 1301 – Prince Morikuni, shōgun of Japan (d. 1333)
  • 1417 – Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, lord of Rimini (d. 1468)
  • 1566 – James VI and I of the United Kingdom (d. 1625)
  • 1590 – Philip Bell, British colonial governor (d. 1678)
  • 1595 – Hargobind, sixth Sikh guru (d. 1644)
  • 1598 – Gilbert Sheldon, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1677)
  • 1606 – James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton, Scottish soldier and politician, Lord Chancellor of Scotland (d. 1649)
  • 1623 – Blaise Pascal, French mathematician and physicist (d. 1662)
  • 1633 – Philipp van Limborch, Dutch author and theologian (d. 1712)
  • 1701 – François Rebel, French violinist and composer (d. 1775)
  • 1731 – Joaquim Machado de Castro, Portuguese sculptor (d. 1822)
  • 1764 – José Gervasio Artigas, Uruguayan general and politician (d. 1850)
  • 1771 – Joseph Diaz Gergonne, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1859)
  • 1776 – Francis Johnson, American lawyer and politician (d. 1842)
  • 1783 – Friedrich Sertürner, German chemist and pharmacist (d. 1841)
  • 1793 – Joseph Earl Sheffield, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1882)
  • 1795 – James Braid, Scottish-English surgeon (d. 1860)
  • 1797 – Hamilton Hume, Australian explorer (d. 1873)
  • 1815 – Cornelius Krieghoff, Dutch-Canadian painter (d. 1872)
  • 1816 – William H. Webb, American shipbuilder and philanthropist, founded the Webb Institute (d. 1899)
  • 1833 – Mary Tenney Gray, American editorial writer, club-woman, philanthropist, and suffragette (d. 1904)
  • 1834 – Charles Spurgeon, English pastor and author (d. 1892)
  • 1840 – Georg Karl Maria Seidlitz, German entomologist and academic (d. 1917)
  • 1843 – Mary Sibbet Copley, American philanthropist (d. 1929)
  • 1845 – Cléophas Beausoleil, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 1904)
  • 1846 – Antonio Abetti, Italian astronomer and academic (d. 1928)
  • 1850 – David Jayne Hill, American historian and politician, 24th United States Assistant Secretary of State (d. 1932)
  • 1851 – Billy Midwinter, English-Australian cricketer (d. 1890)
  • 1851 – Silvanus P. Thompson, English physicist, engineer, and academic (d. 1916)
  • 1854 – Alfredo Catalani, Italian composer and academic (d. 1893)
  • 1854 – Hjalmar Mellin, Finnish mathematician and theorist (d. 1933)
  • 1855 – George F. Roesch, American lawyer and politician (d. 1917)
  • 1858 – Sam Walter Foss, American poet and librarian (d. 1911)
  • 1861 – Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, Scottish-English field marshal (d. 1928)
  • 1861 – Émile Haug, French geologist and paleontologist (d. 1927)
  • 1861 – José Rizal, Filipino journalist, author, and poet (d. 1896)
  • 1865 – May Whitty, English actress (d. 1948)
  • 1871 – Alajos Szokolyi, Hungarian hurdler, jumper, and physician (d. 1932)
  • 1872 – Theodore Payne, English-American gardener and botanist (d. 1963)
  • 1874 – Peder Oluf Pedersen, Danish physicist and engineer (d. 1941)
  • 1876 – Nigel Gresley, Scottish-English engineer (d. 1941)
  • 1877 – Charles Coburn, American actor (d. 1961)
  • 1881 – Maginel Wright Enright, American illustrator (d. 1966)
  • 1883 – Gladys Mills Phipps, American horse breeder (d. 1970)
  • 1884 – Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes, French painter and historian (d. 1974)
  • 1886 – Finley Hamilton, American lawyer and politician (d. 1940)
  • 1888 – Arthur Massey Berry, Canadian soldier and pilot (d. 1970)
  • 1891 – John Heartfield, German photographer and activist (d. 1968)
  • 1896 – Rajani Palme Dutt, English journalist and politician (d. 1974)
  • 1896 – Wallis Simpson, American wife of Edward VIII (d. 1986)
  • 1897 – Cyril Norman Hinshelwood, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967)
  • 1897 – Moe Howard, American comedian (d. 1975)
  • 1902 – Guy Lombardo, Canadian-American violinist and bandleader (d. 1977)
  • 1903 – Mary Callery, American-French sculptor and academic (d. 1977)
  • 1903 – Lou Gehrig, American baseball player (d. 1941)
  • 1903 – Wally Hammond, English cricketer and coach (d. 1965)
  • 1903 – Hans Litten, German lawyer (d. 1938)
  • 1905 – Mildred Natwick, American actress (d. 1994)
  • 1906 – Ernst Boris Chain, German-Irish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
  • 1906 – Knut Kroon, Swedish footballer (d. 1975)
  • 1906 – Walter Rauff, German SS officer (d. 1984)
  • 1907 – Clarence Wiseman, Canadian 10th General of the Salvation Army (d. 1985)
  • 1909 – Osamu Dazai, Japanese author (d. 1948)
  • 1909 – Rūdolfs Jurciņš, Latvian basketball player (d. 1948)
  • 1910 – Sydney Allard, English race car driver, founded the Allard Company (d. 1966)
  • 1910 – Paul Flory, American chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)
  • 1910 – Abe Fortas, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1982)
  • 1912 – Don Gutteridge, American baseball player and manager (d. 2008)
  • 1912 – Virginia MacWatters, American soprano and actress (d. 2005)
  • 1913 – Helene Madison, American swimmer (d. 1970)
  • 1914 – Alan Cranston, American journalist and politician (d. 2000)
  • 1914 – Lester Flatt, American bluegrass singer-songwriter, guitarist, and mandolin player (d. 1979)
  • 1915 – Pat Buttram, American actor (d. 1994)
  • 1915 – Julius Schwartz, American publisher and agent (d. 2004)
  • 1917 – Joshua Nkomo, Zimbabwean guerrilla leader and politician, Vice President of Zimbabwe (d. 1999)
  • 1919 – Pauline Kael, American film critic (d. 2001)
  • 1920 – Yves Robert, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2002)
  • 1921 – Louis Jourdan, French-American actor and singer (d. 2015)
  • 1922 – Aage Bohr, Danish physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
  • 1922 – Marilyn P. Johnson, American educator and diplomat, 8th United States Ambassador to Togo
  • 1923 – Bob Hank, Australian footballer and coach (d. 2012)
  • 1926 – Erna Schneider Hoover, American mathematician and inventor
  • 1927 – Luciano Benjamín Menéndez, Argentine general and human rights violator (d. 2018)
  • 1928 – Tommy DeVito, American singer and guitarist
  • 1928 – Nancy Marchand, American actress (d. 2000)
  • 1930 – Gena Rowlands, American actress
  • 1932 – Pier Angeli, Italian actress (d. 1971)
  • 1932 – José Sanchis Grau, Spanish author and illustrator (d. 2011)
  • 1932 – Marisa Pavan, Italian actress
  • 1933 – Viktor Patsayev, Kazakh engineer and astronaut (d. 1971)
  • 1934 – Gérard Latortue, Haitian politician, 12th Prime Minister of Haiti
  • 1936 – Marisa Galvany, American soprano and actress
  • 1937 – André Glucksmann, French philosopher and author (d. 2015)
  • 1938 – Wahoo McDaniel, American football player and wrestler (d. 2002)
  • 1939 – Bernd Hoss, German footballer and manager (d. 2016)
  • 1939 – John F. MacArthur, American minister and theologian
  • 1941 – Václav Klaus, Czech economist and politician, 2nd President of the Czech Republic
  • 1942 – Merata Mita, New Zealand director and producer (d. 2010)
  • 1944 – Chico Buarque, Brazilian singer, composer, writer and poet
  • 1945 – Radovan Karadžić, Serbian-Bosnian politician and convicted war criminal, 1st President of Republika Srpska
  • 1945 – Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese politician, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1945 – Tobias Wolff, American short story writer, memoirist, and novelist
  • 1946 – Jimmy Greenhoff, English footballer and manager
  • 1947 – Salman Rushdie, Indian-English novelist and essayist
  • 1947 – John Ralston Saul, Canadian philosopher and author
  • 1948 – Nick Drake, English singer-songwriter (d. 1974)
  • 1948 – Phylicia Rashad, American actress
  • 1950 – Neil Asher Silberman, American archaeologist and historian
  • 1950 – Ann Wilson, American singer-songwriter and musician
  • 1951 – Ayman al-Zawahiri, Egyptian terrorist
  • 1951 – Francesco Moser, Italian cyclist
  • 1952 – Bob Ainsworth, English politician, Secretary of State for Defence
  • 1954 – Mike O’Brien, English lawyer and politician, Solicitor General for England and Wales
  • 1954 – Lou Pearlman, American music producer and fraudster (d. 2016)
  • 1954 – Kathleen Turner, American actress
  • 1954 – Richard Wilkins, New Zealand-Australian journalist and television presenter
  • 1955 – Mary O’Connor, New Zealand runner
  • 1955 – Mary Schapiro, American lawyer and politician
  • 1957 – Anna Lindh, Swedish politician, 39th Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2003)
  • 1957 – Jean Rabe, American journalist and author
  • 1958 – Sergei Makarov, Russian-American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1959 – Mark DeBarge, American singer-songwriter and trumpet player
  • 1959 – Christian Wulff, German lawyer and politician, 10th President of Germany
  • 1960 – Andrew Dilnot, English economist and academic
  • 1960 – Johnny Gray, American runner and coach
  • 1960 – Luke Morley, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer
  • 1960 – Patti Rizzo, American golfer
  • 1962 – Paula Abdul, American singer-songwriter, dancer, actress, and presenter
  • 1962 – Jeremy Bates, English tennis player
  • 1962 – Ashish Vidyarthi, Indian actor
  • 1963 – Laura Ingraham, American radio host and author
  • 1963 – Margarita Ponomaryova, Russian hurdler
  • 1963 – Rory Underwood, English rugby player, lieutenant, and pilot
  • 1964 – Brent Goulet, American soccer player and manager
  • 1964 – Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and former Mayor of London
  • 1964 – Brian Vander Ark, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1965 – Sabine Braun, German heptathlete
  • 1965 – Sadie Frost, English actress and producer
  • 1966 – Michalis Romanidis, Greek basketball player
  • 1967 – Bjørn Dæhlie, Norwegian skier and businessman
  • 1968 – Alastair Lynch, Australian footballer and sportscaster
  • 1968 – Timothy Morton, American philosopher and academic
  • 1968 – Kimberly Anne “Kim” Walker, American film and television actress (d. 2001)
  • 1970 – Rahul Gandhi, Indian politician
  • 1970 – Quincy Watts, American sprinter and football player
  • 1970 – Brian Welch, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1971 – José Emilio Amavisca, Spanish footballer
  • 1971 – Chris Armstrong, English footballer
  • 1972 – Jean Dujardin, French actor
  • 1972 – Ilya Markov, Russian race walker
  • 1972 – Brian McBride, American soccer player and coach
  • 1972 – Poppy Montgomery, Australian-American actress
  • 1972 – Robin Tunney, American actress
  • 1973 – Jahine Arnold, American football player
  • 1973 – Yuko Nakazawa, Japanese singer
  • 1973 – Yasuhiko Yabuta, Japanese baseball player
  • 1974 – Doug Mientkiewicz, American baseball player, coach, and manager
  • 1974 – Mustaque Ahmed Ruhi, Bangladeshi member of parliament
  • 1975 – Hugh Dancy, English actor and model
  • 1975 – Anthony Parker, American basketball player
  • 1976 – Anar Baghirov, Azerbaijani lawyer
  • 1976 – Dennis Crowley, American businessman, co-founded Foursquare
  • 1976 – Bryan Hughes, English footballer and manager
  • 1976 – Anita Wilson, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1978 – Dirk Nowitzki, German basketball player
  • 1978 – Zoe Saldana, American actress
  • 1978 – Claudio Vargas, Dominican baseball player
  • 1979 – José Kléberson, Brazilian footballer
  • 1980 – Jean Carroll, Irish cricketer
  • 1980 – Dan Ellis, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1980 – Robbie Neilson, Scottish footballer and manager
  • 1980 – Nuno Santos, Portuguese footballer
  • 1981 – Mohammed Al-Khuwalidi, Saudi Arabian long jumper
  • 1981 – Moss Burmester, New Zealand swimmer
  • 1982 – Alexander Frolov, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1982 – Chris Vermuelen, Australian motorcycle racer
  • 1983 – Macklemore, American rapper
  • 1983 – Aidan Turner, Irish actor
  • 1984 – Paul Dano, American actor
  • 1984 – Wieke Dijkstra, Dutch field hockey player
  • 1984 – Andri Eleftheriou, Cypriot sport shooter
  • 1985 – Ai Miyazato, Japanese golfer
  • 1985 – José Ernesto Sosa, Argentinian footballer
  • 1985 – Dire Tune, Ethiopian runner
  • 1986 – Aoiyama Kōsuke, Bulgarian sumo wrestler
  • 1986 – Lázaro Borges, Cuban pole vaulter
  • 1986 – Diego Hypólito, Brazilian gymnast
  • 1986 – Marvin Williams, American basketball player
  • 1987 – Rashard Mendenhall, American football player
  • 1988 – Jacob deGrom, American baseball player
  • 1990 – Moa Hjelmer, Swedish sprinter
  • 1990 – Xavier Rhodes, American football player
  • 1992 – Keaton Jennings, South African-English cricketer
  • 1992 – C. J. Mosley, American football player
  • 1993 – Olajide Olatunji, English YouTuber

Deaths on June 19

  • 404 – Huan Xuan, Jin-dynasty warlord and emperor of Huan Chu (b. 369)
  • 626 – Soga no Umako, Japanese son of Soga no Iname (b. 551)
  • 930 – Xiao Qing, chancellor of Later Liang (b. 862)
  • 1027 – Romuald, Italian mystic and saint (b. 951)
  • 1185 – Taira no Munemori, Japanese soldier (b. 1147)
  • 1282 – Eleanor de Montfort, Welsh princess (b. 1252)
  • 1312 – Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall, English politician (b. 1284)
  • 1341 – Juliana Falconieri, Italian nun and saint (b. 1270)
  • 1364 – Elisenda of Montcada, queen consort and regent of Aragon (b. 1292)
  • 1504 – Bernhard Walther, German astronomer and humanist (b. 1430)
  • 1542 – Leo Jud, Swiss theologian and reformer (b. 1482)
  • 1545 – Abraomas Kulvietis, Lithuanian-Russian lawyer and jurist (b. 1509)
  • 1567 – Anna of Brandenburg, Duchess of Mecklenburg (b. 1507)
  • 1584 – Francis, Duke of Anjou (b. 1555)
  • 1608 – Alberico Gentili, Italian lawyer and jurist (b. 1551)
  • 1650 – Matthäus Merian, Swiss-German engraver and publisher (b. 1593)
  • 1747 – Alessandro Marcello, Italian composer and educator (b. 1669)
  • 1747 – Nader Shah, Persian leader (b. 1688)
  • 1762 – Johann Ernst Eberlin, German organist and composer (b. 1702)
  • 1768 – Benjamin Tasker Sr., American soldier and politician, 10th Colonial Governor of Maryland (b. 1690)
  • 1786 – Nathanael Greene, American general (b. 1742)
  • 1805 – Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée, French painter and educator (b. 1724)
  • 1820 – Joseph Banks, English botanist and author (b. 1743)
  • 1844 – Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, French zoologist and biologist (b. 1772)
  • 1864 – Richard Heales, English-Australian politician, 4th Premier of Victoria (b. 1822)
  • 1864 – Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, American soldier (b. 1843)
  • 1865 – Evangelos Zappas, Greek-Romanian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1800)
  • 1867 – Miguel Miramón, Unconstitutional president of Mexico, 1859-1860 (b. 1832)
  • 1867 – Maximilian I of Mexico (b. 1832)
  • 1874 – Ferdinand Stoliczka, Moravian palaeontologist and ornithologist (b. 1838)
  • 1884 – Juan Bautista Alberdi, Argentinian-French politician and diplomat (b. 1810)
  • 1903 – Herbert Vaughan, English cardinal (b. 1832)
  • 1918 – Francesco Baracca, Italian fighter pilot (b. 1888)
  • 1921 – Ramón López Velarde, Mexican poet and author (b. 1888)
  • 1922 – Hitachiyama Taniemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 19th Yokozuna (b. 1874)
  • 1932 – Sol Plaatje, South African journalist and activist (b. 1876)
  • 1937 – J. M. Barrie, Scottish novelist and playwright (b. 1860)
  • 1939 – Grace Abbott, American social worker and activist (b. 1878)
  • 1940 – Maurice Jaubert, French composer and conductor (b. 1900)
  • 1941 – C. V. Hartman, Swiss botanist and anthropologist (b. 1862)
  • 1941 – Otto Hirsch, German jurist and politician (b. 1885)
  • 1949 – Syed Zafarul Hasan, Indian philosopher and academic (b. 1885)
  • 1951 – Angelos Sikelianos, Greek poet and playwright (b. 1884)
  • 1953 – Ethel Rosenberg, American spy (b. 1915)
  • 1953 – Julius Rosenberg, American spy (b. 1918)
  • 1956 – Thomas J. Watson, American businessman (b. 1874)
  • 1962 – Frank Borzage, American film director and actor (b. 1894)
  • 1966 – Ed Wynn, American actor and comedian (b. 1886)
  • 1968 – James Joseph Sweeney, American bishop (b. 1898)
  • 1975 – Sam Giancana, American mob boss (b. 1908)
  • 1977 – Ali Shariati, Iranian sociologist and philosopher (b. 1933)
  • 1979 – Paul Popenoe, American explorer and scholar, founded Relationship counseling (b. 1888)
  • 1981 – Anya Phillips, Chinese-American band manager and co-founder of the Mudd Club (b. 1955)
  • 1984 – Lee Krasner, American painter and educator (b. 1908)
  • 1986 – Len Bias, American basketball player (b. 1963)
  • 1987 – Margaret Carver Leighton, American author (b. 1896)
  • 1988 – Fernand Seguin, Canadian biochemist and academic (b. 1922)
  • 1988 – Gladys Spellman, American lawyer and politician (b. 1918)
  • 1989 – Betti Alver, Estonian author and poet (b. 1906)
  • 1990 – George Addes, American trade union leader, co-founded United Automobile Workers (b. 1911)
  • 1990 – Isabella Smith Andrews, New Zealand writer (b. 1905)
  • 1991 – Jean Arthur, American actress (b. 1900)
  • 1993 – William Golding, British novelist, playwright, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
  • 1995 – Peter Townsend, Burmese-English captain and pilot (b. 1914)
  • 2001 – Stanley Mosk, American lawyer, jurist, and politician (b. 1912)
  • 2001 – John Heyer, Australian director and producer (b. 1916)
  • 2004 – Clayton Kirkpatrick, journalist and newspaper editor (b. 1915)
  • 2007 – Antonio Aguilar, Mexican singer-songwriter, actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1919)
  • 2007 – Alberto Mijangos, Mexican-American painter and educator (b. 1925)
  • 2007 – Terry Hoeppner, American football player and coach (b. 1947)
  • 2007 – Ze’ev Schiff, Israeli journalist and author (b. 1932)
  • 2008 – Barun Sengupta, Bengali journalist, founded Bartaman (b. 1934)
  • 2009 – Tomoji Tanabe, Japanese engineer and surveyor (b. 1895)
  • 2010 – Manute Bol, Sudanese-American basketball player and activist (b. 1962)
  • 2010 – Anthony Quinton, Baron Quinton, English philosopher and academic (b. 1925)
  • 2010 – Carlos Monsiváis, Mexican writer, journalist and political activist (b. 1938)
  • 2012 – Norbert Tiemann, American soldier and politician, 32nd Governor of Nebraska (b. 1924)
  • 2013 – Vince Flynn, American author (b. 1966)
  • 2013 – James Gandolfini, American actor and producer (b. 1961)
  • 2013 – Gyula Horn, Hungarian politician, 37th Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1932)
  • 2013 – Dave Jennings, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1952)
  • 2013 – Filip Topol, Czech singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1965)
  • 2013 – Slim Whitman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1923)
  • 2014 – Oskar-Hubert Dennhardt, German general (b. 1915)
  • 2014 – Gerry Goffin, American songwriter (b. 1939)
  • 2014 – Ibrahim Touré, Ivorian footballer (b. 1985)
  • 2015 – James Salter, American novelist and short-story writer (b. 1925)
  • 2016 – Anton Yelchin, American actor (b. 1989)
  • 2017 – Otto Warmbier, American college student detained in North Korea (b. 1994)
  • 2018 – Koko, western lowland gorilla and user of American Sign Language (b. 1971)
  • 2019 – Etika, American YouTuber and streamer (b. 1990)

Holidays and observances on June 19

  • Christian feast day:
    • Deodatus (or Didier) of Nevers (or of Jointures)
    • Gervasius and Protasius (Catholic Church)
    • Hildegrim of Châlons
    • Juliana Falconieri
    • Romuald
    • Ursicinus of Ravenna
    • Zosimus
    • June 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • New Church feast day
    • New Church Day
  • Day of the Independent Hungary (Hungary)
  • Feast of Forest (Palawan)
  • Juneteenth (United States, especially African Americans)
  • Labour Day (Trinidad and Tobago)
  • Laguna Day (Laguna)
  • Never Again Day (Uruguay)
  • World Sickle Cell Day (International)

June 19 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

  • 618 – Li Yuan becomes Emperor Gaozu of Tang, initiating three centuries of Tang dynasty rule over China.
  • 656 – Ali becomes Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate.
  • 860 – Byzantine–Rus’ War: A fleet of about 200 Rus’ vessels sails into the Bosphorus and starts pillaging the suburbs of the Byzantine capital Constantinople.
  • 1053 – Battle of Civitate: Three thousand horsemen of Norman Count Humphrey rout the troops of Pope Leo IX.
  • 1178 – Five Canterbury monks see what is possibly the Giordano Bruno crater being formed. It is believed that the current oscillations of the Moon’s distance from the Earth (on the order of meters) are a result of this collision.
  • 1264 – The Parliament of Ireland meets at Castledermot in County Kildare, the first definitively known meeting of this Irish legislature.
  • 1265 – A draft Byzantine–Venetian treaty is concluded between Venetian envoys and Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos, but is not ratified by Doge Reniero Zeno.
  • 1429 – French forces under the leadership of Joan of Arc defeat the main English army under Sir John Fastolf at the Battle of Patay. This turns the tide of the Hundred Years’ War.
  • 1633 – Charles I is crowned King of Scots at St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh.
  • 1684 – The charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony is revoked via a scire facias writ issued by an English court.
  • 1757 – Battle of Kolín between Prussian forces under Frederick the Great and an Austrian army under the command of Field Marshal Count Leopold Joseph von Daun in the Seven Years’ War.
  • 1778 – American Revolutionary War: British troops abandon Philadelphia.
  • 1799 – Action of 18 June 1799: A frigate squadron under Rear-admiral Perrée is captured by the British fleet under Lord Keith.
  • 1812 – The United States declaration of war upon the United Kingdom is signed by President James Madison, beginning the War of 1812.
  • 1815 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Waterloo results in the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte by the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher forcing him to abdicate the throne of France for the second and last time.
  • 1822 – Constantine Kanaris blows up the Ottoman navy’s flagship at Chios, killing the Kapudan Pasha Nasuhzade Ali Pasha.
  • 1858 – Charles Darwin receives a paper from Alfred Russel Wallace that includes nearly identical conclusions about evolution as Darwin’s own, prompting Darwin to publish his theory.
  • 1859 – First ascent of Aletschhorn, second summit of the Bernese Alps.
  • 1873 – Susan B. Anthony is fined $100 for attempting to vote in the 1872 presidential election.
  • 1887 – The Reinsurance Treaty between Germany and Russia is signed.
  • 1900 – Empress Dowager Cixi of China orders all foreigners killed, including foreign diplomats and their families.
  • 1908 – Japanese immigration to Brazil begins when 781 people arrive in Santos aboard the ship Kasato-Maru.
  • 1908 – The University of the Philippines is established.
  • 1923 – Checker Taxi puts its first taxi on the streets.
  • 1928 – Aviator Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly in an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean (she is a passenger; Wilmer Stultz is the pilot and Lou Gordon the mechanic).
  • 1935 – Police in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, clash with striking longshoremen, resulting in a total of 60 injuries and 24 arrests.
  • 1940 – Appeal of 18 June by Charles de Gaulle.
  • 1940 – The “Finest Hour” speech is delivered by Winston Churchill.
  • 1945 – William Joyce (“Lord Haw-Haw”) is charged with treason for his pro-German propaganda broadcasting during World War II.
  • 1946 – Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, a Socialist, calls for a Direct Action Day against the Portuguese in Goa.
  • 1948 – Columbia Records introduces the long-playing record album in a public demonstration at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.
  • 1953 – The Egyptian revolution of 1952 ends with the overthrow of the Muhammad Ali dynasty and the declaration of the Republic of Egypt.
  • 1953 – A United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns near Tachikawa, Japan, killing 129.
  • 1954 – Carlos Castillo Armas leads an invasion force across the Guatemalan border, setting in motion the 1954 Guatemalan coup d’état.
  • 1965 – Vietnam War: The United States uses B-52 bombers to attack National Liberation Front guerrilla fighters in South Vietnam.
  • 1972 – Staines air disaster: One hundred eighteen people are killed when a BEA H.S. Trident crashes two minutes after take off from London’s Heathrow Airport.
  • 1979 – SALT II is signed by the United States and the Soviet Union.
  • 1981 – The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, the first operational aircraft initially designed around stealth technology, makes its first flight.
  • 1982 – Italian banker Roberto Calvi’s body is discovered hanging beneath Blackfriars Bridge in London, England.
  • 1983 – Space Shuttle program: STS-7, Astronaut Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space.
  • 1983 – Mona Mahmudnizhad, together with nine other Bahá’í women, is sentenced to death and hanged in Shiraz, Iran over her religious beliefs.
  • 1984 – A major clash between about 5,000 police and a similar number of miners takes place at Orgreave, South Yorkshire, during the 1984–85 UK miners’ strike.
  • 1994 – The Troubles: Members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) attack a crowded pub with assault rifles in Loughinisland, Northern Ireland. Six Catholic civilians are killed and five wounded. It was crowded with people watching the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
  • 2006 – The first Kazakh space satellite, KazSat-1 is launched.
  • 2007 – The Charleston Sofa Super Store fire happened in Charleston, South Carolina, killing nine firefighters.
  • 2009 – The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a NASA robotic spacecraft is launched.
  • 2018 – An earthquake of magnitude 6.1 strikes northern Osaka.

Births on June 18

  • 1269 – Eleanor of England, Countess of Bar (d. 1298)
  • 1318 – Eleanor of Woodstock (d. 1355)
  • 1332 – John V Palaiologos, Byzantine Emperor (d. 1391)
  • 1466 – Ottaviano Petrucci, Italian printer (d. 1539)
  • 1511 – Bartolomeo Ammannati, Italian architect and sculptor, designed the Ponte Santa Trinita (d. 1592)
  • 1517 – Emperor Ōgimachi of Japan (d. 1593)
  • 1521 – Maria of Portugal, Duchess of Viseu (d. 1577)
  • 1667 – Ivan Trubetskoy, Russian field marshal (d. 1750)
  • 1673 – Antonio de Literes, Spanish composer (d. 1747)
  • 1677 – Antonio Maria Bononcini, Italian cellist and composer (d. 1726)
  • 1716 – Joseph-Marie Vien, French painter and educator (d. 1809)
  • 1717 – Johann Stamitz, Czech violinist and composer (d. 1757)
  • 1757 – Ignaz Pleyel, Austrian-French pianist and composer (d. 1831)
  • 1757 – Gervasio Antonio de Posadas, Argentinian lawyer and politician 1st Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (d. 1833)
  • 1769 – Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, Irish-English politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (d. 1822)
  • 1799 – William Lassell, English astronomer and merchant (d. 1880)
  • 1812 – Ivan Goncharov, Russian journalist and author (d. 1891)
  • 1815 – Ludwig Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen, German general (d. 1881)
  • 1816 – Hélène Napoleone Bonaparte, French daughter of Napoleon (d. 1907)
  • 1816 – Jung Bahadur Rana, Nepali ruler (d. 1877)
  • 1833 – Manuel González Flores, Mexican general and President (1880-1884) (d. 1893)
  • 1834 – Auguste-Théodore-Paul de Broglie, French philosopher and academic (d. 1895)
  • 1839 – William H. Seward Jr., American general and banker (d. 1920)
  • 1845 – Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, French physician and parasitologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1922)
  • 1850 – Richard Heuberger, Austrian composer and critic (d. 1914)
  • 1854 – E. W. Scripps, American publisher, founded the E. W. Scripps Company (d. 1926)
  • 1857 – Henry Clay Folger, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Folger Shakespeare Library (d. 1930)
  • 1858 – Andrew Forsyth, Scottish-English mathematician and academic (d. 1942)
  • 1858 – Hector Rason, English-Australian politician, 7th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1927)
  • 1862 – Carolyn Wells, American novelist and poet (d. 1942)
  • 1863 – George Essex Evans, English-Australian poet and author (d. 1909)
  • 1868 – Miklós Horthy, Hungarian admiral and politician, Regent of Hungary (d. 1957)
  • 1870 – Édouard Le Roy, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1954)
  • 1877 – James Montgomery Flagg, American painter and illustrator (d. 1960)
  • 1881 – Zoltán Halmay, Hungarian swimmer (d. 1956)
  • 1882 – Georgi Dimitrov, Bulgarian compositor and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Bulgaria (d. 1949)
  • 1884 – Édouard Daladier, French captain and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1970)
  • 1886 – George Mallory, English lieutenant and mountaineer (d. 1924)
  • 1886 – Alexander Wetmore, American ornithologist and paleontologist (d. 1978)
  • 1887 – Tancrède Labbé, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1956)
  • 1896 – Blanche Sweet, American actress (d. 1986)
  • 1897 – Martti Marttelin, Finnish runner (d. 1940)
  • 1900 – Vlasta Vraz, Czech-American relief worker, editor, and fundraiser (d. 1989)
  • 1901 – Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (d. 1918)
  • 1901 – Llewellyn Rees, English actor (d. 1994)
  • 1902 – Louis Alter, American musician (d. 1980)
  • 1902 – Paavo Yrjölä, Finnish decathlete (d. 1980)
  • 1903 – Jeanette MacDonald, American actress and singer (d. 1965)
  • 1903 – Raymond Radiguet, French author and poet (d. 1923)
  • 1904 – Keye Luke, Chinese-American actor (d. 1991)
  • 1904 – Manuel Rosenthal, French conductor and composer (d. 2003)
  • 1905 – Eduard Tubin, Estonian composer and conductor (d. 1982)
  • 1907 – Frithjof Schuon, Swiss-American metaphysicist, philosopher, and author (d. 1998)
  • 1908 – Bud Collyer, American actor and game show host (d. 1969)
  • 1908 – Stanley Knowles, American-Canadian academic and politician (d. 1997)
  • 1908 – Nedra Volz, American actress (d. 2003)
  • 1910 – Dick Foran, American actor and singer (d. 1979)
  • 1910 – Avon Long, American actor and singer (d. 1984)
  • 1910 – Ray McKinley, American singer, drummer, and bandleader (d. 1995)
  • 1912 – Glenn Morris, American decathlete (d. 1974)
  • 1913 – Wilfred Gordon Bigelow, Canadian soldier and surgeon (d. 2005)
  • 1913 – Sammy Cahn, American pianist and composer (d. 1993)
  • 1913 – Sylvia Porter, American economist and journalist (d. 1991)
  • 1913 – Françoise Loranger, Canadian playwright and producer (d. 1995)
  • 1913 – Robert Mondavi, American winemaker and philanthropist (d. 2008)
  • 1913 – Oswald Teichmüller, German mathematician (d. 1943)
  • 1914 – E. G. Marshall, American actor (d. 1998)
  • 1914 – Efraín Huerta, Mexican poet (d.1982)
  • 1915 – Red Adair, American firefighter (d. 2004)
  • 1915 – Robert Kanigher, American author (d. 2002)
  • 1915 – Alice T. Schafer, American mathematician (d. 2009)
  • 1916 – Julio César Turbay Ayala, Colombian lawyer and politician, 25th President of Colombia (d. 2005)
  • 1917 – Richard Boone, American actor, singer, and director (d. 1981)
  • 1917 – Jack Karnehm, English snooker player and sportscaster (d. 2002)
  • 1917 – Erik Ortvad, Danish painter and illustrator (d. 2008)
  • 1918 – Alf Francis, West Prussia-born, English motor racing mechanic and race car constructor (d. 1983)
  • 1918 – Jerome Karle, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
  • 1918 – Franco Modigliani, Italian-American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2003)
  • 1919 – Jüri Järvet, Estonian actor and screenwriter (d. 1995)
  • 1920 – Ian Carmichael, English actor and singer (d. 2010)
  • 1920 – Lode Van Den Bergh, Belgian author and academic
  • 1922 – Claude Helffer, French pianist and educator (d. 2004)
  • 1924 – George Mikan, American basketball player and coach (d. 2005)
  • 1925 – Robert Beadell, American composer and educator (d. 1994)
  • 1926 – Philip B. Crosby, American businessman and author (d. 2001)
  • 1926 – Allan Sandage, American astronomer and cosmologist (d. 2010)
  • 1926 – Tom Wicker, American journalist and author (d. 2011)
  • 1927 – Eva Bartok, Hungarian-English actress (d. 1998)
  • 1927 – Paul Eddington, English actor (d. 1995)
  • 1928 – Michael Blakemore, Australian actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1928 – David T. Lykken, American geneticist and academic (d. 2006)
  • 1929 – Jürgen Habermas, German sociologist and philosopher
  • 1929 – Tibor Rubin, Hungarian-American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2015)
  • 1931 – Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Brazilian sociologist, academic, and politician, 34th President of Brazil
  • 1932 – Dudley R. Herschbach, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1932 – Geoffrey Hill, English poet and academic (d. 2016)
  • 1933 – Colin Brumby, Australian composer and conductor (d. 2018)
  • 1933 – Tommy Hunt, American singer
  • 1934 – Brian Kenny, English general (d. 2017)
  • 1934 – Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Japanese author and illustrator (d. 2004)
  • 1936 – Denny Hulme, New Zealand race car driver (d. 1992)
  • 1936 – Barack Obama Sr., Kenyan economist (d. 1982)
  • 1936 – Ronald Venetiaan, Surinamese politician, 6th President of Suriname
  • 1937 – Del Harris, American basketball player and coach
  • 1937 – Jay Rockefeller, American lawyer and politician, 29th Governor of West Virginia
  • 1937 – Bruce Trigger, Canadian archaeologist, anthropologist and historian (d. 2006)
  • 1937 – Vitaly Zholobov, Ukrainian colonel, engineer, and astronaut
  • 1938 – Kevin Murray, Australian footballer and coach
  • 1939 – Lou Brock, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1939 – Jean-Claude Germain, Canadian historian, author, and journalist
  • 1939 – Brooks Firestone, American businessman and politician
  • 1941 – Roger Lemerre, French footballer and manager
  • 1941 – Paul Mayersberg, English director and screenwriter
  • 1941 – Delia Smith, English chef and author
  • 1942 – John Bellany, Scottish painter and academic (d. 2013)
  • 1942 – Roger Ebert, American journalist, critic, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1942 – Pat Hutchins, English author and illustrator
  • 1942 – Thabo Mbeki, South African politician, 23rd President of South Africa
  • 1942 – Paul McCartney, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1942 – Richard Perry, American record producer
  • 1942 – Carl Radle, American bass player and producer (d. 1980)
  • 1942 – Nick Tate, Australian actor and director
  • 1942 – Hans Vonk, Dutch conductor (d. 2004)
  • 1943 – Barry Evans, English actor (d. 1997)
  • 1943 – Raffaella Carrà, Italian singer, dancer, and actress
  • 1944 – Bruce DuMont, American broadcaster and political analyst
  • 1944 – Sandy Posey, American pop/country singer
  • 1946 – Russell Ash, English journalist and author (d. 2010)
  • 1946 – Bruiser Brody, American wrestler (d. 1988)
  • 1946 – Fabio Capello, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1946 – Maria Bethânia, Brazilian singer
  • 1947 – Ivonne Coll, Puerto Rican-American model and actress, Miss Puerto Rico 1967
  • 1947 – Bernard Giraudeau, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2010)
  • 1947 – Linda Thorson, Canadian actress
  • 1948 – Philip Jackson, English actor
  • 1948 – Éva Marton, Hungarian soprano and actress
  • 1948 – Sherry Turkle, American academic, psychologist, and sociologist
  • 1949 – Chris Van Allsburg, American author and illustrator
  • 1949 – Jarosław Kaczyński, Polish lawyer and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Poland
  • 1949 – Lech Kaczyński, Polish lawyer and politician, 4th President of Poland (d. 2010)
  • 1949 – Lincoln Thompson, Jamaican singer-songwriter (d. 1999)
  • 1950 – Rod de’Ath, Welsh drummer and producer (d. 2014)
  • 1950 – Annelie Ehrhardt, German hurdler
  • 1950 – Mike Johanns, American lawyer and politician, 28th United States Secretary of Agriculture
  • 1950 – Jackie Leven, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2011)
  • 1951 – Mohammed Al-Sager, Kuwaiti journalist and politician
  • 1951 – Miriam Flynn, American actress and comedian
  • 1951 – Ian Hargreaves, English-Welsh journalist and academic
  • 1951 – Stephen Hopper, Australian botanist and academic
  • 1951 – Gyula Sax, Hungarian chess player (d. 2014)
  • 1952 – Tiiu Aro, Estonian physician and politician, Estonian Minister of Social Affairs
  • 1952 – Denis Herron, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1952 – Carol Kane, American actress
  • 1952 – Isabella Rossellini, Italian actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1952 – Lee Soo-man, South Korean singer and businessman, founded S.M. Entertainment
  • 1953 – Peter Donohoe, English pianist and educator
  • 1955 – Ed Fast, Canadian lawyer and politician
  • 1956 – Brian Benben, American actor and producer
  • 1956 – John Scott, English organist and conductor (d. 2015)
  • 1957 – Miguel Ángel Lotina, Spanish footballer and manager
  • 1957 – Richard Powers, American novelist
  • 1958 – Peter Altmaier, German jurist and politician, Federal Minister for Special Affairs of Germany
  • 1958 – Gary Martin, British voice actor and actor
  • 1959 – Joe Ansolabehere, American animation screenwriter and producer
  • 1960 – Barbara Broccoli, American director and producer
  • 1960 – Steve Murphy, Canadian journalist
  • 1961 – Oz Fox, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1961 – Andrés Galarraga, Venezuelan-American baseball player
  • 1961 – Angela Johnson, American novelist and poet
  • 1961 – Alison Moyet, English singer-songwriter
  • 1962 – Lisa Randall, American physicist and academic
  • 1963 – Dizzy Reed, American keyboard player and songwriter
  • 1963 – Bruce Smith, American football player
  • 1964 – Uday Hussein, Iraqi commander (d. 2003)
  • 1964 – Patti Webster, American publicist and author (d. 2013)
  • 1966 – Kurt Browning, Canadian figure skater, choreographer, and sportscaster
  • 1966 – Troy Kemp, Bahamian high jumper
  • 1968 – Frank Müller, German decathlete
  • 1969 – Haki Doku, Albanian cyclist
  • 1969 – Christopher Largen, American journalist and author (d. 2012)
  • 1970 – Katie Derham, English journalist
  • 1970 – Ivan Kozák, Slovak footballer
  • 1970 – Greg Yaitanes, American director and producer
  • 1971 – Kerry Butler, American actress and singer
  • 1971 – Jason McAteer, English-Irish footballer and manager
  • 1971 – Nathan Morris, American soul singer
  • 1972 – Anu Tali, Estonian pianist and conductor
  • 1972 – Wikus du Toit, South African actor, director, and composer
  • 1973 – Julie Depardieu, French actress
  • 1973 – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, American author and music critic
  • 1973 – Ray LaMontagne, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1973 – Alexandra Meissnitzer, Austrian skier
  • 1973 – Matt Parsons, Australian rugby league player
  • 1973 – Gavin Wanganeen Australian footballer and coach
  • 1974 – Vincenzo Montella, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1974 – Sergey Sharikov, Russian fencer and coach (d. 2015)
  • 1975 – Marie Gillain, Belgian actress
  • 1975 – Aleksandrs Koļinko, Latvian footballer
  • 1975 – Martin St. Louis, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1976 – Blake Shelton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1978 – Wang Liqin, Chinese table tennis player
  • 1979 – Yumiko Kobayashi, Japanese voice actress and singer
  • 1979 – Ivana Wong, Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1980 – Antonio Gates, American football player
  • 1980 – Sergey Kirdyapkin, Russian race walker
  • 1980 – Craig Mottram, Australian runner
  • 1980 – Antero Niittymäki, Finnish ice hockey player
  • 1980 – Tara Platt, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1981 – Clint Newton, American-Australian rugby league player
  • 1981 – Marco Streller, Swiss footballer
  • 1982 – Nadir Belhadj, French-Algerian footballer
  • 1982 – Marco Borriello, Italian footballer
  • 1982 – Nathan Cavaleri, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
  • 1983 – Billy Slater, Australian rugby league player
  • 1983 – Cameron Smith, Australian rugby league player
  • 1984 – Nanyak Dala, Canadian rugby player
  • 1985 – Chris Coghlan, American baseball player
  • 1985 – Alex Hirsch, American animator and television producer
  • 1986 – Edgars Eriņš, Latvian decathlete
  • 1986 – Richard Gasquet, French tennis player
  • 1987 – Omar Arellano, Mexican footballer
  • 1987 – Moeen Ali, English cricketer
  • 1988 – Elini Dimoutsos, Greek footballer
  • 1988 – Josh Dun, American musician
  • 1989 – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, French-born Gabonese footballer
  • 1989 – Chris Harris Jr., American football player
  • 1990 – Luke Adam, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1990 – Sandra Izbașa, Romanian gymnast
  • 1990 – Derek Stepan, American ice hockey player
  • 1990 – Christian Taylor, American triple jumper
  • 1993 – Dennis Lloyd, Israeli musician, producer, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist
  • 1994 – Sean McMahon, Australian rugby player
  • 1994 – Takeoff, American rapper
  • 1995 – Maxim Kovtun, Russian figure skater
  • 1996 – Alen Halilović, Croatian footballer
  • 1996 – Niki Wories, Dutch figure skater
  • 1997 – Katharina Hobgarski, German tennis player
  • 1997 – Latrell Mitchell, Australian rugby league player
  • 1999 – Trippie Redd, American rapper

Deaths on June 18

  • 741 – Leo III the Isaurian, Byzantine emperor (b. 685)
  • 908 – Zhang Hao, general of Yang Wu
  • 1095 – Sophia of Hungary (b. c. 1050)
  • 1164 – Elisabeth of Schönau, German Benedictine visionary (b. c. 1129)
  • 1234 – Emperor Chūkyō of Japan (b. 1218)
  • 1250 – Theresa of Portugal, Queen of León
  • 1291 – Alfonso III of Aragon (b. 1265)
  • 1333 – Henry XV, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1312)
  • 1464 – Rogier van der Weyden, Flemish painter (b. 1400)
  • 1588 – Robert Crowley, English minister and poet (b. 1517)
  • 1629 – Piet Pieterszoon Hein, Dutch admiral (b. 1577)
  • 1650 – Christoph Scheiner, German priest, physicist, and astronomer (b. 1575)
  • 1673 – Jeanne Mance, French-Canadian nurse, founded the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal (b. 1606)
  • 1704 – Tom Brown, English author and translator (b. 1662)
  • 1726 – Michel Richard Delalande, French organist and composer (b. 1657)
  • 1742 – John Aislabie, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1670)
  • 1749 – Ambrose Philips, English poet and politician (b. 1674)
  • 1772 – Johann Ulrich von Cramer, German jurist and scholar (b. 1706)
  • 1772 – Gerard van Swieten, Dutch-Austrian physician and reformer (b. 1700)
  • 1788 – Adam Gib, Scottish religious leader (b. 1714)
  • 1794 – François Buzot, French lawyer and politician (b. 1760)
  • 1794 – James Murray, Scottish-English general and politician, 20th Governor of the Province of Quebec (b. 1721)
  • 1815 – Thomas Picton, Welsh-English general and politician (b. 1758)
  • 1833 – Robert Hett Chapman, American minister, missionary, and academic (b. 1771)
  • 1835 – William Cobbett, English farmer and journalist (b. 1763)
  • 1860 – Friedrich Wilhelm von Bismarck, German army officer and writer (b. 1783)
  • 1866 – Prince Sigismund of Prussia (b. 1864)
  • 1902 – Samuel Butler, English novelist, satirist, and critic (b. 1835)
  • 1905 – Carmine Crocco, Italian soldier (b. 1830)
  • 1916 – Max Immelmann, German lieutenant and pilot (b. 1890)
  • 1917 – Titu Maiorescu, Romanian critic and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1840)
  • 1922 – Jacobus Kapteyn, Dutch astronomer and academic (b. 1851)
  • 1928 – Roald Amundsen, Norwegian pilot and explorer (b. 1872)
  • 1936 – Maxim Gorky, Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright (b. 1868)
  • 1937 – Gaston Doumergue, French politician, 13th President of France (b. 1863)
  • 1942 – Arthur Pryor, American trombonist, bandleader, and politician (b. 1870)
  • 1943 – Elias Degiannis, Greek commander (b. 1912)
  • 1945 – Florence Bascom, American geologist and educator (b. 1862)[10]
  • 1945 – Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., American general (b. 1886)
  • 1947 – Shigematsu Sakaibara, Japanese admiral (b. 1898)
  • 1948 – Edward Brooker, English-Australian politician, 31st Premier of Tasmania (b. 1891)
  • 1959 – Ethel Barrymore, American actress (b. 1879)
  • 1963 – Pedro Armendáriz, Mexican-American actor (b. 1912)
  • 1964 – Giorgio Morandi, Italian painter (b. 1890)
  • 1967 – Geki, Italian race car driver (b. 1937)
  • 1967 – Beat Fehr, Swiss race car driver (b. 1942)
  • 1971 – Thomas Gomez, American actor (b. 1905)
  • 1971 – Paul Karrer, Russian-Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889)
  • 1974 – Júlio César de Mello e Souza, Brazilian mathematician and academic (b. 1896)
  • 1974 – Georgy Zhukov, Russian marshal and politician, Minister of Defence for the Soviet Union (b. 1896)
  • 1975 – Hugo Bergmann, German-Israeli philosopher and author (b. 1883)
  • 1978 – Walter C. Alvarez, American physician and author (b. 1884)
  • 1980 – Terence Fisher, English director and screenwriter (b. 1904)
  • 1980 – André Leducq, French cyclist (b. 1904)
  • 1982 – Djuna Barnes, American novelist, journalist, and playwright (b. 1892)
  • 1982 – John Cheever, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1912)
  • 1982 – Curd Jürgens, German-Austrian actor and director (b. 1915)
  • 1984 – Alan Berg, American lawyer and radio host (b. 1934)
  • 1985 – Paul Colin, French illustrator (b. 1892)
  • 1986 – Frances Scott Fitzgerald, American journalist (b. 1921)
  • 1989 – I. F. Stone, American journalist and author (b. 1907)
  • 1992 – Kofoworola Abeni Pratt, the first black Chief Nursing Officer of Nigeria  (b. 1910)
  • 1992 – Peter Allen, Australian singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1944)
  • 1992 – Mordecai Ardon, Polish-Israeli painter and educator (b. 1896)
  • 1993 – Craig Rodwell, American activist, founded the Oscar Wilde Bookshop (b. 1940)
  • 1996 – Endel Puusepp, Estonian-Soviet military pilot and politician (b. 1909)
  • 1997 – Lev Kopelev, Ukrainian-German author and academic (b. 1912)
  • 1998 – Felix Knight, American actor and tenor (b. 1908)
  • 2000 – Nancy Marchand, American actress (b. 1928)
  • 2003 – Larry Doby, American baseball player and manager (b. 1923)
  • 2005 – Mushtaq Ali, Indian cricketer (b. 1914)
  • 2005 – Manuel Sadosky, Argentinian mathematician and academic (b. 1914)
  • 2006 – Vincent Sherman, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1906)
  • 2006 – Joseph Zobel, Martinique-French author (b. 1915)
  • 2007 – Bernard Manning, English comedian and actor (b. 1930)
  • 2007 – Hank Medress, American singer and producer (b. 1938)
  • 2007 – Georges Thurston, Canadian singer-songwriter (b. 1951)
  • 2008 – Jean Delannoy, French actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1908)
  • 2008 – Tasha Tudor, American author and illustrator (b. 1915)
  • 2008 – Hans Steinbrenner, German sculptor (b. 1928)
  • 2010 – Trent Acid, American wrestler (b. 1980)
  • 2010 – José Saramago, Portuguese novelist Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1922)
  • 2010 – Okan Demiriş, Turkish composer (b. 1942)
  • 2011 – Yelena Bonner, Russian activist (b. 1923)
  • 2011 – Frederick Chiluba, Zambian politician, 2nd President of Zambia (b. 1943)
  • 2011 – Clarence Clemons, American saxophonist (b. 1942)
  • 2012 – Horacio Coppola, Argentinian photographer and director (b. 1906)
  • 2012 – Lina Haag, German author and activist (b. 1907)
  • 2012 – Tom Maynard, Welsh cricketer (b. 1989)
  • 2012 – Luis Edgardo Mercado Jarrín, Peruvian general and politician, 109th Prime Minister of Peru (b. 1919)
  • 2012 – Alketas Panagoulias, Greek footballer and manager (b. 1934)
  • 2012 – William Van Regenmorter, American businessman and politician (b. 1939)
  • 2013 – Brent F. Anderson, American engineer and politician (b. 1932)
  • 2013 – Alastair Donaldson, Scottish bass player (b. 1955)
  • 2013 – Garde Gardom, Canadian lawyer and politician, 26th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia (b. 1924)
  • 2013 – Michael Hastings, American journalist and author (b. 1980)
  • 2013 – David Wall, English ballet dancer (b. 1946)
  • 2014 – Stephanie Kwolek, American chemist and engineer (b. 1923)
  • 2014 – Johnny Mann, American singer-songwriter and conductor (b. 1928)
  • 2014 – Claire Martin, Canadian author (b. 1914)
  • 2014 – Vladimir Popovkin, Russian general (b. 1957)
  • 2014 – Horace Silver, American pianist and composer (b. 1928)
  • 2015 – Phil Austin, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1941)
  • 2015 – Ralph J. Roberts, American businessman, co-founded Comcast (b. 1920)
  • 2015 – Danny Villanueva, American football player and broadcaster, co-founded Univision (b. 1937)
  • 2015 – Allen Weinstein, American historian and academic (b. 1937)
  • 2016 – Jeppiaar, Indian educationist, founder and chancellor of Sathyabama University (b. 1931)
  • 2018 – XXXTentacion, American rapper (b. 1998)
  • 2018 – Big Van Vader (also known as Vader) American professional wrestler (b. 1955)
  • 2018 – Jimmy Wopo, American rapper (b. 1997)
  • 2020 – Vera Lynn, English singer who was the “Forces’ Sweetheart” in World War II (b. 1917)

Holidays and observances on June 18

  • Autistic Pride Day (International)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Bernard Mizeki (Anglican and Episcopal Church)
    • Elisabeth of Schönau
    • Gregorio Barbarigo
    • Leontius, Hypatius and Theodulus
    • Marina the Monk (Maronite Church, Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria)
    • Mark and Marcellian
    • June 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Foundation Day (Benguet)
  • Human Rights Day (Azerbaijan)
  • National Day (Seychelles)
  • Queen Mother’s Birthday (Cambodia)
  • Waterloo Day (United Kingdom)

June 18 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

June 16 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

  • 363 – Emperor Julian marches back up the Tigris and burns his fleet of supply ships. During the withdrawal, Roman forces suffer several attacks from the Persians.
  • 632 – Yazdegerd III ascends the throne as king (shah) of the Persian Empire. He becomes the last ruler of the Sasanian dynasty (modern Iran).
  • 1407 – Ming–Hồ War: Retired King Hồ Quý Ly and his son King Hồ Hán Thương of Hồ dynasty are captured by the Ming armies.
  • 1487 – Battle of Stoke Field: King Henry VII of England defeats the leaders of a Yorkist rebellion in the final engagement of the Wars of the Roses.
  • 1586 – Mary, Queen of Scots, recognizes Philip II of Spain as her heir and successor.
  • 1745 – War of the Austrian Succession: New England colonial troops under the command of William Pepperrell capture the Fortress of Louisbourg in Louisbourg, New France (Old Style date).
  • 1746 – War of the Austrian Succession: Austria and Sardinia defeat a Franco-Spanish army at the Battle of Piacenza.
  • 1755 – French and Indian War: The French surrender Fort Beauséjour to the British, leading to the expulsion of the Acadians.
  • 1779 – Spain declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Great Siege of Gibraltar begins.
  • 1795 – French Revolutionary Wars: In what became known as Cornwallis’s Retreat, a British Royal Navy squadron led by Vice Admiral William Cornwallis strongly resists a much larger French Navy force and withdraws largely intact, setting up the French Navy defeat at the Battle of Groix six days later.
  • 1811 – Survivors of an attack the previous day by Tla-o-qui-aht on board the Pacific Fur Company’s ship Tonquin, intentionally detonate a powder magazine on the ship, destroying it and killing about 100 attackers.
  • 1815 – Battle of Ligny and Battle of Quatre Bras, two days before the Battle of Waterloo.
  • 1819 – A major earthquake strikes the Kutch district of western India, killing over 1,543 people and raising a 6 m high, 6 km wide, ridge, extending for at least 80 km, that was known as the Allah Bund (“Dam of God”).
  • 1836 – The formation of the London Working Men’s Association gives rise to the Chartist Movement.
  • 1846 – The Papal conclave of 1846 elects Pope Pius IX, beginning the longest reign in the history of the papacy.
  • 1858 – Abraham Lincoln delivers his House Divided speech in Springfield, Illinois.
  • 1871 – The Universities Tests Act 1871 allows students to enter the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham without religious tests (except for those intending to study theology).
  • 1883 – The Victoria Hall theatre panic in Sunderland, England, kills 183 children.
  • 1884 – The first purpose-built roller coaster, LaMarcus Adna Thompson’s “Switchback Railway”, opens in New York’s Coney Island amusement park.
  • 1897 – A treaty annexing the Republic of Hawaii to the United States is signed; the Republic would not be dissolved until a year later.
  • 1903 – The Ford Motor Company is incorporated.
  • 1903 – Roald Amundsen leaves Oslo, Norway, to commence the first east-west navigation of the Northwest Passage.
  • 1904 – Eugen Schauman assassinates Nikolay Bobrikov, Governor-General of Finland.
  • 1904 – Irish author James Joyce begins a relationship with Nora Barnacle and subsequently uses the date to set the actions for his novel Ulysses; this date is now traditionally called “Bloomsday”.
  • 1911 – IBM founded as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in Endicott, New York.
  • 1922 – General election in the Irish Free State: The pro-Treaty Sinn Féin party wins a large majority.
  • 1925 – The most famous Young Pioneer camp of the Soviet Union, Artek, is established.
  • 1930 – Sovnarkom establishes decree time in the USSR.
  • 1933 – The National Industrial Recovery Act is passed in the United States, allowing businesses to avoid antitrust prosecution if they establish voluntary wage, price, and working condition regulations on an industry-wide basis.
  • 1940 – World War II: Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain becomes Chief of State of Vichy France (Chef de l’État Français).
  • 1940 – A Communist government is installed in Lithuania.
  • 1944 – In a gross miscarriage of justice, George Junius Stinney Jr., age 14, becomes the youngest person executed in the United States in the 20th century after being convicted in a two-hour trial for the rape and murder of two teenage white girls.
  • 1948 – Members of the Malayan Communist Party kill three British plantation managers in Sungai Siput; in response, British Malaya declares a state of emergency.
  • 1955 – In a futile effort to topple Argentine President Juan Perón, rogue aircraft pilots of the Argentine Navy drop several bombs upon an unarmed crowd demonstrating in favor of Perón in Buenos Aires, killing 364 and injuring at least 800. At the same time on the ground, some soldiers attempt to stage a coup but are suppressed by loyal forces.
  • 1958 – Imre Nagy, Pál Maléter and other leaders of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising are executed.
  • 1961 – While on tour with the Kirov Ballet in Paris, Rudolf Nureyev defects from the Soviet Union.
  • 1963 – Soviet Space Program: Vostok 6 mission: Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space.
  • 1972 – The largest single-site hydroelectric power project in Canada is inaugurated at Churchill Falls Generating Station.
  • 1976 – Soweto uprising: A non-violent march by 15,000 students in Soweto, South Africa, turns into days of rioting when police open fire on the crowd.
  • 1977 – Oracle Corporation is incorporated in Redwood Shores, California, as Software Development Laboratories (SDL), by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates.
  • 1981 – US President Ronald Reagan awards the Congressional Gold Medal to Ken Taylor, Canada’s former ambassador to Iran, for helping six Americans escape from Iran during the hostage crisis of 1979–81; he is the first foreign citizen bestowed the honor.
  • 1989 – Revolutions of 1989: Imre Nagy, the former Hungarian prime minister, is reburied in Budapest following the collapse of Communism in Hungary.
  • 1997 – Fifty people are killed in the Daïat Labguer (M’sila) massacre in Algeria.
  • 2000 – The Secretary-General of the UN reports that Israel has complied with United Nations Security Council Resolution 425, 22 years after its issuance, and completely withdrew from Lebanon. The Resolution does not encompass the Shebaa farms, which is claimed by Israel, Syria and Lebanon.
  • 2010 – Bhutan becomes the first country to institute a total ban on tobacco.
  • 2012 – China successfully launches its Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, carrying three astronauts, including the first female Chinese astronaut Liu Yang, to the Tiangong-1 orbital module.
  • 2012 – The United States Air Force’s robotic Boeing X-37B spaceplane returns to Earth after a classified 469-day orbital mission
  • 2013 – A multi-day cloudburst, centered on the North Indian state of Uttarakhand, causes devastating floods and landslides, becoming the country’s worst natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami.
  • 2016 – Shanghai Disneyland Park, the first Disney Park in Mainland China, opens to the public.
  • 2019 – Upwards of 2,000,000 people participate in the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, the largest in Hong Kong’s history.

Births on June 16

  • 1139 – Emperor Konoe of Japan (d. 1155)
  • 1332 – Isabella de Coucy, English daughter of Edward III of England (d. 1379)
  • 1454 – Joanna of Aragon, Queen of Naples (d. 1517)
  • 1514 – John Cheke, English academic and politician, English Secretary of State (d. 1557)
  • 1516 – Yang Jisheng, Ming dynasty official and Confucian martyr (d. 1555)
  • 1583 – Axel Oxenstierna, Swedish politician, Lord High Chancellor of Sweden (d. 1654)
  • 1591 – Joseph Solomon Delmedigo, Greek-Italian physician, mathematician, and theorist (d. 1655)
  • 1606 – Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall, Irish soldier and politician (d. 1675)
  • 1613 – John Cleveland, English poet and educator (d. 1658)
  • 1625 – Samuel Chappuzeau, French scholar (d. 1701)
  • 1633 – Jean de Thévenot, French linguist and botanist (d. 1667)
  • 1644 – Henrietta Anne Stuart, Princess of Scotland, England and Ireland (d. 1670)
  • 1653 – James Bertie, 1st Earl of Abingdon, English nobleman (d. 1699)
  • 1713 – Meshech Weare, American farmer, lawyer, and politician, 1st Governor of New Hampshire (d. 1786)
  • 1723 – Adam Smith, Scottish philosopher and economist (d. 1790)
  • 1738 – Mary Katherine Goddard, American publisher (d. 1816)
  • 1754 – Salawat Yulayev, Russian poet (d. 1800)
  • 1792 – John Linnell, English painter and engraver (d. 1882)
  • 1801 – Julius Plücker, German mathematician and physicist (d. 1868)
  • 1806 – Edward Davy, English physician and chemist (d. 1885)
  • 1813 – Otto Jahn, German archaeologist and philologist (d. 1869)
  • 1820 – Athanase Josué Coquerel, Dutch-French preacher and theologian (d. 1875)
  • 1821 – Old Tom Morris, Scottish golfer and architect (d. 1908)
  • 1826 – Constantin von Ettingshausen, Austrian geologist and botanist (d. 1897)
  • 1829 – Geronimo, American tribal leader (d. 1909)
  • 1836 – Wesley Merritt, American general and politician, Military Governor of the Philippines (d. 1910)
  • 1837 – Ernst Laas, German philosopher and academic (d. 1885)
  • 1838 – Frederic Archer, English organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1901)
  • 1838 – Cushman Kellogg Davis, American lieutenant and politician, 7th Governor of Minnesota (d. 1900)
  • 1840 – Ernst Otto Schlick, German engineer and author (d. 1913)
  • 1850 – Max Delbrück, German chemist and academic (d. 1919)
  • 1857 – Arthur Arz von Straußenburg, Austrian-Hungarian general (d. 1935)
  • 1858 – Gustaf V of Sweden (d. 1950)
  • 1863 – Francisco León de la Barra, Mexican politician and diplomat (d. 1939)
  • 1866 – Germanos Karavangelis, Greek-Austrian metropolitan (d. 1935)
  • 1874 – Arthur Meighen, Canadian lawyer and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1960)
  • 1880 – Otto Eisenschiml, Austrian-American chemist and author (d. 1963)
  • 1882 – Mohammad Mosaddegh, Iranian educator and politician, 60th Prime Minister of Iran (d. 1967)
  • 1885 – Erich Jacoby, Estonian-Polish architect (d. 1941)
  • 1888 – Alexander Friedmann, Russian physicist and mathematician (d. 1925)
  • 1888 – Peter Stoner, American mathematician and astronomer (d. 1980)
  • 1890 – Stan Laurel, English actor and comedian (d. 1965)
  • 1896 – Murray Leinster, American author and screenwriter (d. 1976)
  • 1897 – Georg Wittig, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
  • 1899 – Helen Traubel, American operatic soprano (d. 1972)
  • 1902 – Barbara McClintock, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1992)
  • 1902 – George Gaylord Simpson, American paleontologist and author (d. 1984)
  • 1906 – Alan Fairfax, Australian cricketer (d. 1955)
  • 1907 – Jack Albertson, American actor (d. 1981)
  • 1909 – Archie Carr, American ecologist and zoologist (d. 1987)
  • 1910 – Juan Velasco Alvarado, Peruvian general and politician, 1st President of Peru (d. 1977)
  • 1912 – Albert Chartier, Canadian illustrator (d. 2004)
  • 1912 – Enoch Powell, English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for Health (d. 1998)
  • 1914 – Eleanor Sokoloff, American pianist and teacher
  • 1915 – John Tukey, American mathematician and academic (d. 2000)
  • 1915 – Marga Faulstich, German glass chemist (d. 1998)
  • 1917 – Phaedon Gizikis, Greek general and politician, President of Greece (d. 1999)
  • 1917 – Katharine Graham, American publisher (d. 2001)
  • 1917 – Aurelio Lampredi, Italian automobile and aircraft engine designer (d. 1989)
  • 1917 – Irving Penn, American photographer (d. 2009)
  • 1920 – Isabelle Holland, Swiss-American author (d. 2002)
  • 1920 – Raymond Lemieux, Canadian chemist and academic (d. 2002)
  • 1920 – José López Portillo, Mexican lawyer and politician, 31st President of Mexico (d. 2004)
  • 1920 – Hemanta Mukharjee, Indian singer and music director
  • 1922 – Ilmar Kullam, Estonian basketball player and coach (d. 2011)
  • 1923 – Ron Flockhart, Scottish race car driver (d. 1962)
  • 1924 – Faith Domergue, American actress (d. 1999)
  • 1925 – Jean d’Ormesson, French journalist and author (d. 2017)
  • 1925 – Otto Muehl, Austrian-Portuguese painter and director (d. 2013)
  • 1926 – Efraín Ríos Montt, Guatemalan general and politician, 26th President of Guatemala (d. 2018)
  • 1927 – Tom Graveney, English cricketer and sportscaster (d. 2015)
  • 1927 – Herbert Lichtenfeld, German author and screenwriter (d. 2001)
  • 1927 – Ariano Suassuna, Brazilian author and playwright (d. 2014)
  • 1929 – Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait
  • 1930 – Vilmos Zsigmond, Hungarian-American cinematographer and producer (d. 2016)
  • 1934 – Eileen Atkins, English actress and screenwriter
  • 1934 – Roger Neilson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2003)
  • 1935 – Jim Dine, American painter and illustrator
  • 1937 – Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Bulgarian politician, 48th Prime Minister of Bulgaria
  • 1937 – Erich Segal, American author and screenwriter (d. 2010)
  • 1938 – Thomas Boyd-Carpenter, English general
  • 1938 – Torgny Lindgren, Swedish author and poet (d. 2017)
  • 1938 – Joyce Carol Oates, American novelist, short story writer, critic, and poet
  • 1939 – Billy “Crash” Craddock, American singer-songwriter
  • 1940 – Māris Čaklais, Latvian poet, writer, and journalist (d. 2003)
  • 1940 – Neil Goldschmidt, American lawyer and politician, 33rd Governor of Oregon
  • 1941 – Rosalind Baker, Australian author
  • 1941 – Lamont Dozier, American songwriter and producer
  • 1941 – Tommy Horton, English golfer (d. 2017)
  • 1941 – Mumtaz Hamid Rao, Pakistani journalist (d. 2011)
  • 1942 – Giacomo Agostini, Italian motorcycle racer and manager
  • 1942 – Eddie Levert, American R&B/soul singer-songwriter, musician, and actor
  • 1944 – Henri Richelet, French painter and etcher
  • 1945 – Claire Alexander, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1945 – Lucienne Robillard, Canadian social worker and politician, 59th Secretary of State for Canada
  • 1946 – Rick Adelman, American basketball player and coach
  • 1946 – John Astor, 3rd Baron Astor of Hever, English businessman and politician
  • 1946 – Karen Dunnell, English statistician and academic
  • 1946 – Tom Harrell, American trumpet player and composer
  • 1946 – Neil MacGregor, Scottish historian and curator
  • 1946 – Iain Matthews, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1946 – Jodi Rell, American politician, 87th Governor of Connecticut
  • 1946 – Mark Ritts, American actor, puppeteer, and producer (d. 2009)
  • 1946 – Derek Sanderson, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
  • 1946 – Simon Williams, English actor and playwright
  • 1947 – Tom Malone, American trombonist, composer, and producer
  • 1947 – Buddy Roberts, American wrestler (d. 2012)
  • 1947 – Al Cowlings, American ex-NFL player and close friend of O.J. Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson
  • 1947 – Tom Wyner, English-American voice actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1948 – Ron LeFlore, American baseball player and manager
  • 1949 – Paulo Cézar Caju, Brazilian footballer
  • 1949 – Ralph Mann, American hurdler and author
  • 1950 – Mithun Chakraborty, Indian actor and politician
  • 1950 – Michel Clair, Canadian lawyer and politician
  • 1950 – Jerry Petrowski, American politician and farmer
  • 1951 – Charlie Dominici, American singer and guitarist
  • 1951 – Roberto Durán, Panamanian boxer
  • 1952 – George Papandreou, Greek sociologist and politician, 182nd Prime Minister of Greece
  • 1952 – Gino Vannelli, Canadian singer-songwriter
  • 1953 – Valerie Mahaffey, American actress
  • 1953 – Ian Mosley, English drummer
  • 1954 – Matthew Saad Muhammad, American boxer and trainer (d. 2014)
  • 1954 – Garry Roberts, Irish guitarist
  • 1955 – Grete Faremo, Norwegian politician, Norwegian Minister of Defence
  • 1955 – Laurie Metcalf, American actress
  • 1955 – Artemy Troitsky, Russian journalist and critic
  • 1957 – Ian Buchanan, Scottish-American actor
  • 1957 – Leeona Dorrian, Lady Dorrian, Scottish lawyer and judge
  • 1958 – Darrell Griffith, American basketball player
  • 1958 – Ulrike Tauber, German swimmer
  • 1958 – Warren Rodwell, Australian soldier, educator and musician
  • 1959 – The Ultimate Warrior, American wrestler (d. 2014)
  • 1960 – Peter Sterling, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
  • 1961 – Can Dündar, Turkish journalist and author
  • 1961 – Robbie Kerr, Australian cricketer
  • 1961 – Steve Larmer, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1961 – Margus Metstak, Estonian basketball player and coach
  • 1962 – Wally Joyner, American baseball player and coach
  • 1962 – Arnold Vosloo, South African-American actor
  • 1962 – Anthony Wong, Hong Kong singer
  • 1963 – The Sandman, American wrestler
  • 1964 – Danny Burstein, American actor and singer
  • 1965 – Michael Richard Lynch, Irish computer scientist and entrepreneur; co-founded HP Autonomy
  • 1965 – Richard Madaleno, American politician
  • 1966 – Mark Occhilupo, Australian surfer
  • 1966 – Olivier Roumat, French rugby player
  • 1966 – Phil Vischer, American voice actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, co-created VeggieTales
  • 1966 – Jan Železný, Czech javelin thrower and coach
  • 1967 – Charalambos Andreou, Cypriot footballer
  • 1967 – Jürgen Klopp, German footballer and manager
  • 1968 – Adam Schmitt, American singer-songwriter, musician, and producer
  • 1969 – Shami Chakrabarti, English lawyer and academic
  • 1969 – Mark Crossley, English-Welsh footballer and manager
  • 1970 – Younus AlGohar, Pakistani poet and academic, co-founded Messiah Foundation International
  • 1970 – Clifton Collins Jr., American actor
  • 1970 – Cobi Jones, American soccer player and manager
  • 1970 – Phil Mickelson, American golfer
  • 1971 – Tupac Shakur, American rapper and producer (d. 1996)
  • 1972 – Kiko Loureiro, Brazilian guitarist
  • 1973 – Eddie Cibrian, American actor
  • 1974 – Glenicia James, Saint Lucian cricketer
  • 1975 – Anthony Carter, American basketball player and coach
  • 1977 – Craig Fitzgibbon, Australian rugby league player and coach
  • 1977 – Duncan Hames, English accountant and politician
  • 1977 – Kerry Wood, American baseball player
  • 1978 – Daniel Brühl, Spanish-German actor
  • 1978 – Dainius Zubrus, Lithuanian ice hockey player
  • 1978 – Fish Leong, Malaysian singer
  • 1980 – Brandon Armstrong, American basketball player
  • 1980 – Phil Christophers, German-English rugby player
  • 1980 – Henry Perenara, New Zealand rugby league player and referee
  • 1980 – Martin Stranzl, Austrian footballer
  • 1980 – Joey Yung, Hong Kong singer
  • 1981 – Benjamin Becker, German tennis player
  • 1981 – Kevin Bieksa, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1981 – Alexandre Giroux, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1981 – Ola Kvernberg, Norwegian violinist
  • 1981 – Miguel Villalta, Peruvian footballer
  • 1982 – May Andersen, Danish model and actress
  • 1982 – Missy Peregrym, Canadian model and actress
  • 1983 – Armend Dallku, Albanian footballer
  • 1984 – Rick Nash, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1984 – Dan Ryckert, American writer and entertainer
  • 1984 – Steven Whittaker, Scottish footballer
  • 1986 – Rodrigo Defendi, Brazilian footballer
  • 1986 – Urby Emanuelson, Dutch footballer
  • 1986 – Fernando Muslera, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1987 – Diana DeGarmo, American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1987 – Per Ciljan Skjelbred, Norwegian footballer
  • 1987 – Christian Tshimanga Kabeya, Belgian footballer
  • 1988 – Keshia Chante, Canadian singer
  • 1988 – Jermaine Gresham, American football player
  • 1990 – John Newman, English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer
  • 1991 – Joe McElderry, English singer-songwriter
  • 1991 – Siya Kolisi, South African rugby player
  • 1991 – Matt Moylan, Australian rugby league player
  • 1992 – Vladimir Morozov, Russian swimmer
  • 1993 – Park Bo-gum, South Korean actor
  • 1993 – Gnash, American singer, songwriter, rapper, DJ and record producer
  • 1994 – Grete-Lilijane Küppas, Estonian footballer
  • 1994 – Rezar, Albanian professional wrestler
  • 1995 – Euan Aitken, Australian rugby league player
  • 1995 – Joseph Schooling, Singaporean swimmer
  • 1995 – Akira Ioane, New Zealand rugby Union player
  • 2000 – Bianca Andreescu, Canadian tennis player

Deaths on June 16

  • 840 – Rorgon I, Frankish nobleman (or 839)
  • 924 – Li Cunshen, general of Later Tang (b. 862)
  • 956 – Hugh the Great, Frankish nobleman (b. 898)
  • 1185 – Richeza of Poland, queen of León (b. c. 1140)
  • 1286 – Hugh de Balsham, English bishop
  • 1332 – Adam de Brome, founder of Oriel College, Oxford
  • 1361 – Johannes Tauler, German mystic theologian
  • 1397 – Philip of Artois, Count of Eu, French soldier (b. 1358)
  • 1424 – Johannes Ambundii, archbishop of Riga
  • 1468 – Jean Le Fèvre de Saint-Remy, Burgundian historian and author (b. 1395)
  • 1487 – John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln (b. c. 1463)
  • 1540 – Konrad von Thüngen, German nobleman (b. c. 1466)
  • 1622 – Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline, Scottish lawyer, judge, and politician, Lord Chancellor of Scotland (b. 1555)
  • 1626 – Christian, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Wolfenbüttel, German Protestant military leader (b. 1599)
  • 1666 – Sir Richard Fanshawe, 1st Baronet, English poet and diplomat, English Ambassador to Spain (b. 1608)
  • 1722 – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire (b. 1650)
  • 1743 – Louise-Françoise de Bourbon, eldest daughter of King Louis XIV of France (b. 1673)
  • 1752 – Joseph Butler, English bishop and philosopher (b. 1692)
  • 1762 – Anne Russell, Countess of Jersey (formerly Duchess of Bedford) (b. c.1705)
  • 1777 – Jean-Baptiste-Louis Gresset, French poet and playwright (b. 1709)
  • 1779 – Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet, English lawyer and politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (b. 1712)
  • 1804 – Johann Adam Hiller, German composer and conductor (b. 1728)
  • 1824 – Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance, French lawyer and politician (b. 1739)
  • 1849 – Wilhelm Martin Leberecht de Wette, German theologian and scholar (b. 1780)
  • 1850 – William Lawson, English-Australian explorer and politician (b. 1774)
  • 1858 – John Snow, English epidemiologist and physician (b. 1813)
  • 1862 – Hidenoyama Raigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 9th Yokozuna (b. 1808)
  • 1869 – Charles Sturt, Indian-English botanist and explorer (b. 1795)
  • 1872 – Norman MacLeod, Scottish minister and author (b. 1812)
  • 1878 – Crawford Long, American surgeon and pharmacist (b. 1815)
  • 1878 – Kikuchi Yōsai, Japanese painter (b. 1781)
  • 1881 – Josiah Mason, English businessman and philanthropist (b. 1795)
  • 1885 – Wilhelm Camphausen, German painter and academic (b. 1818)
  • 1886 – Alexander Stuart, Scottish-Australian politician, 9th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1824)
  • 1902 – Ernst Schröder, German mathematician and academic (b. 1841)
  • 1918 – Bazil Assan, Romanian engineer and explorer (b. 1860)
  • 1925 – Chittaranjan Das, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1870)
  • 1929 – Bramwell Booth, English 2nd General of The Salvation Army (b. 1856)
  • 1929 – Vernon Louis Parrington, American historian and scholar (b. 1871)
  • 1930 – Ezra Fitch, American lawyer and businessman, co-founded Abercrombie & Fitch (b. 1866)
  • 1930 – Elmer Ambrose Sperry, American inventor, co-invented the gyrocompass (b. 1860)
  • 1939 – Chick Webb, American drummer and bandleader (b. 1905)
  • 1940 – DuBose Heyward, American author (b. 1885)
  • 1944 – Marc Bloch, French historian and academic (b. 1886)
  • 1945 – Aris Velouchiotis, Greek general (b. 1905)
  • 1946 – Gordon Brewster, Irish cartoonist (b 1889)
  • 1952 – Andrew Lawson, Scottish-American geologist and academic (b. 1861)
  • 1953 – Margaret Bondfield, English politician, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (b. 1873)
  • 1955 – Ozias Leduc, Canadian painter (b. 1864)
  • 1958 – Pál Maléter, Hungarian general and politician, Minister of Defence of Hungary (b. 1917)
  • 1958 – Imre Nagy, Hungarian politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1895)
  • 1959 – George Reeves, American actor and director (b. 1914)
  • 1961 – Marcel Junod, Swiss physician and anesthesiologist (b. 1904)
  • 1967 – Reginald Denny, English actor (b. 1891)
  • 1969 – Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, English field marshal and politician, 17th Governor General of Canada (b. 1891)
  • 1970 – Sydney Chapman, English mathematician and geophysicist (b. 1888)
  • 1970 – Brian Piccolo, American football player (b. 1943)
  • 1971 – John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, Scottish broadcaster, co-founded BBC (b. 1889)
  • 1974 – Amalie Sara Colquhoun, Australian landscape and portrait painter (b. 1894)
  • 1977 – Wernher von Braun, German-American physicist and engineer (b. 1912)
  • 1979 – Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, Ghanaian general and politician, 6th Head of state of Ghana (b. 1931)
  • 1979 – Nicholas Ray, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1911)
  • 1981 – Thomas Playford IV, Australian politician, 33rd Premier of South Australia (b. 1896)
  • 1982 – James Honeyman-Scott, English guitarist and songwriter (b. 1956)
  • 1984 – Lew Andreas, American football player and coach (b. 1895)
  • 1984 – Erni Krusten, Estonian author and poet (b. 1900)
  • 1986 – Maurice Duruflé, French organist and composer (b. 1902)
  • 1987 – Marguerite de Angeli, American author and illustrator (b. 1889)
  • 1988 – Miguel Piñero, Puerto Rican-American actor and playwright (b. 1946)
  • 1993 – Lindsay Hassett, Australian cricketer and soldier (b. 1913)
  • 1994 – Kristen Pfaff, American bass player and songwriter (b. 1967)
  • 1996 – Mel Allen, American sportscaster and game show host (b. 1913)
  • 1997 – Dal Stivens, Australian soldier and author (b. 1911)
  • 1998 – Fred Wacker, American race car driver and engineer (b. 1918)
  • 1999 – Screaming Lord Sutch, English singer and activist (b. 1940)
  • 2003 – Pierre Bourgault, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1934)
  • 2003 – Georg Henrik von Wright, Finnish–Swedish philosopher and author (b. 1916)
  • 2004 – Thanom Kittikachorn, Thai field marshal and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Thailand (b. 1911)
  • 2004 – Jacques Miquelon, Canadian lawyer and judge (b. 1911)
  • 2005 – Enrique Laguerre, Puerto Rican-American author and critic (b. 1906)
  • 2008 – Mario Rigoni Stern, Italian soldier and author (b. 1921)
  • 2010 – Marc Bazin, Haitian lawyer and politician, 49th President of Haiti (b. 1932)
  • 2010 – Maureen Forrester, Canadian singer and academic (b. 1930)
  • 2010 – Ronald Neame, English director, producer, cinematographer, and screenwriter (b. 1911)
  • 2011 – Östen Mäkitalo, Swedish engineer and academic (b. 1938)
  • 2012 – Nils Karlsson, Swedish skier (b. 1917)
  • 2012 – Jorge Lankenau, Mexican banker and businessman (b. 1944)
  • 2012 – Sławomir Petelicki, Polish general (b. 1946)
  • 2012 – Susan Tyrrell, American actress (b. 1945)
  • 2013 – Sam Farber, American businessman, co-founded OXO (b. 1924)
  • 2013 – Hans Hass, Austrian biologist and diver (b. 1919)
  • 2013 – Khondakar Ashraf Hossain, Bangladesh poet and academic (b. 1950)
  • 2013 – Norman Ian MacKenzie, English journalist and author (b. 1921)
  • 2013 – Ottmar Walter, German footballer (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Tony Gwynn, American baseball player and coach (b. 1960)
  • 2014 – Cándido Muatetema Rivas (b. 1960), Equatoguinean politician and diplomat, Prime Minister of Equatorial Guinea
  • 2015 – Charles Correa, Indian architect and urban planner (b. 1930)
  • 2015 – Jean Vautrin, French director, screenwriter, and critic (b. 1933)
  • 2016 – Jo Cox, English political activist and MP (b. 1974)
  • 2017 – Helmut Kohl, German politician, 6th Chancellor of Germany (b. 1930)
  • 2020 – Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. (b. 1935), Filipino businessman and politician

Holidays and observances on June 16

  • Juneteenth (United States)
  • Birthday of Leonard P. Howell (Rastafari)
  • Bloomsday (Dublin, Ireland)
  • Christian feast days:
    • Aurelianus of Arles
    • Aureus of Mainz (and his sister Justina)
    • Benno
    • Cettin of Oran
    • Curig of Llanbadarn
    • Ferreolus and Ferrutio
    • George Berkeley and Joseph Butler (Episcopal Church)
    • Lutgardis
    • Quriaqos and Julietta
    • June 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Engineer’s Day (Argentina)
  • Father’s Day (Seychelles)
  • International Day of the African Child (Organisation of African Unity)
  • Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev (Sikhism)
  • Sussex Day (Sussex)
  • Youth Day (South Africa)

June 16 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

May 31- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

  • 455 – Emperor Petronius Maximus is stoned to death by an angry mob while fleeing Rome.
  • 1223 – Mongol invasion of the Cumans: Battle of the Kalka River: Mongol armies of Genghis Khan led by Subutai defeat Kievan Rus’ and Cumans.
  • 1293 – Mongol invasion of Java was a punitive expedition against King Kertanegara of Singhasari, who had refused to pay tribute to the Yuan and maimed one of its ministers. However, it ended with failure for the Mongols. Regarded as establish City of Surabaya
  • 1578 – King Henry III lays the first stone of the Pont Neuf (New Bridge), the oldest bridge of Paris, France.
  • 1669 – Citing poor eyesight as a reason, Samuel Pepys records the last event in his diary.
  • 1775 – American Revolution: The Mecklenburg Resolves are adopted in the Province of North Carolina.
  • 1790 – Manuel Quimper explores the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
  • 1790 – The United States enacts its first copyright statute, the Copyright Act of 1790.
  • 1795 – French Revolution: The Revolutionary Tribunal is suppressed.
  • 1805 – French and Spanish forces begin the assault against British forces occupying Diamond Rock.
  • 1813 – In Australia, William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth reach Mount Blaxland, effectively marking the end of a route across the Blue Mountains.
  • 1859 – The clock tower at the Houses of Parliament, which houses Big Ben, starts keeping time.
  • 1862 – American Civil War: Peninsula Campaign: Confederate forces under Joseph E. Johnston and G.W. Smith engage Union forces under George B. McClellan outside Richmond, Virginia.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: Overland Campaign: Battle of Cold Harbor: The Army of Northern Virginia engages the Army of the Potomac.
  • 1879 – Gilmore’s Garden in New York City is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and is opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue.
  • 1884 – The arrival at Plymouth of Tāwhiao, King of Maoris, to claim the protection of Queen Victoria.
  • 1889 – Johnstown Flood: Over 2,200 people die after a dam fails and sends a 60-foot (18-meter) wall of water over the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
  • 1902 – Second Boer War: The Treaty of Vereeniging ends the war and ensures British control of South Africa.
  • 1909 – The National Negro Committee, forerunner to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), convenes for the first time.
  • 1910 – The South Africa Act comes into force, establishing the Union of South Africa.
  • 1911 – The RMS Titanic is launched in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
  • 1911 – The President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz flees the country during the Mexican Revolution.
  • 1916 – World War I: Battle of Jutland: The British Grand Fleet engages the High Seas Fleet in the largest naval battle of the war, which proves indecisive.
  • 1921 – The Tulsa race massacre kills at least 39, but other estimates of black fatalities vary from 55 to about 300.
  • 1935 – A 7.7 Mw  earthquake destroys Quetta in modern-day Pakistan killing 40,000.
  • 1941 – Anglo-Iraqi War: The United Kingdom completes the re-occupation of Iraq and returns ‘Abd al-Ilah to power as regent for Faisal II.
  • 1942 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy midget submarines begin a series of attacks on Sydney, Australia.
  • 1947 – Ferenc Nagy, the democratically elected Prime Minister of Hungary, resigns from office after blackmail from the Hungarian Communist Party accusing him of being part of a plot against the state. This grants the Communists effective control of the Hungarian government.
  • 1961 – The South African Constitution of 1961 becomes effective, thus creating the Republic of South Africa, which remains outside the Commonwealth of Nations until 1 June 1994, when South Africa is returned to Commonwealth membership.
  • 1961 – In Moscow City Court, the Rokotov–Faibishenko show trial begins, despite the Khrushchev Thaw to reverse Stalinist elements in Soviet society.
  • 1962 – The West Indies Federation dissolves.
  • 1970 – The 7.9 Mw  Ancash earthquake shakes Peru with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) and a landslide buries the town of Yungay, Peru. Between 66,794–70,000 were killed and 50,000 were injured.
  • 1971 – In accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1968, observation of Memorial Day occurs on the last Monday in May for the first time, rather than on the traditional Memorial Day of May 30.
  • 1973 – The United States Senate votes to cut off funding for the bombing of Khmer Rouge targets within Cambodia, hastening the end of the Cambodian Civil War.
  • 1977 – The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is completed.
  • 1985 – United States–Canada tornado outbreak: Forty-one tornadoes hit Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, leaving 76 dead.
  • 1991 – Bicesse Accords in Angola lay out a transition to multi-party democracy under the supervision of the United Nations’ UNAVEM II mission.
  • 2005 – Vanity Fair reveals that Mark Felt was “Deep Throat”.
  • 2008 – Usain Bolt breaks the world record in the 100m sprint, with a wind-legal (+1.7 m/s) 9.72 seconds
  • 2010 – Israeli Shayetet 13 commandos boarded the Gaza Freedom Flotilla while still in international waters trying to break the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip; nine Turkish citizens on the flotilla were killed in the ensuing violent affray.
  • 2013 – The asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon make their closest approach to Earth for the next two centuries.
  • 2013 – A record breaking 2.6 mile wide tornado strikes El Reno, Oklahoma, United States, causing eight fatalities and over 150 injuries.
  • 2017 – A car bomb explodes in a crowded intersection in Kabul near the German embassy during rush hour, killing over 90 and injuring 463.
  • 2017 – U.S. President Donald Trump tweets the word “covfefe” and quickly becomes a worldwide viral phenomenon.
  • 2019 – A shooting occurs inside a municipal building at Virginia Beach, Virginia, leaving 13 people dead, including the shooter, and four others injured.

Births on May 31

  • 1443 (or 1441) – Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby (d. 1509)
  • 1462 – Philipp II, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (d. 1504)
  • 1469 – Manuel I of Portugal (d. 1521)
  • 1535 – Alessandro Allori, Italian painter (d. 1607)
  • 1556 – Jerzy Radziwiłł, Catholic cardinal (d. 1600)
  • 1577 – Nur Jahan, Empress consort of the Mughal Empire (d. 1645)
  • 1613 – John George II, Elector of Saxony (d. 1680)
  • 1640 – Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, King of Poland (d. 1673)
  • 1641 – Patriarch Dositheos II of Jerusalem (d. 1707)
  • 1725 – Ahilyabai Holkar, Queen of the Malwa Kingdom under the Maratha Empire (d. 1795)
  • 1732 – Count Hieronymus von Colloredo, Austrian archbishop (d. 1812)
  • 1753 – Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud, French lawyer and politician (d. 1793)
  • 1754 – Andrea Appiani, Italian painter and educator (d. 1817)
  • 1773 – Ludwig Tieck, German poet, author, and critic (d. 1853)
  • 1801 – Johann Georg Baiter, Swiss philologist and scholar (d. 1887)
  • 1815 – Adye Douglas, English-Australian cricketer and politician, 15th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1906)
  • 1818 – John Albion Andrew, American lawyer and politician, 25th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1867)
  • 1819 – Walt Whitman, American poet, essayist, and journalist (d. 1892)
  • 1827 – Kusumoto Ine, first Japanese female doctor of Western medicine (d. 1903)
  • 1835 – Hijikata Toshizō, Japanese commander (d. 1869)
  • 1838 – Henry Sidgwick, English economist and philosopher (d. 1900)
  • 1842 – John Cox Bray, Australian politician, 15th Premier of South Australia (d. 1894)
  • 1847 – William Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie, Canadian-Irish businessman and politician, Lord Mayor of Belfast (d. 1924)
  • 1852 – Francisco Moreno, Argentinian explorer and academic (d. 1919)
  • 1852 – Julius Richard Petri, German microbiologist, invented the Petri dish (d. 1921)
  • 1857 – Pope Pius XI (d. 1939)
  • 1858 – Graham Wallas, English socialist, social psychologist, and educationalist (d. 1932)
  • 1860 – Walter Sickert, English painter (d. 1942)
  • 1863 – Francis Younghusband, Indian-English captain and explorer (d. 1942)
  • 1866 – John Ringling, American entrepreneur; one of the founders of the Ringling Brothers Circus (d. 1936)
  • 1875 – Rosa May Billinghurst, British suffragette and women’s rights activist (d.1953)
  • 1879 – Frances Alda, New Zealand-Australian soprano (d. 1952)
  • 1882 – Sándor Festetics, Hungarian politician, Hungarian Minister of War (d. 1956)
  • 1883 – Lauri Kristian Relander, Finnish politician, 2nd President of Finland (d. 1942)
  • 1885 – Robert Richards, Australian politician, 32nd Premier of South Australia (d. 1967)
  • 1887 – Saint-John Perse, French poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
  • 1892 – Michel Kikoine, Belarusian-French painter (d. 1968)
  • 1892 – Erich Neumann, German lieutenant and politician (d. 1951)
  • 1892 – Konstantin Paustovsky, Russian poet and author (d. 1968)
  • 1892 – Gregor Strasser, German lieutenant and politician (d. 1934)
  • 1894 – Fred Allen, American comedian, radio host, game show panelist, and author (d. 1956)
  • 1898 – Norman Vincent Peale, American minister and author (d. 1993)
  • 1900 – Lucile Godbold, American Olympic athlete (d. 1981)
  • 1901 – Alfredo Antonini, Italian-American conductor and composer (d. 1983)
  • 1908 – Don Ameche, American actor (d. 1993)
  • 1909 – Art Coulter, Canadian-American ice hockey player (d. 2000)
  • 1911 – Maurice Allais, French economist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
  • 1912 – Chien-Shiung Wu, Chinese-American experimental physicist (d. 1997)
  • 1914 – Akira Ifukube, Japanese composer and educator (d. 2006)
  • 1916 – Bert Haanstra, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1997)
  • 1918 – Robert Osterloh, American actor (d. 2001)
  • 1918 – Lloyd Quarterman, African American chemist (d. 1982)
  • 1919 – Robie Macauley, American editor, novelist and critic (d. 1995)
  • 1921 – Edna Doré, English actress (d. 2014)
  • 1921 – Andrew Grima, Anglo-Italian jewellery designer (d. 2007)
  • 1921 – Howard Reig, American radio and television announcer (d. 2008)
  • 1921 – Alida Valli, Austrian-Italian actress and singer (d. 2006)
  • 1922 – Denholm Elliott, English-Spanish actor (d. 1992)
  • 1923 – Ellsworth Kelly, American painter and sculptor (d. 2015)
  • 1923 – Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (d. 2005)
  • 1925 – Julian Beck, American actor and director (d. 1986)
  • 1927 – James Eberle, English admiral (d. 2018)
  • 1927 – Michael Sandberg, Baron Sandberg, English lieutenant and banker (d. 2017)
  • 1928 – Pankaj Roy, Indian cricketer (d. 2001)
  • 1929 – Menahem Golan, Israeli director and producer (d. 2014)
  • 1930 – Clint Eastwood, American actor, director, musician, and producer
  • 1931 – John Robert Schrieffer, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2019)
  • 1931 – Shirley Verrett, American soprano and actress (d. 2010)
  • 1932 – Ed Lincoln, Brazilian pianist, bassist, and composer (d. 2012)
  • 1932 – Jay Miner, American computer scientist and engineer (d. 1994)
  • 1933 – Henry B. Eyring, American religious leader, educator, and author
  • 1934 – Jim Hutton, American actor (d. 1979)
  • 1935 – Jim Bolger, New Zealand businessman and politician, 35th Prime Minister of New Zealand
  • 1938 – Johnny Paycheck, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2003)
  • 1938 – John Prescott, British sailor and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
  • 1938 – Peter Yarrow, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1939 – Terry Waite, English humanitarian and author
  • 1940 – Anatoliy Bondarchuk, Ukrainian hammer thrower and coach
  • 1940 – Augie Meyers, American musician and singer-songwriter
  • 1940 – Gilbert Shelton, American illustrator
  • 1941 – June Clark, Welsh nurse and educator
  • 1941 – Louis Ignarro, American pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1941 – William Nordhaus, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1943 – Sharon Gless, American actress
  • 1943 – Joe Namath, American football player, sportscaster, and actor
  • 1945 – Rainer Werner Fassbinder, German actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1982)
  • 1945 – Laurent Gbagbo, Ivorian academic and politician, 4th President of Côte d’Ivoire
  • 1945 – Bernard Goldberg, American journalist and author
  • 1946 – Ted Baehr, American publisher and critic
  • 1946 – Steve Bucknor, Jamaican cricketer and umpire
  • 1946 – Krista Kilvet, Estonian journalist, politician, and diplomat (d. 2009)
  • 1946 – Debbie Moore, English model and businesswoman
  • 1947 – Junior Campbell, Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1947 – Gabriele Hinzmann, German discus thrower
  • 1948 – Svetlana Alexievich, Belarusian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1948 – John Bonham, English musician, songwriter and drummer (d. 1980)
  • 1948 – Martin Hannett, English bass player, guitarist, and record producer (d. 1991)
  • 1948 – Duncan Hunter, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician
  • 1949 – Tom Berenger, American actor, film producer and television writer
  • 1950 – Jean Chalopin, French director, producer, and screenwriter, founded DIC Entertainment
  • 1950 – Gregory Harrison, American actor
  • 1950 – Edgar Savisaar, Estonian politician, Estonian Minister of the Interior
  • 1951 – Karl-Hans Riehm, German hammer thrower
  • 1952 – Karl Bartos, German singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1953 – Pirkka-Pekka Petelius, Finnish actor and screenwriter
  • 1954 – Thomas Mavros, Greek footballer
  • 1954 – Vicki Sue Robinson, American actress and singer (d. 2000)
  • 1955 – Tommy Emmanuel, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1955 – Susie Essman, American actress, comedian, and screenwriter
  • 1956 – Fritz Hilpert, German drummer and composer
  • 1956 – John Young, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1957 – Jim Craig, American ice hockey player
  • 1959 – Andrea de Cesaris, Italian racing driver (d. 2014)
  • 1959 – Phil Wilson, English politician
  • 1960 – Greg Adams, Canadian ice hockey player and businessman
  • 1960 – Chris Elliott, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter
  • 1960 – Peter Winterbottom, English rugby player
  • 1961 – Ray Cote, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1961 – Justin Madden, Australian footballer and politician
  • 1961 – Lea Thompson, American actress, director, and producer
  • 1962 – Corey Hart, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1963 – David Leigh, holder of the Sir Samuel Hall Chair of Chemistry at the University of Manchester
  • 1963 – Viktor Orbán, Hungarian politician, 38th Prime Minister of Hungary
  • 1963 – Wesley Willis, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (d. 2003)
  • 1964 – Leonard Asper, Canadian lawyer and businessman
  • 1964 – Stéphane Caristan, French hurdler and coach
  • 1964 – Yukio Edano, Japanese politician, Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs
  • 1964 – Darryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels, American rapper and producer
  • 1965 – Brooke Shields, American model, actress, and producer
  • 1966 – Roshan Mahanama, Sri Lankan cricketer and referee
  • 1967 – Phil Keoghan, New Zealand television host and producer
  • 1967 – Kenny Lofton, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster
  • 1971 – Arun Luthra, Indo-Anglo-American saxophonist, konnakol artist, composer, and arranger
  • 1972 – Christian McBride, American bassist and record producer
  • 1972 – Archie Panjabi, Indo-British actress
  • 1972 – Frode Estil, Norwegian skier
  • 1972 – Antti Niemi, Finnish international footballer, goalkeeper and coach
  • 1972 – Dave Roberts, American baseball player and coach
  • 1974 – Hiroiki Ariyoshi, Japanese comedian and singer
  • 1974 – Chad Campbell, American golfer
  • 1975 – Mac Suzuki, Japanese baseball player
  • 1976 – Colin Farrell, Irish actor
  • 1976 – Matt Harpring, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1977 – Theodoros Baev, Bulgarian-Greek volleyball player
  • 1977 – Domenico Fioravanti, Italian swimmer
  • 1977 – Eric Christian Olsen, American actor
  • 1977 – Moses Sichone, Zambian footballer
  • 1977 – Petr Tenkrát, Czech ice hockey player
  • 1979 – Jean-François Gillet, Belgian footballer
  • 1981 – Mikael Antonsson, Swedish footballer
  • 1981 – Daniele Bonera, Italian footballer
  • 1981 – Jake Peavy, American baseball player
  • 1981 – Marlies Schild, Austrian skier
  • 1984 – Andrew Bailey, American baseball player
  • 1984 – Milorad Čavić, Serbian swimmer
  • 1984 – Nate Robinson, American basketball player
  • 1985 – Jordy Nelson, American football player
  • 1986 – Robert Gesink, Dutch cyclist
  • 1989 – Marco Reus, German footballer
  • 1990 – Erik Karlsson, Swedish ice hockey player
  • 1992 – Michaël Bournival, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1992 – Laura Ikauniece, Latvian heptathlete
  • 1996 – Normani Korde, American singer
  • 1998 – Santino Ferrucci, American race car driver

Deaths on May 31

  • 455 – Petronius Maximus, Roman emperor (b. 396)
  • 930 – Liu Hua, princess of Southern Han (b. 896)
  • 960 – Fujiwara no Morosuke, Japanese statesman (b. 909)
  • 1076 – Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria, English politician (b. 1050)
  • 1089 – Sigwin von Are, archbishop of Cologne
  • 1162 – Géza II, king of Hungary (b. 1130)
  • 1321 – Birger, king of Sweden (b. 1280)
  • 1326 – Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley (b. 1271)
  • 1329 – Albertino Mussato, Italian statesman and writer (b. 1261)
  • 1349 – Thomas Wake, English politician (b. 1297)
  • 1370 – Vitalis of Assisi, Italian hermit and monk (b. 1295)
  • 1408 – Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Japanese shōgun (b. 1358)
  • 1410 – Martin of Aragon, Spanish king (b. 1356)
  • 1504 – Engelbert II of Nassau (b. 1451)
  • 1558 – Philip Hoby, English general and diplomat (b. 1505)
  • 1567 – Guido de Bres, Belgian pastor and theologian (b. 1522)
  • 1594 – Tintoretto, Italian painter and educator (b. 1518)
  • 1601 – Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg, Archbishop-Elector of Cologne (b. 1547)
  • 1640 – Zeynab Begum, Safavid princess (date of birth unknown)
  • 1665 – Pieter Jansz. Saenredam, Dutch painter (b. 1597)
  • 1680 – Joachim Neander, German theologian and educator (b. 1650)
  • 1740 – Frederick William I of Prussia (b. 1688)
  • 1747 – Andrey Osterman, German-Russian politician, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1686)
  • 1809 – Joseph Haydn, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1732)
  • 1809 – Jean Lannes, French general (b. 1769)
  • 1831 – Samuel Bentham, English architect and engineer (b. 1757)
  • 1832 – Évariste Galois, French mathematician and theorist (b. 1811)
  • 1837 – Joseph Grimaldi, English actor, comedian and dancer, (b. 1779)
  • 1846 – Philip Marheineke, German pastor and philosopher (b. 1780)
  • 1847 – Thomas Chalmers, Scottish minister and economist (b. 1780)
  • 1848 – Eugénie de Guérin, French author (b. 1805)
  • 1899 – Stefanos Koumanoudis, Greek archaeologist, teacher and writer (b. 1818)
  • 1908 – Louis-Honoré Fréchette, Canadian author, poet, and politician (b. 1839)
  • 1909 – Thomas Price, Welsh-Australian politician, 24th Premier of South Australia (b. 1852)
  • 1910 – Elizabeth Blackwell, English-American physician and educator (b. 1821)
  • 1931 – Felix-Raymond-Marie Rouleau, Canadian cardinal (b. 1866)
  • 1931 – Willy Stöwer, German author and illustrator (b. 1864)
  • 1945 – Odilo Globocnik, Italian-Austrian SS officer (b. 1904)
  • 1954 – Antonis Benakis, Greek art collector and philanthropist, founded the Benaki Museum (b. 1873)
  • 1957 – Stefanos Sarafis, Greek general and politician (b. 1890)
  • 1957 – Leopold Staff, Polish poet and academic (b. 1878)
  • 1960 – Willem Elsschot, Flemish author and poet (b. 1882)
  • 1960 – Walther Funk, German economist, journalist, and politician, German Minister of Economics (b. 1890)
  • 1962 – Henry F. Ashurst, American lawyer and politician (b. 1874)
  • 1967 – Billy Strayhorn, American pianist and composer (b. 1915)
  • 1970 – Terry Sawchuk, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1929)
  • 1976 – Jacques Monod, French biologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
  • 1977 – William Castle, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1914)
  • 1978 – József Bozsik, Hungarian footballer and manager (b. 1925)
  • 1981 – Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth, English economist and journalist (b. 1914)
  • 1982 – Carlo Mauri, Italian mountaineer and explorer (b. 1930)
  • 1983 – Jack Dempsey, American boxer and lieutenant (b. 1895)
  • 1985 – Gaston Rébuffat, French mountaineer and author (b. 1921)
  • 1986 – Jane Frank, American painter and sculptor (b. 1918)
  • 1986 – James Rainwater, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
  • 1987 – John Abraham, Indian director and screenwriter (b. 1937)
  • 1989 – Owen Lattimore, American author and academic (b. 1900)
  • 1989 – C. L. R. James, Trinidadian journalist and historian (b. 1901)
  • 1993 – Honey Tree Evil Eye, or, Spud Mackenzie, a Bull Terrier, dies of kidney failure.
  • 1994 – Uzay Heparı, Turkish actor, producer, and composer (b. 1969)
  • 1994 – Herva Nelli, Italian-American soprano (b. 1909)
  • 1995 – Stanley Elkin, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (b. 1930)
  • 1996 – Timothy Leary, American psychologist and author (b. 1920)
  • 1998 – Charles Van Acker, Belgian-American race car driver (b. 1912)
  • 2000 – Petar Mladenov, Bulgarian diplomat, 1st President of Bulgaria (b. 1936)
  • 2000 – Tito Puente, American jazz musician (b. 1923)
  • 2000 – A. Jeyaratnam Wilson, Sri Lankan historian, author, and academic (b. 1928)
  • 2001 – Arlene Francis, American actress, talk show host, game show panelist, and television personality (b. 1907)
  • 2002 – Subhash Gupte, Indian cricketer (b. 1929)
  • 2004 – Aiyathurai Nadesan, Sri Lankan journalist (b. 1954)
  • 2004 – Robert Quine, American guitarist (b. 1941)
  • 2004 – Étienne Roda-Gil, French screenwriter and composer (b. 1941)
  • 2006 – Miguel Ortiz Berrocal, Spanish sculptor (b. 1933)
  • 2006 – Raymond Davis, Jr., American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1914)
  • 2009 – Danny La Rue, Irish-British drag queen performer and singer (b. 1927)
  • 2009 – George Tiller, American physician (b. 1941)
  • 2010 – Louise Bourgeois, French-American sculptor and painter (b. 1911)
  • 2010 – Brian Duffy, English photographer and producer (b. 1933)
  • 2010 – William A. Fraker, American director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1923)
  • 2010 – Rubén Juárez, Argentinian singer-songwriter and bandoneón player (b. 1947)
  • 2010 – Merata Mita, New Zealand director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1942)
  • 2011 – Pauline Betz, American tennis player (b. 1919)
  • 2011 – Jonas Bevacqua, American fashion designer, co-founded the Lifted Research Group (b. 1977)
  • 2011 – Derek Hodge, Virgin Islander lawyer and politician, Lieutenant Governor of the United States Virgin Islands (b. 1941)
  • 2011 – Hans Keilson, German-Dutch psychoanalyst and author (b. 1909)
  • 2011 – John Martin, English admiral and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey (b. 1918)
  • 2011 – Andy Robustelli, American football player and manager (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Christopher Challis, English cinematographer (b. 1919)
  • 2012 – Randall B. Kester, American lawyer and judge (b. 1916)
  • 2012 – Paul Pietsch, German racing driver and publisher (b. 1911)
  • 2012 – Orlando Woolridge, American basketball player and coach (b. 1959)
  • 2013 – Gerald E. Brown, American physicist and academic (b. 1926)
  • 2013 – Frederic Lindsay, Scottish author and educator (b. 1933)
  • 2013 – Miguel Méndez, American author and poet (b. 1930)
  • 2013 – Tim Samaras, American engineer and storm chaser (b. 1957)
  • 2013 – Jairo Mora Sandoval, Costa Rican environmentalist (b. 1987)
  • 2013 – Jean Stapleton, American actress (b. 1923)
  • 2014 – Marilyn Beck, American journalist (b. 1928)
  • 2014 – Marinho Chagas, Brazilian footballer and coach (b. 1952)
  • 2014 – Hoss Ellington, American race car driver (b. 1935)
  • 2014 – Martha Hyer, American actress (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Lewis Katz, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1942)
  • 2014 – Mary Soames, Baroness Soames, English author (b. 1922)
  • 2015 – Gladys Taylor, Canadian author and publisher (b. 1917)
  • 2016 – Mohamed Abdelaziz, President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (1976–2016) (b. 1947)
  • 2016 – Jan Crouch, American televangelist, co-founder of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (b. 1938)
  • 2016 – Carla Lane, English television writer (b. 1928)
  • 2016 – Rupert Neudeck, German journalist and humanitarian (b. 1939)

Holidays and observances on May 31

  • Anniversary of Royal Brunei Malay Regiment (Brunei)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Camilla Battista da Varano
    • Hermias
    • Petronella
    • Visitation of Mary (Western Christianity)
    • May 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • The beginning of Gawai Dayak (Dayaks in Sarawak, Malaysia and West Kalimantan, Indonesia)
  • World No Tobacco Day (International)

May 31- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day, Uncategorized

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

  • 1096 – Count Emicho enters Mainz, where his followers massacre Jewish citizens.At least 600 Jews are killed.
  • 1120 – Richard III of Capua is anointed as Prince two weeks before his untimely death.
  • 1153 – Malcolm IV becomes King of Scotland.
  • 1199 – John is crowned King of England.
  • 1257 – Richard of Cornwall, and his wife, Sanchia of Provence, are crowned King and Queen of the Germans at Aachen Cathedral.
  • 1644 – Manchu regent Dorgon defeats rebel leader Li Zicheng of the Shun dynasty at the Battle of Shanhai Pass, allowing the Manchus to enter and conquer the capital city of Beijing.
  • 1703 – Tsar Peter the Great founds the city of Saint Petersburg.
  • 1798 – The Battle of Oulart Hill takes place in Wexford, Ireland; Irish rebel leaders defeat and kill a detachment of militia.
  • 1799 – War of the Second Coalition: Austrian forces defeat the French at Winterthur, Switzerland.
  • 1813 – War of 1812: In Canada, American forces capture Fort George.
  • 1860 – Giuseppe Garibaldi begins his attack on Palermo, Sicily, as part of the Italian unification.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: First Assault on the Confederate works at the Siege of Port Hudson.
  • 1874 – The first group of Dorsland trekkers under the leadership of Gert Alberts leaves Pretoria.
  • 1883 – Alexander III is crowned Tsar of Russia.
  • 1896 – The F4-strength St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado hits in St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois, killing at least 255 people and causing over $10–million in damage.
  • 1905 – Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima begins.
  • 1917 – Pope Benedict XV promulgates the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the first comprehensive codification of Catholic canon law in the legal history of the Catholic Church.
  • 1919 – The NC-4 aircraft arrives in Lisbon after completing the first transatlantic flight.
  • 1927 – The Ford Motor Company ceases manufacture of the Ford Model T and begins to retool plants to make the Ford Model A.
  • 1930 – The 1,046 feet (319 m) Chrysler Building in New York City, the tallest man-made structure at the time, opens to the public.
  • 1933 – New Deal: The U.S. Federal Securities Act is signed into law requiring the registration of securities with the Federal Trade Commission.
  • 1933 – The Walt Disney Company releases the cartoon Three Little Pigs, with its hit song “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?”
  • 1935 – New Deal: The Supreme Court of the United States declares the National Industrial Recovery Act to be unconstitutional in A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, (295 U.S. 495).
  • 1937 – In California, the Golden Gate Bridge opens to pedestrian traffic, creating a vital link between San Francisco and Marin County, California.
  • 1940 – World War II: In the Le Paradis massacre, 99 soldiers from a Royal Norfolk Regiment unit are shot after surrendering to German troops; two survive.
  • 1941 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaims an “unlimited national emergency”.
  • 1941 – World War II: The German battleship Bismarck is sunk in the North Atlantic killing almost 2,100 men.
  • 1942 – World War II: In Operation Anthropoid, Reinhard Heydrich is fatally wounded in Prague; he dies of his injuries eight days later.
  • 1958 – First flight of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.
  • 1960 – In Turkey, a military coup removes President Celâl Bayar and the rest of the democratic government from office.
  • 1962 – The Centralia mine fire is ignited in the town’s landfill above a coal mine.
  • 1965 – Vietnam War: American warships begin the first bombardment of National Liberation Front targets within South Vietnam.
  • 1967 – Australians vote in favor of a constitutional referendum granting the Australian government the power to make laws to benefit Indigenous Australians and to count them in the national census.
  • 1967 – The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy is launched by Jacqueline Kennedy and her daughter Caroline.
  • 1971 – The Dahlerau train disaster, the worst railway accident in West Germany, kills 46 people and injures 25 near Wuppertal.
  • 1971 – Pakistani forces massacre over 200 civilians, mostly Bengali Hindus, in the Bagbati massacre.
  • 1975 – Dibbles Bridge coach crash near Grassington, in North Yorkshire, England, kills 33 – the highest ever death toll in a road accident in the United Kingdom.
  • 1980 – The Gwangju Massacre: Airborne and army troops of South Korea retake the city of Gwangju from civil militias, killing at least 207 and possibly many more.
  • 1984 – The Danube-Black Sea canal is opened, in a ceremony attended by the Ceaușescus. It had been under construction since the 1950s.
  • 1996 – First Chechen War: the Russian President Boris Yeltsin meets with Chechnyan rebels for the first time and negotiates a cease-fire.
  • 1997 – The 1997 Central Texas tornado outbreak occurs, spawning multiple tornadoes in Central Texas, including the F5 that killed 27 in Jarrell.
  • 1998 – Oklahoma City bombing: Michael Fortier is sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $200,000 for failing to warn authorities about the terrorist plot.
  • 2001 – Members of the Islamist separatist group Abu Sayyaf seize twenty hostages from an affluent island resort on Palawan in the Philippines; the hostage crisis would not be resolved until June 2002.
  • 2006 – The 6.4 Mw  Yogyakarta earthquake shakes central Java with an MSK intensity of VIII (Damaging), leaving more than 5,700 dead and 37,000 injured.
  • 2016 – Barack Obama is the first president of United States to visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and meet Hibakusha.
  • 2017 – Andrew Scheer takes over after Rona Ambrose as the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.
  • 2018 – Maryland Flood Event: A flood occurs throughout the Patapsco Valley causing one death and destroying the entire first floors of buildings on Main Street in Ellicott City and causing cars to overturn.

Births on May 27

  • 742 – Emperor Dezong of Tang (d. 805)
  • 1332 – Ibn Khaldun, Tunisian historian and theologian (d. 1406)
  • 1378 – Zhu Quan, Chinese military commander, historian and playwright (d. 1448)
  • 1519 – Girolamo Mei, Italian historian and theorist (d. 1594)
  • 1537 – Louis IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Marburg (d. 1604)
  • 1576 – Caspar Schoppe, German author and scholar (d. 1649)
  • 1584 – Michael Altenburg, German theologian and composer (d. 1640)
  • 1601 – Antoine Daniel, French-Canadian missionary and saint (d. 1648)
  • 1626 – William II, Prince of Orange (d. 1650)
  • 1627 – Anne Marie Louise d’Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier (d. 1693)
  • 1651 – Louis Antoine de Noailles, French cardinal (d. 1729)
  • 1652 – Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine of Germany (d. 1722)
  • 1738 – Nathaniel Gorham, American merchant and politician, 14th President of the Continental Congress (d. 1796)
  • 1756 – Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria (d. 1825)
  • 1774 – Francis Beaufort, Irish hydrographer and officer in the Royal Navy (d. 1857)
  • 1794 – Cornelius Vanderbilt, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1877)
  • 1814 – John Rudolph Niernsee, Viennese-born American architect (d.1885)
  • 1815 – Henry Parkes, English-Australian politician, 7th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1896)
  • 1818 – Amelia Bloomer, American journalist and activist (d. 1894)
  • 1819 – Julia Ward Howe, American poet and songwriter (d. 1910)
  • 1827 – Samuel F. Miller, American lawyer and politician (d. 1892)
  • 1832 – Zenas Ferry Moody, American surveyor and politician, 7th Governor of Oregon (d. 1917)
  • 1836 – Jay Gould, American businessman and financier (d. 1892)
  • 1837 – Wild Bill Hickok, American police officer (d. 1876)
  • 1852 – Billy Barnes, English cricketer (d. 1899)
  • 1857 – Theodor Curtius, German chemist (d. 1928)
  • 1860 – Manuel Teixeira Gomes, Portuguese politician, 7th President of Portugal (d. 1941)
  • 1863 – Arthur Mold, English cricketer (d. 1921)
  • 1867 – Arnold Bennett, English author and playwright (d. 1931)
  • 1868 – Aleksa Šantić, Bosnian poet and author (d. 1924)
  • 1871 – Georges Rouault, French painter and illustrator (d. 1958)
  • 1875 – Frederick Cuming, English cricketer (d. 1942)
  • 1876 – Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, Polish journalist and author (d. 1945)
  • 1876 – William Stanier, English engineer (d. 1965)
  • 1878 – Anna Cervin, Swedish artist (d. 1972)
  • 1879 – Karl Bühler, German-American linguist and psychologist (d. 1963)
  • 1879 – Hans Lammers, German judge and politician (d. 1962)
  • 1883 – Jessie Arms Botke, American painter (d. 1971)
  • 1884 – Max Brod, Czech journalist, author, and composer (d. 1968)
  • 1887 – Frank Woolley, English cricketer (d. 1978)
  • 1888 – Louis Durey, French composer (d. 1979)
  • 1891 – Claude Champagne, Canadian violinist, pianist, and composer (d. 1965)
  • 1891 – Jaan Kärner, Estonian poet and author (d. 1958)
  • 1894 – Louis-Ferdinand Céline, French physician and author (d. 1961)
  • 1894 – Dashiell Hammett, American detective novelist and screenwriter (d. 1961)
  • 1895 – Douglas Lloyd Campbell, Canadian educator and politician, 13th Premier of Manitoba (d. 1995)
  • 1897 – John Cockcroft, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967)
  • 1897 – Dink Templeton, American rugby player and coach (d. 1962)
  • 1898 – David Crosthwait, American engineer, inventor and writer (d. 1976)
  • 1899 – Johannes Türn, Estonian chess and draughts player (d. 1993)
  • 1900 – Lotte Toberentz, German overseer of the Nazi Uckermark concentration camp (d. 1964)
  • 1900 – Uładzimir Žyłka, Belarusian poet and translator (d. 1933)
  • 1904 – Chūhei Nambu, Japanese jumper and journalist (d. 1997)
  • 1906 – Buddhadasa, Thai monk and philosopher (d. 1993)
  • 1906 – Harry Hibbs, English footballer (d. 1984)
  • 1906 – Antonio Rosario Mennonna, Italian bishop (d. 2009)
  • 1907 – Nicolas Calas, Greek-American poet and critic (d. 1988)
  • 1907 – Rachel Carson, American biologist, environmentalist, and author (d. 1964)
  • 1909 – Dolores Hope, American singer and philanthropist (d. 2011)
  • 1911 – Hubert Humphrey, American journalist and politician, 38th Vice President of the United States (d. 1978)
  • 1911 – Teddy Kollek, Hungarian-Israeli politician, Mayor of Jerusalem (d. 2007)
  • 1911 – Vincent Price, American actor (d. 1993)
  • 1912 – John Cheever, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1982)
  • 1912 – Sam Snead, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 2002)
  • 1912 – Terry Moore, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1995)
  • 1915 – Ester Soré, Chilean singer-songwriter (d. 1996)
  • 1915 – Herman Wouk, American novelist (d. 2019)
  • 1917 – Harry Webster, English engineer (d. 2007)
  • 1918 – Yasuhiro Nakasone, Japanese commander and politician, 45th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2019)
  • 1921 – Bob Godfrey, Australian-English animator, director, and voice actor (d. 2013)
  • 1922 – Otto Carius, German lieutenant and pharmacist (d. 2015)
  • 1922 – Christopher Lee, English actor (d. 2015)
  • 1922 – John D. Vanderhoof, American banker and politician, 37th Governor of Colorado (d. 2013)
  • 1923 – Henry Kissinger, German-American political scientist and politician, 56th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1923 – Sumner Redstone, American businessman and philanthropist
  • 1924 – Jaime Lusinchi, Venezuelan physician and politician, President of Venezuela (d. 2014)
  • 1924 – John Sumner, English-Australian director, founded the Melbourne Theatre Company (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Tony Hillerman, American journalist and author (d. 2008)
  • 1927 – Jüri Randviir, Estonian chess player and journalist (d. 1996)
  • 1928 – Thea Musgrave, Scottish-American composer and educator
  • 1930 – John Barth, American novelist and short story writer
  • 1930 – William S. Sessions, American civil servant and judge, 8th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • 1930 – Eino Tamberg, Estonian composer and educator (d. 2010)
  • 1931 – André Barbeau, French-Canadian neurologist (d. 1986)
  • 1931 – John Chapple, English field marshal and politician, Governor of Gibraltar
  • 1931 – Bernard Fresson, French actor (d. 2002)
  • 1931 – Faten Hamama, Egyptian actress and producer (d. 2015)
  • 1931 – Philip Kotler, American author and professor
  • 1933 – Edward Samuel Rogers, Canadian businessman (d. 2008)
  • 1933 – Manfred Sommer, Spanish author and illustrator (d. 2007)
  • 1934 – Ray Daviault, Canadian-American baseball player
  • 1934 – Harlan Ellison, American author and screenwriter (d. 2018)
  • 1935 – Daniel Colchico, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
  • 1935 – Mal Evans, British road manager of The Beatles (d. 1976)
  • 1935 – Jerry Kindall, American baseball player and coach (d. 2017)
  • 1935 – Ramsey Lewis, American jazz pianist and composer
  • 1935 – Lee Meriwether, American model and actress, Miss America 1955
  • 1936 – Benjamin Bathurst, English admiral
  • 1936 – Louis Gossett, Jr., American actor and producer
  • 1936 – Marcel Masse, Canadian educator and politician, 29th Canadian Minister of National Defence (d. 2014)
  • 1937 – Allan Carr, American playwright and producer (d. 1999)
  • 1939 – Simon Cairns, 6th Earl Cairns, English courtier and businessman
  • 1939 – Yves Duhaime, Canadian captain and politician
  • 1939 – Sokratis Kokkalis, Greek businessman
  • 1939 – Gerald Ronson, English businessman and philanthropist
  • 1939 – Lionel Sosa, Mexican-American advertising and marketing executive
  • 1939 – Don Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
  • 1940 – Mike Gibson, Australian journalist and sportscaster (d. 2015)
  • 1942 – Lee Baca, American police officer
  • 1942 – Piers Courage, English racing driver (d. 1970)
  • 1942 – Roger Freeman, Baron Freeman, English accountant and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
  • 1942 – Robin Widdows, English racing driver
  • 1943 – Cilla Black, English singer and actress (d. 2015)
  • 1943 – Bruce Weitz, American actor
  • 1944 – Chris Dodd, American lawyer and politician
  • 1944 – Ingrid Roscoe, English historian and politician, Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire
  • 1944 – Alain Souchon, French singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
  • 1945 – Bruce Cockburn, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1946 – Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Danish bassist and composer (d. 2005)
  • 1946 – John Williams, English motorcycle racer (d. 1978)
  • 1947 – Peter DeFazio, American politician
  • 1947 – Marty Kristian, German-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
  • 1947 – Branko Oblak, Slovenian footballer and coach
  • 1947 – Riivo Sinijärv, Estonian politician, 19th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1948 – Wubbo de Boer, Dutch civil servant (d. 2017)
  • 1948 – Pete Sears, English bass player
  • 1948 – Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart, American occultist and author (d. 2014)
  • 1949 – Hugh Lowther, 8th Earl of Lonsdale, English politician
  • 1949 – Christa Vahlensieck, German runner
  • 1950 – Dee Dee Bridgewater, American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1950 – Makis Dendrinos, Greek basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
  • 1951 – John Conteh, English boxer
  • 1954 – Pauline Hanson, Australian businesswoman, activist, and politician
  • 1954 – Jackie Slater, American football player and coach
  • 1955 – Eric Bischoff, American wrestler, manager, and producer
  • 1955 – Richard Schiff, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1955 – Ian Tracey, English organist and conductor
  • 1956 – Cynthia McFadden, American journalist
  • 1956 – Rosemary Squire, English producer and manager, co-founded Ambassador Theatre Group
  • 1956 – Giuseppe Tornatore, Italian director and screenwriter
  • 1957 – Dag Terje Andersen, Norwegian politician, Norwegian Minister of Labour
  • 1957 – Nitin Gadkari, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Transport
  • 1957 – Eddie Harsch, Canadian-American keyboard player and bass player (d. 2016)
  • 1957 – Siouxsie Sioux, English singer-songwriter, musician, and producer
  • 1958 – Nick Anstee, English accountant and politician, 682nd Lord Mayor of London
  • 1958 – Neil Finn, New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician
  • 1958 – Jesse Robredo, Filipino politician, 23rd Filipino Secretary of the Interior (d. 2012)
  • 1960 – Gaston Therrien, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
  • 1961 – José Luíz Barbosa, Brazilian runner and coach
  • 1961 – Peri Gilpin, American actress
  • 1962 – Marcelino Bernal, Mexican footballer
  • 1962 – Ray Borner, Australian basketball player
  • 1962 – Steven Brill, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1962 – Anthony A. Hyman, Israeli-English biologist and academic
  • 1962 – David Mundell, Scottish lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
  • 1962 – Ravi Shastri, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
  • 1963 – Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Cuban pianist and composer
  • 1963 – Maria Walliser, Swiss skier
  • 1964 – Adam Carolla, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1965 – Pat Cash, Australian-English tennis player and sportscaster
  • 1966 – Heston Blumenthal, English chef and author
  • 1967 – Paul Gascoigne, English international footballer, midfielder, coach, and manager
  • 1967 – Eddie McClintock, American actor
  • 1968 – Jeff Bagwell, American baseball player and coach
  • 1968 – Rebekah Brooks, English journalist
  • 1968 – Harun Erdenay, Turkish basketball player and coach
  • 1968 – Frank Thomas, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1969 – Todd Hundley, American baseball player
  • 1969 – Jeremy Mayfield, American race car driver
  • 1969 – Craig Federighi, American computer scientist and engineer
  • 1970 – Michele Bartoli, Italian cyclist
  • 1970 – Tim Farron, English educator and politician
  • 1970 – Joseph Fiennes, English actor
  • 1970 – Alex Archer, American-born Australian musician
  • 1971 – Mathew Batsiua, Nauruan politician
  • 1971 – Paul Bettany, English actor
  • 1971 – Wayne Carey, Australian footballer and coach
  • 1971 – Kaur Kender, Estonian author
  • 1971 – Lisa Lopes, American rapper and dancer (d. 2002)
  • 1971 – Lee Sharpe, English footballer
  • 1971 – Grant Stafford, South African tennis player
  • 1971 – Sophie Walker, British politician, leader of the Women’s Equality Party
  • 1971 – Petroc Trelawny, British radio and television broadcaster
  • 1972 – Todd Demsey, American golfer
  • 1972 – Antonio Freeman, American football player
  • 1972 – Maxim Sokolov, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1973 – Jack McBrayer, American actor and comedian
  • 1973 – Tana Umaga, New Zealand rugby player and coach
  • 1973 – Yorgos Lanthimos, Greek film video, and theatre director, producer and screenwriter
  • 1974 – Skye Edwards, British singer-songwriter
  • 1974 – Denise van Outen, English actress, singer, and television host
  • 1974 – Derek Webb, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1974 – Danny Wuerffel, American football player
  • 1975 – André 3000, American rapper
  • 1975 – Michael Hussey, Australian cricketer
  • 1975 – Jamie Oliver, English chef and author
  • 1975 – Feryal Özel, Turkish astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic
  • 1976 – Marcel Fässler, Swiss racing driver
  • 1977 – Abderrahmane Hammad, Algerian high jumper
  • 1977 – Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lankan cricketer
  • 1978 – Adin Brown, American soccer player
  • 1979 – Michael Buonauro, American author and illustrator (d. 2004)
  • 1979 – Mile Sterjovski, Australian footballer
  • 1980 – Craig Buntin, Canadian figure skater
  • 1981 – Alina Cojocaru, Romanian ballerina
  • 1981 – Johan Elmander, Swedish footballer
  • 1984 – Blake Ahearn, American basketball player
  • 1984 – Miguel González, Mexican baseball pitcher
  • 1985 – Chiang Chien-ming, Taiwanese baseball player
  • 1985 – Roberto Soldado, Spanish footballer
  • 1986 – Conor Cummins, Manx motorcycle racer
  • 1986 – Bamba Fall, Senegalese basketball player
  • 1986 – Lasse Schöne, Danish footballer
  • 1987 – Gervinho, Ivorian footballer
  • 1987 – Bella Heathcote, Australian actress
  • 1987 – Eric Kolelas, French-English actor and director
  • 1987 – Bora Paçun, Turkish basketball player
  • 1987 – Matt Prior, Australian rugby league player
  • 1987 – Martina Sablikova, Czech speed skater and cyclist
  • 1988 – Vontae Davis, American football player
  • 1988 – Irina Davydova, Russian hurdler
  • 1988 – Garrett Richards, American baseball pitcher
  • 1988 – Tyler Sash, American football player (d. 2015)
  • 1989 – Igor Morozov, Estonian footballer
  • 1990 – Yenew Alamirew, Ethiopian runner
  • 1990 – Chris Colfer, American actor and singer
  • 1990 – Marcus Kruger, Swedish ice hockey player
  • 1991 – Sebastien Dewaest, Belgian footballer
  • 1991 – Tim Lafai, Samoan rugby league player
  • 1991 – Ksenia Pervak, Russian tennis player
  • 1991 – Eneli Vals, Estonian footballer
  • 1992 – Aaron Brown, Canadian sprinter
  • 1992 – Laurence Vincent-Lapointe, Canadian canoer

Deaths on May 27

  • 366 – Procopius, Roman usurper (b. 325)
  • 398 – Murong Bao, emperor of the Xianbei state Later Yan (b. 355)
  • 475 – Eutropius, bishop of Orange
  • 866 – Ordoño I of Asturias (b. 831)
  • 927 – Simeon I of Bulgaria first Bulgarian Emperor (b. 864)
  • 1039 – Dirk III, Count of Holland (b. 981)
  • 1045 – Bruno of Würzburg, imperial chancellor of Italy (b. c. 1005)
  • 1178 – Godfrey van Rhenen, bishop of Utrecht
  • 1240 – William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey (b. 1166)
  • 1444 – John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, English commander (b. 1404)
  • 1508 – Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan (b. 1452)
  • 1508 – Lucrezia Crivelli, mistress of Ludovico Sforza (b. 1452)
  • 1525 – Thomas Müntzer, German mystic and theologian (b. 1488)
  • 1541 – Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury (b. 1473)
  • 1564 – John Calvin, French pastor and theologian (b. 1509)
  • 1610 – François Ravaillac, French assassin of Henry IV of France (b. 1578)
  • 1624 – Diego Ramírez de Arellano, Spanish sailor and cosmographer (b. c. 1580)
  • 1637 – John Boteler, 1st Baron Boteler of Brantfield, English politician (b. c. 1566)
  • 1661 – Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, Scottish general and politician (b. 1607)
  • 1675 – Gaspard Dughet, Italian-French painter (b. 1613)
  • 1690 – Giovanni Legrenzi, Italian organist and composer (b. 1626)
  • 1702 – Dominique Bouhours, French priest and critic (b. 1628)
  • 1707 – Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan, French mistress of Louis XIV of France (b. 1640)
  • 1781 – Giovanni Battista Beccaria, Italian physicist and academic (b. 1716)
  • 1797 – François-Noël Babeuf, French journalist (b. 1760)
  • 1831 – Jedediah Smith, American hunter, explorer, and author (b. 1799)
  • 1840 – Niccolò Paganini, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1782)
  • 1867 – Thomas Bulfinch American mythologist (b. 1796)
  • 1896 – Aleksandr Stoletov, Russian physicist, engineer, and academic (b. 1839)
  • 1910 – Robert Koch, German physician and microbiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1843)
  • 1918 – Ōzutsu Man’emon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 18th Yokozuna (b. 1869)
  • 1919 – Kandukuri Veeresalingam, Indian author and activist (b. 1848)
  • 1933 – Achille Paroche, French target shooter (b. 1868)
  • 1939 – Joseph Roth, Austrian-French journalist and author (b. 1894)
  • 1941 – Ernst Lindemann, German captain (b. 1894)
  • 1941 – Günther Lütjens, German admiral (b. 1889)
  • 1942 – Muhammed Hamdi Yazır, Turkish theologian, logician, and translator (b. 1878)
  • 1943 – Gordon Coates, New Zealand soldier and politician, 21st Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1878)
  • 1945 – Enno Lolling, German physician (b. 1888)
  • 1947 – Ed Konetchy, American baseball player and manager (b. 1885)
  • 1949 – Robert Ripley, American cartoonist, publisher, and businessman, founded Ripley’s Believe It or Not! (b. 1890)
  • 1953 – Jesse Burkett, American baseball player and manager (b. 1868)
  • 1960 – James Montgomery Flagg, American painter and illustrator (b. 1877)
  • 1963 – Grigoris Lambrakis, Greek physician and politician (b. 1912)
  • 1964 – Jawaharlal Nehru, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of India (b. 1889)
  • 1967 – W. Otto Miessner, American composer and educator (b. 1880)
  • 1967 – Ernst Niekisch, German academic and politician (b. 1889)
  • 1969 – Jeffrey Hunter, American actor and producer (b. 1926)
  • 1971 – Béla Juhos, Hungarian-Austrian philosopher from the Vienna Circle (b. 1901)
  • 1971 – Armando Picchi, Italian footballer and coach (b. 1935)
  • 1980 – Gün Sazak, Turkish agronomist and politician (b. 1932)
  • 1984 – Vasilije Mokranjac, Serbian composer (b. 1923)
  • 1986 – Ismail al-Faruqi, Palestinian-American philosopher and academic (b. 1921)
  • 1986 – Ajoy Mukherjee, Indian politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal (b. 1901)
  • 1986 – Giorgos Tzifos, Greek actor and cinematographer (b. 1918)
  • 1987 – John Howard Northrop, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)
  • 1988 – Hjördis Petterson, Swedish actress (b. 1908)
  • 1988 – Ernst Ruska, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
  • 1989 – Arseny Tarkovsky, Russian poet and translator (b. 1907)
  • 1990 – Robert B. Meyner, American lawyer and politician, 44th Governor of New Jersey (b. 1908)
  • 1991 – Leopold Nowak, Austrian musicologist and theorist (b. 1904)
  • 1992 – Uncle Charlie Osborne, American fiddler (b. 1890)
  • 1998 – Minoo Masani, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1905)
  • 2000 – Kazimierz Leski, Polish engineer and pilot (b. 1912)
  • 2000 – Murray MacLehose, Baron MacLehose of Beoch, Scottish politician and diplomat, 25th Governor of Hong Kong (b. 1917)
  • 2000 – Maurice Richard, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1921)
  • 2003 – Luciano Berio, Italian composer and educator (b. 1925)
  • 2006 – Rob Borsellino, American journalist (b. 1949)
  • 2006 – Paul Gleason, American actor (b. 1939)
  • 2006 – Craig Heyward, American football player (b. 1966)
  • 2007 – Izumi Sakai, Japanese singer-songwriter (b. 1967)
  • 2007 – Gretchen Wyler, American actress and dancer (b. 1932)
  • 2007 – Ed Yost, American inventor, created the hot air balloon (b. 1919)
  • 2008 – Franz Künstler, Hungarian soldier (b. 1900)
  • 2009 – Thomas M. Franck, American lawyer and academic (b. 1931)
  • 2009 – Clive Granger, Welsh-American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1934)
  • 2009 – Mona Grey, British nursing administrator; Northern Ireland’s first Chief Nursing Officer
  • 2009 – Abram Hoffer, Canadian biochemist, physician, and psychiatrist (b. 1917)
  • 2009 – Gérard Jean-Juste, Haitian-American priest and theologian (b. 1946)
  • 2009 – Carol Anne O’Marie, American nun and author (b. 1933)
  • 2009 – William Refshauge, Australian soldier and physician (b. 1913)
  • 2009 – Paul Sharratt, English-American television host (b. 1933)
  • 2010 – Payut Ngaokrachang, Thai animator and director (b. 1929)
  • 2011 – Jeff Conaway, American actor and singer (b. 1950)
  • 2011 – Margo Dydek, Polish-American basketball player (b. 1974)
  • 2011 – Gil Scott-Heron, American singer-songwriter and poet (b. 1949)
  • 2012 – Simeon Daniel, Nevisian educator and politician, 1st Premier of Nevis (b. 1934)
  • 2012 – Friedrich Hirzebruch, German mathematician and academic (b. 1927)
  • 2012 – Anahit Perikhanian, Russian-born Armenian Iranologist (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – David Rimoin, Canadian-American geneticist and academic (b. 1936)
  • 2013 – Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri, Indian politician (b. 1917)
  • 2013 – Bill Pertwee, English actor (b. 1926)
  • 2013 – Abdoulaye Sékou Sow, Malian politician, Prime Minister of Mali (b. 1931)
  • 2014 – Robert Genn, Canadian painter and author (b. 1936)
  • 2014 – Helma Sanders-Brahms, German director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1940)
  • 2014 – Roberto Vargas, Puerto Rican-American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1929)
  • 2014 – Massimo Vignelli, Italian-American graphic designer (b. 1931)
  • 2015 – Erik Carlsson, Swedish rally driver (b. 1929)
  • 2015 – Nils Christie, Norwegian sociologist, criminologist, and author (b. 1928)
  • 2015 – Andy King, English footballer and manager (b. 1956)
  • 2015 – Michael Martin, American philosopher and academic (b. 1932)
  • 2017 – Gregg Allman, American musician, singer and songwriter (b. 1947)
  • 2020 – Larry Kramer, American playwright, public health advocate and LGBT rights activist (b. 1935)

Holidays and observances on May 27

  • Armed Forces Day (Nicaragua)
  • Children’s Day (Nigeria)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Augustine of Canterbury
    • Blessed Lojze Grozde
    • Bede (commemoration, Anglican Communion)
    • Bruno of Würzburg
    • Eutropius of Orange
    • Hildebert
    • Julius the Veteran
    • May 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Mother’s Day (Bolivia)
  • Navy Day (Japan)
  • Slavery Abolition Day (Guadeloupe, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin)
  • Start of National Reconciliation Week (Australia)

May 27 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

May 26 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

  • 17 – Germanicus celebrates a triumph in Rome for his victories over the Cherusci, Chatti, and other German tribes west of the Elbe.
  • 451 – Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sasanian Empire takes place. The Sasanids defeat the Armenians militarily but guarantee them freedom to openly practice Christianity.
  • 946 – King Edmund I of England is murdered by a thief whom he personally attacks while celebrating St Augustine’s Mass Day.
  • 961 – King Otto I elects his 6-year-old son Otto II as heir apparent and co-ruler of the East Frankish Kingdom. He is crowned at Aachen, and placed under the tutelage of his grandmother Matilda.
  • 1135 – Alfonso VII of León and Castile is crowned in León Cathedral as Imperator totius Hispaniae (Emperor of all of Spain).
  • 1293 – An earthquake strikes Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, killing about 23,000.
  • 1328 – William of Ockham, the Franciscan Minister-General Michael of Cesena, and two other Franciscan leaders secretly leave Avignon, fearing a death sentence from Pope John XXII.
  • 1538 – Geneva expels John Calvin and his followers from the city. Calvin lives in exile in Strasbourg for the next three years.
  • 1573 – The Battle of Haarlemmermeer, a naval engagement in the Dutch War of Independence.
  • 1637 – Pequot War: A combined English and Mohegan force under John Mason attacks a village in Connecticut, massacring approximately 500 Pequots.
  • 1644 – Portuguese Restoration War: Portuguese and Spanish forces both claim victory in the Battle of Montijo.
  • 1736 – The Battle of Ackia was fought near the present site of Tupelo, Mississippi. British and Chickasaw soldiers repelled a French and Choctaw attack on the then-Chickasaw village of Ackia.
  • 1770 – The Orlov Revolt, an attempt to revolt against the Ottoman Empire before the Greek War of Independence, ends in disaster for the Greeks.
  • 1783 – A Great Jubilee Day held at North Stratford, Connecticut, celebrated the end of fighting in the American Revolution.
  • 1805 – Napoléon Bonaparte assumes the title of King of Italy and is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy in Milan Cathedral, the gothic cathedral in Milan.
  • 1821 – Establishment of the Peloponnesian Senate by the Greek rebels.
  • 1822 – One hundred sixteen people die in the Grue Church fire, the biggest fire disaster in Norway’s history.
  • 1857 – Dred Scott is emancipated by the Blow family, his original owners.
  • 1864 – Montana is organized as a United States territory.
  • 1865 – American Civil War: The Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi division, is the last full general of the Confederate Army to surrender, at Galveston, Texas.
  • 1868 – The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson ends with his acquittal by one vote.
  • 1869 – Boston University is chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
  • 1879 – Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Gandamak establishing an Afghan state.
  • 1896 – Nicholas II becomes the last Tsar of Imperial Russia.
  • 1896 – Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
  • 1897 – Dracula, a Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, is published.
  • 1897 – The original manuscript of William Bradford’s history, “Of Plymouth Plantation” is returned to the Governor of Massachusetts by the Bishop of London after being taken during the American Revolutionary War.
  • 1900 – Thousand Days’ War: The Colombian Conservative Party turns the tide of war in their favor with victory against the Colombian Liberal Party in the Battle of Palonegro.
  • 1908 – The first major commercial oil strike in the Middle East was made at Masjed Soleyman in southwest Persia. The rights to the resource were quickly acquired by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.
  • 1917 – Several powerful tornadoes rip through Illinois, including the city of Mattoon.
  • 1918 – The Democratic Republic of Georgia is established.
  • 1923 – The first 24 Hours of Le Mans was held and has since been run annually in June.
  • 1927 – The last Ford Model T rolls off the assembly line after a production run of 15,007,003 vehicles.
  • 1936 – In the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, Tommy Henderson begins speaking on the Appropriation Bill. By the time he sits down in the early hours of the following morning, he had spoken for ten hours.
  • 1937 – Walter Reuther and members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) clashed with Ford Motor Company security guards at the River Rouge Complex complex in Dearborn, Michigan, during the Battle of the Overpass.
  • 1938 – In the United States, the House Un-American Activities Committee begins its first session.
  • 1940 – World War II: Operation Dynamo: In northern France, Allied forces begin a massive evacuation from Dunkirk, France.
  • 1940 – World War II: The Siege of Calais ends with the surrender of the British and French garrison.
  • 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Gazala takes place.
  • 1948 – The U.S. Congress passes Public Law 80-557, which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as an auxiliary of the United States Air Force.
  • 1966 – British Guiana gains independence, becoming Guyana.
  • 1967 – The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is released.
  • 1968 – H-dagurinn in Iceland: Traffic changes from driving on the left to driving on the right overnight
  • 1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 10 returns to Earth after a successful eight-day test of all the components needed for the forthcoming first manned moon landing.
  • 1970 – The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 becomes the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2.
  • 1971 – Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army slaughters at least 71 Hindus in Burunga, Sylhet, Bangladesh.
  • 1972 – The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
  • 1981 – Italian Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani and his coalition cabinet resign following a scandal over membership of the pseudo-masonic lodge P2 (Propaganda Due).
  • 1981 – An EA-6B Prowler crashes on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, killing 14 crewmen and injuring 45 others.
  • 1983 – The 7.8 Mw  Sea of Japan earthquake shakes northern Honshu with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A destructive tsunami is generated that leaves about 100 people dead.
  • 1986 – The European Community adopts the European flag.
  • 1991 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia becomes the first elected President of the Republic of Georgia in the post-Soviet era.
  • 1991 – Lauda Air Flight 004 breaks apart in mid-air and crashes in the Phu Toei National Park in Thailand, killing all 223 people on board.
  • 1998 – The Supreme Court of the United States rules in New Jersey v. New York that Ellis Island, the historic gateway for millions of immigrants, is mainly in the state of New Jersey, not New York.
  • 1998 – The first “National Sorry Day” was held in Australia, and reconciliation events were held nationally, and attended by over a million people.
  • 2002 – The tugboat Robert Y. Love collides with a support pier of Interstate 40 on the Arkansas River near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, resulting in 14 deaths and 11 others injured.
  • 2004 – United States Army veteran Terry Nichols is found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing.
  • 2008 – Severe flooding begins in eastern and southern China that will ultimately cause 148 deaths and force the evacuation of 1.3 million.

Births on May 26

  • 1264 – Koreyasu, Japanese prince and shōgun (d. 1326)
  • 1478 – Clement VII, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1534)
  • 1562 – James III, margrave of Baden-Hachberg (d. 1590)
  • 1566 – Mehmed III, Ottoman sultan (d. 1603)
  • 1602 – Philippe de Champaigne, Dutch-French painter (d. 1674)
  • 1623 – William Petty, English economist and philosopher (d. 1687)
  • 1650 – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire (d. 1722)
  • 1667 – Abraham de Moivre, French-English mathematician and theorist (d. 1754)
  • 1669 – Sébastien Vaillant, French botanist and mycologist (d. 1722)
  • 1700 – Nicolaus Zinzendorf, German bishop and saint (d. 1760)
  • 1799 – August Kopisch, German poet and painter (d. 1853)
  • 1822 – Edmond de Goncourt, French author and critic, founded the Académie Goncourt (d. 1896)
  • 1863 – Bob Fitzsimmons, English-New Zealand boxer (d. 1917)
  • 1865 – Robert W. Chambers, American author and illustrator (d. 1933)
  • 1867 – Mary of Teck, English-born queen consort of the United Kingdom (d. 1953)
  • 1873 – Olaf Gulbransson, Norwegian painter and illustrator (d. 1958)
  • 1876 – Percy Perrin, English cricketer (d. 1945)
  • 1880 – W. Otto Miessner, American composer and educator (d. 1967)
  • 1881 – Adolfo de la Huerta, Mexican politician and provisional president, 1920 (d. 1955)
  • 1883 – Mamie Smith, American singer, actress, dancer, and pianist (d. 1946)
  • 1886 – Al Jolson, American singer and actor (d. 1950)
  • 1887 – Ba U, 2nd President of Burma (d. 1963)
  • 1893 – Eugene Aynsley Goossens, English conductor and composer (d. 1962)
  • 1895 – Dorothea Lange, American photographer and journalist (d. 1965)
  • 1895 – Paul Lukas, Hungarian-American actor and singer (d. 1971)
  • 1898 – Ernst Bacon, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1990)
  • 1898 – Christfried Burmeister, Estonian speed skater (d. 1965)
  • 1899 – Antonio Barrette, Canadian lawyer and politician, 18th Premier of Quebec (d. 1968)
  • 1899 – Muriel McQueen Fergusson, Canadian lawyer and politician, Canadian Speaker of the Senate (d. 1997)
  • 1900 – Karin Juel, Swedish singer, actor, and writer (d. 1976)
  • 1904 – George Formby, English singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1961)
  • 1904 – Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, Turkish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1983)
  • 1904 – Vlado Perlemuter, Lithuanian-French pianist and educator (d. 2002)
  • 1907 – Jean Bernard, French physician and haematologist (d. 2006)
  • 1907 – John Wayne, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1979)
  • 1908 – Robert Morley, English actor (d. 1992)
  • 1908 – Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ, Vietnamese politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam (d. 1976)
  • 1909 – Matt Busby, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 1994)
  • 1909 – Adolfo López Mateos, Mexican politician, 48th President of Mexico (d. 1969)
  • 1910 – Imi Lichtenfeld, Hungarian-Israeli martial artist, boxer, and gymnast (d. 1998)
  • 1911 – Maurice Baquet, French actor and cellist (d. 2005)
  • 1911 – Henry Ephron, American playwright, screenwriter, and producer (d. 1992)
  • 1912 – János Kádár, Hungarian mechanic and politician, 46th Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 1989)
  • 1912 – Jay Silverheels, Canadian-American actor (d. 1980)
  • 1913 – Peter Cushing, English actor (d. 1994)
  • 1913 – Pierre Daninos, French author (d. 2005)
  • 1913 – Karin Ekelund, Swedish actress (d. 1976)
  • 1913 – Josef Manger, German weightlifter (d. 1991)
  • 1914 – Frankie Manning, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2009)
  • 1915 – Vernon Alley, American bassist (d. 2004)
  • 1915 – Antonia Forest, English author (d. 2003)
  • 1916 – Henriette Roosenburg, Dutch journalist and author (d. 1972)
  • 1919 – Rubén González, Cuban pianist (d. 2003)
  • 1920 – Jack Cheetham, South African cricketer (d. 1980)
  • 1920 – Peggy Lee, American singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2002)
  • 1921 – Inge Borkh, German soprano (d. 2018)
  • 1922 – Troy Smith, American businessman, founded Sonic Drive-In (d. 2009)
  • 1923 – James Arness, American actor (d. 2011)
  • 1923 – Roy Dotrice, English actor (d. 2017)
  • 1925 – Carmen Montejo, Cuban-Mexican actress (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Alec McCowen, English actor (d. 2017)
  • 1926 – Miles Davis, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 1991)
  • 1927 – Jacques Bergerac, French actor and businessman (d. 2014)
  • 1928 – Jack Kevorkian, American pathologist, author, and assisted suicide activist (d. 2011)
  • 1929 – J. F. Ade Ajayi, Nigerian historian and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1929 – Ernie Carroll, Australian television personality and producer
  • 1929 – Hans Freeman, Australian bioinorganic chemist and protein crystallographer (d. 2008)
  • 1929 – John Jackson, English lawyer and businessman
  • 1929 – Catherine Sauvage, French singer and actress (d. 1998)
  • 1930 – Karim Emami, Indian-Iranian lexicographer and critic (d. 2005)
  • 1933 – Edward Whittemore, American soldier and author (d. 1995)
  • 1935 – Eero Loone, Estonian philosopher and academic
  • 1936 – David Stevens, Baron Stevens of Ludgate, English politician
  • 1937 – Manorama, Indian actress and singer (d. 2015)
  • 1937 – Paul E. Patton, American politician, 59th Governor of Kentucky
  • 1938 – William Bolcom, American pianist and composer
  • 1938 – Lyudmila Petrushevskaya, Russian author and playwright
  • 1938 – K. Bikram Singh, Indian director and producer (d. 2013)
  • 1938 – Teresa Stratas, Canadian soprano and actress
  • 1939 – Brent Musburger, American sportscaster
  • 1939 – Herb Trimpe, American author and illustrator (d. 2015)
  • 1940 – Monique Gagnon-Tremblay, Canadian academic and politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec
  • 1940 – Levon Helm, American singer-songwriter, drummer, producer, and actor (d. 2012)
  • 1941 – Aldrich Ames, American CIA officer and criminal
  • 1941 – Jim Dobbin, Scottish microbiologist and politician (d. 2014)
  • 1941 – Cliff Drysdale, South African tennis player and sportscaster
  • 1941 – Imants Kalniņš, Latvian composer
  • 1943 – Erica Terpstra, Dutch swimmer, journalist, and politician
  • 1944 – Phil Edmonston, American-Canadian journalist and politician
  • 1944 – Jan Kinder, Norwegian ice hockey player (d. 2013)
  • 1944 – Sam Posey, American race car driver and journalist
  • 1945 – Vilasrao Deshmukh, Indian lawyer and politician, 17th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (d. 2012)
  • 1945 – Alistair MacDuff, English lawyer and judge
  • 1945 – Garry Peterson, Canadian-American drummer
  • 1946 – Neshka Robeva, Bulgarian gymnast and coach
  • 1946 – Mick Ronson, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (d. 1993)
  • 1947 – Carol O’Connell, American author and painter
  • 1947 – Glenn Turner, New Zealand cricketer
  • 1948 – Stevie Nicks, American singer-songwriter
  • 1949 – Jeremy Corbyn, British journalist and politician
  • 1949 – Ward Cunningham, American computer programmer, developed the first wiki
  • 1949 – Pam Grier, American actress
  • 1949 – Anne McGuire, Scottish educator and politician
  • 1949 – Philip Michael Thomas, American actor
  • 1949 – Hank Williams Jr., American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1951 – Ramón Calderón, Spanish lawyer and businessman
  • 1951 – Lou van den Dries, Dutch mathematician
  • 1951 – Sally Ride, American physicist and astronaut, founded Sally Ride Science (d. 2012)
  • 1951 – Madeleine Taylor-Quinn, Irish educator and politician
  • 1952 – David Meece, American singer-songwriter and pianist
  • 1953 – Kay Hagan, American lawyer and politician (d. 2019)
  • 1953 – Don McAllister, English footballer and manager
  • 1953 – Michael Portillo, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Defence
  • 1953 – Dan Roundfield, American basketball player (d. 2012)
  • 1954 – Alan Hollinghurst, English novelist, poet, short story writer, and translator
  • 1954 – Denis Lebel, Canadian businessman and politician, 29th Canadian Minister of Transport
  • 1955 – Masaharu Morimoto, Japanese-American chef
  • 1955 – Paul Stoddart, Australian businessman
  • 1955 – Wesley Walker, American football player and educator
  • 1956 – Neil Parish, English politician
  • 1956 – Fiona Shackleton, English lawyer
  • 1957 – Diomedes Díaz, Colombian singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1957 – François Legault, Canadian businessman and politician
  • 1957 – Roberto Ravaglia, Italian race car driver
  • 1958 – Ronnie Black, American golfer
  • 1958 – Arto Bryggare, Finnish hurdler and politician
  • 1958 – Margaret Colin, American actress
  • 1959 – Ole Bornedal, Danish actor, director, and producer
  • 1960 – Doug Hutchison, American actor
  • 1960 – Dean Lukin, Australian weightlifter
  • 1960 – Masahiro Matsunaga, Japanese race car driver
  • 1960 – Rob Murphy, American baseball player
  • 1960 – Romas Ubartas, Lithuanian discus thrower
  • 1961 – Steve Pate, American golfer
  • 1961 – Tarsem Singh, Indian-American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1962 – Black, English singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
  • 1962 – Genie Francis, Canadian-American actress
  • 1962 – Bobcat Goldthwait, American actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1963 – Simon Armitage, English poet, playwright and novelist
  • 1963 – Claude Legault, Canadian actor and screenwriter
  • 1963 – Mary Nightingale, English journalist
  • 1963 – Jamie Spence, English golfer
  • 1964 – Caitlín R. Kiernan, Irish-American paleontologist and author
  • 1964 – Lenny Kravitz, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and actor
  • 1964 – Argiris Pedoulakis, Greek basketball player and coach
  • 1965 – Hazel Irvine, Scottish sportscaster and journalist
  • 1966 – Helena Bonham Carter, English actress
  • 1966 – Zola Budd, South African runner
  • 1967 – Philip Treacy, Irish milliner, hat designer
  • 1967 – Mika Yamamoto, Japanese journalist (d. 2012)
  • 1968 – Fernando León de Aranoa, Spanish director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1968 – Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark
  • 1968 – Steve Sedgley, English footballer and manager
  • 1969 – John Baird, Canadian politician, 10th Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1969 – Siri Lindley, American triathlete and coach
  • 1969 – Dominic Mohan, English journalist
  • 1970 – Nobuhiro Watsuki, Japanese illustrator
  • 1971 – Zaher Andary, Lebanese footballer
  • 1971 – Matt Stone, American actor, animator, screenwriter, producer, and composer
  • 1973 – Naomi Harris, Canadian-American photographer
  • 1974 – Lars Frölander, Swedish swimmer
  • 1975 – Lauryn Hill, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
  • 1976 – Paul Collingwood, English cricketer and coach
  • 1976 – Stephen Curry, Australian comedian and actor
  • 1976 – Kenny Florian, American mixed martial artist and sportscaster
  • 1976 – Justin Pierre, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1977 – Nikos Chatzivrettas, Greek basketball player
  • 1977 – Raina Telgemeier, American author and cartoonist
  • 1977 – Luca Toni, Italian footballer
  • 1977 – Misaki Ito, Japanese actress and model
  • 1978 – Phil Elvrum, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1978 – Fabio Firmani, Italian footballer
  • 1978 – Dan Parks, Australian-Scottish rugby player
  • 1979 – Amanda Bauer, American astronomer and academic
  • 1979 – Natalya Nazarova, Russian sprinter
  • 1979 – Elisabeth Harnois, American actress
  • 1979 – Mehmet Okur, Turkish basketball player
  • 1980 – Louis-Jean Cormier, Canadian singer and songwriter
  • 1981 – Robert Copeland, Australian footballer
  • 1981 – Anthony Ervin, American swimmer
  • 1981 – Jason Manford, English actor, screenwriter, and television host
  • 1981 – Isaac Slade, American singer-songwriter and pianist
  • 1981 – Ben Zobrist, American baseball player
  • 1982 – Sten Lassmann, Estonian pianist
  • 1982 – Hasan Kabze, Turkish footballer
  • 1983 – Demy de Zeeuw, Dutch footballer
  • 1983 – Henry Holland, English fashion designer
  • 1983 – Nathan Merritt, Australian rugby league player
  • 1985 – Monika Christodoulou, Greek singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1985 – Ashley Vincent, English footballer
  • 1986 – Michel Tornéus, Swedish long jumper
  • 1987 – Olcay Şahan, Turkish footballer
  • 1987 – Josh Thomas, Australian comedian and actor
  • 1988 – Andrea Catellani, Italian footballer
  • 1988 – Will Chambers, Australian rugby league player
  • 1988 – Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, Colombian footballer
  • 1988 – Dani Samuels, Australian discus thrower
  • 1988 – Joel Selwood, Australian footballer
  • 1988 – Damian Williams, American football player
  • 1989 – Paula Findlay, Canadian triathlete
  • 1991 – Ah Young, South Korean singer and actress
  • 1992 – Curtis Rona, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1993 – Jason Adesanya, Belgian footballer
  • 1993 – Dan Sarginson, Australian-English rugby league player
  • 1993 – Katerine Savard, Canadian swimmer
  • 1993 – Jimmy Vesey, American ice hockey player
  • 1996 – Lara Goodall, South African cricketer

Deaths on May 26

  • 604 – Augustine of Canterbury, Benedictine monk and archbishop
  • 735 – Bede, English monk, historian, and theologian
  • 818 – Ali al-Ridha, Saudi Arabian 8th of The Twelve Imams
  • 926 – Yuan Xingqin, Chinese general and governor
  • 946 – Edmund I, king of England (b. 921)
  • 1035 – Berenguer Ramon I, Spanish nobleman (b. 1005)
  • 1055 – Adalbert, margrave of Austria
  • 1250 – Peter I, duke of Brittany
  • 1339 – Aldona Ona, queen of Poland
  • 1362 – Louis I, king of Naples (b. 1320)
  • 1421 – Mehmed I, Ottoman sultan (b. 1389)
  • 1512 – Bayezid II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1447)
  • 1536 – Francesco Berni, Italian poet (b. 1498)
  • 1552 – Sebastian Münster, German cartographer and cosmographer (b. 1488)
  • 1648 – Vincent Voiture, French poet and author (b. 1597)
  • 1653 – Robert Filmer, English theorist and author (b. 1588)
  • 1679 – Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1636)
  • 1685 – Charles II, German elector palatine (b. 1651)
  • 1703 – Samuel Pepys, English politician (b. 1633)
  • 1742 – Pylyp Orlyk, Ukrainian diplomat (b. 1672)
  • 1746 – Thomas Southerne, Irish playwright (b. 1660)
  • 1762 – Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, German philosopher and academic (b. 1714)
  • 1799 – James Burnett, Lord Monboddo, Scottish linguist, biologist, and judge (b. 1714)
  • 1818 – Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly, Russian field marshal and politician, Governor-General of Finland (b. 1761)
  • 1818 – Manuel Rodríguez Erdoíza, Chilean lawyer and guerrilla leader (b. 1785)
  • 1824 – Capel Lofft, English lawyer (b. 1751)
  • 1840 – Sidney Smith, English admiral and politician (b. 1764)
  • 1881 – Jakob Bernays, German philologist and academic (b. 1824)
  • 1883 – Abdelkader El Djezairi, Algerian ruler (b. 1808)
  • 1902 – Almon Brown Strowger, American soldier and inventor (b. 1839)
  • 1904 – Georges Gilles de la Tourette, French physician and neurologist (b. 1857)
  • 1908 – Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Indian religious leader, founded the Ahmadiyya movement (b. 1835)
  • 1914 – Jacob August Riis, Danish-American journalist, photographer, and reformer (b. 1849)
  • 1924 – Victor Herbert, Irish-American cellist, composer, and conductor, founded the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (b. 1859)
  • 1926 – Srečko Kosovel, Slovenian poet (b. 1904)
  • 1933 – Horatio Bottomley, English financier, journalist, and politician (b. 1860)
  • 1933 – Jimmie Rodgers, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1897)
  • 1939 – Charles Horace Mayo, American physician, co-founded Mayo Clinic (b. 1865)
  • 1943 – Edsel Ford, American businessman (b. 1893)
  • 1943 – Alice Tegnér, Swedish organist, composer, and educator (b. 1864)
  • 1944 – Christian Wirth, German SS officer (b. 1885)
  • 1948 – Torsten Bergström, Swedish actor and director (b. 1896)
  • 1951 – Lincoln Ellsworth, American explorer (b. 1880)
  • 1954 – Lionel Conacher, Canadian football player and politician (b. 1900)
  • 1955 – Alberto Ascari, Italian race car driver (b. 1918)
  • 1956 – Al Simmons, American baseball player and coach (b. 1902)
  • 1959 – Philip Kassel, American gymnast (b. 1876)
  • 1966 – Elizabeth Dilling, American author and activist (b. 1894)
  • 1969 – Paul Hawkins, Australian race car driver (b. 1937)
  • 1969 – Allan Haines Loughead, American engineer, co-founded the Lockheed Corporation (b. 1889)
  • 1974 – Silvio Moser, Swiss race car driver (b. 1941)
  • 1976 – Martin Heidegger, German philosopher and academic (b. 1889)
  • 1978 – Cybele Andrianou, Greek actress (b. 1887)
  • 1979 – George Brent, Irish-American actor (b. 1904)
  • 1984 – Elizabeth Peer, American journalist (b. 1936)
  • 1989 – Don Revie, English footballer and manager (b. 1927)
  • 1994 – Sonny Sharrock, American guitarist (b. 1940)
  • 1995 – Friz Freleng, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1906)
  • 1997 – Ralph Horween, American football player and coach (b. 1896)
  • 1999 – Paul Sacher, Swiss conductor and philanthropist (b. 1906)
  • 1999 – Waldo Semon, American chemist and engineer (b. 1898)
  • 2001 – Vittorio Brambilla, Italian race car driver (b. 1937)
  • 2001 – Anne Haney, American actress (b. 1934)
  • 2001 – Moven Mahachi, Zimbabwean soldier and politician, Zimbabwean Minister of Defence (b. 1952)
  • 2001 – Dona Massin, Canadian actress and choreographer (b. 1917)
  • 2002 – Mamo Wolde, Ethiopian runner (b. 1932)
  • 2003 – Kathleen Winsor, American journalist and author (b. 1919)
  • 2004 – Nikolai Chernykh, Russian astronomer (b. 1931)
  • 2005 – Eddie Albert, American actor (b. 1906)
  • 2005 – Chico Carrasquel, Venezuelan baseball player and manager (b. 1928)
  • 2005 – Ruth Laredo, American pianist and educator (b. 1937)
  • 2005 – Leslie Smith, English businessman, co-founded Lesney Products (b. 1918)
  • 2006 – Édouard Michelin, French businessman (b. 1963)
  • 2006 – Kevin O’Flanagan, Irish footballer and physician (b. 1919)
  • 2007 – Jack Edward Oliver, English illustrator (b. 1942)
  • 2007 – Howard Porter, American basketball player (b. 1948)
  • 2008 – Sydney Pollack, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1934)
  • 2008 – Zita Urbonaitė, Lithuanian cyclist (b. 1973)
  • 2009 – Mihalis Papagiannakis, Greek journalist and politician (b. 1941)
  • 2009 – Peter Zezel, Canadian ice hockey and soccer player (b. 1965)
  • 2010 – Art Linkletter, Canadian-American radio and television host (b. 1912)
  • 2010 – Chris Moran, English air marshal and pilot (b. 1956)
  • 2010 – Kieran Phelan, Irish politician (b. 1949)
  • 2011 – Arisen Ahubudu, Sri Lankan scholar, author, and playwright (b. 1920)
  • 2012 – Arthur Decabooter, Belgian cyclist (b. 1936)
  • 2012 – Leo Dillon, American illustrator (b. 1933)
  • 2012 – Stephen Healey, Welsh captain and footballer (b. 1982)
  • 2012 – Hiroshi Miyazawa, Japanese politician (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – Hans Schmidt, Canadian wrestler (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Jim Unger, English-Canadian illustrator (b. 1937)
  • 2013 – Ray Barnhart, American businessman and politician (b. 1928)
  • 2013 – John Bierwirth, American lawyer and businessman (b. 1924)
  • 2013 – Roberto Civita, Italian-Brazilian businessman (b. 1936)
  • 2013 – Tom Lichtenberg, American football player and coach (b. 1940)
  • 2013 – Otto Muehl, Austrian painter (b. 1925)
  • 2013 – Jack Vance, American author (b. 1916)
  • 2014 – Baselios Thoma Didymos I, Indian metropolitan (b. 1921)
  • 2014 – Miodrag Radulovacki, Serbian-American academic and neuropharmacologist (b. 1933)
  • 2014 – William R. Roy, American physician, journalist, and politician (b. 1926)
  • 2014 – Hooshang Seyhoun, Iranian-Canadian architect, sculptor, and painter (b. 1920)
  • 2015 – Vicente Aranda, Spanish director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
  • 2015 – Les Johnson, Australian politician and diplomat, Australian High Commissioner to New Zealand (b. 1924)
  • 2015 – Robert Kraft, American astronomer and academic (b. 1927)
  • 2015 – João Lucas, Portuguese footballer (b. 1979)
  • 2015 – Dayton Waller, American soldier and politician (b. 1925)
  • 2016 – Hedy Epstein, German-born American human rights activist and Holocaust survivor (b. 1924)
  • 2017 – Zbigniew Brzezinski, Polish-born American politician (b. 1928)

Holidays and observances on May 26

  • Christian feast day:
    • Augustine of Canterbury (Anglican Communion and Eastern Orthodox)
    • Lambert of Vence
    • Peter Sanz (one of Martyr Saints of China)
    • Philip Neri
    • Pope Eleuterus
    • Quadratus of Athens
    • Zachary, Bishop of Vienne
    • May 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Independence Day, commemorates the day of the First Republic in 1918 (Georgia)
  • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Guyana from the United Kingdom in 1966.
  • Mother’s Day (Poland)
  • National Paper Airplane Day (United States)
  • National Sorry Day (Australia)

May 26 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

  • 192 – Dong Zhuo is assassinated by his adopted son Lü Bu.
  • 760 – Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet.
  • 853 – A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt.
  • 1176 – The Hashshashin (Assassins) attempt to assassinate Saladin near Aleppo.
  • 1200 – King John of England and King Philip II of France sign the Treaty of Le Goulet.
  • 1246 – Henry Raspe is elected anti-king of the Kingdom of Germany in opposition to Conrad IV.
  • 1254 – Serbian King Stefan Uroš I and the Republic of Venice sign a peace treaty.
  • 1370 – Brussels massacre: Hundreds of Jews are murdered and the rest of the Jewish community is banished from Brussels, Belgium, for allegedly desecrating consecrated Host.
  • 1377 – Pope Gregory XI issues five papal bulls to denounce the doctrines of English theologian John Wycliffe.
  • 1455 – Start of the Wars of the Roses: At the First Battle of St Albans, Richard, Duke of York, defeats and captures King Henry VI of England.
  • 1520 – The massacre at the festival of Tóxcatl takes place during the Fall of Tenochtitlan, resulting in turning the Aztecs against the Spanish.
  • 1629 – Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II and Danish King Christian IV sign the Treaty of Lübeck ending Danish intervention in the Thirty Years’ War.
  • 1762 – Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Hamburg.
  • 1762 – Trevi Fountain is officially completed and inaugurated in Rome.
  • 1766 – A large earthquake causes heavy damage and loss of life in Istanbul and the Marmara region.
  • 1804 – The Lewis and Clark Expedition officially begins as the Corps of Discovery departs from St. Charles, Missouri.
  • 1807 – A grand jury indicts former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr on a charge of treason.
  • 1809 – On the second and last day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling (near Vienna, Austria), Napoleon I is repelled by an enemy army for the first time.
  • 1816 – A mob in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England, riots over high unemployment and rising grain costs, and the riots spread to Ely the next day.
  • 1819 – SS Savannah leaves port at Savannah, Georgia, United States, on a voyage to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
  • 1826 – HMS Beagle departs on its first voyage.
  • 1840 – The penal transportation of British convicts to the New South Wales colony is abolished.
  • 1848 – Slavery is abolished in Martinique.
  • 1849 – Future U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is issued a patent for an invention to lift boats, making him the only U.S. president to ever hold a patent.
  • 1856 – Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina severely beats Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts with a cane in the hall of the United States Senate for a speech Sumner had made regarding Southerners and slavery.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: Union forces begin the Siege of Port Hudson which lasts 48 days, the longest siege in U.S. military history.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: After ten weeks, the Union Army’s Red River Campaign ends in failure.
  • 1872 – Reconstruction Era: President Ulysses S. Grant signs the Amnesty Act into law, restoring full civil and political rights to all but about 500 Confederate sympathizers.
  • 1900 – The Associated Press is formed in New York City as a non-profit news cooperative.
  • 1906 – The Wright brothers are granted U.S. patent number 821,393 for their “Flying-Machine”.
  • 1915 – Lassen Peak erupts with a powerful force, the only volcano besides Mount St. Helens to erupt in the contiguous U.S. during the 20th century.
  • 1915 – Three trains collide in the Quintinshill rail disaster near Gretna Green, Scotland, killing 227 people and injuring 246.
  • 1926 – Chiang Kai-shek replaces the communists in Kuomintang China.
  • 1927 – Near Xining, China, an 8.3 magnitude earthquake causes 200,000 deaths in one of the world’s most destructive earthquakes.
  • 1939 – World War II: Germany and Italy sign the Pact of Steel.
  • 1941 – During the Anglo-Iraqi War, British troops take Fallujah.
  • 1942 – Mexico enters the Second World War on the side of the Allies.
  • 1943 – Joseph Stalin disbands the Comintern.
  • 1947 – Cold War: The Truman Doctrine goes into effect, aiding Turkey and Greece.
  • 1957 – South Africa’s government approves of racial separation in universities.
  • 1958 – The 1958 riots in Ceylon become a watershed in the race relations of various ethnic communities of Sri Lanka. The total deaths is estimated at 300, mostly Tamils.
  • 1960 – The Great Chilean earthquake, measuring 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale, hits southern Chile, becoming the most powerful earthquake ever recorded.
  • 1962 – Continental Airlines Flight 11 crashes after bombs explode on board.
  • 1963 – Greek left-wing politician Grigoris Lambrakis is shot in an assassination attempt, and dies five days later.
  • 1964 – Lyndon B. Johnson launches the Great Society.
  • 1967 – Egypt closes the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping.
  • 1967 – L’Innovation department store in Brussels, Belgium, burns down, resulting in 323 dead or missing and 150 injured, the most devastating fire in Belgian history.
  • 1968 – The nuclear-powered submarine USS Scorpion sinks with 99 men aboard, 400 miles southwest of the Azores.
  • 1969 – Apollo 10’s lunar module flies within 8.4 nautical miles (16 km) of the moon’s surface.
  • 1972 – Ceylon adopts a new constitution, becoming a republic and changing its name to Sri Lanka, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
  • 1972 – Over 400 women in Derry, Northern Ireland attack the offices of Sinn Féin following the shooting by the Irish Republican Army of a young British soldier on leave.
  • 1987 – Hashimpura massacre occurs in Meerut, India.
  • 1987 – First ever Rugby World Cup kicks off with New Zealand playing Italy at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
  • 1990 – North and South Yemen are unified to create the Republic of Yemen.
  • 1992 – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia join the United Nations.
  • 1994 – A worldwide trade embargo against Haiti goes into effect to punish its military rulers for not reinstating the country’s ousted elected leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
  • 1996 – The Burmese military regime jails 71 supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi in a bid to block a pro-democracy meeting.
  • 1998 – A U.S. federal judge rules that U.S. Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify before a grand jury concerning the Lewinsky scandal involving President Bill Clinton.
  • 2000 – In Sri Lanka, over 150 Tamil rebels are killed over two days of fighting for control in Jaffna.
  • 2002 – Civil rights movement: A jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murder of four girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.
  • 2010 – Air India Express Boeing 737 crashes over a cliff upon landing at Mangalore, India, killing 158 of 166 people on board, becoming the deadliest crash involving a Boeing 737.
  • 2010 – Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich 2–0 in the Uefa Champions League final in Madrid, Spain to become the first, and so far only, Italian team to win the historic treble (Serie A, Coppa Italia, Champions League).
  • 2011 – An EF5 tornado strikes Joplin, Missouri, killing 158 people and wreaking $2.8 billion in damages, the costliest and seventh-deadliest single tornado in U.S. history.
  • 2012 – Tokyo Skytree opens to the public. It is the tallest tower in the world (634 m), and the second tallest man-made structure on Earth after Burj Khalifa (829.8 m).
  • 2014 – General Prayut Chan-o-cha becomes interim leader of Thailand in a military coup d’état, following six months of political turmoil.
  • 2014 – An explosion occurs in Ürümqi, capital of China’s far-western Xinjiang region, resulting in at least 43 deaths and 91 injuries.
  • 2015 – The Republic of Ireland becomes the first nation in the world to legalize gay marriage in a public referendum.
  • 2017 – Twenty-two people are killed at an Ariana Grande concert in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.
  • 2017 – United States President Donald Trump visits the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and becomes the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Western Wall.

Births on May 22

  • 626 – Itzam K’an Ahk I, Mayan king (d. 686)
  • 1009 – Su Xun, Chinese writer (d. 1066)
  • 1408 – Annamacharya, Hindu saint (d. 1503)
  • 1539 – Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford (d. 1621)
  • 1622 – Louis de Buade de Frontenac, French soldier and governor (d. 1698)
  • 1644 – Gabriël Grupello, Flemish Baroque sculptor (d. 1730)
  • 1650 – Richard Brakenburgh, Dutch Golden Age painter (d. 1702)
  • 1694 – Daniel Gran, Austrian painter (d. 1757)
  • 1715 – François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis, French cardinal and diplomat (d. 1794)
  • 1733 – Hubert Robert, French painter (d. 1808)
  • 1752 – Louis Legendre, French butcher and politician (d. 1797)
  • 1762 – Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst, English politician (d. 1834)
  • 1770 – Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom (d. 1840)
  • 1772 – Ram Mohan Roy, Indian philosopher and reformer (d. 1833)
  • 1782 – Hirose Tansō, Japanese neo-Confucian scholar, teacher, writer (d. 1856)
  • 1783 – William Sturgeon, English physicist and inventor, invented the electromagnet and electric motor (d. 1850)
  • 1808 – Gérard de Nerval, French poet and translator (d. 1855)
  • 1811 – Giulia Grisi, Italian soprano (d. 1869)
  • 1811 – Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle, English politician (d. 1864)
  • 1813 – Richard Wagner, German composer (d. 1883)
  • 1814 – Amalia Lindegren, Swedish painter (d. 1891)
  • 1820 – Worthington Whittredge, American painter (d. 1910)
  • 1828 – Albrecht von Graefe, German ophthalmologist and academic (d. 1870)
  • 1831 – Henry Vandyke Carter, English anatomist and surgeon (d. 1897)
  • 1833 – Félix Bracquemond, French painter and etcher (d. 1914)
  • 1833 – Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla, Spanish politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1895)
  • 1841 – Catulle Mendès, French poet, author, and playwright (d. 1909)
  • 1844 – Mary Cassatt, American painter and educator (d. 1926)
  • 1846 – Rita Cetina Gutiérrez, Mexican poet, educator, and activist (d. 1908)
  • 1848 – Fritz von Uhde, German painter and educator (d. 1911)
  • 1849 – Aston Webb, English architect and academic (d. 1930)
  • 1858 – Belmiro de Almeida, Brazilian painter, illustrator, sculptor (d. 1935)
  • 1859 – Arthur Conan Doyle, British writer (d. 1930)
  • 1859 – Tsubouchi Shōyō, Japanese author, playwright, and educator (d. 1935)
  • 1864 – Willy Stöwer, German author and illustrator (d. 1931)
  • 1868 – Augusto Pestana, Brazilian engineer and politician (d. 1934)
  • 1874 – Daniel François Malan, South African clergyman and politician, 5th Prime Minister of South Africa (d. 1959)
  • 1876 – Julius Klinger, Austrian painter and illustrator (d. 1942)
  • 1879 – Warwick Armstrong, Australian cricketer and journalist (d. 1947)
  • 1879 – Jean Cras, French admiral and composer (d. 1932)
  • 1879 – Symon Petliura, Ukrainian statesman and independence leader (d. 1926)
  • 1880 – Francis de Miomandre, French author and translator (d. 1959)
  • 1885 – Giacomo Matteotti, Italian lawyer and politician (d. 1924)
  • 1885 – Soemu Toyoda, Japanese admiral (d. 1957)
  • 1887 – A. W. Sandberg, Danish film director and screenwriter (d. 1938)
  • 1891 – Johannes R. Becher, German politician, novelist, and poet (d. 1958)
  • 1894 – Friedrich Pollock, German sociologist and philosopher (d. 1970)
  • 1897 – Robert Neumann, German and English-speaking author (d. 1975)
  • 1900 – Juan Arvizu, Mexican lyric opera tenor and bolero vocalist (d.1985)
  • 1901 – Maurice J. Tobin, American politician, 6th United States Secretary of Labor (d. 1953)
  • 1902 – Jack Lambert, English footballer and manager (d. 1940)
  • 1902 – Al Simmons, American baseball player and coach (d. 1956)
  • 1904 – Uno Lamm, Swedish electrical engineer and inventor (d. 1989)
  • 1905 – Bodo von Borries, German physicist and academic, co-invented the electron microscope (d. 1956)
  • 1905 – Tom Driberg, British politician (d. 1976)
  • 1907 – Hergé, Belgian author and illustrator (d. 1983)
  • 1907 – Laurence Olivier, English actor, director, and producer (d. 1989)
  • 1908 – Horton Smith, American golfer and captain (d. 1963)
  • 1909 – Margaret Mee, English illustrator and educator (d. 1988)
  • 1912 – Herbert C. Brown, English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
  • 1913 – Rafael Gil, Spanish director and screenwriter (d. 1986)
  • 1913 – Dominique Rolin, Belgian author (d. 2012)
  • 1914 – Max Kohnstamm, Dutch historian and diplomat (d. 2010)
  • 1914 – Sun Ra, American pianist, composer, bandleader, poet (d. 1993)
  • 1917 – George Aratani, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013)
  • 1917 – Jean-Louis Curtis, French author (d. 1995)
  • 1919 – Paul Vanden Boeynants, Belgian businessman and politician, 55th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 2001)
  • 1920 – Thomas Gold, Austrian-American astrophysicist and academic (d. 2004)
  • 1921 – George S. Hammond, American scientist (d. 2005)
  • 1922 – Quinn Martin, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1987)
  • 1924 – Charles Aznavour, French-Armenian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2018)
  • 1925 – Jean Tinguely, Swiss painter and sculptor (d. 1991)
  • 1927 – Michael Constantine, American actor
  • 1927 – Peter Matthiessen, American novelist, short story writer, editor, co-founded The Paris Review (d. 2014)
  • 1927 – George Andrew Olah, Hungarian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2017)
  • 1928 – Serge Doubrovsky, French theorist and author (d. 2017)
  • 1928 – John Mackenzie, Scottish director and producer (d. 2011)
  • 1928 – T. Boone Pickens, American businessman (d. 2019)
  • 1928 – Hiroshi Sano, Japanese novelist (d. 2013)
  • 1929 – Ahmed Fouad Negm, Egyptian poet (d. 2013)
  • 1930 – Kenny Ball, English jazz trumpet player, vocalist, and bandleader (d. 2013)
  • 1930 – Marisol Escobar, French-American sculptor (d. 2016)
  • 1930 – Harvey Milk, American lieutenant and politician (d. 1978)
  • 1932 – Robert Spitzer, American psychiatrist and academic (d. 2015)
  • 1933 – Chen Jingrun, Chinese mathematician and academic (d. 1996)
  • 1934 – Peter Nero, American pianist and conductor
  • 1936 – George H. Heilmeier, American engineer (d. 2014)
  • 1937 – Facundo Cabral, Argentinian singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
  • 1938 – Richard Benjamin, American actor and director
  • 1938 – Susan Strasberg, American actress (d. 1999)
  • 1939 – Paul Winfield, American actor (d. 2004)
  • 1940 – Kieth Merrill, American filmmaker
  • 1940 – Michael Sarrazin, Canadian actor (d. 2011)
  • 1940 – Bernard Shaw, American journalist
  • 1940 – Mick Tingelhoff, American Pro Football Hall of Famer
  • 1941 – Menzies Campbell, Scottish sprinter and politician
  • 1942 – Roger Brown, American basketball player (d. 1997)
  • 1942 – Ted Kaczynski, American academic and mathematician turned anarchist and serial murderer (Unabomber)
  • 1942 – Barbara Parkins, Canadian actress
  • 1942 – Richard Oakes, Native American civil rights activist (d. 1972)
  • 1943 – Betty Williams, Northern Irish peace activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2020)
  • 1943 – Tommy John, American baseball player
  • 1944 – John Flanagan, Australian fantasy author
  • 1945 – Bob Katter, Australian politician
  • 1946 – George Best, Northern Irish footballer and manager (d. 2005)
  • 1946 – Michael Green, English physicist and academic
  • 1946 – Howard Kendall, English footballer and manager (d. 2015)
  • 1946 – Andrei Marga, Romanian philosopher, political scientist, politician
  • 1946 – Lyudmila Zhuravleva, Russian-Ukrainian astronomer
  • 1948 – Tomás Sánchez, Cuban painter and engraver
  • 1948 – Nedumudi Venu, Indian actor and screenwriter
  • 1949 – Cheryl Campbell, English actress
  • 1949 – Valentin Inzko, Austrian diplomat
  • 1950 – Bernie Taupin, English singer-songwriter and poet
  • 1953 – François Bon, French writer
  • 1953 – Cha Bum-kun, South Korean footballer and manager
  • 1953 – Paul Mariner, English footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1954 – Barbara May Cameron, Native American human rights activist (d. 2002)
  • 1954 – Shuji Nakamura, Japanese-American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1956 – Lucie Brock-Broido, American poet (d. 2018)
  • 1957 – Lisa Murkowski, American lawyer and politician
  • 1959 – David Blatt, Israeli-American basketball player and coach
  • 1959 – Morrissey, English singer-songwriter and performer
  • 1959 – Kwak Jae-yong, South Korean director and screenwriter
  • 1959 – Mehbooba Mufti, Indian politician
  • 1960 – Hideaki Anno, Japanese animator, director, and screenwriter
  • 1962 – Brian Pillman, American football player and wrestler (d. 1997)
  • 1963 – Claude Closky, French contemporary artist
  • 1965 – Jay Carney, American journalist, 29th White House Press Secretary
  • 1966 – Johnny Gill, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1966 – Wang Xiaoshuai, Chinese director and screenwriter
  • 1968 – Graham Linehan, Irish comedian, actor, and author
  • 1969 – Cathy McMorris Rodgers, American lawyer and politician
  • 1970 – Naomi Campbell, English model
  • 1970 – Brody Stevens, American comedian and actor (d. 2019)
  • 1972 – Max Brooks, American author and screenwriter
  • 1973 – Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Danish actor
  • 1974 – Garba Lawal, Nigerian footballer
  • 1974 – Henrietta Ónodi, Hungarian Olympic gymnast
  • 1974 – Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Ukrainian politician
  • 1975 – Salva Ballesta, Spanish footballer and manager
  • 1976 – Christian Vande Velde, American cyclist
  • 1978 – Ginnifer Goodwin, American actress
  • 1978 – Katie Price, English television personality and glamour model
  • 1979 – Maggie Q, American actress
  • 1979 – Nazanin Boniadi, Iranian-American actress
  • 1980 – Sharice Davids, American politician
  • 1980 – Lucy Gordon, British actress and model (d. 2009)
  • 1981 – Daniel Bryan, American wrestler
  • 1981 – Bassel Khartabil, Syrian computer programmer and engineer (d. 2015)
  • 1981 – Jürgen Melzer, Austrian tennis player
  • 1982 – Erin McNaught, Australian model and actress
  • 1982 – Apolo Ohno, American speed skater
  • 1982 – Hong Yong-jo, North Korean footballer
  • 1983 – Natasha Kai, American soccer player and Olympic medalist
  • 1984 – Karoline Herfurth, German actress
  • 1984 – Didier Ya Konan, Ivorian footballer
  • 1984 – Dustin Moskovitz, American entrepreneur, co-founder of Facebook
  • 1985 – Tranquillo Barnetta, Swiss footballer
  • 1985 – Tao Okamoto, Japanese model and actress
  • 1986 – Julian Edelman, American football player
  • 1986 – Matt Jarvis, English footballer
  • 1986 – Tatiana Volosozhar, Russian figure skater
  • 1987 – Novak Djokovic, Serbian tennis player
  • 1987 – Arturo Vidal, Chilean footballer
  • 1988 – Heida Reed, Icelandic-British actress
  • 1989 – Corey Dickerson, American baseball player
  • 1990 – Wyatt Roy, Australian politician
  • 1991 – Joel Obi, Nigerian footballer
  • 1991 – Suho, South Korean singer and actor
  • 1992 – Anna Baryshnikov, American actress
  • 1994 – Florian Luger, Austrian male model
  • 1998 – Samile Bermannelli, Brazilian fashion model
  • 1999 – Camren Bicondova, American actress
  • 1999 – Femke Huijzer, Dutch model

Deaths on May 22

  • 192 – Dong Zhuo, Chinese warlord and politician (b. 138)
  • 337 – Constantine the Great, Roman emperor (b. 272)
  • 748 – Empress Genshō of Japan (b. 683)
  • 1067 – Constantine X, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1006)
  • 1068 – Emperor Go-Reizei of Japan (b. 1025)
  • 1310 – Saint Humility, founder of the Vallumbrosan religious order of nuns (b. c.1226)
  • 1409 – Blanche of England, sister of King Henry V (b. 1392)
  • 1455 – Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, English commander (b. 1406)
  • 1455 – Thomas Clifford, 8th Baron de Clifford, Lancastrian commander (b. 1414)
  • 1455 – Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, English commander (b. 1393)
  • 1457 – Rita of Cascia, Italian nun and saint (b. 1381)
  • 1490 – Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent, English administrator, nobleman and magnate (b. 1416)
  • 1538 – John Forest, English friar and martyr (b. 1471)
  • 1540 – Francesco Guicciardini, Italian historian and politician (b. 1483)
  • 1545 – Sher Shah Suri, Indian ruler (b. 1486)
  • 1553 – Giovanni Bernardi, Italian sculptor and engraver (b. 1495)
  • 1602 – Renata of Lorraine (b. 1544)
  • 1609 – Pieter Willemsz. Verhoeff, Dutch captain (b. 1573)
  • 1666 – Gaspar Schott, German physicist and mathematician (b. 1608)
  • 1667 – Pope Alexander VII (b. 1599)
  • 1745 – François-Marie, 1st duc de Broglie, French general (b. 1671)
  • 1760 – Baal Shem Tov, Polish rabbi and author (b. 1700)
  • 1772 – Durastante Natalucci, Italian historian and academic (b. 1687)
  • 1795 – Ewald Friedrich von Hertzberg, Prussian politician, Foreign Minister of Prussia (b. 1725)
  • 1802 – Martha Washington, First, First Lady of the United States (b. 1731)
  • 1851 – Mordecai Manuel Noah, American journalist and diplomat (b. 1755)
  • 1859 – Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies (b. 1810)
  • 1861 – Thornsbury Bailey Brown, American soldier (b. 1829)
  • 1868 – Julius Plücker, German mathematician and physicist (b. 1801)
  • 1885 – Victor Hugo, French novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1802)
  • 1901 – Gaetano Bresci, Italian-American anarchist, assassin of Umberto I of Italy (b. 1869)
  • 1910 – Jules Renard, French author and playwright (b. 1864)
  • 1932 – Augusta, Lady Gregory, Anglo-Irish activist, landlord, and playwright, co-founded the Abbey Theatre (b. 1852)
  • 1933 – Tsengeltiin Jigjidjav, Mongolian politician, 10th Prime Minister of Mongolia (b. 1894)
  • 1938 – William Glackens, American painter and illustrator (b. 1870)
  • 1939 – Ernst Toller, German playwright and author (b. 1893)
  • 1939 – Jiří Mahen, Czech author and playwright (b. 1882)
  • 1954 – Chief Bender, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1884)
  • 1965 – Christopher Stone, English radio host (b. 1882)
  • 1966 – Tom Goddard, English cricketer (b. 1900)
  • 1967 – Langston Hughes, American poet, social activist, novelist, and playwright (b. 1902)
  • 1967 – Charlotte Serber, American Librarian of the Manhattan Project’s Los Alamos site (b. 1911)
  • 1972 – Cecil Day-Lewis, Anglo-Irish poet and author (b. 1904)
  • 1972 – Margaret Rutherford, English actress (b. 1892)
  • 1974 – Irmgard Flügge-Lotz, German-American mathematician and aerospace engineer (b. 1903)
  • 1975 – Lefty Grove, American baseball player (b. 1900)
  • 1982 – Cevdet Sunay, Turkish general and politician, 5th President of Turkey (b. 1899)
  • 1983 – Albert Claude, Belgian biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
  • 1985 – Wolfgang Reitherman, German-American animator, director, and producer (b. 1909)
  • 1988 – Giorgio Almirante, Italian journalist and politician (b. 1914)
  • 1989 – Steven De Groote, South African pianist and educator (b. 1953)
  • 1990 – Rocky Graziano, American boxer (b. 1922)
  • 1991 – Shripad Amrit Dange, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1899)
  • 1991 – Stan Mortensen, English footballer and manager (b. 1921)
  • 1992 – Zellig Harris, American linguist and academic (b. 1909)
  • 1993 – Mieczysław Horszowski, Polish-American pianist and composer (b. 1892)
  • 1997 – Alziro Bergonzo, Italian architect and painter (b. 1906)
  • 1997 – Alfred Hershey, American biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
  • 1998 – John Derek, American actor, director, and photographer (b. 1926)
  • 1998 – José Enrique Moyal, Israeli physicist and engineer (b. 1910)
  • 2000 – Davie Fulton, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1916)
  • 2004 – Richard Biggs, American actor (b. 1960)
  • 2004 – Mikhail Voronin, Russian gymnast (b. 1945)
  • 2005 – Charilaos Florakis, Greek politician (b. 1914)
  • 2005 – Thurl Ravenscroft, American voice actor and singer (b. 1914)
  • 2006 – Lee Jong-wook, South Korean physician and diplomat (b. 1945)
  • 2007 – Pemba Doma Sherpa, Nepalese mountaineer (b. 1970)
  • 2008 – Robert Asprin, American soldier and author (b. 1946)
  • 2010 – Martin Gardner, American mathematician, cryptographer, and author (b. 1914)
  • 2011 – Joseph Brooks, American director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (b. 1938)
  • 2012 – Muzafar Bhutto, Pakistani politician (b. 1970)
  • 2012 – Wesley A. Brown, American lieutenant and engineer (b. 1927)
  • 2013 – Sigurd Ottovich Schmidt, Russian historian and ethnographer (b. 1922)
  • 2015 – Marques Haynes, American basketball player and coach (b. 1926)
  • 2015 – Vladimir Katriuk, Ukrainian-Canadian SS officer (b. 1921)
  • 2016 – Velimir “Bata” Živojinović, Serbian actor and politician (b. 1933)
  • 2017 – Nicky Hayden, American motorcycle racer (b. 1981)
  • 2019 – Judith Kerr, German-born British writer and illustrator (b. 1923)
  • 2020 – Denise Cronenberg, Canadian costume designer (b. 1938)

Holidays and observances on May 22

  • Abolition Day (Martinique)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Castus and Emilius
    • Fulk
    • Humilita
    • Michael Hồ Đình Hy (one of Vietnamese Martyrs)
    • Quiteria
    • Rita of Cascia
    • Romanus of Subiaco
    • May 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Harvey Milk Day (California)
  • International Day for Biological Diversity (International)
  • United States National Maritime Day
  • National Sovereignty Day (Haiti)
  • Republic Day (Sri Lanka)
  • Translation of the Relics of Saint Nicholas from Myra to Bari (Ukraine)
  • Unity Day (Yemen), celebrates the unification of North and South Yemen into the Republic of Yemen in 1990.
  • World Goth Day

May 22 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day