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1671

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

  • 484 BC – Dedication of the Temple of Castor and Pollux in ancient Rome
  • AD 70 – Titus and his armies breach the walls of Jerusalem. (17th of Tammuz in the Hebrew calendar).
  • 756 – An Lushan Rebellion: Emperor Xuanzong of Tang is ordered by his Imperial Guards to execute chancellor Yang Guozhong by forcing him to commit suicide or face a mutiny. General An Lushan has other members of the emperor’s family killed.
  • 1099 – First Crusade: Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final assault of a difficult siege.
  • 1149 – The reconstructed Church of the Holy Sepulchre is consecrated in Jerusalem.
  • 1207 – King John of England expels Canterbury monks for supporting Archbishop Stephen Langton.
  • 1240 – Swedish–Novgorodian Wars: A Novgorodian army led by Alexander Nevsky defeats the Swedes in the Battle of the Neva.
  • 1381 – John Ball, a leader in the Peasants’ Revolt, is hanged, drawn, and quartered in the presence of King Richard II of England.
  • 1410 – Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War: Battle of Grunwald: The allied forces of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeat the army of the Teutonic Order.
  • 1482 – Muhammad XII is crowned the twenty-second and last Nasrid king of Granada.
  • 1738 – Baruch Laibov and Alexander Voznitzin are burned alive in St. Petersburg, Russia. Vonitzin had converted to Judaism with Laibov’s help, with the consent of Empress Anna Ivanovna.
  • 1741 – Aleksei Chirikov sights land in Southeast Alaska. He sends men ashore in a longboat, making them the first Europeans to visit Alaska.
  • 1789 – Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, is named by acclamation Colonel General of the new National Guard of Paris.
  • 1799 – The Rosetta Stone is found in the Egyptian village of Rosetta by French Captain Pierre-François Bouchard during Napoleon’s Egyptian Campaign.
  • 1806 – Pike Expedition: United States Army Lieutenant Zebulon Pike begins an expedition from Fort Bellefontaine near St. Louis, Missouri, to explore the west.
  • 1815 – Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon Bonaparte surrenders aboard HMS Bellerophon.
  • 1823 – A fire destroys the ancient Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, Italy.
  • 1834 – The Spanish Inquisition is officially disbanded after nearly 356 years.
  • 1838 – Ralph Waldo Emerson delivers the Divinity School Address at Harvard Divinity School, discounting Biblical miracles and declaring Jesus a great man, but not God. The Protestant community reacts with outrage.
  • 1862 – The CSS Arkansas, the most effective ironclad on the Mississippi River, battles with Union ships commanded by Admiral David Farragut, severely damaging three ships and sustaining heavy damage herself. The encounter changed the complexion of warfare on the Mississippi and helped to reverse Rebel fortunes on the river in the summer of 1862.
  • 1870 – Reconstruction Era of the United States: Georgia becomes the last of the former Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union.
  • 1870 – Rupert’s Land and the North-Western Territory are transferred to Canada from the Hudson’s Bay Company, and the province of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories are established from these vast territories.
  • 1888 – The stratovolcano Mount Bandai erupts killing approximately 500 people, in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.
  • 1910 – In his book Clinical Psychiatry, Emil Kraepelin gives a name to Alzheimer’s disease, naming it after his colleague Alois Alzheimer.
  • 1916 – In Seattle, Washington, William Boeing and George Conrad Westervelt incorporate Pacific Aero Products (later renamed Boeing).
  • 1918 – World War I: The Second Battle of the Marne begins near the River Marne with a German attack.
  • 1920 – The Polish Parliament establishes Silesian Voivodeship before the Polish-German plebiscite.
  • 1922 – Japanese Communist Party is established in Japan.
  • 1927 – Massacre of July 15, 1927: Eighty-nine protesters are killed by the Austrian police in Vienna.
  • 1946 – State of North Borneo, today in Sabah, Malaysia, annexed by the United Kingdom.
  • 1954 – First flight of the Boeing 367-80, prototype for both the Boeing 707 and C-135 series.
  • 1955 – Eighteen Nobel laureates sign the Mainau Declaration against nuclear weapons, later co-signed by thirty-four others.
  • 1959 – The steel strike of 1959 begins, leading to significant importation of foreign steel for the first time in United States history.
  • 1966 – Vietnam War: The United States and South Vietnam begin Operation Hastings to push the North Vietnamese out of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone.
  • 1971 – The United Red Army is founded in Japan.
  • 1974 – In Nicosia, Cyprus, Greek junta-sponsored nationalists launch a coup d’état, deposing President Makarios and installing Nikos Sampson as Cypriot president.
  • 1975 – Space Race: Apollo–Soyuz Test Project features the dual launch of an Apollo spacecraft and a Soyuz spacecraft on the first joint Soviet-United States human-crewed flight. It was both the last launch of an Apollo spacecraft, and the Saturn family of rockets.
  • 1979 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter gives his “malaise speech”.
  • 1983 – An attack at Orly Airport in Paris is launched by Armenian militant organisation ASALA, leaving eight people dead and 55 injured.
  • 1996 – A Belgian Air Force C-130 Hercules carrying the Royal Netherlands Army marching band crashes on landing at Eindhoven Airport.
  • 1998 – Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Tamil MP S. Shanmuganathan is killed by a claymore mine.
  • 2002 – “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh pleads guilty to supplying aid to the enemy and to possession of explosives during the commission of a felony.
  • 2002 – Anti-Terrorism Court of Pakistan hands down the death sentence to British born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and life terms to three others suspected of murdering The Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
  • 2003 – AOL Time Warner disbands Netscape. The Mozilla Foundation is established on the same day.
  • 2006 – Twitter, later one of the largest social media platforms in the world, is launched.
  • 2014 – A train derails on the Moscow Metro, killing at least 24 and injuring more than 160 others.
  • 2016 – Factions of the Turkish Armed Forces attempt a coup.

Births on July 15

  • 980 – Ichijō, Japanese emperor (d. 1011)
  • 1273 – Ewostatewos, Ethiopian monk and saint (d. 1352)
  • 1353 – Vladimir the Bold, Russian prince (d. 1410)
  • 1359 – Antonio Correr, Italian cardinal (d. 1445)
  • 1442 – Boček IV of Poděbrady, Bohemian nobleman (d. 1496)
  • 1455 – Queen Yun, Korean queen (d. 1482)
  • 1471 – Eskender, Ethiopian emperor (d. 1494)
  • 1478 – Barbara Jagiellon, duchess consort of Saxony and Margravine consort of Meissen (d. 1534)
  • 1573 – Inigo Jones, English architect, designed the Queen’s House (d. 1652)
  • 1600 – Jan Cossiers, Flemish painter (d. 1671)
  • 1606 – Rembrandt, Dutch painter and etcher (d. 1669)
  • 1611 – Jai Singh I, maharaja of Jaipur (d. 1667)
  • 1613 – Gu Yanwu, Chinese philologist and geographer (d. 1682)
  • 1631 – Jens Juel, Danish politician and diplomat, Governor-general of Norway (d. 1700)
  • 1631 – Richard Cumberland, English philosopher (d. 1718)
  • 1638 – Giovanni Buonaventura Viviani, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1693)
  • 1704 – August Gottlieb Spangenberg, German bishop and theologian (d. 1792)
  • 1779 – Clement Clarke Moore, American author, poet, and educator (d. 1863)
  • 1793 – Almira Hart Lincoln Phelps, American educator, author, editor (d. 1884)
  • 1796 – Thomas Bulfinch, American mythologist (d. 1867)
  • 1799 – Reuben Chapman, American lawyer and politician, 13th Governor of Alabama (d. 1882)
  • 1800 – Sidney Breese, American jurist and politician (d. 1878)
  • 1808 – Henry Edward Manning, English cardinal (d. 1892)
  • 1812 – James Hope-Scott, English lawyer and academic (d. 1873)
  • 1817 – Sir John Fowler, 1st Baronet, English engineer, designed the Forth Bridge (d. 1898)
  • 1827 – W. W. Thayer American lawyer and politician, 6th Governor of Oregon (d. 1899)
  • 1848 – Vilfredo Pareto, Italian economist and sociologist (d. 1923)
  • 1850 – Frances Xavier Cabrini, Italian-American nun and saint (d. 1917)
  • 1852 – Josef Josephi, Polish-born singer and actor (d. 1920)
  • 1858 – Emmeline Pankhurst, English political activist and suffragist (d. 1928)
  • 1864 – Marie Tempest, English actress and singer (d. 1942)
  • 1865 – Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe, Anglo-Irish businessman and publisher, founded the Amalgamated Press (d. 1922)
  • 1865 – Wilhelm Wirtinger, Austrian-German mathematician and theorist (d. 1945)
  • 1867 – Jean-Baptiste Charcot, French physician and explorer (d. 1936)
  • 1871 – Doppo Kunikida, Japanese journalist, author, and poet (d. 1908)
  • 1880 – Enrique Mosca, Argentinian lawyer and politician (d. 1950)
  • 1887 – Wharton Esherick, American sculptor (d. 1970)
  • 1892 – Walter Benjamin, German philosopher and critic (d. 1940)
  • 1893 – Enid Bennett, Australian-American actress (d. 1969)
  • 1893 – Dick Rauch, American football player and coach (d. 1970)
  • 1894 – Tadeusz Sendzimir, Polish-American engineer (d. 1989)
  • 1899 – Seán Lemass, Irish soldier and politician, 4th Taoiseach of Ireland (d. 1971)
  • 1902 – Jean Rey, Belgian lawyer and politician, 2nd President of the European Commission (d. 1983)
  • 1903 – Walter D. Edmonds, American journalist and author (d. 1998)
  • 1903 – K. Kamaraj, Indian journalist and politician (d. 1975)
  • 1904 – Rudolf Arnheim, German-American psychologist and author (d. 2007)
  • 1905 – Dorothy Fields, American songwriter (d. 1974)
  • 1905 – Anita Farra, Italian actress (d. 2008)
  • 1906 – R. S. Mugali, Indian poet and academic (d. 1993)
  • 1906 – Rudolf Uhlenhaut, English-German engineer (d. 1989)
  • 1909 – Jean Hamburger, French physician and surgeon (d. 1992)
  • 1911 – Edward Shackleton, Baron Shackleton, English geographer and politician, Secretary of State for Air (d. 1994)
  • 1913 – Cowboy Copas, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1963)
  • 1913 – Hammond Innes, English journalist and author (d. 1998)
  • 1913 – Abraham Sutzkever, Russian poet and author (d. 2010)
  • 1914 – Akhtar Hameed Khan, Pakistani economist, scholar, and activist (d. 1999)
  • 1914 – Howard Vernon, Swiss-French actor (d. 1996)
  • 1915 – Albert Ghiorso, American chemist and academic (d. 2010)
  • 1915 – Kashmir Singh Katoch, Indian army officer (d. 2007)
  • 1916 – Sumner Gerard, American politician and diplomat (d. 2004)
  • 1917 – Robert Conquest, English-American historian, poet, and academic (d. 2015)
  • 1917 – Joan Roberts, American actress and singer (d. 2012)
  • 1917 – Nur Muhammad Taraki, Afghan journalist and politician (d. 1979)
  • 1918 – Bertram Brockhouse, Canadian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2003)
  • 1918 – Brenda Milner, English-Canadian neuropsychologist and academic
  • 1919 – Fritz Langanke, German lieutenant (d. 2012)
  • 1919 – Iris Murdoch, Anglo-Irish British novelist and philosopher (d. 1999)
  • 1921 – Jack Beeson, American pianist and composer (d. 2010)
  • 1921 – Henri Colpi, Swiss-French director and screenwriter (d. 2006)
  • 1921 – Robert Bruce Merrifield, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006)
  • 1921 – Jean Heywood, British actress (d. 2019)
  • 1922 – Leon M. Lederman, American physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018)
  • 1922 – Jean-Pierre Richard, French writer (d. 2019)
  • 1923 – Francisco de Andrade, Portuguese sailor
  • 1924 – Jeremiah Denton, American admiral and politician (d. 2014)
  • 1924 – Marianne Bernadotte, Swedish actress and philanthropist
  • 1925 – Philip Carey, American actor (d. 2009)
  • 1925 – Taylor Hardwick, American architect, designed Haydon Burns Library and Friendship Fountain Park (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – D. A. Pennebaker, American documentary filmmaker (d. 2019)
  • 1925 – Evan Hultman, American politician
  • 1925 – Antony Carbone, American actor
  • 1925 – Pandel Savic, American football player (d. 2018)
  • 1926 – Driss Chraïbi, Moroccan-French journalist and author (d. 2007)
  • 1926 – Leopoldo Galtieri, Argentinian general and politician, 44th President of Argentina (d. 2003)
  • 1926 – Raymond Gosling, English physicist and academic (d. 2015)
  • 1926 – Sir John Graham, 4th Baronet, English diplomat (d. 2019)
  • 1927 – Nan Martin, American actress (d. 2010)
  • 1927 – Carmen Zapata, American actress (d. 2014)
  • 1927 – Håkon Brusveen, Norwegian cross-country skier
  • 1928 – Carl Woese, American microbiologist and biophysicist (d. 2012)
  • 1928 – Viramachaneni Vimla Devi, Indian parliamentarian (d. 1967)
  • 1929 – Charles Anthony, American tenor and actor (d. 2012)
  • 1929 – Francis Bebey, Cameroonian-French guitarist (d. 2001)
  • 1929 – Ian Stewart, Scottish race car driver (d. 2017)
  • 1930 – Jacques Derrida, Algerian-French philosopher and academic (d. 2004)
  • 1930 – Richard Garneau, Canadian journalist and sportscaster (d. 2013)
  • 1930 – Stephen Smale, American mathematician and computer scientist
  • 1930 – Einosuke Akiya, Japanese Buddhist leader
  • 1931 – Clive Cussler, American archaeologist and author (d. 2020)
  • 1931 – Joanna Merlin, American actress and casting director
  • 1931 – Jacques-Yvan Morin, Canadian lawyer and politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec
  • 1932 – Ed Litzenberger, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2010)
  • 1933 – Guido Crepax, Italian author and illustrator (d. 2003)
  • 1933 – M. T. Vasudevan Nair, Indian author and screenwriter
  • 1934 – Harrison Birtwistle, English composer and academic
  • 1934 – Eva Krížiková, Czech actress (d. 2020)
  • 1934 – Risto Jarva, Finnish director and producer (d. 1977)
  • 1935 – Donn Clendenon, American baseball player and lawyer (d. 2005)
  • 1935 – Alex Karras, American football player, wrestler, and actor (d. 2012)
  • 1935 – Ken Kercheval, American actor and director (d. 2019)
  • 1936 – George Voinovich, American lawyer and politician, 65th Governor of Ohio (d. 2016)
  • 1937 – Prabhash Joshi, Indian journalist (d. 2009)
  • 1938 – Ernie Barnes, American football player, actor, and painter (d. 2009)
  • 1938 – Carmen Callil, Australian publisher, founded Virago Press
  • 1938 – Barry Goldwater, Jr., American lawyer and politician
  • 1939 – Aníbal Cavaco Silva, Portuguese economist and politician, 19th President of the Portuguese Republic
  • 1940 – Denis Héroux, Canadian director and producer (d. 2015)
  • 1940 – Ronald Gene Simmons, American sergeant and convicted murderer (d. 1990)
  • 1940 – Robert Winston, English surgeon, academic, and politician
  • 1942 – Vivian Malone Jones, American civil rights activist (d. 2005)
  • 1943 – Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Northern Irish astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic
  • 1944 – Millie Jackson, American singer-songwriter
  • 1945 – Jan-Michael Vincent, American actor (d. 2019)
  • 1945 – David Arthur Granger, Guyanese politician, 9th President of Guyana
  • 1945 – Peter Lewis (musician), American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1945 – Jürgen Möllemann, German soldier and politician, Vice-Chancellor of Germany (d. 2003)
  • 1946 – Linda Ronstadt, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
  • 1946 – Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of Brunei
  • 1947 – Peter Banks, English guitarist and songwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1947 – Lydia Davis, American short story writer, novelist, and essayist
  • 1947 – Pridiyathorn Devakula, Thai economist and politician, Thai Minister of Finance
  • 1947 – Roky Erickson, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2019)
  • 1948 – Twinkle, English singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
  • 1948 – Dimosthenis Kourtovik, Greek anthropologist and critic
  • 1948 – Artimus Pyle, American rock drummer and songwriter (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
  • 1949 – Carl Bildt, Swedish politician and diplomat, Prime Minister of Sweden
  • 1949 – Trevor Horn, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
  • 1949 – Richard Russo, American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter
  • 1950 – Colin Barnett, Australian economist and politician, 29th Premier of Western Australia
  • 1950 – Arianna Huffington, Greek-American journalist and publisher (The Huffington Post)
  • 1951 – Gregory Isaacs, Jamaican-English singer-songwriter (d. 2010)
  • 1951 – Jesse Ventura, American wrestler, actor, and politician, 38th Governor of Minnesota
  • 1952 – David Pack, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1952 – Celia Imrie, English actress
  • 1952 – Terry O’Quinn, American actor
  • 1952 – Marky Ramone, American drummer and songwriter
  • 1952 – Johnny Thunders, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1991)
  • 1953 – Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haitian priest and politician, 49th President of Haiti
  • 1953 – Sultanah Haminah, Malaysian royal consort
  • 1953 – Mohamad Shahrum Osman, Malaysian politician
  • 1953 – Alicia Bridges, American singer-songwriter
  • 1954 – John Ferguson, Australian rugby league player
  • 1954 – Jeff Jarvis, American journalist and blogger
  • 1954 – Giorgos Kaminis, American-Greek lawyer and politician, 78th Mayor of Athens
  • 1954 – Mario Kempes, Argentinian footballer and manager
  • 1956 – Ashoke Sen, Indian theoretical physicist and string theorist
  • 1956 – Ian Curtis, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Joy Division) (d. 1980)
  • 1956 – Nicholas Harberd, British botanist, educator and academician
  • 1956 – Barry Melrose, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster
  • 1956 – Steve Mortimer, Australian rugby league player, coach, and administrator
  • 1956 – Joe Satriani, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1956 – Wayne Taylor, South African race car driver
  • 1958 – Gary Heale, English footballer and coach
  • 1958 – Mac Thornberry, American lawyer and politician
  • 1959 – Vincent Lindon, French actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1960 – Kim Alexis, American fashion model
  • 1961 – Lolita Davidovich, Canadian actress
  • 1961 – Jean-Christophe Grangé, French journalist and screenwriter
  • 1961 – Scott Ritter, American soldier and international weapons inspector
  • 1961 – Forest Whitaker, American actor
  • 1962 – Nikos Filippou, Greek basketball player and manager
  • 1962 – Michelle Ford, Australian swimmer
  • 1963 – Brigitte Nielsen, Danish-Italian actress
  • 1963 – Steve Thomas, English-Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1965 – Alistair Carmichael, Scottish lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
  • 1965 – Gero Miesenböck, Austrian neuroscientist and educator
  • 1965 – David Miliband, English politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
  • 1966 – Jason Bonham, English singer-songwriter and drummer
  • 1966 – Irène Jacob, French-Swiss actress
  • 1967 – Adam Savage, American actor and special effects designer
  • 1967 – Elbert West, American singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
  • 1968 – Eddie Griffin, American comedian, actor, and producer
  • 1969 – Ain Tammus, Estonian footballer and coach
  • 1970 – Tarkan Gözübüyük, Turkish bass player and producer
  • 1972 – Scott Foley, American actor
  • 1973 – Brian Austin Green, American actor
  • 1975 – Cherry, American wrestler and manager
  • 1975 – Danny Law, English cricketer
  • 1975 – Ben Pepper, Australian basketball player
  • 1976 – Steve Cunningham, American boxer
  • 1976 – Marco Di Vaio, Italian footballer
  • 1976 – Diane Kruger, German actress and model
  • 1976 – Gabriel Iglesias, Mexican-American comedian and voice actor
  • 1977 – André Nel, South African cricketer
  • 1977 – Lana Parrilla, American actress
  • 1977 – John St. Clair, American football player
  • 1977 – Ray Toro, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1978 – Miguel Olivo, Dominican baseball player
  • 1979 – Laura Benanti, American actress and singer
  • 1979 – Alexander Frei, Swiss footballer
  • 1979 – Edda Garðarsdóttir, Icelandic footballer
  • 1979 – Renata Kučerová, Czech tennis player
  • 1980 – Reggie Abercrombie, American baseball player
  • 1980 – BxB Hulk, Japanese professional wrestler
  • 1980 – Jonathan Cheechoo, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1980 – Julia Perez, Indonesian singer and actress (d. 2017)
  • 1981 – Alou Diarra, French footballer
  • 1981 – Petros Klampanis, Greek bassist and composer
  • 1981 – Marius Stankevičius, Lithuanian footballer
  • 1982 – Alan Pérez, Spanish cyclist
  • 1982 – Neemia Tialata, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1982 – Aída Yéspica, Venezuelan model and actress
  • 1983 – Nelson Merlo, Brazilian race car driver
  • 1983 – Will Rudge, English cricketer
  • 1983 – Heath Slater, American wrestler
  • 1984 – Angelo Siniscalchi, Italian footballer
  • 1984 – Veronika Velez-Zuzulová, Slovak skier
  • 1985 – Sanjeev, Tamil actor
  • 1985 – Tomer Kapon, Israeli actor
  • 1986 – Tyler Kennedy, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1988 – Riki Christodoulou, English race car driver
  • 1989 – Steven Jahn, German footballer
  • 1989 – Alisa Kleybanova, Russian tennis player
  • 1989 – Anthony Randolph, American basketball player
  • 1990 – Zach Bogosian, American ice hockey player
  • 1990 – Damian Lillard, American basketball player
  • 1991 – Danilo, Brazilian footballer
  • 1991 – Derrick Favors, American basketball player
  • 1991 – Evgeny Tishchenko, Russian boxer
  • 1992 – Tobias Harris, American basketball player
  • 1992 – Hokutōfuji Daiki, Japanese sumo wrestler
  • 1992 – Wayde van Niekerk, South African sprinter
  • 1993 – Håvard Nielsen, Norwegian footballer

Deaths on July 15

  • 756 – Yang Guifei, consort of Xuan Zong (b. 719)
  • 998 – Abū al-Wafā’ Būzjānī, Persian mathematician and astronomer (b. 940)
  • 1015 – Vladimir the Great, Grand prince of Kievan Rus’ (b. c. 958)
  • 1274 – Bonaventure, Italian bishop and saint (b. 1221)
  • 1291 – Rudolf I of Germany (b. 1218)
  • 1299 – King Eric II of Norway (b. c. 1268)
  • 1381 – John Ball, English Lollard priest
  • 1388 – Agnes of Durazzo, titular Latin empress consort of Constantinople (d. 1313)
  • 1397 – Catherine of Henneberg, German ruler (b. c. 1334)
  • 1406 – William, Duke of Austria
  • 1410 – Ulrich von Jungingen, German Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights (b. 1360)
  • 1445 – Joan Beaufort, Queen of Scotland
  • 1542 – Lisa del Giocondo, subject of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting Mona Lisa (b. 1479)
  • 1544 – René of Châlon (b. 1519)
  • 1571 – Shimazu Takahisa, Japanese daimyō (b. 1514)
  • 1609 – Annibale Carracci, Italian painter and illustrator (b. 1560)
  • 1614 – Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de Brantôme, French soldier, historian, and author (b. 1540)
  • 1655 – Girolamo Rainaldi, Italian architect (b. 1570)
  • 1685 – James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, Dutch-English general and politician, Governor of Kingston-upon-Hull (b. 1649)
  • 1750 – Vasily Tatishchev, Russian ethnographer and politician (b. 1686)
  • 1765 – Charles-André van Loo, French painter (b. 1705)
  • 1767 – Michael Bruce, Scottish poet and composer (b. 1746)
  • 1789 – Jacques Duphly, French harpsichord player and composer (b. 1715)
  • 1828 – Jean-Antoine Houdon, French sculptor (b. 1741)
  • 1839 – Winthrop Mackworth Praed, English poet and politician (b. 1802)
  • 1844 – Claude Charles Fauriel, French philologist and historian (b. 1772)
  • 1851 – Juan Felipe Ibarra, Argentinian general and politician (b. 1787)
  • 1857 – Carl Czerny, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1791)
  • 1858 – Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov, Russian painter (b. 1806)
  • 1883 – General Tom Thumb, American circus performer (b. 1838)
  • 1885 – Rosalía de Castro, Spanish author and poet (b. 1837)
  • 1890 – Gottfried Keller, Swiss author, poet, and playwright (b. 1819)
  • 1898 – Jean-Baptiste Salpointe, French-American archbishop (d. 1825)
  • 1904 – Anton Chekhov, Russian playwright and short story writer (b. 1860)
  • 1919 – Hermann Emil Fischer, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
  • 1929 – Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Austrian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1874)
  • 1930 – Leopold Auer, Hungarian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1845)
  • 1931 – Ladislaus Bortkiewicz, Russian-German economist and mathematician (b. 1868)
  • 1932 – Bahíyyih Khánum, Iranian writer and leader in the Baha’i faith (b. 1846)
  • 1932 – Cornelis Jacobus Langenhoven, South African poet and politician (b. 1873)
  • 1933 – Irving Babbitt, American scholar, critic, and academic (b. 1865)
  • 1933 – Freddie Keppard, American cornet player (b. 1890)
  • 1940 – Eugen Bleuler, Swiss psychiatrist and physician (b. 1857)
  • 1940 – Robert Wadlow, American giant, 8″11′ 271 cm (b.1918)
  • 1942 – Wenceslao Vinzons, Filipino lawyer and politician (b. 1910)
  • 1944 – Marie-Victorin Kirouac, Canadian botanist and academic (b. 1885)
  • 1946 – Razor Smith, English cricketer and coach (b. 1877)
  • 1947 – Walter Donaldson, American soldier and songwriter (b. 1893)
  • 1948 – John J. Pershing, American general (b. 1860)
  • 1953 – Geevarghese Mar Ivanios, Indian archbishop, founded the Order of the Imitation of Christ (b. 1882)
  • 1957 – James M. Cox, American publisher and politician, 46th Governor of Ohio (b. 1870)
  • 1957 – Vasily Maklakov, Russian lawyer and politician (b. 1869)
  • 1959 – Ernest Bloch, Swiss-American composer and academic (b. 1880)
  • 1959 – Vance Palmer, Australian author and critic (b. 1885)
  • 1960 – Set Persson, Swedish politician (b. 1897)
  • 1960 – Lawrence Tibbett, American singer and actor (b. 1896)
  • 1961 – John Edward Brownlee, Canadian lawyer and politician, 5th Premier of Alberta (b. 1884)
  • 1961. – Nina Bari, Russian mathematician (b. 1901)
  • 1965 – Francis Cherry, American lawyer and politician, 35th Governor of Arkansas (b. 1908)
  • 1966 – Seyfi Arkan, Turkish architect (b. 1903)
  • 1974 – Christine Chubbuck, American journalist (b. 1944)
  • 1976 – Paul Gallico, American journalist and author (b. 1897)
  • 1977 – Donald Mackay, Australian businessman and activist (b. 1933)
  • 1979 – Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Mexican academic and politician, 29th President of Mexico, 1964-1970 (b. 1911)
  • 1981 – Frédéric Dorion, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1898)
  • 1982 – Bill Justis, American saxophonist, songwriter, and producer (b. 1926)
  • 1986 – Billy Haughton, American harness racer and trainer (b. 1923)
  • 1988 – Eleanor Estes, American librarian, author, and illustrator (b. 1906)
  • 1989 – Laurie Cunningham, English footballer (b. 1956)
  • 1990 – Zaim Topčić, Yugoslav and Bosnian writer (b. 1920)
  • 1990 – Margaret Lockwood, English actress (b. 1916)
  • 1990 – Omar Abu Risha, Syrian poet and diplomat, 4th Syrian Ambassador to the United States (b. 1910)
  • 1991 – Bert Convy, American actor, singer, and game show host (b. 1933)
  • 1992 – Hammer DeRoburt, Nauruan educator and politician, 1st President of Nauru (b. 1922)
  • 1992 – Chingiz Mustafayev, Azerbaijani journalist and author (b. 1960)
  • 1997 – Justinas Lagunavičius, Lithuanian basketball player (b. 1924)
  • 1997 – Gianni Versace, Italian fashion designer, founded Versace (b. 1946)
  • 1998 – S. Shanmuganathan, Sri Lankan politician (b. 1960)
  • 2000 – Louis Quilico, Canadian opera singer and educator (b. 1925)
  • 2001 – C. Balasingham, Sri Lankan lawyer and civil servant (b. 1917)
  • 2003 – Roberto Bolaño, Chilean novelist, short-story writer, poet, and essayist (b. 1953)
  • 2003 – Elisabeth Welch, American actress and singer (b. 1904)
  • 2006 – Robert H. Brooks, American businessman, founder of Hooters and Naturally Fresh, Inc. (b. 1937)
  • 2006 – Alireza Shapour Shahbazi, Iranian archaeologist and academic (b. 1942)
  • 2008 – György Kolonics, Hungarian canoe racer (b. 1972)
  • 2010 – James E. Akins, American politician and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (b. 1926)
  • 2011 – Friedrich Wilhelm Schnitzler, German landowner and politician (b. 1928)
  • 2011 – Googie Withers, British-Australian actress (b. 1917)
  • 2012 – Boris Cebotari, Moldovan footballer (b. 1975)
  • 2012 – Tsilla Chelton, Israeli-French actress (b. 1919)
  • 2012 – Grant Feasel, American football player (b. 1960)
  • 2012 – David Fraser, English general (b. 1920)
  • 2012 – Celeste Holm, American actress and singer (b. 1917)
  • 2012 – Yoichi Takabayashi, Japanese director and screenwriter (b. 1931)
  • 2013 – Ninos Aho, Syrian-American poet and activist (b. 1945)
  • 2013 – Henry Braden, American lawyer and politician (b. 1944)
  • 2013 – Tom Greenwell, American lawyer and judge (b. 1956)
  • 2013 – Earl Gros, American football player (b. 1940)
  • 2013 – Noël Lee, Chinese-American pianist and composer (b. 1924)
  • 2013 – Meskerem Legesse, Ethiopian runner (b. 1986)
  • 2013 – John T. Riedl, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1962)
  • 2014 – Óscar Acosta, Honduran author, poet, and diplomat (b. 1933)
  • 2014 – James MacGregor Burns, American historian, political scientist, and author (b. 1918)
  • 2014 – Saúl Lara, Spanish footballer (b. 1982)
  • 2014 – Edward Perl, American neuroscientist and academic (b. 1926)
  • 2014 – Robert A. Roe, American soldier and politician (b. 1924)
  • 2015 – Masahiko Aoki, Japanese-American economist and academic (b. 1938)
  • 2015 – Wan Li, Chinese politician, 4th Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1916)
  • 2015 – Aubrey Morris, British actor (b. 1926)
  • 2015 – Dave Somerville, Canadian singer (b. 1933)
  • 2017 – Martin Landau, American film and television actor (b. 1928)

Holidays and observances on July 15

  • Christian feast day:
    • Abhai (Syriac Orthodox Church)
    • Anne-Marie Javouhey
    • Bernhard II, Margrave of Baden-Baden
    • Bonaventure
    • Dispersion of the Apostles (No longer officially celebrated by the Catholic Church)
    • Donald of Ogilvy
    • Edith of Polesworth
    • Edith of Wilton
    • Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor
    • Plechelm
    • Quriaqos and Julietta
    • Swithun
    • Vladimir the Great (Eastern Orthodox; Catholic Church)
    • July 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Birthday of Don Luis Muñoz Rivera can fall, while July 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Monday of July. (Puerto Rico)
  • Earliest day on which Galla Bayramy can fall, while July 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Sunday of July. (Turkmenistan)
  • Earliest day on which Marine Day can fall, while July 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Monday of July. (Japan)
  • Earliest day on which President’s Day (Botswana) can fall, while July 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Monday of July.
  • Elderly Men Day (Kiribati)
  • Festival of Santa Rosalia (Palermo, Sicily)
  • Sultan’s Birthday (Brunei Darussalam)

July 15 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

July 14 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

July 14 in History

  • 756 – An Lushan Rebellion: Emperor Xuanzong flees the capital Chang’an as An Lushan’s forces advance toward the city.
  • 1223 – Louis VIII becomes King of France upon the death of his father, Philip II.
  • 1420 – Battle of Vítkov Hill, decisive victory of Czech Hussite forces commanded by Jan Žižka against Crusade army led by Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor.
  • 1769 – An expedition led by Gaspar de Portolá leaves its base in California and sets out to find the Port of Monterey (now Monterey, California).
  • 1771 – Foundation of the Mission San Antonio de Padua in modern California by the Franciscan friar Junípero Serra.
  • 1789 – French Revolution: Citizens of Paris storm the Bastille.
  • 1789 – Alexander Mackenzie finally completes his journey to the mouth of the great river he hoped would take him to the Pacific, but which turns out to flow into the Arctic Ocean. Later named after him, the Mackenzie is the second-longest river system in North America.
  • 1790 – French Revolution: Citizens of Paris celebrate the unity of the French people and the national reconciliation in the Fête de la Fédération.
  • 1791 – The Priestley Riots drive Joseph Priestley, a supporter of the French Revolution, out of Birmingham, England.
  • 1798 – The Sedition Act becomes law in the United States making it a federal crime to write, publish, or utter false or malicious statements about the United States government.
  • 1853 – Opening of the first major US world’s fair, the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations in New York City.
  • 1865 – The first ascent of the Matterhorn by Edward Whymper and party, four of whom die on the descent.
  • 1874 – The Chicago Fire of 1874 burns down 47 acres of the city, destroying 812 buildings, killing 20, and resulting in the fire insurance industry demanding municipal reforms from Chicago’s city council.
  • 1877 – The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 began in Martinsburg, West Virginia when wages of Baltimore and Ohio Railroad workers were cut for the third time in a year. The strike was ended on Sept 4 by local and state militias and federal troops.
  • 1881 – Billy the Kid is shot and killed by Pat Garrett outside Fort Sumner.
  • 1900 – Armies of the Eight-Nation Alliance capture Tientsin during the Boxer Rebellion.
  • 1902 – The Campanile in St Mark’s Square, Venice collapses, also demolishing the loggetta.
  • 1911 – Harry Atwood, an exhibition pilot for the Wright brothers, lands his airplane at the South Lawn of the White House. He is later awarded a Gold medal from U.S. President William Howard Taft for this feat.
  • 1915 – World War I: The McMahon–Hussein Correspondence between Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca and the British official Henry McMahon concerning the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire begins.
  • 1916 – World War I: Start of the Battle of Delville Wood as an action within the Battle of the Somme, which was to last until 3 September 1916.
  • 1928 – New Vietnam Revolutionary Party is founded in Huế, providing some of the communist party’s most important leaders in its early years.
  • 1933 – Gleichschaltung: In Germany, all political parties are outlawed except the Nazi Party.
  • 1933 – The Nazi eugenics begins with the proclamation of the Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring that calls for the compulsory sterilization of any citizen who suffers from alleged genetic disorders.
  • 1938 – Howard Hughes sets a new record by completing a 91-hour airplane flight around the world.
  • 1940 – People’s Seimas held parliamentary elections, and the Union of Labor Lithuania (ULL) won, paving the way for Lithuania to become Lithuanian SSR; Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, consolidating into the Soviet Union on July 21, 1940.
  • 1943 – In Diamond, Missouri, the George Washington Carver National Monument becomes the first United States National Monument in honor of an African American.
  • 1948 – Palmiro Togliatti, leader of the Italian Communist Party, is shot and wounded near the Italian Parliament.
  • 1950 – Korean War: North Korean troops initiate the Battle of Taejon.
  • 1957 – Rawya Ateya takes her seat in the National Assembly of Egypt, thereby becoming the first female parliamentarian in the Arab world.
  • 1958 – Iraqi Revolution: In Iraq the monarchy is overthrown by popular forces led by Abd al-Karim Qasim, who becomes the nation’s new leader.
  • 1960 – Jane Goodall arrives at the Gombe Stream Reserve in present-day Tanzania to begin her famous study of chimpanzees in the wild.
  • 1965 – The Mariner 4 flyby of Mars takes the first close-up photos of another planet.
  • 1969 – Football War: After Honduras loses a soccer match against El Salvador, riots break out in Honduras against Salvadoran migrant workers.
  • 1969 – The Federal Reserve Banks begins removing large denominations of United States currency from circulation.
  • 1976 – Capital punishment is abolished in Canada.
  • 1992 – 386BSD is released by Lynne Jolitz and William Jolitz beginning the Open Source operating system revolution. Linus Torvalds releases his Linux soon afterwards.
  • 2002 – French President Jacques Chirac escapes an assassination attempt unscathed during Bastille Day celebrations.
  • 2003 – Hurricane Claudette gathers strength over the Gulf of Mexico and heads for the Texas coast, killing two people.
  • 2013 – The dedication of statue of Rachel Carson, a sculpture named for the environmentalist, in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.
  • 2015 – NASA’s New Horizons probe performs the first flyby of Pluto, and thus completes the initial survey of the Solar System.
  • 2016 – A terrorist vehicular attack in Nice, France kills 86 civilians and injures over 400 others.

Births on July 14

  • 926 – Murakami, emperor of Japan (d. 967)
  • 1410 – Arnold, Duke of Guelders, (d. 1473)
  • 1448 – Philip, Elector Palatine (d. 1508)
  • 1454 – Poliziano, Italian poet and scholar (d. 1494)
  • 1515 – Philip I, Duke of Pomerania (d. 1560)
  • 1602 – Cardinal Mazarin, Italian-French cardinal and politician, 2nd Chief Minister of the French Monarch (d. 1661)
  • 1608 – George Goring, Lord Goring, English general (d. 1657)
  • 1610 – Ferdinando II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1670)
  • 1634 – Pasquier Quesnel, French priest and theologian (d. 1719)
  • 1671 – Jacques d’Allonville, French astronomer and mathematician (d. 1732)
  • 1675 – Claude Alexandre de Bonneval, French general (d. 1747)
  • 1676 – Caspar Abel, German historian, poet, and theologian (d. 1763)
  • 1696 – William Oldys, English historian and author (d. 17610
  • 1721 – John Douglas, Scottish bishop and scholar (d. 1807)
  • 1743 – Gavrila Derzhavin, Russian poet and politician (d. 1816)
  • 1755 – Michel de Beaupuy, French general (d. 1796)
  • 1785 – Mordecai Manuel Noah, American journalist, playwright, and diplomat (d. 1851)
  • 1795 – Eleanor Anne Porden, British Romantic poet; wife of the explorer, John Franklin (d. 1825)
  • 1801 – Johannes Peter Müller, German physiologist and anatomist (d. 1858)
  • 1816 – Arthur de Gobineau, French author and diplomat (d. 1882)
  • 1829 – Edward Benson, English archbishop (d. 1896)
  • 1859 – Willy Hess, German violinist and educator (d. 1928)
  • 1861 – Kate M. Gordon, American activist (d. 1931)
  • 1862 – Florence Bascom, American geologist and educator (d. 1945)
  • 1862 – Gustav Klimt, Austrian painter and illustrator (d. 1918)
  • 1863 – Arthur Coningham, Australian cricketer (d. 1939)
  • 1865 – Arthur Capper, American journalist and politician, 20th Governor of Kansas (d. 1951)
  • 1866 – Juliette Wytsman, Belgian painter (d. 1925)
  • 1868 – Gertrude Bell, English archaeologist and spy (d. 1926)
  • 1872 – Albert Marque, French sculptor and doll maker (d. 1939)
  • 1874 – Abbas II of Egypt (d. 1944)
  • 1874 – Crawford Vaughan, Australian politician, 27th Premier of South Australia (d. 1947)
  • 1878 – Donald Meek, Scottish actor (d. 1946)
  • 1885 – Sisavang Vong, Laotian king (d. 1959)
  • 1888 – Scipio Slataper, Italian author and critic (d. 1915)
  • 1889 – Marco de Gastyne, French painter and illustrator (d. 1982)
  • 1889 – Ante Pavelić, Croatian fascist dictator during World War II (d. 1959)
  • 1893 – Clarence J. Brown, American publisher and politician, 36th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio (d. 1965)
  • 1893 – Garimella Satyanarayana, Indian poet and author (d. 1952)
  • 1894 – Dave Fleischer, American animator, director, and producer (d. 1979)
  • 1896 – Buenaventura Durruti, Spanish soldier and anarchist (d. 1936)
  • 1898 – Happy Chandler, American lawyer and politician, 49th Governor of Kentucky, second Commissioner of Baseball (d. 1991)
  • 1901 – Gerald Finzi, English composer and academic (d. 1956)
  • 1901 – George Tobias, American actor (d. 1980)
  • 1903 – Irving Stone, American author and educator (d. 1989)
  • 1906 – Tom Carvel, Greek-American businessman, founded Carvel (d. 1990)
  • 1906 – William H. Tunner, American general (d. 1983)
  • 1907 – Chico Landi, Brazilian race car driver (d. 1989)
  • 1910 – William Hanna, American animator, director, producer, and actor, co-founded Hanna-Barbera (d. 2001)
  • 1911 – Pavel Prudnikau, Belarusian poet and author (d. 2000)
  • 1912 – Woody Guthrie, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1967)
  • 1912 – Buddy Moreno, American musician (d. 2015)
  • 1913 – Gerald Ford, American commander, lawyer, and politician, 38th President of the United States (d. 2006)
  • 1914 – Fred Fox, French musician (d. 2019)
  • 1918 – Ingmar Bergman, Swedish director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2007)
  • 1918 – Arthur Laurents, American director, screenwriter, and playwright (d. 20110
  • 1918 – Jay Wright Forrester, American computer engineer and systems scientist (d. 2016)
  • 1920 – Shankarrao Chavan, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Finance (d. 2004)
  • 1920 – Marijohn Wilkin, American country and gospel songwriter (d. 2006)
  • 1921 – Sixto Durán Ballén, American-Ecuadorian architect and politician, 48th President of Ecuador (d. 2016)
  • 1921 – Leon Garfield, English author (d. 1996)
  • 1921 – Armand Gaudreault, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2013)
  • 1921 – Geoffrey Wilkinson, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
  • 1922 – Robin Olds, American general and pilot (d. 2007)
  • 1922 – Elfriede Rinkel, German SS officer (d. 2018)
  • 1922 – Käbi Laretei, Estonian-Swedish concert pianist (d. 2014)
  • 1923 – René Favaloro, Argentine surgeon and cardiologist (d. 2000)
  • 1923 – Dale Robertson, American actor (d. 2013)
  • 1923 – Robert Zildjian, American businessman, founded Sabian (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – Warren Giese, American football player, coach, and politician (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Bruce L. Douglas, American politician
  • 1926 – Wallace Jones, American basketball player and coach (d. 2014)
  • 1926 – Harry Dean Stanton, American actor, musician, and singer (d. 2017)
  • 1926 – Himayat Ali Shair, Urdu poet (d. 2019)
  • 1927 – John Chancellor, American journalist (d. 1996)
  • 1927 – Mike Esposito, American author and illustrator (d. 2010)
  • 1928 – Nancy Olson, American actress
  • 1928 – William Rees-Mogg, English journalist and public servant (d. 2012)
  • 1930 – Polly Bergen, American actress and singer (d. 2014)
  • 1930 – Benoît Sinzogan, Beninese military officer and politician
  • 1931 – Jacqueline de Ribes, French fashion designer and philanthropist
  • 1931 – E. V. Thompson, English police officer and author (d. 2012)
  • 1932 – Rosey Grier, American football player and actor
  • 1932 – Del Reeves, American country singer-songwriter (d. 2007)
  • 1933 – Robert Bourassa, Canadian lawyer and politician, 22nd Premier of Quebec (d. 1996)
  • 1933 – Dumaagiin Sodnom, Mongolian politician; 13th Prime Minister of Mongolia
  • 1933 – Franz, Duke of Bavaria, head of the House of Wittelsbach
  • 1936 – Robert F. Overmyer, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1996)
  • 1937 – Yoshirō Mori, Japanese journalist and politician, 55th Prime Minister of Japan
  • 1938 – Jerry Rubin, American activist, author, and businessman (d. 1994)
  • 1938 – Tommy Vig, Hungarian vibraphone player, drummer, and composer
  • 1939 – Karel Gott, Czech singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2019)
  • 1939 – George Edgar Slusser, American scholar and author (d. 2014)
  • 1940 – Susan Howatch, English author and academic
  • 1941 – Maulana Karenga, American philosopher, author, and activist, created Kwanzaa
  • 1941 – Andreas Khol, German-Austrian lawyer and politician
  • 1942 – Javier Solana, Spanish physicist and politician, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1945 – Jim Gordon, American drummer and songwriter
  • 1946 – Sue Lawley, English journalist
  • 1946 – John Wood, Australian actor and screenwriter
  • 1947 – John Blackman, Australian radio and television presenter
  • 1947 – Claudia J. Kennedy, American general
  • 1947 – Salih Neftçi, Turkish economist and author (d. 2009)
  • 1947 – Navin Ramgoolam, Mauritius physician and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Mauritius
  • 1948 – Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu, Zulu king
  • 1948 – Tom Latham, American politician
  • 1948 – Earl Williams, American baseball player (d. 2013)
  • 1949 – Tommy Mottola, American businessman and music publisher
  • 1950 – Bruce Oldfield, English fashion designer
  • 1952 – Bob Casale, American guitarist, keyboard player, and producer (d. 2014)
  • 1952 – Franklin Graham, American evangelist and missionary
  • 1952 – George Lewis, American musician and composer
  • 1952 – Joel Silver, American actor and producer, co-founded Dark Castle Entertainment
  • 1953 – Martha Coakley, American lawyer and politician, 58th Attorney General of Massachusetts
  • 1955 – L. Brent Bozell III, American journalist and activist, founded the Media Research Center
  • 1958 – Mircea Geoană, Romanian politician and diplomat, 97th Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1959 – Aubrey McClendon, American businessman (d. 2016)
  • 1960 – Anna Bligh, Australian politician, 37th Premier of Queensland
  • 1960 – Kyle Gass, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actor
  • 1960 – Angélique Kidjo, Beninese singer-songwriter, activist, and actor
  • 1960 – Jane Lynch, American actress and game show host
  • 1960 – Mike McPhee, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1961 – Jackie Earle Haley, American actor
  • 1962 – Vanessa Lawrence, English geographer and civil servant
  • 1963 – Jacques Lacombe, Canadian organist and conductor
  • 1964 – Brett Ogle, Australian golfer
  • 1964 – Igor Shpilband, Russian-American ice dancer and coach
  • 1965 – Urmas Kruuse, Estonian lawyer and politician, 41st Mayor of Tartu
  • 1965 – Collins Nweke, Belgian politician of Nigerian origin, 1st foreign born person elected to political office in West Flanders
  • 1966 – Matthew Fox, American actor
  • 1966 – Matt Hume, American mixed martial artist and trainer
  • 1966 – Brian Selznick, American author and illustrator
  • 1967 – Marios Constantinou, Cypriot footballer and manager
  • 1967 – Jeff Jarrett, American wrestler and promoter, co-founder of Impact Wrestling
  • 1967 – Patrick J. Kennedy, American politician
  • 1967 – Hashan Tillakaratne, Sri Lankan cricketer
  • 1967 – Robin Ventura, American baseball player and manager
  • 1968 – Michael Palmer, Singaporean lawyer and politician, 8th Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore
  • 1969 – José Hernández, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and coach
  • 1969 – Sven Sester, Estonian politician
  • 1970 – Jacob Young, Norwegian guitarist
  • 1971 – Howard Webb, English footballer and referee
  • 1973 – Tani Fuga, Samoan rugby player
  • 1973 – Paul Methric, American rapper and producer
  • 1974 – Erick Dampier, American basketball player
  • 1974 – David Mitchell, British comedian
  • 1975 – Derlei, Brazilian footballer
  • 1975 – Tim Hudson, American baseball player
  • 1975 – Jamey Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1977 – Gordon Cree, Scottish singer-songwriter and pianist
  • 1977 – Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden
  • 1978 – Mattias Ekström, Swedish race car driver
  • 1979 – Bernie Castro, Dominican baseball player
  • 1979 – Axel Teichmann, German skier
  • 1980 – George Smith, Australian rugby player
  • 1981 – Matti Hautamäki, Finnish ski jumper
  • 1981 – Robbie Maddison, Australian motorcycle racer
  • 1982 – Dmitry Chaplin, Russian-American dancer and choreographer
  • 1982 – Achille Coser, Italian footballer
  • 1983 – Igor Andreev, Russian tennis player
  • 1983 – Thomas Howard, American football player (d. 2013)
  • 1983 – Tito Muñoz, American conductor and academic
  • 1984 – Renaldo Balkman, American basketball player
  • 1984 – Erica Blasberg, American golfer (d. 2010)
  • 1984 – Lenka Dlhopolcová, Slovak tennis player
  • 1984 – Mounir El Hamdaoui, Moroccan footballer
  • 1984 – Samir Handanović, Slovenian footballer
  • 1984 – Nilmar, Brazilian footballer
  • 1985 – Billy Celeski, Australian footballer
  • 1985 – Darrelle Revis, American football player
  • 1985 – Chris Wright, English cricketer
  • 1986 – Alexander Gerndt, Swedish footballer
  • 1986 – Nikolay Kulemin, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1986 – Dan Smith, English singer-songwriter
  • 1987 – Aqeel Ahmed, English director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1987 – Margus Hunt, Estonian-American football player, discus thrower, and shot putter
  • 1987 – Adam Johnson, English footballer
  • 1987 – Dan Reynolds, American singer-songwriter
  • 1987 – Sean Smith, American football player
  • 1987 – Ryan Sweeting, Bahamian-American tennis player
  • 1988 – Conor McGregor, Irish mixed martial artist
  • 1988 – Jérémy Stravius, French swimmer
  • 1988 – James Vaughan, English footballer
  • 1989 – Sakari Mattila, Finnish footballer
  • 1989 – Rolando McClain, American football player
  • 1989 – Cyril Rioli, Australian rules footballer
  • 1991 – Shabazz Napier, American basketball player
  • 1993 – Sayaka Yamamoto, Japanese singer
  • 1995 – Megan Cunningham, Scottish footballer
  • 1995 – Serge Gnabry, German footballer
  • 1995 – Kim Hyo-joo, South Korean golfer
  • 1995 – Federico Mattiello, Italian footballer
  • 1997 – Cengiz Ünder, Turkish footballer

Deaths on July 14

  • 664 – Eorcenberht, king of Kent
  • 809 – Ōtomo no Otomaro, Japanese general and Shōgun (b. 731)
  • 850 – Wei Fu, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty
  • 937 – Arnulf I, duke of Bavaria
  • 1223 – Philip II, king of France (b. 1165)
  • 1242 – Hōjō Yasutoki, regent of Japan (b. 1183)
  • 1262 – Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester, English soldier (b. 1222)
  • 1486 – Margaret of Denmark, daughter of Christian I of Denmark (b. 1456)
  • 1526 – John de Vere, 14th Earl of Oxford, English peer, landowner, and Lord Great Chamberlain of England (b. 1499)
  • 1575 – Richard Taverner, English translator (b. 1505)
  • 1614 – Camillus de Lellis, Italian priest and saint (b. 1550)
  • 1723 – Claude Fleury, French historian and author (b. 1640)
  • 1742 – Richard Bentley, English scholar and theologian (b. 1662)
  • 1766 – František Maxmilián Kaňka, Czech architect (b. 1674)
  • 1774 – James O’Hara, 2nd Baron Tyrawley, Irish field marshal (b. 1682)
  • 1780 – Charles Batteux, French philosopher and academic (b. 1713)
  • 1789 – Jacques de Flesselles, French politician (b. 1721)
  • 1789 – Bernard-René de Launay, French politician (b. 1740)
  • 1790 – Ernst Gideon von Laudon, Austrian field marshal (b. 1717)
  • 1809 – Nicodemus the Hagiorite, Greek monk and saint (b. 1749)
  • 1816 – Francisco de Miranda, Venezuelan general (b. 1750)
  • 1817 – Germaine de Staël, French philosopher and author (b. 1766)
  • 1827 – Augustin-Jean Fresnel, French physicist and engineer, reviver of a wave theory of light, inventor of catadioptric lighthouse lens (b. 1788)
  • 1834 – Edmond-Charles Genêt, French-American diplomat (b. 1763)
  • 1850 – August Neander, German historian and theologian (b. 1789)
  • 1856 – Edward Vernon Utterson, English lawyer and historian (b. 1775)
  • 1876 – John Buckley, English soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1813)
  • 1881 – Billy the Kid, American criminal (b. 1859)
  • 1904 – Paul Kruger, South African politician, 5th President of the South African Republic (b. 1824)
  • 1907 – William Henry Perkin, English chemist and academic (b. 1838)
  • 1910 – Marius Petipa, French dancer and choreographer (b. 1818)
  • 1917 – Octave Lapize, French cyclist (b. 1887)
  • 1918 – Quentin Roosevelt, American lieutenant and pilot (b. 1897)
  • 1936 – Dhan Gopal Mukerji, Indian-American author and scholar (b. 1890)
  • 1937 – Julius Meier, American businessman and politician, 20th Governor of Oregon (b. 1874)
  • 1939 – Alphonse Mucha, Czech painter and illustrator (b. 1860)
  • 1954 – Jacinto Benavente, Spanish author and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1866)
  • 1965 – Adlai Stevenson II, American soldier and politician, 5th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (b. 1900)
  • 1966 – Julie Manet, French painter and art collector (b. 1878)
  • 1967 – Tudor Arghezi, Romanian author and poet (b. 1880)
  • 1968 – Konstantin Paustovsky, Russian author and poet (b. 1892)
  • 1970 – Preston Foster, American actor (b. 1900)
  • 1973 – Ali Kılıç, Turkish captain and politician (b. 1890)
  • 1974 – Carl Andrew Spaatz, American general (b. 1891)
  • 1975 – Madan Mohan, Iraqi-Indian composer and conductor (b. 1924)
  • 1979 – Walter Keppel, 9th Earl of Albemarle, English nobleman and soldier (b. 1882)
  • 1984 – Ernest Tidyman, American author and screenwriter (b. 1928)
  • 1986 – Raymond Loewy, French-American industrial designer (b. 1893)
  • 1989 – Frank Bell, English linguist and academic (b. 1916)
  • 1991 – Constance Stokes, Australian painter (b. 1906)
  • 1993 – Léo Ferré, Monacan singer-songwriter, pianist, and poet (b. 1916)
  • 1994 – César Tovar, Venezuelan baseball player (b. 1940)
  • 1996 – Jeff Krosnoff, American race car driver (b. 1964)
  • 1998 – Richard McDonald, American businessman, co-founded McDonald’s (b. 1909)
  • 2000 – Pepo, Chilean cartoonist (b. 1911)
  • 2000 – William Roscoe Estep, American historian and academic (b. 1920)
  • 2000 – Meredith MacRae, American actress (b. 1944)
  • 2001 – Guy de Lussigny, French painter (b. 1929)
  • 2002 – Joaquín Balaguer, Dominican lawyer and politician, 41st President of the Dominican Republic (b. 1906)
  • 2002 – Fritz Glatz, Austrian race car driver (b. 1943)
  • 2003 – François-Albert Angers, Canadian economist and academic (b. 1909)
  • 2005 – Joe Harnell, American pianist and composer (b. 1924)
  • 2005 – Cicely Saunders, English hospice founder (b. 1918)
  • 2007 – John Ferguson Sr., Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1938)
  • 2012 – John Arbuthnott, 16th Viscount of Arbuthnott, Scottish businessman and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Kincardineshire (b. 1924)
  • 2012 – Don Brinkley, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – Frank R. Burns, American football player and coach (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – King Hill, American football player (b. 1936)
  • 2012 – Sixten Jernberg, Swedish skier (b. 1929)
  • 2012 – Roy Shaw, English businessman and boxer (b. 1936)
  • 2013 – Herbert M. Allison, American lieutenant and businessman (b. 1943)
  • 2013 – Matt Batts, American baseball player and coach (b. 1921)
  • 2013 – Dennis Burkley, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1945)
  • 2013 – Bill Warner, American motorcycle racer (b. 1969)
  • 2013 – Vladimir Mikhailovich Zakharov, Russian dancer and choreographer (b. 1946)
  • 2014 – Alice Coachman, American high jumper (b. 1923)
  • 2014 – Vange Leonel, Brazilian singer-songwriter and activist (b. 1963)
  • 2014 – John Victor Parker, American soldier, lawyer, and judge (b. 1928)
  • 2015 – Willer Bordon, Italian businessman, academic, and politician, Italian Minister of the Environment (b. 1949)
  • 2015 – Wolf Gremm, German director and producer (b. 1942)
  • 2015 – Masao Horiba, Japanese businessman, founded Horiba (b. 1924)
  • 2016 – Helena Benitez, Filipino politician, educator and environmentalist (b. 1914)
  • 2017 – Maryam Mirzakhani, Iranian mathematician (b. 1977)

Holidays and observances on July 14

  • Christian feast day:
    • Boniface of Savoy
    • Camillus de Lellis (Roman Catholic Church, except in the United States)
    • Deusdedit of Canterbury
    • Francis Solanus
    • Gaspar de Bono
    • Idus of Leinster
    • Kateri Tekakwitha (United States)
    • Samson Occom (Episcopal Church (United States))
    • John Keble (Church of England)
    • Libert of Saint-Trond
    • Ulrich of Zell
    • July 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Bastille Day (France and French dependencies)
  • Birthday of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, an official flag day. (Sweden)
  • Republic Day (Iraq)
  • Hondurans’ Day (Honduras)
  • Black Country Day, (United Kingdom)

July 14 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

July 12 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

  • AD 70 – The armies of Titus attack the walls of Jerusalem after a six-month siege. Three days later they breach the walls, which enables the army to destroy the Second Temple.
  • 927 – King Constantine II of Scotland, King Hywel Dda of Deheubarth, Ealdred of Bamburgh and King Owain of the Cumbrians accepted the overlordship of King Æthelstan of England, leading to seven years of peace in the north.
  • 1191 – Third Crusade: Saladin’s garrison surrenders to Philip Augustus, ending the two-year siege of Acre.
  • 1470 – The Ottomans capture Euboea.
  • 1493 – Hartmann Schedel’s Nuremberg Chronicle, one of the best-documented early printed books, is published.
  • 1527 – Lê Cung Hoàng ceded the throne to Mạc Đăng Dung, ending the Lê dynasty and starting the Mạc dynasty.
  • 1543 – King Henry VIII of England marries his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr, at Hampton Court Palace.
  • 1562 – Fray Diego de Landa, acting Bishop of Yucatán, burns the sacred books of the Maya.
  • 1576 – Mughal Empire annexes Bengal after defeating the Bengal Sultanate at the Battle of Raj Mahal.
  • 1580 – The Ostrog Bible, one of the early printed Bibles in a Slavic language, is published.
  • 1691 – Battle of Aughrim (Julian calendar): The decisive victory of William III of England’s forces in Ireland.
  • 1776 – Captain James Cook begins his third voyage.
  • 1789 – In response to the dismissal of the French finance minister Jacques Necker, the radical journalist Camille Desmoulins gives a speech which results in the storming of the Bastille two days later.
  • 1790 – The Civil Constitution of the Clergy is passed in France by the National Constituent Assembly.
  • 1799 – Ranjit Singh conquers Lahore and becomes Maharaja of the Punjab (Sikh Empire).
  • 1801 – British ships inflict heavy damage on Spanish and French ships in the Second Battle of Algeciras.
  • 1806 – At the insistence of Napoleon, Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg and thirteen minor principalities leave the Holy Roman Empire and form the Confederation of the Rhine.
  • 1812 – The American Army of the Northwest briefly occupies the Upper Canadian settlement at what is now at Windsor, Ontario.
  • 1862 – The Medal of Honor is authorized by the United States Congress.
  • 1913 – Serbian forces begin their siege of the Bulgarian city of Vidin; the siege is later called off when the war ends.
  • 1917 – The Bisbee Deportation occurs as vigilantes kidnap and deport nearly 1,300 striking miners and others from Bisbee, Arizona.
  • 1918 – The Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Kawachi blows up at Shunan, western Honshu, Japan, killing at least 621.
  • 1920 – The Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty is signed, by which Soviet Russia recognizes the independence of Lithuania.
  • 1943 – German and Soviet forces engage in one of the largest armored engagements of all time.
  • 1948 – Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion orders the expulsion of Palestinians from the towns of Lod and Ramla.
  • 1960 – Orlyonok, the main Young Pioneer camp of the Russian SFSR, is founded.
  • 1961 – Indian city Pune floods due to failure of the Khadakwasla and Panshet dams, killing at least two thousand people.
  • 1962 – The Rolling Stones perform their first concert, at London’s Marquee Club.
  • 1963 – Pauline Reade, 16, disappears in Gorton, England, the first victim in the Moors murders.
  • 1967 – Riots begin in Newark, New Jersey.
  • 1971 – The Australian Aboriginal Flag is flown for the first time.
  • 1973 – A fire destroys the entire sixth floor of the National Personnel Records Center of the United States.
  • 1975 – São Tomé and Príncipe declare independence from Portugal.
  • 1979 – The island nation of Kiribati becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
  • 1998 – The Ulster Volunteer Force attacked a house in Ballymoney, County Antrim, Northern Ireland with a petrol bomb, killing the Quinn brothers.
  • 2006 – The 2006 Lebanon War begins.
  • 2007 – U.S. Army Apache helicopters engage in airstrikes against civilians in Baghdad, Iraq; footage from the cockpit is later leaked to the Internet.
  • 2012 – Syrian Civil War: Government forces target the homes of rebels and activists in Tremseh and kill anywhere between 68 and 150 people.
  • 2012 – A tank truck explosion kills more than 100 people in Okobie, Nigeria.
  • 2013 – Six people are killed and 200 injured in a French passenger train derailment in Brétigny-sur-Orge.

Births on July 12

  • 100 BC – Julius Caesar, Roman politician and general (d. 44 BC)
  • 1394 – Ashikaga Yoshinori, Japanese shōgun (d. 1441)
  • 1468 – Juan del Encina, Spanish poet, playwright, and composer (probable; d. 1530)
  • 1477 – Jacopo Sadoleto, Italian cardinal (d. 1547)
  • 1549 – Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland (d. 1587)
  • 1628 – Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk (d. 1684)
  • 1651 – Margaret Theresa of Spain (d. 1673)
  • 1675 – Evaristo Felice Dall’Abaco, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1742)
  • 1712 – Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet, Colonial governor of New Jersey and Massachusetts Bay (d. 1779)
  • 1730 – Josiah Wedgwood, English potter, founded the Wedgwood Company (d. 1795)
  • 1803 – Peter Chanel, French priest and saint (d. 1841)
  • 1807 – Thomas Hawksley, English engineer and academic (d. 1893)
  • 1813 – Claude Bernard, French physiologist and academic (d. 1878)
  • 1817 – Henry David Thoreau, American essayist, poet, and philosopher (d. 1862)
  • 1817 – Alvin Saunders, Territorial Governor and Senator from Nebraska (d. 1899)
  • 1821 – D. H. Hill, American general and academic (d. 1889)
  • 1824 – Eugène Boudin, French painter (d. 1898)
  • 1828 – Nikolay Chernyshevsky, Russian philosopher and critic (d. 1889)
  • 1849 – William Osler, Canadian physician and author (d. 1919)
  • 1850 – Otto Schoetensack, German anthropologist and academic (d. 1912)
  • 1852 – Hipólito Yrigoyen, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 19th President of Argentina (d. 1933)
  • 1854 – George Eastman, American businessman, founded Eastman Kodak (d. 1933)
  • 1855 – Ned Hanlan, Canadian rower, academic, and businessman (d. 1908)
  • 1857 – George E. Ohr, American potter (d. 1918)
  • 1861 – Anton Arensky, Russian pianist, composer, and educator (d. 1906)
  • 1863 – Albert Calmette, French physician, bacteriologist, and immunologist (d. 1933)
  • 1863 – Paul Drude, German physicist and academic (d. 1906)
  • 1868 – Stefan George, German poet and translator (d. 1933)
  • 1870 – Louis II, Prince of Monaco (d. 1949)
  • 1872 – Emil Hácha, Czech lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Czechoslovakia (d. 1945)
  • 1876 – Max Jacob, French poet, painter, and critic (d. 1944)
  • 1876 – Alphaeus Philemon Cole, American artist, engraver and etcher (d. 1988)
  • 1878 – Peeter Põld, Estonian scientist and politician, 1st Estonian Minister of Education (d. 1930)
  • 1879 – Margherita Piazzola Beloch, Italian mathematician (d. 1976)
  • 1879 – Han Yong-un, Korean poet (d. 1944)
  • 1880 – Tod Browning, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1962)
  • 1884 – Louis B. Mayer, Russian-born American film producer, co-founded Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (d. 1957)
  • 1884 – Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1920)
  • 1886 – Jean Hersholt, Danish-American actor and director (d. 1956)
  • 1892 – Bruno Schulz, Ukrainian-Polish author and painter (d. 1942)
  • 1895 – Kirsten Flagstad, Norwegian soprano (d. 1962)
  • 1895 – Buckminster Fuller, American architect and engineer, designed the Montreal Biosphère (d. 1983)
  • 1895 – Oscar Hammerstein II, American director, producer, and songwriter (d. 1960)
  • 1899 – E.D. Nixon, American civil rights leader (d. 1987)
  • 1902 – Günther Anders, German philosopher and journalist (d. 1992)
  • 1902 – Tony Lovink, Dutch politician; Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1995)
  • 1902 – Vic Armbruster, Australian rugby league player (d. 1984)
  • 1904 – Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
  • 1907 – Weary Dunlop, Australian colonel and surgeon (d. 1993)
  • 1908 – Milton Berle, American comedian and actor (d. 2002)
  • 1908 – Alain Cuny, French actor (d. 1994)
  • 1908 – Paul Runyan, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 2002)
  • 1909 – Joe DeRita, American actor (d. 1993)
  • 1909 – Motoichi Kumagai, Japanese photographer and illustrator (d. 2010)
  • 1909 – Fritz Leonhardt, German engineer, designed Fernsehturm Stuttgart (d. 1999)
  • 1909 – Herbert Zim, American naturalist, author, and educator (d. 1994)
  • 1911 – Evald Mikson, Estonian footballer (d. 1993)
  • 1913 – Willis Lamb, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2008)
  • 1914 – Mohammad Moin, Iranian linguist and lexicographer (d. 1971)
  • 1915 – Emanuel Papper, American anesthesiologist, professor, and author (d. 2002)
  • 1915 – Princess Catherine Ivanovna of Russia, (d. 2007)
  • 1916 – Lyudmila Pavlichenko, Ukrainian-Russian soldier and sniper (d. 1974)
  • 1917 – Luigi Gorrini, Italian soldier and pilot (d. 2014)
  • 1917 – Satyendra Narayan Sinha, Indian statesman (d. 2006)
  • 1917 – Andrew Wyeth, American artist (d. 2009)
  • 1918 – Mary Glen-Haig, English fencer (d. 2014)
  • 1918 – Vivian Mason, American actress (d. 2009)
  • 1918 – Doris Grumbach, American novelist, memoirist, biographer, literary critic, and essayist
  • 1918 – Rusty Dedrick, American swing and bebop jazz trumpeter (d. 2009)
  • 1920 – Pierre Berton, Canadian journalist and author (d. 2004)
  • 1920 – Bob Fillion, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (d. 2015)
  • 1920 – Paul Gonsalves, American saxophonist (d. 1974)
  • 1920 – Randolph Quirk, Manx linguist and academic (d. 2017)
  • 1920 – Beah Richards, American actress (d. 2000)
  • 1922 – Mark Hatfield, American soldier and politician, 29th Governor of Oregon (d. 2011)
  • 1923 – James E. Gunn, American science fiction author
  • 1924 – Faidon Matthaiou, Greek basketball player and coach (d. 2011)
  • 1925 – Albert Lance, Australian-French tenor (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Roger Smith, American businessman (d. 2007)
  • 1927 – Françoys Bernier, Canadian pianist, conductor, and educator (d. 1993)
  • 1927 – Conte Candoli, American trumpet player (d. 2001)
  • 1927 – Jack Harshman, American baseball player (d. 2013)
  • 1927 – Harley Hotchkiss, Canadian businessman (d. 2011)
  • 1928 – Alastair Burnet, English journalist (d. 2012)
  • 1928 – Elias James Corey, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1928 – Imero Fiorentino, American lighting designer (d. 2013)
  • 1930 – Gordon Pinsent, Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1930 – Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, wife of the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
  • 1931 – Eric Ives, English historian and academic (d. 2012)
  • 1931 – Geeto Mongol, Canadian-American wrestler and trainer (d. 2013)
  • 1932 – Rene Goulet, Canadian retired professional wrestler (d. 2019)
  • 1932 – Monte Hellman, American director and producer
  • 1932 – Otis Davis, American sprinter
  • 1933 – Victor Poor, American engineer, developed the Datapoint 2200 (d. 2012)
  • 1933 – Donald E. Westlake, American author and screenwriter (d. 2008)
  • 1934 – Thomas Charlton, American competition rower and Olympic champion
  • 1934 – Van Cliburn, American pianist and composer (d. 2013)
  • 1935 – Satoshi Ōmura, Japanese biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1936 – Jan Němec, Czech director and screenwriter (d. 2016)
  • 1937 – Bill Cosby, American actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1937 – Mickey Edwards, American lawyer and politician
  • 1937 – Lionel Jospin, French civil servant and politician, 165th Prime Minister of France
  • 1937 – Robert McFarlane, American colonel and diplomat, 13th United States National Security Advisor
  • 1937 – Guy Woolfenden, English composer and conductor (d. 2016)
  • 1938 – Ron Fairly, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1938 – Wieger Mensonides, Dutch swimmer
  • 1938 – Eiko Ishioka, Japanese art director and graphic designer (d. 2012)
  • 1939 – Phillip Adams, Australian journalist and producer
  • 1939 – Arlen Ness, American motorcycle designer and entrepreneur
  • 1941 – Benny Parsons, American race car driver and sportscaster (d. 2007)
  • 1942 – Swamp Dogg, American R&B singer-songwriter and musician
  • 1942 – Roy Palmer, English cricketer and umpire
  • 1942 – Billy Smith, Australian rugby league player and coach
  • 1942 – Steve Young, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)
  • 1943 – Christine McVie, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1943 – Paul Silas, American basketball player and coach
  • 1944 – Simon Blackburn, English philosopher and academic
  • 1944 – Delia Ephron, American author, playwright, and screenwriter
  • 1944 – Pat Woodell, American actress and singer (d. 2015)
  • 1945 – Butch Hancock, American country-folk singer-songwriter and musician
  • 1947 – Gareth Edwards, Welsh rugby player and sportscaster
  • 1947 – Wilko Johnson, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
  • 1947 – Richard C. McCarty, American psychologist and academic
  • 1948 – Ben Burtt, American director, screenwriter, and sound designer
  • 1948 – Walter Egan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1948 – Richard Simmons, American fitness trainer and actor
  • 1949 – Simon Fox, English drummer
  • 1949 – Rick Hendrick, American businessman, founded Hendrick Motorsports
  • 1950 – Eric Carr, American drummer and songwriter (d. 1991)
  • 1950 – Gilles Meloche, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1951 – Joan Bauer, American author
  • 1951 – Brian Grazer, American screenwriter and producer, founded Imagine Entertainment
  • 1951 – Cheryl Ladd, American actress
  • 1951 – Piotr Pustelnik, Polish mountaineer
  • 1951 – Jamey Sheridan, American actor
  • 1952 – Voja Antonić, Serbian computer scientist and journalist, designed the Galaksija computer
  • 1952 – Irina Bokova, Bulgarian politician, Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1952 – Philip Taylor Kramer, American bass player (d. 1995)
  • 1954 – Eric Adams, American singer-songwriter
  • 1954 – Robert Carl, American pianist and composer
  • 1954 – Wolfgang Dremmler, German footballer and coach
  • 1955 – Timothy Garton Ash, English historian and author
  • 1955 – Jimmy LaFave, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
  • 1956 – Mel Harris, American actress
  • 1956 – Sandi Patty, American singer and pianist
  • 1956 – Mario Soto, Dominican baseball player
  • 1957 – Rick Husband, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2003)
  • 1957 – Dave Semenko, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster (d. 2017)
  • 1958 – J. D. Hayworth, American politician and radio host
  • 1958 – Tonya Lee Williams, English-Canadian actress and producer
  • 1959 – David Brown, Australian meteorologist
  • 1959 – Tupou VI, King of Tonga
  • 1959 – Karl J. Friston, English psychiatrist and neuroscientist
  • 1959 – Charlie Murphy, American actor and comedian (d. 2017)
  • 1961 – Heikko Glöde, German footballer and manager
  • 1961 – Shiva Rajkumar, Indian actor, singer, and producer
  • 1962 – Julio César Chávez, Mexican boxer
  • 1962 – Luc De Vos, Belgian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2014)
  • 1962 – Joanna Shields, American-English businesswoman
  • 1962 – Dean Wilkins, English footballer and manager
  • 1964 – Gaby Roslin, English television host and actress
  • 1965 – Sanjay Manjrekar, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
  • 1965 – Robin Wilson, American singer and guitarist
  • 1966 – Jeff Bucknum, American race car driver
  • 1966 – Annabel Croft, English tennis player and sportscaster
  • 1966 – Taiji, Japanese bass player and songwriter (d. 2011)
  • 1967 – Richard Herring, English comedian and screenwriter
  • 1967 – Mac McCaughan, American singer and guitarist
  • 1967 – John Petrucci, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1967 – Bruny Surin, Canadian sprinter
  • 1968 – Catherine Plewinski, French swimmer
  • 1969 – Lisa Nicole Carson, American actress
  • 1969 – Chantal Jouanno, French politician, French Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports
  • 1969 – Alan Mullally, English cricketer and sportscaster
  • 1969 – Anne-Sophie Pic, French chef
  • 1969 – Jesse Pintado, Mexican-American guitarist (d. 2006)
  • 1970 – Aure Atika, Portuguese-French actress, director, and screenwriter
  • 1970 – Lee Byung-hun, South Korean actor, singer, and dancer
  • 1971 – Joel Casamayor, Cuban American former professional boxer
  • 1971 – Andriy Kovalenco, Ukrainian-Spanish rugby player
  • 1971 – Loni Love, American comedian, actress, and talk show host
  • 1971 – Kristi Yamaguchi, American figure skater
  • 1972 – Travis Best, American basketball player
  • 1972 – Jake Wood, English actor
  • 1973 – Christian Vieri, Italian footballer
  • 1974 – Sharon den Adel, Dutch singer-songwriter
  • 1974 – Stelios Giannakopoulos, Greek footballer and manager
  • 1974 – Gregory Shane Helms, American professional wrestler
  • 1975 – Phil Lord, American filmmaker
  • 1976 – Dan Boyle, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1976 – Anna Friel, English actress
  • 1976 – Tracie Spencer, American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1977 – Neil Harris, English footballer and manager
  • 1977 – Steve Howey, American actor
  • 1977 – Brock Lesnar, American mixed martial artist and wrestler
  • 1977 – Francesca Lubiani, Italian tennis player
  • 1978 – Topher Grace, American actor
  • 1978 – Michelle Rodriguez, American actress
  • 1979 – Brooke Baldwin, American journalist and television news anchor
  • 1979 – Nikos Barlos, Greek basketball player
  • 1979 – Maya Kobayashi, Japanese journalist
  • 1980 – Kristen Connolly, American actress
  • 1981 – Adrienne Camp, South African singer-songwriter
  • 1981 – Pradeepan Raveendran, Sri Lankan director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1982 – Antonio Cassano, Italian footballer
  • 1984 – Gareth Gates, English singer-songwriter
  • 1984 – Jonathan Lewis, American football player
  • 1984 – Natalie Martinez, American actress
  • 1984 – Michael McGovern, Irish footballer
  • 1984 – Sami Zayn, Canadian professional wrestler
  • 1985 – Paulo Vitor Barreto, Brazilian footballer
  • 1985 – Gianluca Curci, Italian footballer
  • 1985 – Keven Lacombe, Canadian cyclist
  • 1985 – Ismael Londt, Surinamese-Dutch kickboxer
  • 1986 – 360, Australian rapper
  • 1986 – Didier Digard, French footballer
  • 1986 – Hannaliis Jaadla, Estonian footballer
  • 1986 – JP Pietersen, South African rugby player
  • 1986 – Simone Laudehr, German footballer
  • 1988 – LeSean McCoy, American football player
  • 1988 – Inbee Park, South Korean golfer
  • 1989 – Nick Palmieri, American ice hockey player
  • 1990 – Bebé, Portuguese footballer
  • 1990 – Rachel Brosnahan, American actress
  • 1990 – Chasen Shreve, American baseball player
  • 1991 – Salih Dursun, Turkish footballer
  • 1991 – James Rodríguez, Colombian footballer
  • 1992 – Bartosz Bereszyński, Polish footballer
  • 1993 – Kurt Capewell, Australian rugby league player
  • 1994 – Kanako Momota, Japanese singer-songwriter
  • 1995 – Luke Shaw, English footballer
  • 1995 – Jordyn Wieber, American gymnast
  • 1996 – Moussa Dembélé, French footballer
  • 1996 – Jordan Romero, American mountaineer
  • 1997 – Daniel Lawrence, English cricketer
  • 1997 – Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani-English activist, Nobel Prize laureate

Deaths on July 12

  • 524 – Viventiolus, archbishop of Lyon (b. 460)
  • 783 – Bertrada of Laon, Frankish queen (b. 720)
  • 965 – Meng Chang, emperor of Later Shu (b. 919)
  • 981 – Xue Juzheng, Chinese scholar-official and historian
  • 1067 – John Komnenos, Byzantine general
  • 1441 – Ashikaga Yoshinori, Japanese shōgun (b. 1394)
  • 1441 – Kyōgoku Takakazu, Japanese nobleman
  • 1489 – Bahlul Lodi, sultan of Delhi
  • 1536 – Desiderius Erasmus, Dutch priest and philosopher (b. 1466)
  • 1584 – Steven Borough, English navigator and explorer (b. 1525)
  • 1623 – William Bourchier, 3rd Earl of Bath (b. 1557)
  • 1664 – Stefano della Bella, Italian illustrator and engraver (b. 1610)
  • 1682 – Jean Picard, French priest and astronomer (b. 1620)
  • 1691 – Marquis de St Ruth, French general
  • 1693 – John Ashby, English admiral (b. 1640)
  • 1712 – Richard Cromwell, English academic and politician (b. 1626)
  • 1742 – Evaristo Felice Dall’Abaco, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1675)
  • 1749 – Charles de la Boische, Marquis de Beauharnois, French navy officer and politician, Governor General of New France (b. 1671)
  • 1773 – Johann Joachim Quantz, German flute player and composer (b. 1697)
  • 1804 – Alexander Hamilton, American general, economist, and politician, 1st United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1755)
  • 1845 – Henrik Wergeland, Norwegian linguist, poet, and playwright (b. 1808)
  • 1850 – Robert Stevenson, Scottish engineer (b. 1772)
  • 1855 – Pavel Nakhimov, Russian admiral (b. 1802)
  • 1870 – John A. Dahlgren, American admiral (b. 1809)
  • 1892 – Alexander Cartwright, American firefighter, invented baseball (b. 1820)
  • 1910 – Charles Rolls, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Rolls-Royce Limited (b. 1887)
  • 1926 – Gertrude Bell, English archaeologist and spy (b. 1868)
  • 1926 – Charles Wood Irish composer (b. 1866)
  • 1929 – Robert Henri, American painter and educator (b. 1865)
  • 1931 – Nathan Söderblom, Swedish archbishop, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1866)
  • 1934 – Ole Evinrude, Norwegian-American inventor and businessman, invented the outboard motor (b. 1877)
  • 1935 – Alfred Dreyfus, French colonel (b. 1859)
  • 1944 – Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., American general and politician, Governor of Puerto Rico (b. 1887)
  • 1945 – Boris Galerkin, Russian mathematician and engineer (b. 1871)
  • 1945 – Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen, German field marshal (b. 1895)
  • 1946 – Ray Stannard Baker, American journalist and author (b. 1870)
  • 1947 – Jimmie Lunceford, American saxophonist and bandleader (b. 1902)
  • 1949 – Douglas Hyde, Irish scholar and politician, 1st President of Ireland (b. 1860)
  • 1950 – Elsie de Wolfe, American actress, author, and interior decorator (b. 1865)
  • 1956 – John Hayes, Australian politician, 25th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1868)
  • 1961 – Mazo de la Roche, Canadian author and playwright (b. 1879)
  • 1962 – Roger Wolfe Kahn, American composer and bandleader (b. 1907)
  • 1965 – Christfried Burmeister, Estonian speed skater (b. 1898)
  • 1966 – D. T. Suzuki, Japanese philosopher and author (b. 1870)
  • 1969 – Henry George Lamond, Australian farmer and author (b. 1885)
  • 1971 – Yvon Robert, Canadian wrestler (b. 1914)
  • 1973 – Lon Chaney, Jr., American actor (b. 1906)
  • 1975 – James Ormsbee Chapin, American painter and illustrator (b. 1887)
  • 1979 – Olive Morris, Jamaican-English civil rights activist (d. 1979)
  • 1979 – Minnie Riperton, American singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
  • 1982 – Kenneth More, English actor (b. 1914)
  • 1983 – Chris Wood, English saxophonist (b. 1944)
  • 1990 – João Saldanha, Brazilian footballer, manager, and journalist (b. 1917)
  • 1992 – Caroline Pafford Miller, American journalist and author (b. 1903)
  • 1993 – Dan Eldon, English photographer and journalist (b. 1970)
  • 1994 – Eila Campbell, English geographer and cartographer (b. 1915)
  • 1996 – John Chancellor, American journalist (b. 1927)
  • 1997 – François Furet, French historian and author (b. 1927)
  • 1998 – Jimmy Driftwood, American singer-songwriter and banjo player (b. 1907)
  • 1998 – Arkady Ostashev, Soviet/Russian scientist and engineer (b. 1925)
  • 1998 – Serge Lemoyne, Canadian painter (b. 1941)
  • 1999 – Rajendra Kumar, Bollywood actor, (b. 1921)
  • 2000 – Charles Merritt, Canadian colonel and politician, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1908)
  • 2001 – Fred Marcellino, American author and illustrator (b. 1939)
  • 2003 – Benny Carter, American trumpet player, saxophonist, and composer (b. 1907)
  • 2003 – Mark Lovell, English race car driver (b. 1960)
  • 2004 – Betty Oliphant, English-Canadian ballerina, co-founded the National Ballet School of Canada (b. 1918)
  • 2005 – John King, Baron King of Wartnaby, English businessman (b. 1917)
  • 2007 – Robert Burås, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1975)
  • 2007 – Stan Zemanek, Australian radio and television host (b. 1947)
  • 2008 – Bobby Murcer, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1946)
  • 2008 – Tony Snow, American journalist, 26th White House Press Secretary (b. 1955)
  • 2010 – Olga Guillot, Cuban-American singer (b. 1922)
  • 2010 – James P. Hogan, English-American author (b. 1941)
  • 2010 – Paulo Moura, Brazilian clarinetist and saxophonist (b. 1932)
  • 2010 – Pius Njawé, Cameroonian journalist (b. 1957)
  • 2010 – Harvey Pekar, American author and critic (b. 1939)
  • 2011 – Sherwood Schwartz, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1916)
  • 2012 – Alimuddin, Pakistani cricketer (b. 1930)
  • 2012 – Dara Singh, Indian wrestler, actor, and politician (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Eddy Brown, English footballer and manager (b. 1926)
  • 2012 – Else Holmelund Minarik, Danish-American author and illustrator (b. 1920)
  • 2012 – Roger Payne, English mountaineer (b. 1956)
  • 2012 – Hamid Samandarian, Iranian director and playwright (b. 1931)
  • 2012 – George C. Stoney, American director and producer (b. 1916)
  • 2013 – Amar Bose, American businessman, founded the Bose Corporation (b. 1929)
  • 2013 – Takako Takahashi, Japanese author (b. 1932)
  • 2013 – Elaine Morgan, Welsh writer (b. 1920)
  • 2013 – Alan Whicker, Egyptian-English journalist (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Jamil Ahmad, Pakistani author (b. 1931)
  • 2014 – Nestor Basterretxea, Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Emil Bobu, Romanian politician (b. 1927)
  • 2014 – Alfred de Grazia, American political scientist and author (b. 1919)
  • 2014 – Kenneth J. Gray, American soldier and politician (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Valeriya Novodvorskaya, Russian journalist and politician (b. 1950)
  • 2015 – D’Army Bailey, American lawyer, judge, and actor (b. 1941)
  • 2015 – Chenjerai Hove, Zimbabwean journalist, author, and poet (b. 1956)
  • 2015 – Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, Tibetan monk and activist (b. 1950)
  • 2015 – Cheng Siwei, Chinese engineer, economist, and politician (b. 1935)
  • 2016 – Goran Hadžić, Serbian politician (b. 1958)
  • 2018 – Dada J. P. Vaswani, Indian spiritual leader (b. 1918)

Holidays and observances on July 12

  • Birthday of the Heir to the Crown of Tonga (Tonga)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (Eastern Orthodox)
    • Hermagoras and Fortunatus
    • Jason of Thessalonica (Catholic Church)
    • John Gualbert
    • Louis Martin and Marie-Azélie Guérin
    • Nabor and Felix
    • Nathan Söderblom (Lutheran, Episcopal Church (USA))
    • Veronica
    • Viventiolus
    • July 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Kiribati from the United Kingdom in 1979.
  • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of São Tomé and Príncipe from Portugal in 1975.
  • The second day of Naadam (Mongolia)
  • The Twelfth, also known as Orangemen’s Day (Northern Ireland, Scotland, Newfoundland and Labrador)

July 12 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

July 9- History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

  • 491 – Odoacer makes a night assault with his Heruli guardsmen, engaging Theoderic the Great in Ad Pinetam. Both sides suffer heavy losses, but in the end Theodoric forces Odoacer back into Ravenna.
  • 551 – A major earthquake strikes Beirut, triggering a devastating tsunami that affected the coastal towns of Byzantine Phoenicia, causing thousands of deaths.
  • 660 – Korean forces under general Kim Yu-sin of Silla defeat the army of Baekje in the Battle of Hwangsanbeol.
  • 869 – The 8.4–9.0 Mw  Sanriku earthquake strikes the area around Sendai in northern Honshu, Japan. Inundation from the tsunami extended several kilometers inland.
  • 969 – The Fatimid general Jawhar leads the Friday prayer in Fustat in the name of Caliph al-Mu’izz li-Din Allah, thereby symbolically completing the Fatimid conquest of Egypt.
  • 1357 – Emperor Charles IV assists in laying the foundation stone of Charles Bridge in Prague.
  • 1386 – The Old Swiss Confederacy makes great strides in establishing control over its territory by soundly defeating the Archduchy of Austria in the Battle of Sempach.
  • 1401 – Timur attacks the Jalairid Sultanate and destroys Baghdad.
  • 1540 – King Henry VIII of England annuls his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.
  • 1572 – Nineteen Catholics suffer martyrdom for their beliefs in the Dutch town of Gorkum.
  • 1609 – Bohemia is granted freedom of religion through the Letter of Majesty by the Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II.
  • 1701 – A Bourbon force under Nicolas Catinat withdraws from a smaller Habsburg force under Prince Eugene of Savoy in the Battle of Carpi.
  • 1745 – French victory in the Battle of Melle allows them to capture Ghent in the days after.
  • 1755 – The Braddock Expedition is soundly defeated by a smaller French and Native American force in its attempt to capture Fort Duquesne in what is now downtown Pittsburgh.
  • 1762 – Catherine the Great becomes Empress of Russia following the coup against her husband, Peter III.
  • 1776 – George Washington orders the Declaration of Independence to be read out to members of the Continental Army in Manhattan, while thousands of British troops on Staten Island prepare for the Battle of Long Island.
  • 1789 – In Versailles, the National Assembly reconstitutes itself as the National Constituent Assembly and begins preparations for a French constitution.
  • 1790 – The Swedish Navy captures one third of the Russian Baltic fleet.
  • 1793 – The Act Against Slavery in Upper Canada bans the importation of slaves and will free those who are born into slavery after the passage of the Act at 25 years of age.
  • 1807 – The Treaties of Tilsit are signed by Napoleon I of France and Alexander I of Russia.
  • 1810 – Napoleon annexes the Kingdom of Holland as part of the First French Empire.
  • 1811 – Explorer David Thompson posts a sign near what is now Sacajawea State Park in Washington state, claiming the Columbia District for the United Kingdom.
  • 1815 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord becomes the first Prime Minister of France.
  • 1816 – Argentina declares independence from Spain.
  • 1821 – Four hundred and seventy prominent Cypriots including Archbishop Kyprianos are executed in response to Cypriot aid to the Greek War of Independence.
  • 1850 – U.S. President Zachary Taylor dies after eating raw fruit and iced milk; he is succeeded in office by Vice President Millard Fillmore.
  • 1850 – Persian prophet Báb is executed in Tabriz, Persia.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: The Siege of Port Hudson ends, giving the Union complete control of the Mississippi River.
  • 1868 – The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing African Americans full citizenship and all persons in the United States due process of law.
  • 1875 – The Herzegovina Uprising against Ottoman rule begins, which would last until 1878 and have far-reaching implications throughout the Balkans.
  • 1877 – The inaugural Wimbledon Championships begins.
  • 1893 – Daniel Hale Williams, American heart surgeon, performs the first successful open-heart surgery in United States without anesthesia.
  • 1896 – William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of Gold speech advocating bimetallism at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
  • 1900 – The Federation of Australia is given royal assent.
  • 1900 – The Governor of Shanxi province in North China orders the execution of 45 foreign Christian missionaries and local church members, including children.
  • 1918 – In Nashville, Tennessee, an inbound local train collides with an outbound express, killing 101 and injuring 171 people, making it the deadliest rail accident in United States history.
  • 1922 – Johnny Weissmuller swims the 100 meters freestyle in 58.6 seconds breaking the world swimming record and the ‘minute barrier’.
  • 1932 – The state of São Paulo revolts against the Brazilian Federal Government, starting the Constitutionalist Revolution.
  • 1937 – The silent film archives of Fox Film Corporation are destroyed by the 1937 Fox vault fire.
  • 1943 – World War II: The Allied invasion of Sicily soon causes the downfall of Mussolini and forces Hitler to break off the Battle of Kursk.
  • 1944 – World War II: American forces take Saipan, bringing the Japanese archipelago within range of B-29 raids, and causing the downfall of the Tojo government.
  • 1944 – World War II: Continuation War: Finland wins the Battle of Tali-Ihantala, the largest battle ever fought in northern Europe. The Red Army withdraws its troops from Ihantala and digs into a defensive position, thus ending the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive.
  • 1955 – The Russell–Einstein Manifesto calls for a reduction of the risk of nuclear warfare.
  • 1956 – The 7.7 Mw  Amorgos earthquake shakes the Cyclades island group in the Aegean Sea with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The shaking and the destructive tsunami that followed left fifty-three people dead. A damaging M7.2 aftershock occurred minutes after the mainshock.
  • 1958 – A 7.8 Mw  strike-slip earthquake in Alaska causes a landslide that produces a megatsunami. The runup from the waves reached 525 m (1,722 ft) on the rim of Lituya Bay; five people were killed.
  • 1962 – Starfish Prime tests the effects of a nuclear test at orbital altitudes.
  • 1979 – A car bomb destroys a Renault motor car owned by “Nazi hunters” Serge and Beate Klarsfeld outside their home in France in an unsuccessful assassination attempt.
  • 1982 – Pan Am Flight 759 crashes in Kenner, Louisiana, killing all 145 people on board and eight others on the ground.
  • 1986 – The New Zealand Parliament passes the Homosexual Law Reform Act legalising homosexuality in New Zealand.
  • 1993 – The Parliament of Canada passes the Nunavut Act leading to the 1999 creation of Nunavut, dividing the Northwest Territories into arctic (Inuit) and sub-arctic (Dene) lands based on a plebiscite.
  • 1995 – The Navaly church bombing is carried out by the Sri Lanka Air Force killing 125 Tamil civilian refugees.
  • 1999 – Days of student protests begin after Iranian police and hardliners attack a student dormitory at the University of Tehran.
  • 2002 – The African Union is established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, replacing the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The organization’s first chairman is Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa.
  • 2006 – One hundred and twenty-five people are killed when S7 Airlines Flight 778, an Airbus A310 passenger jet, veers off the runway while landing in wet conditions at Irkutsk Airport in Siberia.
  • 2011 – South Sudan gains independence and secedes from Sudan.

Births on July 9

  • 1249 – Emperor Kameyama of Japan (d. 1305)
  • 1455 – Frederick IV of Baden, Dutch bishop (d. 1517)
  • 1511 – Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg (d. 1571)
  • 1526 – Elizabeth of Austria, Polish noble (d. 1545)
  • 1577 – Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, English-American soldier and politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (d. 1618)
  • 1578 – Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1637)
  • 1654 – Emperor Reigen of Japan (d. 1732)
  • 1686 – Philip Livingston, American merchant and politician (d. 1749)
  • 1689 – Alexis Piron, French epigrammatist and playwright (d. 1773)
  • 1721 – Johann Nikolaus Götz, German poet and author (d. 1781)
  • 1753 – William Waldegrave, 1st Baron Radstock, English admiral and politician, 34th Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1825)
  • 1764 – Ann Ward, English author and poet (d. 1823)
  • 1775 – Matthew Lewis, English author and playwright (d. 1818)
  • 1800 – Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle, German physician, pathologist, and anatomist (d. 1885)
  • 1808 – Alexander William Doniphan, American lawyer and colonel (d. 1887)
  • 1819 – Elias Howe, American inventor, invented the sewing machine (d. 1867)
  • 1825 – A. C. Gibbs, American lawyer and politician, 2nd Governor of Oregon (d. 1886)
  • 1828 – Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano, Italian cardinal (d. 1913)
  • 1834 – Jan Neruda, Czech journalist and poet (d. 1891)
  • 1836 – Camille of Renesse-Breidbach (d. 1904)
  • 1848 – Robert I, Duke of Parma (d. 1907)
  • 1853 – William Turner Dannat, American painter (d. 1929)
  • 1856 – John Verran, English-Australian politician, 26th Premier of South Australia (d. 1932)
  • 1858 – Franz Boas, German-American anthropologist and linguist (d. 1942)
  • 1867 – Georges Lecomte, French author and playwright (d. 1958)
  • 1879 – Carlos Chagas, Brazilian physician and parasitologist (d. 1934)
  • 1879 – Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer and conductor (d. 1936)
  • 1887 – James Ormsbee Chapin, American-Canadian painter and illustrator (d. 1975)
  • 1887 – Saturnino Herrán, Mexican painter (d. 1918)
  • 1887 – Samuel Eliot Morison, American admiral and historian (d. 1976)
  • 1889 – Léo Dandurand, American-Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and referee (d. 1964)
  • 1893 – George Geary, English cricketer and coach (d. 1981)
  • 1901 – Barbara Cartland, prolific English author (d. 2000)
  • 1902 – Peter Acland, English soldier (d. 1993)
  • 1905 – Clarence Campbell, Canadian ice hockey player and referee (d. 1984)
  • 1907 – Eddie Dean, American singer-songwriter (d. 1999)
  • 1908 – Allamah Rasheed Turabi, Pakistani philosopher and scholar (d. 1973)
  • 1908 – Minor White, American photographer, critic, and educator (d. 1976)
  • 1909 – Basil Wolverton, American author and illustrator (d. 1978)
  • 1910 – Govan Mbeki, South African anti-apartheid and ANC leader and activist (d. 2001)
  • 1911 – Mervyn Peake, English author and illustrator (d. 1968)
  • 1911 – John Archibald Wheeler, American physicist and author (d. 2008)
  • 1914 – Willi Stoph, German engineer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of East Germany (d. 1999)
  • 1914 – Mac Wilson, Australian rules footballer (d. 2017)
  • 1915 – David Diamond, American composer and educator (d. 2005)
  • 1915 – Lee Embree, American sergeant and photographer (d. 2008)
  • 1916 – Dean Goffin, New Zealand composer (d. 1984)
  • 1916 – Edward Heath, English colonel and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 2005)
  • 1917 – Krystyna Dańko, Polish orphan, survivor of Holocaust (d. 2019)
  • 1918 – Nicolaas Govert de Bruijn, Dutch mathematician and academic (d. 2012)
  • 1918 – Jarl Wahlström, Finnish 12th General of The Salvation Army (d. 1999)
  • 1921 – David C. Jones, American general (d. 2013)
  • 1922 – Angelines Fernández, Spanish-Mexican actress (d. 1994)
  • 1922 – Jim Pollard, American basketball player and coach (d. 1993)
  • 1924 – Pierre Cochereau, French organist and composer (d. 1984)
  • 1925 – Guru Dutt, Indian actor, director, and producer (d. 1964)
  • 1925 – Charles E. Wicks, American engineer, author, and academic (d. 2010)
  • 1925 – Ronald I. Spiers, American ambassador
  • 1926 – Murphy Anderson, American illustrator (d. 2015)
  • 1926 – Ben Roy Mottelson, American-Danish physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1926 – Pedro Dellacha, Argentine football defender and coach (d. 2010)
  • 1926 – Mathilde Krim, Italian-American medical researcher and health educator (d. 2018)
  • 1927 – Ed Ames, American singer and actor
  • 1927 – Red Kelly, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and politician (d. 2019)
  • 1928 – Federico Bahamontes, Spanish cyclist
  • 1928 – Vince Edwards, American actor, singer, and director (d. 1996)
  • 1929 – Lee Hazlewood, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2007)
  • 1929 – Jesse McReynolds, American singer and mandolin player
  • 1929 – Chi Haotian, Chinese general
  • 1929 – Hassan II of Morocco (d. 1999)
  • 1930 – K. Balachander, Indian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
  • 1930 – Buddy Bregman, American composer and conductor (d. 2017)
  • 1930 – Janice Lourie, American computer scientist and graphic artist
  • 1930 – Elsa Lystad, Norwegian actress
  • 1930 – Roy McLean, South African cricketer and rugby player (d. 2007)
  • 1931 – Haynes Johnson, American journalist and author (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Sylvia Bacon, American judge
  • 1932 – Donald Rumsfeld, American captain and politician, 13th United States Secretary of Defense
  • 1932 – Amitzur Shapira, Israeli sprinter and long jumper (d. 1972)
  • 1933 – Oliver Sacks, English-American neurologist, author, and academic (d. 2015)
  • 1934 – Michael Graves, American architect, designed the Portland Building and the Humana Building (d. 2015)
  • 1935 – Wim Duisenberg, Dutch economist and politician, Dutch Minister of Finance (d. 2005)
  • 1935 – Mercedes Sosa, Argentinian singer and activist (d. 2009)
  • 1935 – Michael Williams, English actor (d. 2001)
  • 1936 – June Jordan, American poet and educator (d. 2002)
  • 1936 – David Zinman, American violinist and conductor
  • 1937 – David Hockney, English painter and photographer
  • 1938 – Brian Dennehy, American actor (d. 2020)
  • 1938 – Sanjeev Kumar, Indian film actor (d. 1985)
  • 1940 – David B. Frohnmayer, American lawyer and politician, 12th Oregon Attorney General (d. 2015)
  • 1940 – Eugene Victor Wolfenstein, American psychoanalyst and theorist (d. 2010)
  • 1941 – Mac MacLeod, English musician
  • 1942 – David Chidgey, Baron Chidgey, English engineer and politician
  • 1942 – Richard Roundtree, American actor
  • 1943 – John Casper, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1944 – Judith M. Brown, Indian-English historian and academic
  • 1944 – John Cunniff, American ice hockey player and coach (d. 2002)
  • 1945 – Dean Koontz, American author and screenwriter
  • 1945 – Root Boy Slim, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1993)
  • 1946 – Bon Scott, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter (d. 1980)
  • 1947 – Haruomi Hosono, Japanese singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
  • 1947 – Mitch Mitchell, English drummer (d. 2008)
  • 1947 – O. J. Simpson, American football player and actor
  • 1947 – Patrick Wormald, English historian (d. 2004)
  • 1948 – Hassan Wirajuda, Indonesian lawyer and politician, 15th Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1949 – Raoul Cédras, Haitian military officer and politician
  • 1950 – Amal ibn Idris al-Alami, Moroccan physician and neurosurgeon
  • 1950 – Adriano Panatta, Italian tennis player and sailor
  • 1950 – Viktor Yanukovych, Ukrainian engineer and politician, 4th President of Ukraine
  • 1951 – Chris Cooper, American actor
  • 1951 – Māris Gailis, Latvian politician, businessman, and former Prime Minister of Latvia
  • 1952 – John Tesh, American pianist, composer, and radio and television host
  • 1953 – Margie Gillis, Canadian dancer and choreographer
  • 1953 – Thomas Ligotti, American author
  • 1954 – Théophile Abega, Cameroonian footballer and politician (d. 2012)
  • 1954 – Kevin O’Leary, Canadian journalist and businessman
  • 1955 – Steve Coppell, English footballer and manager
  • 1955 – Lindsey Graham, American colonel, lawyer, and politician
  • 1955 – Jimmy Smits, American actor and producer
  • 1955 – Willie Wilson, American baseball player and manager
  • 1956 – Tom Hanks, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1956 – Michael Lederer, American author, poet, and playwright
  • 1957 – Marc Almond, English singer-songwriter
  • 1957 – Tim Kring, American screenwriter and producer
  • 1957 – Kelly McGillis, American actress
  • 1957 – Paul Merton, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter
  • 1958 – Abdul Latiff Ahmad, Malaysian politician
  • 1958 – Jacob Joseph, Malaysian football coach
  • 1959 – Jim Kerr, Scottish singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1959 – Kevin Nash, American wrestler
  • 1959 – Clive Stafford Smith, English lawyer and author
  • 1960 – Yūko Asano, Japanese actress and singer
  • 1960 – Wally Fullerton Smith, Australian rugby league player
  • 1960 – Eduardo Montes-Bradley, Argentinian journalist, photographer, and author
  • 1963 – Klaus Theiss, German footballer
  • 1964 – Courtney Love, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
  • 1964 – Gianluca Vialli, Italian footballer and coach
  • 1965 – Frank Bello, American bass player
  • 1965 – Thomas Jahn, German director and screenwriter
  • 1965 – Jason Rhoades, American sculptor (d. 2006)
  • 1966 – Pamela Adlon, American actress and voice artist
  • 1966 – Zheng Cao, Chinese-American soprano and actress (d. 2013)
  • 1966 – Gary Glasberg, American television writer and producer (d. 2016)
  • 1966 – Marco Pennette, American screenwriter and producer
  • 1967 – Gunnar Axén, Swedish politician
  • 1967 – Yordan Letchkov, Bulgarian footballer
  • 1967 – Mark Stoops, American football player and coach
  • 1968 – Paolo Di Canio, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1968 – Lars Gyllenhaal, Swedish historian and author
  • 1969 – Nicklas Barker, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1969 – Jason Kearton, Australian footballer and coach
  • 1970 – Trent Green, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1970 – Masami Tsuda, Japanese author and illustrator
  • 1971 – Marc Andreessen, American software developer, co-founded Netscape
  • 1972 – Ara Babajian, American drummer and songwriter
  • 1973 – Kelly Holcomb, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1974 – Siân Berry, English environmentalist and politician
  • 1974 – Ian Bradshaw, Barbadian cricketer
  • 1974 – Gary Kelly, Irish footballer
  • 1974 – Nikola Šarčević, Swedish singer-songwriter and bass player
  • 1975 – Shelton Benjamin, American wrestler
  • 1975 – Isaac Brock, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1975 – Robert Koenig, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1975 – Craig Quinnell, Welsh rugby player
  • 1975 – Jack White, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1976 – Thomas Cichon, Polish-German footballer and manager
  • 1976 – Fred Savage, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1976 – Radike Samo, Fijian-Australian rugby player
  • 1978 – Kara Goucher, American runner
  • 1978 – Nuno Santos, Portuguese footballer
  • 1979 – Gary Chaw, Malaysian Chinese singer-songwriter
  • 1981 – Lee Chun-soo, South Korean footballer
  • 1981 – Junauda Petrus, American author and performance artist
  • 1982 – Alecko Eskandarian, American soccer player and manager
  • 1982 – Sakon Yamamoto, Japanese race car driver
  • 1984 – Chris Campoli, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1984 – Gianni Fabiano, Italian footballer
  • 1984 – Jacob Hoggard, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1984 – Ave Pajo, Estonian footballer
  • 1984 – Piia Suomalainen, Finnish tennis player
  • 1984 – LA Tenorio, Filipino basketball player
  • 1985 – Paweł Korzeniowski, Polish swimmer
  • 1985 – Ashley Young, English footballer
  • 1986 – Sébastien Bassong, Cameroonian footballer
  • 1986 – Simon Dumont, American skier
  • 1986 – Kiely Williams, American singer-songwriter and dancer
  • 1987 – Gert Jõeäär, Estonian cyclist
  • 1987 – Rebecca Sugar, American animator, composer, and screenwriter
  • 1988 – Raul Rusescu, Romanian footballer
  • 1990 – Earl Bamber, New Zealand race car driver
  • 1990 – Fábio, Brazilian footballer
  • 1990 – Rafael, Brazilian footballer
  • 1991 – Mitchel Musso, American actor and singer
  • 1993 – Mitch Larkin, Australian swimmer
  • 1993 – DeAndre Yedlin, American footballer
  • 1999 – Claire Corlett, American voice actress

Deaths on July 9

  • 230 – Empress Dowager Bian, Cao Cao’s wife (b. 159)
  • 518 – Anastasius I Dicorus, Byzantine emperor (b. 430)
  • 715 – Naga, Japanese prince
  • 880 – Ariwara no Narihira, Japanese poet (b. 825)
  • 981 – Ramiro Garcés, king of Viguera
  • 1169 – Guido of Ravenna, Italian cartographer, entomologist and historian
  • 1228 – Stephen Langton, English cardinal and theologian (b. 1150)
  • 1270 – Stephen Báncsa, Hungarian cardinal (b. c. 1205)
  • 1386 – Leopold III, Duke of Austria (b. 1351)
  • 1441 – Jan van Eyck, Dutch painter
  • 1546 – Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell, Scottish statesman (b. c. 1493)
  • 1553 – Maurice, Elector of Saxony (b. 1521)
  • 1654 – Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans (b. 1633)
  • 1706 – Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville, Canadian captain and explorer (b. 1661)
  • 1737 – Gian Gastone de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1671)
  • 1742 – John Oldmixon, English historian, poet, and playwright (b. 1673)
  • 1746 – Philip V of Spain (b. 1683)
  • 1747 – Giovanni Bononcini, Italian cellist and composer (b. 1670)
  • 1766 – Jonathan Mayhew, American minister (b. 1720)
  • 1795 – Henry Seymour Conway, English general and politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (b. 1721)
  • 1797 – Edmund Burke, Irish-English philosopher, academic, and politician (b. 1729)
  • 1828 – Cathinka Buchwieser, German operatic singer and actress (b. 1789)
  • 1850 – Báb, Persian religious leader, founded Bábism (b. 1819)
  • 1850 – Zachary Taylor, American general and politician, 12th President of the United States (b. 1784)
  • 1852 – Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan, American lawyer and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1794)
  • 1856 – Amedeo Avogadro, Italian chemist and academic (b. 1776)
  • 1856 – James Strang, American religious leader and politician (b. 1813)
  • 1880 – Paul Broca, French physician and anatomist (b. 1824)
  • 1882 – Ignacio Carrera Pinto, Chilean captain (b. 1848)
  • 1903 – Alphonse François Renard, Belgian geologist and photographer (b. 1842)
  • 1927 – John Drew, Jr., American actor (b. 1853)
  • 1932 – King Camp Gillette, American businessman, founded the Gillette Company (b. 1855)
  • 1937 – Oliver Law, American commander (b. 1899)
  • 1938 – Benjamin N. Cardozo, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1870)
  • 1947 – Lucjan Żeligowski, Polish-Lithuanian general and politician (b. 1865)
  • 1949 – Fritz Hart, English-Australian composer and conductor (b. 1874)
  • 1951 – Harry Heilmann, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1894)
  • 1955 – Don Beauman, English race car driver (b. 1928)
  • 1955 – Adolfo de la Huerta, Mexican politician and provisional president, 1920 (b. 1881)
  • 1959 – Ferenc Talányi, Slovene journalist and painter (b. 1883)
  • 1962 – Georges Bataille, French philosopher, novelist, and poet (b. 1897)
  • 1961 – Whittaker Chambers, American spy and witness in Hiss case(b. 1901)
  • 1967 – Eugen Fischer, German physician and academic (b. 1874)
  • 1967 – Fatima Jinnah, Pakistani dentist and politician (b. 1893)
  • 1970 – Sigrid Holmquist, Swedish actress (b. 1899)
  • 1971 – Karl Ast, Estonian author and politician (b. 1886)
  • 1972 – Robert Weede, American opera singer (b. 1903)
  • 1974 – Earl Warren, American jurist and politician, 14th Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1891)
  • 1977 – Alice Paul, American activist (b. 1885)
  • 1979 – Cornelia Otis Skinner, American actress and author (b. 1899)
  • 1980 – Vinicius de Moraes, Brazilian poet, playwright, and composer (b. 1913)
  • 1984 – Edna Ernestine Kramer, American mathematician (b. 1902)
  • 1985 – Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (b. 1896)
  • 1985 – Jimmy Kinnon, Scottish-American activist, founded Narcotics Anonymous (b. 1911)
  • 1986 – Patriarch Nicholas VI of Alexandria (b. 1915)
  • 1992 – Kelvin Coe, Australian ballet dancer (b. 1946)
  • 1992 – Eric Sevareid, American journalist (b. 1912)
  • 1993 – Metin Altıok, Turkish poet and educator (b. 1940)
  • 1994 – Bill Mosienko, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1921)
  • 1996 – Melvin Belli, American lawyer (b. 1907)
  • 1999 – Robert de Cotret, Canadian politician, 56th Secretary of State for Canada (b. 1944)
  • 2000 – Doug Fisher, English actor (b. 1941)
  • 2002 – Mayo Kaan, American bodybuilder (b. 1914)
  • 2002 – Rod Steiger, American actor (b. 1925)
  • 2004 – Paul Klebnikov, American journalist and historian (b. 1963)
  • 2004 – Isabel Sanford, American actress (b. 1917)
  • 2005 – Chuck Cadman, Canadian engineer and politician (b. 1948)
  • 2005 – Yevgeny Grishin, Russian speed skater (b. 1931)
  • 2005 – Alex Shibicky, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1914)
  • 2006 – Milan Williams, American keyboard player and producer (b. 1948)
  • 2007 – Charles Lane, American actor (b. 1905)
  • 2008 – Séamus Brennan, Irish accountant and politician, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (b. 1948)
  • 2010 – Jessica Anderson, Australian author and playwright (b. 1916)
  • 2011 – Don Ackerman, American basketball player (b. 1930)
  • 2011 – Facundo Cabral, Argentinian singer-songwriter (b. 1937)
  • 2012 – Shin Jae-chul, South Korean-American martial artist (b. 1936)
  • 2012 – Chick King, American baseball player (b. 1930)
  • 2012 – Terepai Maoate, Cook Islander physician and politician, 6th Prime Minister of the Cook Islands (b. 1934)
  • 2012 – Eugênio Sales, Brazilian cardinal (b. 1920)
  • 2013 – Markus Büchel, Liechtensteiner politician, 9th Prime Minister of Liechtenstein (b. 1959)
  • 2013 – Andrew Nori, Solomon lawyer and politician (b. 1952)
  • 2013 – Kiril of Varna, Bulgarian metropolitan (b. 1954)
  • 2013 – Barbara Robinson, American author and poet (b. 1927)
  • 2013 – Toshi Seeger, American activist, co-founded the Clearwater Festival (b. 1922)
  • 2014 – Lorenzo Álvarez Florentín, Paraguayan violinist and composer (b. 1926)
  • 2014 – David Azrieli, Polish-Canadian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1922)
  • 2014 – Eileen Ford, American businesswoman, co-founded Ford Models (b. 1922)
  • 2014 – John Spinks, English guitarist and songwriter (b. 1953)
  • 2015 – Christian Audigier, French fashion designer (b. 1958)
  • 2015 – Saud bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabian economist and politician, Saudi Arabian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1940)
  • 2019 – William E. Dannemeyer, American politician (b. 1929)
  • 2019 – Ross Perot, American businessman and politician (b. 1930)
  • 2019 – Fernando de la Rúa, 43rd President of Argentina (b. 1937)
  • 2019 – Rip Torn, American actor (b. 1931)
  • 2019 – Freddie Jones, English actor (b. 1927)

Holidays and observances on July 9

  • Arbor Day (Cambodia)
  • Christian Feast Day:
    • Agilulfus of Cologne
    • Amandina of Schakkebroek (one of Martyrs of Southern Hunan)
    • Blessed Marija Petković
    • Everilda
    • Gregorio Grassi (one of Martyrs of Shanxi)
    • Martyr Saints of China
    • Martyrs of Gorkum
    • Our Lady of Itatí
    • Our Lady of Peace, Octave of the Visitation
    • Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá
    • Pauline of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus
    • Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury (Anglican commemoration)
    • Veronica Giuliani
    • July 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Constitution Day (Australia)
  • Constitution Day (Palau)
  • Constitutionalist Revolution Day (São Paulo)
  • Day of the Employees of the Diplomatic Service (Azerbaijan)
  • Earliest day on which Martyrdom of the Báb can fall, while July 10 is the latest; observed on the 17th of Raḥmat (Bahá’í Faith)
  • Independence Day, celebrates the declaration of independence of the United Provinces of South America by the Congress of Tucumán in 1816. (Argentina)
  • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of South Sudan from Sudan in 2011.
  • Nunavut Day (Nunavut)

July 9- History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

July 4 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

The Aphelion, the point in the year when the Earth is farthest from the Sun, occurs around this date.

July 4 in History

  • 362 BC – Battle of Mantinea: The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans.
  • 414 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and proclaimed herself empress (Augusta) of the Eastern Roman Empire.
  • 836 – Pactum Sicardi, a peace treaty between the Principality of Benevento and the Duchy of Naples, is signed.
  • 993 – Ulrich of Augsburg is canonized as a saint.
  • 1054 – A supernova, called SN 1054, is seen by Chinese Song dynasty, Arab, and possibly Amerindian observers near the star Zeta Tauri. For several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day. Its remnants form the Crab Nebula.
  • 1120 – Jordan II of Capua is anointed as prince after his infant nephew’s death.
  • 1187 – The Crusades: Battle of Hattin: Saladin defeats Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem.
  • 1253 – Battle of West-Capelle: John I of Avesnes defeats Guy of Dampierre.
  • 1359 – Francesco II Ordelaffi of Forlì surrenders to the Papal commander Gil de Albornoz.
  • 1456 – Ottoman–Hungarian wars: The Siege of Nándorfehérvár (Belgrade) begins.
  • 1534 – Christian III is elected King of Denmark and Norway in the town of Rye.
  • 1584 – Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe arrive at Roanoke Island
  • 1610 – The Battle of Klushino is fought between forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia during the Polish–Muscovite War.
  • 1634 – The city of Trois-Rivières is founded in New France (now Quebec, Canada).
  • 1744 – The Treaty of Lancaster, in which the Iroquois cede lands between the Allegheny Mountains and the Ohio River to the British colonies, was signed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
  • 1774 – Orangetown Resolutions are adopted in the Province of New York, one of many protests against the British Parliament’s Coercive Acts.
  • 1776 – American Revolution: The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress.
  • 1778 – American Revolutionary War: U.S. forces under George Clark capture Kaskaskia during the Illinois campaign.
  • 1802 – At West Point, New York, the United States Military Academy opens.
  • 1803 – The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American people.
  • 1817 – In Rome, New York, construction on the Erie Canal begins.
  • 1826 – John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, respectively the second and third presidents of the United States, die the same day, on the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence. Adams’ last words were, “Thomas Jefferson survives.”
  • 1827 – Slavery is abolished in the State of New York.
  • 1831 – Samuel Francis Smith writes “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” for the Boston, Massachusetts July 4 festivities.
  • 1837 – Grand Junction Railway, the world’s first long-distance railway, opens between Birmingham and Liverpool.
  • 1838 – The Iowa Territory is organized.
  • 1845 – Henry David Thoreau moves into a small cabin on Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau’s account of his two years there, Walden, will become a touchstone of the environmental movement.
  • 1855 – The first edition of Walt Whitman’s book of poems, Leaves of Grass, is published In Brooklyn.
  • 1862 – Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell a story that would grow into Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and its sequels.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: Siege of Vicksburg: Vicksburg, Mississippi surrenders to U.S. forces under Ulysses S. Grant after 47 days of siege. One hundred fifty miles up the Mississippi River, a Confederate army is repulsed at the Battle of Helena, Arkansas.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: The Army of Northern Virginia withdraws from the battlefield after losing the Battle of Gettysburg, signalling an end to the Confederate invasion of U.S. territory.
  • 1879 – Anglo-Zulu War: The Zululand capital of Ulundi is captured by British troops and burned to the ground, ending the war and forcing King Cetshwayo to flee.
  • 1881 – In Alabama, the Tuskegee Institute opens.
  • 1886 – The Canadian Pacific Railway’s first scheduled train from Montreal arrives in Port Moody on the Pacific coast, after six days of travel.
  • 1887 – The founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, joins Sindh-Madrasa-tul-Islam, Karachi.
  • 1892 – Western Samoa changes the International Date Line, causing Monday (July 4) to occur twice, resulting in a year with 367 days.
  • 1894 – The short-lived Republic of Hawaii is proclaimed by Sanford B. Dole.
  • 1898 – En route from New York to Le Havre, the SS La Bourgogne collides with another ship and sinks off the coast of Sable Island, with the loss of 549 lives.
  • 1901 – William Howard Taft becomes American governor of the Philippines.
  • 1903 – The Philippine–American War is officially concluded.
  • 1910 – The Johnson–Jeffries riots occur after African-American boxer Jack Johnson knocks out white boxer Jim Jeffries in the 15th round. Between 11 and 26 people are killed and hundreds more injured.
  • 1911 – A massive heat wave strikes the northeastern United States, killing 380 people in eleven days and breaking temperature records in several cities.
  • 1913 – President Woodrow Wilson addresses American Civil War veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913.
  • 1914 – The funeral of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie takes place in Vienna, six days after their assassinations in Sarajevo.
  • 1918 – Mehmed V died at the age of 73 and Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI ascends to the throne.
  • 1918 – World War I: The Battle of Hamel, a successful attack by the Australian Corps against German positions near the town of Le Hamel on the Western Front.
  • 1918 – Bolsheviks kill Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family (Julian calendar date).
  • 1927 – First flight of the Lockheed Vega.
  • 1939 – Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, informs a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he considers himself “The luckiest man on the face of the earth”, then announces his retirement from major league baseball.
  • 1941 – Nazi crimes against the Polish nation: Nazi troops massacre Polish scientists and writers in the captured Ukrainian city of Lviv.
  • 1941 – World War II: The Burning of the Riga synagogues: The Great Choral Synagogue in German occupied Riga is burnt with 300 Jews locked in the basement.
  • 1942 – World War II: The 250-day Siege of Sevastopol in the Crimea ends when the city falls to Axis forces.
  • 1943 – World War II: The Battle of Kursk, the largest full-scale battle in history and the world’s largest tank battle, begins in the village of Prokhorovka.
  • 1943 – World War II: In Gibraltar, a Royal Air Force B-24 Liberator bomber crashes into the sea in an apparent accident moments after takeoff, killing sixteen passengers on board, including general Władysław Sikorski, the commander-in-chief of the Polish Army and the Prime Minister of the Polish government-in-exile; only the pilot survives.
  • 1946 – The Kielce pogrom against Jewish Holocaust survivors in Poland.
  • 1946 – After 381 years of near-continuous colonial rule by various powers, the Philippines attains full independence from the United States.
  • 1947 – The “Indian Independence Bill” is presented before the British House of Commons, proposing the independence of the Provinces of British India into two sovereign countries: India and Pakistan.
  • 1950 – Cold War: Radio Free Europe first broadcasts.
  • 1951 – Cold War: A court in Czechoslovakia sentences American journalist William N. Oatis to ten years in prison on charges of espionage.
  • 1951 – William Shockley announces the invention of the junction transistor.
  • 1954 – Rationing ends in the United Kingdom.
  • 1960 – Due to the post-Independence Day admission of Hawaii as the 50th U.S. state on August 21, 1959, the 50-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, almost ten and a half months later (see Flag Acts (United States)).
  • 1961 – On its maiden voyage, the Soviet nuclear-powered submarine K-19 suffers a complete loss of coolant to its reactor. The crew are able to effect repairs, but 22 of them die of radiation poisoning over the following two years.
  • 1966 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into United States law. The act went into effect the next year.
  • 1976 – Israeli commandos raid Entebbe airport in Uganda, rescuing all but four of the passengers and crew of an Air France jetliner seized by Palestinian terrorists.
  • 1976 – The U.S. celebrates its Bicentennial.
  • 1977 – The George Jackson Brigade plants a bomb at the main power substation for the Washington state capitol in Olympia, in solidarity with a prison strike at the Walla Walla State Penitentiary Intensive Security Unit.
  • 1982 – Three Iranian diplomats and a journalist are kidnapped in Lebanon by Phalange forces, and their fate remains unknown.
  • 1987 – In France, former Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (a.k.a. the “Butcher of Lyon”) is convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment.
  • 1994 – Rwandan genocide: Kigali, the Rwandan capital, is captured by the Rwandan Patriotic Front, ending the genocide in the city.
  • 1997 – NASA’s Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.
  • 1998 – Japan launches the Nozomi probe to Mars, joining the United States and Russia as a space exploring nation.
  • 2001 – Vladivostock Air Flight 352 crashes on approach to Irkutsk Airport killing all 145 people on board.
  • 2004 – The cornerstone of the Freedom Tower is laid on the World Trade Center site in New York City.
  • 2004 – Greece beats Portugal in the UEFA Euro 2004 Final and becomes European Champion for first time in its history.
  • 2005 – The Deep Impact collider hits the comet Tempel 1.
  • 2006 – Space Shuttle program: Discovery launches STS-121 to the International Space Station. The event gained wide media attention as it was the only shuttle launch in the program’s history to occur on the United States’ Independence Day.
  • 2009 – The Statue of Liberty’s crown reopens to the public after eight years of closure due to security concerns following the September 11 attacks.
  • 2009 – The first of four days of bombings begins on the southern Philippine island group of Mindanao.
  • 2012 – The discovery of particles consistent with the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider is announced at CERN.
  • 2015 – Chile claims its first title in international soccer by defeating Argentina in the 2015 Copa América Final.

Births on July 4

  • AD 68 – Salonina Matidia, Roman daughter of Ulpia Marciana (d. 119)
  • 1095 – Usama ibn Munqidh, Muslim poet, author and faris (Knight) (d. 1188)
  • 1330 – Ashikaga Yoshiakira, Japanese shōgun (d. 1367)
  • 1477 – Johannes Aventinus, Bavarian historian and philologist (d. 1534)
  • 1546 – Murad III, Ottoman sultan (d. 1595)
  • 1656 – John Leake, Royal Navy admiral (d. 1720)
  • 1694 – Louis-Claude Daquin, French organist and composer (d. 1772)
  • 1715 – Christian Fürchtegott Gellert, German poet and academic (d. 1769)
  • 1719 – Michel-Jean Sedaine, French playwright (d. 1797)
  • 1729 – George Leonard, American lawyer, jurist and politician (d. 1819)
  • 1753 – Jean-Pierre Blanchard, French inventor, best known as a pioneer in balloon flight (d. 1809)
  • 1790 – George Everest, Welsh geographer and surveyor (d. 1866)
  • 1799 – Oscar I of Sweden (d. 1859)
  • 1804 – Nathaniel Hawthorne, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1864)
  • 1807 – Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian general and politician (d. 1882)
  • 1816 – Hiram Walker, American businessman, founded Canadian Club whisky (d. 1899)
  • 1826 – Stephen Foster, American songwriter and composer (d. 1864)
  • 1842 – Hermann Cohen, German philosopher (d. 1918)
  • 1845 – Thomas John Barnardo, Irish philanthropist and humanitarian (d. 1905)
  • 1847 – James Anthony Bailey, American circus ringmaster, co-founded Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (d. 1906)
  • 1854 – Victor Babeș, Romanian physician and biologist (d. 1926)
  • 1868 – Henrietta Swan Leavitt, American astronomer and academic (d. 1921)
  • 1871 – Hubert Cecil Booth, English engineer (d. 1955)
  • 1872 – Calvin Coolidge, American lawyer and politician, 30th President of the United States (d. 1933)
  • 1874 – John McPhee, Australian journalist and politician, 27th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1952)
  • 1880 – Victor Kraft, Austrian philosopher from the Vienna Circle (d. 1975)
  • 1881 – Ulysses S. Grant III, American general (d. 1968)
  • 1883 – Rube Goldberg, American sculptor, cartoonist, and engineer (d. 1970)
  • 1887 – Pio Pion, Italian engineer and businessman (d. 1965)
  • 1888 – Henry Armetta, Italian-American actor and singer (d. 1945)
  • 1895 – Irving Caesar, American songwriter and composer (d. 1996)
  • 1896 – Mao Dun, Chinese journalist, author, and critic (d. 1981)
  • 1897 – Alluri Sitarama Raju, Indian activist (d. 1924)
  • 1898 – Pilar Barbosa, Puerto Rican-American historian and activist (d. 1997)
  • 1898 – Gertrude Lawrence, British actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1952)
  • 1898 – Gulzarilal Nanda, Indian politician (d. 1998)
  • 1898 – Gertrude Weaver, American supercentenarian (d. 2015)
  • 1900 – Belinda Dann, Indigenous Australian who was one of the Stolen Generation, reunited with family aged 107 (d. 2007)
  • 1900 – Nellie Mae Rowe, American folk artist (d. 1982)
  • 1902 – Meyer Lansky, American gangster (d. 1983)
  • 1902 – George Murphy, American actor and politician (d. 1992)
  • 1903 – Flor Peeters, Belgian organist, composer, and educator (d. 1986)
  • 1904 – Angela Baddeley, English actress (d. 1976)
  • 1905 – Irving Johnson, American sailor and author (d. 1991)
  • 1905 – Robert Hankey, 2nd Baron Hankey, British diplomat and public servant (d. 1996)
  • 1905 – Lionel Trilling, American critic, essayist, short story writer, and educator (d. 1975)
  • 1906 – Vincent Schaefer, American chemist and meteorologist (d. 1993)
  • 1907 – John Anderson, American discus thrower (d. 1948)
  • 1907 – Howard Taubman, American author and critic (d. 1996)
  • 1909 – Alec Templeton, Welsh composer, pianist and satirist (d. 1963)
  • 1910 – Robert K. Merton, American sociologist and scholar (d. 2003)
  • 1910 – Gloria Stuart, American actress (d. 2010)
  • 1911 – Bruce Hamilton, Australian public servant (d. 1989)
  • 1911 – Mitch Miller, American singer and producer (d. 2010)
  • 1914 – Nuccio Bertone, Italian automobile designer (d. 1997)
  • 1915 – Timmie Rogers, American actor and singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
  • 1916 – Iva Toguri D’Aquino, American typist and broadcaster (d. 2006)
  • 1918 – Eppie Lederer, American journalist and radio host (d. 2002)
  • 1918 – Johnnie Parsons, American race car driver (d. 1984)
  • 1918 – King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV of Tonga, (d. 2006)
  • 1918 – Alec Bedser, English cricketer (d. 2010)
  • 1918 – Eric Bedser, English cricketer (d. 2006)
  • 1918 – Pauline Phillips, American journalist and radio host, created Dear Abby (d. 2013)
  • 1920 – Norm Drucker, American basketball player and referee (d. 2015)
  • 1920 – Leona Helmsley, American businesswoman (d. 2007)
  • 1920 – Fritz Wilde, German footballer and manager (d. 1977)
  • 1920 – Paul Bannai, American politician (d. 2019)
  • 1921 – Gérard Debreu, French economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
  • 1921 – Nasser Sharifi, Iranian sports shooter
  • 1921 – Metropolitan Mikhail of Asyut (d. 2014)
  • 1921 – Philip Rose, American actor, playwright, and producer (d. 2011)
  • 1921 – Tibor Varga, Hungarian violinist and conductor (d. 2003)
  • 1922 – R. James Harvey, American politician (d. 2019)
  • 1923 – Rudolf Friedrich, Swiss lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – Eva Marie Saint, American actress
  • 1924 – Delia Fiallo, Cuban author and screenwriter
  • 1925 – Ciril Zlobec, Slovene poet, writer, translator, journalist and politician (d. 2018)
  • 1925 – Dorothy Head Knode, American tennis player (d. 2015)
  • 1926 – Alfredo Di Stéfano, Argentinian-Spanish footballer and coach (d. 2014)
  • 1926 – Lake Underwood, American race car driver and businessman (d. 2008)
  • 1927 – Gina Lollobrigida, Italian actress and photographer
  • 1927 – Neil Simon, American playwright and screenwriter (d. 2018)
  • 1928 – Giampiero Boniperti, Italian footballer and politician
  • 1928 – Teofisto Guingona Jr., Filipino politician; 11th Vice President of the Philippines
  • 1928 – Jassem Alwan, Syrian Army Officer (d. 2018)
  • 1928 – Shan Ratnam, Sri Lankan physician and academic (d. 2001)
  • 1928 – Chuck Tanner, American baseball player and manager (d. 2011)
  • 1929 – Ron Casey, Australian journalist and sportscaster (d. 2018)
  • 1929 – Al Davis, American football player, coach, and manager (d. 2011)
  • 1929 – Bill Tuttle, American baseball player (d. 1998)
  • 1930 – George Steinbrenner, American businessman (d. 2010)
  • 1931 – Stephen Boyd, Northern Ireland-born American actor (d. 1977)
  • 1931 – Rick Casares, American football player and soldier (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Sébastien Japrisot, French author, director, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
  • 1931 – Peter Richardson, English cricketer (d. 2017)
  • 1932 – Aurèle Vandendriessche, Belgian runner
  • 1934 – Yvonne B. Miller, American academic and politician (d. 2012)
  • 1934 – Colin Welland, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2015)
  • 1935 – Paul Scoon, Grenadian politician, 2nd Governor-General of Grenada (d. 2013)
  • 1936 – Zdzisława Donat, Polish soprano and actress
  • 1937 – Thomas Nagel, American philosopher and academic
  • 1937 – Queen Sonja of Norway
  • 1937 – Richard Rhodes, American journalist and historian
  • 1937 – Eric Walters, Australian journalist (d. 2010)
  • 1938 – Steven Rose, English biologist and academic
  • 1938 – Bill Withers, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2020)
  • 1940 – Pat Stapleton, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2020)
  • 1941 – Sam Farr, American politician
  • 1941 – Tomaž Šalamun, Croatian-Slovenian poet and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1941 – Pavel Sedláček, Czech singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1941 – Brian Willson, American soldier, lawyer, and activist
  • 1942 – Hal Lanier, American baseball player, coach, and manager
  • 1942 – Floyd Little, American football player and coach
  • 1942 – Stefan Meller, French-Polish academic and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2008)
  • 1942 – Prince Michael of Kent
  • 1942 – Peter Rowan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1943 – Conny Bauer, German trombonist
  • 1943 – Emerson Boozer, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1943 – Adam Hart-Davis, English historian, author, and photographer
  • 1943 – Geraldo Rivera, American lawyer, journalist, and author
  • 1943 – Fred Wesley, American jazz and funk trombonist
  • 1943 – Alan Wilson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1970)
  • 1945 – Andre Spitzer, Romanian-Israeli fencer and coach (d. 1972)
  • 1946 – Ron Kovic, American author and activist
  • 1946 – Michael Milken, American businessman and philanthropist
  • 1947 – Lembit Ulfsak, Estonian actor and director (d. 2017)
  • 1948 – René Arnoux, French race car driver
  • 1948 – Tommy Körberg, Swedish singer and actor
  • 1948 – Jeremy Spencer, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1950 – Philip Craven, English basketball player and swimmer
  • 1950 – David Jensen, Canadian-English radio and television host
  • 1951 – John Alexander, Australian tennis player and politician
  • 1951 – Ralph Johnson, American R&B drummer and percussionist
  • 1951 – Vladimir Tismăneanu, Romanian-American political scientist, sociologist, and academic
  • 1951 – Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, American lawyer and politician, 6th Lieutenant Governor of Maryland
  • 1952 – Álvaro Uribe, Colombian lawyer and politician, 39th President of Colombia
  • 1952 – Carol MacReady, English actress
  • 1952 – John Waite, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1952 – Paul Rogat Loeb, American author and activist
  • 1953 – Francis Maude, English lawyer and politician, Minister for the Cabinet Office
  • 1954 – Jim Beattie, American baseball player, coach, and manager
  • 1954 – Morganna, American model, actress, and dancer
  • 1954 – Devendra Kumar Joshi, 21st Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy
  • 1955 – Kevin Nichols, Australian cyclist
  • 1956 – Robert Sinclair MacKay, British academic and educator
  • 1957 – Rein Lang, Estonian politician and diplomat, 25th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1958 – Vera Leth, Greenlandic Ombudsman
  • 1958 – Kirk Pengilly, Australian guitarist, saxophonist, and songwriter
  • 1958 – Carl Valentine, English-Canadian footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1959 – Victoria Abril, Spanish actress and singer
  • 1960 – Roland Ratzenberger, Austrian race car driver (d. 1994)
  • 1961 – Richard Garriott, English-American video game designer, created the Ultima series
  • 1962 – Pam Shriver, American tennis player and sportscaster
  • 1963 – Henri Leconte, French tennis player and sportscaster
  • 1963 – Laureano Márquez, Spanish-Venezuelan political scientist and journalist
  • 1963 – José Oquendo, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and coach
  • 1963 – Sonia Pierre, Hatian-Dominican human rights activist (d. 2011)
  • 1964 – Cle Kooiman, American soccer player and manager
  • 1964 – Elie Saab, Lebanese fashion designer
  • 1964 – Edi Rama, Albanian politician
  • 1964 – Mark Slaughter, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1964 – Mark Whiting, American actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1965 – Harvey Grant, American basketball player and coach
  • 1965 – Horace Grant, American basketball player and coach
  • 1965 – Kiriakos Karataidis, Greek footballer and manager
  • 1965 – Gérard Watkins, English actor and playwright
  • 1966 – Ronni Ancona, Scottish actress and screenwriter
  • 1966 – Minas Hantzidis, German-Greek footballer
  • 1966 – Lee Reherman, American actor (d. 2016)
  • 1967 – Vinny Castilla, Mexican baseball player and manager
  • 1967 – Sébastien Deleigne, French athlete
  • 1969 – Al Golden, American football player and coach
  • 1969 – Todd Marinovich, American football player and coach
  • 1969 – Wilfred Mugeyi, Zimbabwean footballer and coach
  • 1972 – Stephen Giles, Canadian canoe racer and engineer
  • 1972 – Mike Knuble, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1973 – Keiko Ihara, Japanese race car driver
  • 1973 – Gackt, Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor
  • 1973 – Michael Johnson, English-Jamaican footballer and manager
  • 1973 – Anjelika Krylova, Russian ice dancer and coach
  • 1973 – Jan Magnussen, Danish race car driver
  • 1973 – Tony Popovic, Australian footballer and manager
  • 1974 – Jill Craybas, American tennis player
  • 1974 – La’Roi Glover, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1974 – Adrian Griffin, American basketball player and coach
  • 1976 – Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer (d. 2003)
  • 1976 – Yevgeniya Medvedeva, Russian skier
  • 1978 – Marcos Daniel, Brazilian tennis player
  • 1978 – Émile Mpenza, Belgian footballer
  • 1979 – Siim Kabrits, Estonian politician
  • 1979 – Josh McCown, American football player
  • 1979 – Renny Vega, Venezuelan footballer
  • 1980 – Kwame Steede, Bermudan footballer
  • 1981 – Dedé, Angolan footballer
  • 1981 – Brock Berlin, American football player
  • 1981 – Christoph Preuß, German footballer
  • 1981 – Francisco Cruceta, Dominican baseball player
  • 1981 – Will Smith, American football player (d. 2016)
  • 1982 – Vladimir Boisa, Georgian basketball player
  • 1982 – Vladimir Gusev, Russian cyclist
  • 1982 – Jeff Lima, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1982 – Michael “The Situation” Sorrentino, American model, author and television personality
  • 1983 – Melanie Fiona, Canadian singer-songwriter
  • 1983 – Amantle Montsho, Botswanan sprinter
  • 1983 – Miguel Pinto, Chilean footballer
  • 1983 – Amol Rajan, Indian-English journalist
  • 1983 – Mattia Serafini, Italian footballer
  • 1984 – Jin Akanishi, Japanese singer-songwriter
  • 1984 – Miguel Santos Soares, Timorese footballer
  • 1985 – Kane Tenace, Australian footballer
  • 1985 – Dimitrios Mavroeidis, Greek basketball player
  • 1985 – Wason Rentería, Colombian footballer
  • 1986 – Ömer Aşık, Turkish basketball player
  • 1986 – Nguyen Ngoc Duy, Vietnamese footballer
  • 1986 – Rafael Arévalo, Salvadoran tennis player
  • 1986 – Willem Janssen, Dutch footballer
  • 1986 – Terrance Knighton, American football player
  • 1986 – Marte Elden, Norwegian skier
  • 1987 – Wude Ayalew, Ethiopian runner
  • 1987 – Guram Kashia, Georgian footballer
  • 1988 – Angelique Boyer, French-Mexican actress
  • 1989 – Benjamin Büchel, Liechtensteiner footballer
  • 1990 – Jake Gardiner, American ice hockey player
  • 1990 – Richard Mpong, Ghanaian footballer
  • 1990 – Naoki Yamada, Japanese footballer
  • 1990 – Ihar Yasinski, Belarusian footballer
  • 1992 – Ángel Romero, Paraguayan footballer
  • 1992 – Óscar Romero, Paraguayan footballer
  • 1993 – Tom Barkhuizen, English footballer
  • 1995 – Post Malone, American singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer
  • 1999 – Moa Kikuchi, Japanese musician
  • 2003 – Polina Bogusevich, Russian singer

Deaths on July 4

  • 673 – Ecgberht, king of Kent
  • 907 – Luitpold, margrave of Bavaria
  • 907 – Dietmar I, archbishop of Salzburg
  • 910 – Luo Shaowei, Chinese warlord (b. 877)
  • 940 – Wang Jianli, Chinese general (b. 871)
  • 943 – Taejo of Goryeo, Korean king (b. 877)
  • 945 – Zhuo Yanming, Chinese Buddhist monk and emperor
  • 965 – Benedict V, pope of the Catholic Church
  • 973 – Ulrich of Augsburg, German bishop and saint (b. 890)
  • 975 – Gwangjong of Goryeo, Korean king (b. 925)
  • 1187 – Raynald of Châtillon, French knight (b. 1125)
  • 1307 – Rudolf I of Bohemia (b. 1281)
  • 1336 – Saint Elizabeth of Portugal (b. 1271)
  • 1429 – Carlo I Tocco, ruler of Epirus (b. 1372)
  • 1533 – John Frith, English priest, writer, and martyr (b. 1503)
  • 1541 – Pedro de Alvarado, Spanish general and explorer (b. 1495)
  • 1546 – Hayreddin Barbarossa, Ottoman admiral (b. 1478)
  • 1551 – Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell, English politician (b. 1514)
  • 1603 – Philippe de Monte, Flemish composer and educator (b. 1521)
  • 1623 – William Byrd, English composer (b. c. 1540)
  • 1644 – Brian Twyne, English academic, antiquarian and archivist (b. 1581)
  • 1648 – Antoine Daniel, French missionary and saint, one of the eight Canadian Martyrs (b. 1601)
  • 1742 – Luigi Guido Grandi, Italian monk, mathematician, and engineer (b. 1671)
  • 1754 – Philippe Néricault Destouches, French playwright and author (b. 1680)
  • 1761 – Samuel Richardson, English author and painter (b. 1689)
  • 1780 – Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine (b. 1712)
  • 1787 – Charles, Prince of Soubise, Marshal of France (b. 1715)
  • 1821 – Richard Cosway, English painter and academic (b. 1742)
  • 1826 – John Adams, American lawyer and politician, 2nd President of the United States (b. 1735)
  • 1826 – Thomas Jefferson, American architect, lawyer, and politician, 3rd President of the United States (b. 1743)
  • 1831 – James Monroe, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 5th President of the United States (b. 1758)
  • 1848 – François-René de Chateaubriand, French historian and politician (b. 1768)
  • 1850 – William Kirby, English entomologist and author (b. 1759)
  • 1854 – Karl Friedrich Eichhorn, German academic and jurist (b. 1781)
  • 1857 – William L. Marcy, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 21st United States Secretary of State (b. 1786)
  • 1881 – Johan Vilhelm Snellman, Finnish philosopher and politician (b. 1806)
  • 1882 – Joseph Brackett, American composer and author (b. 1797)
  • 1886 – Poundmaker, Canadian tribal chief (b. 1797)
  • 1891 – Hannibal Hamlin, American lawyer and politician, 15th Vice President of the United States (b. 1809)
  • 1901 – Johannes Schmidt, German linguist and academic (b. 1843)
  • 1902 – Vivekananda, Indian monk and saint (b. 1863)
  • 1905 – Élisée Reclus, French geographer and author (b. 1830)
  • 1910 – Melville Fuller, American lawyer and jurist, Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1833)
  • 1910 – Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer and historian (b. 1835)
  • 1916 – Alan Seeger, American soldier and poet (b. 1888)
  • 1922 – Lothar von Richthofen, German lieutenant and pilot (b. 1894)
  • 1926 – Pier Giorgio Frassati, Italian activist and saint (b. 1901)
  • 1934 – Marie Curie, French-Polish physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
  • 1938 – Otto Bauer, Austrian philosopher and politician, Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1881)
  • 1938 – Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player (b. 1899)
  • 1941 – Antoni Łomnicki, Polish mathematician and academic (b. 1881)
  • 1943 – Władysław Sikorski, Polish general and politician, 9th Prime Minister of the Second Republic of Poland (b. 1881)
  • 1946 – Taffy O’Callaghan, Welsh footballer and coach (b. 1906)
  • 1948 – Monteiro Lobato, Brazilian journalist and author (b. 1882)
  • 1949 – François Brandt, Dutch rower and engineer (b. 1874)
  • 1963 – Bernard Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, New Zealand general and politician, 7th Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1889)
  • 1963 – Clyde Kennard, American activist and martyr (b. 1927)
  • 1963 – Pingali Venkayya, Indian activist, designed the Flag of India (b. 1876)
  • 1964 – Gaby Morlay, French actress and singer (b. 1893)
  • 1969 – Henri Decoin, French director and screenwriter (b. 1890)
  • 1970 – Barnett Newman, American painter and illustrator (b. 1905)
  • 1970 – Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, American sailor and businessman (b. 1884)
  • 1971 – August Derleth, American anthologist and author (b. 1909)
  • 1971 – Thomas C. Hart, American admiral and politician (b. 1877)
  • 1974 – Georgette Heyer, English author (b. 1902)
  • 1974 – André Randall, French actor (b. 1892)
  • 1976 – Yonatan Netanyahu, Israeli colonel (b. 1946)
  • 1976 – Antoni Słonimski, Polish poet and playwright (b. 1895)
  • 1977 – Gersh Budker, Ukrainian physicist and academic (b. 1918)
  • 1979 – Lee Wai Tong, Chinese footballer and manager (b. 1905)
  • 1980 – Maurice Grevisse, Belgian linguist and author (b. 1895)
  • 1984 – Jimmie Spheeris, American singer-songwriter (b. 1949)
  • 1986 – Paul-Gilbert Langevin, French musicologist, critique musical and physicist (b. 1933)
  • 1986 – Flor Peeters, Belgian organist and composer (b. 1903)
  • 1986 – Oscar Zariski, Belarusian-American mathematician and academic (b. 1899)
  • 1988 – Adrian Adonis, American wrestler (b. 1954)
  • 1990 – Olive Ann Burns, American journalist and author (b. 1924)
  • 1991 – Victor Chang, Chinese-Australian surgeon and physician (b. 1936)
  • 1991 – Art Sansom, American cartoonist (b. 1920)
  • 1992 – Astor Piazzolla, Argentinian bandoneon player and composer (b. 1921)
  • 1993 – Bona Arsenault, Canadian historian, genealogist, and politician (b. 1903)
  • 1994 – Joey Marella, American wrestling referee (b. 1964)
  • 1995 – Eva Gabor, Hungarian-American actress and singer (b. 1919)
  • 1995 – Bob Ross, American painter and television host (b. 1942)
  • 1997 – Charles Kuralt, American journalist (b. 1934)
  • 1997 – John Zachary Young, English zoologist and neurophysiologist (b. 1907)
  • 1999 – Leo Garel, American illustrator and educator (b. 1917)
  • 2000 – Gustaw Herling-Grudziński, Polish journalist and author (b. 1919)
  • 2002 – Gerald Bales, Canadian organist and composer (b. 1919)
  • 2002 – Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., American general (b. 1912)
  • 2003 – Larry Burkett, American author and radio host (b. 1939)
  • 2003 – André Claveau, French singer (b. 1915)
  • 2003 – Barry White, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (b. 1944)
  • 2004 – Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss violinist and conductor (b. 1920)
  • 2005 – Cliff Goupille, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1915)
  • 2005 – Hank Stram, American football player and coach (b. 1923)
  • 2007 – Bill Pinkney, American singer (b. 1925)
  • 2008 – Thomas M. Disch, American author and poet (b. 1940)
  • 2008 – Jesse Helms, American politician (b. 1921)
  • 2008 – Evelyn Keyes, American actress (b. 1916)
  • 2008 – Terrence Kiel, American football player (b. 1980)
  • 2008 – Charles Wheeler, German-English soldier and journalist (b. 1923)
  • 2009 – Brenda Joyce, American actress (b. 1917)
  • 2009 – Allen Klein, American businessman and talent agent, founded ABKCO Records (b. 1931)
  • 2009 – Drake Levin, American guitarist (b. 1946)
  • 2009 – Steve McNair, American football player (b. 1973)
  • 2009 – Lasse Strömstedt, Swedish author and actor (b. 1935)
  • 2009 – Jean-Baptiste Tati Loutard, Congolese poet and politician (b. 1938)
  • 2010 – Robert Neil Butler, American physician and author (b. 1927)
  • 2012 – Hiren Bhattacharyya, Indian poet and author (b. 1932)
  • 2012 – Jimmy Bivins, American boxer (b. 1919)
  • 2012 – Jeong Min-hyeong, South Korean footballer (b. 1987)
  • 2012 – Eric Sykes, English actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1923)
  • 2013 – Onllwyn Brace, Welsh rugby player and sportscaster (b. 1932)
  • 2013 – Jack Crompton, English footballer and manager (b. 1921)
  • 2013 – James Fulton, American dermatologist and academic (b. 1940)
  • 2013 – Charles A. Hines, American general (b. 1935)
  • 2013 – Bernie Nolan, Irish singer (b. 1960)
  • 2014 – Giorgio Faletti, Italian author, screenwriter, and actor (b. 1950)
  • 2014 – C. J. Henderson, American author and critic (b. 1951)
  • 2014 – Earl Robinson, American baseball player (b. 1936)
  • 2014 – Richard Mellon Scaife, American businessman (b. 1932)
  • 2015 – Nedelcho Beronov, Bulgarian judge and politician (b. 1928)
  • 2015 – William Conrad Gibbons, American historian, author, and academic (b. 1926)
  • 2016 – Abbas Kiarostami, Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, and photographer (b. 1940)
  • 2017 – John Blackwell, American R&B, funk, and jazz drummer (b. 1973)
  • 2017 – Daniil Granin, Soviet and Russian author (b. 1919)
  • 2018 – Henri Dirickx, Belgian footballer (b. 1927)
  • 2018 – Robby Müller, Dutch cinematographer (b. 1940)

Holidays and observances on July 4

  • Christian feast day:
    • Andrew of Crete
    • Bertha of Artois
    • Blessed Catherine Jarrige
    • Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati
    • Elizabeth of Aragon (or of Portugal)
    • Oda of Canterbury
    • Ulrich of Augsburg
    • July 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Birthday of Queen Sonja (Norway)
  • The first evening of Dree Festival, celebrated until July 7 (Apatani people, Arunachal Pradesh, India)
  • Independence Day, celebrates the Declaration of Independence of the United States from Great Britain in 1776. (United States and its dependencies)
  • Liberation Day (Northern Mariana Islands)
  • Liberation Day (Rwanda)
  • Republic Day (Philippines)

July 4 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

  • 524 – The Franks are defeated by the Burgundians in the Battle of Vézeronce.
  • 841 – In the Battle of Fontenay-en-Puisaye, forces led by Charles the Bald and Louis the German defeat the armies of Lothair I of Italy and Pepin II of Aquitaine.
  • 1258 – War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Acre, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet sailing to relieve Acre.
  • 1530 – At the Diet of Augsburg the Augsburg Confession is presented to the Holy Roman Emperor by the Lutheran princes and Electors of Germany.
  • 1658 – Spanish forces fail to retake Jamaica at the Battle of Rio Nuevo during the Anglo-Spanish War.
  • 1678 – Venetian Elena Cornaro Piscopia is the first woman awarded a doctorate of philosophy when she graduates from the University of Padua.
  • 1741 – Maria Theresa is crowned Queen of Hungary.
  • 1786 – Gavriil Pribylov discovers St. George Island of the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea.
  • 1788 – Virginia becomes the tenth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
  • 1848 – A photograph of the June Days uprising becomes the first known instance of photojournalism.
  • 1876 – Battle of the Little Bighorn and the death of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer.
  • 1900 – The Taoist monk Wang Yuanlu discovers the Dunhuang manuscripts, a cache of ancient texts that are of great historical and religious significance, in the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang, China.
  • 1906 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania millionaire Harry Thaw shoots and kills prominent architect Stanford White.
  • 1910 – The United States Congress passes the Mann Act, which prohibits interstate transport of women or girls for “immoral purposes”; the ambiguous language would be used to selectively prosecute people for years to come.
  • 1910 – Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Firebird is premiered in Paris, bringing him to prominence as a composer.
  • 1913 – American Civil War veterans begin arriving at the Great Reunion of 1913.
  • 1935 – Colombia–Soviet Union relations are established.
  • 1938 – Dr. Douglas Hyde is inaugurated as the first President of Ireland.
  • 1940 – World War II: The French armistice with Germany comes into effect.
  • 1943 – The Holocaust: Jews in the Częstochowa Ghetto in Poland stage an uprising against the Nazis.
  • 1943 – The left-wing German Jewish exile Arthur Goldstein is murdered in Auschwitz.
  • 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Tali-Ihantala, the largest battle ever fought in the Nordic countries, begins.
  • 1944 – World War II: United States Navy and British Royal Navy ships bombard Cherbourg to support United States Army units engaged in the Battle of Cherbourg.
  • 1944 – The final page of the comic Krazy Kat is published, exactly two months after its author George Herriman died.
  • 1947 – The Diary of a Young Girl (better known as The Diary of Anne Frank) is published.
  • 1950 – The Korean War begins with the invasion of South Korea by North Korea.
  • 1960 – Cold War: Two cryptographers working for the United States National Security Agency left for vacation to Mexico, and from there defected to the Soviet Union.
  • 1975 – Mozambique achieves independence from Portugal.
  • 1975 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declares a state of internal emergency in India.
  • 1976 – Missouri Governor Kit Bond issues an executive order rescinding the Extermination Order, formally apologizing on behalf of the state of Missouri for the suffering it had caused to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
  • 1978 – The rainbow flag representing gay pride is flown for the first time during the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade.
  • 1981 – Microsoft is restructured to become an incorporated business in its home state of Washington.
  • 1991 – Slovenia and Croatia declare their independence by referendum from Yugoslavia.
  • 1993 – Kim Campbell is sworn in as the first female Prime Minister of Canada.
  • 1996 – The Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia kills 19 U.S. servicemen.
  • 1997 – An unmanned Progress spacecraft collides with the Russian space station Mir.
  • 1997 – The National Hockey League approved expansion franchises for Nashville (1998), Atlanta (1999), Columbus (2000), and Minneapolis-Saint Paul (2000).
  • 1998 – In Clinton v. City of New York, the United States Supreme Court decides that the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 is unconstitutional.
  • 2017 – The World Health Organization estimates that Yemen has over 200,000 cases of cholera.

Births on June 25

  • 1242 – Beatrice of England (d. 1275)
  • 1328 – William de Montagu, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, English commander (d. 1397)
  • 1371 – Joanna II of Naples (d. 1435)
  • 1484 – Bartholomeus V. Welser, German banker (d. 1561)
  • 1526 – Elisabeth Parr, Marchioness of Northampton (d. 1565)
  • 1560 – Wilhelm Fabry, German surgeon (d. 1634)
  • 1568 – Gunilla Bielke, Queen of Sweden (d. 1597)
  • 1612 – John Albert Vasa, Polish cardinal (d. 1634)
  • 1709 – Francesco Araja, Italian composer (d. 1762)
  • 1715 – Joseph Foullon de Doué, French soldier and politician, Controller-General of Finances (d. 1789)
  • 1755 – Natalia Alexeievna of Russia (d. 1776)
  • 1799 – David Douglas, Scottish-English botanist and explorer (d. 1834)
  • 1814 – Gabriel Auguste Daubrée, French geologist and engineer (d. 1896)
  • 1825 – James Farnell, Australian politician, 8th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1888)
  • 1852 – Antoni Gaudí, Spanish architect, designed the Park Güell (d. 1926)
  • 1858 – Georges Courteline, French author and playwright (d. 1929)
  • 1860 – Gustave Charpentier, French composer and conductor (d. 1956)
  • 1863 – Émile Francqui, Belgian soldier and diplomat (d. 1935)
  • 1864 – Walther Nernst, German chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1941)
  • 1866 – Eloísa Díaz, Chilean doctor and Chile’s first female physician (d. 1950)
  • 1874 – Rose O’Neill, American cartoonist, illustrator, artist, and writer (d. 1944)
  • 1884 – Géza Gyóni, Hungarian soldier and poet (d. 1917)
  • 1884 – Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, German-French art collector and historian (d. 1979)
  • 1886 – Henry H. Arnold, American general (d. 1950)
  • 1887 – George Abbott, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1995)
  • 1887 – Frigyes Karinthy, Hungarian author, poet, and journalist (d. 1938)
  • 1892 – Shirō Ishii, Japanese microbiologist and general (d. 1959)
  • 1894 – Hermann Oberth, Romanian-German physicist and engineer (d. 1989)
  • 1898 – Kay Sage, American painter and poet (d. 1963)
  • 1900 – Marta Abba, Italian actress (d. 1988)
  • 1900 – Zinaida Aksentyeva, Ukrainian/Soviet astronomer (d. 1969)
  • 1900 – Georgia Hale, American silent film actress and real estate investor (d. 1985)
  • 1900 – Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, English admiral and politician, 44th Governor-General of India (d. 1979)
  • 1901 – Harold Roe Bartle, American businessman and politician, 47th Mayor of Kansas City (d. 1974)
  • 1902 – Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu of Japan (d. 1953)
  • 1903 – George Orwell, British novelist, essayist, and critic (d. 1950)
  • 1903 – Anne Revere, American actress (d. 1990)
  • 1905 – Rupert Wildt, German-American astronomer and academic (d. 1976)
  • 1907 – J. Hans D. Jensen, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
  • 1908 – Willard Van Orman Quine, American philosopher and academic (d. 2000)
  • 1911 – William Howard Stein, American chemist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1980)
  • 1912 – William T. Cahill, American lawyer and politician, 46th Governor of New Jersey (d. 1996)
  • 1913 – Cyril Fletcher, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2005)
  • 1915 – Whipper Billy Watson, Canadian-American wrestler and trainer (d. 1990)
  • 1917 – Nils Karlsson, Swedish skier (d. 2012)
  • 1917 – Claude Seignolle, French author (d. 2018)
  • 1918 – P. H. Newby, English soldier and author (d. 1997)
  • 1920 – Lassie Lou Ahern, American actress (d. 2018)
  • 1921 – Celia Franca, English-Canadian ballerina and choreographer, founded the National Ballet of Canada (d. 2007)
  • 1922 – Johnny Smith, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1923 – Sam Francis, American soldier and painter (d. 1994)
  • 1923 – Dorothy Gilman, American author (d. 2012)
  • 1923 – Jamshid Amouzegar, 43rd Prime Minister of Iran (d. 2016)
  • 1924 – Sidney Lumet, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2011)
  • 1924 – Dimitar Isakov, Bulgarian football player
  • 1924 – Madan Mohan, Iraqi-Indian composer and director (d. 1975)
  • 1924 – William J. Castagna, American lawyer and judge
  • 1925 – Clifton Chenier, American singer-songwriter and accordion player (d. 1987)
  • 1925 – June Lockhart, American actress
  • 1925 – Clay Evans, American Baptist pastor (d. 2019)
  • 1925 – Robert Venturi, American architect and academic (d. 2018)
  • 1925 – Virginia Patton, American actress and businesswoman
  • 1926 – Margaret Anstee, English diplomat (d. 2016)
  • 1926 – Ingeborg Bachmann, Austrian author and poet (d. 1973)
  • 1926 – Kep Enderby, Australian lawyer, judge, and politician, 23rd Attorney-General for Australia (d. 2015)
  • 1926 – Stig Sollander, Swedish Alpine skier (d. 2019)
  • 1927 – Antal Róka, Hungarian runner (d. 1970)
  • 1927 – Chuck Smith, American pastor, founded the Calvary Chapel (d. 2013)
  • 1927 – Arnold Wolfendale, English astronomer and academic
  • 1928 – Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov, Russian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2017)
  • 1928 – John A. Wickham Jr., United States Army general
  • 1928 – Michel Brault, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1928 – Peyo, Belgian author and illustrator, created The Smurfs (d. 1992)
  • 1928 – Bill Russo, American pianist and composer (d. 2003)
  • 1928 – Alex Toth, American animator and screenwriter (d. 2006)
  • 1929 – Eric Carle, American author and illustrator
  • 1929 – Francesco Marchisano, Italian cardinal (d. 2014)
  • 1931 – V. P. Singh, Indian lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of India (d. 2008)
  • 1932 – Peter Blake, English painter and illustrator
  • 1932 – Tim Parnell, English race car driver (d. 2017)
  • 1932 – George Sluizer, French-Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
  • 1933 – Álvaro Siza Vieira, Portuguese architect, designed the Porto School of Architecture
  • 1934 – Jean Geissinger, American baseball player (d. 2014)
  • 1934 – Jack W. Hayford, American minister and author
  • 1934 – Beatriz Sheridan, Mexican actress and director (d. 2006)
  • 1935 – Ray Butt, English television producer and director (d. 2013)
  • 1935 – Salihu Ibrahim, Nigerian Army Officer (d. 2018)
  • 1935 – Taufiq Ismail, Indonesian poet and activist
  • 1935 – Larry Kramer, American author, playwright, and activist, co-founded Gay Men’s Health Crisis (d. 2020)
  • 1935 – Don Demeter, American professional baseball player
  • 1935 – Tony Lanfranchi, English race car driver (d. 2004)
  • 1935 – Judy Howe, American artistic gymnast
  • 1935 – Charles Sheffield, English-American mathematician, physicist, and author (d. 2002)
  • 1936 – B. J. Habibie, Indonesian engineer and politician, 3rd President of Indonesia (d. 2019)
  • 1936 – Bert Hölldobler, German biologist and entomologist
  • 1937 – Eddie Floyd, American R&B/soul singer-songwriter
  • 1937 – Derek Foster, Baron Foster of Bishop Auckland, English politician (d. 2019)
  • 1937 – Doreen Wells, English ballerina and actress
  • 1939 – Allen Fox, American tennis player and coach
  • 1940 – Judy Amoore, Australian runner
  • 1940 – Mary Beth Peil, American actress and singer
  • 1940 – A. J. Quinnell, English-Maltese author (d. 2005)
  • 1940 – Clint Warwick, English bass player (d. 2004)
  • 1941 – Denys Arcand, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1941 – John Albert Raven, Scottish academic and ecologist
  • 1942 – Nikiforos Diamandouros, Greek academic and politician
  • 1942 – Willis Reed, American basketball player, coach, and manager
  • 1942 – Michel Tremblay, Canadian author and playwright
  • 1944 – Robert Charlebois, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
  • 1944 – Gary David Goldberg, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2013)
  • 1945 – Carly Simon, American singer-songwriter
  • 1945 – Baba Gana Kingibe, Nigerian politician
  • 1945 – Harry Womack, American singer (d. 1974)
  • 1946 – Roméo Dallaire, Dutch-Canadian general and politician
  • 1946 – Allen Lanier, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1946 – Ian McDonald, English guitarist and saxophonist
  • 1947 – John Hilton, English table tennis player
  • 1947 – John Powell, American discus thrower
  • 1947 – Jimmie Walker, American actor and comedian
  • 1949 – Richard Clarke, Irish archbishop
  • 1949 – Patrick Tambay, French race car driver
  • 1949 – Yoon Joo-sang, South Korean actor
  • 1950 – Marcello Toninelli, Italian author and screenwriter
  • 1951 – Eva Bayer-Fluckiger, Swiss mathematician and academic
  • 1952 – Péter Erdő, Hungarian cardinal
  • 1952 – Tim Finn, New Zealand singer-songwriter
  • 1952 – Martin Gerschwitz, German singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1952 – Alan Green, Northern Irish sportscaster
  • 1952 – Kristina Abelli Elander, Swedish artist
  • 1953 – Olivier Ameisen, French-American cardiologist and educator (d. 2013)
  • 1953 – Ian Davis, Australian cricketer
  • 1954 – Mario Lessard, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1954 – David Paich, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
  • 1954 – Lina Romay, Spanish actress (d. 2012)
  • 1954 – Daryush Shokof, Iranian director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1954 – Sonia Sotomayor, American lawyer and judge
  • 1955 – Vic Marks, English cricketer and sportscaster
  • 1956 – Anthony Bourdain, American chef and author (d. 2018)
  • 1956 – Frank Paschek, German long jumper
  • 1956 – Boris Trajkovski, Macedonian politician, 2nd President of the Republic of Macedonia (d. 2004)
  • 1956 – Craig Young, Australian rugby player and coach
  • 1957 – Greg Millen, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
  • 1958 – George Becali, Romanian businessman, politician
  • 1959 – Lutz Dombrowski, German long jumper and educator
  • 1959 – Jari Puikkonen, Finnish ski jumper
  • 1959 – Bobbie Vaile, Australian astrophysicist and astronomer (d. 1996)
  • 1960 – Alastair Bruce of Crionaich, English-Scottish journalist and author
  • 1960 – Brian Hayward, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
  • 1960 – Craig Johnston, South African-Australian footballer and photographer
  • 1960 – Laurent Rodriguez, French rugby player
  • 1961 – Timur Bekmambetov, Kazakh director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1961 – Ricky Gervais, English comedian, actor, director, producer and singer
  • 1963 – John Benjamin Hickey, American actor
  • 1963 – Yann Martel, Spanish-Canadian author
  • 1963 – Doug Gilmour, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
  • 1963 – George Michael, English singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2016)
  • 1963 – Mike Stanley, American baseball player
  • 1964 – Dell Curry, American basketball player and coach
  • 1964 – Phil Emery, Australian cricketer
  • 1964 – Johnny Herbert, English race car driver and sportscaster
  • 1964 – John McCrea, American singer-songwriter and musician
  • 1964 – Greg Raymer, American poker player and lawyer
  • 1965 – Napole Polutele, French politician
  • 1965 – Kerri Pottharst, Australian beach volleyball player
  • 1965 – Joseph Hii Teck Kwong, Malaysian bishop
  • 1966 – Dikembe Mutombo, Congolese-American basketball player
  • 1967 – Tracey Spicer, Australian journalist
  • 1968 – Adrian Garvey, Zimbabwean-South African rugby player
  • 1968 – Vaios Karagiannis, Greek footballer and manager
  • 1969 – Hunter Foster, American actor and singer
  • 1969 – Zim Zum, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1970 – Ariel Gore, American journalist and author
  • 1970 – Roope Latvala, Finnish guitarist
  • 1970 – Erki Nool, Estonian decathlete and politician
  • 1970 – Aaron Sele, American baseball player and scout
  • 1971 – Karen Darke, English cyclist and author
  • 1971 – Jason Gallian, Australian-English cricketer and educator
  • 1971 – Rod Kafer, Australian rugby player and sportscaster
  • 1971 – Neil Lennon, Northern Irish-Scottish footballer and manager
  • 1971 – Michael Tucker, American baseball player
  • 1972 – Carlos Delgado, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and coach
  • 1972 – Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, Libyan engineer and politician
  • 1973 – René Corbet, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1973 – Milan Hnilička, Czech ice hockey player
  • 1973 – Jamie Redknapp, English footballer and coach
  • 1974 – Nisha Ganatra, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1974 – Glen Metropolit, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1975 – Kiur Aarma, Estonian journalist and producer
  • 1975 – Linda Cardellini, American actress
  • 1975 – Albert Costa, Spanish tennis player and coach
  • 1975 – Vladimir Kramnik, Russian chess player
  • 1975 – Michele Merkin, American model and television host
  • 1976 – José Cancela, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1976 – Iestyn Harris, Welsh rugby player and coach
  • 1976 – Carlos Nieto, Argentinian-Italian rugby player
  • 1976 – Neil Walker, American swimmer
  • 1978 – Aramis Ramírez, Dominican-American baseball player
  • 1978 – Luke Scott, American baseball player
  • 1978 – Marcus Stroud, American football player
  • 1979 – Marko Albert, Estonian swimmer and triathlete
  • 1979 – Richard Hughes, Scottish footballer
  • 1979 – Busy Philipps, American actress
  • 1981 – Simon Ammann, Swiss ski jumper
  • 1982 – Rain, South Korean singer and actor
  • 1982 – Mikhail Youzhny, Russian tennis player
  • 1983 – Todd Cooper, English swimmer
  • 1983 – Marc Janko, Austrian footballer
  • 1984 – Lauren Bush, American model and fashion designer
  • 1985 – Karim Matmour, Algerian footballer
  • 1986 – Aya Matsuura, Japanese singer and actress
  • 1986 – Seda Tokatlıoğlu, Turkish volleyball player
  • 1988 – Jhonas Enroth, Swedish ice hockey player
  • 1988 – Miguel Layún, Mexican footballer
  • 1988 – Therese Johaug, Norwegian cross-country skier
  • 1989 – Jack Cork, English footballer
  • 1989 – Edgar Morais, Portuguese actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1989 – Rafael Morais, Portuguese actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1990 – Andi Eigenmann, Filipino actress
  • 1991 – Liisi Rist, Estonian cyclist
  • 1991 – Anna Zaja, German tennis player
  • 1996 – Pietro Fittipaldi, Brazilian-American race car driver
  • 1996 – Sione Mata’utia, Australian rugby league player
  • 1996 – Lele Pons, Latina-American Internet personality
  • 1998 – Kyle Chalmers, Australian swimmer
  • 2006 – Mckenna Grace, American actress

Deaths on June 25

  • 635 – Gao Zu, Chinese emperor (b. 566)
  • 841 – Gerard of Auvergne, Frankish nobleman
  • 841 – Ricwin of Nantes, Frankish nobleman
  • 891 – Sunderolt, German archbishop
  • 931 – An Chonghui, Chinese general
  • 1014 – Æthelstan Ætheling, son of Æthelred the Unready
  • 1031 – Sheng Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 972)
  • 1134 – Niels, king of Denmark (b. 1065)
  • 1218 – Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester, French politician, Lord High Steward (b. 1160)
  • 1291 – Eleanor of Provence, queen of England (b. 1223)
  • 1337 – Frederick III, king of Sicily (b. 1272)
  • 1394 – Dorothea of Montau, German hermitess (b. 1347)
  • 1483 – Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, English courtier and translator (b. 1440)
  • 1483 – Richard Grey, half brother of Edward V of England (b. 1458)
  • 1522 – Franchinus Gaffurius, Italian composer and theorist (b. 1451)
  • 1533 – Mary Tudor, queen of France (b. 1496)
  • 1579 – Hatano Hideharu, Japanese warlord (b. 1541)
  • 1593 – Michele Mercati, Italian physician and archaeologist (b. 1541)
  • 1634 – John Marston, English poet and playwright (b. 1576)
  • 1638 – Juan Pérez de Montalbán, Spanish author, poet, and playwright (b. 1602)
  • 1665 – Sigismund Francis, archduke of Austria (b. 1630)
  • 1669 – François de Vendôme, duke of Beaufort (b. 1616)
  • 1671 – Giovanni Battista Riccioli, Italian priest and astronomer (b. 1598)
  • 1673 – Charles de Batz-Castelmore d’Artagnan, French captain (b. 1611)
  • 1686 – Simon Ushakov, Russian painter and educator (b. 1626)
  • 1715 – Jean-Baptiste du Casse, French admiral and politician (b. 1646)
  • 1767 – Georg Philipp Telemann, German composer and theorist (b. 1681)
  • 1798 – Thomas Sandby, English cartographer, painter, and architect (b. 1721)
  • 1822 – E. T. A. Hoffmann, German composer, critic, and jurist (b. 1776)
  • 1835 – Ebenezer Pemberton, American educator (b. 1746)
  • 1838 – François-Nicolas-Benoît Haxo, French general and engineer (b. 1774)
  • 1861 – Abdülmecid I, Ottoman sultan (b. 1823)
  • 1866 – Alexander von Nordmann, Finnish biologist and paleontologist (b. 1803)
  • 1868 – Carlo Matteucci, Italian physicist and neurophysiologist (b. 1811)
  • 1870 – David Heaton, American lawyer and politician (b. 1823)
  • 1875 – Antoine-Louis Barye, French sculptor (b. 1796)
  • 1876 – James Calhoun, American lieutenant (b. 1845)
  • 1876 – Boston Custer, American civilian army contractor (b. 1848)
  • 1876 – George Armstrong Custer, American general (b. 1839)
  • 1876 – Thomas Custer, American officer, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1845)
  • 1876 – Myles Keogh, Irish-American officer (b. 1840)
  • 1882 – François Jouffroy, French sculptor (b. 1806)
  • 1884 – Hans Rott, Austrian organist and composer (b. 1858)
  • 1886 – Jean-Louis Beaudry, Canadian businessman and politician, 11th Mayor of Montreal (b. 1809)
  • 1894 – Marie François Sadi Carnot, French engineer and politician, 5th President of France (b. 1837)
  • 1906 – Stanford White, American architect, designed the Washington Square Arch (b. 1853)
  • 1912 – Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Dutch-British painter (b. 1836)
  • 1916 – Thomas Eakins, American painter, photographer, and sculptor (b. 1844)
  • 1917 – Géza Gyóni, Hungarian soldier and poet (b. 1884)
  • 1918 – Jake Beckley, American baseball player and coach (b. 1867)
  • 1922 – Satyendranath Dutta, Indian poet and author (b. 1882)
  • 1937 – Colin Clive, British actor (b. 1900)
  • 1939 – Richard Seaman, English race car driver (b. 1913)
  • 1943 – Arthur Goldstein, German Jewish left-wing activist (c. 1887)
  • 1944 – Dénes Berinkey, Hungarian jurist and politician, 18th Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1871)
  • 1944 – Lucha Reyes, Mexican singer and actress (b. 1906)
  • 1947 – Jimmy Doyle, American boxer (b. 1924)
  • 1948 – William C. Lee, American general (b. 1895)
  • 1949 – Buck Freeman, American baseball player (b. 1871)
  • 1949 – James Steen, American water polo player (b. 1876)
  • 1950 – Maurice O’Sullivan, Irish police officer and author (b. 1904)
  • 1958 – Alfred Noyes, English author, poet, and playwright (b. 1880)
  • 1959 – Charles Starkweather, American spree killer (b. 1938)
  • 1960 – Tommy Corcoran, American baseball player and manager (b. 1869)
  • 1968 – Tony Hancock, English comedian and actor (b. 1924)
  • 1971 – John Boyd Orr, 1st Baron Boyd-Orr, Scottish physician, biologist, and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1880)
  • 1972 – Jan Matulka, Czech-American painter and illustrator (b. 1890)
  • 1974 – Cornelius Lanczos, Hungarian mathematician and physicist (b. 1893)
  • 1976 – Johnny Mercer, American singer-songwriter, co-founded Capitol Records (b. 1909)
  • 1977 – Olave Baden-Powell, British Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting leader (b. 1889)
  • 1977 – Endre Szervánszky, Hungarian pianist and composer (b. 1911)
  • 1979 – Dave Fleischer, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1894)
  • 1979 – Philippe Halsman, Latvian-American photographer (b. 1906)
  • 1981 – Felipe Cossío del Pomar, Peruvian painter and political activist (b. 1888)
  • 1983 – Alberto Ginastera, Argentinian pianist and composer (b. 1916)
  • 1984 – Michel Foucault, French historian and philosopher (b. 1926)
  • 1988 – Hillel Slovak, Israeli-American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1962)
  • 1990 – Ronald Gene Simmons, American sergeant and murderer (b. 1940)
  • 1992 – Jerome Brown, American football player (b. 1965)
  • 1995 – Warren E. Burger, Fifteenth Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1907)
  • 1995 – Ernest Walton, Irish physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
  • 1996 – Arthur Snelling, English civil servant and diplomat, British Ambassador to South Africa (b. 1914)
  • 1997 – Jacques Cousteau, French oceanographer and explorer (b. 1910)
  • 2002 – Jean Corbeil, Canadian politician, 29th Canadian Minister of Labour (b. 1934)
  • 2003 – Lester Maddox, American businessman and politician, 75th Governor of Georgia (b. 1915)
  • 2004 – Morton Coutts, New Zealand inventor (b. 1904)
  • 2005 – John Fiedler, American actor and voice artist (b. 1925)
  • 2005 – Kâzım Koyuncu, Turkish singer-songwriter and activist (b. 1971)
  • 2006 – Jaap Penraat, Dutch-American humanitarian (b. 1918)
  • 2007 – J. Fred Duckett, American journalist and educator (b. 1933)
  • 2007 – Jeeva, Indian director, cinematographer, and screenwriter (b. 1963)
  • 2008 – Lyall Watson, South African anthropologist and ethologist (b. 1939)
  • 2009 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress and producer (b. 1947)
  • 2009 – Michael Jackson, American singer-songwriter, producer, dancer, and actor (b. 1958)
  • 2009 – Sky Saxon, American singer-songwriter (b. 1937)
  • 2010 – Alan Plater, English playwright and screenwriter (b. 1935)
  • 2010 – Richard B. Sellars, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1915)
  • 2011 – Annie Easley, American computer scientist and mathematician (b. 1933)
  • 2011 – Goff Richards, English composer and conductor (b. 1944)
  • 2011 – Margaret Tyzack, English actress (b. 1931)
  • 2012 – Shigemitsu Dandō, Japanese academic and jurist (b. 1913)
  • 2012 – Campbell Gillies, Scottish jockey (b. 1990)
  • 2012 – George Randolph Hearst, Jr., American businessman (b. 1927)
  • 2012 – Lucella MacLean, American baseball player (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – Edgar Ross, American boxer (b. 1949)
  • 2013 – George Burditt, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1923)
  • 2013 – Catherine Gibson, Scottish swimmer (b. 1931)
  • 2013 – Robert E. Gilka, American photographer and journalist (b. 1916)
  • 2013 – Harry Parker, American rower and coach (b. 1935)
  • 2013 – Mildred Ladner Thompson, American journalist (b. 1918)
  • 2013 – Green Wix Unthank, American soldier and judge (b. 1923)
  • 2014 – Nigel Calder, English journalist, author, and screenwriter (b. 1931)
  • 2014 – Ana María Matute, Spanish author and academic (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Ivan Plyushch, Ukrainian agronomist and politician (b. 1941)
  • 2015 – Patrick Macnee, English actor (b. 1922)
  • 2015 – Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni, Egyptian-Armenian patriarch (b. 1940)
  • 2016 – Adam Small, South African writer of apartheid-period (b. 1936)
  • 2018 – Richard Benjamin Harrison, American businessman and reality television personality (b. 1941)
  • 2018 – David Goldblatt, South African photographer of apartheid-period (b. 1930)

Holidays and observances on June 25

  • Arbor Day (Philippines)
  • Christian feast day:
    • David of Munktorp
    • Eurosia
    • Maximus (Massimo) of Turin
    • Philipp Melanchthon (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
    • Presentation of the Augsburg Confession (Lutheran)
    • Prosper of Aquitaine
    • Prosper of Reggio
    • William of Montevergine
    • June 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Mozambique from Portugal in 1975.
  • National Catfish Day (United States)
  • Statehood Day (Slovenia)
  • Statehood Day (Virginia)
  • Teacher’s Day (Guatemala)
  • World Vitiligo Day

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

On This Day

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

On this day the Summer solstice may occur in the Northern Hemisphere, and the Winter solstice may occur in the Southern Hemisphere.

June 22 in History

  • 217 BC – Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom.
  • 168 BC – Battle of Pydna: Romans under Lucius Aemilius Paullus defeat Macedonian King Perseus who surrenders after the battle, ending the Third Macedonian War.
  • 813 – Battle of Versinikia: The Bulgars led by Krum defeat the Byzantine army near Edirne. Emperor Michael I is forced to abdicate in favor of Leo V the Armenian.
  • 910 – The Hungarians defeat the East Frankish army near the Rednitz River, killing its leader Gebhard, Duke of Lotharingia (Lorraine).
  • 1527 – Fatahillah expels Portuguese forces from Sunda Kelapa, now regarded as the foundation of Jakarta.
  • 1593 – Battle of Sisak: Allied Christian troops defeat the Ottomans.
  • 1633 – The Holy Office in Rome forces Galileo Galilei to recant his view that the Sun, not the Earth, is the center of the Universe in the form he presented it in, after heated controversy.
  • 1774 – The British pass the Quebec Act, setting out rules of governance for the colony of Quebec in British North America.
  • 1783 – A poisonous cloud caused by the eruption of the Laki volcano in Iceland reaches Le Havre in France.
  • 1807 – In the ChesapeakeLeopard Affair, the British warship HMS Leopard attacks and boards the American frigate USS Chesapeake.
  • 1813 – War of 1812: After learning of American plans for a surprise attack on Beaver Dams in Ontario, Laura Secord sets out on a 30 kilometer journey on foot to warn Lieutenant James FitzGibbon.
  • 1839 – Cherokee leaders Major Ridge, John Ridge, and Elias Boudinot are assassinated for signing the Treaty of New Echota, which had resulted in the Trail of Tears.
  • 1870 – The United States Department of Justice is created by the U.S. Congress.
  • 1893 – The Royal Navy battleship HMS Camperdown accidentally rams the British Mediterranean Fleet flagship HMS Victoria which sinks taking 358 crew with her, including the fleet’s commander, Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon.
  • 1897 – British colonial officers Charles Walter Rand and Lt. Charles Egerton Ayerst are assassinated in Pune, Maharashtra, India by the Chapekar brothers and Mahadeo Vinayak Ranade, who are later caught and hanged.
  • 1898 – Spanish–American War: In a chaotic operation, 6,000 men of the U.S. Fifth Army Corps begins landing at Daiquirí, Cuba, about 16 miles (26 km) east of Santiago de Cuba. Lt. Gen. Arsenio Linares y Pombo of the Spanish Army outnumbers them two-to-one, but does not oppose the landings.
  • 1907 – The London Underground’s Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway opens.
  • 1911 – George V and Mary of Teck are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
  • 1911 – Mexican Revolution: Government forces bring an end to the Magonista rebellion of 1911 in the Second Battle of Tijuana.
  • 1918 – The Hammond Circus Train Wreck kills 86 and injures 127 near Hammond, Indiana.
  • 1940 – World War II: France is forced to sign the Second Compiègne armistice with Germany, in the same railroad car in which the Germans signed the Armistice in 1918.
  • 1941 – World War II: Nazi Germany invades the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa.
  • 1942 – World War II: Erwin Rommel is promoted to Field Marshal after the Axis capture of Tobruk.
  • 1942 – The Pledge of Allegiance is formally adopted by US Congress.
  • 1944 – World War II: Opening day of the Soviet Union’s Operation Bagration against the Army Group Centre.
  • 1944 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs into law the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill.
  • 1945 – World War II: The Battle of Okinawa comes to an end.
  • 1948 – The ship HMT Empire Windrush brought the first group of 802 West Indian immigrants to Tilbury, marking the start of modern immigration to the United Kingdom.
  • 1948 – King George VI formally gives up the title “Emperor of India”, half a year after Britain actually gave up its rule of India.
  • 1965 – The Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea is signed.
  • 1969 – The Cuyahoga River catches fire in Cleveland, Ohio, drawing national attention to water pollution, and spurring the passing of the Clean Water Act and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.
  • 1978 – Charon, the first of Pluto’s satellites to be discovered, was first seen at the United States Naval Observatory by James W. Christy.
  • 1984 – Virgin Atlantic Airways launches with its first flight from London Gatwick Airport.
  • 1986 – The famous Hand of God goal, scored by Diego Maradona in the quarter-finals of the 1986 FIFA World Cup match between Argentina and England, ignites controversy. This was later followed by the Goal of the Century. Argentina wins 2–1 and later goes on to win the World Cup.
  • 1990 – Cold War: Checkpoint Charlie is dismantled in Berlin.
  • 2000 – Wuhan Airlines Flight 343 is struck by lightning and crashes into Wuhan’s Hanyang District, killing 49 people.
  • 2002 – An earthquake measuring 6.5 Mw strikes a region of northwestern Iran killing at least 261 people and injuring 1,300 others and eventually causing widespread public anger due to the slow official response.
  • 2009 – A Washington D.C Metro train traveling southbound near Fort Totten station collides into another train waiting to enter the station. Nine people are killed in the collision (eight passengers and the train operator) and at least 80 others are injured.
  • 2012 – Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo is removed from office by impeachment and succeeded by Federico Franco.
  • 2012 – A Turkish Air Force McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II fighter plane is shot down by the Syrian Armed Forces, killing both of the plane’s pilots and worsening already-strained relations between Turkey and Syria.
  • 2015 – The Afghan National Assembly building is attacked by gunmen after a suicide bombing. All six of the gunmen are killed and 18 people are injured.

Births on June 22

  • 662 – Rui Zong, emperor of the Tang Dynasty (d. 716)
  • 916 – Sayf al-Dawla, founder of the Emirate of Aleppo (d. 967)
  • 1000 – Robert I, duke of Normandy (d. 1035)
  • 1373 – Elizabeth Bonifacia, heiress of Poland (d. 1399)
  • 1427 – Lucrezia Tornabuoni, Italian writer and wife of Piero di Cosimo de’ Medici (d. 1482)
  • 1450 – Eleanor of Naples, duchess of Ferrara (d. 1493)
  • 1477 – Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, English nobleman (d. 1530)
  • 1593 – Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet, English politician and militarian (d. 1671)
  • 1680 – Ebenezer Erskine, Scottish minister and theologian (d. 1754)
  • 1684 – Francesco Manfredini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1762)
  • 1704 – John Taylor, English author and scholar (d. 1766)
  • 1713 – John Sackville, English cricketer and politician (d. 1765)
  • 1738 – Jacques Delille, French poet and translator (d. 1813)
  • 1757 – George Vancouver, English lieutenant and explorer (d. 1798)
  • 1763 – Étienne Méhul, French pianist and composer (d. 1817)
  • 1767 – Wilhelm von Humboldt, German philosopher, academic, and politician, Interior Minister of Prussia (d. 1835)
  • 1792 – James Beaumont Neilson, Scottish engineer and businessman (d. 1865)
  • 1805 – Giuseppe Mazzini, Italian journalist and politician (d. 1872)
  • 1820 – James Hutchison Stirling, Scottish physician and philosopher (d. 1909)
  • 1834 – William Chester Minor, American surgeon and linguist (d. 1920)
  • 1837 – Paul Morphy, American chess player (d. 1884)
  • 1837 – Ernst Ziller, German-Greek architect, designed the Presidential Mansion (d. 1923)
  • 1844 – Oscar von Gebhardt, German theologian and academic (d. 1906)
  • 1845 – Tom Dula, American soldier (d. 1868)
  • 1845 – Richard Seddon, English-New Zealand politician, 15th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1906)
  • 1855 – Samuel Morris, Australian cricketer (d. 1931)
  • 1856 – Henry Rider Haggard, English novelist (d. 1925)
  • 1861 – Maximilian von Spee, Danish-German admiral (d. 1914)
  • 1864 – Hermann Minkowski, German mathematician and academic (d. 1909)
  • 1871 – William McDougall, English psychologist and polymath (d. 1938)
  • 1873 – Filippo Silvestri, Italian entomologist and academic (d. 1949)
  • 1874 – Walter Friedrich Otto, German philologist and scholar (d. 1958)
  • 1876 – Pascual Díaz y Barreto, Mexican archbishop (d. 1936)
  • 1879 – Thibaudeau Rinfret, Canadian lawyer and jurist, 9th Chief Justice of Canada (d. 1962)
  • 1880 – Johannes Drost, Dutch swimmer (d. 1954)
  • 1884 – James Rector, American sprinter and lawyer (d. 1949)
  • 1885 – Milan Vidmar, Slovenian engineer and chess player (d. 1962)
  • 1887 – Julian Huxley, English biologist and academic (d. 1975)
  • 1888 – Harold Hitz Burton, American lawyer and politician, 45th Mayor of Cleveland (d. 1964)
  • 1890 – Aleksander Warma, Estonian commander and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Estonia in exile (d. 1970)
  • 1891 – Franz Alexander, Hungarian psychoanalyst and physician (d. 1964)
  • 1892 – Robert Ritter von Greim, German general and pilot (d. 1945)
  • 1894 – Bernard Ashmole, English archaeologist and art historian (d. 1988)
  • 1896 – Leonard W. Murray, Canadian admiral (d. 1971)
  • 1897 – Edmund A. Chester, American journalist and broadcaster (d. 1973)
  • 1897 – Norbert Elias, German-Dutch sociologist and philosopher (d. 1990)
  • 1898 – Erich Maria Remarque, German-Swiss soldier and author (d. 1970)
  • 1899 – Richard Gurley Drew, American engineer, invented Masking tape (d. 1980)
  • 1899 – Michał Kalecki, Polish economist and academic (d. 1970)
  • 1900 – Oskar Fischinger, German-American abstract artist, filmmaker, and painter (d. 1967)
  • 1901 – Elias Katz, Finnish runner and coach (d. 1947)
  • 1902 – Marguerite De La Motte, American actress (d. 1950)
  • 1903 – John Dillinger, American criminal (d. 1934)
  • 1903 – Carl Hubbell, American baseball player (d. 1988)
  • 1906 – William Kneale, English logician and philosopher (d. 1990)
  • 1906 – Anne Morrow Lindbergh, American pilot and author (d. 2001)
  • 1906 – Billy Wilder, Austrian-born American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2002)
  • 1907 – Eriks Ādamsons, Latvian writer, poet, and novelist (d. 1946)
  • 1909 – Katherine Dunham, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2006)
  • 1909 – Infanta Beatriz of Spain, Spanish aristocratic (d. 2002)
  • 1909 – Mike Todd, American producer and manager (d. 1958)
  • 1910 – John Hunt, Baron Hunt, Indian-English lieutenant and mountaineer (d. 1998)
  • 1910 – Anne Ziegler, English singer (d. 2003)
  • 1910 – Konrad Zuse, German computer scientist and engineer, invented the Z3 computer (d. 1995)
  • 1911 – Vernon Kirby, South African tennis player (d. 1994)
  • 1912 – Princess Caroline Mathilde of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (d. 1983)
  • 1912 – Raymonde Allain, French model and actress (d. 2008)
  • 1913 – Sándor Weöres, Hungarian poet and author (d. 1989)
  • 1914 – Mei Zhi, Chinese author and essayist (d. 2004)
  • 1915 – Dolf van der Linden, Dutch conductor and composer (d. 1999)
  • 1915 – Cornelius Warmerdam, American pole vaulter and coach (d. 2001)
  • 1915 – Randolph Hokanson, American pianist (d. 2018)
  • 1915 – Thomas Quinn Curtiss, American writer, and film and theatre critic (d. 2000)
  • 1916 – Johnny Jacobs, American television announcer (d. 1982)
  • 1916 – Richard Eastham, American actor (d. 2005)
  • 1916 – Emil Fackenheim, Jewish philosopher and Reform rabbi (d. 2003)
  • 1918 – Cicely Saunders, English Anglican nurse, social worker, physician and writer (d. 2005)
  • 1919 – Gower Champion, American dancer and choreographer (d. 1980)
  • 1919 – Henri Tajfel, Polish social psychologist (d. 1982)
  • 1919 – Clifton McNeely, American basketball player and coach (d. 2003)
  • 1920 – James H. Pomerene, American computer scientist and engineer (d. 2008)
  • 1920 – Jovito Salonga, Filipino lawyer and politician, 14th President of the Senate of the Philippines (d. 2016)
  • 1921 – Joseph Papp, American director and producer (d. 1991)
  • 1921 – Barbara Vucanovich, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
  • 1921 – Radovan Ivšić, Croatian writer (d. 2009)
  • 1921 – Barbara Perry, American actress (d. 2019)
  • 1922 – Bill Blass, American fashion designer, founded Bill Blass Group (d. 2002)
  • 1922 – Clair Cameron Patterson, American scientist (d. 1995)
  • 1923 – José Giovanni, French-Swiss director and screenwriter (d. 2004)
  • 1924 – Christopher Booth, English clinician and historian (d. 2012)
  • 1924 – Larkin Kerwin, Canadian physicist and academic (d. 2004)
  • 1926 – George Englund, American film editor, director, producer and actor (d. 2017)
  • 1926 – Rachid Solh, Lebanese politician, 48th Prime Minister of Lebanon (d. 2014)
  • 1926 – Doreen Mantle, South African-English actress
  • 1927 – Anthony Low, Indian-English historian and academic (d. 2015)
  • 1928 – Ralph Waite, American actor and director (d. 2014)
  • 1929 – Bruce Kent, English activist and laicised Roman Catholic priest
  • 1930 – Yuri Artyukhin, Russian colonel, engineer, and astronaut (d. 1998)
  • 1930 – Walter Bonatti, Italian journalist and mountaineer (d. 2011)
  • 1931 – Ruby Garrard Woodson, American educator and cultural historian (d. 2008)
  • 1932 – Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari, Princess of Iran (d. 2001)
  • 1932 – Yevgeny Kychanov, Russian orientalist, historian, and academic (d. 2013)
  • 1932 – Amrish Puri, Indian actor (d. 2005)
  • 1932 – June Salter, Australian actress (d. 2001)
  • 1932 – Prunella Scales, English actress
  • 1932 – John Wakeham, Baron Wakeham, English businessman and politician, Leader of the House of Lords
  • 1933 – Dianne Feinstein, American politician
  • 1934 – James Bjorken, American physicist, author, and academic
  • 1936 – Kris Kristofferson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
  • 1936 – Ferran Olivella, Spanish footballer
  • 1936 – Hermeto Pascoal, Brazilian accordion player and composer
  • 1937 – Chris Blackwell, English record producer, co-founded Island Records
  • 1937 – Bernie McGann, Australian saxophonist and composer (d. 2013)
  • 1939 – Don Matthews, American-Canadian football player and coach (d. 2017)
  • 1939 – Ed Paschke, Polish-American painter and academic (d. 2004)
  • 1940 – Joan Busfield, English sociologist, psychologist, and academic
  • 1940 – Hubert Chesshyre, English historian and author
  • 1940 – Abbas Kiarostami, Iranian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
  • 1940 – Esther Rantzen, English journalist
  • 1941 – Ed Bradley, American journalist (d. 2006)
  • 1941 – Terttu Savola, Finnish journalist and politician
  • 1943 – Brit Hume, American journalist and author
  • 1943 – Klaus Maria Brandauer, Austrian actor and director
  • 1944 – Peter Asher, English singer, guitarist, and producer
  • 1944 – Helmut Dietl, German director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
  • 1945 – Rainer Brüderle, German economist and politician, German Minister of Economics and Technology
  • 1946 – Linda Bond, Canadian 19th General of The Salvation Army
  • 1946 – Sheila Hollins, Baroness Hollins, English psychiatrist and academic
  • 1946 – Eliades Ochoa, Cuban singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1946 – Józef Oleksy, Polish economist and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Poland (d. 2015)
  • 1946 – Stephen Waley-Cohen, English journalist and businessman
  • 1947 – Octavia E. Butler, American author (d. 2006)
  • 1947 – Howard Kaylan, American pop-rock singer-songwriter and musician
  • 1947 – Pete Maravich, American basketball player (d. 1988)
  • 1947 – Jerry Rawlings, Ghanaian lieutenant and politician, President of Ghana
  • 1948 – James Charteris, 13th Earl of Wemyss, Scottish businessman
  • 1948 – Todd Rundgren, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1949 – Larry Junstrom, American bass player
  • 1949 – Brian Leveson, English lawyer and judge
  • 1949 – Alan Osmond, American singer and producer
  • 1949 – Meryl Streep, American actress and singer
  • 1949 – Luís Filipe Vieira, Portuguese businessman
  • 1949 – Lindsay Wagner, American actress
  • 1949 – Elizabeth Warren, American academic and politician
  • 1950 – Sharon Maughan, English actress
  • 1950 – Adrian Năstase, Romanian lawyer and politician, 59th Prime Minister of Romania
  • 1950 – Greg Oliphant, Australian rugby league player
  • 1950 – Zenonas Petrauskas, Lithuanian lawyer and politician (d. 2009)
  • 1950 – Tom Alter, Indian actor (d. 2017)
  • 1951 – Brian Cookson, British cyclist and sports administrator
  • 1951 – Craig Gruber, American bass player (d. 2015)
  • 1951 – Humphrey Ocean, English painter and academic
  • 1952 – Graham Greene, Canadian actor
  • 1952 – Santokh Singh, Malaysian football player
  • 1953 – Wim Eijk, Dutch cardinal
  • 1953 – Mauro Francaviglia, Italian mathematician and academic (d. 2013)
  • 1953 – Cyndi Lauper, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
  • 1953 – Bruce McAvaney, Australian journalist and sportscaster
  • 1954 – Freddie Prinze, American comedian and actor (d. 1977)
  • 1955 – Green Gartside, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1955 – Christine Orengo, British academic and educator
  • 1956 – Darryl Brohman, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
  • 1956 – Alfons De Wolf, Belgian cyclist
  • 1956 – Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Pakistani agriculturist and politician, 25th Pakistani Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1956 – Tim Russ, American actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1956 – Markus Schatte, German footballer, manager, and coach
  • 1956 – Derek Forbes, Scottish bass player and guitarist
  • 1957 – Danny Baker, English journalist and screenwriter
  • 1957 – Garry Gary Beers, Australian bass player, songwriter, and producer
  • 1957 – Kevin Bond, English footballer and manager
  • 1957 – Michael Stratton, English geneticist and academic
  • 1958 – Rocío Banquells, Mexican pop singer and actress
  • 1958 – Bruce Campbell, American actor, director, producer and writer
  • 1959 – Michael Kinane, Irish jockey
  • 1959 – Nicola Sirkis, French singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1959 – Daniel Xuereb, French footballer
  • 1960 – Erin Brockovich, American lawyer and environmentalist
  • 1960 – Margrit Klinger, German runner
  • 1960 – Tracy Pollan, American actress
  • 1961 – Jimmy Somerville, Scottish singer-songwriter
  • 1962 – Stephen Chow, Hong Kong actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1962 – Bobby Gillespie, Scottish musician and singer-songwriter
  • 1962 – Clyde Drexler, American basketball player and coach
  • 1962 – Gerald Hillringhaus, German footballer
  • 1963 – Hokutoumi Nobuyoshi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 61st Yokozuna
  • 1963 – John Tenta, Canadian-American wrestler (d. 2006)
  • 1964 – Cadillac Anderson, American basketball player
  • 1964 – Amy Brenneman, American actress
  • 1964 – Dan Brown, American author and academic
  • 1964 – Miroslav Kadlec, Czech footballer
  • 1965 – Uwe Boll, German director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1965 – Ľubomír Moravčík, Czech footballer and manager
  • 1966 – Michael Park, English racing driver (d. 2005)
  • 1966 – Emmanuelle Seigner, French actress
  • 1966 – Dean Woods, Australian cyclist
  • 1968 – Darrell Armstrong, American basketball player and coach
  • 1968 – Miri Yu, Zainichi, Korean novelist
  • 1971 – Gary Connolly, English rugby player
  • 1971 – Mary Lynn Rajskub, American actress and comedian
  • 1971 – Kurt Warner, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1972 – Damien Oliver, Australian jockey
  • 1973 – Carson Daly, American radio and television host
  • 1974 – Jo Cox, British MP (d. 2016)
  • 1974 – Vijay, Indian film actor in Tamil cinema
  • 1975 – Urmas Reinsalu, Estonian academic and politician, 28th Estonian Minister of Defence
  • 1978 – Champ Bailey, American football player
  • 1978 – Dan Wheldon, English racing driver (d. 2011)
  • 1979 – Joey Cheek, American speed skater
  • 1979 – Thomas Voeckler, French cyclist
  • 1980 – Ilya Bryzgalov, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1980 – Stephanie Jacobsen, Hong Kong-Australian actress
  • 1981 – Sione Lauaki, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1981 – Aquivaldo Mosquera, Colombian footballer
  • 1982 – Andoni Iraola, Spanish footballer
  • 1982 – Ian Kinsler, American baseball player
  • 1982 – Soraia Chaves, Portuguese actress and model
  • 1983 – Allar Raja, Estonian rower
  • 1984 – Dustin Johnson, American golfer
  • 1984 – Rubén Iván Martínez, Spanish footballer
  • 1984 – Jerome Taylor, Jamaican cricketer
  • 1984 – Janko Tipsarević, Serbian tennis player
  • 1985 – Thomas Leuluai, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1987 – Danny Green, American basketball player
  • 1987 – Nikita Rukavytsya, Ukrainian-Australian footballer
  • 1988 – Omri Casspi, Israeli basketball player
  • 1989 – Cédric Mongongu, Congolese footballer
  • 1989 – Jung Yong-hwa, South Korean singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1990 – Sebastian Jung, German footballer
  • 1991 – Hugo Mallo, Spanish footballer
  • 1992 – Ura Kazuki, Japanese sumo wrestler
  • 1992 – Harry Reid, British actor
  • 1993 – Loris Karius, German footballer
  • 1994 – Sebastien Haller, French footballer
  • 1994 – Carlos Vinícius Santos de Jesus, Brazilian footballer
  • 1996 – Mikel Merino, Spanish footballer
  • 1999 – Sam Retford, Australian-English actor

Deaths on June 22

  • 431 – Paulinus of Nola, Christian bishop and poet (b. 354)
  • 910 – Gebhard, Frankish nobleman
  • 910 – Gerhard I, Frankish nobleman
  • 947 – Qian Hongzuo, king of Wuyue (b. 928)
  • 1017 – Leo Passianos, Byzantine general
  • 1101 – Roger I of Sicily, Norman nobleman (b. 1031)
  • 1276 – Innocent V, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1225)
  • 1343 – Aimone, Count of Savoy (b. 1291)
  • 1429 – Jamshīd al-Kāshī, Persian astronomer and mathematician (b. 1380)
  • 1521 – Leonardo Loredan, Italian politician, 76th Doge of Venice (b. 1436)
  • 1535 – John Fisher, English bishop and saint (b. 1469)
  • 1632 – James Whitelocke, English judge and politician, Chief Justice of Chester (b. 1570)
  • 1634 – Johann von Aldringen, Austrian field marshal (b. 1588)
  • 1664 – Katherine Philips, Anglo-Welsh poet (b. 1631)
  • 1699 – Josiah Child, English merchant, economist, and politician (b. 1630)
  • 1714 – Matthew Henry, Welsh minister and author (b. 1662)
  • 1766 – Carlo Zimech, Maltese priest and painter (b. 1696)
  • 1868 – Heber C. Kimball, American religious leader (b. 1801)
  • 1872 – Rudecindo Alvarado, Argentinian general (b. 1792)
  • 1874 – Howard Staunton, English chess player (b. 1810)
  • 1892 – Pierre Ossian Bonnet, French mathematician and academic (b. 1819)
  • 1894 – Alexandre-Antonin Taché, Canadian archbishop and missionary (b. 1823)
  • 1905 – Francis Lubbock, American colonel and politician, 9th Governor of Texas (b. 1815)
  • 1913 – Ștefan Octavian Iosif, Romanian poet and translator (b. 1875)
  • 1925 – Felix Klein, German mathematician and academic (b. 1849)
  • 1928 – A. B. Frost, American illustrator and painter (b. 1851)
  • 1931 – Armand Fallières, French politician, 9th President of France (b. 1841)
  • 1933 – Tim Birkin, English racing driver and lieutenant (b. 1896)
  • 1935 – Szymon Askenazy, Polish historian and diplomat (b. 1866)
  • 1936 – Moritz Schlick, German-Austrian physicist and philosopher (b. 1882)
  • 1938 – C. J. Dennis, Australian poet and author (b. 1876)
  • 1940 – Monty Noble, Australian cricketer and sportscaster (b. 1873)
  • 1942 – August Froehlich, German priest and activist (b. 1891)
  • 1945 – Isamu Chō, Japanese general (b. 1895)
  • 1945 – Mitsuru Ushijima, Japanese general (b. 1887)
  • 1956 – Walter de la Mare, English poet, short story writer and novelist (b. 1873)
  • 1959 – Hermann Brill, German educator and politician, 8th Minister-President of Thuringia (b. 1895)
  • 1964 – Havank, Dutch journalist and author (b. 1904)
  • 1965 – David O. Selznick, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1902)
  • 1966 – Thaddeus Shideler, American hurdler (b. 1883)
  • 1969 – Judy Garland, American actress and singer (b. 1922)
  • 1970 – Đặng Thùy Trâm, Vietnamese surgeon and author (b. 1942)
  • 1974 – Darius Milhaud, French composer and educator (b. 1892)
  • 1977 – Jacqueline Audry, French director and screenwriter (b. 1908)
  • 1977 – Peter Laughner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Rocket From the Tombs and Pere Ubu) (b. 1952)
  • 1979 – Louis Chiron, Monégasque race car driver (b. 1899)
  • 1984 – Joseph Losey, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1909)
  • 1987 – Fred Astaire, American actor and dancer (b. 1899)
  • 1988 – Dennis Day, American singer and actor (b. 1916)
  • 1990 – Ilya Frank, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
  • 1993 – Pat Nixon, American educator, 37th First Lady of the United States (b. 1912)
  • 1995 – Leonid Derbenyov, Russian poet and songwriter (b. 1931)
  • 1995 – Al Hansen, American sculptor and author (b. 1927)
  • 1997 – Ted Gärdestad, Swedish singer-songwriter (b. 1956)
  • 1997 – Gérard Pelletier, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1919)
  • 2003 – Vasil Bykaŭ, Belarusian war novelist (b. 1924)
  • 2004 – Bob Bemer, American computer scientist and engineer (b. 1920)
  • 2004 – Mattie Stepanek, American poet and author (b. 1990)
  • 2007 – Erik Parlevliet, Dutch field hockey player (b. 1964)
  • 2008 – Natalia Bekhtereva, Russian neuroscientist and psychologist (b. 1924)
  • 2008 – George Carlin, American comedian, actor, and author (b. 1937)
  • 2008 – Dody Goodman, American actress and dancer (b. 1914)
  • 2011 – Coşkun Özarı, Turkish footballer and coach (b. 1931)
  • 2012 – Juan Luis Galiardo, Spanish actor and producer (b. 1922)
  • 2013 – Henning Larsen, Danish architect, designed the Copenhagen Opera House (b. 1925)
  • 2013 – Allan Simonsen, Danish race car driver (b. 1978)
  • 2014 – Fouad Ajami, Lebanese-American author and academic (b. 1945)
  • 2014 – Rama Narayanan, Indian director and producer (b. 1949)
  • 2015 – James Horner, American composer and conductor (b. 1953)
  • 2017 – Mao Kobayashi, Japanese newscaster and actress (b. 1982)
  • 2017 – Quett Masire, Botswanan politician (b. 1926)
  • 2018 – Vinnie Paul, American musician (b. 1964)

Holidays and observances on June 22

  • Christian feast day:
    • Aaron of Aleth
    • Alban, first recorded Martyr in Britain (commemoration, Anglicanism)
    • Blessed Pope Innocent V
    • Eusebius of Samosata (Orthodox Church)
    • John Fisher (Catholic Church)
    • Nicetas of Remesiana
    • Paulinus of Nola
    • Thomas More (Catholic Church)
    • June 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Anti-Fascist Struggle Day (Croatia)
  • Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Great Patriotic War (Belarus)
  • Father’s Day (Guernsey, Isle of Man, and Jersey)
  • Teachers’ Day (El Salvador)

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

On This Day

June 8 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

  • 218 – Battle of Antioch: With the support of the Syrian legions, Elagabalus defeats the forces of emperor Macrinus. He flees but is captured near Chalcedon and later executed in Cappadocia.
  • 793 – Vikings raid the abbey at Lindisfarne in Northumbria, commonly accepted as the beginning of Norse activity in the British Isles.
  • 1042 – Edward the Confessor becomes King of England – the country’s penultimate Anglo-Saxon king.
  • 1191 – Richard I arrives in Acre, beginning his crusade.
  • 1663 – Portuguese victory at the Battle of Ameixial ensures Portugal’s independence from Spain.
  • 1776 – American Revolutionary War: American attackers are driven back at the Battle of Trois-Rivières.
  • 1783 – Laki, a volcano in Iceland, begins an eight-month eruption which kills over 9,000 people and starts a seven-year famine.
  • 1789 – James Madison introduces twelve proposed amendments to the United States Constitution in Congress.
  • 1794 – Robespierre inaugurates the French Revolution’s new state religion, the Cult of the Supreme Being, with large organized festivals all across France.
  • 1856 – A group of 194 Pitcairn Islanders, descendants of the mutineers of HMS Bounty, arrives at Norfolk Island, commencing the Third Settlement of the Island.
  • 1861 – American Civil War: Tennessee secedes from the Union.
  • 1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Cross Keys: Confederate forces under General Stonewall Jackson save the Army of Northern Virginia from a Union assault on the James Peninsula led by General George B. McClellan.
  • 1867 – Coronation of Franz Joseph as King of Hungary following the Austro-Hungarian compromise (Ausgleich).
  • 1887 – Herman Hollerith applies for US patent #395,781 for the ‘Art of Compiling Statistics’, which was his punched card calculator.
  • 1906 – Theodore Roosevelt signs the Antiquities Act into law, authorizing the President to restrict the use of certain parcels of public land with historical or conservation value.
  • 1912 – Carl Laemmle incorporates Universal Pictures.
  • 1918 – A solar eclipse is observed at Baker City, Oregon by scientists and an artist hired by the United States Navy.
  • 1928 – Second Northern Expedition: The National Revolutionary Army captures Peking, whose name is changed to Beijing (“Northern Capital”).
  • 1929 – Margaret Bondfield is appointed Minister of Labour. She is the first woman appointed to the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.
  • 1940 – World War II: The completion of Operation Alphabet, the evacuation of Allied forces from Narvik at the end of the Norwegian Campaign.
  • 1941 – World War II: The Allies commence the Syria–Lebanon Campaign against the possessions of Vichy France in the Levant.
  • 1942 – World War II: The Japanese imperial submarines I-21 and I-24 shell the Australian cities of Sydney and Newcastle.
  • 1949 – Helen Keller, Dorothy Parker, Danny Kaye, Fredric March, John Garfield, Paul Muni and Edward G. Robinson are named in an FBI report as Communist Party members.
  • 1949 – George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is published.
  • 1953 – An F5 tornado hits Beecher, Michigan, killing 116, injuring 844, and destroying 340 homes.
  • 1953 – The United States Supreme Court rules in District of Columbia v. John R. Thompson Co. that restaurants in Washington, D.C., cannot refuse to serve black patrons.
  • 1959 – USS Barbero and the United States Postal Service attempt the delivery of mail via Missile Mail.
  • 1966 – An F-104 Starfighter collides with XB-70 Valkyrie prototype no. 2, destroying both aircraft during a photo shoot near Edwards Air Force Base. Joseph A. Walker, a NASA test pilot, and Carl Cross, a United States Air Force test pilot, are both killed.
  • 1966 – Topeka, Kansas, is devastated by a tornado that registers as an “F5” on the Fujita scale: The first to exceed US$100 million in damages. Sixteen people are killed, hundreds more injured, and thousands of homes damaged or destroyed.
  • 1966 – The National Football League and American Football League announced a merger effective in 1970.
  • 1967 – Six-Day War: The USS Liberty incident occurs, killing 34 and wounding 171.
  • 1972 – Vietnam War: Nine-year-old Phan Thị Kim Phúc is burned by napalm, an event captured by Associated Press photographer Nick Ut moments later while the young girl is seen running down a road, in what would become an iconic, Pulitzer Prize-winning photo.
  • 1982 – Bluff Cove Air Attacks during the Falklands War: Fifty-six British servicemen are killed by an Argentine air attack on two landing ships, RFA Sir Galahad and RFA Sir Tristram.
  • 1984 – Homosexuality is declared legal in the Australian state of New South Wales.
  • 1987 – New Zealand’s Labour government establishes a national nuclear-free zone under the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987.
  • 1992 – The first World Oceans Day is celebrated, coinciding with the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
  • 1995 – Downed U.S. Air Force pilot Captain Scott O’Grady is rescued by U.S. Marines in Bosnia.
  • 2001 – Mamoru Takuma kills eight and injures 15 in a mass stabbing at an elementary school in the Osaka Prefecture of Japan.
  • 2004 – The first Venus Transit in well over a century takes place, the previous one being in 1882.
  • 2007 – Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, is hit by the State’s worst storms and flooding in 30 years resulting in the death of nine people and the grounding of a trade ship, the MV Pasha Bulker.
  • 2008 – At least 37 miners go missing after an explosion in a Ukrainian coal mine causes it to collapse.
  • 2008 – At least seven people are killed and ten injured in a stabbing spree in Tokyo, Japan.
  • 2009 – Two American journalists are found guilty of illegally entering North Korea and sentenced to 12 years of penal labour.
  • 2014 – At least 28 people are killed in an attack at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, Pakistan.

Births on June 8

  • 862 – Emperor Xizong of Tang (d. 888)
  • 1508 – Primož Trubar, Slovenian Protestant reformer (d. 1586)
  • 1552 – Gabriello Chiabrera, Italian poet and author (d. 1638)
  • 1593 – George I Rákóczi, prince of Transylvania (d. 1648)
  • 1625 – Giovanni Domenico Cassini, Italian-French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1712)
  • 1671 – Tomaso Albinoni, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1751)
  • 1717 – John Collins, American lawyer and politician, 3rd Governor of Rhode Island (d. 1795)
  • 1724 – John Smeaton, English engineer, designed the Coldstream Bridge and Perth Bridge (d. 1794)
  • 1745 – Caspar Wessel, Norwegian-Danish mathematician and cartographer (d. 1818)
  • 1757 – Ercole Consalvi, Italian cardinal (d. 1824)
  • 1788 – Charles A. Wickliffe, American politician, 14th Governor of Kentucky (d. 1869)
  • 1810 – Robert Schumann, German composer and critic (d. 1856)
  • 1829 – John Everett Millais, English painter and illustrator (d. 1896)
  • 1831 – Thomas J. Higgins, Canadian-American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1917)
  • 1842 – John Q. A. Brackett, American lawyer and politician, 36th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1918)
  • 1851 – Jacques-Arsène d’Arsonval, French physician and physicist (d. 1940)
  • 1852 – Guido Banti, Italian physician and pathologist (d. 1925)
  • 1854 – Douglas Cameron, Canadian politician, 8th Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (d. 1921)
  • 1855 – George Charles Haité, English painter and illustrator (d. 1924)
  • 1858 – Charlotte Scott, English mathematician (d. 1931)
  • 1859 – Smith Wigglesworth, English evangelist (d. 1947)
  • 1860 – Alicia Boole Stott, Irish-English mathematician and theorist (d. 1940)
  • 1867 – Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect, designed the Price Tower and Fallingwater (d. 1959)
  • 1868 – Robert Robinson Taylor, American architect (d. 1942)
  • 1872 – Jan Frans De Boever, Belgian painter and illustrator (d. 1949)
  • 1875 – Ernst Enno, Estonian poet and author (d. 1934)
  • 1876 – Alexandre Tuffère, Greek-French triple jumper (d. 1958)
  • 1885 – Karl Genzken, German physician (d. 1957)
  • 1891 – William Funnell, Australian public servant (d. 1962)
  • 1893 – Ernst Marcus, German zoologist (d. 1968)
  • 1893 – Gaby Morlay, French actress (d. 1964)
  • 1894 – Erwin Schulhoff, Czech composer and pianist (d. 1942)
  • 1895 – Santiago Bernabéu Yeste, Spanish footballer and manager (d. 1978)
  • 1897 – John G. Bennett, English mathematician and technologist (d. 1974)
  • 1899 – Eugène Lapierre, Canadian organist, composer and arts administrator (d. 1970)
  • 1899 – Ernst-Robert Grawitz, German physician (d. 1945)
  • 1900 – Lena Baker, African-American maid executed for capital murder, later pardoned posthumously (d. 1945)
  • 1903 – Ralph Yarborough, American colonel and politician (d. 1996)
  • 1903 – Marguerite Yourcenar, Belgian-French author and poet (d. 1987)
  • 1910 – C. C. Beck, American illustrator (d. 1989)
  • 1910 – John W. Campbell, American journalist and author (d. 1971)
  • 1910 – Fernand Fonssagrives, French-American photographer, sculptor, and painter (d. 2003)
  • 1911 – Edmundo Rivero, Argentinian singer-songwriter (d. 1986)
  • 1912 – Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, British abstract painter (d. 2004)
  • 1912 – Maurice Bellemare, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1989)
  • 1912 – Harry Holtzman, American painter (d. 1987)
  • 1915 – Kayyar Kinhanna Rai, Indian journalist, author, and poet (d. 2015)
  • 1916 – Francis Crick, English biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
  • 1916 – Luigi Comencini, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 2007)
  • 1916 – Richard Pousette-Dart, American painter and educator (d. 1992)
  • 1917 – Byron White, American football player and judge (d. 2002)
  • 1918 – George Edward Hughes, Irish-New Zealand philosopher and logician (d. 1994)
  • 1918 – Robert Preston, American captain, actor, and singer (d. 1987)
  • 1918 – John D. Roberts, American chemist and academic (d. 2016)
  • 1918 – John H. Ross, American captain and pilot (d. 2013)
  • 1919 – John R. Deane, Jr., American general (d. 2013)
  • 1920 – Gwen Harwood, Australian poet and playwright (d. 1995)
  • 1921 – Gordon McLendon, American broadcaster and businessman (d. 1986)
  • 1921 – Olga Nardone, American actress (d. 2010)
  • 1921 – LeRoy Neiman, American soldier and painter (d. 2012)
  • 1921 – Alexis Smith, Canadian-born American actress and singer (d. 1993)
  • 1921 – Suharto, Indonesian soldier and politician, 2nd President of Indonesia (d. 2008)
  • 1924 – Billie Dawe, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – Kenneth Waltz, American political scientist and academic (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Barbara Bush, American wife of George H. W. Bush, 41st First Lady of the United States (d. 2018)
  • 1927 – Jerry Stiller, American actor, comedian and producer (d. 2020)
  • 1929 – Nada Inada, Japanese psychiatrist and author (d. 2013)
  • 1930 – Robert Aumann, German-American mathematician and economist, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1930 – Marcel Léger, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1993)
  • 1931 – James Goldstone, American director and screenwriter (d. 1999)
  • 1931 – Dana Wynter, British actress (d. 2011)
  • 1932 – Ray Illingworth, English cricketer and sportscaster
  • 1932 – Ian Kirkwood, Lord Kirkwood, Scottish lawyer and judge (d. 2017)
  • 1933 – Rommie Loudd, American football player and coach (d. 1998)
  • 1933 – Joan Rivers, American comedian, actress, and television host (d. 2014)
  • 1933 – Robert Stevens, English lawyer and academic
  • 1934 – Millicent Martin, English actress and singer
  • 1935 – Molade Okoya-Thomas, Nigerian businessman and philanthropist (d. 2015)
  • 1936 – James Darren, American actor
  • 1936 – Kenneth G. Wilson, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
  • 1937 – Gillian Clarke, Welsh poet and playwright
  • 1938 – Angelo Amato, Italian cardinal
  • 1939 – Herb Adderley, American football player
  • 1940 – Nancy Sinatra, American singer and actress
  • 1941 – Robert Bradford, Northern Irish politician and activist (d. 1981)
  • 1941 – George Pell, Australian cardinal
  • 1942 – Nikos Konstantopoulos, Greek politician, Greek Minister of the Interior
  • 1942 – Doug Mountjoy, Welsh snooker player
  • 1943 – Colin Baker, English actor
  • 1943 – William Calley, American lieutenant
  • 1943 – Willie Davenport, American colonel and hurdler (d. 2002)
  • 1943 – Peter Eggert, German footballer and manager
  • 1943 – Pierre-André Fournier, Roman Catholic archbishop (d. 2015)
  • 1944 – Mark Belanger, American baseball player (d. 1998)
  • 1944 – Marc Ouellet, Canadian cardinal
  • 1944 – Boz Scaggs, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1945 – Steven Fromholz, American singer-songwriter, producer, and poet (d. 2014)
  • 1945 – Derek Underwood, English cricketer
  • 1946 – Graham Henry, New Zealand rugby player and coach
  • 1947 – Annie Haslam, English singer-songwriter and painter
  • 1947 – Sara Paretsky, American author
  • 1947 – Eric F. Wieschaus, American biologist, geneticist, and academic Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1949 – Emanuel Ax, Polish-American pianist and educator
  • 1949 – Hildegard Falck, German runner
  • 1950 – Kathy Baker, American actress
  • 1950 – Sônia Braga, Brazilian actress and producer
  • 1951 – Tony Rice, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1951 – Bonnie Tyler, Welsh singer-songwriter
  • 1953 – Billy Hayes, English union leader
  • 1953 – Sandy Nairne, English historian and curator
  • 1953 – Ivo Sanader, Croatian historian and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Croatia
  • 1953 – Olav Stedje, Norwegian singer-songwriter
  • 1954 – Greg Ginn, American punk rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter (Black Flag)
  • 1954 – Kiril of Varna, Bulgarian metropolitan (d. 2013)
  • 1954 – Sergei Storchak, Ukrainian-Russian politician
  • 1955 – Tim Berners-Lee, English computer scientist, best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web
  • 1955 – José Antonio Camacho, Spanish footballer and manager
  • 1955 – Griffin Dunne, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1956 – Udo Bullmann, German politician
  • 1956 – Jonathan Potter, English psychologist, sociolinguist, and academic
  • 1957 – Scott Adams, American author and illustrator
  • 1957 – Don Robinson, American baseball player and politician
  • 1957 – Sonja Vectomov, Czech/Finnish sculptor
  • 1958 – Louise Richardson, Irish political scientist and academic
  • 1958 – Keenen Ivory Wayans, American actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1959 – Mohsen Kadivar, Iranian philosopher
  • 1960 – Mick Hucknall, English singer-songwriter
  • 1960 – Terje Gewelt, Norwegian bassist
  • 1960 – Thomas Steen, Swedish ice hockey player and coach
  • 1961 – Mary Bonauto, American lawyer and gay rights activist
  • 1962 – John Gibbons, American baseball player and manager
  • 1962 – Andreas Keim, German footballer
  • 1962 – Nick Rhodes, English keyboard player and producer
  • 1963 – Karen Kingsbury, American journalist and author
  • 1963 – Antoaneta Todorova, Bulgarian javelin thrower
  • 1964 – Butch Reynolds, American runner and coach
  • 1965 – Kevin Farley, American screenwriter
  • 1965 – Rob Pilatus, German model, dancer and singer (Milli Vanilli) (d. 1998)
  • 1966 – Julianna Margulies, American actress
  • 1966 – Doris Pearson, English singer-songwriter and choreographer
  • 1967 – Dan Futterman, American actor, screenwriter and producer
  • 1967 – Russell E. Morris, Professor of Materials Chemistry at the University of St Andrews
  • 1968 – Rob Ray, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
  • 1969 – David Barnhill, Australian rugby league player and coach
  • 1969 – J. P. Manoux, American actor
  • 1969 – Marcos Siega, American director and producer
  • 1970 – Gabrielle Giffords, American businesswoman, politician and activist
  • 1970 – Kwame Kilpatrick, American educator and politician, 68th Mayor of Detroit
  • 1970 – Steve Renouf, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
  • 1970 – Troy Vincent, American football player
  • 1971 – Mark Feuerstein, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1972 – Christian Mayrleb, Austrian footballer
  • 1973 – Lexa Doig, Canadian model and actress
  • 1973 – Bryant Reeves, American basketball player
  • 1974 – Pål Arne Fagernes, Norwegian javelin thrower (d. 2003)
  • 1974 – Lauren Burns, Australian taekwondo practitioner
  • 1974 – Alma Lepina, Latvian figure skater
  • 1975 – Emm Gryner, Canadian singer-songwriter
  • 1975 – Bryan McCabe, Canadian-American ice hockey player
  • 1975 – Mark Ricciuto, Australian footballer and sportscaster
  • 1975 – Shilpa Shetty, Indian actress and producer
  • 1976 – Eion Bailey, American actor
  • 1976 – Kenji Johjima, Japanese baseball player
  • 1976 – Catherine McKinnell, English lawyer and politician
  • 1977 – Kanye West, American rapper, producer, director, and fashion designer
  • 1978 – Eun Ji-won, South Korean rapper, dancer, and producer
  • 1978 – Maria Menounos, American television journalist
  • 1979 – Alexei Kozlov, Estonian figure skater
  • 1979 – Pete Orr, Canadian-American baseball player
  • 1979 – Adine Wilson, New Zealand netball player
  • 1979 – İpek Şenoğlu, Turkish tennis player
  • 1980 – Gustavo Manduca, Brazilian footballer
  • 1980 – Jamie Spencer, Irish jockey
  • 1981 – Alex Band, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1981 – Rachel Held Evans, American Christian author
  • 1981 – Matteo Meneghello, Italian race car driver
  • 1981 – Sara Watkins, American singer-songwriter and fiddler
  • 1982 – Matteo Barbini, Italian rugby player
  • 1982 – Michael Cammalleri, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1982 – Dickson Etuhu, Nigerian footballer
  • 1982 – Irina Lăzăreanu, Romanian-Canadian model and singer
  • 1982 – Nadia Petrova, Russian tennis player
  • 1983 – Gaines Adams, American football player (d. 2010)
  • 1983 – Kim Clijsters, Belgian tennis player
  • 1983 – Pantelis Kapetanos, Greek footballer
  • 1983 – Coby Karl, American basketball player
  • 1984 – Javier Mascherano, Argentinian footballer
  • 1985 – Alexandre Despatie, Canadian diver
  • 1985 – Rosanna Pansino, American actress, writer and TV personality
  • 1986 – Patrick Kaleta, American ice hockey player
  • 1986 – Andrej Sekera, Slovak ice hockey player
  • 1987 – Coralie Balmy, French swimmer
  • 1987 – Issiar Dia, Senegalese footballer
  • 1989 – Timea Bacsinszky, Swiss tennis player
  • 1989 – Mitchell Schwartz, American football player
  • 1990 – Todd Barclay, New Zealand politician
  • 1990 – Mickey Bushell, English wheelchair racer
  • 1992 – Sebá, Brazilian footballer
  • 1996 – Doğanay Kılıç, Turkish footballer
  • 1997 – Jeļena Ostapenko, Latvian tennis player

Deaths on June 8

  • 632 – Muhammad, the central figure of Islam, widely regarded as its founder (b. 570/571)
  • 696 – Chlodulf, bishop of Metz (or 697)
  • 951 – Zhao Ying, Chinese chancellor (b. 885)
  • 1042 – Harthacnut, English-Danish king (b. 1018)
  • 1154 – William of York, English archbishop and saint
  • 1290 – Beatrice Portinari, object of Dante Alighieri’s adoration (b. 1266)
  • 1376 – Edward, the Black Prince, English son of Edward III of England (b. 1330)
  • 1383 – Thomas de Ros, 4th Baron de Ros, English politician (b. 1338)
  • 1384 – Kan’ami, Japanese actor and playwright (b. 1333)
  • 1405 – Richard le Scrope, Archbishop of York (b. c.1350)
  • 1405 – Thomas de Mowbray, 4th Earl of Norfolk (b. 1385)
  • 1476 – George Neville, English archbishop and academic (b. 1432)
  • 1492 – Elizabeth Woodville, Queen consort of England (b. 1437)
  • 1501 – George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly, Earl of Huntly and Lord Chancellor of Scotland (b. 1440)
  • 1505 – Hongzhi Emperor of China (b. 1470)
  • 1600 – Edward Fortunatus, German nobleman (b. 1565)
  • 1611 – Jean Bertaut, French bishop and poet (b. 1552)
  • 1612 – Hans Leo Hassler, German organist and composer (b. 1562)
  • 1621 – Anne de Xainctonge, French saint, founded the Society of the Sisters of Saint Ursula of the Blessed Virgin (b. 1567)
  • 1628 – Rudolph Goclenius, German lexicographer and philosopher (b. 1547)
  • 1651 – Tokugawa Iemitsu, Japanese shōgun (b. 1604)
  • 1714 – Sophia of Hanover (b. 1630)
  • 1716 – Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine, German son of Landgravine Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt (b. 1658)
  • 1727 – August Hermann Francke, German-Lutheran pietist, philanthropist, and scholar (b. 1663)
  • 1768 – Johann Joachim Winckelmann, German archaeologist and scholar (b. 1717)
  • 1771 – George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1716)
  • 1795 – Louis XVII of France (b. 1785)
  • 1809 – Thomas Paine, English-American theorist and author (b. 1737)
  • 1831 – Sarah Siddons, Welsh actress (b. 1755)
  • 1835 – Gian Domenico Romagnosi, Italian economist and jurist (b. 1761)
  • 1845 – Andrew Jackson, American general, judge, and politician, 7th President of the United States (b. 1767)
  • 1846 – Rodolphe Töpffer, Swiss teacher, author, painter, cartoonist, and caricaturist (b. 1799)
  • 1857 – Douglas William Jerrold, English journalist and playwright (b. 1803)
  • 1874 – Cochise, American tribal chief (b. 1805)
  • 1876 – George Sand, French author and playwright (b. 1804)
  • 1885 – Ignace Bourget, Canadian bishop (b. 1799)
  • 1889 – Gerard Manley Hopkins, English poet (b. 1844)
  • 1899 – Mary of the Divine Heart, German nun and saint (b. 1863)
  • 1924 – Andrew Irvine, English mountaineer and explorer (b. 1902)
  • 1924 – George Mallory, English lieutenant and mountaineer (b. 1886)
  • 1929 – Bliss Carman, Canadian-American poet and playwright (b. 1861)
  • 1945 – Karl Hanke, Polish-German soldier and politician (b. 1903)
  • 1951 – Eugène Fiset, Canadian physician, general, and politician, 18th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (b. 1874)
  • 1951 – Oswald Pohl, German SS officer (b. 1892)
  • 1956 – Marie Laurencin, French painter and sculptor (b. 1883)
  • 1959 – Leslie Johnson, English race car driver (b. 1912)
  • 1965 – Edmondo Rossoni, Italian politician (b. 1884)
  • 1966 – Anton Melik, Slovenian geographer and academic (b. 1890)
  • 1968 – Elizabeth Enright, American author and illustrator (b. 1909)
  • 1968 – Ludovico Scarfiotti, Italian race car driver (b. 1933)
  • 1969 – Arunachalam Mahadeva, Sri Lankan politician and diplomat (b. 1885)
  • 1969 – Robert Taylor, American actor and singer (b. 1911)
  • 1970 – Abraham Maslow, American psychologist and academic (b. 1908)
  • 1971 – J.I. Rodale, American author and playwright (b. 1898)
  • 1976 – Thorleif Schjelderup-Ebbe, Norwegian zoologist and psychologist (b. 1894)
  • 1982 – Satchel Paige, American baseball player and coach (b. 1906)
  • 1984 – Gordon Jacob, English composer and academic (b. 1895)
  • 1987 – Alexander Iolas, Egyptian-American art collector (b. 1907)
  • 1997 – George Turner, Australian author and critic (b. 1916)
  • 1997 – Karen Wetterhahn, American chemist and academic (b. 1948)
  • 1998 – Sani Abacha, Nigerian general and politician, 10th President of Nigeria (b. 1943)
  • 1998 – Maria Reiche, German mathematician and archaeologist (b. 1903)
  • 2000 – Jeff MacNelly, American cartoonist (b. 1948)
  • 2001 – Alex de Renzy, American director and producer (b. 1935)
  • 2004 – Charles Hyder, American astrophysicist and academic (b. 1930)
  • 2004 – Mack Jones, American baseball player (b. 1938)
  • 2006 – Jaxon, American illustrator and publisher, co-founded Rip Off Press (b. 1941)
  • 2006 – Matta El Meskeen, Egyptian monk, theologian, and author (b. 1919)
  • 2008 – Šaban Bajramović, Serbian singer-songwriter (b. 1936)
  • 2009 – Omar Bongo, Gabonese captain and politician, President of Gabon (b. 1935)
  • 2010 – Crispian St. Peters, English singer-songwriter (b. 1939)
  • 2012 – Pete Brennan, American basketball player (b. 1936)
  • 2012 – Charles E. M. Pearce, New Zealand-Australian mathematician and academic (b. 1940)
  • 2012 – Ghassan Tueni, Lebanese journalist, academic, and politician (b. 1926)
  • 2013 – Paul Cellucci, American soldier and politician, 69th Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1948)
  • 2013 – Yoram Kaniuk, Israeli painter, journalist, and critic (b. 1930)
  • 2013 – Taufiq Kiemas, Indonesian politician, 5th First Spouse of Indonesia (b. 1942)
  • 2014 – Alexander Imich, Polish-American chemist, parapsychologist, and academic (b. 1903)
  • 2014 – Yoshihito, Prince Katsura of Japan (b. 1948)
  • 2015 – Chea Sim, Cambodian commander and politician (b. 1932)
  • 2017 – Sam Panopoulos, Greek cook (b. 1934)

Holidays and observances on June 8

  • Christian feast day:
    • Blessed Mariam Thresia Chiramel Mankidiyan
    • Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart (Droste zu Vischering)
    • Chlodulf of Metz
    • Jacques Berthieu, S.J.
    • Jadwiga (Hedwig) of Poland
    • Medard
    • Melania the Elder
    • Roland Allen (Episcopal Church (USA))
    • Thomas Ken (Church of England)
    • William of York
    • June 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Queen’s Birthday can fall, while June 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Monday in June. (Australia, except Western Australia and Queensland)
  • Bounty Day (Norfolk Island)
  • Caribbean American HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
  • Engineer’s Day (Peru)
  • Pranav Sivakumar Day (Illinois, United States)
  • Primož Trubar Day (Slovenia)
  • World Brain Tumor Day
  • World Oceans Day

June 8 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

June 5 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

  • 1257 – Kraków, in Poland, receives city rights.
  • 1283 – Battle of the Gulf of Naples: Roger of Lauria, admiral to King Peter III of Aragon, destroys the Neapolitan fleet and captures Charles of Salerno.
  • 1288 – The Battle of Worringen ends the War of the Limburg Succession, with John I, Duke of Brabant, being one of the more important victors.
  • 1610 – The masque Tethys’ Festival is performed at Whitehall Palace to celebrate the investiture of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales.
  • 1644 – The Qing dynasty Manchu forces led by the Shunzhi Emperor take Beijing during the collapse of the Ming dynasty.
  • 1798 – The Battle of New Ross: The attempt to spread the United Irish Rebellion into Munster is defeated.
  • 1817 – The first Great Lakes steamer, the Frontenac, is launched.
  • 1829 – HMS Pickle captures the armed slave ship Voladora off the coast of Cuba.
  • 1832 – The June Rebellion breaks out in Paris in an attempt to overthrow the monarchy of Louis Philippe.
  • 1837 – Houston is incorporated by the Republic of Texas.
  • 1849 – Denmark becomes a constitutional monarchy by the signing of a new constitution.
  • 1851 – Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery serial, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly, starts a ten-month run in the National Era abolitionist newspaper.
  • 1862 – As the Treaty of Saigon is signed, ceding parts of southern Vietnam to France, the guerrilla leader Trương Định decides to defy Emperor Tự Đức of Vietnam and fight on against the Europeans.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Piedmont: Union forces under General David Hunter defeat a Confederate army at Piedmont, Virginia, taking nearly 1,000 prisoners.
  • 1873 – Sultan Barghash bin Said of Zanzibar closes the great slave market under the terms of a treaty with Great Britain.
  • 1883 – The first regularly scheduled Orient Express departs Paris.
  • 1888 – The Rio de la Plata earthquake takes place.
  • 1893 – The trial of Lizzie Borden for the murder of her father and step-mother begins in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
  • 1900 – Second Boer War: British soldiers take Pretoria.
  • 1915 – Denmark amends its constitution to allow women’s suffrage.
  • 1916 – Louis Brandeis is sworn in as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court; he is the first American Jew to hold such a position.
  • 1916 – World War I: The Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire breaks out.
  • 1917 – World War I: Conscription begins in the United States as “Army registration day”.
  • 1940 – World War II: After a brief lull in the Battle of France, the Germans renew the offensive against the remaining French divisions south of the River Somme in Operation Fall Rot (“Case Red”).
  • 1941 – World War II: Four thousand Chongqing residents are asphyxiated in a bomb shelter during the Bombing of Chongqing.
  • 1942 – World War II: The United States declares war on Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania.
  • 1944 – World War II: More than 1,000 British bombers drop 5,000 tons of bombs on German gun batteries on the Normandy coast in preparation for D-Day.
  • 1945 – The Allied Control Council, the military occupation governing body of Germany, formally takes power.
  • 1946 – A fire in the La Salle Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, kills 61 people.
  • 1947 – Cold War: Marshall Plan: In a speech at Harvard University, the United States Secretary of State George Marshall calls for economic aid to war-torn Europe.
  • 1949 – Thailand elects Orapin Chaiyakan, the first female member of Thailand’s Parliament.
  • 1956 – Elvis Presley introduces his new single, “Hound Dog”, on The Milton Berle Show, scandalizing the audience with his suggestive hip movements.
  • 1959 – The first government of Singapore is sworn in.
  • 1963 – The British Secretary of State for War, John Profumo, resigns in a sex scandal known as the “Profumo affair”.
  • 1963 – Movement of 15 Khordad: Protests against the arrest of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini by the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In several cities, masses of angry demonstrators are confronted by tanks and paratroopers.
  • 1964 – DSV Alvin is commissioned.
  • 1967 – The Six-Day War begins: Israel launches surprise strikes against Egyptian air-fields in response to the mobilisation of Egyptian forces on the Israeli border.
  • 1968 – Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan.
  • 1975 – The Suez Canal opens for the first time since the Six-Day War.
  • 1975 – The United Kingdom holds its first country-wide referendum on membership of the European Economic Community (EEC).
  • 1976 – The Teton Dam in Idaho, United States, collapses.
  • 1981 – The “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report” of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that five people in Los Angeles, California, have a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems, in what turns out to be the first recognized cases of AIDS.
  • 1983 – More than 100 people are killed when the Russian river cruise ship Aleksandr Suvorov collides with a girder of the Ulyanovsk Railway Bridge. The collision caused a freight train to derail, further damaging the vessel yet the ship remained afloat and was eventually restored and returned to service.
  • 1984 – Operation Blue Star: Under orders from India’s prime minister, Indira Gandhi, the Indian Army begins an invasion of the Golden Temple, the holiest site of the Sikh religion.
  • 1989 – The Tank Man halts the progress of a column of advancing tanks for over half an hour after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
  • 1993 – Portions of the Holbeck Hall Hotel in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, UK, fall into the sea following a landslide.
  • 1995 – The Bose–Einstein condensate is first created.
  • 1997 – The Second Republic of the Congo Civil War begins.
  • 1998 – A strike begins at the General Motors parts factory in Flint, Michigan, that quickly spreads to five other assembly plants. The strike lasts seven weeks.
  • 2000 – The Six-Day War in Kisangani begins in Kisangani, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, between Ugandan and Rwandan forces. A large part of the city is destroyed.
  • 2001 – Tropical Storm Allison makes landfall on the upper-Texas coastline as a strong tropical storm and dumps large amounts of rain over Houston. The storm causes $5.5 billion in damages, making Allison the second costliest tropical storm in U.S. history.
  • 2003 – A severe heat wave across Pakistan and India reaches its peak, as temperatures exceed 50 °C (122 °F) in the region.
  • 2004 – Noël Mamère, Mayor of Bègles, celebrates marriage for two men for the first time in France.
  • 2006 – Serbia declares independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
  • 2009 – After 65 straight days of civil disobedience, at least 31 people are killed in clashes between security forces and indigenous people near Bagua, Peru.
  • 2013 – A building collapse in Philadelphia kills six and wounds 14 other people.
  • 2015 – An earthquake with a moment magnitude of 6.0 struck Ranau, Sabah, Malaysia killing 18 people, including hikers and mountain guides on Mount Kinabalu, after mass landslides that occurred during the earthquake. This is the strongest earthquake to strike Malaysia since 1975.
  • 2017 – Montenegro becomes the 29th member of the NATO.
  • 2017 – Six Arab countries—Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates—cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of destabilising the region.

Births on June 5

  • 1341 – Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, son of King Edward III of England and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (d. 1402)
  • 1412 – Ludovico III Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, Italian ruler (d. 1478)
  • 1493 – Justus Jonas, German priest and academic (d. 1555)
  • 1523 – Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry (d. 1573)
  • 1554 – Benedetto Giustiniani, Italian clergyman (d. 1621)
  • 1587 – Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick, English colonial administrator and admiral (d. 1658)
  • 1596 – Peter Wtewael, Dutch Golden Age painter (d. 1660)
  • 1640 – Pu Songling, Chinese author (d. 1715)
  • 1646 – Elena Cornaro Piscopia, Italian mathematician and philosopher (d. 1684)
  • 1660 – Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (d. 1744)
  • 1757 – Pierre Jean George Cabanis, French physiologist and philosopher (d. 1808)
  • 1760 – Johan Gadolin, Finnish chemist, physicist, and mineralogist (d. 1852)
  • 1771 – Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover (d. 1851)
  • 1781 – Christian Lobeck, German scholar and academic (d. 1860)
  • 1801 – William Scamp, English architect and engineer (d. 1872)
  • 1819 – John Couch Adams, English mathematician and astronomer (d. 1892)
  • 1830 – Carmine Crocco, Italian soldier (d. 1905)
  • 1850 – Pat Garrett, American sheriff (d. 1908)
  • 1862 – Allvar Gullstrand, Swedish ophthalmologist and optician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1930)
  • 1868 – James Connolly, Scottish-born Irish rebel leader (d. 1916)
  • 1870 – Bernard de Pourtalès, Swiss captain and sailor (d. 1935)
  • 1876 – Isaac Heinemann, German-Israeli scholar and academic (d. 1957)
  • 1877 – Willard Miller, Canadian-American sailor, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1959)
  • 1878 – Pancho Villa, Mexican general and politician, Governor of Chihuahua (d. 1923)
  • 1879 – Robert Mayer, German-English businessman and philanthropist (d. 1985)
  • 1883 – John Maynard Keynes, English economist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1946)
  • 1884 – Ralph Benatzky, Czech-Swiss composer (d. 1957)
  • 1884 – Ivy Compton-Burnett, English author (d. 1969)
  • 1884 – Frederick Lorz, American runner (d. 1914)
  • 1892 – Jaan Kikkas, Estonian weightlifter (d. 1944)
  • 1894 – Roy Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet, Canadian-English publisher and academic (d. 1976)
  • 1895 – William Boyd, American actor and producer (d. 1972)
  • 1895 – William Roberts, English soldier and painter (d. 1980)
  • 1898 – Salvatore Ferragamo, Italian shoe designer, founded Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A. (d. 1960)
  • 1898 – Federico García Lorca, Spanish poet, playwright, and director (d. 1936)
  • 1899 – Otis Barton, American diver, engineer, and actor, designed the bathysphere (d. 1992)
  • 1899 – Theippan Maung Wa, Burmese writer (d. 1942)
  • 1900 – Dennis Gabor, Hungarian-English physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
  • 1902 – Arthur Powell Davies, American minister, author, and activist (d. 1957)
  • 1905 – Wayne Boring, American illustrator (d. 1987)
  • 1912 – Dean Amadon, American ornithologist and author (d. 2003)
  • 1912 – Eric Hollies, English cricketer (d. 1981)
  • 1913 – Conrad Marca-Relli, American-Italian painter and academic (d. 2000)
  • 1914 – Beatrice de Cardi, English archaeologist and academic (d. 2016)
  • 1916 – Sid Barnes, Australian cricketer (d. 1973)
  • 1916 – Eddie Joost, American baseball player and manager (d. 2011)
  • 1919 – Richard Scarry, American-Swiss author and illustrator (d. 1994)
  • 1920 – Marion Motley, American football player and coach (d. 1999)
  • 1920 – Cornelius Ryan, Irish-American journalist and author (d. 1974)
  • 1922 – Paul Couvret, Dutch-Australian soldier, pilot, and politician (d. 2013)
  • 1922 – Sheila Sim, English actress (d. 2016)
  • 1923 – Jorge Daponte, Argentinian racing driver (d. 1963)
  • 1923 – Roger Lebel, Canadian actor (d. 1994)
  • 1923 – Daniel Pinkham, American organist and composer (d. 2006)
  • 1924 – Lou Brissie, American baseball player and scout (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – Art Donovan, American football player and radio host (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Bill Hayes, American actor and singer
  • 1926 – Paul Soros, Hungarian-American engineer and businessman (d. 2013)
  • 1928 – Robert Lansing, American actor (d. 1994)
  • 1928 – Umberto Maglioli, Italian racing driver (d. 1999)
  • 1928 – Tony Richardson, English-American director and producer (d. 1991)
  • 1930 – Alifa Rifaat, Egyptian author (d. 1996)
  • 1931 – Yves Blais, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1998)
  • 1931 – Jacques Demy, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1990)
  • 1931 – Jerzy Prokopiuk, Polish anthropologist and philosopher
  • 1932 – Christy Brown, Irish painter and author (d. 1981)
  • 1932 – Dave Gold, American businessman, founded the 99 Cents Only Stores (d. 2013)
  • 1933 – Bata Živojinović, Serbian actor and politician (d. 2016)
  • 1934 – Vilhjálmur Einarsson, Icelandic triple jumper, painter, and educator (d. 2019)
  • 1934 – Bill Moyers, American journalist, 13th White House Press Secretary
  • 1937 – Hélène Cixous, French author, poet, and critic
  • 1938 – Moira Anderson, Scottish singer
  • 1938 – Karin Balzer, German hurdler (d. 2019)
  • 1938 – Roy Higgins, Australian jockey (d. 2014)
  • 1939 – Joe Clark, Canadian journalist and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Canada
  • 1939 – Margaret Drabble, English novelist, biographer, and critic
  • 1941 – Martha Argerich, Argentinian pianist
  • 1941 – Erasmo Carlos, Brazilian singer-songwriter
  • 1941 – Spalding Gray, American writer, actor, and monologist (d. 2004)
  • 1941 – Robert Kraft, American businessman, founded The Kraft Group
  • 1941 – Jeff Rooker, Baron Rooker, English academic and politician, Minister of State for Immigration
  • 1941 – Gudrun Sjödén, Swedish designer
  • 1942 – Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Equatoguinean lieutenant and politician, 2nd President of Equatorial Guinea
  • 1943 – Abraham Viruthakulangara, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Nagpur, Maharashtra, India (d. 2018)
  • 1944 – Whitfield Diffie, American cryptographer and academic
  • 1945 – John Carlos, American runner and football player
  • 1945 – André Lacroix, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1946 – John Du Cann, English guitarist (d. 2001)
  • 1946 – Bob Grant, Australian rugby league player
  • 1946 – Patrick Head, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Williams F1
  • 1946 – Wanderléa, Brazilian singer and television host
  • 1947 – Laurie Anderson, American singer-songwriter and violinist
  • 1947 – Tom Evans, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1983)
  • 1947 – David Hare, English director, playwright, and screenwriter
  • 1947 – Freddie Stone, American singer, guitarist, and pastor
  • 1949 – Ken Follett, Welsh author
  • 1949 – Elizabeth Gloster, English lawyer and judge
  • 1949 – Alexander Scrymgeour, 12th Earl of Dundee, Scottish politician
  • 1950 – Ronnie Dyson, American singer and actor (d. 1990)
  • 1950 – Abraham Sarmiento, Jr., Filipino journalist and activist (d. 1977)
  • 1951 – Suze Orman, American financial adviser, author, and television host
  • 1952 – Pierre Bruneau, Canadian journalist and news anchor
  • 1952 – Carole Fredericks, American singer (d. 2001)
  • 1952 – Nicko McBrain, English drummer and songwriter
  • 1953 – Kathleen Kennedy, American film producer, co-founded Amblin Entertainment
  • 1954 – Alberto Malesani, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1954 – Phil Neale, English cricketer, coach, and manager
  • 1954 – Nancy Stafford, American model and actress
  • 1955 – Edino Nazareth Filho, Brazilian footballer and manager
  • 1956 – Richard Butler, English singer-songwriter
  • 1956 – Kenny G, American saxophonist, songwriter, and producer
  • 1957 – Charles Nolan, American fashion designer (d. 2011)
  • 1958 – Avigdor Lieberman, Moldavian-Israeli soldier and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel
  • 1958 – Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi, Comorian businessman and politician, President of Comoros
  • 1959 – Mark Ella, Australian rugby player
  • 1959 – Werner Schildhauer, German runner
  • 1960 – Boris Dugan, Estonian footballer and coach
  • 1960 – Claire Fox, English author and academic
  • 1961 – Anke Behmer, German heptathlete
  • 1961 – Mary Kay Bergman, American voice actress (d. 1999)
  • 1961 – Anthony Burger, American singer and pianist (d. 2006)
  • 1961 – Aldo Costa, Italian engineer
  • 1961 – Ramesh Krishnan, Indian tennis player and coach
  • 1962 – Jeff Garlin, American actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter
  • 1962 – Tõnis Lukas, Estonian historian and politician, 34th Estonian Minister of Education
  • 1964 – Lisa Cholodenko, American director and screenwriter
  • 1964 – Karl Sanders, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1965 – Michael E. Brown, American astronomer and author
  • 1965 – Sandrine Piau, French soprano
  • 1965 – Alfie Turcotte, American ice hockey player
  • 1967 – Matt Bullard, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1967 – Joe DeLoach, American sprinter
  • 1967 – Ray Lankford, American baseball player
  • 1967 – Ron Livingston, American actor
  • 1968 – Ed Vaizey, English lawyer and politician, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries
  • 1969 – Brian McKnight, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
  • 1970 – Martin Gélinas, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1971 – Susan Lynch, Northern Irish actress
  • 1971 – Alex Mooney, American politician
  • 1971 – Takaya Tsubobayashi, Japanese racing driver
  • 1971 – Mark Wahlberg, American model, actor, producer, and rapper
  • 1972 – Yogi Adityanath, Indian priest and politician
  • 1972 – Paweł Kotla, Polish conductor and academic
  • 1973 – Lamon Brewster, American boxer
  • 1973 – Gella Vandecaveye, Belgian martial artist
  • 1974 – Mervyn Dillon, Trinidadian cricketer
  • 1974 – Scott Draper, Australian tennis player and golfer
  • 1974 – Russ Ortiz, American baseball player
  • 1975 – Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Lithuanian-American basketball player
  • 1975 – Duncan Patterson, English drummer and keyboard player
  • 1975 – Sandra Stals, Belgian runner
  • 1976 – Giannis Giannoulis, Canadian basketball player
  • 1976 – Torry Holt, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1977 – Liza Weil, American actress
  • 1978 – Fernando Meira, Portuguese footballer
  • 1979 – Stefanos Kotsolis, Greek footballer
  • 1979 – Matthew Scarlett, Australian footballer
  • 1979 – Pete Wentz, American singer-songwriter, bass player, actor, and fashion designer
  • 1979 – Jason White, American race car driver
  • 1980 – Mike Fisher, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1980 – Antonio García, Spanish racing driver
  • 1981 – Serhat Akın, Turkish footballer
  • 1981 – Sébastien Lefebvre, Canadian singer and guitarist
  • 1982 – Ryan Dallas Cook, American trombonist (d. 2005)
  • 1983 – Marques Colston, American football player
  • 1984 – Robert Barbieri, Canadian-Italian rugby player
  • 1984 – Eric Traoré, Senegalese footballer
  • 1985 – Jeremy Abbott, American figure skater
  • 1985 – Ekaterina Bychkova, Russian tennis player
  • 1986 – Dave Bolland, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1986 – Vernon Gholston, American football player
  • 1987 – Marcus Thornton, American basketball player
  • 1988 – Alessandro Salvi, Italian footballer
  • 1989 – Cam Atkinson, American ice hockey player
  • 1989 – Megumi Nakajima, Japanese voice actress and singer
  • 1990 – Radko Gudas, Czech ice hockey defenceman
  • 1991 – Sören Bertram, German footballer
  • 1992 – Joazhiño Arroe, Peruvian footballer
  • 1992 – Emily Seebohm, Australian swimmer
  • 1993 – Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Samoan-New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1995 – Troye Sivan, South African–born Australian singer-songwriter, actor, and YouTuber
  • 1995 – Ross Wilson, English table tennis player
  • 1997 – Sam Darnold, American football player
  • 1998 – Yulia Lipnitskaya, Russian figure skater

Deaths on June 5

  • 301 – Sima Lun, Chinese emperor (b. 249)
  • 535 – Epiphanius, patriarch of Constantinople
  • 567 – Theodosius I, patriarch of Alexandria
  • 708 – Jacob of Edessa, Syrian bishop (b. 640)
  • 754 – Eoban, bishop of Utrecht
  • 754 – Boniface, English missionary and martyr (b. 675)
  • 879 – Ya’qub ibn al-Layth, Persian emir (b. 840)
  • 928 – Louis the Blind, king of Provence
  • 1017 – Sanjō, emperor of Japan (b. 976)
  • 1118 – Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, Norman nobleman and politician (b. 1049)
  • 1296 – Edmund Crouchback, English politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1245)
  • 1310 – Amalric, prince of Tyre
  • 1316 – Louis X, king of France (b. 1289)
  • 1383 – Dmitry of Suzdal, Russian grand prince (b. 1324)
  • 1400 – Frederick I, duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
  • 1424 – Braccio da Montone, Italian nobleman (b. 1368)
  • 1434 – Yuri IV, Russian grand prince (b. 1374)
  • 1443 – Ferdinand, Portuguese prince (b. 1402)
  • 1445 – Leonel Power, English composer
  • 1530 – Mercurino Gattinara, Italian statesman and jurist (b. 1465)
  • 1568 – Lamoral, Count of Egmont (b. 1522)
  • 1625 – Orlando Gibbons, English organist and composer (b. 1583)
  • 1667 – Francesco Sforza Pallavicino, Italian cardinal and historian (b. 1607)
  • 1716 – Roger Cotes, English mathematician and academic (b. 1682)
  • 1722 – Johann Kuhnau, German organist and composer (b. 1660)
  • 1738 – Isaac de Beausobre, French pastor and theologian (b. 1659)
  • 1740 – Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent, English politician and courtier (b. 1671)
  • 1791 – Frederick Haldimand, Swiss-Canadian general and politician, 22nd Governor of Quebec (b. 1718)
  • 1816 – Giovanni Paisiello, Italian composer and educator (b. 1741)
  • 1825 – Odysseas Androutsos, Greek soldier (b. 1788)
  • 1826 – Carl Maria von Weber, German pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1786)
  • 1866 – John McDouall Stuart, Scottish explorer and surveyor (b. 1815)
  • 1899 – Antonio Luna, Filipino general (b. 1866)
  • 1900 – Stephen Crane, American poet, novelist, and short story writer (b. 1871)
  • 1906 – Karl Robert Eduard von Hartmann, German philosopher and author (b. 1842)
  • 1910 – O. Henry, American short story writer (b. 1862)
  • 1913 – Chris von der Ahe, German-American businessman (b. 1851)
  • 1916 – Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, Irish-born British field marshal and politician, Secretary of State for War (b. 1850)
  • 1920 – Rhoda Broughton, Welsh-English author (b. 1840)
  • 1921 – Will Crooks, English trade unionist and politician (b. 1852)
  • 1921 – Georges Feydeau, French playwright (b. 1862)
  • 1930 – Eric Lemming, Swedish athlete (b. 1880)
  • 1930 – Pascin, Bulgarian-French painter and illustrator (b. 1885)
  • 1934 – Emily Dobson, Australian philanthropist (b. 1842)
  • 1934 – William Holman, English-Australian politician, 19th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1871)
  • 1947 – Nils Olaf Chrisander, Swedish-American actor and director (b. 1884)
  • 1967 – Arthur Biram, Israeli philologist, philosopher, and academic (b. 1878)
  • 1967 – Harry Brown, Australian public servant (b. 1878)
  • 1993 – Conway Twitty, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1933)
  • 1996 – Acharya Kuber Nath Rai, Indian poet and scholar (b. 1933)
  • 1997 – J. Anthony Lukas, American journalist and author (b. 1933)
  • 1998 – Jeanette Nolan, American actress (b. 1911)
  • 1998 – Sam Yorty, American soldier and politician, 37th Mayor of Los Angeles (b. 1909)
  • 1999 – Mel Tormé, American singer-songwriter (b. 1925)
  • 2000 – Don Liddle, American baseball player (b. 1925)
  • 2002 – Dee Dee Ramone, American singer-songwriter and bass player (b. 1951)
  • 2003 – Jürgen Möllemann, German soldier and politician, 10th Vice-Chancellor of Germany (b. 1945)
  • 2003 – Manuel Rosenthal, French composer and conductor (b. 1904)
  • 2004 – Iona Brown, English violinist and conductor (b. 1941)
  • 2004 – Ronald Reagan, American actor and politician, 40th President of the United States (b. 1911)
  • 2005 – Adolfo Aguilar Zínser, Mexican scholar and politician (b. 1949)
  • 2006 – Frederick Franck, Dutch-American painter, sculptor, and author (b. 1909)
  • 2006 – Edward L. Moyers, American businessman (b. 1928)
  • 2009 – Jeff Hanson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1978)
  • 2012 – Ray Bradbury, American science fiction writer and screenwriter (b. 1920)
  • 2012 – Hal Keller, American baseball player and manager (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Mihai Pătrașcu, Romanian-American computer scientist (b. 1982)
  • 2012 – Charlie Sutton, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1924)
  • 2013 – Helen McElhone, Scottish politician (b. 1933)
  • 2013 – Stanisław Nagy, Polish cardinal (b. 1921)
  • 2013 – Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, Irish republican activist and politician (b. 1932)
  • 2013 – Michel Ostyn, Belgian physiologist and physician (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Abu Abdulrahman al-Bilawi, Iraqi commander (b. 1971)
  • 2014 – Don Davis, American songwriter and producer (b. 1938)
  • 2014 – Reiulf Steen, Norwegian journalist and politician, Norwegian Minister of Transport and Communications (b. 1933)
  • 2015 – Tariq Aziz, Iraqi journalist and politician, Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1936)
  • 2015 – Alan Bond, English-Australian businessman (b. 1938)
  • 2015 – Richard Johnson, English actor (b. 1927)
  • 2015 – Roger Vergé, French chef and author (b. 1930)
  • 2016 – Jerome Bruner, American psychologist (b. 1915)
  • 2017 – Andy Cunningham, English actor (b. 1950)
  • 2017 – Cheick Tioté, Ivorian footballer (b. 1986)
  • 2018 – Kate Spade, American fashion designer (b. 1962)

Holidays and observances on June 5

  • Arbor Day (New Zealand)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Boniface (Roman Catholic Church)
    • Dorotheus of Tyre
    • Genesius, Count of Clermont
    • Blessed Meinwerk
    • June 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Constitution Day (Denmark)
  • Father’s Day (Denmark)
  • Feast of Núr, the first day of the fifth month of the Bahá’í calendar (Bahá’í Faith) (only if Bahá’í Naw-Rúz falls on March 21)
  • Indian Arrival Day (Suriname)
  • Khordad Movement Anniversary (Iran) (Only if March equinox falls on March 20)
  • Liberation Day (Seychelles)
  • President’s Day (Equatorial Guinea)
  • Reclamation Day (Azerbaijan)
  • World Day Against Speciesism (International)
  • World Environment Day (International)

June 5 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

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

Births on May 24

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

Deaths on May 24

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

Holidays and observances on May 24

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

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