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

    • 1099 – Some 15,000 starving Christian soldiers begin the siege of Jerusalem by marching in a religious procession around the city as its Muslim defenders watch.
    • 1283 – Roger of Lauria, commanding the Aragonese fleet, defeats an Angevin fleet sent to put down a rebellion on Malta.
    • 1497 – Vasco da Gama sets sail on the first direct European voyage to India.
    • 1579 – Our Lady of Kazan, a holy icon of the Russian Orthodox Church, is discovered underground in the city of Kazan, Tatarstan.
    • 1663 – Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal charter to Rhode Island.
    • 1709 – Peter I of Russia defeats Charles XII of Sweden at the Battle of Poltava, thus effectively ending Sweden’s status as a major power in Europe.
    • 1716 – The Battle of Dynekilen forces Sweden to abandon its invasion of Norway.
    • 1730 – An estimated magnitude 8.7 earthquake causes a tsunami that damages more than 1,000 km (620 mi) of Chile’s coastline.
    • 1758 – French forces hold Fort Carillon against the British at Ticonderoga, New York.
    • 1760 – British forces defeat French forces in the last naval battle in New France.
    • 1775 – The Olive Branch Petition is signed by the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies of North America.
    • 1776 – Church bells (possibly including the Liberty Bell) are rung after John Nixon delivers the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence of the United States.
    • 1808 – Joseph Bonaparte approves the Bayonne Statute, a royal charter intended as the basis for his rule as king of Spain.
    • 1822 – Chippewas turn over a huge tract of land in Ontario to the United Kingdom.
    • 1853 – The Perry Expedition arrives in Edo Bay with a treaty requesting trade.
    • 1859 – King Charles XV & IV accedes to the throne of Sweden–Norway.
    • 1864 – Ikedaya Incident: The Choshu Han shishi’s planned Shinsengumi sabotage on Kyoto, Japan at Ikedaya.
    • 1874 – The Mounties begin their March West.
    • 1876 – The Hamburg massacre prior to the 1876 United States presidential election results in the deaths of six African-Americans of the Republican Party, along with one white assailant.
    • 1879 – Sailing ship USS Jeannette departs San Francisco carrying an ill-fated expedition to the North Pole.
    • 1889 – The first issue of The Wall Street Journal is published.
    • 1892 – St. John’s, Newfoundland is devastated in the Great Fire of 1892.
    • 1898 – The death of crime boss Soapy Smith, killed in the Shootout on Juneau Wharf, releases Skagway, Alaska from his iron grip.
    • 1912 – Henrique Mitchell de Paiva Couceiro leads an unsuccessful royalist attack against the First Portuguese Republic in Chaves.
    • 1932 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, closing at 41.22.
    • 1933 – The first rugby union test match between the Wallabies of Australia and the Springboks of South Africa is played at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town.
    • 1937 – Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan sign the Treaty of Saadabad.
    • 1947 – Reports are broadcast that a UFO crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico in what became known as the Roswell UFO incident.
    • 1948 – The United States Air Force accepts its first female recruits into a program called Women in the Air Force (WAF).
    • 1960 – Francis Gary Powers is charged with espionage resulting from his flight over the Soviet Union.
    • 1962 – Ne Win besieges and dynamites the Rangoon University Student Union building to crush the Student Movement.
    • 1966 – King Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi is deposed by his son Prince Charles Ndizi.
    • 1968 – The Chrysler wildcat strike begins in Detroit, Michigan.
    • 1970 – Richard Nixon delivers a special congressional message enunciating Native American self-determination as official US Indian policy, leading to the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975.
    • 1972 – Israeli Mossad assassinate Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani.
    • 1980 – The inaugural 1980 State of Origin game is won by Queensland who defeat New South Wales 20–10 at Lang Park.
    • 1982 – A failed assassination attempt against Iraqi president Saddam Hussein results in the Dujail Massacre over the next several months.
    • 1988 – The Island Express train travelling from Bangalore to Kanyakumari derails on the Peruman bridge and falls into Ashtamudi Lake, killing 105 passengers and injuring over 200 more.
    • 1994 – Kim Jong-il begins to assume supreme leadership of North Korea upon the death of his father, Kim Il-sung.
    • 2003 – Sudan Airways Flight 139 crashes near Port Sudan Airport during an emergency landing attempt, killing 116 of the 117 people on board.
    • 2011 – Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program.
    • 2014 – Israel launches an offensive on Gaza amid rising tensions following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers.

    Births on July 8

    • 1478 – Gian Giorgio Trissino, Italian linguist, poet, and playwright (d. 1550)
    • 1528 – Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy (d. 1580)
    • 1538 – Alberto Bolognetti, Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 1585)
    • 1545 – Carlos, Prince of Asturias (d. 1568)
    • 1593 – Artemisia Gentileschi, Italian painter (d. 1653)
    • 1621 – Jean de La Fontaine, French author and poet (d. 1695)
    • 1760 – Christian Kramp, French mathematician and academic (d. 1826)
    • 1766 – Dominique Jean Larrey, French surgeon (d. 1842)
    • 1779 – Giorgio Pullicino, Maltese painter and architect (d. 1851)
    • 1819 – Francis Leopold McClintock, Irish admiral and explorer (d. 1907)
    • 1830 – Frederick W. Seward, American lawyer and politician, 6th United States Assistant Secretary of State (d. 1915)
    • 1831 – John Pemberton, American chemist and pharmacist, invented Coca-Cola (d. 1888)
    • 1836 – Joseph Chamberlain, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1914)
    • 1838 – Eli Lilly, American soldier, chemist, and businessman, founded Eli Lilly and Company (d. 1898)
    • 1838 – Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German general and businessman, founded the Zeppelin Airship Company (d. 1917)
    • 1839 – John D. Rockefeller, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Standard Oil Company (d. 1937)
    • 1851 – Arthur Evans, English archaeologist and academic (d. 1941)
    • 1851 – John Murray, Australian politician, 23rd Premier of Victoria (d. 1916)
    • 1857 – Alfred Binet, French psychologist and graphologist (d. 1911)
    • 1867 – Käthe Kollwitz, German painter and sculptor (d. 1945)
    • 1876 – Alexandros Papanastasiou, Greek sociologist and politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1936)
    • 1882 – Percy Grainger, Australian-American pianist and composer (d. 1961)
    • 1885 – Ernst Bloch, German philosopher, author, and academic (d. 1977)
    • 1885 – Hugo Boss, German fashion designer, founded Hugo Boss (d. 1948)
    • 1890 – Stanton Macdonald-Wright, American painter (d. 1973)
    • 1892 – Richard Aldington, English author and poet (d. 1962)
    • 1892 – Pavel Korin, Russian painter (d. 1967)
    • 1893 – R. Carlyle Buley, American historian and author (d. 1968)
    • 1894 – Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
    • 1895 – Igor Tamm, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
    • 1898 – Melville Ruick, American actor (d. 1972)
    • 1900 – George Antheil, American pianist, composer, and author (d. 1959)
    • 1904 – Henri Cartan, French mathematician and academic (d. 2008)
    • 1905 – Leonid Amalrik, Russian animator and director (d. 1997)
    • 1906 – Philip Johnson, American architect, designed the IDS Center and PPG Place (d. 2005)
    • 1907 – George W. Romney, American businessman and politician, 43rd Governor of Michigan (d. 1995)
    • 1908 – Louis Jordan, American singer-songwriter, saxophonist, and actor (d. 1975)
    • 1908 – Nelson Rockefeller, American businessman and politician, 41st Vice President of the United States (d. 1979)
    • 1908 – V. K. R. Varadaraja Rao, Indian economist, politician, professor and educator (d. 1991)
    • 1909 – Alan Brown, English soldier (d. 1971)
    • 1909 – Ike Petersen, American football back (d. 1995)
    • 1910 – Carlos Betances Ramírez, Puerto Rican general (d. 2001)
    • 1911 – Ken Farnes, English cricketer (d. 1941)
    • 1913 – Alejandra Soler, Spanish politician (d. 2017)
    • 1914 – Jyoti Basu, Indian politician, 6th Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 2010)
    • 1914 – Billy Eckstine, American singer and trumpet player (d. 1993)
    • 1915 – Neil D. Van Sickle, American Air Force major general (d. 2019)
    • 1915 – Lowell English, United States Marine Corps general (d. 2005)
    • 1916 – Jean Rouverol, American author, actress and screenwriter (d. 2017)
    • 1917 – Pamela Brown, English actress (d. 1975)
    • 1917 – Faye Emerson, American actress (d. 1983)
    • 1917 – J. F. Powers, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1999)
    • 1918 – Paul B. Fay, American businessman, soldier, and diplomat, 12th United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 2009)
    • 1918 – Irwin Hasen, American illustrator (d. 2015)
    • 1918 – Oluf Reed-Olsen, Norwegian resistance member and pilot (d. 2002)
    • 1918 – Julia Pirie, British spy working for MI5 (d. 2008)
    • 1918 – Edward B. Giller, U.S Major General (d. 2017)
    • 1918 – Craig Stevens, American actor (d. 2000)
    • 1919 – Walter Scheel, German soldier and politician, 4th President of West Germany (d. 2016)
    • 1920 – Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, Danish businessman (d. 1995)
    • 1921 – John Money, New Zealand psychologist and sexologist, responsible for controversial sexual identity study on David Reimer (d. 2006)
    • 1923 – Harrison Dillard, American sprinter and hurdler (d. 2019)
    • 1924 – Johnnie Johnson, American pianist and songwriter (d. 2005)
    • 1924 – Charles C. Droz, American politician
    • 1925 – Marco Cé, Italian cardinal (d. 2014)
    • 1925 – Arthur Imperatore Sr., Italian-American businessman from New Jersey
    • 1925 – Bill Mackrides, American football quarterback (d. 2019)
    • 1925 – Dominique Nohain, French actor, screenwriter and director (d. 2017)
    • 1926 – David Malet Armstrong, Australian philosopher and author (d. 2014)
    • 1926 – John Dingell, American lieutenant and politician (d. 2019)
    • 1926 – Martin Riesen, Swiss professional ice hockey goaltender
    • 1926 – Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Swiss-American psychiatrist and author (d. 2004)
    • 1927 – Maurice Hayes, Irish educator and politician (d. 2017)
    • 1927 – Khensur Lungri Namgyel, Tibetan religious leader
    • 1927 – Bob Beckham, American country singer (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – Balakh Sher Mazari, former Prime Minister of Pakistan
    • 1930 – Jerry Vale, American singer (d. 2014)
    • 1933 – Antonio Lamer, Canadian lawyer and politician, 16th Chief Justice of Canada (d. 2007)
    • 1934 – Raquel Correa, Chilean journalist (d. 2012)
    • 1934 – Marty Feldman, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1982)
    • 1934 – Edward D. DiPrete, American politician
    • 1935 – John David Crow, American football player and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1935 – Steve Lawrence, American actor and singer
    • 1935 – Vitaly Sevastyanov, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2010)
    • 1938 – Diane Clare, English actress (d. 2013)
    • 1939 – Ed Lumley, Canadian businessman and politician, 8th Canadian Minister of Communications
    • 1940 – Joe B. Mauldin, American bass player and songwriter (d. 2015)
    • 1941 – Dario Gradi, Italian-English footballer, coach, and manager
    • 1942 – Phil Gramm, American economist and politician
    • 1944 – Jaimoe, American drummer
    • 1944 – Jeffrey Tambor, American actor and singer
    • 1945 – Micheline Calmy-Rey, Swiss politician, 91st President of the Swiss Confederation
    • 1947 – Kim Darby, American actress
    • 1947 – Jenny Diski, English author and screenwriter (d. 2016)
    • 1947 – Luis Fernando Figari, Peruvian religious leader, founded the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae
    • 1948 – Raffi, Egyptian-Canadian singer-songwriter
    • 1948 – Ruby Sales, American civil-rights activist
    • 1949 – Wolfgang Puck, Austrian-American chef, restaurateur and entrepreneur
    • 1949 – Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Indian politician, 14th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (d. 2009)
    • 1951 – Alan Ashby, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster
    • 1951 – Anjelica Huston, American actress and director
    • 1952 – Larry Garner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1952 – Jack Lambert, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1952 – Marianne Williamson, American author and activist
    • 1956 – Terry Puhl, Canadian baseball player and coach
    • 1957 – Carlos Cavazo, Mexican-American guitarist and songwriter
    • 1957 – Aleksandr Gurnov, Russian journalist and author
    • 1958 – Kevin Bacon, American actor and musician
    • 1958 – Andreas Carlgren, Swedish educator and politician, 8th Swedish Minister for the Environment
    • 1958 – Tzipi Livni, Israeli lawyer and politician, 18th Justice Minister of Israel
    • 1959 – Pauline Quirke, English actress
    • 1960 – Mal Meninga, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1961 – Ces Drilon, Filipino journalist
    • 1961 – Andrew Fletcher, English keyboard player
    • 1961 – Toby Keith, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
    • 1961 – Karl Seglem, Norwegian saxophonist and record producer
    • 1962 – Joan Osborne, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1963 – Mark Christopher, American director and screenwriter
    • 1964 – Alexei Gusarov, Russian ice hockey player and manager
    • 1965 – Dan Levinson, American clarinet player, saxophonist, and bandleader
    • 1966 – Ralf Altmeyer, German-Chinese virologist and academic
    • 1966 – Shadlog Bernicke, Nauruan politician
    • 1967 – Jordan Chan, Hong Kong actor and singer
    • 1968 – Billy Crudup, American actor
    • 1968 – Shane Howarth, New Zealand rugby player and coach
    • 1969 – Sugizo, Japanese singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer
    • 1970 – Beck, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1970 – Sylvain Gaudreault, Canadian educator and politician
    • 1970 – Todd Martin, American tennis player and coach
    • 1971 – Neil Jenkins, Welsh rugby player and coach
    • 1972 – Karl Dykhuis, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1972 – Sourav Ganguly, Indian cricketer
    • 1972 – Shōsuke Tanihara, Japanese actor
    • 1974 – Hu Liang, Chinese field hockey player
    • 1976 – Talal El Karkouri, Moroccan footballer
    • 1976 – David Kennedy, American guitarist and songwriter
    • 1976 – Ellen MacArthur, English sailor
    • 1977 – Christian Abbiati, Italian footballer
    • 1977 – Paolo Tiralongo, Italian cyclist
    • 1977 – Milo Ventimiglia, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1977 – Wang Zhizhi, Chinese basketball player
    • 1978 – Urmas Rooba, Estonian footballer
    • 1979 – Mat McBriar, American football player
    • 1979 – Ben Jelen, Scottish-American singer-songwriter
    • 1980 – Eric Chouinard, American-Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1980 – Robbie Keane, Irish footballer
    • 1981 – Wolfram Müller, German runner
    • 1981 – Anastasia Myskina, Russian tennis player
    • 1982 – Sophia Bush, American actress and director
    • 1982 – Hakim Warrick, American basketball player
    • 1983 – John Bowker, American baseball player
    • 1983 – Rich Peverley, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1986 – Jaime Garcia, Mexican baseball player
    • 1986 – Renata Costa, Brazilian footballer
    • 1988 – Miki Roqué, Spanish footballer (d. 2012)
    • 1988 – Jesse Sergent, New Zealand cyclist
    • 1988 – Dave Taylor, Australian rugby league player
    • 1989 – Yarden Gerbi, Israeli Judo champion
    • 1989 – Tor Marius Gromstad, Norwegian footballer (d. 2012)
    • 1991 – Virgil van Dijk, Dutch footballer
    • 1992 – Ariel Camacho, Mexican singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
    • 1992 – Son Heung-min, Korean footballer
    • 1992 – Xander Mobus, American voice actor
    • 1997 – Bryce Love, American football player
    • 1997 – Lauran Hibberd, English singer-songwriter
    • 1998 – Jaden Smith, American actor and rapper

    Deaths on July 8

    • 689 – Kilian, Irish bishop
    • 810 – Pepin of Italy, son of Charlemagne (b. 773)
    • 873 – Gunther, archbishop of Cologne
    • 900 – Qatr al-Nada, wife of the Abbasid caliph al-Mu’tadid
    • 901 – Grimbald, French-English monk and saint (b. 827)
    • 975 – Edgar the Peaceful, English king (b. 943)
    • 1153 – Pope Eugene III (b. 1087)
    • 1253 – Theobald I of Navarre (b. 1201)
    • 1261 – Adolf IV of Holstein, Count of Schauenburg
    • 1390 – Albert of Saxony, Bishop of Halberstadt and German philosopher (b. circa 1320)
    • 1538 – Diego de Almagro, Spanish general and explorer (b. 1475)
    • 1623 – Pope Gregory XV (b. 1554)
    • 1689 – Edward Wooster, English-American settler (b. 1622)
    • 1695 – Christiaan Huygens, Dutch mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (b. 1629)
    • 1716 – Robert South, English preacher and theologian (b. 1634)
    • 1721 – Elihu Yale, American-English merchant and philanthropist (b. 1649)
    • 1784 – Torbern Bergman, Swedish chemist and mineralogist (b. 1735)
    • 1794 – Richard Mique, French architect (b. 1728)
    • 1820 – Octavia Taylor, daughter of Zachary Taylor (b. 1816)
    • 1822 – Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet and playwright (b. 1792)
    • 1850 – Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (b. 1774)
    • 1859 – Oscar I of Sweden (b. 1799)
    • 1873 – Franz Xaver Winterhalter, German painter and lithographer (b. 1805)
    • 1887 – Ben Holladay, American businessman (b. 1819)
    • 1895 – Johann Josef Loschmidt, Austrian chemist and physicist (b. 1821)
    • 1905 – Walter Kittredge, American violinist and composer (b. 1834)
    • 1913 – Louis Hémon, French-Canadian author (b. 1880)
    • 1917 – Tom Thomson, Canadian painter (b. 1877)
    • 1930 – Joseph Ward, Australian-New Zealand businessman and politician, 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1856)
    • 1933 – Anthony Hope, English author and playwright (b. 1863)
    • 1934 – Benjamin Baillaud, French astronomer and academic (b. 1848)
    • 1939 – Havelock Ellis, English psychologist and author (b. 1859)
    • 1941 – Moses Schorr, Polish rabbi, historian, and politician (b. 1874)
    • 1942 – Louis Franchet d’Espèrey, Algerian-French general (b. 1856)
    • 1942 – Refik Saydam, Turkish physician and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1881)
    • 1943 – Jean Moulin, French soldier (b. 1899)
    • 1950 – Othmar Spann, Austrian sociologist, economist, and philosopher (b. 1878)
    • 1952 – August Alle, Estonian lawyer, author, and poet (b. 1890)
    • 1956 – Giovanni Papini, Italian journalist, author, and critic (b. 1881)
    • 1965 – Thomas Sigismund Stribling, American lawyer and author (b. 1881)
    • 1968 – Désiré Mérchez, French swimmer and water polo player (b. 1882)
    • 1971 – Kurt Reidemeister, German mathematician connected to the Vienna Circle (b. 1893)
    • 1972 – Ghassan Kanafani, Palestinian writer and politician (b. 1936)
    • 1973 – Gene L. Coon, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1924)
    • 1973 – Ben-Zion Dinur, Russian-Israeli educator and politician, 4th Education Minister of Israel (b. 1884)
    • 1973 – Wilfred Rhodes, English cricketer and coach (b. 1877)
    • 1979 – Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
    • 1979 – Michael Wilding, English actor (b. 1912)
    • 1979 – Robert Burns Woodward, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
    • 1981 – Bill Hallahan, American baseball player (b. 1902)
    • 1985 – Phil Foster, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1913)
    • 1985 – Jean-Paul Le Chanois, French actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1909)
    • 1986 – Skeeter Webb, American baseball player and manager (b. 1909)
    • 1987 – Lionel Chevrier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Canadian Minister of Justice (b. 1903)
    • 1987 – Gerardo Diego, Spanish poet and author (b. 1896)
    • 1988 – Ray Barbuti, American runner and football player (b. 1905)
    • 1990 – Howard Duff, American actor (b. 1913)
    • 1991 – James Franciscus, American actor (b. 1934)
    • 1994 – Christian-Jaque, French director and screenwriter (b. 1904)
    • 1994 – Kim Il-sung, North Korean commander and politician, President of North Korea (b. 1912)
    • 1994 – Lars-Eric Lindblad, Swedish-American businessman and explorer (b. 1927)
    • 1994 – Dick Sargent, American actor (b. 1930)
    • 1996 – Irene Prador, Austrian-born actress and writer (b. 1911)
    • 1998 – Lilí Álvarez, Spanish tennis player, author, and feminist (b. 1905)
    • 1999 – Pete Conrad, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1930)
    • 2001 – John O’Shea, New Zealand director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1920)
    • 2002 – Ward Kimball, American animator and trombonist (b. 1914)
    • 2004 – Paula Danziger, American author and educator (b. 1944)
    • 2005 – Maurice Baquet, French actor and cellist (b. 1911)
    • 2006 – June Allyson, American actress and singer (b. 1917)
    • 2007 – Chandra Shekhar, Indian lawyer and politician, 9th Prime Minister of India (b. 1927)
    • 2007 – Jack B. Sowards, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1929)
    • 2008 – John Templeton, American-born British businessman and philanthropist (b. 1912)
    • 2009 – Midnight, American singer-songwriter (b. 1962)
    • 2011 – Roberts Blossom, American actor and poet (b. 1924)
    • 2011 – Betty Ford, First Lady of the United States (b. 1918)
    • 2012 – Muhammed bin Saud Al Saud, Saudi Arabian politician (b. 1934)
    • 2012 – Ernest Borgnine, American actor (b. 1917)
    • 2012 – Gyang Dalyop Datong, Nigerian physician and politician (b. 1959)
    • 2012 – Martin Pakledinaz, American costume designer (b. 1953)
    • 2013 – Dick Gray, American baseball player (b. 1931)
    • 2013 – Edmund Morgan, American historian and author (b. 1916)
    • 2013 – Claudiney Ramos, Brazilian footballer (b. 1980)
    • 2013 – Rubby Sherr, American physicist and academic (b. 1913)
    • 2013 – Sundri Uttamchandani, Indian author (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Brett Walker, American songwriter and producer (b. 1961)
    • 2014 – Plínio de Arruda Sampaio, Brazilian lawyer and politician (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – John V. Evans, American soldier and politician, 27th Governor of Idaho (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – Ben Pangelinan, Guamanian businessman and politician (b. 1956)
    • 2014 – Howard Siler, American bobsledder and coach (b. 1945)
    • 2014 – Tom Veryzer, American baseball player (b. 1953)
    • 2015 – Ken Stabler, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1945)
    • 2015 – James Tate, American poet (b. 1943)
    • 2016 – Abdul Sattar Edhi, Pakistani philanthropist (b. 1928)
    • 2018 – Tab Hunter, American actor, pop singer, film producer and author (b. 1931)

    Holidays and observances on July 8

    • Christian Feast Day:
      • Abda and Sabas
      • Auspicius of Trier
      • Grimbald
      • Kilian, Totnan, and Colman
      • Peter and Fevronia Day (Russian Orthodox)
      • Procopius of Scythopolis
      • Sunniva and companions
      • Theobald of Marly
      • July 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Air Force and Air Defense Forces Day (Ukraine)

  • June 20 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    In the Northern Hemisphere, the Summer solstice sometimes occurs on this date, while the Winter solstice occurs in the Southern Hemisphere.

    • 451 – Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius’ battles Attila the Hun. After the battle, which was inconclusive, Attila retreats, causing the Romans to interpret it as a victory.
    • 1180 – First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan.
    • 1620 – The Battle of Höchst takes place during the Thirty Years’ War.
    • 1631 – The Sack of Baltimore: The Irish village of Baltimore is attacked by Algerian pirates.
    • 1652 – Tarhoncu Ahmed Pasha is appointed Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.
    • 1685 – Monmouth Rebellion: James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth declares himself King of England at Bridgwater.
    • 1756 – A British garrison is imprisoned in the Black Hole of Calcutta.
    • 1782 – The U.S. Congress adopts the Great Seal of the United States.
    • 1787 – Oliver Ellsworth moves at the Federal Convention to call the government the ‘United States’.
    • 1789 – Deputies of the French Third Estate take the Tennis Court Oath.
    • 1819 – The U.S. vessel SS Savannah arrives at Liverpool, United Kingdom. It is the first steam-propelled vessel to cross the Atlantic, although most of the journey is made under sail.
    • 1837 – Queen Victoria succeeds to the British throne.
    • 1840 – Samuel Morse receives the patent for the telegraph.
    • 1862 – Barbu Catargiu, the Prime Minister of Romania, is assassinated.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: West Virginia is admitted as the 35th U.S. state.
    • 1877 – Alexander Graham Bell installs the world’s first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
    • 1893 – Lizzie Borden is acquitted of the murders of her father and stepmother.
    • 1895 – The Kiel Canal, crossing the base of the Jutland peninsula and the busiest artificial waterway in the world, is officially opened.
    • 1900 – Boxer Rebellion: The Imperial Chinese Army begins a 55-day siege of the Legation Quarter in Beijing, China.
    • 1900 – Baron Eduard Toll, leader of the Russian Polar Expedition of 1900, departs Saint Petersburg in Russia on the explorer ship Zarya, never to return.
    • 1921 – Workers of Buckingham and Carnatic Mills in the city of Chennai, India, begin a four-month strike.
    • 1942 – The Holocaust: Kazimierz Piechowski and three others, dressed as members of the SS-Totenkopfverbände, steal an SS staff car and escape from the Auschwitz concentration camp.
    • 1943 – The Detroit race riot breaks out and continues for three more days.
    • 1943 – World War II: The Royal Air Force launches Operation Bellicose, the first shuttle bombing raid of the war. Lancaster bombers damage the V-2 rocket production facilities at the Zeppelin Works while en route to an air base in Algeria.
    • 1944 – World War II: The Battle of the Philippine Sea concludes with a decisive U.S. naval victory. The lopsided naval air battle is also known as the “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot”.
    • 1944 – Continuation War: The Soviet Union demands an unconditional surrender from Finland during the beginning of partially successful Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive. The Finnish government refuses.
    • 1944 – The experimental MW 18014 V-2 rocket reaches an altitude of 176 km, becoming the first man-made object to reach outer space.
    • 1945 – The United States Secretary of State approves the transfer of Wernher von Braun and his team of Nazi rocket scientists to the U.S. under Operation Paperclip.
    • 1948 – The Deutsche Mark is introduced in Western Allied-occupied Germany. The Soviet Military Administration in Germany responded by imposing the Berlin Blockade four days later.
    • 1956 – A Venezuelan Super-Constellation crashes in the Atlantic Ocean off Asbury Park, New Jersey, killing 74 people.
    • 1959 – A rare June hurricane strikes Canada’s Gulf of St. Lawrence killing 35.
    • 1960 – The Mali Federation gains independence from France (it later splits into Mali and Senegal).
    • 1963 – Following the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Soviet Union and the United States sign an agreement to establish the so-called “red telephone” link between Washington and Moscow.
    • 1972 – Watergate scandal: An 18½-minute gap appears in the tape recording of the conversations between U.S. President Richard Nixon and his advisers regarding the recent arrests of his operatives while breaking into the Watergate complex.
    • 1973 – Snipers fire upon left-wing Peronists in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in what is known as the Ezeiza massacre. At least 13 are killed and more than 300 are injured.
    • 1973 – Aeroméxico Flight 229 crashes on approach to Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport, killing all 27 people on board.
    • 1975 – The film Jaws is released in the United States, becoming the highest-grossing film of that time and starting the trend of films known as “summer blockbusters”.
    • 1979 – ABC News correspondent Bill Stewart is shot dead by a Nicaraguan soldier under the regime of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. The murder is caught on tape and sparks an international outcry against the regime.
    • 1982 – The Argentine Corbeta Uruguay base on Southern Thule surrenders to Royal Marine commandos in the final action of the Falklands War.
    • 1990 – Asteroid Eureka is discovered.
    • 1990 – The 7.4 Mw  Manjil–Rudbar earthquake affects northern Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), killing 35,000–50,000, and injuring 60,000–105,000.
    • 1991 – German Bundestag votes to move seat of government from the former West German capital of Bonn to the present capital Berlin.
    • 1994 – The 1994 Imam Reza shrine bomb explosion in Iran leaves at least 25 dead and 70 to 300 injured.
    • 2003 – The Wikimedia Foundation is founded in St. Petersburg, Florida.

    Births on June 20

    • 1005 – Ali az-Zahir, Fatimid caliph of Egypt (d. 1036)
    • 1389 – John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, English statesman (d. 1435)
    • 1469 – Gian Galeazzo Sforza, duke of Milan (d. 1494)
    • 1566 – Sigismund III Vasa, Polish and Swedish king (d. 1632)
    • 1583 – Jacob De la Gardie, Swedish soldier and politician, Lord High Constable of Sweden (d. 1652)
    • 1634 – Charles Emmanuel II, duke of Savoy (d. 1675)
    • 1642 – George Hickes, English minister and scholar (d. 1715)
    • 1647 – John George III, Elector of Saxony (d. 1691)
    • 1717 – Jacques Saly, French sculptor and painter (d. 1776)
    • 1723 – Adam Ferguson, Scottish philosopher and historian (d. 1816)
    • 1737 – Tokugawa Ieharu, Japanese shōgun (d. 1786)
    • 1754 – Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt, princess of Baden (d. 1832)
    • 1756 – Joseph Martin Kraus, German-Swedish composer and educator (d. 1792)
    • 1761 – Jacob Hübner, German entomologist and author (d. 1826)
    • 1763 – Wolfe Tone, Irish rebel leader (d. 1798)
    • 1770 – Moses Waddel, American minister and academic (d. 1840)
    • 1771 – Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, Scottish philanthropist, and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Kirkcudbright (d. 1820)
    • 1771 – Hermann von Boyen, Prussian general and politician, Prussian Minister of War (d. 1848)
    • 1777 – Jean-Jacques Lartigue, Canadian bishop (d. 1840)
    • 1778 – Jean Baptiste Gay, vicomte de Martignac, French politician, 7th Prime Minister of France (d. 1832)
    • 1786 – Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, French poet and author (d. 1859)
    • 1796 – Luigi Amat di San Filippo e Sorso, Italian cardinal (d. 1878)
    • 1808 – Samson Raphael Hirsch, German rabbi and scholar (d. 1888)
    • 1809 – Isaak August Dorner, German theologian and academic (d. 1884)
    • 1813 – Joseph Autran, French poet and author (d. 1877)
    • 1819 – Jacques Offenbach, German-French cellist and composer (d. 1880)
    • 1847 – Gina Krog, Norwegian suffragist and women’s rights activist (d. 1916)
    • 1855 – Richard Lodge, English historian and academic (d. 1936)
    • 1858 – Charles W. Chesnutt, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1932)
    • 1860 – Alexander Winton, Scottish-American race car driver and engineer (d. 1932)
    • 1860 – Jack Worrall, Australian cricketer, footballer, and coach (d. 1937)
    • 1861 – Frederick Gowland Hopkins, English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1947)
    • 1865 – George Redmayne Murray, English biologist and physician (d. 1939)
    • 1866 – James Burns, English cricketer (d. 1957)
    • 1869 – Laxmanrao Kirloskar, Indian businessman, founded the Kirloskar Group (d. 1956)
    • 1870 – Georges Dufrénoy, French painter and academic (d. 1943)
    • 1872 – George Carpenter, American 5th General of The Salvation Army (d. 1948)
    • 1875 – Reginald Punnett, English geneticist, statistician, and academic (d. 1967)
    • 1882 – Daniel Sawyer, American golfer (d. 1937)
    • 1884 – Mary R. Calvert, American astronomer and author (d. 1974)
    • 1884 – Johannes Heinrich Schultz, German psychiatrist and psychotherapist (d. 1970)
    • 1885 – Andrzej Gawroński, Polish linguist and academic (d. 1927)
    • 1887 – Kurt Schwitters, German painter and illustrator (d. 1948)
    • 1889 – John S. Paraskevopoulos, Greek-South African astronomer and academic (d. 1951)
    • 1891 – Giannina Arangi-Lombardi, Italian soprano (d. 1951)
    • 1891 – John A. Costello, Irish lawyer and politician, 3rd Taoiseach of Ireland (d. 1976)
    • 1893 – Wilhelm Zaisser, German soldier and politician (d. 1958)
    • 1894 – Lloyd Hall, American chemist and academic (d. 1971)
    • 1896 – Wilfrid Pelletier, Canadian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1982)
    • 1897 – Elisabeth Hauptmann, German author and playwright (d. 1973)
    • 1899 – Jean Moulin, French soldier and engineer (d. 1943)
    • 1903 – Sam Rabin, English wrestler, sculptor, and singer (d. 1991)
    • 1905 – Lillian Hellman, American playwright and screenwriter (d. 1984)
    • 1906 – Bob King, American high jumper and obstetrician (d. 1965)
    • 1907 – Jimmy Driftwood, American singer-songwriter and banjo player (d. 1998)
    • 1908 – Billy Werber, American baseball player (d. 2009)
    • 1908 – Gus Schilling, American actor (d. 1957)
    • 1909 – Errol Flynn, Australian-American actor (d. 1959)
    • 1910 – Josephine Johnson, American author and poet (d. 1990)
    • 1911 – Gail Patrick, American actress (d. 1980)
    • 1912 – Anthony Buckeridge, English author (d. 2004)
    • 1912 – Jack Torrance, American shot putter and football player (d. 1969)
    • 1914 – Gordon Juckes, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1994)
    • 1914 – Muazzez İlmiye Çığ, Turkish archaeologist and academic
    • 1915 – Dick Reynolds, Australian footballer and coach (d. 2002)
    • 1915 – Terence Young, Chinese-English director and screenwriter (d. 1994)
    • 1916 – Jean-Jacques Bertrand, Canadian lawyer and politician, 21st Premier of Quebec (d. 1973)
    • 1916 – T. Texas Tyler, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1972)
    • 1917 – Helena Rasiowa, Austrian-Polish mathematician and academic (d. 1994)
    • 1918 – George Lynch, American race car driver (d. 1997)
    • 1918 – Zoltán Sztáray, Hungarian-American author (d. 2011)
    • 1920 – Geoffrey Baker, English Field Marshal and Chief of the General Staff of the British Army (d. 1980)
    • 1920 – Danny Cedrone, American guitarist and bandleader (d. 1954)
    • 1920 – Thomas Jefferson, American trumpet player (d. 1986)
    • 1921 – Byron Farwell, American historian and author (d. 1999)
    • 1921 – Pancho Segura, Ecuadorian tennis player (d. 2017)
    • 1923 – Peter Gay, German-American historian, author, and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1923 – Jerzy Nowak, Polish actor and educator (d. 2013)
    • 1924 – Chet Atkins, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2001)
    • 1924 – Fritz Koenig, German sculptor and academic, designed The Sphere (d. 2017)
    • 1925 – Doris Hart, American tennis player and educator (d. 2015)
    • 1925 – Audie Murphy, American lieutenant and actor, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1971)
    • 1926 – Rehavam Ze’evi, Israeli general and politician, 9th Israeli Minister of Tourism (d. 2001)
    • 1927 – Simin Behbahani, Iranian poet and activist (d. 2014)
    • 1928 – Eric Dolphy, American saxophonist, flute player, and composer (d. 1964)
    • 1928 – Martin Landau, American actor and producer (d. 2017)
    • 1928 – Jean-Marie Le Pen, French intelligence officer and politician
    • 1928 – Asrat Woldeyes, Ethiopian surgeon and educator (d. 1999)
    • 1929 – Edgar Bronfman, Sr., Canadian-American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013)
    • 1929 – Anne Weale, English journalist and author (d. 2007)
    • 1929 – Edith Windsor, American lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights activist (d. 2017)
    • 1930 – Magdalena Abakanowicz, Polish sculptor and academic (d. 2017)
    • 1930 – John Waine, English bishop
    • 1931 – Olympia Dukakis, American actress
    • 1931 – James Tolkan, American actor and director
    • 1932 – Robert Rozhdestvensky, Russian poet and author (d. 1994)
    • 1933 – Danny Aiello, American actor (d. 2019)
    • 1933 – Claire Tomalin, English journalist and author
    • 1934 – Wendy Craig, English actress
    • 1935 – Jim Barker, American politician (d. 2005)
    • 1935 – Len Dawson, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1935 – Armando Picchi, Italian footballer and coach (d. 1971)
    • 1936 – Billy Guy, American singer (d. 2002)
    • 1936 – Enn Vetemaa, Estonian author and screenwriter (d. 2017)
    • 1937 – Stafford Dean, English actor and singer
    • 1937 – Jerry Keller, American singer-songwriter
    • 1938 – Joan Kirner, Australian educator and politician, 42nd Premier of Victoria (d. 2015)
    • 1938 – Mickie Most, English music producer (d. 2003)
    • 1939 – Ramakant Desai, Indian cricketer (d. 1998)
    • 1939 – Budge Rogers, English rugby player and manager
    • 1940 – Eugen Drewermann, German priest and theologian
    • 1940 – John Mahoney, English actor (d. 2018)
    • 1941 – Stephen Frears, English actor, director, and producer
    • 1941 – Ulf Merbold, German physicist and astronaut
    • 1942 – Neil Trudinger, Australian mathematician and theorist
    • 1942 – Brian Wilson, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1945 – Anne Murray, Canadian singer and guitarist
    • 1946 – Xanana Gusmão, Timorese soldier and politician, 1st President of East Timor
    • 1946 – David Kazhdan, Russian-Israeli mathematician and academic
    • 1946 – Bob Vila, American television host
    • 1946 – André Watts, American pianist and educator
    • 1947 – Dolores “LaLa” Brooks, American pop singer (The Crystals)
    • 1948 – Cirilo Flores, American bishop (d. 2014)
    • 1948 – Ludwig Scotty, Nauruan politician, 10th President of Nauru
    • 1949 – Alan Longmuir, Scottish bass player and songwriter (d. 2018)
    • 1949 – Lionel Richie, American singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor
    • 1949 – Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 8th president of Sri Lanka
    • 1950 – Nouri al-Maliki, Iraqi politician, 76th Prime Minister of Iraq
    • 1951 – Tress MacNeille, American actress and voice artist
    • 1951 – Sheila McLean, Scottish scholar and academic
    • 1951 – Paul Muldoon, Irish poet and academic
    • 1952 – John Goodman, American actor
    • 1952 – Vikram Seth, Indian author and poet
    • 1953 – Robert Crais, American author and screenwriter
    • 1953 – Raúl Ramírez, Mexican tennis player
    • 1953 – Willy Rampf, German engineer
    • 1954 – Allan Lamb, South African-English cricketer and sportscaster
    • 1954 – Ilan Ramon, Israeli colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2003)
    • 1955 – E. Lynn Harris, American author (d. 2009)
    • 1956 – Peter Reid, English footballer and manager
    • 1956 – Sohn Suk-hee, South Korean newscaster
    • 1958 – Kelly Johnson, English hard rock guitarist and songwriter (d. 2007)
    • 1960 – Philip M. Parker, American economist and author
    • 1960 – John Taylor, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and actor
    • 1963 – Kirk Baptiste, American sprinter
    • 1963 – Mark Ovenden, British author and broadcaster
    • 1964 – Pierfrancesco Chili, Italian motorcycle racer
    • 1964 – Silke Möller, German runner
    • 1966 – Boaz Yakin, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1967 – Nicole Kidman, American-Australian actress
    • 1967 – Dan Tyminski, American singer-songwriter
    • 1968 – Robert Rodriguez, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1969 – Paulo Bento, Portuguese footballer and manager
    • 1969 – Misha Verbitsky, Russian mathematician and academic
    • 1969 – MaliVai Washington, American tennis player and sportscaster
    • 1970 – Andrea Nahles, German politician, German Minister of Labour and Social Affairs
    • 1970 – Athol Williams, South African poet and social philosopher
    • 1971 – Rodney Rogers, American basketball player and coach
    • 1971 – Jeordie White, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and bass player
    • 1972 – Alexis Alexoudis, Greek footballer
    • 1973 – Chino Moreno, American singer-songwriter
    • 1975 – Joan Balcells, Spanish tennis player
    • 1975 – Daniel Zítka, Czech footballer
    • 1976 – Juliano Belletti, Brazilian footballer
    • 1976 – Carlos Lee, Panamanian baseball player
    • 1977 – Gordan Giriček, Croatian basketball player
    • 1977 – Amos Lee, American singer-songwriter
    • 1978 – Frank Lampard, English footballer
    • 1978 – Jan-Paul Saeijs, Dutch footballer
    • 1979 – Charles Howell III, American golfer
    • 1980 – Franco Semioli, Italian footballer
    • 1980 – Tika Sumpter, American actress
    • 1980 – Fabian Wegmann, German cyclist
    • 1981 – Brede Hangeland, Norwegian footballer
    • 1982 – Aleksei Berezutski, Russian footballer
    • 1982 – Vasili Berezutski, Russian footballer
    • 1982 – Example, English singer/rapper
    • 1983 – Josh Childress, American basketball player
    • 1983 – Darren Sproles, American football player
    • 1984 – Hassan Adams, American basketball player
    • 1985 – Saki Aibu, Japanese actress
    • 1985 – Aurélien Chedjou, Cameroonian footballer
    • 1985 – Matt Flynn, American football player
    • 1986 – Dreama Walker, American actress
    • 1987 – A-fu, Taiwanese singer and songwriter
    • 1987 – Carsten Ball, Australian tennis player
    • 1987 – Asmir Begović, Bosnian footballer
    • 1987 – Joseph Ebuya, Kenyan runner
    • 1987 – Kierra Sheard, American gospel singer
    • 1989 – Christopher Mintz-Plasse, American actor
    • 1989 – Javier Pastore, Argentinian footballer
    • 1989 – Terrelle Pryor, American football player
    • 1990 – DeQuan Jones, American basketball player
    • 1991 – Kalidou Koulibaly, Senegalese footballer
    • 1991 – Rick ten Voorde, Dutch footballer
    • 1993 – Sead Kolašinac, Bosnian footballer
    • 1994 – Leonard Williams, American football player
    • 1995 – Caroline Weir, Scottish footballer
    • 1996 – Sam Bennett, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1997 – Bálint Kopasz, Hungarian sprint canoeist

    Deaths on June 20

    • 465 – Emperor Wencheng of Northern Wei (b. 440)
    • 656 – Uthman ibn Affan, Rashidun caliph (b. 577)
    • 840 – Louis the Pious, Carolingian emperor (b. 778)
    • 930 – Hucbald, Frankish monk and music theorist
    • 981 – Adalbert, archbishop of Magdeburg
    • 1176 – Mikhail of Vladimir, Russian prince
    • 1351 – Margareta Ebner, German nun and mystic (b. 1291)
    • 1405 – Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, fourth son of King Robert II of Scotland (b. 1343)
    • 1597 – Willem Barentsz, Dutch cartographer and explorer (b. 1550)
    • 1605 – Feodor II of Russia (b. 1589)
    • 1668 – Heinrich Roth, German missionary and scholar (b. 1620)
    • 1776 – Benjamin Huntsman, English businessman (b. 1704)
    • 1787 – Carl Friedrich Abel, German viol player and composer (b. 1723)
    • 1800 – Abraham Gotthelf Kästner, German mathematician and academic (b. 1719)
    • 1810 – Axel von Fersen the Younger, Swedish general and politician (b. 1755)
    • 1815 – Guillaume Philibert Duhesme, French general (b. 1766)
    • 1820 – Manuel Belgrano, Argentinian general, economist, and politician (b. 1770)
    • 1837 – William IV of the United Kingdom (b. 1765)
    • 1840 – Pierre Claude François Daunou, French historian and politician (b. 1761)
    • 1847 – Juan Larrea, Argentinian captain and politician (b. 1782)
    • 1869 – Hijikata Toshizō, Japanese commander (b. 1835)
    • 1870 – Jules de Goncourt, French historian and author (b. 1830)
    • 1872 – Élie Frédéric Forey, French general (b. 1804)
    • 1875 – Joseph Meek, American police officer and politician (b. 1810)
    • 1888 – Johannes Zukertort, Polish-English chess player (b. 1842)
    • 1906 – John Clayton Adams, English painter (b. 1840)
    • 1909 – Friedrich Martens, Estonian-Russian historian, lawyer, and diplomat (b. 1845)
    • 1925 – Josef Breuer, Austrian physician and psychologist (b. 1842)
    • 1929 – Emmanouil Benakis, Greek merchant and politician, 35th Mayor of Athens (b. 1843)
    • 1945 – Bruno Frank, German author, poet, and playwright (b. 1878)
    • 1947 – Bugsy Siegel, American mobster (b. 1906)
    • 1952 – Luigi Fagioli, Italian race car driver (b. 1898)
    • 1958 – Kurt Alder, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
    • 1963 – Raphaël Salem, Greek-French mathematician and academic (b. 1898)
    • 1965 – Bernard Baruch, American financier and politician (b. 1870)
    • 1966 – Georges Lemaître, Belgian priest, physicist, and astronomer (b. 1894)
    • 1974 – Horace Lindrum, Australian snooker player (b. 1912)
    • 1975 – Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain, Hatian anthropologist (b. 1898)
    • 1978 – Mark Robson, Canadian-American director and producer (b. 1913)
    • 1984 – Estelle Winwood, English actress (b. 1883)
    • 1995 – Emil Cioran, Romanian-French philosopher and educator (b. 1911)
    • 1997 – Cahit Külebi, Turkish poet and author (b. 1917)
    • 1999 – Clifton Fadiman, American game show host, author, and critic (b. 1902)
    • 2001 – Gina Cigna, French-Italian soprano (b. 1900)
    • 2002 – Erwin Chargaff, Austrian-American biochemist and academic (b. 1905)
    • 2002 – Tinus Osendarp, Dutch runner (b. 1916)
    • 2004 – Jim Bacon, Australian politician, 41st Premier of Tasmania (b. 1950)
    • 2005 – Larry Collins, American journalist, historian, and author (b. 1929)
    • 2005 – Jack Kilby, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1923)
    • 2010 – Roberto Rosato, Italian footballer (b. 1943)
    • 2010 – Harry B. Whittington, English palaeontologist and academic (b. 1916)
    • 2011 – Ryan Dunn, American television personality (b. 1977)
    • 2012 – Judy Agnew, Second Lady of the United States. (b. 1921)
    • 2012 – LeRoy Neiman, American painter (b. 1921)
    • 2012 – Heinrich IV, Prince Reuss of Köstritz (b. 1919)
    • 2012 – Andrew Sarris, American critic (b. 1928)
    • 2013 – Ingvar Rydell, Swedish footballer (b. 1922)
    • 2015 – Angelo Niculescu, Romanian footballer and manager (b. 1921)
    • 2015 – Miriam Schapiro, Canadian-American painter and sculptor (b. 1923)
    • 2017 – Prodigy, American music artist (b. 1974)

    Holidays and observances on June 20

    • Christian feast day:
      • Adalbert of Magdeburg
      • Florentina
      • John of Matera
      • Blessed Margareta Ebner
      • Methodius of Olympus
      • Pope Silverius
      • June 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Day of the National Flag (Argentina)
    • The earliest date for the summer solstice in the Northern hemisphere and the winter solstice in the Southern hemisphere, and its related observance:
      • Earliest day on which Day of the Finnish Flag can fall, while June 26 is the latest; celebrated on Saturday of Midsummer’s Day (Finland)
      • International Surfing Day (on or near Summer solstice)
      • Litha / Midsummer celebrations in the northern hemisphere, Yule in the southern hemisphere.
    • Gas Sector Day (Azerbaijan)
    • Martyrs’ Day (Eritrea)
    • West Virginia Day (West Virginia)
    • World Refugee Day (International)

  • June 7- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 421 – Emperor Theodosius II marries Aelia Eudocia at Constantinople (Byzantine Empire).
    • 879 – Pope John VIII recognizes the Duchy of Croatia under Duke Branimir as an independent state.
    • 1002 – Henry II, a cousin of Emperor Otto III, is elected and crowned King of Germany.
    • 1099 – First Crusade: The Siege of Jerusalem begins.
    • 1420 – Troops of the Republic of Venice capture Udine, ending the independence of the Patria del Friuli.
    • 1494 – Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Tordesillas which divides the New World between the two countries.
    • 1628 – The Petition of Right, a major English constitutional document, is granted the Royal Assent by Charles I and becomes law.
    • 1654 – Louis XIV is crowned King of France.
    • 1692 – Port Royal, Jamaica, is hit by a catastrophic earthquake; in just three minutes, 1,600 people are killed and 3,000 are seriously injured.
    • 1776 – Richard Henry Lee presents the “Lee Resolution” to the Continental Congress. The motion is seconded by John Adams and will lead to the United States Declaration of Independence.
    • 1788 – French Revolution: Day of the Tiles: Civilians in Grenoble toss roof tiles and various objects down upon royal troops.
    • 1800 – David Thompson reaches the mouth of the Saskatchewan River in Manitoba.
    • 1810 – The newspaper Gazeta de Buenos Ayres is first published in Argentina.
    • 1832 – The Great Reform Act of England and Wales receives royal assent.
    • 1832 – Asian cholera reaches Quebec, brought by Irish immigrants, and kills about 6,000 people in Lower Canada.
    • 1862 – The United States and the United Kingdom agree in the Lyons–Seward Treaty to suppress the African slave trade.
    • 1863 – During the French intervention in Mexico, Mexico City is captured by French troops.
    • 1866 – One thousand eight hundred Fenian raiders are repelled back to the United States after looting and plundering the Saint-Armand and Frelighsburg areas of Canada East.
    • 1880 – War of the Pacific: The Battle of Arica, the assault and capture of Morro de Arica (Arica Cape), ends the Campaña del Desierto (Desert Campaign).
    • 1892 – Homer Plessy is arrested for refusing to leave his seat in the “whites-only” car of a train; he lost the resulting court case, Plessy v. Ferguson.
    • 1899 – American Temperance crusader Carrie Nation begins her campaign of vandalizing alcohol-serving establishments by destroying the inventory in a saloon in Kiowa, Kansas.
    • 1905 – Norway’s parliament dissolves its union with Sweden. The vote was confirmed by a national plebiscite on August 13 of that year.
    • 1906 – Cunard Line’s RMS Lusitania is launched from the John Brown Shipyard, Glasgow (Clydebank), Scotland.
    • 1917 – World War I: Battle of Messines: Allied soldiers detonate a series of mines underneath German trenches at Messines Ridge, killing 10,000 German troops.
    • 1919 – Sette Giugno: Nationalist riots break out in Valletta, the capital of Malta. British soldiers fire into the crowd, killing four people.
    • 1929 – The Lateran Treaty is ratified, bringing Vatican City into existence.
    • 1938 – The Douglas DC-4E makes its first test flight.
    • 1938 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Chinese Nationalist government creates the 1938 Yellow River flood to halt Japanese forces. Five hundred to nine hundred thousand civilians are killed.
    • 1940 – King Haakon VII, Crown Prince Olav and the Norwegian government leave Tromsø and go into exile in London. They return exactly five years later.
    • 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Midway ends in American victory.
    • 1942 – World War II: Aleutian Islands Campaign: Imperial Japanese soldiers begin occupying the American islands of Attu and Kiska, in the Aleutian Islands off Alaska.
    • 1944 – World War II: The steamer Danae, carrying 350 Cretan Jews and 250 Cretan partisans, is sunk without survivors off the shore of Santorini.
    • 1944 – World War II: Battle of Normandy: At Ardenne Abbey, members of the SS Division Hitlerjugend massacre 23 Canadian prisoners of war.
    • 1945 – King Haakon VII of Norway returns from exactly five years in exile during World War II.
    • 1946 – The United Kingdom’s BBC returns to broadcasting its television service, which has been off air for seven years because of the Second World War.
    • 1948 – Anti-Jewish riots in Oujda and Jerada take place.
    • 1948 – Edvard Beneš resigns as President of Czechoslovakia rather than signing the Ninth-of-May Constitution, making his nation a Communist state.
    • 1955 – Lux Radio Theatre signs off the air permanently. The show launched in New York in 1934, and featured radio adaptations of Broadway shows and popular films.
    • 1962 – The Organisation Armée Secrète (OAS) sets fire to the University of Algiers library building, destroying about 500,000 books.
    • 1965 – The Supreme Court of the United States hands down its decision in Griswold v. Connecticut, prohibiting the states from criminalizing the use of contraception by married couples.
    • 1967 – Six-Day War: Israeli soldiers enter Jerusalem.
    • 1971 – The United States Supreme Court overturns the conviction of Paul Cohen for disturbing the peace, setting the precedent that vulgar writing is protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
    • 1971 – The Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Division of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service raids the home of Ken Ballew for illegal possession of hand grenades.
    • 1977 – Five hundred million people watch the high day of the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II begin on television.
    • 1981 – The Israeli Air Force destroys Iraq’s Osiraq nuclear reactor during Operation Opera.
    • 1982 – Priscilla Presley opens Graceland to the public; the bathroom where Elvis Presley died five years earlier is kept off-limits.
    • 1989 – Surinam Airways Flight 764 crashes on approach to Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport in Suriname because of pilot error, killing 176 of 187 aboard.
    • 1991 – Mount Pinatubo erupts, generating an ash column 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) high.
    • 2000 – The United Nations defines the Blue Line as the border between Israel and Lebanon.
    • 2013 – A bus catches fire in the Chinese city of Xiamen, killing at least 47 people and injuring more than 34 others.
    • 2013 – A gunman opens fire at Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, after setting a house on fire nearby, killing six people, including the suspect.
    • 2014 – At least 37 people are killed in an attack in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s South Kivu province.

    Births on June 7

    • 1003 – Emperor Jingzong of Western Xia (d. 1048)
    • 1402 – Ichijō Kaneyoshi, Japanese noble (d. 1481)
    • 1422 – Federico da Montefeltro, Italian condottiero (d. 1482)
    • 1502 – John III of Portugal (d. 1557)
    • 1529 – Étienne Pasquier, French lawyer and jurist (d. 1615)
    • 1687 – Gaetano Berenstadt, Italian actor and singer (d. 1734)
    • 1702 – Louis George, Margrave of Baden-Baden (d. 1761)
    • 1757 – Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (d. 1806)
    • 1761 – John Rennie the Elder, Scottish engineer (d. 1821)
    • 1770 – Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1828)
    • 1778 – Beau Brummell, English cricketer and fashion designer (d. 1840)
    • 1811 – James Young Simpson, Scottish obstetrician (d. 1870)
    • 1831 – Amelia Edwards, English journalist and author (d. 1892)
    • 1837 – Alois Hitler, Austrian civil servant (d. 1903)
    • 1840 – Carlota of Mexico (d. 1927)
    • 1845 – Leopold Auer, Hungarian violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1930)
    • 1847 – George Washington Ball, American legislator from Iowa (d. 1915)
    • 1848 – Paul Gauguin, French painter and sculptor (d. 1903)
    • 1851 – Ture Malmgren, Swedish journalist and politician (d. 1922)
    • 1861 – Robina Nicol, New Zealand photographer and suffragist (d. 1942)
    • 1862 – Philipp Lenard, Slovak-German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1947)
    • 1863 – Bones Ely, American baseball player and manager (d. 1952)
    • 1868 – Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Scottish painter and architect (d. 1928)
    • 1877 – Roelof Klein, Dutch-American rower and engineer (d. 1960)
    • 1879 – Knud Rasmussen, Danish anthropologist and explorer (d. 1933)
    • 1879 – Joan Voûte, Dutch astronomer and academic (d. 1963)
    • 1884 – Ester Claesson, Swedish landscape architect (d. 1931)
    • 1883 – Sylvanus Morley, American archaeologist and scholar (d. 1948)
    • 1886 – Henri Coandă, Romanian engineer, designed the Coandă-1910 (d. 1972)
    • 1888 – Clarence DeMar, American runner and educator (d. 1958)
    • 1892 – Leo Reise, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1975)
    • 1893 – Gillis Grafström, Swedish figure skater and architect (d. 1938)
    • 1894 – Alexander P. de Seversky, Georgian-American pilot and engineer, co-designed the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt (d. 1974)
    • 1896 – Douglas Campbell, American lieutenant and pilot (d. 1990)
    • 1896 – Robert S. Mulliken, American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
    • 1896 – Imre Nagy, Hungarian soldier and politician, 44th Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 1958)
    • 1897 – George Szell, Hungarian-American conductor and composer (d. 1970)
    • 1899 – Elizabeth Bowen, Anglo-Irish author and critic (d. 1973)
    • 1902 – Georges Van Parys, French composer (d. 1971)
    • 1902 – Herman B Wells, American banker, author, and academic (d. 2000)
    • 1905 – James J. Braddock, American lieutenant and boxer (d. 1974)
    • 1906 – Glen Gray, American saxophonist and bandleader (d. 1963)
    • 1907 – Sigvard Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg (d. 2002)
    • 1909 – Virginia Apgar, American anesthesiologist and pediatrician, developed the Apgar test (d. 1974)
    • 1909 – Peter W. Rodino, American captain, lawyer, and politician (d. 2005)
    • 1909 – Jessica Tandy, English-American actress (d. 1994)
    • 1910 – Arthur Gardner, American actor and producer (d. 2014)
    • 1910 – Mike Sebastian, American football player and coach (d. 1989)
    • 1910 – Bradford Washburn, American mountaineer, photographer, and cartographer (d. 2007)
    • 1910 – Marion Post Wolcott, American photographer (d. 1990)
    • 1911 – Brooks Stevens, American engineer and designer, designed the Wienermobile (d. 1995)
    • 1912 – Jacques Hélian, French bandleader (d. 1986)
    • 1917 – Gwendolyn Brooks, American poet (d. 2000)
    • 1917 – Dean Martin, American singer, actor, and producer (d. 1995)
    • 1920 – Georges Marchais, French mechanic and politician (d. 1997)
    • 1921 – Myrtle Edwards, Australian cricketer and softball player (d. 2010)
    • 1921 – Brian Talboys, New Zealand politician, 7th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 2012)
    • 1922 – Leo Reise, Jr., Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2015)
    • 1923 – Jules Deschênes, Canadian lawyer and judge (d. 2000)
    • 1925 – Ernestina Herrera de Noble, Argentine publisher and executive (d. 2017)
    • 1926 – Jean-Noël Tremblay, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2020)
    • 1927 – Charles de Tornaco, Belgian race car driver (d. 1953)
    • 1927 – Paul Salamunovich, American conductor and educator (d. 2014)
    • 1928 – Dave Bowen, Welsh footballer and manager (d. 1995)
    • 1928 – James Ivory, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1928 – Randolph Turpin, English boxer (d. 1966)
    • 1929 – Ernie Roth, American wrestling manager (d. 1983)
    • 1929 – John Turner, Canadian lawyer and politician, 17th Prime Minister of Canada
    • 1931 – Virginia McKenna, English actress and author
    • 1932 – Per Maurseth, Norwegian historian, academic, and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1933 – Romeo Galán, Argentine athlete
    • 1935 – Harry Crews, American novelist, playwright, short story writer, and essayist (d. 2012)
    • 1935 – Shyama, Indian actress (d. 2017)
    • 1936 – Bert Sugar, American author and boxing historian (d. 2012)
    • 1938 – Ian St John, Scottish international footballer, forward and manager
    • 1939 – Yuli Turovsky, Russian-Canadian cellist, conductor and educator (d. 2013)
    • 1940 – Tom Jones, Welsh singer and actor
    • 1940 – Ronald Pickup, English actor
    • 1944 – Annette Lu, Taiwanese lawyer and politician, 8th Vice President of the Republic of China
    • 1944 – Clarence White, American guitarist and singer (d. 1973)
    • 1945 – Gilles Marotte, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2005)
    • 1945 – John Olsen, Australian politician, 42nd Premier of South Australia
    • 1945 – Wolfgang Schüssel, Austrian lawyer and politician, 26th Chancellor of Austria
    • 1947 – Don Money, American baseball player and coach
    • 1947 – Thurman Munson, American baseball player (d. 1979)
    • 1948 – Jim Walton, American businessman
    • 1952 – Liam Neeson, Irish-American actor
    • 1952 – Orhan Pamuk, Turkish-American novelist, screenwriter, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1953 – Johnny Clegg, English- born South African singer-songwriter, guitarist and anthropologist (d. 2019)
    • 1954 – Louise Erdrich, American novelist and poet
    • 1955 – William Forsythe, American actor and producer
    • 1955 – Tim Richmond, American race car driver (d. 1989)
    • 1956 – L.A. Reid, American songwriter and producer, co-founded LaFace Records
    • 1957 – Juan Luis Guerra, Dominican singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1957 – Paddy McAloon, English singer-songwriter
    • 1958 – Prince, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and actor (d. 2016)
    • 1958 – Surakiart Sathirathai, Thai politician and diplomat
    • 1959 – Mike Pence, 48th Vice President of the United States, 50th Governor of Indiana
    • 1960 – Hirohiko Araki, Japanese manga artist and creator of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
    • 1960 – Bill Prady, American screenwriter and producer
    • 1961 – Dave Catching, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1962 – Thierry Hazard, French singer-songwriter
    • 1962 – Takuya Kurosawa, Japanese race car driver
    • 1963 – Gordon Gano, American musician
    • 1964 – Gia Carides, Australian actress
    • 1964 – Graeme Labrooy, Sri Lankan cricketer
    • 1965 – Mick Foley, American wrestler, actor, and author
    • 1965 – Jean-Pierre François, French footballer and singer
    • 1965 – Damien Hirst, English painter and art collector
    • 1966 – Eric Kretz, American drummer, songwriter, and producer
    • 1966 – Tom McCarthy, American director, screenwriter and actor
    • 1966 – Stéphane Richer, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1967 – Dave Navarro, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1970 – Helen Baxendale, English actress
    • 1970 – Cafu, Brazilian footballer
    • 1970 – Andrei Kovalenko, Russian ice hockey player
    • 1970 – Mike Modano, American ice hockey player
    • 1972 – Karl Urban, New Zealand actor
    • 1974 – Bear Grylls, English adventurer, author, and television host
    • 1975 – Allen Iverson, American basketball player
    • 1976 – Necro, American rapper, producer, and director
    • 1976 – Mirsad Türkcan, Turkish basketball player
    • 1977 – Marcin Baszczyński, Polish footballer
    • 1978 – Mini Andén, Swedish-American model, actress, and producer
    • 1978 – Bill Hader, Two-time Emmy winning American actor, comedian, and screenwriter
    • 1979 – Kevin Hofland, Dutch footballer
    • 1979 – Anna Torv, Australian actress
    • 1980 – Ed Moses, American swimmer
    • 1981 – Stephen Bywater, English footballer
    • 1981 – Anna Kournikova, Russian tennis player
    • 1981 – Kevin Kyle, Scottish footballer
    • 1983 – Milan Jurčina, Slovak ice hockey player
    • 1983 – Piotr Małachowski, Polish discus thrower
    • 1984 – Ari Koivunen, Finnish singer-songwriter
    • 1984 – Eri Yanetani, Japanese snowboarder
    • 1985 – Arkadiusz Piech, Polish footballer
    • 1985 – Charlie Simpson, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1985 – Richard Thompson, Trinidadian sprinter
    • 1986 – Keegan Bradley, American golfer
    • 1988 – Michael Cera, Canadian actor
    • 1988 – Milan Lucic, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1990 – Iggy Azalea, Australian rapper
    • 1990 – T. J. Brodie, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1990 – Allison Schmitt, American swimmer
    • 1991 – Cenk Tosun, Turkish professional footballer
    • 1991 – Fetty Wap, American rapper
    • 1992 – Sara Niemietz, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1992 – Mathias Gehrt, Danish professional footballer
    • 1992 – Alípio, Brazilian footballer
    • 1993 – George Ezra, English singer, songwriter and guitarist

    Deaths on June 7

    • 555 – Vigilius, Pope of the Catholic Church (b. 500)
    • 862 – Al-Muntasir, Abbasid caliph (b. 837)
    • 929 – Ælfthryth, Countess of Flanders (b. 877)
    • 940 – Qian Hongzun, heir apparent of Wuyue (b. 925)
    • 951 – Lu Wenji, Chinese chancellor (b. 876)
    • 1329 – Robert the Bruce, Scottish king (b. 1274)
    • 1337 – William I, Count of Hainaut (b. 1286)
    • 1341 – An-Nasir Muhammad, Egyptian sultan (b. 1285)
    • 1358 – Ashikaga Takauji, Japanese shōgun (b. 1305)
    • 1394 – Anne of Bohemia, English queen (b. 1366)
    • 1492 – Casimir IV Jagiellon, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447 (b. 1427)
    • 1594 – Rodrigo Lopez, physician of Queen Elizabeth (b. 1525)
    • 1618 – Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, English politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1577)
    • 1660 – George II Rákóczi, Prince of Transylvania (b. 1621)
    • 1711 – Henry Dodwell, Irish scholar and theologian (b. 1641)
    • 1779 – William Warburton, English bishop and critic (b. 1698)
    • 1792 – Benjamin Tupper, American general and surveyor (b. 1738)
    • 1810 – Luigi Schiavonetti, Italian engraver and etcher (b. 1765)
    • 1826 – Joseph von Fraunhofer, German optician, physicist, and astronomer (b. 1787)
    • 1840 – Frederick William III of Prussia (b. 1770)
    • 1843 – Friedrich Hölderlin, German lyric poet (b. 1770)
    • 1853 – Norbert Provencher, Canadian missionary and bishop (b. 1787)
    • 1854 – Charles Baudin, French admiral (b. 1792)
    • 1859 – David Cox, English painter (b. 1783)
    • 1861 – Patrick Brontë, Anglo-Irish priest and author (b. 1777)
    • 1863 – Antonio Valero de Bernabé, Latin American liberator (b. 1790)
    • 1866 – Chief Seattle, American tribal chief (b. 1780)
    • 1879 – William Tilbury Fox, English dermatologist and academic (b. 1836)
    • 1896 – Pavlos Carrer, Greek composer (b. 1829)
    • 1911 – Maurice Rouvier, French politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1842)
    • 1915 – Charles Reed Bishop, American banker and politician, founded the First Hawaiian Bank (b. 1822)
    • 1916 – Émile Faguet, French author and critic (b. 1847)
    • 1927 – Archie Birkin, English motorcycle racer (b. 1905)
    • 1927 – Edmund James Flynn, Canadian lawyer and politician, 10th Premier of Quebec (b. 1847)
    • 1932 – John Verran, English-Australian politician, 26th Premier of South Australia (b. 1856)
    • 1933 – Dragutin Domjanić, Croatian lawyer, judge, and poet (b. 1875)
    • 1936 – Stjepan Seljan, Croatian explorer (b. 1875)
    • 1937 – Jean Harlow, American actress and singer (b. 1911)
    • 1942 – Alan Blumlein, English engineer (b. 1903)
    • 1945 – Kitaro Nishida, Japanese philosopher and academic (b. 1870)
    • 1954 – Alan Turing, English mathematician and computer scientist (b. 1912)
    • 1956 – John Willcock, Australian politician, 15th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1879)
    • 1961 – Reginald Fletcher, 1st Baron Winster, English navy officer and politician, Secretary of State for Transport (b. 1885)
    • 1963 – ZaSu Pitts, American actress (b. 1894)
    • 1965 – Judy Holliday, American actress and singer (b. 1921)
    • 1966 – Jean Arp, German-French sculptor, painter, and poet (b. 1886)
    • 1967 – Anatoly Maltsev, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1909)
    • 1967 – Dorothy Parker, American poet, short story writer, critic, and satirist (b. 1893)
    • 1968 – Dan Duryea, American actor and singer (b. 1907)
    • 1970 – E. M. Forster, English novelist, short story writer, essayist (b. 1879)
    • 1978 – Charles Moran, American race car driver (b. 1906)
    • 1978 – Ronald George Wreyford Norrish, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
    • 1979 – Asa Earl Carter, American Ku Klux Klan leader (b. 1925)
    • 1980 – Elizabeth Craig, Scottish journalist and economist (b. 1883)
    • 1980 – Philip Guston, Canadian-American painter and educator (b. 1913)
    • 1980 – Henry Miller, American novelist and essayist (b. 1891)
    • 1985 – Klaudia Taev, Estonian opera singer and educator (b. 1906)
    • 1987 – Cahit Zarifoğlu, Turkish poet and author (b. 1940)
    • 1988 – Martin Sommer, German SS officer (b. 1915)
    • 1989 – Chico Landi, Brazilian race car driver (b. 1907)
    • 1989 – William McLean Hamilton, Canadian politician, Postmaster General of Canada (b. 1919)
    • 1992 – Bill France Sr., American race car driver and businessman, co-founded NASCAR (b. 1909)
    • 1993 – Dražen Petrović, Croatian basketball player, Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer 2002 (b. 1964)
    • 1995 – Hsuan Hua, Chinese monk and educator (b. 1918)
    • 1995 – Charles Ritchie, Canadian diplomat, High Commission of Canada to the United Kingdom (b. 1906)
    • 1996 – Max Factor, Jr., American businessman (b. 1904)
    • 1997 – Jacques Canetti, French music executive and talent agent (b. 1909)
    • 2001 – Víctor Paz Estenssoro, Bolivian politician, 52nd President of Bolivia (b. 1907)
    • 2001 – Carole Fredericks, French singer (Fredericks Goldman Jones) (b. 1952)
    • 2001 – Betty Neels, English nurse and author (b. 1910)
    • 2002 – Signe Hasso, Swedish-American actress (b. 1915)
    • 2002 – B. D. Jatti, Indian lawyer and politician, 5th Vice President of India (b. 1912)
    • 2002 – Lilian, Princess of Réthy (b. 1916)
    • 2004 – Quorthon, Swedish musician (b. 1966)
    • 2008 – Rudy Fernandez, Filipino actor and producer (b. 1953)
    • 2008 – Jim McKay, American journalist and sportscaster (b. 1921)
    • 2008 – Dino Risi, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1916)
    • 2009 – Hugh Hopper, English bass player and songwriter (b. 1945)
    • 2011 – Paul Dickson, American football player and coach (b. 1937)
    • 2012 – Phillip V. Tobias, South African paleontologist and academic (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Bob Welch, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1945)
    • 2013 – Pierre Mauroy, French educator and politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1928)
    • 2014 – Fernandão, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1978)
    • 2014 – Dora Akunyili, Nigerian academic and politician (b. 1954)
    • 2014 – Epainette Mbeki, South African activist (b. 1916)
    • 2015 – Christopher Lee, English actor (b. 1922)
    • 2015 – Sheikh Razzak Ali, Bangladeshi journalist and politician (b. 1928)

    Holidays and observances on June 7

    • Anniversary of the Memorandum of the Slovak Nation (Slovakia)
    • Birthday of Prince Joachim (Denmark)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Antonio Maria Gianelli
      • Colmán of Dromore
      • Landulf of Yariglia (Asti)
      • Meriasek
      • Paul I of Constantinople
      • Robert of Newminster
      • Chief Seattle (Lutheran Church)
      • Blessed Marie-Thérèse de Soubiran La Louvière
      • June 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
      • Commemoration Day of St John the Forerunner (Armenian Apostolic Church)
      • Pioneers of the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil (Episcopal Church (USA))
    • Battle of Arica Day (Arica y Parinacota Region, Chile)
    • Flag Day (Peru)
    • Journalist Day (Argentina)
    • Sette Giugno (Malta)
    • Union Dissolution Day (Independence Day of Norway)

  • March 6- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 12 BCE – The Roman Emperor Augustus is named Pontifex Maximus, incorporating the position into that of the emperor.
    • 632 – The Farewell Sermon (Khutbah, Khutbatul Wada’) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
    • 845 – Execution of the 42 Martyrs of Amorium at Samarra.
    • 961 – Byzantine conquest of Chandax by Nikephoros Phokas, end of the Emirate of Crete.
    • 1204 – The Siege of Château Gaillard ends in a French victory over King John of England, who loses control of Normandy to King Philip II Augustus.
    • 1323 – Treaty of Paris of 1323 is signed.
    • 1454 – Thirteen Years’ War: Delegates of the Prussian Confederation pledge allegiance to King Casimir IV of Poland who agrees to commit his forces in aiding the Confederation’s struggle for independence from the Teutonic Knights.
    • 1521 – Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Guam.
    • 1665 – The first joint Secretary of the Royal Society, Henry Oldenburg, publishes the first issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, the world’s longest-running scientific journal.
    • 1788 – The First Fleet arrives at Norfolk Island in order to found a convict settlement.
    • 1820 – The Missouri Compromise is signed into law by President James Monroe. The compromise allows Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state, brings Maine into the Union as a free state, and makes the rest of the northern part of the Louisiana Purchase territory slavery-free.
    • 1834 – York, Upper Canada, is incorporated as Toronto.
    • 1836 – Texas Revolution: Battle of the Alamo: After a thirteen-day siege by an army of 3,000 Mexican troops, the 187 Texas volunteers, including frontiersman Davy Crockett and colonel Jim Bowie, defending the Alamo are killed and the fort is captured.
    • 1857 – The Supreme Court of the United States rules in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case.
    • 1869 – Dmitri Mendeleev presents the first periodic table to the Russian Chemical Society.
    • 1882 – The Serbian kingdom is re-founded.
    • 1899 – Bayer registers “Aspirin” as a trademark.
    • 1902 – Real Madrid CF is founded.
    • 1912 – Italo-Turkish War: Italian forces become the first to use airships in war, as two dirigibles drop bombs on Turkish troops encamped at Janzur, from an altitude of 6,000 feet.
    • 1921 – Portuguese Communist Party is founded as the Portuguese Section of the Communist International.
    • 1930 – International Unemployment Day demonstrations globally initiated by the Comintern.
    • 1933 – Great Depression: President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares a “bank holiday”, closing all U.S. banks and freezing all financial transactions.
    • 1943 – Norman Rockwell published Freedom from Want in The Saturday Evening Post with a matching essay by Carlos Bulosan as part of the Four Freedoms series.
    • 1943 – World War II: The Battle of Fardykambos, one of the first major battles between the Greek Resistance and the occupying Royal Italian Army, ends with the surrender of an entire Italian battalion, the bulk of the garrison of the town of Grevena, leading to its liberation a fortnight later.
    • 1944 – World War II: Soviet Air Forces bomb an evacuated town of Narva in German-occupied Estonia, destroying the entire historical Swedish-era town.
    • 1945 – World War II: Cologne is captured by American troops. On the same day, Operation Spring Awakening, the last major German offensive of the war, begins.
    • 1946 – Ho Chi Minh signs an agreement with France which recognizes Vietnam as an autonomous state in the Indochinese Federation and the French Union.
    • 1951 – Cold War: The trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg begins.
    • 1953 – Georgy Malenkov succeeds Joseph Stalin as Premier of the Soviet Union and First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
    • 1957 – Ghana becomes the first Sub-Saharan country to gain independence from the British.
    • 1964 – Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad officially gives boxing champion Cassius Clay the name Muhammad Ali.
    • 1964 – Constantine II becomes King of Greece.
    • 1965 – Premier Tom Playford of South Australia loses power after 27 years in office.
    • 1967 – Cold War: Joseph Stalin’s daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva defects to the United States.
    • 1968 – Three rebels are executed by Rhodesia, the first executions since UDI, prompting international condemnation.
    • 1970 – An explosion at the Weather Underground safe house in Greenwich Village kills three.
    • 1975 – For the first time the Zapruder film of the assassination of John F. Kennedy is shown in motion to a national TV audience by Robert J. Groden and Dick Gregory.
    • 1975 – Algiers Accord: Iran and Iraq announce a settlement of their border dispute.
    • 1983 – The first United States Football League games are played.
    • 1984 – In the United Kingdom, a walkout at Cortonwood Colliery in Brampton Bierlow signals the start of a strike that lasted almost a year and involved the majority of the country’s miners.
    • 1987 – The British ferry MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes in about 90 seconds, killing 193.
    • 1988 – Three Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers are shot dead by the SAS in Gibraltar in Operation Flavius.
    • 1992 – The Michelangelo computer virus begins to affect computers.
    • 2003 – Air Algérie Flight 6289 crashes at the Aguenar – Hadj Bey Akhamok Airport in Tamanrasset, Algeria, killing 102 out of the 103 people on board.
    • 2008 – A suicide bomber kills 68 people (including first responders) in Baghdad on the same day that a gunman kills eight students in Jerusalem.

    Births on March 6

    • 1340 – John of Gaunt (d. 1399)
    • 1405 – John II of Castile (d. 1454)
    • 1459 – Jakob Fugger, German merchant and banker (d. 1525)
    • 1475 – Michelangelo, Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1564)
    • 1483 – Francesco Guicciardini, Italian historian and politician (d. 1540)
    • 1493 – Juan Luis Vives, Spanish scholar and humanist (d. 1540)
    • 1495 – Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet and diplomat (d. 1556)
    • 1536 – Santi di Tito, Italian painter (d. 1603)
    • 1619 – Cyrano de Bergerac, French author and playwright (d. 1655)
    • 1663 – Francis Atterbury, English bishop and poet (d. 1732)
    • 1706 – George Pocock, English admiral (d. 1792)
    • 1716 – Pehr Kalm, Swedish-Finnish botanist and explorer (d. 1779)
    • 1724 – Henry Laurens, English-American merchant and politician, 5th President of the Continental Congress (d. 1792)
    • 1761 – Antoine-François Andréossy, French general and diplomat (d. 1828)
    • 1779 – Antoine-Henri Jomini, Swiss-French general (d. 1869)
    • 1780 – Lucy Barnes, American writer (d. 1809)
    • 1785 – Karol Kurpiński, Polish composer and conductor (d. 1857)
    • 1787 – Joseph von Fraunhofer, German physicist and astronomer (d. 1826)
    • 1806 – Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English-Italian poet and translator (d. 1861)
    • 1812 – Aaron Lufkin Dennison, American businessman, co-founded the Waltham Watch Company (d. 1895)
    • 1817 – Princess Clémentine of Orléans (d. 1907)
    • 1818 – William Claflin, American businessman and politician, 27th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1905)
    • 1823 – Charles I of Württemberg (d. 1891)
    • 1831 – Philip Sheridan, Irish-American general (d. 1888)
    • 1834 – George du Maurier, French-English author and illustrator (d. 1896)
    • 1841 – Viktor Burenin, Russian author, poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1926)
    • 1849 – Georg Luger, Austrian gun designer, designed the Luger pistol (d. 1923)
    • 1864 – Richard Rushall, British businessman (d. 1953)
    • 1870 – Oscar Straus, Viennese composer and conductor (d. 1954)
    • 1871 – Afonso Costa, Portuguese lawyer and politician, 59th Prime Minister of Portugal (d. 1937)
    • 1872 – Ben Harney, American pianist and composer (d. 1938)
    • 1879 – Jimmy Hunter, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1962)
    • 1882 – F. Burrall Hoffman, American architect, co-designed Villa Vizcaya (d. 1980)
    • 1882 – Guy Kibbee, American actor and singer (d. 1956)
    • 1884 – Molla Mallory, Norwegian-American tennis player (d. 1959)
    • 1885 – Ring Lardner, American journalist and author (d. 1933)
    • 1886 – Jam Handy, American swimmer and water polo player (d. 1983)
    • 1886 – Nella Walker, American actress and vaudevillian (d. 1971)
    • 1892 – Bert Smith, English international footballer, right half (d. 1969)
    • 1893 – Furry Lewis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1981)
    • 1893 – Ella P. Stewart, pioneering Black American pharmacist (d. 1987)
    • 1895 – Albert Tessier, Canadian priest and historian (d. 1976)
    • 1898 – Gus Sonnenberg, American football player and wrestler (d. 1944)
    • 1900 – Gina Cigna, French-Italian soprano and actress (d. 2001)
    • 1900 – Lefty Grove, American baseball player (d. 1975)
    • 1900 – Henri Jeanson, French journalist and author (d. 1970)
    • 1903 – Empress Kōjun of Japan (d. 2000)
    • 1904 – José Antonio Aguirre, Spanish lawyer and politician, 1st President of the Basque Country (d. 1960)
    • 1905 – Bob Wills, American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader (d. 1975)
    • 1906 – Lou Costello, American actor and comedian (d. 1959)
    • 1909 – Obafemi Awolowo, Nigerian lawyer and politician (d. 1987)
    • 1909 – Stanisław Jerzy Lec, Polish poet and author (d. 1966)
    • 1910 – Ella Logan, Scottish-American singer and actress (d. 1969)
    • 1912 – Mohammed Burhanuddin, Indian spiritual leader, 52nd Da’i al-Mutlaq (d. 2014)
    • 1917 – Donald Davidson, American philosopher and academic (d. 2003)
    • 1917 – Will Eisner, American illustrator and publisher (d. 2005)
    • 1917 – Frankie Howerd, English comedian (d. 1992)
    • 1918 – Howard McGhee, American trumpeter (d. 1987)
    • 1920 – Lewis Gilbert, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2018)
    • 1921 – Leo Bretholz, Austrian-American holocaust survivor and author (d. 2014)
    • 1923 – Ed McMahon, American comedian, game show host, and announcer (d. 2009)
    • 1923 – Wes Montgomery, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 1968)
    • 1924 – Ottmar Walter, German footballer (d. 2013)
    • 1924 – William H. Webster, American lawyer and jurist, 14th Director of Central Intelligence
    • 1926 – Ann Curtis, American swimmer (d. 2012)
    • 1926 – Alan Greenspan, American economist and politician
    • 1926 – Ray O’Connor, Australian politician, 22nd Premier of Western Australia (d. 2013)
    • 1926 – Andrzej Wajda, Polish director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
    • 1927 – William J. Bell, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2005)
    • 1927 – Gordon Cooper, American engineer, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2004)
    • 1927 – Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2014)
    • 1929 – Tom Foley, American lawyer and politician, 57th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 2013)
    • 1929 – David Sheppard, English cricketer and bishop (d. 2005)
    • 1930 – Lorin Maazel, French-American violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 2014)
    • 1932 – Marc Bazin, Haitian lawyer and politician, 49th President of Haiti (d. 2010)
    • 1932 – Bronisław Geremek, Polish historian and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2008)
    • 1933 – Ted Abernathy, American baseball player (d. 2004)
    • 1933 – William Davis, German-English journalist and economist (d. 2019)
    • 1933 – Augusto Odone, Italian economist and inventor of Lorenzo’s oil (d. 2013)
    • 1934 – Red Simpson, American singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
    • 1935 – Ron Delany, Irish runner and coach
    • 1935 – Derek Kevan, English footballer (d. 2013)
    • 1936 – Bob Akin, American race car driver and journalist (d. 2002)
    • 1936 – Marion Barry, American lawyer and politician, 2nd Mayor of the District of Columbia (d. 2014)
    • 1936 – Choummaly Sayasone, Laotian politician, 5th President of Laos
    • 1937 – Ivan Boesky, American businessman
    • 1937 – Valentina Tereshkova, Russian general, pilot, and astronaut
    • 1938 – Keishu Tanaka, Japanese politician, 17th Japanese Minister of Justice
    • 1939 – Kit Bond, American lawyer and politician, 47th Governor of Missouri
    • 1939 – Adam Osborne, Thai-Indian engineer and businessman, founded the Osborne Computer Corporation (d. 2003)
    • 1940 – Ken Danby, Canadian painter (d. 2007)
    • 1940 – Joanna Miles, French-born American actress
    • 1940 – R. H. Sikes, American golfer
    • 1940 – Willie Stargell, American baseball player and coach (d. 2001)
    • 1940 – Jeff Wooller, English accountant and banker
    • 1941 – Peter Brötzmann, German saxophonist and clarinet player
    • 1941 – Marilyn Strathern, Welsh anthropologist and academic
    • 1942 – Ben Murphy, American actor
    • 1944 – Richard Corliss, American journalist and critic (d. 2015)
    • 1944 – Kiri Te Kanawa, New Zealand soprano and actress
    • 1944 – Mary Wilson, American singer
    • 1945 – Angelo Castro, Jr., Filipino actor and journalist (d. 2012)
    • 1946 – David Gilmour, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1946 – Richard Noble, Scottish race car driver and businessman
    • 1947 – Kiki Dee, English singer-songwriter
    • 1947 – Dick Fosbury, American high jumper
    • 1947 – Anna Maria Horsford, American actress
    • 1947 – Rob Reiner, American actor, director, producer, and activist
    • 1947 – Jean Seaton, English historian and academic
    • 1947 – John Stossel, American journalist and author
    • 1948 – Stephen Schwartz, American composer and producer
    • 1949 – Shaukat Aziz, Pakistani economist and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Pakistan
    • 1949 – Martin Buchan, Scottish footballer and manager
    • 1950 – Arthur Roche, English archbishop
    • 1951 – Gerrie Knetemann, Dutch cyclist (d. 2004)
    • 1952 – Denis Napthine, Australian politician, 47th Premier of Victoria
    • 1953 – Madhav Kumar Nepal, Nepali banker and politician, 34th Prime Minister of Nepal
    • 1953 – Carolyn Porco, American astronomer and academic
    • 1953 – Phil Alvin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1954 – Jeff Greenwald, American author, photographer, and monologist
    • 1954 – Harald Schumacher, German footballer and manager
    • 1955 – Cyprien Ntaryamira, Burundian politician, 5th President of Burundi (d. 1994)
    • 1955 – Alberta Watson, Canadian actress (d. 2015)
    • 1956 – Peter Roebuck, English cricketer, journalist, and sportcaster (d. 2011)
    • 1956 – Steve Vizard, Australian television host, actor, and producer
    • 1960 – Sleepy Floyd, American basketball player and coach
    • 1962 – Alison Nicholas, British golfer
    • 1963 – D. L. Hughley, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1964 – Linda Pearson, Scottish sport shooter
    • 1965 – Allan Bateman, Welsh rugby player
    • 1965 – Jim Knight, English politician
    • 1966 – Alan Davies, English comedian, actor and screenwriter
    • 1967 – Julio Bocca, Argentinian ballet dancer and director
    • 1967 – Connie Britton, American actress
    • 1967 – Glenn Greenwald, American journalist and author
    • 1967 – Shuler Hensley, American actor and singer
    • 1968 – Moira Kelly, American actress and director
    • 1971 – Darrick Martin, American basketball player and coach
    • 1972 – Shaquille O’Neal, American basketball player, actor, and rapper
    • 1972 – Jaret Reddick, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
    • 1973 – Michael Finley, American basketball player
    • 1973 – Peter Lindgren, Swedish guitarist and songwriter
    • 1973 – Greg Ostertag, American basketball player
    • 1973 – Trent Willmon, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1974 – Guy Garvey, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1974 – Matthew Guy, Australian politician
    • 1974 – Brad Schumacher, American swimmer
    • 1974 – Beanie Sigel, American rapper
    • 1975 – Aracely Arámbula, Mexican actress and singer
    • 1975 – Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Canadian pianist and conductor
    • 1976 – Ken Anderson, American wrestler and actor
    • 1977 – Nantie Hayward, South African cricketer
    • 1977 – Giorgos Karagounis, Greek international footballer, midfielder
    • 1977 – Shabani Nonda, DR Congolese footballer
    • 1977 – Marcus Thames, American baseball player and coach
    • 1978 – Sage Rosenfels, American football player
    • 1978 – Chad Wicks, American wrestler
    • 1979 – Clint Barmes, American baseball player
    • 1979 – Érik Bédard, Canadian baseball player
    • 1979 – David Flair, American wrestler
    • 1979 – Tim Howard, American soccer player
    • 1980 – Emílson Cribari, Brazilian footballer
    • 1981 – Ellen Muth, American actress
    • 1983 – Andranik Teymourian, Armenian-Iranian footballer
    • 1984 – Daniël de Ridder, Dutch footballer
    • 1984 – Eskil Pedersen, Norwegian politician
    • 1984 – Chris Tomson, American drummer
    • 1985 – Bakaye Traoré, French-Malian footballer
    • 1986 – Jake Arrieta, American baseball player
    • 1986 – Francisco Cervelli, Venezuelan-Italian baseball player
    • 1986 – Ross Detwiler, American baseball player
    • 1986 – Eli Marienthal, American actor
    • 1986 – Charlie Mulgrew, Scottish footballer
    • 1987 – Kevin-Prince Boateng, Ghanaian-German footballer
    • 1987 – José Manuel Flores, Spanish footballer
    • 1988 – Agnes Carlsson, Swedish singer
    • 1988 – Marina Erakovic, New Zealand tennis player
    • 1988 – Simon Mignolet, Belgian footballer
    • 1989 – Agnieszka Radwańska, Polish tennis player
    • 1990 – Derek Drouin, Canadian athlete
    • 1991 – Lex Luger, American keyboard player and producer
    • 1991 – Emma McDougall, English footballer (d. 2013)
    • 1991 – Tyler Gregory Okonma, American rapper
    • 1993 – Andrés Rentería, Colombian footballer
    • 1994 – Nathan Redmond, English footballer
    • 1994 – Marcus Smart, American basketball player
    • 1994 – Wesley Hoedt, Dutch footballer
    • 1995 – Georgi Kitanov, Bulgarian footballer
    • 1996 – Christian Coleman, American sprinter
    • 1996 – Tyrell Fuimaono, Australian rugby player
    • 1996 – Timo Werner, German footballer

    Deaths on March 6

    • 190 – Liu Bian (poisoned by Dong Zhuo) (b. 176)
    • 653 – Li Ke, prince of the Tang Dynasty (b. 619)
    • 766 – Chrodegang, Frankish bishop and saint
    • 903 – Lu Guangqi, Chinese official and chancellor
    • 903 – Su Jian, Chinese official and chancellor
    • 1070 – Ulric I, Margrave of Carniola
    • 1251 – Rose of Viterbo, Italian saint (b. 1235)
    • 1353 – Roger Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Ruthyn
    • 1466 – Alvise Loredan, Venetian admiral and statesman (b. 1393)
    • 1490 – Ivan the Young, Ruler of Tver (b. 1458)
    • 1491 – Richard Woodville, 3rd Earl Rivers
    • 1531 – Pedro Arias Dávila, Spanish explorer and diplomat (b. 1440)
    • 1616 – Francis Beaumont, English playwright (b. 1584)
    • 1754 – Henry Pelham, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1694)
    • 1758 – Henry Vane, 1st Earl of Darlington, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Durham (b. 1705)
    • 1764 – Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, English lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom (b. 1690)
    • 1796 – Guillaume Thomas François Raynal, French historian and author (b. 1713)
    • 1836 – Deaths at the Battle of the Alamo:
      • James Bonham, American lawyer and soldier (b. 1807)
      • James Bowie, American colonel (b. 1796)
      • Davy Crockett, American soldier and politician (b. 1786)
      • William B. Travis, American lieutenant colonel and lawyer (b. 1809)
    • 1854 – Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, Irish colonel and diplomat, Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (b. 1778)
    • 1866 – William Whewell, English priest, historian, and philosopher (b. 1794)
    • 1867 – Charles Farrar Browne, American-English author and educator (b. 1834)
    • 1888 – Louisa May Alcott, American novelist and poet (b. 1832)
    • 1895 – Camilla Collett, Norwegian novelist and activist (b. 1813)
    • 1899 – Kaʻiulani of Hawaii (b. 1875)
    • 1900 – Gottlieb Daimler, German engineer and businessman, co-founded Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (b. 1834)
    • 1905 – John Henninger Reagan, American surveyor, judge, and politician, 3rd Confederate States of America Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1818)
    • 1905 – Makar Yekmalyan, Armenian composer (b. 1856)
    • 1919 – Oskars Kalpaks, Latvian colonel (b. 1882)
    • 1920 – Ömer Seyfettin, Turkish author and educator (b. 1884)
    • 1932 – John Philip Sousa, American conductor and composer (b. 1854)
    • 1933 – Anton Cermak, Czech-American lawyer and politician, 44th Mayor of Chicago (b. 1873)
    • 1935 – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., American colonel, lawyer, and jurist (b. 1841)
    • 1939 – Ferdinand von Lindemann, German mathematician and academic (b. 1852)
    • 1941 – Francis Aveling, Canadian priest, psychologist, and author (b. 1875)
    • 1941 – Gutzon Borglum, American sculptor and academic, designed Mount Rushmore (b. 1867)
    • 1948 – Ross Lockridge, Jr., American author, poet, and academic (b. 1914)
    • 1948 – Alice Woodby McKane, First Black woman doctor in Savannah, Georgia (b. 1865)
    • 1950 – Albert François Lebrun, French engineer and politician, 15th President of France (b. 1871)
    • 1951 – Ivor Novello, Welsh singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1893)
    • 1951 – Volodymyr Vynnychenko, Ukrainian playwright and politician, Prime Minister of Ukraine (b. 1880)
    • 1952 – Jürgen Stroop, German general (b. 1895)
    • 1955 – Mammad Amin Rasulzade, Azerbaijani scholar and politician (b. 1884)
    • 1961 – George Formby, English singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1904)
    • 1964 – Paul of Greece (b. 1901)
    • 1965 – Margaret Dumont, American actress (b. 1889)
    • 1967 – John Haden Badley, English author and educator, founded the Bedales School (b. 1865)
    • 1967 – Nelson Eddy, American actor and singer (b. 1901)
    • 1967 – Zoltán Kodály, Hungarian composer, linguist, and philosopher (b. 1882)
    • 1970 – William Hopper, American actor (b. 1915)
    • 1973 – Pearl S. Buck, American novelist, essayist, short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)
    • 1974 – Ernest Becker, American anthropologist and author (b. 1924)
    • 1976 – Maxie Rosenbloom, American boxer (b. 1903)
    • 1977 – Alvin R. Dyer, American religious leader (b. 1903)
    • 1978 – Dennis Viollet, English-American soccer player and manager (b. 1933)
    • 1981 – George Geary, English cricketer and coach (b. 1893)
    • 1981 – Rambhau Mhalgi, Indian politician and member of the Lok Sabha (b. 9 July 1921)
    • 1982 – Ayn Rand, Russian-American philosopher, author, and playwright (b. 1905)
    • 1984 – Billy Collins, Jr., American boxer (b. 1961)
    • 1984 – Martin Niemöller, German pastor and theologian (b. 1892)
    • 1984 – Homer N. Wallin, American admiral (b. 1893)
    • 1984 – Henry Wilcoxon, Dominican-American actor and producer (b. 1905)
    • 1986 – Georgia O’Keeffe, American painter (b. 1887)
    • 1988 – Mairéad Farrell, Provisional IRA volunteer (b. 1957)
    • 1988 – Daniel McCann, Provisional IRA volunteer (b. 1957)
    • 1988 – Seán Savage, Provisional IRA volunteer (b. 1965)
    • 1994 – Melina Mercouri, Greek actress and politician, 9th Greek Minister of Culture (b. 1920)
    • 1997 – Cheddi Jagan, Guyanese politician, 4th President of Guyana (b. 1918)
    • 1997 – Michael Manley, Jamaican soldier, pilot, and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Jamaica (b. 1924)
    • 1997 – Ursula Torday, English author (b. 1912)
    • 1999 – Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Bahrain king (b. 1933)
    • 2000 – John Colicos, Canadian actor (b. 1928)
    • 2002 – Bryan Fogarty, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1969)
    • 2004 – Hercules, American wrestler (b. 1957)
    • 2004 – Frances Dee, American actress (b. 1909)
    • 2005 – Hans Bethe, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
    • 2005 – Danny Gardella, American baseball player and trainer (b. 1920)
    • 2005 – Tommy Vance, English radio host (b. 1943)
    • 2005 – Teresa Wright, American actress (b. 1918)
    • 2005 – Gladys Marín, Chilean activist and political figure. (b.1938)
    • 2006 – Anne Braden, American journalist and activist (b. 1924)
    • 2006 – Kirby Puckett, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1960)
    • 2007 – Jean Baudrillard, French photographer and theorist (b. 1929)
    • 2007 – Ernest Gallo, American businessman, co-founded E & J Gallo Winery (b. 1909)
    • 2008 – Peter Poreku Dery, Ghanaian cardinal (b. 1918)
    • 2009 – Francis Magalona, Filipino rapper, producer, and actor (b. 1964)
    • 2010 – Endurance Idahor, Nigerian footballer (b. 1984)
    • 2010 – Mark Linkous, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1962)
    • 2010 – Betty Millard, American philanthropist and activist (b. 1911)
    • 2012 – Francisco Xavier do Amaral, East Timorese politician, 1st President of East Timor (b. 1937)
    • 2012 – Donald M. Payne, American businessman and politician (b. 1934)
    • 2012 – Helen Walulik, American baseball player (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Chorão, Brazilian singer-songwriter (Charlie Brown Jr.) (b. 1970)
    • 2013 – Stompin’ Tom Connors, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1936)
    • 2013 – Alvin Lee, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1944)
    • 2013 – W. Wallace Cleland, American biochemist and academic (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Alemayehu Atomsa, Ethiopian educator and politician (b. 1969)
    • 2014 – Frank Jobe, American soldier and surgeon (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – Sheila MacRae, English-American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Martin Nesbitt, American lawyer and politician (b. 1946)
    • 2014 – Manlio Sgalambro, Italian philosopher, author, and poet (b. 1924)
    • 2015 – Fred Craddock, American minister and academic (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Ram Sundar Das, Indian lawyer and politician, 18th Chief Minister of Bihar (b. 1921)
    • 2015 – Enrique “Coco” Vicéns, Puerto Rican-American basketball player and politician (b. 1926)
    • 2016 – Nancy Reagan, American actress, 42nd First Lady of the United States (b. 1921)
    • 2016 – Sheila Varian, American horse trainer and breeder (b. 1937)
    • 2017 – Robert Osborne, American actor and historian (b. 1932)
    • 2018 – Peter Nicholls, Australian science fiction critic and encyclopedist (b. 1939)

    Holidays and observances on March 6

    • Christian feast day:
      • Chrodegang
      • Colette
      • Fridolin
      • Kyneburga, Kyneswide and Tibba
      • Marcian of Tortona
      • William W. Mayo and Charles Frederick Menninger (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Olegarius
      • March 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • European Day of the Righteous, commemorates those who have stood up against crimes against humanity and totalitarism with their own moral responsibility. (Europe)
    • Foundation Day (Norfolk Island), the founding of Norfolk Island in 1788.
    • Independence Day (Ghana), celebrates the independence of Ghana from the UK in 1957.
    • The Day of the Dude, celebrated by the adherents of Dudeism

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

    • 613 – Eight-month-old Constantine is crowned as co-emperor (Caesar) by his father Heraclius at Constantinople.
    • 871 – Battle of Basing: The West Saxons led by King Æthelred I are defeated by the Danelaw Vikings at Basing.
    • 1506 – The first contingent of 150 Swiss Guards arrives at the Vatican.
    • 1517 – The Ottoman Empire under Selim I defeats the Mamluk Sultanate and captures present-day Egypt at the Battle of Ridaniya.
    • 1555 – The Ava Kingdom falls to the Taungoo Dynasty in what is now Myanmar.
    • 1689 – The Convention Parliament convenes to determine whether James II and VII, the last Roman Catholic monarch of England, Ireland and Scotland, had vacated the thrones of England and Ireland when he fled to France in 1688.
    • 1808 – The Portuguese royal family arrives in Brazil after fleeing the French army’s invasion of Portugal two months earlier.
    • 1824 – The Ashantis defeat British forces in the Gold Coast.
    • 1849 – Second Anglo-Sikh War: The Siege of Multan ends after nine months when the last Sikh defenders of Multan, Punjab, surrender.
    • 1863 – The January Uprising breaks out in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. The aim of the national movement is to regain Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth from occupation by Russia.
    • 1879 – The Battle of Isandlwana during the Anglo-Zulu War results in a British defeat.
    • 1879 – The Battle of Rorke’s Drift, also during the Anglo-Zulu War and just some 15 km away from Isandlwana, results in a British victory.
    • 1889 – Columbia Phonograph is formed in Washington, D.C.
    • 1890 – The United Mine Workers of America is founded in Columbus, Ohio.
    • 1901 – Edward VII is proclaimed King after the death of his mother, Queen Victoria.
    • 1905 – Bloody Sunday in Saint Petersburg, beginning of the 1905 revolution.
    • 1906 – SS Valencia runs aground on rocks on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, killing more than 130.
    • 1915 – Over 600 people are killed in Guadalajara, Mexico, when a train plunges off the tracks into a deep canyon.
    • 1917 – World War I: President Woodrow Wilson of the still-neutral United States calls for “peace without victory” in Europe.
    • 1919 – Act Zluky is signed, unifying the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the West Ukrainian National Republic.
    • 1924 – Ramsay MacDonald becomes the first Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
    • 1927 – Teddy Wakelam gives the first live radio commentary of a football match, between Arsenal F.C. and Sheffield United at Highbury.
    • 1941 – World War II: British and Commonwealth troops capture Tobruk from Italian forces during Operation Compass.
    • 1943 – World War II: Australian and American forces defeat Japanese army and navy units in the bitterly fought Battle of Buna–Gona.
    • 1944 – World War II: The Allies commence Operation Shingle, an assault on Anzio and Nettuno, Italy.
    • 1946 – In Iran, Qazi Muhammad declares the independent people’s Republic of Mahabad at Chahar Cheragh Square in the Kurdish city of Mahabad; he becomes the new president and Haji Baba Sheikh becomes the prime minister.
    • 1946 – Creation of the Central Intelligence Group, forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency.
    • 1947 – KTLA, the first commercial television station west of the Mississippi River, begins operation in Hollywood.
    • 1957 – Israel withdraws from the Sinai Peninsula.
    • 1957 – The New York City “Mad Bomber”, George P. Metesky, is arrested in Waterbury, Connecticut and charged with planting more than 30 bombs.
    • 1963 – The Élysée Treaty of cooperation between France and Germany is signed by Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer.
    • 1968 – Apollo 5 lifts off carrying the first Lunar module into space.
    • 1968 – Operation Igloo White, a US electronic surveillance system to stop communist infiltration into South Vietnam begins installation.
    • 1970 – The Boeing 747, the world’s first “jumbo jet”, enters commercial service for launch customer Pan American Airways with its maiden voyage from John F. Kennedy International Airport to London Heathrow Airport.
    • 1971 – The Singapore Declaration, one of the two most important documents to the uncodified constitution of the Commonwealth of Nations, is issued.
    • 1973 – The Supreme Court of the United States delivers its decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, legalizing elective abortion in all fifty states.
    • 1973 – The crew of Apollo 17 addresses a joint session of Congress after the completion of the final Apollo moon landing mission.
    • 1973 – A chartered Boeing 707 explodes in flames upon landing at Kano Airport, Nigeria, killing 176.
    • 1973 – In a bout for the world heavyweight boxing championship in Kingston, Jamaica, challenger George Foreman knocks down champion Joe Frazier six times in the first two rounds before the fight is stopped by referee Arthur Mercante.
    • 1984 – The Apple Macintosh, the first consumer computer to popularize the computer mouse and the graphical user interface, is introduced during a Super Bowl XVIII television commercial.
    • 1987 – Philippine security forces open fire on a crowd of 10,000–15,000 demonstrators at Malacañang Palace, Manila, killing 13.
    • 1992 – Rebel forces occupy Zaire’s national radio station in Kinshasa and broadcast a demand for the government’s resignation.
    • 1992 – Space Shuttle program: the space shuttle Discovery launches on STS-42 carrying Dr. Roberta Bondar, who becomes the first Canadian woman and the first neurologist in space.
    • 1995 – Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Beit Lid massacre: In central Israel, near Netanya, two Gazans blow themselves up at a military transit point, killing 19 Israelis.
    • 1998 – Space Shuttle program: space shuttle Endeavor launches on STS-89 to dock with the Russian space station Mir.
    • 1999 – Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons are burned alive by radical Hindus while sleeping in their car in Eastern India.
    • 2002 – Kmart becomes the largest retailer in United States history to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
    • 2006 – Evo Morales is inaugurated as President of Bolivia, becoming the country’s first indigenous president.
    • 2007 – At least 88 people are killed when two car bombs explode in the Bab Al-Sharqi market in central Baghdad, Iraq.
    • 2015 – An explosion near a civilian trolley-bus in Donetsk kills at least thirteen people.

    Births on January 22

    • 826 – Emperor Montoku of Japan (d. 858)
    • 1263 – Ibn Taymiyyah, Syrian scholar and theologian (d. 1328)
    • 1440 – Ivan III of Russia (d. 1505)
    • 1522 – Charles II de Valois, Duke of Orléans, (d. 1545)
    • 1552 – Walter Raleigh, English poet, soldier, courtier, and explorer (d. 1618)
    • 1561 – Francis Bacon, English philosopher and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (d. 1626)
    • 1570 – Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet, of Connington, English historian and politician, founded the Cotton library (d. 1631)
    • 1573 – John Donne, English poet and cleric in the Church of England, wrote the Holy Sonnets (d. 1631)
    • 1592 – Pierre Gassendi, French mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher (d. 1655)
    • 1645 – William Kidd, Scottish sailor and pirate hunter (probable; d. 1701)
    • 1654 – Richard Blackmore, English physician and poet (d. 1729)
    • 1690 – Nicolas Lancret, French painter (d. 1743)
    • 1729 – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German philosopher and author (d. 1781)
    • 1733 – Philip Carteret, English admiral and explorer (d. 1796)
    • 1740 – Noah Phelps, American soldier, lawyer, and judge (d. 1809)
    • 1781 – François Habeneck, French violinist and conductor (d. 1849)
    • 1788 – Lord Byron, English poet and playwright (d. 1824)
    • 1792 – Lady Lucy Whitmore, English noblewoman, hymn writer (d. 1840)
    • 1796 – Karl Ernst Claus, Estonian-Russian chemist, botanist, and academic (d. 1864)
    • 1797 – Maria Leopoldina of Austria (d. 1826)
    • 1799 – Ludger Duvernay, Canadian journalist, publisher, and politician (d. 1852)
    • 1802 – Richard Upjohn, English-American architect (d. 1878)
    • 1828 – Dayrolles Eveleigh-de-Moleyns, 4th Baron Ventry, Irish hereditary peer (d. 1914)
    • 1831 – Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (d. 1917)
    • 1840 – Ernest Wilberforce, English bishop (d. 1907)
    • 1849 – August Strindberg, Swedish novelist, poet, and playwright (d. 1912)
    • 1858 – Beatrice Webb, English sociologist and economist (d. 1943)
    • 1861 – George Fuller, Australian politician, 22nd Premier of New South Wales (d. 1940)
    • 1865 – Wilbur Scoville, American chemist and pharmacist (d. 1942)
    • 1867 – Gisela Januszewska, Jewish-Austrian physician (d. 1943)
    • 1869 – José Vicente de Freitas, Portuguese colonel and politician, 97th Prime Minister of Portugal (d. 1952)
    • 1874 – Edward Harkness, American philanthropist (d. 1940)
    • 1874 – Jay Hughes, American baseball player and coach (d. 1924)
    • 1875 – D. W. Griffith, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1948)
    • 1877 – Tom Jones, American baseball player and manager (d. 1923)
    • 1879 – Francis Picabia, French painter and poet (d. 1953)
    • 1880 – Bill O’Neill, Canadian-American baseball player (d. 1920)
    • 1880 – Frigyes Riesz, Hungarian mathematician and academic (d. 1956)
    • 1881 – Ira Thomas, American baseball player and manager (d. 1958)
    • 1886 – John J. Becker, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1961)
    • 1887 – Helen Hoyt, American poet and author (d. 1972)
    • 1889 – Henri Pélissier, French cyclist (d. 1935)
    • 1889 – Amos Strunk, American baseball player and manager (d. 1979)
    • 1890 – Fred M. Vinson, American judge and politician, 13th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1953)
    • 1891 – Antonio Gramsci, Italian philosopher and politician (d. 1937)
    • 1892 – Marcel Dassault, French businessman, founded Dassault Aviation (d. 1986)
    • 1893 – Conrad Veidt, German-American actor, director, and producer (d. 1943)
    • 1897 – Rosa Ponselle, American operatic soprano (d. 1981)
    • 1897 – Dilipkumar Roy, a Bengali Indian musician, musicologist, novelist, poet and essayist. (d. 1980)
    • 1898 – Ross Barnett, American lawyer and politician, 52nd Governor of Mississippi (d. 1987)
    • 1898 – Sergei Eisenstein, Russian director and screenwriter (d. 1948)
    • 1898 – Denise Legeay, French actress (d. 1968)
    • 1899 – Martti Haavio, Finnish poet and mythologist (d. 1973)
    • 1900 – Ernst Busch, German actor and singer (d. 1980)
    • 1902 – Daniel Kinsey, American hurdler, coach, and academic (d. 1970)
    • 1903 – Fritz Houtermans, Polish-German physicist and academic (d. 1966)
    • 1904 – George Balanchine, Georgian-American dancer, choreographer, and director, co-founded the New York City Ballet (d. 1983)
    • 1904 – Arkady Gaidar, Russian journalist and author (d. 1941)
    • 1905 – Willy Hartner, German physicist, historian, and academic (d. 1981)
    • 1906 – Robert E. Howard, American author and poet (d. 1936)
    • 1907 – Douglas Corrigan, American pilot and engineer (d. 1995)
    • 1907 – Dixie Dean, English footballer (d. 1980)
    • 1908 – Lev Landau, Azerbaijani-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
    • 1908 – Prince Oana, American baseball player and manager (d. 1976)
    • 1909 – Martha Norelius, Swedish-born American swimmer (d. 1955)
    • 1909 – Porfirio Rubirosa, Dominican racing driver, polo player, and diplomat (d. 1965)
    • 1909 – Ann Sothern, American actress and singer (d. 2001)
    • 1909 – U Thant, Burmese educator and diplomat, 3rd United Nations Secretary-General (d. 1974)
    • 1911 – Bruno Kreisky, Austrian lawyer and politician, 22nd Chancellor of Austria (d. 1990)
    • 1913 – Henry Bauchau, Belgian psychoanalyst and author (d. 2012)
    • 1913 – William Conway, Irish cardinal (d. 1977)
    • 1913 – Carl F. H. Henry, American theologian and publisher (d. 2003)
    • 1914 – Dimitris Dragatakis, Greek violinist and composer (d. 2001)
    • 1915 – Heinrich Albertz, German theologian and politician, Mayor of Berlin (d. 1993)
    • 1916 – Bill Durnan, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1972)
    • 1916 – Henri Dutilleux, French pianist, composer, and educator (d. 2013)
    • 1916 – Harilal Upadhyay, Indian author, poet, and astrologist (d. 1994)
    • 1918 – Elmer Lach, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1919 – Diomedes Olivo, Dominican baseball player and scout (d. 1977)
    • 1920 – Irving Kristol, American journalist, author, and academic, founded The National Interest (d. 2009)
    • 1920 – Alf Ramsey, English footballer and coach (d. 1999)
    • 1922 – Howard Moss, American poet, playwright and critic (d. 1987)
    • 1923 – Diana Douglas, British-American actress (d. 2015)
    • 1924 – J. J. Johnson, American trombonist and composer (d. 2001)
    • 1924 – Ján Chryzostom Korec, Slovak cardinal (d. 2015)
    • 1924 – Charles Lisanby, American production designer and art director (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Johnny Bucha, American baseball player (d. 1996)
    • 1925 – Bobby Young, American baseball player (d. 1985)
    • 1927 – Lou Creekmur, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2009)
    • 1927 – Joe Perry, American footballer (d. 2011)
    • 1928 – Yoshihiko Amino, Japanese historian, author, and academic (d. 2004)
    • 1929 – Petr Eben, Czech composer, organist and choirmaster (d. 2007)
    • 1930 – Mariví Bilbao, Spanish actress (d. 2013)
    • 1930 – Éamon de Buitléar, Irish accordion player and director (d. 2013)
    • 1931 – Sam Cooke, American singer-songwriter (d. 1964)
    • 1931 – Galina Zybina, Russian shot putter and javelin thrower
    • 1932 – Berthold Grünfeld, Norwegian psychiatrist and academic (d. 2007)
    • 1932 – Piper Laurie, American actress
    • 1932 – Tom Fisher Railsback, American politician, member of the Illinois and U.S. House of Representatives
    • 1933 – Yuri Chesnokov, Russian volleyball player and coach (d. 2010)
    • 1934 – Vijay Anand, Indian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
    • 1934 – Bill Bixby, American actor and director (d. 1993)
    • 1934 – Graham Kerr, English chef and author
    • 1935 – Alexander Men, Russian priest and scholar (d. 1990)
    • 1936 – Ong Teng Cheong, Singaporean architect and politician, 5th President of Singapore (d. 2002)
    • 1936 – Alan J. Heeger, American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1937 – Edén Pastora, Nicaraguan politician
    • 1937 – Joseph Wambaugh, American police officer and author
    • 1938 – Peter Beard, Australian photographer and author (d. 2020)
    • 1938 – Joe Esposito, American author (d. 2016)
    • 1938 – Altair Gomes de Figueiredo, Brazilian footballer
    • 1939 – Jørgen Garde, Danish admiral (d. 1996)
    • 1939 – Alfredo Palacio, Ecuadoran physician and politician, President of Ecuador
    • 1939 – Luigi Simoni, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1939 – J. C. Tremblay, Canadian ice hockey player and scout (d. 1994)
    • 1940 – John Hurt, English actor (d. 2017)
    • 1940 – George Seifert, American football player and coach
    • 1940 – Gillian Shephard, English educator and politician, Secretary of State for Education
    • 1941 – Jaan Kaplinski, Estonian poet, philosopher, and critic
    • 1942 – Mimis Domazos, Greek footballer
    • 1943 – Michael Spicer, English journalist and politician (d. 2019)
    • 1944 – Khosrow Golsorkhi, Iranian journalist, poet, and activist (d. 1974)
    • 1944 – Uto Ughi, Italian violinist and conductor
    • 1945 – Jophery Brown, American baseball player, actor, and stuntman (d. 2014)
    • 1945 – Jean-Pierre Nicolas, French racing driver and manager
    • 1945 – Christoph Schönborn, Austrian cardinal
    • 1945 – Alojz Uran, Slovenian archbishop
    • 1946 – Malcolm McLaren, English singer-songwriter and manager (d. 2010)
    • 1946 – Serge Savard, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
    • 1947 – Vladimir Oravsky, Czech-Swedish author and director
    • 1948 – Gilbert Levine, American conductor and academic
    • 1949 – Mike Caldwell, American baseball player and coach
    • 1949 – J.P. Pennington, American country-rock singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1949 – Steve Perry, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1950 – Paul Bew, Northern Irish historian and academic
    • 1950 – Frank Schade, American basketball player and coach
    • 1951 – Ondrej Nepela, Slovak figure skater and coach (d. 1989)
    • 1951 – Leon Roberts, American baseball player and manager
    • 1952 – Ramón Avilés, Puerto Rican-American baseball player
    • 1953 – Winfried Berkemeier, German footballer and manager
    • 1953 – Myung-whun Chung, South Korean pianist and conductor
    • 1953 – Jim Jarmusch, American director and screenwriter
    • 1955 – Thomas David Jones, American captain, pilot, and astronaut
    • 1955 – Timothy R. Ferguson, American politician
    • 1956 – Steve Riley, American drummer
    • 1957 – Mike Bossy, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
    • 1957 – Brian Dayett, American baseball player and manager
    • 1957 – Godfrey Thoma, Nauruan politician
    • 1957 – Francis Wheen, English journalist and author
    • 1958 – Nikos Anastopoulos, Greek footballer and manager
    • 1958 – Filiz Koçali, Turkish journalist and politician
    • 1959 – Linda Blair, American actress
    • 1960 – Michael Hutchence, Australian singer-songwriter (d. 1997)
    • 1961 – Quintin Dailey, American basketball player (d. 2010)
    • 1961 – Daniel Johnston, American musician
    • 1962 – Jimmy Herring, American guitarist
    • 1962 – Huw Irranca-Davies, Welsh lawyer and politician
    • 1962 – Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu, Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia
    • 1964 – Nigel Benn, English-Australian boxer
    • 1964 – Stojko Vranković, Croatian basketball player
    • 1965 – Steven Adler, American rock drummer
    • 1965 – DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ and producer
    • 1965 – Diane Lane, American actress
    • 1965 – Andrew Roachford, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
    • 1966 – Craig Salvatori, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1967 – Nick Gillingham, English swimmer
    • 1968 – Guy Fieri, American chef, author, and television host
    • 1968 – Heath, Japanese singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1968 – Frank Leboeuf, French footballer, sportscaster, and actor
    • 1968 – Mauricio Serna, Colombian footballer
    • 1969 – Olivia d’Abo, English-American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1969 – Keith Gordon, American baseball player and coach
    • 1970 – Jason Lowrie, New Zealand rugby league player and coach
    • 1970 – Abraham Olano, Spanish cyclist
    • 1971 – Stan Collymore, English footballer and sportscaster
    • 1972 – Terry Hill, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1973 – Rogério Ceni, Brazilian footballer
    • 1974 – Cameron McConville, Australian racing driver and sportscaster
    • 1974 – Joseph Muscat, Maltese journalist and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Malta
    • 1976 – Jimmy Anderson, American baseball player and coach
    • 1976 – James Dearth, American football player
    • 1977 – Mario Domm, Mexican singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
    • 1977 – Anna Linkova, Russian tennis player
    • 1977 – Hidetoshi Nakata, Japanese footballer
    • 1977 – Luciano Andrade Rissutt, Brazilian footballer
    • 1978 – Chone Figgins, American baseball player
    • 1979 – Aidan Burley, New Zealand-English politician
    • 1979 – Carlos Ruiz, Panamanian baseball player
    • 1979 – Chor Boogie, American artist
    • 1980 – Jonathan Woodgate, English footballer
    • 1981 – Willa Ford, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1981 – Beverley Mitchell, American actress
    • 1981 – Ben Moody, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor
    • 1981 – Ibrahima Sonko, French footballer
    • 1981 – Guy Wilks, English racing driver
    • 1982 – Fabricio Coloccini, Argentinian footballer
    • 1983 – Shaun Cody, American football player
    • 1984 – Ben Eager, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1984 – Ubaldo Jiménez, Dominican baseball player
    • 1984 – Leon Powe, American basketball player
    • 1984 – Maceo Rigters, Dutch footballer
    • 1985 – Fotios Papoulis, Greek footballer
    • 1985 – Yan Xu, Singaporean table tennis player
    • 1986 – Maher Magri, Tunisian footballer
    • 1986 – Matt Simon, Australian footballer
    • 1987 – Astrid Jacobsen, Norwegian skier
    • 1987 – Shane Long, Irish footballer
    • 1988 – Asher Allen, American football player
    • 1988 – Greg Oden, American basketball player
    • 1988 – Marcel Schmelzer, German footballer
    • 1989 – Theo Robinson, English-Jamaican footballer
    • 1990 – Alizé Cornet, French tennis player
    • 1990 – Dean Whare, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1990 – Logic, American rapper
    • 1990 – Phil Wang, British-Malaysian comedian
    • 1991 – Stefan Kolb, German footballer
    • 1996 – Joshua Ho-Sang, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1998 – Silento, American rapper, singer and songwriter

    Deaths on January 22

    • 239 – Cao Rui, Chinese emperor (b. 205)
    • 628 – Anastasius of Persia, monk
    • 906 – He, empress of the Tang Dynasty
    • 935 – Ma, empress of Southern Han
    • 1051 – Ælfric Puttoc, archbishop of York
    • 1170 – Wang Chongyang, Chinese Daoist and co-founder of the Quanzhen School (b. 1113)
    • 1188 – Ferdinand II of León (b. 1137)
    • 1341 – Louis I, Duke of Bourbon (b. 1279)
    • 1517 – Hadım Sinan Pasha, Ottoman politician, 32nd Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. ?)
    • 1536 – Bernhard Knipperdolling, German religious leader (b. 1495)
    • 1536 – John of Leiden, Anabaptist leader from the Dutch city of Leiden (b. 1509)
    • 1552 – Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, English general and politician, Lord High Treasurer of England (b. 1500)
    • 1560 – Wang Zhi, Chinese pirate
    • 1575 – James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault (b. 1516)
    • 1599 – Cristofano Malvezzi, Italian organist and composer (b. 1547)
    • 1666 – Shah Jahan, Mughal emperor (b. 1592)
    • 1750 – Franz Xaver Josef von Unertl, Bavarian politician (b. 1675)
    • 1763 – John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1690)
    • 1767 – Johann Gottlob Lehmann, German meteorologist and geologist (b. 1719)
    • 1779 – Jeremiah Dixon, English surveyor and astronomer (b. 1733)
    • 1779 – Claudius Smith, American guerrilla leader (b. 1736)
    • 1798 – Lewis Morris, American judge and politician (b. 1726)
    • 1840 – Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, German physician, physiologist, and anthropologist (b. 1752)
    • 1850 – Vincent Pallotti, Italian missionary and saint (b. 1795)
    • 1879 – Anthony Durnford, Irish colonel (b. 1830)
    • 1879 – Henry Pulleine, English colonel (b. 1838)
    • 1892 – Joseph P. Bradley, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1813)
    • 1900 – David Edward Hughes, Welsh-American physicist, co-invented the microphone (b. 1831)
    • 1901 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (b. 1819)
    • 1901 – Emil Erlenmeyer, German chemist and academic (b. 1825)
    • 1921 – George Streeter, American captain and businessman (b. 1837)
    • 1922 – Fredrik Bajer, Danish educator and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1837)
    • 1922 – Pope Benedict XV (b. 1854)
    • 1922 – Camille Jordan, French mathematician and academic (b. 1838)
    • 1925 – Fanny Bullock Workman, American geographer and mountain climber (b. 1859)
    • 1927 – James Ford Rhodes, American historian and author (b. 1848)
    • 1929 – R. C. Lehmann, English journalist, author, and politician (b. 1856)
    • 1930 – Stephen Mather, American businessman and conservationist, co-founded the Thorkildsen-Mather Borax Company (b. 1867)
    • 1931 – László Batthyány-Strattmann, Hungarian physician and ophthalmologist (b. 1870)
    • 1945 – Else Lasker-Schüler, German poet and playwright (b. 1869)
    • 1949 – William Thomas Walsh, American author, poet, and playwright (b. 1891)
    • 1950 – Alan Hale, Sr., American actor and director (b. 1892)
    • 1951 – Lawson Robertson, Scottish-American sprinter and high jumper (b. 1883)
    • 1955 – Jonni Myyrä, Finnish-American athlete (b. 1892)
    • 1957 – Ralph Barton Perry, American philosopher and academic (b. 1876)
    • 1959 – Mike Hawthorn, English race car driver (b. 1929)
    • 1964 – Marc Blitzstein, American pianist and composer (b. 1905)
    • 1966 – Herbert Marshall, English actor (b. 1890)
    • 1968 – Duke Kahanamoku, American swimmer and water polo player (b. 1890)
    • 1971 – Harry Frank Guggenheim, American businessman and publisher, co-founded Newsday (b. 1890)
    • 1973 – Lyndon B. Johnson, American lieutenant and politician, 36th President of the United States (b. 1908)
    • 1975 – Andrew George Burry, Swiss-American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1873)
    • 1977 – Ibrahim bin Abdullah Al Suwaiyel, Saudi Arabian diplomat (b. 1916)
    • 1978 – Oliver Leese, English general (b. 1894)
    • 1978 – Herbert Sutcliffe, English cricketer and soldier (b. 1894)
    • 1979 – Ali Hassan Salameh, Palestinian rebel leader (b. 1940)
    • 1980 – Yitzhak Baer, German-Israeli historian and academic (b. 1888)
    • 1981 – Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi, Pakistani historian and academic (b. 1903)
    • 1982 – Eduardo Frei Montalva, Chilean lawyer and politician, 28th President of Chile (b. 1911)
    • 1985 – Arthur Bryant, English historian and journalist (b. 1899)
    • 1987 – R. Budd Dwyer, American educator and politician, 30th Treasurer of Pennsylvania (b. 1939)
    • 1989 – S. Vithiananthan, Sri Lankan author and academic (b. 1924)
    • 1991 – Robert Choquette, Canadian author, poet and diplomat (b. 1905)
    • 1993 – Kōbō Abe, Japanese playwright and photographer (b. 1924)
    • 1994 – Jean-Louis Barrault, French actor and director (b. 1910)
    • 1994 – Telly Savalas, American actor (b. 1924)
    • 1996 – Israel Eldad, Polish-Israeli philosopher and author (b. 1910)
    • 1997 – Billy Mackenzie, Scottish singer-songwriter (b. 1957)
    • 1999 – Graham Staines, Australian-Indian missionary and translator (b. 1941)
    • 2000 – Craig Claiborne, American journalist, author, and critic (b. 1920)
    • 2000 – Anne Hébert, Canadian author and poet (b. 1916)
    • 2001 – Tommie Agee, American baseball player (b. 1942)
    • 2001 – Roy Brown, American clown and puppeteer (b. 1932)
    • 2003 – Bill Mauldin, American soldier and cartoonist (b. 1921)
    • 2004 – Billy May, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1916)
    • 2004 – Tom Mead, Australian journalist and politician (b. 1918)
    • 2004 – Ann Miller, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1923)
    • 2005 – César Gutiérrez, Venezuelan baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1943)
    • 2005 – Carlo Orelli, Italian soldier (b. 1894)
    • 2005 – Consuelo Velázquez, Mexican pianist and songwriter (b. 1924)
    • 2006 – Aydın Güven Gürkan, Turkish academic and politician, Turkish Minister of Labor and Social Security (b. 1941)
    • 2007 – Ngô Quang Trưởng, Vietnamese general (b. 1929)
    • 2007 – Abbé Pierre, French priest and activist (b. 1912)
    • 2007 – Liz Renay, American actress, author and performer (b. 1926)
    • 2008 – Heath Ledger, Australian actor and director (b. 1979)
    • 2008 – Miles Lerman, Polish Holocaust survivor and activist (b. 1920)
    • 2009 – Billy Werber, American baseball player (b. 1908)
    • 2010 – Louis R. Harlan, American historian and author (b. 1922)
    • 2010 – Jean Simmons, English-American actress (b. 1929)
    • 2012 – Simon Marsden, English photographer and author (b. 1948)
    • 2012 – Joe Paterno, American football player and coach (b. 1926)
    • 2012 – Clarence Tillenius, Canadian painter and environmentalist (b. 1913)
    • 2012 – Dick Tufeld, American actor, announcer, narrator and voice actor (b. 1926)
    • 2013 – Robert Bonnaud, French historian and academic (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Hinton Mitchem, American businessman and politician (b. 1938)
    • 2014 – Maziar Partow, Iranian cinematographer (b. 1933)
    • 2015 – Fabrizio de Miranda, Italian engineer and academic, co-designed the Rande Bridge (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – Wendell H. Ford, American lieutenant and politician, 53rd Governor of Kentucky (b. 1924)
    • 2015 – Margaret Bloy Graham, Canadian author and illustrator (b. 1920)
    • 2016 – Homayoun Behzadi, Iranian footballer and coach (b. 1942)
    • 2016 – Cecil Parkinson, English politician (b. 1931)
    • 2016 – Lois Ramsey, Australian actress (b. 1922)
    • 2016 – Kamer Genç, Turkish politician (b. 1940)
    • 2017 – Masaya Nakamura, Japanese businessman (b. 1925)
    • 2017 – Yordano Ventura, Dominican baseball player (b. 1991)
    • 2018 – Ursula K. Le Guin, American sci-fi and fantasy novelist (b. 1929)

    Holidays and observances on January 22

    • Christian feast day:
      • Anastasius of Persia
      • Gaudentius of Novara
      • László Batthyány-Strattmann
      • Laura Vicuna
      • Vincent Pallotti
      • Vincent of Saragossa
      • Vincent, Orontius, and Victor
      • Blessed William Joseph Chaminade
      • January 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Day of Unity of Ukraine (Ukraine)
    • Grandfather’s Day (Poland)

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

    January 8 in History

    • 307 – Jin Huaidi becomes emperor of China in succession to his father, Jin Huidi, despite a challenge from his uncle, Sima Ying
    • 871 – Alfred the Great leads a West Saxon army to repel an invasion by Danelaw Vikings.
    • 1297 – François Grimaldi, disguised as a monk, leads his men to capture the fortress protecting the Rock of Monaco, establishing his family as the rulers of Monaco
    • 1454 – The papal bull Romanus Pontifex awards the Kingdom of Portugal exclusive trade and colonization rights to all of Africa south of Cape Bojador
    • 1499 – Louis XII of France marries Anne of Brittany in accordance with a law set by his predecessor, Charles VIII.
    • 1547 – The first Lithuanian-language book, the Catechism of Martynas Mažvydas, is published in Königsberg.
    • 1735 – The premiere of George Frideric Handel’s Ariodante takes place at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
    • 1746 – Second Jacobite rising: Bonnie Prince Charlie occupies Stirling.
    • 1790 – George Washington delivers the first State of the Union address in New York City.
    • 1806 – Cape Colony in southern Africa becomes a British colony as a result of the Battle of Blaauwberg.
    • 1811 – An unsuccessful slave revolt is led by Charles Deslondes in the north American settlements of St. Charles and St. James, Louisiana.
    • 1815 – War of 1812: Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson leads American forces in victory over the British.
    • 1828 – The Democratic Party of the United States is organized.
    • 1835 – The United States national debt is zero for the only time.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Springfield.
    • 1867 – African American men are granted the right to vote in Washington, D.C.
    • 1877 – Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle against the United States Cavalry at Wolf Mountain, Montana Territory.
    • 1889 – Herman Hollerith is issued US patent #395,791 for the ‘Art of Applying Statistics’ — his punched card calculator.
    • 1904 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system.
    • 1912 – The African National Congress is founded, under the name South African Native National Congress (SANNC).
    • 1918 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson announces his “Fourteen Points” for the aftermath of World War I.
    • 1920 – The steel strike of 1919 ends in failure for the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers labor union.
    • 1926 – Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuỵ ascends the throne to become the last monarch of Vietnam.
    • 1926 – Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz.
    • 1936 – Kashf-e hijab decree is made and immediately enforced by Reza Shah, Iran’s head of state, banning the wearing of Islamic veils in public.
    • 1940 – World War II: Britain introduces food rationing.
    • 1945 – World War II: Philippine Commonwealth troops under the Philippine Commonwealth Army units enter the province of Ilocos Sur in Northern Luzon and attack Japanese Imperial forces.
    • 1956 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. missionaries are killed by the Huaorani of Ecuador shortly after making contact with them.
    • 1959 – Charles de Gaulle is proclaimed as the first President of the French Fifth Republic.
    • 1961 – In France a referendum supports Charles de Gaulle’s policies in Algeria.
    • 1963 – Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is exhibited in the United States for the first time, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
    • 1964 – President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a “War on Poverty” in the United States.
    • 1972 – Bowing to international pressure, President of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto releases Bengali leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from prison, who had been arrested after declaring the independence of Bangladesh.
    • 1973 – Soviet space mission Luna 21 is launched.
    • 1973 – Watergate scandal: The trial of seven men accused of illegal entry into Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate begins.
    • 1975 – Ella T. Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, the first woman to serve as a Governor in the United States other than by succeeding her husband.
    • 1977 – Three bombs explode in Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
    • 1981 – A local farmer reports a UFO sighting in Trans-en-Provence, France, claimed to be “perhaps the most completely and carefully documented sighting of all time”.
    • 1982 – Breakup of the Bell System: AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions.
    • 1989 – Kegworth air disaster: British Midland Flight 92, a Boeing 737-400, crashes into the M1 motorway, killing 47 of the 126 people on board.
    • 1994 – Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov on Soyuz TM-18 leaves for Mir. He would stay on the space station until March 22, 1995, for a record 437 days in space.
    • 1996 – An Antonov An-32 cargo aircraft crashes into a crowded market in Kinshasa, Zaire, killing up to 223 on the ground; two of six crew members are also killed.
    • 2002 – President George W. Bush signs into law the No Child Left Behind Act.
    • 2003 – Turkish Airlines Flight 634 crashes near Diyarbakır Airport, Turkey, killing the entire crew and 70 of the 75 passengers.
    • 2003 – Air Midwest Flight 5481 crashes at Charlotte-Douglas Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina, killing all 21 people on board.
    • 2004 – The RMS Queen Mary 2, then the largest ocean liner ever built, is christened by her namesake’s granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
    • 2005 – The nuclear sub USS San Francisco collides at full speed with an undersea mountain south of Guam. One man is killed, but the sub surfaces and is repaired.
    • 2009 – A 6.1-magnitude earthquake in northern Costa Rica kills 15 people and injures 32.
    • 2010 – Gunmen from an offshoot the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda attack a bus carrying the Togo national football team on its way to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, killing three.
    • 2011 – The attempted assassination of Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords and subsequent shooting in Casas Adobes, Arizona, in which five people were shot dead.
    • 2016 – Joaquín Guzmán, widely regarded as the world’s most powerful drug trafficker, is recaptured following his escape from a maximum security prison in Mexico.
    • 2020 – Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 crashes immediately after takeoff at Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport; all 176 on board are killed. The plane was shot down by an Iranian anti-aircraft missile.

    Births on January 8

    • 1037 – Su Dongpo, Chinese calligrapher and poet (d. 1101)
    • 1345 – Kadi Burhan al-Din, poet, kadi, and ruler of Sivas (d. 1398)
    • 1462 – Walraven II van Brederode, Dutch nobleman (d. 1531)
    • 1529 – John Frederick II, duke of Saxony (d. 1595)
    • 1556 – Uesugi Kagekatsu, Japanese daimyō (d. 1623)
    • 1583 – Simon Episcopius, Dutch theologian and academic (d. 1643)
    • 1587 – Johannes Fabricius, German astronomer and academic (d. 1616)
    • 1587 – Jan Pieterszoon Coen, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1629
    • 1589 – Ivan Gundulić, Croatian poet and playwright (d. 1638)
    • 1601 – Baltasar Gracián, Spanish priest and author (d. 1658)
    • 1628 – François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg, French general (d. 1695)
    • 1632 – Samuel von Pufendorf, German economist and jurist (d. 1694)
    • 1635 – Luis Manuel Fernández de Portocarrero, Spanish cardinal (d. 1709)
    • 1638 – Elisabetta Sirani, Italian painter (d. 1665)
    • 1735 – John Carroll, American archbishop, founder of Georgetown University (d. 1815)
    • 1763 – Edmond-Charles Genêt, French-American translator and diplomat (d. 1834)
    • 1786 – Nicholas Biddle, American banker and financier (d. 1844)
    • 1788 – Rudolf of Austria, Austrian archduke and archbishop (d. 1831)
    • 1792 – Lowell Mason, American composer and educator (d. 1872)
    • 1805 – John Bigler, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, 3rd Governor of California (d. 1871)
    • 1805 – Orson Hyde, American religious leader, 3rd President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (d. 1878)
    • 1812 – Sigismond Thalberg, Swiss pianist and composer (d. 1871)
    • 1817 – Theophilus Shepstone, English-South African politician (d. 1893)
    • 1821 – James Longstreet, American general and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Turkey (d. 1904)
    • 1823 – Alfred Russel Wallace, Welsh geographer, biologist, and explorer (d. 1913)
    • 1824 – Wilkie Collins, English novelist, playwright, and short story writer (d. 1889)
    • 1824 – Francisco González Bocanegra, Mexican poet and composer (d. 1861)
    • 1830 – Hans von Bülow, German pianist and composer (d. 1894)
    • 1836 – Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Dutch-English painter and academic (d. 1912)
    • 1843 – Frederick Abberline, English police officer (d. 1929)
    • 1843 – Karl Eduard Heusner, German admiral (d. 1891)
    • 1852 – James Milton Carroll, American pastor and author (d. 1931)
    • 1854 – Fanny Bullock Workman, American mountaineer, geographer, and cartographer (d. 1925)
    • 1860 – Emma Booth, English author (d. 1903)
    • 1862 – Frank Nelson Doubleday, American publisher, founded the Doubleday Publishing Company (d. 1934)
    • 1864 – Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (d. 1892)
    • 1865 – Winnaretta Singer, American philanthropist (d. 1943)
    • 1866 – William G. Conley, American educator and politician, 18th Governor of West Virginia (d. 1940)
    • 1867 – Emily Greene Balch, American economist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1961)
    • 1870 – Miguel Primo de Rivera, Spanish general and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1930)
    • 1871 – James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, Irish captain and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (d. 1940)
    • 1873 – Iuliu Maniu, Romanian lawyer and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1953)
    • 1876 – Arturs Alberings, Latvian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Latvia (d. 1934)
    • 1879 – Charles Bryant, English-American actor and director (d. 1948)
    • 1881 – Henrik Shipstead, American dentist and politician (d. 1960)
    • 1881 – Linnie Marsh Wolfe, American librarian and author (d. 1945)
    • 1883 – Pavel Filonov, Russian painter and poet (d. 1941)
    • 1883 – Patrick J. Hurley, American general, politician, and diplomat, 51st United States Secretary of War (d. 1963)
    • 1885 – John Curtin, Australian journalist and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1945)
    • 1885 – Mór Kóczán, Hungarian javelin thrower and pastor (d. 1972)
    • 1885 – A. J. Muste, Dutch-American pastor and activist (d. 1967)
    • 1888 – Richard Courant, German-American mathematician and academic (d. 1972)
    • 1891 – Walther Bothe, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
    • 1891 – Storm Jameson, English journalist and author (d. 1986)
    • 1891 – Bronislava Nijinska, Russian dancer and choreographer (d. 1972) name=”Jöckle1995″>Clemens Jöckle (1995). Encyclopedia of Saints. Alpine Fine Arts Collection. p. 319. ISBN 978-0-88168-226-7.</ref>
    • 1896 – Jaromír Weinberger, Czech-American composer and academic (d. 1967)
    • 1897 – Dennis Wheatley, English soldier and author (d. 1977)
    • 1899 – S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (d. 1959)
    • 1900 – Dorothy Adams, American character actress (d. 1988)
    • 1900 – Merlyn Myer, Australian philanthropist (d. 1982)
    • 1902 – Georgy Malenkov, Russian engineer and politician (d. 1988)
    • 1902 – Carl Rogers, American psychologist and academic (d. 1987)
    • 1904 – Karl Brandt, German physician and SS officer (d. 1948)
    • 1904 – Tampa Red, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 1981)
    • 1905 – Carl Gustav Hempel, German philosopher from the Vienna and the Berlin Circle (d. 1997)
    • 1905 – Giacinto Scelsi, Italian composer and poet (d. 1988)
    • 1906 – Serge Poliakoff, Russian-French painter (d. 1969)
    • 1907 – Keizō Hayashi, Japanese general and civil servant (d. 1991)
    • 1908 – Fearless Nadia, Australian-Indian actress and stuntwoman (d. 1996)
    • 1908 – William Hartnell, English actor (d. 1975)
    • 1909 – Ashapoorna Devi, Indian author and poet (d. 1995)
    • 1909 – Willy Millowitsch, German actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1999)
    • 1909 – Bruce Mitchell, South African cricketer (d. 1995)
    • 1909 – Evelyn Wood, American author and educator (d. 1995)
    • 1910 – Galina Ulanova, Russian actress and ballerina (d. 1998)
    • 1911 – Gypsy Rose Lee, American actress, dancer, and author (d. 1970)
    • 1912 – José Ferrer, Puerto Rican-American actor and director (d. 1992)
    • 1912 – Lawrence Walsh, Canadian-American lawyer, judge, and politician, 4th United States Deputy Attorney General (d. 2014)
    • 1915 – Walker Cooper, American baseball player and manager (d. 1991)
    • 1917 – Peter Matthew Hillsman Taylor, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright (d. 1994)
    • 1922 – Dale D. Myers, American engineer (d. 2015)
    • 1923 – Larry Storch, American actor and comedian
    • 1923 – Giorgio Tozzi, American opera singer and actor (d. 2011)
    • 1923 – Johnny Wardle, English cricketer (d. 1985)
    • 1923 – Joseph Weizenbaum, German-American computer scientist and author (d. 2008)
    • 1924 – Benjamin Lees, Chinese-American soldier and composer (d. 2010)
    • 1924 – Ron Moody, English actor and singer (d. 2015)
    • 1925 – Mohan Rakesh, Indian author and playwright (d. 1972)
    • 1926 – Evelyn Lear, American operatic soprano (d. 2012)
    • 1926 – Lazzaro Donati, Italian artist (d. 1977)
    • 1926 – Kerwin Mathews, American actor (d. 2007)
    • 1926 – Kelucharan Mohapatra, Indian dancer and choreographer (d. 2004)
    • 1926 – Hanae Mori, Japanese fashion designer
    • 1926 – Soupy Sales, American comedian and actor (d. 2009)
    • 1927 – Charles Tomlinson, English poet and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1928 – Slade Gorton, American colonel, lawyer, and politician, 14th Attorney General of Washington
    • 1928 – Gaston Miron, Canadian poet and author (d. 1996)
    • 1928 – Luther Perkins, American country guitarist (d. 1968)
    • 1929 – Saeed Jaffrey, Indian-British actor (d. 2015)
    • 1931 – Bill Graham, German-American businessman (d. 1991)
    • 1931 – Clarence Benjamin Jones, American lawyer and scholar
    • 1933 – Nolan Miller, American fashion and jewelry designer (d. 2012)
    • 1933 – Charles Osgood, American soldier and journalist
    • 1933 – Jean-Marie Straub, French director and screenwriter
    • 1933 – Willie Tasby, American baseball player
    • 1934 – Jacques Anquetil, French cyclist (d. 1987)
    • 1934 – Gene Freese, American baseball player and manager (d. 2013)
    • 1934 – Roy Kinnear, British actor (d. 1988)
    • 1934 – Alexandra Ripley, American author (d. 2004)
    • 1935 – Lewis H. Lapham, American publisher, founded Lapham’s Quarterly
    • 1935 – Elvis Presley, American singer, guitarist, and actor (d. 1977)
    • 1936 – Zdeněk Mácal, Czech-American conductor
    • 1936 – Robert May, Baron May of Oxford, Australian-English zoologist, ecologist, and academic (d. 2020)
    • 1937 – Shirley Bassey, Welsh singer
    • 1938 – Bob Eubanks, American game show host and producer
    • 1938 – Yevgeny Nesterenko, Russian opera singer and educator
    • 1939 – Carolina Herrera, Venezuelan-American fashion designer
    • 1939 – Ruth Maleczech, American actress (d. 2013)
    • 1939 – Alan Wilson, English mathematician and academic
    • 1940 – Mark Bretscher, English biologist and academic
    • 1940 – Cristy Lane, American country and gospel singer
    • 1941 – Graham Chapman, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1989)
    • 1942 – Stephen Hawking, English physicist and author (d. 2018)
    • 1942 – Junichirō Koizumi, Japanese politician, 56th Prime Minister of Japan
    • 1942 – Yvette Mimieux, American actress
    • 1942 – Royce Waltman, American basketball player and coach (d. 2014)
    • 1943 – Charles Murray, American political scientist and author
    • 1944 – Terry Brooks, American lawyer and author
    • 1945 – Nancy Bond, American author and academic
    • 1945 – Phil Beal, English footballer, defender
    • 1945 – Kadir Topbaş, Turkish architect and politician, 31st Mayor of Istanbul
    • 1946 – Robby Krieger, American guitarist and songwriter
    • 1946 – Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Mexican drug lord
    • 1947 – Don Bendell, American rancher and author
    • 1947 – David Bowie, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (d. 2016)
    • 1947 – David Gates, American journalist and novelist
    • 1947 – Antti Kalliomäki, Finnish pole vaulter and politician
    • 1947 – Luke Williams, New Zealand-American wrestler
    • 1948 – Gillies MacKinnon, Scottish director and screenwriter
    • 1949 – Lawrence Rowe, Jamaican cricketer
    • 1951 – Kenny Anthony, Saint Lucian politician, 5th Prime Minister of Saint Lucia
    • 1951 – Karen Tei Yamashita, American author and academic
    • 1952 – Vladimir Feltsman, Russian-American pianist and educator
    • 1952 – Peter McCullagh, Irish mathematician and academic
    • 1953 – Bruce Sutter, American baseball player
    • 1954 – Konstantinos Kypriotis, Greek martial artist (d. 1995)
    • 1955 – Spiros Livathinos, Greek footballer and coach
    • 1955 – Mike Reno, Canadian singer and drummer
    • 1957 – Nacho Duato, Spanish dancer and choreographer
    • 1958 – Betsy DeVos, American businesswoman and politician, 11th Secretary of Education
    • 1958 – Rey Misterio, Sr., Mexican wrestler, trainer, and actor
    • 1959 – Kim Duk-koo, South Korean boxer (d. 1982)
    • 1959 – Paul Hester, Australian drummer (d. 2005)
    • 1960 – Dave Weckl, American drummer
    • 1961 – Calvin Smith, American sprinter
    • 1966 – Willie Anderson, American basketball player
    • 1966 – Igor Vyazmikin, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2009)
    • 1966 – Andrew Wood, American singer-songwriter (d. 1990)
    • 1967 – Torsten Gowitzke, German footballer and manager
    • 1967 – Steven Jacobs, Australian television host and actor
    • 1967 – R. Kelly, American singer-songwriter, record producer, and former professional basketball player
    • 1967 – Tom Watson, English politician
    • 1971 – Jason Giambi, American baseball player
    • 1971 – Jesper Jansson, Swedish footballer
    • 1971 – Pascal Zuberbühler, Swiss footballer and coach
    • 1972 – Paul Clement, English footballer, coach, and manager
    • 1972 – Giuseppe Favalli, Italian footballer
    • 1973 – Mike Cameron, American baseball player
    • 1975 – Harris Jayaraj, Indian composer and producer
    • 1976 – Kenneth Andam, Ghanaian sprinter and businessman
    • 1976 – Carl Pavano, American baseball player
    • 1977 – Amber Benson, American actress, writer, director, and producer
    • 1977 – Francesco Coco, Italian footballer
    • 1979 – Seol Ki-hyeon, South Korean footballer and manager
    • 1979 – Adrian Mutu, Romanian footballer
    • 1979 – Stipe Pletikosa, Croatian footballer
    • 1979 – Sarah Polley, Canadian actress, director, and screenwriter
    • 1980 – Adam Goodes, Australian footballer
    • 1980 – Rachel Nichols, American actress and producer
    • 1981 – Jeff Francis, Canadian baseball player
    • 1981 – Trent Waterhouse, Australian rugby league player
    • 1982 – Gaby Hoffmann, American actress
    • 1983 – Jon Daly, Irish footballer
    • 1984 – Jeff Francoeur, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Jeon Ji-ae, South Korean actress
    • 1984 – Kim Jong-un, North Korean soldier and politician, 3rd Supreme Leader of North Korea (probable)
    • 1986 – David Silva, Spanish footballer
    • 1988 – Adrián López, Spanish footballer
    • 1988 – Michael Mancienne, English footballer
    • 1989 – Aaron Cruden, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1991 – Josh Hazlewood, Australian cricketer
    • 1991 – Stefan Johansen, Norwegian footballer
    • 1991 – Stefan Savić, Montenegrin footballer
    • 1991 – Shin Ji-min, South Korean singer and rapper
    • 1992 – Stefanie Dolson, American basketball player
    • 1992 – Koke, Spanish footballer
    • 1992 – Apostolos Vellios, Greek footballer

    Deaths on January 8

    • 307 – Hui of Jin, Chinese emperor (b. 259)
    • 482 – Severinus of Noricum, Italian apostle and saint
    • 871 – Bagsecg, Viking warrior and leader
    • 926 – Athelm, archbishop of Canterbury
    • 1079 – Adèle of France, countess of Flanders (b. 1009)
    • 1107 – Edgar, king of Scotland (b. 1074)
    • 1198 – Celestine III, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1106)
    • 1332 – Andronikos III, emperor of Trebizond
    • 1337 – Giotto, Italian painter and architect, designed Scrovegni Chapel and Giotto’s Campanile (b. 1266)
    • 1354 – Charles de La Cerda, French nobleman (b. 1327)
    • 1424 – Stephen Zaccaria, archbishop of Patras
    • 1456 – Lawrence Giustiniani, Italian bishop and saint (b. 1381)
    • 1464 – Thomas Ebendorfer, Austrian historian and academic (b. 1385)
    • 1538 – Beatrice of Portugal, duchess of Savoy (b. 1504)
    • 1557 – Albert Alcibiades, margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (b. 1522)
    • 1570 – Philibert de l’Orme, French sculptor and architect, designed the Château d’Anet (b. 1510)
    • 1598 – John George, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1525)
    • 1642 – Galileo Galilei, Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher (b. 1564)
    • 1664 – Moses Amyraut, French physician and theologian (b. 1596)
    • 1707 – John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of Stair, Scottish soldier and politician, Scottish Secretary of State (b. 1648)
    • 1713 – Arcangelo Corelli, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1653)
    • 1775 – John Baskerville, English printer and type designer (b. 1706)
    • 1789 – Jack Broughton, English boxer (b. 1703)
    • 1794 – Justus Möser, German lawyer and jurist (b. 1720)
    • 1815 – Edward Pakenham, Anglo-Irish general and politician (b. 1778)
    • 1825 – Eli Whitney, American engineer and theorist, invented the cotton gin (b. 1765)
    • 1853 – Mihály Bertalanits, Slovene-Hungarian poet and educator (b. 1788)
    • 1854 – William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, English field marshal and politician, Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance (b. 1768)
    • 1865 – Aimé, duc de Clermont-Tonnerre, French general and politician, French Minister of Defence (b. 1779)
    • 1874 – Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg, French historian and archaeologist (b. 1814)
    • 1878 – Nikolay Nekrasov, Russian poet and critic (b. 1821)
    • 1878 – Gauchito Gil, Argentinian saint (b. 1847)
    • 1880 – Emperor Norton, English-American businessman (b. 1811)
    • 1883 – Miska Magyarics, Slovene-Hungarian poet (b. 1825)
    • 1896 – William Rainey Marshall, American banker and politician, 5th Governor of Minnesota (b. 1825)
    • 1896 – Paul Verlaine, French poet and writer (b. 1844)
    • 1901 – John Barry, Irish soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1873)
    • 1912 – Friedrich Schrempf, German journalist and politician (b. 1858)
    • 1914 – Simon Bolivar Buckner, American general and 30th Governor of Kentucky (b. 1823)
    • 1916 – Rembrandt Bugatti, Italian sculptor (b. 1884)
    • 1916 – Ada Rehan, Irish-American actress (b. 1860)
    • 1918 – Johannes Pääsuke, Estonian photographer and director (b. 1892)
    • 1918 – Ellis H. Roberts, American journalist and politician, 20th Treasurer of the United States (b. 1827)
    • 1920 – Josef Josephi, Polish-born singer and actor (b.1852)
    • 1925 – George Bellows, American painter (b.1882)
    • 1934 – Andrei Bely, Russian novelist, poet, and critic (b. 1880)
    • 1934 – Alexandre Stavisky, Ukrainian-French financier (b. 1886)
    • 1935 – Rauf Yekta, Turkish musicologist and author (b. 1871)
    • 1938 – Johnny Gruelle, American author and illustrator (b. 1880)
    • 1941 – Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, English general (b. 1857)
    • 1942 – Joseph Franklin Rutherford, American lawyer and religious leader (b. 1869)
    • 1943 – Richard Hillary, Australian pilot and author (b. 1919)
    • 1943 – Andres Larka, Estonian general and politician, 1st Estonian Minister of War (b. 1879)
    • 1944 – William Kissam Vanderbilt II, American lieutenant and sailor (b. 1878)
    • 1945 – Karl Ernst Krafft, Swiss astrologer and author (b. 1900)
    • 1948 – Kurt Schwitters, German painter and graphic designer (b. 1887)
    • 1950 – Joseph Schumpeter, Czech-American economist and academic (b. 1883)
    • 1952 – Antonia Maury, American astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1866)
    • 1953 – Hugh Binney, English admiral and politician, 16th Governor of Tasmania (b. 1883)
    • 1954 – Eduard Wiiralt, Estonian-French painter and illustrator (b. 1898)
    • 1956 – Jim Elliot, American missionary and martyr (b. 1928)
    • 1958 – Mary Colter, American architect, designed the Desert View Watchtower (b. 1869)
    • 1961 – Schoolboy Rowe, American baseball player and coach (b. 1910)
    • 1963 – Kay Sage, American painter (b. 1898)
    • 1969 – Albert Hill, English runner and coach (b. 1889)
    • 1969 – Elmar Kaljot, Estonian footballer and coach (b. 1901)
    • 1970 – Georges Guibourg, French actor, singer, and playwright (b. 1891)
    • 1972 – Kenneth Patchen, American poet and author (b. 1911)
    • 1975 – Richard Tucker, American tenor (b. 1913)
    • 1976 – Zhou Enlai, Chinese soldier and politician, 1st Premier of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1898)
    • 1976 – Robert Forgan, Scottish-English physician and politician (b. 1891)
    • 1979 – Sara Carter, American singer-songwriter and harp player (b. 1898)
    • 1980 – John Mauchly, American physicist and academic (b. 1907)
    • 1981 – Matthew Beard, American actor (b. 1925)
    • 1982 – Grégoire Aslan, Swiss-English actor and screenwriter (b. 1908)
    • 1983 – Gerhard Barkhorn, German general and pilot (b. 1919)
    • 1983 – Tom McCall, American journalist and politician, 30th Governor of Oregon (b. 1913)
    • 1983 – Gale Page, American actress (b. 1910)
    • 1984 – Eerik Kumari, Estonian ornithologist and academic (b. 1912)
    • 1986 – Pierre Fournier, French cellist and educator (b. 1906)
    • 1990 – Bernard Krigstein, American illustrator (b. 1919)
    • 1990 – Terry-Thomas, English actor and comedian (b. 1911)
    • 1991 – Steve Clark, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1960)
    • 1994 – Pat Buttram, American actor and comedian (b. 1915)
    • 1994 – Harvey Haddix, American baseball player and coach (b. 1925)
    • 1996 – Metin Göktepe, Turkish photographer and journalist (b. 1968)
    • 1996 – François Mitterrand, French sergeant and politician, 21st President of France (b. 1916)
    • 1996 – Howard Taubman, American author and critic (b. 1907)
    • 1997 – Melvin Calvin, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
    • 1998 – Michael Tippett, English composer and conductor (b. 1905)
    • 2002 – Alexander Prokhorov, Australian-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
    • 2002 – Dave Thomas, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Wendy’s (b. 1932)
    • 2003 – Ron Goodwin, English composer and conductor (b. 1925)
    • 2004 – John A. Gambling, American radio host (b. 1930)
    • 2006 – Tony Banks, Baron Stratford, Northern Irish broadcaster and politician, Minister for Sport and the Olympics (b. 1943)
    • 2007 – Jane Bolin, American lawyer and judge (b. 1908)
    • 2007 – Arthur Cockfield, Baron Cockfield, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (b. 1916)
    • 2007 – Yvonne De Carlo, Canadian-American actress and singer (b. 1922)
    • 2007 – David Ervine, Northern Irish politician and activist (b. 1953)
    • 2007 – Iwao Takamoto, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1925)
    • 2008 – George Moore, Australian jockey and trainer (b. 1923)
    • 2009 – Lasantha Wickrematunge, Sri Lankan Journalist (b. 1958)
    • 2010 – Art Clokey, American animator, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1921)
    • 2011 – Jiří Dienstbier, Czech journalist and politician (b. 1937)
    • 2011 – Thorbjørn Svenssen, Norwegian footballer (b. 1924)
    • 2012 – Dave Alexander, American singer and pianist (b. 1938)
    • 2012 – T. J. Hamblin, English haematologist and academic (b. 1943)
    • 2012 – John Madin, English architect, designed the Birmingham Central Library (b. 1924)
    • 2012 – Bernhard Schrader, German chemist and academic (b. 1931)
    • 2012 – Alexis Weissenberg, Bulgarian-French pianist and educator (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Kenojuak Ashevak, Canadian sculptor and illustrator (b. 1927)
    • 2013 – Jeanne Manford, American educator and activist, co-founded PFLAG (b. 1920)
    • 2013 – Alasdair Milne, Indian-English director and producer (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Vicente T. Blaz, American general and politician (b. 1928)
    • 2014 – Madeline Gins, American poet and architect (b. 1941)
    • 2014 – Irma Heijting-Schuhmacher, Dutch-Australian swimmer (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – Antonino P. Roman, Filipino lawyer and politician (b. 1939)
    • 2015 – Andraé Crouch, American singer-songwriter, producer, and pastor (b. 1942)
    • 2015 – Kep Enderby, Australian lawyer, judge, and politician, 23rd Attorney-General for Australia (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – Patsy Garrett, American actress and singer (b. 1921)
    • 2016 – Maria Teresa de Filippis, Italian racing driver (b. 1926)
    • 2016 – German Moreno, Filipino television host, actor, comedian and talent manager (b. 1933)
    • 2017 – Nicolai Gedda, Swedish operatic tenor (b. 1925)
    • 2017 – James Mancham, Seychellois politician (b. 1939)
    • 2017 – Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iranian politician (b. 1934)
    • 2017 – Peter Sarstedt, Indian-British singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)
    • 2020 – Pat Dalton, Australian rules footballer (b. 1942)
    • 2020 – Buck Henry, American actor, screenwriter, and director (b. 1930)

    Holidays and observances on January 8

    • Babinden (Belarus, Russia)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Abo of Tiflis
      • Apollinaris Claudius
      • Blessed Eurosia Fabris
      • Gauchito Gil (Folk Catholicism)
      • Gudula
      • Harriet Bedell (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Lawrence Giustiniani
      • Lucian of Beauvais
      • Maximus of Pavia
      • Our Lady of Prompt Succor (Roman Catholic Church)
      • Pega (Anglican and Roman Catholic churches)
      • Severinus of Noricum
      • Thorfinn of Hamar
      • January 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Commonwealth Day (Northern Mariana Islands)
    • Earliest day on which Children’s Day can fall, while January 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Saturday in January. (Thailand)
    • Earliest day on which Lee–Jackson Day can fall, while January 14 is the latest; celebrated on Friday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day. (Virginia)
    • Typing Day (International observance)
  • |

    Constituents and Structure Solved MCQs (Set-I) | General Science & Ability

    The universe, Galaxy, Light Year, Solar System, Sun, Earth, Astronomical System of Units

    1) The biggest planet in our solar system is (CSS 2013)

    (a) Venus
    (b) Pluto
    (c) Jupiter
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (c)
    In terms of mass, volume, and surface area, Jupiter is the biggest planet in our Solar System by a wide margin.
    Size and Mass:
    Jupiter’s mass, volume, surface area and mean circumference are 1.8981 x 1027 kg, 1.43128 x 1015 km3, 6.1419 x 1010 km2, and 4.39264 x 105 km respectively. To put that in perspective, Jupiter diameter is roughly 11 times that of Earth, and 2.5 the mass of all the other planets in the Solar System combined.

    2) The universe is ———-. (CSS 1996)

    (a) Stationary
    (b) Expanding
    (c) Contracting
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (b)
    In June 2016, NASA and ESA scientists reported that the universe was found to be expanding 5% to 9% faster than thought earlier, based on studies using the Hubble Space Telescope

    3) The atmosphere of moon consists of: (CSS 2013)

    (a) . 90% Hydrogen, 10% Nitrogen
    (b) . 80%Nitrogen, 20% Hydrogen
    (c) 60% Nitrogen, 40%inert gases
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (d)
    The Moon has no atmosphere. None. That’s why astronauts have to wear their spacesuits when they get outside of their spacecraft on the surface of the Moon.
    Atmosphere of the Moon might be electro statically levitated moon dust. These tiny particles are constantly leaping up and down off the surface of the Moon.

    4) Who gave the first evidence of the Big- Bang theory?

    (a) Edwin Hubble
    (b) Albert Einstein
    (c) S. Chandrasekhar
    (d) Stephen Hawking
    Answer: (a)
    The Hubble Space Telescope was named after astronomer Edwin Powell Hubble (1889–1953), who made some of the most important discoveries in modern astronomy. Dr. Hubble determined that the farther a galaxy is from Earth, the faster it appears to move away. This notion of an “expanding” universe formed the basis of the Big Bang theory, which states that the universe began with an intense burst of energy at a single moment in time — and has been expanding ever since.

    5) Which one of the following planets has largest number of natural satellites or moons?

    (a) Jupiter
    (b) Mars
    (c) Saturn
    (d) Venus
    Answer: (a)
    In the Solar System, there are 179 satellites. A majority of those moons belong to the planet of Jupiter, the second most belonging to Saturn.

    6) Which of the following planets rotates clock wise?

    (a) Mars
    (b) Jupiter
    (c) Venus
    (d) Mercury
    Answer: (c)
    Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise. Venus (radius 3,760.4 miles) is similar to Earth (radius 3,963.19 miles) in size and structure but spins very slowly; a day on Venus is 243 Earth days long.

    7) Which of the following order is given to the planets of solar system on the basis of their sizes?

    (a) Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
    (b) Saturn, Jupiter, Mercury, Earth
    (c) Mercury, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn
    (d) Earth, Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter
    Answer: (a)
    Jupiter (69,911 km / 43,441 miles) – 1,120% the size of Earth
    Saturn (58,232 km / 36,184 miles) – 945% the size of Earth
    Uranus (25,362 km / 15,759 miles) –400% the size of Earth
    Neptune (24,622 km / 15,299 miles) – 388% the size of Earth
    Earth (6,371 km / 3,959 miles)

    8) The time taken by the Sun to revolve around the center of our galaxy is

    (a) 50 Million years
    (b) 100 Million years
    (c) 250 Million years
    (d) 365 Million years
    Answer: (c)
    the Sun is dragging us around the galaxy at around 800,000km/h, taking around 250 million years to complete a single orbit.
    That means our Solar System has made around 18 complete circuits since it was formed around 4.5 billion years ago.

    9): The planet having the largest diameter is

    (a) Earth
    (b) Jupiter
    (c) Venus
    (d) Uranus
    Answer: (b)
    Jupiter is composed primarily of gaseous and liquid matter. It is the largest of the four giant planets in the Solar System and hence its largest planet. It has a diameter of 142,984 km (88,846 mi) at its equator

    10) The planet Mercury completes one rotation around the sun is (CSS 2010)

    (a) 88 days
    (b) 365 days
    (c) 98 days
    (d) 60 days
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (a)
    A year on Mercury is just 88 days long. One solar day (the time from noon to noon on the planet’s surface) on Mercury lasts the equivalent of 176 Earth days while the sidereal day (the time for 1 rotation in relation to a fixed point) lasts 59 Earth days. Mercury is nearly tidally locked to the Sun and over time this has slowed the rotation of the planet to almost match its orbit around the Sun. Mercury also has the highest orbital eccentricity of all the planets with its distance from the Sun ranging from 46 to 70 million km.

    11) The biggest planet in our solar system is (CSS 2013)

    (a) Venus
    (b) Pluto
    (c) Jupiter
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (c)
    Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Jupiter has a mean radius of 43,440.7 miles (69,911 kilometers), about a tenth that of the sun. However, its rapid rotation — it spins once every 9.8 hours

    12) The atmosphere of moon consists of: (CSS 2013)

    (a) 90% Hydrogen, 10% Nitrogen
    (b) 80%Nitrogen, 20% Hydrogen
    (c) 60% Nitrogen, 40%inert gases
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (d)
    The Apollo 17 mission deployed an instrument called the Lunar Atmospheric Composition Experiment (LACE) on the moon’s surface. It detected small amounts of a number of atoms and molecules including helium, argon, and possibly neon, ammonia, methane and carbon dioxide.

    13) Which of the following explains the reason why there is no total eclipse of the sun? (CSS 2009)

    (a) Size of the earth in relation to that of moon
    (b) Orbit of moon around earth
    (c) Direction of rotation of earth around sun
    (d) Area of the sun covered by the moon
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (d)
    A solar eclipse occurs when the moon gets between Earth and the sun, and the moon casts a shadow over Earth. A solar eclipse can only take place at the phase of new moon, when the moon passes directly between the sun and Earth and its shadows fall upon Earth’s surface.

    14) The sun produces most of its energy by (CSS 2012)

    (a) Nuclear fusion which involves converting “H” to “He”
    (b) Nuclear fission involving the burning of uranium & plutonium
    (c) Nuclear fission involving the combining of uranium and palladium
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (a)
    Sun, like all stars, is able to create energy because it is essentially a massive fusion reaction.
    The core of the Sun is the region that extends from the center to about 20–25% of the solar radius. It is here, in the core, where energy is produced by hydrogen atoms (H) being converted into molecules of helium (He) This is possible thanks to the extreme pressure and temperature that exists within the core, which are estimated to be the equivalent of 250 billion atmospheres (25.33 trillion KPa) and 15.7 million kelvin, respectively.

    15) Although the mass of a man on moon remains same as on the earth he will (CSS 2012)

    (a) Be much happier there
    (b) Weigh one sixth as much
    (c) Weigh twice as much
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (b)
    The Moon’s gravity is one sixth of the Earth’s gravity. A 120 kg astronaut weighs 1200 N on Earth. On the Moon they would weigh only 200 N. The astronaut’s mass is 120kg wherever they are.

    16) The planet of the solar system which has maximum numbers of Moon is: (CSS 2011)

    (a) Jupiter
    (b) Venus
    (c) Saturn
    (d) Uranus
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (a)

    17): The earth rotates 011 its axis from_

    (a) North to south
    (b) South to north
    (c) East to west
    (d) West to east
    Answer: (d)
    The Earth rotates from the west towards east. As viewed from North Star or polestar Polaris, the Earth turns counter-clockwise. The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth’s axis of rotation meets its surface.

    18): Name two planets which revolve around their axis from east to west

    (a) Earth and Venus
    (b) Mars and Earth
    (c) Venus and Uranus
    (d) Mars and Uranus
    Answer: (c)
    Planets have no light of their own and all of them expect Venus and Uranus, rotate upon their axis from west to east.

    19) Our sun is classified as (CSS 2012)

    (a) A Blue giant
    (b) A Yellow dwarf
    (c) Supernova
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (b)
    The sun is classified as a G-type main-sequence star, or G dwarf star, or more imprecisely, a yellow dwarf. Actually, the sun — like other G-type stars — is white, but appears yellow through Earth’s atmosphere. Stars generally get bigger as they grow older

    20): Name the planet which revolve approximately 90 degree with its orbital plane_.

    (a) Neptune
    (b) Venus
    (c) Uranus
    (d) Jupiter
    Answer: (c)
    Unlike any other planet, Uranus rotates on its side. That is, the rotation axis is tilted approximately 90 degrees relative to the planet’s orbital plane.

    21): The hottest planet of our solar system is
    (a) Mercury
    (b) Venus
    (c) Mars
    (d) Earth
    Answer: (b)
    Venus’s thick atmosphere made up mainly of CO2 makes it the hottest planet in the solar system. Mercury is colder because it’s atmosphere is thin.

    22): Which of the following constellation contains Pole Star?

    (a) Orion
    (b) Ursa Major
    (c) Ursa Minor
    (d) Scorpio
    Answer: (b)

    23): All the stars appear to move from

    (a) North to south
    (b) South to north
    (c) East to west
    (d) West to east
    Answer: (c)
    Every day, the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars appear to rise in the east and set in the west. Actually, these celestial objects aren’t moving that fast, but Earth is. It spins on its axis from west to east approximately every 24 hours.
    Because we are standing on Earth’s surface, we move along with it. To us, it appears as if everything in the sky is moving from east to west.

    24): The body burning like a star and coming towards the earth

    (a) Comet
    (b) Meteor
    (c) Ceres
    (d) Satellites
    Answer: (b)
    Fleeting trails of light are called meteors or shooting stars and they are created by small particles, some no bigger than a grain of rice, as they are completely burned up high in the atmosphere: about 100 km (or 60 miles) above the Earth. They are over literally in the blink of an eye. Space debris is collectively termed meteoroids, those larger fragments that reach the ground are called meteorites. Very big meteoroids are also known as asteroids. If one collides with Earth it would cause a major catastrophe.

    25) Which of the following is not true?

    (a) Planets rotate on their own axis.
    (b) Planets do not emit light.
    (c) Some planets are gaseous and some are rocky
    (d) Most of the planets have rings around them.
    Answer: (d)

    26) Which is the brightest planet?

    (a) Mars
    (b) Jupiter
    (c) Venus
    (d) Saturn
    Answer: (c)
    Venus is so bright because its thick clouds reflect most of the sunlight that reaches it (about 70%) back into space, and because it is the closest planet to Earth. Venus can often be seen within a few hours after sunset or before sunrise as the brightest object in the sky (other than the moon)

    27) The stars in space are ___.

    (a) Uniformly spread out.
    (b) Distributed completely at random
    (c) Chiefly in the Milky Way
    (d) Mostly contained within widely separated galaxies
    Answer: (d)

    28) “Black holes” refer to: (CSS 2009)

    (a) Hole occurring in heavenly bodies
    (b) Bright spots on the sun
    (c) Collapsing objects of high density
    (d) Collapsing of low density
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (c)

    29) The Milky Way is _____.

    ( a) a gas cloud in the solar system
    (b) a gas cloud in the galaxy of which the sun is a member
    (c) the galaxy of which the sun is a member
    (d) a nearby galaxy
    Answer: (c)

    30) Relative to the center of our galaxy, ____.

    ( a) its starts are stationary
    (b) its stars move entirely at random
    (c) its stars revolve
    (d) Population I starts are stationary and Population II star revolve
    Answer: (c)

    31) Evidence of various kinds suggests that at the center of our galaxy is a ___.

    ( a) Quasar
    (b) Pulsar
    (c) Neutron star
    (d) Black hole
    Answer: (d)
    A supermassive black hole (SMBH) is the largest type of black hole, in the order of hundreds of thousands to billions of solar masses (M☉), and is found in the centre of almost all currently known massive galaxies. In the case of the Milky Way, the SMBH corresponds with the location of Sagittarius A*

    32) A radio telescope is basically a (an) __.

    (a) device for magnifying radio waves
    (b) Telescope remotely controlled by radio
    (c) Directional antenna connected to a sensitive radio receiver
    (d) Optical telescope that uses electronic techniques to produce an image
    Answer: (c)
    Radio telescope is an astronomical instrument consisting of a radio receiver and an antenna system that is used to detect radio-frequency radiation emitted by extraterrestrial sources. Because radio wavelengths are much longer than those of visible light, radio telescopes must be very large in order to attain the resolution of optical telescopes.
    The first radio telescope, built in 1937 by Grote Reber of Wheaton

    33) Sun is a: (CSS 2011)

    (a) Planet
    (b) Comet
    (c) Satellite
    (d) Aurora
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (e)
    The Sun (or Sol), is the star at the centre of our solar system
    The Sun is by far the largest object in the solar system. It contains more than 99.8% of the total mass of the Solar System (Jupiter contains most of the rest).

    34) The age of the solar system is (CSS 2011)

    (a) 4.5 billion years
    (b) 5.5 billion years
    (c) 6.5 billion years
    (d) 7.5 billion years
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (e)
    By studying several things, mostly meteorites, and using radioactive dating techniques, specifically looking at daughter isotopes, scientists have determined that the Solar System is 4.6 billion years old. Well, give or take a few million years. That age can be extended to most of the objects and material in the Solar System.

    35) An eclipse of the sun occurs when (CSS 2011)

    (a) The moon is between the sun and the earth
    (b) The sun is between the earth and the moon
    (c) The earth is between the sun and the moon
    (d) The earth casts its shadow on the moon
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (a)
    A solar eclipse occurs when the moon gets between Earth and the sun, and the moon casts a shadow over Earth. A solar eclipse can only take place at the phase of new moon, when the moon passes directly between the sun and Earth and its shadows fall upon Earth’s surface.

    36) Founder of modern astronomy was: (CSS 2009)

    (a) Archimedes
    (b) William Gilbert
    (c) Nicolaus Copernicus
    (d) Michael Faraday
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (c)
    Considered today to be the father of modern astronomy, Nicolaus Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473 in Torun, Poland.

    37) Orbital period of the planet Mercury around the sun is: (CSS 2009)

    (a) 88 days
    (b) 365 days
    (c) 2 years
    (d) 98 days
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (a)
    Mercury has an orbital period of 88 days (87.969 to be exact), which means a single year is 88 Earth days – or the equivalent of about 0.241 Earth years. But here’s the thing. Because of Mercury’s slow rotation (once every 58.646 days) and its rapid orbital speed (47.362 km/s), one day on Mercury actually works out to 175.96 Earth days.

    38) Primary cosmic rays are composed largely of very fast ___.

    ( a) Protons
    (b) Neutrons
    (c) Electrons
    (d) Gamma rays
    Answer: (a)
    Of primary cosmic rays, which originate outside of Earth’s atmosphere, about 99% are the nuclei (stripped of their electron shells) of well-known atoms, and about 1% are solitary electrons (similar to beta particles). Of the nuclei, about 90% are simple protons, i. e. hydrogen nuclei; 9% are alpha particles, identical to helium nuclei, and 1% are the nuclei of heavier elements, called HZE ions

    39) Cosmic rays ____.

    (a) Circulate freely through space
    (b) are trapped in our galaxy by electric fields
    (c) are trapped in our galaxy by magnetic fields
    (d) are trapped in our galaxy by gravitational fields
    Answer: (c)

    40) The red shift in the spectral lines of light reaching us from other galaxies implies that these galaxies ______.

    ( a) are moving closer to one another
    (b) are moving farther apart from one another
    (c) are in rapid rotation
    (d) Consist predominantly of red giant stars
    Answer: (b)

    41) According to Einstein’s general theory of relativity, the universe _____.

    ( a) Must be expanding
    (b) Must be contracting
    (c) Must be either expanding or contracting
    (d) May be neither expanding nor contracting
    Answer: (c)

    42) Supernova explosions have no connection with _______.

    ( a) The formation of heavy elements
    (b) Cosmic rays
    (c) Pulsars
    (d) Quasars
    Answer: (d)

    43) Current ideas suggest that what is responsible for the observed properties of a quasar is a massive ____.

    (a) Neutron star
    (b) Black hole
    (c) Spiral galaxy
    (d) Star cluster
    Answer: (b)

    44) The age of the universe is probably in the neighborhood of ______.

    ( a) 15 million years
    (b) 4 ½ billion years
    (c) 15 billion years
    (d) 30 billion years
    Answer: (c)

    45) The term big bang refers to ___.

    ( a) the origin of the universe
    (b) the ultimate fate of the universe
    (c) a supernova explosion
    (d) the formation of a quasar
    Answer: (a)

    46) The elements heavier than hydrogen and helium of which the planets are composed probably came from the __.
    ( a) Sun
    (b) Debris of supernova explosions that occurred before the solar system came into being
    (c) Big bang
    (d) Big crunch
    Answer: (b)

    47) Today the universe apparently contains ____.

    ( a) Only matter
    (b) Only antimatter
    (c) Equal amounts of matter and antimatter
    (d) Slightly more matter than antimatter
    Answer: (a)

    48) Radiation from the early history of the universe was Doppler-shifted by the expansion of the universe until today it is in the form of _______.

    ( a) X-rays
    (b) Ultraviolet waves
    (c) Infrared waves
    (d) Radio waves
    Answer: (d)

    49) Present evidence suggests that most of the mass of the universe is in the form of ______.

    ( a) Dark matter
    (b) Luminous matter
    (c) Cosmic rays
    (d) Black holes
    Answer: (a)

    50) It is likely that the planets, satellites, and other members of the solar system were formed ________.

    (a) Together with the sun
    (b) Later than the sun from material it ejected
    (c) Later than the sun from material it captured from space
    (d) Elsewhere and were captured by the sun
    Answer: (a)