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July 29 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

by
  • 587 BC – The Neo-Babylonian Empire sacks Jerusalem and destroys the First Temple.
  • 238 – The Praetorian Guard storm the palace and capture Pupienus and Balbinus. They are dragged through the streets of Rome and executed. On the same day, Gordian III, age 13, is proclaimed emperor.
  • 615 – Pakal ascends the throne of Palenque at the age of 12.
  • 904 – Sack of Thessalonica: Saracen raiders under Leo of Tripoli sack Thessaloniki, the Byzantine Empire’s second-largest city, after a short siege, and plunder it for a week.
  • 923 – Battle of Firenzuola: Lombard forces under King Rudolph II and Adalbert I, margrave of Ivrea, defeat the dethroned Emperor Berengar I of Italy at Firenzuola (Tuscany).
  • 1014 – Byzantine–Bulgarian wars: Battle of Kleidion: Byzantine emperor Basil II inflicts a decisive defeat on the Bulgarian army, and his subsequent treatment of 15,000 prisoners reportedly causes Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria to die of a heart attack less than three months later, on October 6.
  • 1018 – Count Dirk III defeats an army sent by Emperor Henry II in the Battle of Vlaardingen.
  • 1030 – Ladejarl-Fairhair succession wars: Battle of Stiklestad: King Olaf II fights and dies trying to regain his Norwegian throne from the Danes.
  • 1148 – The Siege of Damascus ends in a decisive crusader defeat and leads to the disintegration of the Second Crusade.
  • 1565 – The widowed Mary, Queen of Scots marries Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, Duke of Albany, at Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh, Scotland.
  • 1567 – James VI is crowned King of Scotland at Stirling.
  • 1588 – Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines: English naval forces under the command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake defeat the Spanish Armada off the coast of Gravelines, France.
  • 1693 – War of the Grand Alliance: Battle of Landen: France wins a Pyrrhic victory over Allied forces in the Netherlands.
  • 1775 – Founding of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps: General George Washington appoints William Tudor as Judge Advocate of the Continental Army.
  • 1818 – French physicist Augustin Fresnel submits his prizewinning “Memoir on the Diffraction of Light”, precisely accounting for the limited extent to which light spreads into shadows, and thereby demolishing the oldest objection to the wave theory of light.
  • 1836 – Inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France.
  • 1848 – Irish Potato Famine: Tipperary Revolt: In County Tipperary, Ireland, then in the United Kingdom, an unsuccessful nationalist revolt against British rule is put down by police.
  • 1851 – Annibale de Gasparis discovers asteroid 15 Eunomia.
  • 1858 – United States and Japan sign the Harris Treaty.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: Confederate spy Belle Boyd is arrested by Union troops and detained at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C.
  • 1871 – The Connecticut Valley Railroad opens between Old Saybrook, Connecticut and Hartford, Connecticut in the United States.
  • 1899 – The First Hague Convention is signed.
  • 1900 – In Italy, King Umberto I of Italy is assassinated by the anarchist Gaetano Bresci.
  • 1907 – Sir Robert Baden-Powell sets up the Brownsea Island Scout camp in Poole Harbour on the south coast of England. The camp runs from August 1 to August 9, 1907, and is regarded as the foundation of the Scouting movement.
  • 1914 – The Cape Cod Canal opened.
  • 1920 – Construction of the Link River Dam begins as part of the Klamath Reclamation Project.
  • 1921 – Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party.
  • 1932 – Great Depression: In Washington, D.C., troops disperse the last of the “Bonus Army” of World War I veterans.
  • 1937 – Tōngzhōu Incident: In Tōngzhōu, China, the East Hopei Army attacks Japanese troops and civilians.
  • 1945 – The BBC Light Programme radio station is launched for mainstream light entertainment and music.
  • 1948 – Olympic Games: The Games of the XIV Olympiad: After a hiatus of 12 years caused by World War II, the first Summer Olympics to be held since the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, open in London.
  • 1950 – Korean War: After four days, the No Gun Ri Massacre ends when the US Army 7th Cavalry Regiment is withdrawn.
  • 1957 – The International Atomic Energy Agency is established.
  • 1958 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
  • 1959 – First United States Congress elections in Hawaii as a state of the Union.
  • 1965 – Vietnam War: The first 4,000 101st Airborne Division paratroopers arrive in Vietnam, landing at Cam Ranh Bay.
  • 1967 – Vietnam War: Off the coast of North Vietnam the USS Forrestal catches on fire in the worst U.S. naval disaster since World War II, killing 134.
  • 1967 – During the fourth day of celebrating its 400th anniversary, the city of Caracas, Venezuela is shaken by an earthquake, leaving approximately 500 dead.
  • 1973 – Greeks vote to abolish the monarchy, beginning the first period of the Metapolitefsi.
  • 1973 – During the Dutch Grand Prix driver Roger Williamson was killed in the race, after a suspected tire failure caused the car to pitch into the barriers at high speed.
  • 1976 – In New York City, David Berkowitz (a.k.a. the “Son of Sam”) kills one person and seriously wounds another in the first of a series of attacks.
  • 1980 – Iran adopts a new “holy” flag after the Islamic Revolution.
  • 1981 – A worldwide television audience of over 700 million people watch the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
  • 1981 – After impeachment on June 21, Abolhassan Banisadr flees with Massoud Rajavi to Paris, in an Iranian Air Force Boeing 707, piloted by Colonel Behzad Moezzi, to form the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
  • 1987 – British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President of France François Mitterrand sign the agreement to build a tunnel under the English Channel (Eurotunnel).
  • 1987 – Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi and President of Sri Lanka J. R. Jayewardene sign the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord on ethnic issues.
  • 1993 – The Supreme Court of Israel acquits alleged Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk of all charges and he is set free.
  • 1996 – The child protection portion of the Communications Decency Act is struck down by a U.S. federal court as too broad.
  • 2005 – Astronomers announce their discovery of the dwarf planet Eris.
  • 2010 – An overloaded passenger ferry capsizes on the Kasai River in Bandundu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, resulting in at least 80 deaths.
  • 2013 – Two passenger trains collide in the Swiss municipality of Granges-près-Marnand near Lausanne injuring 25 people.
  • 2019 – Prison riot between rival gangs broke out in Brazil, at least 57 people have been killed.

Births on July 29 

  • 869 – Muhammad al-Mahdi, Iraqi 12th Imam (d. 941)
  • 996 – Fujiwara no Norimichi, Japanese nobleman (d. 1075)
  • 1166 – Henry II, French nobleman and king of Jerusalem (d. 1197)
  • 1356 – Martin the Elder, king of Aragon, Valencia and Majorca (d. 1410)
  • 1537 – Pedro Téllez-Girón, Spanish nobleman (d. 1590)
  • 1573 – Philip II, duke of Pomerania-Stettin (d. 1618)
  • 1580 – Francesco Mochi, Italian sculptor (d. 1654)
  • 1605 – Simon Dach, German poet and hymn-writer (d. 1659)
  • 1646 – Johann Theile, German organist and composer (d. 1724)
  • 1744 – Giulio Maria della Somaglia, Italian cardinal (d. 1830)
  • 1763 – Philip Charles Durham, Scottish admiral and politician (d. 1845)
  • 1797 – Daniel Drew, American businessman and financier (d. 1879)
  • 1801 – George Bradshaw, English cartographer and publisher (d. 1853)
  • 1805 – Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian and philosopher (d. 1859)
  • 1806 – Horace Abbott, American businessman and banker (d. 1887)
  • 1817 – Ivan Aivazovsky, Armenian-Russian painter and illustrator (d. 1900)
  • 1817 – Martin Körber, Baltic German pastor, composer, and conductor (d. 1893)
  • 1841 – Gerhard Armauer Hansen, Norwegian physician (d. 1912)
  • 1843 – Johannes Schmidt, German linguist and academic (d. 1901)
  • 1846 – Sophie Menter, German pianist and composer (d. 1918)
  • 1846 – Isabel, Brazilian princess (d. 1921)
  • 1849 – Max Nordau, Hungarian physician, author, and critic, co-founded the World Zionist Organization (d. 1923)
  • 1860 – Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington, English politician, 8th Governor of Queensland (d. 1940)
  • 1867 – Berthold Oppenheim, Moravian rabbi (d. 1942)
  • 1869 – Booth Tarkington, American novelist and dramatist (d. 1946)
  • 1871 – Jakob Mändmets, Estonian writer and journalist (d. 1930)
  • 1872 – Eric Alfred Knudsen, American author, lawyer, and politician (d. 1957)
  • 1874 – J. S. Woodsworth, Canadian minister and politician (d. 1942)
  • 1876 – Maria Ouspenskaya, Russian-American actress and acting teacher (d. 1949)
  • 1878 – Don Marquis, American author, poet, and playwright (d. 1937)
  • 1883 – Porfirio Barba-Jacob, Colombian poet and author (d. 1942)
  • 1883 – Benito Mussolini, Italian fascist revolutionary and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1945)
  • 1884 – Ralph Austin Bard, American financier and politician, 2nd Under Secretary of the Navy (d. 1975)
  • 1885 – Theda Bara, American actress (d. 1955)
  • 1887 – Sigmund Romberg, Hungarian-American pianist and composer (d. 1951)
  • 1888 – Vladimir K. Zworykin, Russian-American engineer, invented the Iconoscope (d. 1982)
  • 1891 – Bernhard Zondek, German-Israeli gynecologist and academic (d. 1966)
  • 1892 – William Powell, American actor and singer (d. 1984)
  • 1896 – Maria L. de Hernández, Mexican-American rights activist (d. 1986)
  • 1897 – Neil Ritchie, Guyanese-English general (d. 1983)
  • 1898 – Isidor Isaac Rabi, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1988)
  • 1899 – Walter Beall, American baseball player (d. 1959)
  • 1900 – Mary V. Austin, Australian community worker and political activist (d. 1986)
  • 1900 – Eyvind Johnson, Swedish novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1976)
  • 1900 – Teresa Noce, Italian labor leader, activist, and journalist (d. 1980)
  • 1900 – Don Redman, American composer, and bandleader (d. 1964)
  • 1904 – Mahasi Sayadaw, Burmese monk and philosopher (d. 1982)
  • 1904 – J. R. D. Tata, French-Indian pilot and businessman, founded Tata Motors and Tata Global Beverages (d. 1993)
  • 1905 – Clara Bow, American actress (d. 1965)
  • 1905 – Dag Hammarskjöld, Swedish economist and diplomat, 2nd Secretary-General of the United Nations, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1961)
  • 1905 – Stanley Kunitz, American poet and translator (d. 2006)
  • 1906 – Thelma Todd, American actress and singer (d. 1935)
  • 1907 – Melvin Belli, American lawyer (d. 1996)
  • 1909 – Samm Sinclair Baker, American author (d. 1997)
  • 1909 – Chester Himes, American-Spanish author (d. 1984)
  • 1910 – Gale Page, American actress (d. 1983)
  • 1911 – Foster Furcolo, American lawyer and politician, 60th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1995)
  • 1911 – Archbishop Iakovos of America (d. 2005)
  • 1913 – Erich Priebke, German war criminal, leader of the 1944 Ardeatine massacre (d. 2013)
  • 1914 – Irwin Corey, American actor and activist (d. 2017)
  • 1915 – Bruce R. McConkie, American colonel and religious leader (d. 1985)
  • 1915 – Francis W. Sargent, American soldier and politician, 64th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1998)
  • 1916 – Budd Boetticher, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2001)
  • 1916 – Charlie Christian, American guitarist (d. 1942)
  • 1916 – Rupert Hamer, Australian politician, 39th Premier of Victoria (d. 2004)
  • 1917 – Rochus Misch, German SS officer (d. 2013)
  • 1918 – Don Ingalls, American writer and producer (d. 2014)
  • 1918 – Edwin O’Connor, American journalist and author (d. 1968)
  • 1918 – Mary Lee Settle, American novelist, essayist, and memoirist (d. 2005)
  • 1920 – Neville Jeffress, Australian businessman (d. 2007)
  • 1921 – Richard Egan, American actor (d. 1987)
  • 1921 – Chris Marker, French photographer and journalist (d. 2012)
  • 1923 – George Burditt, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2013)
  • 1923 – Edgar Cortright, American scientist and engineer (d. 2014)
  • 1923 – Jim Marshall, English businessman, founded Marshall Amplification (d. 2012)
  • 1923 – Gordon Mitchell, American bodybuilder and actor (d. 2003)
  • 1924 – Lloyd Bochner, Canadian-American actor (d. 2005)
  • 1924 – Robert Horton, American actor (d. 2016)
  • 1925 – Harold W. Kuhn, American mathematician and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – Ted Lindsay, Canadian ice hockey player, manager, and sportscaster (d. 2019)
  • 1925 – Mikis Theodorakis, Greek composer
  • 1926 – Robert Kilpatrick, Baron Kilpatrick of Kincraig, Scottish physician, academic, and politician (d. 2015)
  • 1927 – Harry Mulisch, Dutch author, poet, and playwright (d. 2010)
  • 1930 – Paul Taylor, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2018)
  • 1931 – Kjell Karlsen, Norwegian pianist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2020)
  • 1932 – Leslie Fielding, English diplomat
  • 1932 – Nancy Kassebaum, American businesswoman and politician
  • 1933 – Lou Albano, Italian-American wrestler, manager, and actor (d. 2009)
  • 1933 – Colin Davis, English race car driver (d. 2012)
  • 1933 – Robert Fuller, American actor and rancher
  • 1933 – Randy Sparks, American folk singer-songwriter and musician (The New Christy Minstrels)
  • 1935 – Peter Schreier, German tenor and conductor (d. 2019)
  • 1936 – Elizabeth Dole, American lawyer and politician, 20th United States Secretary of Labor
  • 1937 – Daniel McFadden, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize Laureate
  • 1938 – Peter Jennings, Canadian-American journalist and author (d. 2005)
  • 1938 – Jean Rochon, Canadian physician and politician
  • 1940 – Betty Harris, American chemist
  • 1940 – Winnie Monsod, Filipina economist and political commentator
  • 1941 – Jennifer Dunn, American engineer and politician (d. 2007)
  • 1941 – Goenawan Mohamad, Indonesian poet and playwright
  • 1941 – David Warner, English actor
  • 1942 – Doug Ashdown, Australian singer-songwriter
  • 1943 – David Taylor, English snooker player and sportscaster
  • 1944 – Jim Bridwell, American rock climber and mountaineer
  • 1945 – Sharon Creech, American author and educator
  • 1945 – Mircea Lucescu, Romanian footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1946 – Ximena Armas, Chilean painter
  • 1946 – Stig Blomqvist, Swedish race car driver
  • 1946 – Neal Doughty, American keyboard player, songwriter, and producer
  • 1946 – Alessandro Gogna, Italian mountaineer and adventurer
  • 1946 – Diane Keen, English actress
  • 1946 – Aleksei Tammiste, Estonian basketball player
  • 1947 – Dick Harmon, American golfer and coach (d. 2006)
  • 1948 – John Clarke, New Zealand-Australian comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
  • 1949 – Leslie Easterbrook, American actress
  • 1949 – Jamil Mahuad, Ecuadorian lawyer and politician, 51st President of Ecuador
  • 1950 – Jenny Holzer, American painter, author, and dancer
  • 1951 – Susan Blackmore, English psychologist and theorist
  • 1951 – Dan Driessen, American baseball player and coach
  • 1951 – Dean Pitchford, American actor, director, screenwriter, and composer
  • 1952 – Norman Blackwell, Baron Blackwell, English businessman and politician
  • 1952 – Joe Johnson, English snooker player and sportscaster
  • 1952 – Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, Greek politician
  • 1953 – Ken Burns, American director and producer
  • 1953 – Geddy Lee, Canadian musician
  • 1953 – Frank McGuinness, Irish poet and playwright
  • 1953 – Tim Gunn, American television host and actor
  • 1954 – Patti Scialfa, American musician
  • 1955 – Jean-Hugues Anglade, French actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1955 – Dave Stevens, American illustrator (d. 2008)
  • 1955 – Stephen Timms, English politician, Minister of State for Competitiveness
  • 1956 – Teddy Atlas, American boxer, trainer, and sportscaster
  • 1956 – Ronnie Musgrove, American lawyer and politician, 62nd Governor of Mississippi
  • 1956 – Faustino Rupérez, Spanish cyclist
  • 1957 – Liam Davison, Australian author and educator (d. 2014)
  • 1957 – Viktor Gavrikov, Lithuanian-Swiss chess player (d. 2016)
  • 1957 – Nellie Kim, Russian gymnast and coach
  • 1958 – Gail Dines, English-American author, activist, and academic
  • 1958 – Simon Nye, English screenwriter and producer
  • 1958 – Cynthia Rowley, American fashion designer
  • 1959 – Sanjay Dutt, Indian actor, singer, and producer
  • 1959 – Ruud Janssen, Dutch blogger and illustrator
  • 1959 – Dave LaPoint, American baseball player and manager
  • 1959 – John Sykes, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1960 – Didier Van Cauwelaert, French author
  • 1962 – Carl Cox, English DJ and producer
  • 1962 – Frank Neubarth, German footballer and manager
  • 1962 – Scott Steiner, American wrestler
  • 1962 – Vincent Rousseau, Belgian runner
  • 1963 – Hans-Holger Albrecht, Belgian-German businessman
  • 1963 – Jim Beglin, Irish footballer and sportscaster
  • 1963 – Julie Elliott, English politician
  • 1963 – Azeem Hafeez, Pakistani cricketer
  • 1963 – Alexandra Paul, American actress and producer
  • 1963 – Graham Poll, English footballer, referee, and journalist
  • 1964 – Jaanus Veensalu, Estonian footballer
  • 1965 – Luis Alicea, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and coach
  • 1965 – Dean Haglund, Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1965 – Adam Holloway, English captain and politician
  • 1965 – Stan Koziol, American soccer player (d. 2014)
  • 1965 – Chang-Rae Lee, South Korean-American author and academic
  • 1965 – Xavier Waterkeyn, Australian author
  • 1965 – Woody Weatherman, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1966 – Sally Gunnell, English hurdler and sportscaster
  • 1966 – Stuart Lampitt, English cricketer
  • 1966 – Martina McBride, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1968 – Gideon Henderson, English geologist and academic
  • 1968 – Paavo Lötjönen, Finnish cellist and educator
  • 1970 – Adele Griffin, American author
  • 1970 – Andi Peters, English journalist, actor, and producer
  • 1970 – John Rennie, Zimbabwean cricketer
  • 1971 – Andrea Philipp, German sprinter
  • 1972 – Wil Wheaton, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1973 – Stephen Dorff, American actor and producer
  • 1973 – Denis Urubko, Kazakh mountaineer
  • 1975 – Yoshihiro Akiyama, Japanese mixed martial artist
  • 1975 – Lanka de Silva, Sri Lankan cricketer
  • 1975 – Corrado Grabbi, Italian footballer
  • 1975 – Jaanus Sirel, Estonian footballer
  • 1978 – Mike Adams, American baseball player
  • 1978 – Marina Lazarovska, Macedonian tennis player
  • 1979 – Karim Essediri, Tunisian footballer
  • 1979 – Ronald Murray, American basketball player
  • 1979 – Juris Umbraško, Latvian basketball player
  • 1980 – Ryan Braun, Canadian-American baseball player
  • 1980 – Fernando González, Chilean tennis player
  • 1980 – Ben Koller, American drummer
  • 1980 – John Morris, Australian rugby league player
  • 1981 – Fernando Alonso, Spanish race car driver
  • 1981 – Andrés Madrid, Argentinian footballer
  • 1981 – Troy Perkins, American soccer player
  • 1982 – Janez Aljančič, Slovenian footballer
  • 1982 – Jônatas Domingos, Brazilian footballer
  • 1982 – Allison Mack, American actress and criminal
  • 1983 – Jason Belmonte, Australian bowler
  • 1983 – Inés Gómez Mont, Mexican journalist and actress
  • 1983 – Alexei Kaigorodov, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1983 – Jerious Norwood, American football player
  • 1983 – Elise Testone, American singer-songwriter
  • 1984 – Oh Beom-seok, South Korean footballer
  • 1984 – Chad Billingsley, American baseball player
  • 1984 – Wilson Palacios, Honduran footballer
  • 1985 – Besart Berisha, Albanian footballer
  • 1985 – Okinoumi Ayumi, Japanese sumo wrestler
  • 1985 – Simon Santoso, Indonesian badminton player
  • 1988 – Tarjei Bø, Norwegian biathlete
  • 1989 – Grit Šadeiko, Estonian heptathlete
  • 1991 – Dale Copley, Australian rugby league player
  • 1991 – Irakli Logua, Russian footballer
  • 1992 – Karen Torrez, Bolivian swimmer
  • 1993 – Nicole Melichar, American tennis player
  • 1994 – Liam O’Brien, Canadian ice hockey player

Deaths on July 29

  • 238 – Balbinus, Roman emperor (b. 165)
  • 238 – Pupienus, Roman emperor (b. 178)
  • 451 – Tuoba Huang, prince of Northern Wei (b. 428)
  • 796 – Offa of Mercia (b. 730)
  • 846 – Li Shen, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty
  • 1030 – Olaf II of Norway (b. 995)
  • 1095 – Ladislaus I of Hungary (b. 1040)
  • 1099 – Pope Urban II (b. 1042)
  • 1108 – Philip I of France (b. 1052)
  • 1236 – Ingeborg of Denmark, Queen of France (b. 1175)
  • 1326 – Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster (b. 1259)
  • 1504 – Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby (b. 1435)
  • 1507 – Martin Behaim, German-Bohemian geographer and astronomer (b. 1459)
  • 1573 – John Caius, English physician and academic (b. 1510)
  • 1612 – Jacques Bongars, French scholar and diplomat (b. 1554)
  • 1644 – Pope Urban VIII (b. 1568)
  • 1752 – Peter Warren, Irish admiral and politician (b. 1703)
  • 1781 – Johann Kies, German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1713)
  • 1792 – René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou, French lawyer and politician, Chancellor of France (b. 1714)
  • 1813 – Jean-Andoche Junot, French general (b. 1771)
  • 1833 – William Wilberforce, English philanthropist and politician (b. 1759)
  • 1839 – Gaspard de Prony, French mathematician and engineer (b. 1755)
  • 1844 – Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart, Austrian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1791)
  • 1856 – Robert Schumann, German composer and critic (b. 1810)
  • 1857 – Thomas Dick, Scottish minister, astronomer, and author (b. 1774)
  • 1887 – Agostino Depretis, Italian politician, 9th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1813)
  • 1890 – Vincent van Gogh, Dutch painter and illustrator (b. 1853)
  • 1895 – Floriano Peixoto, Brazilian general and politician, 2nd President of Brazil (b. 1839)
  • 1900 – Umberto I of Italy (b. 1844)
  • 1908 – Marie Adam-Doerrer (b. 1838)
  • 1913 – Tobias Asser, Dutch lawyer and jurist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1838)
  • 1918 – Ernest William Christmas, Australian-American painter (b. 1863)
  • 1924 – Sotirios Krokidas, Greek educator and politician, 110th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1852)
  • 1934 – Didier Pitre, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1883)
  • 1938 – Nikolai Krylenko, Russian lawyer, jurist, and politician, Prosecutor General of the Russian SFSR (b. 1885)
  • 1950 – Joe Fry, English race car driver (b. 1915)
  • 1951 – Ali Sami Yen, Turkish footballer and manager, founded Galatasaray S.K. (b. 1886)
  • 1954 – Coen de Koning, Dutch speed skater (b. 1879)
  • 1960 – Hasan Saka, Turkish politician, 7th Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1885)
  • 1962 – Ronald Fisher, English biologist and statistician (b. 1890)
  • 1962 – Leonardo De Lorenzo, Italian-American flute player and educator (b. 1875)
  • 1964 – Vean Gregg, American baseball player (b. 1885)
  • 1966 – Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, Nigerian general and politician, 2nd Head of State of Nigeria (b. 1924)
  • 1966 – Adekunle Fajuyi, Nigerian colonel (b. 1926)
  • 1970 – John Barbirolli, English cellist and conductor (b. 1899)
  • 1973 – Norm Smith, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1915)
  • 1973 – Roger Williamson, English race car driver (b. 1948)
  • 1974 – Cass Elliot, American singer (b. 1941)
  • 1974 – Erich Kästner, German author and poet (b. 1899)
  • 1976 – Mickey Cohen, American gangster (b. 1913)
  • 1978 – Andrzej Bogucki, Polish actor, operetta singer, and songwriter (b. 1904)
  • 1979 – Herbert Marcuse, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1898)
  • 1979 – Bill Todman, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1916)
  • 1981 – Robert Moses, American urban planner, designed the Northern State Parkway and Southern State Parkway (b. 1888)
  • 1982 – Harold Sakata, American wrestler and actor (b. 1920)
  • 1982 – Vladimir K. Zworykin, Russian-American engineer, invented the Iconoscope (b. 1889)
  • 1983 – Luis Buñuel, Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1900)
  • 1983 – Raymond Massey, Canadian-American actor and screenwriter (b. 1896)
  • 1983 – David Niven, English military officer and actor (b. 1910)
  • 1984 – Fred Waring, American television host and bandleader (b. 1900)
  • 1987 – Bibhutibhushan Mukhopadhyay, Indian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1894)
  • 1990 – Bruno Kreisky, Austrian academic and politician, 22nd Chancellor of Austria (b. 1911)
  • 1992 – Michel Larocque, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (b. 1952)
  • 1994 – John Britton, American physician (b. 1925)
  • 1994 – Dorothy Hodgkin, Egyptian-English biochemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
  • 1995 – Les Elgart, American trumpet player and bandleader (b. 1917)
  • 1996 – Ric Nordman, Canadian businessman and politician (b. 1919)
  • 1996 – Marcel-Paul Schützenberger, French mathematician and theorist (b. 1920)
  • 1996 – Jason Thirsk, American singer and bass player (b. 1967)
  • 1998 – Jerome Robbins, American director, producer, and choreographer (b. 1918)
  • 2001 – Edward Gierek, Polish soldier and politician (b. 1913)
  • 2001 – Wau Holland, German computer scientist, co-founded Chaos Computer Club (b. 1951)
  • 2003 – Foday Sankoh, Sierra Leonean soldier, founded the Revolutionary United Front (b. 1937)
  • 2004 – Rena Vlahopoulou, Greek actress and singer (b. 1923)
  • 2007 – Mike Reid, English comedian, actor, and author (b. 1940)
  • 2007 – Michel Serrault, French actor (b. 1928)
  • 2007 – Tom Snyder, American journalist and talk show host (b. 1936)
  • 2007 – Marvin Zindler, American journalist (b. 1921)
  • 2008 – Bruce Edward Ivins, American scientist and bio-defense researcher (b. 1946)
  • 2010 – Charles E. Wicks, American chemist and academic (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Tatiana Egorova, Russian footballer and manager (b. 1970)
  • 2012 – August Kowalczyk, Polish actor and director (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – Chris Marker, French photographer and journalist (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – James Mellaart, English archaeologist and author (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – John Stampe, Danish footballer and coach (b. 1957)
  • 2013 – Christian Benítez, Ecuadorian footballer (b. 1986)
  • 2013 – Peter Flanigan, American banker and civil servant (b. 1923)
  • 2013 – Tony Gaze, Australian soldier, pilot, and race car driver (b. 1920)
  • 2013 – Munir Hussain, Indian cricketer and sportscaster (b. 1929)
  • 2014 – M. Caldwell Butler, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Jon R. Cavaiani, English-American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1943)
  • 2014 – Giorgio Gaslini, Italian pianist and composer (b. 1929)
  • 2014 – María Antonia Iglesias, Spanish journalist and author (b. 1945)
  • 2014 – Péter Kiss, Hungarian engineer and politician (b. 1959)
  • 2014 – Idris Muhammad, American drummer and composer (b. 1939)
  • 2014 – Thomas R. St. George, American soldier and author (b. 1919)
  • 2015 – Antony Holland, English-Canadian actor, director, and playwright (b. 1920)
  • 2015 – Peter O’Sullevan, Anglo-Irish sportscaster (b. 1918)
  • 2015 – Mike Pyle, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1939)
  • 2015 – Franklin H. Westervelt, American computer scientist, engineer, and academic (b. 1930)
  • 2018 – Oliver Dragojević, a Croatian recording artist (b. 1947)
  • 2018 – Josip Peruzovic, Yugoslav-born American professional wrestler (b. 1947)

Holidays and observances on July 29

  • Christian feast day:
    • Lupus of Troyes
    • Martha of Bethany (Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran Church)
    • Mary of Bethany
    • Olaf II of Norway
    • Simplicius, Faustinus and Beatrix
    • July 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Somer’s Day can fall, while August 4 is the latest; celebrated on Friday before the first Monday in August. (Bermuda)
  • International Tiger Day
  • Mohun Bagan Day (India)
  • National Anthem Day (Romania)
  • National Thai Language Day (Thailand)
  • Ólavsøka or Olsok, opening of the Løgting session. (Faroe Islands and the Nordic countries)

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

by

This day usually marks the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, which is the day of the year with the most hours of daylight in the Northern Hemisphere and the fewest hours of daylight in the Southern Hemisphere.

June 21 in History

  • 533 – A Byzantine expeditionary fleet under Belisarius sails from Constantinople to attack the Vandals in Africa, via Greece and Sicily (approximate date).
  • 1307 – Külüg Khan is enthroned as Khagan of the Mongols and Wuzong of the Yuan.
  • 1529 – French forces are driven out of northern Italy by Spain at the Battle of Landriano during the War of the League of Cognac.
  • 1582 – Sengoku period: Oda Nobunaga, the most powerful of the Japanese daimyōs, is forced to commit suicide by his own general Akechi Mitsuhide.
  • 1621 – Execution of 27 Czech noblemen on the Old Town Square in Prague as a consequence of the Battle of White Mountain.
  • 1734 – In Montreal in New France, a slave known by the French name of Marie-Joseph Angélique is put to death, having been convicted of setting the fire that destroyed much of the city.
  • 1749 – Halifax, Nova Scotia, is founded.
  • 1768 – James Otis Jr. offends the King and Parliament in a speech to the Massachusetts General Court.
  • 1788 – New Hampshire becomes the ninth state to ratify the Constitution of the United States.
  • 1791 – King Louis XVI of France and his immediate family begin the Flight to Varennes during the French Revolution.
  • 1798 – Irish Rebellion of 1798: The British Army defeats Irish rebels at the Battle of Vinegar Hill.
  • 1813 – Peninsular War: Wellington defeats Joseph Bonaparte at the Battle of Vitoria.
  • 1824 – Greek War of Independence: Egyptian forces capture Psara in the Aegean Sea.
  • 1826 – Maniots defeat Egyptians under Ibrahim Pasha in the Battle of Vergas.
  • 1848 – In the Wallachian Revolution, Ion Heliade Rădulescu and Christian Tell issue the Proclamation of Islaz and create a new republican government.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road begins.
  • 1898 – The United States captures Guam from Spain. The few warning shots fired by the U.S. naval vessels are misinterpreted as salutes by the Spanish garrison, which was unaware that the two nations were at war.
  • 1900 – Boxer Rebellion. China formally declares war on the United States, Britain, Germany, France and Japan, as an edict issued from the Empress Dowager Cixi.
  • 1915 – The U.S. Supreme Court hands down its decision in Guinn v. United States 238 US 347 1915, striking down Oklahoma grandfather clause legislation which had the effect of denying the right to vote to blacks.
  • 1919 – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police fire a volley into a crowd of unemployed war veterans, killing two, during the Winnipeg general strike.
  • 1919 – Admiral Ludwig von Reuter scuttles the German fleet at Scapa Flow, Orkney. The nine sailors killed are the last casualties of World War I.
  • 1929 – An agreement brokered by U.S. Ambassador Dwight Whitney Morrow ends the Cristero War in Mexico.
  • 1930 – One-year conscription comes into force in France.
  • 1940 – World War II: Italy begins an unsuccessful invasion of France.
  • 1942 – World War II: Tobruk falls to Italian and German forces.
  • 1942 – World War II: A Japanese submarine surfaces near the Columbia River in Oregon, firing 17 shells at Fort Stevens in one of only a handful of attacks by Japan against the United States mainland.
  • 1945 – World War II: The Battle of Okinawa ends when the organized resistance of Imperial Japanese Army forces collapses in the Mabuni area on the southern tip of the main island.
  • 1952 – The Philippine School of Commerce, through a republic act, is converted to Philippine College of Commerce, later to be the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
  • 1957 – Ellen Fairclough is sworn in as Canada’s first female Cabinet Minister.
  • 1963 – Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini is elected as Pope Paul VI.
  • 1964 – Three civil rights workers, Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner, are murdered in Neshoba County, Mississippi, United States, by members of the Ku Klux Klan.
  • 1970 – Penn Central declares Section 77 bankruptcy in what was the largest U.S. corporate bankruptcy to date.
  • 1973 – In its decision in Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15, the Supreme Court of the United States establishes the Miller test for determining whether something is obscene and not protected speech under the U.S. constitution.
  • 1978 – The original production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, Evita, based on the life of Eva Perón, opens at the Prince Edward Theatre, London.
  • 1982 – John Hinckley is found not guilty by reason of insanity for the attempted assassination of U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
  • 1989 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397, that American flag-burning is a form of political protest protected by the First Amendment.
  • 2000 – Section 28 (of the Local Government Act 1988), outlawing the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality in the United Kingdom, is repealed in Scotland with a 99 to 17 vote.
  • 2001 – A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, indicts 13 Saudis and a Lebanese in the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 American servicemen.
  • 2004 – SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight.
  • 2005 – Edgar Ray Killen, who had previously been unsuccessfully tried for the murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Mickey Schwerner, is convicted of manslaughter 41 years afterwards (the case had been reopened in 2004).
  • 2006 – Pluto’s newly discovered moons are officially named Nix and Hydra.
  • 2009 – Greenland assumes self-rule.
  • 2012 – A boat carrying more than 200 migrants capsizes in the Indian Ocean between the Indonesian island of Java and Christmas Island, killing 17 people and leaving 70 others missing.

Births on June 21

  • 598 – Pope Martin I (d. 656)
  • 906 – Abu Ja’far Ahmad ibn Muhammad, Saffarid emir (d. 963)
  • 1002 – Pope Leo IX (d. 1054)
  • 1226 – Bolesław V the Chaste of Poland (d. 1279)
  • 1521 – John II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Haderslev (d. 1580)
  • 1528 – Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress (d. 1603)
  • 1535 – Leonhard Rauwolf, German physician and botanist (d. 1596)
  • 1630 – Samuel Oppenheimer, German Jewish banker and diplomat (d. 1703)
  • 1636 – Godefroy Maurice de La Tour d’Auvergne, Duke of Bouillon, French noble (d. 1721)
  • 1639 – Increase Mather, American minister and author (d. 1723)
  • 1676 – Anthony Collins, English philosopher and author (d. 1729)
  • 1706 – John Dollond, English optician and astronomer (d. 1761)
  • 1710 – James Short, Scottish-English mathematician and optician (d. 1768)
  • 1712 – Luc Urbain de Bouëxic, comte de Guichen, French admiral (d. 1790)
  • 1730 – Motoori Norinaga, Japanese poet and scholar (d. 1801)
  • 1732 – Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, German pianist and composer (d. 1791)
  • 1736 – Enoch Poor, American general (d. 1780)
  • 1741 – Prince Benedetto, Duke of Chablais (d. 1808)
  • 1750 – Pierre-Nicolas Beauvallet, French sculptor and illustrator (d. 1818)
  • 1759 – Alexander J. Dallas, American lawyer and politician, 6th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1817)
  • 1763 – Pierre Paul Royer-Collard, French philosopher and academic (d. 1845)
  • 1764 – Sidney Smith, English admiral and politician (d. 1840)
  • 1774 – Daniel D. Tompkins, American lawyer and politician, 6th Vice President of the United States (d. 1825)
  • 1781 – Siméon Denis Poisson, French mathematician and physicist (d. 1840)
  • 1786 – Charles Edward Horn, English singer-songwriter (d. 1849)
  • 1792 – Ferdinand Christian Baur, German theologian and scholar (d. 1860)
  • 1797 – Wilhelm Küchelbecker, Russian poet and author (d. 1846)
  • 1802 – Karl Zittel, German theologian (d. 1871)
  • 1805 – Karl Friedrich Curschmann, German composer and singer (d. 1841)
  • 1805 – Charles Thomas Jackson, American physician and geologist (d. 1880)
  • 1811 – Carlo Matteucci, Italian physicist and neurophysiologist (d. 1868)
  • 1814 – Anton Nuhn, German anatomist and academic (d. 1889)
  • 1823 – Jean Chacornac, French astronomer (d. 1873)
  • 1825 – Thomas Edward Cliffe Leslie, Irish economist and jurist (d. 1882)
  • 1825 – William Stubbs, English bishop and historian (d. 1901)
  • 1828 – Ferdinand André Fouqué, French geologist and academic (d. 1904)
  • 1828 – Nikolaus Nilles, German Catholic writer and teacher (d. 1907)
  • 1834 – Frans de Cort, Flemish poet and author (d. 1878)
  • 1836 – Luigi Tripepi, Italian theologian (d. 1906)
  • 1839 – Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, Brazilian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1908)
  • 1845 – Samuel Griffith, Welsh-Australian politician, 9th Premier of Queensland (d. 1920)
  • 1845 – Arthur Cowper Ranyard, English astrophysicist and astronomer (d. 1894)
  • 1846 – Marion Adams-Acton, Scottish-English author and playwright (d. 1928)
  • 1846 – Enrico Coleman, Italian painter (d. 1911)
  • 1850 – Daniel Carter Beard, American author and illustrator, co-founded the Boy Scouts of America (d. 1941)
  • 1858 – Giuseppe De Sanctis, Italian painter (d. 1924)
  • 1858 – Medardo Rosso, Italian sculptor and educator (d. 1928)
  • 1859 – Henry Ossawa Tanner, American-French painter and illustrator (d. 1937)
  • 1862 – Damrong Rajanubhab, Thai historian and author (d. 1943)
  • 1863 – Max Wolf, German astronomer and academic (d. 1932)
  • 1864 – Heinrich Wölfflin, Swiss historian and critic (d. 1945)
  • 1867 – Oscar Florianus Bluemner, German-American painter and illustrator (d. 1938)
  • 1867 – William Brede Kristensen, Norwegian historian of religion (d. 1953)
  • 1868 – Edwin Stephen Goodrich, English zoologist and anatomist (d. 1946)
  • 1870 – Clara Immerwahr, Jewish-German chemist and academic (d. 1915)
  • 1870 – Anthony Michell, English-Australian engineer (d. 1959)
  • 1870 – Julio Ruelas, Mexican painter (d. 1907)
  • 1876 – Swami Kalyan Dev, philosopher  (d. 2004)
  • 1876 – Willem Hendrik Keesom, Dutch physicist and academic (d. 1956)
  • 1880 – Arnold Gesell, American psychologist and pediatrician (d. 1961)
  • 1880 – Josiah Stamp, 1st Baron Stamp, English economist and civil servant (d. 1941)
  • 1881 – (O.S.) Natalia Goncharova, Russian painter, costume designer, and illustrator (d. 1962)
  • 1882 – Lluís Companys, Spanish lawyer and politician, 123rd President of Catalonia (d. 1940)
  • 1882 – Adrianus de Jong, Dutch fencer and soldier (d. 1966)
  • 1882 – Rockwell Kent, American painter and illustrator (d. 1971)
  • 1883 – Feodor Gladkov, Russian author and educator (d. 1958)
  • 1884 – Claude Auchinleck, English field marshal (d. 1981)
  • 1887 – Norman L. Bowen, Canadian geologist and petrologist (d. 1956)
  • 1889 – Ralph Craig, American sprinter and sailor (d. 1972)
  • 1891 – Pier Luigi Nervi, Italian architect and engineer, co-designed the Pirelli Tower and Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption (d. 1979)
  • 1891 – Hermann Scherchen, German-Swiss viola player and conductor (d. 1966)
  • 1892 – Reinhold Niebuhr, American theologian and academic (d. 1971)
  • 1893 – Alois Hába, Czech composer and educator (d. 1973)
  • 1894 – Milward Kennedy, English journalist and civil servant (d. 1968)
  • 1896 – Charles Momsen, American admiral, invented the Momsen lung (d. 1967)
  • 1898 – Donald C. Peattie, American botanist and author (d. 1964)
  • 1899 – Pavel Haas, Czech composer (d. 1944)
  • 1903 – Hermann Engelhard, German runner and coach (d. 1984)
  • 1903 – Al Hirschfeld, American caricaturist, painter and illustrator (d. 2003)
  • 1905 – Jacques Goddet, French journalist (d. 2000)
  • 1905 – Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and author (d. 1980)
  • 1908 – William Frankena, American philosopher and academic (d. 1994)
  • 1910 – Aleksandr Tvardovsky, Russian poet and author (d. 1971)
  • 1911 – Irving Fein, American producer and manager (d. 2012)
  • 1912 – Kazimierz Leski, Polish pilot and engineer (d. 2000)
  • 1912 – Mary McCarthy, American novelist and critic (d. 1989)
  • 1912 – Vishnu Prabhakar, Indian author and playwright (d. 2009)
  • 1913 – Madihe Pannaseeha Thero, Sri Lankan monk and scholar (d. 2003)
  • 1913 – Luis Taruc, Filipino political activist (d. 2005)
  • 1914 – William Vickrey, Canadian-American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
  • 1915 – Wilhelm Gliese, German soldier and astronomer (d. 1993)
  • 1916 – Joseph Cyril Bamford, English businessman, founded J. C. Bamford (d. 2001)
  • 1916 – Tchan Fou-li, Chinese photographer (d. 2018)
  • 1916 – Herbert Friedman, American physicist and astronomer (d. 2000)
  • 1916 – Buddy O’Connor, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1977)
  • 1918 – Robert A. Boyd, Canadian engineer (d. 2006)
  • 1918 – James Joll, English historian, author, and academic (d. 1994)
  • 1918 – Eddie Lopat, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1992)
  • 1918 – Dee Molenaar, American mountaineer (d. 2020)
  • 1918 – Robert Roosa, American economist and banker (d. 1993)
  • 1918 – Tibor Szele, Hungarian mathematician and academic (d. 1955)
  • 1918 – Josephine Webb, American engineer
  • 1919 – Antonia Mesina, Italian martyr and saint (d. 1935)
  • 1919 – Gérard Pelletier, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 1997)
  • 1919 – Vladimir Simagin, Russian chess player and coach (d. 1968)
  • 1919 – Paolo Soleri, Italian-American architect, designed the Cosanti (d. 2013)
  • 1920 – Hans Gerschwiler, Swiss figure skater (d. 2017)
  • 1921 – Judy Holliday, American actress and singer (d. 1965)
  • 1921 – Jane Russell, American actress and singer (d. 2011)
  • 1921 – William Edwin Self, American actor, producer, and production manager (d. 2010)
  • 1922 – Joseph Ki-Zerbo, Burkinabé historian, politician and writer (d. 2006)
  • 1923 – Jacques Hébert, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 2007)
  • 1924 – Pontus Hultén, Swedish art collector and historian (d. 2006)
  • 1924 – Ezzatolah Entezami, Iranian actor (d. 2018)
  • 1924 – Wally Fawkes, British-Canadian jazz clarinetist and a satirical cartoonist
  • 1924 – Jean Laplanche, French psychoanalyst and academic (d. 2012)
  • 1925 – Larisa Avdeyeva, Russian mezzo-soprano (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Stanley Moss, American poet, publisher, and art dealer
  • 1925 – Giovanni Spadolini, Italian journalist and politician, 45th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1994)
  • 1925 – Maureen Stapleton, American actress (d. 2006)
  • 1926 – Fred Cone, American football player
  • 1926 – Conrad Hall, French-American cinematographer (d. 2003)
  • 1927 – Carl Stokes, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Seychelles (d. 1996)
  • 1928 – Wolfgang Haken, German-American mathematician and academic
  • 1928 – Fiorella Mari, Brazilian-Italian actress
  • 1928 – Margit Bara, Hungarian actress (d. 2016)
  • 1929 – Alexandre Lagoya, Egyptian-Greek guitarist and composer (d. 1999)
  • 1930 – Gerald Kaufman, English journalist and politician, Shadow Foreign Secretary (d. 2017)
  • 1930 – Mike McCormack, American football player and coach (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Zlatko Grgić, Croatian-Canadian animator, director, and screenwriter (d. 1988)
  • 1931 – Margaret Heckler, American journalist, lawyer, and politician, 15th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services
  • 1931 – David Kushnir, Israeli Olympic long-jumper
  • 1932 – Bernard Ingham, English journalist and civil servant
  • 1932 – Lalo Schifrin, Argentinian pianist, composer, and conductor
  • 1932 – O.C. Smith, American R&B/jazz singer (d. 2001)
  • 1933 – Bernie Kopell, American actor and comedian
  • 1935 – Françoise Sagan, French author and playwright (d. 2004)
  • 1937 – John Edrich, English cricketer and coach
  • 1938 – Don Black, English songwriter
  • 1938 – John W. Dower, American historian and author
  • 1938 – Michael M. Richter, German mathematician and computer scientist
  • 1940 – Mariette Hartley, American actress and television personality
  • 1940 – Michael Ruse, Canadian philosopher and academic
  • 1941 – Aloysius Paul D’Souza, Indian bishop
  • 1941 – Joe Flaherty, American-Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1941 – Lyman Ward, Canadian actor
  • 1942 – Clive Brooke, Baron Brooke of Alverthorpe, English businessman and politician
  • 1942 – Marjorie Margolies, American journalist and politician
  • 1942 – Henry S. Taylor, American author and poet
  • 1942 – Togo D. West, Jr., American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs
  • 1943 – Eumir Deodato, Brazilian pianist, composer, and producer
  • 1943 – Diane Marleau, Canadian accountant and politician, Canadian Minister of Health (d. 2013)
  • 1943 – Brian Sternberg, American pole vaulter (d. 2013)
  • 1944 – Ray Davies, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1944 – Tony Scott, English-American director and producer (d. 2012)
  • 1945 – Robert Dewar, English-American computer scientist and academic (d. 2015)
  • 1945 – Adam Zagajewski, Polish author and poet
  • 1946 – Per Eklund, Swedish race car driver
  • 1946 – Kate Hoey, Northern Irish-British academic and politician, Minister for Sport and the Olympics
  • 1946 – Brenda Holloway, American singer-songwriter
  • 1946 – Trond Kirkvaag, Norwegian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2007)
  • 1946 – Malcolm Rifkind, Scottish lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
  • 1946 – Maurice Saatchi, Baron Saatchi, Iraqi-British businessman, founded M&C Saatchi and Saatchi & Saatchi
  • 1947 – Meredith Baxter, American actress
  • 1947 – Shirin Ebadi, Iranian lawyer, judge, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1947 – Michael Gross, American actor
  • 1947 – Joey Molland, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1947 – Wade Phillips, American football coach
  • 1947 – Fernando Savater, Spanish philosopher and author
  • 1948 – Jovan Aćimović, Serbian footballer and manager
  • 1948 – Ian McEwan, British novelist and screenwriter
  • 1948 – Andrzej Sapkowski, Polish author and translator
  • 1948 – Philippe Sarde, French composer and conductor
  • 1949 – John Agard, Guyanese-English author, poet, and playwright
  • 1949 – Derek Emslie, Lord Kingarth, Scottish lawyer and judge
  • 1950 – Anne Carson, Canadian poet and academic
  • 1950 – Joey Kramer, American rock drummer and songwriter (Aerosmith)
  • 1950 – Enn Reitel, Scottish actor and screenwriter
  • 1950 – Trygve Thue, Norwegian guitarist and record producer
  • 1950 – John Paul Young, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter
  • 1951 – Jim Douglas, American academic and politician, 80th Governor of Vermont
  • 1951 – Terence Etherton, English lawyer and judge
  • 1951 – Alan Hudson, English footballer
  • 1951 – Nils Lofgren, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1951 – Lenore Manderson, Australian anthropologist and academic
  • 1951 – Mona-Lisa Pursiainen, Finnish sprinter (d. 2000)
  • 1952 – Judith Bingham, English singer-songwriter
  • 1952 – Jeremy Coney, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster
  • 1952 – Patrick Dunleavy, English political scientist and academic
  • 1952 – Kōichi Mashimo, Japanese director and screenwriter
  • 1953 – Benazir Bhutto, Pakistani financier and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan (d. 2007)
  • 1954 – Már Guðmundsson, Icelandic economist, former Governor of Central Bank of Iceland
  • 1954 – Mark Kimmitt, American general and politician, 16th Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs
  • 1954 – Robert Menasse, Austrian author and academic
  • 1955 – Tim Bray, Canadian software developer and businessman
  • 1955 – Michel Platini, French footballer and manager
  • 1956 – Rick Sutcliffe, American baseball player and broadcaster
  • 1957 – Berkeley Breathed, American author and illustrator
  • 1957 – Luis Antonio Tagle, Filipino cardinal
  • 1958 – Víctor Montoya, Bolivian journalist and author
  • 1958 – Gennady Padalka, Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1959 – John Baron, English captain and politician
  • 1959 – Tom Chambers, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1959 – Marcella Detroit, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1959 – Kathy Mattea, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1960 – Kate Brown, American politician, 38th Governor of Oregon
  • 1960 – Karl Erjavec, Slovenian politician
  • 1961 – Manu Chao, French singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1961 – Sascha Konietzko, German keyboard player and producer
  • 1961 – Joko Widodo, Indonesian businessman and politician, 7th President of Indonesia
  • 1961 – Kip Winger, American rock singer-songwriter and musician
  • 1961 – Iztok Mlakar, Slovenian actor and singer-songwriter
  • 1962 – Shōhei Takada, Japanese shogi player and theoretician
  • 1962 – Viktor Tsoi, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1990)
  • 1963 – Dario Marianelli, Italian pianist and composer
  • 1963 – Mike Sherrard, American football player
  • 1964 – David Morrissey, English actor and director
  • 1964 – Dimitris Papaioannou, Greek director and choreographer
  • 1964 – Dean Saunders, Welsh footballer and manager
  • 1964 – Doug Savant, American actor
  • 1965 – David Beerling, English biologist and academic
  • 1965 – Yang Liwei, Chinese general, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1965 – Ewen McKenzie, Australian rugby player and coach
  • 1965 – Lana Wachowski, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1966 – Gretchen Carlson, American model and television journalist, Miss America 1989
  • 1967 – Jim Breuer, American comedian, actor, and producer
  • 1967 – Derrick Coleman, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1967 – Pierre Omidyar, French-American businessman, founded eBay
  • 1967 – Carrie Preston, American actress, director, and producer
  • 1967 – Yingluck Shinawatra, Thai businesswoman and politician, 28th Prime Minister of Thailand
  • 1968 – Sonique, English singer-songwriter and DJ
  • 1970 – Eric Reed, American pianist and composer
  • 1971 – Tyronne Drakeford, American football player
  • 1972 – Nobuharu Asahara, Japanese sprinter and long jumper
  • 1972 – Neil Doak, Northern Irish cricketer and rugby player
  • 1972 – Irene van Dyk, South African-New Zealand netball player
  • 1973 – Juliette Lewis, American actress and singer-songwriter
  • 1973 – John Mitchell, English guitarist, vocalist and songwriter
  • 1974 – Rob Kelly, American football player
  • 1974 – Craig Lowndes, Australian race car driver
  • 1974 – Flavio Roma, Italian footballer
  • 1975 – Brian Simmons, American football player
  • 1976 – Shelley Craft, Australian television host
  • 1976 – Mike Einziger, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1976 – Nigel Lappin, Australian footballer and coach
  • 1977 – Michael Gomez, Irish boxer
  • 1977 – Al Wilson, American football player
  • 1978 – Thomas Blondeau, Flemish writer (d. 2013)
  • 1978 – Matt Kuchar, American golfer
  • 1978 – Cristiano Lupatelli, Italian footballer
  • 1978 – Gervase Markham, British software engineer (d. 2018)
  • 1978 – Dejan Ognjanović, Montenegrin footballer
  • 1978 – Rim’K, French rapper
  • 1979 – Kostas Katsouranis, Greek footballer
  • 1979 – Chris Pratt, American actor
  • 1980 – Michael Crocker, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
  • 1980 – Łukasz Cyborowski, Polish chess player
  • 1980 – Richard Jefferson, American basketball player
  • 1980 – Sendy Rleal, Dominican baseball player
  • 1981 – Yann Danis, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1981 – Garrett Jones, American baseball player
  • 1981 – Brandon Flowers, American singer-songwriter
  • 1981 – Brad Walker, American pole vaulter
  • 1982 – Lee Dae-ho, South Korean baseball player
  • 1982 – Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
  • 1982 – Jussie Smollett, American actor and singer
  • 1983 – Edward Snowden, American activist and academic
  • 1985 – Lana Del Rey, American singer-songwriter
  • 1985 – Sentayehu Ejigu, Ethiopian runner
  • 1985 – Byron Schammer, Australian footballer
  • 1986 – Kathleen O’Kelly-Kennedy, Australian wheelchair basketball player
  • 1986 – Hideaki Wakui, Japanese baseball player
  • 1987 – Pablo Barrera, Mexican footballer
  • 1987 – Sebastian Prödl, Austrian footballer
  • 1987 – Dale Thomas, Australian footballer
  • 1988 – Allyssa DeHaan, American basketball and volleyball player
  • 1988 – Paolo Tornaghi, Italian footballer
  • 1988 – Thaddeus Young, American basketball player
  • 1989 – Abubaker Kaki, Sudanese runner
  • 1990 – Ričardas Berankis, Lithuanian tennis player
  • 1990 – Lunar C, English rapper
  • 1990 – François Moubandje, Swiss footballer
  • 1990 – Håvard Nordtveit, Norwegian footballer
  • 1991 – Gaël Kakuta, French footballer
  • 1992 – MAX, American singer, songwriter, actor, dancer and model
  • 1994 – Başak Eraydın, Turkish tennis player
  • 1996 – Tyrone May, Australian rugby league player
  • 1997 – Rebecca Black, American singer-songwriter
  • 1997 – Derrius Guice, American football player
  • 2011 – Lil Bub, American celebrity cat

Deaths on June 21

  • 532 – Emperor Jiemin of Northern Wei, former Northern Wei emperor
  • 866 – Rodulf, Frankish archbishop
  • 868 – Ali al-Hadi, the tenth Imam of Shia Islam (b. 829)
  • 870 – Al-Muhtadi, Muslim caliph
  • 947 – Zhang Li, official of the Liao Dynasty
  • 1040 – Fulk III, Count of Anjou (b. 972)
  • 1171 – Walter de Luci, French-English monk (b. 1103)
  • 1208 – Philip of Swabia (b. 1177)
  • 1305 – Wenceslaus II of Bohemia (b. 1271)
  • 1359 – Erik Magnusson, king of Sweden (b. 1339)
  • 1377 – Edward III of England (b. 1312)
  • 1421 – Jean Le Maingre, French general (b. 1366)
  • 1527 – Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian historian and author (b. 1469)
  • 1529 – John Skelton, English poet and educator (b. 1460)
  • 1547 – Sebastiano del Piombo, Italian painter and educator (b. 1485)
  • 1558 – Piero Strozzi, Italian general (b. 1510)
  • 1582 – Oda Nobunaga, Japanese warlord (b. 1534)
  • 1585 – Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland (b. 1532)
  • 1591 – Aloysius Gonzaga, Italian saint (b. 1568)
  • 1596 – Jean Liebault, French agronomist and physician (b. 1535)
  • 1621 – Louis III, Cardinal of Guise (b. 1575)
  • 1621 – Kryštof Harant, Czech soldier and composer (b. 1564)
  • 1622 – Salomon Schweigger, German theologian (b. 1551)
  • 1631 – John Smith, English admiral and explorer (b. 1580)
  • 1652 – Inigo Jones, English architect, designed the Queen’s House and Wilton House (b. 1573)
  • 1661 – Andrea Sacchi, Italian painter (b. 1599)
  • 1737 – Matthieu Marais, French author, critic, and jurist (b. 1664)
  • 1738 – Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1674)
  • 1796 – Richard Gridley, American soldier and engineer (b. 1710)
  • 1824 – Étienne Aignan, French playwright and translator (b. 1773)
  • 1865 – Frances Adeline Seward, American wife of William H. Seward (b. 1824)
  • 1874 – Anders Jonas Ångström, Swedish physicist and astronomer (b. 1814)
  • 1876 – Antonio López de Santa Anna, Mexican general and politician 8th President of Mexico (b. 1794)
  • 1880 – Theophilus H. Holmes, American general (b. 1804)
  • 1893 – Leland Stanford, American businessman and politician, 8th Governor of California (b. 1824)
  • 1908 – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian composer and educator (b. 1844)
  • 1914 – Bertha von Suttner, Austrian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1843)
  • 1929 – Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse, English sociologist, journalist, and academic (b. 1864)
  • 1934 – Thorne Smith, American author (b. 1892)
  • 1940 – Smedley Butler, American general, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1881)
  • 1940 – Édouard Vuillard, French painter (b. 1868)
  • 1951 – Charles Dillon Perrine, American astronomer (b. 1867)
  • 1951 – Gustave Sandras, French gymnast (b. 1872)
  • 1952 – Wop May, Canadian captain and pilot (b. 1896)
  • 1954 – Gideon Sundback, Swedish-American engineer, developed the zipper (b. 1880)
  • 1957 – Claude Farrère, French captain and author (b. 1876)
  • 1957 – Johannes Stark, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
  • 1964 – James Chaney, American civil rights activist (b. 1943)
  • 1964 – Andrew Goodman, American civil rights activist (b. 1943)
  • 1964 – Michael Schwerner, American civil rights activist (b. 1939)
  • 1967 – Theodore Sizer, American professor of the history of art (b. 1892)
  • 1969 – Maureen Connolly, American tennis player (b. 1934)
  • 1970 – Sukarno, Indonesian engineer and politician, 1st President of Indonesia (b. 1901)
  • 1970 – Piers Courage, English race car driver (b. 1942)
  • 1976 – Margaret Herrick, American librarian (b. 1902)
  • 1980 – Bert Kaempfert, German conductor and composer (b. 1923)
  • 1981 – Don Figlozzi, American illustrator and animator (b. 1909)
  • 1985 – Hector Boyardee, Italian-American chef and businessman, founded Chef Boyardee (b. 1897)
  • 1985 – Tage Erlander, Swedish lieutenant and politician, 25th Prime Minister of Sweden (b. 1901)
  • 1986 – Assi Rahbani, Lebanese singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1923)
  • 1987 – Madman Muntz, American engineer and businessman, founded the Muntz Car Company (b. 1914)
  • 1988 – Bobby Dodd, American football coach (b. 1908)
  • 1990 – Cedric Belfrage, English journalist and author, co-founded the National Guardian (b. 1904)
  • 1990 – June Christy, American singer (b. 1925)
  • 1992 – Ben Alexander, Australian rugby league player (b. 1971)
  • 1992 – Arthur Gorrie, Australian hobby shop proprietor (b. 1922)
  • 1992 – Rudra Mohammad Shahidullah, Bangladeshi poet, author, and playwright (b. 1956)
  • 1992 – Li Xiannian, Chinese captain and politician, 3rd President of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1909)
  • 1994 – William Wilson Morgan, American astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1906)
  • 1997 – Shintaro Katsu, Japanese actor, singer, director, and producer (b. 1931)
  • 1997 – Fidel Velázquez Sánchez, Mexican trade union leader (b. 1900)
  • 1998 – Harry Cranbrook Allen, English historian (b. 1917)
  • 1998 – Anastasio Ballestrero, Italian cardinal (b. 1913)
  • 1998 – Al Campanis, American baseball player and manager (b. 1916)
  • 1999 – Kami, Japanese drummer (b. 1973)
  • 2000 – Alan Hovhaness, Armenian-American pianist and composer (b. 1911)
  • 2001 – John Lee Hooker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1917)
  • 2001 – Soad Hosny, Egyptian actress and singer (b. 1942)
  • 2001 – Carroll O’Connor, American actor and producer (b. 1924)
  • 2002 – Timothy Findley, Canadian author and playwright (b. 1930)
  • 2003 – Roger Neilson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1934)
  • 2003 – Leon Uris, American soldier and author (b. 1924)
  • 2004 – Leonel Brizola, Brazilian engineer and politician, Governor of Rio de Janeiro (b. 1922)
  • 2004 – Ruth Leach Amonette, American businesswoman (b. 1916)
  • 2005 – Jaime Sin, Filipino cardinal (b. 1928)
  • 2006 – Jared C. Monti, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1975)
  • 2007 – Bob Evans, American businessman, founded Bob Evans Restaurants (b. 1918)
  • 2008 – Scott Kalitta, American race car driver (b. 1962)
  • 2010 – Russell Ash, English author (b. 1946)
  • 2010 – Irwin Barker, Canadian actor and screenwriter (b. 1956)
  • 2010 – İlhan Selçuk, Turkish lawyer, journalist, and author (b. 1925)
  • 2011 – Robert Kroetsch, Canadian author and poet (b. 1927)
  • 2012 – Richard Adler, American composer and producer (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – Abid Hussain, Indian economist and diplomat, Indian Ambassador to the United States (b. 1926)
  • 2012 – Sunil Janah, Indian photographer and journalist (b. 1918)
  • 2012 – Anna Schwartz, American economist and author (b. 1915)
  • 2013 – James P. Gordon, American physicist and academic (b. 1928)
  • 2013 – Elliott Reid, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1920)
  • 2014 – Yozo Ishikawa, Japanese politician, Japanese Minister of Defense (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Walter Kieber, Austrian-Liechtenstein politician, 7th Prime Minister of Liechtenstein (b. 1931)
  • 2014 – Wong Ho Leng, Malaysian lawyer and politician (b. 1959)
  • 2015 – Darryl Hamilton, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1964)
  • 2015 – Veijo Meri, Finnish author and poet (b. 1928)
  • 2015 – Remo Remotti, Italian actor, playwright, and poet (b. 1924)
  • 2015 – Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski, German soldier and politician (b. 1932)
  • 2015 – Gunther Schuller, American horn player, composer, and conductor (b. 1925)
  • 2016 – Pierre Lalonde, Canadian television host and singer (b. 1941)
  • 2018 – Charles Krauthammer, American columnist and conservative political commentator (b.1950)

Holidays and observances on June 21

  • Christian feast day:
    • Alban of Mainz
    • Aloysius Gonzaga
    • Engelmund of Velsen
    • Martin of Tongres
    • Onesimos Nesib (Lutheran)
    • June 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Day of the Martyrs (Togo)
  • Father’s Day (Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Uganda, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates)
  • Go Skateboarding Day
  • International Yoga Day (international)
  • National Aboriginal Day (Canada)
  • Solstice-related observances (see also June 20):
    • Day of Private Reflection
    • International Surfing Day
    • National Day (Greenland)
    • We Tripantu, a winter solstice festival in the southern hemisphere. (Mapuche, southern Chile)
    • Willkakuti, an Andean-Amazonic New Year (Aymara)
    • Fête de la Musique
  • World Humanist Day (Humanism)
  • World Hydrography Day (international)

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

by
  • 411 BC – The Athenian coup succeeds, forming a short-lived oligarchy.
  • AD 53 – The Roman emperor Nero marries Claudia Octavia.
  • AD 68 – Nero commits suicide, after quoting Homer’s Iliad, thus ending the Julio-Claudian dynasty and starting the civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors.
  • 721 – Odo of Aquitaine defeats the Moors in the Battle of Toulouse.
  • 747 – Abbasid Revolution: Abu Muslim Khorasani begins an open revolt against Umayyad rule, which is carried out under the sign of the Black Standard.
  • 1311 – Duccio’s Maestà, a seminal artwork of the early Italian Renaissance, is unveiled and installed in Siena Cathedral in Siena, Italy.
  • 1523 – The Parisian Faculty of Theology fines Simon de Colines for publishing the Biblical commentary Commentarii initiatorii in quatuor Evangelia by Jacques Lefèvre d’Étaples.
  • 1534 – Jacques Cartier is the first European to describe and map the Saint Lawrence River.
  • 1667 – Second Anglo-Dutch War: The Raid on the Medway by the Dutch fleet begins. It lasts for five days and results in the worst ever defeat of the Royal Navy.
  • 1732 – James Oglethorpe is granted a royal charter for the colony of the future U.S. state of Georgia.
  • 1772 – The British schooner Gaspee is burned in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.
  • 1798 – Irish Rebellion of 1798: Battles of Arklow and Saintfield.
  • 1815 – End of the Congress of Vienna: The new European political situation is set.
  • 1856 – Five hundred Mormons leave Iowa City, Iowa for the Mormon Trail.
  • 1862 – American Civil War: Stonewall Jackson concludes his successful Shenandoah Valley Campaign with a victory in the Battle of Port Republic; his tactics during the campaign are now studied by militaries around the world.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Brandy Station, Virginia.
  • 1885 – Treaty of Tientsin is signed to end the Sino-French War, with China eventually giving up Tonkin and Annam – most of present-day Vietnam – to France.
  • 1900 – Indian nationalist Birsa Munda dies of cholera in a British prison.
  • 1915 – William Jennings Bryan resigns as Woodrow Wilson’s Secretary of State over a disagreement regarding the United States’ handling of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania.
  • 1923 – Bulgaria’s military takes over the government in a coup.
  • 1928 – Charles Kingsford Smith completes the first trans-Pacific flight in a Fokker Trimotor monoplane, the Southern Cross.
  • 1930 – A Chicago Tribune reporter, Jake Lingle, is killed during rush hour at the Illinois Central train station by Leo Vincent Brothers, allegedly over a $100,000 gambling debt owed to Al Capone.
  • 1944 – World War II: Ninety-nine civilians are hanged from lampposts and balconies by German troops in Tulle, France, in reprisal for maquisards attacks.
  • 1944 – World War II: The Soviet Union invades East Karelia and the previously Finnish part of Karelia, occupied by Finland since 1941.
  • 1948 – Foundation of the International Council on Archives under the auspices of the UNESCO.
  • 1953 – The Flint–Worcester tornado outbreak sequence kills 94 people in Massachusetts.
  • 1954 – Joseph Welch, special counsel for the United States Army, lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Army–McCarthy hearings, giving McCarthy the famous rebuke, “You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”
  • 1957 – First ascent of Broad Peak by Fritz Wintersteller, Marcus Schmuck, Kurt Diemberger, and Hermann Buhl.
  • 1959 – The USS George Washington is launched. It is the first nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine.
  • 1965 – The civilian Prime Minister of South Vietnam, Phan Huy Quát, resigns after being unable to work with a junta led by Nguyễn Cao Kỳ.
  • 1965 – Vietnam War: The Viet Cong commences combat with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam in the Battle of Đồng Xoài, one of the largest battles in the war.
  • 1967 – Six-Day War: Israel captures the Golan Heights from Syria.
  • 1968 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a national day of mourning following the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
  • 1972 – Severe rainfall causes a dam in the Black Hills of South Dakota to burst, creating a flood that kills 238 people and causes $160 million in damage.
  • 1973 – In horse racing, Secretariat wins the U.S. Triple Crown.
  • 1978 – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opens its priesthood to “all worthy men”, ending a 148-year-old policy of excluding black men.
  • 1979 – The Ghost Train fire at Luna Park Sydney, Australia, kills seven.
  • 1999 – Kosovo War: The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and NATO sign a peace treaty.
  • 2008 – Two bombs explode at a train station near Algiers, Algeria, killing at least 13 people.
  • 2009 – An explosion kills 17 people and injures at least 46 at a hotel in Peshawar, Pakistan.
  • 2010 – At least 40 people are killed and more than 70 wounded in a suicide bombing at a wedding party in Arghandab, Kandahar.

Births on June 9

  • 1016 – Deokjong of Goryeo, ruler of Korea (d. 1034)
  • 1424 – Blanche II of Navarre (d. 1464)
  • 1580 – Daniel Heinsius, Belgian poet and scholar (d. 1655)
  • 1588 – Johann Andreas Herbst, German composer and theorist (d. 1666)
  • 1595 – Władysław IV Vasa, Polish king (d. 1648)
  • 1597 – Pieter Jansz. Saenredam, Dutch painter (d. 1665)
  • 1640 – Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1705)
  • 1661 – Feodor III of Russia (d. 1682)
  • 1672 – Peter the Great, Russian emperor (d. 1725)
  • 1686 – Andrey Osterman, German-Russian politician, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1747)
  • 1696 – Shiva Rajaram, infant Chattrapati of the Maratha Empire (d. 1726)
  • 1732 – Giuseppe Demachi, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1791)
  • 1754 – Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth, English general and politician, Governor of Barbados (d. 1815)
  • 1768 – Samuel Slater, English-American engineer and businessman (d. 1835)
  • 1781 – George Stephenson, English engineer, designed the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (d. 1848)
  • 1810 – Otto Nicolai, German composer and conductor (d. 1849)
  • 1812 – Johann Gottfried Galle, German astronomer and academic (d. 1910)
  • 1836 – Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, English physician and politician (d. 1917)
  • 1837 – Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie, English author (d. 1919)
  • 1842 – Hazard Stevens, American military officer, mountaineer, politician and writer (d. 1918)
  • 1843 – Bertha von Suttner, Austrian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1914)
  • 1845 – Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto, English soldier, academic, and politician, 36th Governor-General of India (d. 1914)
  • 1845 – Frank Norton, American baseball player (d. 1920)
  • 1849 – Michael Ancher, Danish painter and academic (d. 1927)
  • 1851 – Charles Joseph Bonaparte, American lawyer and politician, 46th United States Attorney General (d. 1921)
  • 1861 – Pierre Duhem, French physicist, mathematician, and historian (d. 1916)
  • 1861 – Gustav Heinrich Johann Apollon Tammann, Russian-German chemist and physicist (d. 1938)
  • 1864 – Jeanne Bérangère, French actress (d. 1928)
  • 1865 – Albéric Magnard, French composer and educator (d. 1914)
  • 1865 – Carl Nielsen, Danish violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1931)
  • 1868 – Jane Avril, French model and dancer (d. 1943)
  • 1874 – Launceston Elliot, Scottish weightlifter and wrestler (d. 1930)
  • 1875 – Henry Hallett Dale, English pharmacologist and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
  • 1879 – Harry DeBaecke, American rower (d. 1961)
  • 1882 – Robert Kerr, Irish-Canadian sprinter and coach (d. 1963)
  • 1885 – Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski, Polish general and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Poland (d. 1962)
  • 1890 – Leslie Banks, English actor, director, and producer (d. 1952)
  • 1891 – Cole Porter, American composer and songwriter (d. 1964)
  • 1893 – Irish Meusel, American baseball player and coach (d. 1963)
  • 1895 – Archie Weston, American football player and journalist (d. 1981)
  • 1898 – Luigi Fagioli, Italian race car driver (d. 1952)
  • 1900 – Fred Waring, American singer, bandleader, and television host (d. 1984)
  • 1902 – Skip James, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1969)
  • 1903 – Felice Bonetto, Italian race car driver (d. 1953)
  • 1903 – Marcia Davenport, American author and critic (d. 1996)
  • 1906 – Robert Klark Graham, American eugenicist and businessman, founded Repository for Germinal Choice (d. 1997)
  • 1908 – Luis Kutner, American lawyer, author, and activist (d. 1993)
  • 1908 – Branch McCracken, American basketball player and coach (d. 1970)
  • 1910 – Robert Cummings, American actor, singer, and director (d. 1990)
  • 1910 – Ted Hicks, Australian public servant and diplomat, Australian High Commissioner to New Zealand (d. 1984)
  • 1912 – Ingolf Dahl, German-American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1970)
  • 1915 – Jim McDonald, American football player and coach (d. 1997)
  • 1915 – Les Paul, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2009)
  • 1916 – Jurij Brězan, German soldier and author (d. 2006)
  • 1916 – Siegfried Graetschus, German SS officer (d. 1943)
  • 1916 – Robert McNamara, American businessman and politician, 8th United States Secretary of Defense (d. 2009)
  • 1917 – Eric Hobsbawm, Egyptian-English historian and author (d. 2012)
  • 1918 – John Hospers, American philosopher and politician (d. 2011)
  • 1921 – Arthur Hertzberg, American rabbi and scholar (d. 2006)
  • 1921 – Jean Lacouture, French journalist, historian, and author (d. 2015)
  • 1922 – George Axelrod, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
  • 1922 – John Gillespie Magee, Jr., Anglo-American pilot and poet (d. 1941)
  • 1922 – Fernand Seguin, Canadian biochemist and academic (d. 1988)
  • 1923 – Gerald Götting, German politician (d. 2015)
  • 1924 – Ed Farhat, American wrestler and manager (d. 2003)
  • 1925 – Keith Laumer, American soldier and author (d. 1993)
  • 1925 – Herman Sarkowsky, German-American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded the Seattle Seahawks (d. 2014)
  • 1926 – Calvin “Fuzz” Jones, American singer and bass player (d. 2010)
  • 1926 – Happy Rockefeller, American philanthropist, 31st Second Lady of the United States (d. 2015)
  • 1927 – Jim Nolan, American basketball player (d. 1983)
  • 1928 – R. Geraint Gruffydd, Welsh critic and academic (d. 2015)
  • 1929 – Johnny Ace, American singer and pianist (d. 1954)
  • 1930 – Barbara, French singer (d. 1997)
  • 1930 – Jordi Pujol, Spanish physician and politician, 126th President of the Generalitat de Catalunya
  • 1931 – Jackie Mason, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter
  • 1931 – Nandini Satpathy, Indian author and politician, 8th Chief Minister of Odisha (d. 2006)
  • 1931 – Bill Virdon, American baseball player, coach, and manager
  • 1933 – Al Cantello, American javelin thrower and coach
  • 1934 – Michael Mates, English colonel and politician
  • 1934 – Jackie Wilson, American singer-songwriter (d. 1984)
  • 1935 – Dutch Savage, American wrestler and promoter (d. 2013)
  • 1936 – Nell Dunn, English playwright, screenwriter and author
  • 1936 – Mick O’Dwyer, Irish Gaelic footballer and manager
  • 1936 – George Radda, Hungarian chemist and academic
  • 1937 – Harald Rosenthal, German hydrobiologist and academic
  • 1938 – Jeremy Hardie, English economist and businessman
  • 1938 – Giles Havergal, Scottish actor, director, and playwright
  • 1938 – Charles Wuorinen, American composer and educator (d. 2020)
  • 1939 – Ileana Cotrubaș, Romanian soprano and actress
  • 1939 – Eric Fernie, Scottish historian and academic
  • 1939 – David Hobbs, English race car driver and sportscaster
  • 1939 – Dick Vitale, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
  • 1939 – Charles Webb, American author
  • 1940 – André Vallerand, Canadian businessman and politician
  • 1941 – Jon Lord, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player (d. 2012)
  • 1942 – Anton Burghardt, German footballer and manager
  • 1942 – Nicholas Lloyd, English journalist
  • 1943 – John Fitzpatrick, English race car driver
  • 1943 – Charles Saatchi, Iraqi-English businessman, co-founded Saatchi & Saatchi
  • 1944 – Janric Craig, 3rd Viscount Craigavon, English accountant and politician
  • 1944 – Wally Gabler, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1946 – Deyda Hydara, Gambian journalist and publisher, co-founded The Point (d. 2004)
  • 1946 – James Kelman, Scottish author and playwright
  • 1946 – Peter Kilfoyle, English politician
  • 1946 – Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata, Italian politician and diplomat, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1947 – Robert Indermaur, Swiss painter
  • 1947 – Robbie Vincent, UK disc jockey and radio presenter
  • 1948 – Jim Bailey, American football player
  • 1948 – Gudrun Schyman, Swedish social worker and politician
  • 1949 – Kiran Bedi, Indian police officer and activist
  • 1950 – Trevor Bolder, English bass player, songwriter, and producer (d. 2013)
  • 1950 – Fred Jackson, American football player and coach
  • 1950 – Giorgos Kastrinakis, Greek-American basketball player
  • 1951 – Michael Patrick Cronan, American graphic designer and academic (d. 2013)
  • 1951 – James Newton Howard, American composer, conductor, and producer
  • 1951 – Dave Parker, American baseball player and coach
  • 1951 – Brian Taylor, American basketball player
  • 1952 – Uzi Hitman, Israeli singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
  • 1952 – Billy Knight, American basketball player
  • 1953 – Ken Navarro, Italian-American guitarist and composer
  • 1954 – Pete Byrne, English singer-songwriter
  • 1954 – Paul Chapman, Welsh guitarist and songwriter
  • 1954 – Gregory Maguire, American author
  • 1954 – Elizabeth May, American-Canadian environmentalist, lawyer, and politician
  • 1954 – George Pérez, American author and illustrator
  • 1956 – Berit Aunli, Norwegian skier
  • 1956 – Patricia Cornwell, American journalist and author
  • 1956 – Marek Gazdzicki, Polish nuclear physicist
  • 1956 – Joaquín, Spanish footballer
  • 1956 – John Le Lievre, British squash player
  • 1956 – Kayhan Mortezavi, Iranian director
  • 1956 – Francine Raymond, French Canadian singer songwriter
  • 1956 – Nikolai Tsonev, Bulgarian politician
  • 1956 – Rudolf Wojtowicz, Polish footballer
  • 1957 – Randy Read, English crystallographer and academic
  • 1958 – David Ancrum, American basketball player and coach
  • 1959 – Peter Fowler, Australian golfer
  • 1960 – Steve Paikin, Canadian journalist and author
  • 1961 – Thomas Benson, American football player
  • 1961 – Michael J. Fox, Canadian-American actor, producer, and author
  • 1961 – Aaron Sorkin, American screenwriter, producer, and playwright
  • 1962 – Yuval Banay, Israeli singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1962 – Ken Rose, American football player
  • 1962 – David Trewhella, Australian rugby league player
  • 1963 – Gilad Atzmon, Israeli-English saxophonist, author, and activist
  • 1963 – Johnny Depp, American actor
  • 1963 – David Koepp, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1964 – Gloria Reuben, Canadian-American actress
  • 1964 – Wayman Tisdale, American basketball player and bass player (d. 2009)
  • 1967 – Rubén Maza, Venezuelan runner
  • 1968 – Niki Bakoyianni, Greek high jumper and coach
  • 1969 – André Racicot, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1969 – Eric Wynalda, American soccer player, coach, and sportscaster
  • 1971 – Gilles De Bilde, Belgian footballer and sportscaster
  • 1971 – Jean Galfione, French pole vaulter and sportscaster
  • 1971 – Jackie McKeown, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1972 – Matt Horsley, Australian footballer and coach
  • 1973 – Aigars Apinis, Latvian discus thrower and shot putter
  • 1973 – Tedy Bruschi, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1973 – Frédéric Choffat, Swiss director, producer, and cinematographer
  • 1973 – Grant Marshall, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1974 – Samoth, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1975 – Otto Addo, German-Ghanaian footballer and manager
  • 1975 – Ameesha Patel, Indian actress and model
  • 1975 – Andrew Symonds, English-Australian cricketer
  • 1977 – Usman Afzaal, Pakistani-English cricketer
  • 1977 – Paul Hutchison, English cricketer
  • 1977 – Olin Kreutz, American football player
  • 1977 – Peja Stojaković, Serbian basketball player
  • 1978 – Matt Bellamy, English singer, musician and songwriter
  • 1978 – Shandi Finnessey, American model and actress, Miss USA 2004
  • 1978 – Miroslav Klose, German footballer
  • 1978 – Heather Mitts, American soccer player
  • 1978 – Hayden Schlossberg, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1979 – Dario Dainelli, Italian footballer
  • 1979 – Amanda Lassiter, American basketball player
  • 1980 – D’banj, Nigerian singer-songwriter and harmonica player
  • 1980 – Mike Fontenot, American baseball player
  • 1980 – Udonis Haslem, American basketball player
  • 1980 – Lehlohonolo Seema, South African footballer
  • 1981 – Natalie Portman, Israeli-American actress
  • 1982 – Parinya Charoenphol, Thai boxer, model, and actress
  • 1982 – Yoshito Ōkubo, Japanese footballer
  • 1982 – Christina Stürmer, Austrian singer-songwriter
  • 1983 – Firas Al-Khatib, Syrian footballer
  • 1983 – Josh Cribbs, American football player
  • 1983 – Dwayne Jones, American basketball player
  • 1983 – Danny Richar, Dominican-American baseball player
  • 1984 – Yulieski Gourriel, Cuban baseball player
  • 1984 – Jake Newton, Guyanese footballer
  • 1984 – Asko Paade, Estonian basketball player
  • 1984 – Masoud Shojaei, Iranian footballer
  • 1984 – Wesley Sneijder, Dutch footballer
  • 1985 – Richard Kahui, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1985 – Sonam Kapoor, Indian model and actress
  • 1985 – Sebastian Telfair, American basketball player
  • 1986 – Doug Legursky, American football player
  • 1986 – Yadier Pedroso, Cuban baseball player (d. 2013)
  • 1986 – Ashley Postell, American gymnast
  • 1987 – Jaan Mölder, Estonian race car driver
  • 1988 – Jason Demers, Canadian ice hockey defenseman
  • 1988 – Sara Isaković, Slovenian swimmer
  • 1989 – Dídac Vilà, Spanish footballer
  • 1990 – Matthias Mayer, Austrian skier
  • 1992 – Zach Hyman, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1992 – Yannick Agnel, French swimmer
  • 1992 – Boyd Cordner, Australian rugby league player
  • 1993 – George Jennings, Australian rugby league player

Deaths on June 9

  • AD 68 – Nero, Roman emperor (b. 37)
  • 373 – Ephrem the Syrian, hymnographer and theologian (b. 306)
  • 597 – Columba, Irish missionary and saint (b. 521)
  • 630 – Shahrbaraz, king of the Persian Empire
  • 889 – Aimoin, Frankish monk and archivist
  • 908 – Yang Wo, Prince of Hongnong
  • 1075 – Gebhard of Supplinburg, Saxon count
  • 1087 – Otto I of Olomouc (b. 1045)
  • 1238 – Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester
  • 1252 – Otto I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
  • 1348 – Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Sienese painter (b. 1290)
  • 1361 – Philippe de Vitry, French composer and poet (b. 1291)
  • 1563 – William Paget, 1st Baron Paget, English accountant and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1506)
  • 1572 – Jeanne d’Albret, Navarrese queen and Huguenot leader (b. 1528)
  • 1583 – Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1525)
  • 1597 – José de Anchieta, Spanish Jesuit missionary (b. 1534)
  • 1647 – Leonard Calvert, Colonial governor of Maryland (b. 1606)
  • 1656 – Thomas Tomkins, Welsh-English composer (b. 1572)
  • 1716 – Banda Singh Bahadur, Indian commander (b. 1670)
  • 1717 – Jeanne Guyon, French mystic and author (b. 1648)
  • 1834 – William Carey, English minister and missionary (b. 1761)
  • 1870 – Charles Dickens, English novelist and critic (b. 1812)
  • 1875 – Gérard Paul Deshayes, French geologist and conchologist (b. 1795)
  • 1889 – Mike Burke, American baseball player (b. 1854)
  • 1892 – William Grant Stairs, Canadian-English captain and explorer (b. 1863)
  • 1901 – Adolf Bötticher, German historian and author (b. 1842)
  • 1923 – Princess Helena of the United Kingdom (b. 1846)
  • 1927 – Victoria Woodhull, American activist for women’s rights (b. 1838)
  • 1929 – Louis Bennison, American stage and silent film actor (b. 1884)
  • 1929 – Margaret Lawrence, American stage actress (b. 1889)
  • 1942 – František Erben, Czech gymnast (b. 1874)
  • 1952 – Adolf Busch, German-Austrian violinist and composer (b. 1891)
  • 1953 – Ernest Graves, Sr., American football player, coach, and general (b. 1880)
  • 1956 – Chandrashekhar Agashe, Indian industrialist and lawyer (b. 1888)
  • 1956 – Hans Bergsland, Norwegian fencer (b. 1878)
  • 1956 – Thomas Hicks, Australian tennis player (b. 1869)
  • 1956 – Ferdinand Jodl, German general (b. 1896)
  • 1958 – Robert Donat, English actor (b. 1905)
  • 1959 – Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1876)
  • 1960 – Harry S. Hammond, American football player and businessman (b. 1884)
  • 1961 – Camille Guérin, French veterinarian, bacteriologist and immunologist (b. 1872)
  • 1963 – Jacques Villon, French painter (b.1875)
  • 1964 – Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, British businessman and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1879)
  • 1968 – Bernard Cronin, Australian author and journalist (b. 1884)
  • 1972 – Gilberto Parlotti, Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1940)
  • 1973 – Chuck Bennett, American football player and coach (b. 1907)
  • 1973 – John Creasey, English author and politician (b. 1908)
  • 1973 – Erich von Manstein, German general (b. 1887)
  • 1974 – Miguel Ángel Asturias, Guatemalan journalist, author, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
  • 1979 – Cyclone Taylor, Canadian ice hockey player and civil servant (b. 1884)
  • 1981 – Allen Ludden, American game show host (b. 1917)
  • 1984 – Helen Hardin, American painter (b. 1943)
  • 1989 – George Wells Beadle, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
  • 1991 – Claudio Arrau, Chilean-American pianist and educator (b. 1903)
  • 1993 – Alexis Smith, Canadian-born American actress (b. 1921)
  • 1994 – Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
  • 1997 – Stanley Knowles, American-Canadian academic and politician (b. 1908)
  • 1998 – Lois Mailou Jones, American painter and academic (b. 1905)
  • 2000 – John Abramovic, American basketball player (b. 1919)
  • 2000 – Jacob Lawrence, American painter and academic (b. 1917)
  • 2004 – Rosey Brown, American football player and coach (b. 1932)
  • 2004 – Brian Williamson, Jamaican activist, co-founded J-FLAG (b. 1945)
  • 2006 – Drafi Deutscher, German singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
  • 2007 – Frankie Abernathy, American purse designer, cast-member on The Real World: San Diego (b. 1981)
  • 2008 – Algis Budrys, Lithuanian-American author and critic (b. 1931)
  • 2008 – Suleiman Mousa, Jordanian historian and author (b. 1919)
  • 2009 – Dick May, American race car driver (b. 1930)
  • 2010 – Ken Brown, British Guitarist who was a member of The Quarrymen (b. 1940)
  • 2011 – M. F. Husain, Indian painter and director (b. 1915)
  • 2011 – Tomoko Kawakami, Japanese voice actress (b. 1970)
  • 2011 – Mike Mitchell, American basketball player (b. 1956)
  • 2012 – Régis Clère, French cyclist (b. 1956)
  • 2012 – John Maples, Baron Maples, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence (b. 1943)
  • 2012 – Ivan Minatti, Slovene poet and translator (b. 1924)
  • 2012 – Hawk Taylor, American baseball player and coach (b. 1939)
  • 2012 – Abram Wilson, American-English trumpet player and educator (b. 1973)
  • 2013 – Iain Banks, Scottish author (b. 1954)
  • 2013 – Bruno Bartoletti, Italian conductor (b. 1926)
  • 2013 – John Burke, English rugby player (b. 1948)
  • 2013 – Walter Jens, German philologist, historian, and academic (b. 1923)
  • 2013 – Zdeněk Rotrekl, Czech poet and historian (b. 1920)
  • 2014 – Bernard Agré, Ivorian cardinal (b. 1926)
  • 2014 – Rik Mayall, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1958)
  • 2014 – Elsie Quarterman, American ecologist and academic (b. 1910)
  • 2014 – Alicemarie Huber Stotler, American lawyer and judge (b. 1942)
  • 2014 – Gustave Tassell, American fashion designer (b. 1926)
  • 2014 – Bob Welch, American baseball player and coach (b. 1956)
  • 2015 – Pumpkinhead, American rapper (b. 1975)
  • 2015 – Pedro Zerolo, Spanish lawyer and politician (b. 1960)
  • 2017 – Adam West, American actor and investor (b. 1928)
  • 2018 – Fadil Vokrri, Kosovo Albanian football administrator and player (b. 1960)
  • 2019 – Bushwick Bill, Jamaican-American rapper (b. 1966)

Holidays and observances on June 9

  • Anniversary of the Accession of King Abdullah II (Jordan)
  • Autonomy Day (Åland Islands)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Aidan of Lindisfarne (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
    • Bede (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
    • Columba
    • Ephrem the Syrian (Roman Catholic Church and Church of England)
    • José de Anchieta
    • Primus and Felician
    • June 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Coral Triangle Day
  • La Rioja Day (La Rioja)
  • Murcia Day (Murcia)
  • National Heroes’ Day (Uganda)

May 7 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

by
  • 351 – The Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus breaks out after his arrival at Antioch.
  • 558 – In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses, twenty years after its construction. Justinian I immediately orders that the dome be rebuilt.
  • 1274 – In France, the Second Council of Lyon opens to regulate the election of the Pope.
  • 1487 – The Siege of Málaga commences during the Spanish Reconquista.
  • 1544 – The Burning of Edinburgh by an English army is the first action of the Rough Wooing.
  • 1664 – Louis XIV of France begins construction of the Palace of Versailles.
  • 1685 – Battle of Vrtijeljka between rebels and Ottoman forces.
  • 1697 – Stockholm’s royal castle (dating back to medieval times) is destroyed by fire. It is replaced in the 18th century by the current Royal Palace.
  • 1718 – The city of New Orleans is founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville.
  • 1763 – Pontiac’s War begins with Pontiac’s attempt to seize Fort Detroit from the British.
  • 1794 – French Revolution: Robespierre introduces the Cult of the Supreme Being in the National Convention as the new state religion of the French First Republic.
  • 1824 – World premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Vienna, Austria. The performance is conducted by Michael Umlauf under the composer’s supervision.
  • 1832 – Greece’s independence is recognized by the Treaty of London.
  • 1840 – The Great Natchez Tornado strikes Natchez, Mississippi killing 317 people. It is the second deadliest tornado in United States history.
  • 1846 – The Cambridge Chronicle, America’s oldest surviving weekly newspaper, is published for the first time in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: The Army of the Potomac, under General Ulysses S. Grant, breaks off from the Battle of the Wilderness and moves southwards.
  • 1864 – The world’s oldest surviving clipper ship, the City of Adelaide is launched by William Pile, Hay and Co. in Sunderland, England, for transporting passengers and goods between Britain and Australia.
  • 1895 – In Saint Petersburg, Russian scientist Alexander Stepanovich Popov demonstrates to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society his invention, the Popov lightning detector—a primitive radio receiver. In some parts of the former Soviet Union the anniversary of this day is celebrated as Radio Day.
  • 1915 – World War I: German submarine U-20 sinks RMS Lusitania, killing 1,198 people, including 128 Americans. Public reaction to the sinking turns many former pro-Germans in the United States against the German Empire.
  • 1915 – The Republic of China accedes to 13 of the 21 Demands, extending the Empire of Japan‘s control over Manchuria and the Chinese economy.
  • 1920 – Kiev Offensive: Polish troops led by Józef Piłsudski and Edward Rydz-Śmigły and assisted by a symbolic Ukrainian force capture Kiev only to be driven out by the Red Army counter-offensive a month later.
  • 1920 – Treaty of Moscow: Soviet Russia recognizes the independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia only to invade the country six months later.
  • 1920 – Morecambe Football Club was founded during a meeting at the West View Hotel on the town’s promenade.
  • 1930 – The 7.1 Mw  Salmas earthquake shakes northwestern Iran and southeastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). Up to three-thousand people were killed.
  • 1931 – The stand-off between criminal Francis Crowley and 300 members of the New York Police Department takes place in his fifth-floor apartment on West 91st Street, New York City.
  • 1937 – Spanish Civil War: The German Condor Legion, equipped with Heinkel He 51 biplanes, arrives in Spain to assist Francisco Franco’s forces.
  • 1940 – World War II: The Norway Debate in the British House of Commons begins, and leads to the replacement of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain with Winston Churchill three days later.
  • 1942 – World War II: During the Battle of the Coral Sea, United States Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attack and sink the Imperial Japanese Navy light aircraft carrier Shōhō; the battle marks the first time in naval history that two enemy fleets fight without visual contact between warring ships.
  • 1945 – World War II: Last German U boat attack of the war, two freighters are sunk off the Firth of Forth, Scotland.
  • 1945 – World War II: General Alfred Jodl signs unconditional surrender terms at Reims, France, ending Germany’s participation in the war. The document takes effect the next day.
  • 1946 – Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed Sony) is founded
  • 1948 – The Council of Europe is founded during the Hague Congress.
  • 1952 – The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is first published by Geoffrey Dummer.
  • 1954 – Indochina War: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends in a French defeat and a Viet Minh victory (the battle began on March 13).
  • 1960 – Cold War: U-2 Crisis of 1960: Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that his nation is holding American U-2 pilot Gary Powers.
  • 1976 – The Honda Accord is officially launched.
  • 1986 – Canadian Patrick Morrow becomes the first person to climb each of the Seven Summits.
  • 1992 – Michigan ratifies a 203-year-old proposed amendment to the United States Constitution making the 27th Amendment law. This amendment bars the U.S. Congress from giving itself a mid-term pay raise.
  • 1992 – Space Shuttle program: The Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on its first mission, STS-49.
  • 1992 – Three employees at a McDonald’s Restaurant in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, are brutally murdered and a fourth permanently disabled after a botched robbery. It is the first “fast-food murder” in Canada.
  • 1994 – Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream is recovered undamaged after being stolen from the National Gallery of Norway in February.
  • 1998 – Mercedes-Benz buys Chrysler for US$40 billion and forms DaimlerChrysler in the largest industrial merger in history.
  • 1999 – Pope John Paul II travels to Romania, becoming the first pope to visit a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since the Great Schism in 1054.
  • 1999 – Kosovo War: Three Chinese citizens are killed and 20 wounded when a NATO aircraft apparently inadvertently bombs the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Serbia.
  • 1999 – In Guinea-Bissau, President João Bernardo Vieira is ousted in a military coup.
  • 2000 – Vladimir Putin is inaugurated as president of Russia.
  • 2002 – An EgyptAir Boeing 737-500 crashes on approach to Tunis–Carthage International Airport, killing 14 people.
  • 2002 – A China Northern Airlines MD-82 plunges into the Yellow Sea, killing 112 people.
  • 2004 – American businessman Nick Berg is beheaded by Islamic militants. The act is recorded on videotape and released on the Internet.

Births on May 7

  • Before 160 – Julia Maesa, Roman noblewoman (d. 224)
  • 1488 – John III of the Palatinate, archbishop of Regensburg (d. 1538)
  • 1530 – Louis, Prince of Condé (d. 1569)
  • 1553 – Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia (d. 1618)
  • 1605 – Patriarch Nikon of Moscow (d. 1681)
  • 1643 – Stephanus Van Cortlandt, American politician, 10th Mayor of New York City (d. 1700)
  • 1700 – Gerard van Swieten, Dutch-Austrian physician (d. 1772)
  • 1701 – Carl Heinrich Graun, German tenor and composer (d. 1759)
  • 1711 – David Hume, Scottish economist, historian, and philosopher (d. 1776)
  • 1724 – Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser, French-Austrian field marshal (d. 1797)
  • 1740 – Nikolai Arkharov, Russian police officer and general (d. 1814)
  • 1748 – Olympe de Gouges, French playwright and philosopher (d. 1793)
  • 1763 – Józef Poniatowski, Polish general (d. 1813)
  • 1767 – Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia (d. 1820)
  • 1774 – William Bainbridge, American commodore (d. 1833)
  • 1787 – Jacques Viger, Canadian archaeologist and politician, 1st mayor of Montreal (d. 1858)
  • 1812 – Robert Browning, English poet and playwright (d. 1889)
  • 1833 – Johannes Brahms, German pianist and composer (d. 1897)
  • 1836 – Joseph Gurney Cannon, American lawyer and politician, 40th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1926)
  • 1837 – Karl Mauch, German geographer and explorer (d. 1875)
  • 1840 – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer and educator (d. 1893)
  • 1845 – Mary Eliza Mahoney, American nurse and activist (d. 1926)
  • 1847 – Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1929)
  • 1857 – William A. MacCorkle, American lawyer and politician, 9th Governor of West Virginia (d. 1930)
  • 1860 – Tom Norman, English businessman (d. 1930)
  • 1861 – Rabindranath Tagore, Indian author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1941)
  • 1867 – Władysław Reymont, Polish novelist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1925)
  • 1875 – Bill Hoyt, American pole vaulter (d. 1951)
  • 1880 – Pandurang Vaman Kane, Indologist and Sanskrit scholar, Bharat Ratna awardee (d. 1972)
  • 1881 – George E. Wiley, American cyclist (d. 1954)
  • 1882 – Willem Elsschot, Belgian author and poet (d. 1960)
  • 1885 – George “Gabby” Hayes, American actor (d. 1969)
  • 1889 – Viktor Puskar, Estonian colonel (d. 1943)
  • 1891 – Harry McShane, Scottish engineer and activist (d. 1988)
  • 1892 – Archibald MacLeish, American poet, playwright, and lawyer (d. 1982)
  • 1892 – Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav field marshal and politician, 1st President of Yugoslavia (d. 1980)
  • 1893 – Frank J. Selke, Canadian ice hockey coach and manager (d. 1985)
  • 1896 – Kathleen McKane Godfree, English tennis and badminton player (d. 1992)
  • 1899 – Alfred Gerrard, English sculptor and academic (d. 1998)
  • 1901 – Gary Cooper, American actor (d. 1961)
  • 1903 – Jimmy Ball, Canadian sprinter (d. 1988)
  • 1904 – Kurt Weitzmann, German-American historian and author (d. 1993)
  • 1906 – Eric Krenz, American discus thrower and shot putter (d. 1931)
  • 1909 – Edwin H. Land, American scientist and inventor, co-founded the Polaroid Corporation (d. 1991)
  • 1909 – Dorothy Sunrise Lorentino, Native American teacher (d. 2005)
  • 1911 – Ishirō Honda, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1993)
  • 1911 – Rıfat Ilgaz, Turkish author, poet, and educator (d. 1993)
  • 1912 – Pannalal Patel, Indian author (d. 1989)
  • 1913 – John Spencer Hardy, American general (d. 2012)
  • 1913 – Simon Ramo, American physicist and engineer (d. 2016)
  • 1914 – Arthur Snelling, English civil servant and diplomat. British Ambassador to South Africa (d. 1996)
  • 1916 – Huw Wheldon, Welsh-English broadcaster (d. 1986)
  • 1916 – W. B. Young, Scottish rugby player and physician (d. 2013)
  • 1917 – Domenico Bartolucci, Italian cardinal and composer (d. 2013)
  • 1917 – Lenox Hewitt, Australian public servant (d. 2020)
  • 1917 – David Tomlinson, English actor (d. 2000)
  • 1919 – Eva Perón, Argentinian actress, 25th First Lady of Argentina (d. 1952)
  • 1920 – Rendra Karno, Indonesian actor (d. 1985)
  • 1921 – Asa Briggs, Baron Briggs, English historian and academic (d. 2016)
  • 1921 – Gaston Rébuffat, French mountaineer and author (d. 1985)
  • 1922 – Darren McGavin, American actor and director (d. 2006)
  • 1922 – Joe O’Donnell, American photographer and journalist (d. 2007)
  • 1923 – Anne Baxter, American actress (d. 1985)
  • 1923 – Jim Lowe, American singer-songwriter, disc jockey, and radio host (d. 2016)
  • 1923 – Bülent Ulusu, Turkish admiral and politician, 18th Prime Minister of Turkey (d. 2015)
  • 1924 – Albert Band, French-American director and producer (d. 2002)
  • 1925 – Lauri Vaska, Estonian-American chemist and academic (d. 2015)
  • 1927 – Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, German-American author and screenwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1929 – Dick Williams, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2011)
  • 1930 – Totie Fields, American comedian and author (d. 1978)
  • 1930 – Babe Parilli, American football player and coach (d. 2017)
  • 1930 – John Smith, Baron Kirkhill, English politician
  • 1931 – Teresa Brewer, American singer (d. 2007)
  • 1931 – Gene Wolfe, American author (d. 2019)
  • 1932 – Jordi Bonet, Spanish-Canadian painter and sculptor (d. 1979)
  • 1932 – Alan Cuthbert, English pharmacologist and academic (d. 2016)
  • 1932 – Pete Domenici, American lawyer and politician, 37th Mayor of Albuquerque (d. 2017)
  • 1932 – Derek Taylor, English journalist and author (d. 1997)
  • 1933 – Johnny Unitas, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2002)
  • 1935 – Avraham Heffner, Israeli actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
  • 1935 – Michael Hopkins, English architect
  • 1936 – Robin Hanbury-Tenison, English explorer and author
  • 1936 – Tony O’Reilly, Irish rugby player and businessman
  • 1936 – Jimmy Ruffin, American soul singer (d. 2014)
  • 1937 – Eddie Clayton, English footballer
  • 1937 – Claude Raymond, Canadian baseball player and coach
  • 1939 – Sidney Altman, Canadian-American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1939 – Ruggero Deodato, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1939 – Ruud Lubbers, Dutch economist and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 2018)
  • 1939 – Johnny Maestro, American pop/doo-wop singer (d. 2010)
  • 1939 – Clive Soley, Baron Soley, English politician
  • 1940 – Angela Carter, English novelist and short story writer (d. 1992)
  • 1940 – Dave Chambers, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1941 – Lawrence Collins, Baron Collins of Mapesbury, English lawyer and judge
  • 1943 – Terry Allen, American singer and painter
  • 1943 – Harvey Andrews, English singer-songwriter and poet
  • 1943 – John Bannon, Australian academic and politician, 39th Premier of South Australia (d. 2015)
  • 1943 – Peter Carey, Australian novelist and short story writer
  • 1945 – Christy Moore, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1945 – Robin Strasser, American actress
  • 1946 – Thelma Houston, American R&B/disco singer and actress
  • 1946 – Marv Hubbard, American football player (d. 2015)
  • 1946 – Bill Kreutzmann, American drummer
  • 1946 – Michael Rosen, English author and poet
  • 1946 – Brian Turner, English chef and television host
  • 1949 – Kathy Ahern, American golfer (d. 1996)
  • 1949 – Deborah Butterfield, American sculptor
  • 1950 – John Dowling Coates, Australian lawyer, sports administrator and businessman
  • 1950 – Randall “Tex” Cobb, American boxer and actor
  • 1950 – Tim Russert, American television journalist and lawyer (d. 2008)
  • 1953 – Pat McInally, American football player and coach
  • 1953 – Ian McKay, English sergeant, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1982)
  • 1954 – Philippe Geluck, Belgian cartoonist
  • 1954 – Joanna Haigh, English meteorologist and physicist
  • 1954 – Amy Heckerling, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1955 – Clément Gignac, Canadian politician
  • 1955 – Ben Poquette, American basketball player
  • 1955 – Axel Zwingenberger, German pianist and songwriter
  • 1956 – Jan Peter Balkenende, Dutch jurist and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
  • 1956 – Anne Dudley, English pianist and composer
  • 1956 – Nicholas Hytner, English director and producer
  • 1956 – Jean Lapierre, Canadian talk show host and politician
  • 1956 – Calum MacDonald, Scottish journalist and politician
  • 1957 – Kristina M. Johnson, American business executive, engineer, academic and government official
  • 1958 – Mikhail Biryukov, Russian footballer and manager
  • 1958 – Mark G. Kuzyk, American physicist and academic
  • 1958 – Anne Marie Rafferty, English nurse and academic
  • 1959 – Michael E. Knight, American actor
  • 1959 – Tony Sealy, English footballer, forward and manager
  • 1959 – Heiki Valk, Estonian archeologist and academic
  • 1960 – Adam Bernstein, American director and screenwriter
  • 1960 – Ara Darzi, Baron Darzi of Denham, Iraqi-English surgeon and academic
  • 1960 – Almudena Grandes, Spanish author
  • 1961 – Hans-Peter Bartels, German politician
  • 1961 – Sue Black, Scottish anthropologist and academic
  • 1961 – Ivar Must, Estonian composer and producer
  • 1962 – Tony Campbell, American basketball player and coach
  • 1962 – Judith Donath, American computer scientist and academic
  • 1963 – Johnny Lee Middleton, American bass player and songwriter
  • 1964 – Ronnie Harmon, American football player
  • 1964 – Denis Mandarino, Brazilian guitarist, composer, and painter
  • 1964 – Leslie O’Neal, American football player
  • 1965 – Reuben Davis, American football player
  • 1965 – Owen Hart, Canadian wrestler (d. 1999)
  • 1965 – Norman Whiteside, Northern Irish footballer and manager
  • 1965 – Huang Zhihong, Chinese shot putter
  • 1967 – Martin Bryant, Australian mass murderer
  • 1967 – Adam Price, Danish chef and screenwriter
  • 1967 – Joe Rice, American colonel and politician
  • 1968 – Traci Lords, American actress and singer
  • 1968 – Lisa Raitt, Canadian lawyer and politician, 30th Canadian Minister of Transport
  • 1969 – Eagle-Eye Cherry, Swedish singer-songwriter
  • 1969 – Jun Falkenstein, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1969 – Katerina Maleeva, Bulgarian tennis player
  • 1971 – Reidar Horghagen, Norwegian drummer
  • 1971 – Dave Karpa, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1971 – Thomas Piketty, French economist
  • 1972 – Peter Dubovský, Czech-Slovak footballer (d. 2000)
  • 1972 – Frank Trigg, American mixed martial artist and wrestler
  • 1973 – Kristian Lundin, Swedish songwriter and producer
  • 1973 – Paolo Savoldelli, Italian cyclist
  • 1974 – Ian Pearce, English footballer and assistant manager
  • 1973 – Lawrence Johnson, American pole vaulter
  • 1975 – Ashley Cowan, English cricketer
  • 1976 – Calvin Booth, American basketball player
  • 1976 – Berke Hatipoğlu, Turkish guitarist and songwriter
  • 1976 – Stacey Jones, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1976 – Andrea Lo Cicero, Italian rugby player
  • 1976 – Michael P. Murphy, American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2005)
  • 1976 – Ayelet Shaked, Israeli Minister of Justice (2015-2019)
  • 1977 – Elton Flatley, Australian rugby player
  • 1978 – Stian Arnesen, Norwegian guitarist, drummer, and songwriter
  • 1978 – James Carter, American hurdler
  • 1978 – Shawn Marion, American basketball player
  • 1979 – Katie Douglas, American basketball player
  • 1983 – Phionah Atuhebwe, Ugandan vaccinologist and immunization expert
  • 1984 – James Loney, American baseball player
  • 1984 – Alex Smith, American football player
  • 1984 – Kevin Owens, Canadian wrestler
  • 1985 – Jarrad Hickey, Australian rugby league player
  • 1985 – Drew Neitzel, American basketball player
  • 1986 – Matt Helders, English drummer
  • 1987 – Asami Konno, Japanese singer
  • 1987 – Michael Maidens, English footballer (d. 2007)
  • 1987 – Mark Reynolds, Scottish footballer
  • 1987 – David Schlemko, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1988 – Eino Puri, Estonian footballer
  • 1988 – Sander Puri, Estonian footballer
  • 1989 – Earl Thomas, American football player
  • 1995 – Seko Fofana, French born Ivorian international footballer
  • 1997 – Daria Kasatkina, Russian tennis player
  • 1998 – Jesse Puljujärvi, Finnish ice hockey player

Deaths on May 7

  • 721 – John of Beverley, bishop of York
  • 833 – Ibn Hisham, Egyptian Muslim historian
  • 973 – Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 912)
  • 1014 – Bagrat III, 1st King of Georgia (b. 960)
  • 1092 – Remigius de Fécamp, English monk and bishop
  • 1166 – William I of Sicily
  • 1202 – Hamelin de Warenne, Earl of Surrey
  • 1205 – Ladislaus III of Hungary (b. 1201)
  • 1234 – Otto I, Duke of Merania (b. c. 1180)
  • 1243 – Hugh d’Aubigny, 5th Earl of Arundel
  • 1427 – Thomas la Warr, 5th Baron De La Warr, English priest (b. 1352)
  • 1494 – Eskender, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1471)
  • 1523 – Franz von Sickingen, German knight (b. 1481)
  • 1539 – Ottaviano Petrucci, Italian printer (b. 1466)
  • 1617 – David Fabricius, German astronomer and theologian (b. 1564)
  • 1667 – Johann Jakob Froberger, German organist and composer (b. 1616)
  • 1682 – Feodor III of Russia (b. 1661)
  • 1685 – Bajo Pivljanin (b. 1630)
  • 1718 – Mary of Modena (b. 1658)
  • 1793 – Pietro Nardini, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1722)
  • 1800 – Niccolò Piccinni, Italian composer (b. 1728)
  • 1805 – William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, Irish-English general and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1737)
  • 1815 – Jabez Bowen, American colonel and politician, 45th Deputy Governor of Rhode Island (b. 1739)
  • 1825 – Antonio Salieri, Italian composer and conductor (b. 1750)
  • 1840 – Caspar David Friedrich, German painter and educator (b. 1774)
  • 1868 – Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1778)
  • 1872 – Alexander Loyd, American carpenter and politician, 4th Mayor of Chicago (b. 1805)
  • 1876 – William Buell Sprague, American clergyman, historian, and author (b. 1795)
  • 1887 – C. F. W. Walther, German-American religious leader and theologian (b. 1811)
  • 1896 – H. H. Holmes, American serial killer (b. 1861)
  • 1902 – Agostino Roscelli, Italian priest and saint (b. 1818)
  • 1917 – Albert Ball, English fighter pilot (b. 1896)
  • 1922 – Max Wagenknecht, German pianist and composer (b. 1857)
  • 1924 – Alluri Sitarama Raju, Indian activist (b. 1897/1898)
  • 1925 – William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, English businessman and politician (b. 1851)
  • 1937 – Ernst A. Lehmann, German captain and author (b. 1886)
  • 1938 – Octavian Goga, Romanian politician, former Prime Minister (b. 1881)
  • 1940 – George Lansbury, English journalist and politician (b. 1859)
  • 1941 – James George Frazer, Scottish-English anthropologist and academic (b. 1854)
  • 1942 – Felix Weingartner, Croatian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1863)
  • 1943 – Fethi Okyar, Turkish colonel and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1880)
  • 1946 – Herbert Macaulay, Nigerian journalist and politician (b. 1864)
  • 1951 – Warner Baxter, American actor (b. 1889)
  • 1967 – Margaret Larkin, American writer and poet (b. 1899)
  • 1958 – Mihkel Lüdig, Estonian organist, composer, and conductor (b. 1880)
  • 1976 – Alison Uttley, English children’s book writer (b. 1884)
  • 1978 – Mort Weisinger, American journalist and author (b. 1915)
  • 1986 – Haldun Taner, Turkish playwright and author (b. 1915)
  • 1987 – Colin Blakely, Northern Irish actor (b. 1930)
  • 1987 – Paul Popham, American soldier and activist, co-founded Gay Men’s Health Crisis (b. 1941)
  • 1990 – Sam Tambimuttu, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (b. 1932)
  • 1994 – Clement Greenberg, American art critic (b. 1909)
  • 1995 – Ray McKinley, American drummer, singer, and bandleader (Glenn Miller Orchestra) (b. 1910)
  • 1998 – Allan McLeod Cormack, South African-English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1924)
  • 1998 – Eddie Rabbitt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)
  • 2000 – Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., American captain, actor, and producer (b. 1909)
  • 2001 – Jacques de Bourbon-Busset, French author and politician (b. 1912)
  • 2004 – Waldemar Milewicz, Polish journalist (b. 1956)
  • 2005 – Tristan Egolf, American author and activist (b. 1971)
  • 2005 – Peter Rodino, American captain and politician (b. 1909)
  • 2005 – Otilino Tenorio, Ecuadorian footballer (b. 1980)
  • 2006 – Richard Carleton, Australian journalist (b. 1943)
  • 2006 – Joan C. Edwards, American singer and philanthropist (b. 1918)
  • 2007 – Isabella Blow, English magazine editor (b. 1958)
  • 2007 – Diego Corrales, American boxer (b. 1977)
  • 2007 – Octavian Paler, Romanian journalist and politician (b. 1926)
  • 2007 – Yahweh ben Yahweh, American cult leader, founded the Nation of Yahweh (b. 1935)
  • 2009 – David Mellor, English designer (b. 1930)
  • 2009 – Danny Ozark, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1923)
  • 2011 – Seve Ballesteros, Spanish golfer (b. 1957)
  • 2011 – Willard Boyle, Canadian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1924)
  • 2011 – Big George, English songwriter, producer, and radio host (b. 1957)
  • 2012 – Sammy Barr, Scottish trade union leader (b. 1931)
  • 2012 – Ferenc Bartha, Hungarian economist and politician (b. 1943)
  • 2012 – Dennis E. Fitch, American captain and pilot (b. 1942)
  • 2013 – Ferruccio Mazzola, Italian footballer and manager (b. 1948)
  • 2013 – George Sauer, Jr., American football player (b. 1943)
  • 2014 – Neville McNamara, Australian air marshal (b. 1923)
  • 2014 – Colin Pillinger, English astronomer, chemist, and academic (b. 1943)
  • 2014 – Dick Welteroth, American baseball player (b. 1927)
  • 2015 – Frank DiPascali, American businessman (b. 1956)
  • 2015 – John Dixon, Australian-American author, and illustrator (b. 1929)

Holidays and observances on May 7

  • Christian feast day:
    • Agathius of Byzantium
    • Agostino Roscelli
    • Pope Benedict II
    • Flavia Domitilla
    • Gisela of Hungary
    • Harriet Starr Cannon (Episcopal Church (USA))
    • John of Beverley
    • Rose Venerini
    • Stanislaus (Roman Martyrology)
    • May 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Defender of the Fatherland Day (Kazakhstan)
  • Dien Bien Phu Victory Day (Vietnam)
  • Radio Day, commemorating the work of Alexander Popov (Russia, Bulgaria)

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

by
  • 238 – Year of the Six Emperors: The Roman Senate outlaws emperor Maximinus Thrax for his bloodthirsty proscriptions in Rome and nominates two of its members, Pupienus and Balbinus, to the throne.
  • 1500 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral lands in Brazil.
  • 1519 – Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico.
  • 1529 – Treaty of Zaragoza divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal along a line 297.5 leagues (1,250 kilometres (780 mi)) east of the Moluccas.
  • 1622 – The Capture of Ormuz by the East India Company ends Portuguese control of Hormuz Island.
  • 1809 – The second day of the Battle of Eckmühl: The Austrian army is defeated by the First French Empire army led by Napoleon and driven over the Danube in Regensburg.
  • 1836 – Texas Revolution: A day after the Battle of San Jacinto, forces under Texas General Sam Houston identify Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna among the captives of the battle when some of his fellow soldiers mistakenly give away his identity.
  • 1864 – The U.S. Congress passes the Coinage Act of 1864 that mandates that the inscription In God We Trust be placed on all coins minted as United States currency.
  • 1876 – The first game in the history of the National League was played at the Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia. This game is often pointed to as the beginning of Major League Baseball.
  • 1889 – At noon, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Rush of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000.
  • 1898 – Spanish–American War: The USS Nashville captures a Spanish merchant ship.
  • 1906 – The 1906 Intercalated Games, now recognized as part of the official Olympic Games, open in Athens.
  • 1915 – The use of poison gas in World War I escalates when chlorine gas is released as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle of Ypres.
  • 1930 – The United Kingdom, Japan and the United States sign the London Naval Treaty regulating submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding.
  • 1944 – The 1st Air Commando Group using Sikorsky R-4 helicopters stage the first use of helicopters in combat with combat search and rescue operations in the China Burma India Theater.
  • 1944 – World War II: Operation Persecution is initiated: Allied forces land in the Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) area of New Guinea.
  • 1944 – World War II: In Greenland, the Allied Sledge Patrol attack the German Bassgeiger weather station.
  • 1945 – World War II: Prisoners at the Jasenovac concentration camp revolt. Five hundred twenty are killed and around eighty escape.
  • 1948 – Arab–Israeli War: The port city of Haifa is captured by Jewish forces.
  • 1951 – Korean War: The Chinese People’s Volunteer Army begin assaulting positions defended by the Royal Australian Regiment and the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry at the Battle of Kapyong.
  • 1954 – Red Scare: Witnesses begin testifying and live television coverage of the Army–McCarthy hearings begins.
  • 1969 – British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston wins the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race and completes the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world.
  • 1969 – The formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) is announced at a mass rally in Calcutta.
  • 1970 – The first Earth Day is celebrated.
  • 1972 – Increased American bombing in Vietnam prompts anti-war protests in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco.
  • 1977 – Optical fiber is first used to carry live telephone traffic.
  • 1983 – The German magazine Stern claims the “Hitler Diaries” had been found in wreckage in East Germany; the diaries are subsequently revealed to be forgeries.
  • 1992 – In a series of explosions in Guadalajara, Mexico, 206 people are killed, nearly 500 injured and 15,000 left homeless.
  • 1993 – Eighteen-year-old Stephen Lawrence is murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Well Hall, Eltham.
  • 1997 – Haouch Khemisti massacre in Algeria where 93 villagers are killed.
  • 2000 – In a pre-dawn raid, federal agents seize six-year-old Elián González from his relatives’ home in Miami.
  • 2004 – Two fuel trains collide in Ryongchon, North Korea, killing up to 150 people.
  • 2005 – Japan’s Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologizes for Japan’s war record.
  • 2008 – The United States Air Force retires the remaining F-117 Nighthawk aircraft in service.
  • 2013 – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrest and charge two men with plotting to disrupt a Toronto area train service in a plot claimed to be backed by Al-Qaeda elements.
  • 2014 – More than 60 people are killed and 80 are seriously injured in a train crash in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Katanga Province.
  • 2016 – The Paris Agreement is signed, an agreement to help fight global warming.
  • 2019 – The 2019 Luzon earthquake kills at least 18 people in the Philippines.

Births on April 22

  • 1412 – Reinhard III, Count of Hanau (1451–1452) (d. 1452)
  • 1444 – Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk (d. 1503)
  • 1451 – Isabella I of Castile (d. 1504)
  • 1518 – Antoine of Navarre (d. 1562)
  • 1592 – Wilhelm Schickard, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1635)
  • 1610 – Pope Alexander VIII (d. 1691)
  • 1658 – Giuseppe Torelli, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1709)
  • 1690 – John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, English politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1763)
  • 1707 – Henry Fielding, English novelist and playwright (d. 1754)
  • 1711 – Paul II Anton, Prince Esterházy, Austrian soldier (d. 1762)
  • 1724 – Immanuel Kant, German anthropologist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1804)
  • 1732 – John Johnson, English architect and surveyor (d. 1814)
  • 1744 – James Sullivan, American lawyer and politician, 7th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1808)
  • 1757 – Alessandro Rolla, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1841)
  • 1766 – Germaine de Staël, French author and political philosopher (d. 1817)
  • 1812 – Solomon Caesar Malan, Swiss-English orientalist (d. 1894)
  • 1816 – Charles-Denis Bourbaki, French general (d. 1897)
  • 1830 – Emily Davies, British suffragist and educator, co-founder and an early Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge University
  • 1832 – Julius Sterling Morton, American journalist and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Agriculture (d. 1902)
  • 1844 – Lewis Powell, American soldier, attempted assassin of William H. Seward (d. 1865)
  • 1852 – William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (d. 1912)
  • 1858 – Ethel Smyth, English composer (d. 1944)
  • 1854 – Henri La Fontaine, Belgian lawyer and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1943)
  • 1860 – Ada Rehan, Irish-American actress (d. 1916)
  • 1870 – Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary and founder of Soviet Russia (d. 1924)
  • 1872 – Princess Margaret of Prussia (d. 1954)
  • 1873 – Ellen Glasgow, American author (d. 1945)
  • 1876 – Róbert Bárány, Austrian-Swedish otologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1936)
  • 1876 – Georg Lurich, Estonian wrestler and strongman (d. 1920)
  • 1879 – Bernhard Gregory, Estonian-German chess player (d. 1939)
  • 1884 – Otto Rank, Austrian-American psychologist and academic (d. 1939)
  • 1886 – Izidor Cankar, Slovenian historian, author, and diplomat (d. 1958)
  • 1889 – Richard Glücks, German SS officer (d. 1945)
  • 1891 – Laura Gilpin, American photographer (d. 1979)
  • 1891 – Vittorio Jano, Italian engineer (d. 1965)
  • 1891 – Harold Jeffreys, English mathematician, geophysicist, and astronomer (d. 1989)
  • 1891 – Nicola Sacco, Italian-American anarchist (d. 1927)
  • 1892 – Vernon Johns, African-American minister and activist (d. 1965)
  • 1899 – Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born novelist and critic (d. 1977)
  • 1900 – Nellie Beer, British politician, Lord Mayor of Manchester from 1966–67 (d. 1988)
  • 1904 – J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist and academic (d. 1967)
  • 1905 – Robert Choquette, American-Canadian author, poet, and diplomat (d. 1991)
  • 1906 – Eric Fenby, English composer and educator (d. 1997)
  • 1906 – Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten (d. 1947)
  • 1908 – Ivan Yefremov, Russian paleontologist and author (d. 1972)
  • 1909 – Rita Levi-Montalcini, Sephardic Jewish-Italian neurologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
  • 1909 – Indro Montanelli, Italian journalist and historian (d. 2001)
  • 1909 – Spyros Markezinis, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2000)
  • 1910 – Norman Steenrod, American mathematician and academic (d. 1971)
  • 1912 – Kathleen Ferrier, English operatic singer (d. 1953)
  • 1912 – Kaneto Shindo, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
  • 1914 – Baldev Raj Chopra, Indian director and producer (d. 2008)
  • 1914 – Jan de Hartog, Dutch-American author and playwright (d. 2002)
  • 1914 – José Quiñones Gonzales, Peruvian soldier and pilot (d. 1941)
  • 1914 – Michael Wittmann, German SS officer (d. 1944)
  • 1916 – Hanfried Lenz, German mathematician and academic (d. 2013)
  • 1916 – Yehudi Menuhin, American-Swiss violinist and conductor (d. 1999)
  • 1917 – Yvette Chauviré, French ballerina (d. 2016)
  • 1917 – Sidney Nolan, Australian painter (d. 1992)
  • 1918 – William Jay Smith, American poet and academic (d. 2015)
  • 1918 – Mickey Vernon, American baseball player and coach (d. 2008)
  • 1919 – Donald J. Cram, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2001)
  • 1919 – Carl Lindner, Jr., American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2011)
  • 1922 – Richard Diebenkorn, American soldier and painter (d. 1993)
  • 1922 – Charles Mingus, American bassist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1979)
  • 1922 – Wolf V. Vishniac, American microbiologist and academic (d. 1973)
  • 1923 – Peter Kane Dufault, American soldier, pilot, and poet (d. 2013)
  • 1923 – Bettie Page, American model and actress (d. 2008)
  • 1923 – Aaron Spelling, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2006)
  • 1924 – Nam Duck-woo, South Korean politician, 12th Prime Minister of South Korea (d. 2013)
  • 1926 – Charlotte Rae, American actress and singer (d. 2018)
  • 1926 – James Stirling, Scottish architect, designed the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and Seeley Historical Library (d. 1992)
  • 1927 – Laurel Aitken, Cuban-Jamaican singer (d. 2005)
  • 1929 – Michael Atiyah, English-Lebanese mathematician and academic (d. 2019)
  • 1929 – Robert Wade-Gery, English diplomat, British High Commissioner to India (d. 2015)
  • 1930 – Enno Penno, Estonian politician, Prime Minister of Estonia in exile (d. 2016)
  • 1931 – John Buchanan, Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 2019)
  • 1931 – Ronald Hynd, English dancer and choreographer
  • 1933 – Anthony Llewellyn, Welsh-American chemist and astronaut (d. 2013)
  • 1935 – Christopher Ball, English linguist and academic
  • 1935 – Paul Chambers, African-American bassist and composer (d. 1969)
  • 1935 – Bhama Srinivasan, Indian-American mathematician and academic
  • 1936 – Glen Campbell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2017)
  • 1936 – Pierre Hétu, Canadian pianist and conductor (d. 1998)
  • 1937 – Jack Nicholson, American actor and producer
  • 1937 – Jack Nitzsche, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and conductor (d. 2000)
  • 1938 – Alan Bond, English-Australian businessman (d. 2015)
  • 1938 – Gani Fawehinmi, Nigerian lawyer and activist (d. 2009)
  • 1938 – Issey Miyake, Japanese fashion designer
  • 1938 – Adam Raphael, English journalist and author
  • 1939 – Mel Carter, American singer and actor
  • 1939 – John Foley, English general and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey
  • 1939 – Ray Guy, Canadian journalist and author (d. 2013)
  • 1939 – Jason Miller, American actor and playwright (d. 2001)
  • 1939 – Theodor Waigel, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of Finance
  • 1941 – Greville Howard, Baron Howard of Rising, English politician
  • 1942 – Giorgio Agamben, Italian philosopher and academic
  • 1942 – Mary Prior, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Bristol
  • 1943 – Keith Crisco, American businessman and politician (d. 2014)
  • 1943 – Janet Evanovich, American author
  • 1943 – Louise Glück, American poet
  • 1943 – John Maples, Baron Maples, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence (d. 2012)
  • 1943 – Scott W. Williams, American mathematician and professor
  • 1944 – Steve Fossett, American businessman, pilot, and sailor (d. 2007)
  • 1944 – Doug Jarrett, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2014)
  • 1944 – Joshua Rifkin, American conductor and musicologist
  • 1945 – Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Indian civil servant and politician, 22nd Governor of West Bengal
  • 1945 – Demetrio Stratos, Egyptian-Italian singer-songwriter (d. 1979)
  • 1946 – Steven L. Bennett, American captain and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1972)
  • 1946 – Paul Davies, English physicist and author
  • 1946 – Louise Harel, Canadian lawyer and politician
  • 1946 – Archy Kirkwood, Baron Kirkwood of Kirkhope, Scottish lawyer and politician
  • 1946 – Nicholas Stern, Baron Stern of Brentford, English economist and academic
  • 1946 – John Waters, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1948 – John Pritchard, English bishop
  • 1949 – Spencer Haywood, American basketball player
  • 1950 – Peter Frampton, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1950 – Jancis Robinson, English journalist and critic
  • 1951 – Paul Carrack, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1951 – Aivars Kalējs, Latvian organist, composer, and pianist
  • 1951 – Ana María Shua, Argentinian author and poet
  • 1952 – François Berléand, French actor
  • 1952 – Dave Loveridge, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1952 – Phil Smith, American basketball player (d. 2002)
  • 1953 – Valeri Bondarenko, Estonian footballer and coach
  • 1953 – Richard Broadbent, English businessman
  • 1955 – David Collier, English businessman
  • 1957 – Donald Tusk, Polish journalist and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Poland
  • 1959 – Keith Boanas, English footballer and manager
  • 1959 – Terry Francona, American baseball player, coach, and manager
  • 1959 – Catherine Mary Stewart, Canadian actress
  • 1959 – Ryan Stiles, American-Canadian actor and producer
  • 1960 – Lloyd Honeyghan, Jamaican-English boxer
  • 1960 – Mart Laar, Estonian historian and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Estonia
  • 1960 – Randall L. Stephenson, American businessman
  • 1961 – Alo Mattiisen, Estonian composer (d. 1996)
  • 1961 – Ann McKechin, Scottish lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
  • 1961 – Dewey Nicks, American photographer and director
  • 1962 – Danièle Sauvageau, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1963 – Rosalind Gill, English sociologist and academic
  • 1963 – Magnús Ver Magnússon, Icelandic weightlifter and strongman
  • 1964 – Paul Baxter, English footballer
  • 1965 – Miguel Leal, Portuguese footballer and manager
  • 1965 – Peter Zezel, Canadian ice hockey and soccer player (d. 2009)
  • 1966 – Mickey Morandini, American baseball player and manager
  • 1966 – Jeffrey Dean Morgan, American actor
  • 1967 – David J. C. MacKay, English physicist, engineer, and academic
  • 1967 – Sherri Shepherd, American actress and talk show panelist
  • 1967 – Harvey Williams, American football player
  • 1968 – Jo Angel, Australian cricketer
  • 1968 – Bimbo Coles, American basketball player and coach
  • 1968 – Zarley Zalapski, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1969 – Dion Dublin, English footballer and sportscaster
  • 1970 – Erkki Bahovski, Estonian journalist
  • 1971 – Eric Mabius, American actor
  • 1971 – Spencer Prior, English footballer
  • 1972 – Sabine Appelmans, Belgian tennis player
  • 1972 – Owen Finegan, Australian rugby player and coach
  • 1972 – Milka Duno, Venezuelan race car driver and engineer
  • 1972 – Sergei Hohlov-Simson, Estonian footballer and manager
  • 1972 – Willie Robertson, American hunter and businessman
  • 1973 – Adem Poric, English-Australian footballer
  • 1973 – Ofer Talker, Israeli footballer and manager
  • 1974 – Shavo Odadjian, Armenian-American bass player, songwriter, and producer
  • 1975 – Greg Moore, Canadian race car driver (d. 1999)
  • 1975 – Carlos Sastre, Spanish cyclist
  • 1975 – Anders Nyström, Swedish guitarist and songwriter
  • 1976 – Dan Cloutier, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1976 – Paul Henderson, Australian footballer
  • 1976 – Michał Żewłakow, Polish footballer
  • 1977 – Mark van Bommel, Dutch footballer
  • 1978 – Paul Malakwen Kosgei, Kenyan runner and coach
  • 1978 – David Masters, English cricketer
  • 1978 – Matt Orford, Australian rugby league player
  • 1978 – Jason Stollsteimer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1978 – Esteban Tuero, Argentinian race car driver
  • 1979 – Zoltán Gera, Hungarian international footballer and manager
  • 1979 – Daniel Johns, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1980 – Igor Budan, Croatian footballer
  • 1980 – Clarke Dermody, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1980 – Nicolas Douchez, French footballer
  • 1980 – Courtney Friel, American journalist
  • 1980 – Carlos Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player
  • 1980 – Quincy Timberlake, Kenyan-Australian activist, engineer, and politician
  • 1980 – Rutledge Wood, American racing analyst and television personality
  • 1981 – Madis Kallas, Estonian decathlete and activist
  • 1981 – Rafael Sperafico, Brazilian race car driver (d. 2007)
  • 1981 – Jonathan Trott, South African-English cricketer
  • 1982 – Kaká, Brazilian footballer
  • 1982 – Cassidy Freeman, American actress and musician
  • 1982 – Joel Monaghan, Australian rugby league player
  • 1982 – David Purcey, American baseball player
  • 1982 – Aidas Reklys, Lithuanian figure skater
  • 1982 – Aleksander Saharov, Estonian footballer
  • 1982 – Noriko Shitaya, Japanese voice actress
  • 1983 – Remi Ayodele, American football player
  • 1983 – Sam W. Heads, English-American entomologist and palaeontologist
  • 1983 – Jos Hooiveld, Dutch footballer
  • 1983 – Matt Jones, American football player
  • 1983 – Vangelis Mantzios, Greek footballer
  • 1984 – Amelle Berrabah, English singer-songwriter
  • 1985 – Kristin Fairlie, Canadian actress
  • 1986 – Amber Heard, American actress and producer
  • 1986 – Marshawn Lynch, American football player
  • 1986 – Dušan Šakota, Serbian-Greek basketball player
  • 1987 – David Luiz, Brazilian footballer
  • 1987 – David Mateos, Spanish footballer
  • 1988 – Dee Gordon, American baseball player
  • 1989 – DeJuan Blair, American basketball player
  • 1989 – Jasper Cillessen, Dutch footballer
  • 1989 – Aron Gunnarsson, Icelandic footballer
  • 1990 – Óscar González, Mexican boxer (d. 2014)
  • 1990 – Machine Gun Kelly, American rapper and actor
  • 1991 – Jordi Murphy, Irish international rugby player
  • 1991 – Braydon Smith, Australian boxer (d. 2015)
  • 1992 – Kenny Stills, American football player
  • 1992 – Joonas Vaino, Estonian basketball player
  • 1993 – Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, Australian footballer
  • 1993 – Ngani Laumape, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1993 – Marcel Ritzmaier, Austrian footballer

Deaths on April 22

  • 296 – Pope Caius
  • 536 – Pope Agapetus I
  • 591 – Peter III of Raqqa
  • 613 – Saint Theodore of Sykeon
  • 846 – Wuzong, Chinese emperor (b. 814)
  • 1208 – Philip of Poitou, Prince-Bishop of Durham
  • 1322 – Francis of Fabriano, Italian writer (b. 1251)
  • 1355 – Eleanor of Woodstock, countess regent of Guelders, eldest daughter of King Edward II of England (b. 1318)
  • 1585 – Henry of Saxe-Lauenburg, Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück and Paderborn (b. 1550)
  • 1616 – Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1547)
  • 1672 – Georg Stiernhielm, Swedish linguist and poet (b. 1598)
  • 1699 – Hans Erasmus Aßmann, German poet (b. 1646)
  • 1758 – Antoine de Jussieu, French botanist and physician (b. 1686)
  • 1778 – James Hargreaves, British inventor (b. 1720)
  • 1806 – Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral (b. 1763)
  • 1821 – Gregory V of Constantinople, Greek patriarch and saint (b. 1746)
  • 1833 – Richard Trevithick, English engineer and explorer (b. 1771)
  • 1850 – Friedrich Robert Faehlmann, Estonian philologist and physician (b. 1798)
  • 1854 – Nicolás Bravo, Mexican general and politician, 11th President of Mexico (b. 1786)
  • 1871 – Martín Carrera, Mexican general and president (1855) (b. 1806)
  • 1877 – James P. Kirkwood, Scottish-American engineer (b. 1807)
  • 1892 – Édouard Lalo, French violinist and composer (b. 1823)
  • 1893 – Chaim Aronson, Lithuanian businessman and author (b. 1825)
  • 1894 – Kostas Krystallis, Greek author and poet (b. 1868)
  • 1896 – Thomas Meik, English engineer, founded Halcrow Group (b. 1812)
  • 1908 – Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Scottish-English merchant and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1836)
  • 1925 – André Caplet, French composer and conductor (b. 1878)
  • 1929 – Henry Lerolle, French painter and art collector (b. 1848)
  • 1932 – Ferenc Oslay, Hungarian-Slovene historian and author (b. 1883)
  • 1933 – Henry Royce, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Rolls-Royce Limited (b. 1863)
  • 1944 – Nikolaos Roussen, Greek captain (b. 1913)
  • 1945 – Wilhelm Cauer, German mathematician and academic (b. 1900)
  • 1945 – Käthe Kollwitz, German painter and sculptor (b. 1867)
  • 1946 – Lionel Atwill, English-American actor (b. 1885)
  • 1946 – Harlan F. Stone, American lawyer and jurist, 12th Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1872)
  • 1949 – Charles Middleton, American actor (b. 1874)
  • 1950 – Charles Hamilton Houston, American lawyer and academic (b. 1895)
  • 1951 – Horace Donisthorpe, English myrmecologist and coleopterist (b. 1870)
  • 1956 – Walt Faulkner, American race car driver (b. 1918)
  • 1968 – Stephen H. Sholes, American record producer (b. 1911)
  • 1978 – Will Geer, American actor (b. 1902)
  • 1980 – Jane Froman, American actress and singer (b. 1907)
  • 1980 – Fritz Strassmann, German chemist and physicist (b. 1902)
  • 1983 – Earl Hines, American pianist and bandleader (b. 1903)
  • 1984 – Ansel Adams, American photographer and environmentalist (b. 1902)
  • 1985 – Paul Hugh Emmett, American chemist and academic (b. 1900)
  • 1985 – Jacques Ferron, Canadian physician and author (b. 1921)
  • 1986 – Mircea Eliade, Romanian historian and author (b. 1907)
  • 1987 – Erika Nõva, Estonian architect (b. 1905)
  • 1988 – Grigori Kuzmin, Russian-Estonian astronomer and academic (b. 1917)
  • 1988 – Irene Rich, American actress (b. 1891)
  • 1989 – Emilio G. Segrè, Italian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
  • 1990 – Albert Salmi, American actor (b. 1928)
  • 1994 – Richard Nixon, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 37th President of the United States (b. 1913)
  • 1995 – Jane Kenyon, American poet and author (b. 1947)
  • 1996 – Erma Bombeck, American journalist and author (b. 1927)
  • 1996 – Jug McSpaden, American golfer and architect (b. 1908)
  • 1998 – Kitch Christie, South African rugby player and coach (b. 1940)
  • 1999 – Chan Canasta, Polish-English magician (b. 1920)
  • 1999 – Munir Ahmad Khan, Pakistani nuclear engineer (b. 1926)
  • 2002 – Linda Lovelace, American porn actress and activist (b. 1949)
  • 2003 – Felice Bryant, American songwriter (b. 1925)
  • 2003 – James H. Critchfield, American CIA officer (b. 1917)
  • 2003 – Martha Griffiths, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 58th Lieutenant Governor of Michigan (b. 1912)
  • 2003 – Mike Larrabee, American runner (b. 1933)
  • 2004 – Jason Dunham, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1981)
  • 2004 – Pat Tillman, American football player and soldier (b. 1976)
  • 2005 – Erika Fuchs, German translator (b. 1906)
  • 2005 – Philip Morrison, American physicist and academic (b. 1915)
  • 2005 – Eduardo Paolozzi, Scottish sculptor and artist (b. 1924)
  • 2006 – Henriette Avram, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1919)
  • 2006 – D’Iberville Fortier, Canadian diplomat (b. 1926)
  • 2006 – Alida Valli, Italian actress (b. 1921)
  • 2007 – Juanita Millender-McDonald, American educator and politician (b. 1938)
  • 2008 – Cameron Argetsinger, American race car driver and lawyer (b. 1921)
  • 2008 – Ed Chynoweth, Canadian businessman (b. 1941)
  • 2009 – Jack Cardiff, British cinematographer, director and photographer (b. 1914)
  • 2010 – Richard Barrett, American lawyer and activist (b. 1943)
  • 2011 – Hazel Dickens, American singer-songwriter, bassist and guitarist (b. 1935)
  • 2012 – John Amabile, American football player and coach (b. 1939)
  • 2012 – Bill Granger, American author (b. 1941)
  • 2012 – Buzz Potamkin, American director and producer (b. 1945)
  • 2012 – George Rathmann, American chemist, biologist, and businessman (b. 1927)
  • 2013 – Dave Gold, American businessman, founded 99 Cents Only Stores (b. 1932)
  • 2013 – George Stanley Gordon, American businessman (b. 1926)
  • 2013 – Richie Havens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)
  • 2013 – Lalgudi Jayaraman, Indian violinist and composer (b. 1930)
  • 2013 – Mike Smith, English footballer (b. 1935)
  • 2013 – Robert Suderburg, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1936)
  • 2013 – J. S. Verma, Indian judge, 27th Chief Justice of India (b. 1933)
  • 2014 – Allen Jacobs, American football player and coach (b. 1941)
  • 2014 – Jovan Krkobabić, Serbian politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia (b. 1930)
  • 2014 – Mohammad Naseem, Pakistani-English activist (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Werner Potzernheim, German cyclist (b. 1927)
  • 2014 – Oswaldo Vigas, Venezuelan painter (b. 1926)
  • 2015 – Dick Balharry, Scottish environmentalist and photographer (b. 1937)
  • 2015 – Gennadi Vengerov, Belarusian-Russian actor (b. 1959)
  • 2017 – Erin Moran, American actress (b. 1960)
  • 2017 – Donna Leanne Williams, Australian writer, artist, activist (b. 1963)

Holidays and observances on April 22

  • Christian feast day:
    • Acepsimas of Hnaita and companions (Catholic Church)
    • Arwald
    • Epipodius and Alexander
    • Hudson Stuck (Episcopal Church)
    • John Muir (Episcopal Church)
    • Opportuna of Montreuil
    • Pope Caius
    • Pope Soter
    • St Senorina
    • April 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Discovery Day (Brazil)
  • Earth Day (International observance) and its related observance:
    • International Mother Earth Day
  • Holocaust Remembrance Day (Serbia)
  • From 2018 onwards, a national day of commemoration for the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence (United Kingdom)

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

by
  • 217 – Roman Emperor Caracalla is assassinated. He is succeeded by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus.
  • 632 – King Charibert II is assassinated at Blaye (Gironde), along with his infant son Chilperic.
  • 876 – The Battle of Dayr al-‘Aqul saves Baghdad from the Saffarids.
  • 1093 – The new Winchester Cathedral is dedicated by Walkelin.
  • 1139 – Roger II of Sicily is excommunicated.
  • 1149 – Pope Eugene III takes refuge in the castle of Ptolemy II of Tusculum.
  • 1232 – Mongol–Jin War: The Mongols begin their siege on Kaifeng, the capital of the Jin dynasty.
  • 1271 – In Syria, sultan Baibars conquers the Krak des Chevaliers.
  • 1665 – English colonial patents are granted for the establishment of the Monmouth Tract, for what would eventually become Monmouth County in northeastern New Jersey.
  • 1730 – Shearith Israel, the first synagogue in New York City, is dedicated.
  • 1740 – War of Jenkins’ Ear: Three British ships capture the Spanish third-rate Princesa, taken into service as HMS Princess.
  • 1808 – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Baltimore is promoted to an archdiocese, with the founding of the dioceses of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Bardstown (now Louisville) by Pope Pius VII.
  • 1820 – The Venus de Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Milos.
  • 1832 – Black Hawk War: Around three-hundred United States 6th Infantry troops leave St. Louis, Missouri to fight the Sauk Native Americans.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Mansfield: Union forces are thwarted by the Confederate army at Mansfield, Louisiana.
  • 1866 – Italy and Prussia ally against the Austrian Empire.
  • 1886 – William Ewart Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons.
  • 1895 – In Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co. the Supreme Court of the United States declares unapportioned income tax to be unconstitutional.
  • 1904 – The French Third Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland sign the Entente cordiale.
  • 1904 – Longacre Square in Midtown Manhattan is renamed Times Square after The New York Times.
  • 1906 – Auguste Deter, the first person to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, dies.
  • 1908 – H. H. Asquith of the Liberal Party takes office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, succeeding Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman.
  • 1908 – Harvard University votes to establish the Harvard Business School.
  • 1911 – Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovers superconductivity.
  • 1913 – The 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution, requiring direct election of Senators, becomes law.
  • 1916 – In Corona, California, race car driver Bob Burman crashes, killing three (including himself), and badly injuring five spectators.
  • 1918 – World War I: Actors Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin sell war bonds on the streets of New York City’s financial district.
  • 1924 – Sharia courts are abolished in Turkey, as part of Atatürk’s Reforms.
  • 1929 – Indian independence movement: At the Delhi Central Assembly, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt throw handouts and bombs to court arrest.
  • 1935 – The Works Progress Administration is formed when the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 becomes law.
  • 1942 – World War II: Siege of Leningrad: Soviet forces open a much-needed railway link to Leningrad.
  • 1942 – World War II: The Japanese take Bataan in the Philippines.
  • 1943 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in an attempt to check inflation, freezes wages and prices, prohibits workers from changing jobs unless the war effort would be aided thereby, and bars rate increases by common carriers and public utilities.
  • 1943 – Otto and Elise Hampel are executed in Berlin for their anti-Nazi activities.
  • 1945 – World War II: After an air raid accidentally destroys a train carrying about 4,000 Nazi concentration camp internees in Prussian Hanover, the survivors are massacred by Nazis.
  • 1946 – Électricité de France, the world’s largest utility company, is formed as a result of the nationalisation of a number of electricity producers, transporters and distributors.
  • 1950 – India and Pakistan sign the Liaquat–Nehru Pact.
  • 1952 – U.S. President Harry Truman calls for the seizure of all domestic steel mills in an attempt to prevent the 1952 steel strike.
  • 1953 – Mau Mau leader Jomo Kenyatta is convicted by British Kenya’s rulers.
  • 1954 – A Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair Harvard collides with a Trans-Canada Airlines Canadair North Star over Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, killing 37 people.
  • 1954 – South African Airways Flight 201 A de Havilland DH.106 Comet 1 crashes into the sea during night killing 21 people.
  • 1959 – A team of computer manufacturers, users, and university people led by Grace Hopper meets to discuss the creation of a new programming language that would be called COBOL.
  • 1959 – The Organization of American States drafts an agreement to create the Inter-American Development Bank.
  • 1960 – The Netherlands and West Germany sign an agreement to negotiate the return of German land annexed by the Dutch in return for 280 million German marks as Wiedergutmachung.
  • 1961 – A large explosion on board the MV Dara in the Persian Gulf kills 238.
  • 1964 – The Gemini 1 test flight is conducted.
  • 1968 – BOAC Flight 712 catches fire shortly after takeoff. As a result of her actions in the accident, Barbara Jane Harrison is awarded a posthumous George Cross, the only GC awarded to a woman in peacetime.
  • 1970 – Bahr El-Baqar primary school bombing: Israeli bombers strike an Egyptian school. Forty-six children are killed.
  • 1974 – At Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Hank Aaron hits his 715th career home run to surpass Babe Ruth’s 39-year-old record.
  • 1975 – Frank Robinson manages the Cleveland Indians in his first game as major league baseball’s first African American manager.
  • 1987 – Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis resigns amid controversy over racially charged remarks he had made while on Nightline.
  • 1992 – Retired tennis great Arthur Ashe announces that he has AIDS, acquired from blood transfusions during one of his two heart surgeries.
  • 1993 – The Republic of North Macedonia joins the United Nations.
  • 1999 – Haryana Gana Parishad, a political party in the Indian state of Haryana, merges with the Indian National Congress.
  • 2004 – War in Darfur: The Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement is signed by the Sudanese government and two rebel groups.
  • 2006 – Shedden massacre: The bodies of eight men, all shot to death, are found in a field in Shedden, Elgin County, Ontario. The murders are soon linked to the Bandidos Motorcycle Club.
  • 2008 – The construction of the world’s first skyscraper to integrate wind turbines is completed in Bahrain.
  • 2013 – The Islamic State of Iraq enters the Syrian Civil War and begins by declaring a merger with the Al-Nusra Front under the name Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham.

Births on April 8

  • 1320 – Peter I of Portugal (d. 1367)
  • 1408 – Jadwiga of Lithuania, Polish princess (d. 1431)
  • 1435 – John Clifford, 9th Baron de Clifford, English noble (d. 1461)
  • 1533 – Claudio Merulo, Italian organist and composer (d. 1604)
  • 1536 – Barbara of Hesse (d. 1597)
  • 1541 – Michele Mercati, Italian physician and archaeologist (d. 1593)
  • 1580 – William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, English noble, courtier and patron of the arts (d. 1630)
  • 1596 – Juan van der Hamen, Spanish artist (d. 1631)
  • 1605 – Philip IV of Spain (d. 1665)
  • 1605 – Mary Stuart, English-Scottish princess (d. 1607)
  • 1641 – Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney, English general and politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (d. 1704)
  • 1692 – Giuseppe Tartini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1770)
  • 1726 – Lewis Morris, American judge and politician (d. 1798)
  • 1732 – David Rittenhouse, American astronomer and mathematician (d. 1796)
  • 1761 – William Joseph Chaminade, French priest, founded the Society of Mary (d. 1850)
  • 1770 – John Thomas Campbell, Irish-Australian banker and politician (d. 1830)
  • 1798 – Dionysios Solomos, Greek poet and author (d. 1857)
  • 1818 – Christian IX of Denmark (d. 1906)
  • 1818 – August Wilhelm von Hofmann, German chemist and academic (d. 1892)
  • 1826 – Pancha Carrasco, Costa Rican soldier (d. 1890)
  • 1827 – Ramón Emeterio Betances, Puerto Rican ophthalmologist, journalist, and politician (d. 1898)
  • 1842 – Elizabeth Bacon Custer, American author and educator (d. 1933)
  • 1859 – Edmund Husserl, German Jewish-Austrian mathematician and philosopher (d. 1938)
  • 1864 – Carlos Deltour, French rower and rugby player (d. 1920)
  • 1867 – Allen Butler Talcott, American painter and educator (d. 1908)
  • 1869 – Harvey Cushing, American surgeon and academic (d. 1939)
  • 1871 – Clarence Hudson White, American photographer and educator (d. 1925)
  • 1874 – Manuel Díaz, Cuban fencer (d. 1929)
  • 1874 – Stanisław Taczak, Polish general (d. 1960)
  • 1875 – Albert I of Belgium (d. 1934)
  • 1882 (O.S. 27 March) – Dmytro Doroshenko, Lithuanian-Ukrainian historian and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Prime Minister of Ukraine (d. 1951)
  • 1883 – R. P. Keigwin, English cricketer and academic (d. 1972)
  • 1883 – Julius Seljamaa, Estonian journalist and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia (d. 1936)
  • 1885 – Dimitrios Levidis, Greek-French soldier, composer, and educator (d. 1951)
  • 1886 – Margaret Ayer Barnes, American author and playwright (d. 1967)
  • 1888 – Dennis Chávez, American journalist and politician (d. 1962)
  • 1889 – Adrian Boult, English conductor (d. 1983)
  • 1892 – Richard Neutra, Austrian-American architect, designed the Los Angeles County Hall of Records (d. 1970)
  • 1892 – Mary Pickford, Canadian-American actress, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded United Artists (d. 1979)
  • 1896 – Yip Harburg, American composer (d. 1981)
  • 1900 – Marie Byles, Australian solicitor (d. 1979)
  • 1902 – Andrew Irvine, English mountaineer and explorer (d. 1924)
  • 1902 – Maria Maksakova Sr., Russian soprano (d. 1974)
  • 1904 – John Hicks, English economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1989)
  • 1904 – Hirsch Jacobs, American horse trainer (d. 1970)
  • 1905 – Joachim Büchner, German sprinter and graphic designer (d. 1978)
  • 1905 – Helen Joseph, English-South African activist (d. 1992)
  • 1905 – Erwin Keller, German field hockey player (d. 1971)
  • 1906 – Raoul Jobin, Canadian tenor and educator (d. 1974)
  • 1908 – Hugo Fregonese, Argentinian director and screenwriter (d. 1987)
  • 1909 – John Fante, American author and screenwriter (d. 1983)
  • 1910 – George Musso, American football player and police officer (d. 2000)
  • 1911 – Melvin Calvin, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1997)
  • 1911 – Emil Cioran, Romanian-French philosopher and academic (d. 1995)
  • 1912 – Alois Brunner, Austrian-German SS officer (d. 2001 or 2010)
  • 1912 – Sonja Henie, Norwegian-American figure skater and actress (d. 1969)
  • 1914 – María Félix, Yaqui/Basque-Mexican actress (d. 2002)
  • 1915 – Ivan Supek, Croatian physicist, philosopher and writer (d. 2007)
  • 1917 – Winifred Asprey, American mathematician and computer scientist (d. 2007)
  • 1917 – Lloyd Bott, Australian public servant (d. 2004)
  • 1917 – Hubertus Ernst, Dutch bishop (d. 2017)
  • 1917 – Grigori Kuzmin, Russian-Estonian astronomer (d. 1988)
  • 1918 – Betty Ford, American wife of Gerald Ford, 40th First Lady of the United States (d. 2011)
  • 1918 – Glendon Swarthout, American author and academic (d. 1992)
  • 1919 – Ian Smith, Zimbabwean lieutenant and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Rhodesia (d. 2007)
  • 1921 – Franco Corelli, Italian tenor and actor (d. 2003)
  • 1921 – Jan Novák, Czech composer (d. 1984)
  • 1921 – Herman van Raalte, Dutch footballer (d. 2013)
  • 1922 – Carmen McRae, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress (d. 1994)
  • 1923 – George Fisher, American cartoonist (d. 2003)
  • 1923 – Edward Mulhare, Irish-American actor (d. 1997)
  • 1924 – Frédéric Back, German-Canadian animator, director, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – Anthony Farrar-Hockley, English general and historian (d. 2006)
  • 1924 – Kumar Gandharva, Hindustani classical singer (d. 1992)
  • 1924 – Sara Northrup Hollister, American occultist (d. 1997)
  • 1926 – Henry N. Cobb, American architect and academic, co-founded Pei Cobb Freed & Partners (d. 2020)
  • 1926 – Shecky Greene, American actor
  • 1926 – Jürgen Moltmann, German theologian and academic
  • 1927 – Tilly Armstrong, English author (d. 2010)
  • 1927 – Ollie Mitchell, American trumpet player and bandleader (d. 2013)
  • 1928 – Fred Ebb, American lyricist (d. 2004)
  • 1929 – Jacques Brel, Belgian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1978)
  • 1929 – Renzo De Felice, Italian historian and author (d. 1996)
  • 1930 – Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma (d. 2010)
  • 1931 – John Gavin, American actor and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Mexico (d. 2018)
  • 1932 – Iskandar of Johor (d. 2010)
  • 1933 – James Lockhart, American scholar of colonial Latin America, especially Nahua peoples (d. 2014)
  • 1934 – Kisho Kurokawa, Japanese architect, designed the Nakagin Capsule Tower and Singapore Flyer (d. 2007)
  • 1935 – Oscar Zeta Acosta, American lawyer and politician (d. 1974)
  • 1935 – Albert Bustamante, American soldier, educator, and politician
  • 1937 – Tony Barton, English footballer, outside right and manager (d. 1993)
  • 1937 – Seymour Hersh, American journalist and author
  • 1937 – Momo Kapor, Serbian author and painter (d. 2010)
  • 1938 – Kofi Annan, Ghanaian economist and diplomat, 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations (d. 2018)
  • 1938 – John Hamm, Canadian physician and politician, 25th Premier of Nova Scotia
  • 1938 – Mary W. Gray, American mathematician, statistician, and lawyer
  • 1939 – John Arbuthnott, Scottish microbiologist and academic
  • 1939 – Trina Schart Hyman, American author and illustrator (d. 2004)
  • 1940 – John Havlicek, American basketball player (d. 2019)
  • 1941 – J. J. Jackson, American soul/R&B singer, songwriter, and arranger
  • 1941 – Vivienne Westwood, English fashion designer
  • 1942 – Tony Banks, Baron Stratford, Northern Irish politician, Minister for Sport and the Olympics (d. 2006)
  • 1942 – Roger Chapman, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1942 – Douglas Trumbull, American director, producer, and special effects artist
  • 1943 – Michael Bennett, American dancer, choreographer, and director (d. 1987)
  • 1943 – Miller Farr, American football player
  • 1943 – James Herbert, English author and illustrator (d. 2013)
  • 1943 – Chris Orr, English painter and illustrator
  • 1944 – Hywel Bennett, Welsh actor (d. 2017)
  • 1944 – Odd Nerdrum, Swedish-Norwegian painter and illustrator
  • 1945 – Derrick Walker, Scottish businessman
  • 1945 – Jang Yong, South Korean actor
  • 1946 – Catfish Hunter, American baseball player (d. 1999)
  • 1946 – Tim Thomerson, American actor and producer
  • 1947 – Tom DeLay, American lawyer and politician
  • 1947 – Steve Howe, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer
  • 1947 – Robert Kiyosaki, American businessman, co-founded Cashflow Technologies
  • 1947 – Pascal Lamy, French businessman and politician, European Commissioner for Trade
  • 1947 – Larry Norman, American singer-songwriter, and producer (d. 2008)
  • 1948 – Barbara Young, Baroness Young of Old Scone, Scottish academic and politician
  • 1949 – K. C. Kamalasabayson, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 39th Attorney General of Sri Lanka (d. 2007)
  • 1949 – John Madden, English director and producer
  • 1949 – Brenda Russell, African-American-Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1949 – John Scott, English sociologist and academic
  • 1950 – Grzegorz Lato, Polish footballer and coach
  • 1951 – Gerd Andres, German politician
  • 1951 – Geir Haarde, Icelandic economist, journalist, and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Iceland
  • 1951 – Mel Schacher, American bass player
  • 1951 – Joan Sebastian, Mexican singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2015)
  • 1952 – Ahmet Piriştina, Turkish politician (d. 2004)
  • 1954 – Gary Carter, American baseball player and coach (d. 2012)
  • 1954 – Princess Lalla Amina of Morocco (d. 2012)
  • 1954 – G.V. Loganathan, Indian-American engineer and academic (d. 2007)
  • 1955 – Ricky Bell, American football player (d. 1984)
  • 1955 – Gerrie Coetzee, South African boxer
  • 1955 – Ron Johnson, American businessman and politician
  • 1955 – Barbara Kingsolver, American novelist, essayist and poet
  • 1955 – David Wu, Taiwanese-American lawyer and politician
  • 1956 – Michael Benton, Scottish-English paleontologist and academic
  • 1956 – Christine Boisson, French actress
  • 1956 – Roman Dragoun, Czech singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1956 – Jim Piddock, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1957 – Fred Smerlas, American football player and radio host
  • 1958 – Detlef Bruckhoff, German footballer
  • 1958 – Tom Petranoff, American javelin thrower and coach
  • 1959 – Alain Bondue, French cyclist
  • 1960 – John Schneider, American actor and country singer
  • 1961 – Richard Hatch, American reality contestant
  • 1961 – Brian McDermott, English footballer and manager
  • 1962 – Paddy Lowe, English engineer
  • 1962 – Izzy Stradlin, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1963 – Tine Asmundsen, Norwegian bassist
  • 1963 – Julian Lennon, English singer-songwriter
  • 1963 – Terry Porter, American basketball player and coach
  • 1963 – Donita Sparks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1963 – Alec Stewart, English cricketer
  • 1963 – Seth Tobias, American businessman (d. 2007)
  • 1964 – Biz Markie, American rapper, producer, and actor
  • 1964 – John McGinlay, Scottish footballer and manager
  • 1965 – Steven Blaney, Canadian businessman and politician, 5th Canadian Minister of Public Safety
  • 1965 – Michael Jones, New Zealand rugby player and coach
  • 1966 – Iveta Bartošová, Czech singer and actress (d. 2014)
  • 1966 – Mark Blundell, English race car driver
  • 1966 – Andy Currier, English rugby league player
  • 1966 – Charlotte Dawson, New Zealand-Australian television host (d. 2014)
  • 1966 – Dalton Grant, English high jumper
  • 1966 – Mazinho, Brazilian footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1966 – Harri Rovanperä, Finnish race car driver
  • 1966 – Evripidis Stylianidis, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister for the Interior
  • 1966 – Robin Wright, American actress, director, producer
  • 1967 – Kenny Benjamin, Antiguan cricketer
  • 1968 – Patricia Arquette, French-Canadian Russian/Polish Jewish-American actress and director
  • 1968 – Patricia Girard, French runner and hurdler
  • 1968 – Tracy Grammer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1971 – Darren Jessee, American singer-songwriter and drummer
  • 1972 – Paul Gray, American bass player and songwriter (d. 2010)
  • 1972 – Sergei Magnitsky, Russian lawyer and accountant (d. 2009)
  • 1973 – Khaled Badra, Tunisian footballer
  • 1973 – Emma Caulfield, American actress
  • 1974 – Toutai Kefu, Tongan-Australian rugby player
  • 1974 – Nnedi Okorafor, Nigerian-American author and educator
  • 1975 – Anouk, Dutch singer
  • 1975 – Francesco Flachi, Italian footballer
  • 1975 – Timo Pérez, Dominican-American baseball player
  • 1975 – Funda Arar, Turkish singer
  • 1977 – Ana de la Reguera, Mexican actress
  • 1977 – Mehran Ghassemi, Iranian journalist and author (d. 2008)
  • 1977 – Mark Spencer, American computer programmer and engineer
  • 1978 – Daigo, Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, and voice actor
  • 1978 – Bernt Haas, Austrian-Swiss footballer
  • 1978 – Rachel Roberts, Canadian model and actress
  • 1978 – Jocelyn Robichaud, Canadian tennis player and coach
  • 1978 – Evans Rutto, Kenyan runner
  • 1979 – Alexi Laiho, Finnish singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1979 – Amit Trivedi, Indian singer-songwriter
  • 1980 – Manuel Ortega, Austrian singer
  • 1980 – Katee Sackhoff, American actress
  • 1980 – Mariko Seyama, Japanese announcer, photographer, and model
  • 1981 – Frédérick Bousquet, French swimmer
  • 1981 – Ofer Shechter, Israeli model, actor, and screenwriter
  • 1982 – Gennady Golovkin, Kazakhstani boxer
  • 1982 – Brett White, Australian rugby league player
  • 1983 – Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova, Russian runner
  • 1984 – Michelle Donelan, British politician
  • 1984 – Ezra Koenig, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1984 – Pablo Portillo, Mexican singer and actor
  • 1984 – Taran Noah Smith, American actor
  • 1985 – Patrick Schliwa, German rugby player
  • 1985 – Yemane Tsegay, Ethiopian runner
  • 1986 – Igor Akinfeev, Russian footballer
  • 1986 – Félix Hernández, Venezuelan-American baseball player
  • 1987 – Royston Drenthe, Dutch footballer
  • 1987 – Jeremy Hellickson, American baseball player
  • 1987 – Sam Rapira, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1988 – Jenni Asserholt, Swedish ice hockey player
  • 1988 – Kim Myung-sung, South Korean baseball player
  • 1990 – Kim Jong-hyun, South Korean singer (d. 2017)
  • 1993 – Viktor Arvidsson, Swedish ice hockey player
  • 1993 – Zac Santo, Australian rugby league player
  • 1994 – Josh Chudleigh, Australian rugby league player
  • 1995 – Cedi Osman, Turkish professional basketball player
  • 1997 – Saygrace, Australian singer and songwriter
  • 1997 – Arno Verschueren, Belgian professional football player

Deaths on April 8

  • 217 – Caracalla, Roman emperor (b. 188)
  • 622 – Shōtoku, Japanese prince (b. 572)
  • 632 – Charibert II, Frankish king (b. 607)
  • 894 – Adalelm, Frankish nobleman
  • 944 – Wang Yanxi, Chinese emperor
  • 956 – Gilbert, Frankish nobleman
  • 967 – Mu’izz al-Dawla, Buyid emir (b. 915)
  • 1143 – John II Komnenos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1087)
  • 1150 – Gertrude of Babenberg , duchess of Bohemia (b. 1118)
  • 1321 – Thomas of Tolentino, Italian-Franciscan missionary (b. c. 1255)
  • 1338 – Stephen Gravesend, bishop of London
  • 1364 – John II, French king (b. 1319)
  • 1450 – Sejong the Great, Korean king (b. 1397)
  • 1461 – Georg von Peuerbach, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1423)
  • 1492 – Lorenzo de’ Medici, Italian ruler (b. 1449)
  • 1551 – Oda Nobuhide, Japanese warlord (b. 1510)
  • 1586 – Martin Chemnitz, Lutheran theologian and reformer (b. 1522)
  • 1608 – Magdalen Dacre, English noble (b. 1538)
  • 1612 – Anne Catherine of Brandenburg (b. 1575)
  • 1691 – Carlo Rainaldi, Italian architect, designed the Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria in Montesanto (b. 1611)
  • 1697 – Niels Juel, Norwegian-Danish admiral (b. 1629)
  • 1704 – Hiob Ludolf, German orientalist and philologist (b. 1624)
  • 1704 – Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney, English colonel and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1641)
  • 1709 – Wolfgang Dietrich of Castell-Remlingen, German nobleman (b. 1641)
  • 1725 – John Wise, American minister (b. 1652)
  • 1735 – Francis II Rákóczi, Hungarian prince (b. 1676)
  • 1848 – Gaetano Donizetti, Italian composer (b. 1797)
  • 1860 – István Széchenyi, Hungarian statesman and reformer (b.1791)
  • 1861 – Elisha Otis, American businessman, founded the Otis Elevator Company (b. 1811)
  • 1870 – Charles Auguste de Bériot, Belgian violinist and composer (b. 1802)
  • 1894 – Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Indian journalist, author, and poet (b. 1838)
  • 1906 – Auguste Deter, German woman, first person diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (b. 1850)
  • 1919 – Loránd Eötvös, Hungarian physicist, academic, and politician, Hungarian Minister of Education (b. 1848)
  • 1920 – Charles Griffes, American pianist and composer (b. 1884)
  • 1931 – Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Swedish poet Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1864)
  • 1936 – Róbert Bárány, Austrian physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1876)
  • 1936 – Božena Benešová, Czech poet and novelist (b. 1873)
  • 1941 – Marcel Prévost, French novelist and playwright (b. 1862)
  • 1942 – Kostas Skarvelis, Greek guitarist and composer (b. 1880)
  • 1947 – Olaf Frydenlund, Norwegian target shooter (b. 1862)
  • 1950 – Vaslav Nijinsky, Polish dancer and choreographer (b. 1890)
  • 1959 – Marios Makrionitis, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Athens (b. 1913)
  • 1961 – Joseph Carrodus, Australian public servant (b. 1885)
  • 1962 – Juan Belmonte, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1892)
  • 1965 – Lars Hanson, Swedish actor (b. 1886)
  • 1969 – Zinaida Aksentyeva, Ukrainian astronomer (b. 1900)
  • 1973 – Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1881)
  • 1974 – James Charles McGuigan, Canadian cardinal (b. 1894)
  • 1979 – Breece D’J Pancake, American short story writer (b. 1952)
  • 1981 – Omar Bradley, American general (b. 1893)
  • 1983 – Isamu Kosugi, Japanese actor and director (b. 1904)
  • 1984 – Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1894)
  • 1985 – John Frederick Coots, American pianist and composer (b. 1897)
  • 1990 – Ryan White, American activist, inspired the Ryan White Care Act (b. 1971)
  • 1991 – Per Ohlin, Swedish musician (b. 1969)
  • 1992 – Daniel Bovet, Swiss-Italian pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)
  • 1993 – Marian Anderson, American operatic singer (b. 1897)
  • 1994 – François Rozet, French-Canadian actor (b. 1899)
  • 1996 – Ben Johnson, American actor and stuntman (b. 1918)
  • 1996 – León Klimovsky, Argentinian-Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1906)
  • 1996 – Mick Young, Australian politician (b. 1936)
  • 1997 – Laura Nyro, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1947)
  • 2000 – František Šťastný, Czech motorcycle racer (b. 1927)
  • 2000 – Claire Trevor, American actress (b. 1910)
  • 2002 – María Félix, Mexican actress (b. 1914)
  • 2002 – Harvey Quaytman, American painter (b. 1937)
  • 2004 – Werner Schumacher, German actor (b. 1921)
  • 2005 – Onna White, Canadian choreographer and dancer (b. 1922)
  • 2006 – Gerard Reve, Dutch author and poet (b. 1923)
  • 2007 – Sol LeWitt, American painter and sculptor (b. 1928)
  • 2008 – Kazuo Shiraga, Japanese painter (b. 1924)
  • 2009 – Richard de Mille, American Scientologist, author, investigative journalist, and psychologist (b. 1922)
  • 2009 – Piotr Morawski, Polish mountaineer (b. 1976)
  • 2010 – Malcolm McLaren, English singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
  • 2010 – Teddy Scholten, Dutch singer (b. 1926)
  • 2011 – Hedda Sterne, Romanian-American painter and photographer (b. 1910)
  • 2012 – Blair Kiel, American football player and coach (b. 1961)
  • 2012 – Jack Tramiel, Polish-American businessman, founded Commodore International (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Janusz K. Zawodny, Polish-American soldier, historian, and political scientist (b. 1921)
  • 2013 – Mikhail Beketov, Russian journalist (b. 1958)
  • 2013 – Annette Funicello, American actress and singer (b. 1942)
  • 2013 – Sara Montiel, Spanish-Mexican actress and singer (b. 1928)
  • 2013 – José Luis Sampedro, Spanish economist and author (b. 1917)
  • 2013 – Margaret Thatcher, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Emmanuel III Delly, Iraqi patriarch (b. 1927)
  • 2014 – Karlheinz Deschner, German author and activist (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Ivan Mercep, New Zealand architect, designed the Te Papa Tongarewa Museum (b. 1930)
  • 2015 – Jayakanthan, Indian journalist and author (b. 1934)
  • 2015 – Rayson Huang, Hong Kong chemist and academic (b. 1920)
  • 2015 – Sergei Lashchenko, Ukrainian kick-boxer (b. 1987)
  • 2015 – David Laventhol, American journalist and publisher (b. 1933)
  • 2015 – Jean-Claude Turcotte, Canadian cardinal (b. 1936)

Holidays and observances on April 8

  • Buddha’s Birthday, also known as Hana Matsuri, “Flower Festival” (Japan)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Anne Ayres (Episcopal Church (USA))
    • Constantina
    • Julie Billiart of Namur
    • Perpetuus
    • Walter of Pontoise
    • William Augustus Muhlenberg (Episcopal Church (USA))
    • April 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Fast and Prayer Day can fall, while April 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Friday in April (Liberia)
  • International Romani Day

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

by
  • 106 – Start of the Bostran era, the calendar of the province of Arabia Petraea.
  • 238 – Gordian I and his son Gordian II are proclaimed Roman emperors.
  • 871 – Æthelred of Wessex is defeated by a Danish invasion army at the Battle of Marton.
  • 1508 – Ferdinand II of Aragon commissions Amerigo Vespucci chief navigator of the Spanish Empire.
  • 1621 – The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony sign a peace treaty with Massasoit of the Wampanoags.
  • 1622 – Jamestown massacre: Algonquians kill 347 English settlers around Jamestown, Virginia, a third of the colony’s population, during the Second Anglo-Powhatan War.
  • 1630 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony outlaws the possession of cards, dice, and gaming tables.
  • 1638 – Anne Hutchinson is expelled from Massachusetts Bay Colony for religious dissent.
  • 1713 – The Tuscarora War comes to an end with the fall of Fort Neoheroka, effectively opening up the interior of North Carolina to European colonization.
  • 1739 – Nader Shah occupies Delhi in India and sacks the city, stealing the jewels of the Peacock Throne.
  • 1765 – The British Parliament passes the Stamp Act that introduces a tax to be levied directly on its American colonies.
  • 1784 – The Emerald Buddha is moved with great ceremony to its current location in Wat Phra Kaew, Thailand.
  • 1829 – In the London Protocol, the three protecting powers (United Kingdom, France and Russia) establish the borders of Greece.
  • 1849 – The Austrians defeat the Piedmontese at the Battle of Novara.
  • 1871 – In North Carolina, William Woods Holden becomes the first governor of a U.S. state to be removed from office by impeachment.
  • 1872 – Illinois becomes the first state to require gender equality in employment.
  • 1873 – The Spanish National Assembly abolishes slavery in Puerto Rico.
  • 1894 – The first playoff game for the Stanley Cup starts.
  • 1906 – The first England vs France rugby union match is played at Parc des Princes in Paris
  • 1920 – Azeri and Turkish army soldiers with participation of Kurdish gangs attacked the Armenian inhabitants of Shushi (Nagorno Karabakh).
  • 1933 – Cullen–Harrison Act: President Franklin Roosevelt signs an amendment to the Volstead Act, legalizing the manufacture and sale of “3.2 beer” (3.2% alcohol by weight, approximately 4% alcohol by volume) and light wines.
  • 1939 – Germany takes Memel from Lithuania.
  • 1942 – World War II: In the Mediterranean Sea, the Royal Navy confronts Italy’s Regia Marina in the Second Battle of Sirte.
  • 1943 – World War II: The entire village of Khatyn (in what is the present-day Republic of Belarus) is burnt alive by Schutzmannschaft Battalion 118.
  • 1945 – World War II: The city of Hildesheim, Germany heavily damaged in a British air raid, though it had little military significance and Germany was on the verge of final defeat.
  • 1945 – The Arab League is founded when a charter is adopted in Cairo, Egypt.
  • 1960 – Arthur Leonard Schawlow and Charles Hard Townes receive the first patent for a laser.
  • 1972 – The United States Congress sends the Equal Rights Amendment to the states for ratification.
  • 1972 – In Eisenstadt v. Baird, the United States Supreme Court decides that unmarried persons have the right to possess contraceptives.
  • 1975 – A fire at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant in Decatur, Alabama causes a dangerous reduction in cooling water levels.
  • 1978 – Karl Wallenda of The Flying Wallendas dies after falling off a tight-rope suspended between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
  • 1982 – NASA’s Space Shuttle Columbia is launched from the Kennedy Space Center on its third mission, STS-3.
  • 1992 – USAir Flight 405 crashes shortly after takeoff from New York City’s LaGuardia Airport, leading to a number of studies into the effect that ice has on aircraft.
  • 1992 – Fall of communism in Albania: The Democratic Party of Albania wins a decisive majority in the parliamentary election.
  • 1993 – The Intel Corporation ships the first Pentium chips (80586), featuring a 60 MHz clock speed, 100+ MIPS, and a 64 bit data path.
  • 1995 – Cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov returns to earth after setting a record of 438 days in space.
  • 1997 – Tara Lipinski, aged 14 years and nine months, becomes the youngest women’s World Figure Skating Champion.
  • 2004 – Ahmed Yassin, co-founder and leader of the Palestinian Sunni Islamist group Hamas, two bodyguards, and nine civilian bystanders are killed in the Gaza Strip when hit by Israeli Air Force Hellfire missiles.
  • 2006 – Three Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) hostages are freed by British forces in Baghdad after 118 days of captivity and the murder of their colleague from the U.S., Tom Fox.
  • 2013 – At least 37 people are killed and 200 are injured after a fire destroys a camp containing Burmese refugees near Ban Mae, Thailand.
  • 2016 – Three suicide bombers kill 32 people and injure 316 in the 2016 Brussels bombings at the airport and at the Maelbeek/Maalbeek metro station.
  • 2017 – A terrorist attack in London near the Houses of Parliament leaves four people dead and at least 20 injured.
  • 2019 – Robert S. Mueller III delivers his report on the Russian government’s influence on the election of Donald Trump in the 2016 United States presidential election.
  • 2019 – Two buses crashes in Kitampo, a town north of Ghana’s capital Accra, killing at least 50 people.
  • 2020 – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announces the country’s largest ever self-imposed curfew, in an effort to fight the spread of COVID-19.

Births on March 22

  • 841 – Bernard Plantapilosa, Frankish son of Bernard of Septimania (d. 885)
  • 875 – William I, Duke of Aquitaine (d. 918)
  • 1212 – Emperor Go-Horikawa of Japan (d. 1235)
  • 1367 – Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, English politician, Earl Marshal of the United Kingdom (probable; d. 1399)
  • 1394 – Ulugh Beg, Persian astronomer and mathematician (d. 1449)
  • 1459 – Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1519)
  • 1499 – Johann Carion, German astrologer and chronicler (d. 1537)
  • 1503 – Antonio Francesco Grazzini, Italian author and educator (d. 1583)
  • 1517 – Gioseffo Zarlino, Italian composer (d. 1590)
  • 1519 – Catherine Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk, English noblewoman (d. 1580)
  • 1582 – John Williams, Archbishop of York (d. 1650)
  • 1599 – Anthony van Dyck, Flemish-English painter and etcher (d. 1641)
  • 1609 – John II Casimir Vasa, Polish king (d. 1672)
  • 1615 – Katherine Jones, Viscountess Ranelagh, British scientist (d. 1691)
  • 1663 – August Hermann Francke, German clergyman, philanthropist, and scholar (d. 1727)
  • 1684 – William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath, English politician, Secretary at War (d. 1764)
  • 1712 – Edward Moore, English poet and playwright (d. 1757)
  • 1720 – Nicolas-Henri Jardin, French architect, designed the Yellow Palace and Bernstorff Palace (d. 1799)
  • 1723 – Charles Carroll, American lawyer and politician (d. 1783)
  • 1728 – Anton Raphael Mengs, German painter and theorist (d. 1779)
  • 1785 – Adam Sedgwick, English scientist (d. 1873)
  • 1797 – William I, German Emperor (d. 1888)
  • 1808 – Caroline Norton, English feminist, social reformer, and author (d. 1877)
  • 1808 – David Swinson Maynard, American physician and lawyer (d. 1873)
  • 1812 – Stephen Pearl Andrews, American author and activist (d. 1886)
  • 1814 – Thomas Crawford, American sculptor, designed the Statue of Freedom (d. 1857)
  • 1817 – Braxton Bragg, American general (d. 1876)
  • 1818 – John Ainsworth Horrocks, English-Australian explorer, founded Penwortham (d. 1846)
  • 1822 – Ahmed Cevdet Pasha, Ottoman sociologist, historian, scholar, statesman and jurist (d. 1895)
  • 1842 – Mykola Lysenko, Ukrainian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1912)
  • 1846 – Randolph Caldecott, English illustrator and painter (d. 1886)
  • 1846 – James Timberlake, American lieutenant, police officer, and farmer (d. 1891)
  • 1852 – Otakar Ševčík, Czech violinist and educator (d. 1934)
  • 1852 – Hector Sévin, French cardinal (d. 1916)
  • 1855 – Dorothy Tennant, British painter (d. 1926)
  • 1857 – Paul Doumer, French mathematician, journalist, and politician, 14th President of France (d. 1932)
  • 1866 – Jack Boyle, American baseball player and umpire (d. 1913)
  • 1868 – Robert Andrews Millikan, American colonel and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1953)
  • 1869 – Tom McInnes, Scottish-English footballer (d. 1939)
  • 1873 – Ernest Lawson, Canadian-American painter (d. 1939)
  • 1880 – Ernest C. Quigley, Canadian-American football player and coach (d. 1960)
  • 1884 – Arthur H. Vandenberg, American journalist and politician (d. 1951)
  • 1884 – Lyda Borelli, Italian actress (d. 1959)
  • 1885 – Aryeh Levin, Polish-Lithuanian rabbi and educator (d. 1969)
  • 1886 – August Rei, Estonian lawyer and politician, Head of State of Estonia (d. 1963)
  • 1887 – Chico Marx, American actor (d. 1961)
  • 1890 – George Clark, American race car driver (d. 1978)
  • 1892 – Charlie Poole, American country banjo player (d. 1931)
  • 1892 – Johannes Semper, Estonian poet and scholar (d. 1970)
  • 1896 – He Long, Chinese general and politician, 1st Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China (d. 1969)
  • 1896 – Joseph Schildkraut, Austrian-American actor (d. 1964)
  • 1899 – Ruth Page, American ballerina and choreographer (d. 1991)
  • 1901 – Greta Kempton, Austrian-American painter (d. 1991)
  • 1902 – Johannes Brinkman, Dutch architect, designed the Van Nelle Factory (d. 1949)
  • 1902 – Madeleine Milhaud, French actress and composer (d. 2008)
  • 1903 – Bill Holman, American cartoonist (d. 1987)
  • 1907 – James M. Gavin, American general and diplomat, United States Ambassador to France (d. 1990)
  • 1908 – Jack Crawford, Australian tennis player (d. 1991)
  • 1908 – Louis L’Amour, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1988)
  • 1909 – Gabrielle Roy, Canadian author and educator (d. 1983)
  • 1910 – Nicholas Monsarrat, English sailor and author (d. 1979)
  • 1912 – Wilfrid Brambell, Irish actor and performer (d. 1985)
  • 1912 – Karl Malden, American actor (d. 2009)
  • 1912 – Agnes Martin, Canadian-American painter and educator (d. 2004)
  • 1912 – Leslie Johnson, English race car driver (d. 1959)
  • 1913 – Tom McCall, American journalist and politician, 30th Governor of Oregon (d. 1983)
  • 1913 – Lew Wasserman, American businessman and talent agent (d. 2002)
  • 1913 – James Westerfield, American actor (d. 1971)
  • 1914 – John Stanley, American author and illustrator (d. 1993)
  • 1914 – Donald Stokes, Baron Stokes, English businessman (d. 2008)
  • 1917 – Virginia Grey, American actress (d. 2004)
  • 1917 – Irving Kaplansky, Canadian-American mathematician and academic (d. 2006)
  • 1917 – Paul Rogers, English actor (d. 2013)
  • 1918 – Cheddi Jagan, Guyanese politician, 4th President of Guyana (d. 1997)
  • 1919 – Bernard Krigstein, American illustrator (d. 1990)
  • 1920 – James Brown, American actor and singer (d. 1992)
  • 1920 – Werner Klemperer, German-American actor (d. 2000)
  • 1920 – Lloyd MacPhail, Canadian businessman and politician, 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island (d. 1995)
  • 1920 – Fanny Waterman, English pianist and educator, founded the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition
  • 1920 – Katsuko Saruhashi, Japanese geochemist (d. 2007)
  • 1920 – Ross Martin, American actor (d. 1981)
  • 1921 – Nino Manfredi, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
  • 1922 – John J. Gilligan, American lieutenant and politician, 62nd Governor of Ohio (d. 2013)
  • 1922 – Stewart Stern, American screenwriter (d. 2015)
  • 1923 – Marcel Marceau, French mime and actor (d. 2007)
  • 1924 – Al Neuharth, American journalist and author, founded USA Today (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – Yevgeny Ostashev, Russian test pilot, participant in the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite (d. 1960)
  • 1924 – Osman F. Seden, Turkish director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1998)
  • 1924 – Bill Wendell, American television announcer (d. 1999)
  • 1927 – Marty Blake, American basketball player and manager (d. 2013)
  • 1927 – Nicolas Tikhomiroff, Russian photographer (d. 2016)
  • 1928 – Carrie Donovan, American journalist (d. 2001)
  • 1928 – E. D. Hirsch, American author, critic, and academic
  • 1928 – Ed Macauley, American basketball player, coach, and priest (d. 2011)
  • 1929 – Yayoi Kusama, Japanese artist
  • 1929 – P. Ramlee, Malaysian actor, director, singer, songwriter, composer, and producer. (d. 1973)
  • 1930 – Derek Bok, American lawyer and academic
  • 1930 – Pat Robertson, American minister and broadcaster, founded the Christian Broadcasting Network
  • 1930 – Stephen Sondheim, American composer and songwriter
  • 1931 – Burton Richter, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018)
  • 1931 – William Shatner, Canadian actor
  • 1931 – Leslie Thomas, Welsh journalist and author (d. 2014)
  • 1932 – Els Borst, Dutch physician and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 2014)
  • 1932 – Larry Evans, American chess player and journalist (d. 2010)
  • 1933 – Abolhassan Banisadr, Iranian economist and politician, 1st President of Iran
  • 1934 – May Britt, Swedish actress
  • 1934 – Sheila Cameron, English lawyer and judge
  • 1934 – Orrin Hatch, American lawyer and politician
  • 1935 – Lea Pericoli, Italian tennis player and journalist
  • 1935 – Frank Pulli, American baseball player and umpire (d. 2013)
  • 1935 – M. Emmet Walsh, American actor
  • 1936 – Ron Carey, American trade union leader (d. 2008)
  • 1936 – Roger Whittaker, Kenyan-English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1936 – Erol Büyükburç, Turkish singer-songwriter, pop music composer, and actor (d. 2015)
  • 1937 – Angelo Badalamenti, American pianist and composer
  • 1937 – Armin Hary, German sprinter
  • 1937 – Jon Hassell, American trumpet player and composer
  • 1938 – Rein Etruk, Estonian chess player (d. 2012)
  • 1940 – Dave Keon, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1940 – Haing S. Ngor, Cambodian-American physician and author (d. 1996)
  • 1940 – George Edward Alcorn, Jr. American physicist and inventor
  • 1941 – Billy Collins, American poet
  • 1941 – Jeremy Clyde, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1941 – Bruno Ganz, Swiss actor (d. 2019)
  • 1941 – Cassam Uteem, Mauritian politician, 2nd President of Mauritius
  • 1942 – Jorge Ben Jor, Brazilian singer-songwriter
  • 1942 – Dick Pound, Canadian lawyer and academic
  • 1943 – George Benson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1943 – Nazem Ganjapour, Iranian footballer and manager (d. 2013)
  • 1943 – Keith Relf, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1976)
  • 1945 – Eric Roth, American screenwriter and producer
  • 1946 – Don Chaney, American basketball player and coach
  • 1946 – Rivka Golani, Israeli viola player and composer
  • 1946 – Rudy Rucker, American mathematician, computer scientist, and author
  • 1946 – Harry Vanda, Dutch-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1947 – George Ferguson, English architect and politician, 1st Mayor of Bristol
  • 1947 – James Patterson, American author and producer
  • 1947 – Maarten van Gent, Dutch basketball player and coach
  • 1948 – Andrew Lloyd Webber, English composer and director
  • 1949 – Fanny Ardant, French actress, director, and screenwriter
  • 1949 – Brian Hanrahan, English journalist (d. 2010)
  • 1952 – Des Browne, Scottish lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
  • 1953 – Kenneth Rogoff, American economist and chess grandmaster
  • 1955 – Lena Olin, Swedish actress
  • 1955 – Pete Sessions, American politician
  • 1955 – Valdis Zatlers, Latvian physician and politician, 7th President of Latvia
  • 1956 – Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (born María Teresa Mestre y Batista)
  • 1957 – Jürgen Bucher, German footballer
  • 1957 – Stephanie Mills, American actress and singer
  • 1959 – Matthew Modine, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1960 – Tarmo Laht, Estonian architect
  • 1960 – Lauri Vahtre, Estonian historian and politician
  • 1961 – Simon Furman, British comic book writer
  • 1963 – Deborah Bull, English ballerina
  • 1963 – Susan Ann Sulley, English pop singer (The Human League)
  • 1963 – Martin Vizcarra, Peruvian engineer and politician, 67th President of Peru
  • 1964 – David Gillespie, Australian rugby league player
  • 1966 – Pia Cayetano, Filipino lawyer and politician
  • 1966 – Todd Ewen, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2015)
  • 1966 – Artis Pabriks, Latvian academic and politician, 11th Minister for Defence of Latvia
  • 1966 – António Pinto, Portuguese runner
  • 1966 – Brian Shaw, American basketball player and coach
  • 1967 – Mario Cipollini, Italian cyclist
  • 1967 – Bernie Gallacher, Scottish-English footballer (d. 2011)
  • 1970 – Andreas Johnson, Swedish singer-songwriter
  • 1970 – Leontien van Moorsel, Dutch cyclist
  • 1970 – Hwang Young-cho, South Korean runner
  • 1971 – Keegan-Michael Key, American actor, comedian, and writer
  • 1972 – Shawn Bradley, German-American basketball player, coach, and actor
  • 1972 – Cory Lidle, American baseball player (d. 2006)
  • 1972 – Elvis Stojko, Canadian figure skater and sportscaster
  • 1973 – Beverley Knight, English singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1974 – Marcus Camby, American basketball player
  • 1974 – Philippe Clement, Belgian footballer
  • 1974 – Geo Meneses, Mexican producer and singer
  • 1975 – Cole Hauser, American actor and producer
  • 1975 – Jiří Novák, Czech-Monegasque tennis player
  • 1976 – Teun de Nooijer, Dutch field hockey player
  • 1976 – Kathryn Jean Lopez, American journalist
  • 1976 – Asako Toki, Japanese singer-songwriter
  • 1976 – Kellie Shanygne Williams, American actress
  • 1976 – Reese Witherspoon, American actress and producer
  • 1977 – Joey Porter, American football player and coach
  • 1977 – Tom Poti, American ice hockey player
  • 1979 – Aaron North, American guitarist
  • 1979 – Juan Uribe, Dominican baseball player
  • 1981 – Arne Gabius, German runner
  • 1982 – Piá, Brazilian footballer
  • 1982 – Enrico Gasparotto, Italian cyclist
  • 1982 – Michael Janyk, Canadian skier
  • 1984 – Piotr Trochowski, German footballer
  • 1985 – Mayola Biboko, Belgian footballer
  • 1985 – Jakob Fuglsang, Danish cyclist
  • 1985 – Mike Jenkins, American football player
  • 1985 – Justin Masterson, American baseball player
  • 1985 – Kelli Waite, Australian swimmer
  • 1986 – David Choi, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1986 – Dexter Fowler, American baseball player
  • 1987 – Ike Davis, American baseball player
  • 1987 – Jairo Mora Sandoval, Costa Rican environmentalist (d. 2013)
  • 1987 – Liam Doran, British rally cross driver
  • 1989 – Ruben Popa, Romanian footballer
  • 1989 – J. J. Watt, American football player
  • 1989 – Tyler Oakley, American internet celebrity

Deaths on March 22

  • 880 – Carloman of Bavaria, Frankish king
  • 1144 – William of Norwich, child murder victim
  • 1322 – Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, English politician, Lord High Steward of England (b. 1278)
  • 1418 – Dietrich of Nieheim, German bishop and historian (b. 1345)
  • 1421 – Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence, English soldier and politician, Lord High Steward of England (b. 1388)
  • 1454 – John Kemp, Archbishop of Canterbury
  • 1471 – George of Poděbrady (b. 1420)
  • 1544 – Johannes Magnus, Swedish archbishop and theologian (b. 1488)
  • 1602 – Agostino Carracci, Italian painter and educator (b. 1557)
  • 1685 – Emperor Go-Sai of Japan (b. 1638)
  • 1687 – Jean-Baptiste Lully, Italian-French composer and conductor (b. 1632)
  • 1758 – Jonathan Edwards, English minister, theologian, and philosopher (b. 1703)
  • 1772 – John Canton, English physicist and academic (b. 1718)
  • 1820 – Stephen Decatur, American commander (b. 1779)
  • 1832 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German novelist, poet, playwright, and diplomat (b. 1749)
  • 1840 – Étienne Bobillier, French mathematician and academic (b. 1798)
  • 1864 – Konstanty Kalinowski, writer, journalist, lawyer and revolutionary (b. 1838)
  • 1881 – Samuel Courtauld, English businessman (b. 1793)
  • 1896 – Thomas Hughes, English lawyer and politician (b. 1822)
  • 1913 – Song Jiaoren, Chinese educator and politician (b. 1882)
  • 1913 – Ruggero Oddi, Italian physiologist and anatomist (b.1864)
  • 1924 – William Macewen, Scottish surgeon and neuroscientist (b. 1848)
  • 1931 – James Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy, Irish lawyer and politician (b. 1851)
  • 1942 – Frederick Cuming, English cricketer (b. 1875)
  • 1942 – William Donne, English captain and cricketer (b. 1875)
  • 1945 – John Hessin Clarke, American lawyer and judge (b. 1857)
  • 1952 – D. S. Senanayake, 1st Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (b. 1883)
  • 1955 – Ivan Šubašić, Croatian lawyer and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (b. 1892)
  • 1958 – Mike Todd, American film producer (b. 1909)
  • 1960 – José Antonio Aguirre, Spanish lawyer and politician, 1st President of the Basque Country (b. 1904)
  • 1966 – John Harlin, American mountaineer and pilot (b. 1935)
  • 1971 – Johannes Villemson, Estonian-American runner (b. 1893)
  • 1971 – Nella Walker, American actress and vaudevillian (b. 1886)
  • 1974 – Peter Revson, American race car driver (b. 1939)
  • 1974 – Orazio Satta Puliga, Italian automobile designer (b. 1910)
  • 1976 – John Dwyer McLaughlin, American painter (b. 1898)
  • 1977 – A. K. Gopalan, Indian educator and politician (b. 1904)
  • 1978 – Karl Wallenda, German-American acrobat and tightrope walker, founded The Flying Wallendas (b. 1905)
  • 1979 – Ben Lyon, American actor and studio executive (b. 1901)
  • 1981 – James Elliott, American runner and coach (b. 1915)
  • 1981 – Gil Puyat, Filipino businessman and politician, 13th President of the Senate of the Philippines (b. 1907)
  • 1986 – Olive Deering, American actress (b. 1918)
  • 1986 – Mark Dinning, American singer (b. 1933)
  • 1987 – Odysseas Angelis, Greek general and politician (b. 1912)
  • 1989 – Peta Taylor, English cricketer (b. 1912)
  • 1990 – Gerald Bull, Canadian engineer and academic (b. 1928)
  • 1991 – Léon Balcer, Canadian lawyer and politician, 19th Solicitor General of Canada (b. 1917)
  • 1991 – Paul Engle, American novelist, poet, playwright, and critic (b. 1908)
  • 1991 – Dave Guard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1934)
  • 1991 – Gloria Holden, English-American actress (b. 1908)
  • 1993 – Steve Olin, American baseball player (b. 1965)
  • 1994 – Dan Hartman, American singer-songwriter, and producer (b. 1950)
  • 1994 – Walter Lantz, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1899)
  • 1996 – Don Murray, American drummer (b. 1945)
  • 1996 – Robert F. Overmyer, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1936)
  • 1996 – Billy Williamson, American guitarist (b. 1925)
  • 1999 – Max Beloff, Baron Beloff, English historian and academic (b. 1913)
  • 1999 – David Strickland, American actor (b. 1969)
  • 2000 – Carlo Parola, Italian footballer and manager (b. 1921)
  • 2001 – Stepas Butautas, Lithuanian basketball player and coach (b. 1925)
  • 2001 – Sabiha Gökçen, Turkish soldier and pilot (b. 1913)
  • 2001 – William Hanna, American animator, director, producer, and voice actor, co-founded Hanna-Barbera (b. 1910)
  • 2001 – Robert Fletcher Shaw, Canadian businessman, academic, and civil servant (b. 1910)
  • 2002 – Rudolf Baumgartner, Swiss violinist and conductor (b. 1917)
  • 2003 – Terry Lloyd, English journalist (b. 1952)
  • 2004 – Janet Akyüz Mattei, Turkish-American astronomer and academic (b. 1943)
  • 2004 – Ahmed Yassin, Co-founded Hamas (b. 1937)
  • 2004 – V. M. Tarkunde, Indian lawyer and civil rights activist (b. 1909)
  • 2005 – Rod Price, English guitarist and songwriter (b. 1947)
  • 2005 – Gemini Ganesan, Indian film actor (b. 1920)
  • 2005 – Kenzō Tange, Japanese architect, designed the Yoyogi National Gymnasium and Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (b. 1913)
  • 2006 – Pierre Clostermann, French soldier, pilot, and politician (b. 1921)
  • 2006 – Pío Leyva, Cuban singer and author (b. 1917)
  • 2006 – Kurt von Trojan, Austrian-Australian journalist and author (b. 1937)
  • 2007 – U. G. Krishnamurti, Indian-Italian philosopher and educator (b. 1918)
  • 2008 – Cachao López, Cuban-American bassist and composer (b. 1918)
  • 2010 – James Black, Scottish biologist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1924)
  • 2010 – Özhan Canaydın, Turkish basketball player and businessman (b. 1943)
  • 2011 – Artur Agostinho, Portuguese journalist (b. 1920)
  • 2011 – Victor Bouchard, Canadian pianist and composer (b. 1926)
  • 2012 – Joe Blanchard, American football player and wrestler (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – John Payton, American lawyer and activist (b. 1946)
  • 2012 – Matthew White Ridley, 4th Viscount Ridley, English academic and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Mickey Sullivan, American baseball player and coach (b. 1932)
  • 2012 – David Waltz, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1943)
  • 2012 – Neil L. Whitehead, English anthropologist and author (b. 1956)
  • 2013 – Vladimír Čech, Czech actor and politician (b. 1951)
  • 2013 – James Nabrit, American lawyer and academic (b. 1932)
  • 2013 – Bebo Valdés, Cuban-Swedish pianist and composer (b. 1918)
  • 2013 – Derek Watkins, English trumpet player and composer (b. 1945)
  • 2013 – Ray Williams, American basketball player and coach (b. 1954)
  • 2014 – Yashwant Vithoba Chittal, Indian author (b. 1928)
  • 2014 – Mickey Duff, Polish-English boxer and manager (b. 1929)
  • 2014 – Thor Listau, Norwegian soldier and politician (b. 1938)
  • 2014 – Tasos Mitsopoulos, Cypriot politician, Cypriot Minister of Defence (b. 1965)
  • 2015 – Arkady Arkanov, Ukrainian-Russian actor and playwright (b. 1933)
  • 2015 – Horst Buhtz, German footballer and manager (b. 1923)
  • 2015 – George Neel, Jr., American businessman (b. 1930)
  • 2015 – Norman Scribner, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1936)
  • 2016 – Phife Dawg, American rapper (b. 1970)
  • 2016 – Rob Ford, Canadian businessman and politician, 64th Mayor of Toronto (b. 1969)
  • 2016 – Rita Gam, American actress (b. 1927)
  • 2018 – Johan van Hulst, Dutch politician, academic and author, Yad Vashem recipient (b. 1911)

Holidays and observances on March 22

  • Bihar Day (Bihar, India)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Basil of Ancyra
    • Blessed Clemens August Graf von Galen
    • Darerca of Ireland
    • Epaphroditus
    • Jonathan Edwards (Lutheranism)
    • Lea of Rome
    • Nicholas Owen
    • Paul of Narbonne
    • March 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Easter Sunday can fall (last in 1818, will not happen again until 2285), while April 25 is the latest. (Christianity)
  • Emancipation Day or Día de la Abolición de la Esclavitud (Puerto Rico)
  • World Water Day (International)

March 11- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

by
  • 222 – Alexander Severus becomes emperor of Rome, replacing his cousin, 18-year-old Elagabalus. The bodies of the assassinated emperor and his mother, Julia Soaemias, are dragged through the streets of the city and thrown into the Tiber.
  • 1387 – Battle of Castagnaro: English condottiero Sir John Hawkwood leads Padova to victory in a factional clash with Verona.
  • 1641 – Guaraní forces living in the Jesuit reductions defeat bandeirantes loyal to the Portuguese Empire at the Battle of Mbororé in present-day Panambí, Argentina.
  • 1649 – The Frondeurs and the French sign the Peace of Rueil.
  • 1702 – The Daily Courant, England’s first national daily newspaper, is published for the first time.
  • 1708 – Queen Anne withholds Royal Assent from the Scottish Militia Bill, the last time a British monarch vetoes legislation.
  • 1784 – The signing of the Treaty of Mangalore brings the Second Anglo-Mysore War to an end.
  • 1811 – During André Masséna’s retreat from the Lines of Torres Vedras, a division led by French Marshal Michel Ney fights off a combined Anglo-Portuguese force to give Masséna time to escape.
  • 1824 – The United States Department of War creates the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
  • 1845 – Flagstaff War: Unhappy with translational differences regarding the Treaty of Waitangi, chiefs Hone Heke, Kawiti and Māori tribe members chop down the British flagpole for a fourth time and drive settlers out of Kororareka, New Zealand.
  • 1848 – Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin become the first Prime Ministers of the Province of Canada to be democratically elected under a system of responsible government.
  • 1851 – The first performance of Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi takes place in Venice.
  • 1861 – American Civil War: The Constitution of the Confederate States of America is adopted.
  • 1864 – The Great Sheffield Flood kills 238 people in Sheffield, England.
  • 1872 – Construction of the Seven Sisters Colliery, South Wales, begins; located on one of the richest coal sources in Britain.
  • 1879 – Shō Tai formally abdicated his position of King of Ryūkyū, under orders from Tokyo, ending the Ryukyu Kingdom.
  • 1888 – The Great Blizzard of 1888 begins along the eastern seaboard of the United States, shutting down commerce and killing more than 400.
  • 1917 – World War I: Mesopotamian campaign: Baghdad falls to Anglo-Indian forces commanded by General Stanley Maude.
  • 1927 – In New York City, Samuel Roxy Rothafel opens the Roxy Theatre.
  • 1931 – Ready for Labour and Defence of the USSR, abbreviated as GTO, is introduced in the Soviet Union.
  • 1941 – World War II: United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act into law, allowing American-built war supplies to be shipped to the Allies on loan.
  • 1945 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy attempts a large-scale kamikaze attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet anchored at Ulithi atoll in Operation Tan No. 2.
  • 1945 – World War II: The Empire of Vietnam, a short-lived Japanese puppet state, is established with Bảo Đại as its ruler.
  • 1946 – Rudolf Höss, the first commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp, is captured by British troops.
  • 1975 – Vietnam War: North Vietnamese and Viet Cong guerrilla forces establish control over Buôn Ma Thuột commune from the South Vietnamese army.
  • 1977 – The 1977 Hanafi Siege: More than 130 hostages held in Washington, D.C., by Hanafi Muslims are set free after ambassadors from three Islamic nations join negotiations.
  • 1978 – Coastal Road massacre: At least 37 are killed and more than 70 are wounded when Fatah hijack an Israeli bus, prompting Israel’s Operation Litani.
  • 1981 – Hundreds of students protest in the University of Pristina in Kosovo, then part of Yugoslavia, to give their province more political rights. The protests then became a nationwide movement.
  • 1983 – Pakistan successfully conducts a cold test of a nuclear weapon.
  • 1983 – Bob Hawke is appointed Prime Minister of Australia.
  • 1985 – Mikhail Gorbachev is elected to the position of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union making Gorbachev the USSR’s de facto, and last, head of state.
  • 1990 – Lithuania declares itself independent from the Soviet Union.
  • 1990 – Patricio Aylwin is sworn in as the first democratically elected President of Chile since 1970.
  • 1993 – Janet Reno is confirmed by the United States Senate and sworn in the next day, becoming the first female Attorney General of the United States.
  • 1999 – Infosys becomes the first Indian company listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
  • 2004 – Madrid train bombings: Simultaneous explosions on rush-hour trains in Madrid, Spain, killing 192 people.
  • 2006 – Michelle Bachelet is inaugurated as first female president of Chile.
  • 2007 – Georgia claims Russian helicopters attacked the Kodori Valley in Abkhazia, an accusation that Russia categorically denies later.
  • 2009 – Winnenden school shooting: Sixteen are killed and 11 are injured before recent-graduate Tim Kretschmer shoots and kills himself, leading to tightened weapons restrictions in Germany.
  • 2010 – Economist and businessman Sebastián Piñera is sworn in as President of Chile, while three earthquakes, the strongest measuring magnitude 6.9 and all centered next to Pichilemu, capital of Cardenal Caro province, hit central Chile during the ceremony.
  • 2011 – An earthquake measuring 9.0 in magnitude strikes 130 km (81 mi) east of Sendai, Japan, triggering a tsunami killing thousands of people. This event also triggered the second largest nuclear accident in history, and one of only two events to be classified as a Level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale.
  • 2012 – A U.S. soldier kills 16 civilians in the Panjwayi District of Afghanistan near Kandahar.
  • 2016 – At least 21 people are killed by flooding and mudslides in and around São Paulo, Brazil, following heavy rain.
  • 2020 – The World Health Organization (WHO) declares a pandemic due to the COVID-19 virus.

Births on March 11

  • 1279 – Mary of Woodstock, daughter of Edward I of England (d. c.1332)
  • 1503 – George Harper, English politician (d. 1558)
  • 1530 – Johann Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Weimar (d. 1573)
  • 1544 – Torquato Tasso, Italian poet and educator (d. 1595)
  • 1634 – Nicholas Gassaway, English colonial military and political leader (d. 1691)
  • 1738 – Benjamin Tupper, American general (d. 1792)
  • 1745 – Bodawpaya, Burmese king (d. 1819)
  • 1785 – John McLean, American jurist and politician, 6th United States Postmaster General (d. 1861)
  • 1787 – Ivan Nabokov, Russian general (d. 1852)
  • 1806 – Louis Boulanger, French Romantic painter, lithographer and illustrator (d. 1867)
  • 1811 – Urbain Le Verrier, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1877)
  • 1815 – Anna Bochkoltz, German operatic soprano, voice teacher and composer (d. 1879)
  • 1818 – Marius Petipa, French-Russian dancer and choreographer (d. 1910)
  • 1819 – Henry Tate, English businessman and philanthropist, founded Tate & Lyle (d. 1899)
  • 1822 – Joseph Louis François Bertrand, French mathematician, economist, and academic (d. 1900)
  • 1854 – Jane Meade Welch, American journalist and lecturer (d. 1931)
  • 1863 – Andrew Stoddart, English cricketer and rugby player (d. 1915)
  • 1870 – Louis Bachelier, French mathematician and theorist (d. 1946)
  • 1872 – Kathleen Clarice Groom, Australian-English author and screenwriter (d. 1954)
  • 1873 – David Horsley, English-American film producer, co-founded Universal Studios (d. 1933)
  • 1876 – Carl Ruggles, American pianist and composer (d. 1971)
  • 1878 – Umegatani Tōtarō II, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1927)
  • 1880 – Harry H. Laughlin, American eugenicist and sociologist (d. 1943)
  • 1884 – Lewi Pethrus, Swedish minister and hymn-writer (d. 1974)
  • 1884 – Ömer Seyfettin, Turkish soldier, author, and educator (d. 1920)
  • 1885 – Malcolm Campbell, English race car driver and journalist (d. 1948)
  • 1887 – Raoul Walsh, American actor and director (d. 1980)
  • 1887 – Kâzım Orbay, Turkish general and politician (d. 1964)
  • 1890 – Vannevar Bush, American engineer and academic (d. 1974)
  • 1893 – Wanda Gág, American author and illustrator (d. 1946)
  • 1895 – Shemp Howard, American actor (d. 1955)
  • 1896 – Olivério Pinto, Brazilian zoologist and physician (d. 1981)
  • 1897 – Henry Cowell, American pianist and composer (d. 1965)
  • 1898 – Dorothy Gish, American actress (d. 1968)
  • 1899 – James H. Douglas, Jr., American colonel, lawyer, and politician, 9th United States Deputy Secretary of Defense (d. 1988)
  • 1899 – Frederick IX of Denmark (d. 1972)
  • 1900 – Hanna Bergas, German teacher who contributed to the rescue of Jewish children during WWII (d. 1987)
  • 1903 – Ronald Syme, New Zealand historian and scholar (d. 1989)
  • 1903 – Lawrence Welk, American accordion player and bandleader (d. 1992)
  • 1907 – Jessie Matthews, English actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1981)
  • 1908 – Matti Sippala, Finnish javelin thrower (d. 1997)
  • 1910 – Robert Havemann, German chemist and academic (d. 1982)
  • 1911 – Sir Fitzroy Maclean, 1st Baronet, Egyptian-Scottish general and politician (d. 1996)
  • 1913 – Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke, German colonel and pilot (d. 1944)
  • 1915 – Vijay Hazare, Indian cricketer (d. 2004)
  • 1915 – J. C. R. Licklider, American computer scientist and psychologist (d. 1990)
  • 1916 – Ezra Jack Keats, American author and illustrator (d. 1983)
  • 1916 – Harold Wilson, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1995)
  • 1920 – Nicolaas Bloembergen, Dutch-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2017)
  • 1921 – Frank Harary, American mathematician and academic (d. 2005)
  • 1921 – Jeff Stollmeyer, Trinidadian cricketer (d. 1989)
  • 1921 – Astor Piazzolla, Argentine tango composer and bandoneon player (d. 1992)
  • 1922 – Cornelius Castoriadis, Greek economist and philosopher (d. 1997)
  • 1922 – José Luis López Vázquez, Spanish actor and director (d. 2009)
  • 1922 – Abdul Razak Hussein, Malaysian lawyer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Malaysia (d. 1976)
  • 1923 – Louise Brough, American tennis player (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – Margaret Oakley Dayhoff, American biochemist and academic (d. 1983)
  • 1925 – İlhan Selçuk, Turkish lawyer, journalist, and author (d. 2010)
  • 1926 – Ralph Abernathy, American minister and activist (d. 1990)
  • 1927 – Joachim Fuchsberger, German actor and television host (d. 2014)
  • 1927 – Col Geelan, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1996)
  • 1927 – Freda Meissner-Blau, Austrian activist and politician (d. 2015)
  • 1927 – Robert Mosbacher, American sailor, businessman, and politician, 25th United States Secretary of Commerce (d. 2010)
  • 1927 – Josep Maria Subirachs, Spanish sculptor and painter (d. 2014)
  • 1928 – Albert Salmi, American actor (d. 1990)
  • 1929 – Timothy Carey, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1994)
  • 1929 – Jackie McGlew, South African cricketer (d. 1998)
  • 1930 – David Gentleman, English illustrator and engraver
  • 1930 – Claude Jutra, Canadian actor, director and screenwriter (d. 1986)
  • 1931 – Janosch, Polish-German author and illustrator
  • 1931 – Marisa Del Frate, Italian actress and singer (d. 2015)
  • 1931 – Rupert Murdoch, Australian-American businessman and media magnate
  • 1932 – Leroy Jenkins, American violinist and composer (Revolutionary Ensemble) (d. 2007)
  • 1932 – Nigel Lawson, English journalist and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer
  • 1934 – Sam Donaldson, American journalist
  • 1936 – Hollis Frampton, American director, screenwriter, and photographer (d. 1984)
  • 1936 – Antonin Scalia, American lawyer and jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (d. 2016)
  • 1938 – Joseph Brooks, American director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (d. 2011)
  • 1939 – Lorraine Hunt, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Lieutenant Governor of Nevada
  • 1939 – Orlando Quevedo, Filipino cardinal
  • 1940 – Alberto Cortez, Argentinian-Spanish singer-songwriter (d. 2019)
  • 1942 – Marcus Borg, American scholar, theologian and author (d. 2015)
  • 1942 – Joel Steiger, American director, producer and screenwriter
  • 1943 – Arturo Merzario, Italian race car driver
  • 1945 – Dock Ellis, American baseball player and coach (d. 2008)
  • 1945 – Harvey Mandel, American guitarist
  • 1946 – Mark Metcalf, American actor and producer
  • 1947 – Geoff Hunt, Australian squash player
  • 1947 – Tristan Murail, French composer and educator
  • 1948 – Roy Barnes, American lawyer and politician, 80th Governor of Georgia
  • 1949 – Griselda Pollock, South African-English historian and academic
  • 1950 – Sam Kekovich, Australian footballer and sportscaster
  • 1950 – Bobby McFerrin, American singer-songwriter, producer, and conductor
  • 1950 – Jerry Zucker, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1951 – Andres Metspalu, Estonian geneticist and academic
  • 1951 – Dominique Sanda, French model and actress
  • 1952 – Douglas Adams, English author and playwright (d. 2001)
  • 1953 – László Bölöni, Romanian-Hungarian footballer and manager
  • 1953 – Derek Daly, Irish-American race car driver and sportscaster
  • 1953 – Jimmy Iovine, American record producer and businessman, co-founded Interscope Records and Beats Electronics
  • 1953 – Bernie LaBarge, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1954 – David Newman, American composer and conductor
  • 1954 – Gale Norton, American lawyer and politician, 48th United States Secretary of the Interior
  • 1955 – Leslie Cliff, Canadian swimmer
  • 1955 – Nina Hagen, German singer and actress
  • 1955 – D. J. MacHale, American author, director, and screenwriter
  • 1956 – Willie Banks, American triple jumper
  • 1956 – Curtis Brown, American colonel, pilot and astronaut
  • 1956 – Helen Rollason, English journalist and sportscaster (d. 1999)
  • 1957 – The Lady Chablis, American drag queen performer (d. 2016)
  • 1958 – Ian Horrocks, English computer scientist and academic
  • 1958 – Tetsurō Oda, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1958 – James Pinkerton, American journalist and author
  • 1958 – Anissa Jones, American child actress (d. 1976)
  • 1958 – Flemming Rose, Danish journalist and author
  • 1959 – Manuel Negrete Arias, Mexican footballer and coach
  • 1959 – Nina Hartley, American pornographic actress/director, sex educator, sex-positive feminist, and author
  • 1959 – Margus Oopkaup, Estonian actor
  • 1959 – Dejan Stojanović, Serbian-American journalist and poet
  • 1960 – Christophe Gans, French director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1960 – Junichi Sato, Japanese animator and director
  • 1960 – Warwick Taylor, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1961 – Elias Koteas, Canadian actor
  • 1961 – Bruce Watson, Canadian-Scottish guitarist
  • 1962 – Mary Gauthier, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1962 – Matt Mead, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Governor of Wyoming
  • 1963 – Gary Barnett, English footballer and manager
  • 1963 – Alex Kingston, English actress
  • 1963 – David LaChapelle, American photographer and director
  • 1964 – Peter Berg, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter
  • 1964 – Vinnie Paul, American drummer, songwriter and producer (d. 2018)
  • 1964 – Shane Richie, English actor and singer
  • 1965 – Nigel Adkins, English footballer and manager
  • 1965 – Jesse Jackson, Jr., American lawyer and politician
  • 1965 – Wallace Langham, American actor
  • 1965 – Jenny Packham, English fashion designer
  • 1965 – Allan Vainola, Estonian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1966 – Robbie Brookside, English wrestler and trainer
  • 1966 – John Thompson III, American basketball player and coach
  • 1966 – Ilias Zouros, Greek basketball player and coach
  • 1967 – John Barrowman, Scottish-American actor and singer
  • 1967 – Brad Carson, American lawyer and politician, United States Under Secretary of the Army
  • 1967 – Renzo Gracie, Brazilian-American mixed martial artist and trainer
  • 1967 – Cynthia Klitbo, Mexican actress
  • 1968 – Stéphane Bédard, Canadian lawyer and politician
  • 1968 – Simone Buchanan, Australian actress
  • 1968 – Lisa Loeb, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and actress
  • 1969 – Terrence Howard, American actor and producer
  • 1969 – Soraya, Colombian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2006)
  • 1970 – Andre Nickatina, American rapper and producer
  • 1971 – Johnny Knoxville, American actor, stuntman, and producer
  • 1971 – Martin Ručinský, Czech ice hockey player
  • 1972 – Paolo Ponzo, Italian footballer (d. 2013)
  • 1973 – Martin Hiden, Austrian footballer and coach
  • 1974 – Bobby Abreu, Venezuelan baseball player
  • 1975 – João Barbosa, Portuguese racing driver
  • 1975 – Shawn Springs, American football player
  • 1976 – Thomas Gravesen, Danish footballer
  • 1976 – Kotomitsuki Keiji, Japanese sumo wrestler
  • 1977 – Becky Hammon, American-Russian basketball player and coach
  • 1978 – Scott Calderwood, English-Scottish footballer and manager
  • 1978 – Didier Drogba, Ivorian footballer
  • 1978 – Albert Luque, Spanish footballer
  • 1979 – Elton Brand, American basketball player
  • 1979 – Fred Jones, American basketball player
  • 1979 – Benji Madden, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1979 – Joel Madden, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1979 – Keren Peles, Israeli singer-songwriter and pianist
  • 1979 – Kirk Reynoldson, Australian rugby league player
  • 1980 – Paul Scharner, Austrian footballer
  • 1980 – Dan Uggla, American baseball player
  • 1981 – Heidi Cortez, American businesswoman and author
  • 1981 – Luke Johnson, English drummer and songwriter
  • 1981 – LeToya Luckett, American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1982 – Brian Anderson, American baseball player
  • 1982 – Thora Birch, American actress
  • 1982 – Hasan Raza, Pakistani cricketer
  • 1983 – Lucy DeVito, American actress
  • 1985 – Paul Bissonnette, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1985 – Daniel Vázquez Evuy, Equatoguinean footballer
  • 1985 – Cassandra Fairbanks, American journalist and activist
  • 1985 – Luis Hernández, Mexican figure skater
  • 1985 – Stelios Malezas, Greek footballer
  • 1985 – Ajantha Mendis, Sri Lankan cricketer
  • 1985 – Derek Schouman, American football player
  • 1985 – Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Australian footballer
  • 1985 – Hakuhō Shō, Mongolian sumo wrestler, the 69th Yokozuna
  • 1986 – Dario Cologna, Swiss skier
  • 1986 – Mariko Shinoda, Japanese singer and actress
  • 1987 – Marc-André Gragnani, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1987 – Tanel Kangert, Estonian cyclist
  • 1987 – Ngonidzashe Makusha, Zimbabwean sprinter and long jumper
  • 1987 – Colin Munro, South African-New Zealand cricketer
  • 1988 – Fábio Coentrão, Portuguese footballer
  • 1988 – Cecil Lolo, South African footballer (d. 2015)
  • 1988 – Katsuhiko Nakajima, Japanese wrestler
  • 1989 – Anton Yelchin, Russian-born American actor (d. 2016)
  • 1990 – Ayumi Morita, Japanese tennis player
  • 1991 – Kamohelo Mokotjo, South African footballer
  • 1992 – Austin Swift, American actor
  • 1992 – KZ Tandingan, Filipina singer and rapper
  • 1993 – Jodie Comer, British actress
  • 1993 – Anthony Davis, American basketball player
  • 1994 – Andrew Robertson, Scottish footballer

Deaths on March 11

  • 222 – Elagabalus, Roman emperor (b. 203)
  • 452 – Tai Wu Di, emperor of Northern Wei (b. 408)
  • 638 – Sophronius of Jerusalem (b. 560)
  • 857 – Eulogius of Córdoba, Spanish martyr and saint (b. 819)
  • 1198 – Marie of France, Countess of Champagne (b. 1145)
  • 1296 – John le Romeyn, Archbishop of York
  • 1353 – Theognostus, metropolitan of Kiev and Moscow
  • 1486 – Albrecht III Achilles, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1414)
  • 1514 – Donato Bramante, Italian architect, designed the San Pietro in Montorio (b. 1444)
  • 1575 – Matthias Flacius, Croatian theologian and reformer (b. 1520)
  • 1602 – Emilio de’ Cavalieri, Italian organist and composer (b. 1550)
  • 1607 – Giovanni Maria Nanino, Italian composer and educator (b. 1543)
  • 1646 – Stanisław Koniecpolski, Polish soldier and statesman (b. c. 1592)
  • 1665 – Clemente Tabone, Maltese landowner and militia member (b. c. 1575)
  • 1722 – John Toland, Irish philosopher and theorist (b. 1670)
  • 1759 – John Forbes, Scottish general (b. 1710)
  • 1820 – Benjamin West, American-English painter and academic (b. 1738)
  • 1851 – Marie Louise Coidavid, Queen of Haiti (b. 1778)
  • 1851 – George McDuffie, American lawyer and politician, 55th Governor of South Carolina (b. 1790)
  • 1854 – Willard Richards, American journalist and religious leader (b. 1804)
  • 1863 – Sir James Outram, 1st Baronet, English general (b. 1803)
  • 1869 – Vladimir Odoyevsky, Russian philosopher and critic (b. 1803)
  • 1870 – Moshoeshoe I of Lesotho (b. 1786)
  • 1874 – Charles Sumner, American lawyer and politician (b. 1811)
  • 1898 – William Rosecrans, American general and politician (b. 1819)
  • 1898 – Tigran Chukhajian, Armenian composer and conductor (b. 1837)
  • 1907 – Jean Casimir-Perier, French lawyer and politician, 6th President of France (b. 1847)
  • 1908 – Edmondo De Amicis, Italian journalist and author (b. 1846)
  • 1908 – Benjamin Waugh, American minister and activist (b. 1839)
  • 1915 – Thomas Alexander Browne, English-Australian author (b. 1826)
  • 1920 – Julio Garavito Armero, Colombian astronomer, mathematician, and engineer (b. 1865)
  • 1927 – Xenophon Stratigos, Greek general and politician, Greek Minister of Transport (b. 1869)
  • 1931 – F. W. Murnau, German-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1888)
  • 1937 – Joseph S. Cullinan, American businessman, co-founded Texaco (b. 1860)
  • 1944 – Hendrik Willem van Loon, Dutch-American journalist and historian (b. 1882)
  • 1944 – Edgar Zilsel, Austrian historian and philosopher of science, linked to the Vienna Circle (b. 1891)
  • 1949 – Anastasios Charalambis, Greek general and politician, 109th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1862)
  • 1949 – Henri Giraud, French general and politician (b. 1879)
  • 1952 – Pierre Renoir, French actor and director (b. 1885)
  • 1955 – Alexander Fleming, Scottish biologist, pharmacologist, and botanist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881)
  • 1955 – Oscar F. Mayer, German-American businessman, founded Oscar Mayer (b. 1859)
  • 1957 – Richard E. Byrd, American admiral and explorer (b. 1888)
  • 1958 – Ole Kirk Christiansen, Danish businessman, founded The Lego Group (b. 1891)
  • 1959 – Lester Dent, American author (b. 1904)
  • 1960 – Roy Chapman Andrews, American paleontologist and explorer (b. 1884)
  • 1965 – Harry Altham, English cricketer, historian and coach (b. 1888)
  • 1967 – Geraldine Farrar, American soprano and actress (b. 1882)
  • 1968 – Haşim İşcan, Turkish educator and politician, 18th Mayor of İstanbul (b. 1898)
  • 1969 – John Daly, Irish runner (b. 1880)
  • 1969 – John Wyndham, English soldier and author (b. 1903)
  • 1970 – Erle Stanley Gardner, American lawyer and author (b. 1889)
  • 1971 – Philo Farnsworth, American inventor (b. 1906)
  • 1971 – Whitney Young, American activist (b. 1921)
  • 1977 – Ulysses S. Grant IV, American geologist and paleontologist (b. 1893)
  • 1978 – Claude François, Egyptian-French singer-songwriter and dancer (b. 1939)
  • 1980 – Chandra Bhanu Gupta, Indian politician, 4th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (b. 1902)
  • 1982 – Edmund Cooper, English poet and author (b. 1926)
  • 1982 – Horace Gregory, American poet, translator, and academic (b. 1898)
  • 1983 – Will Glickman, American playwright (b. 1910)
  • 1984 – Kostas Roukounas, Greek singer-songwriter (b. 1903)
  • 1986 – Sonny Terry, American singer and harmonica player (b. 1911)
  • 1989 – James Kee, American lawyer and politician (b. 1917)
  • 1989 – John J. McCloy, American lawyer and banker (b. 1895)
  • 1992 – Richard Brooks, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1912)
  • 1995 – Myfanwy Talog, Welsh actress and singer (b. 1945)
  • 1996 – Vince Edwards, American actor and director (b. 1928)
  • 1999 – Herbert Jasper, Canadian psychologist, anatomist, and neurologist (b. 1906)
  • 1999 – Camille Laurin, Canadian psychiatrist and politician (b. 1922)
  • 2002 – James Tobin, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
  • 2006 – Bernie Geoffrion, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1931)
  • 2006 – Slobodan Milošević, Serbian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (b. 1941)
  • 2007 – Betty Hutton, American actress and singer (b. 1921)
  • 2008 – Nils Taube, Estonian-English businessman (b. 1928)
  • 2009 – Charles Lewis, Jr., American businessman, co-founded Tapout Clothing (b. 1963)
  • 2010 – John Hill, Canadian-American wrestler (b. 1941)
  • 2010 – Merlin Olsen, American football player and actor (b. 1940)
  • 2010 – T. Somasekaram, Sri Lankan geographer and politician, 37th Surveyor General of Sri Lanka (b. 1934)
  • 2010 – Hans van Mierlo, Dutch journalist and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1931)
  • 2011 – Gary Wichard, American football player and agent (b. 1950)
  • 2012 – Henry Adefope, Nigerian physician and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Nigeria (b. 1926)
  • 2012 – Sid Couchey, American author and illustrator (b. 1919)
  • 2012 – James B. Morehead, American colonel and pilot (b. 1916)
  • 2012 – Gösta Schwarck, German-Danish pianist and composer (b. 1915)
  • 2013 – Erica Andrews, Mexican-American drag queen performer (b. 1969)
  • 2013 – Martin Adolf Bormann, German priest and theologian (b. 1930)
  • 2013 – Doug Christie, Canadian lawyer and activist (b. 1946)
  • 2013 – Simón Alberto Consalvi, Venezuelan journalist and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Venezuela (b. 1927)
  • 2013 – Florian Siwicki, Polish general and politician (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Dean Bailey, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1967)
  • 2014 – Joel Brinkley, American journalist and academic (b. 1952)
  • 2015 – Walter Burkert, German philologist and scholar (b. 1931)
  • 2015 – Jimmy Greenspoon, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (b. 1948)
  • 2015 – Gerald Hurst, American chemist and academic (b. 1937)
  • 2016 – Iolanda Balaș, Romanian high jumper and educator (b. 1936)
  • 2016 – Keith Emerson, English musician and composer. (b. 1944)
  • 2016 – Doreen Massey, English geographer and academic (b. 1944)
  • 2018 – Mary Rosenblum, American science fiction and mystery author (b. 1952)

Holidays and observances on March 11

  • Christian feast day:
    • Alberta of Agen
    • Áurea of San Millán
    • Benedict of Milan
    • Constantine
    • Eulogius of Córdoba
    • Blessed John Righi
    • Óengus of Tallaght
    • Sophronius of Jerusalem
    • Vindicianus
  • Day of Restoration of Independence from the Soviet Union in 1990 (Lithuania)
  • Johnny Appleseed Day (United States)
  • Moshoeshoe Day (Lesotho)