48 BC – Pompey is assassinated by order of King Ptolemy upon arriving in Egypt.
235 – Pope Pontian resigns. He is exiled to the mines of Sardinia, along with Hippolytus of Rome.
351 – Constantius II defeats the usurper Magnentius.
365 – Roman usurper Procopius bribes two legions passing by Constantinople, and proclaims himself emperor.
935 – Duke Wenceslaus I of Bohemia is murdered by a group of nobles led by his brother Boleslaus I, who succeeds him.
995 – Boleslaus II, Duke of Bohemia, kills most members of the rival Slavník dynasty.
1066 – William the Conqueror lands in England, beginning the Norman conquest.
1106 – King Henry I of England defeats his brother, Robert Curthose.
1238 – King James I of Aragon conquers Valencia from the Moors. Shortly thereafter, he proclaims himself king of Valencia.
1322 – Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor, defeats Frederick I of Austria in the Battle of Mühldorf.
1538 – Ottoman–Venetian War: The Ottoman Navy scores a decisive victory over a Holy League fleet in the Battle of Preveza.
1542 – Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo of Portugal arrives at what is now San Diego, California.
1779 – American Revolution: Samuel Huntington is elected President of the Continental Congress, succeeding John Jay.
1781 – American Revolution: American forces backed by a French fleet begin the siege of Yorktown.
1787 – The Congress of the Confederation votes to send the newly-written United States Constitution to the state legislatures for approval.
1821 – The Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire is drafted. It will be made public on 13 October.
1844 – Oscar I of Sweden–Norway is crowned king of Sweden.
1867 – Toronto becomes the capital of Ontario, having also been the capital of Ontario’s predecessors since 1796.
1868 – The Battle of Alcolea causes Queen Isabella II of Spain to flee to France.
1871 – The Brazilian Parliament passes a law that frees all children thereafter born to slaves, and all government-owned slaves.
1889 – The General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) defines the length of a meter.
1892 – The first night game for American football takes place in a contest between Wyoming Seminary and Mansfield State Normal.
1893 – Foundation of the Portuguese football club FC Porto.
1901 – Philippine–American War: Filipino guerrillas kill more than forty American soldiers while losing 28 of their own.
1912 – The Ulster Covenant is signed by some 500,000 Ulster Protestant Unionists in opposition to the Third Irish Home Rule Bill.
1912 – Corporal Frank S. Scott of the United States Army becomes the first enlisted man to die in an airplane crash.
1918 – World War I: The Fifth Battle of Ypres begins.
1919 – Race riots begin in Omaha, Nebraska.
1924 – The first aerial circumnavigation is completed by a team from the US Army.
1928 – Alexander Fleming notices a bacteria-killing mold growing in his laboratory, discovering what later became known as penicillin.
1939 – World War II: Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agree on a division of Poland.
1939 – World War II: The siege of Warsaw comes to an end.
1941 – World War II: The Drama uprising against the Bulgarian occupation in northern Greece begins.
1941 – Ted Williams achieves a .406 batting average for the season, and becomes the last major league baseball player to bat .400 or better.
1944 – World War II: Soviet Army troops liberate Klooga concentration camp in Estonia.
1951 – CBS makes the first color televisions available for sale to the general public, but the product is discontinued less than a month later.
1961 – A military coup in Damascus effectively ends the United Arab Republic, the union between Egypt and Syria.
1970 – Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser dies of a heart attack in Cairo.
1971 – The Parliament of the UK passes the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, banning the medicinal use of cannabis.
1973 – The ITT Building in New York City is bombed in protest at ITT’s alleged involvement in the coup d’état in Chile.
1975 – The Spaghetti House siege, in which nine people are taken hostage, takes place in London.
1986 – The Democratic Progressive Party becomes the first opposition party in Taiwan.
1991 – The Strategic Air Command stands down from alert all ICBMs scheduled for deactivation under START I, as well as its strategic bomber force.
1992 – A Pakistan International Airlines flight crashes into a hill in Nepal, killing all 167 passengers and crew.
1994 – The cruise ferry MS Estonia sinks in the Baltic Sea, killing 852 people.
1995 – Bob Denard and a group of mercenaries take the islands of the Comoros in a coup.
1995 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat sign the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
2000 – Al-Aqsa Intifada: Ariel Sharon visits Al-Aqsa Mosque known to Jews as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
2008 – Falcon 1 becomes the first privately developed liquid-fuel ground-launched vehicle to put a payload into orbit.
2009 – The military junta leading Guinea attacks a protest rally, killing or wounding 1400 people.
2012 – Somali and African Union forces launch a coordinated assault on the Somali port of Kismayo to take back the city from al-Shabaab militants.
2014 – The 2014 Hong Kong protests begin in response to restrictive political reforms imposed by the NPC in Beijing.
2016 – The 2016 South Australian blackout occurs, lasting up to three days in some areas.
2018 – The 7.5 Mw 2018 Sulawesi earthquake, which triggered a large tsunami, leaves 4,340 dead and 10,679 injured.
2018 – On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, the international project Tree of Peace was established (September, 28). One of the trees was planted personally by Zuzana Čaputová, President of the Slovak Republic.
Births on September 28
551 BC – Confucius, Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. (d. 479 BC)
616 – Javanshir, King of Caucasian Albania (d. 680)
1494 – Agnolo Firenzuola, Italian poet and playwright (d. 1545)
1555 – Henri de La Tour d’Auvergne, Marshal of France (d. 1623)
1573 – Théodore de Mayerne, Swiss physician (d. 1654)
1605 – Ismaël Bullialdus, French astronomer and mathematician (d. 1694)
1681 – Johann Mattheson, German composer, lexicographer, and diplomat (d. 1764)
1705 – Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, English politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (d. 1774)
1705 – Johann Peter Kellner, German organist and composer (d. 1772)
1735 – Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1811)
1746 – William Jones, English-Welsh philologist and scholar (d. 1794)
1765 – Frederick Christian II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (d. 1814)
1803 – Prosper Mérimée, French archaeologist, historian, and author (d. 1870)
1809 – Alvan Wentworth Chapman, American physician and botanist (d. 1899)
1819 – Narcís Monturiol, Spanish engineer and publisher (d. 1885)
1821 – Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs, American minister and politician (d. 1874)
1823 – Alexandre Cabanel, French painter and educator (d. 1889)
1824 – Francis Turner Palgrave, English poet and critic (d. 1897)
1836 – Thomas Crapper, English plumber, invented the ballcock (d. 1910)
1838 – Sai Baba of Shirdi, Indian national saint (d. 1918)
1841 – Georges Clemenceau, French journalist, physician, and politician, 85th Prime Minister of France (d. 1929)
1844 – Robert Stout, Scottish-New Zealand lawyer and politician, 13th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1930)
1852 – Henri Moissan, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1907)
1852 – Isis Pogson, British astronomer and meteorologist (d. 1945)
1856 – Kate Douglas Wiggin, American author and educator (d. 1923)
1860 – Paul Ulrich Villard, French chemist and physicist (d. 1934)
1861 – Amélie of Orléans, queen consort of Portugal (d. 1951)
1867 – Hiranuma Kiichirō, Japanese lawyer and politician, 35th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1952)
1867 – James Edwin Campbell, American poet, editor, short story writer and educator (d. 1896)
1868 – Evelyn Beatrice Hall, English writer best known for her biography of Voltaire, and wrote under the pseudonym S. G. Tallentyre (d. 1956)
1877 – Albert Young, American boxer and promoter (d. 1940)
1878 – Joseph Ruddy, American swimmer and water polo player (d. 1962)
1870 – Florent Schmitt, French composer and critic (d. 1958)
1881 – Pedro de Cordoba, American actor (d. 1950)
1882 – Mart Saar, Estonian organist and composer (d. 1963)
1885 – Emil Väre, Finnish wrestler, coach, and referee (d. 1974)
1887 – Avery Brundage, American businessman, 5th President of the International Olympic Committee (d. 1975)
1889 – Jack Fournier, American baseball player and coach (d. 1973)
1890 – Florence Violet McKenzie, Australian electrical engineer (d. 1982)
1892 – Elmer Rice, American playwright (d. 1967)
1893 – Hilda Geiringer, Austrian mathematician (d. 1973)
1893 – Giannis Skarimpas, Greek author, poet, and playwright (d. 1984)
1898 – Carl Clauberg, German Nazi physician (d. 1957)
1900 – Isabel Pell, American socialite, fought as part of the French Resistance during WWII (d. 1951)
1901 – William S. Paley, American broadcaster, founded CBS (d. 1990)
1901 – Ed Sullivan, American television host (d. 1974)
1903 – Haywood S. Hansell, American general (d. 1988)
1905 – Max Schmeling, German boxer (d. 2005)
1907 – Heikki Savolainen, Finnish gymnast and physician (d. 1997)
1907 – Bhagat Singh, Indian activist (d. 1931)
1909 – Al Capp, American author and illustrator (d. 1979)
1910 – Diosdado Macapagal, Filipino lawyer and politician, 9th President of the Philippines (d. 1997)
1910 – Wenceslao Vinzons, Filipino lawyer and politician (d. 1942)
1913 – Warja Honegger-Lavater, Swiss illustrator (d. 2007)
1913 – Alice Marble, American tennis player (d. 1990)
1914 – Maria Franziska von Trapp, Austrian-American refugee and singer (d. 2014)
1915 – Ethel Rosenberg, American spy (d. 1953)
1916 – Peter Finch, English-Australian actor (d. 1977)
1916 – Olga Lepeshinskaya, Ukrainian-Russian ballerina and educator (d. 2008)
1918 – Ángel Labruna, Argentinian footballer and manager (d. 1983)
1918 – Arnold Stang, American actor (d. 2009)
1919 – Doris Singleton, American actress (d. 2012)
1922 – Larry Munson, American sportscaster (d. 2011)
1923 – Tuli Kupferberg, American singer, poet, and writer (d. 2010)
1923 – John Scott, 9th Duke of Buccleuch, Scottish captain and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Selkirkshire (d. 2007)
1923 – William Windom, American actor (d. 2012)
1924 – Rudolf Barshai, Russian-Swiss viola player and conductor (d. 2010)
1924 – Marcello Mastroianni, Italian-French actor and singer (d. 1996)
1925 – Seymour Cray, American computer scientist, founded the CRAY Computer Company (d. 1996)
1925 – Cromwell Everson, South African composer (d. 1991)
1925 – Martin David Kruskal, American physicist and mathematician (d. 2006)
1926 – Jerry Clower, American soldier, comedian, and author (d. 1998)
1928 – Koko Taylor, American singer (d. 2009)
1929 – Lata Mangeshkar, Indian playback singer and composer
1930 – Tommy Collins, American country music singer-songwriter (d. 2000)
1930 – Immanuel Wallerstein, American sociologist, author, and academic (d. 2019)
1932 – Jeremy Isaacs, Scottish screenwriter and producer
1932 – Víctor Jara, Chilean singer-songwriter, poet, and director (d. 1973)
1933 – Joe Benton, English soldier and politician
1933 – Miguel Ortiz Berrocal, Spanish sculptor and educator (d. 2006)
1933 – Johnny “Country” Mathis, American singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
1934 – Brigitte Bardot, French actress
1935 – Bruce Crampton, Australian golfer
1935 – David Hannay, Baron Hannay of Chiswick, English diplomat, British Permanent Representative to the United Nations
1935 – Ronald Lacey, English actor (d. 1991)
1936 – Emmett Chapman, American guitarist, invented the Chapman Stick
1936 – Eddie Lumsden, Australian rugby league player (d. 2019)
1936 – Robert Wolders, Dutch television actor (d. 2018)
1937 – Alice Mahon, English trade union leader and politician
1937 – Glenn Sutton, American country music songwriter and record producer (d. 2007)
1938 – Ben E. King, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2015)
1939 – Stuart Kauffman, American biologist and academic
1941 – David Lewis, American philosopher and academic (d. 2001)
1941 – Edmund Stoiber, German lawyer and politician, Minister President of Bavaria
1942 – Pierre Clémenti, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1999)
1942 – Edward “Little Buster” Forehand, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2006)
1943 – Warren Lieberfarb, American businessman
1943 – George W. S. Trow, American novelist, playwright, and critic (d. 2006)
1943 – Nick St. Nicholas, German-Canadian bass player
1944 – Richie Karl, American golfer
1944 – Marcia Muller, American journalist and author
1945 – Marielle Goitschel, French skier
1945 – Manolis Rasoulis, Greek singer-songwriter and journalist (d. 2011)
1945 – Fusako Shigenobu, Japanese activist, founded the Japanese Red Army
1946 – Tom Bower, English journalist and author
1946 – Majid Khan, Indian-Pakistani cricketer
1947 – Bob Carr, Australian journalist and politician, 37th Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs
1947 – Sheikh Hasina, Bangladeshi politician, 10th Prime Minister of Bangladesh
1947 – Jon Snow, English journalist and academic
1947 – Rhonda Hughes, American mathematician and academic
1949 – Jim Henshaw, Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter
1950 – Paul Burgess, English drummer
1950 – Christina Hoff Sommers, American author and philosopher
1950 – John Sayles, American novelist, director, and screenwriter
1951 – Jim Diamond, Scottish singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2015)
1952 – Christopher Buckley, American satirical novelist
1952 – Efthimis Kioumourtzoglou, Greek basketball player and coach
1952 – Sylvia Kristel, Dutch model and actress (d. 2012)
1952 – Andy Ward, English drummer
1953 – Otmar Hasler, Liechtensteiner educator and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Liechtenstein
1954 – Steve Largent, American football player and politician
1954 – George Lynch, American guitarist and songwriter
1954 – John Scott, English rugby player
1954 – Margot Wallström, Swedish politician and diplomat, 42nd Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs
1955 – Stéphane Dion, Canadian sociologist and politician, 15th Canadian Minister of the Environment
1955 – Mercy Manci, Xhosa sangoma and HIV activist from South Africa
1955 – Kenny Kirkland, American pianist (d. 1998)
1956 – Martha Isabel Fandiño Pinilla, Colombian-Italian mathematician and author
1957 – Bill Cassidy, American politician and physician
1959 – Ron Fellows, Canadian race car driver
1959 – Laura Bruce, American artist
1960 – Gary Ayres, Australian footballer and coach
1960 – Tom Byrum, American golfer
1960 – Frank Hammerschlag, German footballer and manager
1960 – Gus Logie, Trinidadian cricketer
1960 – Kamlesh Patel, Baron Patel of Bradford, English politician
1960 – Jennifer Rush, American singer-songwriter
1960 – Socrates Villegas, Filipino archbishop
1961 – Helen Grant, English lawyer and politician, Minister for Sport and the Olympics
1961 – Gregory Jbara, American actor and singer
1961 – Quentin Kawānanakoa, American lawyer and politician
1961 – Anne White, American tennis player
1962 – Grant Fuhr, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1962 – Laurie Rinker, American golfer
1962 – Dietmar Schacht, German footballer and manager
1962 – Chuck Taylor, American journalist
1963 – Steve Blackman, American wrestler and martial artist
1963 – Érik Comas, French race car driver
1963 – Greg Weisman, American voice actor, producer, and screenwriter
1964 – Claudio Borghi, Argentinian footballer and manager
1964 – Gregor Fisken, Scottish race car driver
1964 – Janeane Garofalo, American comedian, actress, and screenwriter
1964 – Paul Jewell, English footballer and manager
1964 – Mārtiņš Roze, Latvian lawyer and politician (d. 2012)
1966 – Scott Adams, American football player (d. 2013)
1966 – Maria Canals-Barrera, Cuban-American actress
1966 – Puri Jagannadh, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter
1967 – Mira Sorvino, American actress
1967 – Moon Zappa, American actress and author
1968 – Francois Botha, South African boxer and mixed martial artist
1968 – Mika Häkkinen, Finnish race car driver
1968 – Trish Keenan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2011)
1968 – Sean Levert, American R&B singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2008)
1968 – Rob Moroso, American race car driver (d. 1990)
1968 – Naomi Watts, English-Australian actress and producer
1969 – Kerri Chandler, electronic music producer and DJ
1969 – Marcel Dost, Dutch decathlete
1969 – Ben Greenman, American journalist and author
1969 – Piper Kerman, American author and memoirist
1969 – Éric Lapointe, Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboard player
1969 – Sascha Maassen, German race car driver
1969 – Angus Robertson, Scottish politician
1969 – Nico Vaesen, Belgian footballer
1970 – Kimiko Date-Krumm, Japanese tennis player
1970 – Mike DeJean, American baseball player
1970 – Gualter Salles, Brazilian race car driver
1971 – Joseph Arthur, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1971 – George Eustice, English lawyer and politician
1971 – Braam van Straaten, South African rugby player
1971 – Alan Wright, English footballer and manager
1972 – Dita Von Teese, American model and dancer
1973 – Brian Rafalski, American ice hockey player
1974 – Marco Di Loreto, Italian footballer and manager
1974 – Mariya Kiselyova, Russian swimmer
1974 – Joonas Kolkka, Finnish footballer and coach
1974 – Shane Webcke, Australian rugby league player and coach
1975 – Stuart Clark, Australian cricketer and manager
1975 – Isamu Jordan, American journalist and academic (d. 2013)
477 BC – Battle of the Cremera as part of the Roman–Etruscan Wars. Veii ambushes and defeats the Roman army.
387 BC– Roman-Gaulish Wars: Battle of the Allia: A Roman army is defeated by raiding Gauls, leading to the subsequent sacking of Rome.
362 – Roman–Persian Wars: Emperor Julian arrives at Antioch with a Roman expeditionary force (60,000 men) and stays there for nine months to launch a campaign against the Persian Empire.
452 – Sack of Aquileia: After an earlier defeat on the Catalaunian Plains, Attila lays siege to the metropolis of Aquileia and eventually destroys it.
645 – Chinese forces under general Li Shiji besiege the strategic fortress city of Anshi (Liaoning) during the Goguryeo–Tang War.
1195 – Battle of Alarcos: Almohad forces defeat the Castilian army of Alfonso VIII and force its retreat to Toledo.
1290 – King Edward I of England issues the Edict of Expulsion, banishing all Jews (numbering about 16,000) from England; this was Tisha B’Av on the Hebrew calendar, a day that commemorates many Jewish calamities.
1334 – The bishop of Florence blesses the first foundation stone for the new campanile (bell tower) of the Florence Cathedral, designed by the artist Giotto di Bondone.
1389 – France and England agree to the Truce of Leulinghem, inaugurating a 13-year peace, the longest period of sustained peace during the Hundred Years’ War.
1391 – Tokhtamysh–Timur war: Battle of the Kondurcha River: Timur defeats Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde in present-day southeast Russia.
1507 – In Brussels, Prince Charles I, is crowned Duke of Burgundy and Count of Flanders, a year after inheriting the title.
1555 – The College of Arms is reincorporated by Royal charter signed by Queen Mary I of England and King Philip II of Spain.
1806 – A gunpowder magazine explosion in Birgu, Malta, kills around 200 people.
1812 – The Treaties of Orebro end both the Anglo-Russian and Anglo-Swedish Wars.
1841 – Coronation of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil.
1857 – Louis Faidherbe, French governor of Senegal, arrives to relieve French forces at Kayes, effectively ending El Hajj Umar Tall’s war against the French.
1862 – First ascent of Dent Blanche, one of the highest summits in the Alps.
1863 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Fort Wagner: One of the first formal African American military units, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, supported by several white regiments, attempts an unsuccessful assault on Confederate-held Battery Wagner.
1870 – The First Vatican Council decrees the dogma of papal infallibility.
1872 – The Ballot Act 1872 in the United Kingdom introduced the requirement that parliamentary and local government elections be held by secret ballot.
1914 – The U.S. Congress forms the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, giving official status to aircraft within the U.S. Army for the first time.
1925 – Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf.
1936 – On the Spanish mainland, a faction of the army supported by fascists, rises up against the Second Spanish Republic in a coup d’etat starting the 3-year-long Civil War, resulting in the longest dictatorship in modern European history.
1942 – World War II: During the Beisfjord massacre in Norway, 15 Norwegian paramilitary guards help members of the SS to kill 288 political prisoners from Yugoslavia.
1942 – The Germans test fly the Messerschmitt Me 262 using its jet engines for the first time.
1944 – World War II: Hideki Tōjō resigns as Prime Minister of Japan because of numerous setbacks in the war effort.
1966 – Human spaceflight: Gemini 10 is launched from Cape Kennedy on a 70-hour mission that includes docking with an orbiting Agena target vehicle.
1966 – A racially charged incident in a bar sparks the six-day Hough riots in Cleveland, Ohio; 1,700 Ohio National Guard troops intervene to restore order.
1968 – Intel is founded in Mountain View, California.
1976 – Nadia Comăneci becomes the first person in Olympic Games history to score a perfect 10 in gymnastics at the 1976 Summer Olympics.
1982 – Two hundred sixty-eight Guatemalan campesinos (“peasants” or “country people”) are slain in the Plan de Sánchez massacre.
1984 – McDonald’s massacre in San Ysidro, California: In a fast-food restaurant, James Oliver Huberty opens fire, killing 21 people and injuring 19 others before being shot dead by police.
1992 – A picture of Les Horribles Cernettes was taken, which became the first ever photo posted to the World Wide Web.
1994 – The bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (Argentine Jewish Community Center) in Buenos Aires kills 85 people (mostly Jewish) and injures 300.
1994 – Rwandan genocide: The Rwandan Patriotic Front takes control of Gisenyi and north western Rwanda, forcing the interim government into Zaire and ending the genocide.
1995 – On the Caribbean island of Montserrat, the Soufrière Hills volcano erupts. Over the course of several years, it devastates the island, destroying the capital, forcing most of the population to flee.
1996 – Storms provoke severe flooding on the Saguenay River, beginning one of Quebec’s costliest natural disasters ever.
1996 – Battle of Mullaitivu: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam capture the Sri Lanka Army’s base, killing over 1200 soldiers.
2012 – At least seven people are killed and 32 others are injured after a bomb explodes on an Israeli tour bus at Burgas Airport, Bulgaria.
2013 – The Government of Detroit, with up to $20 billion in debt, files for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
2019 – A man sets fire to an anime studio in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan, killing at 35 people and injuring dozens of others.
Births on July 18
1013 – Hermann of Reichenau, German composer, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1013)
1501 – Isabella of Austria, queen of Denmark (d. 1526)
1504 – Heinrich Bullinger, Swiss pastor and reformer (d. 1575)
1534 – Zacharius Ursinus, German theologian (d. 1583)
1552 – Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1612)
1634 – Johannes Camphuys, Dutch politician, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1695)
1659 – Hyacinthe Rigaud, French painter (d. 1743)
1670 – Giovanni Bononcini, Italian cellist and composer (d. 1747)
1702 – Maria Clementina Sobieska, Polish noble (d. 1735)
1718 – Saverio Bettinelli, Italian poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1808)
1720 – Gilbert White, English ornithologist and ecologist (d. 1793)
1724 – Maria Antonia of Bavaria, Electress of Saxony (d. 1780)
1750 – Frederick Adolf, duke of Östergötland (d. 1803)
1796 – Immanuel Hermann Fichte, German philosopher and academic (d. 1879)
1811 – William Makepeace Thackeray, English author and poet (d. 1863)
1818 – Louis Gerhard De Geer, Swedish lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1896)
1821 – Pauline Viardot, French soprano and composer (d. 1910)
1837 – Vasil Levski, Bulgarian priest and activist (d. 1873)
1843 – Virgil Earp, American marshal (d. 1905)
1845 – Tristan Corbière, French poet (d. 1875)
1848 – W. G. Grace, English cricketer and physician (d. 1915)
1853 – Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
1861 – Kadambini Ganguly, Indian physician, one of the first Indian women to obtain a degree (d. 1923)
1864 – Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 1937)
1867 – Margaret Brown, American philanthropist and activist (d. 1932)
1871 – Giacomo Balla, Italian painter (d.1958)
1871 – Sada Yacco, Japanese actress and dancer (d. 1946)
1881 – Larry McLean, Canadian-American baseball player (d. 1921)
1884 – Alberto di Jorio, Italian cardinal (d. 1979)
1886 – Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., American general (d. 1945)
1887 – Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian military officer and politician, Minister President of Norway (d. 1945)
1889 – Kōichi Kido, Japanese politician, 13th Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan (d. 1977)
1890 – Frank Forde, Australian educator and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1983)
1892 – Arthur Friedenreich, Brazilian footballer (d. 1969)
1893 – David Ogilvy, 12th Earl of Airlie, Scottish peer, soldier and courtier (d. 1968)
1895 – Olga Spessivtseva, Russian-American ballerina (d. 1991)
1895 – Machine Gun Kelly, American gangster (d. 1954)
1897 – Ernest Eldridge, English race car driver and engineer (d. 1935)
1898 – John Stuart, Scottish-English actor (d. 1979)
1899 – Ernst Scheller, German soldier and politician, 8th Mayor of Marburg (d. 1942)
1900 – Nathalie Sarraute, French lawyer and author (d. 1999)
1902 – Jessamyn West, American author (d. 1984)
1902 – Chill Wills, American actor (d. 1978)
1905 – Robert Elton Brooker, American business executive (d. 2000)
1906 – S. I. Hayakawa, Canadian-American academic and politician (d. 1992)
1906 – Clifford Odets, American director, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1963)
1908 – Peace Pilgrim, American mystic and activist (d. 1981)
1908 – Lupe Vélez, Mexican-American actress and dancer (d. 1944)
1908 – Beatrice Aitchison, American mathematician, statistician, and transportation economist (d. 1997)
1909 – Bishnu Dey, Indian poet, critic, and academic (d. 1982)
1909 – Andrei Gromyko, Belarusian-Russian economist and politician, Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1989)
1909 – Mohammed Daoud Khan, Afghan commander and politician, 1st President of Afghanistan (d. 1978)
1909 – Harriet Nelson, American singer and actress (d. 1994)
1910 – Diptendu Pramanick, Indian businessman (d. 1989)
1910 – Mamadou Dia, Senegalese politician; 1st Prime Minister of Senegal (d. 2009)
1911 – Hume Cronyn, Canadian-American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
1913 – Red Skelton, American actor and comedian (d. 1997)
1914 – Gino Bartali, Italian cyclist (d. 2000)
1914 – Oscar Heisserer, French footballer (d. 2004)
1915 – Carequinha, Brazilian clown and actor (d. 2006)
1915 – Roxana Cannon Arsht, American judge (d. 2003)
1915 – Louis Le Bailly, British Royal Navy officer (d. 2010)
1916 – Charles Kittel, American physicist (d. 2019)
1917 – Henri Salvador, French singer and guitarist (d. 2008)
1917 – Paul Streeten, Austrian-born British economics professor (d. 2019)
1918 – Nelson Mandela, South African lawyer and politician, 1st President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
1919 – Lilia Dale, Italian actress
1920 – Eric Brandon, English race car driver and businessman (d. 1982)
1921 – Peter Austin, English brewer, founded Ringwood Brewery (d. 2014)
1921 – Aaron T. Beck, American psychiatrist and academic
1921 – John Glenn, American colonel, astronaut, and politician (d. 2016)
1921 – Richard Leacock, English-French director and producer (d. 2011)
1921 – Heinz Bennent, German actor (d. 2011)
1922 – Thomas Kuhn, American physicist, historian, and philosopher (d. 1996)
1923 – Jerome H. Lemelson, American engineer and businessman (d. 1997)
1923 – Michael Medwin, English actor (d. 2020)
1924 – Inge Sørensen, Danish swimmer (d. 2011)
1924 – Tullio Altamura, Italian actor
1925 – Shirley Strickland, Australian runner and hurdler (d. 2004)
1925 – Friedrich Zimmermann, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of the Interior (d. 2012)
1925 – Raymond Jones, Australian Modernist architect
1925 – Windy McCall, American baseball relief pitcher (d. 2015)
1926 – Margaret Laurence, Canadian author and academic (d. 1987)
1926 – Nita Bieber, American actress (d. 2019)
1926 – Bernard Pons, French politician and medical doctor
1926 – Maunu Kurkvaara, Finnish film director and screenwriter
1927 – Mehdi Hassan, Pakistani ghazal singer and playback singer (d. 2012)
1927 – Kurt Masur, German conductor and educator (d. 2015)
1927 – Antonio García-Trevijano, Spanish republican, political activist, and author (d. 2018)
1927 – Keith MacDonald, Canadian politician
1927 – Anthony Mirra, American gangster, member of the Bonanno Crime Family (d. 1982)
1928 – Andrea Gallo, Italian priest and author (d. 2013)
1928 – Baddiewinkle, American internet personality
1929 – Dick Button, American figure skater and actor
1929 – Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, American R&B singer-songwriter, musician, and actor (d. 2000)
1932 – Robert Ellis Miller, American director and screenwriter (d. 2017)
1933 – Jean Yanne, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
1933 – Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Russian poet and playwright (d. 2017)
1934 – Edward Bond, English director, playwright, and screenwriter
1934 – Darlene Conley, American actress (d. 2007)
1935 – Tenley Albright, American figure skater and physician
1935 – Jayendra Saraswathi, Indian guru, 69th Shankaracharya
1937 – Roald Hoffmann, Polish chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1937 – Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author (d. 2005)
1938 – John Connelly, English footballer (d. 2012)
1938 – Ian Stewart, Scottish keyboard player and manager (d. 1985)
1938 – Paul Verhoeven, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter
1939 – Brian Auger, English rock and jazz keyboard player
1939 – Dion DiMucci, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1939 – Jerry Moore, American football player and coach
1940 – James Brolin, American actor
1940 – Joe Torre, American baseball player and manager
1941 – Frank Farian, German songwriter and producer
1941 – Lonnie Mack, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)
1941 – Martha Reeves, American singer and politician
1942 – Giacinto Facchetti, Italian footballer (d. 2006)
1942 – Adolf Ogi, Swiss politician, 84th President of the Swiss Confederation
1943 – Joseph J. Ellis, American historian and author
1944 – David Hemery, English hurdler and author
1945 – Pat Doherty, Irish Republican politician
1946 – Kalpana Mohan, Indian actress
1946 – John Naughton, Scottish-Irish journalist, author, and academic
1947 – Steve Forbes, American publisher and politician
1948 – Carlos Colón Sr., Puerto Rican-American wrestler and promoter
1948 – Jeanne Córdova, American journalist and activist (d. 2016)
1948 – Graham Spanier, 16th President of Pennsylvania State University
1948 – Hartmut Michel, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1949 – Dennis Lillee, Australian cricketer and coach
1950 – Richard Branson, English businessman, founded Virgin Group
1950 – Jack Dongarra, American computer scientist and academic
1950 – Kostas Eleftherakis, Greek footballer
1950 – Glenn Hughes, American disco singer (Village People) and actor (d. 2001)
1950 – Jack Layton, Canadian political scientist, academic, and politician (d. 2011)
1950 – Mark Udall, American educator and politician
1951 – Elio Di Rupo, Belgian chemist, academic, and politician, 68th Prime Minister of Belgium
1951 – Margo Martindale, American actress
1954 – Ricky Skaggs, American singer-songwriter, mandolin player, and producer
1955 – Bernd Fasching, Austrian painter and sculptor
1957 – Nick Faldo, English golfer and sportscaster
1957 – Keith Levene, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1960 – Simon Heffer, English journalist and author
1961 – Elizabeth McGovern, American actress
1961 – Alan Pardew, English footballer and manager
1961 – Pasi Rautiainen, Finnish footballer, coach, and manager
1962 – Shaun Micallef, Australian comedian, producer, and screenwriter
1963 – Marc Girardelli, Austrian-Luxembourgian skier
1963 – Martín Torrijos, Panamanian economist and politician, 35th President of Panama
1964 – Wendy Williams, American talk show host
1965 – Vesselina Kasarova, Bulgarian soprano
1966 – Dan O’Brien, American decathlete and coach
1967 – Vin Diesel, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter1968 – Grant Bowler, New Zealand-Australian actor
1968 – Scott Gourley, Australian rugby player
1969 – Elizabeth Gilbert, American author
1969 – The Great Sasuke, Japanese wrestler and politician
1971 – Penny Hardaway, American basketball player and coach
1971 – Sukhwinder Singh, Indian singer-songwriter and actor
1974 – Alan Morrison, British poet
1975 – Torii Hunter, American baseball player
1975 – Daron Malakian, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1975 – M.I.A., English rapper and producer5
1976 – Elsa Pataky, Spanish actress
1976 – Go Soo-hee, South Korean actress
1977 – Alexander Morozevich, Russian chess player and author
1978 – Adabel Guerrero, Argentinian actress, singer, and dancer
1978 – Shane Horgan, Irish rugby player and sportscaster
1978 – Crystal Mangum, American murderer responsible for making false rape allegations in the Duke lacrosse case
1978 – Joo Sang-wook, South Korean actor
1978 – Ben Sheets, American baseball player and coach
1978 – Mélissa Theuriau, French journalist
1979 – Deion Branch, American football player
1979 – Joey Mercury, American wrestler and producer
1980 – Kristen Bell, American actress
1981 – Dennis Seidenberg, German ice hockey player
1982 – Ryan Cabrera, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1982 – Priyanka Chopra, Indian actress, singer, and film producer
1982 – Carlo Costly, Honduran footballer
1983 – Carlos Diogo, Uruguayan footballer
1983 – Aaron Gillespie, American singer-songwriter and drummer
1527 – Spanish and German troops sack Rome; many scholars consider this the end of the Renaissance.
1536 – The Siege of Cuzco commences, in which Incan forces attempt to retake the city of Cuzco from the Spanish.
1536 – King Henry VIII orders English-language Bibles be placed in every church. In 1539 the Great Bible would be provided for this purpose.
1542 – Francis Xavier reaches Old Goa, the capital of Portuguese India at the time.
1659 – English Restoration: A faction of the British Army removes Richard Cromwell as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth and reinstalls the Rump Parliament.
1682 – Louis XIV of France moves his court to the Palace of Versailles.
1757 – Battle of Prague: A Prussian army fights an Austrian army in Prague during the Seven Years’ War.
1757 – The end of Konbaung–Hanthawaddy War, and the end of Burmese Civil War (1740–1757).
1757 – English poet Christopher Smart is admitted into St Luke’s Hospital for Lunatics in London, beginning his six-year confinement to mental asylums.
1782 – Construction begins on the Grand Palace, the royal residence of the King of Siam in Bangkok, at the command of King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke.
1801 – Captain Thomas Cochrane in the 14-gun HMS Speedy captures the 32-gun Spanish frigate El Gamo.
1835 – James Gordon Bennett, Sr. publishes the first issue of the New York Herald.
1840 – The Penny Black postage stamp becomes valid for use in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1857 – The East India Company disbands the 34th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry whose sepoy Mangal Pandey had earlier revolted against the British in the lead up to the War of Indian Independence.
1861 – American Civil War: Arkansas secedes from the Union.
1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville ends with the defeat of the Army of the Potomac by the Army of Northern Virginia.
1877 – Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Lakota surrenders to United States troops in Nebraska.
1882 – Thomas Henry Burke and Lord Frederick Cavendish are stabbed to death by Fenian assassins in Phoenix Park, Dublin.
1882 – The United States Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act.
1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris.
1906 – The Russian Constitution of 1906 is adopted (on April 23 by the Julian calendar).
1910 – George V becomes King of Great Britain, Ireland, and many overseas territories, on the death of his father, Edward VII.
1915 – Babe Ruth, then a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, hits his first major league home run.
1916 – Twenty-one Lebanese nationalists are executed in Martyrs’ Square, Beirut by Djemal Pasha.
1916 – Vietnamese Emperor Duy Tân is captured while calling upon the people to rise up against the French, and is later deposed and exiled to Réunion island.
1933 – The Deutsche Studentenschaft attacked Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, later burning many of its books.
1935 – New Deal: Under the authority of the newly-enacted Federal Emergency Relief Administration, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues Executive Order 7034 to create the Works Progress Administration.
1937 – Hindenburg disaster: The German zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and is destroyed within a minute while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people are killed.
1940 – John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.
1941 – At California’s March Field, Bob Hope performs his first USO show.
1941 – The first flight of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.
1942 – World War II: On Corregidor, the last American forces in the Philippines surrender to the Japanese.
1945 – World War II: Axis Sally delivers her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops.
1945 – World War II: The Prague Offensive, the last major battle of the Eastern Front, begins.
1949 – EDSAC, the first practical electronic digital stored-program computer, runs its first operation.
1954 – Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run the mile in under four minutes.
1960 – More than 20 million viewers watch the first televised royal wedding when Princess Margaret marries Anthony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey.
1966 – Myra Hindley and Ian Brady are sentenced to life imprisonment for the Moors murders in England.
1972 – Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin İnan are executed in Ankara after being convicted of attempting to overthrow the Constitutional order.
1975 – During a lull in fighting, 100,000 Armenians gather in Beirut for the 60th anniversary commemorations of the Armenian Genocide.
1976 – The 6.5 Mw Friuli earthquake affected Northern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), leaving 900–978 dead and 1,700–2,400 injured.
1983 – The Hitler Diaries are revealed as a hoax after being examined by new experts.
1984 – One hundred three Korean Martyrs are canonized by Pope John Paul II in Seoul.
1988 – All thirty-six passengers and crew were killed when Widerøe Flight 710 crashed into Mt. Torghatten in Brønnøy.
1994 – Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and French President François Mitterrand officiate at the opening of the Channel Tunnel.
1996 – The body of former CIA director William Colby is found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he disappeared.
1997 – The Bank of England is given independence from political control, the most significant change in the bank’s 300-year history.
1998 – Kerry Wood strikes out 20 Houston Astros to tie the major league record held by Roger Clemens. He threw a one-hitter and did not walk a batter in his fifth career start.
1998 – Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. unveils the first iMac.
1999 – The first elections to the devolved Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly are held.
2001 – During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque.
2002 – Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is assassinated following a radio-interview at the Mediapark in Hilversum.
2010 – In just 36 minutes, the Dow-Jones average plunged nearly 1000 points in what is known as the 2010 Flash Crash.
2013 – Three women, kidnapped and missing for more than a decade, are found alive in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States.
Births on May 6
973 – Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1024)
1464 – Sophia Jagiellon, Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Polish princess (d. 1512)
1493 – Girolamo Seripando, Italian theologian and cardinal (d. 1563)
1501 – Marcellus II, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1555)
1574 – Innocent X, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1655)
1580 – Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat, French noble (d. 1637)
1635 – Johann Joachim Becher, German physician and alchemist (d. 1682)
1668 – Alain-René Lesage, French author and playwright (d. 1747)
1680 – Jean-Baptiste Stuck, Italian-French cellist and composer (d. 1755)
1713 – Charles Batteux, French philosopher and academic (d. 1780)
1714 – Anton Raaff, German tenor (d. 1797)
1742 – Jean Senebier, Swiss pastor and physiologist (d. 1809)
1758 – André Masséna, French general (d. 1817)
1758 – Maximilien Robespierre, French lawyer and politician (d. 1794)
1769 – Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1824)
1769 – Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, French mathematician and academic (d. 1834)
1781 – Karl Christian Friedrich Krause, German philosopher and author (d. 1832)
1797 – Joseph Brackett, American religious leader and composer (d. 1882)
1800 – Roman Sanguszko, Polish general (d. 1881)
1827 – Hermann Raster, German-American journalist and politician (d. 1891)
1836 – Max Eyth, German engineer and author (d. 1906)
1843 – Grove Karl Gilbert, American geologist and academic (d. 1918)
1848 – Henry Edward Armstrong, English chemist and academic (d. 1937)
1851 – Aristide Bruant, French singer and actor (d. 1925)
1856 – Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist and psychoanalyst (d. 1939)
1856 – Robert Peary, American admiral and explorer (d. 1920)
1861 – Motilal Nehru, Indian lawyer and politician, President of the Indian National Congress (d. 1931)
1868 – Gaston Leroux, French journalist and author (d. 1927)
1869 – Junnosuke Inoue, Japanese businessman and central banker, 8th and 11th Governor of the Bank of Japan (d. 1932)
1870 – Walter Rutherford, Scottish golfer (d. 1936)
1871 – Victor Grignard, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1935)
1871 – Christian Morgenstern, German author and poet (d. 1914)
1872 – Willem de Sitter, Dutch mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (d. 1934)
1872 – Djemal Pasha, Ottoman general (d. 1922)
1879 – Bedřich Hrozný, Czech orientalist and linguist (d. 1952)
1879 – Hendrik van Heuckelum, Dutch footballer (d. 1929)
1880 – Winifred Brunton, English-South African painter and illustrator (d. 1959)
1880 – Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German-Swiss painter (d. 1938)
1883 – Alberto Collo, Italian actor (d. 1955)
1895 – Júlio César de Mello e Souza, Brazilian mathematician and author (d. 1974)
1895 – Fidél Pálffy, Hungarian soldier and politician, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture (d. 1946)
1895 – Rudolph Valentino, Italian actor (d. 1926)
1896 – Rolf Maximilian Sievert, Swedish physicist and academic (d. 1966)
1897 – Paul Alverdes, German author and poet (d. 1979)
1898 – Konrad Henlein, Czech soldier and politician (d. 1945)
1902 – Harry Golden, Ukrainian-American journalist and author (d. 1981)
1902 – Max Ophüls, German-American director and screenwriter (d. 1957)
1903 – Toots Shor, American businessman, founded Toots Shor’s Restaurant (d. 1977)
1904 – Moshé Feldenkrais, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (d. 1984)
1904 – Catherine Lacey, English actress (d. 1979)
1904 – Harry Martinson, Swedish novelist, essayist, and poet Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1978)
1905 – Philip N. Krasne, American lawyer and producer (d. 1999)
1906 – André Weil, French mathematician and academic (d. 1998)
1907 – Weeb Ewbank, American football player and coach (d. 1998)
1911 – Guy des Cars, French journalist and author (d. 1993)
1913 – Carmen Cavallaro, American pianist (d. 1989)
1913 – Stewart Granger, English-American actor (d. 1993)
1915 – Orson Welles, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1985)
1915 – Theodore H. White, American historian, journalist, and author (d. 1986)
1916 – Robert H. Dicke, American physicist and astronomer (d. 1997)
1917 – Kal Mann, American songwriter (d. 2001)
1918 – Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, emir of Abu Dhabi and first president of the United Arab Emirates (d. 2004)
1919 – André Guelfi, French race car driver (d. 2016)
1920 – Kamisese Mara, Fijian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Fiji (d. 2004)
1920 – Marguerite Piazza, American soprano and actress (d. 2012)
1921 – Erich Fried, Austrian-German author, poet, and translator (d. 1988)
1922 – Camille Laurin, Canadian psychiatrist and politician, 7th Deputy Premier of Quebec (d. 1999)
1923 – Harry Watson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2002)
1924 – Nestor Basterretxea, Spanish painter and sculptor (d. 2014)
1924 – Patricia Helen Kennedy, American socialite, activist, and author (d. 2006)
1924 – Denny Wright, English guitarist, composer, and producer (d. 1992)
1926 – Gilles Grégoire, Canadian politician, co-founded the Parti Québécois (d. 2006)
1929 – Rosemary Cramp, English archaeologist and academic
1929 – Paul Lauterbur, American chemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2007)
1929 – John Taylor, English bishop and theologian (d. 2016)
1931 – Willie Mays, American baseball player and coach
1931 – Louis Gambaccini, American government official (d. 2018)
1932 – Ahmet Haxhiu, Kosovan activist (d. 1994)
1932 – Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath, English lieutenant and politician (d. 2020)
1934 – Richard Shelby, American lawyer and politician
1937 – Rubin Carter, American-Canadian boxer (d. 2014)
1938 – Jean Garon, Canadian economist, lawyer, and politician (d. 2014)
1939 – Eddie C. Campbell, American singer and guitarist (d. 2018)
1939 – Chet Allen, American child actor (d. 1984)
1942 – Ariel Dorfman, Argentinian author, playwright, and academic
1943 – Andreas Baader, German terrorist, co-founded the Red Army Faction (d. 1977)
1943 – Milton William Cooper, American theorist and author (d. 2001)
1943 – Wolfgang Reinhardt, German pole vaulter (d. 2011)
1943 – James Turrell, American sculptor and illustrator
1944 – Anton Furst, English-American production designer and art director (d. 1991)
1944 – Masanori Murakami, Japanese baseball player and coach
1945 – Jimmie Dale Gilmore, American country singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and producer
1945 – Bob Seger, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1947 – Alan Dale, New Zealand actor
1947 – Martha Nussbaum, American philosopher and author
1947 – Ljubomir Vračarević, Serbian martial artist, founded Real Aikido (d. 2013)
1948 – Frankie Librán, Puerto Rican-American baseball player (d. 2013)
1950 – Jeffery Deaver, American journalist and author
1951 – Samuel Doe, Liberian sergeant and politician, 21st President of Liberia (d. 1990)
1952 – Gerrit Zalm, Dutch economist and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands
1953 – Alexander Akimov, Ukrainian Chernobyl worker (d. 1986)
1953 – Tony Blair, British politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1953 – Michelle Courchesne, Canadian urban planner and politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec
1953 – Ülle Rajasalu, Estonian politician
1953 – Graeme Souness, Scottish international footballer and manager
1953 – Lynn Whitfield, American actress and producer
1954 – Tom Abernethy, American basketball player
1954 – Dora Bakoyannis, Greek politician, 120th Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs
1954 – Angela Hernández Nuñez, Dominican author and poet
1954 – Ain Lutsepp, Estonian actor and politician
1955 – Nicholas Alexander, 7th Earl of Caledon, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Armagh
1955 – Tom Bergeron, American television host
1955 – John Hutton, Baron Hutton of Furness, English academic and politician, Secretary of State for Defence
1956 – Lakis Lazopoulos, Greek actor and screenwriter
1956 – Cindy Lovell, American educator and writer
1956 – Roland Wieser, German race walker and coach
1958 – Randall Stout, American architect, designed the Taubman Museum of Art (d. 2014)
1959 – Andreas Busse, German runner
1959 – Charles Hendry, English politician
1960 – Lyudmila Andonova, Bulgarian high jumper
1960 – Keith Dowding, English political scientist, philosopher, and academic
1960 – Roma Downey, Irish-American actress and producer
1960 – John Flansburgh, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1960 – Aleksei Lotman, Estonian biologist and politician
1960 – Anne Parillaud, French actress
1961 – Oleksandr Apaychev, Ukrainian decathlete and coach
1961 – George Clooney, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1961 – Tom Hunter, Scottish businessman and philanthropist
1961 – Gina Riley, Australian actress, producer, and screenwriter
1961 – Frans Timmermans, Dutch politician and diplomat, First Vice President of the European Commission
1962 – Tom Brake, English politician
1962 – Brad Izzard, Australian rugby league player
1963 – Alessandra Ferri, Italian ballerina
1965 – Leslie Hope, Canadian actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
1968 – Worku Bikila, Ethiopian runner
1968 – Lætitia Sadier, French singer and keyboard player
1969 – Jim Magilton, Northern Irish footballer and manager
1970 – Roland Kun, Nauruan politician
1970 – Kavan Smith, Canadian actor
1971 – Chris Shiflett, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1972 – Martin Brodeur, Canadian ice hockey player
1972 – Naoko Takahashi, Japanese runner
1974 – Bernard Barmasai, Kenyan runner
1974 – Daniela Bártová, Czech pole vaulter and gymnast
1975 – Alan Richardson, English cricketer and coach
1976 – Dean Chandler, English footballer
1976 – Iván de la Peña, Spanish footballer
1977 – Christophe Brandt, Belgian cyclist
1977 – Marc Chouinard, Canadian ice hockey player
1977 – Mark Eaton, American ice hockey player and coach
1977 – Chantelle Newbery, Australian diver
1978 – John Abraham, American football player
1978 – Tony Estanguet, French slalom canoeist
1978 – Fredrick Federley, Swedish journalist and politician
1978 – Alexandr Fedorov, Russian bodybuilder
1979 – Gerd Kanter, Estonian discus thrower
1979 – Jan Erik Mikalsen, Norwegian composer
1979 – Jon Montgomery, Canadian skeleton racer and television host
1980 – Brooke Bennett, American swimmer
1980 – Dimitris Diamantidis, Greek professional basketball player
1980 – Ricardo Oliveira, Brazilian footballer
1980 – Matthew Whiley, English cricketer
1982 – Jason Witten, American football player
1983 – Dani Alves, Brazilian footballer
1983 – Ingrid Jonach, Australian author
1983 – Gabourey Sidibe, American actress
1983 – Trinley Thaye Dorje, Tibetan religious leader, the 17th Karmapa Lama
1983 – Fredrik Sjöström, Swedish ice hockey player
1984 – Anton Babchuk, Ukrainian ice hockey player
1984 – Juan Pablo Carrizo, Argentinian footballer
1985 – Chris Paul, American basketball player
1986 – Goran Dragic, Slovenian basketball player
1987 – Dries Mertens, Belgian footballer
1987 – Meek Mill, American rapper
1987 – Adrienne Warren, American actress
1988 – Ryan Anderson, American basketball player
1988 – Dakota Kai, New Zealander profesional wrestler
1989 – Dominika Cibulková, Slovak tennis player
1989 – Jesse Hughes, Canadian DJ and producer
1990 – José Altuve, Venezuelan baseball player
1992 – Brendan Gallagher, Canadian ice hockey player
1992 – Byun Baekhyun, South Korean musician and actor
1992 – Jonas Valančiūnas, Lithuanian professional basketball player
AD 51 – Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title princeps iuventutis (head of the youth).
306 – Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia.
852 – Croatian Knez Trpimir I issues a statute, a document with the first known written mention of the Croats name in Croatian sources.
938 – Translation of the relics of martyr Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, Prince of the Czechs.
1152 – Frederick I Barbarossa is elected King of Germany.
1238 – The Battle of the Sit River is fought in the northern part of the present-day Yaroslavl Oblast of Russia between the Mongol hordes of Batu Khan and the Russians under Yuri II of Vladimir-Suzdal during the Mongol invasion of Rus’.
1351 – Ramathibodi becomes King of Siam.
1386 – Władysław II Jagiełło (Jogaila) is crowned King of Poland.
1461 – Wars of the Roses in England: Lancastrian King Henry VI is deposed by his House of York cousin, who then becomes King Edward IV.
1493 – Explorer Christopher Columbus arrives back in Lisbon, Portugal, aboard his ship Niña from his voyage to what are now The Bahamas and other islands in the Caribbean.
1519 – Hernán Cortés arrives in Mexico in search of the Aztec civilization and its wealth.
1628 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony is granted a Royal charter.
1665 – English King Charles II declares war on the Netherlands marking the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
1675 – John Flamsteed is appointed the first Astronomer Royal of England.
1681 – Charles II grants a land charter to William Penn for the area that will later become Pennsylvania.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Continental Army fortifies Dorchester Heights with cannon, leading the British troops to abandon the Siege of Boston.
1789 – In New York City, the first Congress of the United States meets, putting the United States Constitution into effect. The United States Bill of Rights is written and proposed to Congress.
1790 – France is divided into 83 départements, cutting across the former provinces in an attempt to dislodge regional loyalties based on ownership of land by the nobility.
1791 – The Constitutional Act of 1791 is introduced by the British House of Commons in London which envisages the separation of Canada into Lower Canada (Quebec) and Upper Canada (Ontario).
1791 – Vermont is admitted to the United States as the fourteenth state.
1794 – The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is passed by the U.S. Congress.
1797 – John Adams is inaugurated as the 2nd President of the United States of America, becoming the first President to begin his presidency on March 4.
1804 – Castle Hill Rebellion: Irish convicts rebel against British colonial authority in the Colony of New South Wales.
1813 – Cyril VI of Constantinople is elected Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
1814 – Americans defeat British forces at the Battle of Longwoods between London, Ontario and Thamesville, near present-day Wardsville, Ontario.
1837 – The city of Chicago is incorporated.
1848 – Carlo Alberto di Savoia signs the Statuto Albertino that will later represent the first constitution of the Regno d’Italia.
1849 – President-Elect Zachary Taylor and Vice President-Elect Millard Fillmore did not take their respective oaths of office (they did so the following day), leading to the erroneous theory that outgoing President pro tempore of the United States Senate David Rice Atchison had assumed the role of acting president for one day.
1861 – The first national flag of the Confederate States of America (the “Stars and Bars”) is adopted.
1865 – The third and final national flag of the Confederate States of America is adopted by the Confederate Congress.
1882 – Britain’s first electric trams run in east London.
1890 – The longest bridge in Great Britain, the Forth Bridge in Scotland, measuring 1,710 feet (520 m) long, is opened by the Duke of Rothesay, later King Edward VII.
1899 – Cyclone Mahina sweeps in north of Cooktown, Queensland, with a 12 metres (39 ft) wave that reaches up to 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) inland, killing over 300.
1908 – The Collinwood school fire, Collinwood near Cleveland, Ohio, kills 174 people.
1909 – U.S. President William Taft used what became known as a Saxbe fix, a mechanism to avoid the restriction of the U.S. Constitution’s Ineligibility Clause, to appoint Philander C. Knox as U.S. Secretary of State.
1913 – First Balkan War: The Greek army engages the Turks at Bizani, resulting in victory two days later.
1913 – The United States Department of Labor is formed.
1917 – Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first female member of the United States House of Representatives.
1933 – Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the 32nd President of the United States.
1933 – Frances Perkins becomes United States Secretary of Labor, the first female member of the United States Cabinet.
1933 – The Parliament of Austria is suspended because of a quibble over procedure – Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss initiates an authoritarian rule by decree.
1941 – World War II: The United Kingdom launches Operation Claymore on the Lofoten Islands; the first large scale British Commando raid.
1943 – World War II: The Battle of the Bismarck Sea in the south-west Pacific comes to an end.
1943 – World War II: The Battle of Fardykambos, one of the first major battles between the Greek Resistance and the occupying Royal Italian Army, begins. It ends on 6 March with the surrender of an entire Italian battalion and the liberation of the town of Grevena.
1944 – World War II: After the success of Big Week, the USAAF begins a daylight bombing campaign of Berlin.
1957 – The S&P 500 stock market index is introduced, replacing the S&P 90.
1960 – The French freighter La Coubre explodes in Havana, Cuba, killing 100.
1962 – A Caledonian Airways Douglas DC-7 crashes shortly after takeoff from Cameroon, killing 111 – the worst crash of a DC-7.
1966 – A Canadian Pacific Air Lines DC-8-43 explodes on landing at Tokyo International Airport, killing 64 people.
1966 – In an interview in the London Evening Standard, The Beatles’ John Lennon declares that the band is “more popular than Jesus now”.
1970 – French submarine Eurydice explodes underwater, resulting in the loss of the entire 57-man crew.
1974 – People magazine is published for the first time in the United States as People Weekly.
1976 – The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention is formally dissolved in Northern Ireland resulting in direct rule of Northern Ireland from London by the British parliament.
1977 – The 1977 Vrancea earthquake in eastern and southern Europe kills more than 1,500, mostly in Bucharest, Romania.
1980 – Nationalist leader Robert Mugabe wins a sweeping election victory to become Zimbabwe’s first black prime minister.
1985 – The Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for AIDS infection, used since then for screening all blood donations in the United States.
1986 – The Soviet Vega 1 begins returning images of Halley’s Comet and the first images of its nucleus.
1990 – American basketball player Hank Gathers dies after collapsing during the semifinals of a West Coast Conference Tournament game.
1996 – A derailed train in Weyauwega, Wisconsin (USA) causes the emergency evacuation of 2,300 people for 16 days.
1998 – Gay rights: Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc.: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that federal laws banning on-the-job sexual harassment also apply when both parties are the same sex.
2001 – BBC bombing: A massive car bomb explodes in front of the BBC Television Centre in London, seriously injuring one person; the attack was attributed to the Real IRA.
2002 – Afghanistan: Seven American Special Operations Forces soldiers and 200 Al-Qaeda Fighters are killed as American forces attempt to infiltrate the Shah-i-Kot Valley on a low-flying helicopter reconnaissance mission.
2009 – The International Criminal Court (ICC) issues an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. Al-Bashir is the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the ICC since its establishment in 2002.
2012 – A series of explosions is reported at a munitions dump in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, killing at least 250 people.
2015 – At least 34 miners die in a suspected gas explosion at the Zasyadko coal mine in the rebel-held Donetsk region of Ukraine.
2018 – Former MI6 spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter are poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury, England, causing a diplomatic uproar that results in mass-expulsions of diplomats from all countries involved.
2019 – The Indian Attack submarine was spotted by the Pakistan Navy.
2020 – Former Daredevil Nik Wallenda is the first person to walk over the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua.
Births on March 4
895 – Liu Zhiyuan, founder of the Later Han Dynasty (d. 948)
977 – Al-Musabbihi, Fatimid historian and official (d. 1030)
1188 – Blanche of Castile, French queen consort (d. 1252)
1394 – Henry the Navigator, Portuguese explorer (d. 1460)
1484 – George, margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (d. 1543)
1492 – Francesco de Layolle, Italian organist and composer (d. 1540)
1502 – Elisabeth of Hesse, princess of Saxony (d. 1557)
1519 – Hindal Mirza, Mughal emperor (d. 1551)
1526 – Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon (d. 1596)
1602 – Kanō Tan’yū, Japanese painter (d. 1674)
1634 – Kazimierz Łyszczyński, Polish philosopher (d. 1689)
1651 – John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, English lawyer, jurist, and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (d. 1716)
1655 – Fra Galgario, Italian painter (d. 1743)
1665 – Philip Christoph von Königsmarck, Swedish soldier (d. 1694)
1678 – Antonio Vivaldi, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1741)
1702 – Jack Sheppard, English criminal (d. 1724)
1706 – Lauritz de Thurah, Danish architect, designed the Hermitage Hunting Lodge and Gammel Holtegård (d. 1759)
1715 – James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave, English historian and politician (d. 1763)
1719 – George Pigot, 1st Baron Pigot, English politician (d. 1777)
1729 – Anne d’Arpajon, French wife of Philippe de Noailles (d. 1794)
1745 – Charles Dibdin, English actor, playwright, and composer (d. 1814)
1745 – Casimir Pulaski, Polish-American general (d. 1779)
1756 – Henry Raeburn, Scottish painter and educator (d. 1823)
1760 – William Payne, English painter (d. 1830)
1760 – Hugh Ronalds, British nurseryman who cultivated and documented 300 varieties of apples (d. 1833)
1769 – Muhammad Ali, Ottoman military leader and pasha (d. 1849)
1770 – Joseph Jacotot, French philosopher and academic (d. 1840)
1778 – Robert Emmet, Irish commander (d. 1803)
1781 – Rebecca Gratz, American educator and philanthropist (d. 1869)
1782 – Johann Rudolf Wyss, Swiss philosopher, author, and academic (d. 1830)
1792 – Isaac Lea, American conchologist, geologist, and publisher (d. 1886)
1793 – Karl Lachmann, German philologist and critic (d. 1851)
1814 – Napoleon Collins, Rear Admiral of the United States Navy during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War (d. 1875)
1817 – Edwards Pierrepont, American lawyer and politician, 34th United States Attorney General (d. 1892)
1820 – Francesco Bentivegna, Italian rebel leader (d. 1856)
1822 – Jules Antoine Lissajous, French mathematician and academic (d. 1880)
1823 – George Caron, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1902)
1826 – August Johann Gottfried Bielenstein, German linguist, ethnographer, and theologian (d. 1907)
1826 – John Buford, American general (d. 1863)
1826 – Elme Marie Caro, French philosopher and academic (d. 1887)
1826 – Theodore Judah, American engineer, founded the Central Pacific Railroad (d. 1863)
1828 – Owen Wynne Jones, Welsh clergyman and poet (d. 1870)
1838 – Paul Lacôme, French pianist, cellist, and composer (d. 1920)
1847 – Carl Josef Bayer, Austrian chemist and academic (d. 1904)
1851 – Alexandros Papadiamantis, Greek author and poet (d. 1911)
1854 – Napier Shaw, English meteorologist and academic (d. 1945)
1856 – Alfred William Rich, English painter, author, and educator (d. 1921)
1861 – Arthur Cushman McGiffert, American theologian and author (d. 1933)
1862 – Jacob Robert Emden, Swiss astrophysicist and meteorologist (d. 1940)
1863 – R. I. Pocock, English zoologist and archaeologist (d. 1947)
1863 – John Henry Wigmore, American academic and jurist (d. 1943)
1864 – David W. Taylor, American admiral, architect, and engineer (d. 1940)
1866 – Eugène Cosserat, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1931)
1867 – Jacob L. Beilhart, American activist, founded the Spirit Fruit Society (d. 1908)
1867 – Charles Pelot Summerall, senior United States Army officer (d. 1955)
1870 – Thomas Sturge Moore, English author and poet (d. 1944)
1871 – Boris Galerkin, Russian mathematician and engineer (d. 1945)
1873 – Guy Wetmore Carryl, American journalist and poet (d. 1904)
1873 – John H. Trumbull, American colonel and politician, 70th Governor of Connecticut (d. 1961)
1875 – Mihály Károlyi, Hungarian politician, President of the Hungary (d. 1955)
1875 – Enrique Larreta, Argentinian historian and author (d. 1961)
1876 – Léon-Paul Fargue, French poet and author (d. 1947)
1876 – Theodore Hardeen, Hungarian-American magician (d. 1945)
1877 – Alexander Goedicke, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1957)
1877 – Fritz Graebner, German geographer and ethnologist (d. 1934)
1877 – Garrett Morgan, African-American inventor (d. 1963)
1878 – Takeo Arishima, Japanese author and critic (d. 1923)
1878 – Egbert Van Alstyne, American pianist and songwriter (d. 1951)
1879 – Bernhard Kellermann, German author and poet (d. 1951)
1880 – Channing Pollock, American playwright and critic (d. 1946)
1881 – Todor Aleksandrov, Bulgarian educator and activist (d. 1924)
1881 – Thomas Sigismund Stribling, American lawyer and author (d. 1965)
1881 – Richard C. Tolman, American physicist and chemist (d. 1948)
1882 – Nicolae Titulescu, Romanian academic and politician, 61st Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1941)
1883 – Maude Fealy, American actress and screenwriter (d. 1971)
1883 – Robert Emmett Keane, American actor (d. 1981)
1883 – Sam Langford, Canadian-American boxer (d. 1956)
1884 – Red Murray, American baseball player (d. 1958)
1884 – Lee Shumway, American actor (d. 1959)
1886 – Paul Bazelaire, French cellist and composer (d. 1958)
1888 – Rafaela Ottiano, Italian-American actress (d. 1942)
1888 – Jeff Pfeffer, American baseball player (d. 1972)
1888 – Emma Richter, German paleontologist (d. 1956)
1888 – Knute Rockne, American football player and coach (d. 1931)
1889 – Oscar Chisini, Italian mathematician and statistician (d. 1967)
1889 – Oren E. Long, American soldier and politician, 10th Territorial Governor of Hawaii (d. 1965)
1889 – Pearl White, American actress (d. 1938)
1889 – Robert William Wood, English-American painter (d. 1979)
1890 – Norman Bethune, Canadian soldier and physician (d. 1939)
1891 – Dazzy Vance, American baseball player (d. 1961)
1893 – Charles Herbert Colvin, American engineer, co-founded the Pioneer Instrument Company (d. 1985)
1893 – Adolph Lowe, German sociologist and economist (d. 1995)
1894 – Charles Corm, Lebanese businessman and philanthropist (d. 1963)
1895 – Milt Gross, American animator, director, and screenwriter (d. 1953)
1896 – Kai Holm, Danish actor and director (d. 1985)
1897 – Lefty O’Doul, American baseball player and manager (d. 1969)
1898 – Georges Dumézil, French philologist and academic (d. 1986)
1898 – Hans Krebs, German general (d. 1945)
1899 – Peter Illing, Austrian born, British film and television actor (d. 1966)
1899 – Emilio Prados, Spanish poet and author (d. 1962)
1900 – Herbert Biberman, American director and screenwriter (d. 1971)
1901 – Wilbur R. Franks, Canadian scientist, invented the g-suit (d. 1986)
1901 – Charles Goren, American bridge player and author (d. 1991)
1901 – Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo, Malagasy-French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1937)
1902 – Rachel Messerer, Lithuanian-Russian actress (d. 1993)
1902 – Russell Reeder, American soldier and author (d. 1998)
1903 – William C. Boyd, American immunologist and chemist (d. 1983)
1903 – Malcolm Dole, American chemist and academic (d. 1990)
1903 – Dorothy Mackaill, English-American actress and singer (d. 1990)
1903 – John Scarne, American magician and author (d. 1985)
1904 – Luis Carrero Blanco, Spanish admiral and politician, 69th President of the Government of Spain (d. 1973)
1904 – George Gamow, Ukrainian-American physicist and cosmologist (d. 1968)
1904 – Joseph Schmidt, Austrian-Hungarian tenor and actor (d. 1942)
1906 – Meindert DeJong, Dutch-American soldier and author (d. 1991)
1906 – Avery Fisher, American violinist and engineer, founded Fisher Electronics (d. 1994)
1906 – Georges Ronsse, Belgian cyclist and manager (d. 1969)
1907 – Edgar Barrier, American actor (d. 1964)
1908 – T. R. M. Howard, American surgeon and activist (d. 1976)
1908 – Thomas Shaw, American singer and guitarist (d. 1977)
1909 – Harry Helmsley, American businessman (d. 1997)
1909 – George Edward Holbrook, American chemist and engineer (d. 1987)
1910 – Tancredo Neves, Brazilian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Brazil (d. 1985)
1911 – Charles Greville, 7th Earl of Warwick, English actor (d. 1984)
1912 – Afro Basaldella, Italian painter and academic (d. 1976)
1912 – Ferdinand Leitner, German conductor and composer (d. 1996)
1912 – Carl Marzani, Italian-American activist and publisher (d. 1994)
1913 – Taos Amrouche, Algerian singer and author (d. 1976)
1913 – John Garfield, American actor and singer (d. 1952)
1914 – Barbara Newhall Follett, American author (d. 1939)
1914 – Ward Kimball, American animator, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2002)
1914 – Robert R. Wilson, American physicist, sculptor, and architect (d. 2000)
1915 – László Csatáry, Hungarian art dealer (d. 2013)
1915 – Frank Sleeman, Australian lieutenant and politician, Lord Mayor of Brisbane (d. 2000)
1915 – Carlos Surinach, Spanish-Catalan composer and conductor (d. 1997)
1916 – William Alland, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1997)
1916 – Giorgio Bassani, Italian author and poet (d. 2000)
1916 – Hans Eysenck, German-English psychologist and theorist (d. 1997)
1917 – Clyde McCullough, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1982)
1918 – Kurt Dahlmann, German pilot, lawyer, and journalist (d. 2017)
1918 – Margaret Osborne duPont, American tennis player (d. 2012)
1919 – Buck Baker, American race car driver (d. 2002)
1919 – Tan Chee Khoon, Malaysian physician and politician (d. 1996)
1920 – Jean Lecanuet, French politician, French Minister of Justice (d. 1993)
1920 – Alan MacNaughtan, Scottish-English actor (d. 2002)
1921 – Halim El-Dabh, Egyptian-American composer and educator (d. 2017)
1921 – Joan Greenwood, English actress (d. 1987)
1921 – Dinny Pails, English-Australian tennis player (d. 1986)
1922 – Richard E. Cunha, American director and cinematographer (d. 2005)
1922 – Dina Pathak, Indian actor and director (d. 2002)
1923 – Russell Freeburg, American journalist and author
1923 – Francis King, English author and poet (d. 2011)
1923 – Patrick Moore, English astronomer and television host (d. 2012)
1924 – Kenneth O’Donnell, American soldier and politician (d. 1977)
1925 – Alan R. Battersby, English chemist and academic (d. 2018)
1925 – Paul Mauriat, French conductor and composer (d. 2006)
1926 – Henri de Contenson, French archaeologist and academic (d. 2019)
1926 – Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma, French businessman, soldier and race car driver (d. 2018)
1926 – Richard DeVos, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Amway (d. 2018)
1926 – Pascual Pérez, Argentinian boxer (d. 1977)
1926 – Don Rendell, English saxophonist and flute player (d. 2015)
1927 – Phil Batt, American soldier and politician, 29th Governor of Idaho
1927 – Thayer David, American actor (d. 1978)
1927 – Jacques Dupin, French poet and critic (d. 2012)
1927 – Robert Orben, American magician and author
1927 – Dick Savitt, American tennis player and businessman
1928 – Samuel Adler, German-American composer and conductor
1928 – Alan Sillitoe, English novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet (d. 2010)
1929 – Bernard Haitink, Dutch violinist and conductor
1929 – Peter Swerling, American theoretician and engineer (d. 2000)
1931 – Wally Bruner, American journalist and television host (d. 1997)
1931 – Bob Johnson, American ice hockey player and coach (d. 1991)
1931 – William Henry Keeler, American cardinal (d. 2017)
1931 – Alice Rivlin, American economist and politician (d. 2019)
1932 – Sigurd Jansen, Norwegian pianist, composer, and conductor
1932 – Ryszard Kapuściński, Polish journalist, photographer, and poet (d. 2007)
1932 – Miriam Makeba, South African singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2008)
1932 – Ed Roth, American illustrator (d. 2001)
1932 – Frank Wells, American businessman (d. 1994)
1933 – Nino Vaccarella, Italian race car driver
1934 – Mario Davidovsky, Argentinian-American composer and academic (d. 2019)
1934 – John Duffey, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1996)
1934 – Anne Haney, American actress (d. 2001)
1934 – Barbara McNair, American singer and actress (d. 2007)
1934 – Sandra Reynolds, South African tennis player
1934 – Janez Strnad, Slovenian physicist and academic (d. 2015)
1935 – Edward Dębicki, Ukrainian-Polish poet and composer
1935 – Bent Larsen, Danish chess player and author (d. 2010)
1936 – Eric Allandale, Dominican trombonist and songwriter (d. 2001)
1936 – Jim Clark, Scottish race car driver (d. 1968)
1936 – Aribert Reimann, German pianist and composer
1937 – José Araquistáin, Spanish footballer
1937 – William Deverell, Canadian lawyer, author, and activist
1937 – Graham Dowling, New Zealand cricketer
1937 – Leslie H. Gelb, American journalist and author (d. 2019)
1937 – Yuri Senkevich, Russian physician and explorer (d. 2003)
1937 – Barney Wilen, French saxophonist and composer (d. 1996)
1937 – Richard B. Wright, Canadian journalist and author (d. 2017)
1938 – Anton Balasingham, Sri Lankan-English negotiator (d. 2006)
1938 – Alpha Condé, Guinean politician, President of Guinea
1938 – Allan Kornblum, American police officer and judge (d. 2010)
1938 – Angus MacLise, American drummer and composer (d. 1979)
1938 – Don Perkins, American football player and sportscaster
1938 – Paula Prentiss, American actress
1938 – Adam Daniel Rotfeld, Polish academic and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs
1939 – Jack Fisher, American baseball player
1939 – Robert Shaye, American film producer
1940 – Wolfgang Hoffmann-Riem, German scholar and judge
1940 – David Plante, American novelist
1941 – John Hancock, American film and television actor (d. 1992)
1941 – Adrian Lyne, English director, producer, and screenwriter
1941 – James Zagel, American lawyer and judge
1942 – Gloria Gaither, American singer-songwriter
1942 – Charles C. Krulak, American general
1942 – David Matthews, American keyboard player and composer
1942 – Lynn Sherr, American journalist and author
1942 – James Gustave Speth, American lawyer and politician
1942 – Zorán Sztevanovity, Serbian-Hungarian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1943 – Lucio Dalla, Italian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2012)
1943 – Aldo Rico, Argentinian commander and politician
1944 – Harvey Postlethwaite, English engineer (d. 1999)
1944 – Anthony Ichiro Sanda, Japanese-American physicist and academic
1944 – Len Walker, English footballer and manager
1944 – Bobby Womack, American singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
1945 – Tommy Svensson, Swedish footballer and manager
1945 – Gary Williams, American basketball player and coach
1946 – Michael Ashcroft, English businessman and politician
1946 – Danny Frisella, American baseball player (d. 1977)
1946 – Haile Gerima, Ethiopian born US filmmaker
1946 – Patricia Kennealy-Morrison, American journalist and author
1947 – David Franzoni, American screenwriter and film producer
1947 – Jan Garbarek, Norwegian saxophonist and composer
1947 – Bob Lewis, American guitarist
1947 – Pēteris Plakidis, Latvian pianist and composer (d. 2017)
1948 – Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, New Zealand-Australian author
1948 – James Ellroy, American writer
1948 – Tom Grieve, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster
1948 – Mike Moran, English musician, songwriter and record producer
1948 – Jean O’Leary, American nun and activist (d. 2005)
1948 – Chris Squire, English singer-songwriter and bass guitarist (d. 2015)
1948 – Shakin’ Stevens, British singer-songwriter
1949 – Sergei Bagapsh, Abkhazian politician, 2nd President of Abkhazia (d. 2011)
1949 – Carroll Baker, Canadian singer-songwriter
1950 – Ofelia Medina, Mexican actress and screenwriter
1950 – Rick Perry, American captain and politician, 47th Governor of Texas
1950 – Safet Plakalo, Bosnian author and playwright (d. 2015)
1951 – Edelgard Bulmahn, German educator and politician, German Federal Minister of Education and Research
1951 – Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, South Korean-American author, director, and producer (d. 1982)
1951 – Kenny Dalglish, Scottish footballer and manager
1951 – Pete Haycock, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
1951 – Peter O’Sullivan, Welsh international footballer, winger
1951 – Sam Perlozzo, American baseball player and manager
1951 – Chris Rea, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1951 – Glenis Willmott, English scientist and politician
1951 – Zoran Žižić, Montenegrin politician, 4th Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (d. 2013)
1952 – Peter Kuhfeld, English painter
1952 – Ronn Moss, American singer-songwriter and actor
1952 – Svend Robinson, American-Canadian lawyer and politician
1952 – Umberto Tozzi, Italian singer-songwriter and producer
1953 – John Edwards, Australian director and producer
1953 – Emilio Estefan, Cuban-American drummer and producer
1953 – Paweł Janas, Polish footballer and manager
1953 – Ray Price, Australian rugby player and sportscaster
1953 – Reinhold Roth, German motorcycle racer
1953 – Chris Smith, American lawyer and politician
1953 – Agustí Villaronga, Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter
1953 – Daniel Woodrell, American novelist and short story writer
1954 – Timur Apakidze, Russian general and pilot (d. 2001)
1954 – Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Korean American author (d. 1982)
1954 – François Fillon, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France
1954 – Peter Jacobsen, American golfer and sportscaster
1954 – Catherine O’Hara, Canadian-American actress and comedian
1954 – Irina Ratushinskaya, Russian poet and author (d. 2017)
1955 – Tim Costello, Australian minister and politician
1955 – Joey Jones, Welsh footballer and manager
1957 – Nicholas Coleridge, English journalist and businessman
1957 – Ron Fassler, American film and television actor and author
1957 – Mykelti Williamson, American actor and director
1958 – Patricia Heaton, American actress
1958 – Massimo Mascioletti, Italian rugby player and coach
1958 – Tina Smith, American politician, junior senator of Minnesota
1959 – Rick Ardon, Australian journalist
1959 – Plamen Getov, Bulgarian footballer
1960 – Chonda Pierce, American comedian
1961 – Ray Mancini, American boxer
1961 – Steven Weber, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1961 – Roger Wessels, South African golfer and educator
1962 – Simon Bisley, English author and illustrator
1962 – Paul Canoville, English footballer
1962 – Stephan Reimertz, German historian and author
1963 – Jason Newsted, American heavy metal singer-songwriter and bass player
1964 – Dave Colclough, Welsh computer programmer and poker player (d. 2016)
1964 – Brian Crowley, Irish lawyer and politician
1964 – Tom Lampkin, American baseball player and sportscaster
1964 – Paolo Virzì, Italian director and screenwriter
1965 – Greg Alexander, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
1965 – Paul W. S. Anderson, English director, producer, and screenwriter
1965 – Andrew Collins, English journalist and screenwriter
1965 – Khaled Hosseini, Afghan-born American novelist
1965 – Yury Lonchakov, Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut
1965 – John Murphy British film composer
1966 – Emese Hunyady, Hungarian speed skater
1966 – Kevin Johnson, American basketball player and politician, 55th Mayor of Sacramento
1966 – Fiona Ma, American accountant and politician
1966 – Helmut Mayer, Austrian skier
1966 – Glen Nissen, Australian rugby league player
1966 – Dav Pilkey, American author and illustrator
1966 – Grand Puba, American rapper
1966 – Mike Small, American golfer and coach
1967 – Daryll Cullinan, South African cricketer and coach
1967 – Evan Dando, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1967 – Ivan Lewis, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
1967 – Terry Matterson, Australian rugby league player and coach
1967 – Dave Rayner, English cyclist (d. 1994)
1967 – Sam Taylor-Johnson, English filmmaker and photographer
1967 – Kubilay Türkyilmaz, Swiss footballer
1967 – Tim Vine, English comedian, actor, and author
1968 – Giovanni Carrara, Venezuelan baseball player
1968 – Jorge Celedón, Colombian singer
1968 – Patsy Kensit, English model and actress
1968 – Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greek banker and politician, Prime Minister of Greece
1968 – Graham Westley, English footballer and manager
1969 – Pierluigi Casiraghi, Italian footballer and manager
1969 – Wayne Collins, English footballer, midfielder
1969 – Annie Yi, Taiwanese singer, actress, and writer
1970 – Àlex Crivillé, Spanish motorcycle racer
1970 – Will Keen, English actor
1970 – Caroline Vis, Dutch tennis player
1971 – Iain Baird, Canadian soccer player and manager
1971 – Claire Baker, Scottish politician
1971 – Emily Bazelon, American journalist
1971 – Jason Croot, English actor and director
1971 – Anders Kjølholm, Danish bass player
1971 – Satoshi Motoyama, Japanese race car driver
1971 – Geraldine O’Rawe, Northern Irish actress
1972 – Katherine Center, American journalist and author
1972 – Nocturno Culto, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1972 – Robert Smith, American football player and sportscaster
1972 – Ivy Queen, Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, rapper, actress and record producer
1972 – Jos Verstappen, Dutch race car driver
1972 – Alison Wheeler, English singer-songwriter
1973 – Massimo Brambilla, Italian footballer and coach
1973 – Phillip Daniels, American football player and coach
1973 – Valery Kobelev, Russian ski jumper
1973 – Penny Mordaunt, English lieutenant and politician, Minister of State for the Armed Forces
1973 – Linus of Hollywood, American singer-songwriter and producer
1973 – Len Wiseman, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1973 – Chandra Sekhar Yeleti, Indian director and screenwriter
1974 – Crowbar, American wrestler
1974 – Mladen Krstajić, Serbian footballer and manager
1974 – Karol Kučera, Slovak tennis player
1974 – Ariel Ortega, Argentinian footballer
1974 – Tommy Phelps, South Korean-American baseball player and coach
1974 – ICS Vortex, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1974 – David Wagner, American tennis player and educator
1974 – Bill Young, Australian rugby player
1975 – Mats Eilertsen, Norwegian bassist and composer
1975 – Patrick Femerling, German basketball player
1975 – Antti Aalto, Finnish ice hockey player
1975 – Kristi Harrower, Australian basketball player
1975 – Hawksley Workman, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1976 – Robbie Blake, English footballer
1976 – Tommy Jönsson, Swedish footballer
1977 – Nacho Figueras, Argentinian polo player and model
1977 – Traver Rains, American fashion designer and photographer
1978 – Pierre Dagenais, Canadian ice hockey player
1978 – Denis Dallan, Italian rugby player and singer
1978 – Jean-Marc Pelletier, American ice hockey player
1979 – Sarah Stock, Canadian wrestler and trainer
1980 – Rohan Bopanna, Indian tennis player
1980 – Omar Bravo, Mexican footballer
1980 – Suzanna Choffel, American singer-songwriter
1980 – Giedrius Gustas, Lithuanian basketball player
1980 – Scott Hamilton, New Zealand rugby player and coach
1980 – Jack Hannahan, American baseball player
1980 – Michael Henrich, American ice hockey player
1980 – Phil McGuire, Scottish footballer and manager
1980 – Aja Volkman, American singer-songwriter
1981 – Ariza Makukula, Portuguese footballer
1981 – Helen Wyman, English cyclist
1982 – Landon Donovan, American soccer player and coach
1982 – Cate Edwards, American lawyer and author
1982 – Ludmila Ezhova, Russian gymnast
1982 – Yasemin Mori, Turkish singer
1983 – Samuel Contesti, French-Italian figure skater
1983 – Adam Deacon, English film actor, rapper, writer and director
1983 – Jaque Fourie, South African rugby player
1983 – Drew Houston, American billionaire and Internet entrepreneur
1984 – Josh Bowman, English actor
1984 – Tamir Cohen, Israeli footballer
1984 – Anders Grøndal, Norwegian race car driver
1984 – Spencer Larsen, American football player
1984 – Jeremy Loops, South African singer-songwriter and record producer
1984 – Raven Quinn, American singer-songwriter
1984 – Zak Whitbread, American-English footballer
1985 – Jake Buxton, English footballer
1985 – Chinedum Ndukwe, American football player
1985 – Whitney Port, American fashion designer and author
1986 – Steven Burke, English road and track cyclist
1986 – Tom De Mul, Belgian footballer
1986 – Mike Krieger, Brazilian-American computer programmer and businessman, co-founded Instagram
1986 – Siim Roops, Estonian footballer
1986 – Bohdan Shust, Ukrainian footballer
1986 – Manu Vatuvei, New Zealand rugby league player
1986 – Margo Harshman, American actress
1987 – Ben McKinley, Australian footballer
1987 – Cameron Wood, Australian footballer
1987 – Tamzin Merchant, English actress
1988 – Gal Mekel, Israeli basketball player
1988 – Laura Siegemund, German tennis player
1988 – Adam Watts, English footballer
1989 – Benjamin Kiplagat, Ugandan long-distance runner
1990 – Andrea Bowen, American actress
1990 – Draymond Green, American basketball player
1990 – Paddy Madden, Irish footballer
1990 – Fran Mérida, Spanish footballer
1992 – Nick Castellanos, American baseball player
1992 – Erik Lamela, Argentinian international footballer, midfielder
1992 – Bernd Leno, German footballer
1992 – Karl Mööl, Estonian footballer
1993 – Bobbi Kristina Brown, American singer and actress (d. 2015)
1993 – Richard Peniket, English footballer
1994 – Callum Harriott, English footballer
1994 – AJ Tracey, British hip-hop artist and record producer
1995 – Chlöe Howl, British singer-songwriter
1995 – Bill Milner, English actor
1996 – Lukas Webb, Australian rules footballer
2002 – Jacob Hopkins, American actor
Deaths on March 4
306 – Adrian and Natalia of Nicomedia, Christian martyrs
480 – Landry of Sées, French bishop and saint
561 – Pelagius I, pope of the Catholic Church
934 – Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah, Fatimid caliph (b. 873)
1172 – Stephen III, king of Hungary (b. 1147)
1193 – Saladin, founder of the Ayyubid Sultanate (b. 1137)
1238 – Joan of England, queen of Scotland (b. 1210)
1238 – Yuri II, Russian Grand Prince (b. 1189)
1303 – Daniel of Moscow, Russian Grand Duke (b. 1261)
1314 – Jakub Świnka, Polish priest and archbishop
1371 – Jeanne d’Évreux, queen consort of France (b. 1310)
1388 – Thomas Usk, English author
1484 – Saint Casimir, Polish prince (b. 1458)
1496 – Sigismund, archduke of Austria (b. 1427)
1583 – Bernard Gilpin, English priest and theologian (b. 1517)
1604 – Fausto Sozzini, Italian theologian and educator (b. 1539)
1615 – Hans von Aachen, German painter and educator (b. 1552)
1710 – Louis III, duke of Bourbon (b. 1668)
1733 – Claude de Forbin, French admiral and politician (b. 1656)
1744 – John Anstis, English historian and politician (b. 1669)
1762 – Johannes Zick, German painter (b. 1702)
1793 – Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, Duke of Penthièvre (b. 1725)
1795 – John Collins, American politician, 3rd Governor of Rhode Island (b. 1717)
1805 – Jean-Baptiste Greuze, French painter (b. 1725)
1807 – Abraham Baldwin, American minister, lawyer, and politician (b. 1754)