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July 2 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

This day is the midpoint of a common year because there are 182 days before and 182 days after it in common years, and 183 before and 182 after in leap years. The exact time of the middle of the year is at noon. In countries that use summertime the actual exact time of the midpoint in a common year is at 1:00 p.m for locations in the northern hemisphere or 11:00 a.m for locations in the southern hemisphere; this is when 182 days and 12 hours have elapsed and there are 182 days and 12 hours remaining. In a leap year in those countries, the middle of the year is at midnight. In countries that use summer time, the midpoint occurs at 1:00 a.m. on July 2, or 11:00 p.m. on July 1 in the southern hemisphere. This is due to summertime having advanced the time by one hour. It falls on the same day of the week as New Year’s Day in common years.

437 – Emperor Valentinian III begins his reign over the Western Roman Empire. His mother Galla Placidia ends her regency, but continues to exercise political influence at the court in Rome.
626 – Li Shimin, the future Emperor Taizong of Tang, ambushes and kills his rival brothers Li Yuanji and Li Jiancheng in the Xuanwu Gate Incident.
706 – In China, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang inters the bodies of relatives in the Qianling Mausoleum, located on Mount Liang outside Chang’an.
866 – Battle of Brissarthe: The Franks led by Robert the Strong are defeated by a joint Breton-Viking army.
936 – King Henry the Fowler dies in his royal palace in Memleben. He is succeeded by his son Otto I, who becomes the ruler of East Francia.
963 – The Byzantine army proclaims Nikephoros II Phokas Emperor of the Romans on the plains outside Cappadocian Caesarea.
1298 – The Battle of Göllheim is fought between Albert I of Habsburg and Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg.
1494 – The Treaty of Tordesillas is ratified by Spain.
1504 – Bogdan III the One-Eyed becomes Voivode of Moldavia.
1555 – Ottoman Admiral Turgut Reis sacks the Italian city of Paola.
1561 – Menas, emperor of Ethiopia, defeats a revolt in Emfraz.
1582 – Battle of Yamazaki: Toyotomi Hideyoshi defeats Akechi Mitsuhide.
1613 – The first English expedition (from Virginia) against Acadia led by Samuel Argall takes place.
1644 – English Civil War: Battle of Marston Moor.
1645 – Battle of Alford: Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
1698 – Thomas Savery patents the first steam engine.
1776 – American Revolution: The Continental Congress adopts a resolution severing ties with the Kingdom of Great Britain although the wording of the formal Declaration of Independence is not published until July 4.
1816 – The French frigate Méduse strikes the Bank of Arguin and 151 people on board have to be evacuated on an improvised raft, a case immortalised by Géricault’s painting The Raft of the Medusa.
1822 – Thirty-five slaves, including Denmark Vesey, are hanged in South Carolina after being accused of organizing a slave rebellion.
1823 – Bahia Independence Day: The end of Portuguese rule in Brazil, with the final defeat of the Portuguese crown loyalists in the province of Bahia.
1839 – Twenty miles off the coast of Cuba, 53 kidnapped Africans led by Joseph Cinqué mutiny and take over the slave ship Amistad.
1853 – The Russian Army crosses the Pruth river into the Danubian Principalities, Moldavia and Wallachia—providing the spark that will set off the Crimean War.
1871 – Victor Emmanuel II of Italy enters Rome after having conquered it from the Papal States.
1881 – Charles J. Guiteau shoots and fatally wounds U.S. President James A. Garfield (who will die of complications from his wounds on September 19).
1890 – The U.S. Congress passes the Sherman Antitrust Act.
1897 – British-Italian engineer Guglielmo Marconi obtains a patent for radio in London.
1900 – The first Zeppelin flight takes place on Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany.
1900 – Jean Sibelius’ Finlandia receives its première performance in Helsinki with the Helsinki Philharmonic Society conducted by Robert Kajanus.
1921 – World War I: U.S. President Warren G. Harding signs the Knox–Porter Resolution formally ending the war between the United States and Germany.
1934 – The Night of the Long Knives ends with the death of Ernst Röhm.
1937 – Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan are last heard from over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first equatorial round-the-world flight.
1940 – Indian independence leader Subhas Chandra Bose is arrested and detained in Calcutta.
1940 – The SS Arandora Star is sunk by U-47 in the North Atlantic with the loss of over 800 lives, mostly civilians.
1962 – The first Walmart store, then known as Wal-Mart, opens for business in Rogers, Arkansas.
1964 – Civil rights movement: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 meant to prohibit segregation in public places.
1966 – France conducts its first nuclear weapon test in the Pacific, on Moruroa Atoll.
1976 – End of South Vietnam; Communist North Vietnam annexes the former South Vietnam to form the unified Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
1986 – Rodrigo Rojas and Carmen Gloria Quintana are burnt alive during a street demonstration against the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet in Chile.
1990 – In the 1990 Mecca tunnel tragedy, 1,400 Muslim pilgrims are suffocated to death and trampled upon in a pedestrian tunnel leading to the holy city of Mecca.
1994 – USAir Flight 1016 crashes near Charlotte Douglas International Airport, killing 37 of the 57 people on board.
1997 – The Bank of Thailand floats the baht, triggering the Asian financial crisis.
2000 – Vicente Fox Quesada is elected the first President of México from an opposition party, the Partido Acción Nacional, after more than 70 years of continuous rule by the Partido Revolucionario Institucional.
2001 – The AbioCor self-contained artificial heart is first implanted.
2002 – Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly solo around the world nonstop in a balloon.
2005 – The Live 8 benefit concerts takes place in the G8 states and in South Africa. More than 1,000 musicians perform and are broadcast on 182 television networks and 2,000 radio networks.
2008 – Colombian conflict: Íngrid Betancourt, a member of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia, is released from captivity after being held for six and a half years by FARC.
2010 – The South Kivu tank truck explosion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo kills at least 230 people.
2013 – The International Astronomical Union names Pluto’s fourth and fifth moons, Kerberos and Styx.
2013 – A magnitude 6.1 earthquake strikes Aceh, Indonesia, killing at least 42 people and injuring 420 others.

Births on July 2

419 – Valentinian III, Roman emperor (d. 455)
1363 – Maria, Queen of Sicily (d. 1401)
1478 – Louis V, Elector Palatine (d. 1544)
1486 – Jacopo Sansovino, Italian sculptor and architect (d. 1570)
1489 – Thomas Cranmer, English archbishop, theologian, and saint (d. 1556)
1492 – Elizabeth Tudor, English daughter of Henry VII of England (d. 1495)
1500 – Federico Cesi (cardinal), Italian cardinal (d. 1565)
1575 – Elizabeth de Vere, Countess of Derby, English noblewoman and head of state of the Isle of Man (d. 1627)
1597 – Theodoor Rombouts, Flemish painter (d. 1637)
1647 – Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham, English politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1730)
1648 – Arp Schnitger, German organ builder (d. 1719)
1665 – Samuel Penhallow, English-American soldier and historian (d. 1726)
1667 – Pietro Ottoboni, Italian cardinal and art collector (d. 1740)
1714 – Christoph Willibald Gluck, German composer (d. 1787)
1724 – Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, German poet and author (d. 1803)
1797 – Francisco Javier Echeverría, Mexican businessman and politician. President of Mexico (1841) (d. 1852)
1819 – Charles-Louis Hanon, French pianist and composer (d. 1900)
1820 – George Law Curry, American publisher and politician, 5th Governor of the Oregon Territory (d. 1878)
1820 – Juan N. Méndez, Mexican general and interim president, 1876-1877 (d. 1894)
1821 – Charles Tupper, Canadian physician and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1915)
1825 – Émile Ollivier, French statesman (d. 1913)
1834 – Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack, Dutch economist and historian (d. 1917)
1849 – Maria Theresa of Austria-Este (d. 1919)
1862 – William Henry Bragg, English physicist, chemist, and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1942)
1865 – Lily Braun, German author and publicist (d. 1916)
1869 – Liane de Pougy, French-Swiss dancer and author (d. 1950)
1876 – Harriet Brooks, Canadian physicist and academic (d. 1933)
1876 – Wilhelm Cuno, German businessman and politician, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1933)
1877 – Hermann Hesse, German-born Swiss poet, novelist, and painter, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1962)
1877 – Rinaldo Cuneo, American artist (“the painter of San Francisco”) (d. 1939)
1881 – Royal Hurlburt Weller, American lawyer and politician (d. 1929)
1884 – Alfons Maria Jakob, German neurologist and author (d. 1931)
1893 – Ralph Hancock, Welsh gardener and author (d. 1950)
1900 – Tyrone Guthrie, English actor and director (d. 1971)
1900 – Sophie Harris, English costume and scenic designer for theatre and opera (d. 1966)
1902 – K. Kanapathypillai, Sri Lankan author and academic (d. 1968)
1902 – Germaine Thyssens-Valentin, Dutch-French pianist (d. 1987)
1903 – Alec Douglas-Home, English cricketer and politician, 66th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1995)
1903 – Olav V of Norway (d. 1991)
1904 – René Lacoste, French tennis player and businessman, created the polo shirt (d. 1996)
1906 – Hans Bethe, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2005)
1906 – Károly Kárpáti, Hungarian Jewish wrestler (d. 1996)
1906 – Séra Martin, French middle-distance runner (d. 1993)
1908 – Thurgood Marshall, American lawyer and jurist, 32nd Solicitor General of the United States (d. 1993)
1911 – Reg Parnell, English race car driver and manager (d. 1964)
1913 – Max Beloff, Baron Beloff, English historian and academic (d. 1999)
1914 – Frederick Fennell, American conductor and educator (d. 2004)
1914 – Ethelreda Leopold, American actress (d. 1988)
1914 – Mário Schenberg, Brazilian physicist and engineer (d. 1990)
1914 – Erich Topp, German admiral (d. 2005)
1915 – Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington, British peer, politician and soldier (d. 2014)
1916 – Ken Curtis, American actor and singer (d. 1991)
1916 – Hans-Ulrich Rudel, German colonel and pilot (d. 1982)
1916 – Reino Kangasmäki, Finnish wrestler (d. 2010)
1916 – Zélia Gattai, Brazilian author and photographer (d. 2008)
1917 – Leonard J. Arrington, American author and academic, founded the Mormon History Association (d. 1999)
1918 – Athos Bulcão, Brazilian painter and sculptor (d. 2008)
1918 – Indumati Bhattacharya, Indian politician
1919 – Jean Craighead George, American author (d. 2012)
1920 – John Kneubuhl, Samoan-American historian, screenwriter, and playwright (d. 1992)
1922 – Pierre Cardin, Italian-French fashion designer
1922 – Paula Valenska, Czech actress
1923 – Cyril M. Kornbluth, American soldier and author (d. 1958)
1923 – Wisława Szymborska, Polish poet and translator, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
1925 – Medgar Evers, American soldier and activist (d. 1963)
1925 – Patrice Lumumba, Congolese politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (d. 1961)
1925 – Marvin Rainwater, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
1926 – Octavian Paler, Romanian journalist and politician (d. 2007)
1927 – Lee Allen, American saxophone player (d. 1994)
1927 – James Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
1927 – Brock Peters, American actor (d. 2005)
1929 – Imelda Marcos, Filipino politician; 10th First Lady of the Philippines
1930 – Carlos Menem, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 50th President of Argentina
1931 – Mohammad Yazdi, Iranian cleric
1932 – Dave Thomas, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Wendy’s (d. 2002)
1933 – Peter Desbarats, Canadian journalist, author, and playwright
1933 – Kenny Wharram, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2017)
1934 – Tom Springfield, English musician
1935 – Gilbert Kalish, American pianist and educator
1936 – Omar Suleiman, Egyptian general and politician, 16th Vice President of Egypt (d. 2012)
1937 – Polly Holliday, American actress
1937 – Richard Petty, American race car driver and sportscaster
1938 – David Owen, English physician and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
1939 – Alexandros Panagoulis, Greek poet and politician (d. 1976)
1939 – John H. Sununu, American engineer and politician, 14th White House Chief of Staff
1939 – Paul Williams, American singer and choreographer (d. 1973)
1940 – Kenneth Clarke, English politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
1941 – William Guest, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2015)
1941 – Wendell Mottley, Trinidadian sprinter, economist, and politician
1942 – John Eekelaar, South African-English lawyer and scholar
1942 – Vicente Fox, Mexican businessman and politician, 35th President of Mexico (2000-2006)
1943 – Ivi Eenmaa, Estonian politician, 36th Mayor of Tallinn
1943 – Larry Lake, American-Canadian trumpet player and composer (d. 2013)
1946 – Richard Axel, American neuroscientist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
1946 – Ron Silver, American actor, director, and political activist (d. 2009)
1947 – Larry David, American actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter
1947 – Ann Taylor, Baroness Taylor of Bolton, English politician, Minister for International Security Strategy
1948 – Mutula Kilonzo, Kenyan lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
1949 – Greg Brown, American musician
1949 – Robert Paquette, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1950 – Lynne Brindley, English librarian and academic
1950 – Jon Trickett, English politician
1952 – Sylvia Rivera, American transgender rights activist (d. 2002)
1952 – Anatoliy Solomin, Ukrainian race walker and coach
1954 – Chris Huhne, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
1955 – Kim Carr, Australian educator and politician, 31st Australian Minister for Human Services
1956 – Jerry Hall, American model and actress
1957 – Bret Hart, Canadian wrestler
1957 – Jüri Raidla, Estonian lawyer and politician, Estonian Minister of Justice
1957 – Purvis Short, American basketball player
1958 – Pavan Malhotra, Indian actor
1960 – Maria Lourdes Sereno, Filipino lawyer and jurist, 24th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
1961 – Clark Kellogg, American basketball player and sportscaster
1962 – Neil Williams, English cricketer (d. 2006)
1964 – Jose Canseco, Cuban-American baseball player and mixed martial artist
1964 – Ozzie Canseco, Cuban-American baseball player, coach, and manager
1964 – Joe Magrane, American baseball player and sportscaster
1964 – Alan Tait, English-Scottish rugby player and coach
1965 – Norbert Röttgen, German lawyer and politician
1969 – Tim Rodber, English rugby player
1970 – Derrick Adkins, American hurdler
1970 – Steve Morrow, Northern Irish footballer and manager
1971 – Troy Brown, American football player and actor
1971 – Bryan Redpath, Scottish rugby player and coach
1972 – Darren Shan, English author
1974 – Sean Casey, American baseball player and sportscaster
1975 – Éric Dazé, Canadian ice hockey player
1975 – Kristen Michal, Estonian lawyer and politician
1975 – Erik Ohlsson, Swedish singer and guitarist
1975 – Stefan Terblanche, South African rugby player
1976 – Krisztián Lisztes, Hungarian footballer
1976 – Tomáš Vokoun, Czech-American ice hockey player
1977 – Deniz Barış, Turkish footballer
1978 – Jüri Ratas, Estonian politician, 42nd Mayor of Tallinn
1979 – Walter Davis, American triple jumper
1979 – Ahmed al-Ghamdi, Saudi Arabian terrorist, hijacker of United Airlines Flight 175 (d. 2001)
1979 – Sam Hornish Jr., American race car driver
1979 – Joe Thornton, Canadian ice hockey player
1980 – Nyjer Morgan, American baseball player
1981 – Nathan Ellington, English footballer
1981 – Carlos Rogers, American football player
1983 – Michelle Branch, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1983 – Kyle Hogg, English cricketer
1984 – Thomas Kortegaard, Danish footballer
1984 – Johnny Weir, American figure skater
1985 – Rhett Bomar, American football player
1985 – Chad Henne, American football player
1985 – Ashley Tisdale, American actress, singer, and producer
1986 – Brett Cecil, American baseball player
1986 – Lindsay Lohan, American actress and singer
1987 – Esteban Granero, Spanish footballer
1988 – Lee Chung-yong, South Korean footballer
1989 – Nadezhda Grishaeva, Russian basketball player
1989 – Alex Morgan, American soccer player
1990 – Kayla Harrison, American judoka
1990 – Merritt Mathias, American soccer player
1990 – Morag McLellan, Scottish field hockey player
1990 – Margot Robbie, Australian actress and producer
1990 – Danny Rose, English footballer
1990 – Bill Tupou, New Zealand rugby league player
1992 – Madison Chock, American ice dancer
1993 – Vince Staples, American rapper and actor
1994 – Henrik Kristoffersen, Norwegian skier
1995 – Ryan Murphy, American swimmer
1996 – Julia Grabher, Austrian tennis player

Deaths on July 2

626 – Li Jiancheng, Chinese prince (b. 589)
626 – Li Yuanji, Chinese prince (b. 603)
649 – Li Jing, Chinese general (b. 571)
862 – Swithun, English bishop and saint (b. 789)
866 – Robert the Strong, Frankish nobleman
936 – Henry the Fowler, German king (b. 876)
1215 – Eisai, Japanese Buddhist priest (b. 1141)
1298 – Adolf of Germany (b. 1220)
1504 – Stephen III of Moldavia (b. 1434)
1566 – Nostradamus, French astrologer and author (b. 1503)
1578 – Thomas Doughty, English explorer
1582 – Akechi Mitsuhide, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1528)
1591 – Vincenzo Galilei, Italian lute player and composer (b. 1520)
1619 – Francis II, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (b. 1547)
1621 – Thomas Harriot, English astronomer, mathematician, and ethnographer (b. 1560)
1656 – François-Marie, comte de Broglie, Italian-French general (b. 1611)
1674 – Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg (b. 1614)
1743 – Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1673)
1746 – Thomas Baker, English antiquarian and author (b. 1656)
1778 – Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Swiss philosopher and composer (b. 1712)
1833 – Gervasio Antonio de Posadas, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 1st Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (b. 1757)
1843 – Samuel Hahnemann, German physician and academic (b. 1755)
1850 – Robert Peel, English lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1788)
1857 – Carlo Pisacane, Italian soldier and philosopher (b. 1818)
1903 – Ed Delahanty, American baseball player (b. 1867)
1912 – Tom Richardson, English cricketer (b. 1870)
1914 – Joseph Chamberlain, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (b. 1836)
1915 – Porfirio Díaz, Mexican general and politician, 29th President of Mexico (b. 1830)
1920 – William Louis Marshall, American general and engineer (b. 1846)
1926 – Émile Coué, French psychologist and pharmacist (b. 1857)
1929 – Gladys Brockwell, American actress (b. 1894)
1932 – Manuel II of Portugal (b. 1889)
1950 – Thomas William Burgess, English swimmer and water polo player (b. 1872)
1955 – Edward Lawson, English soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1873)
1961 – Ernest Hemingway, American novelist, short story writer, and journalist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
1963 – Alicia Patterson, American publisher, co-founded Newsday (b. 1906)
1964 – Fireball Roberts, American race car driver (b. 1929)
1966 – Jan Brzechwa, Polish poet and author (b. 1900)
1970 – Jessie Street, Australian suffragette and feminist (b. 1889)
1972 – Joseph Fielding Smith, American religious leader, 10th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1876)
1973 – Betty Grable, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1916)
1973 – George McBride, American baseball player and manager (b. 1880)
1973 – Ferdinand Schörner, German field marshal (b. 1892)
1975 – James Robertson Justice, English actor (b. 1907)
1977 – Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born novelist and critic (b. 1899)
1978 – Aris Alexandrou, Greek author and poet (b. 1922)
1986 – Peanuts Lowrey, American baseball player and manager (b. 1917)
1988 – Vibert Douglas, Canadian astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1894)
1989 – Andrei Gromyko, Soviet economist and politician, Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1909)
1990 – Snooky Lanson, American singer (b. 1914)
1991 – Lee Remick, American actress (b. 1935)
1993 – Fred Gwynne, American actor (b. 1926)
1994 – Andrés Escobar, Colombian footballer (b. 1967)
1995 – Lloyd MacPhail, Canadian businessman and politician, 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island (b. 1920)
1997 – James Stewart, American actor (b. 1908)
1999 – Mario Puzo, American author and screenwriter (b. 1920)
2000 – Joey Dunlop, Northern Irish motorcycle racer (b. 1952)
2002 – Ray Brown, American bassist and composer (b. 1926)
2003 – Briggs Cunningham, American race car driver and businessman (b. 1907)
2004 – Mochtar Lubis, Indonesian journalist and author (b. 1922)
2005 – Ernest Lehman, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1915)
2005 – Norm Prescott, American actor, composer, and producer, co-founded Filmation Studios (b. 1927)
2006 – Jan Murray, American comedian, actor, and game show host (b. 1916)
2007 – Beverly Sills, American operatic soprano and television personality (b. 1929)
2008 – Natasha Shneider, Russian-American singer, keyboard player, and actress (b. 1956)
2008 – Elizabeth Spriggs, English actress and screenwriter (b. 1929)
2010 – Beryl Bainbridge, English screenwriter and author (b. 1932)
2011 – Itamar Franco, Brazilian engineer and politician, 33rd President of Brazil (b. 1930)
2012 – Maurice Chevit, French actor and screenwriter (b. 1923)
2012 – Julian Goodman, American journalist (b. 1922)
2012 – Angelo Mangiarotti, Italian architect and academic (b. 1921)
2012 – Betty Meggers, American archaeologist and academic (b. 1921)
2012 – Ed Stroud, American baseball player (b. 1939)
2013 – Anthony G. Bosco, American bishop (b. 1927)
2013 – Douglas Engelbart, American computer scientist, invented the computer mouse (b. 1925)
2013 – Armand Gaudreault, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1921)
2013 – Anthony Llewellyn, Welsh-American chemist, academic, and astronaut (b. 1933)
2014 – Emilio Álvarez Montalván, Nicaraguan ophthalmologist and politician (b. 1919)
2014 – Manuel Cardona, Spanish physicist and academic (b. 1934)
2014 – Mary Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe (b. 1915)
2014 – Harold W. Kuhn, American mathematician and academic (b. 1925)
2014 – Louis Zamperini, American runner and World War II US Army Air Forces captain (b. 1917)
2015 – Ronald Davison, New Zealand lawyer and judge, 10th Chief Justice of New Zealand (b. 1920)
2015 – Charlie Sanders, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1946)
2015 – Jim Weaver, American football player and coach (b. 1945)
2015 – Jacobo Zabludovsky, Mexican journalist (b. 1928)
2016 – Caroline Aherne, English actress and comedian (b. 1963)
2016 – Michael Cimino, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1939)
2016 – Patrick Manning, 4th & 6th Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (b. 1946)
2016 – Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor, activist, and author (b. 1928)
2020 – Ángela Jeria, Chilean archaeologist (b. 1926)
2020 – Byron Bernstein Reckful, gamer, Twitch streamer, investor (b. 1989)

Holidays and observances on July 2

Christian feast day:
- Aberoh and Atom (Coptic Church)
- Bernardino Realino
- Feast of the Visitation (Anglicanism; Levoča at Mariánska hora)
- Monegundis
- Otto of Bamberg
- Oudoceus
- Martinian and Processus
- Pishoy (Coptic Church)
- Stephen III of Moldavia
- July 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which Unity Day can fall, while July 8 is the latest; celebrated on Tuesday following Heroes’ Day. (Zambia)
Flag Day (Curaçao)
Palio di Provenzano (Siena, Italy)
Police Day (Azerbaijan)

July 2 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

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

Births on June 7

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

Deaths on June 7

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

Holidays and observances on June 7

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

June 7- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

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

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

On This Day

January 31 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as a successor to the late Pope Miltiades.
1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the throne as King Eric X of Sweden.
1504 – The Treaty of Lyon ends the Italian War, confirming French domination of northern Italy, while Spain receives the Kingdom of Naples.
1578 – Eighty Years’ War and Anglo-Spanish War: The Battle of Gembloux is a victory for Spanish forces led by Don John of Austria over a rebel army of Dutch, Flemish, English, Scottish, German, French and Walloons.
1606 – Gunpowder Plot: Four of the conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, are executed for treason by hanging, drawing and quartering, for plotting against Parliament and King James.
1747 – The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.
1814 – Gervasio Antonio de Posadas becomes Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (present-day Argentina).
1846 – After the Milwaukee Bridge War, the United States towns of Juneautown and Kilbourntown unify to create the City of Milwaukee.
1848 – John C. Frémont is court-martialed for mutiny and disobeying orders.
1862 – Alvan Graham Clark discovers the white dwarf star Sirius B, a companion of Sirius, through an 18.5-inch (47 cm) telescope now located at Northwestern University.
1865 – American Civil War: The United States Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, abolishing slavery and submits it to the states for ratification.
1865 – American Civil War: Confederate General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief.
1891 – History of Portugal: The first attempt at a Portuguese republican revolution breaks out in the northern city of Porto.
1897 – Czechoslav Trade Union Association is founded in Prague.
1900 – Datu Muhammad Salleh is killed in Kampung Teboh, Tambunan, ending the Mat Salleh Rebellion.
1915 – World War I: Germany is the first to make large-scale use of poison gas in warfare in the Battle of Bolimów against Russia.
1917 – World War I: Germany announces that its U-boats will resume unrestricted submarine warfare after a two-year hiatus.
1918 – A series of accidental collisions on a misty Scottish night leads to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another five British warships.
1919 – The Battle of George Square takes place in Glasgow, Scotland, during a campaign for shorter working hours.
1928 – Leon Trotsky is exiled to Alma-Ata.
1930 – 3M begins marketing Scotch Tape.
1942 – World War II: Allied forces are defeated by the Japanese at the Battle of Malaya and retreat to Singapore.
1943 – World War II: German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrenders to the Soviets at Stalingrad, followed 2 days later by the remainder of his Sixth Army, ending one of the war’s fiercest battles.
1944 – World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
1944 – World War II: During the Anzio campaign, the 1st Ranger Battalion (Darby’s Rangers) is destroyed behind enemy lines in a heavily outnumbered encounter at Battle of Cisterna, Italy.
1945 – US Army private Eddie Slovik is executed for desertion, the first such execution of an American soldier since the Civil War.
1945 – World War II: About 3,000 inmates from the Stutthof concentration camp are forcibly marched into the Baltic Sea at Palmnicken (now Yantarny, Russia) and executed.
1945 – World War II: The end of fighting in the Battle of Hill 170 during the Burma Campaign, in which the British 3 Commando Brigade repulsed a Japanese counterattack on their positions and precipitated a general retirement from the Arakan Peninsula.
1946 – Cold War: Yugoslavia’s new constitution, modeling that of the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia).
1946 – The Democratic Republic of Vietnam introduces the đồng to replace the French Indochinese piastre at par.
1949 – These Are My Children, the first television daytime soap opera, is broadcast by the NBC station in Chicago.
1950 – Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.
1951 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 90 relating to Korean War is adopted.
1953 – A North Sea flood causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands and over 300 in the United Kingdom.
1957 – Eight people (5 total crew from 2 aircraft and 3 on the ground) in Pacoima, California are killed following the mid-air collision between a Douglas DC-7 airliner and a Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet.
1958 – Cold War: Space Race: The first successful American satellite detects the Van Allen radiation belt.
1961 – Project Mercury: Mercury-Redstone 2: Ham the Chimp travels into outer space.
1966 – The Soviet Union launches the unmanned Luna 9 spacecraft as part of the Luna program.
1968 – Vietnam War: Viet Cong guerrillas attack the United States embassy in Saigon, and other attacks, in the early morning hours, later grouped together as the Tet Offensive.
1968 – Nauru gains independence from Australia.
1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 14: Astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell, aboard a Saturn V, lift off for a mission to the Fra Mauro Highlands on the Moon.
1971 – The Winter Soldier Investigation, organized by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War to publicize war crimes and atrocities by Americans and allies in Vietnam, begins in Detroit.
1978 – The Crown of St. Stephen (also known as the Holy Crown of Hungary) goes on public display after being returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held after World War II.
1996 – An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in Colombo, killing at least 86 people and injuring 1,400.
2000 – Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crash: An MD-83, experiencing horizontal stabilizer problems, crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Point Mugu, California, killing all 88 aboard.
2001 – In the Netherlands, a Scottish court convicts Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and acquits another Libyan citizen for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
2009 – In Kenya, at least 113 people are killed and over 200 injured following an oil spillage ignition in Molo, days after a massive fire at a Nakumatt supermarket in Nairobi killed at least 25 people.
2018 – Both a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse occur.
2019 – Abdullah of Pahang is sworn in as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
2020 – The United Kingdom’s membership within the European Union ceases in accordance with Article 50, after 47 years of being a member state.

Births on January 31

1512 – Henry, King of Portugal (d. 1580)
1543 – Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japanese shōgun (d. 1616)
1583 – Peter Bulkley, English and later American Puritan (d. 1659)
1597 – John Francis Regis, French priest and saint (d. 1640)
1607 – James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby (d. 1651)
1624 – Arnold Geulincx, Flemish philosopher and academic (d. 1669)
1673 – Louis de Montfort, French priest and saint (d. 1716)
1686 – Hans Egede, Norwegian missionary and explorer (d. 1758)
1752 – Gouverneur Morris, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to France (d. 1816)
1759 – François Devienne, French flute player and composer (d. 1803)
1769 – André-Jacques Garnerin, French balloonist and the inventor of the frameless parachute (d. 1823)
1785 – Magdalena Dobromila Rettigová, Czech cook book author (d. 1845)
1797 – Franz Schubert, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1828)
1799 – Rodolphe Töpffer, Swiss teacher, author, painter, cartoonist, and caricaturist (d. 1846)
1820 – William B. Washburn, American politician, 28th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1887)
1835 – Lunalilo of Hawaii (d. 1874)
1854 – David Emmanuel, Romanian mathematician and academic (d. 1941)
1865 – Henri Desgrange, French cyclist and journalist (d. 1940)
1865 – Shastriji Maharaj, Indian spiritual leader, founded BAPS (d. 1951)
1868 – Theodore William Richards, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
1872 – Zane Grey, American author (d. 1939)
1881 – Irving Langmuir, American chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
1884 – Theodor Heuss, German journalist and politician, 1st President of the Federal Republic of Germany (d. 1963)
1884 – Mammad Amin Rasulzade, Azerbaijani scholar and politician, 1st President of The Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan (d. 1955)
1889 – Frank Foster, English cricketer (d. 1958)
1892 – Eddie Cantor, American singer-songwriter, actor, and dancer (d. 1964)
1894 – Isham Jones, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1956)
1896 – Sofya Yanovskaya, Russian mathematician and historian (d. 1966)
1900 – Betty Parsons, American artist, art dealer and collector (d. 1982)
1902 – Nat Bailey, Canadian businessman, founded White Spot (d. 1978)
1902 – Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (d. 1968)
1902 – Alva Myrdal, Swedish sociologist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
1902 – Julian Steward, American anthropologist (d. 1972)
1905 – John O’Hara, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1970)
1909 – Miron Grindea, Romanian-English journalist (d. 1995)
1913 – Don Hutson, American football player and coach (d. 1997)
1914 – Jersey Joe Walcott, American boxer and police officer (d. 1994)
1915 – Bobby Hackett, American trumpet player and cornet player (d. 1976)
1915 – Alan Lomax, American historian, author, and scholar (d. 2002)
1915 – Thomas Merton, American monk and author (d. 1968)
1915 – Garry Moore, American comedian and game show host (d. 1993)
1916 – Frank Parker, American tennis player (d. 1997)
1917 – Fred Bassetti, American architect and academic, founded Bassetti Architects (d. 2013)
1919 – Jackie Robinson, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1972)
1920 – Stewart Udall, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 37th United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 2010)
1920 – Bert Williams, English footballer (d. 2004)
1921 – John Agar, American actor (d. 2002)
1921 – Carol Channing, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2019)
1921 – E. Fay Jones, American architect, designed the Thorncrown Chapel (d. 2004)
1921 – Mario Lanza, American tenor and actor (d. 1959)
1922 – Joanne Dru, American actress (d. 1996)
1923 – Norman Mailer, American journalist and author (d. 2007)
1925 – Benjamin Hooks, American minister, lawyer, and activist (d. 2010)
1926 – Tom Alston, American baseball player (d. 1993)
1926 – Chuck Willis, American singer-songwriter (d. 1958)
1927 – Norm Prescott, American animator, producer, and composer, co-founded Filmation Studios (d. 2005)
1928 – Irma Wyman, American computer scientist and engineer (d. 2015)
1929 – Rudolf Mössbauer, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2011)
1929 – Jean Simmons, English-American actress (d. 2010)
1930 – Joakim Bonnier, Swedish race car driver (d. 1972)
1930 – Al De Lory, American composer, conductor, and producer (d. 2012)
1931 – Ernie Banks, American baseball player and coach (d. 2015)
1931 – Christopher Chataway, English runner, journalist, and politician (d. 2014)
1932 – Miron Babiak, Polish sea captain (d. 2013)
1933 – Camille Henry, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1997)
1933 – Morton Mower, American cardiologist and inventor
1934 – Ernesto Brambilla, Italian motorcycle racer and race car driver
1934 – Gene DeWeese, American author (d. 2012)
1934 – James Franciscus, American actor and producer (d. 1991)
1934 – Bob Turner, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2005)
1935 – Kenzaburō Ōe, Japanese author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1936 – Can Bartu, Turkish former basketball and football player
1937 – Regimantas Adomaitis, Lithuanian actor
1937 – Andrée Boucher, Canadian educator and politician, 39th Mayor of Quebec City (d. 2007)
1937 – Philip Glass, American composer
1937 – Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (d. 2008)
1938 – Beatrix of the Netherlands
1938 – Lynn Carlin, American actress
1938 – James G. Watt, American lawyer and politician, 43rd United States Secretary of the Interior
1940 – Kitch Christie, South African rugby player and coach (d. 1998)
1940 – Stuart Margolin, American actor and director
1941 – Dick Gephardt, American lawyer and politician
1941 – Gerald McDermott, American author and illustrator (d. 2012)
1941 – Jessica Walter, American actress
1942 – Daniela Bianchi, Italian actress
1942 – Derek Jarman, English director, stage designer, and author (d. 1994)
1944 – John Inverarity, Australian cricketer and coach
1945 – Rynn Berry, American historian and author (d. 2014)
1945 – Brenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond, English lawyer, judge, and academic
1945 – Joseph Kosuth, American sculptor and theorist
1946 – Terry Kath, American guitarist and singer-songwriter (Chicago) (d. 1978)
1946 – Medin Zhega, Albanian footballer and manager (d. 2012)
1947 – Nolan Ryan, American baseball player
1947 – Matt Minglewood, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1947 – Glynn Turman, American actor
1948 – Volkmar Groß, German footballer (d. 2014)
1948 – Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician
1949 – Johan Derksen, Dutch footballer and journalist
1949 – Norris Church Mailer, American model and educator (d. 2010)
1949 – Ken Wilber, American sociologist, philosopher, and author
1950 – Denise Fleming, American author and illustrator
1950 – Alexander Korzhakov, Russian general and bodyguard
1950 – Janice Rebibo, American-Israeli author and poet (d. 2015)
1951 – Harry Wayne Casey, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
1954 – Faoud Bacchus, Guyanese cricketer
1954 – Adrian Vandenberg, Dutch guitarist and songwriter
1955 – Virginia Ruzici, Romanian tennis player and manager
1956 – Guido van Rossum, Dutch programmer, creator of the Python programming language
1956 – John Lydon, English singer-songwriter
1957 – Shirley Babashoff, American swimmer
1958 – Armin Reichel, German footballer and manager
1959 – Anthony LaPaglia, Australian actor and producer
1959 – Kelly Lynch, American model and actress
1960 – Akbar Ganji, Iranian journalist and author
1960 – Grant Morrison, Scottish author and screenwriter
1960 – Željko Šturanović, Montenegrin politician, 31st Prime Minister of Montenegro (d. 2014)
1961 – Elizabeth Barker, Baroness Barker, English politician
1961 – Fatou Bensouda, Gambian lawyer and judge
1961 – Lloyd Cole, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1963 – Craig Coleman, Australian rugby league player and coach
1963 – Gwen Graham, American lawyer and politician
1964 – Martha MacCallum, American journalist
1964 – Dawn Prince-Hughes, American scientist
1965 – Giorgos Gasparis, Greek basketball player and coach
1965 – Ofra Harnoy, Israeli-Canadian cellist
1965 – Peter Sagal, American author and radio host
1966 – Umar Alisha, Indian journalist and philanthropist
1966 – Thant Myint-U, Myanmar historian, diplomat, conservationist, and former presidential advisor.
1966 – Dexter Fletcher, English actor and director
1967 – Fat Mike, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
1968 – John Collins, Scottish footballer, midfielder and manager
1968 – Matt King, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
1968 – Ulrica Messing, Swedish politician, 2nd Swedish Minister for Infrastructure
1968 – Patrick Stevens, Belgian sprinter
1969 – Dov Charney, Canadian-American fashion designer and businessman, founded American Apparel
1969 – Daniel Moder, American cinematographer
1970 – Minnie Driver, English singer-songwriter and actress
1970 – Danny Michel, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
1971 – Patricia Velásquez, Venezuelan model and actress
1973 – Portia de Rossi, Australian-American actress
1974 – Othella Harrington, American basketball player and coach
1974 – Ariel Pestano, Cuban baseball player
1975 – Fred Coleman, American football player and coach
1975 – Preity Zinta, Indian actress, producer, and television host
1976 – Traianos Dellas, Greek footballer and manager
1976 – Buddy Rice, American race car driver
1976 – Paul Scheer, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
1977 – Suchitra Singh, Indian cricketer
1977 – Kerry Washington, American actress
1978 – Fabián Caballero, Argentinian footballer and manager
1979 – Daniel Tammet, English author and educator
1980 – James Adomian, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter
1980 – Gary Doherty, Irish footballer, centre forward
1980 – Shim Yi-young, South Korean actress
1981 – Julio Arca, Argentinian footballer
1981 – Mark Cameron, Australian cricketer
1981 – Justin Timberlake, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
1982 – Maret Ani, Estonian tennis player
1982 – Yuniesky Betancourt, Cuban baseball player
1982 – Andreas Görlitz, German footballer
1982 – Salvatore Masiello, Italian footballer
1982 – Allan McGregor, Scottish footballer
1982 – Jānis Sprukts, Latvian ice hockey player
1982 – Yukimi Nagano, Swedish singer-songwriter
1982 – Brad Thompson, American baseball player
1983 – James Sutton, English actor
1983 – Fabio Quagliarella, Italian footballer
1984 – Vernon Davis, American football player
1984 – Josh Johnson, Canadian-American baseball player
1984 – Jeremy Wariner, American runner
1984 – Alessandro Zanni, Italian rugby player
1985 – Adam Federici, Australian footballer
1985 – Mario Williams, American football player
1986 – Walter Dix, American sprinter
1986 – Megan Ellison, American film producer, founded Annapurna Pictures
1986 – George Elokobi, Cameroonian footballer
1986 – Yves Ma-Kalambay, Belgian footballer
1986 – Pauline Parmentier, French tennis player
1987 – Marcus Mumford, American-English singer-songwriter
1988 – Brett Pitman, English footballer
1988 – Taijo Teniste, Estonian footballer
1990 – Jacopo Fortunato, Italian footballer
1990 – Jacob Markström, Swedish ice hockey player
1990 – Kota Yabu, Japanese idol, singer-songwriter, model, actor

Deaths on January 31

632 – Máedóc of Ferns, Irish bishop and saint (b. 550)
876 – Hemma of Altdorf, Frankish queen
985 – Ryōgen, Japanese monk and abbot (b. 912)
1030 – William V, duke of Aquitaine (b. 969)
1216 – Theodore II, patriarch of Constantinople
1398 – Sukō, emperor of Japan (b. 1334)
1418 – Mircea I, prince of Wallachia (b. 1355)
1435 – Xuande, emperor of China (b. 1398)
1561 – Bairam Khan, Mughalan general (b. 1501)
1561 – Menno Simons, Dutch minister and theologian (b. 1496)
1580 – Henry, king of Portugal (b. 1512)
1606 – Guy Fawkes, English conspirator, leader of the Gunpowder Plot (b. 1570)
1606 – Ambrose Rookwood, English Gunpowder Plot conspirator (b. 1578)
1606 – Thomas Wintour, English Gunpowder Plot conspirator (b. 1571)
1615 – Claudio Acquaviva, Italian priest, 5th Superior General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1543)
1632 – Jost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker and mathematician (b. 1552)
1665 – Johannes Clauberg, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1622)
1686 – Jean Mairet, French playwright (b. 1604)
1720 – Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford, English politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1654)
1729 – Jacob Roggeveen, Dutch explorer (b. 1659)
1736 – Filippo Juvarra, Italian architect and set designer, designed the Basilica of Superga (b. 1678)
1790 – Thomas Lewis, Irish-born American lawyer and surveyor (b. 1718)
1794 – Mariot Arbuthnot, English admiral and politician, 12th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (b. 1711)
1811 – Manuel Alberti, Argentinian priest and journalist (b. 1763)
1815 – José Félix Ribas, Venezuelan soldier (b. 1775)
1828 – Alexander Ypsilantis, Greek general (b. 1792)
1836 – John Cheyne, English physician and author (b. 1777)
1844 – Henri Gatien Bertrand, French general (b. 1773)
1856 – 11th Dalai Lama (b. 1838)
1870 – Cilibi Moise, Moldavian-Romanian journalist and author (b. 1812)
1888 – John Bosco, Italian priest and educator, founded the Salesian Society (b. 1815)
1892 – Charles Spurgeon, English pastor and author (b. 1834)
1900 – John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry, Scottish nobleman (b. 1844)
1907 – Timothy Eaton, Canadian businessman, founded Eaton’s (b. 1834)
1923 – Eligiusz Niewiadomski, Polish painter and critic (b. 1869)
1933 – John Galsworthy, English novelist and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
1942 – Henry Larkin, American baseball player and manager (b. 1860)
1944 – Jean Giraudoux, French author and playwright (b. 1882)
1954 – Edwin Howard Armstrong, American engineer, invented FM radio (b. 1890)
1954 – Vivian Woodward, English captain and footballer (b. 1879)
1955 – John Mott, American activist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
1956 – A. A. Milne, English author, poet, and playwright, created Winnie-the-Pooh (b. 1882)
1958 – Karl Selter, Estonian politician, 14th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1898)
1960 – Auguste Herbin, French painter (b. 1882)
1961 – Krishna Singh, Indian politician, 1st Chief Minister of Bihar (b. 1887)
1966 – Arthur Percival, English general (b. 1887)
1967 – Eddie Tolan, American sprinter and educator (b. 1908)
1969 – Meher Baba, Indian spiritual master (b. 1894)
1971 – Viktor Zhirmunsky, Russian historian and linguist (b. 1891)
1973 – Ragnar Frisch, Norwegian economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
1974 – Samuel Goldwyn, Polish-American film producer, co-founded Goldwyn Pictures (b. 1882)
1976 – Ernesto Miranda, American criminal (b. 1941)
1976 – Evert Taube, Swedish author and composer (b. 1890)
1985 – Reginald Baker, English-Australian film producer (b. 1896)
1985 – Tatsuzō Ishikawa, Japanese author (b. 1905)
1987 – Yves Allégret, French director and screenwriter (b. 1907)
1989 – William Stephenson, Canadian captain and spy (b. 1896)
1990 – Eveline Du Bois-Reymond Marcus, German zoologist and academic (b. 1901)
1990 – Rashad Khalifa, Egyptian-American biochemist and academic (b. 1935)
1995 – George Abbott, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1887)
1997 – John Joseph Scanlan, Irish-American bishop (b. 1930)
1999 – Giant Baba, Japanese wrestler and trainer, co-founded All Japan Pro Wrestling (b. 1938)
1999 – Norm Zauchin, American baseball player (b. 1929)
2000 – Gil Kane, Latvian-American author and illustrator (b. 1926)
2001 – Gordon R. Dickson, Canadian-American author (b. 1923)
2002 – Gabby Gabreski, American colonel and pilot (b. 1919)
2004 – Eleanor Holm, American swimmer and actress (b. 1913)
2004 – Suraiya, Indian actress and playback singer (b. 1929)
2006 – Moira Shearer, Scottish actress and ballerina (b. 1926)
2007 – Molly Ivins, American journalist and author (b. 1944)
2007 – Adelaide Tambo, South African activist and politician (b. 1929)
2008 – František Čapek, Czechoslovakian canoeist (b. 1914)
2011 – Bartolomeu Anania, Romanian bishop and poet (b. 1921)
2011 – Mark Ryan, English guitarist and playwright (b. 1959)
2012 – Mani Ram Bagri, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1920)
2012 – Anthony Bevilacqua, American cardinal (b. 1923)
2012 – Tristram Potter Coffin, American author, scholar, and academic (b. 1922)
2012 – Dorothea Tanning, American painter and sculptor (b. 1910)
2013 – Rubén Bonifaz Nuño, Mexican poet and scholar (b. 1923)
2013 – Hassan Habibi, Iranian lawyer and politician, 1st Vice President of Iran (b. 1937)
2014 – Francis M. Fesmire, American cardiologist and physician (b. 1959)
2014 – Anna Gordy Gaye, American songwriter and producer, co-founded Anna Records (b. 1922)
2014 – Abdirizak Haji Hussein, Somalian politician, 4th Prime Minister of Somalia (b. 1924)
2014 – Miklós Jancsó, Hungarian director and screenwriter (b. 1921)
2014 – Joseph Willcox Jenkins, American composer, conductor, and educator (b. 1928)
2014 – Christopher Jones, American actor (b. 1941)
2015 – Vic Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
2015 – Udo Lattek, German footballer, coach, and journalist (b. 1935)
2015 – Lizabeth Scott, American actress (b. 1922)
2015 – Richard von Weizsäcker, German captain and politician, 6th President of Germany (b. 1920)
2016 – Gil Carmichael, American businessman and politician (b. 1927)
2016 – Terry Wogan, Irish-British radio and television host (b. 1938)
2017 – Rob Stewart, Canadian filmmaker (b. 1979)
2018 – Rasual Butler, American professional basketball player (b. 1979)
2018 – Leah LaBelle, American singer (b. 1986)

Holidays and observances on January 31

Christian feast day:
- Domitius (Domice) of Amiens
- Francis Xavier Bianchi
- Geminianus
- John Bosco
- Julius of Novara
- Blessed Ludovica
- Máedóc (Mogue, Aiden)
- Marcella
- Samuel Shoemaker (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Tysul
- Ulphia
- Wilgils
- January 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Amartithi (Meherabad, India, followers of Meher Baba)
Independence Day (Nauru), celebrates independence from Australia in 1968.
Street Children’s Day (Austria)

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January 31 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

January 31 in History

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