138 – Emperor Hadrian dies of heart failure at Baiae; he is buried at Rome in the Tomb of Hadrian beside his late wife, Vibia Sabina.
645 – Isshi Incident: Prince Naka-no-Ōe and Fujiwara no Kamatari assassinate Soga no Iruka during a coup d’état at the imperial palace.
988 – The Norse King Glúniairn recognises Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, High King of Ireland, and agrees to pay taxes and accept Brehon Law; the event is considered to be the founding of the city of Dublin.
1086 – King Canute IV of Denmark is killed by rebellious peasants.
1212 – The most severe of several early fires of London burns most of the city to the ground.
1460 – Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, defeats the king’s Lancastrian forces and takes King Henry VI prisoner in the Battle of Northampton.
1499 – The Portuguese explorer Nicolau Coelho returns to Lisbon after discovering the sea route to India as a companion of Vasco da Gama.
1512 – The Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre commences with the capture of Goizueta.
1519 – Zhu Chenhao declares the Ming dynasty’s Zhengde Emperor a usurper, beginning the Prince of Ning rebellion, and leads his army north in an attempt to capture Nanjing.
1553 – Lady Jane Grey takes the throne of England.
1584 – William I of Orange is assassinated in his home in Delft, Holland, by Balthasar Gérard.
1645 – English Civil War: The Battle of Langport takes place.
1778 – American Revolution: Louis XVI of France declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain.
1789 – Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Mackenzie River delta.
1806 – The Vellore Mutiny is the first instance of a mutiny by Indian sepoys against the British East India Company.
1832 – U.S. President Andrew Jackson vetoes a bill that would re-charter the Second Bank of the United States.
1850 – U.S. President Millard Fillmore is sworn in, a day after becoming president upon Zachary Taylor’s death.
1869 – Gävle, Sweden, is largely destroyed in a fire; 80% of its 10,000 residents are left homeless.
1877 – The then-villa of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, formally receives its city charter from the Royal Crown of Spain.
1882 – War of the Pacific: Chile suffers its last military defeat in the Battle of La Concepción when a garrison of 77 men is annihilated by a 1,300-strong Peruvian force, many of them armed with spears.
1883 – War of the Pacific: Chileans led by Alejandro Gorostiaga defeat Andrés Avelino Cáceres’s Peruvuan army at the Battle of Huamachuco, hastening the end of the war.
1890 – Wyoming is admitted as the 44th U.S. state.
1921 – Belfast’s Bloody Sunday: Sixteen people are killed and 161 houses destroyed during rioting and gun battles in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
1925 – Scopes Trial: In Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called “Monkey Trial” begins of John T. Scopes, a young high school science teacher accused of teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.
1927 – Kevin O’Higgins TD, Vice-President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State is assassinated by the IRA.
1938 – Howard Hughes begins a 91-hour airplane flight around the world that will set a new record.
1940 – World War II: The Vichy government is established in France.
1940 – World War II: Six days before Adolf Hitler issues his Directive 16 to the combined Wehrmacht armed forces for Operation Sea Lion, the Kanalkampf shipping attacks against British maritime convoys begin, in the leadup to initiating the Battle of Britain.
1941 – Jedwabne pogrom: Massacre of Polish Jews living in and near the village of Jedwabne.
1942 – World War II: An American pilot spots a downed, intact Mitsubishi A6M Zero on Akutan Island (the “Akutan Zero”) that the US Navy uses to learn the aircraft’s flight characteristics.
1943 – World War II: Operation Husky begins in Sicily.
1947 – Muhammad Ali Jinnah is recommended as the first Governor-General of Pakistan by the British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee.
1951 – Korean War: Armistice negotiations begin at Kaesong.
1962 – Telstar, the world’s first communications satellite, is launched into orbit.
1966 – The Chicago Freedom Movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., holds a rally at Soldier Field in Chicago. As many as 60,000 people attend.
1973 – The Bahamas gain full independence within the Commonwealth of Nations.
1976 – Four mercenaries (one American and three British) are executed in Angola following the Luanda Trial.
1978 – ABC World News Tonight premieres on ABC.
1978 – President Moktar Ould Daddah of Mauritania is ousted in a bloodless coup d’état.
1985 – The Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior is bombed and sunk in Auckland harbour by French DGSE agents, killing Fernando Pereira.
1985 – An Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-154 stalls and crashes near Uchkuduk, Uzbekistan (then part of the Soviet Union), killing all 200 people on board in the USSR’s worst-ever airline disaster.
1991 – The South African cricket team is readmitted into the International Cricket Council following the end of Apartheid.
1991 – Boris Yeltsin takes office as the first elected President of Russia.
1992 – In Miami, former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega is sentenced to 40 years in prison for drug and racketeering violations.
1997 – In London, scientists report the findings of the DNA analysis of a Neanderthal skeleton which supports the “out of Africa theory” of human evolution, placing an “African Eve” at 100,000 to 200,000 years ago.
1997 – Miguel Ángel Blanco, a member of Partido Popular (Spain), is kidnapped (and later murdered) in the Basque city of Ermua by ETA members, sparking widespread protests.
1998 – Catholic Church sexual abuse cases: The Diocese of Dallas agrees to pay $23.4 million to nine former altar boys who claimed they were sexually abused by Rudolph Kos, a former priest.
1999 – In women’s association football, the United States defeated China in a penalty shoot-out at the Rose Bowl near Los Angeles to win the final match of the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The final was watched by 90,185 spectators, which set a new world record for attendance at a women’s sporting event.
2000 – EADS, the world’s second-largest aerospace group is formed by the merger of Aérospatiale-Matra, DASA, and CASA.
2002 – At a Sotheby’s auction, Peter Paul Rubens’s painting The Massacre of the Innocents is sold for £49.5 million (US$76.2 million) to Lord Thomson.
2005 – Hurricane Dennis slams into the Florida Panhandle, causing billions of dollars in damage.
2007 – Erden Eruç begins the first solo human-powered circumnavigation of the world.
2008 – Former Macedonian Interior Minister Ljube Boškoski is acquitted of all war-crimes charges by a United Nations Tribunal.
2011 – Russian cruise ship Bulgaria sinks in Volga near Syukeyevo, Tatarstan, causing 122 deaths.
2017 – Iraqi Civil War: Mosul is declared fully liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
2019 – The last Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the line in Puebla, Mexico. The last of 5,961 “Special Edition” cars will be exhibited in a museum.
Births on July 10
1419 – Emperor Go-Hanazono of Japan (d. 1471)
1451 – James III of Scotland (d. 1488)
1501 – Cho Shik, Korean poet and scholar (d. 1572)
1509 – John Calvin, French pastor and theologian (d. 1564)
1515 – Francisco de Toledo, Viceroy of Peru (d. 1582)
1517 – Odet de Coligny, French cardinal (d. 1571)
1533 – Antonio Possevino, Italian diplomat (d. 1611)
1592 – Pierre d’Hozier, French genealogist and historian (d. 1660)
1614 – Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey, Irish-English politician (d. 1686)
1625 – Jean Herauld Gourville, French adventurer (d. 1703)
1638 – David Teniers III, Flemish painter (d. 1685)
1666 – John Ernest Grabe, German theologian and academic (d. 1711)
1682 – Roger Cotes, English mathematician and astronomer (d. 1716)
1723 – William Blackstone, English lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 1780)
1724 – Eva Ekeblad, Swedish noble and agronomist (d. 1786)
1752 – St. George Tucker, United States federal judge (d. 1827)
1792 – George M. Dallas, American lawyer and politician, 11th Vice President of the United States (d. 1864)
1802 – Robert Chambers, Scottish geologist and publisher, co-founded Chambers Harrap (d. 1871)
1804 – Emma Smith, American religious leader (d. 1879)
1809 – Friedrich August von Quenstedt, German geologist and palaeontologist (d. 1889)
1823 – Louis-Napoléon Casault, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 1908)
1830 – Camille Pissarro, Danish-French painter (d. 1903)
1832 – Alvan Graham Clark, American astronomer (d. 1897)
1835 – Henryk Wieniawski, Polish violinist and composer (d. 1880)
1839 – Adolphus Busch, German brewer, co-founded Anheuser-Busch (d. 1913)
1856 – Nikola Tesla, Serbian-American physicist and engineer (d. 1943)
1864 – Austin Chapman, Australian businessman and politician, 4th Australian Minister for Defence (d. 1926)
1867 – Prince Maximilian of Baden (d. 1929)
1871 – Marcel Proust, French novelist, critic, and essayist (d. 1922)
1874 – Sergey Konenkov, Russian sculptor (d. 1971)
1875 – Mary McLeod Bethune, American educator and activist (d. 1955)
1875 – Dezső Pattantyús-Ábrahám, Hungarian politician (d. 1973)
1877 – Ernst Bresslau, German zoologist (d. 1935)
1878 – Otto Freundlich, German painter and sculptor (d. 1943)
1882 – Ima Hogg, American society leader, philanthropist, patron and collector of the arts (d. 1975)
1883 – Johannes Blaskowitz, German general (d. 1948)
1883 – Hugo Raudsepp, Estonian playwright and politician (d. 1952)
1888 – Giorgio de Chirico, Greek-Italian painter and set designer (d. 1978)
1888 – Toyohiko Kagawa, Japanese evangelist, author, and activist (d. 1960)
1891 – Edith Quimby, American medical researcher and physicist (d. 1982)
1894 – Jimmy McHugh, American composer (d. 1969)
1895 – Carl Orff, German composer and educator (d. 1982)
1896 – Thérèse Casgrain, Canadian politician (d. 1981)
1897 – Legs Diamond, American gangster (d. 1931)
1897 – Karl Plagge, German general and engineer (d. 1957)
1898 – Renée Björling, Swedish actress (d. 1975)
1899 – John Gilbert, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1936)
1899 – Heiri Suter, Swiss cyclist (d. 1978)
1900 – Mitchell Parish, Lithuanian-American songwriter (d. 1993)
1900 – Sampson Sievers, Russian monk and mystic (d. 1979)
1902 – Kurt Alder, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
1902 – Nicolás Guillén, Cuban poet, journalist, and activist (d. 1989)
1903 – Werner Best, German SS officer and jurist (d. 1989)
1903 – John Wyndham, English soldier and author (d. 1969)
1904 – Lili Damita, French-American actress (d. 1994)
1905 – Mildred Benson, American journalist and author (d. 2002)
1905 – Thomas Gomez, American actor (d. 1971)
1905 – Wolfram Sievers, German physician (d. 1948)
1907 – Blind Boy Fuller, American singer and guitarist (d. 1941)
1909 – Donald Sinclair, English lieutenant and businessman (d. 1981)
1911 – Terry-Thomas, English comedian and character actor (d. 1990)
1911 – Cootie Williams, American trumpeter and bandleader (d. 1985)
1913 – Salvador Espriu, Spanish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1985)
1914 – Joe Shuster, Canadian-American illustrator, co-created Superman (d. 1992)
1914 – Rempo Urip, Indonesian film director
1916 – Judith Jasmin, Canadian journalist (d. 1972)
1917 – Hugh Alexander, American baseball player and scout (d. 2000)
1917 – Reg Smythe, English cartoonist (d. 1998)
1918 – James Aldridge, Australian-English journalist and author (d. 2015)
1918 – Chuck Stevens, American baseball player (d. 2018)
1918 – Frank L. Lambert, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at Occidental College (d. 2018)
1918 – Fred Wacker, American race driver and engineer (d. 1998)
1919 – Pierre Gamarra, French author, poet, and critic (d. 2009)
1919 – Ian Wallace, English actor and singer (d. 2009)
1920 – David Brinkley, American journalist (d. 2003)
1920 – Owen Chamberlain, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006)
1920 – Cyril Grant, English footballer (d. 2002)
1921 – Harvey Ball, American illustrator, created the Smiley (d. 2001)
1921 – Jeff Donnell, American actress (d. 1988)
1921 – John K. Singlaub, U.S Army Major General
1921 – Eunice Kennedy Shriver, American activist, co-founded the Special Olympics (d. 2009)
1922 – Jean Kerr, American author and playwright (d. 2003)
1922 – Herb McKenley, Jamaican sprinter (d. 2007)
1922 – Jake LaMotta, American boxer and actor (d. 2017)
1923 – Amalia Mendoza, Mexican singer and actress (d. 2001)
1923 – John Bradley, American soldier (d. 1994)
1923 – Suzanne Cloutier, Canadian actress and producer (d. 2003)
1923 – G. A. Kulkarni, Indian author and academic (d. 1987)
1924 – Johnny Bach, American basketball player and coach (d. 2016)
1924 – Bobo Brazil, American wrestler (d. 1998)
1925 – Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysian physician and politician, 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia
1925 – Ernest Bertrand Boland, American Roman Catholic bishop
1926 – Carleton Carpenter, American actor, magician, songwriter, and novelist
1926 – Fred Gwynne, American actor (d. 1993)
1927 – Grigory Barenblatt, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 2018)
1927 – David Dinkins, American soldier and politician, 106th Mayor of New York City
1927 – William Smithers, American actor
1928 – Don Bolles, American investigative reporter (d. 1976)
1928 – Bernard Buffet, French painter and illustrator (d. 1999)
1928 – Alejandro de Tomaso, Argentinian-Italian race car driver and businessman, founded De Tomaso (d. 2003)
1928 – Moshe Greenberg, American-Israeli rabbi and scholar (d. 2010)
1928 – John Glenn, American baseball player
1929 – Winnie Ewing, Scottish lawyer and politician
1929 – George Clayton Johnson, American author and screenwriter (d. 2015)
1929 – Moe Norman, Canadian golfer (d. 2004)
1929 – José Vicente Rangel, Venezuelan politician; 21st Vice President of Venezuela
1930 – Bruce Boa, Canadian actor (d. 2004)
1930 – Janette Sherman, American physician, author, and pioneer in occupational and environmental health (d. 2019)
1930 – Josephine Veasey, English soprano and actress
1931 – Nick Adams, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1968)
1931 – Jerry Herman, American composer and songwriter (d. 2019)
1931 – Julian May, American author (d. 2017)
1931 – Alice Munro, Canadian short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate
1932 – Carlo Maria Abate, Italian race car driver (d. 2019)
1932 – Neile Adams, Filipino-American actress, singer and dancer
1932 – Manfred Preußger, German athlete
1933 – Jumpin’ Gene Simmons, American rockabilly singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
1933 – C.K. Yang, Taiwanese decathlete and pole vaulter (d. 2007)
1934 – Marshall Brodien, American actor (d. 2019)
1934 – Jerry Nelson, American puppeteer and voice actor (d. 2012)
1935 – Tura Satana, American actress and dancer (d. 2011)
1935 – Wilson Tuckey, Australian politician
1935 – Margaret McEntee, American Catholic religious sister and educator
1935 – Wilson Whineray, New Zealand rugby player and businessman (d. 2012)
1936 – Herbert Boyer, American businessman, co-founded Genentech
1936 – Tunne Kelam, Estonian journalist and politician
1937 – Edwards Barham, American farmer and politician (d. 2014)
1937 – Gun Svensson, Swedish politician
1938 – Paul Andreu, French architect (d. 2018)
1938 – Lee Morgan, American trumpet player and composer (d. 1972)
1939 – Phil Kelly, Irish-English footballer and manager (d. 2012)
1939 – Ahmet Taner Kışlalı, Turkish political scientist, journalist and educator (d. 1999)
1939 – Mavis Staples, American singer
1940 – Meghnad Desai, Baron Desai, Indian-English economist and politician
1940 – Helen Donath, American soprano and actress
1940 – Brian Priestley, English pianist and composer
1940 – Keith Stackpole, Australian cricketer
1941 – Jake Eberts, Canadian film producer (d. 2012)
1941 – David G. Hartwell, American anthologist, author, and critic (d. 2016)
1941 – Robert Pine, American actor and director
1941 – Ian Whitcomb, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
1942 – Ronnie James Dio, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2010)
1942 – Pyotr Klimuk, Belarusian general, pilot, and astronaut
1942 – Sixto Rodriguez, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1942 – Lopo do Nascimento, Angolan politician; 1st Prime Minister of Angola
1943 – Arthur Ashe, American tennis player and journalist (d. 1993)
1312 BC – Mursili II launches a campaign against the Kingdom of Azzi-Hayasa.
217 BC – The Romans, led by Gaius Flaminius, are ambushed and defeated by Hannibal at the Battle of Lake Trasimene.
109 – Roman emperor Trajan inaugurates the Aqua Traiana, an aqueduct that channels water from Lake Bracciano, 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of Rome.
474 – Julius Nepos forces Roman usurper Glycerius to abdicate the throne and proclaims himself Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
637 – The Battle of Moira is fought between the High King of Ireland and the Kings of Ulster and Dál Riata. It is claimed to be the largest battle in the history of Ireland.
972 – Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces, takes place.
1128 – Battle of São Mamede, near Guimarães: Forces led by Afonso I defeat forces led by his mother Teresa of León and her lover Fernando Pérez de Traba.
1230 – The Siege of Jaén begins, in the context of the Spanish Reconquista.
1314 – First War of Scottish Independence: The Battle of Bannockburn concludes with a decisive victory by Scottish forces led by Robert the Bruce.
1340 – Hundred Years’ War: Battle of Sluys: The French fleet is almost completely destroyed by the English fleet commanded in person by King Edward III.
1374 – A sudden outbreak of St. John’s Dance causes people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to experience hallucinations and begin to jump and twitch uncontrollably until they collapse from exhaustion.
1497 – John Cabot lands in North America at Newfoundland leading the first European exploration of the region since the Vikings.
1509 – Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon are crowned King and Queen of England.
1535 – The Dominion of Münster, a radical communal Anabaptist state in the independent German city of Münster, is conquered by Franz von Waldeck, the Catholic Prince-Bishopric of Münster in a night attack.
1571 – Miguel López de Legazpi founds Manila, the capital of the Philippines.
1604 – Samuel de Champlain discovers the mouth of the Saint John River, site of Reversing Falls and the present-day city of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.
1622 – Battle of Macau: The Dutch make a failed attempt to capture Macau.
1663 – The Spanish garrison of Évora capitulates, following the Portuguese victory at the Battle of Ameixial.
1717 – The Premier Grand Lodge of England is founded in London, the first Masonic Grand Lodge in the world (now the United Grand Lodge of England).
1762 – Battle of Wilhelmsthal: The British-Hanoverian army of Ferdinand of Brunswick defeats French forces in Westphalia.
1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Great Siege of Gibraltar begins.
1793 – The French Constitution of 1793 is formally adopted, although it is effectively suspended by the Committee of Public Safety.
1812 – Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon’s Grande Armée crosses the Neman river beginning the invasion of Russia.
1813 – Battle of Beaver Dams: A British and Indian combined force defeats the United States Army.
1821 – The Battle of Carabobo takes place. It is the decisive battle in the war of independence of Venezuela from Spain.
1859 – Battle of Solferino (Battle of the Three Sovereigns): Sardinia and France defeat Austria in Solferino, northern Italy.
1866 – Battle of Custoza: An Austrian army defeats the Italian army during the Austro-Prussian War.
1880 – First performance of O Canada at the Congrès national des Canadiens-Français. The song would later become the national anthem of Canada.
1894 – Marie François Sadi Carnot is assassinated by Sante Geronimo Caserio.
1902 – King Edward VII of the United Kingdom develops appendicitis, delaying his coronation.
1913 – Greece and Serbia annul their alliance with Bulgaria.
1916 – Mary Pickford becomes the first female film star to sign a million-dollar contract.
1918 – First airmail service in Canada from Montreal to Toronto.
1922 – The American Professional Football Association is renamed the National Football League.
1932 – A bloodless revolution instigated by the People’s Party ends the absolute power of King Prajadhipok of Siam (now Thailand).
1938 – Pieces of a meteorite land near Chicora, Pennsylvania. The meteorite is estimated to have weighed 450 metric tons when it hit the Earth’s atmosphere and exploded.
1939 – Siam is renamed Thailand by Plaek Phibunsongkhram, the country’s third prime minister.
1940 – World War II: Operation Collar, the first British Commando raid on occupied France, by No 11 Independent Company.
1943 – US military police attempt to arrest a black soldier in Bamber Bridge, England, sparking the Battle of Bamber Bridge mutiny that leaves one dead and seven wounded.
1947 – Kenneth Arnold makes the first widely reported UFO sighting near Mount Rainier, Washington, leading to the coining of the phrase “flying saucer”.
1948 – Cold War: Start of the Berlin Blockade: The Soviet Union makes overland travel between West Germany and West Berlin impossible.
1949 – The first television western, Hopalong Cassidy, starring William Boyd, is aired on NBC.
1950 – Apartheid: In South Africa, the Group Areas Act is passed, formally segregating races.
1954 – First Indochina War: Battle of Mang Yang Pass: Viet Minh troops belonging to the 803rd Regiment ambush G.M. 100 of France in An Khê.
1957 – In Roth v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment.
1963 – The United Kingdom grants Zanzibar internal self-government.
1973 – The UpStairs Lounge, a gay bar in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, is attacked by an arsonist during a church service, and 32 people die from smoke inhalation or fire.
1975 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 66 encounters severe wind shear and crashes on final approach to New York’s JFK Airport killing 113 of the 124 passengers on board, making it the deadliest U.S. plane crash at the time. This accident led to decades of research into downburst and microburst phenomena and their effects on aircraft.
1981 – The Humber Bridge opens to traffic, connecting Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. It remained the world’s longest bridge span for 17 years.
1982 – British Airways Flight 9 flies into a cloud of volcanic ash thrown up by the eruption of Mount Galunggung, resulting in the failure of all four engines.
1989 – Jiang Zemin succeeds Zhao Ziyang to become the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
1995 – Rugby World Cup: South Africa defeats New Zealand and Nelson Mandela presents Francois Pienaar with the Webb Ellis Cup in an iconic post-apartheid moment.
2002 – The Igandu train disaster in Tanzania kills 281, the worst train accident in African history.
2004 – In New York, capital punishment is declared unconstitutional.
2010 – At Wimbledon, John Isner of the United States defeats Nicolas Mahut of France, in the longest match in professional tennis history.
2010 – Julia Gillard assumes office as the first female Prime Minister of Australia.
2012 – Death of Lonesome George, the last known individual of Chelonoidis nigra abingdonii, a subspecies of the Galápagos tortoise.
2013 – Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is found guilty of abusing his power and engaging in sex with an underage prostitute, and is sentenced to seven years in prison.
Births on June 24
1210 – Count Floris IV of Holland (d. 1234)
1244 – Henry I, Landgrave of Hesse (d. 1308)
1254 – Floris V, Count of Holland (d. 1296)
1257 – Robert de Vere, 6th Earl of Oxford, English nobleman (probable; d. 1331)
1314 – Philippa of Hainault Queen of England (d. 1369)
1322 – Joanna, Duchess of Brabant (d. 1406)
1343 – Joan of Valois, Queen of Navarre (d. 1373)
1360 – Nuno Álvares Pereira, Portuguese general
1386 – John of Capistrano, Italian priest and saint (d. 1456)
1465 – Isabella del Balzo, Queen Consort of Naples (d. 1533)
1485 – Johannes Bugenhagen, Polish-German priest and reformer (d. 1558)
1485 – Elizabeth of Denmark, Electress of Brandenburg (d. 1555)
1499 – Johannes Brenz, German theologian and the Protestant Reformer (d. 1570)
1519 – Theodore Beza, French theologian and scholar (d. 1605)
1532 – Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, English politician (d. 1588)
1532 – William IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1573)
1535 – Joanna of Austria, Princess of Portugal (d. 1573)
1546 – Robert Persons, English Jesuit priest, insurrectionist, and author (d. 1610)
1587 – William Arnold, English-American settler (d. 1675)
1591 – Mustafa I, Ottoman sultan (d. 1639)
1614 – John Belasyse, 1st Baron Belasyse
1616 – Ferdinand Bol, Dutch painter, etcher and draftsman, student of Rembrandt (d. 1680)
1661 – Hachisuka Tsunanori, Japanese daimyō (d. 1730)
1663 – Jean Baptiste Massillon, French bishop (d. 1742)
1687 – Johann Albrecht Bengel, German-Lutheran clergyman and scholar (d. 1757)
1694 – Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui, Swiss author and theorist (d. 1748)
1704 – Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d’Argens, French philosopher and author (d. 1771)
1753 – William Hull, American general and politician, 1st Governor of Michigan Territory (d. 1825)
1755 – Anacharsis Cloots, Prussian-French activist (d. 1794)
1767 – Jean-Baptiste Benoît Eyriès, French geographer and author (d. 1846)
1771 – Éleuthère Irénée du Pont, French chemist and businessman, founded DuPont (d. 1834)
1774 – Antonio González de Balcarce, Argentinian commander and politician, 5th Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (d. 1819)
1774 – François-Nicolas-Benoît Haxo, French general and engineer (d. 1838)
1777 – John Ross, Scottish commander and explorer (d. 1856)
1782 – Juan Larrea, Argentinian captain and politician (d. 1847)
1783 – Johann Heinrich von Thünen, German economist and geographer (d. 1850)
1784 – Juan Antonio Lavalleja, Uruguayan general and politician, President of Uruguay (d. 1853)
1788 – Thomas Blanchard, American inventor (d. 1864)
1795 – Ernst Heinrich Weber, German physician and psychologist (d. 1878)
1797 – John Hughes, Irish-American archbishop (d. 1864)
1797 – Paweł Edmund Strzelecki, Polish geologist and explorer (d. 1873)
1804 – Stephan Endlicher, Austrian botanist, numismatist, and sinologist (d. 1849)
1804 – Willard Richards, American religious leader (d. 1854)
1811 – John Archibald Campbell, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1889)
1813 – Henry Ward Beecher, American minister and reformer (d. 1887)
1813 – Francis Boott, American composer (d. 1904)
1821 – Guillermo Rawson, Argentinian physician and politician (d. 1890)
1826 – George Goyder, English-Australian surveyor (d. 1898)
1835 – Johannes Wislicenus, German chemist and academic (d. 1902)
1838 – Jan Matejko, Polish painter (d. 1893)
1839 – Gustavus Franklin Swift, American businessman (d. 1903)
1842 – Ambrose Bierce, American short story writer, essayist, and journalist (d. 1914)
1846 – Samuel Johnson, Nigerian priest and historian (d. 1901)
1850 – Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, Irish field marshal and politician, Governor-General of Sudan (d. 1916)
1852 – Friedrich Loeffler, German bacteriologist and academic (d. 1915)
1854 – Eleanor Norcross, American painter (d. 1923)
1856 – Henry Chapman Mercer, American archaeologist and author (d. 1930)
1858 – Hastings Rashdall, English historian, philosopher, and theologian (d. 1924)
1865 – Robert Henri, American painter and educator (d. 1929)
1867 – Ruth Randall Edström, American educator and activist (d. 1944)
1869 – Prince George of Greece and Denmark (d. 1957)
1872 – Frank Crowninshield, American journalist and art and theatre critic (d. 1947)
1875 – Forrest Reid, Irish novelist, literary critic and translator (d. 1947)
1880 – Oswald Veblen, American mathematician and academic (g. 1960)
1880 – João Cândido Felisberto, Brazilian revolutionary and sailor (d. 1969)
1881 – George Shiels, Irish-Canadian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1949)
1882 – Athanase David, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1953)
1882 – Carl Diem, German businessman (d. 1962)
1883 – Victor Francis Hess, Austrian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1964)
1883 – Fritz Löhner-Beda, Jewish Austrian librettist, lyricist and writer (d.1942)
1883 – Jean Metzinger, French artist (d. 1956)
1883 – Arthur L. Newton, American runner (d. 1956)
1883 – Frank Verner, American runner (d. 1966)
1884 – Frank Waller, American runner (d. 1941)
1885 – Olaf Holtedahl, Norwegian geologist (d. 1975)
1888 – Gerrit Rietveld, Dutch architect, designed the Rietveld Schröder House (d. 1964)
1893 – Roy O. Disney, American businessman, co-founded The Walt Disney Company (d. 1971)
1895 – Jack Dempsey, American boxer and soldier (d. 1983)
1898 – Armin Öpik, Estonian-Australian paleontologist and geologist (d. 1983)
1898 – Karl Selter, Estonian politician, 14th Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia (d. 1958)
1900 – Wilhelm Cauer, German mathematician and engineer (d. 1945)
1901 – Marcel Mule, French saxophonist (d. 2001)
1901 – Harry Partch, American composer and theorist (d. 1974)
1901 – Chuck Taylor, American basketball player and salesman (d. 1969)
1904 – Phil Harris, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1995)
1905 – Fred Alderman, American sprinter (d. 1998)
1906 – Pierre Fournier, French cellist and educator (d. 1986)
1906 – Willard Maas, American poet and educator (d. 1971)
1907 – Arseny Tarkovsky, Russian poet and translator (d. 1989)
1908 – Hugo Distler, German organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1942)
1908 – Alfons Rebane, Estonian colonel (d. 1976)
1909 – Jean Deslauriers, Canadian violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1978)
1909 – William Penney, Baron Penney, English mathematician and physicist (d. 1991)
1909 – Betty Cavanna, American author (d. 2001)
1911 – Juan Manuel Fangio, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1995)
1911 – Ernesto Sabato, Argentinian physicist and academic (d. 2011)
1911 – Portia White, Canadian opera singer (d. 1968)
1912 – Brian Johnston, English sportscaster and author (d. 1994)
1912 – Mary Wesley, English author (d. 2002)
1913 – Gustaaf Deloor, Belgian cyclist and soldier (d. 2002)
1914 – Jan Karski, Polish-American activist and academic (d. 2000)
1914 – Pearl Witherington, French secret agent (d. 2008)
1915 – Fred Hoyle, English astronomer and author (d. 2001)
1916 – William B. Saxbe, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 70th United States Attorney General (d. 2010)
1916 – Saloua Raouda Choucair, Lebanese painter and sculptor (d. 2017)
1917 – David Easton, Canadian-American political scientist and academic (d. 2014)
1917 – Lucy Jarvis, American television producer (d. 2020)
1917 – Ramblin’ Tommy Scott, American singer and guitarist (d. 2013)
1917 – Joan Clarke, English cryptanalyst and numismatist (d. 1996)
1918 – Mildred Ladner Thompson, American journalist and author (d. 2013)
1918 – Yong Nyuk Lin, Singaporean businessman and politician, Singaporean Minister for Education (d. 2012)
1919 – Al Molinaro, American actor (d. 2015)
1921 – Gerhard Sommer, German soldier
1922 – Jack Carter, American actor and comedian (d. 2015)
1922 – John Postgate, English microbiologist, author, and academic (d. 2014)
1922 – Richard Timberlake, American economist
1923 – Margaret Olley, Australian painter and philanthropist (d. 2011)
1924 – Kurt Furgler, Swiss politician, 70th President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 2008)
1924 – Archie Roy, Scottish astronomer and academic (d. 2012)
1924 – Yoshito Takamine, American politician (d. 2015)
1925 – Ogden Reid, American politician (d. 2019)
1927 – Fernand Dumont, Canadian sociologist, philosopher, and poet (d. 1997)
1927 – James B. Edwards, American dentist, soldier, and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Energy (d. 2014)
1927 – Martin Lewis Perl, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2014)
1929 – Carolyn S. Shoemaker, American astronomer
1930 – Claude Chabrol, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2010)
1930 – Donald Gordon, South African businessman and philanthropist (d. 2019)
1930 – William Bernard Ziff, Jr., American publisher (d. 2006)
1931 – Billy Casper, American golfer and architect (d. 2015)
1932 – David McTaggart, Canadian-Italian environmentalist (d. 2001)
1933 – Sam Jones, American basketball player and coach
1933 – Ngina Kenyatta, 1st First Lady of Kenya
1934 – Ferdinand Biwersi, German footballer and referee (d. 2013)
1934 – Jean-Pierre Ferland, Canadian singer-songwriter
1934 – Gloria Christian, Italian singer
1935 – Terry Riley, American composer and educator
1935 – Jean Milesi, French racing cyclist
1935 – Charlie Dees, American baseball player
1937 – Anita Desai, Indian-American author and academic
1938 – Lawrence Block, American author
1938 – Abulfaz Elchibey, 1st democratically elected Azerbaijani president (d. 2000)
1938 – Ken Gray, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1992)
1939 – Brigitte Fontaine, French singer
1940 – Ian Ross, Australian newsreader (d. 2014)
1940 – Vittorio Storaro, Italian cinematographer
1941 – Erkin Koray, Turkish singer-songwriter and guitarist
1941 – Julia Kristeva, Bulgarian-French psychoanalyst and author
1941 – Graham McKenzie, Australian cricketer
1942 – Arthur Brown, English rock singer-songwriter
1942 – Michele Lee, American actress and singer
1942 – Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, Chilean engineer and politician, 32nd President of Chile
1942 – Colin Groves, Australian academician and educator
1943 – Birgit Grodal, Danish economist and academic (d. 2004)
1944 – Jeff Beck, English guitarist and songwriter
1944 – Kathryn Lasky, American author
1944 – Chris Wood, English saxophonist (d. 1983)
1945 – Colin Blunstone, English singer-songwriter
1945 – Wayne Cashman, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1945 – George Pataki, American lawyer and politician, 53rd Governor of New York
1945 – Betty Stöve, Dutch tennis player
1946 – David Collenette, Canadian civil servant and politician, 32nd Canadian Minister of National Defence
1946 – Ellison Onizuka, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut (d. 1986)
1946 – Robert Reich, American economist and politician, 22nd United States Secretary of Labor
1947 – Clarissa Dickson Wright, English chef, author, and television personality (d. 2014)
1947 – Peter Weller, American actor and director
1948 – Patrick Moraz, Swiss keyboard player and songwriter
1949 – John Illsley, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
1949 – Betty Jackson, English fashion designer
1950 – Nancy Allen, American actress
1950 – Bob Carlos Clarke, Irish-born English photographer (d. 2006)
1950 – Jan Kulczyk, Polish businessman (d. 2015)
1950 – Mercedes Lackey, American author
1951 – Raelene Boyle, Australian sprinter
1951 – Charles Sturridge, English director, producer, and screenwriter
1952 – Dianna Melrose, English diplomat, British High Commissioner to Tanzania
1952 – Bob Neill, English lawyer and politician
1953 – William E. Moerner, American chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
1953 – Michael Tuck, Australian footballer and coach
1955 – Chris Higgins, English geneticist and academic
1955 – Edmund Malura, German footballer and manager
1955 – Loren Roberts, American golfer
1956 – Owen Paterson, English politician, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
1957 – Mark Parkinson, American lawyer and politician, 45th Governor of Kansas
1958 – Jean Charest, Canadian lawyer and politician, 5th Deputy Prime Minister of Canada
1958 – Silvio Mondinelli, Italian mountaineer
1958 – John Tortorella, American ice hockey player and coach
1959 – Andy McCluskey, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
1960 – Elish Angiolini, Scottish lawyer, judge, and politician, Solicitor General for Scotland
1960 – Siedah Garrett, American singer-songwriter and pianist
1960 – Karin Pilsäter, Swedish accountant and politician
1960 – Erik Poppe, Norwegian director, cinematographer, and screenwriter
1961 – Dennis Danell, American singer and guitarist (d. 2000)
1961 – Iain Glen, Scottish actor
1961 – Bernie Nicholls, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1961 – Ralph E. Reed, Jr., American journalist and activist
1961 – Curt Smith, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1963 – Yuri Kasparyan, Russian guitarist
1963 – Preki, Serbian-American soccer player and coach
1963 – Mike Wieringo, American author and illustrator (d. 2007)
1964 – Jean-Luc Delarue, French television host and producer (d. 2012)
1964 – Kathryn Parminter, Baroness Parminter, English politician
1964 – Gary Suter, American ice hockey player and scout
1965 – Claude Bourbonnais, Canadian race car driver
1965 – Uwe Krupp, German ice hockey player and coach
1965 – Richard Lumsden, English actor, writer, composer and musician
1966 – Hope Sandoval, American singer-songwriter and musician
1966 – Adrienne Shelly, American actress, director, and screenwriter (d. 2006)
1967 – Janez Lapajne, Slovenian director and producer
1967 – John Limniatis, Greek-Canadian footballer and manager
1968 – Alaa Abdelnaby, Egyptian-American basketball player and sportscaster
1970 – Glenn Medeiros, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1970 – Bernardo Sassetti, Portuguese pianist, composer, and educator (d. 2012)
1972 – Robbie McEwen, Australian cyclist
1972 – Denis Žvegelj, Slovenian rower
1973 – Alexis Gauthier, French chef
1973 – Jere Lehtinen, Finnish ice hockey player
1974 – Dan Byles, English sailor, rower, and politician
1974 – Chris Guccione, American baseball player and umpire
1975 – Marek Malík, Czech ice hockey player
1975 – Federico Pucciariello, Argentinian-Italian rugby player
1976 – Brock Olivo, American football player and coach
1977 – Dimos Dikoudis, Greek basketball player and manager
1977 – Jeff Farmer, Australian footballer
1978 – Luis García, Spanish footballer
1978 – Pantelis Kafes, Greek footballer
1978 – Shunsuke Nakamura, Japanese footballer
1978 – Ariel Pink, American singer-songwriter
1978 – Juan Román Riquelme, Argentinian footballer
1978 – Emppu Vuorinen, Finnish guitarist and songwriter
1979 – Mindy Kaling, American actress and producer
1979 – Petra Němcová, Czech model and philanthropist
1980 – Cicinho, Brazilian footballer
1980 – Nina Dübbers, German tennis player
1980 – Andrew Jones, Australian race car driver
1980 – Minka Kelly, American actress
1982 – Kevin Nolan, English footballer
1982 – Jarret Stoll, Canadian ice hockey player
1983 – Rebecca Cooke, English swimmer
1983 – Gianni Munari, Italian footballer
1983 – Gard Nilssen, Norwegian drummer
1983 – David Shillington, Australian rugby league player
1984 – Andrea Raggi, Italian footballer
1984 – J.J. Redick, American basketball player
1984 – Johanna Welin, Swedish-born German wheelchair basketball player
1985 – Diego Alves Carreira, Brazilian footballer
1985 – Tom Kennedy, English footballer
1985 – Ethan Klein, American YouTuber
1985 – Nate Myles, Australian rugby league player
1985 – Vernon Philander, South African cricketer
1985 – Yukina Shirakawa, Japanese model
1986 – Stuart Broad, English cricketer
1986 – Phil Hughes, American baseball player
1986 – Solange Knowles, American singer-songwriter and actress
1987 – Simona Dobrá, Czech tennis player
1987 – Lionel Messi, Argentinian footballer
1987 – Pierre Vaultier, French snowboarder
1988 – Micah Richards, English footballer
1989 – Teklemariam Medhin, Eritrean runner
1990 – Michael Del Zotto, Canadian ice hockey player
1990 – Richard Sukuta-Pasu, German footballer
1991 – Yasmin Paige, English actress
1991 – Aidan Sezer, Australian rugby league player
1992 – David Alaba, Austrian footballer
1996 – Duki, Argentinian rapper
Deaths on June 24
994 – Abu Isa al-Warraq, Arab scholar (b. 889)
1046 – Jeongjong II, Korean ruler (b. 1018)
1088 – William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey, Norman nobleman
1314 – Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester, English commander (b. 1291)
1314 – Robert de Clifford, 1st Baron de Clifford, English soldier and politician, Lord Warden of the Marches (b. 1274)
1398 – Hongwu, Chinese emperor (b. 1328)
1439 – Frederick IV, duke of Austria (b. 1382)
1503 – Reginald Bray, English architect and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1440)
1519 – Lucrezia Borgia, Italian wife of Alfonso I d’Este, Duke of Ferrara (b. 1480)
1520 – Hosokawa Sumimoto, Japanese commander (b. 1489)
1604 – Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, English courtier, Lord Great Chamberlain (b. 1550)
1637 – Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, French astronomer and historian (b. 1580)
1643 – John Hampden, English politician (b. 1595)
1766 – Adrien Maurice de Noailles, French soldier and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1678)
1778 – Pieter Burman the Younger, Dutch philologist and academic (b. 1714)
1803 – Matthew Thornton, Irish-American judge and politician (b. 1714)
1817 – Thomas McKean, American lawyer and politician, 2nd Governor of Pennsylvania (b. 1734)
1835 – Andreas Vokos Miaoulis, Greek admiral and politician (b. 1769)
1902 – George Leake, Australian politician, 2nd Premier of Western Australia (b. 1856)
1908 – Grover Cleveland, American lawyer and politician, 22nd and 24th President of the United States (b. 1837)
1909 – Sarah Orne Jewett, American novelist, short story writer, and poet (b. 1849)
1922 – Walther Rathenau, German businessman and politician, 7th German Minister for Foreign Affairs (b. 1867)
1931 – Otto Mears, Russian-American businessman (b. 1840)
1931 – Xiang Zhongfa, Chinese politician, 2nd General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (b. 1880)
1932 – Ernst Põdder, Estonian general (b. 1879)
1943 – Camille Roy, Canadian priest and critic (b. 1870)
1946 – Louise Whitfield Carnegie, American philanthropist (b. 1857)
1947 – Emil Seidel, American politician, Mayor of Milwaukee (b. 1864)
1962 – Volfgangs Dārziņš, Latvian composer, pianist and music critic (b. 1906)
1964 – Stuart Davis, American painter and academic (b. 1892)
1968 – Tony Hancock, English actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1924)
1969 – Frank King, American cartoonist (b. 1883)
1969 – Willy Ley, German-American historian and author (b. 1906)
1976 – Minor White, American photographer, critic, and academic (b. 1908)
1978 – Robert Charroux, French author and critic (b. 1909)
1980 – V. V. Giri, Indian lawyer and politician, 4th President of India (b. 1894)
1984 – Clarence Campbell, Canadian businessman (b. 1905)
1987 – Jackie Gleason, American actor, comedian, and producer (b. 1916)
1988 – Csaba Kesjár, Hungarian race car driver (b. 1962)
2015 – Mario Biaggi, American police officer, politician and criminal (b. 1917)
2015 – Marva Collins, American author and educator (b. 1936)
2015 – Susan Ahn Cuddy, American lieutenant (b. 1915)
2019 – Billy Drago, American actor (b. 1945)
Holidays and observances on June 24
Army Day or Battle of Carabobo Day (Venezuela)
Bannockburn Day (Scotland)
Christian feast day:
María Guadalupe García Zavala
Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
June 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Day of the Caboclo (Amazonas, Brazil)
Discovery Day, observed on the nearest Monday to June 24 (Newfoundland and Labrador)
Earliest day on which Armed Forces Day can fall, while June 30 is the latest; celebrated on the last Saturday in June. (United Kingdom)
Earliest day on which Inventors’ and Rationalizers’ Day can fall, while June 30 is the latest; celebrated on the last Saturday in June. (Russia)
Earliest day on which Mother’s Day can fall, while June 30 is the latest; celebrated on the last Sunday in June. (Kenya)
Earliest day on which Youth Day can fall, while Jun 30 is the latest; celebrated on the last Sunday in June. (Ukraine, Belarus)
Inti Raymi, a winter solstice festival and a New Year in the Andes of the Southern Hemisphere (Sacsayhuamán)
St John’s Day and the second day of the Midsummer celebrations (although this is not the astronomical summer solstice, see June 20) (Roman Catholic Church, Europe), and its related observances:
Enyovden (Bulgaria)
Jaanipäev (Estonia)
Jāņi (Latvia)
Jónsmessa (Iceland)
Midsummer Day (England)
Saint Jonas’ Festival or Joninės (Lithuania)
Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day (Quebec)
Sânziene (western Carpathian Mountains of Romania)
229 – Sun Quan proclaims himself emperor of Eastern Wu.
1266 – War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Trapani, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet, capturing all its ships.
1280 – The Spanish Reconquista: In the Battle of Moclín the Emirate of Granada ambush a superior pursuing force, killing most of them in a military disaster for the Kingdom of Castile.
1305 – A peace treaty between the Flemish and the French is signed at Athis-sur-Orge.
1314 – First War of Scottish Independence: The Battle of Bannockburn (south of Stirling) begins.
1532 – Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France sign the “Treaty of Closer Amity With France” (also known as the Pommeraye treaty), pledging mutual aid against Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
1565 – Dragut, commander of the Ottoman navy, dies during the Great Siege of Malta.
1594 – The Action of Faial, Azores. The Portuguese carrack Cinco Chagas, loaded with slaves and treasure, is attacked and sunk by English ships with only 13 survivors out of over 700 on board.
1611 – The mutinous crew of Henry Hudson’s fourth voyage sets Henry, his son and seven loyal crew members adrift in an open boat in what is now Hudson Bay; they are never heard from again.
1683 – William Penn signs a friendship treaty with Lenni Lenape Indians in Pennsylvania.
1713 – The French residents of Acadia are given one year to declare allegiance to Britain or leave Nova Scotia, Canada.
1757 – Battle of Plassey: Three thousand British troops under Robert Clive defeat a 50,000-strong Indian army under Siraj ud-Daulah at Plassey.
1758 – Seven Years’ War: Battle of Krefeld: British, Hanoverian, and Prussian forces defeat French troops at Krefeld in Germany.
1760 – Seven Years’ War: Battle of Landeshut: Austria defeats Prussia.
1780 – American Revolution: Battle of Springfield fought in and around Springfield, New Jersey (including Short Hills, formerly of Springfield, now of Millburn Township).
1794 – Empress Catherine II of Russia grants Jews permission to settle in Kiev.
1810 – John Jacob Astor forms the Pacific Fur Company.
1812 – War of 1812: Great Britain revokes the restrictions on American commerce, thus eliminating one of the chief reasons for going to war.
1860 – The United States Congress establishes the Government Printing Office.
1865 – American Civil War: At Fort Towson in the Oklahoma Territory, Confederate Brigadier General Stand Watie surrenders the last significant Confederate army.
1868 – Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for an invention he called the “Type-Writer”.
1887 – The Rocky Mountains Park Act becomes law in Canada creating the nation’s first national park, Banff National Park.
1894 – The International Olympic Committee is founded at the Sorbonne in Paris, at the initiative of Baron Pierre de Coubertin.
1913 – Second Balkan War: The Greeks defeat the Bulgarians in the Battle of Doiran.
1914 – Mexican Revolution: Pancho Villa takes Zacatecas from Victoriano Huerta.
1917 – In a game against the Washington Senators, Boston Red Sox pitcher Ernie Shore retires 26 batters in a row after replacing Babe Ruth, who had been ejected for punching the umpire.
1919 – Estonian War of Independence: The decisive defeat of the Baltische Landeswehr in the Battle of Cēsis; this date is celebrated as Victory Day in Estonia.
1926 – The College Board administers the first SAT exam.
1931 – Wiley Post and Harold Gatty take off from Roosevelt Field, Long Island in an attempt to circumnavigate the world in a single-engine plane.
1938 – The Civil Aeronautics Act is signed into law, forming the Civil Aeronautics Authority in the United States.
1940 – Adolf Hitler goes on a three-hour tour of the architecture of Paris with architect Albert Speer and sculptor Arno Breker in his only visit to the city.
1940 – Henry Larsen begins the first successful west-to-east navigation of Northwest Passage from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
1941 – The Lithuanian Activist Front declares independence from the Soviet Union and forms the Provisional Government of Lithuania; it lasts only briefly as the Nazis will occupy Lithuania a few weeks later.
1942 – World War II: Germany’s latest fighter aircraft, a Focke-Wulf Fw 190, is captured intact when it mistakenly lands at RAF Pembrey in Wales.
1946 – The 1946 Vancouver Island earthquake strikes Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
1947 – The United States Senate follows the United States House of Representatives in overriding U.S. President Harry S. Truman’s veto of the Taft–Hartley Act.
1951 – The ocean liner SS United States is christened and launched.
1956 – The French National Assembly takes the first step in creating the French Community by passing the Loi Cadre, transferring a number of powers from Paris to elected territorial governments in French West Africa.
1959 – Convicted Manhattan Project spy Klaus Fuchs is released after only nine years in prison and allowed to emigrate to Dresden, East Germany where he resumes a scientific career.
1960 – The United States Food and Drug Administration declares Enovid to be the first officially approved combined oral contraceptive pill in the world.
1961 – The Antarctic Treaty System, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and limits military activity on the continent, its islands and ice shelves, comes into force.
1967 – Cold War: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson meets with Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin in Glassboro, New Jersey for the three-day Glassboro Summit Conference.
1969 – Warren E. Burger is sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court by retiring Chief Justice Earl Warren.
1969 – IBM announces that effective January 1970 it will price its software and services separately from hardware thus creating the modern software industry.
1972 – Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman are taped talking about using the Central Intelligence Agency to obstruct the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s investigation into the Watergate break-ins.
1972 – Title IX of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 is amended to prohibit sexual discrimination to any educational program receiving federal funds.
1973 – A fire at a house in Hull, England, which kills a six-year-old boy is passed off as an accident; it later emerges as the first of 26 deaths by fire caused over the next seven years by serial arsonist Peter Dinsdale.
1985 – A terrorist bomb explodes at Narita International Airport near Tokyo. An hour later, the same group detonates a second bomb aboard Air India Flight 182, bringing the Boeing 747 down off the coast of Ireland killing all 329 aboard.
1994 – NASA’s Space Station Processing Facility, a new state-of-the-art manufacturing building for the International Space Station, officially opens at Kennedy Space Center.
2001 – The 8.4 Mw southern Peru earthquake shakes coastal Peru with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A destructive tsunami followed, leaving at least 74 people dead, and 2,687 injured.
2012 – Ashton Eaton breaks the decathlon world record at the United States Olympic Trials.
2013 – Nik Wallenda becomes the first man to successfully walk across the Grand Canyon on a tight rope.
2013 – Militants stormed a high-altitude mountaineering base camp near Nanga Parbat in Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan killing ten climbers, and a local guide.
2014 – The last of Syria’s declared chemical weapons are shipped out for destruction.
2016 – The United Kingdom votes in a referendum to leave the European Union, by 52% to 48%.
2017 – A series of terrorist attacks took place in Pakistan resulting in 96 deaths and wounded 200 others.
Births on June 23
47 BC – Caesarion, Egyptian king (d. 30 BC)
1385 – Stefan, Count Palatine of Simmern-Zweibrücken (d. 1459)
1433 – Francis II, Duke of Brittany (d. 1488)
1456 – Margaret of Denmark, Queen of Scotland (d. 1486)
1489 – Charles II, Duke of Savoy, Italian nobleman (d. 1496)
1534 – Oda Nobunaga, Japanese warlord (d. 1582)
1596 – Johan Banér, Swedish field marshal (d. 1641)
1616 – Shah Shuja, Mughal prince (d. 1661)
1625 – John Fell, English churchman and influential academic (d. 1686)
1668 – Giambattista Vico, Italian jurist, historian, and philosopher (d. 1744)
1683 – Étienne Fourmont, French orientalist and sinologist (d. 1745)
1711 – Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, Italian instrument maker (d. 1786)
1716 – Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron Grantley, English lawyer and politician, Solicitor General for England and Wales (d. 1789)
1750 – Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu, French geologist and academic (d. 1801)
1763 – Joséphine de Beauharnais, French wife of Napoleon I (d. 1814)
1799 – John Milton Bernhisel, American physician and politician (d. 1881)
1800 – Karol Marcinkowski, Polish physician and activist (d. 1846)
1824 – Carl Reinecke, German pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1910)
1843 – Paul Heinrich von Groth, German scientist (d. 1927)
1860 – Albert Giraud, Belgian poet and librarian (d. 1929)
1863 – Sándor Bródy, Hungarian author and journalist (d. 1924)
1877 – Norman Pritchard, Indian-English hurdler and actor (d. 1929)
1879 – Huda Sha’arawi, Egyptian feminist and journalist (d. 1947)
1884 – Cyclone Taylor, Canadian ice hockey player and politician (d. 1979)
1888 – Bronson M. Cutting, American publisher and politician (d. 1935)
1889 – Anna Akhmatova, Ukrainian-Russian poet and author (d. 1966)
1889 – Verena Holmes, English engineer (d. 1964)
1894 – Harold Barrowclough, New Zealand military leader, lawyer and Chief Justice (d. 1972)
1894 – Alfred Kinsey, American entomologist and sexologist (d. 1956)
1894 – Edward VIII, King of the United Kingdom (d. 1972)
1899 – Amédée Gordini, Italian-born French race car driver and sports car manufacturer (d. 1979)
1900 – Blanche Noyes, American aviator, winner of the 1936 Bendix Trophy Race (d. 1981)
1901 – Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, Turkish author, poet, and scholar (d. 1962)
1903 – Paul Martin Sr., Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1992)
1904 – Quintin McMillan, South African cricketer (d. 1938)
1905 – Jack Pickersgill, Canadian civil servant and politician, 35th Secretary of State for Canada (d. 1997)
1906 – Tribhuvan of Nepal (d. 1955)
1907 – Dercy Gonçalves, Brazilian actress and singer (d. 2008)
1907 – James Meade, English economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)
1909 – David Lewis, Russian-Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1981)
1909 – Georges Rouquier, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1989)
1910 – Jean Anouilh, French playwright and screenwriter (d. 1987)
1910 – Gordon B. Hinckley, American religious leader, 15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 2008)
1910 – Milt Hinton, American bassist and photographer (d. 2000)
1910 – Bill King, English commander and author (d. 2012)
1910 – Lawson Little, American golfer (d. 1968)
1912 – Alan Turing, English mathematician and computer scientist (d. 1954)
1913 – William P. Rogers, American commander, lawyer, and politician, 55th United States Secretary of State (d. 2001)
1915 – Frances Gabe, American artist and inventor (d. 2016)
1916 – Len Hutton, English cricketer and soldier (d. 1990)
1916 – Irene Worth, American actress (d. 2002)
1916 – Al G. Wright, American bandleader and conductor
1919 – Mohamed Boudiaf, Algerian politician, President of Algeria (d. 1992)
1920 – Saleh Ajeery, Kuwaiti astronomer
1921 – Paul Findley, American politician (d. 2019)
1922 – Morris R. Jeppson, American lieutenant and physicist (d. 2010)
1922 – Hal Laycoe, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1998)
1923 – Peter Corr, Irish-English footballer and manager (d. 2001)
1923 – Elroy Schwartz, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2013)
1923 – Doris Johnson, American politician
1923 – Jerry Rullo, American professional basketball player (d. 2016)
1923 – Giuseppina Tuissi, Italian communist and Partisan (d. 1945)
1924 – Frank Bolle, American comic-strip artist, comic-book artist, and illustrator (d. 2020)
1925 – Miriam Karlin, English actress (d. 2011)
1925 – Art Modell, American businessman (d. 2012)
1925 – Anna Chennault, Chinese widow of Lieutenant General Claire Lee Chennault (d. 2018)
1926 – Lawson Soulsby, Baron Soulsby of Swaffham Prior, English microbiologist and parasitologist (d. 2017)
1926 – Magda Herzberger, Romanian author, poet and composer, a survivor of the Holocaust
2000 – Peter Dubovský, Slovak footballer (b. 1972)
2002 – Pedro Alcázar, Panamanian boxer (b. 1975)
2005 – Shana Alexander, American journalist and author (b. 1926)
2005 – Manolis Anagnostakis, Greek poet and critic (b. 1925)
2006 – Aaron Spelling, American actor, producer, and screenwriter, founded Spelling Television (b. 1923)
2007 – Rod Beck, American baseball player (b. 1968)
2008 – Claudio Capone, Italian-Scottish actor (b. 1952)
2008 – Arthur Chung, Guyanese surveyor and politician, 1st President of Guyana (b. 1918)
2008 – Marian Glinka, Polish actor and bodybuilder (b. 1943)
2009 – Raymond Berthiaume, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1931)
2009 – Ed McMahon, American game show host and announcer (b. 1923)
2009 – Jerri Nielsen, American physician and explorer (b. 1952)
2010 – John Burton, Australian public servant and diplomat (b. 1915)
2011 – Peter Falk, American actor (b. 1927)
2011 – Dennis Marshall, Costa Rican footballer (b. 1985)
2011 – Fred Steiner, American composer and conductor (b. 1923)
2012 – James Durbin, English economist and statistician (b. 1923)
2012 – Brigitte Engerer, French pianist and educator (b. 1952)
2012 – Alan McDonald, Northern Ireland footballer and manager (b. 1963)
2012 – Frank Chee Willeto, American soldier and politician, 4th Vice President of the Navajo Nation (b. 1925)
2012 – Walter J. Zable, American football player and businessman, founded the Cubic Corporation (b. 1915)
2013 – Bobby Bland, American singer-songwriter (b. 1930)
2013 – Gary David Goldberg, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1944)
2013 – Frank Kelso, American admiral and politician, United States Secretary of the Navy (b. 1933)
2013 – Kurt Leichtweiss, German mathematician and academic (b. 1927)
2013 – Richard Matheson, American author and screenwriter (b. 1926)
2013 – Darryl Read, English singer-songwriter, drummer, and actor (b. 1951)
2013 – Sharon Stouder, American swimmer (b. 1948)
2014 – Nancy Garden, American author (b. 1938)
2014 – Euros Lewis, Welsh cricketer (b. 1942)
2014 – Paula Kent Meehan, American businesswoman, co-founded Redken (b. 1931)
2015 – Miguel Facussé Barjum, Honduran businessman (b. 1924)
2015 – Nirmala Joshi, Indian nun, lawyer, and social worker (b. 1934)
2015 – Dick Van Patten, American actor (b. 1928)
2016 – Ralph Stanley, American singer and banjo player (b. 1927)
Holidays and observances on June 23
Christian feast day:
Æthelthryth
Marie of Oignies
Joseph Cafasso
June 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which Feast of Raḥmat can fall, while June 24 is the latest. (Bahá’í Faith)
Father’s Day (Nicaragua, Poland)
Grand Duke’s Official Birthday (Luxembourg)
International Widows Day (international)
National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism (Canada)
Okinawa Memorial Day (Okinawa Prefecture)
St John’s Eve and the first day of the Midsummer celebrations [although this is not the real summer solstice; see June 20] (Roman Catholic Church, Europe):
Bonfires of Saint John (Spain)
First night of Festa de São João do Porto (Porto)
First day of Golowan Festival (Cornwall)
Jaaniõhtu (Estonia)
Jāņi (Latvia)
Kupala Night (Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Ukraine)
756 – An Lushan, leader of a revolt against the Tang Dynasty, declares himself emperor and establishes the state of Yan.
789 – Idris I reaches Volubilis and founds the Idrisid dynasty, ceding Morocco from the Abbasid caliphate and founding the first Moroccan state.
1576 – Henry of Navarre abjures Catholicism at Tours and rejoins the Protestant forces in the French Wars of Religion.
1597 – A group of early Japanese Christians are killed by the new government of Japan for being seen as a threat to Japanese society.
1649 – Charles Stuart, the son of King Charles I, is declared King Charles II of England and Scotland by the Scottish Parliament.
1778 – South Carolina becomes the second state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
1782 – Spanish defeat British forces and capture Menorca.
1783 – In Calabria, a sequence of strong earthquakes begins.
1807 – HMS Blenheim and HMS Java disappear off the coast of Rodrigues.
1810 – Peninsular War: Siege of Cádiz begins.
1818 – Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte ascends to the thrones of Sweden and Norway.
1849 – University of Wisconsin–Madison’s first class meets at Madison Female Academy.
1852 – The New Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, one of the largest and oldest museums in the world, opens to the public.
1859 – Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Prince of Moldavia, is also elected as the prince of Wallachia, joining the two principalities as a personal union called the United Principalities, an autonomous region within the Ottoman Empire, which ushered the birth of the modern Romanian state.
1862 – Moldavia and Wallachia formally unite to create the Romanian United Principalities.
1869 – The largest alluvial gold nugget in history, called the “Welcome Stranger”, is found in Moliagul, Victoria, Australia.
1885 – King Leopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo as a personal possession.
1905 – In Mexico, the General Hospital of Mexico is inaugurated, started with four basic specialties.
1907 – Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland announces the creation of Bakelite, the world’s first synthetic plastic.
1913 – Greek military aviators, Michael Moutoussis and Aristeidis Moraitinis perform the first naval air mission in history, with a Farman MF.7 hydroplane.
1917 – The current constitution of Mexico is adopted, establishing a federal republic with powers separated into independent executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
1917 – The Congress of the United States passes the Immigration Act of 1917 over President Woodrow Wilson’s veto.
1918 – Stephen W. Thompson shoots down a German airplane; this is the first aerial victory by the U.S. military.
1918 – SS Tuscania is torpedoed off the coast of Ireland; it is the first ship carrying American troops to Europe to be torpedoed and sunk.
1919 – Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D. W. Griffith launch United Artists.
1924 – The Royal Greenwich Observatory begins broadcasting the hourly time signals known as the Greenwich Time Signal.
1933 – Mutiny on Royal Netherlands Navy warship HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën off the coast of Sumatra, Dutch East Indies.
1939 – Generalísimo Francisco Franco becomes the 68th “Caudillo de España“, or Leader of Spain.
1941 – World War II: Allied forces begin the Battle of Keren to capture Keren, Eritrea.
1945 – World War II: General Douglas MacArthur returns to Manila.
1958 – Gamal Abdel Nasser is nominated to be the first president of the United Arab Republic.
1958 – A hydrogen bomb known as the Tybee Bomb is lost by the US Air Force off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, never to be recovered.
1962 – French President Charles de Gaulle calls for Algeria to be granted independence.
1963 – The European Court of Justice’s ruling in Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen establishes the principle of direct effect, one of the most important, if not the most important, decisions in the development of European Union law.
1971 – Astronauts land on the moon in the Apollo 14 mission.
1975 – Riots break in Lima, Peru after the police forces go on strike the day before. The uprising (locally known as the Limazo) is bloodily suppressed by the military dictatorship.
1985 – Ugo Vetere, then the mayor of Rome, and Chedli Klibi, then the mayor of Carthage meet in Tunis to sign a treaty of friendship officially ending the Third Punic War which lasted 2,131 years.
1988 – Manuel Noriega is indicted on drug smuggling and money laundering charges.
1994 – Byron De La Beckwith is convicted of the 1963 murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers.
1994 – Markale massacres, more than 60 people are killed and some 200 wounded as a mortar shell explodes in a downtown marketplace in Sarajevo.
1997 – The so-called Big Three banks in Switzerland announce the creation of a $71 million fund to aid Holocaust survivors and their families.
2000 – Russian forces massacre at least 60 civilians in the Novye Aldi suburb of Grozny, Chechnya.
2004 – Rebels from the Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front capture the city of Gonaïves, starting the 2004 Haiti rebellion.
2008 – A major tornado outbreak across the Southern United States kills 57.
2020 – United States President Donald Trump is acquitted by the United States Senate in his impeachment trial.
Births on February 5
976 – Sanjō, emperor of Japan (d. 1017)
1321 – John II, marquess of Montferrat (d. 1372)
1438 – Philip II, duke of Savoy (d. 1497)
1505 – Aegidius Tschudi, Swiss statesman and historian (d. 1572)
1519 – René of Châlon, prince of Orange (d. 1544)
1525 – Juraj Drašković, Croatian Catholic cardinal (d. 1587)
1533 – Andreas Dudith, Croatian-Hungarian nobleman and diplomat (d. 1589)
1534 – Giovanni de’ Bardi, Italian soldier, composer, and critic (d. 1612)
1589 – Esteban Manuel de Villegas, Spanish poet and educator (d. 1669)
1594 – Biagio Marini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1663)
1605 – Bernard of Corleone, Italian saint (d. 1667)
1608 – Gaspar Schott, German mathematician and physicist (d. 1666)
1626 – Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné, French author (d. 1696)
1650 – Anne Jules de Noailles, French general (d. 1708)
1703 – Gilbert Tennent, Irish-American minister (d. 1764)
1723 – John Witherspoon, Scottish-American minister and academic (d. 1794)
1725 – James Otis, Jr., American lawyer and politician (d. 1783)
1748 – Christian Gottlob Neefe, German composer and conductor (d. 1798)
1788 – Robert Peel, English lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1850)
1795 – Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger, Austrian mineralogist, geologist, and physicist (d. 1871)
1804 – Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Finnish poet and hymn-writer (d. 1877)
1808 – Carl Spitzweg, German painter and poet (d. 1885)
1810 – Ole Bull, Norwegian violinist and composer (d. 1880)
1827 – Peter Lalor, Irish-Australian activist and politician (d. 1889)
1837 – Dwight L. Moody, American evangelist and publisher, founded Moody Church, Moody Bible Institute, and Moody Publishers (d. 1899)
1840 – John Boyd Dunlop, Scottish businessman, co-founded Dunlop Rubber (d. 1921)
1840 – Hiram Maxim, American engineer, invented the Maxim gun (d. 1916)
1847 – Eduard Magnus Jakobson, Estonian missionary and engraver (d. 1903)
1848 – Joris-Karl Huysmans, French author and critic (d. 1907)
1848 – Ignacio Carrera Pinto, Chilean lieutenant (d. 1882)
1852 – Terauchi Masatake, Japanese field marshal and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1919)
1866 – Domhnall Ua Buachalla, Irish politician, 3rd and last Governor-General of the Irish Free State (d. 1963)
1870 – Charles Edmund Brock, British painter and book illustrator (d. 1938)
1876 – Ernie McLea, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1931)
1878 – André Citroën, French engineer and businessman, founded Citroën (d. 1935)
1880 – Gabriel Voisin, French pilot and engineer (d. 1973)
1889 – Patsy Hendren, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1962)
1889 – Ernest Tyldesley, English cricketer (d. 1962)
1889 – Recep Peker, Turkish officer and politician (d. 1950)
1891 – Renato Petronio, Italian rower (d. 1976)
1892 – Elizabeth Ryan, American tennis player (d. 1979)
1897 – Dirk Stikker, Dutch businessman and politician, 3rd Secretary General of NATO (d. 1979)
1900 – Adlai Stevenson II, American soldier, politician, and diplomat, 5th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 1965)
1903 – Koto Matsudaira, Japanese diplomat, ambassador to the United Nations (d. 1994)
1903 – Joan Whitney Payson, American businesswoman and philanthropist (d. 1975)
1906 – John Carradine, American actor (d. 1988)
1907 – Birgit Dalland, Norwegian politician (d. 2007)
1907 – Pierre Pflimlin, French politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 2000)
1908 – Marie Baron, Dutch swimmer and diver (d. 1948)
1908 – Peg Entwistle, Welsh-American actress (d. 1932)
1908 – Daisy and Violet Hilton, English conjoined twins (d. 1969)
1908 – Eugen Weidmann, German criminal (d. 1939)
1909 – Grażyna Bacewicz, Polish violinist and composer (d. 1969)
1910 – Charles Philippe Leblond, French-Canadian biologist and academic (d. 2007)
1910 – Francisco Varallo, Argentinian footballer (d. 2010)
1911 – Jussi Björling, Swedish tenor (d. 1960)
1914 – William S. Burroughs, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (d. 1997)
1914 – Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, English physiologist, biophysicist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
1915 – Robert Hofstadter, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1990)
1917 – Edward J. Mortola, American academic and president of Pace University (d. 2002)
1917 – Isuzu Yamada, Japanese actress (d. 2012)
1919 – Red Buttons, American actor (d. 2006)
1919 – Tim Holt, American actor (d. 1973)
1919 – Andreas Papandreou, Greek economist and politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1996)
1921 – Ken Adam, German-born English production designer and art director (d. 2016)
1923 – Claude King, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
1923 – James E. Bowman, American physician and academic (d. 2011)
1924 – Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy, Indian cardinal (d. 2014)
1927 – Robert Allen, American pianist and composer (d. 2000)
1927 – Jacob Veldhuyzen van Zanten, Dutch captain and pilot (d. 1977)
1928 – Tage Danielsson, Swedish author, actor, and director (d. 1985)
1928 – Andrew Greeley, American priest, sociologist, and author (d. 2013)
1928 – P. J. Vatikiotis, Israeli-American historian and political scientist (d. 1997)
1929 – Hal Blaine, American session drummer (d. 2019)
1929 – Luc Ferrari, French pianist and composer (d. 2005)
1929 – Fred Sinowatz, Austrian politician, 19th Chancellor of Austria (d. 2008)
1932 – Cesare Maldini, Italian footballer and manager (d. 2016)
1933 – Jörn Donner, Finnish director and screenwriter (d. 2020)
1933 – B. S. Johnson, English author, poet, and critic (d. 1973)
1934 – Hank Aaron, American baseball player
1934 – Don Cherry, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster
1935 – Alex Harvey, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1982)
1935 – Johannes Geldenhuys, South African military commander (d. 2018)
1936 – K. S. Nissar Ahmed, Indian poet and academic
1937 – Stuart Damon, American actor and singer
1937 – Larry Hillman, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1937 – Gaston Roelants, Belgian runner
1937 – Alar Toomre, Estonian-American astronomer and mathematician
1937 – Wang Xuan, Chinese computer scientist and academic (d. 2006)
1938 – Rafael Nieto Navia, Colombian lawyer, jurist, and diplomat
1939 – Brian Luckhurst, English cricketer (d. 2005)
1940 – H. R. Giger, Swiss painter, sculptor, and set designer (d. 2014)
1940 – Luke Graham, American wrestler (d. 2006)
1941 – Stephen J. Cannell, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2010)
1941 – Henson Cargill, American country music singer (d. 2007)
1941 – David Selby, American actor and playwright
1941 – Barrett Strong, American soul singer-songwriter and pianist
1941 – Kaspar Villiger, Swiss engineer and politician, 85th President of the Swiss Confederation
1941 – Cory Wells, American pop-rock singer (d. 2015)
1942 – Roger Staubach, American football player, sportscaster, and businessman
1943 – Nolan Bushnell, American engineer and businessman, founded Atari, Inc.
1943 – Michael Mann, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1943 – Craig Morton, American football player and sportscaster
1943 – Dušan Uhrin, Czech and Slovak footballer and manager
1944 – J. R. Cobb, American guitarist and songwriter
1944 – Henfil, Brazilian journalist, author, and illustrator (d. 1988)
1944 – Al Kooper, American singer-songwriter and producer
1944 – Tamanoumi Masahiro, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 51st Yokozuna (d. 1971)
1945 – Douglas Hogg, English lawyer and politician, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
1946 – Amnon Dankner, Israeli journalist and author (d. 2013)
1946 – Charlotte Rampling, English actress
1947 – Mary L. Cleave, American engineer and astronaut
1947 – Clemente Mastella, Italian politician, Italian Minister of Justice
1947 – Darrell Waltrip, American race car driver and sportscaster
1948 – Sven-Göran Eriksson, Swedish footballer and manager
1948 – Christopher Guest, American actor and director
1948 – Barbara Hershey, American actress
1948 – Errol Morris, American director and producer
1948 – Tom Wilkinson, English actor
1949 – Kurt Beck, German politician
1949 – Yvon Vallières, Canadian educator and politician
1950 – Jonathan Freeman, American actor and singer
1950 – Rafael Puente, Mexican footballer
1951 – Nikolay Merkushkin, Mordovian engineer and politician, 1st Head of the Republic of Mordovia
1952 – Daniel Balavoine, French singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1986)
1952 – Vladimir Moskovkin, Ukrainian-Russian geographer, economist, and academic
1953 – Freddie Aguilar, Filipino singer-songwriter and guitarist
1953 – John Beilein, American basketball player and coach
1953 – Gustavo Benítez, Paraguayan footballer and manager
1954 – Cliff Martinez, American drummer and songwriter
1954 – Frank Walker, Australian journalist and author
1955 – Mike Heath, American baseball player and manager
1956 – Vinnie Colaiuta, American drummer
1956 – Héctor Rebaque, Mexican race car driver
1956 – David Wiesner, American author and illustrator
1956 – Mao Daichi, Japanese actress
1957 – Jüri Tamm, Estonian hammer thrower and politician
1959 – Jennifer Granholm, Canadian-American lawyer and politician, 47th Governor of Michigan
1960 – Aris Christofellis, Greek soprano and musicologist
1960 – Bonnie Crombie, Canadian businesswoman and politician, 6th Mayor of Mississauga
1960 – Micky Hazard, English footballer, central midfielder
1961 – Savvas Kofidis, Greek footballer and manager
1961 – Tim Meadows, American actor and screenwriter
1962 – Jennifer Jason Leigh, American actress, screenwriter, producer and director
1963 – Steven Shainberg, American film director and producer
1964 – Laura Linney, American actress
1964 – Ha Seungmoo, Korean Poet, Pastor, Historical theologian
1964 – Duff McKagan, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
1965 – Tarik Benhabiles, Algerian-French tennis player and coach
1965 – Gheorghe Hagi, Romanian footballer and manager
1965 – Keith Moseley, American bass player and songwriter
1965 – Quique Sánchez Flores, Spanish footballer and manager
1966 – José María Olazábal, Spanish golfer
1966 – Rok Petrovič, Slovenian skier (d. 1993)
1967 – Chris Parnell, American actor and comedian
1968 – Roberto Alomar, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and coach
1968 – Marcus Grönholm, Finnish race car driver
1969 – Bobby Brown, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
1969 – Michael Sheen, Welsh actor and director
1969 – Derek Stephen Prince, American voice actor
1970 – Jean-Marc Jaumin, Belgian basketball player and coach
1970 – Darren Lehmann, Australian cricketer and coach
1971 – Michel Breistroff, French ice hockey player (d. 1996)
1971 – Sara Evans, American country singer
1972 – Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark
1972 – Brad Fittler, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster
1973 – Richard Matvichuk, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states.
1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire.
1488 – Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, becoming the first known European to travel so far south.
1509 – The Portuguese navy defeats a joint fleet of the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Venice, the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, the Zamorin of Calicut, and the Republic of Ragusa at the Battle of Diu in Diu, India.
1661 – Maratha forces under Chattrapati Shivaji defeat the Mughals in the Battle of Umberkhind.
1690 – The colony of Massachusetts issues the first paper money in the Americas.
1706 – During the Battle of Fraustadt Swedish forces defeat a superior Saxon-Polish-Russian force by deploying a double envelopment.
1781 – American Revolutionary War: British forces seize the Dutch-owned Caribbean island Sint Eustatius.
1783 – Spain–United States relations are first established.
1787 – Militia led by General Benjamin Lincoln crush the remnants of Shays’ Rebellion in Petersham, Massachusetts.
1807 – A British military force, under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty captures the Spanish Empire city of Montevideo, now the capital of Uruguay.
1809 – The Territory of Illinois is created by the 10th United States Congress.
1813 – José de San Martín defeats a Spanish royalist army at the Battle of San Lorenzo, part of the Argentine War of Independence.
1830 – The London Protocol of 1830 establishes the full independence and sovereignty of Greece from the Ottoman Empire as the final result of the Greek War of Independence.
1834 – Wake Forest University is established (as Wake Forest Institute) in North Carolina, United States.
1870 – The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing voting rights to male citizens regardless of race.
1913 – The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax.
1916 – The Centre Block of the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada burns down with the loss of 7 lives.
1917 – First World War: The American entry into World War I begins when diplomatic relations with Germany are severed due to its unrestricted submarine warfare.
1918 – The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco, California begins service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet (3,633 meters) long.
1930 – Communist Party of Vietnam is founded at a “Unification Conference” held in Kowloon, British Hong Kong.
1931 – The Hawke’s Bay earthquake, New Zealand’s worst natural disaster, kills 258.
1933 – Adolf Hitler announces that the expansion of Lebensraum into Eastern Europe, and its ruthless Germanisation, are the ultimate geopolitical objectives of Third Reich foreign policy.
1943 – The SS Dorchester is sunk by a German U-boat. Only 230 of 902 men aboard survive.
1944 – World War II: During the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, U.S. Army and Marine forces seize Kwajalein Atoll from the defending Japanese garrison.
1945 – World War II: As part of Operation Thunderclap, 1,000 B-17s of the Eighth Air Force bomb Berlin, a raid which kills between 2,500 and 3,000 and dehouses another 120,000.
1945 – World War II: The United States and the Philippine Commonwealth begin a month-long battle to retake Manila from Japan.
1953 – The Batepá massacre occurred in São Tomé when the colonial administration and Portuguese landowners unleashed a wave of violence against the native creoles known as forros.
1958 – Founding of the Benelux Economic Union, creating a testing ground for a later European Economic Community.
1959 – Rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson are killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.
1960 – British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan speaks of “a wind of change”, signalling that his Government was likely to support decolonisation.
1961 – The United States Air Forces begins Operation Looking Glass, and over the next 30 years, a “Doomsday Plane” is always in the air, with the capability of taking direct control of the United States’ bombers and missiles in the event of the destruction of the SAC’s command post.
1966 – The Soviet Union’s Luna 9 becomes the first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the Moon, and the first spacecraft to take pictures from the surface of the Moon.
1971 – New York Police Officer Frank Serpico is shot during a drug bust in Brooklyn and survives to later testify against police corruption.
1972 – The first day of the seven-day 1972 Iran blizzard, which would kill at least 4,000 people, making it the deadliest snowstorm in history.
1984 – John Buster and the research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announce history’s first embryo transfer, from one woman to another resulting in a live birth.
1984 – Space Shuttle program: STS-41-B is launched using Space Shuttle Challenger.
1989 – After a stroke two weeks previously, South African President P. W. Botha resigns as leader of the National Party, but stays on as president for six more months.
1989 – A military coup overthrows Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954.
1994 – Space Shuttle program: STS-60 is launched, carrying Sergei Krikalev, the first Russian cosmonaut to fly aboard the Shuttle.
1995 – Astronaut Eileen Collins becomes the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle as mission STS-63 gets underway from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
1998 – Cavalese cable car disaster: a United States military pilot causes the death of 20 people when his low-flying plane cuts the cable of a cable-car near Trento, Italy.
2007 – A Baghdad market bombing kills at least 135 people and injures a further 339.
2014 – Two people are shot and killed and 29 students are taken hostage at a high school in Moscow, Russia.
Births on February 3
1338 – Joanna of Bourbon (d. 1378)
1392 – Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, English nobleman and military commander (d. 1455)
1428 – Helena Palaiologina, Queen of Cyprus (d. 1458)
1478 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham (d. 1521)
1504 – Scipione Rebiba, Italian cardinal (d. 1577)
1677 – Jan Santini Aichel, Czech architect, designed the Karlova Koruna Chateau (d. 1723)
1689 – Blas de Lezo, Spanish admiral (d. 1741)
1690 – Richard Rawlinson, English minister and historian (d. 1755)
1721 – Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz, Prussian general (d. 1773)
1736 – Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Austrian composer and theorist (d. 1809)
1747 – Samuel Osgood, American soldier and politician, 1st United States Postmaster General (d. 1813)
1757 – Joseph Forlenze, Italian ophthalmologist and surgeon (d. 1833)
1763 – Caroline von Wolzogen, German author (d. 1847)
1777 – John Cheyne, Scottish physician and author (d. 1836)
1790 – Gideon Mantell, English scientist (d. 1852)
1795 – Antonio José de Sucre, Venezuelan general and politician, 2nd President of Bolivia (d. 1830)
1807 – Joseph E. Johnston, American general and politician (d. 1891)
1809 – Felix Mendelssohn, German pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1847)
1811 – Horace Greeley, American journalist and politician (d. 1872)
1816 – Ram Singh Kuka, Indian credited with starting the Non-cooperation movement
1817 – Achille Ernest Oscar Joseph Delesse, French geologist and mineralogist (d. 1881)
1817 – Émile Prudent, French pianist and composer (d. 1863)
1821 – Elizabeth Blackwell, American physician and educator (d. 1910)
1824 – Ranald MacDonald, American explorer and educator (d. 1894)
1826 – Walter Bagehot, English journalist and businessman (d. 1877)
1830 – Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1903)
1842 – Sidney Lanier, American composer and poet (d. 1881)
1843 – William Cornelius Van Horne, American-Canadian businessman (d. 1915)
1857 – Giuseppe Moretti, Italian sculptor, designed the Vulcan statue (d. 1935)
1859 – Hugo Junkers, German engineer, designed the Junkers J 1 (d. 1935)
1862 – James Clark McReynolds, American lawyer and judge (d. 1946)
1867 – Charles Henry Turner, American biologist, educator and zoologist (d. 1923)
1872 – Lou Criger, American baseball player and manager (d. 1934)
1874 – Gertrude Stein, American novelist, poet, playwright, (d. 1946)
1878 – Gordon Coates, New Zealand soldier and politician, 21st Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1943)
1887 – Georg Trakl, Austrian pharmacist and poet (d. 1914)
1889 – Artur Adson, Estonian poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1977)
1889 – Carl Theodor Dreyer, Danish director and screenwriter (d. 1968)
1892 – Juan Negrín, Spanish physician and politician, 67th Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1956)
1893 – Gaston Julia, Algerian-French mathematician and academic (d. 1978)
1894 – Norman Rockwell, American painter and illustrator (d. 1978)
1898 – Alvar Aalto, Finnish architect, designed the Finlandia Hall and Aalto Theatre (d. 1976)
1899 – Café Filho, Brazilian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 18th President of Brazil (d. 1970)
1900 – Mabel Mercer, English-American singer (d. 1984)
1903 – Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton, Scottish soldier, pilot, and politician (d. 1973)
1904 – Pretty Boy Floyd, American gangster (d. 1934)
1905 – Paul Ariste, Estonian linguist and academic (d. 1990)
1905 – Arne Beurling, Swedish-American mathematician and academic (d. 1986)
1906 – George Adamson, Indian-English author and activist (d. 1989)
1907 – James A. Michener, American author and philanthropist (d. 1997)
1909 – André Cayatte, French lawyer and director (d. 1989)
1909 – Simone Weil, French mystic and philosopher (d. 1943)
1911 – Jehan Alain, French organist and composer (d. 1940)
1912 – Jacques Soustelle, French anthropologist and politician (d. 1990)
1914 – Mary Carlisle, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2018)
1915 – Johannes Kotkas, Estonian wrestler and hammer thrower (d. 1998)
1917 – Shlomo Goren, Polish-Israeli rabbi and general (d. 1994)
1918 – Joey Bishop, American actor and producer (d. 2007)
1918 – Helen Stephens, American runner, baseball player, and manager (d. 1994)
1920 – Russell Arms, American actor and singer (d. 2012)
1920 – Tony Gaze, Australian race car driver and pilot (d. 2013)
1920 – Henry Heimlich, American physician and author (d. 2016)
1924 – E. P. Thompson, English historian and author (d. 1993)
1924 – Martial Asselin, Canadian lawyer and politician, 25th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 2013)
1925 – Shelley Berman, American actor and comedian (d. 2017)
1925 – John Fiedler, American actor (d. 2005)
1926 – Hans-Jochen Vogel, German soldier and politician, 8th Mayor of Berlin
1927 – Kenneth Anger, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1927 – Blas Ople, Filipino journalist and politician, 21st President of the Senate of the Philippines (d. 2003)
1933 – Paul Sarbanes, American lawyer and politician
1934 – Juan Carlos Calabró, Argentinian actor and screenwriter (d. 2013)
1935 – Johnny “Guitar” Watson, American blues, soul, and funk singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1996)
1936 – Elizabeth Peer, American journalist (d. 1984)
1936 – Bob Simpson, Australian cricketer and coach
1937 – Billy Meier, Swiss author and photographer
1938 – Victor Buono, American actor (d. 1982)
1938 – Emile Griffith, American boxer and trainer (d. 2013)
1939 – Michael Cimino, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
1940 – Fran Tarkenton, American football player and sportscaster
1941 – Dory Funk, Jr., American wrestler and trainer
1941 – Howard Phillips, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
1943 – Blythe Danner, American actress
1943 – Dennis Edwards, American soul/R&B singer (d. 2018)
1943 – Eric Haydock, English bass player (d. 2019)
1943 – Shawn Phillips, American-South African singer-songwriter and guitarist
1945 – Johnny Cymbal, Scottish-American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1993)
1945 – Bob Griese, American football player and sportscaster
1947 – Paul Auster, American novelist, essayist, and poet
1947 – Stephen McHattie, Canadian actor and director
1948 – Henning Mankell, Swedish author and playwright (d. 2015)
1949 – Jim Thorpe, American golfer
1950 – Morgan Fairchild, American actress
1950 – Grant Goldman, Australian radio and television host (d. 2020)
1951 – Eugenijus Riabovas, Lithuanian footballer and manager
1951 – Michael Ruppert, American journalist and author (d. 2014)
1952 – Fred Lynn, American baseball player and sportscaster
1954 – Tiger Williams, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1956 – John Jefferson, American football player and coach
1956 – Nathan Lane, American actor and comedian
1957 – Eric Lander, American mathematician, geneticist, and academic
1958 – Joe F. Edwards, Jr., American commander, pilot, and astronaut
1958 – Douglas Holtz-Eakin, American economist
1958 – Greg Mankiw, American economist and academic
1959 – Óscar Iván Zuluaga, Colombian economist and politician, 67th Colombian Minister of Finance
1960 – Tim Chandler, American bass player (d. 2018)
1960 – Marty Jannetty, American wrestler and trainer
1960 – Joachim Löw, German footballer and manager
1960 – Kerry Von Erich, American wrestler (d. 1993)
1961 – Linda Eder, American singer and actress
1963 – Raghuram Rajan, Indian economist and academic
1964 – Indrek Tarand, Estonian historian, journalist, and politician
1965 – Maura Tierney, American actress and producer
1966 – Frank Coraci, American director and screenwriter
1966 – Danny Morrison, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster
1967 – Tim Flowers, English footballer and coach
1967 – Mixu Paatelainen, Finnish footballer and coach
1968 – Vlade Divac, Serbian-American basketball player and sportscaster
1968 – Marwan Khoury, Lebanese singer, songwriter, and composer
1969 – Beau Biden, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 44th Attorney General of Delaware (d. 2015)
1969 – Retief Goosen, South African golfer
1970 – Óscar Córdoba, Colombian footballer
1970 – Warwick Davis, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
1971 – Hong Seok-cheon, South Korean actor
1972 – Jesper Kyd, Danish pianist and composer
1973 – Ilana Sod, Mexican journalist and producer
1976 – Isla Fisher, Omani-Australian actress
1977 – Daddy Yankee, American-Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, rapper, actor and record producer
1977 – Marek Židlický, Czech ice hockey player
1978 – Joan Capdevila, Spanish footballer
1979 – Paul Franks, English cricketer and coach
1982 – Becky Bayless, American wrestler
1982 – Marie-Ève Drolet, Canadian speed skater
1984 – Elizabeth Holmes, American fraudster, founder of Theranos
1985 – Angela Fong, Canadian wrestler and actress
1985 – Andrei Kostitsyn, Belarusian ice hockey player
1986 – Lucas Duda, American baseball player
1986 – Mathieu Giroux, Canadian speed skater
1986 – Kanako Yanagihara, Japanese actress
1988 – Cho Kyuhyun, South Korean singer
1989 – Slobodan Rajković, Serbian footballer
1990 – Sean Kingston, American-Jamaican singer-songwriter
1990 – Martin Taupau, New Zealand rugby league player
1991 – Corey Norman, Australian rugby league player
1992 – Olli Aitola, Finnish ice hockey player
Deaths on February 3
AD 6 – Ping, emperor of the Han Dynasty (b. 9 BC)
456 – Sihyaj Chan K’awiil II, ruler of Tikal
639 – K’inich Yo’nal Ahk I, ruler of Piedras Negras
699 – Werburgh, English nun and saint
865 – Ansgar, Frankish archbishop (b. 801)
929 – Guy, margrave of Tuscany
938 – Zhou Ben, Chinese general (b. 862)
994 – William IV, duke of Aquitaine (b. 937)
1014 – Sweyn Forkbeard, king of Denmark and England (b. 960)
1116 – Coloman, king of Hungary
1161 – Inge I, king of Norway (b. 1135)
1252 – Sviatoslav III, Russian Grand Prince (b. 1196)
1399 – John of Gaunt, Belgian-English politician, Lord High Steward (b. 1340)
1428 – Ashikaga Yoshimochi, Japanese shōgun (b. 1386)
1451 – Murad II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1404)
1468 – Johannes Gutenberg, German publisher, invented the Printing press (b. 1398)
1537 – Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare (b. 1513)
1566 – George Cassander, Flemish theologian and author (b. 1513)
1618 – Philip II, duke of Pomerania (b. 1573)
1619 – Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham, English politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1564)
1737 – Tommaso Ceva, Italian mathematician and academic (b. 1648)
1802 – Pedro Rodríguez, Spanish statesman and economist (b. 1723)
1813 – Juan Bautista Cabral, Argentinian sergeant (b. 1789)
1820 – Gia Long, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1762)
1832 – George Crabbe, English surgeon and poet (b. 1754)
1862 – Jean-Baptiste Biot, French physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (b. 1774)
1866 – François-Xavier Garneau, Canadian poet, author, and historian (b. 1809)
1873 – Isaac Baker Brown, English gynecologist and surgeon (b. 1811)
1922 – John Butler Yeats, Irish painter and illustrator (b. 1839)
1924 – Woodrow Wilson, American historian, academic, and politician, 28th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1856)
