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June 24 in History
- 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)
- 1991 – Sumner Locke Elliott, Australian-American author and playwright (b. 1917)
- 1991 – Rufino Tamayo, Mexican painter and illustrator (b. 1899)
- 1994 – Jean Vallerand, Canadian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1915)
- 1995 – Andrew J. Transue, American politician and attorney Morissette v. United States (b. 1903)
- 1997 – Brian Keith, American actor (b. 1921)
- 2000 – Vera Atkins, British intelligence officer (b. 1908)
- 2000 – David Tomlinson, English actor and comedian (b. 1917)
- 2000 – Rodrigo Bueno, Argentine cuarteto singer (b. 1973)
- 2002 – Pierre Werner, Luxembourgian banker and politician, 21st Prime Minister of Luxembourg (b. 1913)
- 2004 – Ifigeneia Giannopoulou, Greek songwriter and author (b. 1957)
- 2005 – Paul Winchell, American actor, voice artist, and ventriloquist (b. 1922)
- 2007 – Natasja Saad, Danish rapper and reggae singer (b. 1974)
- 2007 – Chris Benoit, Canadian wrestler (b. 1967)
- 2007 – Derek Dougan, Northern Irish footballer and manager (b. 1938)
- 2008 – Gerhard Ringel, Austrian mathematician and academic (b. 1919)
- 2009 – Roméo LeBlanc, Canadian journalist and politician, 25th Governor General of Canada (b. 1927)
- 2010 – Fred Anderson, American jazz tenor saxophonist (b. 1929)
- 2011 – Tomislav Ivić, Croatian football coach and manager (b. 1933)
- 2012 – Darrel Akerfelds, American baseball player and coach (b. 1962)
- 2012 – Gad Beck, German author and educator (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Gu Chaohao, Chinese mathematician and academic (b. 1926)
- 2012 – Miki Roqué, Spanish footballer (b. 1988)
- 2012 – Ann C. Scales, American lawyer, educator, and activist (b. 1952)
- 2013 – Mick Aston, English archaeologist and academic (b. 1946)
- 2013 – Emilio Colombo, Italian politician, 40th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1920)
- 2013 – Joannes Gijsen, Dutch bishop (b. 1932)
- 2013 – William Hathaway, American lawyer and politician (b. 1924)
- 2013 – James Martin, English-Bermudian computer scientist and author (b. 1933)
- 2013 – Alan Myers, American drummer (b. 1955)
- 2014 – John Clement, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1928)
- 2014 – Olga Kotelko, Canadian runner and softball player (b. 1919)
- 2014 – Ramón José Velásquez, Venezuelan journalist, lawyer, and politician, President of Venezuela (b. 1916)
- 2014 – Eli Wallach, American actor (b. 1915)
- 2015 – Cristiano Araújo, Brazilian singer-songwriter (b. 1986)
- 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)
- Wattah Wattah Festival (Philippines)
- Fors Fortuna, ancient Roman festival to Fortuna
-
May 27 in History
- 1096 – Count Emicho enters Mainz, where his followers massacre Jewish citizens.At least 600 Jews are killed.
- 1120 – Richard III of Capua is anointed as Prince two weeks before his untimely death.
- 1153 – Malcolm IV becomes King of Scotland.
- 1199 – John is crowned King of England.
- 1257 – Richard of Cornwall, and his wife, Sanchia of Provence, are crowned King and Queen of the Germans at Aachen Cathedral.
- 1644 – Manchu regent Dorgon defeats rebel leader Li Zicheng of the Shun dynasty at the Battle of Shanhai Pass, allowing the Manchus to enter and conquer the capital city of Beijing.
- 1703 – Tsar Peter the Great founds the city of Saint Petersburg.
- 1798 – The Battle of Oulart Hill takes place in Wexford, Ireland; Irish rebel leaders defeat and kill a detachment of militia.
- 1799 – War of the Second Coalition: Austrian forces defeat the French at Winterthur, Switzerland.
- 1813 – War of 1812: In Canada, American forces capture Fort George.
- 1860 – Giuseppe Garibaldi begins his attack on Palermo, Sicily, as part of the Italian unification.
- 1863 – American Civil War: First Assault on the Confederate works at the Siege of Port Hudson.
- 1874 – The first group of Dorsland trekkers under the leadership of Gert Alberts leaves Pretoria.
- 1883 – Alexander III is crowned Tsar of Russia.
- 1896 – The F4-strength St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado hits in St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois, killing at least 255 people and causing over $10–million in damage.
- 1905 – Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima begins.
- 1917 – Pope Benedict XV promulgates the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the first comprehensive codification of Catholic canon law in the legal history of the Catholic Church.
- 1919 – The NC-4 aircraft arrives in Lisbon after completing the first transatlantic flight.
- 1927 – The Ford Motor Company ceases manufacture of the Ford Model T and begins to retool plants to make the Ford Model A.
- 1930 – The 1,046 feet (319 m) Chrysler Building in New York City, the tallest man-made structure at the time, opens to the public.
- 1933 – New Deal: The U.S. Federal Securities Act is signed into law requiring the registration of securities with the Federal Trade Commission.
- 1933 – The Walt Disney Company releases the cartoon Three Little Pigs, with its hit song “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?”
- 1935 – New Deal: The Supreme Court of the United States declares the National Industrial Recovery Act to be unconstitutional in A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, (295 U.S. 495).
- 1937 – In California, the Golden Gate Bridge opens to pedestrian traffic, creating a vital link between San Francisco and Marin County, California.
- 1940 – World War II: In the Le Paradis massacre, 99 soldiers from a Royal Norfolk Regiment unit are shot after surrendering to German troops; two survive.
- 1941 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaims an “unlimited national emergency”.
- 1941 – World War II: The German battleship Bismarck is sunk in the North Atlantic killing almost 2,100 men.
- 1942 – World War II: In Operation Anthropoid, Reinhard Heydrich is fatally wounded in Prague; he dies of his injuries eight days later.
- 1958 – First flight of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.
- 1960 – In Turkey, a military coup removes President Celâl Bayar and the rest of the democratic government from office.
- 1962 – The Centralia mine fire is ignited in the town’s landfill above a coal mine.
- 1965 – Vietnam War: American warships begin the first bombardment of National Liberation Front targets within South Vietnam.
- 1967 – Australians vote in favor of a constitutional referendum granting the Australian government the power to make laws to benefit Indigenous Australians and to count them in the national census.
- 1967 – The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy is launched by Jacqueline Kennedy and her daughter Caroline.
- 1971 – The Dahlerau train disaster, the worst railway accident in West Germany, kills 46 people and injures 25 near Wuppertal.
- 1971 – Pakistani forces massacre over 200 civilians, mostly Bengali Hindus, in the Bagbati massacre.
- 1975 – Dibbles Bridge coach crash near Grassington, in North Yorkshire, England, kills 33 – the highest ever death toll in a road accident in the United Kingdom.
- 1980 – The Gwangju Massacre: Airborne and army troops of South Korea retake the city of Gwangju from civil militias, killing at least 207 and possibly many more.
- 1984 – The Danube-Black Sea canal is opened, in a ceremony attended by the Ceaușescus. It had been under construction since the 1950s.
- 1996 – First Chechen War: the Russian President Boris Yeltsin meets with Chechnyan rebels for the first time and negotiates a cease-fire.
- 1997 – The 1997 Central Texas tornado outbreak occurs, spawning multiple tornadoes in Central Texas, including the F5 that killed 27 in Jarrell.
- 1998 – Oklahoma City bombing: Michael Fortier is sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $200,000 for failing to warn authorities about the terrorist plot.
- 2001 – Members of the Islamist separatist group Abu Sayyaf seize twenty hostages from an affluent island resort on Palawan in the Philippines; the hostage crisis would not be resolved until June 2002.
- 2006 – The 6.4 Mw Yogyakarta earthquake shakes central Java with an MSK intensity of VIII (Damaging), leaving more than 5,700 dead and 37,000 injured.
- 2016 – Barack Obama is the first president of United States to visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and meet Hibakusha.
- 2017 – Andrew Scheer takes over after Rona Ambrose as the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.
- 2018 – Maryland Flood Event: A flood occurs throughout the Patapsco Valley causing one death and destroying the entire first floors of buildings on Main Street in Ellicott City and causing cars to overturn.
Births on May 27
- 742 – Emperor Dezong of Tang (d. 805)
- 1332 – Ibn Khaldun, Tunisian historian and theologian (d. 1406)
- 1378 – Zhu Quan, Chinese military commander, historian and playwright (d. 1448)
- 1519 – Girolamo Mei, Italian historian and theorist (d. 1594)
- 1537 – Louis IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Marburg (d. 1604)
- 1576 – Caspar Schoppe, German author and scholar (d. 1649)
- 1584 – Michael Altenburg, German theologian and composer (d. 1640)
- 1601 – Antoine Daniel, French-Canadian missionary and saint (d. 1648)
- 1626 – William II, Prince of Orange (d. 1650)
- 1627 – Anne Marie Louise d’Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier (d. 1693)
- 1651 – Louis Antoine de Noailles, French cardinal (d. 1729)
- 1652 – Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine of Germany (d. 1722)
- 1738 – Nathaniel Gorham, American merchant and politician, 14th President of the Continental Congress (d. 1796)
- 1756 – Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria (d. 1825)
- 1774 – Francis Beaufort, Irish hydrographer and officer in the Royal Navy (d. 1857)
- 1794 – Cornelius Vanderbilt, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1877)
- 1814 – John Rudolph Niernsee, Viennese-born American architect (d.1885)
- 1815 – Henry Parkes, English-Australian politician, 7th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1896)
- 1818 – Amelia Bloomer, American journalist and activist (d. 1894)
- 1819 – Julia Ward Howe, American poet and songwriter (d. 1910)
- 1827 – Samuel F. Miller, American lawyer and politician (d. 1892)
- 1832 – Zenas Ferry Moody, American surveyor and politician, 7th Governor of Oregon (d. 1917)
- 1836 – Jay Gould, American businessman and financier (d. 1892)
- 1837 – Wild Bill Hickok, American police officer (d. 1876)
- 1852 – Billy Barnes, English cricketer (d. 1899)
- 1857 – Theodor Curtius, German chemist (d. 1928)
- 1860 – Manuel Teixeira Gomes, Portuguese politician, 7th President of Portugal (d. 1941)
- 1863 – Arthur Mold, English cricketer (d. 1921)
- 1867 – Arnold Bennett, English author and playwright (d. 1931)
- 1868 – Aleksa Šantić, Bosnian poet and author (d. 1924)
- 1871 – Georges Rouault, French painter and illustrator (d. 1958)
- 1875 – Frederick Cuming, English cricketer (d. 1942)
- 1876 – Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, Polish journalist and author (d. 1945)
- 1876 – William Stanier, English engineer (d. 1965)
- 1878 – Anna Cervin, Swedish artist (d. 1972)
- 1879 – Karl Bühler, German-American linguist and psychologist (d. 1963)
- 1879 – Hans Lammers, German judge and politician (d. 1962)
- 1883 – Jessie Arms Botke, American painter (d. 1971)
- 1884 – Max Brod, Czech journalist, author, and composer (d. 1968)
- 1887 – Frank Woolley, English cricketer (d. 1978)
- 1888 – Louis Durey, French composer (d. 1979)
- 1891 – Claude Champagne, Canadian violinist, pianist, and composer (d. 1965)
- 1891 – Jaan Kärner, Estonian poet and author (d. 1958)
- 1894 – Louis-Ferdinand Céline, French physician and author (d. 1961)
- 1894 – Dashiell Hammett, American detective novelist and screenwriter (d. 1961)
- 1895 – Douglas Lloyd Campbell, Canadian educator and politician, 13th Premier of Manitoba (d. 1995)
- 1897 – John Cockcroft, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967)
- 1897 – Dink Templeton, American rugby player and coach (d. 1962)
- 1898 – David Crosthwait, American engineer, inventor and writer (d. 1976)
- 1899 – Johannes Türn, Estonian chess and draughts player (d. 1993)
- 1900 – Lotte Toberentz, German overseer of the Nazi Uckermark concentration camp (d. 1964)
- 1900 – Uładzimir Žyłka, Belarusian poet and translator (d. 1933)
- 1904 – Chūhei Nambu, Japanese jumper and journalist (d. 1997)
- 1906 – Buddhadasa, Thai monk and philosopher (d. 1993)
- 1906 – Harry Hibbs, English footballer (d. 1984)
- 1906 – Antonio Rosario Mennonna, Italian bishop (d. 2009)
- 1907 – Nicolas Calas, Greek-American poet and critic (d. 1988)
- 1907 – Rachel Carson, American biologist, environmentalist, and author (d. 1964)
- 1909 – Dolores Hope, American singer and philanthropist (d. 2011)
- 1911 – Hubert Humphrey, American journalist and politician, 38th Vice President of the United States (d. 1978)
- 1911 – Teddy Kollek, Hungarian-Israeli politician, Mayor of Jerusalem (d. 2007)
- 1911 – Vincent Price, American actor (d. 1993)
- 1912 – John Cheever, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1982)
- 1912 – Sam Snead, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 2002)
- 1912 – Terry Moore, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1995)
- 1915 – Ester Soré, Chilean singer-songwriter (d. 1996)
- 1915 – Herman Wouk, American novelist (d. 2019)
- 1917 – Harry Webster, English engineer (d. 2007)
- 1918 – Yasuhiro Nakasone, Japanese commander and politician, 45th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2019)
- 1921 – Bob Godfrey, Australian-English animator, director, and voice actor (d. 2013)
- 1922 – Otto Carius, German lieutenant and pharmacist (d. 2015)
- 1922 – Christopher Lee, English actor (d. 2015)
- 1922 – John D. Vanderhoof, American banker and politician, 37th Governor of Colorado (d. 2013)
- 1923 – Henry Kissinger, German-American political scientist and politician, 56th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1923 – Sumner Redstone, American businessman and philanthropist
- 1924 – Jaime Lusinchi, Venezuelan physician and politician, President of Venezuela (d. 2014)
- 1924 – John Sumner, English-Australian director, founded the Melbourne Theatre Company (d. 2013)
- 1925 – Tony Hillerman, American journalist and author (d. 2008)
- 1927 – Jüri Randviir, Estonian chess player and journalist (d. 1996)
- 1928 – Thea Musgrave, Scottish-American composer and educator
- 1930 – John Barth, American novelist and short story writer
- 1930 – William S. Sessions, American civil servant and judge, 8th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
- 1930 – Eino Tamberg, Estonian composer and educator (d. 2010)
- 1931 – André Barbeau, French-Canadian neurologist (d. 1986)
- 1931 – John Chapple, English field marshal and politician, Governor of Gibraltar
- 1931 – Bernard Fresson, French actor (d. 2002)
- 1931 – Faten Hamama, Egyptian actress and producer (d. 2015)
- 1931 – Philip Kotler, American author and professor
- 1933 – Edward Samuel Rogers, Canadian businessman (d. 2008)
- 1933 – Manfred Sommer, Spanish author and illustrator (d. 2007)
- 1934 – Ray Daviault, Canadian-American baseball player
- 1934 – Harlan Ellison, American author and screenwriter (d. 2018)
- 1935 – Daniel Colchico, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
- 1935 – Mal Evans, British road manager of The Beatles (d. 1976)
- 1935 – Jerry Kindall, American baseball player and coach (d. 2017)
- 1935 – Ramsey Lewis, American jazz pianist and composer
- 1935 – Lee Meriwether, American model and actress, Miss America 1955
- 1936 – Benjamin Bathurst, English admiral
- 1936 – Louis Gossett, Jr., American actor and producer
- 1936 – Marcel Masse, Canadian educator and politician, 29th Canadian Minister of National Defence (d. 2014)
- 1937 – Allan Carr, American playwright and producer (d. 1999)
- 1939 – Simon Cairns, 6th Earl Cairns, English courtier and businessman
- 1939 – Yves Duhaime, Canadian captain and politician
- 1939 – Sokratis Kokkalis, Greek businessman
- 1939 – Gerald Ronson, English businessman and philanthropist
- 1939 – Lionel Sosa, Mexican-American advertising and marketing executive
- 1939 – Don Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
- 1940 – Mike Gibson, Australian journalist and sportscaster (d. 2015)
- 1942 – Lee Baca, American police officer
- 1942 – Piers Courage, English racing driver (d. 1970)
- 1942 – Roger Freeman, Baron Freeman, English accountant and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
- 1942 – Robin Widdows, English racing driver
- 1943 – Cilla Black, English singer and actress (d. 2015)
- 1943 – Bruce Weitz, American actor
- 1944 – Chris Dodd, American lawyer and politician
- 1944 – Ingrid Roscoe, English historian and politician, Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire
- 1944 – Alain Souchon, French singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1945 – Bruce Cockburn, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1946 – Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Danish bassist and composer (d. 2005)
- 1946 – John Williams, English motorcycle racer (d. 1978)
- 1947 – Peter DeFazio, American politician
- 1947 – Marty Kristian, German-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1947 – Branko Oblak, Slovenian footballer and coach
- 1947 – Riivo Sinijärv, Estonian politician, 19th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1948 – Wubbo de Boer, Dutch civil servant (d. 2017)
- 1948 – Pete Sears, English bass player
- 1948 – Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart, American occultist and author (d. 2014)
- 1949 – Hugh Lowther, 8th Earl of Lonsdale, English politician
- 1949 – Christa Vahlensieck, German runner
- 1950 – Dee Dee Bridgewater, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1950 – Makis Dendrinos, Greek basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
- 1951 – John Conteh, English boxer
- 1954 – Pauline Hanson, Australian businesswoman, activist, and politician
- 1954 – Jackie Slater, American football player and coach
- 1955 – Eric Bischoff, American wrestler, manager, and producer
- 1955 – Richard Schiff, American actor, director, and producer
- 1955 – Ian Tracey, English organist and conductor
- 1956 – Cynthia McFadden, American journalist
- 1956 – Rosemary Squire, English producer and manager, co-founded Ambassador Theatre Group
- 1956 – Giuseppe Tornatore, Italian director and screenwriter
- 1957 – Dag Terje Andersen, Norwegian politician, Norwegian Minister of Labour
- 1957 – Nitin Gadkari, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Transport
- 1957 – Eddie Harsch, Canadian-American keyboard player and bass player (d. 2016)
- 1957 – Siouxsie Sioux, English singer-songwriter, musician, and producer
- 1958 – Nick Anstee, English accountant and politician, 682nd Lord Mayor of London
- 1958 – Neil Finn, New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician
- 1958 – Jesse Robredo, Filipino politician, 23rd Filipino Secretary of the Interior (d. 2012)
- 1960 – Gaston Therrien, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
- 1961 – José Luíz Barbosa, Brazilian runner and coach
- 1961 – Peri Gilpin, American actress
- 1962 – Marcelino Bernal, Mexican footballer
- 1962 – Ray Borner, Australian basketball player
- 1962 – Steven Brill, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1962 – Anthony A. Hyman, Israeli-English biologist and academic
- 1962 – David Mundell, Scottish lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
- 1962 – Ravi Shastri, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
- 1963 – Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Cuban pianist and composer
- 1963 – Maria Walliser, Swiss skier
- 1964 – Adam Carolla, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1965 – Pat Cash, Australian-English tennis player and sportscaster
- 1966 – Heston Blumenthal, English chef and author
- 1967 – Paul Gascoigne, English international footballer, midfielder, coach, and manager
- 1967 – Eddie McClintock, American actor
- 1968 – Jeff Bagwell, American baseball player and coach
- 1968 – Rebekah Brooks, English journalist
- 1968 – Harun Erdenay, Turkish basketball player and coach
- 1968 – Frank Thomas, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1969 – Todd Hundley, American baseball player
- 1969 – Jeremy Mayfield, American race car driver
- 1969 – Craig Federighi, American computer scientist and engineer
- 1970 – Michele Bartoli, Italian cyclist
- 1970 – Tim Farron, English educator and politician
- 1970 – Joseph Fiennes, English actor
- 1970 – Alex Archer, American-born Australian musician
- 1971 – Mathew Batsiua, Nauruan politician
- 1971 – Paul Bettany, English actor
- 1971 – Wayne Carey, Australian footballer and coach
- 1971 – Kaur Kender, Estonian author
- 1971 – Lisa Lopes, American rapper and dancer (d. 2002)
- 1971 – Lee Sharpe, English footballer
- 1971 – Grant Stafford, South African tennis player
- 1971 – Sophie Walker, British politician, leader of the Women’s Equality Party
- 1971 – Petroc Trelawny, British radio and television broadcaster
- 1972 – Todd Demsey, American golfer
- 1972 – Antonio Freeman, American football player
- 1972 – Maxim Sokolov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1973 – Jack McBrayer, American actor and comedian
- 1973 – Tana Umaga, New Zealand rugby player and coach
- 1973 – Yorgos Lanthimos, Greek film video, and theatre director, producer and screenwriter
- 1974 – Skye Edwards, British singer-songwriter
- 1974 – Denise van Outen, English actress, singer, and television host
- 1974 – Derek Webb, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1974 – Danny Wuerffel, American football player
- 1975 – André 3000, American rapper
- 1975 – Michael Hussey, Australian cricketer
- 1975 – Jamie Oliver, English chef and author
- 1975 – Feryal Özel, Turkish astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic
- 1976 – Marcel Fässler, Swiss racing driver
- 1977 – Abderrahmane Hammad, Algerian high jumper
- 1977 – Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lankan cricketer
- 1978 – Adin Brown, American soccer player
- 1979 – Michael Buonauro, American author and illustrator (d. 2004)
- 1979 – Mile Sterjovski, Australian footballer
- 1980 – Craig Buntin, Canadian figure skater
- 1981 – Alina Cojocaru, Romanian ballerina
- 1981 – Johan Elmander, Swedish footballer
- 1984 – Blake Ahearn, American basketball player
- 1984 – Miguel González, Mexican baseball pitcher
- 1985 – Chiang Chien-ming, Taiwanese baseball player
- 1985 – Roberto Soldado, Spanish footballer
- 1986 – Conor Cummins, Manx motorcycle racer
- 1986 – Bamba Fall, Senegalese basketball player
- 1986 – Lasse Schöne, Danish footballer
- 1987 – Gervinho, Ivorian footballer
- 1987 – Bella Heathcote, Australian actress
- 1987 – Eric Kolelas, French-English actor and director
- 1987 – Bora Paçun, Turkish basketball player
- 1987 – Matt Prior, Australian rugby league player
- 1987 – Martina Sablikova, Czech speed skater and cyclist
- 1988 – Vontae Davis, American football player
- 1988 – Irina Davydova, Russian hurdler
- 1988 – Garrett Richards, American baseball pitcher
- 1988 – Tyler Sash, American football player (d. 2015)
- 1989 – Igor Morozov, Estonian footballer
- 1990 – Yenew Alamirew, Ethiopian runner
- 1990 – Chris Colfer, American actor and singer
- 1990 – Marcus Kruger, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1991 – Sebastien Dewaest, Belgian footballer
- 1991 – Tim Lafai, Samoan rugby league player
- 1991 – Ksenia Pervak, Russian tennis player
- 1991 – Eneli Vals, Estonian footballer
- 1992 – Aaron Brown, Canadian sprinter
- 1992 – Laurence Vincent-Lapointe, Canadian canoer
Deaths on May 27
- 366 – Procopius, Roman usurper (b. 325)
- 398 – Murong Bao, emperor of the Xianbei state Later Yan (b. 355)
- 475 – Eutropius, bishop of Orange
- 866 – Ordoño I of Asturias (b. 831)
- 927 – Simeon I of Bulgaria first Bulgarian Emperor (b. 864)
- 1039 – Dirk III, Count of Holland (b. 981)
- 1045 – Bruno of Würzburg, imperial chancellor of Italy (b. c. 1005)
- 1178 – Godfrey van Rhenen, bishop of Utrecht
- 1240 – William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey (b. 1166)
- 1444 – John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, English commander (b. 1404)
- 1508 – Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan (b. 1452)
- 1508 – Lucrezia Crivelli, mistress of Ludovico Sforza (b. 1452)
- 1525 – Thomas Müntzer, German mystic and theologian (b. 1488)
- 1541 – Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury (b. 1473)
- 1564 – John Calvin, French pastor and theologian (b. 1509)
- 1610 – François Ravaillac, French assassin of Henry IV of France (b. 1578)
- 1624 – Diego Ramírez de Arellano, Spanish sailor and cosmographer (b. c. 1580)
- 1637 – John Boteler, 1st Baron Boteler of Brantfield, English politician (b. c. 1566)
- 1661 – Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, Scottish general and politician (b. 1607)
- 1675 – Gaspard Dughet, Italian-French painter (b. 1613)
- 1690 – Giovanni Legrenzi, Italian organist and composer (b. 1626)
- 1702 – Dominique Bouhours, French priest and critic (b. 1628)
- 1707 – Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan, French mistress of Louis XIV of France (b. 1640)
- 1781 – Giovanni Battista Beccaria, Italian physicist and academic (b. 1716)
- 1797 – François-Noël Babeuf, French journalist (b. 1760)
- 1831 – Jedediah Smith, American hunter, explorer, and author (b. 1799)
- 1840 – Niccolò Paganini, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1782)
- 1867 – Thomas Bulfinch American mythologist (b. 1796)
- 1896 – Aleksandr Stoletov, Russian physicist, engineer, and academic (b. 1839)
- 1910 – Robert Koch, German physician and microbiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1843)
- 1918 – Ōzutsu Man’emon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 18th Yokozuna (b. 1869)
- 1919 – Kandukuri Veeresalingam, Indian author and activist (b. 1848)
- 1933 – Achille Paroche, French target shooter (b. 1868)
- 1939 – Joseph Roth, Austrian-French journalist and author (b. 1894)
- 1941 – Ernst Lindemann, German captain (b. 1894)
- 1941 – Günther Lütjens, German admiral (b. 1889)
- 1942 – Muhammed Hamdi Yazır, Turkish theologian, logician, and translator (b. 1878)
- 1943 – Gordon Coates, New Zealand soldier and politician, 21st Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1878)
- 1945 – Enno Lolling, German physician (b. 1888)
- 1947 – Ed Konetchy, American baseball player and manager (b. 1885)
- 1949 – Robert Ripley, American cartoonist, publisher, and businessman, founded Ripley’s Believe It or Not! (b. 1890)
- 1953 – Jesse Burkett, American baseball player and manager (b. 1868)
- 1960 – James Montgomery Flagg, American painter and illustrator (b. 1877)
- 1963 – Grigoris Lambrakis, Greek physician and politician (b. 1912)
- 1964 – Jawaharlal Nehru, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of India (b. 1889)
- 1967 – W. Otto Miessner, American composer and educator (b. 1880)
- 1967 – Ernst Niekisch, German academic and politician (b. 1889)
- 1969 – Jeffrey Hunter, American actor and producer (b. 1926)
- 1971 – Béla Juhos, Hungarian-Austrian philosopher from the Vienna Circle (b. 1901)
- 1971 – Armando Picchi, Italian footballer and coach (b. 1935)
- 1980 – Gün Sazak, Turkish agronomist and politician (b. 1932)
- 1984 – Vasilije Mokranjac, Serbian composer (b. 1923)
- 1986 – Ismail al-Faruqi, Palestinian-American philosopher and academic (b. 1921)
- 1986 – Ajoy Mukherjee, Indian politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal (b. 1901)
- 1986 – Giorgos Tzifos, Greek actor and cinematographer (b. 1918)
- 1987 – John Howard Northrop, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)
- 1988 – Hjördis Petterson, Swedish actress (b. 1908)
- 1988 – Ernst Ruska, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
- 1989 – Arseny Tarkovsky, Russian poet and translator (b. 1907)
- 1990 – Robert B. Meyner, American lawyer and politician, 44th Governor of New Jersey (b. 1908)
- 1991 – Leopold Nowak, Austrian musicologist and theorist (b. 1904)
- 1992 – Uncle Charlie Osborne, American fiddler (b. 1890)
- 1998 – Minoo Masani, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1905)
- 2000 – Kazimierz Leski, Polish engineer and pilot (b. 1912)
- 2000 – Murray MacLehose, Baron MacLehose of Beoch, Scottish politician and diplomat, 25th Governor of Hong Kong (b. 1917)
- 2000 – Maurice Richard, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1921)
- 2003 – Luciano Berio, Italian composer and educator (b. 1925)
- 2006 – Rob Borsellino, American journalist (b. 1949)
- 2006 – Paul Gleason, American actor (b. 1939)
- 2006 – Craig Heyward, American football player (b. 1966)
- 2007 – Izumi Sakai, Japanese singer-songwriter (b. 1967)
- 2007 – Gretchen Wyler, American actress and dancer (b. 1932)
- 2007 – Ed Yost, American inventor, created the hot air balloon (b. 1919)
- 2008 – Franz Künstler, Hungarian soldier (b. 1900)
- 2009 – Thomas M. Franck, American lawyer and academic (b. 1931)
- 2009 – Clive Granger, Welsh-American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1934)
- 2009 – Mona Grey, British nursing administrator; Northern Ireland’s first Chief Nursing Officer
- 2009 – Abram Hoffer, Canadian biochemist, physician, and psychiatrist (b. 1917)
- 2009 – Gérard Jean-Juste, Haitian-American priest and theologian (b. 1946)
- 2009 – Carol Anne O’Marie, American nun and author (b. 1933)
- 2009 – William Refshauge, Australian soldier and physician (b. 1913)
- 2009 – Paul Sharratt, English-American television host (b. 1933)
- 2010 – Payut Ngaokrachang, Thai animator and director (b. 1929)
- 2011 – Jeff Conaway, American actor and singer (b. 1950)
- 2011 – Margo Dydek, Polish-American basketball player (b. 1974)
- 2011 – Gil Scott-Heron, American singer-songwriter and poet (b. 1949)
- 2012 – Simeon Daniel, Nevisian educator and politician, 1st Premier of Nevis (b. 1934)
- 2012 – Friedrich Hirzebruch, German mathematician and academic (b. 1927)
- 2012 – Anahit Perikhanian, Russian-born Armenian Iranologist (b. 1928)
- 2012 – David Rimoin, Canadian-American geneticist and academic (b. 1936)
- 2013 – Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri, Indian politician (b. 1917)
- 2013 – Bill Pertwee, English actor (b. 1926)
- 2013 – Abdoulaye Sékou Sow, Malian politician, Prime Minister of Mali (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Robert Genn, Canadian painter and author (b. 1936)
- 2014 – Helma Sanders-Brahms, German director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1940)
- 2014 – Roberto Vargas, Puerto Rican-American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1929)
- 2014 – Massimo Vignelli, Italian-American graphic designer (b. 1931)
- 2015 – Erik Carlsson, Swedish rally driver (b. 1929)
- 2015 – Nils Christie, Norwegian sociologist, criminologist, and author (b. 1928)
- 2015 – Andy King, English footballer and manager (b. 1956)
- 2015 – Michael Martin, American philosopher and academic (b. 1932)
- 2017 – Gregg Allman, American musician, singer and songwriter (b. 1947)
- 2020 – Larry Kramer, American playwright, public health advocate and LGBT rights activist (b. 1935)
Holidays and observances on May 27
- Armed Forces Day (Nicaragua)
- Children’s Day (Nigeria)
- Christian feast day:
- Augustine of Canterbury
- Blessed Lojze Grozde
- Bede (commemoration, Anglican Communion)
- Bruno of Würzburg
- Eutropius of Orange
- Hildebert
- Julius the Veteran
- May 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Mother’s Day (Bolivia)
- Navy Day (Japan)
- Slavery Abolition Day (Guadeloupe, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin)
- Start of National Reconciliation Week (Australia)
-
May 26 in History
- 17 – Germanicus celebrates a triumph in Rome for his victories over the Cherusci, Chatti, and other German tribes west of the Elbe.
- 451 – Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sasanian Empire takes place. The Sasanids defeat the Armenians militarily but guarantee them freedom to openly practice Christianity.
- 946 – King Edmund I of England is murdered by a thief whom he personally attacks while celebrating St Augustine’s Mass Day.
- 961 – King Otto I elects his 6-year-old son Otto II as heir apparent and co-ruler of the East Frankish Kingdom. He is crowned at Aachen, and placed under the tutelage of his grandmother Matilda.
- 1135 – Alfonso VII of León and Castile is crowned in León Cathedral as Imperator totius Hispaniae (Emperor of all of Spain).
- 1293 – An earthquake strikes Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, killing about 23,000.
- 1328 – William of Ockham, the Franciscan Minister-General Michael of Cesena, and two other Franciscan leaders secretly leave Avignon, fearing a death sentence from Pope John XXII.
- 1538 – Geneva expels John Calvin and his followers from the city. Calvin lives in exile in Strasbourg for the next three years.
- 1573 – The Battle of Haarlemmermeer, a naval engagement in the Dutch War of Independence.
- 1637 – Pequot War: A combined English and Mohegan force under John Mason attacks a village in Connecticut, massacring approximately 500 Pequots.
- 1644 – Portuguese Restoration War: Portuguese and Spanish forces both claim victory in the Battle of Montijo.
- 1736 – The Battle of Ackia was fought near the present site of Tupelo, Mississippi. British and Chickasaw soldiers repelled a French and Choctaw attack on the then-Chickasaw village of Ackia.
- 1770 – The Orlov Revolt, an attempt to revolt against the Ottoman Empire before the Greek War of Independence, ends in disaster for the Greeks.
- 1783 – A Great Jubilee Day held at North Stratford, Connecticut, celebrated the end of fighting in the American Revolution.
- 1805 – Napoléon Bonaparte assumes the title of King of Italy and is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy in Milan Cathedral, the gothic cathedral in Milan.
- 1821 – Establishment of the Peloponnesian Senate by the Greek rebels.
- 1822 – One hundred sixteen people die in the Grue Church fire, the biggest fire disaster in Norway’s history.
- 1857 – Dred Scott is emancipated by the Blow family, his original owners.
- 1864 – Montana is organized as a United States territory.
- 1865 – American Civil War: The Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi division, is the last full general of the Confederate Army to surrender, at Galveston, Texas.
- 1868 – The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson ends with his acquittal by one vote.
- 1869 – Boston University is chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
- 1879 – Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Gandamak establishing an Afghan state.
- 1896 – Nicholas II becomes the last Tsar of Imperial Russia.
- 1896 – Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
- 1897 – Dracula, a Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, is published.
- 1897 – The original manuscript of William Bradford’s history, “Of Plymouth Plantation” is returned to the Governor of Massachusetts by the Bishop of London after being taken during the American Revolutionary War.
- 1900 – Thousand Days’ War: The Colombian Conservative Party turns the tide of war in their favor with victory against the Colombian Liberal Party in the Battle of Palonegro.
- 1908 – The first major commercial oil strike in the Middle East was made at Masjed Soleyman in southwest Persia. The rights to the resource were quickly acquired by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.
- 1917 – Several powerful tornadoes rip through Illinois, including the city of Mattoon.
- 1918 – The Democratic Republic of Georgia is established.
- 1923 – The first 24 Hours of Le Mans was held and has since been run annually in June.
- 1927 – The last Ford Model T rolls off the assembly line after a production run of 15,007,003 vehicles.
- 1936 – In the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, Tommy Henderson begins speaking on the Appropriation Bill. By the time he sits down in the early hours of the following morning, he had spoken for ten hours.
- 1937 – Walter Reuther and members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) clashed with Ford Motor Company security guards at the River Rouge Complex complex in Dearborn, Michigan, during the Battle of the Overpass.
- 1938 – In the United States, the House Un-American Activities Committee begins its first session.
- 1940 – World War II: Operation Dynamo: In northern France, Allied forces begin a massive evacuation from Dunkirk, France.
- 1940 – World War II: The Siege of Calais ends with the surrender of the British and French garrison.
- 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Gazala takes place.
- 1948 – The U.S. Congress passes Public Law 80-557, which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as an auxiliary of the United States Air Force.
- 1966 – British Guiana gains independence, becoming Guyana.
- 1967 – The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is released.
- 1968 – H-dagurinn in Iceland: Traffic changes from driving on the left to driving on the right overnight
- 1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 10 returns to Earth after a successful eight-day test of all the components needed for the forthcoming first manned moon landing.
- 1970 – The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 becomes the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2.
- 1971 – Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army slaughters at least 71 Hindus in Burunga, Sylhet, Bangladesh.
- 1972 – The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
- 1981 – Italian Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani and his coalition cabinet resign following a scandal over membership of the pseudo-masonic lodge P2 (Propaganda Due).
- 1981 – An EA-6B Prowler crashes on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, killing 14 crewmen and injuring 45 others.
- 1983 – The 7.8 Mw Sea of Japan earthquake shakes northern Honshu with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A destructive tsunami is generated that leaves about 100 people dead.
- 1986 – The European Community adopts the European flag.
- 1991 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia becomes the first elected President of the Republic of Georgia in the post-Soviet era.
- 1991 – Lauda Air Flight 004 breaks apart in mid-air and crashes in the Phu Toei National Park in Thailand, killing all 223 people on board.
- 1998 – The Supreme Court of the United States rules in New Jersey v. New York that Ellis Island, the historic gateway for millions of immigrants, is mainly in the state of New Jersey, not New York.
- 1998 – The first “National Sorry Day” was held in Australia, and reconciliation events were held nationally, and attended by over a million people.
- 2002 – The tugboat Robert Y. Love collides with a support pier of Interstate 40 on the Arkansas River near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, resulting in 14 deaths and 11 others injured.
- 2004 – United States Army veteran Terry Nichols is found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing.
- 2008 – Severe flooding begins in eastern and southern China that will ultimately cause 148 deaths and force the evacuation of 1.3 million.
Births on May 26
- 1264 – Koreyasu, Japanese prince and shōgun (d. 1326)
- 1478 – Clement VII, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1534)
- 1562 – James III, margrave of Baden-Hachberg (d. 1590)
- 1566 – Mehmed III, Ottoman sultan (d. 1603)
- 1602 – Philippe de Champaigne, Dutch-French painter (d. 1674)
- 1623 – William Petty, English economist and philosopher (d. 1687)
- 1650 – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire (d. 1722)
- 1667 – Abraham de Moivre, French-English mathematician and theorist (d. 1754)
- 1669 – Sébastien Vaillant, French botanist and mycologist (d. 1722)
- 1700 – Nicolaus Zinzendorf, German bishop and saint (d. 1760)
- 1799 – August Kopisch, German poet and painter (d. 1853)
- 1822 – Edmond de Goncourt, French author and critic, founded the Académie Goncourt (d. 1896)
- 1863 – Bob Fitzsimmons, English-New Zealand boxer (d. 1917)
- 1865 – Robert W. Chambers, American author and illustrator (d. 1933)
- 1867 – Mary of Teck, English-born queen consort of the United Kingdom (d. 1953)
- 1873 – Olaf Gulbransson, Norwegian painter and illustrator (d. 1958)
- 1876 – Percy Perrin, English cricketer (d. 1945)
- 1880 – W. Otto Miessner, American composer and educator (d. 1967)
- 1881 – Adolfo de la Huerta, Mexican politician and provisional president, 1920 (d. 1955)
- 1883 – Mamie Smith, American singer, actress, dancer, and pianist (d. 1946)
- 1886 – Al Jolson, American singer and actor (d. 1950)
- 1887 – Ba U, 2nd President of Burma (d. 1963)
- 1893 – Eugene Aynsley Goossens, English conductor and composer (d. 1962)
- 1895 – Dorothea Lange, American photographer and journalist (d. 1965)
- 1895 – Paul Lukas, Hungarian-American actor and singer (d. 1971)
- 1898 – Ernst Bacon, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1990)
- 1898 – Christfried Burmeister, Estonian speed skater (d. 1965)
- 1899 – Antonio Barrette, Canadian lawyer and politician, 18th Premier of Quebec (d. 1968)
- 1899 – Muriel McQueen Fergusson, Canadian lawyer and politician, Canadian Speaker of the Senate (d. 1997)
- 1900 – Karin Juel, Swedish singer, actor, and writer (d. 1976)
- 1904 – George Formby, English singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1961)
- 1904 – Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, Turkish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1983)
- 1904 – Vlado Perlemuter, Lithuanian-French pianist and educator (d. 2002)
- 1907 – Jean Bernard, French physician and haematologist (d. 2006)
- 1907 – John Wayne, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1979)
- 1908 – Robert Morley, English actor (d. 1992)
- 1908 – Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ, Vietnamese politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam (d. 1976)
- 1909 – Matt Busby, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 1994)
- 1909 – Adolfo López Mateos, Mexican politician, 48th President of Mexico (d. 1969)
- 1910 – Imi Lichtenfeld, Hungarian-Israeli martial artist, boxer, and gymnast (d. 1998)
- 1911 – Maurice Baquet, French actor and cellist (d. 2005)
- 1911 – Henry Ephron, American playwright, screenwriter, and producer (d. 1992)
- 1912 – János Kádár, Hungarian mechanic and politician, 46th Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 1989)
- 1912 – Jay Silverheels, Canadian-American actor (d. 1980)
- 1913 – Peter Cushing, English actor (d. 1994)
- 1913 – Pierre Daninos, French author (d. 2005)
- 1913 – Karin Ekelund, Swedish actress (d. 1976)
- 1913 – Josef Manger, German weightlifter (d. 1991)
- 1914 – Frankie Manning, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2009)
- 1915 – Vernon Alley, American bassist (d. 2004)
- 1915 – Antonia Forest, English author (d. 2003)
- 1916 – Henriette Roosenburg, Dutch journalist and author (d. 1972)
- 1919 – Rubén González, Cuban pianist (d. 2003)
- 1920 – Jack Cheetham, South African cricketer (d. 1980)
- 1920 – Peggy Lee, American singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2002)
- 1921 – Inge Borkh, German soprano (d. 2018)
- 1922 – Troy Smith, American businessman, founded Sonic Drive-In (d. 2009)
- 1923 – James Arness, American actor (d. 2011)
- 1923 – Roy Dotrice, English actor (d. 2017)
- 1925 – Carmen Montejo, Cuban-Mexican actress (d. 2013)
- 1925 – Alec McCowen, English actor (d. 2017)
- 1926 – Miles Davis, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 1991)
- 1927 – Jacques Bergerac, French actor and businessman (d. 2014)
- 1928 – Jack Kevorkian, American pathologist, author, and assisted suicide activist (d. 2011)
- 1929 – J. F. Ade Ajayi, Nigerian historian and academic (d. 2014)
- 1929 – Ernie Carroll, Australian television personality and producer
- 1929 – Hans Freeman, Australian bioinorganic chemist and protein crystallographer (d. 2008)
- 1929 – John Jackson, English lawyer and businessman
- 1929 – Catherine Sauvage, French singer and actress (d. 1998)
- 1930 – Karim Emami, Indian-Iranian lexicographer and critic (d. 2005)
- 1933 – Edward Whittemore, American soldier and author (d. 1995)
- 1935 – Eero Loone, Estonian philosopher and academic
- 1936 – David Stevens, Baron Stevens of Ludgate, English politician
- 1937 – Manorama, Indian actress and singer (d. 2015)
- 1937 – Paul E. Patton, American politician, 59th Governor of Kentucky
- 1938 – William Bolcom, American pianist and composer
- 1938 – Lyudmila Petrushevskaya, Russian author and playwright
- 1938 – K. Bikram Singh, Indian director and producer (d. 2013)
- 1938 – Teresa Stratas, Canadian soprano and actress
- 1939 – Brent Musburger, American sportscaster
- 1939 – Herb Trimpe, American author and illustrator (d. 2015)
- 1940 – Monique Gagnon-Tremblay, Canadian academic and politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec
- 1940 – Levon Helm, American singer-songwriter, drummer, producer, and actor (d. 2012)
- 1941 – Aldrich Ames, American CIA officer and criminal
- 1941 – Jim Dobbin, Scottish microbiologist and politician (d. 2014)
- 1941 – Cliff Drysdale, South African tennis player and sportscaster
- 1941 – Imants Kalniņš, Latvian composer
- 1943 – Erica Terpstra, Dutch swimmer, journalist, and politician
- 1944 – Phil Edmonston, American-Canadian journalist and politician
- 1944 – Jan Kinder, Norwegian ice hockey player (d. 2013)
- 1944 – Sam Posey, American race car driver and journalist
- 1945 – Vilasrao Deshmukh, Indian lawyer and politician, 17th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (d. 2012)
- 1945 – Alistair MacDuff, English lawyer and judge
- 1945 – Garry Peterson, Canadian-American drummer
- 1946 – Neshka Robeva, Bulgarian gymnast and coach
- 1946 – Mick Ronson, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (d. 1993)
- 1947 – Carol O’Connell, American author and painter
- 1947 – Glenn Turner, New Zealand cricketer
- 1948 – Stevie Nicks, American singer-songwriter
- 1949 – Jeremy Corbyn, British journalist and politician
- 1949 – Ward Cunningham, American computer programmer, developed the first wiki
- 1949 – Pam Grier, American actress
- 1949 – Anne McGuire, Scottish educator and politician
- 1949 – Philip Michael Thomas, American actor
- 1949 – Hank Williams Jr., American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1951 – Ramón Calderón, Spanish lawyer and businessman
- 1951 – Lou van den Dries, Dutch mathematician
- 1951 – Sally Ride, American physicist and astronaut, founded Sally Ride Science (d. 2012)
- 1951 – Madeleine Taylor-Quinn, Irish educator and politician
- 1952 – David Meece, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1953 – Kay Hagan, American lawyer and politician (d. 2019)
- 1953 – Don McAllister, English footballer and manager
- 1953 – Michael Portillo, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Defence
- 1953 – Dan Roundfield, American basketball player (d. 2012)
- 1954 – Alan Hollinghurst, English novelist, poet, short story writer, and translator
- 1954 – Denis Lebel, Canadian businessman and politician, 29th Canadian Minister of Transport
- 1955 – Masaharu Morimoto, Japanese-American chef
- 1955 – Paul Stoddart, Australian businessman
- 1955 – Wesley Walker, American football player and educator
- 1956 – Neil Parish, English politician
- 1956 – Fiona Shackleton, English lawyer
- 1957 – Diomedes Díaz, Colombian singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
- 1957 – François Legault, Canadian businessman and politician
- 1957 – Roberto Ravaglia, Italian race car driver
- 1958 – Ronnie Black, American golfer
- 1958 – Arto Bryggare, Finnish hurdler and politician
- 1958 – Margaret Colin, American actress
- 1959 – Ole Bornedal, Danish actor, director, and producer
- 1960 – Doug Hutchison, American actor
- 1960 – Dean Lukin, Australian weightlifter
- 1960 – Masahiro Matsunaga, Japanese race car driver
- 1960 – Rob Murphy, American baseball player
- 1960 – Romas Ubartas, Lithuanian discus thrower
- 1961 – Steve Pate, American golfer
- 1961 – Tarsem Singh, Indian-American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1962 – Black, English singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
- 1962 – Genie Francis, Canadian-American actress
- 1962 – Bobcat Goldthwait, American actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1963 – Simon Armitage, English poet, playwright and novelist
- 1963 – Claude Legault, Canadian actor and screenwriter
- 1963 – Mary Nightingale, English journalist
- 1963 – Jamie Spence, English golfer
- 1964 – Caitlín R. Kiernan, Irish-American paleontologist and author
- 1964 – Lenny Kravitz, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and actor
- 1964 – Argiris Pedoulakis, Greek basketball player and coach
- 1965 – Hazel Irvine, Scottish sportscaster and journalist
- 1966 – Helena Bonham Carter, English actress
- 1966 – Zola Budd, South African runner
- 1967 – Philip Treacy, Irish milliner, hat designer
- 1967 – Mika Yamamoto, Japanese journalist (d. 2012)
- 1968 – Fernando León de Aranoa, Spanish director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1968 – Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark
- 1968 – Steve Sedgley, English footballer and manager
- 1969 – John Baird, Canadian politician, 10th Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1969 – Siri Lindley, American triathlete and coach
- 1969 – Dominic Mohan, English journalist
- 1970 – Nobuhiro Watsuki, Japanese illustrator
- 1971 – Zaher Andary, Lebanese footballer
- 1971 – Matt Stone, American actor, animator, screenwriter, producer, and composer
- 1973 – Naomi Harris, Canadian-American photographer
- 1974 – Lars Frölander, Swedish swimmer
- 1975 – Lauryn Hill, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
- 1976 – Paul Collingwood, English cricketer and coach
- 1976 – Stephen Curry, Australian comedian and actor
- 1976 – Kenny Florian, American mixed martial artist and sportscaster
- 1976 – Justin Pierre, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1977 – Nikos Chatzivrettas, Greek basketball player
- 1977 – Raina Telgemeier, American author and cartoonist
- 1977 – Luca Toni, Italian footballer
- 1977 – Misaki Ito, Japanese actress and model
- 1978 – Phil Elvrum, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1978 – Fabio Firmani, Italian footballer
- 1978 – Dan Parks, Australian-Scottish rugby player
- 1979 – Amanda Bauer, American astronomer and academic
- 1979 – Natalya Nazarova, Russian sprinter
- 1979 – Elisabeth Harnois, American actress
- 1979 – Mehmet Okur, Turkish basketball player
- 1980 – Louis-Jean Cormier, Canadian singer and songwriter
- 1981 – Robert Copeland, Australian footballer
- 1981 – Anthony Ervin, American swimmer
- 1981 – Jason Manford, English actor, screenwriter, and television host
- 1981 – Isaac Slade, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1981 – Ben Zobrist, American baseball player
- 1982 – Sten Lassmann, Estonian pianist
- 1982 – Hasan Kabze, Turkish footballer
- 1983 – Demy de Zeeuw, Dutch footballer
- 1983 – Henry Holland, English fashion designer
- 1983 – Nathan Merritt, Australian rugby league player
- 1985 – Monika Christodoulou, Greek singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1985 – Ashley Vincent, English footballer
- 1986 – Michel Tornéus, Swedish long jumper
- 1987 – Olcay Şahan, Turkish footballer
- 1987 – Josh Thomas, Australian comedian and actor
- 1988 – Andrea Catellani, Italian footballer
- 1988 – Will Chambers, Australian rugby league player
- 1988 – Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, Colombian footballer
- 1988 – Dani Samuels, Australian discus thrower
- 1988 – Joel Selwood, Australian footballer
- 1988 – Damian Williams, American football player
- 1989 – Paula Findlay, Canadian triathlete
- 1991 – Ah Young, South Korean singer and actress
- 1992 – Curtis Rona, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1993 – Jason Adesanya, Belgian footballer
- 1993 – Dan Sarginson, Australian-English rugby league player
- 1993 – Katerine Savard, Canadian swimmer
- 1993 – Jimmy Vesey, American ice hockey player
- 1996 – Lara Goodall, South African cricketer
Deaths on May 26
- 604 – Augustine of Canterbury, Benedictine monk and archbishop
- 735 – Bede, English monk, historian, and theologian
- 818 – Ali al-Ridha, Saudi Arabian 8th of The Twelve Imams
- 926 – Yuan Xingqin, Chinese general and governor
- 946 – Edmund I, king of England (b. 921)
- 1035 – Berenguer Ramon I, Spanish nobleman (b. 1005)
- 1055 – Adalbert, margrave of Austria
- 1250 – Peter I, duke of Brittany
- 1339 – Aldona Ona, queen of Poland
- 1362 – Louis I, king of Naples (b. 1320)
- 1421 – Mehmed I, Ottoman sultan (b. 1389)
- 1512 – Bayezid II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1447)
- 1536 – Francesco Berni, Italian poet (b. 1498)
- 1552 – Sebastian Münster, German cartographer and cosmographer (b. 1488)
- 1648 – Vincent Voiture, French poet and author (b. 1597)
- 1653 – Robert Filmer, English theorist and author (b. 1588)
- 1679 – Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1636)
- 1685 – Charles II, German elector palatine (b. 1651)
- 1703 – Samuel Pepys, English politician (b. 1633)
- 1742 – Pylyp Orlyk, Ukrainian diplomat (b. 1672)
- 1746 – Thomas Southerne, Irish playwright (b. 1660)
- 1762 – Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, German philosopher and academic (b. 1714)
- 1799 – James Burnett, Lord Monboddo, Scottish linguist, biologist, and judge (b. 1714)
- 1818 – Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly, Russian field marshal and politician, Governor-General of Finland (b. 1761)
- 1818 – Manuel Rodríguez Erdoíza, Chilean lawyer and guerrilla leader (b. 1785)
- 1824 – Capel Lofft, English lawyer (b. 1751)
- 1840 – Sidney Smith, English admiral and politician (b. 1764)
- 1881 – Jakob Bernays, German philologist and academic (b. 1824)
- 1883 – Abdelkader El Djezairi, Algerian ruler (b. 1808)
- 1902 – Almon Brown Strowger, American soldier and inventor (b. 1839)
- 1904 – Georges Gilles de la Tourette, French physician and neurologist (b. 1857)
- 1908 – Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Indian religious leader, founded the Ahmadiyya movement (b. 1835)
- 1914 – Jacob August Riis, Danish-American journalist, photographer, and reformer (b. 1849)
- 1924 – Victor Herbert, Irish-American cellist, composer, and conductor, founded the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (b. 1859)
- 1926 – Srečko Kosovel, Slovenian poet (b. 1904)
- 1933 – Horatio Bottomley, English financier, journalist, and politician (b. 1860)
- 1933 – Jimmie Rodgers, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1897)
- 1939 – Charles Horace Mayo, American physician, co-founded Mayo Clinic (b. 1865)
- 1943 – Edsel Ford, American businessman (b. 1893)
- 1943 – Alice Tegnér, Swedish organist, composer, and educator (b. 1864)
- 1944 – Christian Wirth, German SS officer (b. 1885)
- 1948 – Torsten Bergström, Swedish actor and director (b. 1896)
- 1951 – Lincoln Ellsworth, American explorer (b. 1880)
- 1954 – Lionel Conacher, Canadian football player and politician (b. 1900)
- 1955 – Alberto Ascari, Italian race car driver (b. 1918)
- 1956 – Al Simmons, American baseball player and coach (b. 1902)
- 1959 – Philip Kassel, American gymnast (b. 1876)
- 1966 – Elizabeth Dilling, American author and activist (b. 1894)
- 1969 – Paul Hawkins, Australian race car driver (b. 1937)
- 1969 – Allan Haines Loughead, American engineer, co-founded the Lockheed Corporation (b. 1889)
- 1974 – Silvio Moser, Swiss race car driver (b. 1941)
- 1976 – Martin Heidegger, German philosopher and academic (b. 1889)
- 1978 – Cybele Andrianou, Greek actress (b. 1887)
- 1979 – George Brent, Irish-American actor (b. 1904)
- 1984 – Elizabeth Peer, American journalist (b. 1936)
- 1989 – Don Revie, English footballer and manager (b. 1927)
- 1994 – Sonny Sharrock, American guitarist (b. 1940)
- 1995 – Friz Freleng, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1906)
- 1997 – Ralph Horween, American football player and coach (b. 1896)
- 1999 – Paul Sacher, Swiss conductor and philanthropist (b. 1906)
- 1999 – Waldo Semon, American chemist and engineer (b. 1898)
- 2001 – Vittorio Brambilla, Italian race car driver (b. 1937)
- 2001 – Anne Haney, American actress (b. 1934)
- 2001 – Moven Mahachi, Zimbabwean soldier and politician, Zimbabwean Minister of Defence (b. 1952)
- 2001 – Dona Massin, Canadian actress and choreographer (b. 1917)
- 2002 – Mamo Wolde, Ethiopian runner (b. 1932)
- 2003 – Kathleen Winsor, American journalist and author (b. 1919)
- 2004 – Nikolai Chernykh, Russian astronomer (b. 1931)
- 2005 – Eddie Albert, American actor (b. 1906)
- 2005 – Chico Carrasquel, Venezuelan baseball player and manager (b. 1928)
- 2005 – Ruth Laredo, American pianist and educator (b. 1937)
- 2005 – Leslie Smith, English businessman, co-founded Lesney Products (b. 1918)
- 2006 – Édouard Michelin, French businessman (b. 1963)
- 2006 – Kevin O’Flanagan, Irish footballer and physician (b. 1919)
- 2007 – Jack Edward Oliver, English illustrator (b. 1942)
- 2007 – Howard Porter, American basketball player (b. 1948)
- 2008 – Sydney Pollack, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1934)
- 2008 – Zita Urbonaitė, Lithuanian cyclist (b. 1973)
- 2009 – Mihalis Papagiannakis, Greek journalist and politician (b. 1941)
- 2009 – Peter Zezel, Canadian ice hockey and soccer player (b. 1965)
- 2010 – Art Linkletter, Canadian-American radio and television host (b. 1912)
- 2010 – Chris Moran, English air marshal and pilot (b. 1956)
- 2010 – Kieran Phelan, Irish politician (b. 1949)
- 2011 – Arisen Ahubudu, Sri Lankan scholar, author, and playwright (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Arthur Decabooter, Belgian cyclist (b. 1936)
- 2012 – Leo Dillon, American illustrator (b. 1933)
- 2012 – Stephen Healey, Welsh captain and footballer (b. 1982)
- 2012 – Hiroshi Miyazawa, Japanese politician (b. 1921)
- 2012 – Hans Schmidt, Canadian wrestler (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Jim Unger, English-Canadian illustrator (b. 1937)
- 2013 – Ray Barnhart, American businessman and politician (b. 1928)
- 2013 – John Bierwirth, American lawyer and businessman (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Roberto Civita, Italian-Brazilian businessman (b. 1936)
- 2013 – Tom Lichtenberg, American football player and coach (b. 1940)
- 2013 – Otto Muehl, Austrian painter (b. 1925)
- 2013 – Jack Vance, American author (b. 1916)
- 2014 – Baselios Thoma Didymos I, Indian metropolitan (b. 1921)
- 2014 – Miodrag Radulovacki, Serbian-American academic and neuropharmacologist (b. 1933)
- 2014 – William R. Roy, American physician, journalist, and politician (b. 1926)
- 2014 – Hooshang Seyhoun, Iranian-Canadian architect, sculptor, and painter (b. 1920)
- 2015 – Vicente Aranda, Spanish director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
- 2015 – Les Johnson, Australian politician and diplomat, Australian High Commissioner to New Zealand (b. 1924)
- 2015 – Robert Kraft, American astronomer and academic (b. 1927)
- 2015 – João Lucas, Portuguese footballer (b. 1979)
- 2015 – Dayton Waller, American soldier and politician (b. 1925)
- 2016 – Hedy Epstein, German-born American human rights activist and Holocaust survivor (b. 1924)
- 2017 – Zbigniew Brzezinski, Polish-born American politician (b. 1928)
Holidays and observances on May 26
- Christian feast day:
- Augustine of Canterbury (Anglican Communion and Eastern Orthodox)
- Lambert of Vence
- Peter Sanz (one of Martyr Saints of China)
- Philip Neri
- Pope Eleuterus
- Quadratus of Athens
- Zachary, Bishop of Vienne
- May 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Independence Day, commemorates the day of the First Republic in 1918 (Georgia)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Guyana from the United Kingdom in 1966.
- Mother’s Day (Poland)
- National Paper Airplane Day (United States)
- National Sorry Day (Australia)
-
March 4 in History
- AD 51 – Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title princeps iuventutis (head of the youth).
- 306 – Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia.
- 852 – Croatian Knez Trpimir I issues a statute, a document with the first known written mention of the Croats name in Croatian sources.
- 938 – Translation of the relics of martyr Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, Prince of the Czechs.
- 1152 – Frederick I Barbarossa is elected King of Germany.
- 1238 – The Battle of the Sit River is fought in the northern part of the present-day Yaroslavl Oblast of Russia between the Mongol hordes of Batu Khan and the Russians under Yuri II of Vladimir-Suzdal during the Mongol invasion of Rus’.
- 1351 – Ramathibodi becomes King of Siam.
- 1386 – Władysław II Jagiełło (Jogaila) is crowned King of Poland.
- 1461 – Wars of the Roses in England: Lancastrian King Henry VI is deposed by his House of York cousin, who then becomes King Edward IV.
- 1493 – Explorer Christopher Columbus arrives back in Lisbon, Portugal, aboard his ship Niña from his voyage to what are now The Bahamas and other islands in the Caribbean.
- 1519 – Hernán Cortés arrives in Mexico in search of the Aztec civilization and its wealth.
- 1628 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony is granted a Royal charter.
- 1665 – English King Charles II declares war on the Netherlands marking the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
- 1675 – John Flamsteed is appointed the first Astronomer Royal of England.
- 1681 – Charles II grants a land charter to William Penn for the area that will later become Pennsylvania.
- 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Continental Army fortifies Dorchester Heights with cannon, leading the British troops to abandon the Siege of Boston.
- 1789 – In New York City, the first Congress of the United States meets, putting the United States Constitution into effect. The United States Bill of Rights is written and proposed to Congress.
- 1790 – France is divided into 83 départements, cutting across the former provinces in an attempt to dislodge regional loyalties based on ownership of land by the nobility.
- 1791 – The Constitutional Act of 1791 is introduced by the British House of Commons in London which envisages the separation of Canada into Lower Canada (Quebec) and Upper Canada (Ontario).
- 1791 – Vermont is admitted to the United States as the fourteenth state.
- 1794 – The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is passed by the U.S. Congress.
- 1797 – John Adams is inaugurated as the 2nd President of the United States of America, becoming the first President to begin his presidency on March 4.
- 1804 – Castle Hill Rebellion: Irish convicts rebel against British colonial authority in the Colony of New South Wales.
- 1813 – Cyril VI of Constantinople is elected Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
- 1814 – Americans defeat British forces at the Battle of Longwoods between London, Ontario and Thamesville, near present-day Wardsville, Ontario.
- 1837 – The city of Chicago is incorporated.
- 1848 – Carlo Alberto di Savoia signs the Statuto Albertino that will later represent the first constitution of the Regno d’Italia.
- 1849 – President-Elect Zachary Taylor and Vice President-Elect Millard Fillmore did not take their respective oaths of office (they did so the following day), leading to the erroneous theory that outgoing President pro tempore of the United States Senate David Rice Atchison had assumed the role of acting president for one day.
- 1861 – The first national flag of the Confederate States of America (the “Stars and Bars”) is adopted.
- 1865 – The third and final national flag of the Confederate States of America is adopted by the Confederate Congress.
- 1882 – Britain’s first electric trams run in east London.
- 1890 – The longest bridge in Great Britain, the Forth Bridge in Scotland, measuring 1,710 feet (520 m) long, is opened by the Duke of Rothesay, later King Edward VII.
- 1899 – Cyclone Mahina sweeps in north of Cooktown, Queensland, with a 12 metres (39 ft) wave that reaches up to 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) inland, killing over 300.
- 1908 – The Collinwood school fire, Collinwood near Cleveland, Ohio, kills 174 people.
- 1909 – U.S. President William Taft used what became known as a Saxbe fix, a mechanism to avoid the restriction of the U.S. Constitution’s Ineligibility Clause, to appoint Philander C. Knox as U.S. Secretary of State.
- 1913 – First Balkan War: The Greek army engages the Turks at Bizani, resulting in victory two days later.
- 1913 – The United States Department of Labor is formed.
- 1917 – Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first female member of the United States House of Representatives.
- 1933 – Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the 32nd President of the United States.
- 1933 – Frances Perkins becomes United States Secretary of Labor, the first female member of the United States Cabinet.
- 1933 – The Parliament of Austria is suspended because of a quibble over procedure – Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss initiates an authoritarian rule by decree.
- 1941 – World War II: The United Kingdom launches Operation Claymore on the Lofoten Islands; the first large scale British Commando raid.
- 1943 – World War II: The Battle of the Bismarck Sea in the south-west Pacific comes to an end.
- 1943 – World War II: The Battle of Fardykambos, one of the first major battles between the Greek Resistance and the occupying Royal Italian Army, begins. It ends on 6 March with the surrender of an entire Italian battalion and the liberation of the town of Grevena.
- 1944 – World War II: After the success of Big Week, the USAAF begins a daylight bombing campaign of Berlin.
- 1957 – The S&P 500 stock market index is introduced, replacing the S&P 90.
- 1960 – The French freighter La Coubre explodes in Havana, Cuba, killing 100.
- 1962 – A Caledonian Airways Douglas DC-7 crashes shortly after takeoff from Cameroon, killing 111 – the worst crash of a DC-7.
- 1966 – A Canadian Pacific Air Lines DC-8-43 explodes on landing at Tokyo International Airport, killing 64 people.
- 1966 – In an interview in the London Evening Standard, The Beatles’ John Lennon declares that the band is “more popular than Jesus now”.
- 1970 – French submarine Eurydice explodes underwater, resulting in the loss of the entire 57-man crew.
- 1974 – People magazine is published for the first time in the United States as People Weekly.
- 1976 – The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention is formally dissolved in Northern Ireland resulting in direct rule of Northern Ireland from London by the British parliament.
- 1977 – The 1977 Vrancea earthquake in eastern and southern Europe kills more than 1,500, mostly in Bucharest, Romania.
- 1980 – Nationalist leader Robert Mugabe wins a sweeping election victory to become Zimbabwe’s first black prime minister.
- 1985 – The Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for AIDS infection, used since then for screening all blood donations in the United States.
- 1986 – The Soviet Vega 1 begins returning images of Halley’s Comet and the first images of its nucleus.
- 1990 – American basketball player Hank Gathers dies after collapsing during the semifinals of a West Coast Conference Tournament game.
- 1996 – A derailed train in Weyauwega, Wisconsin (USA) causes the emergency evacuation of 2,300 people for 16 days.
- 1998 – Gay rights: Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc.: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that federal laws banning on-the-job sexual harassment also apply when both parties are the same sex.
- 2001 – BBC bombing: A massive car bomb explodes in front of the BBC Television Centre in London, seriously injuring one person; the attack was attributed to the Real IRA.
- 2002 – Afghanistan: Seven American Special Operations Forces soldiers and 200 Al-Qaeda Fighters are killed as American forces attempt to infiltrate the Shah-i-Kot Valley on a low-flying helicopter reconnaissance mission.
- 2009 – The International Criminal Court (ICC) issues an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. Al-Bashir is the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the ICC since its establishment in 2002.
- 2012 – A series of explosions is reported at a munitions dump in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, killing at least 250 people.
- 2015 – At least 34 miners die in a suspected gas explosion at the Zasyadko coal mine in the rebel-held Donetsk region of Ukraine.
- 2018 – Former MI6 spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter are poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury, England, causing a diplomatic uproar that results in mass-expulsions of diplomats from all countries involved.
- 2019 – The Indian Attack submarine was spotted by the Pakistan Navy.
- 2020 – Former Daredevil Nik Wallenda is the first person to walk over the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua.
Births on March 4
- 895 – Liu Zhiyuan, founder of the Later Han Dynasty (d. 948)
- 977 – Al-Musabbihi, Fatimid historian and official (d. 1030)
- 1188 – Blanche of Castile, French queen consort (d. 1252)
- 1394 – Henry the Navigator, Portuguese explorer (d. 1460)
- 1484 – George, margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (d. 1543)
- 1492 – Francesco de Layolle, Italian organist and composer (d. 1540)
- 1502 – Elisabeth of Hesse, princess of Saxony (d. 1557)
- 1519 – Hindal Mirza, Mughal emperor (d. 1551)
- 1526 – Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon (d. 1596)
- 1602 – Kanō Tan’yū, Japanese painter (d. 1674)
- 1634 – Kazimierz Łyszczyński, Polish philosopher (d. 1689)
- 1651 – John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, English lawyer, jurist, and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (d. 1716)
- 1655 – Fra Galgario, Italian painter (d. 1743)
- 1665 – Philip Christoph von Königsmarck, Swedish soldier (d. 1694)
- 1678 – Antonio Vivaldi, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1741)
- 1702 – Jack Sheppard, English criminal (d. 1724)
- 1706 – Lauritz de Thurah, Danish architect, designed the Hermitage Hunting Lodge and Gammel Holtegård (d. 1759)
- 1715 – James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave, English historian and politician (d. 1763)
- 1719 – George Pigot, 1st Baron Pigot, English politician (d. 1777)
- 1729 – Anne d’Arpajon, French wife of Philippe de Noailles (d. 1794)
- 1745 – Charles Dibdin, English actor, playwright, and composer (d. 1814)
- 1745 – Casimir Pulaski, Polish-American general (d. 1779)
- 1756 – Henry Raeburn, Scottish painter and educator (d. 1823)
- 1760 – William Payne, English painter (d. 1830)
- 1760 – Hugh Ronalds, British nurseryman who cultivated and documented 300 varieties of apples (d. 1833)
- 1769 – Muhammad Ali, Ottoman military leader and pasha (d. 1849)
- 1770 – Joseph Jacotot, French philosopher and academic (d. 1840)
- 1778 – Robert Emmet, Irish commander (d. 1803)
- 1781 – Rebecca Gratz, American educator and philanthropist (d. 1869)
- 1782 – Johann Rudolf Wyss, Swiss philosopher, author, and academic (d. 1830)
- 1792 – Isaac Lea, American conchologist, geologist, and publisher (d. 1886)
- 1793 – Karl Lachmann, German philologist and critic (d. 1851)
- 1814 – Napoleon Collins, Rear Admiral of the United States Navy during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War (d. 1875)
- 1817 – Edwards Pierrepont, American lawyer and politician, 34th United States Attorney General (d. 1892)
- 1820 – Francesco Bentivegna, Italian rebel leader (d. 1856)
- 1822 – Jules Antoine Lissajous, French mathematician and academic (d. 1880)
- 1823 – George Caron, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1902)
- 1826 – August Johann Gottfried Bielenstein, German linguist, ethnographer, and theologian (d. 1907)
- 1826 – John Buford, American general (d. 1863)
- 1826 – Elme Marie Caro, French philosopher and academic (d. 1887)
- 1826 – Theodore Judah, American engineer, founded the Central Pacific Railroad (d. 1863)
- 1828 – Owen Wynne Jones, Welsh clergyman and poet (d. 1870)
- 1838 – Paul Lacôme, French pianist, cellist, and composer (d. 1920)
- 1847 – Carl Josef Bayer, Austrian chemist and academic (d. 1904)
- 1851 – Alexandros Papadiamantis, Greek author and poet (d. 1911)
- 1854 – Napier Shaw, English meteorologist and academic (d. 1945)
- 1856 – Alfred William Rich, English painter, author, and educator (d. 1921)
- 1861 – Arthur Cushman McGiffert, American theologian and author (d. 1933)
- 1862 – Jacob Robert Emden, Swiss astrophysicist and meteorologist (d. 1940)
- 1863 – R. I. Pocock, English zoologist and archaeologist (d. 1947)
- 1863 – John Henry Wigmore, American academic and jurist (d. 1943)
- 1864 – David W. Taylor, American admiral, architect, and engineer (d. 1940)
- 1866 – Eugène Cosserat, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1931)
- 1867 – Jacob L. Beilhart, American activist, founded the Spirit Fruit Society (d. 1908)
- 1867 – Charles Pelot Summerall, senior United States Army officer (d. 1955)
- 1870 – Thomas Sturge Moore, English author and poet (d. 1944)
- 1871 – Boris Galerkin, Russian mathematician and engineer (d. 1945)
- 1873 – Guy Wetmore Carryl, American journalist and poet (d. 1904)
- 1873 – John H. Trumbull, American colonel and politician, 70th Governor of Connecticut (d. 1961)
- 1875 – Mihály Károlyi, Hungarian politician, President of the Hungary (d. 1955)
- 1875 – Enrique Larreta, Argentinian historian and author (d. 1961)
- 1876 – Léon-Paul Fargue, French poet and author (d. 1947)
- 1876 – Theodore Hardeen, Hungarian-American magician (d. 1945)
- 1877 – Alexander Goedicke, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1957)
- 1877 – Fritz Graebner, German geographer and ethnologist (d. 1934)
- 1877 – Garrett Morgan, African-American inventor (d. 1963)
- 1878 – Takeo Arishima, Japanese author and critic (d. 1923)
- 1878 – Egbert Van Alstyne, American pianist and songwriter (d. 1951)
- 1879 – Bernhard Kellermann, German author and poet (d. 1951)
- 1880 – Channing Pollock, American playwright and critic (d. 1946)
- 1881 – Todor Aleksandrov, Bulgarian educator and activist (d. 1924)
- 1881 – Thomas Sigismund Stribling, American lawyer and author (d. 1965)
- 1881 – Richard C. Tolman, American physicist and chemist (d. 1948)
- 1882 – Nicolae Titulescu, Romanian academic and politician, 61st Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1941)
- 1883 – Maude Fealy, American actress and screenwriter (d. 1971)
- 1883 – Robert Emmett Keane, American actor (d. 1981)
- 1883 – Sam Langford, Canadian-American boxer (d. 1956)
- 1884 – Red Murray, American baseball player (d. 1958)
- 1884 – Lee Shumway, American actor (d. 1959)
- 1886 – Paul Bazelaire, French cellist and composer (d. 1958)
- 1888 – Rafaela Ottiano, Italian-American actress (d. 1942)
- 1888 – Jeff Pfeffer, American baseball player (d. 1972)
- 1888 – Emma Richter, German paleontologist (d. 1956)
- 1888 – Knute Rockne, American football player and coach (d. 1931)
- 1889 – Oscar Chisini, Italian mathematician and statistician (d. 1967)
- 1889 – Oren E. Long, American soldier and politician, 10th Territorial Governor of Hawaii (d. 1965)
- 1889 – Pearl White, American actress (d. 1938)
- 1889 – Robert William Wood, English-American painter (d. 1979)
- 1890 – Norman Bethune, Canadian soldier and physician (d. 1939)
- 1891 – Dazzy Vance, American baseball player (d. 1961)
- 1893 – Charles Herbert Colvin, American engineer, co-founded the Pioneer Instrument Company (d. 1985)
- 1893 – Adolph Lowe, German sociologist and economist (d. 1995)
- 1894 – Charles Corm, Lebanese businessman and philanthropist (d. 1963)
- 1895 – Milt Gross, American animator, director, and screenwriter (d. 1953)
- 1896 – Kai Holm, Danish actor and director (d. 1985)
- 1897 – Lefty O’Doul, American baseball player and manager (d. 1969)
- 1898 – Georges Dumézil, French philologist and academic (d. 1986)
- 1898 – Hans Krebs, German general (d. 1945)
- 1899 – Peter Illing, Austrian born, British film and television actor (d. 1966)
- 1899 – Emilio Prados, Spanish poet and author (d. 1962)
- 1900 – Herbert Biberman, American director and screenwriter (d. 1971)
- 1901 – Wilbur R. Franks, Canadian scientist, invented the g-suit (d. 1986)
- 1901 – Charles Goren, American bridge player and author (d. 1991)
- 1901 – Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo, Malagasy-French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1937)
- 1902 – Rachel Messerer, Lithuanian-Russian actress (d. 1993)
- 1902 – Russell Reeder, American soldier and author (d. 1998)
- 1903 – William C. Boyd, American immunologist and chemist (d. 1983)
- 1903 – Malcolm Dole, American chemist and academic (d. 1990)
- 1903 – Dorothy Mackaill, English-American actress and singer (d. 1990)
- 1903 – John Scarne, American magician and author (d. 1985)
- 1904 – Luis Carrero Blanco, Spanish admiral and politician, 69th President of the Government of Spain (d. 1973)
- 1904 – George Gamow, Ukrainian-American physicist and cosmologist (d. 1968)
- 1904 – Joseph Schmidt, Austrian-Hungarian tenor and actor (d. 1942)
- 1906 – Meindert DeJong, Dutch-American soldier and author (d. 1991)
- 1906 – Avery Fisher, American violinist and engineer, founded Fisher Electronics (d. 1994)
- 1906 – Georges Ronsse, Belgian cyclist and manager (d. 1969)
- 1907 – Edgar Barrier, American actor (d. 1964)
- 1908 – T. R. M. Howard, American surgeon and activist (d. 1976)
- 1908 – Thomas Shaw, American singer and guitarist (d. 1977)
- 1909 – Harry Helmsley, American businessman (d. 1997)
- 1909 – George Edward Holbrook, American chemist and engineer (d. 1987)
- 1910 – Tancredo Neves, Brazilian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Brazil (d. 1985)
- 1911 – Charles Greville, 7th Earl of Warwick, English actor (d. 1984)
- 1912 – Afro Basaldella, Italian painter and academic (d. 1976)
- 1912 – Ferdinand Leitner, German conductor and composer (d. 1996)
- 1912 – Carl Marzani, Italian-American activist and publisher (d. 1994)
- 1913 – Taos Amrouche, Algerian singer and author (d. 1976)
- 1913 – John Garfield, American actor and singer (d. 1952)
- 1914 – Barbara Newhall Follett, American author (d. 1939)
- 1914 – Ward Kimball, American animator, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2002)
- 1914 – Robert R. Wilson, American physicist, sculptor, and architect (d. 2000)
- 1915 – László Csatáry, Hungarian art dealer (d. 2013)
- 1915 – Frank Sleeman, Australian lieutenant and politician, Lord Mayor of Brisbane (d. 2000)
- 1915 – Carlos Surinach, Spanish-Catalan composer and conductor (d. 1997)
- 1916 – William Alland, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1997)
- 1916 – Giorgio Bassani, Italian author and poet (d. 2000)
- 1916 – Hans Eysenck, German-English psychologist and theorist (d. 1997)
- 1917 – Clyde McCullough, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1982)
- 1918 – Kurt Dahlmann, German pilot, lawyer, and journalist (d. 2017)
- 1918 – Margaret Osborne duPont, American tennis player (d. 2012)
- 1919 – Buck Baker, American race car driver (d. 2002)
- 1919 – Tan Chee Khoon, Malaysian physician and politician (d. 1996)
- 1920 – Jean Lecanuet, French politician, French Minister of Justice (d. 1993)
- 1920 – Alan MacNaughtan, Scottish-English actor (d. 2002)
- 1921 – Halim El-Dabh, Egyptian-American composer and educator (d. 2017)
- 1921 – Joan Greenwood, English actress (d. 1987)
- 1921 – Dinny Pails, English-Australian tennis player (d. 1986)
- 1922 – Richard E. Cunha, American director and cinematographer (d. 2005)
- 1922 – Dina Pathak, Indian actor and director (d. 2002)
- 1923 – Russell Freeburg, American journalist and author
- 1923 – Francis King, English author and poet (d. 2011)
- 1923 – Patrick Moore, English astronomer and television host (d. 2012)
- 1924 – Kenneth O’Donnell, American soldier and politician (d. 1977)
- 1925 – Alan R. Battersby, English chemist and academic (d. 2018)
- 1925 – Paul Mauriat, French conductor and composer (d. 2006)
- 1926 – Henri de Contenson, French archaeologist and academic (d. 2019)
- 1926 – Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma, French businessman, soldier and race car driver (d. 2018)
- 1926 – Richard DeVos, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Amway (d. 2018)
- 1926 – Pascual Pérez, Argentinian boxer (d. 1977)
- 1926 – Don Rendell, English saxophonist and flute player (d. 2015)
- 1927 – Phil Batt, American soldier and politician, 29th Governor of Idaho
- 1927 – Thayer David, American actor (d. 1978)
- 1927 – Jacques Dupin, French poet and critic (d. 2012)
- 1927 – Robert Orben, American magician and author
- 1927 – Dick Savitt, American tennis player and businessman
- 1928 – Samuel Adler, German-American composer and conductor
- 1928 – Alan Sillitoe, English novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet (d. 2010)
- 1929 – Bernard Haitink, Dutch violinist and conductor
- 1929 – Peter Swerling, American theoretician and engineer (d. 2000)
- 1931 – Wally Bruner, American journalist and television host (d. 1997)
- 1931 – Bob Johnson, American ice hockey player and coach (d. 1991)
- 1931 – William Henry Keeler, American cardinal (d. 2017)
- 1931 – Alice Rivlin, American economist and politician (d. 2019)
- 1932 – Sigurd Jansen, Norwegian pianist, composer, and conductor
- 1932 – Ryszard Kapuściński, Polish journalist, photographer, and poet (d. 2007)
- 1932 – Miriam Makeba, South African singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2008)
- 1932 – Ed Roth, American illustrator (d. 2001)
- 1932 – Frank Wells, American businessman (d. 1994)
- 1933 – Nino Vaccarella, Italian race car driver
- 1934 – Mario Davidovsky, Argentinian-American composer and academic (d. 2019)
- 1934 – John Duffey, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1996)
- 1934 – Anne Haney, American actress (d. 2001)
- 1934 – Barbara McNair, American singer and actress (d. 2007)
- 1934 – Sandra Reynolds, South African tennis player
- 1934 – Janez Strnad, Slovenian physicist and academic (d. 2015)
- 1935 – Edward Dębicki, Ukrainian-Polish poet and composer
- 1935 – Bent Larsen, Danish chess player and author (d. 2010)
- 1936 – Eric Allandale, Dominican trombonist and songwriter (d. 2001)
- 1936 – Jim Clark, Scottish race car driver (d. 1968)
- 1936 – Aribert Reimann, German pianist and composer
- 1937 – José Araquistáin, Spanish footballer
- 1937 – William Deverell, Canadian lawyer, author, and activist
- 1937 – Graham Dowling, New Zealand cricketer
- 1937 – Leslie H. Gelb, American journalist and author (d. 2019)
- 1937 – Yuri Senkevich, Russian physician and explorer (d. 2003)
- 1937 – Barney Wilen, French saxophonist and composer (d. 1996)
- 1937 – Richard B. Wright, Canadian journalist and author (d. 2017)
- 1938 – Anton Balasingham, Sri Lankan-English negotiator (d. 2006)
- 1938 – Alpha Condé, Guinean politician, President of Guinea
- 1938 – Allan Kornblum, American police officer and judge (d. 2010)
- 1938 – Angus MacLise, American drummer and composer (d. 1979)
- 1938 – Don Perkins, American football player and sportscaster
- 1938 – Paula Prentiss, American actress
- 1938 – Adam Daniel Rotfeld, Polish academic and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1939 – Jack Fisher, American baseball player
- 1939 – Robert Shaye, American film producer
- 1940 – Wolfgang Hoffmann-Riem, German scholar and judge
- 1940 – David Plante, American novelist
- 1941 – John Hancock, American film and television actor (d. 1992)
- 1941 – Adrian Lyne, English director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1941 – James Zagel, American lawyer and judge
- 1942 – Gloria Gaither, American singer-songwriter
- 1942 – Charles C. Krulak, American general
- 1942 – David Matthews, American keyboard player and composer
- 1942 – Lynn Sherr, American journalist and author
- 1942 – James Gustave Speth, American lawyer and politician
- 1942 – Zorán Sztevanovity, Serbian-Hungarian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1943 – Lucio Dalla, Italian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2012)
- 1943 – Aldo Rico, Argentinian commander and politician
- 1944 – Harvey Postlethwaite, English engineer (d. 1999)
- 1944 – Anthony Ichiro Sanda, Japanese-American physicist and academic
- 1944 – Len Walker, English footballer and manager
- 1944 – Bobby Womack, American singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
- 1945 – Tommy Svensson, Swedish footballer and manager
- 1945 – Gary Williams, American basketball player and coach
- 1946 – Michael Ashcroft, English businessman and politician
- 1946 – Danny Frisella, American baseball player (d. 1977)
- 1946 – Haile Gerima, Ethiopian born US filmmaker
- 1946 – Patricia Kennealy-Morrison, American journalist and author
- 1947 – David Franzoni, American screenwriter and film producer
- 1947 – Jan Garbarek, Norwegian saxophonist and composer
- 1947 – Bob Lewis, American guitarist
- 1947 – Pēteris Plakidis, Latvian pianist and composer (d. 2017)
- 1948 – Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, New Zealand-Australian author
- 1948 – James Ellroy, American writer
- 1948 – Tom Grieve, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster
- 1948 – Mike Moran, English musician, songwriter and record producer
- 1948 – Jean O’Leary, American nun and activist (d. 2005)
- 1948 – Chris Squire, English singer-songwriter and bass guitarist (d. 2015)
- 1948 – Shakin’ Stevens, British singer-songwriter
- 1949 – Sergei Bagapsh, Abkhazian politician, 2nd President of Abkhazia (d. 2011)
- 1949 – Carroll Baker, Canadian singer-songwriter
- 1950 – Ofelia Medina, Mexican actress and screenwriter
- 1950 – Rick Perry, American captain and politician, 47th Governor of Texas
- 1950 – Safet Plakalo, Bosnian author and playwright (d. 2015)
- 1951 – Edelgard Bulmahn, German educator and politician, German Federal Minister of Education and Research
- 1951 – Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, South Korean-American author, director, and producer (d. 1982)
- 1951 – Kenny Dalglish, Scottish footballer and manager
- 1951 – Pete Haycock, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
- 1951 – Peter O’Sullivan, Welsh international footballer, winger
- 1951 – Sam Perlozzo, American baseball player and manager
- 1951 – Chris Rea, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1951 – Glenis Willmott, English scientist and politician
- 1951 – Zoran Žižić, Montenegrin politician, 4th Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (d. 2013)
- 1952 – Peter Kuhfeld, English painter
- 1952 – Ronn Moss, American singer-songwriter and actor
- 1952 – Svend Robinson, American-Canadian lawyer and politician
- 1952 – Umberto Tozzi, Italian singer-songwriter and producer
- 1953 – John Edwards, Australian director and producer
- 1953 – Emilio Estefan, Cuban-American drummer and producer
- 1953 – Paweł Janas, Polish footballer and manager
- 1953 – Ray Price, Australian rugby player and sportscaster
- 1953 – Reinhold Roth, German motorcycle racer
- 1953 – Chris Smith, American lawyer and politician
- 1953 – Agustí Villaronga, Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1953 – Daniel Woodrell, American novelist and short story writer
- 1954 – Timur Apakidze, Russian general and pilot (d. 2001)
- 1954 – Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Korean American author (d. 1982)
- 1954 – François Fillon, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France
- 1954 – Peter Jacobsen, American golfer and sportscaster
- 1954 – Catherine O’Hara, Canadian-American actress and comedian
- 1954 – Irina Ratushinskaya, Russian poet and author (d. 2017)
- 1955 – Tim Costello, Australian minister and politician
- 1955 – Joey Jones, Welsh footballer and manager
- 1957 – Nicholas Coleridge, English journalist and businessman
- 1957 – Ron Fassler, American film and television actor and author
- 1957 – Mykelti Williamson, American actor and director
- 1958 – Patricia Heaton, American actress
- 1958 – Massimo Mascioletti, Italian rugby player and coach
- 1958 – Tina Smith, American politician, junior senator of Minnesota
- 1959 – Rick Ardon, Australian journalist
- 1959 – Plamen Getov, Bulgarian footballer
- 1960 – Chonda Pierce, American comedian
- 1961 – Ray Mancini, American boxer
- 1961 – Steven Weber, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1961 – Roger Wessels, South African golfer and educator
- 1962 – Simon Bisley, English author and illustrator
- 1962 – Paul Canoville, English footballer
- 1962 – Stephan Reimertz, German historian and author
- 1963 – Jason Newsted, American heavy metal singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1964 – Dave Colclough, Welsh computer programmer and poker player (d. 2016)
- 1964 – Brian Crowley, Irish lawyer and politician
- 1964 – Tom Lampkin, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1964 – Paolo Virzì, Italian director and screenwriter
- 1965 – Greg Alexander, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
- 1965 – Paul W. S. Anderson, English director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1965 – Andrew Collins, English journalist and screenwriter
- 1965 – Khaled Hosseini, Afghan-born American novelist
- 1965 – Yury Lonchakov, Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut
- 1965 – John Murphy British film composer
- 1966 – Emese Hunyady, Hungarian speed skater
- 1966 – Kevin Johnson, American basketball player and politician, 55th Mayor of Sacramento
- 1966 – Fiona Ma, American accountant and politician
- 1966 – Helmut Mayer, Austrian skier
- 1966 – Glen Nissen, Australian rugby league player
- 1966 – Dav Pilkey, American author and illustrator
- 1966 – Grand Puba, American rapper
- 1966 – Mike Small, American golfer and coach
- 1967 – Daryll Cullinan, South African cricketer and coach
- 1967 – Evan Dando, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1967 – Ivan Lewis, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
- 1967 – Terry Matterson, Australian rugby league player and coach
- 1967 – Dave Rayner, English cyclist (d. 1994)
- 1967 – Sam Taylor-Johnson, English filmmaker and photographer
- 1967 – Kubilay Türkyilmaz, Swiss footballer
- 1967 – Tim Vine, English comedian, actor, and author
- 1968 – Giovanni Carrara, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1968 – Jorge Celedón, Colombian singer
- 1968 – Patsy Kensit, English model and actress
- 1968 – Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greek banker and politician, Prime Minister of Greece
- 1968 – Graham Westley, English footballer and manager
- 1969 – Pierluigi Casiraghi, Italian footballer and manager
- 1969 – Wayne Collins, English footballer, midfielder
- 1969 – Annie Yi, Taiwanese singer, actress, and writer
- 1970 – Àlex Crivillé, Spanish motorcycle racer
- 1970 – Will Keen, English actor
- 1970 – Caroline Vis, Dutch tennis player
- 1971 – Iain Baird, Canadian soccer player and manager
- 1971 – Claire Baker, Scottish politician
- 1971 – Emily Bazelon, American journalist
- 1971 – Jason Croot, English actor and director
- 1971 – Anders Kjølholm, Danish bass player
- 1971 – Satoshi Motoyama, Japanese race car driver
- 1971 – Geraldine O’Rawe, Northern Irish actress
- 1972 – Katherine Center, American journalist and author
- 1972 – Nocturno Culto, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1972 – Robert Smith, American football player and sportscaster
- 1972 – Ivy Queen, Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, rapper, actress and record producer
- 1972 – Jos Verstappen, Dutch race car driver
- 1972 – Alison Wheeler, English singer-songwriter
- 1973 – Massimo Brambilla, Italian footballer and coach
- 1973 – Phillip Daniels, American football player and coach
- 1973 – Valery Kobelev, Russian ski jumper
- 1973 – Penny Mordaunt, English lieutenant and politician, Minister of State for the Armed Forces
- 1973 – Linus of Hollywood, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1973 – Len Wiseman, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1973 – Chandra Sekhar Yeleti, Indian director and screenwriter
- 1974 – Crowbar, American wrestler
- 1974 – Mladen Krstajić, Serbian footballer and manager
- 1974 – Karol Kučera, Slovak tennis player
- 1974 – Ariel Ortega, Argentinian footballer
- 1974 – Tommy Phelps, South Korean-American baseball player and coach
- 1974 – ICS Vortex, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1974 – David Wagner, American tennis player and educator
- 1974 – Bill Young, Australian rugby player
- 1975 – Mats Eilertsen, Norwegian bassist and composer
- 1975 – Patrick Femerling, German basketball player
- 1975 – Antti Aalto, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1975 – Kristi Harrower, Australian basketball player
- 1975 – Hawksley Workman, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1976 – Robbie Blake, English footballer
- 1976 – Tommy Jönsson, Swedish footballer
- 1977 – Nacho Figueras, Argentinian polo player and model
- 1977 – Traver Rains, American fashion designer and photographer
- 1978 – Pierre Dagenais, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1978 – Denis Dallan, Italian rugby player and singer
- 1978 – Jean-Marc Pelletier, American ice hockey player
- 1979 – Sarah Stock, Canadian wrestler and trainer
- 1980 – Rohan Bopanna, Indian tennis player
- 1980 – Omar Bravo, Mexican footballer
- 1980 – Suzanna Choffel, American singer-songwriter
- 1980 – Giedrius Gustas, Lithuanian basketball player
- 1980 – Scott Hamilton, New Zealand rugby player and coach
- 1980 – Jack Hannahan, American baseball player
- 1980 – Michael Henrich, American ice hockey player
- 1980 – Phil McGuire, Scottish footballer and manager
- 1980 – Aja Volkman, American singer-songwriter
- 1981 – Ariza Makukula, Portuguese footballer
- 1981 – Helen Wyman, English cyclist
- 1982 – Landon Donovan, American soccer player and coach
- 1982 – Cate Edwards, American lawyer and author
- 1982 – Ludmila Ezhova, Russian gymnast
- 1982 – Yasemin Mori, Turkish singer
- 1983 – Samuel Contesti, French-Italian figure skater
- 1983 – Adam Deacon, English film actor, rapper, writer and director
- 1983 – Jaque Fourie, South African rugby player
- 1983 – Drew Houston, American billionaire and Internet entrepreneur
- 1984 – Josh Bowman, English actor
- 1984 – Tamir Cohen, Israeli footballer
- 1984 – Anders Grøndal, Norwegian race car driver
- 1984 – Spencer Larsen, American football player
- 1984 – Jeremy Loops, South African singer-songwriter and record producer
- 1984 – Raven Quinn, American singer-songwriter
- 1984 – Zak Whitbread, American-English footballer
- 1985 – Jake Buxton, English footballer
- 1985 – Chinedum Ndukwe, American football player
- 1985 – Whitney Port, American fashion designer and author
- 1986 – Steven Burke, English road and track cyclist
- 1986 – Tom De Mul, Belgian footballer
- 1986 – Mike Krieger, Brazilian-American computer programmer and businessman, co-founded Instagram
- 1986 – Siim Roops, Estonian footballer
- 1986 – Bohdan Shust, Ukrainian footballer
- 1986 – Manu Vatuvei, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1986 – Margo Harshman, American actress
- 1987 – Ben McKinley, Australian footballer
- 1987 – Cameron Wood, Australian footballer
- 1987 – Tamzin Merchant, English actress
- 1988 – Gal Mekel, Israeli basketball player
- 1988 – Laura Siegemund, German tennis player
- 1988 – Adam Watts, English footballer
- 1989 – Benjamin Kiplagat, Ugandan long-distance runner
- 1990 – Andrea Bowen, American actress
- 1990 – Draymond Green, American basketball player
- 1990 – Paddy Madden, Irish footballer
- 1990 – Fran Mérida, Spanish footballer
- 1992 – Nick Castellanos, American baseball player
- 1992 – Erik Lamela, Argentinian international footballer, midfielder
- 1992 – Bernd Leno, German footballer
- 1992 – Karl Mööl, Estonian footballer
- 1993 – Bobbi Kristina Brown, American singer and actress (d. 2015)
- 1993 – Richard Peniket, English footballer
- 1994 – Callum Harriott, English footballer
- 1994 – AJ Tracey, British hip-hop artist and record producer
- 1995 – Chlöe Howl, British singer-songwriter
- 1995 – Bill Milner, English actor
- 1996 – Lukas Webb, Australian rules footballer
- 2002 – Jacob Hopkins, American actor
Deaths on March 4
- 306 – Adrian and Natalia of Nicomedia, Christian martyrs
- 480 – Landry of Sées, French bishop and saint
- 561 – Pelagius I, pope of the Catholic Church
- 934 – Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah, Fatimid caliph (b. 873)
- 1172 – Stephen III, king of Hungary (b. 1147)
- 1193 – Saladin, founder of the Ayyubid Sultanate (b. 1137)
- 1238 – Joan of England, queen of Scotland (b. 1210)
- 1238 – Yuri II, Russian Grand Prince (b. 1189)
- 1303 – Daniel of Moscow, Russian Grand Duke (b. 1261)
- 1314 – Jakub Świnka, Polish priest and archbishop
- 1371 – Jeanne d’Évreux, queen consort of France (b. 1310)
- 1388 – Thomas Usk, English author
- 1484 – Saint Casimir, Polish prince (b. 1458)
- 1496 – Sigismund, archduke of Austria (b. 1427)
- 1583 – Bernard Gilpin, English priest and theologian (b. 1517)
- 1604 – Fausto Sozzini, Italian theologian and educator (b. 1539)
- 1615 – Hans von Aachen, German painter and educator (b. 1552)
- 1710 – Louis III, duke of Bourbon (b. 1668)
- 1733 – Claude de Forbin, French admiral and politician (b. 1656)
- 1744 – John Anstis, English historian and politician (b. 1669)
- 1762 – Johannes Zick, German painter (b. 1702)
- 1793 – Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, Duke of Penthièvre (b. 1725)
- 1795 – John Collins, American politician, 3rd Governor of Rhode Island (b. 1717)
- 1805 – Jean-Baptiste Greuze, French painter (b. 1725)
- 1807 – Abraham Baldwin, American minister, lawyer, and politician (b. 1754)
- 1811 – Mariano Moreno, Argentinian journalist, lawyer, and politician (b. 1778)
- 1832 – Jean-François Champollion, French philologist and scholar (b. 1790)
- 1851 – James Richardson, English explorer (b. 1809)
- 1852 – Nikolai Gogol, Ukrainian-Russian short story writer, novelist, and playwright (b. 1809)
- 1853 – Thomas Bladen Capel, English admiral (b. 1776)
- 1853 – Christian Leopold von Buch, German geologist and paleontologist (b. 1774)
- 1858 – Matthew C. Perry, American naval commander (b. 1794)
- 1864 – Thomas Starr King, American minister and politician (b. 1824)
- 1866 – Alexander Campbell, Irish-American minister and theologian (b. 1788)
- 1872 – Carsten Hauch, Danish poet and playwright (b. 1790)
- 1883 – Alexander H. Stephens, American lawyer and politician, Vice President of the Confederate States of America (b. 1812)
- 1888 – Amos Bronson Alcott, American philosopher and educator (b. 1799)
- 1903 – Joseph Henry Shorthouse, English author (b. 1834)
- 1906 – John Schofield, American general and politician, 28th United States Secretary of War (b. 1831)
- 1915 – William Willett, English inventor, founded British Summer Time (b. 1856)
- 1916 – Franz Marc, German painter (b. 1880)
- 1925 – Moritz Moszkowski, Polish-German pianist and composer (b. 1854)
- 1925 – James Ward, English psychologist and philosopher (b. 1843)
- 1925 – John Montgomery Ward, American baseball player and manager (b. 1860)
- 1927 – Ira Remsen, American chemist and academic (b. 1846)
- 1938 – George Foster Peabody, American banker and philanthropist (b. 1852)
- 1938 – Jack Taylor, American baseball player (b. 1874)
- 1940 – Hamlin Garland, American novelist, poet, essayist, and short story writer (b. 1860)
- 1941 – Ludwig Quidde, German activist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1858)
- 1944 – Fannie Barrier Williams, American educator and activist (b. 1855)
- 1944 – Louis Buchalter, American mob boss (b. 1897)
- 1944 – Louis Capone, Italian-American gangster (b. 1896)
- 1944 – René Lefebvre, French businessman (b. 1879)
- 1945 – Lucille La Verne, American actress (b. 1872)
- 1945 – Mark Sandrich, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1900)
- 1948 – Antonin Artaud, French actor and director (b. 1896)
- 1949 – Clarence Kingsbury, English cyclist (b. 1882)
- 1952 – Charles Scott Sherrington, English neurophysiologist and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1857)
- 1954 – Noel Gay, English composer and songwriter (b. 1898)
- 1960 – Herbert O’Conor, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 51st Governor of Maryland (b. 1896)
- 1963 – William Carlos Williams, American poet, short story writer, and essayist (b. 1883)
- 1969 – Nicholas Schenck, Russian-American businessman (b. 1881)
- 1972 – Harold Barrowclough, New Zealand general, lawyer, and politician, 8th Chief Justice of New Zealand (b. 1894)
- 1972 – Charles Biro, American author and illustrator (b. 1911)
- 1974 – Adolph Gottlieb, American painter and sculptor (b. 1903)
- 1976 – John Marvin Jones, American judge and politician (b. 1882)
- 1976 – Walter H. Schottky, Swiss-German physicist and engineer (b. 1886)
- 1977 – Anatol E. Baconsky, Romanian poet, author, and critic (b. 1925)
- 1977 – Nancy Tyson Burbidge, Australian botanist and curator (b. 1912)
- 1977 – Andrés Caicedo, Colombian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1951)
- 1977 – William Paul, American lawyer and politician (b. 1885)
- 1977 – Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk, German jurist and politician, German Minister for Foreign Affairs (b. 1887)
- 1978 – Wesley Bolin, American businessman and politician, 15th Governor of Arizona (b. 1909)
- 1978 – Joe Marsala, American clarinet player and songwriter (b. 1907)
- 1979 – Willi Unsoeld, American mountaineer and educator (b. 1926)
- 1980 – Alan Hardaker, English lieutenant and businessman (b. 1912)
- 1981 – Torin Thatcher, American actor (b. 1905)
- 1981 – Karl-Jesko von Puttkamer, German admiral (b. 1900)
- 1986 – Albert L. Lehninger, American biochemist and academic (b. 1917)
- 1986 – Richard Manuel, Canadian singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1943)
- 1986 – Elizabeth Smart, Canadian poet and author (b. 1913)
- 1987 – Seibo Kitamura, Japanese sculptor (b. 1884)
- 1988 – Beatriz Guido, Argentine author and screenwriter (b. 1924)
- 1989 – Tiny Grimes, American guitarist (b. 1916)
- 1990 – Hank Gathers, American basketball player (b. 1967)
- 1991 – Godfrey Bryan, English cricketer (b. 1902)
- 1992 – Art Babbitt, American animator and director (b. 1907)
- 1992 – Pare Lorentz, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1905)
- 1993 – Art Hodes, Ukrainian-American pianist and composer (b. 1904)
- 1993 – Tomislav Ivčić, Croatian singer-songwriter and politician (b. 1953)
- 1993 – Izaak Kolthoff, Dutch chemist and academic (b. 1894)
- 1993 – Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale, English lieutenant and politician, Secretary of State for the Environment (b. 1929)
- 1994 – John Candy, Canadian comedian and actor (b. 1950)
- 1994 – George Edward Hughes, Irish-Scottish philosopher and author (b. 1918)
- 1995 – Matt Urban, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1919)
- 1996 – Minnie Pearl, American entertainer (b. 1912)
- 1996 – John Sauer, American football player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1925)
- 1997 – Joe Baker-Cresswell, English captain (b. 1901)
- 1997 – Robert H. Dicke, American physicist and astronomer (b. 1916)
- 1998 – Ivan Dougherty, Australian general (b. 1907)
- 1999 – Harry Blackmun, American lawyer and judge (b. 1908)
- 1999 – Del Close, American actor and educator (b. 1934)
- 1999 – Miłosz Magin, Polish pianist and composer (b. 1929)
- 2000 – Hermann Brück, German-Scottish physicist and astronomer (b. 1905)
- 2000 – Michael Noonan, New Zealand-Australian author and screenwriter (b. 1921)
- 2000 – Ta-You Wu, Chinese physicist and academic (b. 1907)
- 2001 – Gerardo Barbero, Argentinian chess player (b. 1961)
- 2001 – Jean René Bazaine, French painter and author (b. 1904)
- 2001 – Fred Lasswell, American cartoonist (b. 1916)
- 2001 – Jim Rhodes, American businessman and politician, 61st Governor of Ohio (b. 1909)
- 2001 – Harold Stassen, American educator and politician, 25th Governor of Minnesota (b. 1907)
- 2002 – Ugnė Karvelis, Lithuanian author and translator (b. 1935)
- 2002 – Elyne Mitchell, Australian skier and author (b. 1913)
- 2002 – Velibor Vasović, Serbian footballer and manager (b. 1939)
- 2003 – Jaba Ioseliani, Georgian playwright, academic, and politician (b. 1926)
- 2003 – Sébastien Japrisot, French author, screenwriter, and director (b. 1931)
- 2004 – Claude Nougaro, French singer-songwriter (b. 1929)
- 2005 – Nicola Calipari, Italian general (b. 1953)
- 2005 – Yuriy Kravchenko, Ukrainian police officer and politician (b. 1951)
- 2005 – Carlos Sherman, Uruguayan-Belarusian author and activist (b. 1934)
- 2006 – John Reynolds Gardiner, American author and engineer (b. 1944)
- 2006 – Edgar Valter, Estonian author and illustrator (b. 1929)
- 2007 – Thomas Eagleton, American lawyer and politician, 38th Lieutenant Governor of Missouri (b. 1929)
- 2007 – Tadeusz Nalepa, Polish singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1934)
- 2007 – Ian Wooldridge, English journalist (b. 1932)
- 2008 – Gary Gygax, American game designer, co-created Dungeons & Dragons (b. 1938)
- 2008 – Leonard Rosenman, American composer and conductor (b. 1924)
- 2009 – Yvon Cormier, Canadian wrestler (b. 1938)
- 2009 – Horton Foote, American playwright and screenwriter (b. 1916)
- 2009 – George McAfee, American football player (b. 1918)
- 2010 – Raimund Abraham, Austrian architect and educator, designed the Austrian Cultural Forum New York (b. 1933)
- 2010 – Johnny Alf, Brazilian pianist and composer (b. 1929)
- 2010 – Vladislav Ardzinba, Abkhazian historian and politician, 1st President of Abkhazia (b. 1945)
- 2010 – Fred Wedlock, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1942)
- 2011 – Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, Nepalese journalist and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1924)
- 2011 – Vivienne Harris, English journalist and publisher, co-founded the Jewish Telegraph (b. 1921)
- 2011 – Ed Manning, American basketball player and coach (b. 1943)
- 2011 – Arjun Singh, Indian politician (b. 1930)
- 2011 – Alenush Terian, Iranian astronomer and physicist (b. 1920)
- 2011 – Simon van der Meer, Dutch-Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Paul McBride, Scottish lawyer and politician (b. 1965)
- 2012 – Don Mincher, American baseball player (b. 1938)
- 2013 – Lillian Cahn, Hungarian-American businesswoman, co-founded Coach, Inc. (b. 1923)
- 2013 – Mickey Moore, Canadian-American actor and director (b. 1914)
- 2013 – Toren Smith, Canadian businessman, founded Studio Proteus (b. 1960)
- 2014 – Mark Freidkin, Russian author and poet (b. 1953)
- 2014 – Elaine Kellett-Bowman, English lawyer and politician (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Jack Kinzler, American engineer (b. 1920)
- 2014 – Wu Tianming, Chinese director and producer (b. 1939)
- 2015 – Dušan Bilandžić, Croatian historian and politician (b. 1924)
- 2015 – Ray Hatton, English-American runner, author, and academic (b. 1932)
- 2016 – Bud Collins, American journalist and sportscaster (b. 1929)
- 2016 – Pat Conroy, American author (b. 1945)
- 2016 – P. A. Sangma, Indian lawyer and politician, Speaker of the Lok Sabha (b. 1947)
- 2016 – Zhou Xiaoyan, Chinese soprano and educator (b. 1917)
- 2017 – Clayton Yeutter, American politician (b. 1930)
- 2018 – Davide Astori, Italian soccer player (b. 1987)
- 2019 – Keith Flint, English singer (The Prodigy) (b. 1969)
- 2019 – Luke Perry, American actor (b. 1966)
- 2020 – Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Peruvian politician and diplomat
Holidays and observances on March 4
- Christian feast day:
- Adrian of Nicomedia
- Casimir
- Felix of Rhuys
- Giovanni Antonio Farina (Catholic Church)
- Blessed Humbert III, Count of Savoy (Roman Catholic Church)
- Paul Cuffee (Episcopal Church)
- Peter of Pappacarbone
- Blessed Zoltán Meszlényi
- March 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- St Casimir’s Day (Poland and Lithuania)