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July 13 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 587 BC – Babylon’s siege of Jerusalem ends following the destruction of Solomon’s Temple.
  • 1174 – William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173–74, is captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to Henry II of England.
  • 1249 – Coronation of Alexander III as King of Scots.
  • 1260 – The Livonian Order suffers its greatest defeat in the 13th century in the Battle of Durbe against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
  • 1558 – Battle of Gravelines: In France, Spanish forces led by Count Lamoral of Egmont defeat the French forces of Marshal Paul de Thermes at Gravelines.
  • 1573 – Eighty Years’ War: The Siege of Haarlem ends after seven months.
  • 1643 – English Civil War: Battle of Roundway Down: In England, Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester, commanding the Royalist forces, heavily defeats the Parliamentarian forces led by Sir William Waller.
  • 1787 – The Continental Congress enacts the Northwest Ordinance establishing governing rules for the Northwest Territory. It also establishes procedures for the admission of new states and limits the expansion of slavery.
  • 1793 – Journalist and French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat is assassinated in his bathtub by Charlotte Corday, a member of the opposing political faction.
  • 1794 – The Battle of Trippstadt is fought between French forces and those of Prussia and Austria.
  • 1814 – The Carabinieri, the national gendarmerie of Italy, is established.
  • 1830 – The General Assembly’s Institution, now the Scottish Church College, one of the pioneering institutions that ushered the Bengali Renaissance, is founded by Alexander Duff and Raja Ram Mohan Roy, in Calcutta, India.
  • 1831 – Regulamentul Organic, a quasi-constitutional organic law is adopted in Wallachia, one of the two Danubian Principalities that were to become the basis of Romania.
  • 1854 – In the Battle of Guaymas, Mexico, General José María Yáñez stops the French invasion led by Count Gaston de Raousset-Boulbon.
  • 1863 – New York City draft riots: In New York City, opponents of conscription begin three days of rioting which will be later regarded as the worst in United States history.
  • 1878 – Treaty of Berlin: The European powers redraw the map of the Balkans. Serbia, Montenegro and Romania become completely independent of the Ottoman Empire.
  • 1919 – The British airship R34 lands in Norfolk, England, completing the first airship return journey across the Atlantic in 182 hours of flight.
  • 1941 – World War II: Montenegrins begin a popular uprising against the Axis powers (Trinaestojulski ustanak).
  • 1956 – The Dartmouth workshop is the first conference on artificial intelligence.
  • 1962 – In an unprecedented action, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan dismisses seven members of his Cabinet, marking the effective end of the National Liberals as a distinct force within British politics.
  • 1973 – Watergate scandal: Alexander Butterfield reveals the existence of a secret Oval Office taping system to investigators for the Senate Watergate Committee.
  • 1977 – Somalia declares war on Ethiopia, starting the Ogaden War.
  • 1977 – New York City: Amidst a period of financial and social turmoil experiences an electrical blackout lasting nearly 24 hours that leads to widespread fires and looting.
  • 1985 – The Live Aid benefit concert takes place in London and Philadelphia, as well as other venues such as Moscow and Sydney.
  • 1985 – Vice President George H. W. Bush becomes the Acting President for the day when President Ronald Reagan undergoes surgery to remove polyps from his colon.
  • 2003 – French DGSE personnel abort an operation to rescue Íngrid Betancourt from FARC rebels in Colombia, causing a political scandal when details are leaked to the press.
  • 2008 – Battle of Wanat begins when Taliban and al-Qaeda guerrillas attack US Army and Afghan National Army troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. deaths were, at that time, the most in a single battle since the beginning of operations in 2001.
  • 2011 – Mumbai is rocked by three bomb blasts during the evening rush hour, killing 26 and injuring 130.
  • 2011 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 1999 is adopted, which admits South Sudan to member status of the United Nations.
  • 2013 – Typhoon Soulik kills at least nine people and affects more than 160 million in East China and Taiwan.
  • 2016 – Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron resigns, and is succeeded by Theresa May.

Births on July 13

  • 100 BC – Julius Caesar, Roman general and statesman (d. 44 BC)
  • 1426 – Anne Neville, Countess of Warwick (d. 1492)
  • 1478 – Giulio d’Este, illegitimate son of Italian noble (d. 1561)
  • 1470 – Francesco Armellini Pantalassi de’ Medici, Catholic cardinal (d. 1528)
  • 1527 – John Dee, English-Welsh mathematician, astronomer, and astrologer (d. 1609)
  • 1579 – Arthur Dee, English physician and chemist (d. 1651)
  • 1590 – Pope Clement X (d. 1676)
  • 1606 – Roland Fréart de Chambray (d. 1676)
  • 1607 – Wenceslaus Hollar, Czech-English painter and illustrator (d. 1677)
  • 1608 – Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1657)
  • 1745 – Robert Calder, Scottish-English admiral (d. 1818)
  • 1756 – Thomas Rowlandson, English artist and caricaturist (d. 1827)
  • 1760 – István Pauli, Hungarian-Slovene priest and poet (d. 1829)
  • 1770 – Alexander Balashov, Russian general and politician, Russian Minister of Police (d. 1837)
  • 1793 – John Clare, English poet and author (d. 1864)
  • 1821 – Nathan Bedford Forrest, American general and first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan (d. 1877)
  • 1831 – Arthur Böttcher, German pathologist and anatomist (d. 1889)
  • 1841 – Otto Wagner, Austrian architect, designed the Austrian Postal Savings Bank and Karlsplatz Stadtbahn Station (d. 1918)
  • 1858 – Stewart Culin, American ethnographer and author (d. 1929)
  • 1859 – Sidney Webb, 1st Baron Passfield, English economist and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1947)
  • 1863 – Margaret Murray, British archaeologist, anthropologist, historian, and folklorist (d. 1963)
  • 1864 – John Jacob Astor IV, American colonel and businessman (d. 1912)
  • 1877 – Robert Henry Mathews, Australian linguist and missionary (d. 1970)
  • 1884 – Yrjö Saarela, Finnish wrestler and coach (d. 1951)
  • 1889 – Emma Asson, Estonian educator and politician (d. 1965)
  • 1889 – Stan Coveleski, American baseball player (d. 1984)
  • 1892 – Léo-Pol Morin, Canadian pianist, composer, and educator (d. 1941)
  • 1892 – Jonni Myyrä, Finnish-American discus and javelin thrower (d. 1955)
  • 1894 – Isaac Babel, Russian short story writer, journalist, and playwright (d. 1940)
  • 1895 – Sidney Blackmer, American actor (d. 1973)
  • 1896 – Mordecai Ardon, Israeli painter and educator (d. 1992)
  • 1898 – Julius Schreck, German commander (d. 1936)
  • 1898 – Ivan Triesault, Estonian-born American actor (d. 1980)
  • 1900 – George Lewis, American clarinet player and songwriter (d. 1969)
  • 1901 – Eric Portman, English actor (d. 1969)
  • 1903 – Kenneth Clark, English historian and author (d. 1983)
  • 1905 – Alfredo M. Santos, Filipino general (d. 1990)
  • 1905 – Eugenio Pagnini, Italian modern pentathlete (d. 1993)
  • 1905 – Magda Foy, American child actress (d. 2000)
  • 1907 – George Weller, American author, playwright, and journalist (d. 2002)
  • 1908 – Dorothy Round, English tennis player (d. 1982)
  • 1908 – Tim Spencer, American country & western singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1974)
  • 1910 – Lien Gisolf, Dutch high jumper (d. 1993)
  • 1910 – Loren Pope, American journalist and author (d. 2008)
  • 1911 – Bob Steele (broadcaster), American radio personality (d. 2002)
  • 1913 – Dave Garroway, American journalist and television personality (d. 1982)
  • 1913 – Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, Danish businessman (d. 2012)
  • 1913 – Kay Linaker, American actress and screenwriter (d. 2008)
  • 1915 – Kaoru Ishikawa, Japanese author and educator (d. 1989)
  • 1918 – Alberto Ascari, Italian race car driver (d. 1955)
  • 1918 – Ronald Bladen, American painter and sculptor (d. 1988)
  • 1918 – Marcia Brown, American author and illustrator (d. 2015)
  • 1919 – Hau Pei-tsun, 13th Premier of the Republic of China (d. 2020)
  • 1919 – William F. Quinn, American lawyer (d. 2006)
  • 1921 – Ernest Gold, Austrian-American composer and conductor (d. 1999)
  • 1922 – Leslie Brooks, American actress (d. 2011)
  • 1922 – Anker Jørgensen, Danish trade union leader and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Denmark (d. 2016)
  • 1922 – Helmy Afify Abd El-Bar, Egyptian military commander (d. 2011)
  • 1922 – Ken Mosdell, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2006)
  • 1923 – Ashley Bryan, American children’s book author and illustrator
  • 1924 – Johnny Gilbert, American game show host and announcer
  • 1925 – Suzanne Zimmerman, American competition swimmer and Olympic medalist
  • 1925 – Huang Zongying, Chinese actress and writer
  • 1926 – Robert H. Justman, American director, producer, and production manager (d. 2008)
  • 1926 – T. Loren Christianson, American politician (d. 2019)
  • 1926 – Thomas Clark, American politician (d. 2020)
  • 1927 – Simone Veil, French lawyer and politician, President of the European Parliament (d. 2017)
  • 1927 – Ian Reed, Australian discus thrower
  • 1928 – Bob Crane, American actor (d. 1978)
  • 1928 – Sven Davidson, Swedish-American tennis player (d. 2008)
  • 1928 – Al Rex, American musician (d. 2020)
  • 1929 – Sofia Muratova, Russian gymnast (d. 2006)
  • 1929 – Svein Ellingsen, Norwegian visual artist and hymnist (d. 2020)
  • 1930 – Sam Greenlee, American author and poet (d. 2014)
  • 1930 – Naomi Shemer, Israeli singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
  • 1931 – Frank Ramsey, American basketball player and coach (d. 2018)
  • 1932 – Hubert Reeves, Canadian-French astrophysicist and author
  • 1933 – David Storey, English author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
  • 1933 – Piero Manzoni, Italian artist (d. 1963)
  • 1934 – Peter Gzowski, Canadian journalist and academic (d. 2002)
  • 1934 – Gordon Lee, English footballer and manager
  • 1934 – Wole Soyinka, Nigerian author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1934 – Aleksei Yeliseyev, Russian engineer and astronaut
  • 1935 – Jack Kemp, American football player and politician, 9th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (d. 2009)
  • 1935 – Earl Lovelace, Trinidadian journalist, author, and playwright
  • 1935 – Kurt Westergaard, Danish cartoonist
  • 1936 – Albert Ayler, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1970)
  • 1937 – Ghillean Prance, English botanist and ecologist
  • 1939 – Lambert Jackson Woodburne, South African admiral (d. 2013)
  • 1940 – Tom Lichtenberg, American football player and coach (d. 2013)
  • 1940 – Paul Prudhomme, American chef and author (d. 2015)
  • 1940 – Patrick Stewart, English actor, director, and producer
  • 1941 – Grahame Corling, Australian cricketer
  • 1941 – Robert Forster, American actor and producer (d. 2019)
  • 1941 – Ehud Manor, Israeli songwriter and translator (d. 2005)
  • 1941 – Jacques Perrin, French actor, director, and producer
  • 1942 – Harrison Ford, American actor and producer
  • 1942 – Roger McGuinn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1943 – Chris Serle, English journalist and actor
  • 1944 – Eric Freeman, Australian cricketer
  • 1944 – Cyril Knowles, English footballer and manager (d. 1991)
  • 1944 – Erno Rubik, Hungarian game designer, architect, and educator, invented the Rubik’s Cube
  • 1945 – Ashley Mallett, Australian cricketer and author
  • 1946 – Bob Kauffman, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
  • 1946 – Cheech Marin, American actor and comedian
  • 1948 – Catherine Breillat, French director and screenwriter
  • 1949 – Bryan Murray, Irish actor
  • 1950 – George Nelson, American astronomer and astronaut
  • 1950 – Ma Ying-jeou, Hong Kong-Taiwanese commander and politician, 12th President of the Republic of China
  • 1950 – Jurelang Zedkaia, Marshallese politician, 5th President of the Marshall Islands (d. 2015)
  • 1951 – Rob Bishop, American educator and politician
  • 1951 – Didi Conn, American actress and singer
  • 1953 – David Thompson, American basketball player
  • 1954 – Ray Bright, Australian cricketer
  • 1954 – Louise Mandrell, American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1956 – Mark Mendoza, American bass player and songwriter
  • 1956 – Michael Spinks, American boxer
  • 1957 – Thierry Boutsen, Belgian race car driver and businessman
  • 1957 – Cameron Crowe, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1959 – Richard Leman, English field hockey player
  • 1959 – Fuziah Salleh, Malaysian politician
  • 1960 – Robert Abraham, American football player
  • 1960 – Ian Hislop, Welsh-English journalist and screenwriter
  • 1960 – Curtis Rouse, American football player (d. 2013)
  • 1961 – Tahira Asif, Pakistani politician (d. 2014)
  • 1961 – Anders Jarryd, Swedish tennis player
  • 1961 – Khalid Mahmood, Pakistani-English engineer and politician
  • 1961 – Stelios Manolas, Greek footballer and manager
  • 1961 – Tim Watson, Australian footballer, coach, and journalist
  • 1962 – Tom Kenny, American voice actor and screenwriter
  • 1962 – Rhonda Vincent, American singer-songwriter and mandolin player
  • 1963 – Neal Foulds, English snooker player and sportscaster
  • 1963 – Kenny Johnson, American actor, producer, and model
  • 1964 – Charlie Hides, American drag queen and comedian
  • 1964 – Paul Thorn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1965 – Eileen Ivers, American fiddler
  • 1965 – Colin van der Voort, Australian rugby league player
  • 1966 – Gerald Levert, American R&B singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (d. 2006)
  • 1966 – Natalia Luis-Bassa, Venezuelan-English conductor and educator
  • 1967 – Richard Marles, Australian lawyer and politician, 50th Australian Minister for Trade and Investment
  • 1967 – Mark McGowan, Australian politician, 30th Premier of Western Australia
  • 1969 – Brad Godden, Australian rugby league player
  • 1969 – Ken Jeong, American actor, comedian, and physician
  • 1969 – Oleg Serebrian, Moldovan political scientist and politician
  • 1970 – Andrei Tivontchik, German pole vaulter and trainer
  • 1971 – Mark Neeld, Australian footballer and coach
  • 1972 – Sean Waltman, American professional wrestler
  • 1974 – Deborah Cox, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1974 – Jarno Trulli, Italian race car driver
  • 1975 – Diego Spotorno, Ecuadorian actor
  • 1975 – Mariada Pieridi, Cypriot singer-songwriter
  • 1976 – Sheldon Souray, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1977 – Chris Horn, American football player
  • 1978 – Ryan Ludwick, American baseball player
  • 1978 – Prodromos Nikolaidis, Greek basketball player
  • 1979 – Craig Bellamy, Welsh footballer
  • 1979 – Daniel Díaz, Argentinian footballer
  • 1979 – Libuše Průšová, Czech tennis player
  • 1979 – Lucinda Ruh, Swiss figure skater and coach
  • 1981 – Ágnes Kovács, Hungarian swimmer
  • 1981 – Mirco Lorenzetto, Italian cyclist
  • 1982 – Shin-Soo Choo, South Korean baseball player
  • 1982 – Simon Clist, English footballer
  • 1982 – Dominic Isaacs, South African footballer
  • 1982 – Nick Kenny, Australian rugby league player
  • 1982 – Yadier Molina, Puerto Rican-American baseball player
  • 1983 – Kristof Beyens, Belgian sprinter
  • 1983 – Marco Pomante, Italian footballer
  • 1983 – Liu Xiang, Chinese hurdler
  • 1984 – Ida Maria, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1985 – Trell Kimmons, American sprinter
  • 1985 – Guillermo Ochoa, Mexican footballer
  • 1985 – Charlotte Dujardin, English equestrian
  • 1988 – Marcos Paulo Gelmini Gomes, Brazilian-Italian footballer
  • 1988 – Colton Haynes, American actor, model and singer
  • 1988 – Steven R. McQueen, American actor and model
  • 1988 – Raúl Spank, German high jumper
  • 1988 – Tulisa, English singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1989 – Leon Bridges, American soul singer, songwriter and record producer
  • 1989 – Charis Giannopoulos, Greek basketball player
  • 1990 – Kieran Foran, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1990 – Eduardo Salvio, Argentinian footballer
  • 1992 – Elise Matthysen, Belgian swimmer
  • 1993 – Daniel Bentley, English footballer
  • 1995 – Cody Bellinger, American baseball player
  • 1995 – Dante Exum, Australian basketball player
  • 2002 – Deborah Medrado, Brazilian rhythmic gymnast
  • 2003 – Wyatt Oleff, American child actor
  • 2005 – Kyle Harrison Breitkopf, Canadian child actor

Deaths on July 13

  • 574 – John III, pope of the Catholic Church
  • 716 – Rui Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 662)
  • 815 – Wu Yuanheng, Chinese poet and politician (b. 758)
  • 884 – Huang Chao, Chinese rebel leader (b. 835)
  • 939 – Leo VII, pope of the Catholic Church
  • 982 – Gunther, margrave of Merseburg
  • 982 – Henry I, bishop of Augsburg
  • 982 – Pandulf II, Lombard prince
  • 982 – Landulf IV, Lombard prince
  • 982 – Abu’l-Qasim, Kalbid emir of Sicily
  • 1024 – Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 973)
  • 1105 – Rashi, French rabbi and commentator (b. 1040)
  • 1205 – Hubert Walter, English archbishop and politician, Lord Chancellor of The United Kingdom (b. 1160)
  • 1357 – Bartolus de Saxoferrato Italian academic and jurist (b. 1313)
  • 1380 – Bertrand du Guesclin, French nobleman and knight (b. 1320)
  • 1399 – Peter Parler, German architect, designed St. Vitus Cathedral and Charles Bridge (b. 1330)
  • 1399 – Jadwiga, queen of Poland (b. 1399)
  • 1402 – Jianwen, Chinese emperor (b. 1377)
  • 1491 – Afonso, Portuguese prince (b. 1475)
  • 1551 – John Wallop, English soldier and diplomat (b. 1490)
  • 1617 – Adam Wenceslaus, duke of Cieszyn (b. 1574)
  • 1621 – Albert VII, archduke of Austria (b. 1559)
  • 1626 – Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester, English politician (b. 1563)
  • 1628 – Robert Shirley, English soldier and diplomat (b. 1581)
  • 1629 – Caspar Bartholin the Elder, Swedish physician and theologian (b. 1585)
  • 1683 – Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1631)
  • 1755 – Edward Braddock, Scottish general (b. 1695)
  • 1762 – James Bradley, English priest and astronomer (b. 1693)
  • 1789 – Victor de Riqueti, marquis de Mirabeau, French economist and academic (b. 1715)
  • 1793 – Jean-Paul Marat, French physician and theorist (b. 1743)
  • 1807 – Henry Benedict Stuart, Italian cardinal (b. 1725)
  • 1881 – John C. Pemberton, American general (b. 1814)
  • 1889 – Robert Hamerling, Austrian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1830)
  • 1890 – John C. Frémont, American general and politician, 5th Territorial Governor of Arizona (b. 1813)
  • 1890 – Johann Voldemar Jannsen, Estonian journalist and poet (b. 1819)
  • 1893 – Young Man Afraid of His Horses, American tribal chief (b. 1836)
  • 1896 – August Kekulé, German chemist and academic (b. 1829)
  • 1907 – Henrik Sillem, Dutch target shooter and jurist (b. 1866)
  • 1911 – Allan McLean, Scottish-Australian politician, 19th Premier of Victoria (b. 1840)
  • 1921 – Gabriel Lippmann, Luxembourger physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
  • 1922 – Martin Dies, Sr., American journalist and politician (b. 1870)
  • 1927 – Mimar Kemaleddin Bey, Turkish architect and academic, designed the Tayyare Apartments (b. 1870)
  • 1934 – Mary E. Byrd, American astronomer and academic (b. 1849)
  • 1936 – Kojo Tovalou Houénou, Beninese lawyer and politician (b. 1887)
  • 1941 – Ilmar Raud, Estonian chess player (b. 1913)
  • 1945 – Alla Nazimova, Russian-American actress, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1879)
  • 1946 – Alfred Stieglitz, American photographer and curator (b. 1864)
  • 1949 – Walt Kuhn, American painter and academic (b. 1877)
  • 1951 – Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian-American composer and painter (b. 1874)
  • 1954 – Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter and educator (b. 1907)
  • 1960 – Joy Davidman, American-English poet and author (b. 1915)
  • 1965 – Photis Kontoglou, Greek painter and illustrator (b. 1895)
  • 1967 – Tom Simpson, English cyclist (b. 1937)
  • 1970 – Leslie Groves, American general and engineer (b. 1896)
  • 1970 – Sheng Shicai, Chinese warlord (b. 1895)
  • 1973 – Willy Fritsch, German actor and screenwriter (b. 1901)
  • 1974 – Patrick Blackett, Baron Blackett, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
  • 1976 – Frederick Hawksworth, English engineer (b. 1884)
  • 1976 – Joachim Peiper, German SS officer (b. 1915)
  • 1979 – Ludwig Merwart, Austrian painter and illustrator (b. 1913)
  • 1980 – Seretse Khama, Botswana lawyer and politician, 1st President of Botswana (b. 1921)
  • 1983 – Gabrielle Roy, Canadian engineer and author (b. 1909)
  • 1993 – Davey Allison, American race car driver (b. 1961)
  • 1995 – Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, Danish businessman (b. 1920)
  • 1996 – Pandro S. Berman, American director, producer, and production manager (b. 1905)
  • 1997 – Miguel Ángel Blanco, Spanish politician (b. 1968)
  • 1999 – Konstantinos Kollias, Greek general and politician, 168th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1901)
  • 2000 – Jan Karski, Polish-American activist and academic (b. 1914)
  • 2003 – Compay Segundo, Cuban singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1907)
  • 2005 – Robert E. Ogren, American zoologist (b. 1922)
  • 2006 – Red Buttons, American actor (b. 1919)
  • 2007 – Michael Reardon, American mountaineer (b. 1965)
  • 2008 – Bronisław Geremek, Polish historian and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1932)
  • 2010 – Manohari Singh, Indian saxophonist and composer (b. 1931)
  • 2010 – George Steinbrenner, American businessman (b. 1930)
  • 2011 – Allan Jeans, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1933)
  • 2012 – Warren Jabali, American basketball player (b. 1946)
  • 2012 – Jerzy Kulej, Polish boxer and politician (b. 1940)
  • 2012 – Richard D. Zanuck, American film producer (b. 1934)
  • 2013 – Leonard Garment, American lawyer and public servant, 14th White House Counsel (b. 1924)
  • 2013 – Henri Julien, French race car driver (b. 1927)
  • 2013 – Cory Monteith, Canadian actor and singer (b. 1982)
  • 2013 – Ottavio Quattrocchi, Italian businessman (b. 1938)
  • 2013 – Vernon B. Romney, American lawyer and politician, 14th Attorney General of Utah (b. 1924)
  • 2013 – Marc Simont, French-American author and illustrator (b. 1915)
  • 2014 – Thomas Berger, American author and playwright (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Alfred de Grazia, American political scientist, author, and academic (b. 1919)
  • 2014 – Nadine Gordimer, South African novelist, short story writer, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1923)
  • 2014 – Jeff Leiding, American football player (b. 1961)
  • 2014 – Lorin Maazel, French-American violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1930)
  • 2015 – Philipp Mißfelder, German historian and politician (b. 1979)
  • 2015 – Martin Litchfield West, English scholar, author, and academic (b. 1927)
  • 2017 – Liu Xiaobo, Chinese literary critic, human rights activist (b. 1955)

Holidays and observances on July 13

  • Christian feast day:
    • Abd-al-Masih
    • Abel of Tacla Haimonot (Coptic Church)
    • Clelia Barbieri
    • Conrad Weiser (Episcopal Church (USA))
    • Eugenius of Carthage
    • Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor
    • Mildrith of Thanet
    • Rosa Mystica
    • Silas (Catholic Church)
    • Teresa of the Andes
    • July 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Feast of Kalimát, first day of the seventh month of the Bahá’í calendar. (Bahá’í Faith)
  • Statehood Day (Montenegro)
  • The last day of Naadam (Mongolia)
  • Kashmir Martyrs’ Day (Pakistan)

July 13 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

July 12 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • AD 70 – The armies of Titus attack the walls of Jerusalem after a six-month siege. Three days later they breach the walls, which enables the army to destroy the Second Temple.
  • 927 – King Constantine II of Scotland, King Hywel Dda of Deheubarth, Ealdred of Bamburgh and King Owain of the Cumbrians accepted the overlordship of King Æthelstan of England, leading to seven years of peace in the north.
  • 1191 – Third Crusade: Saladin’s garrison surrenders to Philip Augustus, ending the two-year siege of Acre.
  • 1470 – The Ottomans capture Euboea.
  • 1493 – Hartmann Schedel’s Nuremberg Chronicle, one of the best-documented early printed books, is published.
  • 1527 – Lê Cung Hoàng ceded the throne to Mạc Đăng Dung, ending the Lê dynasty and starting the Mạc dynasty.
  • 1543 – King Henry VIII of England marries his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr, at Hampton Court Palace.
  • 1562 – Fray Diego de Landa, acting Bishop of Yucatán, burns the sacred books of the Maya.
  • 1576 – Mughal Empire annexes Bengal after defeating the Bengal Sultanate at the Battle of Raj Mahal.
  • 1580 – The Ostrog Bible, one of the early printed Bibles in a Slavic language, is published.
  • 1691 – Battle of Aughrim (Julian calendar): The decisive victory of William III of England’s forces in Ireland.
  • 1776 – Captain James Cook begins his third voyage.
  • 1789 – In response to the dismissal of the French finance minister Jacques Necker, the radical journalist Camille Desmoulins gives a speech which results in the storming of the Bastille two days later.
  • 1790 – The Civil Constitution of the Clergy is passed in France by the National Constituent Assembly.
  • 1799 – Ranjit Singh conquers Lahore and becomes Maharaja of the Punjab (Sikh Empire).
  • 1801 – British ships inflict heavy damage on Spanish and French ships in the Second Battle of Algeciras.
  • 1806 – At the insistence of Napoleon, Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg and thirteen minor principalities leave the Holy Roman Empire and form the Confederation of the Rhine.
  • 1812 – The American Army of the Northwest briefly occupies the Upper Canadian settlement at what is now at Windsor, Ontario.
  • 1862 – The Medal of Honor is authorized by the United States Congress.
  • 1913 – Serbian forces begin their siege of the Bulgarian city of Vidin; the siege is later called off when the war ends.
  • 1917 – The Bisbee Deportation occurs as vigilantes kidnap and deport nearly 1,300 striking miners and others from Bisbee, Arizona.
  • 1918 – The Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Kawachi blows up at Shunan, western Honshu, Japan, killing at least 621.
  • 1920 – The Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty is signed, by which Soviet Russia recognizes the independence of Lithuania.
  • 1943 – German and Soviet forces engage in one of the largest armored engagements of all time.
  • 1948 – Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion orders the expulsion of Palestinians from the towns of Lod and Ramla.
  • 1960 – Orlyonok, the main Young Pioneer camp of the Russian SFSR, is founded.
  • 1961 – Indian city Pune floods due to failure of the Khadakwasla and Panshet dams, killing at least two thousand people.
  • 1962 – The Rolling Stones perform their first concert, at London’s Marquee Club.
  • 1963 – Pauline Reade, 16, disappears in Gorton, England, the first victim in the Moors murders.
  • 1967 – Riots begin in Newark, New Jersey.
  • 1971 – The Australian Aboriginal Flag is flown for the first time.
  • 1973 – A fire destroys the entire sixth floor of the National Personnel Records Center of the United States.
  • 1975 – São Tomé and Príncipe declare independence from Portugal.
  • 1979 – The island nation of Kiribati becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
  • 1998 – The Ulster Volunteer Force attacked a house in Ballymoney, County Antrim, Northern Ireland with a petrol bomb, killing the Quinn brothers.
  • 2006 – The 2006 Lebanon War begins.
  • 2007 – U.S. Army Apache helicopters engage in airstrikes against civilians in Baghdad, Iraq; footage from the cockpit is later leaked to the Internet.
  • 2012 – Syrian Civil War: Government forces target the homes of rebels and activists in Tremseh and kill anywhere between 68 and 150 people.
  • 2012 – A tank truck explosion kills more than 100 people in Okobie, Nigeria.
  • 2013 – Six people are killed and 200 injured in a French passenger train derailment in Brétigny-sur-Orge.

Births on July 12

  • 100 BC – Julius Caesar, Roman politician and general (d. 44 BC)
  • 1394 – Ashikaga Yoshinori, Japanese shōgun (d. 1441)
  • 1468 – Juan del Encina, Spanish poet, playwright, and composer (probable; d. 1530)
  • 1477 – Jacopo Sadoleto, Italian cardinal (d. 1547)
  • 1549 – Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland (d. 1587)
  • 1628 – Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk (d. 1684)
  • 1651 – Margaret Theresa of Spain (d. 1673)
  • 1675 – Evaristo Felice Dall’Abaco, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1742)
  • 1712 – Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet, Colonial governor of New Jersey and Massachusetts Bay (d. 1779)
  • 1730 – Josiah Wedgwood, English potter, founded the Wedgwood Company (d. 1795)
  • 1803 – Peter Chanel, French priest and saint (d. 1841)
  • 1807 – Thomas Hawksley, English engineer and academic (d. 1893)
  • 1813 – Claude Bernard, French physiologist and academic (d. 1878)
  • 1817 – Henry David Thoreau, American essayist, poet, and philosopher (d. 1862)
  • 1817 – Alvin Saunders, Territorial Governor and Senator from Nebraska (d. 1899)
  • 1821 – D. H. Hill, American general and academic (d. 1889)
  • 1824 – Eugène Boudin, French painter (d. 1898)
  • 1828 – Nikolay Chernyshevsky, Russian philosopher and critic (d. 1889)
  • 1849 – William Osler, Canadian physician and author (d. 1919)
  • 1850 – Otto Schoetensack, German anthropologist and academic (d. 1912)
  • 1852 – Hipólito Yrigoyen, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 19th President of Argentina (d. 1933)
  • 1854 – George Eastman, American businessman, founded Eastman Kodak (d. 1933)
  • 1855 – Ned Hanlan, Canadian rower, academic, and businessman (d. 1908)
  • 1857 – George E. Ohr, American potter (d. 1918)
  • 1861 – Anton Arensky, Russian pianist, composer, and educator (d. 1906)
  • 1863 – Albert Calmette, French physician, bacteriologist, and immunologist (d. 1933)
  • 1863 – Paul Drude, German physicist and academic (d. 1906)
  • 1868 – Stefan George, German poet and translator (d. 1933)
  • 1870 – Louis II, Prince of Monaco (d. 1949)
  • 1872 – Emil Hácha, Czech lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Czechoslovakia (d. 1945)
  • 1876 – Max Jacob, French poet, painter, and critic (d. 1944)
  • 1876 – Alphaeus Philemon Cole, American artist, engraver and etcher (d. 1988)
  • 1878 – Peeter Põld, Estonian scientist and politician, 1st Estonian Minister of Education (d. 1930)
  • 1879 – Margherita Piazzola Beloch, Italian mathematician (d. 1976)
  • 1879 – Han Yong-un, Korean poet (d. 1944)
  • 1880 – Tod Browning, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1962)
  • 1884 – Louis B. Mayer, Russian-born American film producer, co-founded Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (d. 1957)
  • 1884 – Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1920)
  • 1886 – Jean Hersholt, Danish-American actor and director (d. 1956)
  • 1892 – Bruno Schulz, Ukrainian-Polish author and painter (d. 1942)
  • 1895 – Kirsten Flagstad, Norwegian soprano (d. 1962)
  • 1895 – Buckminster Fuller, American architect and engineer, designed the Montreal Biosphère (d. 1983)
  • 1895 – Oscar Hammerstein II, American director, producer, and songwriter (d. 1960)
  • 1899 – E.D. Nixon, American civil rights leader (d. 1987)
  • 1902 – Günther Anders, German philosopher and journalist (d. 1992)
  • 1902 – Tony Lovink, Dutch politician; Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1995)
  • 1902 – Vic Armbruster, Australian rugby league player (d. 1984)
  • 1904 – Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
  • 1907 – Weary Dunlop, Australian colonel and surgeon (d. 1993)
  • 1908 – Milton Berle, American comedian and actor (d. 2002)
  • 1908 – Alain Cuny, French actor (d. 1994)
  • 1908 – Paul Runyan, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 2002)
  • 1909 – Joe DeRita, American actor (d. 1993)
  • 1909 – Motoichi Kumagai, Japanese photographer and illustrator (d. 2010)
  • 1909 – Fritz Leonhardt, German engineer, designed Fernsehturm Stuttgart (d. 1999)
  • 1909 – Herbert Zim, American naturalist, author, and educator (d. 1994)
  • 1911 – Evald Mikson, Estonian footballer (d. 1993)
  • 1913 – Willis Lamb, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2008)
  • 1914 – Mohammad Moin, Iranian linguist and lexicographer (d. 1971)
  • 1915 – Emanuel Papper, American anesthesiologist, professor, and author (d. 2002)
  • 1915 – Princess Catherine Ivanovna of Russia, (d. 2007)
  • 1916 – Lyudmila Pavlichenko, Ukrainian-Russian soldier and sniper (d. 1974)
  • 1917 – Luigi Gorrini, Italian soldier and pilot (d. 2014)
  • 1917 – Satyendra Narayan Sinha, Indian statesman (d. 2006)
  • 1917 – Andrew Wyeth, American artist (d. 2009)
  • 1918 – Mary Glen-Haig, English fencer (d. 2014)
  • 1918 – Vivian Mason, American actress (d. 2009)
  • 1918 – Doris Grumbach, American novelist, memoirist, biographer, literary critic, and essayist
  • 1918 – Rusty Dedrick, American swing and bebop jazz trumpeter (d. 2009)
  • 1920 – Pierre Berton, Canadian journalist and author (d. 2004)
  • 1920 – Bob Fillion, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (d. 2015)
  • 1920 – Paul Gonsalves, American saxophonist (d. 1974)
  • 1920 – Randolph Quirk, Manx linguist and academic (d. 2017)
  • 1920 – Beah Richards, American actress (d. 2000)
  • 1922 – Mark Hatfield, American soldier and politician, 29th Governor of Oregon (d. 2011)
  • 1923 – James E. Gunn, American science fiction author
  • 1924 – Faidon Matthaiou, Greek basketball player and coach (d. 2011)
  • 1925 – Albert Lance, Australian-French tenor (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Roger Smith, American businessman (d. 2007)
  • 1927 – Françoys Bernier, Canadian pianist, conductor, and educator (d. 1993)
  • 1927 – Conte Candoli, American trumpet player (d. 2001)
  • 1927 – Jack Harshman, American baseball player (d. 2013)
  • 1927 – Harley Hotchkiss, Canadian businessman (d. 2011)
  • 1928 – Alastair Burnet, English journalist (d. 2012)
  • 1928 – Elias James Corey, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1928 – Imero Fiorentino, American lighting designer (d. 2013)
  • 1930 – Gordon Pinsent, Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1930 – Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, wife of the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
  • 1931 – Eric Ives, English historian and academic (d. 2012)
  • 1931 – Geeto Mongol, Canadian-American wrestler and trainer (d. 2013)
  • 1932 – Rene Goulet, Canadian retired professional wrestler (d. 2019)
  • 1932 – Monte Hellman, American director and producer
  • 1932 – Otis Davis, American sprinter
  • 1933 – Victor Poor, American engineer, developed the Datapoint 2200 (d. 2012)
  • 1933 – Donald E. Westlake, American author and screenwriter (d. 2008)
  • 1934 – Thomas Charlton, American competition rower and Olympic champion
  • 1934 – Van Cliburn, American pianist and composer (d. 2013)
  • 1935 – Satoshi Ōmura, Japanese biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1936 – Jan Němec, Czech director and screenwriter (d. 2016)
  • 1937 – Bill Cosby, American actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1937 – Mickey Edwards, American lawyer and politician
  • 1937 – Lionel Jospin, French civil servant and politician, 165th Prime Minister of France
  • 1937 – Robert McFarlane, American colonel and diplomat, 13th United States National Security Advisor
  • 1937 – Guy Woolfenden, English composer and conductor (d. 2016)
  • 1938 – Ron Fairly, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1938 – Wieger Mensonides, Dutch swimmer
  • 1938 – Eiko Ishioka, Japanese art director and graphic designer (d. 2012)
  • 1939 – Phillip Adams, Australian journalist and producer
  • 1939 – Arlen Ness, American motorcycle designer and entrepreneur
  • 1941 – Benny Parsons, American race car driver and sportscaster (d. 2007)
  • 1942 – Swamp Dogg, American R&B singer-songwriter and musician
  • 1942 – Roy Palmer, English cricketer and umpire
  • 1942 – Billy Smith, Australian rugby league player and coach
  • 1942 – Steve Young, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)
  • 1943 – Christine McVie, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1943 – Paul Silas, American basketball player and coach
  • 1944 – Simon Blackburn, English philosopher and academic
  • 1944 – Delia Ephron, American author, playwright, and screenwriter
  • 1944 – Pat Woodell, American actress and singer (d. 2015)
  • 1945 – Butch Hancock, American country-folk singer-songwriter and musician
  • 1947 – Gareth Edwards, Welsh rugby player and sportscaster
  • 1947 – Wilko Johnson, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
  • 1947 – Richard C. McCarty, American psychologist and academic
  • 1948 – Ben Burtt, American director, screenwriter, and sound designer
  • 1948 – Walter Egan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1948 – Richard Simmons, American fitness trainer and actor
  • 1949 – Simon Fox, English drummer
  • 1949 – Rick Hendrick, American businessman, founded Hendrick Motorsports
  • 1950 – Eric Carr, American drummer and songwriter (d. 1991)
  • 1950 – Gilles Meloche, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1951 – Joan Bauer, American author
  • 1951 – Brian Grazer, American screenwriter and producer, founded Imagine Entertainment
  • 1951 – Cheryl Ladd, American actress
  • 1951 – Piotr Pustelnik, Polish mountaineer
  • 1951 – Jamey Sheridan, American actor
  • 1952 – Voja Antonić, Serbian computer scientist and journalist, designed the Galaksija computer
  • 1952 – Irina Bokova, Bulgarian politician, Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1952 – Philip Taylor Kramer, American bass player (d. 1995)
  • 1954 – Eric Adams, American singer-songwriter
  • 1954 – Robert Carl, American pianist and composer
  • 1954 – Wolfgang Dremmler, German footballer and coach
  • 1955 – Timothy Garton Ash, English historian and author
  • 1955 – Jimmy LaFave, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
  • 1956 – Mel Harris, American actress
  • 1956 – Sandi Patty, American singer and pianist
  • 1956 – Mario Soto, Dominican baseball player
  • 1957 – Rick Husband, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2003)
  • 1957 – Dave Semenko, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster (d. 2017)
  • 1958 – J. D. Hayworth, American politician and radio host
  • 1958 – Tonya Lee Williams, English-Canadian actress and producer
  • 1959 – David Brown, Australian meteorologist
  • 1959 – Tupou VI, King of Tonga
  • 1959 – Karl J. Friston, English psychiatrist and neuroscientist
  • 1959 – Charlie Murphy, American actor and comedian (d. 2017)
  • 1961 – Heikko Glöde, German footballer and manager
  • 1961 – Shiva Rajkumar, Indian actor, singer, and producer
  • 1962 – Julio César Chávez, Mexican boxer
  • 1962 – Luc De Vos, Belgian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2014)
  • 1962 – Joanna Shields, American-English businesswoman
  • 1962 – Dean Wilkins, English footballer and manager
  • 1964 – Gaby Roslin, English television host and actress
  • 1965 – Sanjay Manjrekar, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
  • 1965 – Robin Wilson, American singer and guitarist
  • 1966 – Jeff Bucknum, American race car driver
  • 1966 – Annabel Croft, English tennis player and sportscaster
  • 1966 – Taiji, Japanese bass player and songwriter (d. 2011)
  • 1967 – Richard Herring, English comedian and screenwriter
  • 1967 – Mac McCaughan, American singer and guitarist
  • 1967 – John Petrucci, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1967 – Bruny Surin, Canadian sprinter
  • 1968 – Catherine Plewinski, French swimmer
  • 1969 – Lisa Nicole Carson, American actress
  • 1969 – Chantal Jouanno, French politician, French Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports
  • 1969 – Alan Mullally, English cricketer and sportscaster
  • 1969 – Anne-Sophie Pic, French chef
  • 1969 – Jesse Pintado, Mexican-American guitarist (d. 2006)
  • 1970 – Aure Atika, Portuguese-French actress, director, and screenwriter
  • 1970 – Lee Byung-hun, South Korean actor, singer, and dancer
  • 1971 – Joel Casamayor, Cuban American former professional boxer
  • 1971 – Andriy Kovalenco, Ukrainian-Spanish rugby player
  • 1971 – Loni Love, American comedian, actress, and talk show host
  • 1971 – Kristi Yamaguchi, American figure skater
  • 1972 – Travis Best, American basketball player
  • 1972 – Jake Wood, English actor
  • 1973 – Christian Vieri, Italian footballer
  • 1974 – Sharon den Adel, Dutch singer-songwriter
  • 1974 – Stelios Giannakopoulos, Greek footballer and manager
  • 1974 – Gregory Shane Helms, American professional wrestler
  • 1975 – Phil Lord, American filmmaker
  • 1976 – Dan Boyle, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1976 – Anna Friel, English actress
  • 1976 – Tracie Spencer, American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1977 – Neil Harris, English footballer and manager
  • 1977 – Steve Howey, American actor
  • 1977 – Brock Lesnar, American mixed martial artist and wrestler
  • 1977 – Francesca Lubiani, Italian tennis player
  • 1978 – Topher Grace, American actor
  • 1978 – Michelle Rodriguez, American actress
  • 1979 – Brooke Baldwin, American journalist and television news anchor
  • 1979 – Nikos Barlos, Greek basketball player
  • 1979 – Maya Kobayashi, Japanese journalist
  • 1980 – Kristen Connolly, American actress
  • 1981 – Adrienne Camp, South African singer-songwriter
  • 1981 – Pradeepan Raveendran, Sri Lankan director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1982 – Antonio Cassano, Italian footballer
  • 1984 – Gareth Gates, English singer-songwriter
  • 1984 – Jonathan Lewis, American football player
  • 1984 – Natalie Martinez, American actress
  • 1984 – Michael McGovern, Irish footballer
  • 1984 – Sami Zayn, Canadian professional wrestler
  • 1985 – Paulo Vitor Barreto, Brazilian footballer
  • 1985 – Gianluca Curci, Italian footballer
  • 1985 – Keven Lacombe, Canadian cyclist
  • 1985 – Ismael Londt, Surinamese-Dutch kickboxer
  • 1986 – 360, Australian rapper
  • 1986 – Didier Digard, French footballer
  • 1986 – Hannaliis Jaadla, Estonian footballer
  • 1986 – JP Pietersen, South African rugby player
  • 1986 – Simone Laudehr, German footballer
  • 1988 – LeSean McCoy, American football player
  • 1988 – Inbee Park, South Korean golfer
  • 1989 – Nick Palmieri, American ice hockey player
  • 1990 – Bebé, Portuguese footballer
  • 1990 – Rachel Brosnahan, American actress
  • 1990 – Chasen Shreve, American baseball player
  • 1991 – Salih Dursun, Turkish footballer
  • 1991 – James Rodríguez, Colombian footballer
  • 1992 – Bartosz Bereszyński, Polish footballer
  • 1993 – Kurt Capewell, Australian rugby league player
  • 1994 – Kanako Momota, Japanese singer-songwriter
  • 1995 – Luke Shaw, English footballer
  • 1995 – Jordyn Wieber, American gymnast
  • 1996 – Moussa Dembélé, French footballer
  • 1996 – Jordan Romero, American mountaineer
  • 1997 – Daniel Lawrence, English cricketer
  • 1997 – Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani-English activist, Nobel Prize laureate

Deaths on July 12

  • 524 – Viventiolus, archbishop of Lyon (b. 460)
  • 783 – Bertrada of Laon, Frankish queen (b. 720)
  • 965 – Meng Chang, emperor of Later Shu (b. 919)
  • 981 – Xue Juzheng, Chinese scholar-official and historian
  • 1067 – John Komnenos, Byzantine general
  • 1441 – Ashikaga Yoshinori, Japanese shōgun (b. 1394)
  • 1441 – Kyōgoku Takakazu, Japanese nobleman
  • 1489 – Bahlul Lodi, sultan of Delhi
  • 1536 – Desiderius Erasmus, Dutch priest and philosopher (b. 1466)
  • 1584 – Steven Borough, English navigator and explorer (b. 1525)
  • 1623 – William Bourchier, 3rd Earl of Bath (b. 1557)
  • 1664 – Stefano della Bella, Italian illustrator and engraver (b. 1610)
  • 1682 – Jean Picard, French priest and astronomer (b. 1620)
  • 1691 – Marquis de St Ruth, French general
  • 1693 – John Ashby, English admiral (b. 1640)
  • 1712 – Richard Cromwell, English academic and politician (b. 1626)
  • 1742 – Evaristo Felice Dall’Abaco, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1675)
  • 1749 – Charles de la Boische, Marquis de Beauharnois, French navy officer and politician, Governor General of New France (b. 1671)
  • 1773 – Johann Joachim Quantz, German flute player and composer (b. 1697)
  • 1804 – Alexander Hamilton, American general, economist, and politician, 1st United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1755)
  • 1845 – Henrik Wergeland, Norwegian linguist, poet, and playwright (b. 1808)
  • 1850 – Robert Stevenson, Scottish engineer (b. 1772)
  • 1855 – Pavel Nakhimov, Russian admiral (b. 1802)
  • 1870 – John A. Dahlgren, American admiral (b. 1809)
  • 1892 – Alexander Cartwright, American firefighter, invented baseball (b. 1820)
  • 1910 – Charles Rolls, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Rolls-Royce Limited (b. 1887)
  • 1926 – Gertrude Bell, English archaeologist and spy (b. 1868)
  • 1926 – Charles Wood Irish composer (b. 1866)
  • 1929 – Robert Henri, American painter and educator (b. 1865)
  • 1931 – Nathan Söderblom, Swedish archbishop, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1866)
  • 1934 – Ole Evinrude, Norwegian-American inventor and businessman, invented the outboard motor (b. 1877)
  • 1935 – Alfred Dreyfus, French colonel (b. 1859)
  • 1944 – Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., American general and politician, Governor of Puerto Rico (b. 1887)
  • 1945 – Boris Galerkin, Russian mathematician and engineer (b. 1871)
  • 1945 – Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen, German field marshal (b. 1895)
  • 1946 – Ray Stannard Baker, American journalist and author (b. 1870)
  • 1947 – Jimmie Lunceford, American saxophonist and bandleader (b. 1902)
  • 1949 – Douglas Hyde, Irish scholar and politician, 1st President of Ireland (b. 1860)
  • 1950 – Elsie de Wolfe, American actress, author, and interior decorator (b. 1865)
  • 1956 – John Hayes, Australian politician, 25th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1868)
  • 1961 – Mazo de la Roche, Canadian author and playwright (b. 1879)
  • 1962 – Roger Wolfe Kahn, American composer and bandleader (b. 1907)
  • 1965 – Christfried Burmeister, Estonian speed skater (b. 1898)
  • 1966 – D. T. Suzuki, Japanese philosopher and author (b. 1870)
  • 1969 – Henry George Lamond, Australian farmer and author (b. 1885)
  • 1971 – Yvon Robert, Canadian wrestler (b. 1914)
  • 1973 – Lon Chaney, Jr., American actor (b. 1906)
  • 1975 – James Ormsbee Chapin, American painter and illustrator (b. 1887)
  • 1979 – Olive Morris, Jamaican-English civil rights activist (d. 1979)
  • 1979 – Minnie Riperton, American singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
  • 1982 – Kenneth More, English actor (b. 1914)
  • 1983 – Chris Wood, English saxophonist (b. 1944)
  • 1990 – João Saldanha, Brazilian footballer, manager, and journalist (b. 1917)
  • 1992 – Caroline Pafford Miller, American journalist and author (b. 1903)
  • 1993 – Dan Eldon, English photographer and journalist (b. 1970)
  • 1994 – Eila Campbell, English geographer and cartographer (b. 1915)
  • 1996 – John Chancellor, American journalist (b. 1927)
  • 1997 – François Furet, French historian and author (b. 1927)
  • 1998 – Jimmy Driftwood, American singer-songwriter and banjo player (b. 1907)
  • 1998 – Arkady Ostashev, Soviet/Russian scientist and engineer (b. 1925)
  • 1998 – Serge Lemoyne, Canadian painter (b. 1941)
  • 1999 – Rajendra Kumar, Bollywood actor, (b. 1921)
  • 2000 – Charles Merritt, Canadian colonel and politician, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1908)
  • 2001 – Fred Marcellino, American author and illustrator (b. 1939)
  • 2003 – Benny Carter, American trumpet player, saxophonist, and composer (b. 1907)
  • 2003 – Mark Lovell, English race car driver (b. 1960)
  • 2004 – Betty Oliphant, English-Canadian ballerina, co-founded the National Ballet School of Canada (b. 1918)
  • 2005 – John King, Baron King of Wartnaby, English businessman (b. 1917)
  • 2007 – Robert Burås, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1975)
  • 2007 – Stan Zemanek, Australian radio and television host (b. 1947)
  • 2008 – Bobby Murcer, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1946)
  • 2008 – Tony Snow, American journalist, 26th White House Press Secretary (b. 1955)
  • 2010 – Olga Guillot, Cuban-American singer (b. 1922)
  • 2010 – James P. Hogan, English-American author (b. 1941)
  • 2010 – Paulo Moura, Brazilian clarinetist and saxophonist (b. 1932)
  • 2010 – Pius Njawé, Cameroonian journalist (b. 1957)
  • 2010 – Harvey Pekar, American author and critic (b. 1939)
  • 2011 – Sherwood Schwartz, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1916)
  • 2012 – Alimuddin, Pakistani cricketer (b. 1930)
  • 2012 – Dara Singh, Indian wrestler, actor, and politician (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Eddy Brown, English footballer and manager (b. 1926)
  • 2012 – Else Holmelund Minarik, Danish-American author and illustrator (b. 1920)
  • 2012 – Roger Payne, English mountaineer (b. 1956)
  • 2012 – Hamid Samandarian, Iranian director and playwright (b. 1931)
  • 2012 – George C. Stoney, American director and producer (b. 1916)
  • 2013 – Amar Bose, American businessman, founded the Bose Corporation (b. 1929)
  • 2013 – Takako Takahashi, Japanese author (b. 1932)
  • 2013 – Elaine Morgan, Welsh writer (b. 1920)
  • 2013 – Alan Whicker, Egyptian-English journalist (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Jamil Ahmad, Pakistani author (b. 1931)
  • 2014 – Nestor Basterretxea, Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Emil Bobu, Romanian politician (b. 1927)
  • 2014 – Alfred de Grazia, American political scientist and author (b. 1919)
  • 2014 – Kenneth J. Gray, American soldier and politician (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Valeriya Novodvorskaya, Russian journalist and politician (b. 1950)
  • 2015 – D’Army Bailey, American lawyer, judge, and actor (b. 1941)
  • 2015 – Chenjerai Hove, Zimbabwean journalist, author, and poet (b. 1956)
  • 2015 – Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, Tibetan monk and activist (b. 1950)
  • 2015 – Cheng Siwei, Chinese engineer, economist, and politician (b. 1935)
  • 2016 – Goran Hadžić, Serbian politician (b. 1958)
  • 2018 – Dada J. P. Vaswani, Indian spiritual leader (b. 1918)

Holidays and observances on July 12

  • Birthday of the Heir to the Crown of Tonga (Tonga)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (Eastern Orthodox)
    • Hermagoras and Fortunatus
    • Jason of Thessalonica (Catholic Church)
    • John Gualbert
    • Louis Martin and Marie-Azélie Guérin
    • Nabor and Felix
    • Nathan Söderblom (Lutheran, Episcopal Church (USA))
    • Veronica
    • Viventiolus
    • July 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Kiribati from the United Kingdom in 1979.
  • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of São Tomé and Príncipe from Portugal in 1975.
  • The second day of Naadam (Mongolia)
  • The Twelfth, also known as Orangemen’s Day (Northern Ireland, Scotland, Newfoundland and Labrador)

July 12 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

July 11 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /

July 11 in History

  • 472 – After being besieged in Rome by his own generals, Western Roman Emperor Anthemius is captured in St. Peter’s Basilica and put to death.
  • 813 – Byzantine emperor Michael I, under threat by conspiracies, abdicates in favor of his general Leo the Armenian, and becomes a monk (under the name Athanasius).
  • 911 – Signing of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between Charles the Simple and Rollo of Normandy.
  • 1174 – Baldwin IV, 13, becomes King of Jerusalem, with Raymond III, Count of Tripoli as regent and William of Tyre as chancellor.
  • 1302 – Battle of the Golden Spurs (Guldensporenslag in Dutch): A coalition around the Flemish cities defeats the king of France’s royal army.
  • 1346 – Charles IV, Count of Luxembourg and King of Bohemia, is elected King of the Romans.
  • 1405 – Ming admiral Zheng He sets sail to explore the world for the first time.
  • 1476 – Giuliano della Rovere is appointed bishop of Coutances.
  • 1576 – Martin Frobisher sights Greenland.
  • 1616 – Samuel de Champlain returns to Quebec.
  • 1735 – Mathematical calculations suggest that it is on this day that dwarf planet Pluto moved inside the orbit of Neptune for the last time before 1979.
  • 1789 – Jacques Necker is dismissed as France’s Finance Minister sparking the Storming of the Bastille.
  • 1796 – The United States takes possession of Detroit from Great Britain under terms of the Jay Treaty.
  • 1798 – The United States Marine Corps is re-established; they had been disbanded after the American Revolutionary War.
  • 1801 – French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons makes his first comet discovery. In the next 27 years he discovers another 36 comets, more than any other person in history.
  • 1804 – A duel occurs in which the Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr mortally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton.
  • 1833 – Noongar Australian aboriginal warrior Yagan, wanted for the murder of white colonists in Western Australia, is killed.
  • 1848 – Waterloo railway station in London opens.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Fort Stevens; Confederate forces attempt to invade Washington, D.C.
  • 1882 – The British Mediterranean Fleet begins the Bombardment of Alexandria in Egypt as part of the Anglo-Egyptian War.
  • 1889 – Tijuana, Mexico, is founded.
  • 1893 – The first cultured pearl is obtained by Kōkichi Mikimoto.
  • 1893 – A revolution led by the liberal general and politician José Santos Zelaya takes over state power in Nicaragua.
  • 1895 – Brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière demonstrate movie film technology to scientists.
  • 1897 – Salomon August Andrée leaves Spitsbergen to attempt to reach the North Pole by balloon. He later crashes and dies.
  • 1899 – Fiat founded by Giovanni Agnelli in Turin, Italy.
  • 1906 – Murder of Grace Brown by Chester Gillette in the United States, inspiration for Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy.
  • 1914 – Babe Ruth makes his debut in Major League Baseball.
  • 1914 – USS Nevada (BB-36) is launched.
  • 1919 – The eight-hour day and free Sunday become law for workers in the Netherlands.
  • 1920 – In the East Prussian plebiscite the local populace decides to remain with Weimar Germany.
  • 1921 – A truce in the Irish War of Independence comes into effect.
  • 1921 – The Red Army captures Mongolia from the White Army and establishes the Mongolian People’s Republic.
  • 1921 – Former president of the United States William Howard Taft is sworn in as 10th chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the only person ever to hold both offices.
  • 1922 – The Hollywood Bowl opens.
  • 1924 – Eric Liddell won the gold medal in 400m at the 1924 Paris Olympics, after refusing to run in the heats for 100m, his favoured distance, on the Sunday.
  • 1934 – Engelbert Zaschka of Germany flies his large human-powered aircraft, the Zaschka Human-Power Aircraft, about 20 meters at Berlin Tempelhof Airport without assisted take-off.
  • 1936 – The Triborough Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic.
  • 1940 – World War II: Vichy France regime is formally established. Philippe Pétain becomes Chief of the French State.
  • 1941 – The Northern Rhodesian Labour Party holds its first congress in Nkana.
  • 1943 – Massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army within the Reichskommissariat Ukraine (Volhynia) peak.
  • 1943 – World War II: Allied invasion of Sicily: German and Italian troops launch a counter-attack on Allied forces in Sicily.
  • 1947 – The Exodus 1947 heads to Palestine from France.
  • 1950 – Pakistan joins the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank.
  • 1957 – Prince Karim Husseini Aga Khan IV inherits the office of Imamat as the 49th Imam of Shia Imami Ismai’li worldwide, after the death of Sir Sultan Mahommed Shah Aga Khan III.
  • 1960 – France legislates for the independence of Dahomey (later Benin), Upper Volta (later Burkina) and Niger.
  • 1960 – Congo Crisis: The State of Katanga breaks away from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
  • 1960 – To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is first published, in the United States.
  • 1962 – First transatlantic satellite television transmission.
  • 1962 – Project Apollo: At a press conference, NASA announces lunar orbit rendezvous as the means to land astronauts on the Moon, and return them to Earth.
  • 1971 – Copper mines in Chile are nationalized.
  • 1972 – The first game of the World Chess Championship 1972 between challenger Bobby Fischer and defending champion Boris Spassky starts.
  • 1973 – Varig Flight 820 crashes near Paris, France on approach to Orly Airport, killing 123 of the 134 on board. In response, the FAA bans smoking in airplane lavatories.
  • 1977 – Martin Luther King, Jr. is posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
  • 1978 – Los Alfaques disaster: A truck carrying liquid gas crashes and explodes at a coastal campsite in Tarragona, Spain killing 216 tourists.
  • 1979 – America’s first space station, Skylab, is destroyed as it re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.
  • 1983 – A TAME airline Boeing 737-200 crashes near Cuenca, Ecuador, killing all 119 passengers and crew on board.
  • 1990 – Oka Crisis: First Nations land dispute in Quebec, Canada begins.
  • 1991 – Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 crashes in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia killing all 261 passengers and crew on board.
  • 1995 – Yugoslav Wars: Srebrenica massacre begins; lasts until 22 July.
  • 2006 – Mumbai train bombings: Two hundred nine people are killed in a series of bomb attacks in Mumbai, India.
  • 2010 – The Islamist militia group Al-Shabaab carried out multiple suicide bombings in Kampala, Uganda, killing 74 people and injuring 85 others.
  • 2011 – Ninety-eight containers of explosives self-detonate killing 13 people in Zygi, Cyprus.

Births on July 11

  • 154 – Bardaisan, Syrian astrologer, scholar, and philosopher (d. 222)
  • 1274 – Robert the Bruce, Scottish king (d. 1329)
  • 1406 – William, Margrave of Hachberg-Sausenberg (d. 1482)
  • 1459 – Kaspar, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, German nobleman (d. 1527)
  • 1558 – Robert Greene, English author and playwright (d. 1592)
  • 1561 – Luis de Góngora, Spanish cleric and poet (d. 1627)
  • 1603 – Kenelm Digby, English astrologer, courtier, and diplomat (d. 1665)
  • 1628 – Tokugawa Mitsukuni, Japanese daimyō (d. 1701)
  • 1653 – Sarah Good, American woman accused of witchcraft (d. 1692)
  • 1657 – Frederick I of Prussia (d. 1713)
  • 1662 – Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (d. 1726)
  • 1709 – Johan Gottschalk Wallerius, Swedish chemist and mineralogist (d. 1785)
  • 1723 – Jean-François Marmontel, French historian and author (d. 1799)
  • 1751 – Caroline Matilda, British princess, queen consort of Denmark (d. 1775)
  • 1754 – Thomas Bowdler, English physician and philanthropist (d. 1825)
  • 1760 – Peggy Shippen, American wife of Benedict Arnold and American Revolutionary War spy (d. 1804)
  • 1767 – John Quincy Adams, American lawyer and politician, 6th President of the United States (d. 1848)
  • 1826 – Alexander Afanasyev, Russian ethnographer and author (d. 1871)
  • 1832 – Charilaos Trikoupis, Greek lawyer and politician, 55th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1896)
  • 1834 – James Abbott McNeill Whistler, American-English painter and illustrator (d. 1903)
  • 1836 – Antônio Carlos Gomes, Brazilian composer (d. 1896)
  • 1846 – Léon Bloy, French author and poet (d. 1917)
  • 1849 – N. E. Brown, English plant taxonomist and authority on succulents (d. 1934)
  • 1850 – Annie Armstrong, American missionary (d. 1938)
  • 1866 – Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine (d. 1953)
  • 1875 – H. M. Brock, British painter and illustrator (d. 1960)
  • 1880 – Friedrich Lahrs, German architect and academic (d. 1964)
  • 1881 – Isabel Martin Lewis, American astronomer and author (d. 1966)
  • 1882 – James Larkin White, American miner, explorer, and park ranger (d. 1946)
  • 1886 – Boris Grigoriev, Russian painter and illustrator (d. 1939)
  • 1888 – Carl Schmitt, German philosopher and jurist (d. 1985)
  • 1892 – Thomas Mitchell, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (d. 1962)
  • 1894 – Erna Mohr, German zoologist (d. 1968)
  • 1895 – Dorothy Wilde, English author and poet (d. 1941)
  • 1897 – Bull Connor, American police officer (d. 1973)
  • 1899 – Wilfrid Israel, German businessman and philanthropist (d. 1943)
  • 1899 – E. B. White, American essayist and journalist (d. 1985)
  • 1901 – Gwendolyn Lizarraga, Belizean businesswoman, activist, and politician (d. 1975)
  • 1903 – Rudolf Abel, English-Russian colonel (d. 1971)
  • 1903 – Sidney Franklin, American bullfighter (d. 1976)
  • 1904 – Niño Ricardo, Spanish guitarist and composer (d. 1972)
  • 1905 – Betty Allan, Australian statistician and biometrician (d. 1952)
  • 1906 – Harry von Zell, American actor and announcer (d. 1981)
  • 1906 – Herbert Wehner, German politician, Minister of Intra-German Relations (d. 1990)
  • 1909 – Irene Hervey, American actress (d. 1998)
  • 1909 – Jacques Clemens, Dutch catholic priest (d. 2018)
  • 1910 – Sally Blane, American actress (d. 1997)
  • 1911 – Erna Flegel, German Third Reich nurse (d. 2006)
  • 1912 – Sergiu Celibidache, Romanian conductor and composer (d. 1996)
  • 1912 – Peta Taylor, English cricketer (d. 1989)
  • 1912 – William F. Walsh, American captain and politician, 48th Mayor of Syracuse (d. 2011)
  • 1913 – Paul Gibb, English cricketer (d. 1977)
  • 1913 – Cordwainer Smith, American sinologist, author, and academic (d. 1966)
  • 1916 – Mortimer Caplin, American tax attorney, educator, and IRS Commissioner (d. 2019)
  • 1916 – Hans Maier, Dutch water polo player (d. 2018)
  • 1916 – Alexander Prokhorov, Australian-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
  • 1916 – Reg Varney, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2008)
  • 1916 – Gough Whitlam, Australian lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 21st Prime Minister of Australia (d. 2014)
  • 1918 – Venetia Burney, English educator, who named Pluto (d. 2009)
  • 1920 – Yul Brynner, Russian actor and dancer (d. 1985)
  • 1920 – Zecharia Sitchin, Russian-American author (d. 2010)
  • 1922 – Gene Evans, American actor (d. 1998)
  • 1922 – Fritz Riess, German-Swiss racing driver (d. 1991)
  • 1923 – Richard Pipes, Polish-American historian and academic (d. 2018)
  • 1923 – Tun Tun, Indian actress and comedian (d. 2003)
  • 1924 – César Lattes, Brazilian physicist and academic (d. 2005)
  • 1924 – Brett Somers, Canadian-American actress and singer (d. 2007)
  • 1924 – Charlie Tully, Northern Irish footballer and manager (d. 1971)
  • 1924 – Oscar Wyatt, American businessman
  • 1925 – Charles Chaynes, French composer (d. 2016)
  • 1925 – Nicolai Gedda, Swedish operatic tenor (d. 2017)
  • 1925 – Peter Kyros, American lawyer and politician (d. 2012)
  • 1925 – Sid Smith, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2004)
  • 1926 – Frederick Buechner, American minister, theologian, and author
  • 1927 – Theodore Maiman, American-Canadian physicist and engineer (d. 2007)
  • 1927 – Chris Leonard, English footballer
  • 1928 – Greville Janner, Baron Janner of Braunstone, Welsh-English lawyer and politician (d. 2015)
  • 1928 – Bobo Olson, American boxer (d. 2002)
  • 1928 – Andrea Veneracion, Filipina choirmaster (d. 2014)
  • 1929 – Danny Flores, American singer-songwriter and saxophonist (d. 2006)
  • 1929 – David Kelly, Irish actor (d. 2012)
  • 1930 – Jack Alabaster, New Zealand cricketer
  • 1930 – Harold Bloom, American literary critic (d. 2019)
  • 1930 – Trevor Storer, English businessman, founded Pukka Pies (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Dick Gray, American baseball player (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Thurston Harris, American doo-wop singer (d. 1990)
  • 1931 – Tab Hunter, American actor and singer (d. 2018)
  • 1931 – Tullio Regge, Italian physicist and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1932 – Alex Hassilev, French-born American folk singer and musician
  • 1932 – Jean-Guy Talbot, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1933 – Jim Carlen, American football player and coach (d. 2012)
  • 1933 – Frank Kelso, American admiral and politician, United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 2013)
  • 1934 – Giorgio Armani, Italian fashion designer, founded the Armani Company
  • 1935 – Frederick Hemke, American saxophonist and educator
  • 1935 – Oliver Napier, Northern Irish lawyer and politician (d. 2011)
  • 1937 – Pai Hsien-yung, Chinese-Taiwanese author
  • 1941 – Bill Boggs, American journalist and producer
  • 1941 – Henry Lowther, English trumpet player
  • 1943 – Richard Carleton, Australian journalist (d. 2006)
  • 1943 – Howard Gardner, American psychologist and academic
  • 1943 – Tom Holland, American actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1943 – Peter Jensen, Australian metropolitan
  • 1943 – Robert Malval, Haitian businessman and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Haiti
  • 1943 – Rolf Stommelen, German racing driver (d. 1983)
  • 1944 – Lou Hudson, American basketball player and coach (d. 2014)
  • 1944 – Michael Levy, Baron Levy, English philanthropist
  • 1944 – Patricia Polacco, American author and illustrator
  • 1946 – Martin Wong, American painter (d. 1999)
  • 1947 – Jeff Hanna, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and drummer
  • 1947 – Norman Lebrecht, English author and critic
  • 1947 – Bo Lundgren, Swedish politician
  • 1950 – Pervez Hoodbhoy, Pakistani physicist and academic
  • 1950 – J. R. Morgan, Welsh author and academic
  • 1950 – Bonnie Pointer, American singer (d. 2020)
  • 1951 – Ed Ott, American baseball player and coach
  • 1952 – Bill Barber, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1952 – Stephen Lang, American actor and playwright
  • 1953 – Piyasvasti Amranand, Thai businessman and politician, Thai Minister of Energy
  • 1953 – Angélica Aragón, Mexican film, television, and stage actress and singer
  • 1953 – Peter Brown, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1953 – Suresh Prabhu, Indian accountant and politician, Indian Minister of Railways
  • 1953 – Patricia Reyes Spíndola, Mexican actress, director, and producer
  • 1953 – Leon Spinks, American boxer
  • 1953 – Mindy Sterling, American actress
  • 1953 – Ivan Toms, South African physician and activist (d. 2008)
  • 1953 – Bramwell Tovey, English-Canadian conductor and composer
  • 1953 – Paul Weiland, English director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1954 – Julia King, English engineer and academic
  • 1955 – Balaji Sadasivan, Singaporean neurosurgeon and politician, Singaporean Minister of Health (d. 2010)
  • 1956 – Amitav Ghosh, Indian-American author and academic
  • 1956 – Robin Renucci, French actor and director
  • 1956 – Sela Ward, American actress
  • 1957 – Johann Lamont, Scottish educator and politician
  • 1957 – Peter Murphy, English singer-songwriter
  • 1957 – Michael Rose, Jamaican singer-songwriter
  • 1958 – Mark Lester, English actor
  • 1958 – Hugo Sánchez, Mexican footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1959 – Richie Sambora, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1959 – Suzanne Vega, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1960 – David Baerwald, American singer-songwriter, composer, and musician
  • 1960 – Caroline Quentin, English actress
  • 1961 – Antony Jenkins, English banker and businessman
  • 1962 – Gaétan Duchesne, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2007)
  • 1962 – Pauline McLynn, Irish actress and author
  • 1962 – Fumiya Fujii, Japanese music artist
  • 1963 – Al MacInnis, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1963 – Dean Richards, English rugby player and coach
  • 1963 – Lisa Rinna, American actress and talk show host
  • 1965 – Tony Cottee, English footballer, manager, and sportscaster
  • 1965 – Ernesto Hoost, Dutch kick-boxer and sportscaster
  • 1965 – Scott Shriner, American singer-songwriter and bass player
  • 1966 – Nadeem Aslam, Pakistani-English author
  • 1966 – Kentaro Miura, Japanese author and illustrator
  • 1966 – Rod Strickland, American basketball player and coach
  • 1966 – Ricky Warwick, Northern Irish musician
  • 1967 – Andy Ashby, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1967 – Jhumpa Lahiri, Indian American novelist and short story writer
  • 1968 – Michael Geist, Canadian journalist and academic
  • 1968 – Daniel MacMaster, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 2008)
  • 1968 – Esera Tuaolo, American football player
  • 1969 – Ned Boulting, British sports journalist and television presenter
  • 1970 – Justin Chambers, American actor
  • 1970 – Sajjad Karim, English lawyer and politician
  • 1970 – Eric Owens, American opera singer
  • 1971 – Leisha Hailey, Japanese-American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1972 – Cormac Battle, English-Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1973 – Konstantinos Kenteris, Greek runner
  • 1974 – Alanas Chošnau, Lithuanian singer-songwriter
  • 1974 – Hermann Hreiðarsson, Icelandic footballer and manager
  • 1974 – André Ooijer, Dutch footballer and coach
  • 1975 – Willie Anderson, American football player
  • 1975 – Rubén Baraja, Spanish footballer and manager
  • 1975 – Lil’ Kim, American rapper and producer
  • 1976 – Eduardo Nájera, Mexican-American basketball player and coach
  • 1977 – Brandon Short, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1978 – Kathleen Edwards, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1978 – Massimiliano Rosolino, Italian swimmer
  • 1979 – Raio Piiroja, Estonian footballer
  • 1980 – Tyson Kidd, Canadian wrestler
  • 1980 – Kevin Powers, American soldier and author
  • 1981 – Andre Johnson, American football player
  • 1982 – Chris Cooley, American football player
  • 1983 – Engin Baytar, German-Turkish footballer
  • 1983 – Peter Cincotti, American singer-songwriter and pianist
  • 1983 – Marie Serneholt, Swedish singer and dancer
  • 1984 – Yorman Bazardo, Venezuelan baseball player
  • 1984 – Tanith Belbin, Canadian-American ice dancer
  • 1984 – Jacoby Jones, American football player
  • 1984 – Joe Pavelski, American ice hockey player
  • 1984 – Morné Steyn, South African rugby player
  • 1985 – Robert Adamson, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1985 – Orestis Karnezis, Greek footballer
  • 1986 – Raúl García, Spanish footballer
  • 1986 – Yoann Gourcuff, French footballer
  • 1986 – Ryan Jarvis, English footballer
  • 1987 – Shigeaki Kato, Japanese singer
  • 1988 – Étienne Capoue, French footballer
  • 1988 – Natalie La Rose, Dutch singer, songwriter and dancer
  • 1989 – Tobias Sana, Swedish footballer
  • 1989 – Travis Waddell, Australian rugby league player
  • 1990 – Mona Barthel, German tennis player
  • 1990 – Connor Paolo, American actor
  • 1990 – Adam Jezierski, Polish-Spanish actor and singer
  • 1990 – Patrick Peterson, American football player
  • 1990 – Caroline Wozniacki, Danish tennis player
  • 1993 – Rebecca Bross, American gymnast
  • 1993 – Heini Salonen, Finnish tennis player
  • 1994 – Bartłomiej Kalinkowski, Polish footballer
  • 1994 – Anthony Milford, Australian rugby league player
  • 1994 – Nina Nesbitt, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1994 – Lucas Ocampos, Argentinian footballer
  • 1995 – Joey Bosa, American football player
  • 1995 – Tyler Medeiros, Canadian singer-songwriter and dancer
  • 1996 – Alessia Cara, Canadian singer-songwriter

Deaths on July 11

  • 472 – Anthemius, Roman emperor (b. 420)
  • 937 – Rudolph II of Burgundy (b. 880)
  • 969 – Olga of Kiev (b. 890)
  • 1174 – Amalric I of Jerusalem (b. 1136)
  • 1183 – Otto I Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1117)
  • 1302 – Robert II, Count of Artois (b. 1250)
  • 1302 – Pierre Flotte, French politician and lawyer
  • 1344 – Ulrich III, Count of Württemberg (b. c. 1286)
  • 1362 – Anna von Schweidnitz, empress of Charles IV (b. 1339)
  • 1382 – Nicole Oresme, French philosopher (b. 1325)
  • 1451 – Barbara of Cilli, Slovenian noblewoman
  • 1484 – Mino da Fiesole, Italian sculptor (b. c. 1429)
  • 1535 – Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1484)
  • 1581 – Peder Skram, Danish admiral and politician (b. 1503)
  • 1593 – Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Italian painter (b. 1527)
  • 1599 – Chōsokabe Motochika, Japanese daimyō (b.1539)
  • 1688 – Narai, Thai king (b. 1629)
  • 1774 – Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet, Irish-English general (b. 1715)
  • 1775 – Simon Boerum, American farmer and politician (b. 1724)
  • 1797 – Ienăchiță Văcărescu, Romanian historian and philologist (b. 1740)
  • 1806 – James Smith, Irish-American lawyer and politician (b. 1719)
  • 1825 – Thomas P. Grosvenor, American soldier and politician (b. 1744)
  • 1844 – Yevgeny Baratynsky, Russian philosopher and poet (b. 1800)
  • 1897 – Patrick Jennings, Irish-Australian politician, 11th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1831)
  • 1905 – Muhammad Abduh, Egyptian jurist and scholar (b. 1849)
  • 1908 – Friedrich Traun, German sprinter and tennis player (b. 1876)
  • 1909 – Simon Newcomb, Canadian-American astronomer and mathematician (b. 1835)
  • 1929 – Billy Mosforth, English footballer and engraver (b. 1857)
  • 1937 – George Gershwin, American pianist, songwriter, and composer (b. 1898)
  • 1959 – Charlie Parker, English cricketer, coach, and umpire (b. 1882)
  • 1966 – Delmore Schwartz, American poet and short story writer (b. 1913)
  • 1967 – Guy Favreau, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician, 28th Canadian Minister of Justice (b. 1917)
  • 1971 – John W. Campbell, American journalist and author (b. 1910)
  • 1971 – Pedro Rodríguez, Mexican racing driver (b. 1940)
  • 1974 – Pär Lagerkvist, Swedish novelist, playwright, and poet Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)
  • 1976 – León de Greiff, Colombian poet and educator (b. 1895)
  • 1979 – Claude Wagner, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1925)
  • 1983 – Ross Macdonald, American-Canadian author (b. 1915)
  • 1987 – Avi Ran, Israeli footballer (b. 1963)
  • 1987 – Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman, American rabbi and scholar (b. 1901)
  • 1989 – Laurence Olivier, English actor, director, and producer (b. 1907)
  • 1991 – Mokhtar Dahari, Malaysian footballer and coach (b. 1953)
  • 1994 – Gary Kildall, American computer scientist, founded Digital Research (b. 1942)
  • 1998 – Panagiotis Kondylis, Greek philosopher and author (b. 1943)
  • 1999 – Helen Forrest, American singer (b. 1917)
  • 1999 – Jan Sloot, Dutch computer scientist and electronics technician (b. 1945)
  • 2000 – Pedro Mir, Dominican lawyer, author, and poet (b. 1913)
  • 2000 – Robert Runcie, English archbishop (b. 1921)
  • 2001 – Herman Brood, Dutch musician and painter (b. 1946)
  • 2003 – Zahra Kazemi, Iranian-Canadian freelance photographer (b. 1948)
  • 2004 – Laurance Rockefeller, American financier and philanthropist (b. 1910)
  • 2004 – Renée Saint-Cyr, French actress and producer (b. 1904)
  • 2005 – Gretchen Franklin, English actress and dancer (b. 1911)
  • 2005 – Jesús Iglesias, Argentinian racing driver (b. 1922)
  • 2005 – Frances Langford, American actress and singer (b. 1913)
  • 2006 – Barnard Hughes, American actor (b. 1915)
  • 2006 – Bronwyn Oliver, Australian sculptor (b. 1959)
  • 2006 – John Spencer, English snooker player and sportscaster (b. 1935)
  • 2007 – Glenda Adams, Australian author and academic (b. 1939)
  • 2007 – Lady Bird Johnson, American beautification activist; 43rd First Lady of the United States (b. 1912)
  • 2007 – Alfonso López Michelsen, Colombian lawyer and politician, 32nd President of Colombia (b. 1913)
  • 2007 – Ed Mirvish, American-Canadian businessman and philanthropist, founded Honest Ed’s (b. 1914)
  • 2008 – Michael E. DeBakey, American surgeon and educator (b. 1908)
  • 2009 – Reg Fleming, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1936)
  • 2009 – Arturo Gatti, Italian-Canadian boxer (b. 1972)
  • 2009 – Ji Xianlin, Chinese linguist and paleographer (b. 1911)
  • 2010 – Walter Hawkins, American singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and pastor (b. 1949)
  • 2011 – Rob Grill, American singer-songwriter and bass player (b. 1943)
  • 2012 – Art Ceccarelli, American baseball player and coach (b. 1930)
  • 2012 – Marion Cunningham, American author (b. 1922)
  • 2012 – Richard Scudder, American journalist and publisher, co-founded MediaNews Group (b. 1913)
  • 2012 – Donald J. Sobol, American soldier and author (b. 1924)
  • 2012 – Marvin Traub, American businessman and author (b. 1925)
  • 2013 – Emik Avakian, Iranian-American inventor (b. 1923)
  • 2013 – Egbert Brieskorn, German mathematician and academic (b. 1936)
  • 2013 – Eugene P. Wilkinson, American admiral (b. 1918)
  • 2014 – Charlie Haden, American bassist and composer (b. 1937)
  • 2014 – Carin Mannheimer, Swedish author and screenwriter (b. 1934)
  • 2014 – Bill McGill, American basketball player (b. 1939)
  • 2014 – Tommy Ramone, Hungarian-American drummer and producer (b. 1949)
  • 2014 – John Seigenthaler, American journalist and academic (b. 1927)
  • 2014 – Randall Stout, American architect, designed the Taubman Museum of Art (b. 1958)
  • 2015 – Giacomo Biffi, Italian cardinal (b. 1928)
  • 2015 – James U. Cross, American general (b. 1925)
  • 2015 – Satoru Iwata, Japanese game programmer and businessman (b. 1959)
  • 2015 – Lawrence K. Karlton, American lawyer and judge (b. 1935)
  • 2015 – André Leysen, Belgian businessman (b. 1927)

Holidays and observances on July 11

  • Christian Feast Day:
    • Benedict of Nursia
    • Olga of Kiev
    • Pope Pius I
    • July 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • China National Maritime Day (China)
  • Day of the Bandoneón (Argentina)
  • Day of the Flemish Community (Flemish Community of Belgium)
  • Eleventh Night (Northern Ireland)
  • Free Slurpee Day (Participating stores of the 7-Eleven chain in North America)
  • National Day of Remembrance of Victims of Genocide by Ukrainian Nationalists on Citizens of the Second Republic of Poland (Poland)
  • Gospel Day (Kiribati)
  • Imamat Day (Isma’ilism)
  • National Day of Commemoration, held on the nearest Sunday to this date (Ireland)
  • The first day of Naadam (July 11–15) (Mongolia)
  • World Population Day (International)

July 11 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

July 10 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 138 – Emperor Hadrian dies of heart failure at Baiae; he is buried at Rome in the Tomb of Hadrian beside his late wife, Vibia Sabina.
  • 645 – Isshi Incident: Prince Naka-no-Ōe and Fujiwara no Kamatari assassinate Soga no Iruka during a coup d’état at the imperial palace.
  • 988 – The Norse King Glúniairn recognises Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, High King of Ireland, and agrees to pay taxes and accept Brehon Law; the event is considered to be the founding of the city of Dublin.
  • 1086 – King Canute IV of Denmark is killed by rebellious peasants.
  • 1212 – The most severe of several early fires of London burns most of the city to the ground.
  • 1460 – Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, defeats the king’s Lancastrian forces and takes King Henry VI prisoner in the Battle of Northampton.
  • 1499 – The Portuguese explorer Nicolau Coelho returns to Lisbon after discovering the sea route to India as a companion of Vasco da Gama.
  • 1512 – The Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre commences with the capture of Goizueta.
  • 1519 – Zhu Chenhao declares the Ming dynasty’s Zhengde Emperor a usurper, beginning the Prince of Ning rebellion, and leads his army north in an attempt to capture Nanjing.
  • 1553 – Lady Jane Grey takes the throne of England.
  • 1584 – William I of Orange is assassinated in his home in Delft, Holland, by Balthasar Gérard.
  • 1645 – English Civil War: The Battle of Langport takes place.
  • 1778 – American Revolution: Louis XVI of France declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain.
  • 1789 – Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Mackenzie River delta.
  • 1806 – The Vellore Mutiny is the first instance of a mutiny by Indian sepoys against the British East India Company.
  • 1832 – U.S. President Andrew Jackson vetoes a bill that would re-charter the Second Bank of the United States.
  • 1850 – U.S. President Millard Fillmore is sworn in, a day after becoming president upon Zachary Taylor’s death.
  • 1869 – Gävle, Sweden, is largely destroyed in a fire; 80% of its 10,000 residents are left homeless.
  • 1877 – The then-villa of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, formally receives its city charter from the Royal Crown of Spain.
  • 1882 – War of the Pacific: Chile suffers its last military defeat in the Battle of La Concepción when a garrison of 77 men is annihilated by a 1,300-strong Peruvian force, many of them armed with spears.
  • 1883 – War of the Pacific: Chileans led by Alejandro Gorostiaga defeat Andrés Avelino Cáceres’s Peruvuan army at the Battle of Huamachuco, hastening the end of the war.
  • 1890 – Wyoming is admitted as the 44th U.S. state.
  • 1921 – Belfast’s Bloody Sunday: Sixteen people are killed and 161 houses destroyed during rioting and gun battles in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
  • 1925 – Scopes Trial: In Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called “Monkey Trial” begins of John T. Scopes, a young high school science teacher accused of teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.
  • 1927 – Kevin O’Higgins TD, Vice-President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State is assassinated by the IRA.
  • 1938 – Howard Hughes begins a 91-hour airplane flight around the world that will set a new record.
  • 1940 – World War II: The Vichy government is established in France.
  • 1940 – World War II: Six days before Adolf Hitler issues his Directive 16 to the combined Wehrmacht armed forces for Operation Sea Lion, the Kanalkampf shipping attacks against British maritime convoys begin, in the leadup to initiating the Battle of Britain.
  • 1941 – Jedwabne pogrom: Massacre of Polish Jews living in and near the village of Jedwabne.
  • 1942 – World War II: An American pilot spots a downed, intact Mitsubishi A6M Zero on Akutan Island (the “Akutan Zero”) that the US Navy uses to learn the aircraft’s flight characteristics.
  • 1943 – World War II: Operation Husky begins in Sicily.
  • 1947 – Muhammad Ali Jinnah is recommended as the first Governor-General of Pakistan by the British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee.
  • 1951 – Korean War: Armistice negotiations begin at Kaesong.
  • 1962 – Telstar, the world’s first communications satellite, is launched into orbit.
  • 1966 – The Chicago Freedom Movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., holds a rally at Soldier Field in Chicago. As many as 60,000 people attend.
  • 1973 – The Bahamas gain full independence within the Commonwealth of Nations.
  • 1976 – Four mercenaries (one American and three British) are executed in Angola following the Luanda Trial.
  • 1978 – ABC World News Tonight premieres on ABC.
  • 1978 – President Moktar Ould Daddah of Mauritania is ousted in a bloodless coup d’état.
  • 1985 – The Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior is bombed and sunk in Auckland harbour by French DGSE agents, killing Fernando Pereira.
  • 1985 – An Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-154 stalls and crashes near Uchkuduk, Uzbekistan (then part of the Soviet Union), killing all 200 people on board in the USSR’s worst-ever airline disaster.
  • 1991 – The South African cricket team is readmitted into the International Cricket Council following the end of Apartheid.
  • 1991 – Boris Yeltsin takes office as the first elected President of Russia.
  • 1992 – In Miami, former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega is sentenced to 40 years in prison for drug and racketeering violations.
  • 1997 – In London, scientists report the findings of the DNA analysis of a Neanderthal skeleton which supports the “out of Africa theory” of human evolution, placing an “African Eve” at 100,000 to 200,000 years ago.
  • 1997 – Miguel Ángel Blanco, a member of Partido Popular (Spain), is kidnapped (and later murdered) in the Basque city of Ermua by ETA members, sparking widespread protests.
  • 1998 – Catholic Church sexual abuse cases: The Diocese of Dallas agrees to pay $23.4 million to nine former altar boys who claimed they were sexually abused by Rudolph Kos, a former priest.
  • 1999 – In women’s association football, the United States defeated China in a penalty shoot-out at the Rose Bowl near Los Angeles to win the final match of the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The final was watched by 90,185 spectators, which set a new world record for attendance at a women’s sporting event.
  • 2000 – EADS, the world’s second-largest aerospace group is formed by the merger of Aérospatiale-Matra, DASA, and CASA.
  • 2002 – At a Sotheby’s auction, Peter Paul Rubens’s painting The Massacre of the Innocents is sold for £49.5 million (US$76.2 million) to Lord Thomson.
  • 2005 – Hurricane Dennis slams into the Florida Panhandle, causing billions of dollars in damage.
  • 2007 – Erden Eruç begins the first solo human-powered circumnavigation of the world.
  • 2008 – Former Macedonian Interior Minister Ljube Boškoski is acquitted of all war-crimes charges by a United Nations Tribunal.
  • 2011 – Russian cruise ship Bulgaria sinks in Volga near Syukeyevo, Tatarstan, causing 122 deaths.
  • 2017 – Iraqi Civil War: Mosul is declared fully liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
  • 2019 – The last Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the line in Puebla, Mexico. The last of 5,961 “Special Edition” cars will be exhibited in a museum.

Births on July 10

  • 1419 – Emperor Go-Hanazono of Japan (d. 1471)
  • 1451 – James III of Scotland (d. 1488)
  • 1501 – Cho Shik, Korean poet and scholar (d. 1572)
  • 1509 – John Calvin, French pastor and theologian (d. 1564)
  • 1515 – Francisco de Toledo, Viceroy of Peru (d. 1582)
  • 1517 – Odet de Coligny, French cardinal (d. 1571)
  • 1533 – Antonio Possevino, Italian diplomat (d. 1611)
  • 1592 – Pierre d’Hozier, French genealogist and historian (d. 1660)
  • 1614 – Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey, Irish-English politician (d. 1686)
  • 1625 – Jean Herauld Gourville, French adventurer (d. 1703)
  • 1638 – David Teniers III, Flemish painter (d. 1685)
  • 1666 – John Ernest Grabe, German theologian and academic (d. 1711)
  • 1682 – Roger Cotes, English mathematician and astronomer (d. 1716)
  • 1723 – William Blackstone, English lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 1780)
  • 1724 – Eva Ekeblad, Swedish noble and agronomist (d. 1786)
  • 1752 – St. George Tucker, United States federal judge (d. 1827)
  • 1792 – George M. Dallas, American lawyer and politician, 11th Vice President of the United States (d. 1864)
  • 1802 – Robert Chambers, Scottish geologist and publisher, co-founded Chambers Harrap (d. 1871)
  • 1804 – Emma Smith, American religious leader (d. 1879)
  • 1809 – Friedrich August von Quenstedt, German geologist and palaeontologist (d. 1889)
  • 1823 – Louis-Napoléon Casault, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 1908)
  • 1830 – Camille Pissarro, Danish-French painter (d. 1903)
  • 1832 – Alvan Graham Clark, American astronomer (d. 1897)
  • 1835 – Henryk Wieniawski, Polish violinist and composer (d. 1880)
  • 1839 – Adolphus Busch, German brewer, co-founded Anheuser-Busch (d. 1913)
  • 1856 – Nikola Tesla, Serbian-American physicist and engineer (d. 1943)
  • 1864 – Austin Chapman, Australian businessman and politician, 4th Australian Minister for Defence (d. 1926)
  • 1867 – Prince Maximilian of Baden (d. 1929)
  • 1871 – Marcel Proust, French novelist, critic, and essayist (d. 1922)
  • 1874 – Sergey Konenkov, Russian sculptor (d. 1971)
  • 1875 – Mary McLeod Bethune, American educator and activist (d. 1955)
  • 1875 – Dezső Pattantyús-Ábrahám, Hungarian politician (d. 1973)
  • 1877 – Ernst Bresslau, German zoologist (d. 1935)
  • 1878 – Otto Freundlich, German painter and sculptor (d. 1943)
  • 1882 – Ima Hogg, American society leader, philanthropist, patron and collector of the arts (d. 1975)
  • 1883 – Johannes Blaskowitz, German general (d. 1948)
  • 1883 – Hugo Raudsepp, Estonian playwright and politician (d. 1952)
  • 1888 – Giorgio de Chirico, Greek-Italian painter and set designer (d. 1978)
  • 1888 – Toyohiko Kagawa, Japanese evangelist, author, and activist (d. 1960)
  • 1891 – Edith Quimby, American medical researcher and physicist (d. 1982)
  • 1894 – Jimmy McHugh, American composer (d. 1969)
  • 1895 – Carl Orff, German composer and educator (d. 1982)
  • 1896 – Thérèse Casgrain, Canadian politician (d. 1981)
  • 1897 – Legs Diamond, American gangster (d. 1931)
  • 1897 – Karl Plagge, German general and engineer (d. 1957)
  • 1898 – Renée Björling, Swedish actress (d. 1975)
  • 1899 – John Gilbert, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1936)
  • 1899 – Heiri Suter, Swiss cyclist (d. 1978)
  • 1900 – Mitchell Parish, Lithuanian-American songwriter (d. 1993)
  • 1900 – Sampson Sievers, Russian monk and mystic (d. 1979)
  • 1902 – Kurt Alder, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
  • 1902 – Nicolás Guillén, Cuban poet, journalist, and activist (d. 1989)
  • 1903 – Werner Best, German SS officer and jurist (d. 1989)
  • 1903 – John Wyndham, English soldier and author (d. 1969)
  • 1904 – Lili Damita, French-American actress (d. 1994)
  • 1905 – Mildred Benson, American journalist and author (d. 2002)
  • 1905 – Thomas Gomez, American actor (d. 1971)
  • 1905 – Wolfram Sievers, German physician (d. 1948)
  • 1907 – Blind Boy Fuller, American singer and guitarist (d. 1941)
  • 1909 – Donald Sinclair, English lieutenant and businessman (d. 1981)
  • 1911 – Terry-Thomas, English comedian and character actor (d. 1990)
  • 1911 – Cootie Williams, American trumpeter and bandleader (d. 1985)
  • 1913 – Salvador Espriu, Spanish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1985)
  • 1914 – Joe Shuster, Canadian-American illustrator, co-created Superman (d. 1992)
  • 1914 – Rempo Urip, Indonesian film director
  • 1916 – Judith Jasmin, Canadian journalist (d. 1972)
  • 1917 – Hugh Alexander, American baseball player and scout (d. 2000)
  • 1917 – Reg Smythe, English cartoonist (d. 1998)
  • 1918 – James Aldridge, Australian-English journalist and author (d. 2015)
  • 1918 – Chuck Stevens, American baseball player (d. 2018)
  • 1918 – Frank L. Lambert, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at Occidental College (d. 2018)
  • 1918 – Fred Wacker, American race driver and engineer (d. 1998)
  • 1919 – Pierre Gamarra, French author, poet, and critic (d. 2009)
  • 1919 – Ian Wallace, English actor and singer (d. 2009)
  • 1920 – David Brinkley, American journalist (d. 2003)
  • 1920 – Owen Chamberlain, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006)
  • 1920 – Cyril Grant, English footballer (d. 2002)
  • 1921 – Harvey Ball, American illustrator, created the Smiley (d. 2001)
  • 1921 – Jeff Donnell, American actress (d. 1988)
  • 1921 – John K. Singlaub, U.S Army Major General
  • 1921 – Eunice Kennedy Shriver, American activist, co-founded the Special Olympics (d. 2009)
  • 1922 – Jean Kerr, American author and playwright (d. 2003)
  • 1922 – Herb McKenley, Jamaican sprinter (d. 2007)
  • 1922 – Jake LaMotta, American boxer and actor (d. 2017)
  • 1923 – Amalia Mendoza, Mexican singer and actress (d. 2001)
  • 1923 – John Bradley, American soldier (d. 1994)
  • 1923 – Suzanne Cloutier, Canadian actress and producer (d. 2003)
  • 1923 – G. A. Kulkarni, Indian author and academic (d. 1987)
  • 1924 – Johnny Bach, American basketball player and coach (d. 2016)
  • 1924 – Bobo Brazil, American wrestler (d. 1998)
  • 1925 – Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysian physician and politician, 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia
  • 1925 – Ernest Bertrand Boland, American Roman Catholic bishop
  • 1926 – Carleton Carpenter, American actor, magician, songwriter, and novelist
  • 1926 – Fred Gwynne, American actor (d. 1993)
  • 1927 – Grigory Barenblatt, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 2018)
  • 1927 – David Dinkins, American soldier and politician, 106th Mayor of New York City
  • 1927 – William Smithers, American actor
  • 1928 – Don Bolles, American investigative reporter (d. 1976)
  • 1928 – Bernard Buffet, French painter and illustrator (d. 1999)
  • 1928 – Alejandro de Tomaso, Argentinian-Italian race car driver and businessman, founded De Tomaso (d. 2003)
  • 1928 – Moshe Greenberg, American-Israeli rabbi and scholar (d. 2010)
  • 1928 – John Glenn, American baseball player
  • 1929 – Winnie Ewing, Scottish lawyer and politician
  • 1929 – George Clayton Johnson, American author and screenwriter (d. 2015)
  • 1929 – Moe Norman, Canadian golfer (d. 2004)
  • 1929 – José Vicente Rangel, Venezuelan politician; 21st Vice President of Venezuela
  • 1930 – Bruce Boa, Canadian actor (d. 2004)
  • 1930 – Janette Sherman, American physician, author, and pioneer in occupational and environmental health (d. 2019)
  • 1930 – Josephine Veasey, English soprano and actress
  • 1931 – Nick Adams, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1968)
  • 1931 – Jerry Herman, American composer and songwriter (d. 2019)
  • 1931 – Julian May, American author (d. 2017)
  • 1931 – Alice Munro, Canadian short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1932 – Carlo Maria Abate, Italian race car driver (d. 2019)
  • 1932 – Neile Adams, Filipino-American actress, singer and dancer
  • 1932 – Manfred Preußger, German athlete
  • 1933 – Jumpin’ Gene Simmons, American rockabilly singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
  • 1933 – C.K. Yang, Taiwanese decathlete and pole vaulter (d. 2007)
  • 1934 – Marshall Brodien, American actor (d. 2019)
  • 1934 – Jerry Nelson, American puppeteer and voice actor (d. 2012)
  • 1935 – Tura Satana, American actress and dancer (d. 2011)
  • 1935 – Wilson Tuckey, Australian politician
  • 1935 – Margaret McEntee, American Catholic religious sister and educator
  • 1935 – Wilson Whineray, New Zealand rugby player and businessman (d. 2012)
  • 1936 – Herbert Boyer, American businessman, co-founded Genentech
  • 1936 – Tunne Kelam, Estonian journalist and politician
  • 1937 – Edwards Barham, American farmer and politician (d. 2014)
  • 1937 – Gun Svensson, Swedish politician
  • 1938 – Paul Andreu, French architect (d. 2018)
  • 1938 – Lee Morgan, American trumpet player and composer (d. 1972)
  • 1939 – Phil Kelly, Irish-English footballer and manager (d. 2012)
  • 1939 – Ahmet Taner Kışlalı, Turkish political scientist, journalist and educator (d. 1999)
  • 1939 – Mavis Staples, American singer
  • 1940 – Meghnad Desai, Baron Desai, Indian-English economist and politician
  • 1940 – Helen Donath, American soprano and actress
  • 1940 – Brian Priestley, English pianist and composer
  • 1940 – Keith Stackpole, Australian cricketer
  • 1941 – Jake Eberts, Canadian film producer (d. 2012)
  • 1941 – David G. Hartwell, American anthologist, author, and critic (d. 2016)
  • 1941 – Robert Pine, American actor and director
  • 1941 – Ian Whitcomb, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
  • 1942 – Ronnie James Dio, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2010)
  • 1942 – Pyotr Klimuk, Belarusian general, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1942 – Sixto Rodriguez, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1942 – Lopo do Nascimento, Angolan politician; 1st Prime Minister of Angola
  • 1943 – Arthur Ashe, American tennis player and journalist (d. 1993)
  • 1943 – Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika, Zambian politician
  • 1943 – Jerry Miller, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1944 – Mick Grant, English motorcycle racer
  • 1944 – Norman Hammond, English archaeologist and academic
  • 1945 – Ron Glass, American actor (d. 2016)
  • 1945 – Hal McRae, American baseball player and manager
  • 1945 – John Motson, English sportscaster
  • 1945 – Jean-Marie Poiré, French director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1945 – Virginia Wade, English tennis player and sportscaster
  • 1946 – Jean-Pierre Jarier, French racing driver
  • 1946 – Chin Han, Taiwanese actor
  • 1947 – Arlo Guthrie, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
  • 1948 – Ronnie Cutrone, American painter (d. 2013)
  • 1948 – Chico Resch, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
  • 1948 – Natalya Sedykh, Russian figure skater, ballet dancer, actor
  • 1949 – Anna Czerwińska, Polish mountaineer and author
  • 1949 – Sunil Gavaskar, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
  • 1949 – Greg Kihn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1949 – John Whitehead, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2004)
  • 1950 – Tony Baldry, English colonel, lawyer, and politician, British Minister of State for Agriculture
  • 1950 – Prokopis Pavlopoulos, President of Greece, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister for the Interior
  • 1951 – Cheryl Wheeler, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1951 – Rajnath Singh, Indian Politician and Union Home Minister of India
  • 1952 – Kim Mitchell, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1952 – Peter van Heemst, Dutch politician
  • 1953 – Rik Emmett, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1953 – Zoogz Rift, American musician and wrestler (d. 2011)
  • 1954 – Tommy Bowden, American football player and coach
  • 1954 – Andre Dawson, American baseball player
  • 1954 – Neil Tennant, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1955 – Nic Dakin, English educator and politician
  • 1955 – Geoff Gerard, Australian rugby league player
  • 1956 – Tom McClintock, American lawyer and politician
  • 1956 – K. Rajagopal, Malaysian football manager
  • 1957 – Derry Grehan, Canadian rock guitarist and songwriter
  • 1958 – Béla Fleck, American banjo player and songwriter
  • 1958 – Fiona Shaw, Irish actress and director
  • 1959 – Ellen Kuras, American director and cinematographer
  • 1959 – Sandy West, American singer-songwriter and drummer (d. 2006)
  • 1961 – Jacky Cheung, Hong Kong singer and film actor
  • 1961 – Marc Riley, English guitarist (The Fall), radio DJ
  • 1963 – Ian Lougher, Welsh motorcycle racer
  • 1964 – Martin Laurendeau, Canadian tennis player and coach
  • 1964 – Urban Meyer, American football player and coach
  • 1964 – Wilfried Peeters, Belgian cyclist
  • 1965 – Scott McCarron, American golfer
  • 1965 – Ken Mellons, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1966 – Clive Efford, English politician
  • 1966 – Johnny Grunge, American wrestler (d. 2006)
  • 1966 – Christian Stangl, Austrian skier and mountaineer
  • 1966 – Anna Bråkenhielm, Swedish business executive
  • 1967 – Tom Meents, American professional monster truck driver
  • 1967 – Rebekah Del Rio, American singer-songwriter
  • 1967 – Gillian Tett, English journalist and author
  • 1967 – Ikki Sawamura, Japanese model, actor and television presenter
  • 1967 – John Yoo, South Korean-American lawyer, author, and educator
  • 1969 – Marty Cordova, American baseball player
  • 1969 – Gale Harold, American actor
  • 1970 – Gary LeVox, American singer-songwriter
  • 1970 – Jason Orange, English singer-songwriter and dancer
  • 1970 – John Simm, English actor
  • 1971 – Adam Foote, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1971 – Gregory Goodridge, Barbadian footballer and coach
  • 1972 – Peter Serafinowicz, English actor
  • 1972 – Sofía Vergara, Colombian-American actress and producer
  • 1972 – Tilo Wolff, German-Swiss singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
  • 1974 – Imelda May, Irish singer-songwriter, musician, and producer
  • 1975 – Andrew Firestone, American businessman
  • 1975 – Brendan Gaughan, American race car driver
  • 1975 – Alain Nasreddine, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1975 – Stefán Karl Stefánsson, Icelandic actor (d. 2018)
  • 1975 – Richard Westbrook, English race car driver
  • 1976 – Edmílson, Brazilian footballer
  • 1976 – Elijah Blue Allman, American singer and guitarist
  • 1976 – Ludovic Giuly, French footballer
  • 1976 – Adrian Grenier, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1976 – Brendon Lade, Australian footballer and coach
  • 1976 – Lars Ricken, German footballer
  • 1977 – Chiwetel Ejiofor, English actor
  • 1979 – Mvondo Atangana, Cameroon footballer
  • 1979 – Gong Yoo, Korean actor
  • 1980 – Alejandro Millán, Mexican singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1980 – Adam Petty, American race car driver (d. 2000)
  • 1980 – Claudia Leitte, Brazilian singer-songwriter
  • 1980 – James Rolfe, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1980 – Jessica Simpson, American singer-songwriter, actress, and fashion designer
  • 1981 – Aleksandar Tunchev, Bulgarian footballer
  • 1982 – Alex Arrowsmith, American guitarist and producer
  • 1982 – Juliya Chernetsky, Ukrainian-American television host
  • 1982 – Sebastian Mila, Polish footballer
  • 1982 – Jeffrey Walker, Australian actor and director
  • 1983 – Giuseppe De Feudis, Italian footballer
  • 1983 – Matthew Egan, Australian footballer
  • 1983 – Gabi, Spanish footballer
  • 1983 – Kim Hee-chul, Korean entertainer
  • 1983 – Joelson José Inácio, Brazilian footballer
  • 1983 – Doug Kramer, Filipino basketball player
  • 1983 – Anthony Watmough, Australian rugby league player
  • 1984 – Nikolaos Mitrou, Greek footballer
  • 1985 – Park Chu-young, South Korean footballer
  • 1985 – B. J. Crombeen, American ice hockey player
  • 1985 – Mario Gómez, German footballer
  • 1988 – Antonio Brown, American football player
  • 1988 – Heather Hemmens, American actress, director, and producer
  • 1988 – Sarah Walker, New Zealand BMX rider
  • 1990 – Adam Reynolds, Australian rugby league player
  • 1990 – Trent Richardson, American footballer
  • 1990 – Chiyonokuni Toshiki, Japanese sumo wrestler
  • 1991 – Daishōmaru Shōgo, Japanese sumo wrestler
  • 1999 – April Ivy, Portuguese composer and singer
  • 2001 – Isabela Moner, American actress

Deaths on July 10

  • 138 – Hadrian, Roman emperor (b. 76)
  • 645 – Soga no Iruka, Japanese politician
  • 649 – Tai Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 598)
  • 772 – Amalberga of Temse, Frankish noblewoman
  • 831 – Zubaidah bint Ja`far, Abbasid Princess
  • 983 – Benedict VII, pope of the Catholic Church
  • 994 – Leopold I, margrave of Austria
  • 1086 – Canute IV, king of Denmark (b. 1043)
  • 1103 – Eric I, king of Denmark (b. 1060)
  • 1290 – Ladislaus IV, king of Hungaria (b. 1262)
  • 1460 – Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, English commander and politician, Lord High Constable of England (b. 1402)
  • 1460 – John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury, English nobleman (b. c. 1413)
  • 1461 – Thomas, king of Bosnia (b. 1411)
  • 1473 – James II, king of Cyprus
  • 1480 – René of Anjou, French nobleman (b. 1400)
  • 1510 – Catherine Cornaro, queen of Cyprus (b. 1454)
  • 1576 – Eleonora di Garzia di Toledo, Italian noble (b. 1553)
  • 1559 – Henry II, king of France (b. 1519)
  • 1584 – William I, Dutch nobleman (b. 1533)
  • 1590 – Charles II, archduke of Austria (b. 1540)
  • 1594 – Paolo Bellasio, Italian organist and composer (b. 1554)
  • 1603 – Joan Terès i Borrull, Spanish archbishop and academic (b. 1538)
  • 1621 – Charles Bonaventure de Longueval, French commander (b. 1571)
  • 1653 – Gabriel Naudé, French librarian and scholar (b. 1600)
  • 1680 – Louis Moréri, French priest and scholar (b. 1643)
  • 1683 – François Eudes de Mézeray, French historian and author (b. 1610)
  • 1686 – John Fell, English bishop and academic (b. 1625)
  • 1776 – Richard Peters, English lawyer and minister (b. 1704)
  • 1794 – Gaspard de Bernard de Marigny, French general (b. 1754)
  • 1806 – George Stubbs, English painter and academic (b. 1724)
  • 1851 – Louis Daguerre, French photographer and physicist, invented the daguerreotype (b. 1787)
  • 1863 – Clement Clarke Moore, American author and educator (b. 1779)
  • 1881 – Georg Hermann Nicolai, German architect and academic (b. 1812)
  • 1884 – Paul Morphy, American chess player (b. 1837)
  • 1908 – Phoebe Knapp, American organist and composer (b. 1839)
  • 1915 – Hendrik Willem Mesdag, Dutch painter (b. 1831)
  • 1920 – John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, British admiral (b. 1841)
  • 1929 – Ève Lavallière, French actress (b. 1866)
  • 1941 – Jelly Roll Morton, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1890)
  • 1941 – Huntley Wright, English actor (b. 1868)
  • 1950 – Richard Maury, American-Argentinian engineer (b. 1882)
  • 1952 – Rued Langgaard, Danish organist and composer (b. 1893)
  • 1954 – Calogero Vizzini, Italian mob boss (b. 1877)
  • 1956 – Joe Giard, American baseball player (b. 1898)
  • 1960 – Sæbjørn Buttedahl, Norwegian actor and sculptor (b. 1876)
  • 1962 – Yehuda Leib Maimon, Israeli rabbi and politician (b. 1875)
  • 1963 – Teddy Wakelam, English rugby player and sportscaster (b. 1893)
  • 1970 – Bjarni Benediktsson, Icelandic academic and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1908)
  • 1971 – Laurent Dauthuille, French boxer (b. 1924)
  • 1972 – Lovie Austin, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1887)
  • 1978 – John D. Rockefeller III, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Asia Society (b. 1906)
  • 1979 – Arthur Fiedler, American conductor (b. 1894)
  • 1980 – Joseph Krumgold, American author and screenwriter (b. 1908)
  • 1985 – Fernando Pereira, Dutch photographer (b. 1950)
  • 1986 – Tadeusz Piotrowski, Polish mountaineer and author (b. 1940)
  • 1987 – John Hammond, American record producer, critic, and activist (b. 1910)
  • 1989 – Mel Blanc, American voice actor (b. 1908)
  • 1993 – Ruth Krauss, American author and poet (b. 1901)
  • 1993 – Sam Rolfe, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1924)
  • 1995 – Mehmet Ali Aybar, Turkish lawyer and politician (b. 1908)
  • 1996 – Eno Raud, Estonian author (b. 1928)
  • 2000 – Vakkom Majeed, Indian journalist and politician (b. 1909)
  • 2002 – Jean-Pierre Côté, Canadian politician, 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (b. 1926)
  • 2002 – Evangelos Florakis, Greek general (b. 1943)
  • 2002 – Laurence Janifer, American author (b. 1933)
  • 2003 – Winston Graham, English author (b. 1908)
  • 2003 – Hartley Shawcross, Baron Shawcross, German-English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (b. 1902)
  • 2004 – Pati Behrs, Russian-American ballerina and actress (b. 1922)
  • 2005 – A. J. Quinnell, English author (b. 1940)
  • 2006 – Shamil Basayev, Chechen terrorist rebel leader (b. 1965)
  • 2007 – Doug Marlette, American cartoonist and author (b. 1949)
  • 2008 – Hiroaki Aoki, Japanese-American wrestler and businessman, founded Benihana (b. 1938)
  • 2008 – Mike Souchak, American golfer (b. 1927)
  • 2011 – Pierrette Alarie, Canadian soprano and educator (b. 1921)
  • 2011 – Roland Petit, French dancer and choreographer (b. 1924)
  • 2012 – Dolphy, Filipino actor, singer, and producer (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Peter Kyros, American lawyer and politician (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Berthe Meijer, German-Dutch journalist and author (b. 1938)
  • 2012 – Fritz Langanke, German lieutenant (b. 1919)
  • 2012 – Viktor Suslin, Russian-German composer (b. 1942)
  • 2013 – Philip Caldwell, American businessman (b. 1920)
  • 2013 – Józef Gara, Polish poet and linguist (b. 1929)
  • 2013 – Concha García Campoy, Spanish journalist (b. 1958)
  • 2013 – Caroline Duby Glassman, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1922)
  • 2013 – Ku Ok-hee, South Korean golfer (b. 1956)
  • 2013 – Gokulananda Mahapatra, Indian author and academic (b. 1922)
  • 2014 – Robert C. Broomfield, American lawyer and judge (b. 1933)
  • 2014 – Juozas Kazickas, Lithuanian-American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1918)
  • 2014 – Paul G. Risser, American ecologist and academic (b. 1939)
  • 2014 – Zohra Sehgal, Indian actress, dancer, and choreographer (b. 1912)
  • 2014 – Gloria Schweigerdt, American baseball player (b. 1934)
  • 2015 – Roger Rees, Welsh-American actor and director (b. 1944)
  • 2015 – Omar Sharif, Egyptian actor (b. 1932)
  • 2015 – Jon Vickers, Canadian tenor (b. 1926)
  • 2016 – Katharina Focke, German politician (b. 1922)
  • 2018 – Henry Morgenthau III, American author and television producer (b. 1917)
  • 2020 – Lara van Ruijven, Dutch short track speed skater (b. 1992)

Holidays and observances on July 10

  • Armed Forces Day (Mauritania)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Amalberga of Maubeuge
    • Canute IV of Denmark
    • Rufina and Secunda
    • Seven Brothers
    • Victoria, Anatolia, and Audax
    • July 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Independence Day (Bahamas), celebrates the independence of the Bahamas from the United Kingdom in 1973.
  • Nikola Tesla Day
  • Statehood Day (Wyoming)

July 10 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day /
  • 491 – Odoacer makes a night assault with his Heruli guardsmen, engaging Theoderic the Great in Ad Pinetam. Both sides suffer heavy losses, but in the end Theodoric forces Odoacer back into Ravenna.
  • 551 – A major earthquake strikes Beirut, triggering a devastating tsunami that affected the coastal towns of Byzantine Phoenicia, causing thousands of deaths.
  • 660 – Korean forces under general Kim Yu-sin of Silla defeat the army of Baekje in the Battle of Hwangsanbeol.
  • 869 – The 8.4–9.0 Mw  Sanriku earthquake strikes the area around Sendai in northern Honshu, Japan. Inundation from the tsunami extended several kilometers inland.
  • 969 – The Fatimid general Jawhar leads the Friday prayer in Fustat in the name of Caliph al-Mu’izz li-Din Allah, thereby symbolically completing the Fatimid conquest of Egypt.
  • 1357 – Emperor Charles IV assists in laying the foundation stone of Charles Bridge in Prague.
  • 1386 – The Old Swiss Confederacy makes great strides in establishing control over its territory by soundly defeating the Archduchy of Austria in the Battle of Sempach.
  • 1401 – Timur attacks the Jalairid Sultanate and destroys Baghdad.
  • 1540 – King Henry VIII of England annuls his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.
  • 1572 – Nineteen Catholics suffer martyrdom for their beliefs in the Dutch town of Gorkum.
  • 1609 – Bohemia is granted freedom of religion through the Letter of Majesty by the Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II.
  • 1701 – A Bourbon force under Nicolas Catinat withdraws from a smaller Habsburg force under Prince Eugene of Savoy in the Battle of Carpi.
  • 1745 – French victory in the Battle of Melle allows them to capture Ghent in the days after.
  • 1755 – The Braddock Expedition is soundly defeated by a smaller French and Native American force in its attempt to capture Fort Duquesne in what is now downtown Pittsburgh.
  • 1762 – Catherine the Great becomes Empress of Russia following the coup against her husband, Peter III.
  • 1776 – George Washington orders the Declaration of Independence to be read out to members of the Continental Army in Manhattan, while thousands of British troops on Staten Island prepare for the Battle of Long Island.
  • 1789 – In Versailles, the National Assembly reconstitutes itself as the National Constituent Assembly and begins preparations for a French constitution.
  • 1790 – The Swedish Navy captures one third of the Russian Baltic fleet.
  • 1793 – The Act Against Slavery in Upper Canada bans the importation of slaves and will free those who are born into slavery after the passage of the Act at 25 years of age.
  • 1807 – The Treaties of Tilsit are signed by Napoleon I of France and Alexander I of Russia.
  • 1810 – Napoleon annexes the Kingdom of Holland as part of the First French Empire.
  • 1811 – Explorer David Thompson posts a sign near what is now Sacajawea State Park in Washington state, claiming the Columbia District for the United Kingdom.
  • 1815 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord becomes the first Prime Minister of France.
  • 1816 – Argentina declares independence from Spain.
  • 1821 – Four hundred and seventy prominent Cypriots including Archbishop Kyprianos are executed in response to Cypriot aid to the Greek War of Independence.
  • 1850 – U.S. President Zachary Taylor dies after eating raw fruit and iced milk; he is succeeded in office by Vice President Millard Fillmore.
  • 1850 – Persian prophet Báb is executed in Tabriz, Persia.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: The Siege of Port Hudson ends, giving the Union complete control of the Mississippi River.
  • 1868 – The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing African Americans full citizenship and all persons in the United States due process of law.
  • 1875 – The Herzegovina Uprising against Ottoman rule begins, which would last until 1878 and have far-reaching implications throughout the Balkans.
  • 1877 – The inaugural Wimbledon Championships begins.
  • 1893 – Daniel Hale Williams, American heart surgeon, performs the first successful open-heart surgery in United States without anesthesia.
  • 1896 – William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of Gold speech advocating bimetallism at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
  • 1900 – The Federation of Australia is given royal assent.
  • 1900 – The Governor of Shanxi province in North China orders the execution of 45 foreign Christian missionaries and local church members, including children.
  • 1918 – In Nashville, Tennessee, an inbound local train collides with an outbound express, killing 101 and injuring 171 people, making it the deadliest rail accident in United States history.
  • 1922 – Johnny Weissmuller swims the 100 meters freestyle in 58.6 seconds breaking the world swimming record and the ‘minute barrier’.
  • 1932 – The state of São Paulo revolts against the Brazilian Federal Government, starting the Constitutionalist Revolution.
  • 1937 – The silent film archives of Fox Film Corporation are destroyed by the 1937 Fox vault fire.
  • 1943 – World War II: The Allied invasion of Sicily soon causes the downfall of Mussolini and forces Hitler to break off the Battle of Kursk.
  • 1944 – World War II: American forces take Saipan, bringing the Japanese archipelago within range of B-29 raids, and causing the downfall of the Tojo government.
  • 1944 – World War II: Continuation War: Finland wins the Battle of Tali-Ihantala, the largest battle ever fought in northern Europe. The Red Army withdraws its troops from Ihantala and digs into a defensive position, thus ending the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive.
  • 1955 – The Russell–Einstein Manifesto calls for a reduction of the risk of nuclear warfare.
  • 1956 – The 7.7 Mw  Amorgos earthquake shakes the Cyclades island group in the Aegean Sea with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The shaking and the destructive tsunami that followed left fifty-three people dead. A damaging M7.2 aftershock occurred minutes after the mainshock.
  • 1958 – A 7.8 Mw  strike-slip earthquake in Alaska causes a landslide that produces a megatsunami. The runup from the waves reached 525 m (1,722 ft) on the rim of Lituya Bay; five people were killed.
  • 1962 – Starfish Prime tests the effects of a nuclear test at orbital altitudes.
  • 1979 – A car bomb destroys a Renault motor car owned by “Nazi hunters” Serge and Beate Klarsfeld outside their home in France in an unsuccessful assassination attempt.
  • 1982 – Pan Am Flight 759 crashes in Kenner, Louisiana, killing all 145 people on board and eight others on the ground.
  • 1986 – The New Zealand Parliament passes the Homosexual Law Reform Act legalising homosexuality in New Zealand.
  • 1993 – The Parliament of Canada passes the Nunavut Act leading to the 1999 creation of Nunavut, dividing the Northwest Territories into arctic (Inuit) and sub-arctic (Dene) lands based on a plebiscite.
  • 1995 – The Navaly church bombing is carried out by the Sri Lanka Air Force killing 125 Tamil civilian refugees.
  • 1999 – Days of student protests begin after Iranian police and hardliners attack a student dormitory at the University of Tehran.
  • 2002 – The African Union is established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, replacing the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The organization’s first chairman is Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa.
  • 2006 – One hundred and twenty-five people are killed when S7 Airlines Flight 778, an Airbus A310 passenger jet, veers off the runway while landing in wet conditions at Irkutsk Airport in Siberia.
  • 2011 – South Sudan gains independence and secedes from Sudan.

Births on July 9

  • 1249 – Emperor Kameyama of Japan (d. 1305)
  • 1455 – Frederick IV of Baden, Dutch bishop (d. 1517)
  • 1511 – Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg (d. 1571)
  • 1526 – Elizabeth of Austria, Polish noble (d. 1545)
  • 1577 – Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, English-American soldier and politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (d. 1618)
  • 1578 – Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1637)
  • 1654 – Emperor Reigen of Japan (d. 1732)
  • 1686 – Philip Livingston, American merchant and politician (d. 1749)
  • 1689 – Alexis Piron, French epigrammatist and playwright (d. 1773)
  • 1721 – Johann Nikolaus Götz, German poet and author (d. 1781)
  • 1753 – William Waldegrave, 1st Baron Radstock, English admiral and politician, 34th Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1825)
  • 1764 – Ann Ward, English author and poet (d. 1823)
  • 1775 – Matthew Lewis, English author and playwright (d. 1818)
  • 1800 – Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle, German physician, pathologist, and anatomist (d. 1885)
  • 1808 – Alexander William Doniphan, American lawyer and colonel (d. 1887)
  • 1819 – Elias Howe, American inventor, invented the sewing machine (d. 1867)
  • 1825 – A. C. Gibbs, American lawyer and politician, 2nd Governor of Oregon (d. 1886)
  • 1828 – Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano, Italian cardinal (d. 1913)
  • 1834 – Jan Neruda, Czech journalist and poet (d. 1891)
  • 1836 – Camille of Renesse-Breidbach (d. 1904)
  • 1848 – Robert I, Duke of Parma (d. 1907)
  • 1853 – William Turner Dannat, American painter (d. 1929)
  • 1856 – John Verran, English-Australian politician, 26th Premier of South Australia (d. 1932)
  • 1858 – Franz Boas, German-American anthropologist and linguist (d. 1942)
  • 1867 – Georges Lecomte, French author and playwright (d. 1958)
  • 1879 – Carlos Chagas, Brazilian physician and parasitologist (d. 1934)
  • 1879 – Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer and conductor (d. 1936)
  • 1887 – James Ormsbee Chapin, American-Canadian painter and illustrator (d. 1975)
  • 1887 – Saturnino Herrán, Mexican painter (d. 1918)
  • 1887 – Samuel Eliot Morison, American admiral and historian (d. 1976)
  • 1889 – Léo Dandurand, American-Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and referee (d. 1964)
  • 1893 – George Geary, English cricketer and coach (d. 1981)
  • 1901 – Barbara Cartland, prolific English author (d. 2000)
  • 1902 – Peter Acland, English soldier (d. 1993)
  • 1905 – Clarence Campbell, Canadian ice hockey player and referee (d. 1984)
  • 1907 – Eddie Dean, American singer-songwriter (d. 1999)
  • 1908 – Allamah Rasheed Turabi, Pakistani philosopher and scholar (d. 1973)
  • 1908 – Minor White, American photographer, critic, and educator (d. 1976)
  • 1909 – Basil Wolverton, American author and illustrator (d. 1978)
  • 1910 – Govan Mbeki, South African anti-apartheid and ANC leader and activist (d. 2001)
  • 1911 – Mervyn Peake, English author and illustrator (d. 1968)
  • 1911 – John Archibald Wheeler, American physicist and author (d. 2008)
  • 1914 – Willi Stoph, German engineer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of East Germany (d. 1999)
  • 1914 – Mac Wilson, Australian rules footballer (d. 2017)
  • 1915 – David Diamond, American composer and educator (d. 2005)
  • 1915 – Lee Embree, American sergeant and photographer (d. 2008)
  • 1916 – Dean Goffin, New Zealand composer (d. 1984)
  • 1916 – Edward Heath, English colonel and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 2005)
  • 1917 – Krystyna Dańko, Polish orphan, survivor of Holocaust (d. 2019)
  • 1918 – Nicolaas Govert de Bruijn, Dutch mathematician and academic (d. 2012)
  • 1918 – Jarl Wahlström, Finnish 12th General of The Salvation Army (d. 1999)
  • 1921 – David C. Jones, American general (d. 2013)
  • 1922 – Angelines Fernández, Spanish-Mexican actress (d. 1994)
  • 1922 – Jim Pollard, American basketball player and coach (d. 1993)
  • 1924 – Pierre Cochereau, French organist and composer (d. 1984)
  • 1925 – Guru Dutt, Indian actor, director, and producer (d. 1964)
  • 1925 – Charles E. Wicks, American engineer, author, and academic (d. 2010)
  • 1925 – Ronald I. Spiers, American ambassador
  • 1926 – Murphy Anderson, American illustrator (d. 2015)
  • 1926 – Ben Roy Mottelson, American-Danish physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1926 – Pedro Dellacha, Argentine football defender and coach (d. 2010)
  • 1926 – Mathilde Krim, Italian-American medical researcher and health educator (d. 2018)
  • 1927 – Ed Ames, American singer and actor
  • 1927 – Red Kelly, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and politician (d. 2019)
  • 1928 – Federico Bahamontes, Spanish cyclist
  • 1928 – Vince Edwards, American actor, singer, and director (d. 1996)
  • 1929 – Lee Hazlewood, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2007)
  • 1929 – Jesse McReynolds, American singer and mandolin player
  • 1929 – Chi Haotian, Chinese general
  • 1929 – Hassan II of Morocco (d. 1999)
  • 1930 – K. Balachander, Indian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
  • 1930 – Buddy Bregman, American composer and conductor (d. 2017)
  • 1930 – Janice Lourie, American computer scientist and graphic artist
  • 1930 – Elsa Lystad, Norwegian actress
  • 1930 – Roy McLean, South African cricketer and rugby player (d. 2007)
  • 1931 – Haynes Johnson, American journalist and author (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Sylvia Bacon, American judge
  • 1932 – Donald Rumsfeld, American captain and politician, 13th United States Secretary of Defense
  • 1932 – Amitzur Shapira, Israeli sprinter and long jumper (d. 1972)
  • 1933 – Oliver Sacks, English-American neurologist, author, and academic (d. 2015)
  • 1934 – Michael Graves, American architect, designed the Portland Building and the Humana Building (d. 2015)
  • 1935 – Wim Duisenberg, Dutch economist and politician, Dutch Minister of Finance (d. 2005)
  • 1935 – Mercedes Sosa, Argentinian singer and activist (d. 2009)
  • 1935 – Michael Williams, English actor (d. 2001)
  • 1936 – June Jordan, American poet and educator (d. 2002)
  • 1936 – David Zinman, American violinist and conductor
  • 1937 – David Hockney, English painter and photographer
  • 1938 – Brian Dennehy, American actor (d. 2020)
  • 1938 – Sanjeev Kumar, Indian film actor (d. 1985)
  • 1940 – David B. Frohnmayer, American lawyer and politician, 12th Oregon Attorney General (d. 2015)
  • 1940 – Eugene Victor Wolfenstein, American psychoanalyst and theorist (d. 2010)
  • 1941 – Mac MacLeod, English musician
  • 1942 – David Chidgey, Baron Chidgey, English engineer and politician
  • 1942 – Richard Roundtree, American actor
  • 1943 – John Casper, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1944 – Judith M. Brown, Indian-English historian and academic
  • 1944 – John Cunniff, American ice hockey player and coach (d. 2002)
  • 1945 – Dean Koontz, American author and screenwriter
  • 1945 – Root Boy Slim, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1993)
  • 1946 – Bon Scott, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter (d. 1980)
  • 1947 – Haruomi Hosono, Japanese singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
  • 1947 – Mitch Mitchell, English drummer (d. 2008)
  • 1947 – O. J. Simpson, American football player and actor
  • 1947 – Patrick Wormald, English historian (d. 2004)
  • 1948 – Hassan Wirajuda, Indonesian lawyer and politician, 15th Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1949 – Raoul Cédras, Haitian military officer and politician
  • 1950 – Amal ibn Idris al-Alami, Moroccan physician and neurosurgeon
  • 1950 – Adriano Panatta, Italian tennis player and sailor
  • 1950 – Viktor Yanukovych, Ukrainian engineer and politician, 4th President of Ukraine
  • 1951 – Chris Cooper, American actor
  • 1951 – Māris Gailis, Latvian politician, businessman, and former Prime Minister of Latvia
  • 1952 – John Tesh, American pianist, composer, and radio and television host
  • 1953 – Margie Gillis, Canadian dancer and choreographer
  • 1953 – Thomas Ligotti, American author
  • 1954 – Théophile Abega, Cameroonian footballer and politician (d. 2012)
  • 1954 – Kevin O’Leary, Canadian journalist and businessman
  • 1955 – Steve Coppell, English footballer and manager
  • 1955 – Lindsey Graham, American colonel, lawyer, and politician
  • 1955 – Jimmy Smits, American actor and producer
  • 1955 – Willie Wilson, American baseball player and manager
  • 1956 – Tom Hanks, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1956 – Michael Lederer, American author, poet, and playwright
  • 1957 – Marc Almond, English singer-songwriter
  • 1957 – Tim Kring, American screenwriter and producer
  • 1957 – Kelly McGillis, American actress
  • 1957 – Paul Merton, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter
  • 1958 – Abdul Latiff Ahmad, Malaysian politician
  • 1958 – Jacob Joseph, Malaysian football coach
  • 1959 – Jim Kerr, Scottish singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1959 – Kevin Nash, American wrestler
  • 1959 – Clive Stafford Smith, English lawyer and author
  • 1960 – Yūko Asano, Japanese actress and singer
  • 1960 – Wally Fullerton Smith, Australian rugby league player
  • 1960 – Eduardo Montes-Bradley, Argentinian journalist, photographer, and author
  • 1963 – Klaus Theiss, German footballer
  • 1964 – Courtney Love, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
  • 1964 – Gianluca Vialli, Italian footballer and coach
  • 1965 – Frank Bello, American bass player
  • 1965 – Thomas Jahn, German director and screenwriter
  • 1965 – Jason Rhoades, American sculptor (d. 2006)
  • 1966 – Pamela Adlon, American actress and voice artist
  • 1966 – Zheng Cao, Chinese-American soprano and actress (d. 2013)
  • 1966 – Gary Glasberg, American television writer and producer (d. 2016)
  • 1966 – Marco Pennette, American screenwriter and producer
  • 1967 – Gunnar Axén, Swedish politician
  • 1967 – Yordan Letchkov, Bulgarian footballer
  • 1967 – Mark Stoops, American football player and coach
  • 1968 – Paolo Di Canio, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1968 – Lars Gyllenhaal, Swedish historian and author
  • 1969 – Nicklas Barker, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1969 – Jason Kearton, Australian footballer and coach
  • 1970 – Trent Green, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1970 – Masami Tsuda, Japanese author and illustrator
  • 1971 – Marc Andreessen, American software developer, co-founded Netscape
  • 1972 – Ara Babajian, American drummer and songwriter
  • 1973 – Kelly Holcomb, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1974 – Siân Berry, English environmentalist and politician
  • 1974 – Ian Bradshaw, Barbadian cricketer
  • 1974 – Gary Kelly, Irish footballer
  • 1974 – Nikola Šarčević, Swedish singer-songwriter and bass player
  • 1975 – Shelton Benjamin, American wrestler
  • 1975 – Isaac Brock, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1975 – Robert Koenig, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1975 – Craig Quinnell, Welsh rugby player
  • 1975 – Jack White, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1976 – Thomas Cichon, Polish-German footballer and manager
  • 1976 – Fred Savage, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1976 – Radike Samo, Fijian-Australian rugby player
  • 1978 – Kara Goucher, American runner
  • 1978 – Nuno Santos, Portuguese footballer
  • 1979 – Gary Chaw, Malaysian Chinese singer-songwriter
  • 1981 – Lee Chun-soo, South Korean footballer
  • 1981 – Junauda Petrus, American author and performance artist
  • 1982 – Alecko Eskandarian, American soccer player and manager
  • 1982 – Sakon Yamamoto, Japanese race car driver
  • 1984 – Chris Campoli, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1984 – Gianni Fabiano, Italian footballer
  • 1984 – Jacob Hoggard, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1984 – Ave Pajo, Estonian footballer
  • 1984 – Piia Suomalainen, Finnish tennis player
  • 1984 – LA Tenorio, Filipino basketball player
  • 1985 – Paweł Korzeniowski, Polish swimmer
  • 1985 – Ashley Young, English footballer
  • 1986 – Sébastien Bassong, Cameroonian footballer
  • 1986 – Simon Dumont, American skier
  • 1986 – Kiely Williams, American singer-songwriter and dancer
  • 1987 – Gert Jõeäär, Estonian cyclist
  • 1987 – Rebecca Sugar, American animator, composer, and screenwriter
  • 1988 – Raul Rusescu, Romanian footballer
  • 1990 – Earl Bamber, New Zealand race car driver
  • 1990 – Fábio, Brazilian footballer
  • 1990 – Rafael, Brazilian footballer
  • 1991 – Mitchel Musso, American actor and singer
  • 1993 – Mitch Larkin, Australian swimmer
  • 1993 – DeAndre Yedlin, American footballer
  • 1999 – Claire Corlett, American voice actress

Deaths on July 9

  • 230 – Empress Dowager Bian, Cao Cao’s wife (b. 159)
  • 518 – Anastasius I Dicorus, Byzantine emperor (b. 430)
  • 715 – Naga, Japanese prince
  • 880 – Ariwara no Narihira, Japanese poet (b. 825)
  • 981 – Ramiro Garcés, king of Viguera
  • 1169 – Guido of Ravenna, Italian cartographer, entomologist and historian
  • 1228 – Stephen Langton, English cardinal and theologian (b. 1150)
  • 1270 – Stephen Báncsa, Hungarian cardinal (b. c. 1205)
  • 1386 – Leopold III, Duke of Austria (b. 1351)
  • 1441 – Jan van Eyck, Dutch painter
  • 1546 – Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell, Scottish statesman (b. c. 1493)
  • 1553 – Maurice, Elector of Saxony (b. 1521)
  • 1654 – Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans (b. 1633)
  • 1706 – Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville, Canadian captain and explorer (b. 1661)
  • 1737 – Gian Gastone de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1671)
  • 1742 – John Oldmixon, English historian, poet, and playwright (b. 1673)
  • 1746 – Philip V of Spain (b. 1683)
  • 1747 – Giovanni Bononcini, Italian cellist and composer (b. 1670)
  • 1766 – Jonathan Mayhew, American minister (b. 1720)
  • 1795 – Henry Seymour Conway, English general and politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (b. 1721)
  • 1797 – Edmund Burke, Irish-English philosopher, academic, and politician (b. 1729)
  • 1828 – Cathinka Buchwieser, German operatic singer and actress (b. 1789)
  • 1850 – Báb, Persian religious leader, founded Bábism (b. 1819)
  • 1850 – Zachary Taylor, American general and politician, 12th President of the United States (b. 1784)
  • 1852 – Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan, American lawyer and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1794)
  • 1856 – Amedeo Avogadro, Italian chemist and academic (b. 1776)
  • 1856 – James Strang, American religious leader and politician (b. 1813)
  • 1880 – Paul Broca, French physician and anatomist (b. 1824)
  • 1882 – Ignacio Carrera Pinto, Chilean captain (b. 1848)
  • 1903 – Alphonse François Renard, Belgian geologist and photographer (b. 1842)
  • 1927 – John Drew, Jr., American actor (b. 1853)
  • 1932 – King Camp Gillette, American businessman, founded the Gillette Company (b. 1855)
  • 1937 – Oliver Law, American commander (b. 1899)
  • 1938 – Benjamin N. Cardozo, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1870)
  • 1947 – Lucjan Żeligowski, Polish-Lithuanian general and politician (b. 1865)
  • 1949 – Fritz Hart, English-Australian composer and conductor (b. 1874)
  • 1951 – Harry Heilmann, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1894)
  • 1955 – Don Beauman, English race car driver (b. 1928)
  • 1955 – Adolfo de la Huerta, Mexican politician and provisional president, 1920 (b. 1881)
  • 1959 – Ferenc Talányi, Slovene journalist and painter (b. 1883)
  • 1962 – Georges Bataille, French philosopher, novelist, and poet (b. 1897)
  • 1961 – Whittaker Chambers, American spy and witness in Hiss case(b. 1901)
  • 1967 – Eugen Fischer, German physician and academic (b. 1874)
  • 1967 – Fatima Jinnah, Pakistani dentist and politician (b. 1893)
  • 1970 – Sigrid Holmquist, Swedish actress (b. 1899)
  • 1971 – Karl Ast, Estonian author and politician (b. 1886)
  • 1972 – Robert Weede, American opera singer (b. 1903)
  • 1974 – Earl Warren, American jurist and politician, 14th Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1891)
  • 1977 – Alice Paul, American activist (b. 1885)
  • 1979 – Cornelia Otis Skinner, American actress and author (b. 1899)
  • 1980 – Vinicius de Moraes, Brazilian poet, playwright, and composer (b. 1913)
  • 1984 – Edna Ernestine Kramer, American mathematician (b. 1902)
  • 1985 – Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (b. 1896)
  • 1985 – Jimmy Kinnon, Scottish-American activist, founded Narcotics Anonymous (b. 1911)
  • 1986 – Patriarch Nicholas VI of Alexandria (b. 1915)
  • 1992 – Kelvin Coe, Australian ballet dancer (b. 1946)
  • 1992 – Eric Sevareid, American journalist (b. 1912)
  • 1993 – Metin Altıok, Turkish poet and educator (b. 1940)
  • 1994 – Bill Mosienko, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1921)
  • 1996 – Melvin Belli, American lawyer (b. 1907)
  • 1999 – Robert de Cotret, Canadian politician, 56th Secretary of State for Canada (b. 1944)
  • 2000 – Doug Fisher, English actor (b. 1941)
  • 2002 – Mayo Kaan, American bodybuilder (b. 1914)
  • 2002 – Rod Steiger, American actor (b. 1925)
  • 2004 – Paul Klebnikov, American journalist and historian (b. 1963)
  • 2004 – Isabel Sanford, American actress (b. 1917)
  • 2005 – Chuck Cadman, Canadian engineer and politician (b. 1948)
  • 2005 – Yevgeny Grishin, Russian speed skater (b. 1931)
  • 2005 – Alex Shibicky, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1914)
  • 2006 – Milan Williams, American keyboard player and producer (b. 1948)
  • 2007 – Charles Lane, American actor (b. 1905)
  • 2008 – Séamus Brennan, Irish accountant and politician, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (b. 1948)
  • 2010 – Jessica Anderson, Australian author and playwright (b. 1916)
  • 2011 – Don Ackerman, American basketball player (b. 1930)
  • 2011 – Facundo Cabral, Argentinian singer-songwriter (b. 1937)
  • 2012 – Shin Jae-chul, South Korean-American martial artist (b. 1936)
  • 2012 – Chick King, American baseball player (b. 1930)
  • 2012 – Terepai Maoate, Cook Islander physician and politician, 6th Prime Minister of the Cook Islands (b. 1934)
  • 2012 – Eugênio Sales, Brazilian cardinal (b. 1920)
  • 2013 – Markus Büchel, Liechtensteiner politician, 9th Prime Minister of Liechtenstein (b. 1959)
  • 2013 – Andrew Nori, Solomon lawyer and politician (b. 1952)
  • 2013 – Kiril of Varna, Bulgarian metropolitan (b. 1954)
  • 2013 – Barbara Robinson, American author and poet (b. 1927)
  • 2013 – Toshi Seeger, American activist, co-founded the Clearwater Festival (b. 1922)
  • 2014 – Lorenzo Álvarez Florentín, Paraguayan violinist and composer (b. 1926)
  • 2014 – David Azrieli, Polish-Canadian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1922)
  • 2014 – Eileen Ford, American businesswoman, co-founded Ford Models (b. 1922)
  • 2014 – John Spinks, English guitarist and songwriter (b. 1953)
  • 2015 – Christian Audigier, French fashion designer (b. 1958)
  • 2015 – Saud bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabian economist and politician, Saudi Arabian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1940)
  • 2019 – William E. Dannemeyer, American politician (b. 1929)
  • 2019 – Ross Perot, American businessman and politician (b. 1930)
  • 2019 – Fernando de la Rúa, 43rd President of Argentina (b. 1937)
  • 2019 – Rip Torn, American actor (b. 1931)
  • 2019 – Freddie Jones, English actor (b. 1927)

Holidays and observances on July 9

  • Arbor Day (Cambodia)
  • Christian Feast Day:
    • Agilulfus of Cologne
    • Amandina of Schakkebroek (one of Martyrs of Southern Hunan)
    • Blessed Marija Petković
    • Everilda
    • Gregorio Grassi (one of Martyrs of Shanxi)
    • Martyr Saints of China
    • Martyrs of Gorkum
    • Our Lady of Itatí
    • Our Lady of Peace, Octave of the Visitation
    • Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá
    • Pauline of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus
    • Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury (Anglican commemoration)
    • Veronica Giuliani
    • July 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Constitution Day (Australia)
  • Constitution Day (Palau)
  • Constitutionalist Revolution Day (São Paulo)
  • Day of the Employees of the Diplomatic Service (Azerbaijan)
  • Earliest day on which Martyrdom of the Báb can fall, while July 10 is the latest; observed on the 17th of Raḥmat (Bahá’í Faith)
  • Independence Day, celebrates the declaration of independence of the United Provinces of South America by the Congress of Tucumán in 1816. (Argentina)
  • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of South Sudan from Sudan in 2011.
  • Nunavut Day (Nunavut)

July 9- History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day /
  • 1099 – Some 15,000 starving Christian soldiers begin the siege of Jerusalem by marching in a religious procession around the city as its Muslim defenders watch.
  • 1283 – Roger of Lauria, commanding the Aragonese fleet, defeats an Angevin fleet sent to put down a rebellion on Malta.
  • 1497 – Vasco da Gama sets sail on the first direct European voyage to India.
  • 1579 – Our Lady of Kazan, a holy icon of the Russian Orthodox Church, is discovered underground in the city of Kazan, Tatarstan.
  • 1663 – Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal charter to Rhode Island.
  • 1709 – Peter I of Russia defeats Charles XII of Sweden at the Battle of Poltava, thus effectively ending Sweden’s status as a major power in Europe.
  • 1716 – The Battle of Dynekilen forces Sweden to abandon its invasion of Norway.
  • 1730 – An estimated magnitude 8.7 earthquake causes a tsunami that damages more than 1,000 km (620 mi) of Chile’s coastline.
  • 1758 – French forces hold Fort Carillon against the British at Ticonderoga, New York.
  • 1760 – British forces defeat French forces in the last naval battle in New France.
  • 1775 – The Olive Branch Petition is signed by the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies of North America.
  • 1776 – Church bells (possibly including the Liberty Bell) are rung after John Nixon delivers the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence of the United States.
  • 1808 – Joseph Bonaparte approves the Bayonne Statute, a royal charter intended as the basis for his rule as king of Spain.
  • 1822 – Chippewas turn over a huge tract of land in Ontario to the United Kingdom.
  • 1853 – The Perry Expedition arrives in Edo Bay with a treaty requesting trade.
  • 1859 – King Charles XV & IV accedes to the throne of Sweden–Norway.
  • 1864 – Ikedaya Incident: The Choshu Han shishi’s planned Shinsengumi sabotage on Kyoto, Japan at Ikedaya.
  • 1874 – The Mounties begin their March West.
  • 1876 – The Hamburg massacre prior to the 1876 United States presidential election results in the deaths of six African-Americans of the Republican Party, along with one white assailant.
  • 1879 – Sailing ship USS Jeannette departs San Francisco carrying an ill-fated expedition to the North Pole.
  • 1889 – The first issue of The Wall Street Journal is published.
  • 1892 – St. John’s, Newfoundland is devastated in the Great Fire of 1892.
  • 1898 – The death of crime boss Soapy Smith, killed in the Shootout on Juneau Wharf, releases Skagway, Alaska from his iron grip.
  • 1912 – Henrique Mitchell de Paiva Couceiro leads an unsuccessful royalist attack against the First Portuguese Republic in Chaves.
  • 1932 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, closing at 41.22.
  • 1933 – The first rugby union test match between the Wallabies of Australia and the Springboks of South Africa is played at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town.
  • 1937 – Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan sign the Treaty of Saadabad.
  • 1947 – Reports are broadcast that a UFO crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico in what became known as the Roswell UFO incident.
  • 1948 – The United States Air Force accepts its first female recruits into a program called Women in the Air Force (WAF).
  • 1960 – Francis Gary Powers is charged with espionage resulting from his flight over the Soviet Union.
  • 1962 – Ne Win besieges and dynamites the Rangoon University Student Union building to crush the Student Movement.
  • 1966 – King Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi is deposed by his son Prince Charles Ndizi.
  • 1968 – The Chrysler wildcat strike begins in Detroit, Michigan.
  • 1970 – Richard Nixon delivers a special congressional message enunciating Native American self-determination as official US Indian policy, leading to the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975.
  • 1972 – Israeli Mossad assassinate Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani.
  • 1980 – The inaugural 1980 State of Origin game is won by Queensland who defeat New South Wales 20–10 at Lang Park.
  • 1982 – A failed assassination attempt against Iraqi president Saddam Hussein results in the Dujail Massacre over the next several months.
  • 1988 – The Island Express train travelling from Bangalore to Kanyakumari derails on the Peruman bridge and falls into Ashtamudi Lake, killing 105 passengers and injuring over 200 more.
  • 1994 – Kim Jong-il begins to assume supreme leadership of North Korea upon the death of his father, Kim Il-sung.
  • 2003 – Sudan Airways Flight 139 crashes near Port Sudan Airport during an emergency landing attempt, killing 116 of the 117 people on board.
  • 2011 – Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program.
  • 2014 – Israel launches an offensive on Gaza amid rising tensions following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers.

Births on July 8

  • 1478 – Gian Giorgio Trissino, Italian linguist, poet, and playwright (d. 1550)
  • 1528 – Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy (d. 1580)
  • 1538 – Alberto Bolognetti, Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 1585)
  • 1545 – Carlos, Prince of Asturias (d. 1568)
  • 1593 – Artemisia Gentileschi, Italian painter (d. 1653)
  • 1621 – Jean de La Fontaine, French author and poet (d. 1695)
  • 1760 – Christian Kramp, French mathematician and academic (d. 1826)
  • 1766 – Dominique Jean Larrey, French surgeon (d. 1842)
  • 1779 – Giorgio Pullicino, Maltese painter and architect (d. 1851)
  • 1819 – Francis Leopold McClintock, Irish admiral and explorer (d. 1907)
  • 1830 – Frederick W. Seward, American lawyer and politician, 6th United States Assistant Secretary of State (d. 1915)
  • 1831 – John Pemberton, American chemist and pharmacist, invented Coca-Cola (d. 1888)
  • 1836 – Joseph Chamberlain, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1914)
  • 1838 – Eli Lilly, American soldier, chemist, and businessman, founded Eli Lilly and Company (d. 1898)
  • 1838 – Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German general and businessman, founded the Zeppelin Airship Company (d. 1917)
  • 1839 – John D. Rockefeller, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Standard Oil Company (d. 1937)
  • 1851 – Arthur Evans, English archaeologist and academic (d. 1941)
  • 1851 – John Murray, Australian politician, 23rd Premier of Victoria (d. 1916)
  • 1857 – Alfred Binet, French psychologist and graphologist (d. 1911)
  • 1867 – Käthe Kollwitz, German painter and sculptor (d. 1945)
  • 1876 – Alexandros Papanastasiou, Greek sociologist and politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1936)
  • 1882 – Percy Grainger, Australian-American pianist and composer (d. 1961)
  • 1885 – Ernst Bloch, German philosopher, author, and academic (d. 1977)
  • 1885 – Hugo Boss, German fashion designer, founded Hugo Boss (d. 1948)
  • 1890 – Stanton Macdonald-Wright, American painter (d. 1973)
  • 1892 – Richard Aldington, English author and poet (d. 1962)
  • 1892 – Pavel Korin, Russian painter (d. 1967)
  • 1893 – R. Carlyle Buley, American historian and author (d. 1968)
  • 1894 – Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
  • 1895 – Igor Tamm, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
  • 1898 – Melville Ruick, American actor (d. 1972)
  • 1900 – George Antheil, American pianist, composer, and author (d. 1959)
  • 1904 – Henri Cartan, French mathematician and academic (d. 2008)
  • 1905 – Leonid Amalrik, Russian animator and director (d. 1997)
  • 1906 – Philip Johnson, American architect, designed the IDS Center and PPG Place (d. 2005)
  • 1907 – George W. Romney, American businessman and politician, 43rd Governor of Michigan (d. 1995)
  • 1908 – Louis Jordan, American singer-songwriter, saxophonist, and actor (d. 1975)
  • 1908 – Nelson Rockefeller, American businessman and politician, 41st Vice President of the United States (d. 1979)
  • 1908 – V. K. R. Varadaraja Rao, Indian economist, politician, professor and educator (d. 1991)
  • 1909 – Alan Brown, English soldier (d. 1971)
  • 1909 – Ike Petersen, American football back (d. 1995)
  • 1910 – Carlos Betances Ramírez, Puerto Rican general (d. 2001)
  • 1911 – Ken Farnes, English cricketer (d. 1941)
  • 1913 – Alejandra Soler, Spanish politician (d. 2017)
  • 1914 – Jyoti Basu, Indian politician, 6th Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 2010)
  • 1914 – Billy Eckstine, American singer and trumpet player (d. 1993)
  • 1915 – Neil D. Van Sickle, American Air Force major general (d. 2019)
  • 1915 – Lowell English, United States Marine Corps general (d. 2005)
  • 1916 – Jean Rouverol, American author, actress and screenwriter (d. 2017)
  • 1917 – Pamela Brown, English actress (d. 1975)
  • 1917 – Faye Emerson, American actress (d. 1983)
  • 1917 – J. F. Powers, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1999)
  • 1918 – Paul B. Fay, American businessman, soldier, and diplomat, 12th United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 2009)
  • 1918 – Irwin Hasen, American illustrator (d. 2015)
  • 1918 – Oluf Reed-Olsen, Norwegian resistance member and pilot (d. 2002)
  • 1918 – Julia Pirie, British spy working for MI5 (d. 2008)
  • 1918 – Edward B. Giller, U.S Major General (d. 2017)
  • 1918 – Craig Stevens, American actor (d. 2000)
  • 1919 – Walter Scheel, German soldier and politician, 4th President of West Germany (d. 2016)
  • 1920 – Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, Danish businessman (d. 1995)
  • 1921 – John Money, New Zealand psychologist and sexologist, responsible for controversial sexual identity study on David Reimer (d. 2006)
  • 1923 – Harrison Dillard, American sprinter and hurdler (d. 2019)
  • 1924 – Johnnie Johnson, American pianist and songwriter (d. 2005)
  • 1924 – Charles C. Droz, American politician
  • 1925 – Marco Cé, Italian cardinal (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – Arthur Imperatore Sr., Italian-American businessman from New Jersey
  • 1925 – Bill Mackrides, American football quarterback (d. 2019)
  • 1925 – Dominique Nohain, French actor, screenwriter and director (d. 2017)
  • 1926 – David Malet Armstrong, Australian philosopher and author (d. 2014)
  • 1926 – John Dingell, American lieutenant and politician (d. 2019)
  • 1926 – Martin Riesen, Swiss professional ice hockey goaltender
  • 1926 – Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Swiss-American psychiatrist and author (d. 2004)
  • 1927 – Maurice Hayes, Irish educator and politician (d. 2017)
  • 1927 – Khensur Lungri Namgyel, Tibetan religious leader
  • 1927 – Bob Beckham, American country singer (d. 2013)
  • 1928 – Balakh Sher Mazari, former Prime Minister of Pakistan
  • 1930 – Jerry Vale, American singer (d. 2014)
  • 1933 – Antonio Lamer, Canadian lawyer and politician, 16th Chief Justice of Canada (d. 2007)
  • 1934 – Raquel Correa, Chilean journalist (d. 2012)
  • 1934 – Marty Feldman, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1982)
  • 1934 – Edward D. DiPrete, American politician
  • 1935 – John David Crow, American football player and coach (d. 2015)
  • 1935 – Steve Lawrence, American actor and singer
  • 1935 – Vitaly Sevastyanov, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2010)
  • 1938 – Diane Clare, English actress (d. 2013)
  • 1939 – Ed Lumley, Canadian businessman and politician, 8th Canadian Minister of Communications
  • 1940 – Joe B. Mauldin, American bass player and songwriter (d. 2015)
  • 1941 – Dario Gradi, Italian-English footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1942 – Phil Gramm, American economist and politician
  • 1944 – Jaimoe, American drummer
  • 1944 – Jeffrey Tambor, American actor and singer
  • 1945 – Micheline Calmy-Rey, Swiss politician, 91st President of the Swiss Confederation
  • 1947 – Kim Darby, American actress
  • 1947 – Jenny Diski, English author and screenwriter (d. 2016)
  • 1947 – Luis Fernando Figari, Peruvian religious leader, founded the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae
  • 1948 – Raffi, Egyptian-Canadian singer-songwriter
  • 1948 – Ruby Sales, American civil-rights activist
  • 1949 – Wolfgang Puck, Austrian-American chef, restaurateur and entrepreneur
  • 1949 – Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Indian politician, 14th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (d. 2009)
  • 1951 – Alan Ashby, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster
  • 1951 – Anjelica Huston, American actress and director
  • 1952 – Larry Garner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1952 – Jack Lambert, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1952 – Marianne Williamson, American author and activist
  • 1956 – Terry Puhl, Canadian baseball player and coach
  • 1957 – Carlos Cavazo, Mexican-American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1957 – Aleksandr Gurnov, Russian journalist and author
  • 1958 – Kevin Bacon, American actor and musician
  • 1958 – Andreas Carlgren, Swedish educator and politician, 8th Swedish Minister for the Environment
  • 1958 – Tzipi Livni, Israeli lawyer and politician, 18th Justice Minister of Israel
  • 1959 – Pauline Quirke, English actress
  • 1960 – Mal Meninga, Australian rugby league player and coach
  • 1961 – Ces Drilon, Filipino journalist
  • 1961 – Andrew Fletcher, English keyboard player
  • 1961 – Toby Keith, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
  • 1961 – Karl Seglem, Norwegian saxophonist and record producer
  • 1962 – Joan Osborne, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1963 – Mark Christopher, American director and screenwriter
  • 1964 – Alexei Gusarov, Russian ice hockey player and manager
  • 1965 – Dan Levinson, American clarinet player, saxophonist, and bandleader
  • 1966 – Ralf Altmeyer, German-Chinese virologist and academic
  • 1966 – Shadlog Bernicke, Nauruan politician
  • 1967 – Jordan Chan, Hong Kong actor and singer
  • 1968 – Billy Crudup, American actor
  • 1968 – Shane Howarth, New Zealand rugby player and coach
  • 1969 – Sugizo, Japanese singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer
  • 1970 – Beck, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1970 – Sylvain Gaudreault, Canadian educator and politician
  • 1970 – Todd Martin, American tennis player and coach
  • 1971 – Neil Jenkins, Welsh rugby player and coach
  • 1972 – Karl Dykhuis, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1972 – Sourav Ganguly, Indian cricketer
  • 1972 – Shōsuke Tanihara, Japanese actor
  • 1974 – Hu Liang, Chinese field hockey player
  • 1976 – Talal El Karkouri, Moroccan footballer
  • 1976 – David Kennedy, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1976 – Ellen MacArthur, English sailor
  • 1977 – Christian Abbiati, Italian footballer
  • 1977 – Paolo Tiralongo, Italian cyclist
  • 1977 – Milo Ventimiglia, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1977 – Wang Zhizhi, Chinese basketball player
  • 1978 – Urmas Rooba, Estonian footballer
  • 1979 – Mat McBriar, American football player
  • 1979 – Ben Jelen, Scottish-American singer-songwriter
  • 1980 – Eric Chouinard, American-Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1980 – Robbie Keane, Irish footballer
  • 1981 – Wolfram Müller, German runner
  • 1981 – Anastasia Myskina, Russian tennis player
  • 1982 – Sophia Bush, American actress and director
  • 1982 – Hakim Warrick, American basketball player
  • 1983 – John Bowker, American baseball player
  • 1983 – Rich Peverley, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1986 – Jaime Garcia, Mexican baseball player
  • 1986 – Renata Costa, Brazilian footballer
  • 1988 – Miki Roqué, Spanish footballer (d. 2012)
  • 1988 – Jesse Sergent, New Zealand cyclist
  • 1988 – Dave Taylor, Australian rugby league player
  • 1989 – Yarden Gerbi, Israeli Judo champion
  • 1989 – Tor Marius Gromstad, Norwegian footballer (d. 2012)
  • 1991 – Virgil van Dijk, Dutch footballer
  • 1992 – Ariel Camacho, Mexican singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
  • 1992 – Son Heung-min, Korean footballer
  • 1992 – Xander Mobus, American voice actor
  • 1997 – Bryce Love, American football player
  • 1997 – Lauran Hibberd, English singer-songwriter
  • 1998 – Jaden Smith, American actor and rapper

Deaths on July 8

  • 689 – Kilian, Irish bishop
  • 810 – Pepin of Italy, son of Charlemagne (b. 773)
  • 873 – Gunther, archbishop of Cologne
  • 900 – Qatr al-Nada, wife of the Abbasid caliph al-Mu’tadid
  • 901 – Grimbald, French-English monk and saint (b. 827)
  • 975 – Edgar the Peaceful, English king (b. 943)
  • 1153 – Pope Eugene III (b. 1087)
  • 1253 – Theobald I of Navarre (b. 1201)
  • 1261 – Adolf IV of Holstein, Count of Schauenburg
  • 1390 – Albert of Saxony, Bishop of Halberstadt and German philosopher (b. circa 1320)
  • 1538 – Diego de Almagro, Spanish general and explorer (b. 1475)
  • 1623 – Pope Gregory XV (b. 1554)
  • 1689 – Edward Wooster, English-American settler (b. 1622)
  • 1695 – Christiaan Huygens, Dutch mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (b. 1629)
  • 1716 – Robert South, English preacher and theologian (b. 1634)
  • 1721 – Elihu Yale, American-English merchant and philanthropist (b. 1649)
  • 1784 – Torbern Bergman, Swedish chemist and mineralogist (b. 1735)
  • 1794 – Richard Mique, French architect (b. 1728)
  • 1820 – Octavia Taylor, daughter of Zachary Taylor (b. 1816)
  • 1822 – Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet and playwright (b. 1792)
  • 1850 – Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (b. 1774)
  • 1859 – Oscar I of Sweden (b. 1799)
  • 1873 – Franz Xaver Winterhalter, German painter and lithographer (b. 1805)
  • 1887 – Ben Holladay, American businessman (b. 1819)
  • 1895 – Johann Josef Loschmidt, Austrian chemist and physicist (b. 1821)
  • 1905 – Walter Kittredge, American violinist and composer (b. 1834)
  • 1913 – Louis Hémon, French-Canadian author (b. 1880)
  • 1917 – Tom Thomson, Canadian painter (b. 1877)
  • 1930 – Joseph Ward, Australian-New Zealand businessman and politician, 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1856)
  • 1933 – Anthony Hope, English author and playwright (b. 1863)
  • 1934 – Benjamin Baillaud, French astronomer and academic (b. 1848)
  • 1939 – Havelock Ellis, English psychologist and author (b. 1859)
  • 1941 – Moses Schorr, Polish rabbi, historian, and politician (b. 1874)
  • 1942 – Louis Franchet d’Espèrey, Algerian-French general (b. 1856)
  • 1942 – Refik Saydam, Turkish physician and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1881)
  • 1943 – Jean Moulin, French soldier (b. 1899)
  • 1950 – Othmar Spann, Austrian sociologist, economist, and philosopher (b. 1878)
  • 1952 – August Alle, Estonian lawyer, author, and poet (b. 1890)
  • 1956 – Giovanni Papini, Italian journalist, author, and critic (b. 1881)
  • 1965 – Thomas Sigismund Stribling, American lawyer and author (b. 1881)
  • 1968 – Désiré Mérchez, French swimmer and water polo player (b. 1882)
  • 1971 – Kurt Reidemeister, German mathematician connected to the Vienna Circle (b. 1893)
  • 1972 – Ghassan Kanafani, Palestinian writer and politician (b. 1936)
  • 1973 – Gene L. Coon, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1924)
  • 1973 – Ben-Zion Dinur, Russian-Israeli educator and politician, 4th Education Minister of Israel (b. 1884)
  • 1973 – Wilfred Rhodes, English cricketer and coach (b. 1877)
  • 1979 – Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
  • 1979 – Michael Wilding, English actor (b. 1912)
  • 1979 – Robert Burns Woodward, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
  • 1981 – Bill Hallahan, American baseball player (b. 1902)
  • 1985 – Phil Foster, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1913)
  • 1985 – Jean-Paul Le Chanois, French actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1909)
  • 1986 – Skeeter Webb, American baseball player and manager (b. 1909)
  • 1987 – Lionel Chevrier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Canadian Minister of Justice (b. 1903)
  • 1987 – Gerardo Diego, Spanish poet and author (b. 1896)
  • 1988 – Ray Barbuti, American runner and football player (b. 1905)
  • 1990 – Howard Duff, American actor (b. 1913)
  • 1991 – James Franciscus, American actor (b. 1934)
  • 1994 – Christian-Jaque, French director and screenwriter (b. 1904)
  • 1994 – Kim Il-sung, North Korean commander and politician, President of North Korea (b. 1912)
  • 1994 – Lars-Eric Lindblad, Swedish-American businessman and explorer (b. 1927)
  • 1994 – Dick Sargent, American actor (b. 1930)
  • 1996 – Irene Prador, Austrian-born actress and writer (b. 1911)
  • 1998 – Lilí Álvarez, Spanish tennis player, author, and feminist (b. 1905)
  • 1999 – Pete Conrad, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1930)
  • 2001 – John O’Shea, New Zealand director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1920)
  • 2002 – Ward Kimball, American animator and trombonist (b. 1914)
  • 2004 – Paula Danziger, American author and educator (b. 1944)
  • 2005 – Maurice Baquet, French actor and cellist (b. 1911)
  • 2006 – June Allyson, American actress and singer (b. 1917)
  • 2007 – Chandra Shekhar, Indian lawyer and politician, 9th Prime Minister of India (b. 1927)
  • 2007 – Jack B. Sowards, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1929)
  • 2008 – John Templeton, American-born British businessman and philanthropist (b. 1912)
  • 2009 – Midnight, American singer-songwriter (b. 1962)
  • 2011 – Roberts Blossom, American actor and poet (b. 1924)
  • 2011 – Betty Ford, First Lady of the United States (b. 1918)
  • 2012 – Muhammed bin Saud Al Saud, Saudi Arabian politician (b. 1934)
  • 2012 – Ernest Borgnine, American actor (b. 1917)
  • 2012 – Gyang Dalyop Datong, Nigerian physician and politician (b. 1959)
  • 2012 – Martin Pakledinaz, American costume designer (b. 1953)
  • 2013 – Dick Gray, American baseball player (b. 1931)
  • 2013 – Edmund Morgan, American historian and author (b. 1916)
  • 2013 – Claudiney Ramos, Brazilian footballer (b. 1980)
  • 2013 – Rubby Sherr, American physicist and academic (b. 1913)
  • 2013 – Sundri Uttamchandani, Indian author (b. 1924)
  • 2013 – Brett Walker, American songwriter and producer (b. 1961)
  • 2014 – Plínio de Arruda Sampaio, Brazilian lawyer and politician (b. 1930)
  • 2014 – John V. Evans, American soldier and politician, 27th Governor of Idaho (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Ben Pangelinan, Guamanian businessman and politician (b. 1956)
  • 2014 – Howard Siler, American bobsledder and coach (b. 1945)
  • 2014 – Tom Veryzer, American baseball player (b. 1953)
  • 2015 – Ken Stabler, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1945)
  • 2015 – James Tate, American poet (b. 1943)
  • 2016 – Abdul Sattar Edhi, Pakistani philanthropist (b. 1928)
  • 2018 – Tab Hunter, American actor, pop singer, film producer and author (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances on July 8

  • Christian Feast Day:
    • Abda and Sabas
    • Auspicius of Trier
    • Grimbald
    • Kilian, Totnan, and Colman
    • Peter and Fevronia Day (Russian Orthodox)
    • Procopius of Scythopolis
    • Sunniva and companions
    • Theobald of Marly
    • July 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Air Force and Air Defense Forces Day (Ukraine)

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

On This Day

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

On This Day /

The terms 7th July, July 7th, and 7/7 (pronounced “Seven-seven“) have been widely used in the Western media as a shorthand for the 7 July 2005 bombings on London’s transport system. In the Chinese language, this term is used to denote the Battle of Lugou Bridge started on July 7, 1937, marking the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

July 7 in History

  • 1124 – The city of Tyre falls to the Venetian Crusade after a siege of nineteen weeks.
  • 1456 – A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death.
  • 1520 – Spanish conquistadores defeat a larger Aztec army at the Battle of Otumba.
  • 1534 – Jacques Cartier makes his first contact with aboriginal peoples in what is now Canada.
  • 1575 – The Raid of the Redeswire is the last major battle between England and Scotland.
  • 1585 – The Treaty of Nemours abolishes tolerance to Protestants in France.
  • 1770 – The Battle of Larga between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire takes place.
  • 1777 – American forces retreating from Fort Ticonderoga are defeated in the Battle of Hubbardton.
  • 1798 – As a result of the XYZ Affair, the US Congress rescinds the Treaty of Alliance with France sparking the “Quasi-War”.
  • 1807 – The Peace of Tilsit between France, Prussia and Russia ends the War of the Fourth Coalition.
  • 1834 – In New York City, four nights of rioting against abolitionists began.
  • 1846 – US troops occupy Monterey and Yerba Buena, thus beginning the US conquest of California.
  • 1863 – The United States begins its first military draft; exemptions cost $300.
  • 1865 – Four conspirators in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln are hanged.
  • 1892 – The Katipunan is established, the discovery of which by Spanish authorities initiated the Philippine Revolution.
  • 1898 – US President William McKinley signs the Newlands Resolution annexing Hawaii as a territory of the United States.
  • 1907 – Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. staged his first Follies on the roof of the New York Theater in New York City.
  • 1911 – The United States, UK, Japan, and Russia sign the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911 banning open-water seal hunting, the first international treaty to address wildlife preservation issues.
  • 1915 – The First Battle of the Isonzo comes to an end.
  • 1915 – Colombo Town Guard officer Henry Pedris is executed in British Ceylon for allegedly inciting persecution of Muslims.
  • 1916 – The New Zealand Labour Party was founded in Wellington.
  • 1928 – Sliced bread is sold for the first time (on the inventor’s 48th birthday) by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri.
  • 1930 – Industrialist Henry J. Kaiser begins construction of Boulder Dam (now known as Hoover Dam).
  • 1937 – The Marco Polo Bridge Incident provides the Imperial Japanese Army with a pretext for starting the Second Sino-Japanese War.
  • 1937 – The Peel Commission Report recommends the partition of Palestine, which was the first formal recommendation for partition in the history of Palestine.
  • 1941 – The US occupation of Iceland replaces the UK’s occupation.
  • 1944 – World War II: Largest Banzai charge of the Pacific War at the Battle of Saipan.
  • 1946 – Mother Francesca S. Cabrini becomes the first American to be canonized.
  • 1946 – Howard Hughes nearly dies when his XF-11 reconnaissance aircraft prototype crashes in a Beverly Hills neighborhood.
  • 1952 – The ocean liner SS United States passes Bishop Rock on her maiden voyage, breaking the transatlantic speed record to become the fastest passenger ship in the world.
  • 1953 – Ernesto “Che” Guevara sets out on a trip through Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador.
  • 1954 – Elvis Presley makes his radio debut when WHBQ Memphis played his first recording for Sun Records, “That’s All Right”.
  • 1958 – US President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Alaska Statehood Act into law.
  • 1959 – Venus occults the star Regulus. This rare event is used to determine the diameter of Venus and the structure of the Venusian atmosphere.
  • 1963 – Buddhist crisis: The police of Ngô Đình Nhu, brother and chief political adviser of President Ngo Dinh Diem, attacked a group of American journalists who were covering a protest.
  • 1978 – The Solomon Islands becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
  • 1980 – Institution of sharia law in Iran.
  • 1980 – During the Lebanese Civil War, 83 Tiger militants are killed during what will be known as the Safra massacre.
  • 1981 – US President Ronald Reagan appoints Sandra Day O’Connor to become the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States.
  • 1983 – Cold War: Samantha Smith, a US schoolgirl, flies to the Soviet Union at the invitation of Secretary General Yuri Andropov.
  • 1985 – Boris Becker becomes the youngest player ever to win Wimbledon at age 17.
  • 1991 – Yugoslav Wars: The Brioni Agreement ends the ten-day independence war in Slovenia against the rest of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
  • 1992 – The New York Court of Appeals rules that women have the same right as men to go topless in public.
  • 1997 – The Turkish Armed Forces withdraw from northern Iraq after assisting the Kurdistan Democratic Party in the Iraqi Kurdish Civil War.
  • 2003 – NASA Opportunity rover, MER-B or Mars Exploration Rover–B, was launched into space aboard a Delta II rocket.
  • 2005 – A series of four explosions occurs on London’s transport system, killing 56 people, including four suicide bombers, and injuring over 700 others.
  • 2007 – The first Live Earth benefit concert was held in 11 locations around the world.
  • 2012 – At least 172 people are killed in a flash flood in the Krasnodar Krai region of Russia.
  • 2013 – A De Havilland Otter air taxi crashes in Soldotna, Alaska, killing ten people.
  • 2016 – Ex-US Army soldier Micah Xavier Johnson shoots fourteen policemen during an anti-police protest in downtown Dallas, Texas, killing five of them. He is subsequently killed by a robot-delivered bomb.

Births on July 7

  • 611 – Eudoxia Epiphania, daughter of Byzantine emperor Heraclius
  • 1053 – Emperor Shirakawa of Japan (d. 1129)
  • 1119 – Emperor Sutoku of Japan (d. 1164)
  • 1207 – Elizabeth of Hungary (d. 1231)
  • 1482 – Andrzej Krzycki, Polish archbishop (d. 1537)
  • 1528 – Archduchess Anna of Austria (d. 1590)
  • 1540 – John Sigismund Zápolya, King of Hungary (d. 1571)
  • 1586 – Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, English courtier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland (d. 1646)
  • 1616 – John Leverett, Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony (d. 1679)
  • 1752 – Joseph Marie Jacquard, French merchant, invented the Jacquard loom (d. 1834)
  • 1766 – Guillaume Philibert Duhesme, French general (d. 1815)
  • 1831 – Jane Elizabeth Conklin, American poet and religious writer (d. 1914)
  • 1833 – Félicien Rops, Belgian painter and illustrator (d. 1898)
  • 1843 – Camillo Golgi, Italian physician and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1926)
  • 1846 – Heinrich Rosenthal, Estonian physician and author (d. 1916)
  • 1848 – Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves, Brazilian politician, 5th President of Brazil (d. 1919)
  • 1851 – Charles Albert Tindley, American minister and composer (d. 1933)
  • 1855 – Ludwig Ganghofer, German author and playwright (d. 1920)
  • 1859 – Rettamalai Srinivasan, Indian politician (d. 1911)
  • 1860 – Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1911)
  • 1861 – Nettie Stevens, American geneticist (d. 1912)
  • 1869 – Rachel Caroline Eaton, American academic (d. 1938)
  • 1869 – Fernande Sadler (d.1949), French painter and mayor
  • 1874 – Erwin Bumke, German lawyer and jurist (d. 1945)
  • 1880 – Otto Frederick Rohwedder, American engineer, invented sliced bread (d. 1960)
  • 1882 – Yanka Kupala, Belarusian poet and writer (d. 1941)
  • 1884 – Toivo Kuula, Finnish conductor and composer (d. 1918)
  • 1884 – Lion Feuchtwanger, German author and playwright (d. 1958)
  • 1891 – Tadamichi Kuribayashi, Japanese general and poet (d. 1945)
  • 1891 – Virginia Rappe, American model and actress (d. 1921)
  • 1893 – Herbert Feis, American historian and author (d. 1972)
  • 1893 – Miroslav Krleža, Croatian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1981)
  • 1898 – Arnold Horween, American football player and coach (d. 1985)
  • 1899 – George Cukor, American director and producer (d. 1983)
  • 1900 – Maria Bard, German stage and silent film actress (d. 1944)
  • 1900 – Earle E. Partridge, American general (d. 1990)
  • 1901 – Vittorio De Sica, Italian actor and director (d. 1974)
  • 1901 – Sam Katzman, American director and producer (d. 1973)
  • 1901 – Eiji Tsuburaya, Japanese cinematographer and producer (d. 1970)
  • 1902 – Ted Radcliffe, American baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
  • 1904 – Simone Beck, French chef and author (d. 1991)
  • 1905 – Marie-Louise Dubreil-Jacotin, French mathematician (d. 1972)
  • 1906 – William Feller, Croatian-American mathematician and academic (d. 1970)
  • 1906 – Anton Karas, Austrian zither player and composer (d. 1985)
  • 1906 – Satchel Paige, American baseball player and coach (d. 1982)
  • 1907 – Robert A. Heinlein, American science fiction writer and screenwriter (d. 1988)
  • 1908 – Revilo P. Oliver, American author and academic (d. 1994)
  • 1909 – Gottfried von Cramm, German tennis player (d. 1976)
  • 1910 – Doris McCarthy, Canadian painter and author (d. 2010)
  • 1911 – Gian Carlo Menotti, Italian-American composer (d. 2007)
  • 1913 – Pinetop Perkins, American singer and pianist (d. 2011)
  • 1915 – Margaret Walker, American novelist and poet (d. 1998)
  • 1917 – Fidel Sánchez Hernández, Salvadoran general and politician, President of El Salvador (d. 2003)
  • 1917 – Iva Withers, Canadian-American actress and singer (d. 2014)
  • 1918 – Bob Vanatta, American head basketball coach (d. 2016)
  • 1918 – Jing Shuping, Chinese businessman (d. 2009)
  • 1919 – Jon Pertwee, English actor (d. 1996)
  • 1921 – Ezzard Charles, American boxer (d. 1975)
  • 1921 – Adolf von Thadden, German lieutenant and politician (d. 1996)
  • 1922 – Alan Armer, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2010)
  • 1922 – James D. Hughes, American Air Force lieutenant general
  • 1923 – Liviu Ciulei, Romanian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2011)
  • 1923 – Whitney North Seymour Jr., American politician (d. 2019)
  • 1923 – Eduardo Falú, Argentinian guitarist and composer (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – Natalia Bekhtereva, Russian neuroscientist and psychologist (d. 2008)
  • 1924 – Karim Olowu, Nigerian sprinter and long jumper (d. 2019)
  • 1924 – Mary Ford, American singer and guitarist (d. 1977)
  • 1924 – Eddie Romero, Filipino director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Wally Phillips, American radio host (d. 2008)
  • 1926 – Nuon Chea, Cambodian politician (d. 2019)
  • 1926 – Anand Mohan Zutshi Gulzar Dehlvi, Urdu poet (d. 2020)
  • 1927 – Alan J. Dixon, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 34th Illinois Secretary of State (d. 2014)
  • 1927 – Charlie Louvin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2011)
  • 1927 – Doc Severinsen, American trumpet player and conductor
  • 1928 – Patricia Hitchcock, English actress
  • 1928 – Kapelwa Sikota Zambian nurse and health official (d. 2006)
  • 1929 – Hasan Abidi, Pakistani journalist and poet (d. 2005)
  • 1929 – Sergio Romano, Italian writer, journalist, and historian
  • 1930 – Biljana Plavšić, 2nd President of Republika Srpska
  • 1930 – Hamish MacInnes, Scottish mountaineer and author
  • 1930 – Theodore Edgar McCarrick, American cardinal
  • 1930 – Hank Mobley, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1986)
  • 1931 – David Eddings, American author and academic (d. 2009)
  • 1932 – T. J. Bass, American physician and author (d. 2011)
  • 1932 – Joe Zawinul, Austrian jazz keyboardist and composer (d. 2007)
  • 1933 – David McCullough, American historian and author
  • 1934 – Robert McNeill Alexander, British zoologist (d. 2016)
  • 1935 – Gian Carlo Michelini, Italian-Taiwanese Roman Catholic priest
  • 1936 – Egbert Brieskorn, German mathematician and academic (d. 2013)
  • 1936 – Jo Siffert, Swiss race car driver (d. 1971)
  • 1936 – Nikos Xilouris, Greek singer-songwriter (d. 1980)
  • 1937 – Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong businessman and politician, 1st Chief Executive of Hong Kong
  • 1938 – James Montgomery Boice, American pastor and theologian (d. 2000)
  • 1939 – Elena Obraztsova, Russian soprano and actress (d. 2015)
  • 1940 – Ringo Starr, English singer-songwriter, drummer, and actor
  • 1941 – Marco Bollesan, Italian rugby player and coach
  • 1941 – John Fru Ndi, Cameroonian politician
  • 1941 – Michael Howard, Welsh lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for the Environment
  • 1941 – Bill Oddie, English comedian, actor, and singer
  • 1941 – Jim Rodford, English bass player (d. 2018)
  • 1942 – Carmen Duncan, Australian actress (d. 2019)
  • 1943 – Joel Siegel, American journalist and critic (d. 2007)
  • 1944 – Feleti Sevele, Tongan politician; Prime Minister of Tonga
  • 1944 – Tony Jacklin, English golfer and sportscaster
  • 1944 – Glenys Kinnock, Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead, English educator and politician, Minister of State for Europe
  • 1944 – Emanuel Steward, American boxer and trainer (d. 2012)
  • 1944 – Ian Wilmut, English-Scottish embryologist and academic
  • 1945 – Michael Ancram, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
  • 1945 – Adele Goldberg, American computer scientist and academic
  • 1945 – Helô Pinheiro, inspiration for the song “The Girl from Ipanema”
  • 1947 – Gyanendra, King of Nepal
  • 1947 – Howard Rheingold, American author and critic
  • 1949 – Shelley Duvall, American actress, writer, and producer
  • 1954 – Simon Anderson, Australian surfer
  • 1955 – Len Barker, American baseball player and coach
  • 1957 – Jonathan Dayton, American director and producer
  • 1957 – Berry Sakharof, Turkish-Israeli singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1958 – Alexander Svinin, Russian figure skater and coach
  • 1959 – Billy Campbell, American actor
  • 1960 – Kevin A. Ford, American colonel and astronaut
  • 1960 – Ralph Sampson, American basketball player and coach
  • 1963 – Vonda Shepard, American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1964 – Dominik Henzel, Czech-Swedish actor and comedian
  • 1965 – Mo Collins, American actress, comedian and screenwriter
  • 1965 – Jeremy Kyle, English talk show host
  • 1966 – Jim Gaffigan, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1967 – Tom Kristensen, Danish race car driver
  • 1968 – Jorja Fox, American actress
  • 1969 – Sylke Otto, German luger
  • 1969 – Joe Sakic, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1969 – Cree Summer, American-Canadian actress
  • 1970 – Wayne McCullough, Northern Irish boxer
  • 1970 – Min Patel, Indian-English cricketer
  • 1970 – Erik Zabel, German cyclist and coach
  • 1971 – Christian Camargo, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1972 – Lisa Leslie, American basketball player and actress
  • 1972 – Manfred Stohl, Austrian race car driver
  • 1972 – Kirsten Vangsness, American actress and writer
  • 1973 – José Jiménez, Dominican baseball player
  • 1973 – Kārlis Skrastiņš, Latvian ice hockey player (d. 2011)
  • 1974 – Patrick Lalime, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
  • 1975 – Tony Benshoof, American luger
  • 1975 – Louis Koen, South African rugby player
  • 1975 – Adam Nelson, American shot putter
  • 1976 – Bérénice Bejo, Argentinian-French actress
  • 1976 – Dominic Foley, Irish footballer
  • 1976 – Vasily Petrenko, Russian conductor
  • 1976 – Ercüment Olgundeniz, Turkish discus thrower and shot putter
  • 1978 – Chris Andersen, American basketball player
  • 1978 – Davor Kraljević, Croatian footballer
  • 1979 – Ibrahim Sulayman Muhammad Arbaysh, Saudi Arabian terrorist (d. 2015)
  • 1979 – Anastasios Gousis, Greek sprinter
  • 1979 – Douglas Hondo, Zimbabwean cricketer
  • 1980 – John Buck, American baseball player
  • 1980 – Serdar Kulbilge, Turkish footballer
  • 1980 – Michelle Kwan, American figure skater
  • 1981 – Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Indian cricketer
  • 1982 – Jan Laštůvka, Czech footballer
  • 1982 – George Owu, Ghanaian footballer
  • 1983 – Justin Davies, Australian footballer
  • 1984 – Minas Alozidis, Greek hurdler
  • 1984 – Alberto Aquilani, Italian footballer
  • 1984 – Mohammad Ashraful, Bangladeshi cricketer
  • 1985 – Marc Stein, German footballer
  • 1986 – Ana Kasparian, American journalist and producer
  • 1986 – Udo Schwarz, German rugby player
  • 1986 – Sevyn Streeter, American singer-songwriter
  • 1988 – Kaci Brown, American singer-songwriter
  • 1988 – Lukas Rosenthal, German rugby player
  • 1989 – Landon Cassill, American race car driver
  • 1989 – Miina Kallas, Estonian footballer
  • 1989 – Karl-August Tiirmaa, Estonian skier
  • 1990 – Lee Addy, Ghanaian footballer
  • 1990 – Pascal Stöger, Austrian footballer
  • 1991 – Alesso, Swedish DJ, record producer and musician
  • 1992 – Ellina Anissimova, Estonian hammer thrower
  • 1992 – Dominik Furman, Polish footballer
  • 1994 – Timothy Cathcart, Northern Irish race car driver (d. 2014)

Deaths on July 7

  • 984 – Crescentius the Elder, Italian politician and aristocrat
  • 1021 – Fujiwara no Akimitsu, Japanese bureaucrat (b. 944)
  • 1162 – Haakon II Sigurdsson, king of Norway (b. 1147)
  • 1285 – Tile Kolup, German impostor claiming to be Frederick II
  • 1304 – Benedict XI, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1240)
  • 1307 – Edward I, king of England (b. 1239)
  • 1345 – Momchil, Bulgarian brigand and ruler
  • 1531 – Tilman Riemenschneider, German sculptor (b. 1460)
  • 1568 – William Turner, British ornithologist and botanist (b. 1508)
  • 1572 – Sigismund II Augustus, Polish king (b. 1520)
  • 1573 – Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola, Italian architect, designed the Church of the Gesù and Villa Farnese (b. 1507)
  • 1593 – Mohammed Bagayogo, Malian scholar and academic (b. 1523)
  • 1600 – Thomas Lucy, English politician (b. 1532)
  • 1607 – Penelope Blount, Countess of Devonshire, English noblewoman (b. 1563)
  • 1647 – Thomas Hooker, English minister, founded the Colony of Connecticut (b. 1586)
  • 1701 – William Stoughton, American judge and politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (b. 1631)
  • 1713 – Henry Compton, English bishop (b. 1632)
  • 1718 – Alexei Petrovich, Russian tsar (b. 1690)
  • 1730 – Olivier Levasseur, French pirate (b. 1690)
  • 1758 – Marthanda Varma, Rani of Attingal (b. 1706)
  • 1764 – William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath, English politician, Secretary at War (b. 1683)
  • 1776 – Jeremiah Markland, English scholar and academic (b. 1693)
  • 1790 – François Hemsterhuis, Dutch philosopher and author (b. 1721)
  • 1816 – Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Irish playwright and poet (b. 1751)
  • 1863 – William Mulready, Irish genre painter (b. 1786)
  • 1865 – George Atzerodt (b. 1833)
  • 1865 – David Herold (b. 1842)
  • 1865 – Lewis Payne (b. 1844)
  • 1865 – Mary Surratt (b. 1823)
  • 1890 – Henri Nestlé, German businessman, founded Nestlé (b. 1814)
  • 1901 – Johanna Spyri, Swiss author (b. 1827)
  • 1913 – Edward Burd Grubb Jr., American general and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Spain (b. 1841)
  • 1922 – Cathal Brugha, Irish revolutionary and politician, active in the Easter Rising, Irish War of Independence; first Ceann Comhairle and first President of Dáil Éireann (b. 1874)
  • 1925 – Clarence Hudson White, American photographer and educator (b. 1871)
  • 1927 – Gösta Mittag-Leffler, Swedish mathematician and academic (b. 1846)
  • 1930 – Arthur Conan Doyle, British writer (b. 1859)
  • 1932 – Alexander Grin, Russian author (b. 1880)
  • 1932 – Henry Eyster Jacobs, American theologian and educator (b. 1844)
  • 1939 – Deacon White, American baseball player and manager (b. 1847)
  • 1950 – Fats Navarro, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1923)
  • 1955 – Ali Naci Karacan, Turkish journalist and publisher (b. 1896)
  • 1956 – Gottfried Benn, German author and poet (b. 1886)
  • 1960 – Francis Browne, Irish priest and photographer (b. 1880)
  • 1964 – Lillian Copeland, American discus thrower and shot putter (b. 1904)
  • 1965 – Moshe Sharett, Ukrainian-Israeli lieutenant and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1894)
  • 1968 – Jo Schlesser, French race car driver (b. 1928)
  • 1971 – Claude Gauvreau, Canadian poet and playwright (b. 1925)
  • 1972 – Athenagoras I of Constantinople (b. 1886)
  • 1973 – Max Horkheimer, German philosopher and sociologist (b. 1895)
  • 1973 – Veronica Lake, American actress (b. 1922)
  • 1976 – Walter Giesler, American soccer player and referee (b. 1910)
  • 1978 – Francisco Mendes, Guinea-Bissau lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1933)
  • 1980 – Dore Schary, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1905)
  • 1982 – Bon Maharaja, Indian guru and religious writer (b. 1901)
  • 1984 – George Oppen, American poet and author (b. 1908)
  • 1987 – Germaine Thyssens-Valentin, Dutch-French pianist (b. 1902)
  • 1990 – Bill Cullen, American television panelist and game show host (b. 1920)
  • 1990 – Cazuza, Brazilian singer and songwriter (b. 1958)
  • 1993 – Rıfat Ilgaz, Turkish author, poet, and educator (b. 1911)
  • 1994 – Carlo Chiti, Italian engineer (b. 1924)
  • 1994 – Cameron Mitchell, American actor (b. 1918)
  • 1994 – Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte, German general (b. 1907)
  • 1998 – Moshood Abiola, Nigerian businessman and politician (b. 1937)
  • 1999 – Julie Campbell Tatham, American author (b. 1908)
  • 1999 – Vikram Batra, Param Vir Chakra, Indian Army personnel (b. 1974)
  • 2000 – Kenny Irwin Jr., American race car driver (b. 1969)
  • 2001 – Fred Neil, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1936)
  • 2003 – Izhak Graziani, Bulgarian trumpet player and conductor (b. 1924)
  • 2006 – Syd Barrett, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1946)
  • 2006 – Juan de Ávalos, Spanish sculptor (b. 1911)
  • 2006 – John Money, New Zealand-American psychologist and author (b. 1921)
  • 2008 – Bruce Conner, American sculptor, painter, and photographer (b. 1933)
  • 2008 – Dorian Leigh, American model (b. 1917)
  • 2011 – Allan W. Eckert, American historian and author (b. 1931)
  • 2011 – Dick Williams, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1929)
  • 2012 – Ronaldo Cunha Lima, Brazilian poet and politician (b. 1936)
  • 2012 – Dennis Flemion, American drummer (b. 1955)
  • 2012 – Doris Neal, American baseball player (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Jerry Norman, American sinologist and linguist (b. 1936)
  • 2012 – Leon Schlumpf, Swiss politician (b. 1927)
  • 2013 – Artur Hajzer, Polish mountaineer (b. 1962)
  • 2013 – Robert Hamerton-Kelly, South African-American pastor, theologian, and author (b. 1938)
  • 2013 – Donald J. Irwin, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Mayor of Norwalk, Connecticut (b. 1926)
  • 2013 – Ben Pucci, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Alfredo Di Stéfano, Argentinian-Spanish footballer and coach (b. 1926)
  • 2014 – Eduard Shevardnadze, Georgian general and politician, 2nd President of Georgia (b. 1928)
  • 2014 – Peter Underwood, Australian lawyer and politician, 27th Governor of Tasmania (b. 1937)
  • 2015 – Maria Barroso, Portuguese actress and politician (b. 1925)
  • 2015 – Bob MacKinnon, American basketball player and coach (b. 1927)

Holidays and observances on July 7

  • Christian feast day:
    • Æthelburh of Faremoutiers
    • Felix of Nantes
    • Illidius
    • The job of Manyava (Ukrainian Orthodox Church)
    • Willibald (Catholic Church)
    • July 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Solomon Islands from the United Kingdom in 1978.
  • Ivan Kupala Day (Belarus, Poland, Russia, Ukraine)
  • Saba Saba Day (Tanzania)
  • Tanabata (Japan)
  • World Chocolate Day

July 7 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

July 6 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 371 BC – The Battle of Leuctra shatters Sparta’s reputation of military invincibility.
  • 640 – Battle of Heliopolis: The Muslim Arab army under ‘Amr ibn al-‘As defeat the Byzantine forces near Heliopolis (Egypt).
  • 1253 – Mindaugas is crowned King of Lithuania.
  • 1348 – Pope Clement VI issues a papal bull protecting the Jews accused of having caused the Black Death.
  • 1411 – Ming China’s Admiral Zheng He returns to Nanjing after the third treasure voyage and presents the Sinhalese king, captured during the Ming–Kotte War, to the Yongle Emperor.
  • 1415 – Jan Hus is condemned by the assembly of the council in the cathedral as a heretic and sentenced to be burned at the stake. (See Deaths section.)
  • 1438 – A temporary compromise between the rebellious Transylvanian peasants and the noblemen is signed in Kolozsmonostor Abbey.
  • 1483 – Richard III is crowned King of England.
  • 1484 – Portuguese sea captain Diogo Cão finds the mouth of the Congo River.
  • 1495 – First Italian War: Battle of Fornovo: Charles VIII defeats the Holy League.
  • 1535 – Sir Thomas More is executed for treason against King Henry VIII of England.
  • 1557 – King Philip II of Spain, consort of Queen Mary I of England, sets out from Dover to war with France, which eventually resulted in the loss of the City of Calais, the last English possession on the continent, and Mary I never seeing her husband again.
  • 1560 – The Treaty of Edinburgh is signed by Scotland and England.
  • 1573 – Córdoba, Argentina, is founded by Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera.
  • 1573 – French Wars of Religion: Siege of La Rochelle ends.
  • 1614 – Raid on Żejtun: The south east of Malta, and the town of Żejtun, suffer a raid from Ottoman forces. This was the last unsuccessful attempt by the Ottomans to conquer the island of Malta.
  • 1630 – Thirty Years’ War: Four thousand Swedish troops under Gustavus Adolphus land in Pomerania, Germany.
  • 1685 – Battle of Sedgemoor: Last battle of the Monmouth Rebellion. troops of King James II defeat troops of James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth.
  • 1751 – Pope Benedict XIV suppresses the Patriarchate of Aquileia and establishes from its territory the Archdiocese of Udine and Gorizia.
  • 1777 – American Revolutionary War: Siege of Fort Ticonderoga: After a bombardment by British artillery under General John Burgoyne, American forces retreat from Fort Ticonderoga, New York.
  • 1779 – Battle of Grenada: The French defeat British naval forces during the American Revolutionary War.
  • 1801 – First Battle of Algeciras: Outnumbered French Navy ships defeat the Royal Navy in the fortified Spanish port of Algeciras.
  • 1809 – The second day of the Battle of Wagram; France defeats the Austrian army in the largest battle to date of the Napoleonic Wars.
  • 1854 – In Jackson, Michigan, the first convention of the United States Republican Party is held.
  • 1885 – Louis Pasteur successfully tests his vaccine against rabies on Joseph Meister, a boy who was bitten by a rabid dog.
  • 1887 – David Kalākaua, monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, is forced to sign the Bayonet Constitution, which transfers much of the king’s authority to the Legislature of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
  • 1892 – Three thousand eight hundred striking steelworkers engage in a day-long battle with Pinkerton agents during the Homestead Strike, leaving ten dead and dozens wounded.
  • 1917 – World War I: Arabian troops led by T. E. Lawrence (“Lawrence of Arabia”) and Auda ibu Tayi capture Aqaba from the Ottoman Empire during the Arab Revolt.
  • 1918 – The Left SR uprising in Russia starts with the assassination of German ambassador Wilhelm von Mirbach by Cheka members.
  • 1919 – The British dirigible R34 lands in New York, completing the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by an airship.
  • 1933 – The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game is played in Chicago’s Comiskey Park. The American League defeated the National League 4–2.
  • 1936 – A major breach of the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal in England sends millions of gallons of water cascading 200 feet (61 m) into the River Irwell.
  • 1937 – Spanish Civil War: Battle of Brunete: The battle begins with Spanish Republican troops going on the offensive against the Nationalists to relieve pressure on Madrid.
  • 1939 – Anti-Jewish legislation in prewar Nazi Germany closes the last remaining Jewish enterprises.
  • 1940 – Story Bridge, a major landmark in Brisbane, as well as Australia’s longest cantilever bridge is formally opened.
  • 1941 – The German army launches its offensive to encircle several Soviet armies near Smolensk.
  • 1942 – Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in the “Secret Annexe” above her father’s office in an Amsterdam warehouse.
  • 1944 – Jackie Robinson refuses to move to the back of a bus, leading to a court-martial.
  • 1944 – The Hartford circus fire, one of America’s worst fire disasters, kills approximately 168 people and injures over 700 in Hartford, Connecticut.
  • 1947 – Referendum held in Sylhet to decide its fate in the Partition of India.
  • 1947 – The AK-47 goes into production in the Soviet Union.
  • 1957 – Althea Gibson wins the Wimbledon championships, becoming the first black athlete to do so.
  • 1957 – John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for the first time, as teenagers at Woolton Fete, three years before forming the Beatles.
  • 1962 – As a part of Operation Plowshare, the Sedan nuclear test takes place.
  • 1962 – The Late Late Show, the world’s longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster, airs on RTÉ One for the first time.
  • 1964 – Malawi declares its independence from the United Kingdom.
  • 1966 – Malawi becomes a republic, with Hastings Banda as its first President.
  • 1967 – Nigerian Civil War: Nigerian forces invade Biafra, beginning the war.
  • 1975 – The Comoros declares independence from France.
  • 1986 – Davis Phinney becomes the first American cyclist to win a road stage of the Tour de France.
  • 1988 – The Piper Alpha drilling platform in the North Sea is destroyed by explosions and fires. One hundred sixty-seven oil workers are killed, making it the world’s worst offshore oil disaster in terms of direct loss of life.
  • 1989 – The Tel Aviv–Jerusalem bus 405 suicide attack: Sixteen bus passengers are killed when a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad took control of the bus and drove it over a cliff.
  • 1990 – The Electronic Frontier Foundation is founded.
  • 1995 – In the Bosnian War, under the command of General Ratko Mladić, Serbia begins its attack on the Bosnian town of Srebrenica.
  • 1997 – The Troubles: In response to the Drumcree dispute, five days of mass protests, riots and gun battles begin in Irish nationalist districts of Northern Ireland.
  • 1998 – Hong Kong International Airport opens in Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong, replacing Kai Tak Airport as the city’s international airport.
  • 2003 – The 70-metre Yevpatoria Planetary Radar sends a METI message (Cosmic Call 2) to five stars: Hip 4872, HD 245409, 55 Cancri (HD 75732), HD 10307 and 47 Ursae Majoris (HD 95128). The messages will arrive to these stars in 2036, 2040, 2044, and 2049, respectively.
  • 2006 – The Nathu La pass between India and China, sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opens for trade after 44 years.
  • 2013 – At least 42 people are killed in a shooting at a school in Yobe State, Nigeria.
  • 2013 – A Boeing 777 operating as Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashes at San Francisco International Airport, killing three and injuring 181 of the 307 people on board.
  • 2013 – A 73-car oil train derails in the town of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec and explodes into flames, killing at least 47 people and destroying more than 30 buildings in the town’s central area.

Births on July 6

  • 1387 – Queen Blanche I of Navarre (d. 1441)
  • 1423 – Antonio Manetti, Italian mathematician and architect (d. 1497)
  • 1580 – Johann Stobäus, German lute player and composer (d. 1646)
  • 1623 – Jacopo Melani, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1676)
  • 1678 – Nicola Francesco Haym, Italian cellist and composer (d. 1729)
  • 1686 – Antoine de Jussieu, French biologist and academic (d. 1758)
  • 1701 – Mary, Countess of Harold, English aristocrat and philanthropist (d. 1785)
  • 1736 – Daniel Morgan, American general and politician (d. 1802)
  • 1747 – John Paul Jones, Scottish-American captain (d. 1792)
  • 1766 – Alexander Wilson, Scottish-American poet, ornithologist, and illustrator (d. 1813)
  • 1781 – Stamford Raffles, English politician, founded Singapore (d. 1826)
  • 1782 – Maria Luisa of Spain (d. 1824)
  • 1785 – William Hooker, English botanist and academic (d. 1865)
  • 1789 – María Isabella of Spain (d. 1846)
  • 1796 – Nicholas I of Russia (d. 1855)
  • 1797 – Henry Paget, 2nd Marquess of Anglesey (d. 1869)
  • 1799 – Louisa Caroline Huggins Tuthill, American author (d. 1879)
  • 1817 – Albert von Kölliker, Swiss anatomist and physiologist (d. 1905)
  • 1818 – Adolf Anderssen, German chess player (d. 1879)
  • 1823 – Sophie Adlersparre, Swedish publisher, writer, and women’s rights activist (d. 1895)
  • 1829 – Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein (d. 1880)
  • 1831 – Sylvester Pennoyer, American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of Oregon (d. 1902)
  • 1832 – Maximilian I of Mexico (d. 1867)
  • 1837 – R. G. Bhandarkar, Indian orientalist and scholar (d. 1925)
  • 1838 – Vatroslav Jagić, Croatian philologist and scholar (d. 1923)
  • 1840 – José María Velasco Gómez, Mexican painter and academic (d. 1912)
  • 1843 – John Downer, Australian politician, 16th Premier of South Australia (d. 1915)
  • 1856 – George Howard Earle, Jr., American lawyer and businessman (d. 1928)
  • 1858 – William Irvine, Irish-Australian politician, 21st Premier of Victoria (d. 1943)
  • 1865 – Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, Swiss composer and educator (d. 1950)
  • 1868 – Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom (d. 1935)
  • 1873 – Dimitrios Maximos, Greek banker and politician, 140th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1955)
  • 1877 – Arnaud Massy, French golfer (d. 1950)
  • 1878 – Eino Leino, Finnish poet and journalist (d. 1926)
  • 1883 – Godfrey Huggins, Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (d. 1971)
  • 1884 – Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, American businessman and sailor (d. 1970)
  • 1885 – Ernst Busch, German field marshal (d. 1945)
  • 1886 – Marc Bloch, French historian and academic (d. 1944)
  • 1887 – Marc Chagall, Belarusian-French painter and poet (d. 1985)
  • 1887 – Annette Kellerman, Australian swimmer and actress (d. 1975)
  • 1890 – Dhan Gopal Mukerji, Indian-American author and scholar (d. 1936)
  • 1892 – Will James, American author and illustrator (d. 1942)
  • 1897 – Richard Krautheimer, German-American historian and scholar (d. 1994)
  • 1898 – Hanns Eisler, German-Austrian soldier and composer (d. 1962)
  • 1899 – Susannah Mushatt Jones, American supercentarian (d. 2016)
  • 1900 – Frederica Sagor Maas, American author and screenwriter (d. 2012)
  • 1900 – Elfriede Wever, German Olympic runner (d. 1941)
  • 1903 – Hugo Theorell, Swedish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1982)
  • 1904 – Robert Whitney, American conductor and composer (d. 1986)
  • 1904 – Erik Wickberg, Swedish 9th General of The Salvation Army (d. 1996)
  • 1905 – Juan O’Gorman, Mexican painter and architect (d. 1982)
  • 1907 – Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter and educator (d. 1954)
  • 1907 – George Stanley, Canadian soldier, historian, and author, designed the flag of Canada (d. 2002)
  • 1908 – Anton Muttukumaru, Sri Lankan general and diplomat (d. 2001)
  • 1909 – Eric Reece, Australian politician, 32nd Premier of Tasmania (d. 1999)
  • 1910 – René Le Grèves, French cyclist (d. 1946)
  • 1911 – June Gale, American actress (d. 1996)
  • 1912 – Heinrich Harrer, Austrian geographer and mountaineer (d. 2006)
  • 1912 – Molly Yard, American feminist (d. 2005)
  • 1913 – Vance Trimble, American journalist and author
  • 1914 – Vince McMahon Sr., American wrestling promoter, founded WWE (d. 1984)
  • 1914 – Ernest Kirkendall, American chemist and metallurgist (d. 2005)
  • 1915 – Leonard Birchall, Royal Canadian Air Force pilot (d. 2004)
  • 1916 – Harold Norse, American poet and author (d. 2009)
  • 1916 – Don R. Christensen, American animator, cartoonist, illustrator, writer and inventor (d. 2006)
  • 1917 – Arthur Lydiard, New Zealand runner and coach (d. 2004)
  • 1918 – Sebastian Cabot, English-Canadian actor (d. 1977)
  • 1918 – Herm Fuetsch, American professional basketball player (d. 2010)
  • 1918 – Francisco Moncion, Dominican-American ballet dancer, charter member of the New York City Ballet (d.1995)
  • 1919 – Ernst Haefliger, Swiss tenor and educator (d. 2007)
  • 1919 – Edward Kenna, Australian Second World War recipient of the Victoria Cross (d. 2009)
  • 1919 – Ray Dowker, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2004)
  • 1921 – Allan MacEachen, Canadian economist and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (d. 2017)
  • 1921 – Billy Mauch, American actor (d. 2006)
  • 1921 – Bobby Mauch, American actor (d. 2007)
  • 1921 – Nancy Reagan, American actress and activist, 42nd First Lady of the United States (d. 2016)
  • 1922 – William Schallert, American actor; president (1979–81) of the Screen Actors Guild (d. 2016)
  • 1923 – Wojciech Jaruzelski, Polish general and politician, 1st President of Poland (d. 2014)
  • 1924 – Mahim Bora, Indian writer and educationist, recipients of the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian honour (d. 2016)
  • 1924 – Louie Bellson, American drummer, composer, and bandleader (d. 2009)
  • 1925 – Merv Griffin, American actor, singer, and producer, created Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! (d. 2007)
  • 1925 – Bill Haley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1981)
  • 1925 – Gazi Yaşargil, Turkish neurosurgeon and academic
  • 1926 – Sulev Vahtre, Estonian historian and academic (d. 2007)
  • 1926 – Armando Silvestre, Mexican-American actor
  • 1927 – Jan Hein Donner, Dutch chess player and journalist (d. 1988)
  • 1927 – Janet Leigh, American actress and author (d. 2004)
  • 1928 – Bernard Malgrange, French mathematician
  • 1929 – Hélène Carrère d’Encausse, French politician historian
  • 1930 – George Armstrong, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1930 – Ian Burgess, English racing driver (d. 2012)
  • 1931 – Della Reese, American actress and singer (d. 2017)
  • 1931 – László Tábori, Hungarian runner and coach (d. 2018)
  • 1932 – Herman Hertzberger, Dutch architect and academic
  • 1935 – Candy Barr, American model, dancer, and actress (d. 2005)
  • 1935 – Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
  • 1936 – Dave Allen, Irish comedian, actor, and screenwriter (d. 2005)
  • 1937 – Vladimir Ashkenazy, Russian-Icelandic pianist and conductor
  • 1937 – Ned Beatty, American actor
  • 1937 – Gene Chandler, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1937 – Bessie Head, Botswanan writer
  • 1937 – Michael Sata, Zambian police officer and politician, 5th President of Zambia (d. 2014)
  • 1939 – Jet Harris, English bass player (d. 2011)
  • 1939 – Mary Peters, English-Irish pentathlete and shot putter
  • 1939 – Bruce Hunter, American swimmer (d. 2018)
  • 1940 – Jeannie Seely, Grammy Award-winning country music singer-songwriter and Grand Ole Opry member
  • 1940 – Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakh politician, 1st President of Kazakhstan
  • 1941 – David Crystal, British linguist, author, and academic
  • 1941 – Reinhard Roder, German footballer and manager
  • 1943 – Tamara Sinyavskaya, Russian soprano
  • 1944 – Gunhild Hoffmeister, German runner
  • 1946 – George W. Bush, American businessman and politician, 43rd President of the United States
  • 1946 – Fred Dryer, American football player and actor
  • 1946 – Peter Singer, Australian philosopher and academic
  • 1946 – Sylvester Stallone, American actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1947 – Roy Señeres, Filipino diplomat and politician (d. 2016)
  • 1948 – Nathalie Baye, French actress
  • 1948 – Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Canadian academic and politician, 26th Canadian Minister of Veterans Affairs
  • 1948 – Brad Park, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1949 – Noli de Castro, Filipino journalist and politician, 14th Vice President of the Philippines
  • 1949 – Phyllis Hyman, American singer-songwriter and actress (d. 1995)
  • 1949 – Michael Shrieve, American composer, drummer, and percussionist
  • 1950 – John Byrne, English-American author and illustrator
  • 1951 – Lorna Golding, Former First Lady of Jamaica
  • 1951 – Geoffrey Rush, Australian actor and producer
  • 1952 – Hilary Mantel, English author and critic
  • 1953 – Nanci Griffith, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1953 – Kaiser Kalambo, Zambian footballer and manager (d. 2014)
  • 1953 – Robert Ménard, French politician and former journalist
  • 1954 – Allyce Beasley, American actress
  • 1954 – Willie Randolph, American baseball player and manager
  • 1958 – Jennifer Saunders, English actress, comedian and screenwriter
  • 1959 – Richard Dacoury, French basketball player
  • 1960 – Maria Wasiak, Polish businesswoman and politician, Polish Minister of Infrastructure and Development
  • 1961 – Robin Antin, American dancer, choreographer, and businesswoman
  • 1962 – Todd Bennett, English runner and coach (d. 2013)
  • 1962 – Peter Hedges, American author, screenwriter, and director
  • 1967 – Heather Nova, Bermudian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1970 – Inspectah Deck, American rapper and producer
  • 1970 – Martin Smith, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1972 – Daniel Andrews, Australian politician, 48th Premier of Victoria
  • 1972 – Laurent Gaudé, French author and playwright
  • 1972 – Greg Norton, American baseball player and coach
  • 1972 – Zhanna Pintusevich-Block, Ukrainian sprinter
  • 1974 – Zé Roberto, Brazilian footballer
  • 1975 – 50 Cent, American rapper, producer, and actor
  • 1975 – Sebastián Rulli, Argentine-Mexican actor and model
  • 1975 – Amir-Abbas Fakhravar, Iranian journalist and activist
  • 1976 – Rory Delap, English-Irish footballer
  • 1976 – Ioana Dumitriu, Romanian-American mathematician and academic
  • 1977 – Max Mirnyi, Belarusian tennis player
  • 1977 – Makhaya Ntini, South African cricketer
  • 1978 – Adam Busch, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1978 – Tamera Mowry, American actress and producer
  • 1978 – Tia Mowry, American actress and producer
  • 1978 – Kevin Senio, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1979 – Nic Cester, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1979 – Kevin Hart, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1980 – Joell Ortiz, American rapper
  • 1980 – Eva Green, French actress and model
  • 1981 – Nnamdi Asomugha, American football player
  • 1981 – Roman Shirokov, Russian footballer
  • 1982 – Brandon Jacobs, American football player
  • 1982 – Misty Upham, American actress (d. 2014)
  • 1983 – Gregory Smith, Canadian actor, director, and producer
  • 1984 – Zhang Hao, Chinese figure skater
  • 1985 – Ranveer Singh, Indian film actor
  • 1986 – David Karp, American businessman, founded Tumblr
  • 1987 – Sophie Auster, American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1987 – Manteo Mitchell, American runner
  • 1987 – Kate Nash, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
  • 1987 – Caroline Trentini, Brazilian model
  • 1988 – Kevin Fickentscher, Swiss footballer
  • 1990 – Magaye Gueye, French footballer
  • 1992 – Manny Machado, Dominican-American baseball player

Deaths on July 6

  • 371 BC – Cleombrotus I, Spartan king
  • 649 – Goar of Aquitaine, French bishop
  • 887 – Wang Chongrong, Chinese warlord
  • 918 – William I, duke of Aquitaine (b. 875)
  • 1017 – Genshin, Japanese scholar (b. 942)
  • 1070 – Godelieve, Flemish saint (b. 1049)
  • 1189 – Henry II, king of England (b. 1133)
  • 1218 – Odo III, duke of Burgundy (b. 1166)
  • 1249 – Alexander II, king of Scotland (b. 1198)
  • 1415 – Jan Hus, Czech priest, philosopher, and reformer (b. 1369)
  • 1476 – Regiomontanus, German mathematician and astrologer (b. 1436)
  • 1480 – Antonio Squarcialupi, Italian composer (b. 1416)
  • 1533 – Ludovico Ariosto, Italian poet and playwright (b. 1474)
  • 1535 – Thomas More, English lawyer and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1478)
  • 1553 – Edward VI, king of England and Ireland (b. 1537)
  • 1583 – Edmund Grindal, English archbishop (b. 1519)
  • 1585 – Thomas Aufield, English priest and martyr (b. 1552)
  • 1614 – Man Singh I, Rajput Raja of Amer (b. 1550)
  • 1684 – Peter Gunning, English bishop (b. 1614)
  • 1758 – George Howe, 3rd Viscount Howe, English general and politician (b. 1725)
  • 1768 – Conrad Beissel, German-American religious leader (b. 1690)
  • 1802 – Daniel Morgan, American general and politician (b. 1736)
  • 1809 – Antoine Charles Louis de Lasalle, French general (b. 1775)
  • 1813 – Granville Sharp, English activist (b. 1735)
  • 1815 – Samuel Whitbread, English politician (b. 1764)
  • 1835 – John Marshall, American captain and politician, 4th United States Secretary of State (b. 1755)
  • 1854 – Georg Ohm, German physicist and mathematician (b. 1789)
  • 1868 – Harada Sanosuke, Japanese captain (b. 1840)
  • 1893 – Guy de Maupassant, French short story writer, novelist, and poet (b. 1850)
  • 1901 – Chlodwig Carl Viktor, German prince and chancellor (b. 1819)
  • 1902 – Maria Goretti, Italian martyr and saint (b. 1890)
  • 1904 – Abai Qunanbaiuly, Kazakh poet and philosopher (b. 1845)
  • 1907 – August Johann Gottfried Bielenstein, German linguist and theologian (b. 1826)
  • 1916 – Odilon Redon, French painter and illustrator (b. 1840)
  • 1918 – Wilhelm von Mirbach, German diplomat (b. 1871)
  • 1922 – Maria Teresia Ledóchowska, Polish-Austrian nun and missionary (b. 1863)
  • 1932 – Kenneth Grahame, Scottish-English author (b. 1859)
  • 1934 – Nestor Makhno, Ukrainian commander (b. 1888)
  • 1946 – Horace Pippin, American painter (b. 1888)
  • 1947 – Adolfo Müller-Ury, Swiss-American painter (b. 1862)
  • 1952 – Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, Canadian lawyer and politician, 14th Premier of Quebec (b. 1867)
  • 1959 – George Grosz, German painter and illustrator (b. 1893)
  • 1960 – Aneurin Bevan, Welsh-English politician, Secretary of State for Health (b. 1897)
  • 1961 – Scott LaFaro, American bassist (b. 1936)
  • 1961 – Woodall Rodgers, American lawyer and politician, Mayor of Dallas (b. 1890)
  • 1962 – Paul Boffa, Maltese soldier and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Malta (b. 1890)
  • 1962 – William Faulkner, American novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
  • 1962 – Joseph August, archduke of Austria (b. 1872)
  • 1963 – George, duke of Mecklenburg (b. 1899)
  • 1964 – Claude V. Ricketts, American admiral (b. 1906)
  • 1966 – Sad Sam Jones, American baseball player and manager (b. 1892)
  • 1967 – Hilda Taba, Estonian architect and educator (b. 1902)
  • 1971 – Louis Armstrong, American singer and trumpet player (b. 1901)
  • 1973 – Otto Klemperer, German-American conductor and composer (b. 1885)
  • 1975 – Reşat Ekrem Koçu, Turkish historian, scholar, and poet (b. 1905)
  • 1976 – Zhu De, Chinese general and politician, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (b. 1886)
  • 1976 – Fritz Lenz, German geneticist and physician (b. 1887)
  • 1977 – Ödön Pártos, Hungarian-Israeli viola player and composer (b. 1907)
  • 1978 – Babe Paley, American socialite and fashion style icon (b. 1915)
  • 1979 – Van McCoy, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1940)
  • 1986 – Jagjivan Ram, Indian lawyer and politician, 4th Deputy Prime Minister of India (b. 1908)
  • 1989 – János Kádár, Hungarian mechanic and politician, Hungarian Minister of the Interior (b. 1912)
  • 1991 – Mudashiru Lawal, Nigerian footballer (b. 1954)
  • 1992 – Marsha P. Johnson, American drag queen performer and activist (b. 1945)
  • 1994 – Ahmet Haxhiu, Kosovan activist (b. 1932)
  • 1995 – Aziz Nesin, Turkish author and poet (b. 1915)
  • 1997 – Chetan Anand, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1921)
  • 1998 – Roy Rogers, American cowboy, actor, and singer (b. 1911)
  • 1999 – Joaquín Rodrigo, Spanish pianist and composer (b. 1901)
  • 2000 – Władysław Szpilman, Polish pianist and composer (b. 1911)
  • 2002 – Dhirubhai Ambani, Indian businessman, founded Reliance Industries (b. 1932)
  • 2002 – John Frankenheimer, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1930)
  • 2003 – Buddy Ebsen, American actor, singer, and dancer (b. 1908)
  • 2003 – Çelik Gülersoy, Turkish lawyer, historical preservationist, writer and poet (b. 1930)
  • 2004 – Thomas Klestil, Austrian politician, 10th President of Austria (b. 1932)
  • 2004 – Syreeta Wright, American singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
  • 2005 – Ed McBain, American author and screenwriter (b. 1926)
  • 2005 – Claude Simon, Malagasy-French novelist and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
  • 2006 – Kasey Rogers, American actress (b. 1925)
  • 2007 – Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, American author (b. 1939)
  • 2009 – Vasily Aksyonov, Russian author and academic (b. 1932)
  • 2009 – Robert McNamara, American businessman and politician, 8th United States Secretary of Defense (b. 1916)
  • 2010 – Harvey Fuqua, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1929)
  • 2011 – Carly Hibberd, Australian road racing cyclist (b. 1985)
  • 2012 – Hani al-Hassan, Palestinian engineer and politician (b. 1939)
  • 2013 – Lo Hsing Han, Burmese businessman, co-founded Asia World (b. 1935)
  • 2014 – Alan J. Dixon, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 34th Illinois Secretary of State (b. 1927)
  • 2015 – Jerry Weintraub, American film producer, and talent agent (b. 1937)
  • 2018 – Shoko Asahara, founder of Japanese cult group Aum Shinrikyo (b. 1955)
  • 2019 – João Gilberto, Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist, pioneer of bossa nova music style (b. 1931)
  • 2020 – Charlie Daniels, American singer-songwriter, fiddle-player and guitarist (b. 1936)
  • 2020 – Ennio Morricone, Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpet player (b. 1928)

Holidays and observances on July 6

  • The first day of San Fermín, which lasts until July 14. (Pamplona)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Maria Goretti
    • Romulus of Fiesole
    • July 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Constitution Day (Cayman Islands)
  • Day of the Capital (Kazakhstan)
  • Independence Day (Comoros), celebrates the independence of the Comoros from France in 1975.
  • Independence Day (Malawi), celebrates the independence of Malawi from United Kingdom in 1964.
  • International Kissing Day (informally observed)
  • Jan Hus Day (Czech Republic)
  • Kupala Night (Poland, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine)
  • National Fried Chicken Day (United States)
  • Statehood Day (Lithuania)
  • Teachers’ Day (Peru)

July 6 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

July 5- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 328 – The official opening of Constantine’s Bridge built over the Danube between Sucidava (Corabia, Romania) and Oescus (Gigen, Bulgaria) by the Roman architect Theophilus Patricius.
  • 1316 – The Burgundian and Majorcan claimants of the Principality of Achaea meet in the Battle of Manolada.
  • 1594 – Portuguese forces under the command of Pedro Lopes de Sousa begin an unsuccessful invasion of the Kingdom of Kandy during the Campaign of Danture in Sri Lanka.
  • 1610 – John Guy sets sail from Bristol with 39 other colonists for Newfoundland.
  • 1687 – Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
  • 1770 – The Battle of Chesma between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire begins.
  • 1775 – The Second Continental Congress adopts the Olive Branch Petition.
  • 1803 – The Convention of Artlenburg is signed, leading to the French occupation of the Electorate of Hanover (which had been ruled by the British king).
  • 1807 – In Buenos Aires the local militias repel the British soldiers within the Second English Invasion.
  • 1809 – The largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars, the Battle of Wagram is fought between the French and Austrian Empires.
  • 1811 – The Venezuelan Declaration of Independence is adopted by a congress of the provinces.
  • 1813 – War of 1812: Three weeks of British raids on Fort Schlosser, Black Rock and Plattsburgh, New York commence.
  • 1814 – War of 1812: Battle of Chippawa: American Major General Jacob Brown defeats British General Phineas Riall at Chippawa, Ontario.
  • 1833 – Lê Văn Khôi along with 27 soldiers stage a mutiny taking over the Phiên An citadel, developing into the Lê Văn Khôi revolt against Emperor Minh Mạng.
  • 1833 – Admiral Charles Napier vanquishes the navy of the Portuguese usurper Dom Miguel at the third Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
  • 1841 – Thomas Cook organises the first package excursion, from Leicester to Loughborough.
  • 1884 – Germany takes possession of Cameroon.
  • 1915 – The Liberty Bell leaves Philadelphia by special train on its way to the Panama–Pacific International Exposition. This is the last trip outside Philadelphia that the custodians of the bell intend to permit.
  • 1934 – “Bloody Thursday”: Police open fire on striking longshoremen in San Francisco.
  • 1935 – The National Labor Relations Act, which governs labor relations in the United States, is signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
  • 1937 – Spam, the luncheon meat, is introduced into the market by the Hormel Foods Corporation.
  • 1940 – World War II: Foreign relations of Vichy France are severed with the United Kingdom.
  • 1941 – World War II: Operation Barbarossa: German troops reach the Dnieper river.
  • 1943 – World War II: An Allied invasion fleet sails for Sicily (Operation Husky, July 10, 1943).
  • 1943 – World War II: German forces begin a massive offensive against the Soviet Union at the Battle of Kursk, also known as Operation Citadel.
  • 1946 – Micheline Bernardini models the first modern bikini at a swimming pool in Paris.
  • 1948 – National Health Service Acts create the national public health system in the United Kingdom.
  • 1950 – Korean War: Task Force Smith: American and North Korean forces first clash, in the Battle of Osan.
  • 1950 – Zionism: The Knesset passes the Law of Return which grants all Jews the right to immigrate to Israel.
  • 1954 – The BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin.
  • 1954 – Elvis Presley records his first single, “That’s All Right”, at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee.
  • 1962 – The official independence of Algeria is proclaimed after an 8-year-long war with France.
  • 1971 – The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 years, is formally certified by President Richard Nixon.
  • 1973 – A boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE) in Kingman, Arizona, following a fire that broke out as propane was being transferred from a railroad car to a storage tank, kills eleven firefighters.
  • 1975 – Arthur Ashe becomes the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles title.
  • 1975 – Cape Verde gains its independence from Portugal.
  • 1977 – Military coup in Pakistan: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, is overthrown.
  • 1980 – Swedish tennis player Björn Borg wins his fifth Wimbledon final and becomes the first male tennis player to win the championships five times in a row (1976–1980).
  • 1987 – Sri Lankan Civil War: The LTTE uses suicide attacks on the Sri Lankan Army for the first time. The Black Tigers are born and, in the following years, will continue to kill with the tactic.
  • 1989 – Iran–Contra affair: Oliver North is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell to a three-year suspended prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines and 1,200 hours community service. His convictions are later overturned.
  • 1995 – Armenia adopts its constitution, four years after its independence from the Soviet Union.
  • 1996 – Dolly the sheep becomes the first mammal cloned from an adult cell.
  • 1997 – Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Tamil MP A. Thangathurai is shot dead at Sri Shanmuga Hindu Ladies College in Trincomalee.
  • 1999 – U.S. President Bill Clinton imposes trade and economic sanctions against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
  • 2004 – The first direct Indonesian presidential election is held.
  • 2006 – North Korea tests four short-range missiles, one medium-range missile and a long-range Taepodong-2. The long-range Taepodong-2 reportedly fails in mid-air over the Sea of Japan.
  • 2009 – A series of violent riots break out in Ürümqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China.
  • 2009 – The largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever discovered in England, consisting of more than 1,500 items, is found near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield, Staffordshire.
  • 2012 – The Shard in London is inaugurated as the tallest building in Europe, with a height of 310 metres (1,020 ft).
  • 2016 – The Juno space probe arrives at Jupiter and begins a 20-month survey of the planet.

Births on July 5

  • 465 – Ahkal Mo’ Naab’ I, Mayan ruler (d. 524)
  • 980 – Mokjong of Goryeo, Korean king (d. 1009)
  • 1029 – Al-Mustansir Billah, Fatimid caliph (d. 1094)
  • 1057 – Al-Ghazali, Iranian jurist, philosopher, and mystic (d. 1111)
  • 1321 – Joan of the Tower, English consort of David II of Scotland (d. 1362)
  • 1466 – Giovanni Sforza, Italian nobleman (d. 1510)
  • 1547 – Garzia de’ Medici, Tuscan son of Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1562)
  • 1549 – Francesco Maria del Monte, Italian cardinal and art collector (d. 1627)
  • 1554 – Elisabeth of Austria, French queen (d. 1592)
  • 1580 – Carlo Contarini, doge of Venice (d. 1656)
  • 1586 – Thomas Hooker, English-born founder of the Colony of Connecticut (d. 1647)
  • 1593 – Achille d’Étampes de Valençay, French military leader (d. 1646)
  • 1653 – Thomas Pitt, English businessman and politician (d. 1726)
  • 1670 – Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg, countess palatine (d. 1748)
  • 1675 – Mary Walcott, American accuser and witness at the Salem witch trials (d. 1719)
  • 1709 – Étienne de Silhouette, French translator and politician, Controller-General of Finances (d. 1767)
  • 1717 – Peter III, Portuguese king (d. 1786)
  • 1718 – Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1794)
  • 1745 – Carl Arnold Kortum, German physician and poet (d. 1824)
  • 1755 – Sarah Siddons, English actress (d. 1831)
  • 1780 – François Carlo Antommarchi, French physician (d. 1838)
  • 1793 – Pavel Pestel, Russian officer (d. 1826)
  • 1794 – Sylvester Graham, American minister and activist (d. 1851)
  • 1801 – David Farragut, American admiral (d. 1870)
  • 1802 – Pavel Nakhimov, Russian admiral (d. 1855)
  • 1803 – George Borrow, British writer (d. 1881)
  • 1805 – Robert FitzRoy, English captain, meteorologist, and politician, 2nd Governor of New Zealand (d. 1865)
  • 1810 – P. T. Barnum, American businessman, co-founded Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (d. 1891)
  • 1820 – William John Macquorn Rankine, Scottish physicist, mathematician, and engineer (d. 1872)
  • 1829 – Ignacio Mariscal, Mexican politician and diplomat, Secretary of Foreign Affairs for Mexico (d. 1910)
  • 1832 – Pavel Chistyakov, Russian painter and educator (d. 1919)
  • 1841 – William Collins Whitney, American financier and politician, 31st United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 1904)
  • 1849 – William Thomas Stead, English journalist (d. 1912)
  • 1853 – Cecil Rhodes, English-South African businessman and politician, 6th Prime Minister of the Cape Colony (d. 1902)
  • 1857 – Clara Zetkin, German theorist and activist (d. 1933)
  • 1857 – Julien Tiersot, French musicologist and composer (d. 1936)
  • 1860 – Robert Bacon, American colonel and politician, 39th United States Secretary of State (d. 1919)
  • 1860 – Mathieu Jaboulay, French surgeon (d. 1913)
  • 1862 – George Nuttall, American-British bacteriologist (d. 1937)
  • 1862 – Horatio Caro, English chess master (d. 1920)
  • 1864 – Stephan Krehl, German composer (d. 1924)
  • 1867 – A. E. Douglass, American astronomer (d. 1962)
  • 1872 – Édouard Herriot, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1957)
  • 1874 – Eugen Fischer, German physician and academic (d. 1967)
  • 1879 – Dwight F. Davis, American tennis player and politician, 49th United States Secretary of War (d. 1945)
  • 1879 – Wanda Landowska, Polish-French harpsichord player and educator (d. 1959)
  • 1880 – Jan Kubelík, Czech violinist and composer (d. 1940)
  • 1880 – Constantin Tănase, Romanian actor and playwright (d. 1945)
  • 1882 – Inayat Khan, Indian mystic and educator (d. 1927)
  • 1883 – Gustave Lanctot, Canadian historian, author, and academic (d. 1975)
  • 1884 – Enrico Dante, Italian cardinal (d. 1967)
  • 1885 – Blas Infante, Spanish historian and politician (d. 1936)
  • 1885 – André Lhote, French sculptor and painter (d. 1962)
  • 1886 – Willem Drees, Dutch politician and historian, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (1948–1958) (d. 1988)
  • 1886 – Prince John Konstantinovich of Russia (d. 1918)
  • 1888 – Herbert Spencer Gasser, American physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1963)
  • 1888 – Louise Freeland Jenkins, American astronomer and academic (d. 1970)
  • 1889 – Jean Cocteau, French novelist, poet, and playwright (d. 1963)
  • 1890 – Frederick Lewis Allen, American historian and journalist (d. 1954)
  • 1891 – John Howard Northrop, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
  • 1891 – Tin Ujević, Croatian poet and translator (d. 1955)
  • 1893 – Anthony Berkeley Cox, English writer (d. 1971)
  • 1893 – Giuseppe Caselli, Italian painter (d. 1976)
  • 1894 – Ants Lauter, Estonian actor and director (d. 1973)
  • 1896 – Thomas Playford IV, Australian politician, 33rd Premier of South Australia (d. 1981)
  • 1898 – Georgios Grivas, Greek general (d. 1974)
  • 1899 – Marcel Achard, French playwright, screenwriter, and author (d. 1974)
  • 1900 – Yoshimaro Yamashina, Japanese ornithologist, founded the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology (d. 1989)
  • 1900 – Bernardus Johannes Alfrink, Dutch cardinal (d. 1987)
  • 1901 – Julio Libonatti, Italian-Argentinian footballer (d. 1981)
  • 1902 – Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., American colonel and politician, 3rd United States Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 1985)
  • 1904 – Harold Acton, English scholar and author (d. 1994)
  • 1904 – Ernst Mayr, German-American biologist and ornithologist (d. 2005)
  • 1904 – Milburn Stone, American actor (d. 1980)
  • 1905 – Madeleine Sylvain-Bouchereau, Haitian sociologist and educator (d. 1970)
  • 1908 – Henri of Orléans, (d. 1999)
  • 1908 – Lyman S. Ayres II, American businessman (d. 1996)
  • 1910 – Georges Vedel, French lawyer and academic (d. 2002)
  • 1911 – Endel Aruja, Estonian-Canadian physicist and academic (d. 2008)
  • 1911 – Haydn Bunton, Sr., Australian footballer and coach (d. 1955)
  • 1911 – Giorgio Borġ Olivier, Maltese lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Malta (d. 1980)
  • 1911 – Georges Pompidou, French banker and politician, 19th President of France (d. 1974)
  • 1913 – George Costakis, Russian art collector (d. 1990)
  • 1913 – Smiley Lewis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1966)
  • 1914 – John Thomas Dunlop, American administrator and labor scholar (d. 2003)
  • 1914 – Annie Fischer, Hungarian pianist and composer (d. 1995)
  • 1915 – Babe Paley, American socialite (d. 1978)
  • 1915 – John Woodruff, American runner and commander (d. 2007)
  • 1915 – Al Timothy, Trinidadian musician and songwriter (d. 2000)
  • 1916 – Lívia Rév, Hungarian classical pianist (d. 2018)
  • 1916 – Ivor Powell, Welsh footballer (d. 2012)
  • 1918 – K. Karunakaran, Indian lawyer and politician, 7th Chief Minister of Kerala (d. 2010)
  • 1918 – Brian James, Australian actor (d. 2009)
  • 1918 – Zakaria Mohieddin, Egyptian general and politician, 33rd Prime Minister of Egypt (d. 2012)
  • 1918 – George Rochberg, American composer and educator (d. 2005)
  • 1921 – Viktor Kulikov, Russian marshal (d. 2013)
  • 1921 – Nanos Valaoritis, Greek author, poet, and playwright (d. 2019)
  • 1923 – George Moore, Australian jockey (d. 2008)
  • 1923 – Mitsuye Yamada, Japanese American activist
  • 1924 – János Starker, Hungarian-American cellist and educator (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – Edward Cassidy, Australian Roman Catholic cardinal priest
  • 1925 – Fernando de Szyszlo, Peruvian painter and sculptor (d. 2017)
  • 1925 – Jean Raspail, French author and explorer (d. 2020)
  • 1926 – Diana Lynn, American actress (d. 1971)
  • 1928 – Pierre Mauroy, French educator and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 2013)
  • 1928 – Warren Oates, American actor (d. 1982)
  • 1929 – Jimmy Carruthers, Australian boxer (d. 1990)
  • 1929 – Katherine Helmond, American actress and director (d. 2019)
  • 1929 – Tony Lock, English cricketer (d. 1995)
  • 1929 – Jovan Rašković, Serbian psychiatrist, academic, and politician (d. 1992)
  • 1929 – Jiří Reynek, Czech poet and graphic artist (d. 2014)
  • 1929 – Chikao Ohtsuka, Japanese voice actor (d. 2015)
  • 1931 – Ismail Mahomed, South African lawyer and politician, 17th Chief Justice of South Africa (d. 2000)
  • 1932 – Gyula Horn, Hungarian politician, 37th Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 2013)
  • 1933 – Paul-Gilbert Langevin, French musicologist, critic and physicist (d. 1986)
  • 1936 – Shirley Knight, American actress (d. 2020)
  • 1936 – James Mirrlees, Scottish economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018)
  • 1938 – Ronnie Self, American singer-songwriter (d. 1981)
  • 1940 – Chuck Close, American painter and photographer
  • 1941 – Terry Cashman, American singer-songwriter and record producer
  • 1941 – Epeli Nailatikau, Fijian chief, President of Fiji
  • 1942 – Matthias Bamert, Swiss composer and conductor
  • 1942 – Hannes Löhr, German footballer, coach, and manager (d. 2016)
  • 1943 – Curt Blefary, American baseball player and coach (d. 2001)
  • 1943 – Mark Cox, English tennis player, coach and sportscaster
  • 1943 – Robbie Robertson, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor
  • 1943 – Pierre Villepreux, French rugby player and coach
  • 1944 – Leni Björklund, Swedish politician, 28th Swedish Minister of Defence for Sweden
  • 1945 – Michael Blake, American author and screenwriter (d. 2015)
  • 1945 – Humberto Benítez Treviño, Mexican lawyer and politician, Attorney General of Mexico
  • 1946 – Pierre-Marc Johnson, Canadian lawyer, physician, and politician, 24th Premier of Quebec
  • 1946 – Paul Smith, English fashion designer
  • 1946 – Gerard ‘t Hooft, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1946 – Vladimir Mikhailovich Zakharov, Russian dancer and choreographer (d. 2013)
  • 1947 – Todd Akin, American politician
  • 1949 – Ludwig G. Strauss, German physician and academic (d. 2013)
  • 1950 – Carlos Caszely, Chilean footballer
  • 1950 – Huey Lewis, American singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1950 – Michael Monarch, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
  • 1951 – Goose Gossage, American baseball player
  • 1951 – Roger Wicker, American colonel, lawyer, and politician
  • 1953 – Caryn Navy, American mathematician and computer scientist
  • 1954 – Jimmy Crespo, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1954 – John Wright, New Zealand cricketer and coach
  • 1955 – Tony Hadley, English footballer
  • 1955 – Peter McNamara, Australian tennis player and coach (d. 2019)
  • 1956 – Horacio Cartes, Paraguayan businessman and politician, President of Paraguay
  • 1956 – James Lofton, American football player and coach
  • 1957 – Carlo Thränhardt, German high jumper
  • 1957 – Doug Wilson, Canadian-American ice hockey player and manager
  • 1958 – Veronica Guerin, Irish journalist (d. 1996)
  • 1958 – Bill Watterson, American author and illustrator
  • 1959 – Marc Cohn, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1960 – Pruitt Taylor Vince, American actor and director
  • 1962 – Sarina Hülsenbeck, German swimmer
  • 1963 – Edie Falco, American actress
  • 1964 – Ronald D. Moore, American screenwriter and producer
  • 1965 – Kathryn Erbe, American actress
  • 1965 – Eyran Katsenelenbogen, Israeli-American pianist and educator
  • 1966 – Susannah Doyle, English actress, director, and playwright
  • 1966 – Gianfranco Zola, Italian footballer and coach
  • 1968 – Ken Akamatsu, Japanese illustrator
  • 1968 – Kenji Ito, Japanese pianist and composer
  • 1968 – Nardwuar the Human Serviette, Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1968 – Hedi Slimane, French fashion designer and photographer
  • 1968 – Alex Zülle, Swiss cyclist
  • 1968 – Susan Wojcicki, Polish-American technology executive, CEO of YouTube
  • 1969 – Jenji Kohan, American screenwriter and producer
  • 1969 – Armin Kõomägi, Estonian author and screenwriter
  • 1969 – John LeClair, American ice hockey player
  • 1969 – RZA, American rapper, producer, actor, and director
  • 1970 – Mac Dre, American rapper and producer, founded Thizz Entertainment (d. 2004)
  • 1970 – Valentí Massana, Spanish race walker
  • 1971 – Derek McInnes, Scottish footballer and manager
  • 1972 – Matthew Birir, Kenyan runner
  • 1972 – Robert Esmie, Canadian sprinter
  • 1972 – Gary Shteyngart, American writer
  • 1973 – Marcus Allbäck, Swedish footballer and coach
  • 1973 – Bengt Lagerberg, Swedish drummer
  • 1973 – Róisín Murphy, Irish singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1974 – Márcio Amoroso, Brazilian footballer
  • 1975 – Hernán Crespo, Argentinian footballer and coach
  • 1975 – Ai Sugiyama, Japanese tennis player
  • 1976 – Bizarre, American rapper
  • 1976 – Nuno Gomes, Portuguese footballer
  • 1977 – Nicolas Kiefer, German tennis player
  • 1977 – Steven Sharp Nelson, American cellist
  • 1978 – Britta Oppelt, German rower
  • 1978 – Allan Simonsen, Danish race car driver (d. 2013)
  • 1978 – İsmail YK, German-Turkish singer-songwriter
  • 1979 – Shane Filan, Irish singer-songwriter
  • 1979 – Amélie Mauresmo, French-Swiss tennis player
  • 1979 – Stiliyan Petrov, Bulgarian footballer and manager
  • 1980 – David Rozehnal, Czech footballer
  • 1980 – Mads Tolling, Danish-American violinist and composer
  • 1980 – Jason Wade, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1982 – Fabrício de Souza, Brazilian footballer
  • 1982 – Alexander Dimitrenko, Ukrainian-German boxer
  • 1982 – Alberto Gilardino, Italian footballer
  • 1982 – Philippe Gilbert, Belgian cyclist
  • 1982 – Kate Gynther, Australian water polo player
  • 1982 – Dave Haywood, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1982 – Paíto, Mozambican footballer
  • 1982 – Javier Paredes, Spanish footballer
  • 1982 – Szabolcs Perenyi, Romanian-Hungarian footballer
  • 1982 – Beno Udrih, Slovenian basketball player
  • 1983 – Marco Estrada, Mexican baseball player
  • 1983 – Jonás Gutiérrez, Argentinian footballer
  • 1983 – Zheng Jie, Chinese tennis player
  • 1983 – Taavi Peetre, Estonian shot putter (d. 2010)
  • 1984 – Danay Garcia, Cuban actress
  • 1984 – Zack Miller, American golfer
  • 1985 – Alexandre R. Picard, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1985 – Megan Rapinoe, American soccer player
  • 1986 – Iurii Cheban, Ukrainian canoe sprinter
  • 1986 – Piermario Morosini, Italian footballer (d. 2012)
  • 1986 – Alexander Radulov, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1986 – Owl City, American singer, songwriter and composer
  • 1987 – Ji Chang-wook, South Korean actor
  • 1987 – Mohd Safiq Rahim, Malaysian footballer
  • 1987 – Andrija Kaluđerović, Serbian footballer
  • 1987 – Alexander Kristoff, Norwegian cyclist
  • 1988 – Martin Liivamägi, Estonian swimmer
  • 1988 – Samir Ujkani, Albanian footballer
  • 1989 – Charlie Austin, English footballer
  • 1989 – Georgios Efrem, Cypriot footballer
  • 1989 – Dwight King, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1990 – Abeba Aregawi, Ethiopian-Swedish runner
  • 1992 – Alberto Moreno, Spanish footballer
  • 1992 – Chiara Scholl, American tennis player
  • 1993 – Yaroslav Kosov, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1994 – Diana Harkusha, Ukrainian lawyer, dancer, model and beauty queen
  • 1994 – Shohei Ohtani, Japanese baseball player

Deaths on July 5

  • 905 – Cui Yuan, Chinese chancellor
  • 905 – Dugu Sun, Chinese chancellor
  • 905 – Lu Yi, Chinese chancellor (b. 847)
  • 905 – Pei Shu, Chinese chancellor (b. 841)
  • 905 – Wang Pu, Chinese chancellor
  • 936 – Xu Ji, Chinese official and chancellor
  • 967 – Murakami, Japanese emperor (b. 926)
  • 1080 – Ísleifur Gissurarson, Icelandic bishop (b. 1006)
  • 1091 – William of Hirsau, German abbot
  • 1316 – Ferdinand, prince of Majorca (b. 1278)
  • 1375 – Charles III, French nobleman (b. 1337)
  • 1413 – Musa Çelebi, Ottoman prince and co-ruler
  • 1507 – Crinitus, Italian scholar and academic (b. 1475)
  • 1539 – Anthony Maria Zaccaria, Italian saint (b. 1502)
  • 1661 – Sir Hugh Speke, 1st Baronet
  • 1666 – Albert VI, German nobleman (b. 1584)
  • 1676 – Carl Gustaf Wrangel, Swedish field marshal and politician (b. 1613)
  • 1715 – Charles Ancillon, French jurist and diplomat (b. 1659)
  • 1719 – Meinhardt Schomberg, 3rd Duke of Schomberg, German-English general (b. 1641)
  • 1773 – Francisco José Freire, Portuguese historian and philologist (b. 1719)
  • 1819 – William Cornwallis, English admiral and politician (b.1744)
  • 1826 – Stamford Raffles, English politician, founded Singapore (b. 1782)
  • 1833 – Nicéphore Niépce, French inventor, created the first known photograph (b. 1765)
  • 1859 – Charles Cagniard de la Tour, French physicist and engineer (b. 1777)
  • 1862 – Heinrich Georg Bronn, German geologist and paleontologist (b. 1800)
  • 1863 – Lewis Armistead, American general (b. 1817)
  • 1884 – Victor Massé, French composer (b. 1822)
  • 1908 – Jonas Lie, Norwegian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1833)
  • 1920 – Max Klinger, German painter and sculptor (b. 1857)
  • 1927 – Albrecht Kossel, German physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1853)
  • 1929 – Henry Johnson, American sergeant (b. 1897)
  • 1932 – Sasha Chorny, Russian poet and author (b. 1880)
  • 1935 – Bernard de Pourtalès, Swiss captain and sailor (b. 1870)
  • 1937 – Daniel Sawyer, American golfer (b. 1884)
  • 1943 – Kazimierz Junosza-Stępowski, Polish actor (b. 1880)
  • 1943 – Karin Swanström, Swedish actress, director, and producer (b. 1873)
  • 1945 – John Curtin, Australian journalist and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1885)
  • 1948 – Georges Bernanos, French soldier and author (b. 1888)
  • 1948 – Carole Landis, American actress (b. 1919)
  • 1948 – Piet Aalberse, Dutch politician (b. 1871)
  • 1957 – Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar (b. 1887)
  • 1965 – Porfirio Rubirosa, Dominican race car driver, polo player, and diplomat (b. 1909)
  • 1966 – George de Hevesy, Hungarian-German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1885)
  • 1969 – Wilhelm Backhaus, German pianist and educator (b. 1884)
  • 1969 – Walter Gropius, German architect, designed the John F. Kennedy Federal Building and Werkbund Exhibition (b. 1883)
  • 1969 – Tom Mboya, Kenyan politician, 1st Kenyan Minister of Justice (b. 1930)
  • 1969 – Leo McCarey, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1898)
  • 1975 – Gilda dalla Rizza, Italian soprano and actress (b. 1892)
  • 1983 – Harry James, American trumpet player and actor (b. 1916)
  • 1984 – Chic Murray, Canadian politician, 2nd Mayor of Mississauga (b. 1914)
  • 1991 – Howard Nemerov, American poet and essayist (b. 1920)
  • 1995 – Jüri Järvet, Estonian actor and screenwriter (b. 1919)
  • 1997 – A. Thangathurai, Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and politician (b. 1936)
  • 1998 – Sid Luckman, American football player (b. 1916)
  • 2002 – Katy Jurado, Mexican actress (b. 1924)
  • 2002 – Ted Williams, American baseball player and manager (b. 1918)
  • 2004 – Hugh Shearer, Jamaican journalist and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Jamaica (b. 1923)
  • 2004 – Rodger Ward, American race car driver and sportscaster (b. 1921)
  • 2005 – James Stockdale, American admiral (b. 1923)
  • 2006 – Gert Fredriksson, Swedish canoe racer (b. 1919)
  • 2006 – Thirunalloor Karunakaran, Indian poet and scholar (b. 1924)
  • 2006 – Kenneth Lay, American businessman (b. 1942)
  • 2006 – Amzie Strickland, American actress (b. 1919)
  • 2007 – Régine Crespin, French soprano (b. 1927)
  • 2007 – George Melly, English singer-songwriter and critic (b. 1926)
  • 2008 – Hasan Doğan, Turkish businessman (b. 1956)
  • 2010 – Bob Probert, Canadian ice hockey player and radio host (b. 1965)
  • 2011 – Cy Twombly, American-Italian painter, sculptor, and photographer (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Rob Goris, Belgian cyclist (b. 1982)
  • 2012 – Gerrit Komrij, Dutch author, poet, and playwright (b. 1944)
  • 2012 – Colin Marshall, Baron Marshall of Knightsbridge, English businessman and politician (b. 1933)
  • 2012 – Ruud van Hemert, Dutch actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1938)
  • 2013 – Bud Asher, American lawyer and politician (b. 1925)
  • 2013 – David Cargo, American politician, 22nd Governor of New Mexico (b. 1929)
  • 2013 – Lambert Jackson Woodburne, South African admiral (b. 1939)
  • 2014 – Rosemary Murphy, American actress (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Volodymyr Sabodan, Ukrainian metropolitan (b. 1935)
  • 2014 – Hans-Ulrich Wehler, German historian and academic (b. 1931)
  • 2014 – Brett Wiesner, American soccer player (b. 1983)
  • 2015 – Archduchess Dorothea of Austria (b. 1920)
  • 2015 – Uffe Haagerup, Danish mathematician and academic (b. 1949)
  • 2015 – Yoichiro Nambu, Japanese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1921)

Holidays and observances on July 5

  • Bloody Thursday (International Longshore and Warehouse Union)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Anthony Maria Zaccaria, priest (d. 1539)
    • Cyril and Methodius (a public holiday in Czech Republic and Slovakia)
    • Zoe of Rome (Roman Catholic Church)
    • July 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Constitution Day (Armenia)
  • Independence Day (Algeria), celebrating the independence of Algeria from France in 1962.
  • Independence Day (Cape Verde), celebrating the independence of Cape Verde from Portugal in 1975.
  • Independence Day (Venezuela), celebrating the independence of Venezuela from Spain in 1811; also National Armed Forces Day.
  • Tynwald Day, if July 5 is on a weekend, the holiday is the following Monday. (Isle of Man)

July 5- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

July 4 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /

The Aphelion, the point in the year when the Earth is farthest from the Sun, occurs around this date.

July 4 in History

  • 362 BC – Battle of Mantinea: The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans.
  • 414 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and proclaimed herself empress (Augusta) of the Eastern Roman Empire.
  • 836 – Pactum Sicardi, a peace treaty between the Principality of Benevento and the Duchy of Naples, is signed.
  • 993 – Ulrich of Augsburg is canonized as a saint.
  • 1054 – A supernova, called SN 1054, is seen by Chinese Song dynasty, Arab, and possibly Amerindian observers near the star Zeta Tauri. For several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day. Its remnants form the Crab Nebula.
  • 1120 – Jordan II of Capua is anointed as prince after his infant nephew’s death.
  • 1187 – The Crusades: Battle of Hattin: Saladin defeats Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem.
  • 1253 – Battle of West-Capelle: John I of Avesnes defeats Guy of Dampierre.
  • 1359 – Francesco II Ordelaffi of Forlì surrenders to the Papal commander Gil de Albornoz.
  • 1456 – Ottoman–Hungarian wars: The Siege of Nándorfehérvár (Belgrade) begins.
  • 1534 – Christian III is elected King of Denmark and Norway in the town of Rye.
  • 1584 – Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe arrive at Roanoke Island
  • 1610 – The Battle of Klushino is fought between forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia during the Polish–Muscovite War.
  • 1634 – The city of Trois-Rivières is founded in New France (now Quebec, Canada).
  • 1744 – The Treaty of Lancaster, in which the Iroquois cede lands between the Allegheny Mountains and the Ohio River to the British colonies, was signed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
  • 1774 – Orangetown Resolutions are adopted in the Province of New York, one of many protests against the British Parliament’s Coercive Acts.
  • 1776 – American Revolution: The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress.
  • 1778 – American Revolutionary War: U.S. forces under George Clark capture Kaskaskia during the Illinois campaign.
  • 1802 – At West Point, New York, the United States Military Academy opens.
  • 1803 – The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American people.
  • 1817 – In Rome, New York, construction on the Erie Canal begins.
  • 1826 – John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, respectively the second and third presidents of the United States, die the same day, on the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence. Adams’ last words were, “Thomas Jefferson survives.”
  • 1827 – Slavery is abolished in the State of New York.
  • 1831 – Samuel Francis Smith writes “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” for the Boston, Massachusetts July 4 festivities.
  • 1837 – Grand Junction Railway, the world’s first long-distance railway, opens between Birmingham and Liverpool.
  • 1838 – The Iowa Territory is organized.
  • 1845 – Henry David Thoreau moves into a small cabin on Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau’s account of his two years there, Walden, will become a touchstone of the environmental movement.
  • 1855 – The first edition of Walt Whitman’s book of poems, Leaves of Grass, is published In Brooklyn.
  • 1862 – Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell a story that would grow into Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and its sequels.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: Siege of Vicksburg: Vicksburg, Mississippi surrenders to U.S. forces under Ulysses S. Grant after 47 days of siege. One hundred fifty miles up the Mississippi River, a Confederate army is repulsed at the Battle of Helena, Arkansas.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: The Army of Northern Virginia withdraws from the battlefield after losing the Battle of Gettysburg, signalling an end to the Confederate invasion of U.S. territory.
  • 1879 – Anglo-Zulu War: The Zululand capital of Ulundi is captured by British troops and burned to the ground, ending the war and forcing King Cetshwayo to flee.
  • 1881 – In Alabama, the Tuskegee Institute opens.
  • 1886 – The Canadian Pacific Railway’s first scheduled train from Montreal arrives in Port Moody on the Pacific coast, after six days of travel.
  • 1887 – The founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, joins Sindh-Madrasa-tul-Islam, Karachi.
  • 1892 – Western Samoa changes the International Date Line, causing Monday (July 4) to occur twice, resulting in a year with 367 days.
  • 1894 – The short-lived Republic of Hawaii is proclaimed by Sanford B. Dole.
  • 1898 – En route from New York to Le Havre, the SS La Bourgogne collides with another ship and sinks off the coast of Sable Island, with the loss of 549 lives.
  • 1901 – William Howard Taft becomes American governor of the Philippines.
  • 1903 – The Philippine–American War is officially concluded.
  • 1910 – The Johnson–Jeffries riots occur after African-American boxer Jack Johnson knocks out white boxer Jim Jeffries in the 15th round. Between 11 and 26 people are killed and hundreds more injured.
  • 1911 – A massive heat wave strikes the northeastern United States, killing 380 people in eleven days and breaking temperature records in several cities.
  • 1913 – President Woodrow Wilson addresses American Civil War veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913.
  • 1914 – The funeral of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie takes place in Vienna, six days after their assassinations in Sarajevo.
  • 1918 – Mehmed V died at the age of 73 and Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI ascends to the throne.
  • 1918 – World War I: The Battle of Hamel, a successful attack by the Australian Corps against German positions near the town of Le Hamel on the Western Front.
  • 1918 – Bolsheviks kill Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family (Julian calendar date).
  • 1927 – First flight of the Lockheed Vega.
  • 1939 – Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, informs a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he considers himself “The luckiest man on the face of the earth”, then announces his retirement from major league baseball.
  • 1941 – Nazi crimes against the Polish nation: Nazi troops massacre Polish scientists and writers in the captured Ukrainian city of Lviv.
  • 1941 – World War II: The Burning of the Riga synagogues: The Great Choral Synagogue in German occupied Riga is burnt with 300 Jews locked in the basement.
  • 1942 – World War II: The 250-day Siege of Sevastopol in the Crimea ends when the city falls to Axis forces.
  • 1943 – World War II: The Battle of Kursk, the largest full-scale battle in history and the world’s largest tank battle, begins in the village of Prokhorovka.
  • 1943 – World War II: In Gibraltar, a Royal Air Force B-24 Liberator bomber crashes into the sea in an apparent accident moments after takeoff, killing sixteen passengers on board, including general Władysław Sikorski, the commander-in-chief of the Polish Army and the Prime Minister of the Polish government-in-exile; only the pilot survives.
  • 1946 – The Kielce pogrom against Jewish Holocaust survivors in Poland.
  • 1946 – After 381 years of near-continuous colonial rule by various powers, the Philippines attains full independence from the United States.
  • 1947 – The “Indian Independence Bill” is presented before the British House of Commons, proposing the independence of the Provinces of British India into two sovereign countries: India and Pakistan.
  • 1950 – Cold War: Radio Free Europe first broadcasts.
  • 1951 – Cold War: A court in Czechoslovakia sentences American journalist William N. Oatis to ten years in prison on charges of espionage.
  • 1951 – William Shockley announces the invention of the junction transistor.
  • 1954 – Rationing ends in the United Kingdom.
  • 1960 – Due to the post-Independence Day admission of Hawaii as the 50th U.S. state on August 21, 1959, the 50-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, almost ten and a half months later (see Flag Acts (United States)).
  • 1961 – On its maiden voyage, the Soviet nuclear-powered submarine K-19 suffers a complete loss of coolant to its reactor. The crew are able to effect repairs, but 22 of them die of radiation poisoning over the following two years.
  • 1966 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into United States law. The act went into effect the next year.
  • 1976 – Israeli commandos raid Entebbe airport in Uganda, rescuing all but four of the passengers and crew of an Air France jetliner seized by Palestinian terrorists.
  • 1976 – The U.S. celebrates its Bicentennial.
  • 1977 – The George Jackson Brigade plants a bomb at the main power substation for the Washington state capitol in Olympia, in solidarity with a prison strike at the Walla Walla State Penitentiary Intensive Security Unit.
  • 1982 – Three Iranian diplomats and a journalist are kidnapped in Lebanon by Phalange forces, and their fate remains unknown.
  • 1987 – In France, former Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (a.k.a. the “Butcher of Lyon”) is convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment.
  • 1994 – Rwandan genocide: Kigali, the Rwandan capital, is captured by the Rwandan Patriotic Front, ending the genocide in the city.
  • 1997 – NASA’s Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.
  • 1998 – Japan launches the Nozomi probe to Mars, joining the United States and Russia as a space exploring nation.
  • 2001 – Vladivostock Air Flight 352 crashes on approach to Irkutsk Airport killing all 145 people on board.
  • 2004 – The cornerstone of the Freedom Tower is laid on the World Trade Center site in New York City.
  • 2004 – Greece beats Portugal in the UEFA Euro 2004 Final and becomes European Champion for first time in its history.
  • 2005 – The Deep Impact collider hits the comet Tempel 1.
  • 2006 – Space Shuttle program: Discovery launches STS-121 to the International Space Station. The event gained wide media attention as it was the only shuttle launch in the program’s history to occur on the United States’ Independence Day.
  • 2009 – The Statue of Liberty’s crown reopens to the public after eight years of closure due to security concerns following the September 11 attacks.
  • 2009 – The first of four days of bombings begins on the southern Philippine island group of Mindanao.
  • 2012 – The discovery of particles consistent with the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider is announced at CERN.
  • 2015 – Chile claims its first title in international soccer by defeating Argentina in the 2015 Copa América Final.

Births on July 4

  • AD 68 – Salonina Matidia, Roman daughter of Ulpia Marciana (d. 119)
  • 1095 – Usama ibn Munqidh, Muslim poet, author and faris (Knight) (d. 1188)
  • 1330 – Ashikaga Yoshiakira, Japanese shōgun (d. 1367)
  • 1477 – Johannes Aventinus, Bavarian historian and philologist (d. 1534)
  • 1546 – Murad III, Ottoman sultan (d. 1595)
  • 1656 – John Leake, Royal Navy admiral (d. 1720)
  • 1694 – Louis-Claude Daquin, French organist and composer (d. 1772)
  • 1715 – Christian Fürchtegott Gellert, German poet and academic (d. 1769)
  • 1719 – Michel-Jean Sedaine, French playwright (d. 1797)
  • 1729 – George Leonard, American lawyer, jurist and politician (d. 1819)
  • 1753 – Jean-Pierre Blanchard, French inventor, best known as a pioneer in balloon flight (d. 1809)
  • 1790 – George Everest, Welsh geographer and surveyor (d. 1866)
  • 1799 – Oscar I of Sweden (d. 1859)
  • 1804 – Nathaniel Hawthorne, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1864)
  • 1807 – Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian general and politician (d. 1882)
  • 1816 – Hiram Walker, American businessman, founded Canadian Club whisky (d. 1899)
  • 1826 – Stephen Foster, American songwriter and composer (d. 1864)
  • 1842 – Hermann Cohen, German philosopher (d. 1918)
  • 1845 – Thomas John Barnardo, Irish philanthropist and humanitarian (d. 1905)
  • 1847 – James Anthony Bailey, American circus ringmaster, co-founded Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (d. 1906)
  • 1854 – Victor Babeș, Romanian physician and biologist (d. 1926)
  • 1868 – Henrietta Swan Leavitt, American astronomer and academic (d. 1921)
  • 1871 – Hubert Cecil Booth, English engineer (d. 1955)
  • 1872 – Calvin Coolidge, American lawyer and politician, 30th President of the United States (d. 1933)
  • 1874 – John McPhee, Australian journalist and politician, 27th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1952)
  • 1880 – Victor Kraft, Austrian philosopher from the Vienna Circle (d. 1975)
  • 1881 – Ulysses S. Grant III, American general (d. 1968)
  • 1883 – Rube Goldberg, American sculptor, cartoonist, and engineer (d. 1970)
  • 1887 – Pio Pion, Italian engineer and businessman (d. 1965)
  • 1888 – Henry Armetta, Italian-American actor and singer (d. 1945)
  • 1895 – Irving Caesar, American songwriter and composer (d. 1996)
  • 1896 – Mao Dun, Chinese journalist, author, and critic (d. 1981)
  • 1897 – Alluri Sitarama Raju, Indian activist (d. 1924)
  • 1898 – Pilar Barbosa, Puerto Rican-American historian and activist (d. 1997)
  • 1898 – Gertrude Lawrence, British actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1952)
  • 1898 – Gulzarilal Nanda, Indian politician (d. 1998)
  • 1898 – Gertrude Weaver, American supercentenarian (d. 2015)
  • 1900 – Belinda Dann, Indigenous Australian who was one of the Stolen Generation, reunited with family aged 107 (d. 2007)
  • 1900 – Nellie Mae Rowe, American folk artist (d. 1982)
  • 1902 – Meyer Lansky, American gangster (d. 1983)
  • 1902 – George Murphy, American actor and politician (d. 1992)
  • 1903 – Flor Peeters, Belgian organist, composer, and educator (d. 1986)
  • 1904 – Angela Baddeley, English actress (d. 1976)
  • 1905 – Irving Johnson, American sailor and author (d. 1991)
  • 1905 – Robert Hankey, 2nd Baron Hankey, British diplomat and public servant (d. 1996)
  • 1905 – Lionel Trilling, American critic, essayist, short story writer, and educator (d. 1975)
  • 1906 – Vincent Schaefer, American chemist and meteorologist (d. 1993)
  • 1907 – John Anderson, American discus thrower (d. 1948)
  • 1907 – Howard Taubman, American author and critic (d. 1996)
  • 1909 – Alec Templeton, Welsh composer, pianist and satirist (d. 1963)
  • 1910 – Robert K. Merton, American sociologist and scholar (d. 2003)
  • 1910 – Gloria Stuart, American actress (d. 2010)
  • 1911 – Bruce Hamilton, Australian public servant (d. 1989)
  • 1911 – Mitch Miller, American singer and producer (d. 2010)
  • 1914 – Nuccio Bertone, Italian automobile designer (d. 1997)
  • 1915 – Timmie Rogers, American actor and singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
  • 1916 – Iva Toguri D’Aquino, American typist and broadcaster (d. 2006)
  • 1918 – Eppie Lederer, American journalist and radio host (d. 2002)
  • 1918 – Johnnie Parsons, American race car driver (d. 1984)
  • 1918 – King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV of Tonga, (d. 2006)
  • 1918 – Alec Bedser, English cricketer (d. 2010)
  • 1918 – Eric Bedser, English cricketer (d. 2006)
  • 1918 – Pauline Phillips, American journalist and radio host, created Dear Abby (d. 2013)
  • 1920 – Norm Drucker, American basketball player and referee (d. 2015)
  • 1920 – Leona Helmsley, American businesswoman (d. 2007)
  • 1920 – Fritz Wilde, German footballer and manager (d. 1977)
  • 1920 – Paul Bannai, American politician (d. 2019)
  • 1921 – Gérard Debreu, French economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
  • 1921 – Nasser Sharifi, Iranian sports shooter
  • 1921 – Metropolitan Mikhail of Asyut (d. 2014)
  • 1921 – Philip Rose, American actor, playwright, and producer (d. 2011)
  • 1921 – Tibor Varga, Hungarian violinist and conductor (d. 2003)
  • 1922 – R. James Harvey, American politician (d. 2019)
  • 1923 – Rudolf Friedrich, Swiss lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – Eva Marie Saint, American actress
  • 1924 – Delia Fiallo, Cuban author and screenwriter
  • 1925 – Ciril Zlobec, Slovene poet, writer, translator, journalist and politician (d. 2018)
  • 1925 – Dorothy Head Knode, American tennis player (d. 2015)
  • 1926 – Alfredo Di Stéfano, Argentinian-Spanish footballer and coach (d. 2014)
  • 1926 – Lake Underwood, American race car driver and businessman (d. 2008)
  • 1927 – Gina Lollobrigida, Italian actress and photographer
  • 1927 – Neil Simon, American playwright and screenwriter (d. 2018)
  • 1928 – Giampiero Boniperti, Italian footballer and politician
  • 1928 – Teofisto Guingona Jr., Filipino politician; 11th Vice President of the Philippines
  • 1928 – Jassem Alwan, Syrian Army Officer (d. 2018)
  • 1928 – Shan Ratnam, Sri Lankan physician and academic (d. 2001)
  • 1928 – Chuck Tanner, American baseball player and manager (d. 2011)
  • 1929 – Ron Casey, Australian journalist and sportscaster (d. 2018)
  • 1929 – Al Davis, American football player, coach, and manager (d. 2011)
  • 1929 – Bill Tuttle, American baseball player (d. 1998)
  • 1930 – George Steinbrenner, American businessman (d. 2010)
  • 1931 – Stephen Boyd, Northern Ireland-born American actor (d. 1977)
  • 1931 – Rick Casares, American football player and soldier (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Sébastien Japrisot, French author, director, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
  • 1931 – Peter Richardson, English cricketer (d. 2017)
  • 1932 – Aurèle Vandendriessche, Belgian runner
  • 1934 – Yvonne B. Miller, American academic and politician (d. 2012)
  • 1934 – Colin Welland, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2015)
  • 1935 – Paul Scoon, Grenadian politician, 2nd Governor-General of Grenada (d. 2013)
  • 1936 – Zdzisława Donat, Polish soprano and actress
  • 1937 – Thomas Nagel, American philosopher and academic
  • 1937 – Queen Sonja of Norway
  • 1937 – Richard Rhodes, American journalist and historian
  • 1937 – Eric Walters, Australian journalist (d. 2010)
  • 1938 – Steven Rose, English biologist and academic
  • 1938 – Bill Withers, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2020)
  • 1940 – Pat Stapleton, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2020)
  • 1941 – Sam Farr, American politician
  • 1941 – Tomaž Šalamun, Croatian-Slovenian poet and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1941 – Pavel Sedláček, Czech singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1941 – Brian Willson, American soldier, lawyer, and activist
  • 1942 – Hal Lanier, American baseball player, coach, and manager
  • 1942 – Floyd Little, American football player and coach
  • 1942 – Stefan Meller, French-Polish academic and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2008)
  • 1942 – Prince Michael of Kent
  • 1942 – Peter Rowan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1943 – Conny Bauer, German trombonist
  • 1943 – Emerson Boozer, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1943 – Adam Hart-Davis, English historian, author, and photographer
  • 1943 – Geraldo Rivera, American lawyer, journalist, and author
  • 1943 – Fred Wesley, American jazz and funk trombonist
  • 1943 – Alan Wilson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1970)
  • 1945 – Andre Spitzer, Romanian-Israeli fencer and coach (d. 1972)
  • 1946 – Ron Kovic, American author and activist
  • 1946 – Michael Milken, American businessman and philanthropist
  • 1947 – Lembit Ulfsak, Estonian actor and director (d. 2017)
  • 1948 – René Arnoux, French race car driver
  • 1948 – Tommy Körberg, Swedish singer and actor
  • 1948 – Jeremy Spencer, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1950 – Philip Craven, English basketball player and swimmer
  • 1950 – David Jensen, Canadian-English radio and television host
  • 1951 – John Alexander, Australian tennis player and politician
  • 1951 – Ralph Johnson, American R&B drummer and percussionist
  • 1951 – Vladimir Tismăneanu, Romanian-American political scientist, sociologist, and academic
  • 1951 – Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, American lawyer and politician, 6th Lieutenant Governor of Maryland
  • 1952 – Álvaro Uribe, Colombian lawyer and politician, 39th President of Colombia
  • 1952 – Carol MacReady, English actress
  • 1952 – John Waite, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1952 – Paul Rogat Loeb, American author and activist
  • 1953 – Francis Maude, English lawyer and politician, Minister for the Cabinet Office
  • 1954 – Jim Beattie, American baseball player, coach, and manager
  • 1954 – Morganna, American model, actress, and dancer
  • 1954 – Devendra Kumar Joshi, 21st Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy
  • 1955 – Kevin Nichols, Australian cyclist
  • 1956 – Robert Sinclair MacKay, British academic and educator
  • 1957 – Rein Lang, Estonian politician and diplomat, 25th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1958 – Vera Leth, Greenlandic Ombudsman
  • 1958 – Kirk Pengilly, Australian guitarist, saxophonist, and songwriter
  • 1958 – Carl Valentine, English-Canadian footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1959 – Victoria Abril, Spanish actress and singer
  • 1960 – Roland Ratzenberger, Austrian race car driver (d. 1994)
  • 1961 – Richard Garriott, English-American video game designer, created the Ultima series
  • 1962 – Pam Shriver, American tennis player and sportscaster
  • 1963 – Henri Leconte, French tennis player and sportscaster
  • 1963 – Laureano Márquez, Spanish-Venezuelan political scientist and journalist
  • 1963 – José Oquendo, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and coach
  • 1963 – Sonia Pierre, Hatian-Dominican human rights activist (d. 2011)
  • 1964 – Cle Kooiman, American soccer player and manager
  • 1964 – Elie Saab, Lebanese fashion designer
  • 1964 – Edi Rama, Albanian politician
  • 1964 – Mark Slaughter, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1964 – Mark Whiting, American actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1965 – Harvey Grant, American basketball player and coach
  • 1965 – Horace Grant, American basketball player and coach
  • 1965 – Kiriakos Karataidis, Greek footballer and manager
  • 1965 – Gérard Watkins, English actor and playwright
  • 1966 – Ronni Ancona, Scottish actress and screenwriter
  • 1966 – Minas Hantzidis, German-Greek footballer
  • 1966 – Lee Reherman, American actor (d. 2016)
  • 1967 – Vinny Castilla, Mexican baseball player and manager
  • 1967 – Sébastien Deleigne, French athlete
  • 1969 – Al Golden, American football player and coach
  • 1969 – Todd Marinovich, American football player and coach
  • 1969 – Wilfred Mugeyi, Zimbabwean footballer and coach
  • 1972 – Stephen Giles, Canadian canoe racer and engineer
  • 1972 – Mike Knuble, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1973 – Keiko Ihara, Japanese race car driver
  • 1973 – Gackt, Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor
  • 1973 – Michael Johnson, English-Jamaican footballer and manager
  • 1973 – Anjelika Krylova, Russian ice dancer and coach
  • 1973 – Jan Magnussen, Danish race car driver
  • 1973 – Tony Popovic, Australian footballer and manager
  • 1974 – Jill Craybas, American tennis player
  • 1974 – La’Roi Glover, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1974 – Adrian Griffin, American basketball player and coach
  • 1976 – Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer (d. 2003)
  • 1976 – Yevgeniya Medvedeva, Russian skier
  • 1978 – Marcos Daniel, Brazilian tennis player
  • 1978 – Émile Mpenza, Belgian footballer
  • 1979 – Siim Kabrits, Estonian politician
  • 1979 – Josh McCown, American football player
  • 1979 – Renny Vega, Venezuelan footballer
  • 1980 – Kwame Steede, Bermudan footballer
  • 1981 – Dedé, Angolan footballer
  • 1981 – Brock Berlin, American football player
  • 1981 – Christoph Preuß, German footballer
  • 1981 – Francisco Cruceta, Dominican baseball player
  • 1981 – Will Smith, American football player (d. 2016)
  • 1982 – Vladimir Boisa, Georgian basketball player
  • 1982 – Vladimir Gusev, Russian cyclist
  • 1982 – Jeff Lima, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1982 – Michael “The Situation” Sorrentino, American model, author and television personality
  • 1983 – Melanie Fiona, Canadian singer-songwriter
  • 1983 – Amantle Montsho, Botswanan sprinter
  • 1983 – Miguel Pinto, Chilean footballer
  • 1983 – Amol Rajan, Indian-English journalist
  • 1983 – Mattia Serafini, Italian footballer
  • 1984 – Jin Akanishi, Japanese singer-songwriter
  • 1984 – Miguel Santos Soares, Timorese footballer
  • 1985 – Kane Tenace, Australian footballer
  • 1985 – Dimitrios Mavroeidis, Greek basketball player
  • 1985 – Wason Rentería, Colombian footballer
  • 1986 – Ömer Aşık, Turkish basketball player
  • 1986 – Nguyen Ngoc Duy, Vietnamese footballer
  • 1986 – Rafael Arévalo, Salvadoran tennis player
  • 1986 – Willem Janssen, Dutch footballer
  • 1986 – Terrance Knighton, American football player
  • 1986 – Marte Elden, Norwegian skier
  • 1987 – Wude Ayalew, Ethiopian runner
  • 1987 – Guram Kashia, Georgian footballer
  • 1988 – Angelique Boyer, French-Mexican actress
  • 1989 – Benjamin Büchel, Liechtensteiner footballer
  • 1990 – Jake Gardiner, American ice hockey player
  • 1990 – Richard Mpong, Ghanaian footballer
  • 1990 – Naoki Yamada, Japanese footballer
  • 1990 – Ihar Yasinski, Belarusian footballer
  • 1992 – Ángel Romero, Paraguayan footballer
  • 1992 – Óscar Romero, Paraguayan footballer
  • 1993 – Tom Barkhuizen, English footballer
  • 1995 – Post Malone, American singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer
  • 1999 – Moa Kikuchi, Japanese musician
  • 2003 – Polina Bogusevich, Russian singer

Deaths on July 4

  • 673 – Ecgberht, king of Kent
  • 907 – Luitpold, margrave of Bavaria
  • 907 – Dietmar I, archbishop of Salzburg
  • 910 – Luo Shaowei, Chinese warlord (b. 877)
  • 940 – Wang Jianli, Chinese general (b. 871)
  • 943 – Taejo of Goryeo, Korean king (b. 877)
  • 945 – Zhuo Yanming, Chinese Buddhist monk and emperor
  • 965 – Benedict V, pope of the Catholic Church
  • 973 – Ulrich of Augsburg, German bishop and saint (b. 890)
  • 975 – Gwangjong of Goryeo, Korean king (b. 925)
  • 1187 – Raynald of Châtillon, French knight (b. 1125)
  • 1307 – Rudolf I of Bohemia (b. 1281)
  • 1336 – Saint Elizabeth of Portugal (b. 1271)
  • 1429 – Carlo I Tocco, ruler of Epirus (b. 1372)
  • 1533 – John Frith, English priest, writer, and martyr (b. 1503)
  • 1541 – Pedro de Alvarado, Spanish general and explorer (b. 1495)
  • 1546 – Hayreddin Barbarossa, Ottoman admiral (b. 1478)
  • 1551 – Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell, English politician (b. 1514)
  • 1603 – Philippe de Monte, Flemish composer and educator (b. 1521)
  • 1623 – William Byrd, English composer (b. c. 1540)
  • 1644 – Brian Twyne, English academic, antiquarian and archivist (b. 1581)
  • 1648 – Antoine Daniel, French missionary and saint, one of the eight Canadian Martyrs (b. 1601)
  • 1742 – Luigi Guido Grandi, Italian monk, mathematician, and engineer (b. 1671)
  • 1754 – Philippe Néricault Destouches, French playwright and author (b. 1680)
  • 1761 – Samuel Richardson, English author and painter (b. 1689)
  • 1780 – Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine (b. 1712)
  • 1787 – Charles, Prince of Soubise, Marshal of France (b. 1715)
  • 1821 – Richard Cosway, English painter and academic (b. 1742)
  • 1826 – John Adams, American lawyer and politician, 2nd President of the United States (b. 1735)
  • 1826 – Thomas Jefferson, American architect, lawyer, and politician, 3rd President of the United States (b. 1743)
  • 1831 – James Monroe, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 5th President of the United States (b. 1758)
  • 1848 – François-René de Chateaubriand, French historian and politician (b. 1768)
  • 1850 – William Kirby, English entomologist and author (b. 1759)
  • 1854 – Karl Friedrich Eichhorn, German academic and jurist (b. 1781)
  • 1857 – William L. Marcy, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 21st United States Secretary of State (b. 1786)
  • 1881 – Johan Vilhelm Snellman, Finnish philosopher and politician (b. 1806)
  • 1882 – Joseph Brackett, American composer and author (b. 1797)
  • 1886 – Poundmaker, Canadian tribal chief (b. 1797)
  • 1891 – Hannibal Hamlin, American lawyer and politician, 15th Vice President of the United States (b. 1809)
  • 1901 – Johannes Schmidt, German linguist and academic (b. 1843)
  • 1902 – Vivekananda, Indian monk and saint (b. 1863)
  • 1905 – Élisée Reclus, French geographer and author (b. 1830)
  • 1910 – Melville Fuller, American lawyer and jurist, Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1833)
  • 1910 – Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer and historian (b. 1835)
  • 1916 – Alan Seeger, American soldier and poet (b. 1888)
  • 1922 – Lothar von Richthofen, German lieutenant and pilot (b. 1894)
  • 1926 – Pier Giorgio Frassati, Italian activist and saint (b. 1901)
  • 1934 – Marie Curie, French-Polish physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
  • 1938 – Otto Bauer, Austrian philosopher and politician, Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1881)
  • 1938 – Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player (b. 1899)
  • 1941 – Antoni Łomnicki, Polish mathematician and academic (b. 1881)
  • 1943 – Władysław Sikorski, Polish general and politician, 9th Prime Minister of the Second Republic of Poland (b. 1881)
  • 1946 – Taffy O’Callaghan, Welsh footballer and coach (b. 1906)
  • 1948 – Monteiro Lobato, Brazilian journalist and author (b. 1882)
  • 1949 – François Brandt, Dutch rower and engineer (b. 1874)
  • 1963 – Bernard Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, New Zealand general and politician, 7th Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1889)
  • 1963 – Clyde Kennard, American activist and martyr (b. 1927)
  • 1963 – Pingali Venkayya, Indian activist, designed the Flag of India (b. 1876)
  • 1964 – Gaby Morlay, French actress and singer (b. 1893)
  • 1969 – Henri Decoin, French director and screenwriter (b. 1890)
  • 1970 – Barnett Newman, American painter and illustrator (b. 1905)
  • 1970 – Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, American sailor and businessman (b. 1884)
  • 1971 – August Derleth, American anthologist and author (b. 1909)
  • 1971 – Thomas C. Hart, American admiral and politician (b. 1877)
  • 1974 – Georgette Heyer, English author (b. 1902)
  • 1974 – André Randall, French actor (b. 1892)
  • 1976 – Yonatan Netanyahu, Israeli colonel (b. 1946)
  • 1976 – Antoni Słonimski, Polish poet and playwright (b. 1895)
  • 1977 – Gersh Budker, Ukrainian physicist and academic (b. 1918)
  • 1979 – Lee Wai Tong, Chinese footballer and manager (b. 1905)
  • 1980 – Maurice Grevisse, Belgian linguist and author (b. 1895)
  • 1984 – Jimmie Spheeris, American singer-songwriter (b. 1949)
  • 1986 – Paul-Gilbert Langevin, French musicologist, critique musical and physicist (b. 1933)
  • 1986 – Flor Peeters, Belgian organist and composer (b. 1903)
  • 1986 – Oscar Zariski, Belarusian-American mathematician and academic (b. 1899)
  • 1988 – Adrian Adonis, American wrestler (b. 1954)
  • 1990 – Olive Ann Burns, American journalist and author (b. 1924)
  • 1991 – Victor Chang, Chinese-Australian surgeon and physician (b. 1936)
  • 1991 – Art Sansom, American cartoonist (b. 1920)
  • 1992 – Astor Piazzolla, Argentinian bandoneon player and composer (b. 1921)
  • 1993 – Bona Arsenault, Canadian historian, genealogist, and politician (b. 1903)
  • 1994 – Joey Marella, American wrestling referee (b. 1964)
  • 1995 – Eva Gabor, Hungarian-American actress and singer (b. 1919)
  • 1995 – Bob Ross, American painter and television host (b. 1942)
  • 1997 – Charles Kuralt, American journalist (b. 1934)
  • 1997 – John Zachary Young, English zoologist and neurophysiologist (b. 1907)
  • 1999 – Leo Garel, American illustrator and educator (b. 1917)
  • 2000 – Gustaw Herling-Grudziński, Polish journalist and author (b. 1919)
  • 2002 – Gerald Bales, Canadian organist and composer (b. 1919)
  • 2002 – Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., American general (b. 1912)
  • 2003 – Larry Burkett, American author and radio host (b. 1939)
  • 2003 – André Claveau, French singer (b. 1915)
  • 2003 – Barry White, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (b. 1944)
  • 2004 – Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss violinist and conductor (b. 1920)
  • 2005 – Cliff Goupille, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1915)
  • 2005 – Hank Stram, American football player and coach (b. 1923)
  • 2007 – Bill Pinkney, American singer (b. 1925)
  • 2008 – Thomas M. Disch, American author and poet (b. 1940)
  • 2008 – Jesse Helms, American politician (b. 1921)
  • 2008 – Evelyn Keyes, American actress (b. 1916)
  • 2008 – Terrence Kiel, American football player (b. 1980)
  • 2008 – Charles Wheeler, German-English soldier and journalist (b. 1923)
  • 2009 – Brenda Joyce, American actress (b. 1917)
  • 2009 – Allen Klein, American businessman and talent agent, founded ABKCO Records (b. 1931)
  • 2009 – Drake Levin, American guitarist (b. 1946)
  • 2009 – Steve McNair, American football player (b. 1973)
  • 2009 – Lasse Strömstedt, Swedish author and actor (b. 1935)
  • 2009 – Jean-Baptiste Tati Loutard, Congolese poet and politician (b. 1938)
  • 2010 – Robert Neil Butler, American physician and author (b. 1927)
  • 2012 – Hiren Bhattacharyya, Indian poet and author (b. 1932)
  • 2012 – Jimmy Bivins, American boxer (b. 1919)
  • 2012 – Jeong Min-hyeong, South Korean footballer (b. 1987)
  • 2012 – Eric Sykes, English actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1923)
  • 2013 – Onllwyn Brace, Welsh rugby player and sportscaster (b. 1932)
  • 2013 – Jack Crompton, English footballer and manager (b. 1921)
  • 2013 – James Fulton, American dermatologist and academic (b. 1940)
  • 2013 – Charles A. Hines, American general (b. 1935)
  • 2013 – Bernie Nolan, Irish singer (b. 1960)
  • 2014 – Giorgio Faletti, Italian author, screenwriter, and actor (b. 1950)
  • 2014 – C. J. Henderson, American author and critic (b. 1951)
  • 2014 – Earl Robinson, American baseball player (b. 1936)
  • 2014 – Richard Mellon Scaife, American businessman (b. 1932)
  • 2015 – Nedelcho Beronov, Bulgarian judge and politician (b. 1928)
  • 2015 – William Conrad Gibbons, American historian, author, and academic (b. 1926)
  • 2016 – Abbas Kiarostami, Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, and photographer (b. 1940)
  • 2017 – John Blackwell, American R&B, funk, and jazz drummer (b. 1973)
  • 2017 – Daniil Granin, Soviet and Russian author (b. 1919)
  • 2018 – Henri Dirickx, Belgian footballer (b. 1927)
  • 2018 – Robby Müller, Dutch cinematographer (b. 1940)

Holidays and observances on July 4

  • Christian feast day:
    • Andrew of Crete
    • Bertha of Artois
    • Blessed Catherine Jarrige
    • Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati
    • Elizabeth of Aragon (or of Portugal)
    • Oda of Canterbury
    • Ulrich of Augsburg
    • July 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Birthday of Queen Sonja (Norway)
  • The first evening of Dree Festival, celebrated until July 7 (Apatani people, Arunachal Pradesh, India)
  • Independence Day, celebrates the Declaration of Independence of the United States from Great Britain in 1776. (United States and its dependencies)
  • Liberation Day (Northern Mariana Islands)
  • Liberation Day (Rwanda)
  • Republic Day (Philippines)

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