30 BC – Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian’s forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.
781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: 6th day of the 7th month of the 1st year of the Ten’o (天応) era).
1009 – Pope Sergius IV becomes the 142nd pope, succeeding Pope John XVIII.
1201 – Attempted usurpation by John Komnenos the Fat for the throne of Alexios III Angelos.
1423 – Hundred Years’ War: Battle of Cravant: The French army is defeated by the English at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne.
1451 – Jacques Cœur is arrested by order of Charles VII of France.
1492 – The Jews are expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree takes effect.
1498 – On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad.
1588 – The Spanish Armada is spotted off the coast of England.
1618 – Maurice, Prince of Orange disbands the waardgelders militia in Utrecht, a pivotal event in the Remonstrant/Counter-Remonstrant tensions.
1655 – Russo-Polish War (1654–67): The Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for six years.
1658 – Aurangzeb is proclaimed Mughal emperor of India.
1703 – Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers.
1712 – Action of 31 July 1712 (Great Northern War): Danish and Swedish ships clash in the Baltic Sea; the result is inconclusive.
1715 – Seven days after a Spanish treasure fleet of 12 ships left Havana, Cuba for Spain, 11 of them sink in a storm off the coast of Florida. A few centuries later, treasure is salvaged from these wrecks.
1741 – Charles Albert of Bavaria invades Upper Austria and Bohemia.
1763 – Odawa Chief Pontiac’s forces defeat British troops at the Battle of Bloody Run during Pontiac’s War.
1777 – The U.S. Second Continental Congress passes a resolution that the services of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette “be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States.”
1790 – The first U.S. patent is issued, to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.
1856 – Christchurch, New Zealand is chartered as a city.
1865 – The first narrow-gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Queensland, Australia.
1874 – Dr. Patrick Francis Healy became the first African-American inaugurated as president of a predominantly white university, Georgetown University.
1904 – Russo-Japanese War: Battle of Hsimucheng: Units of the Imperial Japanese Army defeat units of the Imperial Russian Army in a strategic confrontation.
1913 – The Balkan States sign an armistice in Bucharest.
1917 – World War I: The Battle of Passchendaele begins near Ypres in West Flanders, Belgium.
1919 – German national assembly adopts the Weimar Constitution, which comes into force on August 14.
1932 – The NSDAP (Nazi Party) wins more than 38% of the vote in German elections.
1938 – Bulgaria signs a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanti (Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia).
1938 – Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis.
1941 – The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring, orders SS General Reinhard Heydrich to “submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired Final Solution of the Jewish question.”
1941 – World War II: The Battle of Smolensk concludes with Germany capturing about 300,000 Soviet Red Army prisoners.
1945 – Pierre Laval, the fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrenders to Allied soldiers in Austria.
1948 – At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.
1948 – USS Nevada is sunk by an aerial torpedo after surviving hits from two atomic bombs (as part of post-war tests) and being used for target practice by three other ships.
1964 – Ranger program: Ranger 7 sends back the first close-up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes.
1970 – Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy.
1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover.
1972 – The Troubles: In Operation Motorman, the British Army re-takes the urban no-go areas of Northern Ireland. It is the biggest British military operation since the Suez Crisis of 1956, and the biggest in Ireland since the Irish War of Independence. Later that day, nine civilians are killed by car bombs in the village of Claudy.
1973 – A Delta Air Lines jetliner, flight DL 723 crashes while landing in fog at Logan International Airport, Boston, Massachusetts killing 89.
1975 – The Troubles: three members of a popular cabaret band and two gunmen are killed during a botched paramilitary attack in Northern Ireland.
1987 – A tornado occurs in Edmonton, Canada.
1988 – Thirty-two people are killed and 1,674 injured when a bridge at the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal collapses in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia.
1991 – The United States and Soviet Union both sign the START I Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the first to reduce (with verification) both countries’ stockpiles.
1992 – The nation of Georgia joins the United Nations.
1992 – Thai Airways International Flight 311 crashes into a mountain north of Kathmandu, Nepal killing all 113 people on board.
1999 – Discovery Program: Lunar Prospector: NASA intentionally crashes the spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the Moon’s surface.
2006 – Fidel Castro hands over power to his brother, Raúl.
2007 – Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end.
2012 – Michael Phelps breaks the record set in 1964 by Larisa Latynina for the most medals won at the Olympics.
2014 – Gas explosions in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung kill at least 20 people and injure more than 270.
Births on July 31
1143 – Emperor Nijō of Japan (d. 1165)
1396 – Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1467)
1526 – Augustus, Elector of Saxony (d. 1586)
1527 – Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1576)
1595 – Philipp Wolfgang, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (d. 1641)
1598 – Alessandro Algardi, Italian sculptor (d. 1654)
1686 – Charles of France, Duke of Berry (d. 1714)
1702 – Jean Denis Attiret, French missionary and painter (d. 1768)
1704 – Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1752)
1718 – John Canton, English physicist and academic (d. 1772)
1724 – Noël François de Wailly, French lexicographer and author (d. 1801)
1759 – Ignaz Anton von Indermauer, Austrian nobleman and government official (d. 1796)
1777 – Pedro Ignacio de Castro Barros, Argentinian priest and politician (d. 1849)
1796 – Jean-Gaspard Deburau, Czech-French actor and mime (d. 1846)
1800 – Friedrich Wöhler, German chemist and academic (d. 1882)
1803 – John Ericsson, Swedish-American engineer, co-designed the USS Princeton and the Novelty Locomotive (d. 1889)
1816 – George Henry Thomas, American general (d. 1870)
1826 – William S. Clark, American colonel and politician (d. 1886)
1835 – Henri Brisson, French lawyer and politician, 50th Prime Minister of France (d. 1912)
1835 – Paul Du Chaillu, French-American anthropologist and explorer (d. 1903)
1836 – Vasily Sleptsov, Russian author and activist (d. 1878)
1837 – William Quantrill, American captain (d. 1865)
1839 – Ignacio Andrade, Venezuelan general and politician, 25th President of Venezuela (d. 1925)
1843 – Peter Rosegger, Austrian poet and author (d. 1918)
1847 – Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban pianist and composer (d. 1905)
1854 – José Canalejas, Spanish academic and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1912)
1858 – Richard Dixon Oldham, English seismologist and geologist (d. 1936)
1858 – Marion Talbot, influential American educator (d. 1948)
1860 – Mary Vaux Walcott, American painter and illustrator (d. 1940)
1867 – S. S. Kresge, American businessman, founded Kmart (d. 1966)
1875 – Jacques Villon, French painter (d. 1963)
1877 – Louisa Bolus, South African botanist and taxonomist (d. 1970)
1880 – Premchand, Indian author and playwright (d. 1936)
1883 – Ramón Fonst, Cuban fencer (d. 1959)
1884 – Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, Polish-German economist and politician (d. 1945)
1886 – Salvatore Maranzano, Italian-American mob boss (d. 1931)
1886 – Fred Quimby, American animation producer (d. 1965)
1887 – Hans Freyer, German sociologist and philosopher (d. 1969)
1892 – Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist and publisher, founded Worldwide Church of God (d. 1986)
1892 – Joseph Charbonneau, Canadian archbishop (d. 1959)
1894 – Fred Keenor, Welsh footballer (d. 1972)
1901 – Jean Dubuffet, French painter and sculptor (d. 1985)
1902 – Gubby Allen, Australian-English cricketer and soldier (d. 1989)
1904 – Brett Halliday, American engineer, surveyor, and author (d. 1977)
1909 – Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, Austrian theorist and author (d. 1999)
1911 – George Liberace, American violinist (d. 1983)
1912 – Bill Brown, Australian cricketer (d. 2008)
1912 – Milton Friedman, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006)
1912 – Irv Kupcinet, American football player and journalist (d. 2003)
1913 – Bryan Hextall, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1984)
1914 – Paul J. Christiansen, American conductor and composer (d. 1997)
1914 – Louis de Funès, French actor and screenwriter (d. 1983)
1916 – Sibte Hassan, Pakistani journalist, scholar, and activist (d. 1986)
1916 – Billy Hitchcock, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2006)
1916 – Bill Todman, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1979)
1918 – Paul D. Boyer, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018)
1918 – Hank Jones, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2010)
1918 – Frank Renouf, New Zealand businessman and financier (d. 1998)
1919 – Hemu Adhikari, Indian cricketer (d. 2003)
1919 – Curt Gowdy, American sportscaster and actor (d. 2006)
1919 – Primo Levi, Italian chemist and author (d. 1987)
1920 – James E. Faust, American religious leader, lawyer, and politician (d. 2007)
1921 – Peter Benenson, English lawyer and activist, founded Amnesty International (d. 2005)
1921 – Donald Malarkey, American sergeant and author (d. 2017)
1921 – Whitney Young, American activist (d. 1971)
1922 – Hank Bauer, American baseball player and manager (d. 2007)
1923 – Ahmet Ertegun, Turkish-American songwriter and producer, founded Atlantic Records (d. 2006)
1923 – Stephanie Kwolek, American chemist and engineer, invented Kevlar (d. 2014)
1924 – Jimmy Evert, American tennis player and coach (d. 2015)
1925 – Carmel Quinn, Irish singer, actress and writer
1925 – John Swainson, Canadian-American jurist and politician, 42nd Governor of Michigan (d. 1994)
1926 – Bernard Nathanson, American physician and activist (d. 2011)
1926 – Hilary Putnam, American mathematician, computer scientist, and philosopher (d. 2016)
1927 – Peter Nichols, English author and playwright (d. 2019)
1928 – Bill Frenzel, American lieutenant and politician (d. 2014)
1929 – Lynne Reid Banks, English author
1929 – Gilles Carle, Canadian director and screenwriter (d. 2009)
1929 – Don Murray, American actor
1929 – José Santamaría, Uruguayan footballer and manager
1931 – Nick Bollettieri, American tennis player and coach
1931 – Kenny Burrell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1932 – Ted Cassidy, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1979)
1932 – John Searle, American philosopher and academic
1933 – Cees Nooteboom, Dutch journalist, author, and poet
1935 – Yvon Deschamps, Canadian comedian, actor, and producer
1935 – Geoffrey Lewis, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2015)
1939 – Steuart Bedford, English pianist and conductor
1939 – Susan Flannery, American actress
1939 – France Nuyen, Vietnamese-French actress
1941 – Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician, 8th Chief Minister of Gujarat (d. 2004)
1943 – William Bennett, American journalist and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Education
1943 – Lobo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1944 – Geraldine Chaplin, American actress and screenwriter
1944 – Jonathan Dimbleby, English journalist and author
1944 – Sherry Lansing, American film producer
1944 – Robert C. Merton, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1944 – David Norris, Irish scholar and politician
1945 – William Weld, American lawyer and politician, 68th Governor of Massachusetts
1946 – Gary Lewis, American pop-rock musician
1947 – Karl Green, English bass player and songwriter (Herman’s Hermits)
1947 – Richard Griffiths, English actor (d. 2013)
1947 – Mumtaz, Indian actress
1947 – Hubert Védrine, French politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs
1947 – Ian Beck, English children’s illustrator and author
1948 – Russell Morris, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1949 – Mike Jackson, American basketball player
1949 – Alan Meale, English journalist and politician
1950 – Richard Berry, French actor, director, and screenwriter
1951 – Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Australian tennis player
1952 – Chris Ahrens, American ice hockey player
1952 – Alan Autry, American football player, actor, and politician, 23rd Mayor of Fresno, California
1952 – Helmuts Balderis, Latvian ice hockey player and coach
1952 – João Barreiros, Portuguese author and critic
1952 – Faye Kellerman, American author
1953 – Ted Baillieu, Australian architect and politician, 46th Premier of Victoria
1953 – Jimmy Cook, South African cricketer and coach
1953 – Hugh McDowell, English cellist
1954 – Derek Smith, Canadian ice hockey player
1956 – Michael Biehn, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1956 – Bill Callahan, American football player and coach
1956 – Ron Kuby, American lawyer and radio host
1956 – Deval Patrick, American lawyer and politician, 71st Governor of Massachusetts
1956 – Lynne Rae Perkins, American author and illustrator
1957 – Daniel Ash, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1957 – Mark Thompson, English business executive
1958 – Bill Berry, American drummer and songwriter
1958 – Mark Cuban, American businessman and television personality
1958 – Suzanne Giraud, French music editor and composer
1959 – Stanley Jordan, American guitarist, pianist, and songwriter
1959 – Andrew Marr, Scottish journalist and author
1959 – Kim Newman, English journalist and author
1960 – Dale Hunter, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1960 – Malcolm Ross, Scottish guitarist and songwriter
1961 – Frank Gardner, English captain and journalist
1961 – Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Nigerian banker, royal
1962 – John Chiang, American lawyer and politician, 31st California State Controller
1962 – Kevin Greene, American football player and coach
1962 – Wesley Snipes, American actor and producer
1963 – Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim), English DJ and musician
1963 – Fergus Henderson, English chef and author
1963 – Brian Skrudland, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1964 – Jim Corr, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist
1964 – Urmas Hepner, Estonian footballer and coach
1965 – Scott Brooks, American basketball player and coach
1965 – John Laurinaitis, American wrestler and producer
1965 – Ian Roberts, English-Australian rugby league player and actor
1965 – J. K. Rowling, English author and film producer
1966 – Dean Cain, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1967 – Tony Massenburg, American basketball player
1967 – Tim Wright, Welsh composer
1968 – Saeed-Al-Saffar, Emirati cricketer
1968 – Julian Richards, Welsh director and producer
1969 – Antonio Conte, Italian footballer and manager
1969 – Loren Dean, American actor
1969 – Kenneth D. Schisler, American lawyer and politician
1970 – Ahmad Akbarpour, Iranian author and poet
1970 – Ben Chaplin, English actor
1970 – Andrzej Kobylański, Polish footballer and manager
1970 – Giorgos Sigalas, Greek basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
1971 – Gus Frerotte, American football player and coach
1973 – Nathan Brown, Australian rugby league player and coach
1974 – Emilia Fox, English actress
1974 – Leona Naess, American-English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1974 – Jonathan Ogden, American football player
1975 – Randy Flores, American baseball player and coach
1975 – Andrew Hall, South African cricketer
1975 – Gabe Kapler, American baseball player and manager
1976 – Joshua Cain, American guitarist and producer
1976 – Paulo Wanchope, Costa Rican footballer and manager
1978 – Zac Brown, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist
1978 – Nick Sorensen, American football player and sportscaster
1978 – Justin Wilson, English race car driver (d. 2015)
1979 – Jaco Erasmus, South African-Italian rugby player
1979 – J.J. Furmaniak, American baseball player
1979 – Per Krøldrup, Danish footballer
1979 – Carlos Marchena, Spanish footballer
1979 – B.J. Novak, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1980 – Mikko Hirvonen, Finnish race car driver
1980 – Mils Muliaina, New Zealand rugby player
1981 – Titus Bramble, English footballer
1981 – Vernon Carey, American football player
1981 – Paul Whatuira, New Zealand rugby league player
1981 – M. Shadows, American musician, lead singer of Avenged Sevenfold
1982 – Anabel Medina Garrigues, Spanish tennis player
1982 – DeMarcus Ware, American football player
1985 – Daniel Ciofani, Italian footballer
1985 – Rémy Di Gregorio, French cyclist
1986 – Evgeni Malkin, Russian ice hockey player
1986 – Brian Orakpo, American football player
1987 – Michael Bradley, American soccer player
1988 – Alex Glenn, New Zealand rugby league player
1989 – Victoria Azarenka, Belorussian tennis player
1991 – Réka Luca Jani, Hungarian tennis player
1992 – José Fernández, Cuban baseball player (d. 2016)
1992 – Ryan Johansen, Canadian ice hockey player
1992 – Kyle Larson, American race car driver
1994 – Lil Uzi Vert, American hip hop artist
Deaths on July 31
54 BC – Aurelia Cotta, Roman mother of Gaius Julius Caesar (b. 120 BC)
450 – Peter Chrysologus, Italian bishop and saint (b. 380)
910 – Feng Xingxi, Chinese warlord
975 – Fu Yanqing, Chinese general (b. 898)
1098 – Hugh of Montgomery, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury
1358 – Étienne Marcel, French rebel leader (b. 1302)
1396 – William Courtenay, English archbishop and politician, Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom (b. 1342)
1508 – Na’od, Ethiopian emperor
1556 – Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish priest and theologian, founded the Society of Jesus (b. 1491)
1616 – Roger Wilbraham, Solicitor-General for Ireland (b. 1553)
1638 – Sibylla Schwarz, German poet (b. 1621)
1653 – Thomas Dudley, English soldier and politician, 3rd Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony (b. 1576)
1693 – Willem Kalf, Dutch still life painter (b. 1619)
1726 – Nicolaus II Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician and theorist (b. 1695)
1750 – John V, king of Portugal (b. 1689)
1762 – Luis Vicente de Velasco e Isla, Spanish sailor and commander (b. 1711)
1781 – John Bligh, 3rd Earl of Darnley, British parliamentarian (b. 1719)
1784 – Denis Diderot, French philosopher and critic (b. 1713)
1805 – Dheeran Chinnamalai, Indian soldier (b. 1756)
1864 – Louis Christophe François Hachette, French publisher (b. 1800)
1875 – Andrew Johnson, American general and politician, 17th President of the United States (b. 1808)
1884 – Kiến Phúc, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1869)
1886 – Franz Liszt, Hungarian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1811)
1891 – Jean-Baptiste Capronnier, Belgian stained glass painter (b. 1814)
1913 – John Milne, British geologist and mining engineer. (b. 1850)
1914 – Jean Jaurès, French journalist and politician (b. 1859)
1917 – Hedd Wyn, Welsh language poet (b. 1887)
1917 – Francis Ledwidge, Irish soldier and poet (b. 1881)
1920 – Ion Dragoumis, Greek philosopher and diplomat (b. 1878)
1940 – Udham Singh, Indian activist (b. 1899)
1943 – Hedley Verity, English cricketer and soldier (b. 1905)
1942 – Francis Younghusband, British Army Officer, explorer and spiritual writer (b.1863)
1944 – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French pilot and poet (b. 1900)
1953 – Robert A. Taft, American soldier and politician (b. 1889)
1954 – Onofre Marimón, Argentinian race car driver (b. 1923)
1958 – Eino Kaila, Finnish philosopher and psychologist, attendant of the Vienna circle (b. 1890)
1964 – Jim Reeves, American singer-songwriter (b. 1923)
1966 – Bud Powell, American pianist (b. 1924)
1968 – Jack Pizzey, Australian politician, 29th Premier of Queensland (b. 1911)
1971 – Walter P. Carter, American soldier and activist (b. 1923)
1972 – Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian lawyer and politician, 40th Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1899)
1973 – Azumafuji Kin’ichi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 40th Yokozuna (b. 1921)
1979 – Beatrix Lehmann, English actress and director (b. 1903)
1980 – Pascual Jordan, German physicist, author, and academic (b. 1902)
1980 – Mohammed Rafi, Indian playback singer (b. 1924)
1981 – Omar Torrijos, Panamanian general and politician, Military Leader of Panama (b. 1929)
1985 – Eugene Carson Blake, American religious leader (b. 1906)
1986 – Chiune Sugihara, Japanese diplomat (b. 1900)
1987 – Joseph E. Levine, American film producer (b, 1905)
1990 – Albert Leduc, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902)
1992 – Leonard Cheshire, English captain and pilot (b. 1917)
1992 – Md. Abdul Wajed Chowdhury, Bangladeshi politician.
1993 – Baudouin, King of Belgium (b. 1930)
2000 – William Keepers Maxwell Jr., American editor, novelist, short story writer, and essayist (b. 1908)
2001 – Francisco da Costa Gomes, Portuguese general and politician, 15th President of Portugal (b. 1914)
2001 – Friedrich Franz, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (b. 1910)
2003 – Guido Crepax, Italian author and illustrator (b. 1933)
2004 – Virginia Grey, American actress (b. 1917)
2005 – Wim Duisenberg, Dutch economist and politician, 1st President of the European Central Bank (b. 1935)
2009 – Bobby Robson, English footballer and manager (b. 1933)
2009 – Harry Alan Towers, English-Canadian screenwriter and producer (b. 1920)
2012 – Mollie Hunter, Scottish author and playwright (b. 1922)
2012 – Alfredo Ramos, Brazilian footballer and coach (b. 1924)
2012 – Gore Vidal, American novelist, screenwriter, and critic (b. 1925)
2012 – Tony Sly, American musician, singer-songwriter (b. 1970)
2013 – Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor (b. 1922)
2013 – Michel Donnet, English-Belgian general and pilot (b. 1917)
2013 – John Graves, American captain and author (b. 1920)
2013 – Trevor Storer, English businessman, founded Pukka Pies (b. 1930)
2014 – Warren Bennis, American scholar, author, and academic (b. 1925)
2014 – Nabarun Bhattacharya, Indian journalist and author (b. 1948)
2014 – Jeff Bourne, English footballer (b. 1948)
2014 – Wilfred Feinberg, American lawyer and judge (b. 1920)
2015 – Alan Cheuse, American writer and critic (b. 1940)
2015 – Howard W. Jones, American surgeon and academic (b. 1910)
2015 – Billy Pierce, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1927)
2015 – Roddy Piper, Canadian wrestler and actor (b. 1954)
2015 – Richard Schweiker, American soldier and politician, 14th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (b. 1926)
2016 – Chiyonofuji Mitsugu, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 58th Yokozuna (b. 1955)
2016 – Seymour Papert, South African mathematician (b. 1928)
2017 – Jeanne Moreau, French actress (b. 1928)
2018 – Tony Bullimore, British sailor & businessman (b. 1939)
2019 – Harold Prince, noted Broadway producer and director, who received more Tony awards than anyone else in history (b. 1928)
Holidays and observances on July 31
Christian feast day:
Abanoub
Germanus of Auxerre
Ignatius of Loyola
Neot
July 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which the Feast of Kamál (Perfection) can fall, while August 1 is the latest; observed on the first day of the eighth month of the Bahá’í calendar. (Bahá’í Faith)
End of the Trinity term (sitting of the High Court of Justice of England)
Ka Hae Hawaiʻi Day (Hawaii, United States), and its related observance:
Sovereignty Restoration Day (Hawaiian sovereignty movement)
Martyrdom Day of Shahid Udham Singh (Haryana and Punjab, India)
1054 – Siward, Earl of Northumbria, invades Scotland and defeats Macbeth, King of Scotland somewhere north of the Firth of Forth.
1189 – Friedrich Barbarossa arrives at Niš, the capital of Serbian King Stefan Nemanja, during the Third Crusade.
1202 – Georgian–Seljuk wars: At the Battle of Basian the Kingdom of Georgia defeats the Sultanate of Rum.
1214 – Battle of Bouvines: Philip II of France decisively defeats Imperial, English and Flemish armies, effectively ending John of England’s Angevin Empire.
1299 – According to Edward Gibbon, Osman I invades the territory of Nicomedia for the first time, usually considered to be the founding day of the Ottoman state.
1302 – Battle of Bapheus: Decisive Ottoman victory over the Byzantines opening up Bithynia for Turkish conquest.
1549 – The Jesuit priest Francis Xavier’s ship reaches Japan.
1663 – The English Parliament passes the second Navigation Act requiring that all goods bound for the American colonies have to be sent in English ships from English ports. After the Acts of Union 1707, Scotland would be included in the Act.
1689 – Glorious Revolution: The Battle of Killiecrankie is a victory for the Jacobites.
1694 – A Royal charter is granted to the Bank of England.
1775 – Founding of the U.S. Army Medical Department: The Second Continental Congress passes legislation establishing “an hospital for an army consisting of 20,000 men.”
1778 – American Revolution: First Battle of Ushant: British and French fleets fight to a standoff.
1789 – The first U.S. federal government agency, the Department of Foreign Affairs, is established (it will be later renamed Department of State).
1794 – French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre is arrested after encouraging the execution of more than 17,000 “enemies of the Revolution”.
1816 – Battle of Negro Fort: The battle ends when a hot shot cannonball fired by US Navy Gunboat No. 154 explodes the Fort’s Powder Magazine, killing approximately 275. It is considered the deadliest single cannon shot in US history.
1857 – Siege of Arrah begins: Sixty-eight men hold out for eight days against a force of 2,500 to 3,000 mutinying sepoys and 8,000 irregular forces.
1865 – Welsh settlers arrive at Chubut in Argentina.
1866 – The first permanent transatlantic telegraph cable is successfully completed, stretching from Valentia Island, Ireland, to Heart’s Content, Newfoundland.
1880 – Second Anglo-Afghan War: Battle of Maiwand: Afghan forces led by Mohammad Ayub Khan defeat the British Army in battle near Maiwand, Afghanistan.
1890 – Vincent van Gogh shoots himself and dies two days later.
1900 – Kaiser Wilhelm II makes a speech comparing Germans to Huns; for years afterwards, “Hun” would be a disparaging name for Germans.
1917 – World War I: The Allies reach the Yser Canal at the Battle of Passchendaele.
1919 – The Chicago Race Riot erupts after a racial incident occurred on a South Side beach, leading to 38 fatalities and 537 injuries over a five-day period.
1921 – Researchers at the University of Toronto, led by biochemist Frederick Banting, prove that the hormone insulin regulates blood sugar.
1929 – The Geneva Convention of 1929, dealing with treatment of prisoners-of-war, is signed by 53 nations.
1940 – The animated short A Wild Hare is released, introducing the character of Bugs Bunny.
1942 – World War II: Allied forces successfully halt the final Axis advance into Egypt.
1949 – Initial flight of the de Havilland Comet, the first jet-powered airliner.
1953 – Cessation of hostilities is achieved in the Korean War when the United States, China, and North Korea sign an armistice agreement. Syngman Rhee, President of South Korea, refuses to sign but pledges to observe the armistice.
1955 – The Austrian State Treaty restores Austrian sovereignty.
1955 – El Al Flight 402 is shot down by two fighter jets after straying into Bulgarian air space. All 58 people onboard are killed.
1959 – The Continental League is announced as baseball’s “3rd major league” in the United States.
1964 – Vietnam War: Five thousand more American military advisers are sent to South Vietnam bringing the total number of United States forces in Vietnam to 21,000.
1974 – Watergate scandal: The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee votes 27 to 11 to recommend the first article of impeachment (for obstruction of justice) against President Richard Nixon.
1975 – Mayor of Jaffna and former MP Alfred Duraiappah is shot dead.
1976 – Former Japanese prime minister Kakuei Tanaka is arrested on suspicion of violating foreign exchange and foreign trade laws in connection with the Lockheed bribery scandals.
1981 – While landing at Chihuahua International Airport, Aeromexico Flight 230 overshoots the runway. Thirty-two of the 66 passengers and crew on board the DC-9 are killed.[2]
1983 – Black July: Eighteen Tamil political prisoners at the Welikada high security prison in Colombo are massacred by Sinhalese prisoners, the second such massacre in two days.
1987 – RMS Titanic Inc. begins the first expedited salvage of wreckage of the RMS Titanic.
1989 – While attempting to land at Tripoli International Airport in Libya, Korean Air Flight 803 crashes just short of the runway. Seventy-five of the 199 passengers and crew and four people on the ground are killed, in the second accident involving a DC-10 in less than two weeks, the first being United Airlines Flight 232.
1990 – The Supreme Soviet of the Belarusian Soviet Republic declares independence of Belarus from the Soviet Union. Until 1996 the day is celebrated as the Independence Day of Belarus; after a referendum held that year the celebration of independence is moved to June 3.
1990 – The Jamaat al Muslimeen attempt a coup d’état in Trinidad and Tobago.
1995 – The Korean War Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C..
1996 – In Atlanta, United States, a pipe bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996 Summer Olympics.
1997 – About 50 people are killed in the Si Zerrouk massacre in Algeria.
2002 – Ukraine airshow disaster: A Sukhoi Su-27 fighter crashes during an air show at Lviv, Ukraine killing 77 and injuring more than 500 others, making it the deadliest air show disaster in history.
2005 – After an incident during STS-114, NASA grounds the Space Shuttle, pending an investigation of the continuing problem with the shedding of foam insulation from the external fuel tank.
2015 – At least seven people are killed and many injured after gunmen attack an Indian police station in Punjab.
2016 – At a news conference in Florida, U.S. Presidential Candidate Donald Trump publicly appealed to Russia to find and release private emails from Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton; a Special Counsel investigation (2017–2019) later alleged that Russian operatives began hacking into servers at the Democratic National Committee on that same day, leading to the July 13, 2018 indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers.[3]
Births on July 27
1452 – Ludovico Sforza, Italian son of Francesco I Sforza (d. 1508)
1452 – Lucrezia Crivelli, mistress of Ludovico Sforza (d. 1508)
1502 – Francesco Corteccia, Italian composer (d. 1571)
1578 – Frances Howard, Duchess of Richmond (d. 1639)
1612 – Murad IV, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1640)
1625 – Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich (d. 1672)
1667 – Johann Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician and academic (d. 1748)
1733 – Jeremiah Dixon, English surveyor and astronomer (d. 1779)
1740 – Jeanne Baré, French explorer (d. 1803)
1741 – François-Hippolyte Barthélémon, French-English violinist and composer (d. 1808)
1752 – Samuel Smith, American general and politician (d. 1839)
1768 – Charlotte Corday, French assassin of Jean-Paul Marat (d. 1793)
1768 – Joseph Anton Koch, Austrian painter (d. 1839)
1773 – Jacob Aall, Norwegian economist and politician (d. 1844)
1777 – Thomas Campbell, Scottish-French poet and academic (d. 1844)
1777 – Henry Trevor, 21st Baron Dacre, English general (d. 1853)
1781 – Mauro Giuliani, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1828)
1784 – Denis Davydov, Russian general and poet (d. 1839)
1812 – Thomas Lanier Clingman, American general and politician (d. 1897)
1818 – Agostino Roscelli, Italian priest and saint (d. 1902)
1824 – Alexandre Dumas, fils, French novelist and playwright (d. 1895)
1833 – Thomas George Bonney, English geologist, mountaineer, and academic (d. 1923)
1834 – Miguel Grau Seminario, Peruvian admiral (d. 1879)
1835 – Giosuè Carducci, Italian poet and educator, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1907)
1848 – Loránd Eötvös, Hungarian physicist and politician, Minister of Education of Hungary (d. 1919)
1848 – Friedrich Ernst Dorn, German physicist (d.1916)
1853 – Vladimir Korolenko, Ukrainian journalist, author, and activist (d. 1921)
1853 – Elizabeth Plankinton, American philanthropist (d. 1923)
1854 – Takahashi Korekiyo, Japanese accountant and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1936)
1857 – José Celso Barbosa, Puerto Rican physician, sociologist, and politician (d. 1921)
1857 – Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge, English Egyptologist, Orientalist, and philologist (d.1934)
1858 – George Lyon, Canadian golfer and cricketer (d. 1938)
1866 – António José de Almeida, Portuguese physician and politician, 6th President of Portugal (d. 1929)
1867 – Enrique Granados, Spanish pianist and composer (d. 1916)
1870 – Hilaire Belloc, French-born British writer and historian (d. 1953)
1872 – Stanislav Binički, Serbian composer, conductor, and pedagogue. (d. 1942)
1879 – Francesco Gaeta, Italian poet (d. 1927)
1877 – Ernő Dohnányi, Hungarian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1960)
1881 – Hans Fischer, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1945)
1882 – Geoffrey de Havilland, English pilot and engineer, founded the de Havilland Aircraft Company (d. 1965)
1886 – Ernst May, German architect and urban planner (d. 1970)
1889 – Vera Karalli, Russian ballerina, choreographer, and actress (d. 1972)
1890 – Benjamin Miessner, American radio engineer and inventor (d. 1976)
1890 – Armas Taipale, Finnish discus thrower and shot putter (d. 1976)
1891 – Jacob van der Hoeden, Dutch-Israeli veterinarian and academic (d. 1968)
1893 – Ugo Agostoni, Italian cyclist (d. 1941)
1894 – Mientje Kling, Dutch actress (d. 1966)
1896 – Robert George, Scottish air marshal and politician, 24th Governor of South Australia (d. 1967)
1896 – Henri Longchambon, French lawyer and politician (d. 1969)
1899 – Percy Hornibrook, Australian cricketer (d. 1976)
1902 – Yaroslav Halan, Ukrainian playwright and publicist (d. 1949)
1903 – Nikolay Cherkasov, Russian actor (d. 1966)
1903 – Michail Stasinopoulos, Greek jurist and politician, President of Greece (d. 2002)
1903 – Mārtiņš Zīverts, Latvian playwright (d. 1990)
1904 – Lyudmila Rudenko, Soviet chess player (d. 1986)
1905 – Leo Durocher, American baseball player and manager (d. 1991)
1906 – Jerzy Giedroyc, Polish author and activist (d. 2000)
1906 – Herbert Jasper, Canadian psychologist and neurologist (d. 1999)
1907 – Ross Alexander, American stage and film actor (d. 1937)
1907 – Carl McClellan Hill, African American educator and academic administrator (d. 1995)
1907 – Irene Fischer, Austrian-American geodesist and mathematician (d. 2009)
1908 – Joseph Mitchell, American journalist and author (d. 1996)
1910 – Julien Gracq, French author and critic (d. 2007)
1910 – Lupita Tovar, Mexican-American actress (d. 2016)
1911 – Rayner Heppenstall, English author and poet (d. 1981)
1912 – Vernon Elliott, English bassoon player, composer, and conductor (d. 1996)
1913 – George L. Street III, American captain, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2000)
1914 – August Sang, Estonian poet and translator (d. 1969)
1915 – Mario Del Monaco, Italian tenor (d. 1982)
1915 – Josef Priller, German colonel and pilot (d. 1961)
1916 – Elizabeth Hardwick, American literary critic, novelist, and short story writer (d. 2007)
1916 – Skippy Williams, American saxophonist and arranger (d. 1994)
1916 – Keenan Wynn, American actor (d. 1986)
1918 – Leonard Rose, American cellist and educator (d. 1984)
1920 – Henry D. “Homer” Haynes, American comedian and musician (Homer and Jethro) (d. 1971)
1921 – Garry Davis, American pilot and activist, created the World Passport (d. 2013)
1921 – Émile Genest, Canadian-American actor (d. 2003)
1922 – Adolfo Celi, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1986)
1922 – Norman Lear, American screenwriter and producer
1923 – Mas Oyama, South Korean-Japanese martial artist (d. 1994)
1924 – Vincent Canby, American historian and critic (d. 2000)
1924 – Otar Taktakishvili, Georgian composer and conductor (d. 1989)
1927 – Guy Carawan, American singer and musicologist (d. 2015)
1927 – Pierre Granier-Deferre, French director and screenwriter (d. 2007)
1927 – Will Jordan, American comedian and actor (d. 2018)
1927 – C. Rajadurai, Sri Lankan journalist and politician, 1st Mayor of Batticaloa
1927 – John Seigenthaler, American journalist and academic (d. 2014)
1928 – Joseph Kittinger, American colonel and pilot
1929 – Jean Baudrillard, French sociologist and philosopher (d. 2007)
1929 – Harvey Fuqua, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2010)
1929 – Jack Higgins, English author and academic
1929 – Marc Wilkinson, French-Australian composer and conductor
1930 – Joy Whitby, English director, producer, and screenwriter
1930 – Shirley Williams, English academic and politician, Secretary of State for Education
1931 – Khieu Samphan, Cambodian academic and politician, 28th Prime Minister of Cambodia
1931 – Jerry Van Dyke, American actor (d. 2018)
1932 – Forest Able, American basketball player
1932 – Diane Webber, American model, dancer and actress
1933 – Nick Reynolds, American singer and bongo player (d. 2008)
1933 – Ted Whitten, Australian footballer and journalist (d. 1995)
1935 – Hillar Kärner, Estonian chess player
1935 – Billy McCullough, Northern Irish footballer
1936 – J. Robert Hooper, American businessman and politician (d. 2008)
1937 – Anna Dawson, English actress and singer
1937 – Don Galloway, American actor (d. 2009)
1937 – Robert Holmes à Court, South African-Australian businessman and lawyer (d. 1990)
1938 – Gary Gygax, American game designer, co-created Dungeons & Dragons (d. 2008)
1939 – William Eggleston, American photographer and academic
1939 – Michael Longley, Northern Irish poet and academic
1939 – Paulo Silvino, Brazilian comedian, composer and actor (d. 2017)
1940 – Pina Bausch, German dancer and choreographer (d. 2009)
1941 – Christian Boesch, Austrian opera singer
1941 – Johannes Fritsch, German viola player and composer (d. 2010)
1942 – Édith Butler, Canadian singer-songwriter
1942 – John Pleshette, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1942 – Dennis Ralston, American tennis player
1943 – Jeremy Greenstock, English diplomat, British Ambassador to the United Nations
1944 – Bobbie Gentry, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1944 – Jean-Marie Leblanc, French cyclist and journalist
1944 – Barbara Thomson, English saxophonist and composer
1945 – Edmund M. Clarke, American computer scientist
1946 – Peter Reading, English poet and author (d. 2011)
1947 – Kazuyoshi Miura, Japanese businessman (d. 2008)
1947 – Betty Thomas, American actress, director, and producer
1948 – Peggy Fleming, American figure skater and sportscaster
1948 – James Munby, English lawyer and judge
1948 – Henny Vrienten, Dutch singer-songwriter and bass player
1949 – Maury Chaykin, American-Canadian actor (d. 2010)
1949 – André Dupont, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1949 – Rory MacDonald, Scottish singer-songwriter and bass player
1949 – Maureen McGovern, American singer and actress
1949 – Robert Rankin, English author and illustrator
1950 – Simon Jones, English actor
1951 – Roseanna Cunningham, Scottish lawyer and politician, Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs
1951 – Bob Diamond, American-English banker and businessman
1951 – Rolf Thung, Dutch tennis player
1952 – Marvin Barnes, American basketball player (d. 2014)
1952 – Roxanne Hart, American actress
1953 – Chung Dong-young, South Korean journalist and politician, 31st South Korean Minister of Unification
1953 – Yahoo Serious, Australian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1954 – Philippe Alliot, French race car driver and sportscaster
1954 – G. S. Bali, Indian lawyer and politician
1954 – Ricardo Uceda, Peruvian journalist and author
1954 – Mark Stanway, English keyboard player Magnum
1955 – Cat Bauer, American journalist, author, and playwright
1955 – Allan Border, Australian cricketer and coach
1955 – John Howell, English journalist and politician
1955 – Bobby Rondinelli, American drummer
1956 – Carol Leifer, American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer
1957 – Bill Engvall, American comedian, actor, and producer
1958 – Christopher Dean, English figure skater and choreographer
1958 – Kimmo Hakola, Finnish composer
1959 – Joe DeSa, American baseball player (d. 1986)
1959 – Hugh Green, American football player
1959 – Yiannos Papantoniou, French-Greek economist and politician, Greek Minister of National Defence
1960 – Jo Durie, English tennis player and sportscaster
1960 – Conway Savage, Australian singer-songwriter and keyboard player (d. 2018)
1960 – Emily Thornberry, English lawyer and politician
1961 – Ed Orgeron, American football coach[4]
1962 – Neil Brooks, Australian swimmer
1962 – Karl Mueller, American bass player (d. 2005)
1963 – Donnie Yen, Chinese-Hong Kong actor, director, producer, and martial artist
1964 – Rex Brown, American bass player and songwriter
1965 – José Luis Chilavert, Paraguayan footballer
1966 – Steve Tilson, English footballer and manager
1967 – Rahul Bose, Indian journalist, actor, director, and screenwriter
1967 – Juliana Hatfield, American singer-songwriter and musician
1967 – Hans Mathisen, Norwegian guitarist and composer
1967 – Neil Smith, English cricketer
1967 – Craig Wolanin, Canadian ice hockey player
1968 – Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Italian actress and producer
1968 – Tom Goodwin, American baseball player and coach
1968 – Sabina Jeschke, Swedish-German engineer and academic
1968 – Julian McMahon, Australian actor and producer
1968 – Ricardo Rosset, Brazilian race car driver
1969 – Triple H, American wrestler and actor
1969 – Jonty Rhodes, South African cricketer and coach
1970 – Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Danish actor and producer
1970 – David Davies, English-Welsh politician
1971 – Matthew Johns, Australian rugby league player, sportscaster and television host
1972 – Clint Robinson, Australian kayaker[5]
1972 – Maya Rudolph, American actress
1972 – Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, Malaysian surgeon and astronaut
1973 – Cassandra Clare, American journalist and author
1973 – Erik Nys, Belgian long jumper
1973 – Gorden Tallis, Australian rugby league player and coach
1974 – Eason Chan, Hong Kong singer, actor, and producer
1974 – Pete Yorn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1975 – Serkan Çeliköz, Turkish keyboard player and songwriter
1975 – Shea Hillenbrand, American baseball player
1975 – Fred Mascherino, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1975 – Alessandro Pistone, Italian footballer
1975 – Alex Rodriguez, American baseball player
1976 – Demis Hassabis, English computer scientist and academic
1976 – Scott Mason, Australian cricketer (d. 2005)
1977 – Foo Swee Chin, Singaporean illustrator
1977 – Björn Dreyer, German footballer
1977 – Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Irish actor
1978 – Diarmuid O’Sullivan, Irish hurler and manager
1979 – Marielle Franco, Brazilian politician, feminist, and human rights activist (d. 2018)
1979 – Jorge Arce, Mexican boxer
1979 – Sidney Govou, French footballer
1979 – Shannon Moore, American wrestler and singer
1980 – Allan Davis, Australian cyclist
1980 – Wesley Gonzales, Filipino basketball player
1981 – Susan King Borchardt, American basketball player
1981 – Collins Obuya, Kenyan cricketer
1981 – Dash Snow, American painter and photographer (d. 2009)
1981 – Christopher Weselek, German rugby player
1982 – Neil Harbisson, English-Catalan painter, composer, and activist
1983 – Lorik Cana, Albanian footballer
1983 – Martijn Maaskant, Dutch cyclist
1983 – Goran Pandev, Macedonian footballer
1983 – Soccor Velho, Indian footballer (d. 2013)
1984 – Antoine Bethea, American football player
1984 – Tsuyoshi Nishioka, Japanese baseball player
1984 – Max Scherzer, American baseball player
1984 – Taylor Schilling, American actress
1984 – Kenny Wormald, American actor, dancer, and choreographer
1985 – Husain Abdullah, American football player
1985 – Matteo Pratichetti, Italian rugby player
1985 – Ajmal Shahzad, English cricketer
1986 – DeMarre Carroll, American basketball player
1986 – Ryan Flaherty, American baseball player
1986 – Ryan Griffen, Australian footballer
1987 – Jacoby Ford, American football player
1987 – Marek Hamšík, Slovak footballer
1987 – Jordan Hill, American basketball player
1987 – Sarah Parsons, American ice hockey player
1988 – Adam Biddle, Australian footballer
1988 – Yoervis Medina, Venezuelan baseball player
1988 – Ryan Tannehill, American football player
1989 – Maya Ali, Pakistani actress
1990 – Nick Hogan, American race car driver and actor
1990 – Paolo Hurtado, Peruvian footballer
1990 – Cheyenne Kimball, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1990 – Stephen Li-Chung Kuo, Taiwanese-American figure skater
1990 – Kriti Sanon, Indian actress
1991 – Rena Matsui, Japanese actress and singer
1993 – Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Australian rugby league player
1993 – Max Power, English footballer
1993 – Jordan Spieth, American golfer
2001 – Shin Ki-joon, South Korean actor
Deaths on July 27
903 – Abdallah II of Ifriqiya, Aghlabid emir
959 – Chai Rong, emperor of Later Zhou
1144 – Salomea of Berg, High Duchess consort of Poland[6]
1061 – Nicholas II, pope of the Catholic Church
1101 – Conrad II, king of Italy (b. 1074)
1101 – Hugh d’Avranches, Earl of Chester (b. c. 1047)
1158 – Geoffrey VI, Count of Anjou (b. 1134)
1276 – James I of Aragon (b. 1208)
1365 – Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria (b. 1339)
1382 – Joanna I of Naples (b. 1326)
1510 – Giovanni Sforza, Italian condottiere (b. 1466)
1469 – William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (b. 1423)
1656 – Salomo Glassius, German theologian and critic (b. 1593)
1675 – Henri de la Tour d’Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne, French general (b. 1611)
1689 – John Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee, Scottish general (b. c. 1648)[7]
1759 – Pierre Louis Maupertuis, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1698)
1770 – Robert Dinwiddie, Scottish merchant and politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1693)
1841 – Mikhail Lermontov, Russian poet and painter (b. 1814)
1844 – John Dalton, English physicist, meteorologist, and chemist (b. 1776)
1863 – William Lowndes Yancey, American journalist and politician (b. 1813)
1865 – Jean-Joseph Dassy, French painter and lithographer (b. 1791)
1875 – Aleksander Kunileid, Estonian composer and educator (b. 1845)
1876 – Albertus van Raalte, Dutch-born American minister and author (b. 1811)
1883 – Montgomery Blair, American lieutenant and politician, 20th United States Postmaster General (b. 1813)
1916 – Charles Fryatt, English captain (b. 1872)
1916 – William Jonas, English footballer (d. 1890)
1917 – Emil Theodor Kocher, Swiss physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1841)
477 BC – Battle of the Cremera as part of the Roman–Etruscan Wars. Veii ambushes and defeats the Roman army.
387 BC– Roman-Gaulish Wars: Battle of the Allia: A Roman army is defeated by raiding Gauls, leading to the subsequent sacking of Rome.
362 – Roman–Persian Wars: Emperor Julian arrives at Antioch with a Roman expeditionary force (60,000 men) and stays there for nine months to launch a campaign against the Persian Empire.
452 – Sack of Aquileia: After an earlier defeat on the Catalaunian Plains, Attila lays siege to the metropolis of Aquileia and eventually destroys it.
645 – Chinese forces under general Li Shiji besiege the strategic fortress city of Anshi (Liaoning) during the Goguryeo–Tang War.
1195 – Battle of Alarcos: Almohad forces defeat the Castilian army of Alfonso VIII and force its retreat to Toledo.
1290 – King Edward I of England issues the Edict of Expulsion, banishing all Jews (numbering about 16,000) from England; this was Tisha B’Av on the Hebrew calendar, a day that commemorates many Jewish calamities.
1334 – The bishop of Florence blesses the first foundation stone for the new campanile (bell tower) of the Florence Cathedral, designed by the artist Giotto di Bondone.
1389 – France and England agree to the Truce of Leulinghem, inaugurating a 13-year peace, the longest period of sustained peace during the Hundred Years’ War.
1391 – Tokhtamysh–Timur war: Battle of the Kondurcha River: Timur defeats Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde in present-day southeast Russia.
1507 – In Brussels, Prince Charles I, is crowned Duke of Burgundy and Count of Flanders, a year after inheriting the title.
1555 – The College of Arms is reincorporated by Royal charter signed by Queen Mary I of England and King Philip II of Spain.
1806 – A gunpowder magazine explosion in Birgu, Malta, kills around 200 people.
1812 – The Treaties of Orebro end both the Anglo-Russian and Anglo-Swedish Wars.
1841 – Coronation of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil.
1857 – Louis Faidherbe, French governor of Senegal, arrives to relieve French forces at Kayes, effectively ending El Hajj Umar Tall’s war against the French.
1862 – First ascent of Dent Blanche, one of the highest summits in the Alps.
1863 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Fort Wagner: One of the first formal African American military units, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, supported by several white regiments, attempts an unsuccessful assault on Confederate-held Battery Wagner.
1870 – The First Vatican Council decrees the dogma of papal infallibility.
1872 – The Ballot Act 1872 in the United Kingdom introduced the requirement that parliamentary and local government elections be held by secret ballot.
1914 – The U.S. Congress forms the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, giving official status to aircraft within the U.S. Army for the first time.
1925 – Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf.
1936 – On the Spanish mainland, a faction of the army supported by fascists, rises up against the Second Spanish Republic in a coup d’etat starting the 3-year-long Civil War, resulting in the longest dictatorship in modern European history.
1942 – World War II: During the Beisfjord massacre in Norway, 15 Norwegian paramilitary guards help members of the SS to kill 288 political prisoners from Yugoslavia.
1942 – The Germans test fly the Messerschmitt Me 262 using its jet engines for the first time.
1944 – World War II: Hideki Tōjō resigns as Prime Minister of Japan because of numerous setbacks in the war effort.
1966 – Human spaceflight: Gemini 10 is launched from Cape Kennedy on a 70-hour mission that includes docking with an orbiting Agena target vehicle.
1966 – A racially charged incident in a bar sparks the six-day Hough riots in Cleveland, Ohio; 1,700 Ohio National Guard troops intervene to restore order.
1968 – Intel is founded in Mountain View, California.
1976 – Nadia Comăneci becomes the first person in Olympic Games history to score a perfect 10 in gymnastics at the 1976 Summer Olympics.
1982 – Two hundred sixty-eight Guatemalan campesinos (“peasants” or “country people”) are slain in the Plan de Sánchez massacre.
1984 – McDonald’s massacre in San Ysidro, California: In a fast-food restaurant, James Oliver Huberty opens fire, killing 21 people and injuring 19 others before being shot dead by police.
1992 – A picture of Les Horribles Cernettes was taken, which became the first ever photo posted to the World Wide Web.
1994 – The bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (Argentine Jewish Community Center) in Buenos Aires kills 85 people (mostly Jewish) and injures 300.
1994 – Rwandan genocide: The Rwandan Patriotic Front takes control of Gisenyi and north western Rwanda, forcing the interim government into Zaire and ending the genocide.
1995 – On the Caribbean island of Montserrat, the Soufrière Hills volcano erupts. Over the course of several years, it devastates the island, destroying the capital, forcing most of the population to flee.
1996 – Storms provoke severe flooding on the Saguenay River, beginning one of Quebec’s costliest natural disasters ever.
1996 – Battle of Mullaitivu: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam capture the Sri Lanka Army’s base, killing over 1200 soldiers.
2012 – At least seven people are killed and 32 others are injured after a bomb explodes on an Israeli tour bus at Burgas Airport, Bulgaria.
2013 – The Government of Detroit, with up to $20 billion in debt, files for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
2019 – A man sets fire to an anime studio in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan, killing at 35 people and injuring dozens of others.
Births on July 18
1013 – Hermann of Reichenau, German composer, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1013)
1501 – Isabella of Austria, queen of Denmark (d. 1526)
1504 – Heinrich Bullinger, Swiss pastor and reformer (d. 1575)
1534 – Zacharius Ursinus, German theologian (d. 1583)
1552 – Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1612)
1634 – Johannes Camphuys, Dutch politician, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1695)
1659 – Hyacinthe Rigaud, French painter (d. 1743)
1670 – Giovanni Bononcini, Italian cellist and composer (d. 1747)
1702 – Maria Clementina Sobieska, Polish noble (d. 1735)
1718 – Saverio Bettinelli, Italian poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1808)
1720 – Gilbert White, English ornithologist and ecologist (d. 1793)
1724 – Maria Antonia of Bavaria, Electress of Saxony (d. 1780)
1750 – Frederick Adolf, duke of Östergötland (d. 1803)
1796 – Immanuel Hermann Fichte, German philosopher and academic (d. 1879)
1811 – William Makepeace Thackeray, English author and poet (d. 1863)
1818 – Louis Gerhard De Geer, Swedish lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1896)
1821 – Pauline Viardot, French soprano and composer (d. 1910)
1837 – Vasil Levski, Bulgarian priest and activist (d. 1873)
1843 – Virgil Earp, American marshal (d. 1905)
1845 – Tristan Corbière, French poet (d. 1875)
1848 – W. G. Grace, English cricketer and physician (d. 1915)
1853 – Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
1861 – Kadambini Ganguly, Indian physician, one of the first Indian women to obtain a degree (d. 1923)
1864 – Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 1937)
1867 – Margaret Brown, American philanthropist and activist (d. 1932)
1871 – Giacomo Balla, Italian painter (d.1958)
1871 – Sada Yacco, Japanese actress and dancer (d. 1946)
1881 – Larry McLean, Canadian-American baseball player (d. 1921)
1884 – Alberto di Jorio, Italian cardinal (d. 1979)
1886 – Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., American general (d. 1945)
1887 – Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian military officer and politician, Minister President of Norway (d. 1945)
1889 – Kōichi Kido, Japanese politician, 13th Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan (d. 1977)
1890 – Frank Forde, Australian educator and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1983)
1892 – Arthur Friedenreich, Brazilian footballer (d. 1969)
1893 – David Ogilvy, 12th Earl of Airlie, Scottish peer, soldier and courtier (d. 1968)
1895 – Olga Spessivtseva, Russian-American ballerina (d. 1991)
1895 – Machine Gun Kelly, American gangster (d. 1954)
1897 – Ernest Eldridge, English race car driver and engineer (d. 1935)
1898 – John Stuart, Scottish-English actor (d. 1979)
1899 – Ernst Scheller, German soldier and politician, 8th Mayor of Marburg (d. 1942)
1900 – Nathalie Sarraute, French lawyer and author (d. 1999)
1902 – Jessamyn West, American author (d. 1984)
1902 – Chill Wills, American actor (d. 1978)
1905 – Robert Elton Brooker, American business executive (d. 2000)
1906 – S. I. Hayakawa, Canadian-American academic and politician (d. 1992)
1906 – Clifford Odets, American director, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1963)
1908 – Peace Pilgrim, American mystic and activist (d. 1981)
1908 – Lupe Vélez, Mexican-American actress and dancer (d. 1944)
1908 – Beatrice Aitchison, American mathematician, statistician, and transportation economist (d. 1997)
1909 – Bishnu Dey, Indian poet, critic, and academic (d. 1982)
1909 – Andrei Gromyko, Belarusian-Russian economist and politician, Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1989)
1909 – Mohammed Daoud Khan, Afghan commander and politician, 1st President of Afghanistan (d. 1978)
1909 – Harriet Nelson, American singer and actress (d. 1994)
1910 – Diptendu Pramanick, Indian businessman (d. 1989)
1910 – Mamadou Dia, Senegalese politician; 1st Prime Minister of Senegal (d. 2009)
1911 – Hume Cronyn, Canadian-American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
1913 – Red Skelton, American actor and comedian (d. 1997)
1914 – Gino Bartali, Italian cyclist (d. 2000)
1914 – Oscar Heisserer, French footballer (d. 2004)
1915 – Carequinha, Brazilian clown and actor (d. 2006)
1915 – Roxana Cannon Arsht, American judge (d. 2003)
1915 – Louis Le Bailly, British Royal Navy officer (d. 2010)
1916 – Charles Kittel, American physicist (d. 2019)
1917 – Henri Salvador, French singer and guitarist (d. 2008)
1917 – Paul Streeten, Austrian-born British economics professor (d. 2019)
1918 – Nelson Mandela, South African lawyer and politician, 1st President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
1919 – Lilia Dale, Italian actress
1920 – Eric Brandon, English race car driver and businessman (d. 1982)
1921 – Peter Austin, English brewer, founded Ringwood Brewery (d. 2014)
1921 – Aaron T. Beck, American psychiatrist and academic
1921 – John Glenn, American colonel, astronaut, and politician (d. 2016)
1921 – Richard Leacock, English-French director and producer (d. 2011)
1921 – Heinz Bennent, German actor (d. 2011)
1922 – Thomas Kuhn, American physicist, historian, and philosopher (d. 1996)
1923 – Jerome H. Lemelson, American engineer and businessman (d. 1997)
1923 – Michael Medwin, English actor (d. 2020)
1924 – Inge Sørensen, Danish swimmer (d. 2011)
1924 – Tullio Altamura, Italian actor
1925 – Shirley Strickland, Australian runner and hurdler (d. 2004)
1925 – Friedrich Zimmermann, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of the Interior (d. 2012)
1925 – Raymond Jones, Australian Modernist architect
1925 – Windy McCall, American baseball relief pitcher (d. 2015)
1926 – Margaret Laurence, Canadian author and academic (d. 1987)
1926 – Nita Bieber, American actress (d. 2019)
1926 – Bernard Pons, French politician and medical doctor
1926 – Maunu Kurkvaara, Finnish film director and screenwriter
1927 – Mehdi Hassan, Pakistani ghazal singer and playback singer (d. 2012)
1927 – Kurt Masur, German conductor and educator (d. 2015)
1927 – Antonio García-Trevijano, Spanish republican, political activist, and author (d. 2018)
1927 – Keith MacDonald, Canadian politician
1927 – Anthony Mirra, American gangster, member of the Bonanno Crime Family (d. 1982)
1928 – Andrea Gallo, Italian priest and author (d. 2013)
1928 – Baddiewinkle, American internet personality
1929 – Dick Button, American figure skater and actor
1929 – Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, American R&B singer-songwriter, musician, and actor (d. 2000)
1932 – Robert Ellis Miller, American director and screenwriter (d. 2017)
1933 – Jean Yanne, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
1933 – Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Russian poet and playwright (d. 2017)
1934 – Edward Bond, English director, playwright, and screenwriter
1934 – Darlene Conley, American actress (d. 2007)
1935 – Tenley Albright, American figure skater and physician
1935 – Jayendra Saraswathi, Indian guru, 69th Shankaracharya
1937 – Roald Hoffmann, Polish chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1937 – Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author (d. 2005)
1938 – John Connelly, English footballer (d. 2012)
1938 – Ian Stewart, Scottish keyboard player and manager (d. 1985)
1938 – Paul Verhoeven, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter
1939 – Brian Auger, English rock and jazz keyboard player
1939 – Dion DiMucci, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1939 – Jerry Moore, American football player and coach
1940 – James Brolin, American actor
1940 – Joe Torre, American baseball player and manager
1941 – Frank Farian, German songwriter and producer
1941 – Lonnie Mack, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)
1941 – Martha Reeves, American singer and politician
1942 – Giacinto Facchetti, Italian footballer (d. 2006)
1942 – Adolf Ogi, Swiss politician, 84th President of the Swiss Confederation
1943 – Joseph J. Ellis, American historian and author
1944 – David Hemery, English hurdler and author
1945 – Pat Doherty, Irish Republican politician
1946 – Kalpana Mohan, Indian actress
1946 – John Naughton, Scottish-Irish journalist, author, and academic
1947 – Steve Forbes, American publisher and politician
1948 – Carlos Colón Sr., Puerto Rican-American wrestler and promoter
1948 – Jeanne Córdova, American journalist and activist (d. 2016)
1948 – Graham Spanier, 16th President of Pennsylvania State University
1948 – Hartmut Michel, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1949 – Dennis Lillee, Australian cricketer and coach
1950 – Richard Branson, English businessman, founded Virgin Group
1950 – Jack Dongarra, American computer scientist and academic
1950 – Kostas Eleftherakis, Greek footballer
1950 – Glenn Hughes, American disco singer (Village People) and actor (d. 2001)
1950 – Jack Layton, Canadian political scientist, academic, and politician (d. 2011)
1950 – Mark Udall, American educator and politician
1951 – Elio Di Rupo, Belgian chemist, academic, and politician, 68th Prime Minister of Belgium
1951 – Margo Martindale, American actress
1954 – Ricky Skaggs, American singer-songwriter, mandolin player, and producer
1955 – Bernd Fasching, Austrian painter and sculptor
1957 – Nick Faldo, English golfer and sportscaster
1957 – Keith Levene, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1960 – Simon Heffer, English journalist and author
1961 – Elizabeth McGovern, American actress
1961 – Alan Pardew, English footballer and manager
1961 – Pasi Rautiainen, Finnish footballer, coach, and manager
1962 – Shaun Micallef, Australian comedian, producer, and screenwriter
1963 – Marc Girardelli, Austrian-Luxembourgian skier
1963 – Martín Torrijos, Panamanian economist and politician, 35th President of Panama
1964 – Wendy Williams, American talk show host
1965 – Vesselina Kasarova, Bulgarian soprano
1966 – Dan O’Brien, American decathlete and coach
1967 – Vin Diesel, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter1968 – Grant Bowler, New Zealand-Australian actor
1968 – Scott Gourley, Australian rugby player
1969 – Elizabeth Gilbert, American author
1969 – The Great Sasuke, Japanese wrestler and politician
1971 – Penny Hardaway, American basketball player and coach
1971 – Sukhwinder Singh, Indian singer-songwriter and actor
1974 – Alan Morrison, British poet
1975 – Torii Hunter, American baseball player
1975 – Daron Malakian, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1975 – M.I.A., English rapper and producer5
1976 – Elsa Pataky, Spanish actress
1976 – Go Soo-hee, South Korean actress
1977 – Alexander Morozevich, Russian chess player and author
1978 – Adabel Guerrero, Argentinian actress, singer, and dancer
1978 – Shane Horgan, Irish rugby player and sportscaster
1978 – Crystal Mangum, American murderer responsible for making false rape allegations in the Duke lacrosse case
1978 – Joo Sang-wook, South Korean actor
1978 – Ben Sheets, American baseball player and coach
1978 – Mélissa Theuriau, French journalist
1979 – Deion Branch, American football player
1979 – Joey Mercury, American wrestler and producer
1980 – Kristen Bell, American actress
1981 – Dennis Seidenberg, German ice hockey player
1982 – Ryan Cabrera, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1982 – Priyanka Chopra, Indian actress, singer, and film producer
1982 – Carlo Costly, Honduran footballer
1983 – Carlos Diogo, Uruguayan footballer
1983 – Aaron Gillespie, American singer-songwriter and drummer
997 – Battle of Spercheios: Bulgarian forces of Tsar Samuel are defeated by a Byzantine army under general Nikephoros Ouranos at the Spercheios River in Greece.
1054 – Three Roman legates break relations between Western and Eastern Christian Churches through the act of placing an invalidly-issued Papal bull of Excommunication on the altar of Hagia Sophia during Saturday afternoon divine liturgy. Historians frequently describe the event as the start of the East–West Schism.
1212 – Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa: After Pope Innocent III calls European knights to a crusade, forces of Kings Alfonso VIII of Castile, Sancho VII of Navarre, Peter II of Aragon and Afonso II of Portugal defeat those of the Berber Muslim leader Almohad, thus marking a significant turning point in the Reconquista and in the medieval history of Spain.
1232 – The Spanish town of Arjona declares independence and names its native Muhammad ibn Yusuf as ruler. This marks Muhammad’s first rise to prominence; he would later establish the Nasrid Emirate of Granada, the last independent Muslim state in Spain.
1251 – Celebrated by the Carmelite Order – but doubted by modern historians – as the day when Saint Simon Stock had a vision of the Virgin Mary
1377 – King Richard II of England is crowned.
1661 – The first banknotes in Europe are issued by the Swedish bank Stockholms Banco.
1683 – Manchu Qing dynasty naval forces under traitorous commander Shi Lang defeat the Kingdom of Tungning in the Battle of Penghu near the Pescadores Islands.
1769 – Father Junípero Serra founds California’s first mission, Mission San Diego de Alcalá. Over the following decades, it evolves into the city of San Diego, California.
1779 – American Revolutionary War: Light infantry of the Continental Army seize a fortified British Army position in a midnight bayonet attack at the Battle of Stony Point.
1790 – The District of Columbia is established as the capital of the United States after signature of the Residence Act.
1809 – The city of La Paz, in what is today Bolivia, declares its independence from the Spanish Crown during the La Paz revolution and forms the Junta Tuitiva, the first independent government in Spanish America, led by Pedro Domingo Murillo.
1849 – Antonio María Claret y Clará founds the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, popularly known as the Claretians in Vic, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
1861 – American Civil War: At the order of President Abraham Lincoln, Union troops begin a 25-mile march into Virginia for what will become the First Battle of Bull Run, the first major land battle of the war.
1862 – American Civil War: David Farragut is promoted to rear admiral, becoming the first officer in United States Navy to hold an admiral rank.
1909 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar is forced out as Shah of Persia and is replaced by his son Ahmad Shah Qajar.
1910 – John Robertson Duigan makes the first flight of the Duigan pusher biplane, the first aircraft built in Australia.
1915 – Henry James becomes a British citizen to highlight his commitment to Britain during the first World War.
1915 – At Treasure Island on the Delaware River in the United States, the First Order of the Arrow ceremony takes place and the Order of the Arrow is founded to honor American Boy Scouts who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law.
1927 – Augusto César Sandino leads a raid on U.S. Marines and Nicaraguan Guardia Nacional that had been sent to apprehend him in the village of Ocotal, but is repulsed by one of the first dive-bombing attacks in history.
1931 – Emperor Haile Selassie signs the first constitution of Ethiopia.
1935 – The world’s first parking meter is installed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
1941 – Joe DiMaggio hits safely for the 56th consecutive game, a streak that still stands as an MLB record.
1942 – Holocaust: Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup (Rafle du Vel’ d’Hiv): The government of Vichy France orders the mass arrest of 13,152 Jews who are held at the Vélodrome d’Hiver in Paris before deportation to Auschwitz.
1945 – World War II: The heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis leaves San Francisco with parts for the atomic bomb “Little Boy” bound for Tinian Island.
1945 – Manhattan Project: The Atomic Age begins when the United States successfully detonates a plutonium-based test nuclear weapon near Alamogordo, New Mexico.
1948 – Following token resistance, the city of Nazareth, revered by Christians as the hometown of Jesus, capitulates to Israeli troops during Operation Dekel in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
1948 – The storming of the cockpit of the Miss Macao passenger seaplane, operated by a subsidiary of the Cathay Pacific Airways, marks the first aircraft hijacking of a commercial plane.
1950 – Chaplain–Medic massacre: American POWs are massacred by North Korean Army.
1951 – King Leopold III of Belgium abdicates in favor of his son, Baudouin I of Belgium.
1956 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closes its last “Big Tent” show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; due to changing economics, all subsequent circus shows will be held in arenas.
1965 – The Mont Blanc Tunnel linking France and Italy opens.
1965 – South Vietnamese Colonel Phạm Ngọc Thảo, a formerly undetected communist spy and double agent, is hunted down and killed by unknown individuals after being sentenced to death in absentia for a February 1965 coup attempt against Nguyễn Khánh.
1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 11, the first mission to land astronauts on the Moon, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Kennedy, Florida.
1979 – Iraqi President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr resigns and is replaced by Saddam Hussein.
1983 – Sikorsky S-61 disaster: A helicopter crashes off the Isles of Scilly, causing 20 fatalities.
1990 – The Luzon earthquake strikes the Philippines with an intensity of 7.7, affecting Benguet, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, La Union, Aurora, Bataan, Zambales and Tarlac.
1990 – The Parliament of the Ukrainian SSR declares state sovereignty over the territory of the Ukrainian SSR.
1999 – John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, Carolyn, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, died when the Piper Saratoga PA-32R aircraft he was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.
2004 – Millennium Park, considered Chicago’s first and most ambitious early 21st-century architectural project, is opened to the public by Mayor Richard M. Daley.
2007 – An earthquake of magnitude 6.8 and 6.6 aftershock occurs off the Niigata coast of Japan killing eight people, injuring at least 800 and damaging a nuclear power plant.
2013 – As many as 27 children die and 25 others are hospitalized after eating lunch served at their school in eastern India.
2015 – Four U.S. Marines and one gunman die in a shooting spree targeting military installations in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
2019 – 100 years old building in Mumbai, India, collapsed, killing at least 10 people and many remaining trapped.
Births on July 16
1194 – Clare of Assisi, an Italian nun and saint (d. 1253)
1486 – Andrea del Sarto, Italian painter (d. 1530)
1517 – Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk, English duchess (d. 1559)
1529 – Petrus Peckius the Elder, Dutch jurist, writer on international maritime law (d. 1589)
1611 – Cecilia Renata of Austria (d. 1644)
1661 – Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville, Canadian captain, explorer, and politician (d. 1706)
1714 – Marc René, marquis de Montalembert, French engineer and author (d. 1800)
1722 – Joseph Wilton, English sculptor and academic (d. 1803)
1723 – Joshua Reynolds, English painter and academic (d. 1792)
1731 – Samuel Huntington, American jurist and politician, 18th Governor of Connecticut (d. 1796)
1749 – Cyrus Griffin, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 16th President of the Continental Congress (d. 1810)
1796 – Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, French painter and etcher (d. 1875)
1821 – Mary Baker Eddy, American religious leader and author, founded Christian Science (d. 1910)
1841 – Nikolai von Glehn, Estonian-German architect and activist (d. 1923)
1858 – Eugène Ysaÿe, Belgian violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1931)
1862 – Ida B. Wells, American journalist and activist (d. 1931)
1863 – Anderson Dawson, Australian politician, 14th Premier of Queensland (d. 1910)
1870 – Lambert McKenna, Irish priest, lexicographer, and scholar (d. 1956)
1871 – John Maxwell, American golfer (d. 1906)
1872 – Roald Amundsen, Norwegian pilot and explorer (d. 1928)
1872 – Frank Cooper, Australian politician, 25th Premier of Queensland (d. 1949)
1880 – Kathleen Norris, American journalist and author (d. 1966)
1882 – Violette Neatley Anderson, American judge (d. 1937)
1883 – Charles Sheeler, American photographer and painter (d. 1965)
1884 – Anna Vyrubova, Russian author (d. 1964)
1887 – Shoeless Joe Jackson, American baseball player and manager (d. 1951)
1888 – Percy Kilbride, American actor (d. 1964)
1888 – Frits Zernike, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1966)
1889 – Arthur Bowie Chrisman, American author (d. 1953)
1895 – Wilfrid Hamel, Canadian businessman and politician, 35th Mayor of Quebec City (d. 1968)
1896 – Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer, German biologist and eugenicist (d. 1969)
1896 – Trygve Lie, Norwegian trade union leader and politician, 1st Secretary-General of the United Nations (d. 1968)
1902 – Alexander Luria, Russian psychologist and physician (d. 1977)
1902 – Mary Philbin, American actress (d. 1993)
1903 – Fritz Bauer, German lawyer and judge (d. 1968)
1903 – Carmen Lombardo, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 1971)
1903 – Irmgard Flügge-Lotz, German mathematician and engineer (d. 1974)
1904 – Goffredo Petrassi, Italian composer and conductor (d. 2003)
1906 – Vincent Sherman, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2006)
1907 – Frances Horwich, American educator and television host (d. 2001)
1907 – Orville Redenbacher, American farmer and businessman, founded Orville Redenbacher’s (d. 1995)
1907 – Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (d. 1990)
1910 – Stan McCabe, Australian cricketer (d. 1968)
1910 – Gordon Prange, American historian, author, and academic (d. 1980)
1911 – Ginger Rogers, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1995)
1911 – Sonny Tufts, American actor (d. 1970)
1912 – Milt Bocek, American baseball player (d. 2007)
1912 – Amy Patterson, Argentine composer, singer, poet, and teacher (d. 2019)
1915 – Barnard Hughes, American actor (d. 2006)
1915 – Elaine Barrie, American actress (d. 2003)
1918 – Denis Edward Arnold, English soldier (d. 2015)
1918 – Paul Farnes, famed World War II Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter pilot and one of “The Few” surviving pilots of the Battle of Britain (d. 2020)
1918 – Samuel Victor Perry, English biochemist and rugby player (d. 2009)
1919 – Hermine Braunsteiner, Austrian SS officer (d. 1999)
1919 – Choi Kyu-hah, South Korean politician, 4th President of South Korea (d. 2006)
1920 – Anatole Broyard, American critic and editor (d. 1990)
1923 – Chris Argyris, American psychologist, theorist, and academic (d. 2013)
1923 – Bola Sete, Brazilian guitarist (d. 1987)
1924 – James L. Greenfield, American journalist and politician
1924 – Bess Myerson, American model, actress, game show panelist, and politician, Miss America 1945 (d. 2014)
1924 – Rupert Deese, Northern Mariana Islander ceramic artist (d. 2010)
1925 – Frank Jobe, American sergeant and surgeon (d. 2014)
1925 – Rosita Quintana, Argentine actress
1925 – Cal Tjader, American jazz musician (d. 1982)
1926 – Ivica Horvat, Croatian footballer and manager (d. 2012)
1926 – Irwin Rose, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
1927 – Pierre F. Côté, Canadian lawyer and civil servant (d. 2013)
1927 – Shirley Hughes, English author and illustrator
1927 – Derek Hawksworth, English footballer
1928 – Anita Brookner, English novelist and art historian (d. 2016)
1928 – Bella Davidovich, Soviet-American pianist
1928 – Robert Sheckley, American author and screenwriter (d. 2005)
1928 – Jim Rathmann, American race car driver (d. 2011)
1928 – Dave Treen, American lawyer and politician, 51st Governor of Louisiana (d. 2009)
1928 – Andrzej Zawada, Polish mountaineer and author (d. 2000)
1929 – Charles Ray Hatcher, American serial killer (d. 1984)
1929 – Sheri S. Tepper, American author and poet (d. 2016)
1929 – Gaby Tanguy, French swimmer
1930 – Guy Béart, Egyptian-French singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
1930 – Michael Bilirakis, American lawyer and politician
1930 – Bert Rechichar, American football defensive back and kicker (d. 2019)
1931 – Fergus Gordon Kerr, Scottish Roman Catholic priest of the English Dominican Province
1931 – Norm Sherry, American former catcher, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball
1932 – John Chilton, English trumpet player and composer (d. 2016)
1932 – Max McGee, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2007)
1932 – Dick Thornburgh, American lawyer and politician, 76th United States Attorney General
1933 – Julian A. Brodsky, American businessman
1934 – Tomás Eloy Martínez, Argentine journalist (d. 2010)
1934 – Katherine D. Ortega, 38th Treasurer of the United States
1934 – Donald M. Payne, American educator and politician (d. 2012)
1935 – Carl Epting Mundy Jr., American general (d. 2014)
1935 – Lynn Wyatt, American socialite and philanthropist
1936 – Yasuo Fukuda, Japanese politician, 91st Prime Minister of Japan
1936 – Buddy Merrill, American guitarist
1936 – Jerry Norman, American sinologist and linguist (d. 2012)
484 BC – Dedication of the Temple of Castor and Pollux in ancient Rome
AD 70 – Titus and his armies breach the walls of Jerusalem. (17th of Tammuz in the Hebrew calendar).
756 – An Lushan Rebellion: Emperor Xuanzong of Tang is ordered by his Imperial Guards to execute chancellor Yang Guozhong by forcing him to commit suicide or face a mutiny. General An Lushan has other members of the emperor’s family killed.
1099 – First Crusade: Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final assault of a difficult siege.
1149 – The reconstructed Church of the Holy Sepulchre is consecrated in Jerusalem.
1207 – King John of England expels Canterbury monks for supporting Archbishop Stephen Langton.
1240 – Swedish–Novgorodian Wars: A Novgorodian army led by Alexander Nevsky defeats the Swedes in the Battle of the Neva.
1381 – John Ball, a leader in the Peasants’ Revolt, is hanged, drawn, and quartered in the presence of King Richard II of England.
1410 – Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War: Battle of Grunwald: The allied forces of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeat the army of the Teutonic Order.
1482 – Muhammad XII is crowned the twenty-second and last Nasrid king of Granada.
1738 – Baruch Laibov and Alexander Voznitzin are burned alive in St. Petersburg, Russia. Vonitzin had converted to Judaism with Laibov’s help, with the consent of Empress Anna Ivanovna.
1741 – Aleksei Chirikov sights land in Southeast Alaska. He sends men ashore in a longboat, making them the first Europeans to visit Alaska.
1789 – Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, is named by acclamation Colonel General of the new National Guard of Paris.
1799 – The Rosetta Stone is found in the Egyptian village of Rosetta by French Captain Pierre-François Bouchard during Napoleon’s Egyptian Campaign.
1806 – Pike Expedition: United States Army Lieutenant Zebulon Pike begins an expedition from Fort Bellefontaine near St. Louis, Missouri, to explore the west.
1815 – Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon Bonaparte surrenders aboard HMS Bellerophon.
1823 – A fire destroys the ancient Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, Italy.
1834 – The Spanish Inquisition is officially disbanded after nearly 356 years.
1838 – Ralph Waldo Emerson delivers the Divinity School Address at Harvard Divinity School, discounting Biblical miracles and declaring Jesus a great man, but not God. The Protestant community reacts with outrage.
1862 – The CSS Arkansas, the most effective ironclad on the Mississippi River, battles with Union ships commanded by Admiral David Farragut, severely damaging three ships and sustaining heavy damage herself. The encounter changed the complexion of warfare on the Mississippi and helped to reverse Rebel fortunes on the river in the summer of 1862.
1870 – Reconstruction Era of the United States: Georgia becomes the last of the former Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union.
1870 – Rupert’s Land and the North-Western Territory are transferred to Canada from the Hudson’s Bay Company, and the province of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories are established from these vast territories.
1888 – The stratovolcano Mount Bandai erupts killing approximately 500 people, in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.
1910 – In his book Clinical Psychiatry, Emil Kraepelin gives a name to Alzheimer’s disease, naming it after his colleague Alois Alzheimer.
1916 – In Seattle, Washington, William Boeing and George Conrad Westervelt incorporate Pacific Aero Products (later renamed Boeing).
1918 – World War I: The Second Battle of the Marne begins near the River Marne with a German attack.
1920 – The Polish Parliament establishes Silesian Voivodeship before the Polish-German plebiscite.
1922 – Japanese Communist Party is established in Japan.
1927 – Massacre of July 15, 1927: Eighty-nine protesters are killed by the Austrian police in Vienna.
1946 – State of North Borneo, today in Sabah, Malaysia, annexed by the United Kingdom.
1954 – First flight of the Boeing 367-80, prototype for both the Boeing 707 and C-135 series.
1955 – Eighteen Nobel laureates sign the Mainau Declaration against nuclear weapons, later co-signed by thirty-four others.
1959 – The steel strike of 1959 begins, leading to significant importation of foreign steel for the first time in United States history.
1966 – Vietnam War: The United States and South Vietnam begin Operation Hastings to push the North Vietnamese out of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone.
1971 – The United Red Army is founded in Japan.
1974 – In Nicosia, Cyprus, Greek junta-sponsored nationalists launch a coup d’état, deposing President Makarios and installing Nikos Sampson as Cypriot president.
1975 – Space Race: Apollo–Soyuz Test Project features the dual launch of an Apollo spacecraft and a Soyuz spacecraft on the first joint Soviet-United States human-crewed flight. It was both the last launch of an Apollo spacecraft, and the Saturn family of rockets.
1979 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter gives his “malaise speech”.
1983 – An attack at Orly Airport in Paris is launched by Armenian militant organisation ASALA, leaving eight people dead and 55 injured.
1996 – A Belgian Air Force C-130 Hercules carrying the Royal Netherlands Army marching band crashes on landing at Eindhoven Airport.
1998 – Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Tamil MP S. Shanmuganathan is killed by a claymore mine.
2002 – “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh pleads guilty to supplying aid to the enemy and to possession of explosives during the commission of a felony.
2002 – Anti-Terrorism Court of Pakistan hands down the death sentence to British born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and life terms to three others suspected of murdering The Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
2003 – AOL Time Warner disbands Netscape. The Mozilla Foundation is established on the same day.
2006 – Twitter, later one of the largest social media platforms in the world, is launched.
2014 – A train derails on the Moscow Metro, killing at least 24 and injuring more than 160 others.
2016 – Factions of the Turkish Armed Forces attempt a coup.
Births on July 15
980 – Ichijō, Japanese emperor (d. 1011)
1273 – Ewostatewos, Ethiopian monk and saint (d. 1352)
1353 – Vladimir the Bold, Russian prince (d. 1410)
1359 – Antonio Correr, Italian cardinal (d. 1445)
1442 – Boček IV of Poděbrady, Bohemian nobleman (d. 1496)
1455 – Queen Yun, Korean queen (d. 1482)
1471 – Eskender, Ethiopian emperor (d. 1494)
1478 – Barbara Jagiellon, duchess consort of Saxony and Margravine consort of Meissen (d. 1534)
1573 – Inigo Jones, English architect, designed the Queen’s House (d. 1652)
1600 – Jan Cossiers, Flemish painter (d. 1671)
1606 – Rembrandt, Dutch painter and etcher (d. 1669)
1611 – Jai Singh I, maharaja of Jaipur (d. 1667)
1613 – Gu Yanwu, Chinese philologist and geographer (d. 1682)
1631 – Jens Juel, Danish politician and diplomat, Governor-general of Norway (d. 1700)
1631 – Richard Cumberland, English philosopher (d. 1718)
1638 – Giovanni Buonaventura Viviani, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1693)
1704 – August Gottlieb Spangenberg, German bishop and theologian (d. 1792)
1779 – Clement Clarke Moore, American author, poet, and educator (d. 1863)
1793 – Almira Hart Lincoln Phelps, American educator, author, editor (d. 1884)
1796 – Thomas Bulfinch, American mythologist (d. 1867)
1799 – Reuben Chapman, American lawyer and politician, 13th Governor of Alabama (d. 1882)
1800 – Sidney Breese, American jurist and politician (d. 1878)
1808 – Henry Edward Manning, English cardinal (d. 1892)
1812 – James Hope-Scott, English lawyer and academic (d. 1873)
1817 – Sir John Fowler, 1st Baronet, English engineer, designed the Forth Bridge (d. 1898)
1827 – W. W. Thayer American lawyer and politician, 6th Governor of Oregon (d. 1899)
1848 – Vilfredo Pareto, Italian economist and sociologist (d. 1923)
1850 – Frances Xavier Cabrini, Italian-American nun and saint (d. 1917)
1852 – Josef Josephi, Polish-born singer and actor (d. 1920)
1858 – Emmeline Pankhurst, English political activist and suffragist (d. 1928)
1864 – Marie Tempest, English actress and singer (d. 1942)
1865 – Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe, Anglo-Irish businessman and publisher, founded the Amalgamated Press (d. 1922)
1865 – Wilhelm Wirtinger, Austrian-German mathematician and theorist (d. 1945)
1867 – Jean-Baptiste Charcot, French physician and explorer (d. 1936)
1871 – Doppo Kunikida, Japanese journalist, author, and poet (d. 1908)
1880 – Enrique Mosca, Argentinian lawyer and politician (d. 1950)
1887 – Wharton Esherick, American sculptor (d. 1970)
1892 – Walter Benjamin, German philosopher and critic (d. 1940)
1893 – Enid Bennett, Australian-American actress (d. 1969)
1893 – Dick Rauch, American football player and coach (d. 1970)
1894 – Tadeusz Sendzimir, Polish-American engineer (d. 1989)
1899 – Seán Lemass, Irish soldier and politician, 4th Taoiseach of Ireland (d. 1971)
1902 – Jean Rey, Belgian lawyer and politician, 2nd President of the European Commission (d. 1983)
1903 – Walter D. Edmonds, American journalist and author (d. 1998)
1903 – K. Kamaraj, Indian journalist and politician (d. 1975)
1904 – Rudolf Arnheim, German-American psychologist and author (d. 2007)
1905 – Dorothy Fields, American songwriter (d. 1974)
1905 – Anita Farra, Italian actress (d. 2008)
1906 – R. S. Mugali, Indian poet and academic (d. 1993)
1906 – Rudolf Uhlenhaut, English-German engineer (d. 1989)
1909 – Jean Hamburger, French physician and surgeon (d. 1992)
1911 – Edward Shackleton, Baron Shackleton, English geographer and politician, Secretary of State for Air (d. 1994)
1913 – Cowboy Copas, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1963)
1913 – Hammond Innes, English journalist and author (d. 1998)
1913 – Abraham Sutzkever, Russian poet and author (d. 2010)
1914 – Akhtar Hameed Khan, Pakistani economist, scholar, and activist (d. 1999)
1914 – Howard Vernon, Swiss-French actor (d. 1996)
1915 – Albert Ghiorso, American chemist and academic (d. 2010)
1915 – Kashmir Singh Katoch, Indian army officer (d. 2007)
1916 – Sumner Gerard, American politician and diplomat (d. 2004)
1917 – Robert Conquest, English-American historian, poet, and academic (d. 2015)
1917 – Joan Roberts, American actress and singer (d. 2012)
1917 – Nur Muhammad Taraki, Afghan journalist and politician (d. 1979)
1918 – Bertram Brockhouse, Canadian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2003)
1918 – Brenda Milner, English-Canadian neuropsychologist and academic
1919 – Fritz Langanke, German lieutenant (d. 2012)
1919 – Iris Murdoch, Anglo-Irish British novelist and philosopher (d. 1999)
1921 – Jack Beeson, American pianist and composer (d. 2010)
1921 – Henri Colpi, Swiss-French director and screenwriter (d. 2006)
1921 – Robert Bruce Merrifield, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006)
1921 – Jean Heywood, British actress (d. 2019)
1922 – Leon M. Lederman, American physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018)
1922 – Jean-Pierre Richard, French writer (d. 2019)
1923 – Francisco de Andrade, Portuguese sailor
1924 – Jeremiah Denton, American admiral and politician (d. 2014)
1924 – Marianne Bernadotte, Swedish actress and philanthropist
1925 – Philip Carey, American actor (d. 2009)
1925 – Taylor Hardwick, American architect, designed Haydon Burns Library and Friendship Fountain Park (d. 2014)
1925 – D. A. Pennebaker, American documentary filmmaker (d. 2019)
1925 – Evan Hultman, American politician
1925 – Antony Carbone, American actor
1925 – Pandel Savic, American football player (d. 2018)
1926 – Driss Chraïbi, Moroccan-French journalist and author (d. 2007)
1926 – Leopoldo Galtieri, Argentinian general and politician, 44th President of Argentina (d. 2003)
1926 – Raymond Gosling, English physicist and academic (d. 2015)
1926 – Sir John Graham, 4th Baronet, English diplomat (d. 2019)
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
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)
324 – Battle of Adrianople: Constantine I defeats Licinius, who flees to Byzantium.
987 – Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty that would rule France until the French Revolution in 1792.
1035 – William the Conqueror becomes the Duke of Normandy, reigns until 1087.
1608 – Québec City is founded by Samuel de Champlain.
1754 – French and Indian War: George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French forces.
1767 – Pitcairn Island is discovered by Midshipman Robert Pitcairn on an expeditionary voyage commanded by Philip Carteret.
1767 – Norway’s oldest newspaper still in print, Adresseavisen, is founded and the first edition is published.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1778 – American Revolutionary War: Iroquois allied to Britain kill 360 people in the Wyoming Valley massacre.
1819 – The Bank for Savings in the City of New-York, the first savings bank in the United States, opens.
1839 – The first state normal school in the United States, the forerunner to today’s Framingham State University, opens in Lexington, Massachusetts with three students.
1844 – The last pair of great auks is killed.
1848 – Governor-General Peter von Scholten emancipates all remaining slaves in the Danish West Indies.
1849 – France invades the Roman Republic and restores the Papal States.
1852 – Congress establishes the United States’ 2nd mint in San Francisco.
1863 – American Civil War: The final day of the Battle of Gettysburg culminates with Pickett’s Charge.
1866 – Austro-Prussian War is decided at the Battle of Königgrätz, resulting in Prussia taking over as the prominent German nation from Austria.
1884 – Dow Jones & Company publishes its first stock average.
1886 – Karl Benz officially unveils the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the first purpose-built automobile.
1886 – The New-York Tribune becomes the first newspaper to use a linotype machine, eliminating typesetting by hand.
1890 – Idaho is admitted as the 43rd U.S. state.
1898 – A Spanish squadron, led by Pascual Cervera y Topete, is defeated by an American squadron under William T. Sampson in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba.
1913 – Confederate veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913 reenact Pickett’s Charge; upon reaching the high-water mark of the Confederacy they are met by the outstretched hands of friendship from Union survivors.
1938 – World speed record for a steam locomotive is set in England, by the Mallard, which reaches a speed of 125.88 miles per hour (202.58 km/h).
1938 – United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates the Eternal Light Peace Memorial and lights the eternal flame at Gettysburg Battlefield.
1940 – World War II: The Royal Navy attacks the French naval squadron in Algeria, to ensure that it will not fall under German control. Of the four French battleships present, one is sunk, two are damaged, and one escapes back to France.
1944 – World War II: The Minsk Offensive clears German troops from the city.
1952 – The Constitution of Puerto Rico is approved by the United States Congress.
1952 – The SS United States sets sail on her maiden voyage to Southampton. During the voyage, the ship takes the Blue Riband away from the RMS Queen Mary.
1967 – The Aden Emergency: The Battle of the Crater in which the British Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders retake the Crater district following the Arab Police mutiny.
1969 – Space Race: The biggest explosion in the history of rocketry occurs when the Soviet N-1 rocket explodes and subsequently destroys its launchpad.
1970 – The Troubles: The “Falls Curfew” begins in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
1970 – Dan-Air Flight 1903 crashes into the Les Agudes mountain in the Montseny Massif near the village of Arbúcies in Catalonia, Spain, killing all 112 people aboard.
1979 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul.
1988 – United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.
1988 – The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, providing the second connection between the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosphorus.
1996 – British Prime Minister John Major announced the Stone of Scone would be returned to Scotland.
2013 – Egyptian coup d’état: President of Egypt Mohamed Morsi is overthrown by the military after four days of protests all over the country calling for Morsi’s resignation, to which he did not respond. President of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt Adly Mansour is declared acting president.
Births on July 3
321 – Valentinian I, Roman emperor (d. 375)
1423 – Louis XI of France (d. 1483)
1442 – Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado of Japan (d. 1500)
1518 – Li Shizhen, Chinese physician and mineralogist (d. 1593)
1530 – Claude Fauchet, French historian and author (d. 1601)
1534 – Myeongjong of Joseon, Ruler of Korea (d. 1567)
1550 – Jacobus Gallus, Slovenian composer (d. 1591)
1569 – Thomas Richardson, English politician and judge (d. 1635)
1683 – Edward Young, English poet, dramatist and literary critic (Night-Thoughts) (d. 1765)
1685 – Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet, English field marshal and politician (d. 1768)
1728 – Robert Adam, Scottish-English architect, designed Culzean Castle (d. 1792)
1738 – John Singleton Copley, American painter (d. 1815)
1778 – Carl Ludvig Engel, German architect (d. 1840)
1789 – Johann Friedrich Overbeck, German-Italian painter and engraver (d. 1869)
1814 – Ferdinand Didrichsen, Danish botanist and physicist (d. 1887)
1823 – Ahmed Vefik Pasha, Greek-Ottoman statesman, diplomat, playwright, and translator (d. 1891)
1844 – Dankmar Adler, German-born American architect and engineer (d. 1900)
1846 – Achilles Alferaki, Russian composer and politician, Governor of Taganrog (d. 1919)
1851 – Charles Bannerman, English-Australian cricketer and umpire (d. 1930)
1854 – Leoš Janáček, Czech composer and theorist (d. 1928)
1860 – Charlotte Perkins Gilman, American sociologist and author (d. 1935)
1866 – Albert Gottschalk, Danish painter (d. 1906)
1869 – Svend Kornbeck, Danish actor (d. 1933)
1870 – R. B. Bennett, Canadian lawyer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1947)
1871 – William Henry Davies, Welsh poet and writer (d.1940)
1874 – Jean Collas, French rugby player and tug of war competitor (d. 1928)
1875 – Ferdinand Sauerbruch, German surgeon and academic (d. 1951)
1876 – Ralph Barton Perry, American philosopher and academic (d. 1957)
1878 – George M. Cohan, American songwriter, actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1942)
1879 – Alfred Korzybski, Polish-American mathematician, linguist, and philosopher (d. 1950)
1880 – Carl Schuricht, Polish-German conductor (d. 1967)
1883 – Franz Kafka, Czech-Austrian author (d. 1924)
1886 – Raymond A. Spruance, American admiral and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the Philippines (d. 1969)
1888 – Ramón Gómez de la Serna, Spanish author and playwright (d. 1963)
1889 – Richard Cramer, American actor (d. 1960)
1893 – Sándor Bortnyik, Hungarian painter and graphic designer (d. 1976)
1896 – Doris Lloyd, English actress (d. 1968)
1897 – Jesse Douglas, American mathematician and academic (d. 1965)
1898 – Stefanos Stefanopoulos, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1982)
1900 – Alessandro Blasetti, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1987)
1901 – Ruth Crawford Seeger, American composer (d. 1953)
1903 – Ace Bailey, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1992)
1905 – Johnny Gibson, American hurdler and coach (d. 2006)
1906 – George Sanders, Russian-born British actor (d. 1972)
1908 – M. F. K. Fisher, American author (d. 1992)
1908 – Robert B. Meyner, American lawyer and politician, 44th Governor of New Jersey (d. 1990)
763 – The Byzantine army of emperor Constantine V defeats the Bulgarian forces in the Battle of Anchialus.
1422 – Battle of Arbedo between the duke of Milan and the Swiss cantons.
1521 – Spanish forces defeat a combined French and Navarrese army at the Battle of Noáin during the Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre.
1559 – King Henry II of France is mortally wounded in a jousting match against Gabriel, comte de Montgomery.
1651 – The Deluge: Khmelnytsky Uprising: The Battle of Berestechko ends with a Polish victory.
1688 – The Immortal Seven issue the Invitation to William, which would culminate in the Glorious Revolution.
1758 – Seven Years’ War: Habsburg Austrian forces destroy a Prussian reinforcement and supply convoy in the Battle of Domstadtl, helping to expel Prussian King Frederick the Great from Moravia.
1794 – Northwest Indian War: Native American forces under Blue Jacket attack Fort Recovery.
1805 – Under An act to divide the Indiana Territory into two separate governments, adopted by the U.S. Congress on January 11, 1805, the Michigan Territory is organized.
1859 – French acrobat Charles Blondin crosses Niagara Falls on a tightrope.
1860 – The 1860 Oxford evolution debate at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History takes place.
1864 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln grants Yosemite Valley to California for “public use, resort and recreation”.
1882 – Charles J. Guiteau is hanged in Washington, D.C. for the assassination of U.S. President James Garfield.
1886 – The first transcontinental train trip across Canada departs from Montreal, Quebec. It arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia on July 4.
1892 – The Homestead Strike begins near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
1905 – Albert Einstein sends the article On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, in which he introduces special relativity, for publication in Annalen der Physik.
1906 – The United States Congress passes the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act.
1908 – The Tunguska Event, the largest impact event on Earth in human recorded history, resulting in a massive explosion over Eastern Siberia.
1912 – The Regina Cyclone, Canada’s deadliest tornado event, kills 28 people in Regina, Saskatchewan.
1916 – World War I: In “the day Sussex died”, elements of the Royal Sussex Regiment take heavy casualties in the Battle of the Boar’s Head at Richebourg-l’Avoué in France.
1921 – U.S. President Warren G. Harding appoints former President William Howard Taft as Chief Justice of the United States.
1922 – In Washington D.C., U.S. Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes and Dominican Ambassador Francisco J. Peynado sign the Hughes–Peynado agreement, which ends the United States occupation of the Dominican Republic.
1934 – The Night of the Long Knives, Adolf Hitler’s violent purge of his political rivals in Germany, takes place.
1936 – Emperor Haile Selassie of Abyssinia appeals for aid to the League of Nations against Italy’s invasion of his country.
1937 – The world’s first emergency telephone number, 999, is introduced in London.
1944 – World War II: The Battle of Cherbourg ends with the fall of the strategically valuable port to American forces.
1953 – The first Chevrolet Corvette rolls off the assembly line in Flint, Michigan.
1956 – A TWA Super Constellation and a United Airlines DC-7 collide above the Grand Canyon in Arizona and crash, killing all 128 on board both airliners.
1959 – A United States Air Force F-100 Super Sabre from Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, crashes into a nearby elementary school, killing 11 students plus six residents from the local neighborhood.
1960 – Belgian Congo gains independence as Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville).
1963 – Ciaculli bombing: a car bomb, intended for Mafia boss Salvatore Greco, kills seven police officers and military personnel near Palermo.
1966 – The National Organization for Women, the United States’ largest feminist organization, is founded.
1968 – Pope Paul VI issues the Credo of the People of God.
1971 – The crew of the Soviet Soyuz 11 spacecraft are killed when their air supply escapes through a faulty valve.
1972 – The first leap second is added to the UTC time system.
1974 – The Baltimore municipal strike of 1974 begins.
1977 – The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands.
1985 – Thirty-nine American hostages from the hijacked TWA Flight 847 are freed in Beirut after being held for 17 days.
1986 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Bowers v. Hardwick that states can outlaw homosexual acts between consenting adults.
1990 – East Germany and West Germany merge their economies.
1994 – During a test flight of an Airbus A330-300 at Toulouse–Blagnac Airport, the aircraft crashes killing all seven people on board.
1997 – The United Kingdom transfers sovereignty over Hong Kong to China.
2005 – MTV Canada is rebranded as Razer
2007 – A Jeep Cherokee filled with propane canisters drives into the entrance of Glasgow Airport, Scotland in a failed terrorist attack. This was linked to the 2007 London car bombs that had taken place the day before.
2009 – Yemenia Flight 626, an Airbus A310-300, crashes into the Indian Ocean near Comoros, killing 152 of the 153 people on board. A 14-year-old girl named Bahia Bakari survives the crash.
2013 – Nineteen firefighters die controlling a wildfire in Yarnell, Arizona.
2013 – Protests begin around Egypt against President Mohamed Morsi and the ruling Freedom and Justice Party, leading to their overthrow during the 2013 Egyptian coup d’état.
2015 – A Hercules C-130 military aircraft with 113 people on board crashes in a residential area in Medan, Indonesia, resulting in at least 116 deaths.
2019 – Donald Trump becomes the first sitting US President to visit the Democratic Republic of Korea.
Births on June 30
1286 – John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey, English magnate (d. 1347)
1468 – John, Elector of Saxony (d. 1532)
1470 – Charles VIII of France (d. 1498)
1478 – John, Prince of Asturias, Son of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile (d. 1497)
1503 – John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony (d. 1554)
1533 – Martín de Rada, Spanish missionary (d. 1578)
1588 – Giovanni Maria Sabino, Italian organist, composer, and educator (d. 1649)
1641 – Meinhardt Schomberg, 3rd Duke of Schomberg, German-English general (d. 1719)
1685 – John Gay, English poet and playwright (d. 1732)
1688 – Abu l-Hasan Ali I, ruler of Tunisia (d. 1756)
1722 – Jiří Antonín Benda, Czech composer, violinist and Kapellmeister (d. 1795)
1755 – Paul Barras, French soldier and politician (d. 1829)
1789 – Horace Vernet, French painter and academic (d. 1863)
1791 – Félix Savart, French physicist and psychologist (d. 1841)
1803 – Thomas Lovell Beddoes, English poet, playwright, and physician (d. 1849)
1807 – Friedrich Theodor Vischer, German author, poet, and playwright (d.1887)
1817 – Joseph Dalton Hooker, English botanist and explorer (d. 1911)
1843 – Ernest Mason Satow, English orientalist and diplomat (d. 1929)
1864 – Frederick Bligh Bond, English architect and archaeologist (d. 1945)
1884 – Georges Duhamel, French author and critic (d. 1966)
1889 – Archibald Frazer-Nash, English motor car designer, engineer and founder of Frazer Nash (d. 1965)
1890 – Paul Boffa, Maltese physician and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Malta (d. 1962)
1891 – Man Mountain Dean, American wrestler and sergeant (d. 1953)
1891 – Ed Lewis, American wrestler and manager (d. 1966)
1891 – Stanley Spencer, English painter (d. 1959)
1892 – Pierre Blanchar, Algerian-French actor and director (d. 1963)
1893 – Walter Ulbricht, German soldier and politician (d. 1973)
1895 – Heinz Warneke, German-American sculptor and educator (d. 1983)
1899 – Madge Bellamy, American actress (d. 1990)
1905 – John Van Ryn, American tennis player (d. 1999)
1906 – Anthony Mann, American actor and director (d. 1967)
1907 – Roman Shukhevych, Ukrainian general and politician (d. 1950)
1908 – Winston Graham, English author (d. 2003)
1908 – Luigi Rovere, Italian film producer (d. 1996)
1908 – Rob Nieuwenhuys, Dutch writer (d. 1999)
1909 – Juan Bosch, 43rd President of the Dominican Republic (d. 2001)
1911 – Czesław Miłosz, Polish novelist, essayist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
1911 – Nagarjun, Indian poet (d. 1998)
1912 – Ludwig Bölkow, German engineer (d. 2003)
1912 – Dan Reeves, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1971)
1912 – María Luisa Dehesa Gómez Farías, Mexican architect (d. 2009)
1913 – Alfonso López Michelsen, Colombian lawyer and politician, 24th President of Colombia (d. 2007)
1913 – Harry Wismer, American sportscaster (d. 1967)
1914 – Francisco da Costa Gomes, Portuguese general and politician, 15th President of Portugal (d. 2001)
1914 – Allan Houser, American sculptor and painter (d. 1994)
1917 – Susan Hayward, American actress (d. 1975)
1917 – Lena Horne, American actress, singer, and activist (d. 2010)
1917 – Willa Kim, American costume designer (d. 2016)
1919 – Ed Yost, American inventor of the modern hot air balloon (d. 2007)
1920 – Eleanor Ross Taylor, American poet and educator (d. 2011)
1921 – Washington SyCip, American-Filipino accountant (d. 2017)
1922 – Al Besselink, American professional golfer
1923 – Andy Jack, English footballer
1924 – Max Trepp, Swiss sprinter
1925 – Fred Schaus, American basketball player and coach (d. 2010)
1925 – Ebrahim Amini, Iranian politician (d. 2020)
1926 – Paul Berg, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1926 – David Berglas, American magician and mentalist
1927 – Shirley Fry Irvin, American tennis player
1927 – James Goldman, American screenwriter and playwright (d. 1998)
1927 – Mario Lanfranchi, Italian director, screenwriter, producer, collector and actor
1497 – Cornish rebels Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank are executed at Tyburn, London, England.
1556 – The thirteen Stratford Martyrs are burned at the stake near London for their Protestant beliefs.
1743 – In the Battle of Dettingen, George II becomes the last reigning British monarch to participate in a battle.
1760 – Anglo-Cherokee War: Cherokee warriors defeat British forces at the Battle of Echoee near present-day Otto, North Carolina.
1806 – British forces take Buenos Aires during the first of the British invasions of the River Plate.
1844 – Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, and his brother Hyrum Smith, are killed by a mob at the Carthage, Illinois jail.
1864 – American Civil War: Confederate forces defeat Union forces during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain during the Atlanta Campaign.
1869 – The Republic of Ezo on the island of Hokkaido ends after being defeated by Japanese Imperial troops.
1895 – The inaugural run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s Royal Blue from Washington, D.C., to New York City, the first U.S. passenger train to use electric locomotives.
1898 – The first solo circumnavigation of the globe is completed by Joshua Slocum from Briar Island, Nova Scotia.
1905 – During the Russo-Japanese War, sailors start a mutiny aboard the Russian battleship Potemkin.
1908 – A group of Vietnamese tirailleurs conducts a failed attempt to poison the entire French army’s garrison in the Hanoi Citadel with the aim to make way for Hoàng Hoa Thám’s rebel army to capture Hanoi.
1923 – Capt. Lowell H. Smith and Lt. John P. Richter perform the first ever aerial refueling in a DH.4B biplane.
1927 – Prime Minister of Japan Tanaka Giichi convenes an eleven-day conference to discuss Japan’s strategy in China. The Tanaka Memorial, a forged plan for world domination, is later claimed to be a secret report leaked from this conference.
1941 – Romanian authorities launch one of the most violent pogroms in Jewish history in the city of Iași, resulting in the murder of at least 13,266 Jews.
1941 – World War II: German troops capture the city of Białystok during Operation Barbarossa.
1946 – In the Canadian Citizenship Act, the Parliament of Canada establishes the definition of Canadian citizenship.
1950 – The United States decides to send troops to fight in the Korean War.
1954 – The Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant, the Soviet Union’s first nuclear power station, opens in Obninsk, near Moscow.
1954 – The FIFA World Cup quarterfinal match between Hungary and Brazil, highly anticipated to be exciting, instead turns violent, with three players ejected and further fighting continuing after the game.
1957 – Hurricane Audrey makes landfall near the Texas–Louisiana border, killing over 400 people, mainly in and around Cameron, Louisiana.
1973 – The President of Uruguay Juan María Bordaberry dissolves Parliament and establishes a dictatorship.
1974 – U.S. president Richard Nixon visits the Soviet Union.
1976 – Air France Flight 139 (Tel Aviv-Athens-Paris) is hijacked en route to Paris by the PLO and redirected to Entebbe, Uganda.
1977 – France grants independence to Djibouti.
1980 – The ‘Ustica massacre’: Itavia Flight 870 crashes in the sea while en route from Bologna to Palermo, Italy, killing all 81 on board.
1981 – The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issues its “Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of the People’s Republic of China”, laying the blame for the Cultural Revolution on Mao Zedong.
1982 – Space Shuttle Columbia launched from the Kennedy Space Center on the final research and development flight mission, STS-4.
1988 – The Gare de Lyon rail accident in Paris, France, kills 56 people.
1991 – Slovenia, after declaring independence two days before is invaded by Yugoslav troops, tanks, and aircraft starting the Ten-Day War.
1994 – Members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult release sarin gas in Matsumoto, Japan. Seven people are killed, 660 injured.
2007 – Tony Blair resigns as British Prime Minister, a position he had held since 1997. His Chancellor, Gordon Brown succeeds him.
2007 – The Brazilian Military Police invades the favelas of Complexo do Alemão in an episode which is remembered as the Complexo do Alemão massacre.
2008 – In a highly scrutinized election President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe is re-elected in a landslide after his opponent Morgan Tsvangirai had withdrawn a week earlier, citing violence against his party’s supporters.
2013 – NASA launches the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, a space probe to observe the Sun.
2014 – At least fourteen people are killed when a Gas Authority of India Limited pipeline explodes in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, India.
2015 – Formosa Fun Coast fire: A dust fire occurs at a recreational water park in Taiwan, killing 15 people and injuring 497 others, 199 critically.
2017 – A series of powerful cyberattacks using the Petya malware target websites of Ukrainian organizations and counterparts with Ukrainian connections around the globe.
Births on June 27
850 – Ibrahim II of Ifriqiya, Aghlabid emir (d. 902)
1350 – Manuel II Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (d. 1425)
1430 – Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter, Lancastrian leader (d. 1475)
1462 – Louis XII, king of France (d. 1515)
1464 – Ernst II of Saxony, Archbishop of Magdeburg (1476–1513) (d. 1513)
1497 – Ernest I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1546)
1550 – Charles IX, king of France (d. 1574)
1596 – Maximilian, Prince of Dietrichstein (d. 1655)
1696 – William Pepperrell, American merchant and soldier (d. 1759)
1717 – Louis-Guillaume Le Monnier, French botanist and physicist (d. 1799)
1767 – Alexis Bouvard, French astronomer and academic (d. 1843)
1805 – Napoléon Coste, French guitarist and composer (d. 1883)
1806 – Augustus De Morgan, English mathematician and logician (d. 1871)
1812 – Anna Cabot Lowell Quincy Waterston, American writer (d. 1899)
1817 – Louise von François, German author (d. 1893)
1828 – Bryan O’Loghlen, Irish-Australian politician, 13th Premier of Victoria (d. 1905)
1838 – Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Indian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1894)
1838 – Paul Mauser, German weapon designer, designed the Gewehr 98 (d. 1914)
1846 – Charles Stewart Parnell, Irish politician (d. 1891)
1850 – Jørgen Pedersen Gram, Danish mathematician and academic (d. 1919)
1850 – Lafcadio Hearn, Greek-Japanese historian and author (d. 1904)
1862 – May Irwin, Canadian-American actress and singer (d. 1938)
1865 – John Monash, Australian engineer and general (d. 1931)
1869 – Kate Carew, American illustrator and journalist (d. 1961)
1869 – Emma Goldman, Lithuanian-Canadian philosopher and activist (d. 1940)
1869 – Hans Spemann, German embryologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1941)
1870 – Frank Rattray Lillie, American zoologist and embryologist (d. 1947)
1872 – Heber Doust Curtis, American astronomer (d. 1942)
1872 – Paul Laurence Dunbar, American author, poet, and playwright (d. 1906)
1880 – Helen Keller, American author, academic, and activist (d. 1968)
1882 – Eduard Spranger, German philosopher and academic (d. 1963)
1884 – Gaston Bachelard, French philosopher and poet (d. 1962)
1885 – Pierre Montet, French historian and academic (d. 1966)
1885 – Guilhermina Suggia, Portuguese cellist (d. 1950)
1886 – Charlie Macartney, Australian cricketer and soldier (d. 1958)
1888 – Lewis Bernstein Namier, Polish-English historian and academic (d. 1960)
1888 – Antoinette Perry, American actress and director (d. 1946)
1892 – Paul Colin, French illustrator (d. 1985)
1899 – Juan Trippe, American businessman, founded Pan American World Airways (d. 1981)
1900 – Dixie Brown, British boxer (d. 1957)
1901 – Merle Tuve, American geophysicist and academic (d. 1982)
1905 – Armand Mondou, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1976)
1906 – Catherine Cookson, English author and philanthropist (d. 1998)
1906 – Vernon Watkins, Welsh-American poet and painter (d. 1967)
1907 – John McIntire, American actor (d. 1991)
1908 – João Guimarães Rosa, Brazilian physician and author (d. 1967)
1911 – Marion M. Magruder, American Marine officer, commander of the VMF(N)-533 squadron. (d. 1997)
1912 – E. R. Braithwaite, Guyanese novelist, writer, teacher, and diplomat (d. 2016)
1913 – Elton Britt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1972)
1913 – Philip Guston, American painter and academic (d. 1980)
1913 – Willie Mosconi, American pool player (d. 1993)
1914 – Robert Aickman, English author and activist, co-founded the Inland Waterways Association (d. 1981)
1914 – Helena Benitez, Filipina academic and administrator (d. 2016)
1914 – Margaret Ekpo, Nigerian women’s rights activist, social mobilizer and politician (d. 2006)
1914 – Giorgio Almirante, Italian journalist and politician (d. 1988)
1915 – Grace Lee Boggs, American philosopher, author, and activist (d. 2015)
1915 – Aideu Handique, Indian actress (d. 2002)
1915 – John Alexander Moore, American zoologist and academic (d. 2002)
1916 – Robert Normann, Norwegian guitarist (d. 1998)
1918 – Adolph Kiefer, American swimmer (d. 2017)
1919 – M. Carl Holman, American author, educator, poet, and playwright (d. 1988)
1919 – Amala Shankar, Indian danseuse
1920 – Fernando Riera, Chilean football player and manager (d. 2010)
1921 – Muriel Pavlow, English actress (d. 2019)
1922 – George Walker, American composer (d. 2018)
1923 – Jacques Berthier, French organist and composer (d. 1994)
1923 – Elmo Hope, American pianist and composer (d. 1967)
1924 – Bob Appleyard, English cricketer and businessman (d. 2015)
1925 – Leonard Lerman, American geneticist and biologist (d. 2012)
1925 – Doc Pomus, American singer-songwriter (d. 1991)
1925 – Wayne Terwilliger, American second baseman, coach, and manager
1927 – Bob Keeshan, American actor and producer (d. 2004)
1928 – James Lincoln Collier, American journalist and author
1928 – Rudy Perpich, American dentist and politician, 34th Governor of Minnesota (d. 1995)
1929 – Dick the Bruiser, American football player and wrestler (d. 1991)
1929 – Peter Maas, American journalist and author (d. 2001)
1930 – Ross Perot, American businessman and politician (d. 2019)
1931 – Charles Bronfman, Canadian-American businessman and philanthropist
1931 – Martinus J. G. Veltman, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1932 – Eddie Kasko, American baseball player and manager (d. 2020)
1932 – Anna Moffo, American operatic soprano (d. 2006)
1932 – Hugh Wood, English composer
1936 – Lucille Clifton, American author and poet (d. 2010)
1936 – Shirley Anne Field, English actress
1937 – Joseph P. Allen, American physicist and astronaut
1937 – Otto Herrigel, Namibian lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
1937 – Kirkpatrick Sale, American author and scholar
1938 – Bruce Babbitt, American lawyer and politician, 47th United States Secretary of the Interior
1938 – David Hope, Baron Hope of Craighead, Scottish lieutenant and judge
1938 – Konrad Kujau, German illustrator (d. 2000)
1939 – R. D. Burman, Indian singer-songwriter (d. 1994)
1939 – Neil Hawke, Australian cricketer and footballer (d. 2000)
1940 – Ian Lang, Baron Lang of Monkton, Scottish politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
1941 – Bill Baxley, American lawyer and politician, 24th Lieutenant Governor of Alabama
1941 – James P. Hogan, English-Irish author (d. 2010)
1941 – Krzysztof Kieślowski, Polish director and screenwriter (d. 1996)
1942 – Bruce Johnston, American singer-songwriter and producer
1942 – Frank Mills, Canadian pianist and composer
1942 – Danny Schechter, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
1943 – Ravi Batra, Indian-American economist and academic
1944 – Angela King, English environmentalist and author, co-founded Common Ground
1944 – Patrick Sercu, Belgian cyclist (d. 2019)
1945 – Joey Covington, American drummer, songwriter, and producer (d. 2013)
1945 – Norma Kamali, American fashion designer
1945 – Ragnar Søderlind, Norwegian composer
1948 – Camile Baudoin, American guitarist
1949 – Vera Wang, American fashion designer
1951 – Ulf Andersson, Swedish chess player
1951 – Julia Duffy, American actress
1951 – Gilson Lavis, English drummer and portrait artist
1951 – Mary McAleese, Irish academic and politician, 8th President of Ireland
1952 – Madan Bhandari, Nepalese politician (d. 1993)
1953 – Igor Gräzin, Estonian academic and politician
1953 – Alice McDermott, American novelist
1954 – Richard Ibbotson, English admiral
1955 – Isabelle Adjani, French actress
1956 – Heiner Dopp, German field hockey player and politician
1957 – Gabriella Dorio, Italian runner
1958 – Lisa Germano, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1958 – Jeffrey Lee Pierce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1996)
1959 – Dan Jurgens, American author and illustrator
1959 – Lorrie Morgan, American singer
1960 – Craig Hodges, American basketball player and coach
1960 – Robert King, English harpsichordist and conductor
1960 – Jeremy Swift, English actor
1962 – Michael Ball, English actor and singer
1962 – Sunanda Pushkar, India-born Canadian businesswoman (d. 2014)
1963 – Wendy Alexander, Scottish politician, Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning
1963 – Johnny Benson Jr., American race car driver
1964 – Stephan Brenninkmeijer, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter
1964 – Chuck Person, American basketball player and coach
1965 – Simon Sebag Montefiore, English journalist, historian, and author
1965 – S. Manikavasagam, Malaysian politician and social activist
1965 – Óscar Vega, Spanish boxer
1966 – J.J. Abrams, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1966 – Jörg Bergen, German footballer and manager
1966 – Jeff Conine, American baseball player and sportscaster
1966 – Aigars Kalvītis, Latvian politician, businessman, and former Prime Minister of Latvia
1967 – Sylvie Fréchette, Canadian swimmer and coach
1967 – George Hamilton, Northern Irish police officer
