Arkansas

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

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

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

    Births on July 2

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

    Deaths on July 2

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

    Holidays and observances on July 2

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

  • June 15 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 763 BC – Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history.
    • 844 – Louis II is crowned as king of Italy at Rome by pope Sergius II.
    • 923 – Battle of Soissons: King Robert I of France is killed and King Charles the Simple is arrested by the supporters of Duke Rudolph of Burgundy.
    • 1184 – The naval Battle of Fimreite is won by the Birkebeiner pretender Sverre Sigurdsson. Sigurdsson takes the Norwegian throne and King Magnus V of Norway is killed.
    • 1215 – King John of England puts his seal to Magna Carta.
    • 1219 – Northern Crusades: Danish victory at the Battle of Lindanise (modern-day Tallinn) establishes the Danish Duchy of Estonia.
    • 1246 – With the death of Frederick II, Duke of Austria, the Babenberg dynasty ends in Austria.
    • 1300 – The city of Bilbao is founded.
    • 1312 – At the Battle of Rozgony, King Charles I of Hungary wins a decisive victory over the family of Palatine Amade Aba.
    • 1389 – Battle of Kosovo: The Ottoman Empire defeats Serbs and Bosnians.
    • 1410 – In a decisive battle at Onon River, the Mongol forces of Oljei Temur were decimated by the Chinese armies of the Yongle Emperor.
    • 1502 – Christopher Columbus lands on the island of Martinique on his fourth voyage.
    • 1520 – Pope Leo X threatens to excommunicate Martin Luther in Exsurge Domine.
    • 1648 – Margaret Jones is hanged in Boston for witchcraft in the first such execution for the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
    • 1667 – The first human blood transfusion is administered by Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys.
    • 1670 – The first stone of Fort Ricasoli is laid down in Malta.
    • 1752 – Benjamin Franklin proves that lightning is electricity (traditional date, the exact date is unknown).
    • 1776 – Delaware Separation Day: Delaware votes to suspend government under the British Crown and separate officially from Pennsylvania.
    • 1800 – The Provisional Army of the United States is dissolved.
    • 1804 – New Hampshire approves the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratifying the document.
    • 1808 – Joseph Bonaparte becomes King of Spain.
    • 1836 – Arkansas is admitted as the 25th U.S. state.
    • 1844 – Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber.
    • 1846 – The Oregon Treaty extends the border between the United States and British North America, established by the Treaty of 1818, westward to the Pacific Ocean.
    • 1859 – Ambiguity in the Oregon Treaty leads to the “Northwestern Boundary Dispute” between American and British/Canadian settlers.
    • 1864 – American Civil War: The Second Battle of Petersburg begins.
    • 1864 – Arlington National Cemetery is established when 200 acres (0.81 km2) of the Arlington estate (formerly owned by Confederate General Robert E. Lee) are officially set aside as a military cemetery by U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.
    • 1877 – Henry Ossian Flipper becomes the first African American cadet to graduate from the United States Military Academy.
    • 1878 – Eadweard Muybridge takes a series of photographs to prove that all four feet of a horse leave the ground when it runs; the study becomes the basis of motion pictures.
    • 1888 – Crown Prince Wilhelm becomes Kaiser Wilhelm II; he will be the last Emperor of the German Empire. Due to the death of his predecessors Wilhelm I and Frederick III, 1888 is the Year of the Three Emperors.
    • 1896 – The deadliest tsunami in Japan’s history kills more than 22,000 people.
    • 1904 – A fire aboard the steamboat SS General Slocum in New York City’s East River kills 1,000.
    • 1916 – United States President Woodrow Wilson signs a bill incorporating the Boy Scouts of America, making them the only American youth organization with a federal charter.
    • 1919 – John Alcock and Arthur Brown complete the first nonstop transatlantic flight when they reach Clifden, County Galway, Ireland.
    • 1920 – Following the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites, Northern Schleswig is transferred from Germany to Denmark.
    • 1921 – Bessie Coleman earns her pilot’s license, becoming the first female pilot of African-American descent.
    • 1934 – The United States Great Smoky Mountains National Park is founded.
    • 1936 – First flight of the Vickers Wellington bomber.
    • 1937 – A German expedition led by Karl Wien loses sixteen members in an avalanche on Nanga Parbat. It is the worst single disaster to occur on an 8000m peak.
    • 1940 – World War II: Operation Ariel begins: Allied troops start to evacuate France, following Germany’s takeover of Paris and most of the nation.
    • 1944 – World War II: The United States invades Saipan, capital of Japan’s South Seas Mandate.
    • 1944 – In the Saskatchewan general election, the CCF, led by Tommy Douglas, is elected and forms the first socialist government in North America.
    • 1970 – Charles Manson goes on trial for the Sharon Tate murders.
    • 1972 – Red Army Faction co-founder Ulrike Meinhof is captured by police in Langenhagen.
    • 1977 – After the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, the first democratic elections took place in Spain.
    • 1978 – King Hussein of Jordan marries American Lisa Halaby, who takes the name Queen Noor.
    • 1985 – Rembrandt’s painting Danaë is attacked by a man (later judged insane) who throws sulfuric acid on the canvas and cuts it twice with a knife.
    • 1991 – In the Philippines, Mount Pinatubo erupts in the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, killing over 800 people.
    • 1992 – The United States Supreme Court rules in United States v. Álvarez-Machaín that it is permissible for the United States to forcibly extradite suspects in foreign countries and bring them to the United States for trial, without approval from those other countries.
    • 1994 – Israel and Vatican City establish full diplomatic relations.
    • 1996 – The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonates a powerful truck bomb in the middle of Manchester, England, devastating the city centre and injuring 200 people.
    • 2001 – Leaders of the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan formed the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
    • 2012 – Nik Wallenda becomes the first person to successfully tightrope walk directly over Niagara Falls.
    • 2013 – A bomb explodes on a bus in the Pakistani city of Quetta, killing at least 25 people and wounding 22 others.

    Births on June 15

    • 1330 – Edward, the Black Prince of England (d. 1376)
    • 1479 – Lisa del Giocondo, Italian model, subject of the Mona Lisa (d. 1542)
    • 1519 – Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1536)
    • 1542 – Richard Grenville, English captain and explorer (d. 1591)
    • 1549 – Elizabeth Knollys, English noblewoman (d. 1605)
    • 1553 – Archduke Ernest of Austria (d. 1595)
    • 1605 – Thomas Randolph, English poet and playwright (d. 1635)
    • 1618 – François Blondel, French architect (d. 1686)
    • 1623 – Cornelis de Witt, Dutch politician (d. 1672)
    • 1624 – Hiob Ludolf, German orientalist and philologist (d. 1704)
    • 1640 – Bernard Lamy, French mathematician and theologian (d. 1715)
    • 1645 – Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, English politician (d. 1712)
    • 1749 – Georg Joseph Vogler, German organist, composer, and theorist (d. 1814)
    • 1754 – Juan José Elhuyar, Spanish chemist and mineralogist (d. 1796)
    • 1755 – Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy, French chemist and entomologist (d. 1809)
    • 1763 – Franz Danzi, German cellist, composer, and conductor (d. 1826)
    • 1763 – Kobayashi Issa, Japanese priest and poet (d. 1827)
    • 1765 – Martin Baum, American businessman and politician, Mayor of Cincinnati (d. 1831)
    • 1765 – Johann Gottlieb Friedrich von Bohnenberger, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1831)
    • 1767 – Rachel Jackson, American wife of Andrew Jackson (d. 1828)
    • 1777 – David Daniel Davis, Welsh physician and academic (d. 1841)
    • 1789 – Josiah Henson, American minister, author, and activist (d. 1883)
    • 1792 – Thomas Mitchell, Scottish-Australian colonel and explorer (d. 1855)
    • 1801 – Benjamin Wright Raymond, American merchant and politician, 3rd Mayor of Chicago (d. 1883)
    • 1805 – William B. Ogden, American businessman and politician, 1st Mayor of Chicago (d. 1877)
    • 1809 – François-Xavier Garneau, Canadian poet and historian (d. 1866)
    • 1835 – Adah Isaacs Menken, American actress, painter, and poet (d. 1868)
    • 1843 – Edvard Grieg, Norwegian pianist and composer (d. 1907)
    • 1848 – Gheevarghese Mar Gregorios of Parumala, Indian bishop and saint (d. 1902)
    • 1872 – Thomas William Burgess, English swimmer and water polo player (d. 1950)
    • 1875 – Herman Smith-Johannsen, Norwegian-Canadian skier (d. 1987)
    • 1878 – Margaret Abbott, Indian-American golfer (d. 1955)
    • 1881 – Kesago Nakajima, Japanese lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army (d. 1945)
    • 1884 – Harry Langdon, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1944)
    • 1886 – Frank Clement, British racing driver (d. 1970)
    • 1888 – Ramón López Velarde, Mexican poet and author (d. 1921)
    • 1890 – Georg Wüst, German oceanographer and academic (d. 1977)
    • 1894 – Robert Russell Bennett, American composer and conductor (d. 1981)
    • 1894 – Nikolai Chebotaryov, Ukrainian-Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1947)
    • 1898 – Hubertus Strughold, German-American physiologist and academic (d. 1986)
    • 1900 – Gotthard Günther, German philosopher and academic (d. 1984)
    • 1900 – Otto Luening, German-American composer and conductor (d. 1996)
    • 1901 – Elmar Lohk, Russian-Estonian architect (d. 1963)
    • 1902 – Erik Erikson, German-American psychologist and psychoanalyst (d. 1994)
    • 1906 – Gordon Welchman, English-American mathematician and author (d. 1985)
    • 1906 – Léon Degrelle, Belgian SS officer (d. 1994)
    • 1907 – James Robertson Justice, English actor and educator (d. 1975)
    • 1909 – Elena Nikolaidi, Greek-American soprano and educator (d. 2002)
    • 1910 – David Rose, English-American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1990)
    • 1911 – Wilbert Awdry, English author, co-created Thomas the Tank Engine (d. 1997)
    • 1913 – Tom Adair, American songwriter, composer, and screenwriter (d. 1988)
    • 1914 – Yuri Andropov, Russian politician (d. 1984)
    • 1914 – Saul Steinberg, Romanian-American cartoonist (d. 1999)
    • 1914 – Hilda Terry, American cartoonist (d. 2006)
    • 1915 – Nini Theilade, Danish ballet dancer, choreographer, and educator (d. 2018)
    • 1915 – Thomas Huckle Weller, American biologist and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2008)
    • 1916 – Olga Erteszek, Polish-American fashion designer (d. 1989)
    • 1916 – Horacio Salgán, Argentinian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2016)
    • 1916 – Herbert A. Simon, American political scientist and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2001)
    • 1917 – John Fenn, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
    • 1917 – Michalis Genitsaris, Greek singer-songwriter (d. 2005)
    • 1917 – Lash LaRue, American actor and producer (d. 1996)
    • 1918 – François Tombalbaye, Chadian politician, 1st President of Chad (d. 1975)
    • 1920 – Keith Andrews, American race car driver (d. 1957)
    • 1920 – Alla Kazanskaya, Russian actress (d. 2008)
    • 1920 – Sam Sniderman, Canadian businessman, founded Sam the Record Man (d. 2012)
    • 1920 – Alberto Sordi, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
    • 1921 – Erroll Garner, American pianist and composer (d. 1977)
    • 1922 – Jaki Byard, American pianist and composer (d. 1999)
    • 1923 – Erland Josephson, Swedish actor and director (d. 2012)
    • 1923 – Ninian Stephen, English-Australian lieutenant, judge, and politician, 20th Governor-General of Australia (d. 2017)
    • 1924 – Hédi Fried, Swedish author and psychologist
    • 1924 – Ezer Weizman, Israeli general and politician, 7th President of Israel (d. 2005)
    • 1925 – Richard Baker, English journalist and author (d. 2018)
    • 1925 – Attilâ İlhan, Turkish poet, author, and critic (d. 2005)
    • 1926 – Alfred Duraiappah, Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and politician (d. 1975)
    • 1927 – Ross Andru, American illustrator (d. 1993)
    • 1927 – Ibn-e-Insha, Indian-Pakistani poet and author (d. 1978)
    • 1927 – Hugo Pratt, Italian author and illustrator (d. 1995)
    • 1930 – Miguel Méndez, American author and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1930 – Marcel Pronovost, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1931 – Joseph Gilbert, English air marshal
    • 1931 – Brian Sewell, English art dealer and critic (d. 2015)
    • 1932 – David Alliance, Baron Alliance, Iranian-English businessman and politician
    • 1932 – Mario Cuomo, American lawyer and politician, 52nd Governor of New York (d. 2015)
    • 1932 – Zia Fariduddin Dagar, Indian singer (d. 2013)
    • 1932 – Bernie Faloney, American-Canadian football player and sportscaster (d. 1999)
    • 1933 – Mohammad-Ali Rajai, Iranian politician, 2nd President of Iran (d. 1981)
    • 1933 – Predrag Koraksić Corax, Serbian political caricaturist
    • 1934 – Ruby Nash Garnett, American R&B singer
    • 1936 – William Levada, American cardinal
    • 1937 – Pierre Billon, Swiss-Canadian author and screenwriter
    • 1937 – Waylon Jennings, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2002)
    • 1938 – Billy Williams, American baseball player and coach
    • 1939 – Ward Connerly, American activist and businessman, founded the American Civil Rights Institute
    • 1941 – Neal Adams, American illustrator
    • 1941 – Harry Nilsson, American singer-songwriter (d. 1994)
    • 1942 – Ian Greenberg, Canadian broadcaster, founded Astral Media
    • 1942 – John E. McLaughlin, American diplomat
    • 1942 – Peter Norman, Australian sprinter (d. 2006)
    • 1943 – Johnny Hallyday, French singer and actor (d. 2017)
    • 1943 – Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, Danish politician, 38th Prime Minister of Denmark
    • 1944 – Robert D. Keppel, American police officer and academic
    • 1945 – Miriam Defensor Santiago, Filipino judge and politician (d. 2016)
    • 1945 – Robert Sarah, Guinean cardinal
    • 1945 – Lawrence Wilkerson, American colonel
    • 1946 – Noddy Holder, English rock singer-songwriter, musician, and actor
    • 1946 – John Horner, American paleontologist and academic
    • 1946 – Demis Roussos, Egyptian-Greek singer-songwriter and bass player (d. 2015)
    • 1947 – John Hoagland, American photographer and journalist (d. 1984)
    • 1948 – Mike Holmgren, American football player and coach
    • 1948 – Alan Huckle, English politician and diplomat, Governor of Anguilla
    • 1948 – Henry McLeish, Scottish footballer, academic, and politician, 2nd First Minister of Scotland
    • 1949 – Dusty Baker, American baseball player and manager
    • 1949 – Simon Callow, English actor and director
    • 1949 – Russell Hitchcock, Australian singer-songwriter
    • 1949 – Jim Varney, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter (d. 2000)
    • 1950 – Uğur Erdener, Turkish ophthalmologist and professor
    • 1950 – Juliana Azumah-Mensah, Ghanaian nurse and politician
    • 1950 – Deney Terrio, American choreographer and host of the television musical variety series Dance Fever
    • 1950 – Lakshmi Mittal, Indian-English businessman
    • 1951 – Jane Amsterdam, American magazine and newspaper editor (Manhattan, inc., New York Post)
    • 1951 – Vance A. Larson, American painter (d. 2000)
    • 1951 – John Redwood, English politician, Secretary of State for Wales
    • 1951 – Steve Walsh, American rock singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1952 – Satya Pal Jain, Indian lawyer and politician, Additional Solicitor General of India
    • 1953 – Vilma Bardauskienė, Lithuanian long jumper
    • 1953 – Marc Brickman, American lighting and production designer
    • 1953 – Eje Elgh, Swedish racing driver and sportscaster
    • 1953 – Xi Jinping, Chinese engineer and politician, General Secretary of the Communist Party and President of China
    • 1953 – Raphael Wallfisch, English cellist and educator
    • 1954 – Jim Belushi, American actor
    • 1954 – Terri Gibbs, American country music singer and keyboard player
    • 1954 – Paul Rusesabagina, Rwandan humanitarian
    • 1954 – Zdeňka Šilhavá, Czech discus thrower and shot putter
    • 1954 – Beverley Whitfield, Australian swimmer (d. 1996)
    • 1955 – Polly Draper, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1955 – Julie Hagerty, American model and actress
    • 1956 – Yevgeny Kiselyov, Russian-Ukrainian journalist
    • 1956 – Lance Parrish, American baseball player, coach, and manager
    • 1958 – Wade Boggs, American baseball player
    • 1958 – Riccardo Paletti, Italian racing driver (d. 1982)
    • 1959 – Alan Brazil, Scottish footballer and sportscaster
    • 1959 – Eileen Davidson, American model and actress
    • 1960 – Michèle Laroque, French actress, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1960 – Marieke van Doorn, Dutch field hockey player and coach
    • 1961 – Dave McAuley, Irish boxer and sportscaster
    • 1961 – Scott Norton, American wrestler
    • 1962 – Brad Armstrong, American wrestler (d. 2012)
    • 1962 – Chris Morris, English actor, satirist, director, and producer
    • 1962 – Andrea Rost, Hungarian soprano
    • 1963 – Marina Azyabina, Russian hurdler
    • 1963 – Mario Gosselin, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
    • 1963 – Helen Hunt, American actress, director, and producer
    • 1964 – Courteney Cox, American actress and producer
    • 1964 – Michael Laudrup, Danish footballer and manager
    • 1965 – Annelies Bredael, Belgian rower
    • 1965 – Karim Massimov, Kazakhstani politician, 7th Prime Minister of Kazakhstan
    • 1965 – Adam Smith, American lawyer and politician
    • 1966 – Raimonds Vējonis, Latvian politician, 9th President of Latvia
    • 1968 – Károly Güttler, Hungarian swimmer
    • 1969 – Jesse Bélanger, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1969 – Ice Cube, American rapper, producer, and actor
    • 1969 – Idalis DeLeón, American singer and actress
    • 1969 – Nasos Galakteros, Greek basketball player
    • 1969 – Oliver Kahn, German footballer and sportscaster
    • 1969 – Maurice Odumbe, Kenyan cricketer
    • 1969 – Cédric Pioline, French tennis player
    • 1970 – Christian Bauman, American soldier and author
    • 1970 – David Bayssari, Australian rugby league player
    • 1970 – Gaëlle Méchaly, French soprano
    • 1970 – Leah Remini, American actress and producer
    • 1970 – Žan Tabak, Croatian basketball player and coach
    • 1971 – Christos Myriounis, Greek basketball player
    • 1971 – Jake Busey, American actor, musician, and film producer
    • 1972 – Justin Leonard, American golfer
    • 1972 – Andy Pettitte, American baseball player
    • 1973 – Tore Andre Flo, Norwegian footballer and coach
    • 1973 – Neil Patrick Harris, American actor and singer
    • 1973 – Pia Miranda, Australian actress
    • 1976 – Jiří Ryba, Czech decathlete
    • 1977 – Michael Doleac, American basketball player and manager
    • 1978 – Wilfred Bouma, Dutch footballer
    • 1978 – Zach Day, American baseball player
    • 1979 – Yulia Nestsiarenka, Belarusian sprinter
    • 1979 – Christian Rahn, German footballer
    • 1979 – Charles Zwolsman, Jr., Dutch racing driver
    • 1980 – David Lyons, Australian rugby player
    • 1981 – John Paintsil, Ghanaian footballer
    • 1982 – Mike Delany, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1982 – Abdur Razzak, Bangladeshi cricketer
    • 1983 – Julia Fischer, German violinist and pianist[citation needed]
    • 1983 – Laura Imbruglia, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist[citation needed]
    • 1983 – Josh McGuire, Canadian fencer
    • 1984 – Luke Hodge, Australian footballer
    • 1984 – Eva Hrdinová, Czech tennis player
    • 1984 – Tim Lincecum, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Edison Toloza, Colombian footballer
    • 1985 – Ashley Nicole Black, American comedian, actress, and writer
    • 1986 – James Maloney, Australian rugby league player
    • 1986 – Trevor Plouffe, American baseball player
    • 1989 – Víctor Cabedo, Spanish cyclist (d. 2012)
    • 1989 – Bryan Clauson, American race car driver (d. 2016)
    • 1992 – Michał Kopczyński, Polish footballer
    • 1992 – Mohamed Salah, Egyptian footballer
    • 1992 – Dafne Schippers, Dutch heptathlete and sprinter
    • 1993 – Irfan Hadžić, Bosnian footballer
    • 1994 – Inaki Williams, Basque footballer
    • 1997 – Madison Kocian, American gymnast

    Deaths on June 15

    • 923 – Robert I of France (b. 866)
    • 948 – Romanos I Lekapenos, Byzantine Emperor (b. c. 870)
    • 952 – Murong Yanchao, Chinese general
    • 960 – Eadburh of Winchester, English princess and saint
    • 970 – Adalbert, bishop of Passau
    • 991 – Theophanu, Byzantine wife of Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 960)
    • 1073 – Emperor Go-Sanjō of Japan (b. 1034)
    • 1184 – Magnus Erlingsson, King of Norway (b. 1156)
    • 1189 – Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Japanese general (b. 1159)
    • 1246 – Frederick II, Duke of Austria (b. 1219)
    • 1337 – Angelo da Clareno, Italian Franciscan and leader of a group of Fraticelli (b. 1247)
    • 1341 – Andronikos III Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1297)
    • 1381 – John Cavendish, English lawyer and judge (b. 1346)
    • 1381 – Wat Tyler, English rebel leader (b. 1341)
    • 1383 – John VI Kantakouzenos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1292)
    • 1383 – Matthew Kantakouzenos, Byzantine emperor
    • 1389 – Lazar of Serbia (b. 1329)
    • 1389 – Murad I, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1319)
    • 1389 – Miloš Obilić, Serbian knight.
    • 1416 – John, Duke of Berry (b. 1340)
    • 1467 – Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1396)
    • 1521 – Tamás Bakócz, Hungarian cardinal (b. 1442)
    • 1614 – Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton, English courtier and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1540)
    • 1724 – Henry Sacheverell, English minister and politician (b. 1674)
    • 1768 – James Short, Scottish mathematician and optician (b. 1710)
    • 1772 – Louis-Claude Daquin, French organist and composer (b. 1694)
    • 1844 – Thomas Campbell, Scottish poet and academic (b. 1777)
    • 1849 – James K. Polk, American lawyer and politician, 11th President of the United States (b. 1795)
    • 1858 – Ary Scheffer, Dutch-French painter and academic (b. 1795)
    • 1888 – Frederick III, German Emperor (b. 1831)
    • 1889 – Mihai Eminescu, Romanian journalist, author, and poet (b. 1850)
    • 1890 – Unryū Kyūkichi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 10th Yokozuna (b. 1822)
    • 1917 – Kristian Birkeland, Norwegian physicist and academic (b. 1867)
    • 1934 – Alfred Bruneau, French cellist and composer (b. 1857)
    • 1938 – Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German painter and illustrator (b. 1880)
    • 1941 – Otfrid Foerster, German neurologist and physician (b. 1873)
    • 1941 – Evelyn Underhill, English mystic and author (b. 1875)
    • 1945 – Count Albert von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein, Austrian diplomat
    • 1961 – Giulio Cabianca, Italian racing driver (b. 1923)
    • 1961 – Peyami Safa, Turkish journalist and author (b. 1899)
    • 1962 – Alfred Cortot, Swiss pianist and conductor (b. 1877)
    • 1967 – Tatu Kolehmainen, Finnish runner (b. 1885)
    • 1968 – Sam Crawford, American baseball player, coach, and umpire (b. 1880)
    • 1968 – Wes Montgomery, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1925)
    • 1971 – Wendell Meredith Stanley, American biochemist and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
    • 1976 – Jimmy Dykes, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1896)
    • 1984 – Meredith Willson, American playwright, composer, and conductor (b. 1902)
    • 1985 – Andy Stanfield, American sprinter (b. 1927)
    • 1989 – Maurice Bellemare, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1912)
    • 1989 – Ray McAnally, Irish actor (b. 1926)
    • 1991 – Happy Chandler, American businessman and politician, 49th Governor of Kentucky (b. 1898)
    • 1991 – Arthur Lewis, Saint Lucian economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
    • 1992 – Chuck Menville, American animator, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1940)
    • 1992 – Brett Whiteley, Australian painter (b. 1939)
    • 1993 – John Connally, American commander, lawyer, and politician, 61st United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1917)
    • 1993 – James Hunt, English racing driver and sportscaster (b. 1947)
    • 1994 – Manos Hatzidakis, Greek composer and theorist (b. 1925)
    • 1995 – John Vincent Atanasoff, American physicist and inventor, invented the Atanasoff–Berry computer (b. 1903)
    • 1996 – Ella Fitzgerald, American singer and actress (b. 1917)
    • 1996 – Sir Fitzroy Maclean, 1st Baronet, Scottish general and politician (b. 1911)
    • 1996 – Dick Murdoch, American wrestler (b. 1946)
    • 1999 – Omer Côté, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1906)
    • 2000 – Jules Roy, French author, poet, and playwright (b. 1907)
    • 2001 – Henri Alekan, French cinematographer (b. 1909)
    • 2002 – Choi Hong Hi, South Korean general and martial artist, founded Taekwondo (b. 1918)
    • 2003 – Hume Cronyn, Canadian-American actor (b. 1911)
    • 2004 – Ahmet Piriştina, Turkish politician and mayor of İzmir (b. 1952)
    • 2005 – Suzanne Flon, French actress (b. 1918)
    • 2006 – Raymond Devos, Belgian-French comedian and clown (b. 1922)
    • 2006 – Herb Pearson, New Zealand cricketer (b. 1910)
    • 2008 – Ray Getliffe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1914)
    • 2011 – Bill Haast, American herpetologist and academic (b. 1910)
    • 2012 – Phillip D. Cagan, American economist and author (b. 1927)
    • 2012 – Capitola Dickerson, American pianist and educator (b. 1913)
    • 2012 – Barry MacKay, American tennis player and sportscaster (b. 1935)
    • 2012 – Israel Nogueda Otero, Mexican economist and politician, 10th Governor of Guerrero (b. 1935)
    • 2012 – Jerry Tubbs, American football player and coach (b. 1935)
    • 2013 – Heinz Flohe, German footballer and manager (b. 1948)
    • 2013 – José Froilán González, Argentinian racing driver (b. 1922)
    • 2013 – Dennis O’Rourke, Australian director and producer (b. 1945)
    • 2013 – Kenneth G. Wilson, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1936)
    • 2014 – Jacques Bergerac, French actor and businessman (b. 1927)
    • 2014 – Casey Kasem, American radio host, producer, and voice actor, co-created American Top 40 (b. 1932)
    • 2014 – Daniel Keyes, American short story writer and novelist (b. 1927)
    • 2014 – Moise Safra, Brazilian businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Banco Safra (b. 1934)
    • 2015 – Kirk Kerkorian, American businessman, founded the Tracinda Corporation (b. 1917)
    • 2016 – Lois Duncan, American author (b. 1934)
    • 2018 – Matt “Guitar” Murphy, American Blues guitarist (The Blues Brothers) (b. 1929)
    • 2019 – Franco Zeffirelli, Italian film director (b. 1923)

    Holidays and observances on June 15

    • Arbor Day (Costa Rica)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Abraham of Clermont (or of St Cyriacus)
      • Alice (or Adelaide) of Schaerbeek
      • Augustine of Hippo (Eastern Orthodox Church)
      • Blessed Albertina Berkenbrock
      • Blessed Clement Vismara
      • Edburga of Winchester
      • Evelyn Underhill (Church of England and The Episcopal Church)
      • Germaine Cousin
      • Landelin (of Crespin or of Lobbes)
      • Trillo
      • Vitus (Guy), Modestus and Crescentia
      • June 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Day of Valdemar and Reunion Day (Flag Day) (Denmark)
    • Earliest day on which Father’s Day can fall, while June 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Sunday in June. (United States, and most other countries.)
    • Engineer’s Day (Italy)
    • Global Wind Day (international)
    • National Beer Day (United Kingdom)
    • National Salvation Day (Azerbaijan)
  • |

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

    • 313 – The decisions of the Edict of Milan, signed by Constantine the Great and co-emperor Valerius Licinius, granting religious freedom throughout the Roman Empire, are published in Nicomedia.
    • 1381 – In England, the Peasants’ Revolt, led by Wat Tyler, comes to a head, as rebels set fire to the Savoy Palace.
    • 1514 – Henry Grace à Dieu, at over 1,000 tons the largest warship in the world at this time, built at the new Woolwich Dockyard in England, is dedicated.
    • 1525 – Martin Luther marries Katharina von Bora, against the celibacy rule decreed by the Roman Catholic Church for priests and nuns.
    • 1625 – King Charles I of England marries Catholic princess Henrietta Maria of France and Navarre, at Canterbury.
    • 1740 – Georgia provincial governor James Oglethorpe begins an unsuccessful attempt to take Spanish Florida during the Siege of St. Augustine.
    • 1774 – Rhode Island becomes the first of Britain’s North American colonies to ban the importation of slaves.
    • 1777 – American Revolutionary War: Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette lands near Charleston, South Carolina, in order to help the Continental Congress to train its army.
    • 1805 – Lewis and Clark Expedition: Scouting ahead of the expedition, Meriwether Lewis and four companions sight the Great Falls of the Missouri River.
    • 1881 – The USS Jeannette is crushed in an Arctic Ocean ice pack.
    • 1886 – A fire devastates much of Vancouver, British Columbia.
    • 1893 – Grover Cleveland notices a rough spot in his mouth and on July 1 undergoes secret, successful surgery to remove a large, cancerous portion of his jaw; the operation was not revealed to the public until 1917, nine years after the president’s death.
    • 1898 – Yukon Territory is formed, with Dawson chosen as its capital.
    • 1917 – World War I: The deadliest German air raid on London of the war is carried out by Gotha G.IV bombers and results in 162 deaths, including 46 children, and 432 injuries.
    • 1927 – Aviator Charles Lindbergh receives a ticker tape parade down 5th Avenue in New York City.
    • 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Villers-Bocage: German tank ace Michael Wittmann ambushes elements of the British 7th Armoured Division, destroying up to fourteen tanks, fifteen personnel carriers and two anti-tank guns in a Tiger I tank.
    • 1944 – World War II: German combat elements, reinforced by the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division, launch a counterattack on American forces near Carentan.
    • 1944 – World War II: Germany launches the first V1 Flying Bomb attack on England. Only four of the eleven bombs strike their targets.
    • 1952 – Catalina affair: A Swedish Douglas DC-3 is shot down by a Soviet MiG-15 fighter.
    • 1966 – The United States Supreme Court rules in Miranda v. Arizona that the police must inform suspects of their rights before questioning them.
    • 1967 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson nominates Solicitor-General Thurgood Marshall to become the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
    • 1971 – Vietnam War: The New York Times begins publication of the Pentagon Papers.
    • 1977 – Convicted Martin Luther King Jr. assassin James Earl Ray is recaptured after escaping from prison three days before.
    • 1981 – At the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London, a teenager, Marcus Sarjeant, fires six blank shots at Queen Elizabeth II.
    • 1982 – Fahd becomes King of Saudi Arabia upon the death of his brother, Khalid.
    • 1982 – Battles of Tumbledown and Wireless Ridge, during the Falklands War.
    • 1983 – Pioneer 10 becomes the first man-made object to leave the central Solar System when it passes beyond the orbit of Neptune.
    • 1990 – First day of the June 1990 Mineriad in Romania. At least 240 strikers and students are arrested or killed in the chaos ensuing from the first post-Ceaușescu elections.
    • 1994 – A jury in Anchorage, Alaska, blames recklessness by Exxon and Captain Joseph Hazelwood for the Exxon Valdez disaster, allowing victims of the oil spill to seek $15 billion in damages.
    • 1996 – The Montana Freemen surrender after an 81-day standoff with FBI agents.
    • 1997 – A jury sentences Timothy McVeigh to death for his part in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
    • 2000 – President Kim Dae-jung of South Korea meets Kim Jong-il, leader of North Korea, for the beginning of the first ever inter-Korea summit, in the northern capital of Pyongyang.
    • 2000 – Italy pardons Mehmet Ali Ağca, the Turkish gunman who tried to kill Pope John Paul II in 1981.
    • 2002 – The United States withdraws from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
    • 2007 – The Al Askari Mosque is bombed for a second time.
    • 2010 – A capsule of the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa, containing particles of the asteroid 25143 Itokawa, returns to Earth.
    • 2012 – A series of bombings across Iraq, including Baghdad, Hillah and Kirkuk, kills at least 93 people and wounds over 300 others.
    • 2015 – A man opens fire at policemen outside the police headquarters in Dallas, Texas, while a bag containing a pipe bomb is also found. He was later shot dead by police.

    Births on June 13

    • AD 40 – Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Roman general (d. 93)
    • 823 – Charles the Bald, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 877)
    • 839 – Charles the Fat, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 888)
    • 1367 – Taejong of Joseon (d. 1422)
    • 1500 – Ernest of Bavaria, pledge lord of the County of Glatz (d. 1560)
    • 1508 – Alessandro Piccolomini, Italian astronomer and philosopher (d. 1579)
    • 1539 – Jost Amman, Swiss printmaker (d. 1591)
    • 1555 – Giovanni Antonio Magini, Italian mathematician, cartographer and astronomer (d. 1617)
    • 1580 – Willebrord Snell, Dutch astronomer and mathematician (d. 1626)
    • 1595 – Jan Marek Marci, Czech physician and scientist (d. 1667)
    • 1617 – Sir Vincent Corbet, 1st Baronet, English politician (d. 1656)
    • 1649 – Adrien Baillet, French scholar and critic (d. 1706)
    • 1711 – Sir Richard Glyn, 1st Baronet, of Ewell, English banker and politician, Lord Mayor of London (d. 1773)
    • 1752 – Frances Burney, English novelist and playwright (d. 1840)
    • 1761 – Antonín Vranický, Czech violinist and composer (d. 1820)
    • 1763 – José Bonifácio de Andrada, Brazilian poet, academic, and politician (d. 1838)
    • 1773 – Thomas Young, English physicist and physiologist (d. 1829)
    • 1775 – Antoni Radziwiłł, Polish-Lithuanian composer and politician (d. 1833)
    • 1786 – Winfield Scott, American general (d. 1866)
    • 1790 – José Antonio Páez, Venezuelan general and politician, President of Venezuela (d. 1873)
    • 1809 – Heinrich Hoffmann, German psychiatrist and author (d. 1894)
    • 1822 – Carl Schmidt, Latvian-German chemist and academic (d. 1894)
    • 1827 – Alberto Henschel, German-Brazilian photographer and businessman (d. 1882)
    • 1831 – James Clerk Maxwell, Scottish physicist and mathematician (d. 1879)
    • 1840 – Augusta Lundin, the first international Swedish fashion designer (d. 1919)
    • 1854 – Charles Algernon Parsons, English engineer, founded C. A. Parsons and Company (d. 1931)
    • 1863 – Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, English fashion designer (d. 1935)
    • 1864 – Rudolf Kjellén, Swedish political scientist and academic (d. 1922)
    • 1864 – Dwight B. Waldo, American historian and academic (d. 1939)
    • 1865 – Karl Blossfeldt, German photographer (d. 1932)
    • 1865 – W. B. Yeats, Irish poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1939)
    • 1868 – Wallace Clement Sabine, American physicist and academic (d. 1919)
    • 1870 – Jules Bordet, Belgian immunologist and microbiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1961)
    • 1872 – Thomas N. Heffron, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1951)
    • 1873 – Karin Swanström, Swedish actress, director, and producer (d. 1942)
    • 1875 – Paul Neumann, Austrian swimmer and physician (d. 1932)
    • 1876 – William Sealy Gosset, English chemist and statistician (d. 1937)
    • 1879 – Heinrich Gutkin, Estonian businessman and politician (d. 1941)
    • 1879 – Charalambos Tseroulis, Greek general and politician, Greek Minister for Military Affairs (d. 1929)
    • 1884 – Leon Chwistek, Polish painter, philosopher, and mathematician (d. 1944)
    • 1884 – Étienne Gilson, French philosopher and academic (d. 1978)
    • 1885 – Henry George Lamond, Australian farmer and author (d. 1969)
    • 1887 – André François-Poncet, French politician and diplomat (d. 1978)
    • 1887 – Bruno Frank, German-American author, poet, and playwright (d. 1945)
    • 1888 – Fernando Pessoa, Portuguese poet and critic (d. 1935)
    • 1892 – Basil Rathbone, South African-born British-American actor (d. 1967)
    • 1893 – Alan Arnold Griffith, English engineer (d. 1963)
    • 1893 – Dorothy L. Sayers, English author and poet (d. 1957)
    • 1894 – Leo Kanner, Ukrainian-American psychiatrist and physician (d. 1981)
    • 1894 – Jacques Henri Lartigue, French photographer and painter (d. 1986)
    • 1897 – Paavo Nurmi, Finnish runner and coach (d. 1973)
    • 1899 – Carlos Chávez, Mexican composer, conductor, and journalist, founded the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra (d. 1978)
    • 1901 – Tage Erlander, Swedish lieutenant and politician, 25th Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1985)
    • 1902 – Carolyn Eisele, American mathematician and historian (d. 2000)
    • 1903 – Willard Harrison Bennett, American physicist and chemist (d. 1987)
    • 1905 – James T. Rutnam, Sri Lankan historian and author (d. 1988)
    • 1906 – Bruno de Finetti, Austrian-Italian mathematician and statistician (d. 1985)
    • 1909 – E. M. S. Namboodiripad, Indian theorist and politician, 1st Chief Minister of Kerala (d. 1998)
    • 1910 – Gonzalo Torrente Ballester, Spanish journalist, author, and playwright (d. 1999)
    • 1910 – Mary Wickes, American actress (d. 1995)
    • 1910 – Mary Whitehouse, English activist, founded the National Viewers’ and Listeners’ Association (d. 2001)
    • 1911 – Luis Walter Alvarez, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
    • 1911 – Maurice Copeland, American actor (d. 1985)
    • 1911 – Erwin Wilhelm Müller, German physicist and academic (d. 1977)
    • 1912 – Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau, Canadian poet and painter (d. 1943)
    • 1913 – Ralph Edwards, American radio and television host (d. 2005)
    • 1913 – Yitzhak Pundak, Israeli general, diplomat and politician (d. 2017)
    • 1914 – Frederic Franklin, English-American ballet dancer and director (d. 2013)
    • 1915 – Don Budge, American tennis player and coach (d. 2000)
    • 1916 – Wu Zhengyi, Chinese botanist and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1917 – Teddy Turner, English actor (d. 1992)
    • 1917 – Augusto Roa Bastos, Paraguayan novelist (d. 2005)
    • 1918 – Ben Johnson, American actor and stuntman (d. 1996)
    • 1918 – Helmut Lent, German soldier and pilot (d. 1944)
    • 1918 – Percy Rodriguez, Canadian-American actor (d. 2007)
    • 1920 – Rolf Huisgen, German chemist and academic (d. 2020)
    • 1920 – Iosif Vorovich, Russian mathematician and engineer (d. 2001)
    • 1921 – Lennart Strand, Swedish runner (d. 2004)
    • 1922 – Etienne Leroux, South African author (d. 1989)
    • 1923 – Lloyd Conover, American chemist and inventor (d. 2017)
    • 1925 – Kristine Miller, American actress (d. 2015)
    • 1926 – Jérôme Lejeune, French pediatrician and geneticist (d. 1994)
    • 1926 – Paul Lynde, American actor and comedian (d. 1982)
    • 1927 – Slim Dusty, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2003)
    • 1928 – Giacomo Biffi, Italian cardinal (d. 2015)
    • 1928 – Renée Morisset, Canadian pianist (d. 2009)
    • 1928 – John Forbes Nash, Jr., American mathematician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
    • 1929 – Ralph McQuarrie, American illustrator (d. 2012)
    • 1929 – Robert W. Scott, American farmer and politician, 67th Governor of North Carolina (d. 2009)
    • 1930 – Gotthard Graubner, German painter and educator (d. 2013)
    • 1930 – Ryszard Kukliński, Polish colonel and spy (d. 2004)
    • 1930 – Paul Veyne, French archaeologist, historian, and academic
    • 1931 – Nora Kovach, Hungarian-American ballerina (d. 2009)
    • 1931 – Reed Scowen, Canadian politician
    • 1931 – Irvin D. Yalom, American psychotherapist and academic
    • 1932 – Raymond Jolliffe, 5th Baron Hylton, English politician
    • 1932 – Bob McGrath, American singer and actor
    • 1932 – Billy Williams, American baseball player and coach (d. 2013)
    • 1933 – Tom King, Baron King of Bridgwater, English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for Defence
    • 1933 – Norman Lloyd-Edwards, Welsh lawyer and politician, Lord Lieutenant of South Glamorgan
    • 1934 – Bill Blakeley, American basketball player and coach (d. 2010)
    • 1934 – Lucjan Brychczy, Polish footballer and coach
    • 1934 – Manuel Clouthier, Mexican businessman and politician (d. 1989)
    • 1934 – James Anthony Griffin, American bishop
    • 1934 – Uriel Jones, American drummer (d. 2009)
    • 1934 – Leonard Kleinrock, American computer scientist and engineer
    • 1935 – Christo, Bulgarian-French sculptor and painter
    • 1935 – Jeanne-Claude, Moroccan sculptor and painter (d. 2009)
    • 1935 – Samak Sundaravej, Thai politician, 25th Prime Minister of Thailand (d. 2009)
    • 1937 – Eleanor Holmes Norton, American lawyer and politician
    • 1937 – Erich Ribbeck, German footballer and manager
    • 1937 – Andreas Whittam Smith, English journalist and publisher, co-founded The Independent
    • 1940 – Bobby Freeman, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (d. 2017)
    • 1940 – Dallas Long, American shot putter and physician
    • 1941 – Marcel Lachemann, American baseball player, coach, and manager
    • 1941 – Serge Lemoyne, Canadian painter (d. 1998)
    • 1941 – Marv Tarplin, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2011)
    • 1942 – Yiannis Boutaris, Greek businessman and politician, Mayor of Thessaloniki
    • 1943 – Harry Collins, English sociologist, author, and academic
    • 1943 – Malcolm McDowell, English actor and producer
    • 1943 – Jim Guy Tucker, American lawyer and politician, 43rd Governor of Arkansas
    • 1944 – Christine Beasley, English nursing administrator
    • 1944 – David Curry, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
    • 1944 – Ban Ki-moon, South Korean politician and diplomat, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations
    • 1945 – Whitley Strieber, American author
    • 1946 – Sher Bahadur Deuba, Nepalese politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Nepal
    • 1946 – Paul L. Modrich, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1946 – Gabriel of Komana, Belgian-Dutch archbishop (d. 2013)
    • 1948 – Garnet Bailey, Canadian-American ice hockey player and scout (d. 2001)
    • 1948 – Joe Roth, American director and producer, co-founded Morgan Creek Productions
    • 1949 – Ann Druyan, American popular science writer
    • 1949 – Dennis Locorriere, American singer and musician
    • 1949 – Ulla Schmidt, German educator and politician, German Federal Minister of Health
    • 1949 – Red Symons, English-Australian musician, television, and radio personality
    • 1950 – Nick Brown, English politician, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
    • 1950 – Gerd Zewe, German footballer and manager
    • 1951 – Howard Leese, American guitarist and producer
    • 1951 – Richard Thomas, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1951 – Stellan Skarsgård, Swedish actor
    • 1952 – Jean-Marie Dedecker, Belgian martial artist and politician
    • 1953 – Tim Allen, American actor, comedian, and producer
    • 1954 – Andrzej Lepper, Polish politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland (d. 2011)
    • 1954 – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigerian economist and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Nigeria
    • 1955 – Alan Hansen, Scottish footballer and sportscaster
    • 1955 – Leah Ward Sears, German-American lawyer and jurist
    • 1956 – Blair Chapman, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1956 – Sal Paolantonio, American lieutenant and journalist
    • 1957 – Ron Areshenkoff, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1957 – Roy Cooper, American lawyer and politician, 75th Governor of North Carolina
    • 1957 – Bruce Flowers, American basketball player
    • 1957 – Andrzej Morozowski, Polish journalist and author
    • 1957 – Dicky Thompson, American golfer
    • 1959 – Boyko Borissov, Bulgarian footballer and politician, 50th Prime Minister of Bulgaria
    • 1959 – Maurice G. Dantec, French-born Canadian science fiction writer (d. 2016)
    • 1959 – Steve Georganas, Australian politician
    • 1959 – Klaus Iohannis, Romanian educator and politician, 5th President of Romania
    • 1960 – Jacques Rougeau, Canadian wrestler
    • 1961 – Anders Järryd, Swedish tennis player
    • 1962 – Davey Hamilton, American race car driver
    • 1962 – Glenn Michibata, Canadian-American tennis player and coach
    • 1962 – Ally Sheedy, American actress and author
    • 1962 – Hannah Storm, American journalist and author
    • 1963 – Bettina Bunge, Swiss-German tennis player
    • 1963 – Sarah Connolly, English soprano and actress
    • 1963 – Audrey Niffenegger, American author and academic
    • 1964 – Christian Wilhelm Berger, Romanian organist, composer, and educator
    • 1964 – Kathy Burke, English actress, director, and playwright
    • 1964 – Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways, Government of India, Politician
    • 1964 – Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Lithuanian basketball player
    • 1965 – Infanta Cristina Federica of Spain
    • 1965 – Vassilis Karapialis, Greek footballer
    • 1965 – Lukas Ligeti, Austrian-American drummer and composer
    • 1965 – Maninder Singh, Indian cricketer
    • 1966 – Henry Bond, English photographer and curator
    • 1966 – Grigori Perelman, Russian mathematician
    • 1966 – Naoki Hattori, Japanese race car driver
    • 1967 – Taşkın Aksoy, German-Turkish footballer and manager
    • 1968 – Fabio Baldato, Italian cyclist
    • 1968 – Peter DeBoer, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1968 – Darren Dreger, Canadian sportscaster
    • 1968 – David Gray, English-Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1968 – Tim Leveque, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1968 – Denise Pearson, English singer-songwriter
    • 1968 – Marcel Theroux, Ugandan-English journalist and author
    • 1969 – Cayetana Guillén Cuervo, Spanish actress, director, and screenwriter
    • 1969 – Virginie Despentes, French author, screenwriter, and director
    • 1969 – Laura Kightlinger, American actress, comedian, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1969 – Svetlana Krivelyova, Russian shot putter
    • 1969 – Søren Rasted, Danish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1970 – Rivers Cuomo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1970 – Chris Cairns, New Zealand cricketer
    • 1971 – Nóra Köves, Hungarian tennis player
    • 1972 – Natalie MacMaster, Canadian fiddler
    • 1972 – Marek Jerzy Minakowski, Polish philosopher, historian, genealogist
    • 1973 – Sam Adams, American football player
    • 1973 – Tanner Foust, American race car driver and television host
    • 1973 – Mattias Hellberg, Swedish singer-songwriter
    • 1973 – Stuart Karppinen, Australian cricketer and coach
    • 1973 – Ville Laihiala, Finnish singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1974 – Valeri Bure, Russian-American ice hockey player
    • 1975 – Ante Covic, Australian footballer
    • 1975 – Jeff Davis, American screenwriter and producer
    • 1975 – Jennifer Nicole Lee, American model, actress, and author
    • 1975 – Jaan Pehk, Estonian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1975 – Riccardo Scimeca, English footballer
    • 1976 – Kym Marsh, English singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1977 – Romain Mesnil, French pole vaulter
    • 1977 – Earthwind Moreland, American football player
    • 1978 – Ethan Embry, American actor
    • 1979 – Esther Anderson, Australian actress
    • 1979 – Nila Håkedal, Norwegian volleyball player
    • 1979 – Miguel Pate, American long jumper
    • 1979 – Ryan Pickett, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1980 – Florent Malouda, French footballer
    • 1980 – Diego Mendieta, Paraguayan footballer (d. 2012)
    • 1980 – Jamario Moon, American basketball player
    • 1980 – Juan Carlos Navarro, Spanish basketball player
    • 1980 – Darius Vassell, English footballer
    • 1980 – Markus Winkelhock, German racing driver
    • 1981 – Chris Evans, American actor and producer
    • 1981 – Blake Judd, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1981 – David Madden, founder and executive director of the National History Bee and the National History Bowl
    • 1981 – Radim Vrbata, Czech ice hockey player
    • 1982 – Kenenisa Bekele, Ethiopian runner
    • 1982 – Krzysztof Bosak, Polish politician
    • 1982 – Nate Jones, American football player
    • 1983 – Steve Novak, American basketball player
    • 1983 – Jason Spezza, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1983 – Rachel Taylor, Welsh rugby union player
    • 1984 – Nery Castillo, Mexican-Uruguayan footballer
    • 1984 – Kaori Icho, Japanese wrestler
    • 1984 – Antje Möldner-Schmidt, German runner
    • 1985 – Filipe Albuquerque, Portuguese racing driver
    • 1985 – Silvio Bankert, German footballer
    • 1985 – Pedro Strop, Dominican baseball player
    • 1985 – Danny Syvret, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1986 – Kat Dennings, American actress and comedian
    • 1986 – Keisuke Honda, Japanese footballer
    • 1986 – Jonathan Lucroy, American baseball catcher
    • 1986 – Ashley Olsen, American child actress, fashion designer, and businesswoman
    • 1986 – Mary-Kate Olsen, American child actress, fashion designer, and businesswoman
    • 1986 – DJ Snake, French DJ and record producer
    • 1986 – Lea Verou, Greek computer scientist and author
    • 1986 – Måns Zelmerlöw, Swedish singer
    • 1987 – Marko Grgić, Croatian footballer
    • 1988 – Gabe Carimi, American football player
    • 1988 – Reece Noi, British actor
    • 1988 – Cody Walker, American actor
    • 1989 – Ben Barba, Australian rugby league player
    • 1989 – James Calado, English racing driver
    • 1989 – Ryan McDonagh, American ice hockey defenseman
    • 1989 – Daniel Mortimer, Australian rugby league player
    • 1989 – Andreas Samaris, Greek footballer
    • 1989 – Tommy Searle, English motocross racer
    • 1989 – Hassan Whiteside, American basketball player
    • 1989 – Erica Wiebe, Canadian wrestler
    • 1990 – James McCann, American baseball player
    • 1990 – Nicole Riner, Swiss tennis player
    • 1990 – Aaron Taylor-Johnson, English actor
    • 1991 – Will Claye, American jumper
    • 1991 – Ryan Mason, English footballer
    • 1992 – Semi Radradra, Fijian rugby league player
    • 1993 – Simona Senoner, Italian ski jumper (d. 2011)
    • 1993 – Denis Ten, Kazakhstani figure skater (d. 2018)
    • 1994 – Deepika Kumari, Indian archer
    • 1995 – Emily Fanning, New Zealand tennis player
    • 1995 – Laura Ucrós, Colombian tennis player
    • 2000 – Penny Oleksiak, Canadian swimmer

    Deaths on June 13

    • 220 – Xiahou Dun, Chinese general
    • 976 – Mansur I, Samanid emir
    • 995 – Fujiwara no Michikane, Japanese nobleman (b. 961)
    • 1036 – Ali az-Zahir, Fatimid caliph (b. 1005)
    • 1231 – Anthony of Padua, Portuguese priest and saint (b. 1195)
    • 1256 – Tankei, Japanese sculptor (b. 1173)
    • 1348 – Juan Manuel, Spanish prince (b. 1282)
    • 1432 – Uko Fockena, Frisian chieftain (b. c. 1408)
    • 1550 – Veronica Gambara, Italian poet (b. 1485)
    • 1636 – George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly, Scottish politician (b. 1562)
    • 1645 – Miyamoto Musashi, Japanese samurai (b. 1584)
    • 1661 – Henry Carey, 2nd Earl of Monmouth, English politician (b. 1595)
    • 1665 – Egbert Bartholomeusz Kortenaer, Dutch admiral (b. 1604)
    • 1784 – Henry Middleton, American farmer and politician, 2nd President of the Continental Congress (b. 1717)
    • 1846 – Jean-Baptiste Benoît Eyriès, French geographer and author (b. 1767)
    • 1861 – Henry Gray, English anatomist and surgeon (b. 1827)
    • 1881 – Joseph Škoda, Czech physician and dermatologist (b. 1805)
    • 1886 – Ludwig II, king of Bavaria (b. 1845)
    • 1894 – John Cox Bray, Australian politician, 15th Premier of South Australia (b. 1842)
    • 1898 – Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau, Canadian lawyer and politician, 5th Premier of Quebec (b. 1840)
    • 1904 – Nikiforos Lytras, Greek painter and educator (b. 1832)
    • 1917 – Louis-Philippe Hébert, Canadian sculptor (b. 1850)
    • 1918 – Michael Alexandrovich, Russian Grand Duke (b. 1878)
    • 1930 – Henry Segrave, American-English racing driver (b. 1896)
    • 1931 – Kitasato Shibasaburō, Japanese physician and bacteriologist (b. 1851)
    • 1939 – Arthur Coningham, Australian cricketer (b. 1863)
    • 1943 – Kočo Racin, Macedonian author and activist (b. 1908)
    • 1948 – Osamu Dazai, Japanese author (b. 1909)
    • 1951 – Ben Chifley, Australian engineer and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1885)
    • 1957 – Irving Baxter, American high jumper and pole vaulter (b. 1876)
    • 1958 – Edwin Keppel Bennett, English poet and academic (b. 1887
    • 1965 – Martin Buber, Austrian-Israeli philosopher and theologian (b. 1878)
    • 1965 – David Drummond, Australian farmer and politician (b. 1890)
    • 1969 – Pralhad Keshav Atre, Indian journalist, director, and producer (b. 1898)
    • 1972 – Georg von Békésy, Hungarian biophysicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
    • 1972 – Stephanie von Hohenlohe, Austrian-German spy (b. 1891)
    • 1979 – Demetrio Stratos, Egyptian-Italian singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1945)
    • 1980 – Walter Rodney, Guyanese historian and activist (b. 1942)
    • 1981 – Olivério Pinto, Brazilian zoologist and physician (b. 1896)
    • 1984 – António Variações, Portuguese singer-songwriter (b. 1944)
    • 1986 – Benny Goodman, American clarinet player, songwriter, and bandleader (b. 1909)
    • 1987 – Geraldine Page, American actress (b. 1924)
    • 1989 – Fran Allison, American television personality and puppeteer (b. 1907)
    • 1993 – Gérard Côté, Canadian runner (b. 1913)
    • 1993 – Deke Slayton, American soldier, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1924)
    • 1994 – Nadia Gray, Romanian-French actress (b. 1923)
    • 1997 – Nguyen Manh Tuong, Vietnamese lawyer and academic (b. 1909)
    • 1998 – Alfred Gerrard, English sculptor and academic (b. 1899)
    • 1998 – Birger Ruud, Norwegian ski jumper (b. 1911)
    • 1998 – Reg Smythe, English cartoonist (b. 1917)
    • 2002 – John Hope, American navigator and meteorologist (b. 1919)
    • 2002 – Maia Wojciechowska, Polish-American author (b. 1927)
    • 2003 – Malik Meraj Khalid, Pakistani lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Pakistan (b. 1916)
    • 2004 – Ralph Wiley, American journalist and author (b. 1952)
    • 2005 – Álvaro Cunhal, Portuguese academic and politician (b. 1913)
    • 2005 – David Diamond, American pianist and composer (b. 1915)
    • 2006 – Charles Haughey, Irish lawyer and politician, 7th Taoiseach of Ireland (b. 1925)
    • 2007 – Walid Eido, Lebanese judge and politician (b. 1942)
    • 2008 – Tim Russert, American journalist and lawyer (b. 1950)
    • 2009 – Fathi Yakan, Lebanese scholar and politician (b. 1933)
    • 2010 – Jimmy Dean, American singer and businessman, founded Jimmy Dean Foods (b. 1928)
    • 2012 – Sam Beddingfield, American pilot and engineer (b. 1933)
    • 2012 – Graeme Bell, Australian pianist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1914)
    • 2012 – Roger Garaudy, French philosopher and author (b. 1913)
    • 2012 – Jože Humer, Slovenian composer and translator (b. 1934)
    • 2012 – Mehdi Hassan, Pakistani ghazal singer and playback singer for Lollywood (b. 1927)
    • 2013 – David Deutsch, American businessman, founded Deutsch Inc. (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Sam Most, American flute player and saxophonist (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Albert White Hat, American educator and activist (b. 1938)
    • 2014 – Mahdi Elmandjra, Moroccan economist and sociologist (b. 1933)
    • 2014 – Gyula Grosics, Hungarian footballer and manager (b. 1926)
    • 2014 – Jim Keays, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1946)
    • 2014 – Chuck Noll, American football player and coach (b. 1932)
    • 2014 – Robert Peters, American poet, playwright, and critic (b. 1924)
    • 2015 – Buddy Boudreaux, American saxophonist and clarinet player (b. 1917)
    • 2015 – Sergio Renán, Argentinian actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1933)
    • 2015 – Mike Shrimpton, New Zealand cricketer and coach (b. 1940)

    Holidays and observances on June 13

    • Christian feast day:
      • Anthony of Padua, Doctor of the Church
      • Aquilina
      • Cetteus (Peregrinus)
      • Felicula
      • G. K. Chesterton (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Gerard of Clairvaux
      • Psalmodius
      • Ragnebert (Rambert)
      • Blessed Thomas Woodhouse
      • Triphyllius
      • June 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Inventors’ Day (Hungary)
    • Suleimaniah City Fallen and Martyrs Day (Iraqi Kurdistan)

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

    • 1411 – King Charles VI granted a monopoly for the ripening of Roquefort cheese to the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon as they had been doing for centuries.
    • 1561 – The steeple of St Paul’s, the medieval cathedral of London, is destroyed in a fire caused by lightning and is never rebuilt.
    • 1615 – Siege of Osaka: Forces under Tokugawa Ieyasu take Osaka Castle in Japan.
    • 1745 – Battle of Hohenfriedberg: Frederick the Great’s Prussian army decisively defeated an Austrian army under Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine during the War of the Austrian Succession.
    • 1760 – Great Upheaval: New England planters arrive to claim land in Nova Scotia, Canada, taken from the Acadians.
    • 1783 – The Montgolfier brothers publicly demonstrate their montgolfière (hot air balloon).
    • 1784 – Élisabeth Thible becomes the first woman to fly in an untethered hot air balloon. Her flight covers four kilometres in 45 minutes, and reached 1,500 metres altitude (estimated).
    • 1792 – Captain George Vancouver claims Puget Sound for the Kingdom of Great Britain.
    • 1802 – King Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia abdicates his throne in favor of his brother, Victor Emmanuel.
    • 1812 – Following Louisiana’s admittance as a U.S. state, the Louisiana Territory is renamed the Missouri Territory.
    • 1825 – General Lafayette, a French officer in the American Revolutionary War, speaks at what would become Lafayette Square, Buffalo, during his visit to the United States.
    • 1855 – Major Henry C. Wayne departs New York aboard the USS Supply to procure camels to establish the U.S. Camel Corps.
    • 1859 – Italian Independence wars: In the Battle of Magenta, the French army, under Louis-Napoleon, defeat the Austrian army.
    • 1862 – American Civil War: Confederate troops evacuate Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River, leaving the way clear for Union troops to take Memphis, Tennessee.
    • 1876 – An express train called the Transcontinental Express arrives in San Francisco, via the First Transcontinental Railroad only 83 hours and 39 minutes after leaving New York City.
    • 1878 – Cyprus Convention: The Ottoman Empire cedes Cyprus to the United Kingdom but retains nominal title.
    • 1896 – Henry Ford completes the Ford Quadricycle, his first gasoline-powered automobile, and gives it a successful test run.
    • 1912 – Massachusetts becomes the first state of the United States to set a minimum wage.
    • 1913 – Emily Davison, a suffragette, runs out in front of King George V’s horse at The Derby. She is trampled, never regains consciousness, and dies four days later.
    • 1916 – World War I: Russia opens the Brusilov Offensive with an artillery barrage of Austro-Hungarian lines in Galicia.
    • 1917 – The first Pulitzer Prizes are awarded: Laura E. Richards, Maude H. Elliott, and Florence Hall receive the first Pulitzer for biography (for Julia Ward Howe). Jean Jules Jusserand receives the first Pulitzer for history for his work With Americans of Past and Present Days. Herbert B. Swope receives the first Pulitzer for journalism for his work for the New York World.
    • 1919 – Women’s rights: The U.S. Congress approves the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees suffrage to women, and sends it to the U.S. states for ratification.
    • 1920 – Hungary loses 71% of its territory and 63% of its population when the Treaty of Trianon is signed in Paris.
    • 1928 – The President of the Republic of China, Zhang Zuolin, is assassinated by Japanese agents.
    • 1932 – Marmaduke Grove and other Chilean military officers lead a coup d’état establishing the short-lived Socialist Republic of Chile.
    • 1939 – The Holocaust: The MS St. Louis, a ship carrying 963 Jewish refugees, is denied permission to land in Florida, in the United States, after already being turned away from Cuba. Forced to return to Europe, more than 200 of its passengers later die in Nazi concentration camps.
    • 1940 – World War II: The Dunkirk evacuation ends: British forces complete evacuation of 338,000 troops from Dunkirk in France. To rally the morale of the country, Winston Churchill delivers, only to the House of Commons, his famous “We shall fight on the beaches” speech.
    • 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Midway begins. The Japanese Admiral Chūichi Nagumo orders a strike on Midway Island by much of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
    • 1943 – A military coup in Argentina ousts Ramón Castillo.
    • 1944 – World War II: A hunter-killer group of the United States Navy captures the German submarine U-505: The first time a U.S. Navy vessel had captured an enemy vessel at sea since the 19th century.
    • 1944 – World War II: The United States Fifth Army captures Rome, although much of the German Fourteenth Army is able to withdraw to the north.
    • 1961 – Cold War: In the Vienna summit, the Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev sparks the Berlin Crisis by threatening to sign a separate peace treaty with East Germany and ending American, British and French access to East Berlin.
    • 1967 – Seventy-two people are killed when a Canadair C-4 Argonaut crashes at Stockport in England.
    • 1970 – Tonga gains independence from the United Kingdom.
    • 1975 – The Governor of California Jerry Brown signs the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act into law, the first law in the U.S. giving farmworkers collective bargaining rights.
    • 1979 – Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings takes power in Ghana after a military coup in which General Fred Akuffo is overthrown.
    • 1983 – Gordon Kahl, who killed two US Marshals in Medina, North Dakota on February 13, is killed in a shootout in Smithville, Arkansas, along with a local sheriff, after a four-month manhunt.
    • 1986 – Jonathan Pollard pleads guilty to espionage for selling top secret United States military intelligence to Israel.
    • 1988 – Three cars on a train carrying hexogen to Kazakhstan explode in Arzamas, Gorky Oblast, USSR, killing 91 and injuring about 1,500.
    • 1989 – Ali Khamenei is elected as the new Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Assembly of Experts after the death and funeral of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
    • 1989 – The Tiananmen Square protests are suppressed in Beijing by the People’s Liberation Army, with between 241 and 1,000 dead (an unofficial estimate).
    • 1989 – Solidarity’s victory in the first (somewhat) free parliamentary elections in post-war Poland sparks off a succession of peaceful anti-communist revolutions in Eastern Europe, leads to the creation of the so-called Contract Sejm and begins the Autumn of Nations.
    • 1989 – Ufa train disaster: A natural gas explosion near Ufa, Russia, kills 575 as two trains passing each other throw sparks near a leaky pipeline.
    • 1996 – The first flight of Ariane 5 explodes after roughly 37 seconds. It was a Cluster mission.
    • 1998 – Terry Nichols is sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
    • 2010 – Falcon 9 Flight 1 is the maiden flight of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 40.

    Births on June 4

    • 1394 – Philippa of England, Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (d. 1430)
    • 1489 – Antoine, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1544)
    • 1563 – George Heriot, Scottish goldsmith (d. 1624)
    • 1604 – Claudia de’ Medici, Italian daughter of Christina of Lorraine (d. 1648)
    • 1665 – Zacharie Robutel de La Noue, Canadian captain (d. 1733)
    • 1694 – François Quesnay, French economist and physician (d. 1774)
    • 1704 – Benjamin Huntsman, English inventor and businessman (d. 1776)
    • 1738 – George III of the United Kingdom (d. 1820)
    • 1744 – Patrick Ferguson, Scottish soldier, designed the Ferguson rifle (d. 1780)
    • 1754 – Miguel de Azcuénaga, Argentinian soldier (d. 1833)
    • 1754 – Franz Xaver von Zach, Slovak astronomer and academic (d. 1832)
    • 1787 – Constant Prévost, French geologist and academic (d. 1856)
    • 1801 – James Pennethorne, English architect, designed Victoria Park (d. 1871)
    • 1821 – Apollon Maykov, Russian poet and playwright (d. 1897)
    • 1829 – Jinmaku Kyūgorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 12th Yokozuna (d. 1903)
    • 1854 – Solko van den Bergh, Dutch target shooter (d. 1916)
    • 1860 – Alexis Lapointe, Canadian runner (d. 1924)
    • 1861 – William Propsting, Australian politician, 20th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1937)
    • 1866 – Miina Sillanpää, Finnish journalist and politician (d. 1952)
    • 1867 – Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Finnish general and politician, 6th President of Finland (d. 1951)
    • 1873 – Nictzin Dyalhis, American author (d.1942)
    • 1877 – Heinrich Otto Wieland, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
    • 1879 – Mabel Lucie Attwell, English author and illustrator (d. 1964)
    • 1880 – Clara Blandick, American actress (d. 1962)
    • 1885 – Arturo Rawson, Argentinian general and politician, 26th President of Argentina (d. 1952)
    • 1887 – Tom Longboat, Canadian runner and soldier (d. 1949)
    • 1889 – Beno Gutenberg, German-American seismologist (d. 1960)
    • 1903 – Yevgeny Mravinsky, Russian conductor (d. 1988)
    • 1904 – Bhagat Puran Singh, Indian publisher, environmentalist, and philanthropist (d. 1992)
    • 1907 – Jacques Roumain, Haitian journalist and politician (d. 1944)
    • 1907 – Rosalind Russell, American actress (d. 1976)
    • 1907 – Patience Strong, English poet and journalist (d. 1990)
    • 1910 – Christopher Cockerell, English engineer, invented the hovercraft (d. 1999)
    • 1912 – Robert Jacobsen, Danish sculptor and painter (d. 1993)
    • 1915 – Walter Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2006)
    • 1915 – Modibo Keïta, Malian educator and politician, 1st President of Mali (d. 1977)
    • 1915 – Nils Kihlberg, Swedish actor, singer, and director (d. 1965)
    • 1916 – Robert F. Furchgott, American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
    • 1916 – Fernand Leduc, Canadian painter (d. 2014)
    • 1917 – Robert Merrill, American actor and singer (d. 2004)
    • 1921 – Milan Komar, Slovenian-Argentinian philosopher and academic (d. 2006)
    • 1921 – Bobby Wanzer, American basketball player and coach (d. 2016)
    • 1923 – Elizabeth Jolley, English-Australian author and academic (d. 2007)
    • 1923 – Masutatsu Ōyama, Japanese karateka (d. 1994)
    • 1924 – Tofilau Eti Alesana, Samoan politician, 5th Prime Minister of Samoa (d. 1999)
    • 1924 – Dennis Weaver, American actor and director (d. 2006)
    • 1925 – Antonio Puchades, Spanish footballer (d. 2013)
    • 1926 – Robert Earl Hughes, American who was the heaviest human being recorded in the history of the world during his lifetime (d. 1958)
    • 1926 – Ain Kaalep, Estonian poet, playwright, and critic (d. 2020)
    • 1926 – Judith Malina, German-American actress and director, co-founded The Living Theatre (d. 2015)
    • 1927 – Henning Carlsen, Danish director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
    • 1927 – Geoffrey Palmer, English actor
    • 1928 – Ruth Westheimer, German-American therapist and author
    • 1929 – Karolos Papoulias, Greek lawyer and politician, 5th President of Greece
    • 1930 – George Chesworth, English air marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Moray (d. 2017)
    • 1930 – Morgana King, American singer and actress (d. 2018)
    • 1930 – Viktor Tikhonov, Russian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2014)
    • 1931 – Gustav Nossal, Austrian-Australian biologist and academic
    • 1932 – John Drew Barrymore, American actor (d. 2004)
    • 1932 – Oliver Nelson, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1975)
    • 1932 – Maurice Shadbolt, New Zealand author and playwright (d. 2004)
    • 1934 – Monica Dacon, Vincentian educator and politician, 6th Governor-General of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
    • 1934 – Daphne Sheldrick, Kenyan-British conservationist and author (d. 2018)
    • 1935 – Colette Boky, Canadian soprano and actress
    • 1935 – Berhanu Dinka, Ethiopian economist and diplomat (d. 2013)
    • 1936 – Vince Camuto, American fashion designer and businessman, co-founded Nine West (d. 2015)
    • 1936 – Bruce Dern, American actor
    • 1937 – Freddy Fender, American singer and guitarist (d. 2006)
    • 1937 – Mortimer Zuckerman, Canadian-American businessman and publisher, founded Boston Properties
    • 1938 – John Harvard, Canadian journalist and politician, 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (d. 2016)
    • 1938 – Art Mahaffey, American baseball player
    • 1939 – Jeremy Browne, 11th Marquess of Sligo, Anglo-Irish peer (d. 2014)
    • 1939 – Denis de Belleval, Canadian civil servant and politician
    • 1939 – Henri Pachard, American director and producer (d. 2008)
    • 1939 – George Reid, Scottish journalist and politician, 2nd Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament
    • 1940 – Ludwig Schwarz, Slovak-Austrian bishop
    • 1941 – Kenneth G. Ross, Australian playwright and screenwriter
    • 1942 – Louis Reichardt, American mountaineer
    • 1942 – Bill Rowe, Canadian lawyer and politician
    • 1943 – John Burgess, Australian radio and television host
    • 1943 – Sandra Haynie, American golfer
    • 1943 – Tom Jaine, English author
    • 1944 – Roger Ball, Scottish saxophonist and songwriter
    • 1944 – Michelle Phillips, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1945 – Anthony Braxton, American saxophonist, clarinet player, and composer
    • 1945 – Daniel Topolski, English rower and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1945 – Gordon Waller, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2009)
    • 1947 – Viktor Klima, Austrian businessman and politician, 25th Chancellor of Austria
    • 1948 – Bob Champion, English jockey
    • 1948 – Sandra Post, Canadian golfer and sportscaster
    • 1948 – Jürgen Sparwasser, German footballer and manager
    • 1949 – Gabriel Arcand, Canadian actor
    • 1949 – Mark B. Cohen, American lawyer and politician
    • 1950 – Raymond Dumais, Canadian bishop (d. 2012)
    • 1951 – Leigh Kennedy, American author
    • 1951 – Bronisław Malinowski, Polish runner (d. 1981)
    • 1951 – Melanie Phillips, English journalist and author
    • 1951 – Wendy Pini, American author and illustrator
    • 1951 – David Yip, English actor and playwright
    • 1952 – Bronisław Komorowski, Polish historian and politician, 5th President of Poland
    • 1952 – Dambudzo Marechera, Zimbabwean author and poet (d. 1987)
    • 1953 – Linda Lingle, American journalist and politician, 6th Governor of Hawaii
    • 1953 – Jimmy McCulloch, Scottish musician and songwriter (d. 1979)
    • 1953 – Susumu Ojima, Japanese businessman, founded Huser
    • 1953 – Paul Samson, English guitarist and producer (d. 2002)
    • 1954 – Raphael Ravenscroft, English saxophonist and composer (d. 2014)
    • 1954 – Kazuhiro Yamaji, Japanese actor and voice actor
    • 1955 – Val McDermid, Scottish author
    • 1955 – Mary Testa, American singer and actress
    • 1956 – Keith David, American actor
    • 1956 – John Hockenberry, American journalist and author
    • 1956 – Terry Kennedy, American baseball player and manager
    • 1956 – Joyce Sidman, American author and poet
    • 1957 – Neil McNab, Scottish footballer
    • 1959 – Juan Camacho, Bolivian runner
    • 1959 – Georgios Voulgarakis, Greek politician, 21st Greek Minister for Culture
    • 1960 – Miloš Đelmaš, Serbian footballer and manager
    • 1960 – Kristine Kathryn Rusch, American author
    • 1960 – Paul Taylor, American guitarist and keyboard player
    • 1960 – Bradley Walsh, English television presenter, comedian, singer and former footballer
    • 1961 – El DeBarge, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1961 – Ferenc Gyurcsány, Hungarian businessman and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Hungary
    • 1962 – Krzysztof Hołowczyc, Polish race car driver
    • 1962 – Zenon Jaskuła, Polish cyclist
    • 1962 – John P. Kee, American singer-songwriter and pastor
    • 1962 – Junius Ho, Hong Kong solicitor and politician
    • 1963 – Sean Fitzpatrick, New Zealand rugby union player
    • 1963 – Jim Lachey, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1963 – Xavier McDaniel, American basketball player and coach
    • 1964 – Sean Pertwee, English actor
    • 1964 – Kōji Yamamura, Japanese animator, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1965 – Mick Doohan, Australian motorcycle racer
    • 1965 – Andrea Jaeger, American tennis player and preacher
    • 1966 – Cecilia Bartoli, Italian soprano and actress
    • 1966 – Vladimir Voevodsky, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 2017)
    • 1966 – Bill Wiggin, English politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Wales
    • 1967 – Robert S. Kimbrough, American colonel and astronaut
    • 1968 – Roger Lim, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1968 – Niurka Montalvo, Cuban-Spanish long jumper
    • 1968 – Al B. Sure!, American R&B singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
    • 1968 – Scott Wolf, American actor
    • 1969 – Horatio Sanz, Chilean-American actor and comedian
    • 1970 – Deborah Compagnoni, Italian skier
    • 1970 – Richie Hawtin, English-Canadian DJ and producer
    • 1970 – Dave Pybus, English bass player and songwriter
    • 1970 – Izabella Scorupco, Polish-Swedish actress and model
    • 1971 – Joseph Kabila, Congolese soldier and politician, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
    • 1971 – Mike Lee, American lawyer and politician
    • 1971 – Shoji Meguro, Japanese director and composer
    • 1971 – Karl Martin Sinijärv, Estonian journalist and poet
    • 1971 – Noah Wyle, American actor and producer
    • 1972 – Derian Hatcher, American ice hockey defenseman
    • 1972 – Rob Huebel, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1973 – Mikey Whipwreck, American wrestler and trainer
    • 1974 – Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni, Indian chef (d. 2012)
    • 1974 – Darin Erstad, American baseball player and coach
    • 1974 – Andrew Gwynne, English lawyer and politician
    • 1974 – Janette Husárová, Slovak tennis player
    • 1974 – Buddy Wakefield, American poet and author
    • 1975 – Russell Brand, English comedian and actor
    • 1975 – Henry Burris, American football player
    • 1975 – Angelina Jolie, American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian, and activist
    • 1975 – Dinanath Ramnarine, Trinidadian cricketer
    • 1975 – Alex Wharf, English cricketer
    • 1976 – Kasey Chambers, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1976 – Alexei Navalny, Russian lawyer and politician
    • 1976 – Nenad Zimonjić, Serbian tennis player
    • 1977 – Dionisis Chiotis, Greek footballer
    • 1977 – Alex Manninger, Austrian footballer
    • 1977 – Roman Miroshnichenko, Ukrainian guitarist and composer
    • 1977 – Roland G. Fryer Jr., American economist and professor
    • 1978 – Robin Lord Taylor, American actor
    • 1979 – Naohiro Takahara, Japanese footballer
    • 1979 – Daniel Vickerman, South African-Australian rugby player (d. 2017)
    • 1980 – François Beauchemin, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1981 – Jennifer Carroll, Canadian swimmer
    • 1981 – Giourkas Seitaridis, Greek footballer
    • 1981 – Natalia Vodopyanova, Russian basketball player
    • 1982 – Abel Kirui, Kenyan runner
    • 1982 – Ronnie Prude, American-Canadian football player
    • 1983 – Romaric, Ivorian footballer
    • 1983 – Emmanuel Eboué, Ivorian footballer
    • 1983 – Olha Saladuha, Ukrainian triple jumper
    • 1984 – Enrico Rossi Chauvenet, Italian footballer
    • 1984 – Rainie Yang, Taiwanese actress
    • 1984 – Ian White, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1985 – Leon Botha, South African painter and DJ (d. 2011)
    • 1985 – Anna-Lena Grönefeld, German tennis player
    • 1985 – Evan Lysacek, American figure skater
    • 1985 – Lukas Podolski, German footballer
    • 1985 – Oddvar Reiakvam, Norwegian politician
    • 1987 – Luisa Zissman, English businesswoman
    • 1987 – Mollie King, English singer-songwriter and model
    • 1988 – Matt Bartkowski, American ice hockey defenseman
    • 1988 – Kimberley Busteed, Australian model
    • 1989 – Federico Erba, Italian footballer
    • 1989 – Paweł Fajdek, Polish hammer thrower
    • 1990 – Zac Farro, American singer and drummer
    • 1990 – Evan Spiegel, American Internet entrepreneur
    • 1991 – Lorenzo Insigne, Italian footballer
    • 1991 – Matt McIlwrick, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1991 – Ben Stokes, New Zealand-English cricketer
    • 1993 – Jonathan Huberdeau, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1995 – Shiori Tamai, Japanese singer
    • 1999 – Kim So-hyun, South Korean actress
    • 2004 – Mackenzie Ziegler, American dancer, singer, actress and model

    Deaths on June 4

    • 756 – Shōmu, Japanese emperor (b. 701)
    • 863 – Charles, archbishop of Mainz
    • 895 – Li Xi, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty
    • 946 – Guaimar II (Gybbosus), Lombard prince
    • 956 – Muhammad III of Shirvan, Muslim ruler
    • 1039 – Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 990)
    • 1102 – Władysław I Herman, Polish nobleman (b. c. 1044)
    • 1134 – Magnus I of Sweden (b. 1106)
    • 1135 – Emperor Huizong of Song (b. 1082)
    • 1206 – Adela of Champagne (b. 1140)
    • 1246 – Isabella of Angoulême (b. 1188)
    • 1257 – Przemysł I of Greater Poland (b. 1221)
    • 1394 – Mary de Bohun, wife of Henry IV of England (b.c. 1368)
    • 1453 – Andronikos Palaiologos Kantakouzenos, Byzantine commander
    • 1463 – Flavio Biondo, Italian historian and author (b. 1392)
    • 1472 – Nezahualcoyotl, Aztec poet (b. 1402)
    • 1585 – Muretus, French philosopher and author (b. 1526)
    • 1608 – Francis Caracciolo, Italian Catholic priest (b. 1563)
    • 1622 – Péter Révay, Hungarian soldier and historian (b. 1568)
    • 1647 – Canonicus, Grand Chief Sachem of the Narragansett (b. 1565)
    • 1663 – William Juxon, English archbishop and academic (b. 1582)
    • 1798 – Giacomo Casanova, Italian adventurer and author (b. 1725)
    • 1801 – Frederick Muhlenberg, American minister and politician, 1st Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1750)
    • 1809 – Nicolai Abildgaard, Danish neoclassical and history painter, sculptor and architect (b. 1743)
    • 1830 – Antonio José de Sucre, Venezuelan general and politician, 2nd President of Bolivia (b. 1795)
    • 1872 – Johan Rudolph Thorbecke, Dutch historian, jurist, and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1798)
    • 1875 – Eduard Mörike, German pastor and poet (b. 1804)
    • 1876 – Abdülaziz of the Ottoman Empire, 32nd Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1830)
    • 1922 – W. H. R. Rivers, English anthropologist, neurologist, ethnologist, and psychiatrist (b. 1864)
    • 1925 – Margaret Murray Washington, American Academic (b. 1865)
    • 1926 – Fred Spofforth, Australian-English cricketer and coach (b. 1853)
    • 1928 – Zhang Zuolin, Chinese warlord (b. 1873)
    • 1929 – Harry Frazee, American director, producer, and agent (b. 1881)
    • 1931 – Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, Sharif and Emir of Mecca, King of the Hejaz (b. 1853/54)
    • 1933 – Ahmet Haşim, Turkish poet and author (b. 1884)
    • 1939 – Tommy Ladnier, American trumpet player (b. 1900)
    • 1941 – Wilhelm II, German Emperor (b. 1859)
    • 1942 – Reinhard Heydrich, German SS officer and politician (b. 1904)
    • 1951 – Serge Koussevitzky, Russian-American bassist, composer, and conductor (b. 1874)
    • 1956 – Katherine MacDonald, American actress and producer (b. 1881)
    • 1962 – Clem McCarthy, American sportscaster (b. 1882)
    • 1967 – Linda Eenpalu, Estonian lawyer and politician (b. 1890)
    • 1968 – Dorothy Gish, American actress (b. 1898)
    • 1970 – Sonny Tufts, American actor (b. 1911)
    • 1971 – György Lukács, Hungarian historian and philosopher (b. 1885)
    • 1973 – Maurice René Fréchet, French mathematician and academic (b. 1878)
    • 1973 – Murry Wilson, American songwriter, producer, and manager (b. 1917)
    • 1981 – Leslie Averill, New Zealand doctor and soldier (b. 1897)
    • 1989 – Dik Browne, American cartoonist (b. 1917)
    • 1990 – Stiv Bators, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1949)
    • 1992 – Carl Stotz, American businessman, founded Little League Baseball (b. 1910)
    • 1993 – Bernard Evslin, American writer (b. 1922)
    • 1994 – Derek Leckenby, English musician (b. 1943)
    • 1997 – Ronnie Lane, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1946)
    • 1998 – Josephine Hutchinson, American actress (b. 1903)
    • 2002 – Fernando Belaúnde Terry, Peruvian architect and politician, 42nd President of Peru (b. 1912)
    • 2004 – Steve Lacy, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1934)
    • 2004 – Nino Manfredi, Italian actor (b. 1921)
    • 2007 – Clete Boyer, American baseball player and manager (b. 1937)
    • 2007 – Bill France, Jr., American businessman (b. 1933)
    • 2007 – Craig L. Thomas, American captain and politician (b. 1933)
    • 2010 – John Wooden, American basketball player and coach (b. 1910)
    • 2011 – Juan Francisco Luis, Virgin Islander sergeant and politician, 23rd Governor of the United States Virgin Islands (b. 1940)
    • 2011 – Andreas P. Nielsen, Danish author and composer (b. 1953)
    • 2012 – Peter Beaven, New Zealand architect, designed the Lyttelton Road Tunnel Administration Building (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Pedro Borbón, Dominican-American baseball player (b. 1946)
    • 2012 – Rodolfo Quezada Toruño, Guatemalan cardinal (b. 1932)
    • 2012 – Herb Reed, American violinist (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Walt Arfons, American race car driver (b. 1916)
    • 2013 – Joey Covington, American drummer (b. 1945)
    • 2013 – Hermann Gunnarsson, Icelandic footballer, handball player, and sportscaster (b. 1946)
    • 2013 – Will Wynn, American football player (b. 1949)
    • 2014 – George Ho, American-Hong Kong businessman (b. 1919)
    • 2014 – Nathan Shamuyarira, Zimbabwean journalist and politician, Zimbabwean Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1928)
    • 2014 – Sydney Templeman, Baron Templeman, English lawyer and judge (b. 1920)
    • 2014 – Don Zimmer, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1931)
    • 2015 – Marguerite Patten, English economist and author (b. 1915)
    • 2015 – Leonid Plyushch, Ukrainian mathematician and academic (b. 1938)
    • 2015 – Jabe Thomas, American race car driver (b. 1930)
    • 2015 – Anne Warburton, British academic and diplomat, British Ambassador to Denmark (b. 1927)
    • 2016 – Carmen Pereira, Bissau-Guinean politician (b. 1937)
    • 2017 – Juan Goytisolo, Spanish essayist, poet and novelist (b. 1931)

    Holidays and observances on June 4

    • Birthday of Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim & Flag Day celebration of the Finnish Defence Forces (Finland)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Filippo Smaldone
      • Francis Caracciolo
      • Optatus
      • Petroc of Cornwall
      • Quirinus of Sescia
      • Saturnina
      • June 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Emancipation Day or Independence Day, commemorates the abolition of serfdom in Tonga by King George Tupou in 1862, and the independence of Tonga from the British protectorate in 1970. (Tonga)
    • Flag Day (Estonia)
    • International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression (International)
    • National Unity Day (Hungary)
    • Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989 Memorial Day (International)

  • May 28 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 585 BC – A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by the Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Cyaxares in the Battle of Halys, leading to a truce. This is one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated.
    • 621 – Battle of Hulao: Li Shimin, the son of the Chinese emperor Gaozu, defeats the numerically superior forces of Dou Jiande near the Hulao Pass (Henan). This victory decides the outcome of the civil war that followed the Sui dynasty’s collapse in favour of the Tang dynasty.
    • 1533 – The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, declares the marriage of King Henry VIII of England to Anne Boleyn valid.
    • 1588 – The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, heading for the English Channel. (It will take until May 30 for all ships to leave port.)
    • 1644 – English Civil War: Bolton Massacre by Royalist troops under the command of James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby.
    • 1754 – French and Indian War: In the first engagement of the war, Virginia militia under the 22-year-old Lieutenant colonel George Washington defeat a French reconnaissance party in the Battle of Jumonville Glen in what is now Fayette County in southwestern Pennsylvania.
    • 1802 – In Guadeloupe, 400 rebellious slaves, led by Louis Delgrès, blow themselves up rather than submit to Napoleon’s troops.
    • 1830 – U.S. President Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act which denies Native Americans their land rights and forcibly relocates them.
    • 1871 – The Paris Commune falls after two months.
    • 1892 – In San Francisco, John Muir organizes the Sierra Club.
    • 1905 – Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima ends with the destruction of the Russian Baltic Fleet by Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō and the Imperial Japanese Navy.
    • 1907 – The first Isle of Man TT race was held.
    • 1918 – The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and the First Republic of Armenia declare their independence.
    • 1926 – The 28 May 1926 coup d’état: Ditadura Nacional is established in Portugal to suppress the unrest of the First Republic.
    • 1932 – In the Netherlands, construction of the Afsluitdijk is completed and the Zuiderzee bay is converted to the freshwater IJsselmeer.
    • 1934 – Near Callander, Ontario, Canada, the Dionne quintuplets are born to Oliva and Elzire Dionne; they will be the first quintuplets to survive infancy.
    • 1936 – Alan Turing submits On Computable Numbers for publication.
    • 1937 – Volkswagen, the German automobile manufacturer is founded.
    • 1940 – World War II: Belgium surrenders to Nazi Germany to end the Battle of Belgium.
    • 1940 – World War II: Norwegian, French, Polish and British forces recapture Narvik in Norway. This is the first allied infantry victory of the War.
    • 1948 – Daniel François Malan is elected as Prime Minister of South Africa. He later goes on to implement Apartheid.
    • 1958 – Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro’s 26th of July Movement, heavily reinforced by Frank Pais Militia, overwhelm an army post in El Uvero.
    • 1961 – Peter Benenson’s article The Forgotten Prisoners is published in several internationally read newspapers. This will later be thought of as the founding of the human rights organization Amnesty International.
    • 1974 – Northern Ireland’s power-sharing Sunningdale Agreement collapses following a general strike by loyalists.
    • 1975 – Fifteen West African countries sign the Treaty of Lagos, creating the Economic Community of West African States.
    • 1977 – In Southgate, Kentucky, the Beverly Hills Supper Club is engulfed in fire, killing 165 people inside.
    • 1979 – Konstantinos Karamanlis signs the full treaty of the accession of Greece with the European Economic Community.
    • 1987 – A West German pilot, Mathias Rust, who was 18 years old, evades Soviet Union air defences and lands a private plane in the Red Square in Moscow, Russia.
    • 1991 – The capital city of Addis Ababa falls to the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, ending both the Derg regime in Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Civil War.
    • 1995 – The 7.0 Mw  Neftegorsk earthquake shook the former Russian settlement of Neftegorsk with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). Total damage was $64.1–300 million, with 1,989 deaths and 750 injured. The settlement was not rebuilt.
    • 1996 – U.S. President Bill Clinton’s former business partners in the Whitewater land deal, Jim McDougal and Susan McDougal, and the Governor of Arkansas Jim Guy Tucker, are convicted of fraud.
    • 1998 – Nuclear testing: Pakistan responds to a series of nuclear tests by India with five of its own codenamed Chagai-I, prompting the United States, Japan, and other nations to impose economic sanctions. Pakistan celebrates Youm-e-Takbir annually.
    • 1999 – In Milan, Italy, after 22 years of restoration work, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece The Last Supper is put back on display.
    • 2002 – The last steel girder is removed from the original World Trade Center site. Cleanup duties officially end with closing ceremonies at Ground Zero in Manhattan, New York City.
    • 2003 – Peter Hollingworth resigns as Governor-General of Australia following criticism of his handling of child sexual abuse allegations during his tenure as Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane.
    • 2004 – The Iraqi Governing Council chooses Ayad Allawi, a longtime anti-Saddam Hussein exile, as prime minister of Iraq’s interim government.
    • 2008 – The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal formally declares Nepal a republic, ending the 240-year reign of the Shah dynasty.
    • 2010 – In West Bengal, India, the Jnaneswari Express train derailment and subsequent collision kills 148 passengers.
    • 2011 – Malta votes on the introduction of divorce; the proposal was approved by 53% of voters, resulting in a law allowing divorce under certain conditions being enacted later in the year.

    Births on May 28

    • 1140 – Xin Qiji, Chinese poet, general, and politician (d. 1207)
    • 1371 – John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1419)
    • 1524 – Selim II, Ottoman sultan (d. 1574)
    • 1588 – Pierre Séguier, French politician, Lord Chancellor of France (d. 1672)
    • 1589 – Robert Arnauld d’Andilly, French writer (d. 1674)
    • 1663 – António Manoel de Vilhena, Grand Master of the Order of Saint John (d. 1736)
    • 1676 – Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician and academic (d. 1754)
    • 1692 – Geminiano Giacomelli, Italian composer (d. 1740)
    • 1738 – Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, French physician (d. 1814)
    • 1759 – William Pitt the Younger, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1806)
    • 1763 – Manuel Alberti, Argentinian priest and journalist (d. 1811)
    • 1764 – Edward Livingston, American jurist and politician, 11th United States Secretary of State (d. 1836)
    • 1779 – Thomas Moore, Irish poet and composer (d. 1852)
    • 1807 – Louis Agassiz, Swiss-American paleontologist and geologist (d. 1873)
    • 1818 – P. G. T. Beauregard, American general (d. 1893)
    • 1836 – Friedrich Baumfelder, German pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1916)
    • 1836 – Alexander Mitscherlich, German chemist and academic (d. 1918)
    • 1837 – George Ashlin, Irish architect, co-designed St Colman’s Cathedral (d. 1921)
    • 1837 – Tony Pastor, American impresario, variety performer and theatre owner (d. 1908)
    • 1841 – Sakaigawa Namiemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 14th Yokozuna (d. 1887)
    • 1853 – Carl Larsson, Swedish painter and author (d. 1919)
    • 1858 – Carl Richard Nyberg, Swedish inventor and businessman, developed the blow torch (d. 1939)
    • 1872 – Marian Smoluchowski, Polish physicist and mountaineer (d. 1917)
    • 1878 – Paul Pelliot, French sinologist and explorer (d. 1945)
    • 1879 – Milutin Milanković, Serbian mathematician, astronomer, and geophysicist (d. 1958)
    • 1883 – Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian poet and politician (d. 1966)
    • 1883 – Clough Williams-Ellis, English-Welsh architect, designed the Portmeirion Village (d. 1978)
    • 1884 – Edvard Beneš, Czech academic and politician, 2nd President of Czechoslovakia (d. 1948)
    • 1886 – Santo Trafficante, Sr., Italian-American mobster (d. 1954)
    • 1888 – Kaarel Eenpalu, Estonian journalist and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Estonia (d. 1942)
    • 1888 – Vivienne Haigh-Wood Eliot, English author and educator (d. 1947)
    • 1888 – Jim Thorpe, American decathlete, football player, and coach (d. 1953)
    • 1889 – Richard Réti, Slovak-Czech chess player and author (d. 1929)
    • 1892 – Minna Gombell, American actress (d. 1973)
    • 1900 – Tommy Ladnier, American trumpet player (d. 1939)
    • 1903 – S. L. Kirloskar, Indian businessman, founded Kirloskar Group (d. 1994)
    • 1906 – Henry Thambiah, Sri Lankan lawyer, judge, and diplomat, Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Canada (d. 1997)
    • 1908 – Léo Cadieux, Canadian journalist and politician, 17th Canadian Minister of National Defence (d. 2005)
    • 1908 – Ian Fleming, English journalist and author, created James Bond (d. 1964)
    • 1909 – Red Horner, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2005)
    • 1910 – Georg Gaßmann, German politician, Mayor of Marburg (d. 1987)
    • 1910 – Rachel Kempson, English actress (d. 2003)
    • 1910 – T-Bone Walker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975)
    • 1911 – Bob Crisp, South African cricketer (d. 1994)
    • 1911 – Thora Hird, English actress (d. 2003)
    • 1911 – Fritz Hochwälder, Austrian playwright (d. 1986)
    • 1912 – Herman Johannes, Indonesian scientist, academic, and politician (d. 1992)
    • 1912 – Ruby Payne-Scott, Australian physicist and astronomer (d. 1981)
    • 1912 – Patrick White, Australian novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1990)
    • 1914 – W. G. G. Duncan Smith, English captain and pilot (d. 1996)
    • 1915 – Joseph Greenberg, American linguist and academic (d. 2001)
    • 1916 – Walker Percy, American novelist and essayist (d. 1990)
    • 1917 – Barry Commoner, American biologist, academic, and politician (d. 2012)
    • 1918 – Johnny Wayne, Canadian comedian (d. 1990)
    • 1921 – D. V. Paluskar, Indian Hindustani classical musician (d. 1955)
    • 1921 – Heinz G. Konsalik, German journalist and author (d. 1999)
    • 1921 – Tom Uren, Australian soldier, boxer, and politician (d. 2015)
    • 1922 – Lou Duva, American boxer, trainer, and manager (d. 2017)
    • 1922 – Roger Fisher, American author and academic (d. 2012)
    • 1922 – Tuomas Gerdt, Finnish soldier
    • 1923 – György Ligeti, Hungarian-Austrian composer and educator (d. 2006)
    • 1923 – N. T. Rama Rao, Indian actor, director, producer, and politician, 10th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (d. 1996)
    • 1924 – Edward du Cann, English naval officer and politician (d. 2017)
    • 1924 – Paul Hébert, Canadian actor (d. 2017)
    • 1925 – Bülent Ecevit, Turkish journalist, scholar, and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Turkey (d. 2006)
    • 1925 – Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, German opera singer and conductor (d. 2012)
    • 1928 – Sally Forrest, American actress and dancer (d. 2015)
    • 1929 – Patrick McNair-Wilson, English politician
    • 1930 – Edward Seaga, American-Jamaican academic and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Jamaica (d. 2019)
    • 1931 – Carroll Baker, American actress
    • 1931 – Gordon Willis, American cinematographer (d. 2014)
    • 1932 – Tim Renton, Baron Renton of Mount Harry, English politician, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries
    • 1933 – John Karlen, American actor
    • 1933 – Zelda Rubinstein, American actress and activist (d. 2010)
    • 1936 – Claude Forget, Canadian academic and politician
    • 1936 – Ole K. Sara, Norwegian politician (d. 2013)
    • 1936 – Betty Shabazz, American educator and activist (d. 1997)
    • 1938 – Jerry West, American basketball player, coach, and executive
    • 1939 – Maeve Binchy, Irish novelist (d. 2012)
    • 1940 – David William Brewer, English politician, Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London
    • 1940 – Shlomo Riskin, American rabbi and academic, founded the Lincoln Square Synagogue
    • 1941 – Beth Howland, American actress and singer (d. 2015)
    • 1942 – Stanley B. Prusiner, American neurologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1943 – Terry Crisp, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1944 – Faith Brown, English actress and singer
    • 1944 – Rudy Giuliani, American lawyer and politician, 107th mayor of New York City
    • 1944 – Gladys Knight, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1944 – Rita MacNeil, Canadian singer and actress (d. 2013)
    • 1944 – Gary Stewart, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
    • 1944 – Billy Vera, American singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1945 – Patch Adams, American physician and author, founded the Gesundheit! Institute
    • 1945 – John N. Bambacus, American military veteran (USMC) and politician
    • 1945 – John Fogerty, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1945 – Jean Perrault, Canadian politician, Mayor of Sherbrooke, Quebec
    • 1945 – Helena Shovelton, English physician
    • 1946 – Bruce Alexander, English actor
    • 1946 – Skip Jutze, American baseball player
    • 1946 – Janet Paraskeva, Welsh politician
    • 1946 – K. Satchidanandan, Indian poet and critic
    • 1946 – William Shawcross, English journalist and author
    • 1947 – Zahi Hawass, Egyptian archaeologist and academic
    • 1947 – Lynn Johnston, Canadian author and illustrator
    • 1947 – Leland Sklar, American singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1948 – Michael Field, Australian politician, 38th Premier of Tasmania
    • 1948 – Pierre Rapsat, Belgian singer and songwriter (d. 2002)
    • 1949 – Martin Kelner, English journalist, author, comedian, singer, actor and radio presenter
    • 1949 – Wendy O. Williams, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress (d. 1998)
    • 1952 – Roger Briggs, American pianist, composer, conductor, and educator
    • 1953 – Pierre Gauthier, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
    • 1954 – João Carlos de Oliveira, Brazilian jumper (d. 1999)
    • 1954 – Youri Egorov, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1988)
    • 1954 – Charles Saumarez Smith, English historian and academic
    • 1954 – Péter Szilágyi, Hungarian conductor and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1954 – John Tory, Canadian lawyer and politician, 65th Mayor of Toronto
    • 1955 – Laura Amy Schlitz, American author and librarian
    • 1955 – Mark Howe, American ice hockey player and coach
    • 1956 – Jerry Douglas, American guitarist and producer
    • 1956 – Jeff Dujon, Jamaican cricketer
    • 1956 – Markus Höttinger, Austrian racing driver (d. 1980)
    • 1956 – Peter Wilkinson, English admiral
    • 1957 – Colin Barnes, English footballer
    • 1957 – Kirk Gibson, American baseball player and manager
    • 1957 – Ben Howland, American basketball player and coach
    • 1959 – Risto Mannisenmäki, Finnish racing driver
    • 1960 – Mark Sanford, American military veteran (USAF) and politician, 115th Governor of South Carolina
    • 1960 – Mary Portas, English journalist and author
    • 1963 – Houman Younessi, Australian-American biologist and academic
    • 1964 – Jeff Fenech, Australian boxer and trainer
    • 1964 – Armen Gilliam, American basketball player and coach (d. 2011)
    • 1964 – Zsa Zsa Padilla, Filipino singer and actress
    • 1964 – Phil Vassar, American singer-songwriter
    • 1965 – Chris Ballew, American singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1965 – Mary Coughlan, Irish politician
    • 1966 – Roger Kumble, American director, screenwriter, and playwright
    • 1966 – Miljenko Jergović, Bosnian novelist and journalist
    • 1966 – Gavin Robertson, Australian cricketer
    • 1967 – Glen Rice, American basketball player
    • 1968 – Kylie Minogue, Australian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1969 – Mike DiFelice, American baseball player and manager
    • 1969 – Rob Ford, Canadian politician, 64th Mayor of Toronto (d. 2016)
    • 1970 – Glenn Quinn, American actor (d. 2002)
    • 1971 – Isabelle Carré, French actress and singer
    • 1971 – Ekaterina Gordeeva, Russian figure skater and sportscaster
    • 1971 – Marco Rubio, American lawyer and politician
    • 1972 – Doriva, Brazilian footballer and manager
    • 1972 – Michael Boogerd, Dutch cyclist and manager
    • 1973 – Marco Paulo Faria Lemos, Portuguese footballer and manager
    • 1974 – Hans-Jörg Butt, German footballer
    • 1974 – Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistani cricketer
    • 1975 – Maura Johnston, American journalist, critic, and academic
    • 1976 – Steven Bell, Australian rugby league player
    • 1976 – Zaza Enden, Georgian-Turkish wrestler, basketball player, and coach
    • 1976 – Roberto Goretti, Italian footballer
    • 1976 – Glenn Morrison, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1977 – Elisabeth Hasselbeck, American talk show host and author
    • 1978 – Jake Johnson, American actor
    • 1979 – Abdulaziz al-Omari, Saudi Arabian terrorist, hijacker of American Airlines Flight 11 (d. 2001)
    • 1979 – Ronald Curry, American football player and coach
    • 1980 – Miguel Pérez, Spanish footballer
    • 1980 – Lucy Shuker, English tennis player
    • 1981 – Daniel Cabrera, Dominican-American baseball player
    • 1981 – Eric Ghiaciuc, American football player
    • 1981 – Adam Green, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1982 – Alexa Davalos, French-American actress
    • 1982 – Jhonny Peralta, Dominican-American baseball player
    • 1983 – Steve Cronin, American soccer player
    • 1983 – Humberto Sánchez, Dominican-American baseball player
    • 1983 – Roman Atwood, American YouTube star
    • 1985 – Colbie Caillat, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1985 – Pablo Andrés González, Argentinian footballer
    • 1985 – Kostas Mendrinos, Greek footballer
    • 1985 – Carey Mulligan, English actress and singer
    • 1986 – Berrick Barnes, Australian rugby player
    • 1986 – Seth Rollins, American wrestler
    • 1986 – Ingmar Vos, Dutch decathlete
    • 1987 – T.J. Yates, American football player
    • 1988 – NaVorro Bowman, American football player
    • 1988 – Percy Harvin, American football player
    • 1988 – Craig Kimbrel, American baseball player
    • 1990 – Kyle Walker, English international footballer, right-back
    • 1991 – Sharrif Floyd, American football player
    • 1991 – Alexandre Lacazette, French footballer
    • 1991 – Kail Piho, Estonian skier
    • 1992 – Tom Carroll, English footballer
    • 1993 – Daniel Alvaro, Australian rugby league player
    • 1993 – Bárbara Luz, Portuguese tennis player
    • 1994 – John Stones, English footballer
    • 1994 – Son Yeon-jae, South Korean gymnast
    • 1998 – Dahyun, Korean singer
    • 1999 – Cameron Boyce, American actor (d. 2019)
    • 2000 – Phil Foden, English footballer

    Deaths on May 28

    • 576 – Germain of Paris, French bishop and saint (b. 496)
    • 741 – Ucha’an K’in B’alam, Mayan king
    • 926 – Kong Qian, official of Later Tang
    • 926 – Li Jiji, prince of Later Tang
    • 1023 – Wulfstan, English archbishop
    • 1279 – William Wishart, English bishop
    • 1327 – Robert Baldock, Lord Privy Seal and Lord Chancellor of England
    • 1357 – Afonso IV of Portugal (b. 1291)
    • 1427 – Henry IV, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg (b. 1397)
    • 1556 – Saitō Dōsan, Japanese samurai (b. 1494)
    • 1626 – Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk (b. 1561)
    • 1651 – Henry Grey, 10th Earl of Kent, English politician (b. 1594)
    • 1672 – John Trevor, Welsh politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (b. 1626)
    • 1747 – Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues, French author (b. 1715)
    • 1750 – Emperor Sakuramachi of Japan (b. 1720)
    • 1787 – Leopold Mozart, Austrian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1719)
    • 1805 – Luigi Boccherini, Italian cellist and composer (b. 1743)
    • 1808 – Richard Hurd, English bishop (b. 1720)
    • 1811 – Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, Scottish lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for War (b. 1742)
    • 1831 – William Carnegie, 7th Earl of Northesk, Scottish-English admiral (b. 1756)
    • 1843 – Noah Webster, American lexicographer (b. 1758)
    • 1849 – Anne Brontë, English novelist and poet (b. 1820)
    • 1864 – Simion Bărnuțiu, Romanian historian and politician (b. 1808)
    • 1878 – John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1792)
    • 1904 – Kicking Bear, Native American tribal leader (b. 1846)
    • 1916 – Ivan Franko, Ukrainian economist, journalist, and poet (b. 1856)
    • 1927 – Boris Kustodiev, Russian painter and stage designer (b. 1878)
    • 1937 – Alfred Adler, Austrian-Scottish ophthalmologist and psychologist (b. 1870)
    • 1946 – Carter Glass, American publisher and politician, 47th United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1858)
    • 1947 – August Eigruber, Austrian-German politician (b. 1907)
    • 1952 – Philippe Desranleau, Canadian archbishop (b. 1882)
    • 1953 – Tatsuo Hori, Japanese author and poet (b. 1904)
    • 1964 – Terry Dillon, American football player (b. 1941)
    • 1968 – Fyodor Okhlopkov, Russian sergeant and sniper (b. 1908)
    • 1971 – Audie Murphy, American soldier and actor, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1925)
    • 1972 – Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (b. 1894)
    • 1975 – Ezzard Charles, American boxer (b. 1921)
    • 1976 – Zainul Abedin, Bangladeshi painter and sculptor (b. 1914)
    • 1980 – Rolf Nevanlinna, Finnish mathematician and academic (b. 1895)
    • 1981 – Mary Lou Williams, American pianist and composer (b. 1910)
    • 1981 – Stefan Wyszyński, Polish cardinal (b. 1901)
    • 1982 – H. Jones, English colonel, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1940)
    • 1983 – Erastus Corning 2nd, American soldier and politician, 72nd Mayor of Albany (b. 1909)
    • 1984 – Eric Morecambe, English actor and comedian (b. 1926)
    • 1986 – Edip Cansever, Turkish poet and author (b. 1928)
    • 1988 – Sy Oliver, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (b. 1910)
    • 1990 – Julius Eastman, American composer (b. 1940)
    • 1994 – Julius Boros, American golfer (b. 1920)
    • 1994 – Ely Jacques Kahn, Jr., American author and academic (b. 1916)
    • 1998 – Phil Hartman, Canadian-American actor and comedian (b. 1948)
    • 1999 – Michael Barkai, Israeli commander (b. 1935)
    • 1999 – B. Vittalacharya, Indian director and producer (b. 1920)
    • 2000 – George Irving Bell, American physicist, biologist, and mountaineer (b. 1926)
    • 2001 – Joe Moakley, American lawyer and politician (b. 1927)
    • 2001 – Francisco Varela, Chilean biologist and philosopher (b. 1946)
    • 2002 – Mildred Benson, American journalist and author (b. 1905)
    • 2003 – Oleg Grigoryevich Makarov, Russian engineer and astronaut (b. 1933)
    • 2003 – Ilya Prigogine, Russian-Belgian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
    • 2003 – Martha Scott, American actress (b. 1912)
    • 2004 – Umberto Agnelli, Swiss-Italian businessman and politician (b. 1934)
    • 2004 – Michael Buonauro, American author and illustrator (b. 1979)
    • 2004 – John Tolos, Greek-Canadian wrestler (b. 1930)
    • 2006 – Thorleif Schjelderup, Norwegian ski jumper and author (b. 1920)
    • 2007 – Jörg Immendorff, German painter, sculptor, and academic (b. 1945)
    • 2007 – Toshikatsu Matsuoka, Japanese politician, Japanese Minister of Agriculture (b. 1945)
    • 2008 – Beryl Cook, English painter and illustrator (b. 1926)
    • 2010 – Gary Coleman, American actor (b. 1968)
    • 2011 – Gino Valenzano, Italian racing driver (b. 1920)
    • 2012 – Bob Edwards, English journalist (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Yuri Susloparov, Ukrainian-Russian footballer and manager (b. 1958)
    • 2013 – Viktor Kulikov, Russian commander (b. 1921)
    • 2013 – Eddie Romero, Filipino director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Gerd Schmückle, German general (b. 1917)
    • 2014 – Maya Angelou, American memoirist and poet (b. 1928)
    • 2014 – Stan Crowther, English footballer (b. 1935)
    • 2014 – Oscar Dystel, American publisher (b. 1912)
    • 2014 – Malcolm Glazer, American businessman (b. 1928)
    • 2014 – Bob Houbregs, Canadian-American basketball player and manager (b. 1932)
    • 2014 – Isaac Kungwane, South African footballer (b. 1971)
    • 2015 – Steven Gerber, American pianist and composer (b. 1948)
    • 2015 – Johnny Keating, Scottish trombonist, composer, and producer (b. 1927)
    • 2015 – Reynaldo Rey, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1940)
    • 2018 – Neale Cooper, Scottish footballer (b. 1963)
    • 2018 – Jens Christian Skou, Danish medical doctor and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
    • 2018 – Cornelia Frances, English-Australian actress (b. 1941)

    Holidays and observances on May 28

    • Armed Forces Day (Croatia)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Bernard of Menthon
      • Germain of Paris
      • John Calvin (Episcopal Church)
      • Lanfranc
      • Margaret Pole
      • William of Gellone
      • May 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Downfall of the Derg Day (Ethiopia)
    • Flag Day (Philippines)
    • Menstrual Hygiene Day
    • Republic Day (Nepal)
    • TDFR Republic Day, celebrates the declaration of independence of the First Republic of Armenia and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic from the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic in 1918. (Azerbaijan and Armenia)
    • Youm-e-Takbir (Pakistan)

  • May 26 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 17 – Germanicus celebrates a triumph in Rome for his victories over the Cherusci, Chatti, and other German tribes west of the Elbe.
    • 451 – Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sasanian Empire takes place. The Sasanids defeat the Armenians militarily but guarantee them freedom to openly practice Christianity.
    • 946 – King Edmund I of England is murdered by a thief whom he personally attacks while celebrating St Augustine’s Mass Day.
    • 961 – King Otto I elects his 6-year-old son Otto II as heir apparent and co-ruler of the East Frankish Kingdom. He is crowned at Aachen, and placed under the tutelage of his grandmother Matilda.
    • 1135 – Alfonso VII of León and Castile is crowned in León Cathedral as Imperator totius Hispaniae (Emperor of all of Spain).
    • 1293 – An earthquake strikes Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, killing about 23,000.
    • 1328 – William of Ockham, the Franciscan Minister-General Michael of Cesena, and two other Franciscan leaders secretly leave Avignon, fearing a death sentence from Pope John XXII.
    • 1538 – Geneva expels John Calvin and his followers from the city. Calvin lives in exile in Strasbourg for the next three years.
    • 1573 – The Battle of Haarlemmermeer, a naval engagement in the Dutch War of Independence.
    • 1637 – Pequot War: A combined English and Mohegan force under John Mason attacks a village in Connecticut, massacring approximately 500 Pequots.
    • 1644 – Portuguese Restoration War: Portuguese and Spanish forces both claim victory in the Battle of Montijo.
    • 1736 – The Battle of Ackia was fought near the present site of Tupelo, Mississippi. British and Chickasaw soldiers repelled a French and Choctaw attack on the then-Chickasaw village of Ackia.
    • 1770 – The Orlov Revolt, an attempt to revolt against the Ottoman Empire before the Greek War of Independence, ends in disaster for the Greeks.
    • 1783 – A Great Jubilee Day held at North Stratford, Connecticut, celebrated the end of fighting in the American Revolution.
    • 1805 – Napoléon Bonaparte assumes the title of King of Italy and is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy in Milan Cathedral, the gothic cathedral in Milan.
    • 1821 – Establishment of the Peloponnesian Senate by the Greek rebels.
    • 1822 – One hundred sixteen people die in the Grue Church fire, the biggest fire disaster in Norway’s history.
    • 1857 – Dred Scott is emancipated by the Blow family, his original owners.
    • 1864 – Montana is organized as a United States territory.
    • 1865 – American Civil War: The Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi division, is the last full general of the Confederate Army to surrender, at Galveston, Texas.
    • 1868 – The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson ends with his acquittal by one vote.
    • 1869 – Boston University is chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
    • 1879 – Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Gandamak establishing an Afghan state.
    • 1896 – Nicholas II becomes the last Tsar of Imperial Russia.
    • 1896 – Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
    • 1897 – Dracula, a Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, is published.
    • 1897 – The original manuscript of William Bradford’s history, “Of Plymouth Plantation” is returned to the Governor of Massachusetts by the Bishop of London after being taken during the American Revolutionary War.
    • 1900 – Thousand Days’ War: The Colombian Conservative Party turns the tide of war in their favor with victory against the Colombian Liberal Party in the Battle of Palonegro.
    • 1908 – The first major commercial oil strike in the Middle East was made at Masjed Soleyman in southwest Persia. The rights to the resource were quickly acquired by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.
    • 1917 – Several powerful tornadoes rip through Illinois, including the city of Mattoon.
    • 1918 – The Democratic Republic of Georgia is established.
    • 1923 – The first 24 Hours of Le Mans was held and has since been run annually in June.
    • 1927 – The last Ford Model T rolls off the assembly line after a production run of 15,007,003 vehicles.
    • 1936 – In the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, Tommy Henderson begins speaking on the Appropriation Bill. By the time he sits down in the early hours of the following morning, he had spoken for ten hours.
    • 1937 – Walter Reuther and members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) clashed with Ford Motor Company security guards at the River Rouge Complex complex in Dearborn, Michigan, during the Battle of the Overpass.
    • 1938 – In the United States, the House Un-American Activities Committee begins its first session.
    • 1940 – World War II: Operation Dynamo: In northern France, Allied forces begin a massive evacuation from Dunkirk, France.
    • 1940 – World War II: The Siege of Calais ends with the surrender of the British and French garrison.
    • 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Gazala takes place.
    • 1948 – The U.S. Congress passes Public Law 80-557, which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as an auxiliary of the United States Air Force.
    • 1966 – British Guiana gains independence, becoming Guyana.
    • 1967 – The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is released.
    • 1968 – H-dagurinn in Iceland: Traffic changes from driving on the left to driving on the right overnight
    • 1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 10 returns to Earth after a successful eight-day test of all the components needed for the forthcoming first manned moon landing.
    • 1970 – The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 becomes the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2.
    • 1971 – Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army slaughters at least 71 Hindus in Burunga, Sylhet, Bangladesh.
    • 1972 – The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
    • 1981 – Italian Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani and his coalition cabinet resign following a scandal over membership of the pseudo-masonic lodge P2 (Propaganda Due).
    • 1981 – An EA-6B Prowler crashes on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, killing 14 crewmen and injuring 45 others.
    • 1983 – The 7.8 Mw  Sea of Japan earthquake shakes northern Honshu with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A destructive tsunami is generated that leaves about 100 people dead.
    • 1986 – The European Community adopts the European flag.
    • 1991 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia becomes the first elected President of the Republic of Georgia in the post-Soviet era.
    • 1991 – Lauda Air Flight 004 breaks apart in mid-air and crashes in the Phu Toei National Park in Thailand, killing all 223 people on board.
    • 1998 – The Supreme Court of the United States rules in New Jersey v. New York that Ellis Island, the historic gateway for millions of immigrants, is mainly in the state of New Jersey, not New York.
    • 1998 – The first “National Sorry Day” was held in Australia, and reconciliation events were held nationally, and attended by over a million people.
    • 2002 – The tugboat Robert Y. Love collides with a support pier of Interstate 40 on the Arkansas River near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, resulting in 14 deaths and 11 others injured.
    • 2004 – United States Army veteran Terry Nichols is found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing.
    • 2008 – Severe flooding begins in eastern and southern China that will ultimately cause 148 deaths and force the evacuation of 1.3 million.

    Births on May 26

    • 1264 – Koreyasu, Japanese prince and shōgun (d. 1326)
    • 1478 – Clement VII, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1534)
    • 1562 – James III, margrave of Baden-Hachberg (d. 1590)
    • 1566 – Mehmed III, Ottoman sultan (d. 1603)
    • 1602 – Philippe de Champaigne, Dutch-French painter (d. 1674)
    • 1623 – William Petty, English economist and philosopher (d. 1687)
    • 1650 – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire (d. 1722)
    • 1667 – Abraham de Moivre, French-English mathematician and theorist (d. 1754)
    • 1669 – Sébastien Vaillant, French botanist and mycologist (d. 1722)
    • 1700 – Nicolaus Zinzendorf, German bishop and saint (d. 1760)
    • 1799 – August Kopisch, German poet and painter (d. 1853)
    • 1822 – Edmond de Goncourt, French author and critic, founded the Académie Goncourt (d. 1896)
    • 1863 – Bob Fitzsimmons, English-New Zealand boxer (d. 1917)
    • 1865 – Robert W. Chambers, American author and illustrator (d. 1933)
    • 1867 – Mary of Teck, English-born queen consort of the United Kingdom (d. 1953)
    • 1873 – Olaf Gulbransson, Norwegian painter and illustrator (d. 1958)
    • 1876 – Percy Perrin, English cricketer (d. 1945)
    • 1880 – W. Otto Miessner, American composer and educator (d. 1967)
    • 1881 – Adolfo de la Huerta, Mexican politician and provisional president, 1920 (d. 1955)
    • 1883 – Mamie Smith, American singer, actress, dancer, and pianist (d. 1946)
    • 1886 – Al Jolson, American singer and actor (d. 1950)
    • 1887 – Ba U, 2nd President of Burma (d. 1963)
    • 1893 – Eugene Aynsley Goossens, English conductor and composer (d. 1962)
    • 1895 – Dorothea Lange, American photographer and journalist (d. 1965)
    • 1895 – Paul Lukas, Hungarian-American actor and singer (d. 1971)
    • 1898 – Ernst Bacon, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1990)
    • 1898 – Christfried Burmeister, Estonian speed skater (d. 1965)
    • 1899 – Antonio Barrette, Canadian lawyer and politician, 18th Premier of Quebec (d. 1968)
    • 1899 – Muriel McQueen Fergusson, Canadian lawyer and politician, Canadian Speaker of the Senate (d. 1997)
    • 1900 – Karin Juel, Swedish singer, actor, and writer (d. 1976)
    • 1904 – George Formby, English singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1961)
    • 1904 – Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, Turkish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1983)
    • 1904 – Vlado Perlemuter, Lithuanian-French pianist and educator (d. 2002)
    • 1907 – Jean Bernard, French physician and haematologist (d. 2006)
    • 1907 – John Wayne, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1979)
    • 1908 – Robert Morley, English actor (d. 1992)
    • 1908 – Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ, Vietnamese politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam (d. 1976)
    • 1909 – Matt Busby, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 1994)
    • 1909 – Adolfo López Mateos, Mexican politician, 48th President of Mexico (d. 1969)
    • 1910 – Imi Lichtenfeld, Hungarian-Israeli martial artist, boxer, and gymnast (d. 1998)
    • 1911 – Maurice Baquet, French actor and cellist (d. 2005)
    • 1911 – Henry Ephron, American playwright, screenwriter, and producer (d. 1992)
    • 1912 – János Kádár, Hungarian mechanic and politician, 46th Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 1989)
    • 1912 – Jay Silverheels, Canadian-American actor (d. 1980)
    • 1913 – Peter Cushing, English actor (d. 1994)
    • 1913 – Pierre Daninos, French author (d. 2005)
    • 1913 – Karin Ekelund, Swedish actress (d. 1976)
    • 1913 – Josef Manger, German weightlifter (d. 1991)
    • 1914 – Frankie Manning, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2009)
    • 1915 – Vernon Alley, American bassist (d. 2004)
    • 1915 – Antonia Forest, English author (d. 2003)
    • 1916 – Henriette Roosenburg, Dutch journalist and author (d. 1972)
    • 1919 – Rubén González, Cuban pianist (d. 2003)
    • 1920 – Jack Cheetham, South African cricketer (d. 1980)
    • 1920 – Peggy Lee, American singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2002)
    • 1921 – Inge Borkh, German soprano (d. 2018)
    • 1922 – Troy Smith, American businessman, founded Sonic Drive-In (d. 2009)
    • 1923 – James Arness, American actor (d. 2011)
    • 1923 – Roy Dotrice, English actor (d. 2017)
    • 1925 – Carmen Montejo, Cuban-Mexican actress (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Alec McCowen, English actor (d. 2017)
    • 1926 – Miles Davis, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 1991)
    • 1927 – Jacques Bergerac, French actor and businessman (d. 2014)
    • 1928 – Jack Kevorkian, American pathologist, author, and assisted suicide activist (d. 2011)
    • 1929 – J. F. Ade Ajayi, Nigerian historian and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1929 – Ernie Carroll, Australian television personality and producer
    • 1929 – Hans Freeman, Australian bioinorganic chemist and protein crystallographer (d. 2008)
    • 1929 – John Jackson, English lawyer and businessman
    • 1929 – Catherine Sauvage, French singer and actress (d. 1998)
    • 1930 – Karim Emami, Indian-Iranian lexicographer and critic (d. 2005)
    • 1933 – Edward Whittemore, American soldier and author (d. 1995)
    • 1935 – Eero Loone, Estonian philosopher and academic
    • 1936 – David Stevens, Baron Stevens of Ludgate, English politician
    • 1937 – Manorama, Indian actress and singer (d. 2015)
    • 1937 – Paul E. Patton, American politician, 59th Governor of Kentucky
    • 1938 – William Bolcom, American pianist and composer
    • 1938 – Lyudmila Petrushevskaya, Russian author and playwright
    • 1938 – K. Bikram Singh, Indian director and producer (d. 2013)
    • 1938 – Teresa Stratas, Canadian soprano and actress
    • 1939 – Brent Musburger, American sportscaster
    • 1939 – Herb Trimpe, American author and illustrator (d. 2015)
    • 1940 – Monique Gagnon-Tremblay, Canadian academic and politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec
    • 1940 – Levon Helm, American singer-songwriter, drummer, producer, and actor (d. 2012)
    • 1941 – Aldrich Ames, American CIA officer and criminal
    • 1941 – Jim Dobbin, Scottish microbiologist and politician (d. 2014)
    • 1941 – Cliff Drysdale, South African tennis player and sportscaster
    • 1941 – Imants Kalniņš, Latvian composer
    • 1943 – Erica Terpstra, Dutch swimmer, journalist, and politician
    • 1944 – Phil Edmonston, American-Canadian journalist and politician
    • 1944 – Jan Kinder, Norwegian ice hockey player (d. 2013)
    • 1944 – Sam Posey, American race car driver and journalist
    • 1945 – Vilasrao Deshmukh, Indian lawyer and politician, 17th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (d. 2012)
    • 1945 – Alistair MacDuff, English lawyer and judge
    • 1945 – Garry Peterson, Canadian-American drummer
    • 1946 – Neshka Robeva, Bulgarian gymnast and coach
    • 1946 – Mick Ronson, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (d. 1993)
    • 1947 – Carol O’Connell, American author and painter
    • 1947 – Glenn Turner, New Zealand cricketer
    • 1948 – Stevie Nicks, American singer-songwriter
    • 1949 – Jeremy Corbyn, British journalist and politician
    • 1949 – Ward Cunningham, American computer programmer, developed the first wiki
    • 1949 – Pam Grier, American actress
    • 1949 – Anne McGuire, Scottish educator and politician
    • 1949 – Philip Michael Thomas, American actor
    • 1949 – Hank Williams Jr., American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1951 – Ramón Calderón, Spanish lawyer and businessman
    • 1951 – Lou van den Dries, Dutch mathematician
    • 1951 – Sally Ride, American physicist and astronaut, founded Sally Ride Science (d. 2012)
    • 1951 – Madeleine Taylor-Quinn, Irish educator and politician
    • 1952 – David Meece, American singer-songwriter and pianist
    • 1953 – Kay Hagan, American lawyer and politician (d. 2019)
    • 1953 – Don McAllister, English footballer and manager
    • 1953 – Michael Portillo, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Defence
    • 1953 – Dan Roundfield, American basketball player (d. 2012)
    • 1954 – Alan Hollinghurst, English novelist, poet, short story writer, and translator
    • 1954 – Denis Lebel, Canadian businessman and politician, 29th Canadian Minister of Transport
    • 1955 – Masaharu Morimoto, Japanese-American chef
    • 1955 – Paul Stoddart, Australian businessman
    • 1955 – Wesley Walker, American football player and educator
    • 1956 – Neil Parish, English politician
    • 1956 – Fiona Shackleton, English lawyer
    • 1957 – Diomedes Díaz, Colombian singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
    • 1957 – François Legault, Canadian businessman and politician
    • 1957 – Roberto Ravaglia, Italian race car driver
    • 1958 – Ronnie Black, American golfer
    • 1958 – Arto Bryggare, Finnish hurdler and politician
    • 1958 – Margaret Colin, American actress
    • 1959 – Ole Bornedal, Danish actor, director, and producer
    • 1960 – Doug Hutchison, American actor
    • 1960 – Dean Lukin, Australian weightlifter
    • 1960 – Masahiro Matsunaga, Japanese race car driver
    • 1960 – Rob Murphy, American baseball player
    • 1960 – Romas Ubartas, Lithuanian discus thrower
    • 1961 – Steve Pate, American golfer
    • 1961 – Tarsem Singh, Indian-American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1962 – Black, English singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
    • 1962 – Genie Francis, Canadian-American actress
    • 1962 – Bobcat Goldthwait, American actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1963 – Simon Armitage, English poet, playwright and novelist
    • 1963 – Claude Legault, Canadian actor and screenwriter
    • 1963 – Mary Nightingale, English journalist
    • 1963 – Jamie Spence, English golfer
    • 1964 – Caitlín R. Kiernan, Irish-American paleontologist and author
    • 1964 – Lenny Kravitz, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and actor
    • 1964 – Argiris Pedoulakis, Greek basketball player and coach
    • 1965 – Hazel Irvine, Scottish sportscaster and journalist
    • 1966 – Helena Bonham Carter, English actress
    • 1966 – Zola Budd, South African runner
    • 1967 – Philip Treacy, Irish milliner, hat designer
    • 1967 – Mika Yamamoto, Japanese journalist (d. 2012)
    • 1968 – Fernando León de Aranoa, Spanish director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1968 – Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark
    • 1968 – Steve Sedgley, English footballer and manager
    • 1969 – John Baird, Canadian politician, 10th Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
    • 1969 – Siri Lindley, American triathlete and coach
    • 1969 – Dominic Mohan, English journalist
    • 1970 – Nobuhiro Watsuki, Japanese illustrator
    • 1971 – Zaher Andary, Lebanese footballer
    • 1971 – Matt Stone, American actor, animator, screenwriter, producer, and composer
    • 1973 – Naomi Harris, Canadian-American photographer
    • 1974 – Lars Frölander, Swedish swimmer
    • 1975 – Lauryn Hill, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1976 – Paul Collingwood, English cricketer and coach
    • 1976 – Stephen Curry, Australian comedian and actor
    • 1976 – Kenny Florian, American mixed martial artist and sportscaster
    • 1976 – Justin Pierre, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1977 – Nikos Chatzivrettas, Greek basketball player
    • 1977 – Raina Telgemeier, American author and cartoonist
    • 1977 – Luca Toni, Italian footballer
    • 1977 – Misaki Ito, Japanese actress and model
    • 1978 – Phil Elvrum, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1978 – Fabio Firmani, Italian footballer
    • 1978 – Dan Parks, Australian-Scottish rugby player
    • 1979 – Amanda Bauer, American astronomer and academic
    • 1979 – Natalya Nazarova, Russian sprinter
    • 1979 – Elisabeth Harnois, American actress
    • 1979 – Mehmet Okur, Turkish basketball player
    • 1980 – Louis-Jean Cormier, Canadian singer and songwriter
    • 1981 – Robert Copeland, Australian footballer
    • 1981 – Anthony Ervin, American swimmer
    • 1981 – Jason Manford, English actor, screenwriter, and television host
    • 1981 – Isaac Slade, American singer-songwriter and pianist
    • 1981 – Ben Zobrist, American baseball player
    • 1982 – Sten Lassmann, Estonian pianist
    • 1982 – Hasan Kabze, Turkish footballer
    • 1983 – Demy de Zeeuw, Dutch footballer
    • 1983 – Henry Holland, English fashion designer
    • 1983 – Nathan Merritt, Australian rugby league player
    • 1985 – Monika Christodoulou, Greek singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1985 – Ashley Vincent, English footballer
    • 1986 – Michel Tornéus, Swedish long jumper
    • 1987 – Olcay Şahan, Turkish footballer
    • 1987 – Josh Thomas, Australian comedian and actor
    • 1988 – Andrea Catellani, Italian footballer
    • 1988 – Will Chambers, Australian rugby league player
    • 1988 – Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, Colombian footballer
    • 1988 – Dani Samuels, Australian discus thrower
    • 1988 – Joel Selwood, Australian footballer
    • 1988 – Damian Williams, American football player
    • 1989 – Paula Findlay, Canadian triathlete
    • 1991 – Ah Young, South Korean singer and actress
    • 1992 – Curtis Rona, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1993 – Jason Adesanya, Belgian footballer
    • 1993 – Dan Sarginson, Australian-English rugby league player
    • 1993 – Katerine Savard, Canadian swimmer
    • 1993 – Jimmy Vesey, American ice hockey player
    • 1996 – Lara Goodall, South African cricketer

    Deaths on May 26

    • 604 – Augustine of Canterbury, Benedictine monk and archbishop
    • 735 – Bede, English monk, historian, and theologian
    • 818 – Ali al-Ridha, Saudi Arabian 8th of The Twelve Imams
    • 926 – Yuan Xingqin, Chinese general and governor
    • 946 – Edmund I, king of England (b. 921)
    • 1035 – Berenguer Ramon I, Spanish nobleman (b. 1005)
    • 1055 – Adalbert, margrave of Austria
    • 1250 – Peter I, duke of Brittany
    • 1339 – Aldona Ona, queen of Poland
    • 1362 – Louis I, king of Naples (b. 1320)
    • 1421 – Mehmed I, Ottoman sultan (b. 1389)
    • 1512 – Bayezid II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1447)
    • 1536 – Francesco Berni, Italian poet (b. 1498)
    • 1552 – Sebastian Münster, German cartographer and cosmographer (b. 1488)
    • 1648 – Vincent Voiture, French poet and author (b. 1597)
    • 1653 – Robert Filmer, English theorist and author (b. 1588)
    • 1679 – Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1636)
    • 1685 – Charles II, German elector palatine (b. 1651)
    • 1703 – Samuel Pepys, English politician (b. 1633)
    • 1742 – Pylyp Orlyk, Ukrainian diplomat (b. 1672)
    • 1746 – Thomas Southerne, Irish playwright (b. 1660)
    • 1762 – Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, German philosopher and academic (b. 1714)
    • 1799 – James Burnett, Lord Monboddo, Scottish linguist, biologist, and judge (b. 1714)
    • 1818 – Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly, Russian field marshal and politician, Governor-General of Finland (b. 1761)
    • 1818 – Manuel Rodríguez Erdoíza, Chilean lawyer and guerrilla leader (b. 1785)
    • 1824 – Capel Lofft, English lawyer (b. 1751)
    • 1840 – Sidney Smith, English admiral and politician (b. 1764)
    • 1881 – Jakob Bernays, German philologist and academic (b. 1824)
    • 1883 – Abdelkader El Djezairi, Algerian ruler (b. 1808)
    • 1902 – Almon Brown Strowger, American soldier and inventor (b. 1839)
    • 1904 – Georges Gilles de la Tourette, French physician and neurologist (b. 1857)
    • 1908 – Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Indian religious leader, founded the Ahmadiyya movement (b. 1835)
    • 1914 – Jacob August Riis, Danish-American journalist, photographer, and reformer (b. 1849)
    • 1924 – Victor Herbert, Irish-American cellist, composer, and conductor, founded the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (b. 1859)
    • 1926 – Srečko Kosovel, Slovenian poet (b. 1904)
    • 1933 – Horatio Bottomley, English financier, journalist, and politician (b. 1860)
    • 1933 – Jimmie Rodgers, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1897)
    • 1939 – Charles Horace Mayo, American physician, co-founded Mayo Clinic (b. 1865)
    • 1943 – Edsel Ford, American businessman (b. 1893)
    • 1943 – Alice Tegnér, Swedish organist, composer, and educator (b. 1864)
    • 1944 – Christian Wirth, German SS officer (b. 1885)
    • 1948 – Torsten Bergström, Swedish actor and director (b. 1896)
    • 1951 – Lincoln Ellsworth, American explorer (b. 1880)
    • 1954 – Lionel Conacher, Canadian football player and politician (b. 1900)
    • 1955 – Alberto Ascari, Italian race car driver (b. 1918)
    • 1956 – Al Simmons, American baseball player and coach (b. 1902)
    • 1959 – Philip Kassel, American gymnast (b. 1876)
    • 1966 – Elizabeth Dilling, American author and activist (b. 1894)
    • 1969 – Paul Hawkins, Australian race car driver (b. 1937)
    • 1969 – Allan Haines Loughead, American engineer, co-founded the Lockheed Corporation (b. 1889)
    • 1974 – Silvio Moser, Swiss race car driver (b. 1941)
    • 1976 – Martin Heidegger, German philosopher and academic (b. 1889)
    • 1978 – Cybele Andrianou, Greek actress (b. 1887)
    • 1979 – George Brent, Irish-American actor (b. 1904)
    • 1984 – Elizabeth Peer, American journalist (b. 1936)
    • 1989 – Don Revie, English footballer and manager (b. 1927)
    • 1994 – Sonny Sharrock, American guitarist (b. 1940)
    • 1995 – Friz Freleng, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1906)
    • 1997 – Ralph Horween, American football player and coach (b. 1896)
    • 1999 – Paul Sacher, Swiss conductor and philanthropist (b. 1906)
    • 1999 – Waldo Semon, American chemist and engineer (b. 1898)
    • 2001 – Vittorio Brambilla, Italian race car driver (b. 1937)
    • 2001 – Anne Haney, American actress (b. 1934)
    • 2001 – Moven Mahachi, Zimbabwean soldier and politician, Zimbabwean Minister of Defence (b. 1952)
    • 2001 – Dona Massin, Canadian actress and choreographer (b. 1917)
    • 2002 – Mamo Wolde, Ethiopian runner (b. 1932)
    • 2003 – Kathleen Winsor, American journalist and author (b. 1919)
    • 2004 – Nikolai Chernykh, Russian astronomer (b. 1931)
    • 2005 – Eddie Albert, American actor (b. 1906)
    • 2005 – Chico Carrasquel, Venezuelan baseball player and manager (b. 1928)
    • 2005 – Ruth Laredo, American pianist and educator (b. 1937)
    • 2005 – Leslie Smith, English businessman, co-founded Lesney Products (b. 1918)
    • 2006 – Édouard Michelin, French businessman (b. 1963)
    • 2006 – Kevin O’Flanagan, Irish footballer and physician (b. 1919)
    • 2007 – Jack Edward Oliver, English illustrator (b. 1942)
    • 2007 – Howard Porter, American basketball player (b. 1948)
    • 2008 – Sydney Pollack, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1934)
    • 2008 – Zita Urbonaitė, Lithuanian cyclist (b. 1973)
    • 2009 – Mihalis Papagiannakis, Greek journalist and politician (b. 1941)
    • 2009 – Peter Zezel, Canadian ice hockey and soccer player (b. 1965)
    • 2010 – Art Linkletter, Canadian-American radio and television host (b. 1912)
    • 2010 – Chris Moran, English air marshal and pilot (b. 1956)
    • 2010 – Kieran Phelan, Irish politician (b. 1949)
    • 2011 – Arisen Ahubudu, Sri Lankan scholar, author, and playwright (b. 1920)
    • 2012 – Arthur Decabooter, Belgian cyclist (b. 1936)
    • 2012 – Leo Dillon, American illustrator (b. 1933)
    • 2012 – Stephen Healey, Welsh captain and footballer (b. 1982)
    • 2012 – Hiroshi Miyazawa, Japanese politician (b. 1921)
    • 2012 – Hans Schmidt, Canadian wrestler (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Jim Unger, English-Canadian illustrator (b. 1937)
    • 2013 – Ray Barnhart, American businessman and politician (b. 1928)
    • 2013 – John Bierwirth, American lawyer and businessman (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Roberto Civita, Italian-Brazilian businessman (b. 1936)
    • 2013 – Tom Lichtenberg, American football player and coach (b. 1940)
    • 2013 – Otto Muehl, Austrian painter (b. 1925)
    • 2013 – Jack Vance, American author (b. 1916)
    • 2014 – Baselios Thoma Didymos I, Indian metropolitan (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Miodrag Radulovacki, Serbian-American academic and neuropharmacologist (b. 1933)
    • 2014 – William R. Roy, American physician, journalist, and politician (b. 1926)
    • 2014 – Hooshang Seyhoun, Iranian-Canadian architect, sculptor, and painter (b. 1920)
    • 2015 – Vicente Aranda, Spanish director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – Les Johnson, Australian politician and diplomat, Australian High Commissioner to New Zealand (b. 1924)
    • 2015 – Robert Kraft, American astronomer and academic (b. 1927)
    • 2015 – João Lucas, Portuguese footballer (b. 1979)
    • 2015 – Dayton Waller, American soldier and politician (b. 1925)
    • 2016 – Hedy Epstein, German-born American human rights activist and Holocaust survivor (b. 1924)
    • 2017 – Zbigniew Brzezinski, Polish-born American politician (b. 1928)

    Holidays and observances on May 26

    • Christian feast day:
      • Augustine of Canterbury (Anglican Communion and Eastern Orthodox)
      • Lambert of Vence
      • Peter Sanz (one of Martyr Saints of China)
      • Philip Neri
      • Pope Eleuterus
      • Quadratus of Athens
      • Zachary, Bishop of Vienne
      • May 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Independence Day, commemorates the day of the First Republic in 1918 (Georgia)
    • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Guyana from the United Kingdom in 1966.
    • Mother’s Day (Poland)
    • National Paper Airplane Day (United States)
    • National Sorry Day (Australia)

  • May 21 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 293 – Roman Emperors Diocletian and Maximian appoint Galerius as Caesar to Diocletian, beginning the period of four rulers known as the Tetrarchy.
    • 878 – Syracuse, Sicily, is captured by the Muslim Aghlabids after a nine-month siege.
    • 879 – Pope John VIII gives blessings to Branimir of Croatia and to the Croatian people, considered to be international recognition of the Croatian state.
    • 996 – Sixteen-year-old Otto III is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
    • 1349 – Dušan’s Code, the constitution of the Serbian Empire, is enacted by Dušan the Mighty.
    • 1403 – Henry III of Castile sends Ruy González de Clavijo as ambassador to Timur to discuss the possibility of an alliance between Timur and Castile against the Ottoman Empire.
    • 1554 – Queen Mary I grants a royal charter to Derby School, as a grammar school for boys in Derby, England.
    • 1659 – In the Concert of The Hague, the Dutch Republic, the Commonwealth of England and the Kingdom of France set out their views on how the Second Northern War should end.
    • 1660 – The Battle of Long Sault concludes after five days in which French colonial militia, with their Huron and Algonquin allies, are defeated by the Iroquois Confederacy.
    • 1674 – The nobility elect John Sobieski King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.
    • 1703 – Daniel Defoe is imprisoned on charges of seditious libel.
    • 1725 – The Order of St. Alexander Nevsky is instituted in Russia by Empress Catherine I. It would later be discontinued and then reinstated by the Soviet government in 1942 as the Order of Alexander Nevsky.
    • 1758 – Ten-year-old Mary Campbell is abducted in Pennsylvania by Lenape during the French and Indian War. She is returned six and a half years later.
    • 1792 – A lava dome collapses on Mount Unzen, near the city of Shimbara on the Japanese island of Kyūshū, creating a deadly tsunami that kills nearly 15,000 people.
    • 1809 – The first day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling between the Austrian army led by Archduke Charles and the French army led by Napoleon I of France sees the French attack across the Danube held.
    • 1851 – Slavery in Colombia is abolished.
    • 1856 – Lawrence, Kansas is captured and burned by pro-slavery forces.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: The Union Army succeeds in closing off the last escape route from Port Hudson, Louisiana, in preparation for the coming siege.
    • 1864 – Russia declares an end to the Russo-Circassian War and many Circassians are forced into exile. The day is designated the Circassian Day of Mourning.
    • 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House ends.
    • 1864 – The Ionian Islands reunite with Greece.
    • 1871 – French troops invade the Paris Commune and engage its residents in street fighting. By the close of “Bloody Week”, some 20,000 communards have been killed and 38,000 arrested.
    • 1871 – Opening of the first rack railway in Europe, the Rigi Bahnen on Mount Rigi.
    • 1879 – War of the Pacific: Two Chilean ships blocking the harbor of Iquique (then belonging to Peru) battle two Peruvian vessels in the Battle of Iquique.
    • 1881 – The American Red Cross is established by Clara Barton in Washington, D.C.
    • 1894 – The Manchester Ship Canal in the United Kingdom is officially opened by Queen Victoria, who later knights its designer Sir Edward Leader Williams.
    • 1904 – The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is founded in Paris.
    • 1911 – President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz and the revolutionary Francisco Madero sign the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez to put an end to the fighting between the forces of both men, concluding the initial phase of the Mexican Revolution.
    • 1917 – The Imperial War Graves Commission is established through royal charter to mark, record, and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of the British Empire’s military forces.
    • 1917 – The Great Atlanta fire of 1917 causes $5.5 million in damages, destroying some 300 acres including 2,000 homes, businesses and churches, displacing about 10,000 people but leading to only one fatality (due to heart attack).
    • 1924 – University of Chicago students Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, Jr. murder 14-year-old Bobby Franks in a “thrill killing”.
    • 1927 – Charles Lindbergh touches down at Le Bourget Field in Paris, completing the world’s first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
    • 1932 – Bad weather forces Amelia Earhart to land in a pasture in Derry, Northern Ireland, and she thereby becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
    • 1934 – Oskaloosa, Iowa, becomes the first municipality in the United States to fingerprint all of its citizens.
    • 1936 – Sada Abe is arrested after wandering the streets of Tokyo for days with her dead lover’s severed genitals in her handbag. Her story soon becomes one of Japan’s most notorious scandals.
    • 1937 – A Soviet station, North Pole-1, becomes the first scientific research settlement to operate on the drift ice of the Arctic Ocean.
    • 1939 – The Canadian National War Memorial is unveiled by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
    • 1946 – Physicist Louis Slotin is fatally irradiated in a criticality incident during an experiment with the demon core at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
    • 1951 – The opening of the Ninth Street Show, otherwise known as the 9th Street Art Exhibition: A gathering of a number of notable artists, and the stepping-out of the post war New York avant-garde, collectively known as the New York School.
    • 1961 – American civil rights movement: Alabama Governor John Malcolm Patterson declares martial law in an attempt to restore order after race riots break out.
    • 1966 – The Ulster Volunteer Force declares war on the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland.
    • 1969 – Civil unrest in Rosario, Argentina, known as Rosariazo, following the death of a 15-year-old student.
    • 1972 – Michelangelo’s Pietà in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome is damaged by a vandal, the mentally disturbed Hungarian geologist Laszlo Toth.
    • 1976 – Twenty-nine people are killed in the Yuba City bus disaster in Martinez, California.
    • 1979 – White Night riots in San Francisco following the manslaughter conviction of Dan White for the assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk.
    • 1981 – The Italian government releases the membership list of Propaganda Due, an illegal pseudo-Masonic lodge that was implicated in numerous Italian crimes and mysteries.
    • 1981 – Transamerica Corporation agrees to sell United Artists to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for $380 million after the box office failure of the 1980 film Heaven’s Gate.
    • 1982 – Falklands War: A British amphibious assault during Operation Sutton leads to the Battle of San Carlos.
    • 1991 – Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated by a female suicide bomber near Madras.
    • 1991 – Mengistu Haile Mariam, president of the People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, flees Ethiopia, effectively bringing the Ethiopian Civil War to an end.
    • 1992 – After 30 seasons Johnny Carson hosted his penultimate episode and last featuring guests (Robin Williams and Bette Midler) of The Tonight Show.
    • 1994 – The Democratic Republic of Yemen unsuccessfully attempts to secede from the Republic of Yemen; a war breaks out.
    • 1996 – The ferry MV Bukoba sinks in Tanzanian waters on Lake Victoria, killing nearly 1,000.
    • 1998 – In Miami, five abortion clinics are attacked by a butyric acid attacker.
    • 1998 – President Suharto of Indonesia resigns following the killing of students from Trisakti University earlier that week by security forces and growing mass protests in Jakarta against his ongoing corrupt rule.
    • 2001 – French Taubira law is enacted, officially recognizing the Atlantic slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity.
    • 2003 – The 6.8 Mw  Boumerdès earthquake shakes northern Algeria with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). More than 2,200 people were killed and a moderate tsunami sank boats at the Balearic Islands.
    • 2005 – The tallest roller coaster in the world, Kingda Ka opens at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey.
    • 2006 – The Republic of Montenegro holds a referendum proposing independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro; 55% of Montenegrins vote for independence.
    • 2010 – JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, launches the solar-sail spacecraft IKAROS aboard an H-IIA rocket. The vessel would make a Venus flyby late in the year.
    • 2011 – Radio broadcaster Harold Camping predicted that the world would end on this date.
    • 2012 – A bus accident near Himara, Albania kills 13 people and injures 21 others.
    • 2012 – A suicide bombing kills more than 120 people in Sana’a, Yemen.
    • 2017 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus performed their final show at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

    Births on May 21

    • 1471 – Albrecht Dürer, German painter, engraver, and mathematician (d. 1528)
    • 1497 – Al-Hattab, Muslim jurist (d. 1547)
    • 1527 – Philip II of Spain (d. 1598)
    • 1653 – Eleonore of Austria, Queen of Poland (d. 1697)
    • 1688 – Alexander Pope, English poet, essayist, and translator (d. 1744)
    • 1755 – Alfred Moore, American lawyer and judge (d. 1810)
    • 1756 – William Babington, Irish-born, English physician and mineralogist (d. 1833)
    • 1763 – Joseph Fouché, French lawyer and politician (d. 1820)
    • 1775 – Lucien Bonaparte, French soldier and politician (d. 1840)
    • 1780 – Elizabeth Fry, English prison reformer, philanthropist and Quaker (d. 1845)
    • 1790 – William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire, English politician, Lord Chamberlain of the Household (d. 1858)
    • 1792 – Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis, French mathematician and engineer (d. 1843)
    • 1799 – Mary Anning, English paleontologist (d. 1847)
    • 1801 – Princess Sophie of Sweden, Swedish princess (d. 1865)
    • 1806 – Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland, English duchess (d. 1868)
    • 1808 – David de Jahacob Lopez Cardozo, Dutch Talmudist (d. 1890)
    • 1827 – William P. Sprague, American banker and politician (d. 1899)
    • 1828 – Rudolf Koller, Swiss painter (d. 1905)
    • 1835 – František Chvostek, Czech-Austrian physician and academic (d. 1884)
    • 1837 – Itagaki Taisuke, Japanese soldier and politician (d. 1919)
    • 1843 – Charles Albert Gobat, Swiss lawyer and politician, and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1914)
    • 1843 – Louis Renault, French jurist, educator, and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1918)
    • 1844 – Henri Rousseau, French painter (d. 1910)
    • 1850 – Giuseppe Mercalli, Italian priest and volcanologist (d. 1914)
    • 1851 – Léon Bourgeois, French police officer and politician, 64th Prime Minister of France, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1925)
    • 1853 – Jacques Marie Eugène Godefroy Cavaignac, French politician (d. 1905)
    • 1856 – José Batlle y Ordóñez, Uruguayan journalist and politician, President of Uruguay (d. 1929)
    • 1860 – Willem Einthoven, Indonesian-Dutch physician, physiologist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1927)
    • 1861 – Abel Ayerza, Argentinian physician and academic (d. 1918)
    • 1863 – Archduke Eugen of Austria (d. 1954)
    • 1864 – Princess Stéphanie of Belgium (d. 1945)
    • 1873 – Hans Berger, German neurologist and academic (d. 1941)
    • 1878 – Glenn Curtiss, American cyclist and engineer (d. 1930)
    • 1880 – Tudor Arghezi, Romanian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1967)
    • 1884 – Manuel Pérez y Curis, Uruguayan poet and publisher (d. 1920)
    • 1885 – Princess Sophie of Albania, (Princess Sophie of Schönburg-Waldenburg) (d. 1936)
    • 1893 – Arthur Carr, English cricketer (d. 1963)
    • 1893 – Giles Chippindall, Australian public servant (d. 1969)
    • 1895 – Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexican general, president (1934–1940) and father of Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas (d. 1970)
    • 1898 – Armand Hammer, American physician and businessman, founded Occidental Petroleum (d. 1990)
    • 1898 – Charles Léon Hammes, Luxembourgian lawyer and judge (d. 1967)
    • 1898 – Carl Johnson, American long jumper (d. 1932)
    • 1898 – John McLaughlin, American painter and translator (d. 1976)
    • 1901 – Regina M. Anderson, Multiracial playwright and librarian (d. 1993)
    • 1901 – Horace Heidt, American pianist, bandleader, and radio host (d. 1986)
    • 1901 – Sam Jaffe, American film producer and agent (d. 2000)
    • 1901 – Suzanne Lilar, Belgian author and playwright (d. 1992)
    • 1902 – Earl Averill, American baseball player (d. 1983)
    • 1902 – Marcel Breuer, Hungarian-American architect and academic, designed the Ameritrust Tower (d. 1981)
    • 1902 – Anatole Litvak, Ukrainian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1974)
    • 1903 – Manly Wade Wellman, American author (d. 1986)
    • 1904 – Robert Montgomery, American actor and director (d. 1981)
    • 1904 – Fats Waller, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1943)
    • 1907 – John C. Allen, American roller coaster designer (d. 1979)
    • 1912 – Chen Dayu, Chinese painter and calligrapher (d. 2001)
    • 1912 – John Curtis Gowan, American psychologist and academic (d. 1986)
    • 1912 – Monty Stratton, American baseball player and coach (d. 1982)
    • 1913 – Gina Bachauer, Greek pianist and composer (d. 1976)
    • 1915 – Cathleen Cordell, American actress (d. 1997)
    • 1915 – Chakravarthi V. Narasimhan, Indian Civil Service Officer and former Under Secretary-General of the UN (d. 2003)
    • 1916 – Dennis Day, American singer and actor (d. 1988)
    • 1916 – Tinus Osendarp, Dutch sprinter and police officer (d. 2002)
    • 1916 – Harold Robbins, American author and screenwriter (d. 1997)
    • 1917 – Raymond Burr, Canadian-American actor and director (d. 1993)
    • 1918 – Anthony Steel, English actor and singer (d. 2001)
    • 1919 – George P. Mitchell, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013)
    • 1920 – Bill Barber, American tuba player and educator (d. 2007)
    • 1920 – Forrest White, American businessman, co-founded the Music Man Company (d. 1994)
    • 1921 – Sandy Douglas, English computer scientist and academic, designed OXO (d. 2010)
    • 1921 – Andrei Sakharov, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1989)
    • 1923 – Vernon Biever, American photographer (d. 2010)
    • 1923 – Armand Borel, Swiss-American mathematician and academic (d. 2003)
    • 1923 – Ara Parseghian, American football player and coach (d. 2017)
    • 1923 – Dorothy Hewett, Australian feminist poet, novelist and playwright (d. 2002)
    • 1923 – Evelyn Ward, American actress (d. 2012)
    • 1924 – Peggy Cass, American actress, comedian, and game show panelist (d. 1999)
    • 1926 – Robert Creeley, American novelist, essayist, and poet (d. 2005)
    • 1927 – Kay Kendall, English actress and comedian (d. 1959)
    • 1927 – Péter Zwack, Hungarian businessman and diplomat (d. 2012)
    • 1928 – Tom Donahue, American radio host and producer (d. 1975)
    • 1928 – Alice Drummond, American actress (d. 2016)
    • 1929 – Larance Marable, American drummer (d. 2012)
    • 1929 – Robert Welch, English silversmith and industrial designer (d. 2000)
    • 1930 – Tommy Bryant, American bassist (d. 1982)
    • 1930 – Keith Davis, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2019)
    • 1930 – Malcolm Fraser, Australian politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Australia (d. 2015)
    • 1932 – Inese Jaunzeme, Latvian javelin thrower and surgeon (d. 2011)
    • 1932 – Leonidas Vasilikopoulos, Greek admiral and intelligence chief (d. 2014)
    • 1933 – Maurice André, French trumpet player (d. 2012)
    • 1933 – Yevgeny Minayev, Russian weightlifter (d. 1993)
    • 1934 – Jocasta Innes, Chinese-English journalist and author (d. 2013)
    • 1934 – Bob Northern, American horn player and bandleader
    • 1934 – Bengt I. Samuelsson, Swedish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1935 – Terry Lightfoot, English clarinet player and bandleader (d. 2013)
    • 1936 – Günter Blobel, Polish-American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018)
    • 1938 – Lee “Shot” Williams, American singer (d. 2011)
    • 1939 – Heinz Holliger, Swiss oboist, composer, and conductor
    • 1940 – Tony Sheridan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
    • 1941 – Martin Carthy, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1941 – Bobby Cox, American baseball player and manager
    • 1941 – Ambrose Greenway, 4th Baron Greenway, English photographer and politician
    • 1941 – Ronald Isley, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1942 – David Hunt, Baron Hunt of Wirral, English politician, Secretary of State for Wales
    • 1942 – John Konrads, Australian swimmer
    • 1942 – Danny Ongais, American race car driver
    • 1943 – Vincent Crane, English pianist and composer (d. 1989)
    • 1943 – John Dalton, English bass player
    • 1943 – Hilton Valentine, English guitarist and songwriter
    • 1944 – Haleh Afshar, Baroness Afshar, Iranian-English academic and politician
    • 1944 – Marcie Blane, American singer
    • 1944 – Janet Dailey, American author and entrepreneur (d. 2013)
    • 1944 – Mary Robinson, Irish lawyer and politician, 7th President of Ireland
    • 1945 – Ernst Messerschmid, German physicist and astronaut
    • 1945 – Richard Hatch, American actor, writer, and producer (d. 2017)
    • 1946 – Allan McKeown, English-American screenwriter and producer (d. 2013)
    • 1946 – Wayne Roycroft, Australian equestrian rider and coach
    • 1947 – Bill Champlin, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1947 – Linda Laubenstein, American physician and academic (d. 1992)
    • 1947 – İlber Ortaylı, Turkish historian and academic
    • 1948 – Elizabeth Buchan, English author and critic
    • 1948 – Joe Camilleri, Maltese-Australian singer-songwriter and saxophonist
    • 1948 – Jonathan Hyde, Australian-English actor
    • 1948 – Denis MacShane, Scottish journalist and politician, UK Minister of State for Europe
    • 1948 – Leo Sayer, English-Australian singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1949 – Andrew Neil, Scottish journalist and academic
    • 1949 – Denis O’Connor, British police officer
    • 1949 – Rosalind Plowright, English soprano
    • 1950 – Will Hutton, English economist and journalist
    • 1951 – Al Franken, American actor, screenwriter, and politician
    • 1951 – Adrian Hardiman, Irish lawyer and judge (d. 2016)
    • 1952 – Mr. T, American actor and wrestler
    • 1953 – Nora Aunor, Filipino actress and recording artist
    • 1954 – D. B. S. Jeyaraj, Sri Lankan-Canadian journalist and blogger
    • 1954 – Janice Karman, American film producer, record producer, singer, and voice actress
    • 1954 – Marc Ribot, American guitarist and composer
    • 1955 – Paul Barber, English field hockey player
    • 1955 – Stan Lynch, American drummer, songwriter, and producer
    • 1957 – James Bailey, American basketball player
    • 1957 – Nadine Dorries, English nurse and politician
    • 1957 – Judge Reinhold, American actor and producer
    • 1957 – Renée Soutendijk, Dutch actress
    • 1958 – Christian Audigier, French fashion designer (d. 2015)
    • 1958 – Muffy Calder, Canadian-Scottish computer scientist and academic
    • 1958 – Michael Crick, English journalist and author
    • 1958 – Naeem Khan, Indian-American fashion designer
    • 1958 – Jefery Levy, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1959 – Nick Cassavetes, American actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1959 – Abdulla Yameen, Maldivian politician, 6th President of the Maldives
    • 1960 – Jeffrey Dahmer, American serial killer (d. 1994)
    • 1960 – Kent Hrbek, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1960 – Mohanlal, Indian actor
    • 1960 – Mark Ridgway, Australian cricketer
    • 1960 – Vladimir Salnikov, Russian swimmer
    • 1962 – David Crumb, American composer and educator
    • 1963 – Richard Appel, American screenwriter and producer
    • 1963 – Patrick Grant, American musician and producer
    • 1963 – David Lonsdale, English actor
    • 1964 – Pete Sandoval, Salvadoran-American drummer
    • 1963 – Kevin Shields, American-Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1963 – Dave Specter, American guitarist
    • 1963 – Laurie Spina, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
    • 1964 – Danny Bailey, English footballer and coach
    • 1965 – Josh Richman, American actor and producer
    • 1966 – Lisa Edelstein, American actress and playwright
    • 1966 – Tatyana Ledovskaya, Belarusian hurdler
    • 1967 – Chris Benoit, Canadian professional wrestler (d. 2007)
    • 1968 – Ilmar Raag, Estonian director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1968 – Matthias Ungemach, German-Australian rower
    • 1968 – Julie Vega, Filipino actress and singer (d. 1985)
    • 1969 – Pierluigi Brivio, Italian footballer
    • 1969 – Georgiy Gongadze, Georgian-Ukrainian journalist and director (d. 2000)
    • 1969 – Masayo Kurata, Japanese voice actress and singer
    • 1969 – George LeMieux, American lawyer and politician
    • 1969 – Brian Statham, Rhodesian born English footballer, defender and manager
    • 1970 – Brigita Bukovec, Slovenian hurdler
    • 1970 – Dorsey Levens, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1970 – Pauline Menczer, Australian surfer
    • 1970 – Carl Veart, Australian footballer and coach
    • 1972 – The Notorious B.I.G., American rapper (d. 1997)
    • 1973 – Stewart Cink, American golfer
    • 1973 – Noel Fielding, English comedian, musician and television presenter
    • 1974 – Brad Arthur, Australian rugby league coach
    • 1974 – Fairuza Balk, American actress
    • 1974 – Aditi Gowitrikar, Indian model, actress, and physician, Mrs. World 2001
    • 1974 – Havoc, American rapper and producer
    • 1975 – Anthony Mundine, Australian rugby league player and boxer
    • 1976 – Stuart Bingham, English snooker player
    • 1976 – Abderrahim Goumri, Moroccan runner (d. 2013)
    • 1976 – Deron Miller, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1977 – Quinton Fortune, South African international footballer midfielder and coach
    • 1977 – Michael Fuß, German footballer
    • 1977 – Ricky Williams, American football player and coach
    • 1978 – Max B, American rapper and songwriter
    • 1978 – Briana Banks, German-American porn actress and model
    • 1978 – Jamaal Magloire, Canadian basketball player and coach
    • 1979 – Damián Ariel Álvarez, Argentinian-Mexican footballer
    • 1979 – Jamie Hepburn, Scottish politician, Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health
    • 1979 – James Clancy Phelan, Australian author and academic
    • 1979 – Scott Smith, American mixed martial artist
    • 1979 – Sonja Vectomov, Czech musician/composer
    • 1980 – Gotye, Belgian-Australian singer-songwriter
    • 1981 – Craig Anderson, American ice hockey player
    • 1981 – Edson Buddle, American soccer player
    • 1981 – Josh Hamilton, American baseball player
    • 1981 – Maximilian Mutzke, German singer-songwriter
    • 1981 – Anna Rogowska, Polish pole vaulter
    • 1983 – Līga Dekmeijere, Latvian tennis player
    • 1983 – Deidson Araújo Maia, Brazilian footballer
    • 1983 – Kaori Shimizu, Japanese voice actress and singer
    • 1984 – Brandon Fields, American football player
    • 1984 – Sara Goller, German volleyball player
    • 1984 – Syamsul Yusof, Malaysian actor, film director, scriptwriter, film producer, rapper and singer
    • 1985 – Mutya Buena, English singer-songwriter
    • 1985 – Alison Carroll, English gymnast, model, and actress
    • 1985 – Mark Cavendish, Manx cyclist
    • 1985 – Alexander Dale Oen, Norwegian swimmer (d. 2012)
    • 1985 – Isa Guha, English cricketer
    • 1985 – Lucie Hradecká, Czech tennis player
    • 1985 – Kano, English rapper, producer, and actor
    • 1985 – Dušan Kuciak, Slovak footballer
    • 1985 – Heath L’Estrange, Australian rugby league player
    • 1985 – Andrew Miller, American baseball player
    • 1986 – Mario Mandžukić, Croatian footballer
    • 1986 – Myra, American singer and actress
    • 1986 – Eder Sánchez, Mexican race walker
    • 1986 – Park Sojin, South Korean singer-songwriter and dancer
    • 1986 – Greg Stewart, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1987 – Beau Falloon, Australian rugby league player
    • 1988 – Claire Cashmore, English Paralympic swimmer
    • 1988 – Park Gyu-ri, South Korean singer
    • 1988 – Jonny Howson, English footballer
    • 1988 – Kaire Leibak, Estonian triple jumper
    • 1989 – Emily Robins, New Zealand actress and singer
    • 1989 – Hal Robson-Kanu, English footballer
    • 1990 – Kierre Beckles, Barbadian athlete
    • 1990 – Rene Krhin, Slovenian footballer
    • 1991 – Guilherme, Brazilian footballer
    • 1992 – Hutch Dano, American actor
    • 1992 – Lisa Evans, Scottish footballer
    • 1992 – Philipp Grüneberg, German footballer
    • 1992 – Olivia Olson, American singer and actress
    • 1993 – Grete Gaim, Estonian biathlete
    • 1993 – Luke Garbutt, English footballer, left-back
    • 1994 – Tom Daley, English diver
    • 1995 – Katharina Andresen, Norwegian heiress and equestrian
    • 1995 – Diego Loyzaga, Filipino actor
    • 1996 – Josh Allen, American footballer
    • 1996 – Indy de Vroome, Dutch tennis player
    • 1996 – Karen Khachanov, Russian tennis player
    • 1997 – Ivan De Santis, Italian footballer
    • 1997 – Sisca Folkertsma, Dutch footballer
    • 1997 – Viktoria Petryk, Ukrainian singer-songwriter

    Deaths on May 21

    • 252 – Sun Quan, Chinese emperor of Eastern Wu (b. 182)
    • 954 – Feng Dao, Chinese prince and chancellor (b. 882)
    • 987 – Louis V, king of West Francia (b. c. 966)
    • 1075 – Richeza of Poland, queen of Hungary (b. 1013)
    • 1086 – Wang Anshi, Chinese statesman and poet (b. 1021)
    • 1237 – Olaf the Black, Manx son of Godred II Olafsson
    • 1254 – Conrad IV, king of Germany (b. 1228)
    • 1416 – Anna of Celje, queen consort of Poland (b. 1386)
    • 1471 – Henry VI, king of England (b. 1421)
    • 1481 – Christian I, king of Denmark (b. 1426)
    • 1512 – Pandolfo Petrucci, Italian ruler (b. 1452)
    • 1524 – Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, English soldier and politician, Lord High Treasurer (b. 1443)
    • 1542 – Hernando de Soto, Spanish-American explorer (b. 1496)
    • 1563 – Martynas Mažvydas, Lithuanian writer (b. 1510)
    • 1607 – John Rainolds, English scholar and academic (b. 1549)
    • 1619 – Hieronymus Fabricius, Italian anatomist (b. 1537)
    • 1639 – Tommaso Campanella, Italian astrologer, theologian, and poet (b. 1568)
    • 1647 – Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Dutch poet and playwright (b. 1581)
    • 1650 – James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, Scottish general and politician (b. 1612)
    • 1664 – Elizabeth Poole, English settler, founded Taunton, Massachusetts (b. 1588)
    • 1670 – Niccolò Zucchi, Italian astronomer and physicist (b. 1586)
    • 1686 – Otto von Guericke, German physicist and inventor of the Magdeburg Hemispheres (b. 1602)
    • 1690 – John Eliot, English-American minister and missionary (b. 1604)
    • 1719 – Pierre Poiret, French mystic and philosopher (b. 1646)
    • 1724 – Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1661)
    • 1742 – Lars Roberg, Swedish physician and academic (b. 1664)
    • 1762 – Alexander Joseph Sulkowski, Polish and Saxon general (b. 1695)
    • 1771 – Christopher Smart, English actor, playwright, and poet (b. 1722)
    • 1786 – Carl Wilhelm Scheele, German-Swedish chemist and pharmacist (b. 1742)
    • 1790 – Thomas Warton, English poet and critic (b. 1728)
    • 1810 – Chevalier d’Eon, French diplomat and spy (b. 1728)
    • 1844 – Giuseppe Baini, Italian priest and composer (b. 1775)
    • 1858 – José de la Riva Agüero, Peruvian soldier and politician, 1st President of Peru and 2nd President of North Peru (b. 1783)
    • 1862 – John Drew, Irish-American actor and manager (b. 1827)
    • 1879 – Arturo Prat, Chilean lawyer and commander (b. 1848)
    • 1894 – Émile Henry, French anarchist (b. 1872)
    • 1894 – August Kundt, German physicist and academic (b. 1839)
    • 1895 – Franz von Suppé, Austrian composer and conductor (b. 1819)
    • 1901 – Joseph Olivier, French rugby player (b. 1874)
    • 1911 – Williamina Fleming, Scottish-American astronomer and academic (b. 1857)
    • 1915 – Leonid Gobyato, Russian general and engineer (b. 1875)
    • 1919 – Evgraf Fedorov, Russian mathematician, crystallographer, and mineralogist (b. 1853)
    • 1920 – Venustiano Carranza, Mexican politician, 54th President of Mexico (b. 1859)
    • 1925 – Hidesaburō Ueno, Japanese agriculturalist, guardian of Hachikō (b. 1871)
    • 1926 – Ronald Firbank, English-Italian author (b. 1886)
    • 1929 – Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1847)
    • 1932 – Marcel Boulenger, French fencer and author (b. 1873)
    • 1935 – Jane Addams, American activist and author, co-founded Hull House, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1860)
    • 1935 – Hugo de Vries, Dutch botanist and geneticist (b. 1848)
    • 1940 – Billy Minter, English footballer and manager (b. 1888)
    • 1949 – Klaus Mann, German-American novelist, playwright, and critic (b. 1906)
    • 1952 – John Garfield, American actor (b. 1913)
    • 1956 – Harry Bensley, English businessman and adventurer (b. 1877)
    • 1957 – Alexander Vertinsky, Ukrainian-Russian singer-songwriter, actor, and poet (b. 1889)
    • 1964 – James Franck, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1882)
    • 1965 – Marguerite Bise, French chef (b. 1898)
    • 1965 – Geoffrey de Havilland, English pilot and engineer, designed the de Havilland Mosquito (b. 1882)
    • 1968 – Doris Lloyd, English actress (b. 1896)
    • 1970 – E. L. Grant Watson, English-Australian biologist and author (b. 1885)
    • 1973 – Vaughn Monroe, American singer, trumpet player, bandleader, and actor (b. 1911)
    • 1973 – Ivan Konev, Soviet Marshal and general (b. 1897)
    • 1981 – Raymond McCreesh, PIRA volunteer (b. 1957)
    • 1981 – Patsy O’Hara, INLA volunteer (b. 1957)
    • 1983 – Kenneth Clark, English historian and author (b. 1903)
    • 1984 – Ann Little, American actress (b. 1891)
    • 1988 – Sammy Davis Sr., American actor and dancer (b. 1900)
    • 1991 – Lino Brocka, Filipino director and screenwriter (b. 1939)
    • 1991 – Rajiv Gandhi, Indian politician, 6th Prime Minister of India (b. 1944)
    • 1995 – Les Aspin, American captain and politician, 18th United States Secretary of Defense (b. 1938)
    • 1996 – Paul Delph, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1957)
    • 1996 – Lash LaRue, American actor and producer (b. 1917)
    • 1996 – Villem Raam, Estonian art historian, art critic and conservator (b. 1910)
    • 1998 – Robert Gist, American actor and director (b. 1917)
    • 2000 – Barbara Cartland, English author (b. 1901)
    • 2000 – John Gielgud, English actor (b. 1904)
    • 2000 – Mark R. Hughes, American businessman, founded Herbalife (b. 1956)
    • 2002 – Niki de Saint Phalle, French-American sculptor and painter (b. 1930)
    • 2003 – Alejandro de Tomaso, Argentinian-Italian race car driver and businessman, founded De Tomaso (b. 1928)
    • 2003 – Frank D. White, American captain, banker, and politician, 41st Governor of Arkansas (b. 1933)
    • 2005 – Deborah Berger, American outsider artist (b. 1956)
    • 2005 – Stephen Elliott, American actor (b. 1918)
    • 2005 – Howard Morris, American actor and director (b. 1919)
    • 2006 – Spencer Clark, American race car driver (b. 1987)
    • 2006 – Katherine Dunham, American dancer, choreographer, and author (b. 1909)
    • 2006 – Cherd Songsri, Thai director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1931)
    • 2006 – Billy Walker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1929)
    • 2012 – Eddie Blazonczyk, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
    • 2012 – Otis Clark, American butler and preacher, survivor of the Tulsa race riot (b. 1903)
    • 2012 – Constantine of Irinoupolis, Metropolitan of Irinoupolis and Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA (b. 1936)
    • 2012 – Roman Dumbadze, Georgian commander (b. 1964)
    • 2012 – Douglas Rodríguez, Cuban boxer (b. 1950)
    • 2012 – Bill Stewart, American football player and coach (b. 1952)
    • 2012 – Alan Thorne, Australian anthropologist and academic (b. 1939)
    • 2013 – Count Christian of Rosenborg, member of the Danish royal family (b. 1942)
    • 2013 – Frank Comstock, American trombonist, composer, and conductor (b. 1922)
    • 2013 – Cot Deal, American baseball player and coach (b. 1923)
    • 2013 – Mohammad Khaled Hossain, Bangladeshi mountaineer (b. 1979)
    • 2013 – Leonard Marsh, American businessman, co-founded Snapple (b. 1933)
    • 2013 – Bob Thompson, American pianist and composer (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Dominique Venner, French journalist and historian (b. 1935)
    • 2013 – David Voelker, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1953)
    • 2014 – Tunku Annuar, Malaysian son of Badlishah of Kedah (b. 1939)
    • 2014 – Evelyn Blackmon, American businesswoman and politician (b. 1924)
    • 2014 – Johnny Gray, American baseball player (b. 1926)
    • 2014 – Jaime Lusinchi, Venezuelan physician and politician, President of Venezuela (b. 1924)
    • 2014 – Alireza Soleimani, Iranian wrestler (b. 1956)
    • 2015 – Annarita Sidoti, Italian race walker (b. 1969)
    • 2015 – Twinkle, English singer-songwriter (b. 1948)
    • 2015 – Jassem Al-Kharafi, Kuwaiti businessman and politician, 8th Kuwaiti Speaker of the National Assembly (b. 1940)
    • 2015 – Fred Gladding, American baseball player and coach (b. 1936)
    • 2015 – Louis Johnson, American bass player and producer (b. 1955)
    • 2016 – Nick Menza, American drummer and songwriter (b. 1964)
    • 2019 – Rik Kuypers, Belgian film director (b. 1925)
    • 2019 – Binyavanga Wainaina, Kenyan writer (b. 1971)
    • 2020 – Alan Merten, fifth President of George Mason University (b. 1941)

    Holidays and observances on May 21

    • Afro-Colombian Day (Colombia)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Arcangelo Tadini
      • Blessed Adílio Daronch and Manuel Gómez González
      • Blessed Franz Jägerstätter
      • Earliest day on which Corpus Christi can fall, while June 24 is the latest; held on Thursday after Trinity Sunday (often locally moved to Sunday). (Roman Catholic Church)
      • Emperor Constantine I
      • Eugène de Mazenod
      • Helena of Constantinople, also known as “Feast of the Holy Great Sovereigns Constantine and Helen, Equal-to-the-Apostles.” (Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion)
      • John Elliot (Episcopal Church)
      • Saints of the Cristero War, including Christopher Magallanes
      • May 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Circassian Day of Mourning (Circassians)
    • Day of Patriots and Military (Hungary)
    • Independence Day, celebrates the Montenegrin independence referendum in 2006, celebrated until the next day. (Montenegro)
    • Navy Day (Chile)
    • Saint Helena Day, celebrates the discovery of Saint Helena in 1502. (Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha)
    • World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development (International)
    • International Tea Day (International)

  • May 9 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1009 – Lombard Revolt: Lombard forces led by Melus revolt in Bari against the Byzantine Catepanate of Italy.
    • 1271 – Ninth Crusade, Edward I of England disembarks at Acre.
    • 1386 – England and Portugal formally ratify their alliance with the signing of the Treaty of Windsor, making it the oldest diplomatic alliance in the world which is still in force.
    • 1450 – ‘Abd al-Latif (Timurid monarch) is assassinated.
    • 1540 – Hernando de Alarcón sets sail on an expedition to the Gulf of California.
    • 1662 – The figure who later became Mr. Punch makes his first recorded appearance in England.
    • 1671 – Thomas Blood, disguised as a clergyman, attempts to steal England’s Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.
    • 1726 – Five men arrested during a raid on Mother Clap’s molly house in London are executed at Tyburn.
    • 1763 – The Siege of Fort Detroit begins during Pontiac’s War against British forces.
    • 1864 – Second Schleswig War: The Danish navy defeats the Austrian and Prussian fleets in the Battle of Heligoland.
    • 1865 – American Civil War: Nathan Bedford Forrest surrenders his forces at Gainesville, Alabama.
    • 1865 – American Civil War: President Andrew Johnson issues a proclamation ending belligerent rights of the rebels and enjoining foreign nations to intern or expel Confederate ships.
    • 1873 – Der Krach: Vienna stock market crash heralds the Long Depression.
    • 1874 – The first horsebus makes its début in the city of Mumbai, traveling two routes.
    • 1877 – Mihail Kogălniceanu reads, in the Chamber of Deputies, the Declaration of Independence of Romania. This day became the Independence Day of Romania.
    • 1877 – A magnitude 8.8 earthquake off the coast of Peru kills 2,541, including some as far away as Hawaii and Japan.
    • 1887 – Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show opens in London.
    • 1901 – Australia opens its first national parliament in Melbourne.
    • 1904 – The steam locomotive City of Truro becomes the first steam engine in Europe to exceed 100 mph (160 km/h).
    • 1911 – The works of Gabriele D’Annunzio are placed in the Index of Forbidden Books by the Vatican.
    • 1915 – World War I: Second Battle of Artois between German and French forces.
    • 1918 – World War I: Germany repels Britain’s second attempt to blockade the port of Ostend, Belgium.
    • 1920 – Polish–Soviet War: The Polish army under General Edward Rydz-Śmigły celebrates its capture of Kiev with a victory parade on Khreshchatyk.
    • 1926 – Admiral Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett claim to have flown over the North Pole (later discovery of Byrd’s diary appears to cast some doubt on the claim.)
    • 1927 – Old Parliament House, Canberra officially opens.
    • 1936 – Italy formally annexes Ethiopia after taking the capital Addis Ababa on May 5.
    • 1940 – World War II: The German submarine U-9 sinks the French coastal submarine Doris near Den Helder.
    • 1941 – World War II: The German submarine U-110 is captured by the Royal Navy. On board is the latest Enigma machine which Allied cryptographers later use to break coded German messages.
    • 1942 – Holocaust: The SS executes 588 Jewish residents of the Podolian town of Zinkiv (Khmelnytska oblast, Ukraine). The Zoludek Ghetto (in Belarus) is destroyed and all its inhabitants executed or deported.
    • 1945 – World War II: The final German Instrument of Surrender is signed at the Soviet headquarters in Berlin-Karlshorst.
    • 1945 – World War II: The German occupation of the Channel Islands comes to an end.
    • 1946 – King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy abdicates and is succeeded by Umberto II.
    • 1948 – Czechoslovakia’s Ninth-of-May Constitution comes into effect.
    • 1949 – Rainier III becomes Prince of Monaco.
    • 1950 – Robert Schuman presents his proposal on the creation of an organized Europe, which according to him was indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations. This proposal, known as the “Schuman Declaration”, is considered by some people to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union.
    • 1955 – Cold War: West Germany joins NATO.
    • 1958 – Alfred Hitchcock’s film Vertigo has world premiere in San Francisco.
    • 1960 – The Food and Drug Administration announces it will approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle’s Enovid, making Enovid the world’s first approved oral contraceptive pill.
    • 1961 – FCC Chairman Newton N. Minow gives his Wasteland Speech.
    • 1964 – Ngô Đình Cẩn, de facto ruler of central Vietnam under his brother President Ngô Đình Diệm before the family’s toppling, is executed.
    • 1969 – Carlos Lamarca leads the first urban guerrilla action against the military dictatorship of Brazil in São Paulo, by robbing two banks.
    • 1970 – Vietnam War: In Washington, D.C., 75,000 to 100,000 war protesters demonstrate in front of the White House.
    • 1974 – Watergate scandal: The United States House Committee on the Judiciary opens formal and public impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon.
    • 1977 – Hotel Polen fire: A disastrous fire burns down the Hotel Polen in Amsterdam causing 33 deaths and 21 severe injuries.
    • 1979 – Iranian Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian is executed by firing squad in Tehran, prompting the mass exodus of the once 100,000-strong Jewish community of Iran.
    • 1980 – In Florida, Liberian freighter MV Summit Venture collides with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay, making a 1,400-ft. section of the southbound span collapse. Thirty-five people in six cars and a Greyhound bus fall 150 ft. into the water and die.
    • 1980 – In Norco, California, five masked gunmen hold up a Security Pacific bank, leading to a violent shoot-out and one of the largest pursuits in California history. Two of the gunmen and one police officer are killed and thirty-three police and civilian vehicles are destroyed in the chase.
    • 1987 – LOT Flight 5055 Tadeusz Kościuszko crashes after takeoff in Warsaw, Poland, killing all 183 people on board.
    • 1988 – New Parliament House, Canberra officially opens.
    • 1992 – Armenian forces capture Shusha, marking a major turning point in the Nagorno-Karabakh War.
    • 1992 – Westray Mine disaster kills 26 workers in Nova Scotia, Canada.
    • 1994 – Disappearance of Cleashindra Hall in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
    • 2001 – In Ghana, 129 football fans die in what became known as the Accra Sports Stadium disaster. The deaths are caused by a stampede (caused by the firing of tear gas by police personnel at the stadium) that followed a controversial decision by the referee.
    • 2002 – The 38-day stand-off in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem comes to an end when the Palestinians inside agree to have 13 suspected terrorists among them deported to several different countries.
    • 2012 – A Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft crashes into Mount Salak in West Java, Indonesia, killing 45 people.
    • 2015 – An Airbus A400M Atlas military transport aircraft crashes near the Spanish city of Seville with three people on board killed.
    • 2015 – Russia stages its biggest ever military parade in Moscow’s Red Square to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Victory Day.
    • 2018 – The historic defeat for Barisan Nasional, the governing coalition of Malaysia since the country’s independence in 1957 in 2018 Malaysian general election.
    • 2018 – At the height of the 2018 East Africa floods, the Patel dam breaks in Solai, Kenya, killing 48 people and displacing another 2000.

    Births on May 9

    • 1147 – Minamoto no Yoritomo, Japanese shōgun (d. 1199)
    • 1170 – Valdemar II of Denmark (d. 1241)
    • 1540 – Maharana Pratap, Indian ruler (d. 1597)
    • 1555 – Jerónima de la Asunción, Spanish Catholic nun and founder of the first monastery in Manila (d. 1630)
    • 1594 – Louis Henry, Prince of Nassau-Dillenburg, military leader in the Thirty Years’ War (d. 1662)
    • 1617 – Frederick, Landgrave of Hesse-Eschwege (d. 1655)
    • 1740 – Giovanni Paisiello, Italian composer and educator (probable; d. 1816)
    • 1746 – Gaspard Monge, French mathematician and engineer (d. 1818)
    • 1763 – János Batsányi, Hungarian-Austrian poet and author (d. 1845)
    • 1800 – John Brown, American activist (d. 1859)
    • 1801 – Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, English politician, founded the town of Fleetwood (d. 1866)
    • 1814 – John Brougham, Irish-American actor and playwright (d. 1880)
    • 1823 – Frederick Weld, English-New Zealand politician, 6th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1891)
    • 1824 – Jacob ben Moses Bachrach, Polish apologist and author (d. 1896)
    • 1825 – James Collinson, Victorian painter (d. 1881)
    • 1836 – Ferdinand Monoyer, French ophthalmologist, invented the Monoyer chart (d. 1912)
    • 1837 – Adam Opel, German engineer, founded the Opel Company (d. 1895)
    • 1845 – Gustaf de Laval, Swedish engineer and businessman (d. 1913)
    • 1850 – Edward Weston, English-American chemist (d. 1936)
    • 1855 – Julius Röntgen, German-Dutch composer (d. 1932)
    • 1860 – J. M. Barrie, Scottish novelist and playwright (d. 1937)
    • 1866 – Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Indian economist and politician (d. 1915)
    • 1870 – Harry Vardon, British golfer (d. 1937)
    • 1873 – Anton Cermak, Czech-American captain and politician, 44th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1933)
    • 1874 – Howard Carter, English archaeologist and historian (d. 1939)
    • 1882 – George Barker, American painter (d. 1965)
    • 1882 – Henry J. Kaiser, American shipbuilder and businessman, founded Kaiser Shipyards (d. 1967)
    • 1883 – José Ortega y Gasset, Spanish philosopher, author, and critic (d. 1955)
    • 1884 – Valdemar Psilander, Danish actor (d. 1917)
    • 1885 – Gianni Vella, Maltese artist (d. 1977)
    • 1888 – Francesco Baracca, Italian fighter pilot (d. 1918)
    • 1888 – Rolf de Maré, Swedish art collector (d. 1964)
    • 1892 – Zita of Bourbon-Parma, last Empress of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (d. 1989)
    • 1893 – William Moulton Marston, American psychologist and author (d. 1947)
    • 1895 – Richard Barthelmess, American actor (d. 1963)
    • 1895 – Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher (d. 1961)
    • 1895 – Frank Foss, American pole vaulter (d. 1989)
    • 1896 – Richard Day, Canadian-American art director and set decorator (d. 1972)
    • 1900 – Maria Malicka, Polish stage and film actress (d. 1992)
    • 1904 – Conrad Bernier, Canadian-American organist, composer, and educator (d. 1988)
    • 1905 – Lilí Álvarez, Spanish tennis player, author, and feminist (d. 1998)
    • 1906 – Eleanor Estes, American librarian, author, and illustrator (d. 1988)
    • 1907 – Jackie Grant, Trinidadian cricketer (d. 1978)
    • 1907 – Kathryn Kuhlman, American evangelist and author (d. 1976)
    • 1907 – Baldur von Schirach, German politician (d. 1974)
    • 1909 – Don Messer, Canadian violinist (d. 1973)
    • 1909 – Gordon Bunshaft, American architect, designed the Solow Building (d. 1990)
    • 1911 – Harry Simeone, American music arranger, conductor, and composer (d. 2005)
    • 1912 – Pedro Armendáriz, Mexican-American actor (d. 1963)
    • 1912 – Per Imerslund, Norwegian-German soldier and author (d. 1943)
    • 1912 – Géza Ottlik, Hungarian mathematician and theorist (d. 1990)
    • 1914 – Patricia Swift Blalock, American librarian (d.2011)
    • 1914 – Denham Fouts, American prostitute (d. 1948)
    • 1914 – Thanat Khoman, Thai politician and diplomat (d. 2016)
    • 1914 – Carlo Maria Giulini, Italian conductor and director (d. 2005)
    • 1914 – Hank Snow, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1999)
    • 1916 – William Pène du Bois, American author and illustrator (d. 1993)
    • 1917 – Fay Kanin, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2013)
    • 1918 – Moisis Michail Bourlas, Greek soldier and educator (d. 2011)
    • 1918 – Orville Freeman, American soldier and politician, 16th United States Secretary of Agriculture (d. 2003)
    • 1918 – Mike Wallace, American journalist, media personality and one-time game show host (d. 2012)
    • 1919 – Clifford Chadderton, Canadian soldier and journalist (d. 2013)
    • 1920 – William Tenn, English-American author and academic (d. 2010)
    • 1920 – Richard Adams, English novelist (d. 2016)
    • 1921 – Daniel Berrigan, American priest, poet, and activist (d. 2016)
    • 1921 – Sophie Scholl, German activist (d. 1943)
    • 1921 – Mona Van Duyn, American poet and academic (d. 2004)
    • 1923 – Johnny Grant, American radio host and producer (d. 2008)
    • 1924 – Bulat Okudzhava, Russian singer, poet, and author (d. 1997)
    • 1926 – John Middleton Murry, Jr., English soldier, pilot, and author (d. 2002)
    • 1927 – Manfred Eigen, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2019)
    • 1928 – Ralph Goings, American painter (d. 2016)
    • 1928 – Pancho Gonzales, American tennis player (d. 1995)
    • 1928 – Barbara Ann Scott, Canadian figure skater (d. 2012)
    • 1930 – Joan Sims, English actress (d. 2001)
    • 1930 – Kalifa Tillisi, Libyan historian and linguist (d. 2010)
    • 1931 – Vance D. Brand, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut
    • 1932 – Conrad Hunte, Barbadian cricketer (d. 1999)
    • 1934 – Alan Bennett, English screenwriter, playwright, and novelist
    • 1935 – Nokie Edwards, American guitarist (d. 2018)
    • 1935 – Roger Hargreaves, English author and illustrator (d. 1988)
    • 1936 – Terry Downes, British boxer and former world middle-weight champion (d. 2017)
    • 1936 – Albert Finney, English actor (d. 2019)
    • 1936 – Glenda Jackson, English actress and politician
    • 1937 – Sonny Curtis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1937 – Rafael Moneo, Spanish architect, designed the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels and Valladolid Science Museum
    • 1937 – Dave Prater, American singer (d. 1988)
    • 1938 – Charles Simić, Serbian-American poet and editor
    • 1939 – Ralph Boston, American long jumper
    • 1939 – Ion Țiriac, Romanian tennis player and manager
    • 1939 – Ken Warby, Australian motorboat racer
    • 1939 – Giorgio Zancanaro, Italian baritone
    • 1939 – John Ogbu, Nigerian-American anthropologist and professor (d. 2003)
    • 1940 – James L. Brooks, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1941 – Dorothy Hyman, English sprinter
    • 1941 – Danny Rapp, American musician (d. 1983)
    • 1942 – John Ashcroft, American lawyer and politician, 79th United States Attorney General
    • 1942 – Tommy Roe, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1943 – Vince Cable, English economist and politician, former Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
    • 1943 – Anders Isaksson, Swedish historian and journalist (d. 2009)
    • 1943 – Colin Pillinger, English astronomer, chemist, and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1944 – Richie Furay, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1945 – Gamal El-Ghitani, Egyptian journalist and author (d. 2015)
    • 1945 – Jupp Heynckes, German footballer and manager
    • 1945 – Steve Katz, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1946 – Candice Bergen, American actress and producer
    • 1946 – Ayşe Nur Zarakolu, Turkish author and activist (d. 2002)
    • 1947 – Yukiya Amano, Japanese diplomat (d. 2019)
    • 1948 – Hans Georg Bock, German mathematician, computer scientist, and academic
    • 1948 – John Mahaffey, American golfer
    • 1948 – Steven W. Mosher, American social scientist and author
    • 1948 – Calvin Murphy, American basketball player and radio host
    • 1949 – Billy Joel, American singer-songwriter and pianist
    • 1949 – Richard S. Williamson, American lawyer and diplomat, 17th Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (d. 2013)
    • 1951 – Alley Mills, American actress
    • 1953 – Bruno Brokken, Belgian high jumper
    • 1955 – Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia (d. 2012)
    • 1955 – Anne Sofie von Otter, Swedish soprano and actress
    • 1956 – Wendy Crewson, Canadian actress and producer
    • 1956 – Jana Wendt, Australian television host
    • 1958 – Graham Smith, Canadian swimmer
    • 1959 – Andrew Jones, New Zealand cricketer
    • 1960 – Tony Gwynn, American baseball player and coach (d. 2014)
    • 1961 – Sean Altman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1961 – John Corbett, American actor
    • 1962 – Dave Gahan, English singer-songwriter
    • 1962 – Paul Heaton, English singer-songwriter
    • 1963 – Joe Cirella, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1965 – Ken Nomura, Japanese race car driver and sportscaster
    • 1965 – Steve Yzerman, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
    • 1966 – Mark Tinordi, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1968 – Masahiko Harada, Japanese ski jumper
    • 1968 – Graham Harman, American philosopher and academic
    • 1968 – Ruth Kelly, British economist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
    • 1968 – Marie-José Pérec, French sprinter
    • 1968 – Neil Ruddock, English international footballer and television personality
    • 1970 – Doug Christie, American basketball player
    • 1970 – Hao Haidong, Chinese footballer & all time top scorer for Chinese national team
    • 1970 – Ghostface Killah, American rapper and actor
    • 1971 – Jason Lee, English footballer and manager
    • 1971 – Dan Chiasson, American poet and critic
    • 1972 – Megumi Odaka, Japanese actress and singer
    • 1973 – Tegla Loroupe, Kenyan runner
    • 1973 – Leonard Myles-Mills, Ghanaian sprinter
    • 1975 – Tamia, Canadian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1975 – Brian Deegan, American motocross rider
    • 1977 – Averno, Mexican wrestler
    • 1977 – Marek Jankulovski, Czech footballer
    • 1977 – Svein Tuft, Canadian cyclist
    • 1978 – Leandro Cufré, Argentinian footballer
    • 1978 – Santiago Dellapè, Argentinian-Italian rugby player
    • 1978 – Aaron Harang, American baseball player
    • 1978 – Marwan al-Shehhi, Emirati terrorist (d. 2001)
    • 1979 – Pierre Bouvier, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1979 – Rosario Dawson, American actress
    • 1979 – Andrew W.K., American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, motivational speaker, and music producer
    • 1980 – Grant Hackett, Australian swimmer
    • 1980 – Angela Nikodinov, American figure skater
    • 1980 – Tony Schmidt, German race car driver
    • 1980 – Jo Hyun-jae, South Korean actor
    • 1981 – Bill Murphy, American baseball player
    • 1981 – Evangelos Tsiolis, Greek footballer
    • 1983 – Giacomo Brichetto, Italian footballer
    • 1983 – Alan Campbell, British sculler
    • 1983 – Christos Marangos, Cypriot footballer
    • 1983 – Ryuhei Matsuda, Japanese actor
    • 1983 – Gilles Müller, Luxembourgian tennis player
    • 1983 – Tyler Lumsden, American baseball player
    • 1983 – Leandro Rinaudo, Italian footballer
    • 1984 – Prince Fielder, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Chase Headley, American baseball player
    • 1985 – Jake Long, American football player
    • 1985 – Henrique Andrade Silva, Brazilian footballer
    • 1987 – Scott Bolton, Australian rugby league player
    • 1987 – Kevin Gameiro, French footballer
    • 1987 – Vitaliy Pushkar, Ukrainian race car driver
    • 1988 – J. R. Fitzpatrick, Canadian race car driver
    • 1989 – Ellen White, English footballer
    • 1991 – Majlinda Kelmendi, Kosovar judoka
    • 1992 – Dan Burn, English footballer
    • 1996 – Saron Läänmäe, Estonian footballer
    • 1996 – Grace Reid, Scottish diver

    Deaths on May 9

    • 729 – Osric, king of Northumbria
    • 893 – Shi Pu, warlord of the Tang Dynasty
    • 909 – Adalgar, archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen
    • 934 – Wang Sitong, Chinese general and governor (b. 892)
    • 1280 – Magnus VI of Norway
    • 1315 – Hugh V, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1282)
    • 1329 – John Drokensford, Bishop of Bath and Wells
    • 1443 – Niccolò Albergati, Italian Cardinal and diplomat (b. 1373)
    • 1446 – Mary of Enghien (b. 1368)
    • 1590 – Charles de Bourbon French cardinal and pretender to the throne (b. 1523)
    • 1657 – William Bradford, English-American politician, 2nd Governor of Plymouth Colony (b. 1590)
    • 1707 – Dieterich Buxtehude, German-Danish organist and composer (b. 1637)
    • 1736 – Diogo de Mendonça Corte-Real, Portuguese judge and politician (b. 1658)
    • 1745 – Tomaso Antonio Vitali, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1663)
    • 1747 – John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair, Scottish field marshal and diplomat, British Ambassador to France (b. 1673)
    • 1760 – Nicolaus Zinzendorf, German bishop and saint (b. 1700)
    • 1789 – Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval, French general and engineer (b. 1715)
    • 1790 – William Clingan, American politician (b. 1721)
    • 1791 – Francis Hopkinson, American judge and politician (b. 1737)
    • 1805 – Friedrich Schiller, German poet, playwright, and historian (b. 1759)
    • 1850 – Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French chemist and physicist (b. 1778)
    • 1850 – Garlieb Merkel, Estonian author and activist (b. 1769)
    • 1861 – Peter Ernst von Lasaulx, German philologist and politician (b. 1805)
    • 1864 – John Sedgwick, American general and educator (b. 1813)
    • 1889 – William S. Harney, American general (b. 1800)
    • 1906 – Oscar von Gebhardt, German theologian and academic (b. 1844)
    • 1914 – C. W. Post, American businessman, founded Post Foods (b. 1854)
    • 1915 – François Faber, Luxembourgian-French cyclist and soldier (b. 1887)
    • 1915 – Anthony Wilding, New Zealand tennis player and cricketer (b. 1883)
    • 1918 – George Coșbuc, Romanian journalist and poet (b. 1866)
    • 1931 – Albert Abraham Michelson, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
    • 1933 – John Arthur Jarvis, English swimmer (b. 1872)
    • 1935 – Ernst Bresslau, German zoologist (b. 1877)
    • 1938 – Thomas B. Thrige, Danish businessman (b. 1866)
    • 1942 – Józef Cebula, Polish priest and saint (b. 1902)
    • 1944 – Han Yong-un, Korean poet and social reformer (b. 1879)
    • 1949 – Louis II, Prince of Monaco (b. 1870)
    • 1950 – Esteban Terradas i Illa, Spanish mathematician and engineer (b. 1883)
    • 1957 – Ernest de Silva, Sri Lankan banker and businessman (b. 1887)
    • 1957 – Ezio Pinza, Italian actor and singer (b. 1892)
    • 1959 – Bhaurao Patil, Indian activist and educator (b. 1887)
    • 1965 – Leopold Figl, Austrian engineer and politician, 18th Chancellor of Austria (b. 1902)
    • 1968 – Mercedes de Acosta, American author, poet, and playwright (b. 1893)
    • 1968 – Harold Gray, American cartoonist, created Little Orphan Annie (b. 1894)
    • 1968 – Marion Lorne, American actress (b. 1883)
    • 1968 – Finlay Currie, British actor (b. 1878)
    • 1970 – Walter Reuther, American union leader (b. 1907)
    • 1976 – Jens Bjørneboe, Norwegian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1920)
    • 1976 – Ulrike Meinhof, German militant, co-founded the Red Army Faction (b. 1934)
    • 1977 – James Jones, American novelist (b. 1921)
    • 1978 – Giuseppe Impastato, Italian journalist and activist (b. 1948)
    • 1978 – Aldo Moro, Italian lawyer and politician, 38th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1916)
    • 1979 – Cyrus S. Eaton, Canadian-American banker, businessman, and philanthropist (b. 1883)
    • 1979 – Eddie Jefferson, American singer and lyricist (b. 1918)
    • 1980 – Kate Molale, South African activist (b. 1928)
    • 1981 – Nelson Algren, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1909)
    • 1983 – Henry Bachtold, Australian soldier and railway engineer (b. 1891)
    • 1985 – Edmond O’Brien, American actor and director (b. 1915)
    • 1986 – Tenzing Norgay, Nepalese mountaineer (b. 1914)
    • 1987 – Obafemi Awolowo, Nigerian lawyer and politician (b. 1909)
    • 1993 – Penelope Gilliatt, English novelist, short story writer, and critic (b. 1932)
    • 1994 – Elias Motsoaledi, South African activist (b. 1924)
    • 1997 – Rawya Ateya, Egyptian captain and politician (b. 1926)
    • 1997 – Marco Ferreri, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1928)
    • 1998 – Alice Faye, American actress and singer (b. 1915)
    • 1998 – Talat Mahmood, Indian singer and actor (b. 1924)
    • 2003 – Russell B. Long, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (b. 1918)
    • 2004 – Akhmad Kadyrov, Chechen cleric and politician, 1st President of the Chechen Republic (b. 1951)
    • 2004 – Alan King, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1927)
    • 2004 – Brenda Fassie, South African singer (b. 1964)
    • 2007 – Dwight Wilson, Canadian soldier (b. 1901)
    • 2008 – Jack Gibson, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1929)
    • 2008 – Baptiste Manzini, American football player (b. 1920)
    • 2008 – Nuala O’Faolain, Irish journalist and producer (b. 1942)
    • 2008 – Pascal Sevran, French singer, television host, and author (b. 1945)
    • 2009 – Chuck Daly, American basketball player and coach (b. 1930)
    • 2010 – Lena Horne, American singer, actress, and activist (b. 1917)
    • 2010 – Otakar Motejl, Czech lawyer and politician (b. 1932)
    • 2011 – Wouter Weylandt, Belgian cyclist (b. 1984)
    • 2012 – Bertram Cohler, American psychologist, psychoanalyst, and academic (b. 1938)
    • 2012 – Geoffrey Henry, Cook Islander lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of the Cook Islands (b. 1940)
    • 2012 – Vidal Sassoon, English-American hairdresser and businessman (b. 1928)
    • 2013 – Ramón Blanco Rodríguez, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1952)
    • 2013 – George M. Leader, American soldier and politician, 36th Governor of Pennsylvania (b. 1918)
    • 2013 – Humberto Lugo Gil, Mexican lawyer and politician, 23rd Governor of Hidalgo (b. 1933)
    • 2013 – Ottavio Missoni, Italian hurdler and fashion designer, founded Missoni (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Giacomo Bini, Italian priest and missionary (b. 1938)
    • 2014 – Harlan Mathews, American lawyer and politician (b. 1927)
    • 2014 – Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy, Indian politician, 12th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (b. 1935)
    • 2014 – Mary Stewart, English-Scottish author and poet (b. 1916)
    • 2015 – Edward W. Estlow, American football player and journalist (b. 1920)
    • 2015 – Kenan Evren, Turkish general and politician, 7th President of Turkey (b. 1917)
    • 2015 – Elizabeth Wilson, American actress (b. 1921)
    • 2017 – Robert Miles, a Swiss-born Italian record producer, composer, musician and DJ (b. 1969)
    • 2018 – Per Kirkeby, Danish painter, poet, film maker and sculptor (b. 1938)
    • 2019 – Freddie Starr, English comedian, impressionist, singer and actor (1943)
    • 2020 – Little Richard, American singer, songwriter, and pianist (b. 1932)

    Holidays and observances on May 9

    • Anniversary of Dianetics (Church of Scientology)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Beatus of Lungern
      • Beatus of Vendome
      • Christopher (Eastern Orthodox Church)
      • George Preca
      • Gerontius of Cervia
      • Gregory of Nazianzen (The Episcopal Church (US) and traditional Roman Catholic calendar)
      • Nicolaus Zinzendorf (Lutheran)
      • Pachomius the Great
      • Tudy of Landevennec
      • May 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Commemoration of the end of the German occupation of the Channel Islands related observances:
      • Liberation Day, commemorating the end of the German occupation of the Channel Islands during World War II. (Guernsey and Jersey)
      • National Day (Alderney)
    • Europe Day, commemorating the Schuman Declaration. (European Union)
    • Victory Day observances, celebration of the Soviet Union victory over Nazi Germany (Soviet Union, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan)
      • Victory and Peace Day, marks the capture of Shusha (1992) in the Nagorno-Karabakh War, and the end of World War II. (Armenia)
      • Victory Day over Nazism in World War II (Ukraine)

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

    • 1527 – Spanish and German troops sack Rome; many scholars consider this the end of the Renaissance.
    • 1536 – The Siege of Cuzco commences, in which Incan forces attempt to retake the city of Cuzco from the Spanish.
    • 1536 – King Henry VIII orders English-language Bibles be placed in every church. In 1539 the Great Bible would be provided for this purpose.
    • 1542 – Francis Xavier reaches Old Goa, the capital of Portuguese India at the time.
    • 1659 – English Restoration: A faction of the British Army removes Richard Cromwell as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth and reinstalls the Rump Parliament.
    • 1682 – Louis XIV of France moves his court to the Palace of Versailles.
    • 1757 – Battle of Prague: A Prussian army fights an Austrian army in Prague during the Seven Years’ War.
    • 1757 – The end of Konbaung–Hanthawaddy War, and the end of Burmese Civil War (1740–1757).
    • 1757 – English poet Christopher Smart is admitted into St Luke’s Hospital for Lunatics in London, beginning his six-year confinement to mental asylums.
    • 1782 – Construction begins on the Grand Palace, the royal residence of the King of Siam in Bangkok, at the command of King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke.
    • 1801 – Captain Thomas Cochrane in the 14-gun HMS Speedy captures the 32-gun Spanish frigate El Gamo.
    • 1835 – James Gordon Bennett, Sr. publishes the first issue of the New York Herald.
    • 1840 – The Penny Black postage stamp becomes valid for use in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
    • 1857 – The East India Company disbands the 34th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry whose sepoy Mangal Pandey had earlier revolted against the British in the lead up to the War of Indian Independence.
    • 1861 – American Civil War: Arkansas secedes from the Union.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville ends with the defeat of the Army of the Potomac by the Army of Northern Virginia.
    • 1877 – Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Lakota surrenders to United States troops in Nebraska.
    • 1882 – Thomas Henry Burke and Lord Frederick Cavendish are stabbed to death by Fenian assassins in Phoenix Park, Dublin.
    • 1882 – The United States Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act.
    • 1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris.
    • 1906 – The Russian Constitution of 1906 is adopted (on April 23 by the Julian calendar).
    • 1910 – George V becomes King of Great Britain, Ireland, and many overseas territories, on the death of his father, Edward VII.
    • 1915 – Babe Ruth, then a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, hits his first major league home run.
    • 1916 – Twenty-one Lebanese nationalists are executed in Martyrs’ Square, Beirut by Djemal Pasha.
    • 1916 – Vietnamese Emperor Duy Tân is captured while calling upon the people to rise up against the French, and is later deposed and exiled to Réunion island.
    • 1933 – The Deutsche Studentenschaft attacked Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, later burning many of its books.
    • 1935 – New Deal: Under the authority of the newly-enacted Federal Emergency Relief Administration, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues Executive Order 7034 to create the Works Progress Administration.
    • 1937 – Hindenburg disaster: The German zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and is destroyed within a minute while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people are killed.
    • 1940 – John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.
    • 1941 – At California’s March Field, Bob Hope performs his first USO show.
    • 1941 – The first flight of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.
    • 1942 – World War II: On Corregidor, the last American forces in the Philippines surrender to the Japanese.
    • 1945 – World War II: Axis Sally delivers her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops.
    • 1945 – World War II: The Prague Offensive, the last major battle of the Eastern Front, begins.
    • 1949 – EDSAC, the first practical electronic digital stored-program computer, runs its first operation.
    • 1954 – Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run the mile in under four minutes.
    • 1960 – More than 20 million viewers watch the first televised royal wedding when Princess Margaret marries Anthony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey.
    • 1966 – Myra Hindley and Ian Brady are sentenced to life imprisonment for the Moors murders in England.
    • 1972 – Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin İnan are executed in Ankara after being convicted of attempting to overthrow the Constitutional order.
    • 1975 – During a lull in fighting, 100,000 Armenians gather in Beirut for the 60th anniversary commemorations of the Armenian Genocide.
    • 1976 – The 6.5 Mw  Friuli earthquake affected Northern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), leaving 900–978 dead and 1,700–2,400 injured.
    • 1983 – The Hitler Diaries are revealed as a hoax after being examined by new experts.
    • 1984 – One hundred three Korean Martyrs are canonized by Pope John Paul II in Seoul.
    • 1988 – All thirty-six passengers and crew were killed when Widerøe Flight 710 crashed into Mt. Torghatten in Brønnøy.
    • 1994 – Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and French President François Mitterrand officiate at the opening of the Channel Tunnel.
    • 1996 – The body of former CIA director William Colby is found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he disappeared.
    • 1997 – The Bank of England is given independence from political control, the most significant change in the bank’s 300-year history.
    • 1998 – Kerry Wood strikes out 20 Houston Astros to tie the major league record held by Roger Clemens. He threw a one-hitter and did not walk a batter in his fifth career start.
    • 1998 – Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. unveils the first iMac.
    • 1999 – The first elections to the devolved Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly are held.
    • 2001 – During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque.
    • 2002 – Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is assassinated following a radio-interview at the Mediapark in Hilversum.
    • 2010 – In just 36 minutes, the Dow-Jones average plunged nearly 1000 points in what is known as the 2010 Flash Crash.
    • 2013 – Three women, kidnapped and missing for more than a decade, are found alive in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States.

    Births on May 6

    • 973 – Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1024)
    • 1464 – Sophia Jagiellon, Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Polish princess (d. 1512)
    • 1493 – Girolamo Seripando, Italian theologian and cardinal (d. 1563)
    • 1501 – Marcellus II, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1555)
    • 1574 – Innocent X, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1655)
    • 1580 – Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat, French noble (d. 1637)
    • 1635 – Johann Joachim Becher, German physician and alchemist (d. 1682)
    • 1668 – Alain-René Lesage, French author and playwright (d. 1747)
    • 1680 – Jean-Baptiste Stuck, Italian-French cellist and composer (d. 1755)
    • 1713 – Charles Batteux, French philosopher and academic (d. 1780)
    • 1714 – Anton Raaff, German tenor (d. 1797)
    • 1742 – Jean Senebier, Swiss pastor and physiologist (d. 1809)
    • 1758 – André Masséna, French general (d. 1817)
    • 1758 – Maximilien Robespierre, French lawyer and politician (d. 1794)
    • 1769 – Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1824)
    • 1769 – Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, French mathematician and academic (d. 1834)
    • 1781 – Karl Christian Friedrich Krause, German philosopher and author (d. 1832)
    • 1797 – Joseph Brackett, American religious leader and composer (d. 1882)
    • 1800 – Roman Sanguszko, Polish general (d. 1881)
    • 1827 – Hermann Raster, German-American journalist and politician (d. 1891)
    • 1836 – Max Eyth, German engineer and author (d. 1906)
    • 1843 – Grove Karl Gilbert, American geologist and academic (d. 1918)
    • 1848 – Henry Edward Armstrong, English chemist and academic (d. 1937)
    • 1851 – Aristide Bruant, French singer and actor (d. 1925)
    • 1856 – Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist and psychoanalyst (d. 1939)
    • 1856 – Robert Peary, American admiral and explorer (d. 1920)
    • 1861 – Motilal Nehru, Indian lawyer and politician, President of the Indian National Congress (d. 1931)
    • 1868 – Gaston Leroux, French journalist and author (d. 1927)
    • 1869 – Junnosuke Inoue, Japanese businessman and central banker, 8th and 11th Governor of the Bank of Japan (d. 1932)
    • 1870 – Walter Rutherford, Scottish golfer (d. 1936)
    • 1871 – Victor Grignard, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1935)
    • 1871 – Christian Morgenstern, German author and poet (d. 1914)
    • 1872 – Willem de Sitter, Dutch mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (d. 1934)
    • 1872 – Djemal Pasha, Ottoman general (d. 1922)
    • 1879 – Bedřich Hrozný, Czech orientalist and linguist (d. 1952)
    • 1879 – Hendrik van Heuckelum, Dutch footballer (d. 1929)
    • 1880 – Winifred Brunton, English-South African painter and illustrator (d. 1959)
    • 1880 – Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German-Swiss painter (d. 1938)
    • 1883 – Alberto Collo, Italian actor (d. 1955)
    • 1895 – Júlio César de Mello e Souza, Brazilian mathematician and author (d. 1974)
    • 1895 – Fidél Pálffy, Hungarian soldier and politician, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture (d. 1946)
    • 1895 – Rudolph Valentino, Italian actor (d. 1926)
    • 1896 – Rolf Maximilian Sievert, Swedish physicist and academic (d. 1966)
    • 1897 – Paul Alverdes, German author and poet (d. 1979)
    • 1898 – Konrad Henlein, Czech soldier and politician (d. 1945)
    • 1902 – Harry Golden, Ukrainian-American journalist and author (d. 1981)
    • 1902 – Max Ophüls, German-American director and screenwriter (d. 1957)
    • 1903 – Toots Shor, American businessman, founded Toots Shor’s Restaurant (d. 1977)
    • 1904 – Moshé Feldenkrais, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (d. 1984)
    • 1904 – Catherine Lacey, English actress (d. 1979)
    • 1904 – Harry Martinson, Swedish novelist, essayist, and poet Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1978)
    • 1905 – Philip N. Krasne, American lawyer and producer (d. 1999)
    • 1906 – André Weil, French mathematician and academic (d. 1998)
    • 1907 – Weeb Ewbank, American football player and coach (d. 1998)
    • 1911 – Guy des Cars, French journalist and author (d. 1993)
    • 1913 – Carmen Cavallaro, American pianist (d. 1989)
    • 1913 – Stewart Granger, English-American actor (d. 1993)
    • 1915 – Orson Welles, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1985)
    • 1915 – Theodore H. White, American historian, journalist, and author (d. 1986)
    • 1916 – Robert H. Dicke, American physicist and astronomer (d. 1997)
    • 1917 – Kal Mann, American songwriter (d. 2001)
    • 1918 – Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, emir of Abu Dhabi and first president of the United Arab Emirates (d. 2004)
    • 1919 – André Guelfi, French race car driver (d. 2016)
    • 1920 – Kamisese Mara, Fijian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Fiji (d. 2004)
    • 1920 – Marguerite Piazza, American soprano and actress (d. 2012)
    • 1921 – Erich Fried, Austrian-German author, poet, and translator (d. 1988)
    • 1922 – Camille Laurin, Canadian psychiatrist and politician, 7th Deputy Premier of Quebec (d. 1999)
    • 1923 – Harry Watson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2002)
    • 1924 – Nestor Basterretxea, Spanish painter and sculptor (d. 2014)
    • 1924 – Patricia Helen Kennedy, American socialite, activist, and author (d. 2006)
    • 1924 – Denny Wright, English guitarist, composer, and producer (d. 1992)
    • 1926 – Gilles Grégoire, Canadian politician, co-founded the Parti Québécois (d. 2006)
    • 1929 – Rosemary Cramp, English archaeologist and academic
    • 1929 – Paul Lauterbur, American chemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2007)
    • 1929 – John Taylor, English bishop and theologian (d. 2016)
    • 1931 – Willie Mays, American baseball player and coach
    • 1931 – Louis Gambaccini, American government official (d. 2018)
    • 1932 – Ahmet Haxhiu, Kosovan activist (d. 1994)
    • 1932 – Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath, English lieutenant and politician (d. 2020)
    • 1934 – Richard Shelby, American lawyer and politician
    • 1937 – Rubin Carter, American-Canadian boxer (d. 2014)
    • 1938 – Jean Garon, Canadian economist, lawyer, and politician (d. 2014)
    • 1939 – Eddie C. Campbell, American singer and guitarist (d. 2018)
    • 1939 – Chet Allen, American child actor (d. 1984)
    • 1942 – Ariel Dorfman, Argentinian author, playwright, and academic
    • 1943 – Andreas Baader, German terrorist, co-founded the Red Army Faction (d. 1977)
    • 1943 – Milton William Cooper, American theorist and author (d. 2001)
    • 1943 – Wolfgang Reinhardt, German pole vaulter (d. 2011)
    • 1943 – James Turrell, American sculptor and illustrator
    • 1944 – Anton Furst, English-American production designer and art director (d. 1991)
    • 1944 – Masanori Murakami, Japanese baseball player and coach
    • 1945 – Jimmie Dale Gilmore, American country singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and producer
    • 1945 – Bob Seger, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1947 – Alan Dale, New Zealand actor
    • 1947 – Martha Nussbaum, American philosopher and author
    • 1947 – Ljubomir Vračarević, Serbian martial artist, founded Real Aikido (d. 2013)
    • 1948 – Frankie Librán, Puerto Rican-American baseball player (d. 2013)
    • 1950 – Jeffery Deaver, American journalist and author
    • 1951 – Samuel Doe, Liberian sergeant and politician, 21st President of Liberia (d. 1990)
    • 1952 – Gerrit Zalm, Dutch economist and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands
    • 1953 – Alexander Akimov, Ukrainian Chernobyl worker (d. 1986)
    • 1953 – Tony Blair, British politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
    • 1953 – Michelle Courchesne, Canadian urban planner and politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec
    • 1953 – Ülle Rajasalu, Estonian politician
    • 1953 – Graeme Souness, Scottish international footballer and manager
    • 1953 – Lynn Whitfield, American actress and producer
    • 1954 – Tom Abernethy, American basketball player
    • 1954 – Dora Bakoyannis, Greek politician, 120th Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs
    • 1954 – Angela Hernández Nuñez, Dominican author and poet
    • 1954 – Ain Lutsepp, Estonian actor and politician
    • 1955 – Nicholas Alexander, 7th Earl of Caledon, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Armagh
    • 1955 – Tom Bergeron, American television host
    • 1955 – John Hutton, Baron Hutton of Furness, English academic and politician, Secretary of State for Defence
    • 1956 – Lakis Lazopoulos, Greek actor and screenwriter
    • 1956 – Cindy Lovell, American educator and writer
    • 1956 – Roland Wieser, German race walker and coach
    • 1958 – Randall Stout, American architect, designed the Taubman Museum of Art (d. 2014)
    • 1959 – Andreas Busse, German runner
    • 1959 – Charles Hendry, English politician
    • 1960 – Lyudmila Andonova, Bulgarian high jumper
    • 1960 – Keith Dowding, English political scientist, philosopher, and academic
    • 1960 – Roma Downey, Irish-American actress and producer
    • 1960 – John Flansburgh, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1960 – Aleksei Lotman, Estonian biologist and politician
    • 1960 – Anne Parillaud, French actress
    • 1961 – Oleksandr Apaychev, Ukrainian decathlete and coach
    • 1961 – George Clooney, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1961 – Tom Hunter, Scottish businessman and philanthropist
    • 1961 – Gina Riley, Australian actress, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1961 – Frans Timmermans, Dutch politician and diplomat, First Vice President of the European Commission
    • 1962 – Tom Brake, English politician
    • 1962 – Brad Izzard, Australian rugby league player
    • 1963 – Alessandra Ferri, Italian ballerina
    • 1965 – Leslie Hope, Canadian actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1968 – Worku Bikila, Ethiopian runner
    • 1968 – Lætitia Sadier, French singer and keyboard player
    • 1969 – Jim Magilton, Northern Irish footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Roland Kun, Nauruan politician
    • 1970 – Kavan Smith, Canadian actor
    • 1971 – Chris Shiflett, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1972 – Martin Brodeur, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1972 – Naoko Takahashi, Japanese runner
    • 1974 – Bernard Barmasai, Kenyan runner
    • 1974 – Daniela Bártová, Czech pole vaulter and gymnast
    • 1975 – Alan Richardson, English cricketer and coach
    • 1976 – Dean Chandler, English footballer
    • 1976 – Iván de la Peña, Spanish footballer
    • 1977 – Christophe Brandt, Belgian cyclist
    • 1977 – Marc Chouinard, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1977 – Mark Eaton, American ice hockey player and coach
    • 1977 – Chantelle Newbery, Australian diver
    • 1978 – John Abraham, American football player
    • 1978 – Tony Estanguet, French slalom canoeist
    • 1978 – Fredrick Federley, Swedish journalist and politician
    • 1978 – Alexandr Fedorov, Russian bodybuilder
    • 1979 – Gerd Kanter, Estonian discus thrower
    • 1979 – Jan Erik Mikalsen, Norwegian composer
    • 1979 – Jon Montgomery, Canadian skeleton racer and television host
    • 1980 – Brooke Bennett, American swimmer
    • 1980 – Dimitris Diamantidis, Greek professional basketball player
    • 1980 – Ricardo Oliveira, Brazilian footballer
    • 1980 – Matthew Whiley, English cricketer
    • 1982 – Jason Witten, American football player
    • 1983 – Dani Alves, Brazilian footballer
    • 1983 – Ingrid Jonach, Australian author
    • 1983 – Gabourey Sidibe, American actress
    • 1983 – Trinley Thaye Dorje, Tibetan religious leader, the 17th Karmapa Lama
    • 1983 – Fredrik Sjöström, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1984 – Anton Babchuk, Ukrainian ice hockey player
    • 1984 – Juan Pablo Carrizo, Argentinian footballer
    • 1985 – Chris Paul, American basketball player
    • 1986 – Goran Dragic, Slovenian basketball player
    • 1987 – Dries Mertens, Belgian footballer
    • 1987 – Meek Mill, American rapper
    • 1987 – Adrienne Warren, American actress
    • 1988 – Ryan Anderson, American basketball player
    • 1988 – Dakota Kai, New Zealander profesional wrestler
    • 1989 – Dominika Cibulková, Slovak tennis player
    • 1989 – Jesse Hughes, Canadian DJ and producer
    • 1990 – José Altuve, Venezuelan baseball player
    • 1992 – Brendan Gallagher, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1992 – Byun Baekhyun, South Korean musician and actor
    • 1992 – Jonas Valančiūnas, Lithuanian professional basketball player
    • 1993 – Gustavo Gómez, Paraguayan footballer
    • 1994 – Mateo Kovačić, Austrian-Croatian footballer
    • 1997 – Duncan Scott, Scottish swimmer
    • 2019 – Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, British royal

    Deaths on May 6

    • 698 – Eadberht, bishop of Lindisfarne
    • 850 – Ninmyō, Japanese emperor (b. 808)
    • 932 – Qian Liu, Chinese warlord and king (b. 852)
    • 988 – Dirk II, count of Frisia and Holland
    • 1002 – Ealdwulf, Archbishop of York, Abbot of Peterborough and Bishop of Worcester
    • 1187 – Ruben III, Prince of Armenia (b. 1145)
    • 1236 – Roger of Wendover, Benedictine monk and chronicler
    • 1471 – Edmund Beaufort, English commander (b. 1438)
    • 1471 – Thomas Tresham, Speaker of the House of Commons
    • 1475 – Dieric Bouts, Flemish painter (b. 1415)
    • 1483 – Queen Jeonghui, Korean regent (b. 1418)
    • 1502 – James Tyrrell, English knight (b. 1450)
    • 1527 – Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, Count of Montpensier and Dauphin of Auvergne (b.1490)
    • 1540 – Juan Luís Vives, Spanish scholar (b. 1492)
    • 1596 – Giaches de Wert, Flemish-Italian composer (b. 1535)
    • 1631 – Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet, of Connington, English historian and politician, founded the Cotton library (b. 1570)
    • 1638 – Cornelius Jansen, Dutch-French bishop and theologian (b. 1585)
    • 1708 – François de Laval, French-Canadian bishop (b. 1623)
    • 1757 – Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1683)
    • 1757 – Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin, Prussian field marshal (b. 1684)
    • 1782 – Christine Kirch, German astronomer and academic (b. 1696)
    • 1840 – Francisco de Paula Santander, Colombian general and politician, 4th President of the Republic of the New Granada (b. 1792)
    • 1859 – Alexander von Humboldt, German geographer and explorer (b. 1769)
    • 1862 – Henry David Thoreau, American essayist, poet, and philosopher (b. 1817)
    • 1877 – Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Swedish-Finnish poet and hymn-writer (b. 1804)
    • 1882 – Thomas Henry Burke, Irish civil servant (b. 1829)
    • 1882 – Lord Frederick Cavendish, British politician, Chief Secretary for Ireland (b. 1836)
    • 1902 – Bret Harte, American author and poet (b. 1836)
    • 1905 – Robert Herbert, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of Queensland (b. 1831)
    • 1907 – Emanuele Luigi Galizia, Maltese architect and civil engineer (b. 1830)
    • 1910 – Edward VII of the United Kingdom (b. 1841)
    • 1919 – L. Frank Baum, American novelist (b. 1856)
    • 1939 – Konstantin Somov, Russian-French painter and illustrator (b. 1869)
    • 1949 – Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian-French poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
    • 1951 – Élie Cartan, French mathematician and physicist (b. 1869)
    • 1952 – Maria Montessori, Italian-Dutch physician and educator (b. 1870)
    • 1959 – Maria Dulęba, Polish actress (b. 1881)
    • 1959 – Ragnar Nurkse, Estonian-American economist and academic (b. 1907)
    • 1961 – Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher (b. 1895)
    • 1963 – Theodore von Kármán, Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, and engineer (b. 1881)
    • 1963 – Ted Weems, American violinist, trombonist, and bandleader (b. 1901)
    • 1963 – Monty Woolley, American raconteur, actor, and director (b. 1888)
    • 1967 – Zhou Zuoren, Chinese author and translator (b. 1885)
    • 1970 – Alexander Rodzyanko, Russian general (b. 1879)
    • 1973 – Ernest MacMillan, Canadian conductor and composer (b. 1893)
    • 1975 – József Mindszenty, Hungarian cardinal (b. 1892)
    • 1980 – María Luisa Bombal, Chilean writer (b. 1910)
    • 1983 – Ezra Jack Keats, American author and illustrator (b. 1916)
    • 1983 – Kai Winding, Danish-American trombonist and composer (b. 1922)
    • 1984 – Mary Cain, American journalist and politician (b. 1904)
    • 1984 – Bonner Pink, English politician (b. 1912)
    • 1987 – William J. Casey, American politician, 13th Director of Central Intelligence (b. 1913)
    • 1989 – Earl Blaik, American football player and coach (b. 1897)
    • 1990 – Charles Farrell, American actor (b. 1901)
    • 1991 – Wilfrid Hyde-White, English actor (b. 1903)
    • 1992 – Marlene Dietrich, German-American actress and singer (b. 1901)
    • 1993 – Ann Todd, English actress and producer (b. 1909)
    • 1995 – Noel Brotherston, Northern Irish footballer (b. 1956)
    • 2000 – Gordon McClymont, Australian ecologist and academic (b. 1920)
    • 2002 – Murray Adaskin, Canadian violinist, composer, conductor, and educator (b. 1906)
    • 2002 – Otis Blackwell, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1932)
    • 2002 – Pim Fortuyn, Dutch sociologist, academic, and politician (b. 1948)
    • 2002 – Bjørn Johansen, Norwegian saxophonist (b. 1940)
    • 2003 – Art Houtteman, American baseball player and journalist (b. 1927)
    • 2004 – Virginia Capers, American actress and singer (b. 1925)
    • 2004 – Philip Kapleau, American monk and educator (b. 1912)
    • 2004 – Barney Kessel, American guitarist and composer (b. 1923)
    • 2006 – Grant McLennan, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1958)
    • 2006 – Lorne Saxberg, Canadian journalist (b. 1958)
    • 2007 – Enéas Carneiro, Brazilian physician and politician (b. 1938)
    • 2007 – Curtis Harrington, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
    • 2009 – Kevin Grubb, American race car driver (b. 1978)
    • 2010 – Robin Roberts, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1926)
    • 2012 – James R. Browning, American lieutenant, lawyer, and judge (b. 1918)
    • 2012 – James Isaac, American director and producer (b. 1960)
    • 2012 – Jean Laplanche, French psychoanalyst and author (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Giulio Andreotti, Italian journalist and politician, 41st Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1919)
    • 2013 – Severo Aparicio Quispe, Peruvian bishop (b. 1923)
    • 2013 – Michelangelo Spensieri, Italian-Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1949)
    • 2014 – Wil Albeda, Dutch economist and politician, Dutch Minister of Social Affairs (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – William H. Dana, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Jimmy Ellis, American boxer (b. 1940)
    • 2014 – Billy Harrell, American baseball player and scout (b. 1928)
    • 2014 – Antony Hopkins, English pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Maria Lassnig, Austrian painter and academic (b. 1919)
    • 2014 – Farley Mowat, Canadian environmentalist and author (b. 1921)
    • 2015 – Novera Ahmed, Bangladeshi sculptor (b. 1930)
    • 2015 – Denise McCluggage, American race car driver and journalist (b. 1927)
    • 2015 – Jim Wright, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 56th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1922)
    • 2016 – Patrick Ekeng, Cameroonian footballer (b. 1990)
    • 2016 – Reg Grundy, Australian businessman (b. 1923)

    Holidays and observances on May 6

    • Christian Feast Day:
      • Dominic Savio
      • Evodius of Antioch (Roman Catholic Church)
      • François de Laval
      • Gerard of Lunel
      • Lucius of Cyrene
      • Petronax of Monte Cassino
      • St George’s Day related observances (Eastern Orthodox Church):
        • Day of Bravery, also known as Gergyovden (Bulgaria)
        • Đurđevdan (Gorani, Roma)
        • Police Day (Georgia)
        • Yuri’s Day in the Spring (Russian Orthodox Church)
      • St John before the Latin Gate
      • May 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Earliest day on which Military Spouse Day can fall, while May 12 is the latest; celebrated on Friday before Mother’s Day (United States)
    • International No Diet Day
    • Martyrs’ Day (Gabon)
    • Martyrs’ Day (Lebanon and Syria)
    • Teachers’ Day (Jamaica)
    • The first day of Hıdırellez (Turkey)

  • May 5 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    This day marks the approximate midpoint of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere (starting the season at the March equinox).

    May 5 in History

    • 553 – The Second Council of Constantinople begins
    • 1215 – Rebel barons renounce their allegiance to King John of England — part of a chain of events leading to the signing of the Magna Carta.
    • 1260 – Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire.
    • 1494 – Christopher Columbus lands on the island of Jamaica and claims it for Spain.
    • 1640 – King Charles I of England dissolves the Short Parliament.
    • 1654 – Cromwell’s Act of Grace, aimed at reconciliation with the Scots, proclaimed in Edinburgh.
    • 1672 – In preparation for the Franco-Dutch War, Louis XIV of France personally inspects his troops at Charleroi in one of the most magnificent displays of military power in the seventeenth century.
    • 1762 – Russia and Prussia sign the Treaty of St. Petersburg.
    • 1789 – In France, the Estates-General convenes for the first time since 1614.
    • 1809 – Mary Kies becomes the first woman awarded a U.S. patent, for a technique of weaving straw with silk and thread.
    • 1809 – The Swiss canton of Aargau allows citizenship to Jews.
    • 1811 – Peninsular War: In the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro, the British-Portuguese Army repels an attempt by the French Army of Portugal to relieve the besieged city of Almeida.
    • 1821 – Emperor Napoleon dies in exile on the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.
    • 1835 – The first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels and Mechelen.
    • 1860 – Giuseppe Garibaldi sets sail from Genoa, leading the expedition of the Thousand to conquer the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and giving birth to the Kingdom of Italy.
    • 1862 – Cinco de Mayo: Troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halt a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla in Mexico.
    • 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of the Wilderness begins in Spotsylvania County.
    • 1865 – American Civil War: The Confederate District of the Gulf surrenders about 4,000 men at Citronelle, Alabama.
    • 1865 – American Civil War: The Confederate government was declared dissolved at Washington, Georgia.
    • 1866 – Memorial Day first celebrated in United States at Waterloo, New York.
    • 1877 – American Indian Wars: Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles.
    • 1886 – The Bay View massacre: A militia fires into a crowd of protesters in Milwaukee, killing seven.
    • 1891 – The Music Hall in New York City (later known as Carnegie Hall) has its grand opening and first public performance, with Tchaikovsky as the guest conductor.
    • 1904 – Pitching against the Philadelphia Athletics at the Huntington Avenue Grounds, Cy Young of the Boston Americans throws the first perfect game in the modern era of baseball.
    • 1905 – The trial in the Stratton Brothers case begins in London, England; it marks the first time that fingerprint evidence is used to gain a conviction for murder.
    • 1912 – Pravda, the “voice” of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, begins publication in Saint Petersburg.
    • 1920 – Authorities arrest Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti for alleged robbery and murder.
    • 1925 – Scopes Trial: Serving of an arrest warrant on John T. Scopes for teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.
    • 1927 – To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf is first published.
    • 1936 – Italian troops occupy Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
    • 1940 – World War II: Norwegian refugees form a government-in-exile in London.
    • 1940 – World War II: Norwegian Campaign: Norwegian squads in Hegra Fortress and Vinjesvingen capitulate to German forces after all other Norwegian forces in southern Norway had laid down their arms.
    • 1941 – Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa; the country commemorates the date as Liberation Day or Patriots’ Victory Day.
    • 1945 – World War II: The German surrender at Lüneburg Heath becomes effective, encompassing all German armed forces opposing the 21st Army Group in northwestern Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
    • 1945 – World War II: Dönitz gives Löhr permission to seek an armistice with the Western Allies to preserve a communist free Austria and recognising first, from a German standpoint, the separation of Austria from Germany undoing the Anschluss.
    • 1945 – World War II: The Prague uprising begins as an attempt by the Czech resistance to free the city from German occupation.
    • 1945 – World War II: A Fu-Go balloon bomb launched by the Japanese Army kills six people near Bly, Oregon.
    • 1945 – World War II: Battle of Castle Itter, the only battle in which American and German troops fought cooperatively.
    • 1946 – The International Military Tribunal for the Far East begins in Tokyo with twenty-eight Japanese military and government officials accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
    • 1950 – Bhumibol Adulyadej is crowned as King of Thailand.
    • 1955 – The General Treaty, by which France, Britain and the United States recognize the sovereignty of West Germany, comes into effect.
    • 1961 – Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into outer space, on a sub-orbital flight.
    • 1964 – The Council of Europe declares May 5 as Europe Day.
    • 1972 – Alitalia Flight 112 crashes into Mount Longa near Palermo, Sicily, killing all 115 aboard, making it the deadliest single-aircraft disaster in Italy.
    • 1973 – Secretariat wins the 1973 Kentucky Derby in 1:59​2⁄5, an as-yet unbeaten record.
    • 1980 – Operation Nimrod: The British Special Air Service storms the Iranian embassy in London after a six-day siege.
    • 1981 – Bobby Sands dies in the Long Kesh prison hospital after 66 days of hunger-striking, aged 27.
    • 1985 – Ronald Reagan visits the military cemetery at Bitburg and the site of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where he makes a speech.
    • 1987 – Iran–Contra affair: Start of Congressional televised hearings in the United States of America
    • 1991 – A riot breaks out in the Mt. Pleasant section of Washington, D.C. after police shoot a Salvadoran man.
    • 1992 – Armand Césari Stadium disaster in Bastia (Corsica): Eighteen people are killed and 2,300 are injured when one of the terraces collapses before a football match between SC Bastia and Olympique de Marseille.
    • 1993 – Three eight-year-old boys are murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas, Ultimately leading to the conviction of the West Memphis Three.
    • 1994 – The signing of the Bishkek Protocol between Armenia and Azerbaijan effectively freezes the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
    • 1994 – American teenager Michael P. Fay is caned in Singapore for theft and vandalism.
    • 1998 – A Peruvian Air Force Boeing 737 operating for Occidental Petroleum crashes on approach to Alférez FAP Alfredo Vladimir Sara Bauer Airport in Andoas, Peru, killing 75 people.
    • 2006 – The government of Sudan signs an accord with the Sudan Liberation Army.
    • 2007 – Kenya Airways Flight 507 crashes after takeoff from Douala International Airport in Douala, Cameroon, killing all 114 aboard, making it the deadliest aircraft disaster in Cameroon.
    • 2010 – Mass protests in Greece erupt in response to austerity measures imposed by the government as a result of the Greek government-debt crisis.
    • 2014 – Eleven people are missing after a Chinese cargo ship collides with a Marshall Islands registered container ship off the coast of Hong Kong.
    • 2014 – Twenty-two people die after two boats carrying refugees collide in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Greece.
    • 2019 – A Russian jet plane burst into flames while attempting an emergency landing at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow killing at least 41 people.
    • 2020 – The National Telecommunications Commission issued a Cease and desist order to ABS-CBN Corporation to stop the operation of it’s free TV and radio stations.

    Births on May 5

    • 1210 – Afonso III of Portugal (d. 1279)
    • 1282 – Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena (d. 1322)
    • 1310 – Preczlaw of Pogarell, Cardinal and Bishop of Wrocław (d. 1376)
    • 1352 – Rupert of Germany, Count Palatine of the Rhine (d. 1410)
    • 1479 – Guru Amar Das, Indian 3rd Sikh Guru (d. 1574)
    • 1504 – Stanislaus Hosius, Polish cardinal (d. 1579)
    • 1530 – Gabriel, comte de Montgomery, French nobleman (d. 1574)
    • 1542 – Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire (d. 1623)
    • 1582 – John Frederick, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1628)
    • 1684 – Françoise Charlotte d’Aubigné, French wife of Adrien Maurice de Noailles (d. 1739)
    • 1747 – Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1792)
    • 1749 – Jean-Frédéric Edelmann, French pianist and composer (d. 1794)
    • 1764 – Robert Craufurd, Scottish general and politician (d. 1812)
    • 1800 – Louis Christophe François Hachette, French publisher (d. 1864)
    • 1813 – Søren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher and author (d. 1855)
    • 1818 – Karl Marx, German philosopher, sociologist, and journalist (d. 1883)
    • 1826 – Eugénie de Montijo, French wife of Napoleon III (d. 1920)
    • 1830 – John Batterson Stetson, American businessman, founded the John B. Stetson Company (d. 1906)
    • 1832 – Hubert Howe Bancroft, American ethnologist and historian (d. 1918)
    • 1833 – Ferdinand von Richthofen, German geographer and academic (d. 1905)
    • 1834 – Viktor Hartmann, Russian painter and architect (d. 1873)
    • 1843 – William George Beers, Canadian dentist and patriot (d. 1900)
    • 1846 – Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1916)
    • 1858 – John L. Leal, American physician (d. 1914)
    • 1859 – Charles B. Hanford, American Shakespearean actor (d. 1926)
    • 1864 – Nellie Bly, American journalist and author (d. 1922)
    • 1865 – Helen Maud Merrill, American litterateur and poet (d. 1943)
    • 1866 – Thomas B. Thrige, Danish businessman (d. 1938)
    • 1869 – Fabián de la Rosa, Filipino painter and educator (d. 1937)
    • 1869 – Hans Pfitzner, German composer and conductor (d. 1949)
    • 1874 – Thomas Bavin, New Zealand-Australian politician, 24th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1941)
    • 1882 – Sylvia Pankhurst, English women’s suffrage movement leader and socialist activist (d. 1960)
    • 1883 – Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, English general and politician, 43rd Governor-General of India (d. 1950)
    • 1883 – Anna Johnson Pell Wheeler, American mathematician (d. 1966)
    • 1884 – Chief Bender, American baseball player and coach (d. 1954)
    • 1885 – Kingsley Fairbridge, South African-Australian scholar and politician (d. 1924)
    • 1887 – Mervyn S. Bennion, American captain, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1941)
    • 1889 – Herbie Taylor, South African cricketer and soldier (d. 1973)
    • 1890 – Christopher Morley, American journalist and author (d. 1957)
    • 1892 – Dorothy Garrod, British archaeologist (d. 1968)
    • 1898 – Elsie Eaves, American engineer (d. 1983)
    • 1898 – Blind Willie McTell, American Piedmont blues singer and guitar player (d. 1959)
    • 1899 – Freeman Gosden, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1982)
    • 1900 – Helen Redfield, American geneticist (d. 1988)
    • 1903 – James Beard, American chef and author (d. 1985)
    • 1905 – Floyd Gottfredson, American author and illustrator (d. 1986)
    • 1906 – Charles Exbrayat, French author and screenwriter (d. 1989)
    • 1907 – Daryna Dmytrivna Polotniuk, Bukovinian (Ukrainian) journalist and author (d. 1982)
    • 1908 – Kurt Böhme, German opera singer (d. 1989)
    • 1909 – Miklós Radnóti, Hungarian poet and author (d. 1944)
    • 1910 – Leo Lionni, American author and illustrator (d. 1999)
    • 1911 – Gilles Grangier, French director and screenwriter (d. 1996)
    • 1911 – Andor Lilienthal, Russian-Hungarian chess player (d. 2010)
    • 1911 – Pritilata Waddedar, Indian educator and activist (d. 1932)
    • 1913 – Duane Carter, American race car driver (d. 1993)
    • 1914 – Tyrone Power, American actor (d. 1958)
    • 1915 – Alice Faye, American actress and singer (d. 1998)
    • 1916 – Zail Singh, Indian politician, 7th President of India (d. 1994)
    • 1917 – Pío Leyva, Cuban singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
    • 1918 – Egidio Galea, Maltese Roman Catholic priest (d. 2005)
    • 1919 – Georgios Papadopoulos, Greek colonel and politician, 169th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1999)
    • 1921 – Arthur Leonard Schawlow, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1999)
    • 1922 – Irene Gut Opdyke, Polish nurse and humanitarian (d. 2003)
    • 1923 – William C. Campbell, American golfer (d. 2013)
    • 1923 – James Gilbert, Scottish television producer and director (d. 2016)
    • 1923 – Cathleen Synge Morawetz, Canadian mathematician (d. 2017)
    • 1923 – Richard Wollheim, English philosopher and academic (d. 2003)
    • 1925 – Leo Ryan, American soldier, educator, and politician (d. 1978)
    • 1927 – Pat Carroll, American actress
    • 1929 – Ilene Woods, American actress (d. 2010)
    • 1930 – Hans Abramson, Swedish director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
    • 1931 – Greg, Belgian author and illustrator (d. 1999)
    • 1932 – Stan Goldberg, American illustrator (d. 2014)
    • 1932 – Bob Said, American race car driver and bobsled racer (d. 2002)
    • 1933 – Igor Kashkarov, Russian high jumper
    • 1933 – Collie Smith, Jamaican cricketer (d. 1959)
    • 1934 – Henri Konan Bédié, Ivorian politician, 2nd President of Côte d’Ivoire
    • 1934 – Victor Garland, Australian accountant and politician, 26th Australian Minister for Veterans’ Affairs
    • 1935 – Eddie Linden, Scottish poet and magazine editor
    • 1935 – Bernard Pivot, French journalist, talk show host, and producer
    • 1935 – Robert Rehme, American film producer
    • 1936 – Sandy Baron, American actor and comedian (d. 2001)
    • 1936 – Patrick Gowers, English composer and educator (d. 2014)
    • 1936 – Ervin Lázár, Hungarian author (d. 2006)
    • 1937 – Delia Derbyshire, English musician, arranger and composer (d. 2001)
    • 1938 – Michael Murphy, American actor
    • 1938 – Barbara Wagner, Canadian figure skater and coach
    • 1939 – Ray Gosling, English journalist, author, and activist (d. 2013)
    • 1940 – Lance Henriksen, American actor
    • 1940 – Michael Lindsay-Hogg, American director and producer
    • 1941 – Alexander Ragulin, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2004)
    • 1942 – István Bujtor, Hungarian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2009)
    • 1942 – Jean Corston, Baroness Corston, English lawyer and politician
    • 1942 – Hugh Courtenay, 18th Earl of Devon, English politician (d. 2015)
    • 1942 – Tammy Wynette, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1998)
    • 1943 – Michael Palin, English actor and screenwriter
    • 1943 – Ignacio Ramonet, Spanish journalist and author
    • 1944 – Bo Larsson, Swedish footballer
    • 1944 – John Rhys-Davies, Welsh actor and screenwriter
    • 1944 – Roger Rees, Welsh-American actor and director (d. 2015)
    • 1945 – Kurt Loder, American journalist, author, and critic
    • 1945 – Dianne Willcocks, English sociologist and academic
    • 1946 – Jim Kelly, American actor, athlete, and martial artist
    • 1946 – Aydın Menderes, Turkish politician (d. 2011)
    • 1948 – Bella van der Spiegel-Hage, Dutch cyclist
    • 1948 – Bill Ward, English drummer and songwriter
    • 1949 – Eppie Bleeker, Dutch speed skater
    • 1950 – Rex Caldwell, American golfer
    • 1950 – Maggie MacNeal, Dutch singer
    • 1951 – Rudolf Finsterer, German rugby player and coach
    • 1951 – Toomas Vilosius, Estonian physician and politician, 2nd Minister of Social Affairs of Estonia
    • 1952 – Ed Lee, American politician and attorney, 43rd Mayor of San Francisco (d. 2017)
    • 1952 – Jorge Llopart, Spanish race walker
    • 1952 – Willem Witteveen, Dutch scholar and politician (d. 2014)
    • 1955 – Jon Butcher, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and freelance multimedia producer
    • 1956 – Steve Scott, American runner and coach
    • 1957 – Richard E. Grant, Swazi-English actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1957 – Peter Howitt, English actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1957 – Aad van Mil, Dutch water polo player
    • 1958 – Ron Arad, Israeli colonel and pilot (d. 1986)
    • 1958 – Robert DiPierdomenico, Australian footballer and sportscaster
    • 1958 – Vanessa Downing, Australian actress
    • 1958 – Jack Wishna, American businessman, co-founded Rockcityclub (d. 2012)
    • 1959 – Bobby Ellsworth, American singer and bass player
    • 1959 – Ian McCulloch, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1959 – Steve Stevens, American guitarist and songwriter
    • 1959 – Brian Williams, American journalist
    • 1960 – Doug Hawkins, Australian footballer and sportscaster
    • 1961 – Marg Downey, Australian actress
    • 1961 – Hiroshi Hase, Japanese wrestler and politician
    • 1961 – Rob Williams, American basketball player (d. 2014)
    • 1962 – Kaoru Wada, Japanese composer and conductor
    • 1963 – James LaBrie, Canadian singer-songwriter
    • 1963 – Simon Rimmer, English chef and author
    • 1963 – Scott Westerfeld, American author and composer
    • 1964 – Jean-François Copé, French politician, French Minister of Budget
    • 1964 – Heike Henkel, German high jumper
    • 1964 – Don Payne, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2013)
    • 1964 – Minami Takayama, Japanese voice actress and singer
    • 1964 – Efrat Mishori, Israeli poet and filmmaker
    • 1965 – Glenn Seton, Australian race car driver
    • 1966 – Shawn Drover, Canadian drummer
    • 1966 – Sergei Stanishev, Bulgarian politician, 46th Prime Minister of Bulgaria
    • 1966 – Josh Weinstein, American screenwriter and producer
    • 1967 – Adam Hughes, American author and illustrator
    • 1967 – Alexis Sinduhije, Burundian journalist and politician
    • 1969 – Pieter Muller, South African rugby player
    • 1970 – Kyan Douglas, American television host and author
    • 1970 – Todd Newton, American game show host
    • 1971 – Harold Miner, American basketball player
    • 1971 – Mike Redmond, American baseball player and manager
    • 1972 – James Cracknell, English rower
    • 1972 – Žigmund Pálffy, Slovakian ice hockey player
    • 1972 – Mikael Renberg, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1975 – Meb Keflezighi, American runner
    • 1976 – Dieter Brummer, Australian actor
    • 1976 – Jean-François Dumoulin, Canadian race car driver
    • 1976 – Anastasios Pantos, Greek footballer
    • 1976 – Juan Pablo Sorín, Argentinian footballer and sportscaster
    • 1978 – Morgan Pehme, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1979 – Vincent Kartheiser, American actor
    • 1980 – Yossi Benayoun, Israeli footballer
    • 1980 – Hank Green, American entrepreneur, educator, and vlogger
    • 1980 – DerMarr Johnson, American basketball player
    • 1981 – Craig David, English singer-songwriter, musician and producer
    • 1981 – Danielle Fishel, American actress
    • 1982 – Ferrie Bodde, Dutch footballer
    • 1982 – Wouter D’Haene, Belgian sprinter
    • 1982 – Randall Gay, American football player
    • 1982 – Corey Parker, Australian rugby league footballer
    • 1983 – James Anyon, English cricketer
    • 1983 – Henry Cavill, English actor
    • 1983 – Mabel Gay, Cuban triple jumper
    • 1983 – Annie Villeneuve, Canadian singer-songwriter
    • 1983 – Scott Ware, American football player
    • 1984 – Johanna Hedva, Korean-American artist and genderqueer activist
    • 1984 – Wade MacNeil, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1984 – Christian Valdez, Mexican footballer
    • 1985 – Shoko Nakagawa, Japanese actress and singer
    • 1985 – Emanuele Giaccherini, Italian footballer
    • 1985 – Tsepo Masilela, South African footballer
    • 1985 – Marcos Rogério Oliveira Duarte, Brazilian footballer
    • 1985 – Terrence Wheatley, American football player
    • 1987 – Graham Dorrans, Scottish footballer
    • 1988 – Adele, English singer-songwriter
    • 1988 – Mervyn Westfield, English cricketer
    • 1989 – Chris Brown, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
    • 1991 – Xenofon Fetsis, Greek footballer
    • 1991 – Raúl Jiménez, Mexican footballer
    • 1992 – Loïck Landre, French footballer
    • 1994 – Celeste, English singer
    • 1998 – Aryna Sabalenka, Belarusian tennis player
    • 1999 – Nathan Chen, American figure skater
    • 1999 – Justin Kluivert, Dutch footballer

    Deaths on May 5

    • 465 – Gerontius, Archbishop of Milan
    • 1194 – Casimir II the Just, Polish son of Bolesław III Wrymouth (b. 1138)
    • 1243 – Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent, English justiciar (b. c. 1160)
    • 1306 – Constantine Palaiologos, Byzantine general (b. 1261)
    • 1309 – Charles II of Naples (b. 1254)
    • 1316 – Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, daughter of King Edward I of England (b. 1282)
    • 1338 – Prince Tsunenaga, son of the Japanese Emperor (b. 1324)
    • 1380 – Saint Philotheos, Coptic martyr
    • 1432 – Francesco Bussone da Carmagnola, Italian adventurer
    • 1525 – Frederick III, Elector of Saxony (b. 1463)
    • 1582 – Charlotte of Bourbon, Princess consort of Orange, married to William I of Orange (b. 1547)
    • 1586 – Henry Sidney, Irish politician, Lord Deputy of Ireland (b. 1529)
    • 1671 – Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester, English general and politician, Lord Chamberlain of the United Kingdom (b. 1602)
    • 1672 – Samuel Cooper, English painter and linguist (b. 1609)
    • 1700 – Angelo Italia, Italian architect (b. 1628)
    • 1705 – Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1640)
    • 1760 – Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, English politician (b. 1720)
    • 1766 – Jean Astruc, French physician and scholar (b. 1684)
    • 1808 – Pierre Jean George Cabanis, French physiologist and philosopher (b. 1757)
    • 1821 – Napoleon, French general and emperor (b. 1769)
    • 1827 – Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (b. 1750)
    • 1833 – Sophia Campbell, English-Australian painter (b. 1777)
    • 1855 – Sir Robert Inglis, 2nd Baronet, English politician (b. 1786)
    • 1859 – Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, German mathematician and academic (b. 1805)
    • 1860 – Jean-Charles Prince, Canadian bishop (b. 1804)
    • 1883 – John O’Shanassy, Irish-Australian politician, 2nd Premier of Victoria (b. 1818)
    • 1892 – August Wilhelm von Hofmann, German chemist and academic (b. 1818)
    • 1896 – Silas Adams, American lawyer and politician (b. 1839)
    • 1902 – Bret Harte, American short story writer and poet (b. 1836)
    • 1907 – Şeker Ahmed Pasha, Turkish soldier and painter (b. 1841)
    • 1913 – Henry Moret, French painter (b. 1856)
    • 1916 – John MacBride, Irish soldier and rebel (b. 1865)
    • 1916 – Maurice Raoul-Duval, French polo player (b. 1866)
    • 1921 – Alfred Hermann Fried, Austrian journalist and publicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1864)
    • 1924 – A. Sabapathy, Sri Lankan journalist and politician (b. 1853)
    • 1931 – Glen Kidston, English pilot and race car driver (b. 1899)
    • 1942 – Qemal Stafa, Albanian politician (b. 1920)
    • 1947 – Ty LaForest, Canadian-American baseball player (b. 1917)
    • 1957 – Leopold Löwenheim, German mathematician and logician (b. 1878)
    • 1959 – Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Argentinian academic and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1878)
    • 1962 – Ernest Tyldesley, English cricketer (b. 1889)
    • 1965 – Nikos Gounaris, Greek tenor and composer (b. 1915)
    • 1965 – John Waters, American director and screenwriter (b. 1893)
    • 1971 – Violet Jessop, Argentinean-English nurse (b. 1887)
    • 1973 – Zekai Özger, Turkish poet and academic (b. 1948)
    • 1977 – Ludwig Erhard, German economist and politician, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1897)
    • 1981 – Bobby Sands, PIRA volunteer and hunger striker (b. 1954)
    • 1983 – Horst Schumann, German physician (b. 1901)
    • 1983 – John Williams, English-American actor (b. 1903)
    • 1985 – Donald Bailey, English engineer, designed the Bailey bridge (b. 1901)
    • 1988 – Michael Shaara, American author and academic (b. 1928)
    • 1993 – Irving Howe, American literary and social critic (b. 1920)
    • 1994 – Mário Quintana, Brazilian poet and translator (b. 1906)
    • 1995 – Mikhail Botvinnik, Russian chess player and coach (b. 1911)
    • 1999 – Vasilis Diamantopoulos, Greek actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1920)
    • 2000 – Gino Bartali, Italian cyclist (b. 1914)
    • 2000 – Bill Musselman, American basketball player and coach (b. 1940)
    • 2001 – Morris Graves, American painter and educator (b. 1910)
    • 2001 – Clifton Hillegass, American publisher, created CliffsNotes (b. 1918)
    • 2002 – Hugo Banzer, Bolivian general and politician, 62nd President of Bolivia (b. 1926)
    • 2002 – Paul Wilbur Klipsch, American engineer, founded Klipsch Audio Technologies (b. 1904)
    • 2002 – George Sidney, American director and producer (b. 1916)
    • 2003 – Sam Bockarie, Sierra Leonean commander (b. 1964)
    • 2003 – Walter Sisulu, South African activist and politician (b. 1912)
    • 2006 – Naushad Ali, Indian composer and producer (b. 1919)
    • 2006 – Atıf Yılmaz, Turkish director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1925)
    • 2007 – Theodore Harold Maiman, American-Canadian physicist and engineer, created the laser (b. 1927)
    • 2008 – Irv Robbins, Canadian-American businessman, co-founded Baskin-Robbins (b. 1917)
    • 2008 – Jerry Wallace, American singer and guitarist (b. 1928)
    • 2010 – Giulietta Simionato, Italian soprano (b. 1910)
    • 2010 – Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Nigerian academic and politician, 13th President of Nigeria (b. 1951)
    • 2011 – Claude Choules, English-Australian soldier (b. 1901)
    • 2011 – Yosef Merimovich, Israeli footballer and manager (b. 1924)
    • 2011 – Dana Wynter, British actress (b. 1931)
    • 2012 – Surendranath, Indian cricketer (b. 1937)
    • 2012 – Carl Johan Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg (b. 1916)
    • 2012 – Aatos Erkko, Finnish journalist and publisher (b. 1932)
    • 2012 – George Knobel, Dutch footballer, coach, and manager (b. 1922)
    • 2012 – Roy Padayachie, South African lawyer and politician, South African Minister of Communications (b. 1950)
    • 2013 – Sarah Kirsch, German poet and author (b. 1935)
    • 2013 – Robert Ressler, American FBI agent and author (b. 1937)
    • 2014 – Michael Otedola, Nigerian journalist and politician, 9th Governor of Lagos State (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – Jobst Brandt, American cyclist, engineer, and author (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Hans Jansen, Dutch linguist, academic, and politician (b. 1942)
    • 2017 – Binyamin Elon, Israeli Orthodox rabbi and politician (b. 1954)
    • 2017 – Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, Mauritanian politician (b. 1953)

    Holidays and observances on May 5

    • Children’s Day (Japan, South Korea)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Angelus of Jerusalem
      • Aventinus of Tours
      • Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice
      • Frederick the Wise (Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod)
      • Hilary of Arles
      • Jutta of Kulmsee
      • Stanisław Kazimierczyk
      • May 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Cinco de Mayo (Mexico, United States)
    • Constitution Day (Kyrgyzstan)
    • Europe Day (Council of Europe)
    • Feast of al-Khadr or Saint George (Palestinian)
    • Indian Arrival Day (Guyana)
    • International Midwives’ Day (International)
    • Liberation Day (Denmark, Netherlands)
    • Lusophone Culture Day (Community of Portuguese Language Countries)
    • World Portuguese language day (International)
    • Martyrs’ Day (Albania)
    • Patriots’ Victory Day (Ethiopia)
    • Senior Citizens Day (Palau)
    • Tango no sekku (Japan)