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Austria

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

  • 48 BC – Pompey is assassinated by order of King Ptolemy upon arriving in Egypt.
  • 235 – Pope Pontian resigns. He is exiled to the mines of Sardinia, along with Hippolytus of Rome.
  • 351 – Constantius II defeats the usurper Magnentius.
  • 365 – Roman usurper Procopius bribes two legions passing by Constantinople, and proclaims himself emperor.
  • 935 – Duke Wenceslaus I of Bohemia is murdered by a group of nobles led by his brother Boleslaus I, who succeeds him.
  • 995 – Boleslaus II, Duke of Bohemia, kills most members of the rival Slavník dynasty.
  • 1066 – William the Conqueror lands in England, beginning the Norman conquest.
  • 1106 – King Henry I of England defeats his brother, Robert Curthose.
  • 1238 – King James I of Aragon conquers Valencia from the Moors. Shortly thereafter, he proclaims himself king of Valencia.
  • 1322 – Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor, defeats Frederick I of Austria in the Battle of Mühldorf.
  • 1538 – Ottoman–Venetian War: The Ottoman Navy scores a decisive victory over a Holy League fleet in the Battle of Preveza.
  • 1542 – Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo of Portugal arrives at what is now San Diego, California.
  • 1779 – American Revolution: Samuel Huntington is elected President of the Continental Congress, succeeding John Jay.
  • 1781 – American Revolution: American forces backed by a French fleet begin the siege of Yorktown.
  • 1787 – The Congress of the Confederation votes to send the newly-written United States Constitution to the state legislatures for approval.
  • 1821 – The Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire is drafted. It will be made public on 13 October.
  • 1844 – Oscar I of Sweden–Norway is crowned king of Sweden.
  • 1867 – Toronto becomes the capital of Ontario, having also been the capital of Ontario’s predecessors since 1796.
  • 1868 – The Battle of Alcolea causes Queen Isabella II of Spain to flee to France.
  • 1871 – The Brazilian Parliament passes a law that frees all children thereafter born to slaves, and all government-owned slaves.
  • 1889 – The General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) defines the length of a meter.
  • 1892 – The first night game for American football takes place in a contest between Wyoming Seminary and Mansfield State Normal.
  • 1893 – Foundation of the Portuguese football club FC Porto.
  • 1901 – Philippine–American War: Filipino guerrillas kill more than forty American soldiers while losing 28 of their own.
  • 1912 – The Ulster Covenant is signed by some 500,000 Ulster Protestant Unionists in opposition to the Third Irish Home Rule Bill.
  • 1912 – Corporal Frank S. Scott of the United States Army becomes the first enlisted man to die in an airplane crash.
  • 1918 – World War I: The Fifth Battle of Ypres begins.
  • 1919 – Race riots begin in Omaha, Nebraska.
  • 1924 – The first aerial circumnavigation is completed by a team from the US Army.
  • 1928 – Alexander Fleming notices a bacteria-killing mold growing in his laboratory, discovering what later became known as penicillin.
  • 1939 – World War II: Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agree on a division of Poland.
  • 1939 – World War II: The siege of Warsaw comes to an end.
  • 1941 – World War II: The Drama uprising against the Bulgarian occupation in northern Greece begins.
  • 1941 – Ted Williams achieves a .406 batting average for the season, and becomes the last major league baseball player to bat .400 or better.
  • 1944 – World War II: Soviet Army troops liberate Klooga concentration camp in Estonia.
  • 1951 – CBS makes the first color televisions available for sale to the general public, but the product is discontinued less than a month later.
  • 1961 – A military coup in Damascus effectively ends the United Arab Republic, the union between Egypt and Syria.
  • 1970 – Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser dies of a heart attack in Cairo.
  • 1971 – The Parliament of the UK passes the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, banning the medicinal use of cannabis.
  • 1973 – The ITT Building in New York City is bombed in protest at ITT’s alleged involvement in the coup d’état in Chile.
  • 1975 – The Spaghetti House siege, in which nine people are taken hostage, takes place in London.
  • 1986 – The Democratic Progressive Party becomes the first opposition party in Taiwan.
  • 1991 – The Strategic Air Command stands down from alert all ICBMs scheduled for deactivation under START I, as well as its strategic bomber force.
  • 1992 – A Pakistan International Airlines flight crashes into a hill in Nepal, killing all 167 passengers and crew.
  • 1994 – The cruise ferry MS Estonia sinks in the Baltic Sea, killing 852 people.
  • 1995 – Bob Denard and a group of mercenaries take the islands of the Comoros in a coup.
  • 1995 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat sign the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
  • 2000 – Al-Aqsa Intifada: Ariel Sharon visits Al-Aqsa Mosque known to Jews as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
  • 2008 – Falcon 1 becomes the first privately developed liquid-fuel ground-launched vehicle to put a payload into orbit.
  • 2009 – The military junta leading Guinea attacks a protest rally, killing or wounding 1400 people.
  • 2012 – Somali and African Union forces launch a coordinated assault on the Somali port of Kismayo to take back the city from al-Shabaab militants.
  • 2014 – The 2014 Hong Kong protests begin in response to restrictive political reforms imposed by the NPC in Beijing.
  • 2016 – The 2016 South Australian blackout occurs, lasting up to three days in some areas.
  • 2018 – The 7.5 Mw 2018 Sulawesi earthquake, which triggered a large tsunami, leaves 4,340 dead and 10,679 injured.
  • 2018 – On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, the international project Tree of Peace was established (September, 28). One of the trees was planted personally by Zuzana Čaputová, President of the Slovak Republic.

Births on September 28

  • 551 BC – Confucius, Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. (d. 479 BC)
  • 616 – Javanshir, King of Caucasian Albania (d. 680)
  • 1494 – Agnolo Firenzuola, Italian poet and playwright (d. 1545)
  • 1555 – Henri de La Tour d’Auvergne, Marshal of France (d. 1623)
  • 1573 – Théodore de Mayerne, Swiss physician (d. 1654)
  • 1605 – Ismaël Bullialdus, French astronomer and mathematician (d. 1694)
  • 1681 – Johann Mattheson, German composer, lexicographer, and diplomat (d. 1764)
  • 1705 – Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, English politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (d. 1774)
  • 1705 – Johann Peter Kellner, German organist and composer (d. 1772)
  • 1735 – Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1811)
  • 1746 – William Jones, English-Welsh philologist and scholar (d. 1794)
  • 1765 – Frederick Christian II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (d. 1814)
  • 1803 – Prosper Mérimée, French archaeologist, historian, and author (d. 1870)
  • 1809 – Alvan Wentworth Chapman, American physician and botanist (d. 1899)
  • 1819 – Narcís Monturiol, Spanish engineer and publisher (d. 1885)
  • 1821 – Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs, American minister and politician (d. 1874)
  • 1823 – Alexandre Cabanel, French painter and educator (d. 1889)
  • 1824 – Francis Turner Palgrave, English poet and critic (d. 1897)
  • 1836 – Thomas Crapper, English plumber, invented the ballcock (d. 1910)
  • 1838 – Sai Baba of Shirdi, Indian national saint (d. 1918)
  • 1841 – Georges Clemenceau, French journalist, physician, and politician, 85th Prime Minister of France (d. 1929)
  • 1844 – Robert Stout, Scottish-New Zealand lawyer and politician, 13th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1930)
  • 1852 – Henri Moissan, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1907)
  • 1852 – Isis Pogson, British astronomer and meteorologist (d. 1945)
  • 1856 – Kate Douglas Wiggin, American author and educator (d. 1923)
  • 1860 – Paul Ulrich Villard, French chemist and physicist (d. 1934)
  • 1861 – Amélie of Orléans, queen consort of Portugal (d. 1951)
  • 1867 – Hiranuma Kiichirō, Japanese lawyer and politician, 35th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1952)
  • 1867 – James Edwin Campbell, American poet, editor, short story writer and educator (d. 1896)
  • 1868 – Evelyn Beatrice Hall, English writer best known for her biography of Voltaire, and wrote under the pseudonym S. G. Tallentyre (d. 1956)
  • 1877 – Albert Young, American boxer and promoter (d. 1940)
  • 1878 – Joseph Ruddy, American swimmer and water polo player (d. 1962)
  • 1870 – Florent Schmitt, French composer and critic (d. 1958)
  • 1881 – Pedro de Cordoba, American actor (d. 1950)
  • 1882 – Mart Saar, Estonian organist and composer (d. 1963)
  • 1885 – Emil Väre, Finnish wrestler, coach, and referee (d. 1974)
  • 1887 – Avery Brundage, American businessman, 5th President of the International Olympic Committee (d. 1975)
  • 1889 – Jack Fournier, American baseball player and coach (d. 1973)
  • 1890 – Florence Violet McKenzie, Australian electrical engineer (d. 1982)
  • 1892 – Elmer Rice, American playwright (d. 1967)
  • 1893 – Hilda Geiringer, Austrian mathematician (d. 1973)
  • 1893 – Giannis Skarimpas, Greek author, poet, and playwright (d. 1984)
  • 1898 – Carl Clauberg, German Nazi physician (d. 1957)
  • 1900 – Isabel Pell, American socialite, fought as part of the French Resistance during WWII (d. 1951)
  • 1901 – William S. Paley, American broadcaster, founded CBS (d. 1990)
  • 1901 – Ed Sullivan, American television host (d. 1974)
  • 1903 – Haywood S. Hansell, American general (d. 1988)
  • 1905 – Max Schmeling, German boxer (d. 2005)
  • 1907 – Heikki Savolainen, Finnish gymnast and physician (d. 1997)
  • 1907 – Bhagat Singh, Indian activist (d. 1931)
  • 1909 – Al Capp, American author and illustrator (d. 1979)
  • 1910 – Diosdado Macapagal, Filipino lawyer and politician, 9th President of the Philippines (d. 1997)
  • 1910 – Wenceslao Vinzons, Filipino lawyer and politician (d. 1942)
  • 1913 – Warja Honegger-Lavater, Swiss illustrator (d. 2007)
  • 1913 – Alice Marble, American tennis player (d. 1990)
  • 1914 – Maria Franziska von Trapp, Austrian-American refugee and singer (d. 2014)
  • 1915 – Ethel Rosenberg, American spy (d. 1953)
  • 1916 – Peter Finch, English-Australian actor (d. 1977)
  • 1916 – Olga Lepeshinskaya, Ukrainian-Russian ballerina and educator (d. 2008)
  • 1918 – Ángel Labruna, Argentinian footballer and manager (d. 1983)
  • 1918 – Arnold Stang, American actor (d. 2009)
  • 1919 – Doris Singleton, American actress (d. 2012)
  • 1922 – Larry Munson, American sportscaster (d. 2011)
  • 1923 – Tuli Kupferberg, American singer, poet, and writer (d. 2010)
  • 1923 – John Scott, 9th Duke of Buccleuch, Scottish captain and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Selkirkshire (d. 2007)
  • 1923 – William Windom, American actor (d. 2012)
  • 1924 – Rudolf Barshai, Russian-Swiss viola player and conductor (d. 2010)
  • 1924 – Marcello Mastroianni, Italian-French actor and singer (d. 1996)
  • 1925 – Seymour Cray, American computer scientist, founded the CRAY Computer Company (d. 1996)
  • 1925 – Cromwell Everson, South African composer (d. 1991)
  • 1925 – Martin David Kruskal, American physicist and mathematician (d. 2006)
  • 1926 – Jerry Clower, American soldier, comedian, and author (d. 1998)
  • 1928 – Koko Taylor, American singer (d. 2009)
  • 1929 – Lata Mangeshkar, Indian playback singer and composer
  • 1930 – Tommy Collins, American country music singer-songwriter (d. 2000)
  • 1930 – Immanuel Wallerstein, American sociologist, author, and academic (d. 2019)
  • 1932 – Jeremy Isaacs, Scottish screenwriter and producer
  • 1932 – Víctor Jara, Chilean singer-songwriter, poet, and director (d. 1973)
  • 1933 – Joe Benton, English soldier and politician
  • 1933 – Miguel Ortiz Berrocal, Spanish sculptor and educator (d. 2006)
  • 1933 – Johnny “Country” Mathis, American singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
  • 1934 – Brigitte Bardot, French actress
  • 1935 – Bruce Crampton, Australian golfer
  • 1935 – David Hannay, Baron Hannay of Chiswick, English diplomat, British Permanent Representative to the United Nations
  • 1935 – Ronald Lacey, English actor (d. 1991)
  • 1936 – Emmett Chapman, American guitarist, invented the Chapman Stick
  • 1936 – Eddie Lumsden, Australian rugby league player (d. 2019)
  • 1936 – Robert Wolders, Dutch television actor (d. 2018)
  • 1937 – Alice Mahon, English trade union leader and politician
  • 1937 – Glenn Sutton, American country music songwriter and record producer (d. 2007)
  • 1938 – Ben E. King, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2015)
  • 1939 – Stuart Kauffman, American biologist and academic
  • 1941 – David Lewis, American philosopher and academic (d. 2001)
  • 1941 – Edmund Stoiber, German lawyer and politician, Minister President of Bavaria
  • 1942 – Pierre Clémenti, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1999)
  • 1942 – Edward “Little Buster” Forehand, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2006)
  • 1943 – Warren Lieberfarb, American businessman
  • 1943 – George W. S. Trow, American novelist, playwright, and critic (d. 2006)
  • 1943 – Nick St. Nicholas, German-Canadian bass player
  • 1944 – Richie Karl, American golfer
  • 1944 – Marcia Muller, American journalist and author
  • 1945 – Marielle Goitschel, French skier
  • 1945 – Manolis Rasoulis, Greek singer-songwriter and journalist (d. 2011)
  • 1945 – Fusako Shigenobu, Japanese activist, founded the Japanese Red Army
  • 1946 – Tom Bower, English journalist and author
  • 1946 – Majid Khan, Indian-Pakistani cricketer
  • 1947 – Bob Carr, Australian journalist and politician, 37th Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1947 – Sheikh Hasina, Bangladeshi politician, 10th Prime Minister of Bangladesh
  • 1947 – Jon Snow, English journalist and academic
  • 1947 – Rhonda Hughes, American mathematician and academic
  • 1949 – Jim Henshaw, Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1950 – Paul Burgess, English drummer
  • 1950 – Christina Hoff Sommers, American author and philosopher
  • 1950 – John Sayles, American novelist, director, and screenwriter
  • 1951 – Jim Diamond, Scottish singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2015)
  • 1952 – Christopher Buckley, American satirical novelist
  • 1952 – Efthimis Kioumourtzoglou, Greek basketball player and coach
  • 1952 – Sylvia Kristel, Dutch model and actress (d. 2012)
  • 1952 – Andy Ward, English drummer
  • 1953 – Otmar Hasler, Liechtensteiner educator and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Liechtenstein
  • 1954 – Steve Largent, American football player and politician
  • 1954 – George Lynch, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1954 – John Scott, English rugby player
  • 1954 – Margot Wallström, Swedish politician and diplomat, 42nd Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs
  • 1955 – Stéphane Dion, Canadian sociologist and politician, 15th Canadian Minister of the Environment
  • 1955 – Mercy Manci, Xhosa sangoma and HIV activist from South Africa
  • 1955 – Kenny Kirkland, American pianist (d. 1998)
  • 1956 – Martha Isabel Fandiño Pinilla, Colombian-Italian mathematician and author
  • 1957 – Bill Cassidy, American politician and physician
  • 1959 – Ron Fellows, Canadian race car driver
  • 1959 – Laura Bruce, American artist
  • 1960 – Gary Ayres, Australian footballer and coach
  • 1960 – Tom Byrum, American golfer
  • 1960 – Frank Hammerschlag, German footballer and manager
  • 1960 – Gus Logie, Trinidadian cricketer
  • 1960 – Kamlesh Patel, Baron Patel of Bradford, English politician
  • 1960 – Jennifer Rush, American singer-songwriter
  • 1960 – Socrates Villegas, Filipino archbishop
  • 1961 – Helen Grant, English lawyer and politician, Minister for Sport and the Olympics
  • 1961 – Gregory Jbara, American actor and singer
  • 1961 – Quentin Kawānanakoa, American lawyer and politician
  • 1961 – Anne White, American tennis player
  • 1962 – Grant Fuhr, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1962 – Laurie Rinker, American golfer
  • 1962 – Dietmar Schacht, German footballer and manager
  • 1962 – Chuck Taylor, American journalist
  • 1963 – Steve Blackman, American wrestler and martial artist
  • 1963 – Érik Comas, French race car driver
  • 1963 – Greg Weisman, American voice actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1964 – Claudio Borghi, Argentinian footballer and manager
  • 1964 – Gregor Fisken, Scottish race car driver
  • 1964 – Janeane Garofalo, American comedian, actress, and screenwriter
  • 1964 – Paul Jewell, English footballer and manager
  • 1964 – Mārtiņš Roze, Latvian lawyer and politician (d. 2012)
  • 1966 – Scott Adams, American football player (d. 2013)
  • 1966 – Maria Canals-Barrera, Cuban-American actress
  • 1966 – Puri Jagannadh, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1967 – Mira Sorvino, American actress
  • 1967 – Moon Zappa, American actress and author
  • 1968 – Francois Botha, South African boxer and mixed martial artist
  • 1968 – Mika Häkkinen, Finnish race car driver
  • 1968 – Trish Keenan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2011)
  • 1968 – Sean Levert, American R&B singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2008)
  • 1968 – Rob Moroso, American race car driver (d. 1990)
  • 1968 – Naomi Watts, English-Australian actress and producer
  • 1969 – Kerri Chandler, electronic music producer and DJ
  • 1969 – Marcel Dost, Dutch decathlete
  • 1969 – Ben Greenman, American journalist and author
  • 1969 – Piper Kerman, American author and memoirist
  • 1969 – Éric Lapointe, Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1969 – Sascha Maassen, German race car driver
  • 1969 – Angus Robertson, Scottish politician
  • 1969 – Nico Vaesen, Belgian footballer
  • 1970 – Kimiko Date-Krumm, Japanese tennis player
  • 1970 – Mike DeJean, American baseball player
  • 1970 – Gualter Salles, Brazilian race car driver
  • 1971 – Joseph Arthur, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1971 – George Eustice, English lawyer and politician
  • 1971 – Braam van Straaten, South African rugby player
  • 1971 – Alan Wright, English footballer and manager
  • 1972 – Dita Von Teese, American model and dancer
  • 1973 – Brian Rafalski, American ice hockey player
  • 1974 – Marco Di Loreto, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1974 – Mariya Kiselyova, Russian swimmer
  • 1974 – Joonas Kolkka, Finnish footballer and coach
  • 1974 – Shane Webcke, Australian rugby league player and coach
  • 1975 – Stuart Clark, Australian cricketer and manager
  • 1975 – Isamu Jordan, American journalist and academic (d. 2013)
  • 1975 – Lenny Krayzelburg, Russian-American swimmer
  • 1976 – Fedor Emelianenko, Russian mixed martial artist and politician
  • 1977 – Ireneusz Marcinkowski, Polish footballer
  • 1977 – Pak Se-ri, South Korean golfer
  • 1977 – Young Jeezy, American rapper
  • 1978 – Ben Edmondson, Australian cricketer
  • 1979 – Bam Margera, American skateboarder, actor, and stuntman
  • 1979 – Taki Tsan, American-Greek rapper and producer
  • 1980 – Marlon Parmer, American basketball player
  • 1981 – Greg Anderson, American pianist and composer
  • 1981 – Willy Caballero, Argentine footballer
  • 1981 – José Calderón, Spanish basketball player
  • 1981 – Jorge Guagua, Ecuadorian footballer
  • 1981 – Iracema Trevisan, Brazilian bass player
  • 1982 – Aleksandr Anyukov, Russian footballer
  • 1982 – Abhinav Bindra, Indian target shooter
  • 1982 – Ray Emery, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2018)
  • 1982 – Ranbir Kapoor, Indian actor and director
  • 1982 – Nolwenn Leroy, French singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1982 – Emeka Okafor, American basketball player
  • 1982 – Dustin Penner, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1982 – Aivar Rehemaa, Estonian skier
  • 1982 – Anderson Varejão, Brazilian basketball player
  • 1982 – St. Vincent, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1983 – Stefan Moore, English footballer
  • 1983 – John Schwalger, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1984 – Jenny Omnichord, Canadian singer-songwriter
  • 1984 – Luke Pomersbach, Australian cricketer
  • 1984 – Naim Terbunja, Kosovan-Swedish boxer
  • 1984 – Melody Thornton, American singer-songwriter and dancer
  • 1984 – Mathieu Valbuena, French footballer
  • 1984 – Ryan Zimmerman, American baseball player
  • 1985 – Shindong, South Korean singer-songwriter and dancer
  • 1985 – Alina Ibragimova, Russian-English violinist
  • 1986 – Andrés Guardado, Mexican footballer
  • 1986 – Meskerem Legesse, Ethiopian runner (d. 2013)
  • 1986 – Dominic Waters, American basketball player
  • 1987 – Pierre Becken, German footballer
  • 1987 – Gary Deegan, Irish footballer
  • 1987 – Hilary Duff, American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1987 – Chloë Hanslip, English violinist
  • 1987 – Viktoria Leks, Estonian high jumper
  • 1988 – Marin Čilić, Croatian tennis player
  • 1988 – Esmée Denters, Dutch singer-songwriter
  • 1988 – Aleks Vrteski, Australian footballer
  • 1988 – Worakls, French DJ and electronic musician
  • 1989 – Çağla Büyükakçay, Turkish tennis player
  • 1989 – Darius Johnson-Odom, American basketball player
  • 1989 – Mark Randall, English footballer
  • 1990 – Phoenix Battye, Australian rugby player
  • 1992 – Khem Birch, Canadian professional basketball player
  • 1992 – Adam Thompson, English-Northern Irish footballer
  • 1992 – Kōko Tsurumi, Japanese gymnast
  • 1993 – Jodie Williams, English sprinter
  • 1995 – Jason Williams, English footballer

Deaths on September 28

  • 48 BC – Pompey, Roman general and politician (b. 106 BC)
  • 782 – Leoba, Anglo-Saxon nun
  • 935 – Wenceslaus I, duke of Bohemia
  • 980 – Minamoto no Hiromasa, Japanese nobleman (b. 918)
  • 1197 – Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1165)
  • 1213 – Gertrude of Merania, queen consort of Hungaria (b. 1185)
  • 1330 – Elizabeth of Bohemia, queen consort of Bohemia (b. 1292)
  • 1429 – Cymburgis of Masovia, duchess consort of Austria (b. 1394)
  • 1582 – George Buchanan, Scottish historian and scholar (b. 1506)
  • 1596 – Margaret Clifford, countess of Derby (b. 1540)
  • 1618 – Josuah Sylvester, English poet and translator (b. 1563)
  • 1687 – Francis Turretin, Swiss-Italian theologian and academic (b. 1623)
  • 1694 – Gabriel Mouton, French mathematician and theologian (b. 1618)
  • 1702 – Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland, French-English lawyer and politician, Lord President of the Council (b. 1640)
  • 1742 – Jean Baptiste Massillon, French bishop (b. 1663)
  • 1829 – Nikolay Raevsky, Russian general and politician (b. 1771)
  • 1844 – Pyotr Aleksandrovich Tolstoy, Russian general and politician (b. 1769)
  • 1859 – Carl Ritter, German geographer and academic (b. 1779)
  • 1873 – Émile Gaboriau, French journalist and author (b. 1832)
  • 1891 – Herman Melville, American author and poet (b. 1819)
  • 1895 – Louis Pasteur, French chemist and microbiologist (b. 1822)
  • 1899 – Giovanni Segantini, Austrian painter (b. 1858)
  • 1914 – Richard Warren Sears, American businessman, co-founded Sears (b. 1863)
  • 1915 – Saitō Hajime, Japanese samurai (b. 1844)
  • 1918 – Georg Simmel, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1858)
  • 1918 – Freddie Stowers, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1896)
  • 1925 – Paul Vermoyal, French actor (b. 1888)
  • 1935 – William Kennedy Dickson, French-Scottish actor, director, and producer, invented the Kinetoscope (b. 1860)
  • 1938 – Charles Duryea, American engineer and businessman, founded the Duryea Motor Wagon Company (b. 1861)
  • 1943 – Sam Ruben, American chemist and academic (b. 1913)
  • 1943 – Filippo Illuminato, Italian partisan, Gold Medal of Military Valour (b. 1930)
  • 1949 – Archbishop Chrysanthus of Athens (b. 1881)
  • 1953 – Edwin Hubble, American astronomer and scholar (b. 1889)
  • 1956 – William Boeing, American businessman, founded the Boeing Company (b. 1881)
  • 1957 – Luis Cluzeau Mortet, Uruguayan violinist and composer (b. 1888)
  • 1959 – Rudolf Caracciola, German race car driver (b. 1901)
  • 1962 – Roger Nimier, French soldier and author (b. 1925)
  • 1964 – Harpo Marx, American comedian, actor, and singer (b. 1888)
  • 1966 – André Breton, French author and poet (b. 1896)
  • 1970 – John Dos Passos, American novelist, poet, essayist, and playwright (b. 1896)
  • 1970 – Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egyptian colonel and politician, 2nd President of Egypt (b. 1918)
  • 1978 – Pope John Paul I (b. 1912)
  • 1979 – John Herbert Chapman, Canadian physicist and engineer (b. 1921)
  • 1981 – Rómulo Betancourt, Venezuelan journalist and politician, President of Venezuela (b. 1908)
  • 1982 – Mabel Albertson, American actress (b. 1901)
  • 1984 – Cihad Baban, Turkish journalist, author, and politician (b. 1911)
  • 1989 – Ferdinand Marcos, Filipino lawyer and politician, 10th President of the Philippines (b. 1917)
  • 1990 – Larry O’Brien, American businessman and politician, 57th United States Postmaster General (b. 1917)
  • 1991 – Miles Davis, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (b. 1926)
  • 1993 – Peter De Vries, American editor and novelist (b. 1910)
  • 1993 – Alexander A. Drabik, American sergeant (b. 1910)
  • 1994 – Urmas Alender, Estonian singer (b. 1953)
  • 1994 – José Francisco Ruiz Massieu, Mexican lawyer and politician, 6th Governor of Guerrero (b. 1946)
  • 1994 – Harry Saltzman, Canadian production manager and producer (b. 1915)
  • 1994 – K. A. Thangavelu, Indian film actor and comedian (b. 1917)
  • 1999 – Escott Reid, Canadian academic and diplomat (b. 1905)
  • 2000 – Pierre Trudeau, Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1919)
  • 2002 – Patsy Mink, American lawyer and politician (b. 1927)
  • 2002 – Hartland Molson, Canadian captain and politician (b. 1907)
  • 2003 – Althea Gibson, American tennis player and golfer (b. 1927)
  • 2003 – Elia Kazan, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1909)
  • 2003 – George Odlum, Saint Lucian politician and diplomat (b. 1934)
  • 2004 – Geoffrey Beene, American fashion designer (b. 1924)
  • 2005 – Constance Baker Motley, American lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1921)
  • 2007 – René Desmaison, French mountaineer (b. 1930)
  • 2007 – Wally Parks, American businessman, founded the National Hot Rod Association (b. 1913)
  • 2009 – Guillermo Endara, Panamanian lawyer and politician, 32nd President of Panama (b. 1936)
  • 2009 – Ulf Larsson, Swedish actor and director (b. 1956)
  • 2010 – Kurt Albert, German mountaineer and photographer (b. 1954)
  • 2010 – Arthur Penn, American director and producer (b. 1922)
  • 2010 – Dolores Wilson, American soprano and actress (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Avraham Adan, Israeli general (b. 1926)
  • 2012 – Chris Economaki, American journalist and sportscaster (b. 1920)
  • 2012 – Brajesh Mishra, Indian politician and diplomat, 1st Indian National Security Advisor (b. 1928)
  • 2013 – James Emanuel, American-French poet and scholar (b. 1921)
  • 2013 – Jonathan Fellows-Smith, South African cricketer and rugby player (b. 1932)
  • 2013 – George Amon Webster, American singer and pianist (b. 1945)
  • 2014 – Dannie Abse, Welsh physician, poet, and author (b. 1923)
  • 2014 – Joseph H. Alexander, American colonel and historian (b. 1938)
  • 2014 – Sheila Faith, English dentist and politician (b. 1928)
  • 2014 – Tim Rawlings, English footballer and manager (b. 1932)
  • 2014 – Petr Skoumal, Czech pianist and composer (b. 1938)
  • 2015 – Alexander Faris, Irish composer and conductor (b. 1921)
  • 2015 – Walter Dale Miller, American rancher and politician, 29th Governor of South Dakota (b. 1925)
  • 2015 – Ignacio Zoco, Spanish footballer (b. 1939)
  • 2016 – Agnes Nixon, American television writer and director (b. 1922)
  • 2016 – Gary Glasberg, American television writer and producer (b. 1966)
  • 2016 – Shimon Peres, Polish-Israeli statesman and politician, 9th President of Israel (b. 1923)
  • 2016 – Gloria Naylor, American novelist (b. 1950)
  • 2017 – Daniel Pe’er, Israeli television host and newsreader (b. 1943)
  • 2018 – Predrag Ejdus, Serbian actor (b. 1947)
  • 2019 – José José, 71, Mexican singer (El Principe de la Canción or The Prince of Song), pancreas cancer (b. 1948)

Holidays and observances on September 28

  • Christian feast day:
    • Aaron of Auxerre
    • Annemund
    • Conval
    • Eustochium
    • Exuperius
    • Faustus of Riez
    • John of Dukla
    • Leoba
    • Lorenzo Ruiz
    • Paternus of Auch
    • Richard Rolle, Walter Hilton and Margery Kempe (Episcopal Church (USA))
    • Simón de Rojas
    • Wenceslas
    • September 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics).
  • Czech Statehood Day (Czech Republic)
  • Freedom from Hunger Day
  • International Day for Universal Access to Information
  • National Day of Awareness and Unity against Child Pornography (Philippines)
  • Teachers’ Day (Taiwan and Chinese-Filipino schools in the Philippines), ceremonies dedicated to Confucius are also observed.
  • World Rabies Day (International)

September 28 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day, Uncategorized

July 31 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

  • 30 BC – Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian’s forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.
  • 781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: 6th day of the 7th month of the 1st year of the Ten’o (天応) era).
  • 1009 – Pope Sergius IV becomes the 142nd pope, succeeding Pope John XVIII.
  • 1201 – Attempted usurpation by John Komnenos the Fat for the throne of Alexios III Angelos.
  • 1423 – Hundred Years’ War: Battle of Cravant: The French army is defeated by the English at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne.
  • 1451 – Jacques Cœur is arrested by order of Charles VII of France.
  • 1492 – The Jews are expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree takes effect.
  • 1498 – On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad.
  • 1588 – The Spanish Armada is spotted off the coast of England.
  • 1618 – Maurice, Prince of Orange disbands the waardgelders militia in Utrecht, a pivotal event in the Remonstrant/Counter-Remonstrant tensions.
  • 1655 – Russo-Polish War (1654–67): The Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for six years.
  • 1658 – Aurangzeb is proclaimed Mughal emperor of India.
  • 1703 – Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers.
  • 1712 – Action of 31 July 1712 (Great Northern War): Danish and Swedish ships clash in the Baltic Sea; the result is inconclusive.
  • 1715 – Seven days after a Spanish treasure fleet of 12 ships left Havana, Cuba for Spain, 11 of them sink in a storm off the coast of Florida. A few centuries later, treasure is salvaged from these wrecks.
  • 1741 – Charles Albert of Bavaria invades Upper Austria and Bohemia.
  • 1763 – Odawa Chief Pontiac’s forces defeat British troops at the Battle of Bloody Run during Pontiac’s War.
  • 1777 – The U.S. Second Continental Congress passes a resolution that the services of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette “be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States.”
  • 1790 – The first U.S. patent is issued, to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.
  • 1856 – Christchurch, New Zealand is chartered as a city.
  • 1865 – The first narrow-gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Queensland, Australia.
  • 1874 – Dr. Patrick Francis Healy became the first African-American inaugurated as president of a predominantly white university, Georgetown University.
  • 1904 – Russo-Japanese War: Battle of Hsimucheng: Units of the Imperial Japanese Army defeat units of the Imperial Russian Army in a strategic confrontation.
  • 1913 – The Balkan States sign an armistice in Bucharest.
  • 1917 – World War I: The Battle of Passchendaele begins near Ypres in West Flanders, Belgium.
  • 1919 – German national assembly adopts the Weimar Constitution, which comes into force on August 14.
  • 1932 – The NSDAP (Nazi Party) wins more than 38% of the vote in German elections.
  • 1938 – Bulgaria signs a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanti (Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia).
  • 1938 – Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis.
  • 1941 – The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring, orders SS General Reinhard Heydrich to “submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired Final Solution of the Jewish question.”
  • 1941 – World War II: The Battle of Smolensk concludes with Germany capturing about 300,000 Soviet Red Army prisoners.
  • 1945 – Pierre Laval, the fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrenders to Allied soldiers in Austria.
  • 1948 – At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.
  • 1948 – USS Nevada is sunk by an aerial torpedo after surviving hits from two atomic bombs (as part of post-war tests) and being used for target practice by three other ships.
  • 1964 – Ranger program: Ranger 7 sends back the first close-up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes.
  • 1970 – Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy.
  • 1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover.
  • 1972 – The Troubles: In Operation Motorman, the British Army re-takes the urban no-go areas of Northern Ireland. It is the biggest British military operation since the Suez Crisis of 1956, and the biggest in Ireland since the Irish War of Independence. Later that day, nine civilians are killed by car bombs in the village of Claudy.
  • 1973 – A Delta Air Lines jetliner, flight DL 723 crashes while landing in fog at Logan International Airport, Boston, Massachusetts killing 89.
  • 1975 – The Troubles: three members of a popular cabaret band and two gunmen are killed during a botched paramilitary attack in Northern Ireland.
  • 1987 – A tornado occurs in Edmonton, Canada.
  • 1988 – Thirty-two people are killed and 1,674 injured when a bridge at the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal collapses in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia.
  • 1991 – The United States and Soviet Union both sign the START I Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the first to reduce (with verification) both countries’ stockpiles.
  • 1992 – The nation of Georgia joins the United Nations.
  • 1992 – Thai Airways International Flight 311 crashes into a mountain north of Kathmandu, Nepal killing all 113 people on board.
  • 1999 – Discovery Program: Lunar Prospector: NASA intentionally crashes the spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the Moon’s surface.
  • 2006 – Fidel Castro hands over power to his brother, Raúl.
  • 2007 – Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end.
  • 2012 – Michael Phelps breaks the record set in 1964 by Larisa Latynina for the most medals won at the Olympics.
  • 2014 – Gas explosions in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung kill at least 20 people and injure more than 270.

Births on July 31

  • 1143 – Emperor Nijō of Japan (d. 1165)
  • 1396 – Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1467)
  • 1526 – Augustus, Elector of Saxony (d. 1586)
  • 1527 – Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1576)
  • 1595 – Philipp Wolfgang, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (d. 1641)
  • 1598 – Alessandro Algardi, Italian sculptor (d. 1654)
  • 1686 – Charles of France, Duke of Berry (d. 1714)
  • 1702 – Jean Denis Attiret, French missionary and painter (d. 1768)
  • 1704 – Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1752)
  • 1718 – John Canton, English physicist and academic (d. 1772)
  • 1724 – Noël François de Wailly, French lexicographer and author (d. 1801)
  • 1759 – Ignaz Anton von Indermauer, Austrian nobleman and government official (d. 1796)
  • 1777 – Pedro Ignacio de Castro Barros, Argentinian priest and politician (d. 1849)
  • 1796 – Jean-Gaspard Deburau, Czech-French actor and mime (d. 1846)
  • 1800 – Friedrich Wöhler, German chemist and academic (d. 1882)
  • 1803 – John Ericsson, Swedish-American engineer, co-designed the USS Princeton and the Novelty Locomotive (d. 1889)
  • 1816 – George Henry Thomas, American general (d. 1870)
  • 1826 – William S. Clark, American colonel and politician (d. 1886)
  • 1835 – Henri Brisson, French lawyer and politician, 50th Prime Minister of France (d. 1912)
  • 1835 – Paul Du Chaillu, French-American anthropologist and explorer (d. 1903)
  • 1836 – Vasily Sleptsov, Russian author and activist (d. 1878)
  • 1837 – William Quantrill, American captain (d. 1865)
  • 1839 – Ignacio Andrade, Venezuelan general and politician, 25th President of Venezuela (d. 1925)
  • 1843 – Peter Rosegger, Austrian poet and author (d. 1918)
  • 1847 – Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban pianist and composer (d. 1905)
  • 1854 – José Canalejas, Spanish academic and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1912)
  • 1858 – Richard Dixon Oldham, English seismologist and geologist (d. 1936)
  • 1858 – Marion Talbot, influential American educator (d. 1948)
  • 1860 – Mary Vaux Walcott, American painter and illustrator (d. 1940)
  • 1867 – S. S. Kresge, American businessman, founded Kmart (d. 1966)
  • 1875 – Jacques Villon, French painter (d. 1963)
  • 1877 – Louisa Bolus, South African botanist and taxonomist (d. 1970)
  • 1880 – Premchand, Indian author and playwright (d. 1936)
  • 1883 – Ramón Fonst, Cuban fencer (d. 1959)
  • 1884 – Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, Polish-German economist and politician (d. 1945)
  • 1886 – Salvatore Maranzano, Italian-American mob boss (d. 1931)
  • 1886 – Fred Quimby, American animation producer (d. 1965)
  • 1887 – Hans Freyer, German sociologist and philosopher (d. 1969)
  • 1892 – Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist and publisher, founded Worldwide Church of God (d. 1986)
  • 1892 – Joseph Charbonneau, Canadian archbishop (d. 1959)
  • 1894 – Fred Keenor, Welsh footballer (d. 1972)
  • 1901 – Jean Dubuffet, French painter and sculptor (d. 1985)
  • 1902 – Gubby Allen, Australian-English cricketer and soldier (d. 1989)
  • 1904 – Brett Halliday, American engineer, surveyor, and author (d. 1977)
  • 1909 – Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, Austrian theorist and author (d. 1999)
  • 1911 – George Liberace, American violinist (d. 1983)
  • 1912 – Bill Brown, Australian cricketer (d. 2008)
  • 1912 – Milton Friedman, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006)
  • 1912 – Irv Kupcinet, American football player and journalist (d. 2003)
  • 1913 – Bryan Hextall, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1984)
  • 1914 – Paul J. Christiansen, American conductor and composer (d. 1997)
  • 1914 – Louis de Funès, French actor and screenwriter (d. 1983)
  • 1916 – Sibte Hassan, Pakistani journalist, scholar, and activist (d. 1986)
  • 1916 – Billy Hitchcock, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2006)
  • 1916 – Bill Todman, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1979)
  • 1918 – Paul D. Boyer, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018)
  • 1918 – Hank Jones, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2010)
  • 1918 – Frank Renouf, New Zealand businessman and financier (d. 1998)
  • 1919 – Hemu Adhikari, Indian cricketer (d. 2003)
  • 1919 – Curt Gowdy, American sportscaster and actor (d. 2006)
  • 1919 – Primo Levi, Italian chemist and author (d. 1987)
  • 1920 – James E. Faust, American religious leader, lawyer, and politician (d. 2007)
  • 1921 – Peter Benenson, English lawyer and activist, founded Amnesty International (d. 2005)
  • 1921 – Donald Malarkey, American sergeant and author (d. 2017)
  • 1921 – Whitney Young, American activist (d. 1971)
  • 1922 – Hank Bauer, American baseball player and manager (d. 2007)
  • 1923 – Ahmet Ertegun, Turkish-American songwriter and producer, founded Atlantic Records (d. 2006)
  • 1923 – Stephanie Kwolek, American chemist and engineer, invented Kevlar (d. 2014)
  • 1924 – Jimmy Evert, American tennis player and coach (d. 2015)
  • 1925 – Carmel Quinn, Irish singer, actress and writer
  • 1925 – John Swainson, Canadian-American jurist and politician, 42nd Governor of Michigan (d. 1994)
  • 1926 – Bernard Nathanson, American physician and activist (d. 2011)
  • 1926 – Hilary Putnam, American mathematician, computer scientist, and philosopher (d. 2016)
  • 1927 – Peter Nichols, English author and playwright (d. 2019)
  • 1928 – Bill Frenzel, American lieutenant and politician (d. 2014)
  • 1929 – Lynne Reid Banks, English author
  • 1929 – Gilles Carle, Canadian director and screenwriter (d. 2009)
  • 1929 – Don Murray, American actor
  • 1929 – José Santamaría, Uruguayan footballer and manager
  • 1931 – Nick Bollettieri, American tennis player and coach
  • 1931 – Kenny Burrell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1932 – Ted Cassidy, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1979)
  • 1932 – John Searle, American philosopher and academic
  • 1933 – Cees Nooteboom, Dutch journalist, author, and poet
  • 1935 – Yvon Deschamps, Canadian comedian, actor, and producer
  • 1935 – Geoffrey Lewis, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2015)
  • 1939 – Steuart Bedford, English pianist and conductor
  • 1939 – Susan Flannery, American actress
  • 1939 – France Nuyen, Vietnamese-French actress
  • 1941 – Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician, 8th Chief Minister of Gujarat (d. 2004)
  • 1943 – William Bennett, American journalist and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Education
  • 1943 – Lobo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1944 – Geraldine Chaplin, American actress and screenwriter
  • 1944 – Jonathan Dimbleby, English journalist and author
  • 1944 – Sherry Lansing, American film producer
  • 1944 – Robert C. Merton, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1944 – David Norris, Irish scholar and politician
  • 1945 – William Weld, American lawyer and politician, 68th Governor of Massachusetts
  • 1946 – Gary Lewis, American pop-rock musician
  • 1947 – Karl Green, English bass player and songwriter (Herman’s Hermits)
  • 1947 – Richard Griffiths, English actor (d. 2013)
  • 1947 – Mumtaz, Indian actress
  • 1947 – Hubert Védrine, French politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1947 – Ian Beck, English children’s illustrator and author
  • 1948 – Russell Morris, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1949 – Mike Jackson, American basketball player
  • 1949 – Alan Meale, English journalist and politician
  • 1950 – Richard Berry, French actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1951 – Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Australian tennis player
  • 1952 – Chris Ahrens, American ice hockey player
  • 1952 – Alan Autry, American football player, actor, and politician, 23rd Mayor of Fresno, California
  • 1952 – Helmuts Balderis, Latvian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1952 – João Barreiros, Portuguese author and critic
  • 1952 – Faye Kellerman, American author
  • 1953 – Ted Baillieu, Australian architect and politician, 46th Premier of Victoria
  • 1953 – Jimmy Cook, South African cricketer and coach
  • 1953 – Hugh McDowell, English cellist
  • 1954 – Derek Smith, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1956 – Michael Biehn, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1956 – Bill Callahan, American football player and coach
  • 1956 – Ron Kuby, American lawyer and radio host
  • 1956 – Deval Patrick, American lawyer and politician, 71st Governor of Massachusetts
  • 1956 – Lynne Rae Perkins, American author and illustrator
  • 1957 – Daniel Ash, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1957 – Mark Thompson, English business executive
  • 1958 – Bill Berry, American drummer and songwriter
  • 1958 – Mark Cuban, American businessman and television personality
  • 1958 – Suzanne Giraud, French music editor and composer
  • 1959 – Stanley Jordan, American guitarist, pianist, and songwriter
  • 1959 – Andrew Marr, Scottish journalist and author
  • 1959 – Kim Newman, English journalist and author
  • 1960 – Dale Hunter, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1960 – Malcolm Ross, Scottish guitarist and songwriter
  • 1961 – Frank Gardner, English captain and journalist
  • 1961 – Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Nigerian banker, royal
  • 1962 – John Chiang, American lawyer and politician, 31st California State Controller
  • 1962 – Kevin Greene, American football player and coach
  • 1962 – Wesley Snipes, American actor and producer
  • 1963 – Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim), English DJ and musician
  • 1963 – Fergus Henderson, English chef and author
  • 1963 – Brian Skrudland, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1964 – Jim Corr, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1964 – Urmas Hepner, Estonian footballer and coach
  • 1965 – Scott Brooks, American basketball player and coach
  • 1965 – John Laurinaitis, American wrestler and producer
  • 1965 – Ian Roberts, English-Australian rugby league player and actor
  • 1965 – J. K. Rowling, English author and film producer
  • 1966 – Dean Cain, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1967 – Tony Massenburg, American basketball player
  • 1967 – Tim Wright, Welsh composer
  • 1968 – Saeed-Al-Saffar, Emirati cricketer
  • 1968 – Julian Richards, Welsh director and producer
  • 1969 – Antonio Conte, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1969 – Loren Dean, American actor
  • 1969 – Kenneth D. Schisler, American lawyer and politician
  • 1970 – Ahmad Akbarpour, Iranian author and poet
  • 1970 – Ben Chaplin, English actor
  • 1970 – Andrzej Kobylański, Polish footballer and manager
  • 1970 – Giorgos Sigalas, Greek basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
  • 1971 – Gus Frerotte, American football player and coach
  • 1973 – Nathan Brown, Australian rugby league player and coach
  • 1974 – Emilia Fox, English actress
  • 1974 – Leona Naess, American-English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1974 – Jonathan Ogden, American football player
  • 1975 – Randy Flores, American baseball player and coach
  • 1975 – Andrew Hall, South African cricketer
  • 1975 – Gabe Kapler, American baseball player and manager
  • 1976 – Joshua Cain, American guitarist and producer
  • 1976 – Paulo Wanchope, Costa Rican footballer and manager
  • 1978 – Zac Brown, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1978 – Nick Sorensen, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1978 – Justin Wilson, English race car driver (d. 2015)
  • 1979 – Jaco Erasmus, South African-Italian rugby player
  • 1979 – J.J. Furmaniak, American baseball player
  • 1979 – Per Krøldrup, Danish footballer
  • 1979 – Carlos Marchena, Spanish footballer
  • 1979 – B.J. Novak, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1980 – Mikko Hirvonen, Finnish race car driver
  • 1980 – Mils Muliaina, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1981 – Titus Bramble, English footballer
  • 1981 – Vernon Carey, American football player
  • 1981 – Paul Whatuira, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1981 – M. Shadows, American musician, lead singer of Avenged Sevenfold
  • 1982 – Anabel Medina Garrigues, Spanish tennis player
  • 1982 – DeMarcus Ware, American football player
  • 1985 – Daniel Ciofani, Italian footballer
  • 1985 – Rémy Di Gregorio, French cyclist
  • 1986 – Evgeni Malkin, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1986 – Brian Orakpo, American football player
  • 1987 – Michael Bradley, American soccer player
  • 1988 – Alex Glenn, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1989 – Victoria Azarenka, Belorussian tennis player
  • 1991 – Réka Luca Jani, Hungarian tennis player
  • 1992 – José Fernández, Cuban baseball player (d. 2016)
  • 1992 – Ryan Johansen, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1992 – Kyle Larson, American race car driver
  • 1994 – Lil Uzi Vert, American hip hop artist

Deaths on July 31

  • 54 BC – Aurelia Cotta, Roman mother of Gaius Julius Caesar (b. 120 BC)
  • 450 – Peter Chrysologus, Italian bishop and saint (b. 380)
  • 910 – Feng Xingxi, Chinese warlord
  • 975 – Fu Yanqing, Chinese general (b. 898)
  • 1098 – Hugh of Montgomery, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury
  • 1358 – Étienne Marcel, French rebel leader (b. 1302)
  • 1396 – William Courtenay, English archbishop and politician, Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom (b. 1342)
  • 1508 – Na’od, Ethiopian emperor
  • 1556 – Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish priest and theologian, founded the Society of Jesus (b. 1491)
  • 1616 – Roger Wilbraham, Solicitor-General for Ireland (b. 1553)
  • 1638 – Sibylla Schwarz, German poet (b. 1621)
  • 1653 – Thomas Dudley, English soldier and politician, 3rd Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony (b. 1576)
  • 1693 – Willem Kalf, Dutch still life painter (b. 1619)
  • 1726 – Nicolaus II Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician and theorist (b. 1695)
  • 1750 – John V, king of Portugal (b. 1689)
  • 1762 – Luis Vicente de Velasco e Isla, Spanish sailor and commander (b. 1711)
  • 1781 – John Bligh, 3rd Earl of Darnley, British parliamentarian (b. 1719)
  • 1784 – Denis Diderot, French philosopher and critic (b. 1713)
  • 1805 – Dheeran Chinnamalai, Indian soldier (b. 1756)
  • 1864 – Louis Christophe François Hachette, French publisher (b. 1800)
  • 1875 – Andrew Johnson, American general and politician, 17th President of the United States (b. 1808)
  • 1884 – Kiến Phúc, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1869)
  • 1886 – Franz Liszt, Hungarian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1811)
  • 1891 – Jean-Baptiste Capronnier, Belgian stained glass painter (b. 1814)
  • 1913 – John Milne, British geologist and mining engineer. (b. 1850)
  • 1914 – Jean Jaurès, French journalist and politician (b. 1859)
  • 1917 – Hedd Wyn, Welsh language poet (b. 1887)
  • 1917 – Francis Ledwidge, Irish soldier and poet (b. 1881)
  • 1920 – Ion Dragoumis, Greek philosopher and diplomat (b. 1878)
  • 1940 – Udham Singh, Indian activist (b. 1899)
  • 1943 – Hedley Verity, English cricketer and soldier (b. 1905)
  • 1942 – Francis Younghusband, British Army Officer, explorer and spiritual writer (b.1863)
  • 1944 – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French pilot and poet (b. 1900)
  • 1953 – Robert A. Taft, American soldier and politician (b. 1889)
  • 1954 – Onofre Marimón, Argentinian race car driver (b. 1923)
  • 1958 – Eino Kaila, Finnish philosopher and psychologist, attendant of the Vienna circle (b. 1890)
  • 1964 – Jim Reeves, American singer-songwriter (b. 1923)
  • 1966 – Bud Powell, American pianist (b. 1924)
  • 1968 – Jack Pizzey, Australian politician, 29th Premier of Queensland (b. 1911)
  • 1971 – Walter P. Carter, American soldier and activist (b. 1923)
  • 1972 – Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian lawyer and politician, 40th Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1899)
  • 1973 – Azumafuji Kin’ichi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 40th Yokozuna (b. 1921)
  • 1979 – Beatrix Lehmann, English actress and director (b. 1903)
  • 1980 – Pascual Jordan, German physicist, author, and academic (b. 1902)
  • 1980 – Mohammed Rafi, Indian playback singer (b. 1924)
  • 1981 – Omar Torrijos, Panamanian general and politician, Military Leader of Panama (b. 1929)
  • 1985 – Eugene Carson Blake, American religious leader (b. 1906)
  • 1986 – Chiune Sugihara, Japanese diplomat (b. 1900)
  • 1987 – Joseph E. Levine, American film producer (b, 1905)
  • 1990 – Albert Leduc, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902)
  • 1992 – Leonard Cheshire, English captain and pilot (b. 1917)
  • 1992 – Md. Abdul Wajed Chowdhury, Bangladeshi politician.
  • 1993 – Baudouin, King of Belgium (b. 1930)
  • 2000 – William Keepers Maxwell Jr., American editor, novelist, short story writer, and essayist (b. 1908)
  • 2001 – Francisco da Costa Gomes, Portuguese general and politician, 15th President of Portugal (b. 1914)
  • 2001 – Friedrich Franz, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (b. 1910)
  • 2003 – Guido Crepax, Italian author and illustrator (b. 1933)
  • 2004 – Virginia Grey, American actress (b. 1917)
  • 2005 – Wim Duisenberg, Dutch economist and politician, 1st President of the European Central Bank (b. 1935)
  • 2009 – Bobby Robson, English footballer and manager (b. 1933)
  • 2009 – Harry Alan Towers, English-Canadian screenwriter and producer (b. 1920)
  • 2012 – Mollie Hunter, Scottish author and playwright (b. 1922)
  • 2012 – Alfredo Ramos, Brazilian footballer and coach (b. 1924)
  • 2012 – Gore Vidal, American novelist, screenwriter, and critic (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Tony Sly, American musician, singer-songwriter (b. 1970)
  • 2013 – Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor (b. 1922)
  • 2013 – Michel Donnet, English-Belgian general and pilot (b. 1917)
  • 2013 – John Graves, American captain and author (b. 1920)
  • 2013 – Trevor Storer, English businessman, founded Pukka Pies (b. 1930)
  • 2014 – Warren Bennis, American scholar, author, and academic (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Nabarun Bhattacharya, Indian journalist and author (b. 1948)
  • 2014 – Jeff Bourne, English footballer (b. 1948)
  • 2014 – Wilfred Feinberg, American lawyer and judge (b. 1920)
  • 2015 – Alan Cheuse, American writer and critic (b. 1940)
  • 2015 – Howard W. Jones, American surgeon and academic (b. 1910)
  • 2015 – Billy Pierce, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1927)
  • 2015 – Roddy Piper, Canadian wrestler and actor (b. 1954)
  • 2015 – Richard Schweiker, American soldier and politician, 14th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (b. 1926)
  • 2016 – Chiyonofuji Mitsugu, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 58th Yokozuna (b. 1955)
  • 2016 – Seymour Papert, South African mathematician (b. 1928)
  • 2017 – Jeanne Moreau, French actress (b. 1928)
  • 2018 – Tony Bullimore, British sailor & businessman (b. 1939)
  • 2019 – Harold Prince, noted Broadway producer and director, who received more Tony awards than anyone else in history (b. 1928)

Holidays and observances on July 31

  • Christian feast day:
    • Abanoub
    • Germanus of Auxerre
    • Ignatius of Loyola
    • Neot
    • July 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which the Feast of Kamál (Perfection) can fall, while August 1 is the latest; observed on the first day of the eighth month of the Bahá’í calendar. (Bahá’í Faith)
  • End of the Trinity term (sitting of the High Court of Justice of England)
  • Ka Hae Hawaiʻi Day (Hawaii, United States), and its related observance:
    • Sovereignty Restoration Day (Hawaiian sovereignty movement)
  • Martyrdom Day of Shahid Udham Singh (Haryana and Punjab, India)
  • Treasury Day (Poland)
  • Warriors’ Day (Malaysia)

July 31 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

July 29 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

  • 587 BC – The Neo-Babylonian Empire sacks Jerusalem and destroys the First Temple.
  • 238 – The Praetorian Guard storm the palace and capture Pupienus and Balbinus. They are dragged through the streets of Rome and executed. On the same day, Gordian III, age 13, is proclaimed emperor.
  • 615 – Pakal ascends the throne of Palenque at the age of 12.
  • 904 – Sack of Thessalonica: Saracen raiders under Leo of Tripoli sack Thessaloniki, the Byzantine Empire’s second-largest city, after a short siege, and plunder it for a week.
  • 923 – Battle of Firenzuola: Lombard forces under King Rudolph II and Adalbert I, margrave of Ivrea, defeat the dethroned Emperor Berengar I of Italy at Firenzuola (Tuscany).
  • 1014 – Byzantine–Bulgarian wars: Battle of Kleidion: Byzantine emperor Basil II inflicts a decisive defeat on the Bulgarian army, and his subsequent treatment of 15,000 prisoners reportedly causes Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria to die of a heart attack less than three months later, on October 6.
  • 1018 – Count Dirk III defeats an army sent by Emperor Henry II in the Battle of Vlaardingen.
  • 1030 – Ladejarl-Fairhair succession wars: Battle of Stiklestad: King Olaf II fights and dies trying to regain his Norwegian throne from the Danes.
  • 1148 – The Siege of Damascus ends in a decisive crusader defeat and leads to the disintegration of the Second Crusade.
  • 1565 – The widowed Mary, Queen of Scots marries Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, Duke of Albany, at Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh, Scotland.
  • 1567 – James VI is crowned King of Scotland at Stirling.
  • 1588 – Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines: English naval forces under the command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake defeat the Spanish Armada off the coast of Gravelines, France.
  • 1693 – War of the Grand Alliance: Battle of Landen: France wins a Pyrrhic victory over Allied forces in the Netherlands.
  • 1775 – Founding of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps: General George Washington appoints William Tudor as Judge Advocate of the Continental Army.
  • 1818 – French physicist Augustin Fresnel submits his prizewinning “Memoir on the Diffraction of Light”, precisely accounting for the limited extent to which light spreads into shadows, and thereby demolishing the oldest objection to the wave theory of light.
  • 1836 – Inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France.
  • 1848 – Irish Potato Famine: Tipperary Revolt: In County Tipperary, Ireland, then in the United Kingdom, an unsuccessful nationalist revolt against British rule is put down by police.
  • 1851 – Annibale de Gasparis discovers asteroid 15 Eunomia.
  • 1858 – United States and Japan sign the Harris Treaty.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: Confederate spy Belle Boyd is arrested by Union troops and detained at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C.
  • 1871 – The Connecticut Valley Railroad opens between Old Saybrook, Connecticut and Hartford, Connecticut in the United States.
  • 1899 – The First Hague Convention is signed.
  • 1900 – In Italy, King Umberto I of Italy is assassinated by the anarchist Gaetano Bresci.
  • 1907 – Sir Robert Baden-Powell sets up the Brownsea Island Scout camp in Poole Harbour on the south coast of England. The camp runs from August 1 to August 9, 1907, and is regarded as the foundation of the Scouting movement.
  • 1914 – The Cape Cod Canal opened.
  • 1920 – Construction of the Link River Dam begins as part of the Klamath Reclamation Project.
  • 1921 – Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party.
  • 1932 – Great Depression: In Washington, D.C., troops disperse the last of the “Bonus Army” of World War I veterans.
  • 1937 – Tōngzhōu Incident: In Tōngzhōu, China, the East Hopei Army attacks Japanese troops and civilians.
  • 1945 – The BBC Light Programme radio station is launched for mainstream light entertainment and music.
  • 1948 – Olympic Games: The Games of the XIV Olympiad: After a hiatus of 12 years caused by World War II, the first Summer Olympics to be held since the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, open in London.
  • 1950 – Korean War: After four days, the No Gun Ri Massacre ends when the US Army 7th Cavalry Regiment is withdrawn.
  • 1957 – The International Atomic Energy Agency is established.
  • 1958 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
  • 1959 – First United States Congress elections in Hawaii as a state of the Union.
  • 1965 – Vietnam War: The first 4,000 101st Airborne Division paratroopers arrive in Vietnam, landing at Cam Ranh Bay.
  • 1967 – Vietnam War: Off the coast of North Vietnam the USS Forrestal catches on fire in the worst U.S. naval disaster since World War II, killing 134.
  • 1967 – During the fourth day of celebrating its 400th anniversary, the city of Caracas, Venezuela is shaken by an earthquake, leaving approximately 500 dead.
  • 1973 – Greeks vote to abolish the monarchy, beginning the first period of the Metapolitefsi.
  • 1973 – During the Dutch Grand Prix driver Roger Williamson was killed in the race, after a suspected tire failure caused the car to pitch into the barriers at high speed.
  • 1976 – In New York City, David Berkowitz (a.k.a. the “Son of Sam”) kills one person and seriously wounds another in the first of a series of attacks.
  • 1980 – Iran adopts a new “holy” flag after the Islamic Revolution.
  • 1981 – A worldwide television audience of over 700 million people watch the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
  • 1981 – After impeachment on June 21, Abolhassan Banisadr flees with Massoud Rajavi to Paris, in an Iranian Air Force Boeing 707, piloted by Colonel Behzad Moezzi, to form the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
  • 1987 – British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President of France François Mitterrand sign the agreement to build a tunnel under the English Channel (Eurotunnel).
  • 1987 – Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi and President of Sri Lanka J. R. Jayewardene sign the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord on ethnic issues.
  • 1993 – The Supreme Court of Israel acquits alleged Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk of all charges and he is set free.
  • 1996 – The child protection portion of the Communications Decency Act is struck down by a U.S. federal court as too broad.
  • 2005 – Astronomers announce their discovery of the dwarf planet Eris.
  • 2010 – An overloaded passenger ferry capsizes on the Kasai River in Bandundu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, resulting in at least 80 deaths.
  • 2013 – Two passenger trains collide in the Swiss municipality of Granges-près-Marnand near Lausanne injuring 25 people.
  • 2019 – Prison riot between rival gangs broke out in Brazil, at least 57 people have been killed.

Births on July 29 

  • 869 – Muhammad al-Mahdi, Iraqi 12th Imam (d. 941)
  • 996 – Fujiwara no Norimichi, Japanese nobleman (d. 1075)
  • 1166 – Henry II, French nobleman and king of Jerusalem (d. 1197)
  • 1356 – Martin the Elder, king of Aragon, Valencia and Majorca (d. 1410)
  • 1537 – Pedro Téllez-Girón, Spanish nobleman (d. 1590)
  • 1573 – Philip II, duke of Pomerania-Stettin (d. 1618)
  • 1580 – Francesco Mochi, Italian sculptor (d. 1654)
  • 1605 – Simon Dach, German poet and hymn-writer (d. 1659)
  • 1646 – Johann Theile, German organist and composer (d. 1724)
  • 1744 – Giulio Maria della Somaglia, Italian cardinal (d. 1830)
  • 1763 – Philip Charles Durham, Scottish admiral and politician (d. 1845)
  • 1797 – Daniel Drew, American businessman and financier (d. 1879)
  • 1801 – George Bradshaw, English cartographer and publisher (d. 1853)
  • 1805 – Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian and philosopher (d. 1859)
  • 1806 – Horace Abbott, American businessman and banker (d. 1887)
  • 1817 – Ivan Aivazovsky, Armenian-Russian painter and illustrator (d. 1900)
  • 1817 – Martin Körber, Baltic German pastor, composer, and conductor (d. 1893)
  • 1841 – Gerhard Armauer Hansen, Norwegian physician (d. 1912)
  • 1843 – Johannes Schmidt, German linguist and academic (d. 1901)
  • 1846 – Sophie Menter, German pianist and composer (d. 1918)
  • 1846 – Isabel, Brazilian princess (d. 1921)
  • 1849 – Max Nordau, Hungarian physician, author, and critic, co-founded the World Zionist Organization (d. 1923)
  • 1860 – Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington, English politician, 8th Governor of Queensland (d. 1940)
  • 1867 – Berthold Oppenheim, Moravian rabbi (d. 1942)
  • 1869 – Booth Tarkington, American novelist and dramatist (d. 1946)
  • 1871 – Jakob Mändmets, Estonian writer and journalist (d. 1930)
  • 1872 – Eric Alfred Knudsen, American author, lawyer, and politician (d. 1957)
  • 1874 – J. S. Woodsworth, Canadian minister and politician (d. 1942)
  • 1876 – Maria Ouspenskaya, Russian-American actress and acting teacher (d. 1949)
  • 1878 – Don Marquis, American author, poet, and playwright (d. 1937)
  • 1883 – Porfirio Barba-Jacob, Colombian poet and author (d. 1942)
  • 1883 – Benito Mussolini, Italian fascist revolutionary and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1945)
  • 1884 – Ralph Austin Bard, American financier and politician, 2nd Under Secretary of the Navy (d. 1975)
  • 1885 – Theda Bara, American actress (d. 1955)
  • 1887 – Sigmund Romberg, Hungarian-American pianist and composer (d. 1951)
  • 1888 – Vladimir K. Zworykin, Russian-American engineer, invented the Iconoscope (d. 1982)
  • 1891 – Bernhard Zondek, German-Israeli gynecologist and academic (d. 1966)
  • 1892 – William Powell, American actor and singer (d. 1984)
  • 1896 – Maria L. de Hernández, Mexican-American rights activist (d. 1986)
  • 1897 – Neil Ritchie, Guyanese-English general (d. 1983)
  • 1898 – Isidor Isaac Rabi, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1988)
  • 1899 – Walter Beall, American baseball player (d. 1959)
  • 1900 – Mary V. Austin, Australian community worker and political activist (d. 1986)
  • 1900 – Eyvind Johnson, Swedish novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1976)
  • 1900 – Teresa Noce, Italian labor leader, activist, and journalist (d. 1980)
  • 1900 – Don Redman, American composer, and bandleader (d. 1964)
  • 1904 – Mahasi Sayadaw, Burmese monk and philosopher (d. 1982)
  • 1904 – J. R. D. Tata, French-Indian pilot and businessman, founded Tata Motors and Tata Global Beverages (d. 1993)
  • 1905 – Clara Bow, American actress (d. 1965)
  • 1905 – Dag Hammarskjöld, Swedish economist and diplomat, 2nd Secretary-General of the United Nations, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1961)
  • 1905 – Stanley Kunitz, American poet and translator (d. 2006)
  • 1906 – Thelma Todd, American actress and singer (d. 1935)
  • 1907 – Melvin Belli, American lawyer (d. 1996)
  • 1909 – Samm Sinclair Baker, American author (d. 1997)
  • 1909 – Chester Himes, American-Spanish author (d. 1984)
  • 1910 – Gale Page, American actress (d. 1983)
  • 1911 – Foster Furcolo, American lawyer and politician, 60th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1995)
  • 1911 – Archbishop Iakovos of America (d. 2005)
  • 1913 – Erich Priebke, German war criminal, leader of the 1944 Ardeatine massacre (d. 2013)
  • 1914 – Irwin Corey, American actor and activist (d. 2017)
  • 1915 – Bruce R. McConkie, American colonel and religious leader (d. 1985)
  • 1915 – Francis W. Sargent, American soldier and politician, 64th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1998)
  • 1916 – Budd Boetticher, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2001)
  • 1916 – Charlie Christian, American guitarist (d. 1942)
  • 1916 – Rupert Hamer, Australian politician, 39th Premier of Victoria (d. 2004)
  • 1917 – Rochus Misch, German SS officer (d. 2013)
  • 1918 – Don Ingalls, American writer and producer (d. 2014)
  • 1918 – Edwin O’Connor, American journalist and author (d. 1968)
  • 1918 – Mary Lee Settle, American novelist, essayist, and memoirist (d. 2005)
  • 1920 – Neville Jeffress, Australian businessman (d. 2007)
  • 1921 – Richard Egan, American actor (d. 1987)
  • 1921 – Chris Marker, French photographer and journalist (d. 2012)
  • 1923 – George Burditt, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2013)
  • 1923 – Edgar Cortright, American scientist and engineer (d. 2014)
  • 1923 – Jim Marshall, English businessman, founded Marshall Amplification (d. 2012)
  • 1923 – Gordon Mitchell, American bodybuilder and actor (d. 2003)
  • 1924 – Lloyd Bochner, Canadian-American actor (d. 2005)
  • 1924 – Robert Horton, American actor (d. 2016)
  • 1925 – Harold W. Kuhn, American mathematician and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – Ted Lindsay, Canadian ice hockey player, manager, and sportscaster (d. 2019)
  • 1925 – Mikis Theodorakis, Greek composer
  • 1926 – Robert Kilpatrick, Baron Kilpatrick of Kincraig, Scottish physician, academic, and politician (d. 2015)
  • 1927 – Harry Mulisch, Dutch author, poet, and playwright (d. 2010)
  • 1930 – Paul Taylor, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2018)
  • 1931 – Kjell Karlsen, Norwegian pianist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2020)
  • 1932 – Leslie Fielding, English diplomat
  • 1932 – Nancy Kassebaum, American businesswoman and politician
  • 1933 – Lou Albano, Italian-American wrestler, manager, and actor (d. 2009)
  • 1933 – Colin Davis, English race car driver (d. 2012)
  • 1933 – Robert Fuller, American actor and rancher
  • 1933 – Randy Sparks, American folk singer-songwriter and musician (The New Christy Minstrels)
  • 1935 – Peter Schreier, German tenor and conductor (d. 2019)
  • 1936 – Elizabeth Dole, American lawyer and politician, 20th United States Secretary of Labor
  • 1937 – Daniel McFadden, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize Laureate
  • 1938 – Peter Jennings, Canadian-American journalist and author (d. 2005)
  • 1938 – Jean Rochon, Canadian physician and politician
  • 1940 – Betty Harris, American chemist
  • 1940 – Winnie Monsod, Filipina economist and political commentator
  • 1941 – Jennifer Dunn, American engineer and politician (d. 2007)
  • 1941 – Goenawan Mohamad, Indonesian poet and playwright
  • 1941 – David Warner, English actor
  • 1942 – Doug Ashdown, Australian singer-songwriter
  • 1943 – David Taylor, English snooker player and sportscaster
  • 1944 – Jim Bridwell, American rock climber and mountaineer
  • 1945 – Sharon Creech, American author and educator
  • 1945 – Mircea Lucescu, Romanian footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1946 – Ximena Armas, Chilean painter
  • 1946 – Stig Blomqvist, Swedish race car driver
  • 1946 – Neal Doughty, American keyboard player, songwriter, and producer
  • 1946 – Alessandro Gogna, Italian mountaineer and adventurer
  • 1946 – Diane Keen, English actress
  • 1946 – Aleksei Tammiste, Estonian basketball player
  • 1947 – Dick Harmon, American golfer and coach (d. 2006)
  • 1948 – John Clarke, New Zealand-Australian comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
  • 1949 – Leslie Easterbrook, American actress
  • 1949 – Jamil Mahuad, Ecuadorian lawyer and politician, 51st President of Ecuador
  • 1950 – Jenny Holzer, American painter, author, and dancer
  • 1951 – Susan Blackmore, English psychologist and theorist
  • 1951 – Dan Driessen, American baseball player and coach
  • 1951 – Dean Pitchford, American actor, director, screenwriter, and composer
  • 1952 – Norman Blackwell, Baron Blackwell, English businessman and politician
  • 1952 – Joe Johnson, English snooker player and sportscaster
  • 1952 – Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, Greek politician
  • 1953 – Ken Burns, American director and producer
  • 1953 – Geddy Lee, Canadian musician
  • 1953 – Frank McGuinness, Irish poet and playwright
  • 1953 – Tim Gunn, American television host and actor
  • 1954 – Patti Scialfa, American musician
  • 1955 – Jean-Hugues Anglade, French actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1955 – Dave Stevens, American illustrator (d. 2008)
  • 1955 – Stephen Timms, English politician, Minister of State for Competitiveness
  • 1956 – Teddy Atlas, American boxer, trainer, and sportscaster
  • 1956 – Ronnie Musgrove, American lawyer and politician, 62nd Governor of Mississippi
  • 1956 – Faustino Rupérez, Spanish cyclist
  • 1957 – Liam Davison, Australian author and educator (d. 2014)
  • 1957 – Viktor Gavrikov, Lithuanian-Swiss chess player (d. 2016)
  • 1957 – Nellie Kim, Russian gymnast and coach
  • 1958 – Gail Dines, English-American author, activist, and academic
  • 1958 – Simon Nye, English screenwriter and producer
  • 1958 – Cynthia Rowley, American fashion designer
  • 1959 – Sanjay Dutt, Indian actor, singer, and producer
  • 1959 – Ruud Janssen, Dutch blogger and illustrator
  • 1959 – Dave LaPoint, American baseball player and manager
  • 1959 – John Sykes, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1960 – Didier Van Cauwelaert, French author
  • 1962 – Carl Cox, English DJ and producer
  • 1962 – Frank Neubarth, German footballer and manager
  • 1962 – Scott Steiner, American wrestler
  • 1962 – Vincent Rousseau, Belgian runner
  • 1963 – Hans-Holger Albrecht, Belgian-German businessman
  • 1963 – Jim Beglin, Irish footballer and sportscaster
  • 1963 – Julie Elliott, English politician
  • 1963 – Azeem Hafeez, Pakistani cricketer
  • 1963 – Alexandra Paul, American actress and producer
  • 1963 – Graham Poll, English footballer, referee, and journalist
  • 1964 – Jaanus Veensalu, Estonian footballer
  • 1965 – Luis Alicea, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and coach
  • 1965 – Dean Haglund, Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1965 – Adam Holloway, English captain and politician
  • 1965 – Stan Koziol, American soccer player (d. 2014)
  • 1965 – Chang-Rae Lee, South Korean-American author and academic
  • 1965 – Xavier Waterkeyn, Australian author
  • 1965 – Woody Weatherman, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1966 – Sally Gunnell, English hurdler and sportscaster
  • 1966 – Stuart Lampitt, English cricketer
  • 1966 – Martina McBride, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1968 – Gideon Henderson, English geologist and academic
  • 1968 – Paavo Lötjönen, Finnish cellist and educator
  • 1970 – Adele Griffin, American author
  • 1970 – Andi Peters, English journalist, actor, and producer
  • 1970 – John Rennie, Zimbabwean cricketer
  • 1971 – Andrea Philipp, German sprinter
  • 1972 – Wil Wheaton, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1973 – Stephen Dorff, American actor and producer
  • 1973 – Denis Urubko, Kazakh mountaineer
  • 1975 – Yoshihiro Akiyama, Japanese mixed martial artist
  • 1975 – Lanka de Silva, Sri Lankan cricketer
  • 1975 – Corrado Grabbi, Italian footballer
  • 1975 – Jaanus Sirel, Estonian footballer
  • 1978 – Mike Adams, American baseball player
  • 1978 – Marina Lazarovska, Macedonian tennis player
  • 1979 – Karim Essediri, Tunisian footballer
  • 1979 – Ronald Murray, American basketball player
  • 1979 – Juris Umbraško, Latvian basketball player
  • 1980 – Ryan Braun, Canadian-American baseball player
  • 1980 – Fernando González, Chilean tennis player
  • 1980 – Ben Koller, American drummer
  • 1980 – John Morris, Australian rugby league player
  • 1981 – Fernando Alonso, Spanish race car driver
  • 1981 – Andrés Madrid, Argentinian footballer
  • 1981 – Troy Perkins, American soccer player
  • 1982 – Janez Aljančič, Slovenian footballer
  • 1982 – Jônatas Domingos, Brazilian footballer
  • 1982 – Allison Mack, American actress and criminal
  • 1983 – Jason Belmonte, Australian bowler
  • 1983 – Inés Gómez Mont, Mexican journalist and actress
  • 1983 – Alexei Kaigorodov, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1983 – Jerious Norwood, American football player
  • 1983 – Elise Testone, American singer-songwriter
  • 1984 – Oh Beom-seok, South Korean footballer
  • 1984 – Chad Billingsley, American baseball player
  • 1984 – Wilson Palacios, Honduran footballer
  • 1985 – Besart Berisha, Albanian footballer
  • 1985 – Okinoumi Ayumi, Japanese sumo wrestler
  • 1985 – Simon Santoso, Indonesian badminton player
  • 1988 – Tarjei Bø, Norwegian biathlete
  • 1989 – Grit Šadeiko, Estonian heptathlete
  • 1991 – Dale Copley, Australian rugby league player
  • 1991 – Irakli Logua, Russian footballer
  • 1992 – Karen Torrez, Bolivian swimmer
  • 1993 – Nicole Melichar, American tennis player
  • 1994 – Liam O’Brien, Canadian ice hockey player

Deaths on July 29

  • 238 – Balbinus, Roman emperor (b. 165)
  • 238 – Pupienus, Roman emperor (b. 178)
  • 451 – Tuoba Huang, prince of Northern Wei (b. 428)
  • 796 – Offa of Mercia (b. 730)
  • 846 – Li Shen, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty
  • 1030 – Olaf II of Norway (b. 995)
  • 1095 – Ladislaus I of Hungary (b. 1040)
  • 1099 – Pope Urban II (b. 1042)
  • 1108 – Philip I of France (b. 1052)
  • 1236 – Ingeborg of Denmark, Queen of France (b. 1175)
  • 1326 – Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster (b. 1259)
  • 1504 – Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby (b. 1435)
  • 1507 – Martin Behaim, German-Bohemian geographer and astronomer (b. 1459)
  • 1573 – John Caius, English physician and academic (b. 1510)
  • 1612 – Jacques Bongars, French scholar and diplomat (b. 1554)
  • 1644 – Pope Urban VIII (b. 1568)
  • 1752 – Peter Warren, Irish admiral and politician (b. 1703)
  • 1781 – Johann Kies, German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1713)
  • 1792 – René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou, French lawyer and politician, Chancellor of France (b. 1714)
  • 1813 – Jean-Andoche Junot, French general (b. 1771)
  • 1833 – William Wilberforce, English philanthropist and politician (b. 1759)
  • 1839 – Gaspard de Prony, French mathematician and engineer (b. 1755)
  • 1844 – Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart, Austrian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1791)
  • 1856 – Robert Schumann, German composer and critic (b. 1810)
  • 1857 – Thomas Dick, Scottish minister, astronomer, and author (b. 1774)
  • 1887 – Agostino Depretis, Italian politician, 9th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1813)
  • 1890 – Vincent van Gogh, Dutch painter and illustrator (b. 1853)
  • 1895 – Floriano Peixoto, Brazilian general and politician, 2nd President of Brazil (b. 1839)
  • 1900 – Umberto I of Italy (b. 1844)
  • 1908 – Marie Adam-Doerrer (b. 1838)
  • 1913 – Tobias Asser, Dutch lawyer and jurist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1838)
  • 1918 – Ernest William Christmas, Australian-American painter (b. 1863)
  • 1924 – Sotirios Krokidas, Greek educator and politician, 110th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1852)
  • 1934 – Didier Pitre, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1883)
  • 1938 – Nikolai Krylenko, Russian lawyer, jurist, and politician, Prosecutor General of the Russian SFSR (b. 1885)
  • 1950 – Joe Fry, English race car driver (b. 1915)
  • 1951 – Ali Sami Yen, Turkish footballer and manager, founded Galatasaray S.K. (b. 1886)
  • 1954 – Coen de Koning, Dutch speed skater (b. 1879)
  • 1960 – Hasan Saka, Turkish politician, 7th Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1885)
  • 1962 – Ronald Fisher, English biologist and statistician (b. 1890)
  • 1962 – Leonardo De Lorenzo, Italian-American flute player and educator (b. 1875)
  • 1964 – Vean Gregg, American baseball player (b. 1885)
  • 1966 – Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, Nigerian general and politician, 2nd Head of State of Nigeria (b. 1924)
  • 1966 – Adekunle Fajuyi, Nigerian colonel (b. 1926)
  • 1970 – John Barbirolli, English cellist and conductor (b. 1899)
  • 1973 – Norm Smith, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1915)
  • 1973 – Roger Williamson, English race car driver (b. 1948)
  • 1974 – Cass Elliot, American singer (b. 1941)
  • 1974 – Erich Kästner, German author and poet (b. 1899)
  • 1976 – Mickey Cohen, American gangster (b. 1913)
  • 1978 – Andrzej Bogucki, Polish actor, operetta singer, and songwriter (b. 1904)
  • 1979 – Herbert Marcuse, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1898)
  • 1979 – Bill Todman, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1916)
  • 1981 – Robert Moses, American urban planner, designed the Northern State Parkway and Southern State Parkway (b. 1888)
  • 1982 – Harold Sakata, American wrestler and actor (b. 1920)
  • 1982 – Vladimir K. Zworykin, Russian-American engineer, invented the Iconoscope (b. 1889)
  • 1983 – Luis Buñuel, Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1900)
  • 1983 – Raymond Massey, Canadian-American actor and screenwriter (b. 1896)
  • 1983 – David Niven, English military officer and actor (b. 1910)
  • 1984 – Fred Waring, American television host and bandleader (b. 1900)
  • 1987 – Bibhutibhushan Mukhopadhyay, Indian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1894)
  • 1990 – Bruno Kreisky, Austrian academic and politician, 22nd Chancellor of Austria (b. 1911)
  • 1992 – Michel Larocque, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (b. 1952)
  • 1994 – John Britton, American physician (b. 1925)
  • 1994 – Dorothy Hodgkin, Egyptian-English biochemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
  • 1995 – Les Elgart, American trumpet player and bandleader (b. 1917)
  • 1996 – Ric Nordman, Canadian businessman and politician (b. 1919)
  • 1996 – Marcel-Paul Schützenberger, French mathematician and theorist (b. 1920)
  • 1996 – Jason Thirsk, American singer and bass player (b. 1967)
  • 1998 – Jerome Robbins, American director, producer, and choreographer (b. 1918)
  • 2001 – Edward Gierek, Polish soldier and politician (b. 1913)
  • 2001 – Wau Holland, German computer scientist, co-founded Chaos Computer Club (b. 1951)
  • 2003 – Foday Sankoh, Sierra Leonean soldier, founded the Revolutionary United Front (b. 1937)
  • 2004 – Rena Vlahopoulou, Greek actress and singer (b. 1923)
  • 2007 – Mike Reid, English comedian, actor, and author (b. 1940)
  • 2007 – Michel Serrault, French actor (b. 1928)
  • 2007 – Tom Snyder, American journalist and talk show host (b. 1936)
  • 2007 – Marvin Zindler, American journalist (b. 1921)
  • 2008 – Bruce Edward Ivins, American scientist and bio-defense researcher (b. 1946)
  • 2010 – Charles E. Wicks, American chemist and academic (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Tatiana Egorova, Russian footballer and manager (b. 1970)
  • 2012 – August Kowalczyk, Polish actor and director (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – Chris Marker, French photographer and journalist (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – James Mellaart, English archaeologist and author (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – John Stampe, Danish footballer and coach (b. 1957)
  • 2013 – Christian Benítez, Ecuadorian footballer (b. 1986)
  • 2013 – Peter Flanigan, American banker and civil servant (b. 1923)
  • 2013 – Tony Gaze, Australian soldier, pilot, and race car driver (b. 1920)
  • 2013 – Munir Hussain, Indian cricketer and sportscaster (b. 1929)
  • 2014 – M. Caldwell Butler, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Jon R. Cavaiani, English-American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1943)
  • 2014 – Giorgio Gaslini, Italian pianist and composer (b. 1929)
  • 2014 – María Antonia Iglesias, Spanish journalist and author (b. 1945)
  • 2014 – Péter Kiss, Hungarian engineer and politician (b. 1959)
  • 2014 – Idris Muhammad, American drummer and composer (b. 1939)
  • 2014 – Thomas R. St. George, American soldier and author (b. 1919)
  • 2015 – Antony Holland, English-Canadian actor, director, and playwright (b. 1920)
  • 2015 – Peter O’Sullevan, Anglo-Irish sportscaster (b. 1918)
  • 2015 – Mike Pyle, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1939)
  • 2015 – Franklin H. Westervelt, American computer scientist, engineer, and academic (b. 1930)
  • 2018 – Oliver Dragojević, a Croatian recording artist (b. 1947)
  • 2018 – Josip Peruzovic, Yugoslav-born American professional wrestler (b. 1947)

Holidays and observances on July 29

  • Christian feast day:
    • Lupus of Troyes
    • Martha of Bethany (Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran Church)
    • Mary of Bethany
    • Olaf II of Norway
    • Simplicius, Faustinus and Beatrix
    • July 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Somer’s Day can fall, while August 4 is the latest; celebrated on Friday before the first Monday in August. (Bermuda)
  • International Tiger Day
  • Mohun Bagan Day (India)
  • National Anthem Day (Romania)
  • National Thai Language Day (Thailand)
  • Ólavsøka or Olsok, opening of the Løgting session. (Faroe Islands and the Nordic countries)

July 29 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

  • 1364 – Troops of the Republic of Pisa and the Republic of Florence clash in the Battle of Cascina.
  • 1540 – Thomas Cromwell is executed at the order of Henry VIII of England on charges of treason. Henry marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, on the same day.
  • 1571 – La Laguna encomienda, known today as the Laguna province in the Philippines is founded by the Spaniards as one of the oldest encomiendas (provinces) in the country.
  • 1635 – In the Eighty Years’ War the Spanish capture the strategic Dutch fortress of Schenkenschans.
  • 1656 – Second Northern War: Battle of Warsaw begins.
  • 1778 – Constitution of the province of Cantabria ratified at the Assembly Hall in Bárcena la Puente, Reocín, Spain.
  • 1794 – French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre and Louis Antoine de Saint-Just are executed by guillotine in Paris, France.
  • 1808 – Mahmud II became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of Islam.
  • 1809 – Peninsular War: Battle of Talavera: Sir Arthur Wellesley’s British, Portuguese and Spanish army defeats a French force led by Joseph Bonaparte.
  • 1821 – José de San Martín declares the independence of Peru from Spain.
  • 1854 – USS Constellation (1854), the last all-sail warship built by the United States Navy, is commissioned.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Ezra Church: Confederate troops make a third unsuccessful attempt to drive Union forces from Atlanta, Georgia.
  • 1866 – At the age of 18, Vinnie Ream becomes the first and youngest female artist to receive a commission from the United States government for a statue (of Abraham Lincoln).
  • 1868 – The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is certified, establishing African American citizenship and guaranteeing due process of law.
  • 1896 – The city of Miami, Florida is incorporated.
  • 1914 – In the culmination of the July Crisis, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, igniting World War I.
  • 1915 – The United States begins a 19-year occupation of Haiti.
  • 1917 – The Silent Parade took place in New York City, in protest to murders, lynchings, and other violence directed towards African Americans.
  • 1932 – U.S. President Herbert Hoover orders the United States Army to forcibly evict the “Bonus Army” of World War I veterans gathered in Washington, D.C.
  • 1935 – First flight of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.
  • 1938 – Hawaii Clipper disappears between Guam and Manila as the first loss of an airliner in trans-Pacific China Clipper service.
  • 1939 – The Sutton Hoo helmet is discovered.
  • 1942 – World War II: Soviet leader Joseph Stalin issues Order No. 227. In response to alarming German advances, all those who retreat or otherwise leave their positions without orders to do so are to be tried in a military court, with punishment ranging from duty in a shtrafbat battalion, imprisonment in a Gulag, or execution.
  • 1943 – World War II: Operation Gomorrah: The Royal Air Force bombs Hamburg, Germany causing a firestorm that kills 42,000 German civilians.
  • 1945 – A U.S. Army B-25 bomber crashes into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building killing 14 and injuring 26.
  • 1957 – Heavy rain and a mudslide in Isahaya, western Kyushu, Japan, kills 992.
  • 1960 – The German Volkswagen Act came into force.
  • 1965 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces his order to increase the number of United States troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000.
  • 1973 – Summer Jam at Watkins Glen: Nearly 600,000 people attend a rock festival at the Watkins Glen International Raceway.
  • 1974 – Spetsgruppa A, Russia’s elite special force, was formed.
  • 1976 – The Tangshan earthquake measuring between 7.8 and 8.2 moment magnitude flattens Tangshan in the People’s Republic of China, killing 242,769 and injuring 164,851.
  • 1984 – The Summer Olympics officially known as the games of the XXIII were opened in Los Angeles.
  • 1996 – The remains of a prehistoric man are discovered near Kennewick, Washington. Such remains will be known as the Kennewick Man.
  • 2001 – Australian Ian Thorpe becomes the first swimmer to win six gold medals at a single World Championship.
  • 2002 – Nine coal miners trapped in the flooded Quecreek Mine in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, are rescued after 77 hours underground.
  • 2002 – Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 9560 crashes after takeoff from Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, Russia, killing 14 of the 16 people on board.
  • 2005 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army calls an end to its thirty-year-long armed campaign in Northern Ireland.
  • 2010 – Airblue Flight 202 crashes into the Margalla Hills north of Islamabad, Pakistan, killing all 152 people aboard. It is the deadliest aviation accident in Pakistan history and the first involving an Airbus A321.
  • 2011 – While flying from Seoul, South Korea to Shanghai, China, Asiana Airlines Flight 991 develops an in-flight fire in the cargo hold. The Boeing 747-400F freighter attempts to divert to Jeju International Airport, but crashes into the sea South-West of Jeju island, killing both crew members on board.
  • 2017 – Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif was disqualified for lifetime by Supreme Court of Pakistan founding him guilty of corruption charges.
  • 2018 – Australian Wendy Tuck becomes the first woman skipper to win the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

Births on July 28

  • 1347 – Margaret of Durazzo, Queen of Naples and Hungary (d. 1412)
  • 1516 – William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, German nobleman (d. 1592)
  • 1609 – Judith Leyster, Dutch painter (d. 1660)
  • 1635 – Robert Hooke, English physicist and chemist (d. 1703)
  • 1645 – Marguerite Louise d’Orléans, French princess (d. 1721)
  • 1659 – Charles Ancillon, French jurist and diplomat (d. 1715)
  • 1746 – Thomas Heyward, Jr., American judge and politician (d. 1809)
  • 1750 – Fabre d’Églantine, French actor, playwright, and politician (d. 1794)
  • 1783 – Friedrich Wilhelm von Bismarck, German army officer and writer (d. 1860)
  • 1796 – Ignaz Bösendorfer, Austrian businessman, founded the Bösendorfer Company (d. 1859)
  • 1804 – Ludwig Feuerbach, German anthropologist and philosopher (d. 1872)
  • 1815 – Stefan Dunjov, Bulgarian colonel (d. 1889)
  • 1844 – Gerard Manley Hopkins, English poet (d. 1889)
  • 1857 – Ballington Booth, English-American activist, co-founded Volunteers of America (d. 1940)
  • 1860 – Elias M. Ammons, American businessman and politician, 19th Governor of Colorado (d. 1925)
  • 1860 – Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia (d. 1922)
  • 1863 – Huseyn Khan Nakhchivanski, Russian general (d. 1919)
  • 1866 – Beatrix Potter, English children’s book writer and illustrator (d. 1943)
  • 1866 – Albertson Van Zo Post, American fencer (d. 1938)
  • 1867 – Charles Dillon Perrine, American-Argentinian astronomer (d. 1951)
  • 1872 – Albert Sarraut, French journalist and politician, 106th Prime Minister of France (d. 1962)
  • 1874 – Ernst Cassirer, Polish-American philosopher and academic (d. 1945)
  • 1879 – Lucy Burns, American activist, co-founded the National Woman’s Party (d. 1966)
  • 1879 – Stefan Filipkiewicz, Polish painter (d. 1944)
  • 1887 – Marcel Duchamp, French-American painter and sculptor (d. 1968)
  • 1887 – Willard Price, Canadian-American journalist and author (d. 1983)
  • 1893 – Rued Langgaard, Danish organist and composer (d. 1952)
  • 1896 – Barbara La Marr, American actress and screenwriter (d. 1926)
  • 1898 – Lawrence Gray, American actor (d. 1970)
  • 1901 – Freddie Fitzsimmons, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1979)
  • 1901 – Rudy Vallée, American actor, singer, and saxophonist (d. 1986)
  • 1902 – Albert Namatjira, Australian painter (d. 1959)
  • 1902 – Sir Karl Popper, Austrian-English philosopher and academic (d. 1994)
  • 1907 – Earl Tupper, American inventor and businessman, founded Tupperware Brands (d. 1983)
  • 1909 – Aenne Burda, German publisher (d. 2005)
  • 1909 – Malcolm Lowry, English novelist and poet (d. 1957)
  • 1914 – Carmen Dragon, American conductor and composer (d. 1984)
  • 1915 – Charles Hard Townes, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
  • 1915 – Dick Sprang, American illustrator (d. 2000)
  • 1915 – Frankie Yankovic, American polka musician (d. 1998)
  • 1916 – David Brown, American journalist and producer (d. 2010)
  • 1920 – Andrew V. McLaglen, English-American director and producer (d. 2014)
  • 1922 – Jacques Piccard, Belgian-Swiss oceanographer and engineer (d. 2008)
  • 1923 – Ray Ellis, American conductor and producer (d. 2008)
  • 1924 – Luigi Musso, Italian race car driver (d. 1958)
  • 1924 – C. T. Vivian, American minister, author, and activist
  • 1925 – Baruch Samuel Blumberg, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2011)
  • 1926 – Charlie Biddle, American-Canadian bassist (d. 2003)
  • 1927 – John Ashbery, American poet (d. 2017)
  • 1929 – Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, American journalist and socialite, 37th First Lady of the United States (d. 1994)
  • 1929 – Shirley Ann Grau, American novelist and short story writer
  • 1930 – Firoza Begum, Bangladeshi singer (d. 2014)
  • 1930 – Junior Kimbrough, American singer and guitarist (d. 1998)
  • 1930 – Jean Roba, Belgian author and illustrator (d. 2006)
  • 1930 – Ramsey Muir Withers, Canadian general (d. 2014)
  • 1931 – Alan Brownjohn, English poet and author
  • 1931 – Johnny Martin, Australian cricketer (d. 1992)
  • 1932 – Natalie Babbitt, American author and illustrator (d. 2016)
  • 1932 – Carlos Alberto Brilhante Ustra, Brazilian colonel (d. 2015)
  • 1933 – Charlie Hodge, Canadian ice hockey player and scout (d. 2016)
  • 1934 – Jacques d’Amboise, American dancer and choreographer
  • 1935 – Neil McKendrick, English historian and academic
  • 1936 – Russ Jackson, Canadian football player and coach
  • 1936 – Garfield Sobers, Barbadian cricketer
  • 1937 – Francis Veber, French director and screenwriter
  • 1938 – Luis Aragonés, Spanish footballer, coach, and manager (d. 2014)
  • 1938 – Arsen Dedić, Croatian singer-songwriter and poet (d. 2015)
  • 1938 – Alberto Fujimori, Peruvian engineer, academic, and politician, 90th President of Peru
  • 1938 – Chuan Leekpai, Thai lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Thailand
  • 1939 – Richard Johns, English air marshal
  • 1940 – Philip Proctor, American voice actor and screenwriter
  • 1941 – Riccardo Muti, Italian conductor and educator
  • 1941 – Susan Roces, Filipino actress and producer
  • 1942 – Marty Brennaman, American sportscaster
  • 1942 – Tonia Marketaki, Greek director and screenwriter (d. 1994)
  • 1943 – Mike Bloomfield, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 1981)
  • 1943 – Bill Bradley, American basketball player and politician
  • 1943 – Richard Wright, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player (d. 2008)
  • 1945 – Jim Davis, American cartoonist, created Garfield
  • 1946 – Jonathan Edwards, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1946 – Linda Kelsey, American actress
  • 1946 – Fahmida Riaz, Pakistani poet and activist
  • 1947 – Peter Cosgrove, Australian general and politician, 26th Governor General of Australia
  • 1947 – Sally Struthers, American actress
  • 1948 – Gerald Casale, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and director
  • 1948 – Eiichi Ohtaki, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2013)
  • 1949 – Vida Blue, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1949 – Peter Doyle, Australian singer and guitarist (d. 2001)
  • 1949 – Simon Kirke, English drummer
  • 1949 – Steve Peregrin Took, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1980)
  • 1949 – Randall Wallace, American screenwriter and producer
  • 1950 – Shahyar Ghanbari, Iranian singer-songwriter
  • 1950 – Tapley Seaton, Kittitian politician, 4th Governor-General of Saint Kitts and Nevis
  • 1951 – Santiago Calatrava, Spanish architect and engineer, designed the Athens Olympic Sports Complex
  • 1951 – Doug Collins, American basketball player and coach
  • 1951 – Gregg Giuffria, American rock musician and businessman
  • 1951 – Ray Kennedy, English footballer
  • 1952 – Vajiralongkorn, King of Thailand
  • 1954 – Hugo Chávez, Venezuelan colonel and politician, President of Venezuela (d. 2013)
  • 1954 – Gerd Faltings, German mathematician and academic
  • 1954 – Steve Morse, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1954 – Mikey Sheehy, Irish footballer
  • 1955 – Nikolay Zimyatov, Russian skier
  • 1956 – John Feinstein, American journalist and author
  • 1956 – Robert Swan, English explorer
  • 1958 – Terry Fox, Canadian runner and activist (d. 1981)
  • 1958 – Michael Hitchcock, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1959 – William T. Vollmann, American novelist, short story writer and journalist
  • 1960 – Luiz Fernando Carvalho, Brazilian director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1960 – Jon J. Muth, American author and illustrator
  • 1960 – Yōichi Takahashi, Japanese illustrator
  • 1961 – Yannick Dalmas, French race car driver
  • 1962 – Rachel Sweet, American singer, television writer, and actress
  • 1964 – Lori Loughlin, American actress
  • 1965 – Priscilla Chan, Hong Kong singer
  • 1966 – Sossina M. Haile, Ethiopian American chemist
  • 1966 – Miguel Ángel Nadal, Spanish footballer
  • 1966 – Jimmy Pardo, American stand-up comedian, actor, and host
  • 1966 – Shikao Suga, Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1967 – Taka Hirose, Japanese bass player
  • 1969 – Garth Snow, American ice hockey player and manager
  • 1969 – Alexis Arquette, American actress (d. 2016)
  • 1970 – Michael Amott, Swedish guitarist and songwriter
  • 1970 – Isabelle Brasseur, Canadian figure skater
  • 1970 – Paul Strang, Zimbabwean cricketer and coach
  • 1971 – Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Iraqi leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
  • 1971 – Ludmilla Lacueva Canut, Andorran writer
  • 1971 – Stephen Lynch, American singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1971 – Annie Perreault, Canadian speed skater
  • 1972 – Robert Chapman, English cricketer
  • 1973 – Marc Dupré, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1973 – Steve Staios, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1974 – Alexis Tsipras, Greek engineer and politician, 186th Prime Minister of Greece
  • 1974 – Elizabeth Berkley, American actress
  • 1975 – Leonor Watling, Spanish actress
  • 1976 – Jacoby Shaddix, American singer-songwriter
  • 1977 – Aki Berg, Finnish-Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1977 – Manu Ginóbili, Argentinian basketball player
  • 1977 – Miyabiyama Tetsushi, Japanese sumo wrestler
  • 1978 – Kārlis Vērdiņš, Latvian poet
  • 1978 – Hitomi Yaida, Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1979 – Henrik Hansen, Danish footballer
  • 1979 – Birgitta Haukdal, Icelandic singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1979 – Lee Min-woo, South Korean singer-songwriter and dancer
  • 1979 – Alena Popchanka, Belarusian-French swimmer and coach
  • 1980 – Stephen Christian, American singer-songwriter
  • 1980 – Anthony Weaver, American football player
  • 1981 – Michael Carrick, English footballer
  • 1983 – Sam Dastyari, Iranian-Australian politician
  • 1983 – Cody Hay, Canadian figure skater
  • 1984 – Zach Parise, American ice hockey player
  • 1985 – Mathieu Debuchy, French footballer
  • 1985 – Dustin Milligan, Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1985 – Darren Murphy, Irish footballer
  • 1986 – Alexandra Chando, American actress
  • 1986 – Lauri Korpikoski, Finnish ice hockey player
  • 1986 – Dulquer Salmaan, Indian actor
  • 1987 – Yasser Corona, Mexican footballer
  • 1987 – Yevhen Khacheridi, Ukrainian-Greek footballer
  • 1987 – Pedro, Spanish footballer
  • 1988 – Greg Hardy, American football player
  • 1989 – Felipe Kitadai, Brazilian martial artist
  • 1990 – Soulja Boy, American rapper, producer, and actor
  • 1990 – Simone Pizzuti, Italian footballer
  • 1993 – Harry Kane, English footballer
  • 1993 – Moses Odubajo, English footballer
  • 1993 – Cher Lloyd, English singer-songwriter
  • 1995 – Josh Addo-Carr, Australian rugby league player

Deaths on July 28

  • 450 – Theodosius II, Roman emperor (b. 401)
  • 938 – Thankmar, half-brother of Otto I (during Siege of Eresburg) (b. c. 908)
  • 942 – Shi Jingtang, emperor of Later Jin (b. 892)
  • 1057 – Victor II, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1018)
  • 1128 – William Clito, English son of Sybilla of Conversano (b. 1102)
  • 1230 – Leopold VI, Duke of Austria (b. 1176)
  • 1271 – Walter de Burgh, 1st Earl of Ulster (b. 1220)
  • 1285 – Keran, Queen of Armenia
  • 1333 – Guy VIII of Viennois, Dauphin of Vienne (b. 1309)
  • 1345 – Sancia of Majorca, queen regent of Naples (b. c. 1285)
  • 1458 – John II, king of Cyprus and Armenia
  • 1488 – Edward Woodville, Lord Scales (at the Battle of St. Aubin-du-Cormier)
  • 1508 – Robert Blackadder, bishop of Glasgow
  • 1527 – Rodrigo de Bastidas, Spanish explorer, founded the city of Santa Marta (b. 1460)
  • 1540 – Thomas Cromwell, English lawyer and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1495)
  • 1585 – Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford (b. 1527)
  • 1631 – Guillén de Castro y Bellvis, Spanish playwright (b. 1569)
  • 1655 – Cyrano de Bergerac, French poet and playwright (b. 1619)
  • 1667 – Abraham Cowley, English poet and author (b. 1618)
  • 1675 – Bulstrode Whitelocke, English lawyer and politician (b. 1605)
  • 1685 – Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington, English politician and diplomat, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (b. 1618)
  • 1718 – Étienne Baluze, French scholar and academic (b. 1630)
  • 1741 – Antonio Vivaldi, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1678)
  • 1750 – Johann Sebastian Bach, German organist and composer (b. 1685)
  • 1762 – George Dodington, 1st Baron Melcombe, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Somerset (b. 1691)
  • 1794 – Maximilien Robespierre, French lawyer and politician, 2nd President of the Committee of Public Safety (b. 1758)
  • 1794 – Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, French soldier and politician (b. 1767)
  • 1808 – Selim III, Ottoman sultan (b. 1761)
  • 1809 – Richard Beckett, English cricketer and captain (b.1772)
  • 1818 – Gaspard Monge, French mathematician and engineer (b. 1746)
  • 1835 – Édouard Mortier, duc de Trévise, French general and politician, 15th Prime Minister of France (b. 1768)
  • 1836 – Nathan Mayer Rothschild, German-English banker and financier (b. 1777)
  • 1842 – Clemens Brentano, German author and poet (b. 1778)
  • 1844 – Joseph Bonaparte, French diplomat and brother of Napoleon (b. 1768)
  • 1849 – Charles Albert of Sardinia (b. 1798)
  • 1869 – Jan Evangelista Purkyně, Czech anatomist and physiologist (b. 1787)
  • 1878 – George Law Curry, American publisher and politician (b. 1820)
  • 1885 – Moses Montefiore, British philanthropist, sheriff and banker (b. 1784)
  • 1895 – Edward Beecher, American minister and theologian (b. 1803)
  • 1930 – John DeWitt, American hammer thrower (b. 1881)
  • 1930 – Allvar Gullstrand, Swedish ophthalmologist and optician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
  • 1933 – Nishinoumi Kajirō III, Japanese sumo wrestler, 30th yokozuna (b. 1890)
  • 1934 – Marie Dressler, Canadian-American actress and singer (b. 1868)
  • 1934 – Louis Tancred, South African cricketer and pilot (b. 1876)
  • 1935 – Meletius IV of Constantinople (b. 1871)
  • 1942 – Flinders Petrie, English archaeologist and academic (b. 1853)
  • 1946 – Saint Alphonsa, first woman of Indian origin to be Canonization as a saint by the Catholic Church (b. 1910)
  • 1957 – Edith Abbott, American economist, social worker, and educator (b. 1876)
  • 1957 – Isaac Heinemann, German-Israeli scholar and academic (b. 1876)
  • 1965 – Edogawa Ranpo, Japanese author and critic (b. 1894)
  • 1965 – Attallah Suheimat, Jordanian politician (b. 1875)
  • 1967 – Karl W. Richter, American lieutenant and pilot (b. 1942)
  • 1968 – Otto Hahn, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
  • 1969 – Ramón Grau, Cuban physician and politician, 6th President of Cuba (b. 1882)
  • 1969 – Frank Loesser, American composer (b. 1910)
  • 1971 – Lawrence Moore Cosgrave, Canadian colonel and diplomat (b. 1890)
  • 1971 – Myril Hoag, American baseball player (b. 1908)
  • 1971 – Charles E. Pont, French-American minister and painter (b. 1898)
  • 1972 – Helen Traubel, American soprano and actress (b. 1903)
  • 1979 – Don Miller, American football player and coach (b. 1902)
  • 1979 – Charles Shadwell, English conductor and bandleader (b. 1898)
  • 1980 – Rose Rand, Austrian-born American logician and philosopher (b. 1903)
  • 1981 – Stanley Rother, American priest and missionary (b. 1935)
  • 1982 – Keith Green, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1953)
  • 1987 – Jack Renshaw, Australian politician, 31st Premier of New South Wales (b. 1909)
  • 1990 – Jill Esmond, English actress (b. 1908)
  • 1992 – Sulev Nõmmik, Estonian actor and director (b. 1931)
  • 1993 – Stanley Woods, Irish motorcycle racer (b. 1903)
  • 1996 – Roger Tory Peterson, American ornithologist and academic (b. 1908)
  • 1997 – Rosalie Crutchley, English actress (b. 1920)
  • 1997 – Seni Pramoj, Thai lawyer and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Thailand (b. 1905)
  • 1998 – Zbigniew Herbert, Polish poet and author (b. 1924)
  • 1998 – Lenny McLean, English boxer, actor, and author (b. 1949)
  • 1998 – Consalvo Sanesi, Italian race car driver (b. 1911)
  • 1999 – Trygve Haavelmo, Norwegian economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
  • 2000 – Abraham Pais, Dutch-American physicist and historian (b. 1918)
  • 2001 – Ahmed Sofa, Bangladeshi poet, author, and critic (b. 1943)
  • 2002 – Archer John Porter Martin, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
  • 2003 – Valerie Goulding, Irish activist and politician (b. 1918)
  • 2004 – Francis Crick, English biologist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
  • 2004 – Tiziano Terzani, Italian journalist and author (b. 1938)
  • 2006 – David Gemmell, English author (b. 1948)
  • 2007 – Karl Gotch, Belgian-American wrestler and trainer (b. 1924)
  • 2007 – Jim LeRoy, American soldier and pilot (b. 1961)
  • 2009 – Jim Johnson, American football player and coach (b. 1941)
  • 2011 – Abdul Fatah Younis, Libyan general (b. 1944)
  • 2012 – Colin Horsley, New Zealand-English pianist and educator (b. 1920)
  • 2012 – Sepp Mayerl, Austrian mountaineer (b. 1937)
  • 2012 – William F. Milliken Jr., American race car driver and engineer (b. 1911)
  • 2013 – Mustafa Adrisi, Ugandan general and politician, 3rd Vice President of Uganda (b. 1922)
  • 2013 – Eileen Brennan, American actress and singer (b. 1932)
  • 2013. – Rita Reys, Dutch jazz singer (b. 1924)
  • 2013 – William Scranton, American captain and politician, 13th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (b. 1917)
  • 2013 – Ersilio Tonini, Italian cardinal (b. 1914)
  • 2014 – Margot Adler, American journalist and author (b. 1946)
  • 2014 – Alex Forbes, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Alakbar Mammadov, Azerbaijani footballer and manager (b. 1930)
  • 2014 – Theodore Van Kirk, American soldier, pilot, and navigator (b. 1921)
  • 2015 – Jan Kulczyk, Polish businessman (b. 1950)
  • 2015 – Edward Natapei, Vanuatuan politician, 6th Prime Minister of Vanuatu (b. 1954)
  • 2015 – Clive Rice, South African cricketer and coach (b. 1949)
  • 2016 – Émile Derlin Zinsou, Beninese politician (b. 1918)
  • 2016 – Mahasweta Devi, Indian Bengali fiction writer and socio-political activist (b. 1926)
  • 2018 – Wanny van Gils, Dutch footballer (b. 1959)

Holidays and observances on July 28

  • Christian feast day:
    • Alphonsa Muttathupadathu (Syro-Malabar Catholic Church)
    • Botvid
    • Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frederick Handel, Henry Purcell (Episcopal Church commemoration)
    • Johann Sebastian Bach, Heinrich Schütz, George Frederick Handel (Lutheran commemoration)
    • Nazarius and Celsus
    • Pedro Poveda Castroverde
    • Pope Innocent I
    • Pope Victor I
    • Samson of Dol
    • July 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Day of Commemoration of the Great Upheaval (Canada)
  • Earliest day on which Emancipation Day can fall, while August 3 is the latest; celebrated on Thursday before the first Monday in August (Bermuda)
  • Fiestas Patrias, celebrates the independence of Peru from Spain by General José de San Martín in 1821.
  • Liberation Day (San Marino)
  • Ólavsøka Eve (Faroe Islands)
  • World Hepatitis Day

July 28 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

July 27 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

  • 1054 – Siward, Earl of Northumbria, invades Scotland and defeats Macbeth, King of Scotland somewhere north of the Firth of Forth.
  • 1189 – Friedrich Barbarossa arrives at Niš, the capital of Serbian King Stefan Nemanja, during the Third Crusade.
  • 1202 – Georgian–Seljuk wars: At the Battle of Basian the Kingdom of Georgia defeats the Sultanate of Rum.
  • 1214 – Battle of Bouvines: Philip II of France decisively defeats Imperial, English and Flemish armies, effectively ending John of England’s Angevin Empire.
  • 1299 – According to Edward Gibbon, Osman I invades the territory of Nicomedia for the first time, usually considered to be the founding day of the Ottoman state.
  • 1302 – Battle of Bapheus: Decisive Ottoman victory over the Byzantines opening up Bithynia for Turkish conquest.
  • 1549 – The Jesuit priest Francis Xavier’s ship reaches Japan.
  • 1663 – The English Parliament passes the second Navigation Act requiring that all goods bound for the American colonies have to be sent in English ships from English ports. After the Acts of Union 1707, Scotland would be included in the Act.
  • 1689 – Glorious Revolution: The Battle of Killiecrankie is a victory for the Jacobites.
  • 1694 – A Royal charter is granted to the Bank of England.
  • 1775 – Founding of the U.S. Army Medical Department: The Second Continental Congress passes legislation establishing “an hospital for an army consisting of 20,000 men.”
  • 1778 – American Revolution: First Battle of Ushant: British and French fleets fight to a standoff.
  • 1789 – The first U.S. federal government agency, the Department of Foreign Affairs, is established (it will be later renamed Department of State).
  • 1794 – French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre is arrested after encouraging the execution of more than 17,000 “enemies of the Revolution”.
  • 1816 – Battle of Negro Fort: The battle ends when a hot shot cannonball fired by US Navy Gunboat No. 154 explodes the Fort’s Powder Magazine, killing approximately 275. It is considered the deadliest single cannon shot in US history.
  • 1857 – Siege of Arrah begins: Sixty-eight men hold out for eight days against a force of 2,500 to 3,000 mutinying sepoys and 8,000 irregular forces.
  • 1865 – Welsh settlers arrive at Chubut in Argentina.
  • 1866 – The first permanent transatlantic telegraph cable is successfully completed, stretching from Valentia Island, Ireland, to Heart’s Content, Newfoundland.
  • 1880 – Second Anglo-Afghan War: Battle of Maiwand: Afghan forces led by Mohammad Ayub Khan defeat the British Army in battle near Maiwand, Afghanistan.
  • 1890 – Vincent van Gogh shoots himself and dies two days later.
  • 1900 – Kaiser Wilhelm II makes a speech comparing Germans to Huns; for years afterwards, “Hun” would be a disparaging name for Germans.
  • 1917 – World War I: The Allies reach the Yser Canal at the Battle of Passchendaele.
  • 1919 – The Chicago Race Riot erupts after a racial incident occurred on a South Side beach, leading to 38 fatalities and 537 injuries over a five-day period.
  • 1921 – Researchers at the University of Toronto, led by biochemist Frederick Banting, prove that the hormone insulin regulates blood sugar.
  • 1929 – The Geneva Convention of 1929, dealing with treatment of prisoners-of-war, is signed by 53 nations.
  • 1940 – The animated short A Wild Hare is released, introducing the character of Bugs Bunny.
  • 1942 – World War II: Allied forces successfully halt the final Axis advance into Egypt.
  • 1949 – Initial flight of the de Havilland Comet, the first jet-powered airliner.
  • 1953 – Cessation of hostilities is achieved in the Korean War when the United States, China, and North Korea sign an armistice agreement. Syngman Rhee, President of South Korea, refuses to sign but pledges to observe the armistice.
  • 1955 – The Austrian State Treaty restores Austrian sovereignty.
  • 1955 – El Al Flight 402 is shot down by two fighter jets after straying into Bulgarian air space. All 58 people onboard are killed.
  • 1959 – The Continental League is announced as baseball’s “3rd major league” in the United States.
  • 1964 – Vietnam War: Five thousand more American military advisers are sent to South Vietnam bringing the total number of United States forces in Vietnam to 21,000.
  • 1974 – Watergate scandal: The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee votes 27 to 11 to recommend the first article of impeachment (for obstruction of justice) against President Richard Nixon.
  • 1975 – Mayor of Jaffna and former MP Alfred Duraiappah is shot dead.
  • 1976 – Former Japanese prime minister Kakuei Tanaka is arrested on suspicion of violating foreign exchange and foreign trade laws in connection with the Lockheed bribery scandals.
  • 1981 – While landing at Chihuahua International Airport, Aeromexico Flight 230 overshoots the runway. Thirty-two of the 66 passengers and crew on board the DC-9 are killed.[2]
  • 1983 – Black July: Eighteen Tamil political prisoners at the Welikada high security prison in Colombo are massacred by Sinhalese prisoners, the second such massacre in two days.
  • 1987 – RMS Titanic Inc. begins the first expedited salvage of wreckage of the RMS Titanic.
  • 1989 – While attempting to land at Tripoli International Airport in Libya, Korean Air Flight 803 crashes just short of the runway. Seventy-five of the 199 passengers and crew and four people on the ground are killed, in the second accident involving a DC-10 in less than two weeks, the first being United Airlines Flight 232.
  • 1990 – The Supreme Soviet of the Belarusian Soviet Republic declares independence of Belarus from the Soviet Union. Until 1996 the day is celebrated as the Independence Day of Belarus; after a referendum held that year the celebration of independence is moved to June 3.
  • 1990 – The Jamaat al Muslimeen attempt a coup d’état in Trinidad and Tobago.
  • 1995 – The Korean War Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C..
  • 1996 – In Atlanta, United States, a pipe bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996 Summer Olympics.
  • 1997 – About 50 people are killed in the Si Zerrouk massacre in Algeria.
  • 2002 – Ukraine airshow disaster: A Sukhoi Su-27 fighter crashes during an air show at Lviv, Ukraine killing 77 and injuring more than 500 others, making it the deadliest air show disaster in history.
  • 2005 – After an incident during STS-114, NASA grounds the Space Shuttle, pending an investigation of the continuing problem with the shedding of foam insulation from the external fuel tank.
  • 2015 – At least seven people are killed and many injured after gunmen attack an Indian police station in Punjab.
  • 2016 – At a news conference in Florida, U.S. Presidential Candidate Donald Trump publicly appealed to Russia to find and release private emails from Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton; a Special Counsel investigation (2017–2019) later alleged that Russian operatives began hacking into servers at the Democratic National Committee on that same day, leading to the July 13, 2018 indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers.[3]

Births on July 27

  • 1452 – Ludovico Sforza, Italian son of Francesco I Sforza (d. 1508)
  • 1452 – Lucrezia Crivelli, mistress of Ludovico Sforza (d. 1508)
  • 1502 – Francesco Corteccia, Italian composer (d. 1571)
  • 1578 – Frances Howard, Duchess of Richmond (d. 1639)
  • 1612 – Murad IV, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1640)
  • 1625 – Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich (d. 1672)
  • 1667 – Johann Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician and academic (d. 1748)
  • 1733 – Jeremiah Dixon, English surveyor and astronomer (d. 1779)
  • 1740 – Jeanne Baré, French explorer (d. 1803)
  • 1741 – François-Hippolyte Barthélémon, French-English violinist and composer (d. 1808)
  • 1752 – Samuel Smith, American general and politician (d. 1839)
  • 1768 – Charlotte Corday, French assassin of Jean-Paul Marat (d. 1793)
  • 1768 – Joseph Anton Koch, Austrian painter (d. 1839)
  • 1773 – Jacob Aall, Norwegian economist and politician (d. 1844)
  • 1777 – Thomas Campbell, Scottish-French poet and academic (d. 1844)
  • 1777 – Henry Trevor, 21st Baron Dacre, English general (d. 1853)
  • 1781 – Mauro Giuliani, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1828)
  • 1784 – Denis Davydov, Russian general and poet (d. 1839)
  • 1812 – Thomas Lanier Clingman, American general and politician (d. 1897)
  • 1818 – Agostino Roscelli, Italian priest and saint (d. 1902)
  • 1824 – Alexandre Dumas, fils, French novelist and playwright (d. 1895)
  • 1833 – Thomas George Bonney, English geologist, mountaineer, and academic (d. 1923)
  • 1834 – Miguel Grau Seminario, Peruvian admiral (d. 1879)
  • 1835 – Giosuè Carducci, Italian poet and educator, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1907)
  • 1848 – Loránd Eötvös, Hungarian physicist and politician, Minister of Education of Hungary (d. 1919)
  • 1848 – Friedrich Ernst Dorn, German physicist (d.1916)
  • 1853 – Vladimir Korolenko, Ukrainian journalist, author, and activist (d. 1921)
  • 1853 – Elizabeth Plankinton, American philanthropist (d. 1923)
  • 1854 – Takahashi Korekiyo, Japanese accountant and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1936)
  • 1857 – José Celso Barbosa, Puerto Rican physician, sociologist, and politician (d. 1921)
  • 1857 – Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge, English Egyptologist, Orientalist, and philologist (d.1934)
  • 1858 – George Lyon, Canadian golfer and cricketer (d. 1938)
  • 1866 – António José de Almeida, Portuguese physician and politician, 6th President of Portugal (d. 1929)
  • 1867 – Enrique Granados, Spanish pianist and composer (d. 1916)
  • 1870 – Hilaire Belloc, French-born British writer and historian (d. 1953)
  • 1872 – Stanislav Binički, Serbian composer, conductor, and pedagogue. (d. 1942)
  • 1879 – Francesco Gaeta, Italian poet (d. 1927)
  • 1877 – Ernő Dohnányi, Hungarian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1960)
  • 1881 – Hans Fischer, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1945)
  • 1882 – Geoffrey de Havilland, English pilot and engineer, founded the de Havilland Aircraft Company (d. 1965)
  • 1886 – Ernst May, German architect and urban planner (d. 1970)
  • 1889 – Vera Karalli, Russian ballerina, choreographer, and actress (d. 1972)
  • 1890 – Benjamin Miessner, American radio engineer and inventor (d. 1976)
  • 1890 – Armas Taipale, Finnish discus thrower and shot putter (d. 1976)
  • 1891 – Jacob van der Hoeden, Dutch-Israeli veterinarian and academic (d. 1968)
  • 1893 – Ugo Agostoni, Italian cyclist (d. 1941)
  • 1894 – Mientje Kling, Dutch actress (d. 1966)
  • 1896 – Robert George, Scottish air marshal and politician, 24th Governor of South Australia (d. 1967)
  • 1896 – Henri Longchambon, French lawyer and politician (d. 1969)
  • 1899 – Percy Hornibrook, Australian cricketer (d. 1976)
  • 1902 – Yaroslav Halan, Ukrainian playwright and publicist (d. 1949)
  • 1903 – Nikolay Cherkasov, Russian actor (d. 1966)
  • 1903 – Michail Stasinopoulos, Greek jurist and politician, President of Greece (d. 2002)
  • 1903 – Mārtiņš Zīverts, Latvian playwright (d. 1990)
  • 1904 – Lyudmila Rudenko, Soviet chess player (d. 1986)
  • 1905 – Leo Durocher, American baseball player and manager (d. 1991)
  • 1906 – Jerzy Giedroyc, Polish author and activist (d. 2000)
  • 1906 – Herbert Jasper, Canadian psychologist and neurologist (d. 1999)
  • 1907 – Ross Alexander, American stage and film actor (d. 1937)
  • 1907 – Carl McClellan Hill, African American educator and academic administrator (d. 1995)
  • 1907 – Irene Fischer, Austrian-American geodesist and mathematician (d. 2009)
  • 1908 – Joseph Mitchell, American journalist and author (d. 1996)
  • 1910 – Julien Gracq, French author and critic (d. 2007)
  • 1910 – Lupita Tovar, Mexican-American actress (d. 2016)
  • 1911 – Rayner Heppenstall, English author and poet (d. 1981)
  • 1912 – Vernon Elliott, English bassoon player, composer, and conductor (d. 1996)
  • 1913 – George L. Street III, American captain, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2000)
  • 1914 – August Sang, Estonian poet and translator (d. 1969)
  • 1915 – Mario Del Monaco, Italian tenor (d. 1982)
  • 1915 – Josef Priller, German colonel and pilot (d. 1961)
  • 1916 – Elizabeth Hardwick, American literary critic, novelist, and short story writer (d. 2007)
  • 1916 – Skippy Williams, American saxophonist and arranger (d. 1994)
  • 1916 – Keenan Wynn, American actor (d. 1986)
  • 1918 – Leonard Rose, American cellist and educator (d. 1984)
  • 1920 – Henry D. “Homer” Haynes, American comedian and musician (Homer and Jethro) (d. 1971)
  • 1921 – Garry Davis, American pilot and activist, created the World Passport (d. 2013)
  • 1921 – Émile Genest, Canadian-American actor (d. 2003)
  • 1922 – Adolfo Celi, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1986)
  • 1922 – Norman Lear, American screenwriter and producer
  • 1923 – Mas Oyama, South Korean-Japanese martial artist (d. 1994)
  • 1924 – Vincent Canby, American historian and critic (d. 2000)
  • 1924 – Otar Taktakishvili, Georgian composer and conductor (d. 1989)
  • 1927 – Guy Carawan, American singer and musicologist (d. 2015)
  • 1927 – Pierre Granier-Deferre, French director and screenwriter (d. 2007)
  • 1927 – Will Jordan, American comedian and actor (d. 2018)
  • 1927 – C. Rajadurai, Sri Lankan journalist and politician, 1st Mayor of Batticaloa
  • 1927 – John Seigenthaler, American journalist and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1928 – Joseph Kittinger, American colonel and pilot
  • 1929 – Jean Baudrillard, French sociologist and philosopher (d. 2007)
  • 1929 – Harvey Fuqua, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2010)
  • 1929 – Jack Higgins, English author and academic
  • 1929 – Marc Wilkinson, French-Australian composer and conductor
  • 1930 – Joy Whitby, English director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1930 – Shirley Williams, English academic and politician, Secretary of State for Education
  • 1931 – Khieu Samphan, Cambodian academic and politician, 28th Prime Minister of Cambodia
  • 1931 – Jerry Van Dyke, American actor (d. 2018)
  • 1932 – Forest Able, American basketball player
  • 1932 – Diane Webber, American model, dancer and actress
  • 1933 – Nick Reynolds, American singer and bongo player (d. 2008)
  • 1933 – Ted Whitten, Australian footballer and journalist (d. 1995)
  • 1935 – Hillar Kärner, Estonian chess player
  • 1935 – Billy McCullough, Northern Irish footballer
  • 1936 – J. Robert Hooper, American businessman and politician (d. 2008)
  • 1937 – Anna Dawson, English actress and singer
  • 1937 – Don Galloway, American actor (d. 2009)
  • 1937 – Robert Holmes à Court, South African-Australian businessman and lawyer (d. 1990)
  • 1938 – Gary Gygax, American game designer, co-created Dungeons & Dragons (d. 2008)
  • 1939 – William Eggleston, American photographer and academic
  • 1939 – Michael Longley, Northern Irish poet and academic
  • 1939 – Paulo Silvino, Brazilian comedian, composer and actor (d. 2017)
  • 1940 – Pina Bausch, German dancer and choreographer (d. 2009)
  • 1941 – Christian Boesch, Austrian opera singer
  • 1941 – Johannes Fritsch, German viola player and composer (d. 2010)
  • 1942 – Édith Butler, Canadian singer-songwriter
  • 1942 – John Pleshette, American actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1942 – Dennis Ralston, American tennis player
  • 1943 – Jeremy Greenstock, English diplomat, British Ambassador to the United Nations
  • 1944 – Bobbie Gentry, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1944 – Jean-Marie Leblanc, French cyclist and journalist
  • 1944 – Barbara Thomson, English saxophonist and composer
  • 1945 – Edmund M. Clarke, American computer scientist
  • 1946 – Peter Reading, English poet and author (d. 2011)
  • 1947 – Kazuyoshi Miura, Japanese businessman (d. 2008)
  • 1947 – Betty Thomas, American actress, director, and producer
  • 1948 – Peggy Fleming, American figure skater and sportscaster
  • 1948 – James Munby, English lawyer and judge
  • 1948 – Henny Vrienten, Dutch singer-songwriter and bass player
  • 1949 – Maury Chaykin, American-Canadian actor (d. 2010)
  • 1949 – André Dupont, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1949 – Rory MacDonald, Scottish singer-songwriter and bass player
  • 1949 – Maureen McGovern, American singer and actress
  • 1949 – Robert Rankin, English author and illustrator
  • 1950 – Simon Jones, English actor
  • 1951 – Roseanna Cunningham, Scottish lawyer and politician, Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs
  • 1951 – Bob Diamond, American-English banker and businessman
  • 1951 – Rolf Thung, Dutch tennis player
  • 1952 – Marvin Barnes, American basketball player (d. 2014)
  • 1952 – Roxanne Hart, American actress
  • 1953 – Chung Dong-young, South Korean journalist and politician, 31st South Korean Minister of Unification
  • 1953 – Yahoo Serious, Australian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1954 – Philippe Alliot, French race car driver and sportscaster
  • 1954 – G. S. Bali, Indian lawyer and politician
  • 1954 – Ricardo Uceda, Peruvian journalist and author
  • 1954 – Mark Stanway, English keyboard player Magnum
  • 1955 – Cat Bauer, American journalist, author, and playwright
  • 1955 – Allan Border, Australian cricketer and coach
  • 1955 – John Howell, English journalist and politician
  • 1955 – Bobby Rondinelli, American drummer
  • 1956 – Carol Leifer, American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer
  • 1957 – Bill Engvall, American comedian, actor, and producer
  • 1958 – Christopher Dean, English figure skater and choreographer
  • 1958 – Kimmo Hakola, Finnish composer
  • 1959 – Joe DeSa, American baseball player (d. 1986)
  • 1959 – Hugh Green, American football player
  • 1959 – Yiannos Papantoniou, French-Greek economist and politician, Greek Minister of National Defence
  • 1960 – Jo Durie, English tennis player and sportscaster
  • 1960 – Conway Savage, Australian singer-songwriter and keyboard player (d. 2018)
  • 1960 – Emily Thornberry, English lawyer and politician
  • 1961 – Ed Orgeron, American football coach[4]
  • 1962 – Neil Brooks, Australian swimmer
  • 1962 – Karl Mueller, American bass player (d. 2005)
  • 1963 – Donnie Yen, Chinese-Hong Kong actor, director, producer, and martial artist
  • 1964 – Rex Brown, American bass player and songwriter
  • 1965 – José Luis Chilavert, Paraguayan footballer
  • 1966 – Steve Tilson, English footballer and manager
  • 1967 – Rahul Bose, Indian journalist, actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1967 – Juliana Hatfield, American singer-songwriter and musician
  • 1967 – Hans Mathisen, Norwegian guitarist and composer
  • 1967 – Neil Smith, English cricketer
  • 1967 – Craig Wolanin, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1968 – Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Italian actress and producer
  • 1968 – Tom Goodwin, American baseball player and coach
  • 1968 – Sabina Jeschke, Swedish-German engineer and academic
  • 1968 – Julian McMahon, Australian actor and producer
  • 1968 – Ricardo Rosset, Brazilian race car driver
  • 1969 – Triple H, American wrestler and actor
  • 1969 – Jonty Rhodes, South African cricketer and coach
  • 1970 – Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Danish actor and producer
  • 1970 – David Davies, English-Welsh politician
  • 1971 – Matthew Johns, Australian rugby league player, sportscaster and television host
  • 1972 – Clint Robinson, Australian kayaker[5]
  • 1972 – Maya Rudolph, American actress
  • 1972 – Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, Malaysian surgeon and astronaut
  • 1973 – Cassandra Clare, American journalist and author
  • 1973 – Erik Nys, Belgian long jumper
  • 1973 – Gorden Tallis, Australian rugby league player and coach
  • 1974 – Eason Chan, Hong Kong singer, actor, and producer
  • 1974 – Pete Yorn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1975 – Serkan Çeliköz, Turkish keyboard player and songwriter
  • 1975 – Shea Hillenbrand, American baseball player
  • 1975 – Fred Mascherino, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1975 – Alessandro Pistone, Italian footballer
  • 1975 – Alex Rodriguez, American baseball player
  • 1976 – Demis Hassabis, English computer scientist and academic
  • 1976 – Scott Mason, Australian cricketer (d. 2005)
  • 1977 – Foo Swee Chin, Singaporean illustrator
  • 1977 – Björn Dreyer, German footballer
  • 1977 – Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Irish actor
  • 1978 – Diarmuid O’Sullivan, Irish hurler and manager
  • 1979 – Marielle Franco, Brazilian politician, feminist, and human rights activist (d. 2018)
  • 1979 – Jorge Arce, Mexican boxer
  • 1979 – Sidney Govou, French footballer
  • 1979 – Shannon Moore, American wrestler and singer
  • 1980 – Allan Davis, Australian cyclist
  • 1980 – Wesley Gonzales, Filipino basketball player
  • 1981 – Susan King Borchardt, American basketball player
  • 1981 – Collins Obuya, Kenyan cricketer
  • 1981 – Dash Snow, American painter and photographer (d. 2009)
  • 1981 – Christopher Weselek, German rugby player
  • 1982 – Neil Harbisson, English-Catalan painter, composer, and activist
  • 1983 – Lorik Cana, Albanian footballer
  • 1983 – Martijn Maaskant, Dutch cyclist
  • 1983 – Goran Pandev, Macedonian footballer
  • 1983 – Soccor Velho, Indian footballer (d. 2013)
  • 1984 – Antoine Bethea, American football player
  • 1984 – Tsuyoshi Nishioka, Japanese baseball player
  • 1984 – Max Scherzer, American baseball player
  • 1984 – Taylor Schilling, American actress
  • 1984 – Kenny Wormald, American actor, dancer, and choreographer
  • 1985 – Husain Abdullah, American football player
  • 1985 – Matteo Pratichetti, Italian rugby player
  • 1985 – Ajmal Shahzad, English cricketer
  • 1986 – DeMarre Carroll, American basketball player
  • 1986 – Ryan Flaherty, American baseball player
  • 1986 – Ryan Griffen, Australian footballer
  • 1987 – Jacoby Ford, American football player
  • 1987 – Marek Hamšík, Slovak footballer
  • 1987 – Jordan Hill, American basketball player
  • 1987 – Sarah Parsons, American ice hockey player
  • 1988 – Adam Biddle, Australian footballer
  • 1988 – Yoervis Medina, Venezuelan baseball player
  • 1988 – Ryan Tannehill, American football player
  • 1989 – Maya Ali, Pakistani actress
  • 1990 – Nick Hogan, American race car driver and actor
  • 1990 – Paolo Hurtado, Peruvian footballer
  • 1990 – Cheyenne Kimball, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1990 – Stephen Li-Chung Kuo, Taiwanese-American figure skater
  • 1990 – Kriti Sanon, Indian actress
  • 1991 – Rena Matsui, Japanese actress and singer
  • 1993 – Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Australian rugby league player
  • 1993 – Max Power, English footballer
  • 1993 – Jordan Spieth, American golfer
  • 2001 – Shin Ki-joon, South Korean actor

Deaths on July 27

  • 903 – Abdallah II of Ifriqiya, Aghlabid emir
  • 959 – Chai Rong, emperor of Later Zhou
  • 1144 – Salomea of Berg, High Duchess consort of Poland[6]
  • 1061 – Nicholas II, pope of the Catholic Church
  • 1101 – Conrad II, king of Italy (b. 1074)
  • 1101 – Hugh d’Avranches, Earl of Chester (b. c. 1047)
  • 1158 – Geoffrey VI, Count of Anjou (b. 1134)
  • 1276 – James I of Aragon (b. 1208)
  • 1365 – Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria (b. 1339)
  • 1382 – Joanna I of Naples (b. 1326)
  • 1510 – Giovanni Sforza, Italian condottiere (b. 1466)
  • 1469 – William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (b. 1423)
  • 1656 – Salomo Glassius, German theologian and critic (b. 1593)
  • 1675 – Henri de la Tour d’Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne, French general (b. 1611)
  • 1689 – John Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee, Scottish general (b. c. 1648)[7]
  • 1759 – Pierre Louis Maupertuis, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1698)
  • 1770 – Robert Dinwiddie, Scottish merchant and politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1693)
  • 1841 – Mikhail Lermontov, Russian poet and painter (b. 1814)
  • 1844 – John Dalton, English physicist, meteorologist, and chemist (b. 1776)
  • 1863 – William Lowndes Yancey, American journalist and politician (b. 1813)
  • 1865 – Jean-Joseph Dassy, French painter and lithographer (b. 1791)
  • 1875 – Aleksander Kunileid, Estonian composer and educator (b. 1845)
  • 1876 – Albertus van Raalte, Dutch-born American minister and author (b. 1811)
  • 1883 – Montgomery Blair, American lieutenant and politician, 20th United States Postmaster General (b. 1813)
  • 1916 – Charles Fryatt, English captain (b. 1872)
  • 1916 – William Jonas, English footballer (d. 1890)
  • 1917 – Emil Theodor Kocher, Swiss physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1841)
  • 1921 – Myrddin Fardd, Welsh writer and antiquarian scholar (b. 1836)
  • 1924 – Ferruccio Busoni, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1866)
  • 1931 – Auguste Forel, Swiss neuroanatomist and psychiatrist (b. 1848)
  • 1938 – Tom Crean, Irish seaman and explorer (b. 1877)
  • 1941 – Alfred Henry O’Keeffe, New Zealand painter and educator (b. 1858)
  • 1942 – Karl Pärsimägi, Estonian painter (b. 1902)
  • 1946 – Gertrude Stein, American novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1874)
  • 1948 – Woolf Barnato, English race car driver and businessman (b. 1898)
  • 1948 – Joe Tinker, American baseball player and manager (b. 1880)
  • 1948 – Dorothea Bleek, South African anthropologist and philologist (b. 1873)
  • 1951 – Paul Kogerman, Estonian chemist and politician, 22nd Estonian Minister of Education (b. 1891)
  • 1958 – Claire Lee Chennault, American general and pilot (b. 1893)
  • 1960 – Julie Vinter Hansen, Danish-Swiss astronomer and academic (b. 1890)
  • 1962 – Richard Aldington, English poet and author (b. 1892)
  • 1962 – James H. Kindelberger, American pilot and businessman (b. 1895)
  • 1963 – Hooks Dauss, American baseball player (b. 1889)
  • 1963 – Garrett Morgan, African-American inventor (b. 1877)
  • 1964 – Winifred Lenihan, American actress, writer, and director (b. 1898)
  • 1965 – Daniel-Rops, French historian and author (b. 1901)
  • 1968 – Babe Adams, American baseball player and manager (b. 1882)
  • 1970 – António de Oliveira Salazar, Portuguese economist and politician, 100th Prime Minister of Portugal (b. 1889)
  • 1971 – Charlie Tully, Irish footballer and manager (b. 1924)
  • 1975 – Alfred Duraiappah, Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and politician (d. 1926)
  • 1978 – Bob Heffron, New Zealand-Australian miner and politician, 30th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1890)
  • 1978 – Willem van Otterloo, Dutch cellist, composer, and conductor (b. 1907)
  • 1980 – Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Iranian king (b. 1919)
  • 1981 – William Wyler, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1902)
  • 1984 – James Mason, English actor (b. 1909)
  • 1985 – Smoky Joe Wood, American baseball player and coach (b. 1889)
  • 1987 – Travis Jackson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1903)
  • 1988 – Frank Zamboni, American inventor and businessman, founded the Zamboni Company (b. 1901)
  • 1990 – Bobby Day, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (b. 1928)
  • 1990 – René Toribio, Guadeloupean politician (b. 1912)
  • 1991 – John Friedrich, German-Australian engineer and conman (b. 1950)
  • 1992 – Max Dupain, Australian photographer and educator (b. 1911)
  • 1992 – Tzeni Karezi, Greek actress and screenwriter
  • 1993 – Reggie Lewis, American basketball player (b. 1965)
  • 1994 – Kevin Carter, South African photographer and journalist (b. 1960)
  • 1995 – Melih Esenbel, Turkish politician and diplomat, 20th Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1915)
  • 1995 – Rick Ferrell, American baseball player and coach (b. 1905)
  • 1995 – Miklós Rózsa, Hungarian-American composer and conductor (b. 1907)
  • 1998 – Binnie Barnes, English-American actress (b. 1903)
  • 1999 – Aleksandr Danilovich Aleksandrov, Russian mathematician, physicist, and mountaineer (b. 1912)
  • 1999 – Harry Edison, American trumpet player (b. 1915)
  • 2000 – Gordon Solie, American sportscaster (b. 1929)
  • 2001 – Rhonda Sing, Canadian wrestler (b. 1961)
  • 2001 – Leon Wilkeson, American bass player and songwriter (b. 1952)
  • 2003 – Vance Hartke, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (b. 1919)
  • 2003 – Bob Hope, English-American actor, comedian, television personality, and businessman (b. 1903)
  • 2005 – Al Held, American painter and academic (b. 1928)
  • 2005 – Marten Toonder, Dutch author and illustrator (b. 1912)
  • 2006 – Maryann Mahaffey, American academic and politician (b. 1925)
  • 2007 – James Oyebola, Nigerian-English boxer (b. 1961)
  • 2008 – Youssef Chahine, Egyptian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
  • 2008 – Horst Stein, German-born Swiss conductor (b. 1928)
  • 2008 – Isaac Saba Raffoul, Mexican businessman (b. 1923)
  • 2010 – Maury Chaykin, American-Canadian actor (b. 1949)
  • 2010 – Jack Tatum, American football player (b. 1948)
  • 2012 – Norman Alden, American actor (b. 1924)
  • 2012 – R. G. Armstrong, American actor and playwright (b. 1917)
  • 2012 – Darryl Cotton, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (b. 1949)
  • 2012 – Geoffrey Hughes, English actor (b. 1944)
  • 2012 – Tony Martin, American actor and singer (b. 1913)
  • 2012 – Jack Taylor, English footballer and referee (b. 1930)
  • 2013 – Fernando Alonso, Cuban dancer, co-founded the Cuban National Ballet (b. 1914)
  • 2013 – Lindy Boggs, American politician and diplomat, 5th United States Ambassador to the Holy See (b. 1916)
  • 2013 – Bud Day, American colonel and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1925)
  • 2013 – Kidd Kraddick, American radio host (b. 1959)
  • 2013 – Ilya Segalovich, Russian businessman, co-founded Yandex (b. 1964)
  • 2014 – Richard Bolt, New Zealand air marshal and pilot (b. 1923)
  • 2014 – George Freese, American baseball player and coach (b. 1926)
  • 2014 – Wallace Jones, American basketball player and coach (b. 1926)
  • 2014 – Francesco Marchisano, Italian cardinal (b. 1929)
  • 2014 – Paul Schell, American lawyer and politician, 50th Mayor of Seattle (b. 1937)
  • 2015 – Rickey Grundy, American singer-songwriter (b. 1959)
  • 2015 – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Indian engineer, academic, and politician, 11th President of India (b. 1931)
  • 2015 – Samuel Pisar, Polish-born American lawyer and author (b. 1929)
  • 2015 – Anthony Shaw, English general (b. 1930)
  • 2016 – Einojuhani Rautavaara, Finnish composer (b.1928)[8]
  • 2016 – James Alan McPherson, American short story writer and essayist (b. 1943)[9]
  • 2016 – Jerry Doyle, American actor and talk show host (b. 1956)[10]
  • 2016 – Piet de Jong, Dutch politician and naval officer, Minister of Defence (1963–67), Prime Minister of the Netherlands (1967–71) (b. 1915)[11]
  • 2017 – Sam Shepard, American playwright, actor, author, screenwriter, and director (b.1943)[12]
  • 2018 – Marco Aurelio Denegri, Peruvian literature critic, television host and sexologist[13]
  • 2018 – Rahim Uddin Bharosha, Bangladeshi politician (b. 1934)

Holidays and observances on July 27

  • Christian feast day:
    • Arethas (Western Christianity)
    • Aurelius and Natalia and companions of the Martyrs of Córdoba.
    • Maurus, Pantalemon, and Sergius
    • Pantaleon
    • Seven Sleepers of Ephesus (Roman Martyrology)
      • National Sleepy Head Day (Finland)
    • Theobald of Marly
    • Blessed Titus Brandsma, O.Carm.
    • July 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Day of Victory in the Great Fatherland Liberation War (North Korea)
  • Iglesia ni Cristo Day (the Philippines)
  • José Celso Barbosa Day (Puerto Rico)
  • Martyrs and Wounded Soldiers Day (Vietnam)
  • National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day (United States)

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