July 4

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

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

    July 4 in History

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

    Births on July 4

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

    Deaths on July 4

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

    Holidays and observances on July 4

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

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

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

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

    Births on July 2

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

    Deaths on July 2

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

    Holidays and observances on July 2

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

  • June 30 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 296 – Pope Marcellinus begins his papacy.
    • 763 – The Byzantine army of emperor Constantine V defeats the Bulgarian forces in the Battle of Anchialus.
    • 1422 – Battle of Arbedo between the duke of Milan and the Swiss cantons.
    • 1521 – Spanish forces defeat a combined French and Navarrese army at the Battle of Noáin during the Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre.
    • 1559 – King Henry II of France is mortally wounded in a jousting match against Gabriel, comte de Montgomery.
    • 1651 – The Deluge: Khmelnytsky Uprising: The Battle of Berestechko ends with a Polish victory.
    • 1688 – The Immortal Seven issue the Invitation to William, which would culminate in the Glorious Revolution.
    • 1758 – Seven Years’ War: Habsburg Austrian forces destroy a Prussian reinforcement and supply convoy in the Battle of Domstadtl, helping to expel Prussian King Frederick the Great from Moravia.
    • 1794 – Northwest Indian War: Native American forces under Blue Jacket attack Fort Recovery.
    • 1805 – Under An act to divide the Indiana Territory into two separate governments, adopted by the U.S. Congress on January 11, 1805, the Michigan Territory is organized.
    • 1859 – French acrobat Charles Blondin crosses Niagara Falls on a tightrope.
    • 1860 – The 1860 Oxford evolution debate at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History takes place.
    • 1864 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln grants Yosemite Valley to California for “public use, resort and recreation”.
    • 1882 – Charles J. Guiteau is hanged in Washington, D.C. for the assassination of U.S. President James Garfield.
    • 1886 – The first transcontinental train trip across Canada departs from Montreal, Quebec. It arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia on July 4.
    • 1892 – The Homestead Strike begins near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
    • 1905 – Albert Einstein sends the article On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, in which he introduces special relativity, for publication in Annalen der Physik.
    • 1906 – The United States Congress passes the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act.
    • 1908 – The Tunguska Event, the largest impact event on Earth in human recorded history, resulting in a massive explosion over Eastern Siberia.
    • 1912 – The Regina Cyclone, Canada’s deadliest tornado event, kills 28 people in Regina, Saskatchewan.
    • 1916 – World War I: In “the day Sussex died”, elements of the Royal Sussex Regiment take heavy casualties in the Battle of the Boar’s Head at Richebourg-l’Avoué in France.
    • 1921 – U.S. President Warren G. Harding appoints former President William Howard Taft as Chief Justice of the United States.
    • 1922 – In Washington D.C., U.S. Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes and Dominican Ambassador Francisco J. Peynado sign the Hughes–Peynado agreement, which ends the United States occupation of the Dominican Republic.
    • 1934 – The Night of the Long Knives, Adolf Hitler’s violent purge of his political rivals in Germany, takes place.
    • 1936 – Emperor Haile Selassie of Abyssinia appeals for aid to the League of Nations against Italy’s invasion of his country.
    • 1937 – The world’s first emergency telephone number, 999, is introduced in London.
    • 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Cherbourg ends with the fall of the strategically valuable port to American forces.
    • 1953 – The first Chevrolet Corvette rolls off the assembly line in Flint, Michigan.
    • 1956 – A TWA Super Constellation and a United Airlines DC-7 collide above the Grand Canyon in Arizona and crash, killing all 128 on board both airliners.
    • 1959 – A United States Air Force F-100 Super Sabre from Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, crashes into a nearby elementary school, killing 11 students plus six residents from the local neighborhood.
    • 1960 – Belgian Congo gains independence as Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville).
    • 1963 – Ciaculli bombing: a car bomb, intended for Mafia boss Salvatore Greco, kills seven police officers and military personnel near Palermo.
    • 1966 – The National Organization for Women, the United States’ largest feminist organization, is founded.
    • 1968 – Pope Paul VI issues the Credo of the People of God.
    • 1971 – The crew of the Soviet Soyuz 11 spacecraft are killed when their air supply escapes through a faulty valve.
    • 1972 – The first leap second is added to the UTC time system.
    • 1974 – The Baltimore municipal strike of 1974 begins.
    • 1977 – The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands.
    • 1985 – Thirty-nine American hostages from the hijacked TWA Flight 847 are freed in Beirut after being held for 17 days.
    • 1986 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Bowers v. Hardwick that states can outlaw homosexual acts between consenting adults.
    • 1990 – East Germany and West Germany merge their economies.
    • 1994 – During a test flight of an Airbus A330-300 at Toulouse–Blagnac Airport, the aircraft crashes killing all seven people on board.
    • 1997 – The United Kingdom transfers sovereignty over Hong Kong to China.
    • 2005 – MTV Canada is rebranded as Razer
    • 2007 – A Jeep Cherokee filled with propane canisters drives into the entrance of Glasgow Airport, Scotland in a failed terrorist attack. This was linked to the 2007 London car bombs that had taken place the day before.
    • 2009 – Yemenia Flight 626, an Airbus A310-300, crashes into the Indian Ocean near Comoros, killing 152 of the 153 people on board. A 14-year-old girl named Bahia Bakari survives the crash.
    • 2013 – Nineteen firefighters die controlling a wildfire in Yarnell, Arizona.
    • 2013 – Protests begin around Egypt against President Mohamed Morsi and the ruling Freedom and Justice Party, leading to their overthrow during the 2013 Egyptian coup d’état.
    • 2015 – A Hercules C-130 military aircraft with 113 people on board crashes in a residential area in Medan, Indonesia, resulting in at least 116 deaths.
    • 2019 – Donald Trump becomes the first sitting US President to visit the Democratic Republic of Korea.

    Births on June 30

    • 1286 – John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey, English magnate (d. 1347)
    • 1468 – John, Elector of Saxony (d. 1532)
    • 1470 – Charles VIII of France (d. 1498)
    • 1478 – John, Prince of Asturias, Son of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile (d. 1497)
    • 1503 – John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony (d. 1554)
    • 1533 – Martín de Rada, Spanish missionary (d. 1578)
    • 1588 – Giovanni Maria Sabino, Italian organist, composer, and educator (d. 1649)
    • 1641 – Meinhardt Schomberg, 3rd Duke of Schomberg, German-English general (d. 1719)
    • 1685 – John Gay, English poet and playwright (d. 1732)
    • 1688 – Abu l-Hasan Ali I, ruler of Tunisia (d. 1756)
    • 1722 – Jiří Antonín Benda, Czech composer, violinist and Kapellmeister (d. 1795)
    • 1755 – Paul Barras, French soldier and politician (d. 1829)
    • 1789 – Horace Vernet, French painter and academic (d. 1863)
    • 1791 – Félix Savart, French physicist and psychologist (d. 1841)
    • 1803 – Thomas Lovell Beddoes, English poet, playwright, and physician (d. 1849)
    • 1807 – Friedrich Theodor Vischer, German author, poet, and playwright (d.1887)
    • 1817 – Joseph Dalton Hooker, English botanist and explorer (d. 1911)
    • 1843 – Ernest Mason Satow, English orientalist and diplomat (d. 1929)
    • 1864 – Frederick Bligh Bond, English architect and archaeologist (d. 1945)
    • 1884 – Georges Duhamel, French author and critic (d. 1966)
    • 1889 – Archibald Frazer-Nash, English motor car designer, engineer and founder of Frazer Nash (d. 1965)
    • 1890 – Paul Boffa, Maltese physician and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Malta (d. 1962)
    • 1891 – Man Mountain Dean, American wrestler and sergeant (d. 1953)
    • 1891 – Ed Lewis, American wrestler and manager (d. 1966)
    • 1891 – Stanley Spencer, English painter (d. 1959)
    • 1892 – Pierre Blanchar, Algerian-French actor and director (d. 1963)
    • 1893 – Walter Ulbricht, German soldier and politician (d. 1973)
    • 1895 – Heinz Warneke, German-American sculptor and educator (d. 1983)
    • 1899 – Madge Bellamy, American actress (d. 1990)
    • 1905 – John Van Ryn, American tennis player (d. 1999)
    • 1906 – Anthony Mann, American actor and director (d. 1967)
    • 1907 – Roman Shukhevych, Ukrainian general and politician (d. 1950)
    • 1908 – Winston Graham, English author (d. 2003)
    • 1908 – Luigi Rovere, Italian film producer (d. 1996)
    • 1908 – Rob Nieuwenhuys, Dutch writer (d. 1999)
    • 1909 – Juan Bosch, 43rd President of the Dominican Republic (d. 2001)
    • 1911 – Czesław Miłosz, Polish novelist, essayist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
    • 1911 – Nagarjun, Indian poet (d. 1998)
    • 1912 – Ludwig Bölkow, German engineer (d. 2003)
    • 1912 – Dan Reeves, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1971)
    • 1912 – María Luisa Dehesa Gómez Farías, Mexican architect (d. 2009)
    • 1913 – Alfonso López Michelsen, Colombian lawyer and politician, 24th President of Colombia (d. 2007)
    • 1913 – Harry Wismer, American sportscaster (d. 1967)
    • 1914 – Francisco da Costa Gomes, Portuguese general and politician, 15th President of Portugal (d. 2001)
    • 1914 – Allan Houser, American sculptor and painter (d. 1994)
    • 1917 – Susan Hayward, American actress (d. 1975)
    • 1917 – Lena Horne, American actress, singer, and activist (d. 2010)
    • 1917 – Willa Kim, American costume designer (d. 2016)
    • 1919 – Ed Yost, American inventor of the modern hot air balloon (d. 2007)
    • 1920 – Eleanor Ross Taylor, American poet and educator (d. 2011)
    • 1921 – Washington SyCip, American-Filipino accountant (d. 2017)
    • 1922 – Al Besselink, American professional golfer
    • 1923 – Andy Jack, English footballer
    • 1924 – Max Trepp, Swiss sprinter
    • 1925 – Fred Schaus, American basketball player and coach (d. 2010)
    • 1925 – Ebrahim Amini, Iranian politician (d. 2020)
    • 1926 – Paul Berg, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1926 – David Berglas, American magician and mentalist
    • 1927 – Shirley Fry Irvin, American tennis player
    • 1927 – James Goldman, American screenwriter and playwright (d. 1998)
    • 1927 – Mario Lanfranchi, Italian director, screenwriter, producer, collector and actor
    • 1927 – Frank McCabe, American basketball player
    • 1928 – Hassan Hassanzadeh Amoli, Islamic philosopher, theologian, mathematician and mystic
    • 1928 – Nathaniel Tarn, American poet, essayist, anthropologist, and translator
    • 1929 – Yang Ti-liang, Chinese judge
    • 1930 – Ben Atchley, American politician (d. 2018)
    • 1930 – Ahmed Zaki Yamani, Saudi Arabian politician
    • 1930 – Ignatius Peter VIII Abdalahad, Syrian bishop (d. 2018)
    • 1931 – Yo-Yo Davalillo, Venezuelan baseball player and manager (d. 2013)
    • 1931 – Andrew Hill, American pianist and composer (d. 2007)
    • 1931 – Ronald Rene Lagueux, American judge
    • 1931 – Kaye Vaughan, American football player
    • 1933 – Tomislav Ivić, Croatian football coach and manager (d. 2011)
    • 1933 – M. J. K. Smith, English cricketer and rugby player
    • 1933 – Orval Tessier, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1933 – Joan Murrell Owens, American educator and marine biologist (d. 2011)
    • 1934 – Harry Blackstone Jr., American magician and author (d. 1997)
    • 1935 – John Harlin, American pilot and mountaineer (d. 1966)
    • 1936 – Assia Djebar, Algerian-French author and translator (d. 2015)
    • 1936 – Nancy Dussault, American actress and singer
    • 1936 – Tony Musante, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2013)
    • 1936 – Dave Van Ronk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2002)
    • 1937 – Larry Henley, American singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
    • 1938 – Billy Mills, American sprinter
    • 1939 – Tony Hatch, English pianist, composer, and producer
    • 1939 – Barry Hines, English author and screenwriter (d. 2016)
    • 1939 – José Emilio Pacheco, Mexican poet and author (d. 2014)
    • 1940 – Mark Spoelstra, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2007)
    • 1941 – Peter Pollock, South African cricketer and author
    • 1942 – Robert Ballard, American lieutenant and oceanographer
    • 1942 – Ron Harris, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1943 – Florence Ballard, American pop/soul singer (d. 1976)
    • 1943 – Saeed Akhtar Mirza, Indian director and screenwriter
    • 1944 – Raymond Moody, American parapsychologist and author
    • 1944 – Glenn Shorrock, English-Australian singer-songwriter
    • 1944 – Ron Swoboda, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1949 – Uwe Kliemann, German footballer, coach, and manager
    • 1949 – Andy Scott, Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1951 – Stanley Clarke, American bass player and composer
    • 1952 – Athanassios S. Fokas, Greek mathematician and academic
    • 1952 – David Garrison, American actor and singer
    • 1953 – Hal Lindes, American-English guitarist and film score composer
    • 1954 – Stephen Barlow, English organist, composer, and conductor
    • 1954 – Pierre Charles, Dominican educator and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Dominica (d. 2004)
    • 1954 – Serzh Sargsyan, Armenian politician, 3rd President of Armenia
    • 1954 – Wayne Swan, Australian academic and politician, 14th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
    • 1955 – Brian Vollmer, Canadian singer
    • 1955 – Egils Levits, Latvian judge, jurist, 10th President of Latvia
    • 1956 – Volker Beck, German hurdler and coach
    • 1956 – David Lidington, English historian, academic, and politician, Minister of State for Europe
    • 1956 – David Alan Grier, American actor, singer, and comedian
    • 1957 – Bud Black, American baseball player and manager
    • 1957 – Sterling Marlin, American race car driver
    • 1958 – Pam Royle, British television presenter, journalist and voice coach
    • 1958 – Esa-Pekka Salonen, Finnish conductor and composer
    • 1959 – Vincent D’Onofrio, American actor
    • 1959 – Daniel Goldhagen, American political scientist, author, and academic
    • 1959 – Brendan Perry, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1959 – Sakis Tsiolis, Greek footballer and manager
    • 1959 – Sandip Verma, Baroness Verma, Indian-English businesswoman and politician
    • 1960 – Jack McConnell, Scottish educator and politician, 3rd First Minister of Scotland
    • 1960 – Murray Cook, Australian musician, actor, songwriter and producer
    • 1961 – Lynne Jolitz, American computer scientist and programmer
    • 1961 – Clive Nolan, English musician, composer and producer
    • 1962 – Tony Fernández, Dominican baseball player
    • 1962 – Julianne Regan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1963 – Olha Bryzhina, Ukrainian sprinter
    • 1963 – Rupert Graves, English actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1963 – Yngwie Malmsteen, Swedish guitarist and songwriter
    • 1964 – Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg
    • 1964 – Mark Waters, American director and producer
    • 1965 – Steve Duchesne, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
    • 1965 – Cho Jae-hyun, South Korean actor
    • 1965 – Anna Levandi, Russian figure skater and coach
    • 1965 – Gary Pallister, English footballer and sportscaster
    • 1965 – Mitch Richmond, American basketball player
    • 1966 – Mike Tyson, American boxer and actor
    • 1967 – Patrik Bodén, Swedish javelin thrower
    • 1967 – David Busst, English footballer and manager
    • 1967 – Victoria Kaspi, American-Canadian astrophysicist and academic
    • 1968 – Phil Anselmo, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1969 – Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lankan cricketer and politician
    • 1969 – Uta Rohländer, German sprinter
    • 1969 – Sébastien Rose, Canadian director and screenwriter
    • 1970 – Brian Bloom, American actor and screenwriter
    • 1970 – Antonio Chimenti, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Mark Grudzielanek, American baseball player and manager
    • 1971 – Monica Potter, American actress
    • 1972 – Sandra Cam, Belgian swimmer
    • 1973 – Chan Ho Park, South Korean baseball player
    • 1973 – Frank Rost, German footballer and manager
    • 1974 – Hezekiél Sepeng, South African runner
    • 1975 – James Bannatyne, New Zealand footballer
    • 1975 – Ralf Schumacher, German race car driver
    • 1978 – Ben Cousins, Australian footballer
    • 1978 – Patrick Ivuti, Kenyan runner
    • 1978 – Claudio Rivalta, Italian footballer
    • 1979 – Sylvain Chavanel, French cyclist
    • 1980 – Rade Prica, Swedish footballer
    • 1980 – Seyi Olofinjana, Nigerian footballer
    • 1980 – Ryan ten Doeschate, Dutch cricketer
    • 1981 – Can Artam, Turkish race car driver
    • 1981 – Matt Kirk, Canadian football player
    • 1981 – Barbora Špotáková, Czech javelin thrower
    • 1981 – Ben Utecht, American football player
    • 1982 – Lizzy Caplan, American actress
    • 1982 – Ignacio Carrasco, Mexican footballer
    • 1983 – Marcus Burghardt, German cyclist
    • 1983 – Katherine Ryan, UK-based Canadian comedian and presenter
    • 1983 – Cheryl, English singer and TV personality
    • 1984 – Fantasia Barrino, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1984 – Tunku Ismail Idris, Crown Prince of Johor, Malaysia
    • 1985 – Trevor Ariza, American basketball player
    • 1985 – Michael Phelps, American swimmer
    • 1985 – Fabiana Vallejos, Argentinian footballer
    • 1986 – Alicia Fox, American wrestler, model, and actress
    • 1986 – Fredy Guarín, Colombian footballer
    • 1986 – Nicola Pozzi, Italian footballer
    • 1986 – Allegra Versace, Italian-American businesswoman
    • 1987 – Ryan Cook, American baseball player
    • 1987 – Andrew Hedgman, New Zealand runner
    • 1988 – Elisa Jordana, American singer-songwriter, radio and TV personality
    • 1989 – Asbel Kiprop, Kenyan runner
    • 1989 – Steffen Liebig, German rugby player
    • 1989 – David Myers, Australian footballer
    • 1990 – N, South Korean singer
    • 1998 – Tom Davies, English footballer

    Deaths on June 30

    • 350 – Nepotianus, Roman ruler
    • 710 – Erentrude, Frankish abbess
    • 888 – Æthelred, archbishop of Canterbury
    • 945 – Ki no Tsurayuki, Japanese writer and poet (b. 872)
    • 1181 – Hugh de Kevelioc, 5th Earl of Chester, Welsh politician (b. 1147)
    • 1224 – Adolf of Osnabrück, German monk and bishop (b. 1185)
    • 1278 – Pierre de la Broce, French courtier
    • 1337 – Eleanor de Clare, English noblewoman (b. 1290)
    • 1364 – Arnošt of Pardubice, Czech archbishop (b. 1297)
    • 1538 – Charles II, Duke of Guelders (b. 1467)
    • 1522 – Johann Reuchlin, German humanist and Hebrew scholar (b. 1455)
    • 1607 – Caesar Baronius, Italian cardinal and historian (b. 1538)
    • 1649 – Simon Vouet, French painter (b. 1590)
    • 1660 – William Oughtred, English minister and mathematician (b. 1575)
    • 1666 – Alexander Brome, English poet and playwright (b. 1620)
    • 1670 – Henrietta of England (b. 1644)
    • 1704 – John Quelch, English pirate (b. 1665)
    • 1708 – Tekle Haymanot I of Ethiopia (b. 1684)
    • 1709 – Edward Lhuyd, Welsh botanist, linguist, and geographer (b. 1660)
    • 1785 – James Oglethorpe, English general and politician, 1st Colonial Governor of Georgia (b. 1696)
    • 1796 – Abraham Yates Jr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1724)
    • 1857 – Alcide d’Orbigny, French zoologist and paleontologist (b. 1802)
    • 1882 – Charles J. Guiteau, American preacher and lawyer, assassin of James A. Garfield (b. 1841)
    • 1882 – Alberto Henschel, German-Brazilian photographer and businessman (b. 1827)
    • 1890 – Samuel Parkman Tuckerman, American organist and composer (b. 1819)
    • 1908 – Thomas Hill, American painter (b. 1829)
    • 1913 – Alphonse Kirchhoffer, French fencer (b. 1873)
    • 1916 – Eunice Eloisae Gibbs Allyn, American correspondent, author, and poet (b. 1847)
    • 1917 – Antonio de La Gándara, French painter and illustrator (b. 1861)
    • 1917 – Dadabhai Naoroji, Parsi intellectual, educator, cotton trader, and an early Indian political and social leader (b. 1825)
    • 1919 – John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1842)
    • 1932 – Bruno Kastner, German actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1890)
    • 1934 – Karl Ernst, German soldier (b. 1904)
    • 1934 – Erich Klausener, German soldier and politician (b. 1885)
    • 1934 – Gustav Ritter von Kahr, German lawyer and politician, Minister-President of Bavaria (b. 1862)
    • 1934 – Gregor Strasser, German lieutenant and politician (b. 1892)
    • 1934 – Kurt von Schleicher, German general and politician, 23rd Chancellor of Germany (b. 1882)
    • 1941 – Yefim Fomin, Belarusian politician (b. 1909)
    • 1941 – Aleksander Tõnisson, Estonian general and politician, 5th Estonian Minister of War (b. 1875)
    • 1948 – Prince Sabahaddin, Turkish-Swiss sociologist and academic (b. 1879)
    • 1949 – Édouard Alphonse James de Rothschild, French financier and polo player (b. 1868)
    • 1951 – Yrjö Saarela, Finnish wrestler and coach (b. 1884)
    • 1953 – Elsa Beskow, Swedish author and illustrator (b. 1874)
    • 1953 – Charles William Miller, Brazilian footballer and civil servant (b. 1874)
    • 1954 – Andrass Samuelsen, Faroese politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (b. 1873)
    • 1956 – Thorleif Lund, Norwegian actor (b. 1880)
    • 1959 – José Vasconcelos, Mexican philosopher and politician (b. 1882)
    • 1961 – Lee de Forest, American inventor, invented the audion tube (b. 1873)
    • 1966 – Giuseppe Farina, Italian race car driver (b. 1906)
    • 1966 – Margery Allingham, English author of detective fiction (b. 1904)
    • 1968 – Ernst Marcus, German zoologist (b. 1893)
    • 1971 – Georgi Asparuhov, Bulgarian footballer (b. 1943)
    • 1971 – Herbert Biberman, American director and screenwriter (b. 1900)
    • 1971 – Georgy Dobrovolsky Ukrainian pilot and astronaut (b. 1928)
    • 1971 – Nikola Kotkov, Bulgarian footballer (b. 1938)
    • 1971 – Viktor Patsayev, Kazakh engineer and astronaut (b. 1933)
    • 1971 – Vladislav Volkov, Russian engineer and astronaut (b. 1935)
    • 1973 – Nancy Mitford, English journalist and author (b. 1904)
    • 1973 – Vasyl Velychkovsky, Ukrainian-Canadian bishop and martyr (b. 1903)
    • 1974 – Alberta Williams King, Civil rights activist (b. 1904)
    • 1976 – Firpo Marberry, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1898)
    • 1984 – Lillian Hellman, American author and playwright (b. 1905)
    • 1985 – Haruo Remeliik, Palauan politician, 1st President of Palau (b. 1933)
    • 1995 – Georgy Beregovoy, Ukrainian general and astronaut (b. 1921)
    • 1995 – Gale Gordon, American actor and voice artist (b. 1906)
    • 1996 – Lakis Petropoulos, Greek footballer and manager (b. 1932)
    • 2001 – Chet Atkins, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1924)
    • 2001 – Joe Henderson, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1937)
    • 2002 – Chico Xavier, Brazilian medium and author (b. 1910)
    • 2003 – Buddy Hackett, American actor and comedian (b. 1924)
    • 2003 – Robert McCloskey, American author and illustrator (b. 1915)
    • 2004 – Eddie Burns, Australian rugby league player (b. 1916)
    • 2007 – Sahib Singh Verma, Indian librarian and politician, 4th Chief Minister of Delhi (b. 1943)
    • 2009 – Pina Bausch, German dancer, choreographer, and director (b. 1940)
    • 2009 – Harve Presnell, American actor and singer (b. 1933)
    • 2012 – Michael Abney-Hastings, 14th Earl of Loudoun, English-Australian politician (b. 1942)
    • 2012 – Yitzhak Shamir, Israeli politician, 7th Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1915)
    • 2012 – Michael J. Ybarra, American journalist and author (b. 1966)
    • 2013 – Alan Campbell, Baron Campbell of Alloway, English lawyer and judge (b. 1917)
    • 2013 – Akpor Pius Ewherido, Nigerian politician (b. 1963)
    • 2013 – Kathryn Morrison, American educator and politician (b. 1942)
    • 2013 – Thompson Oliha, Nigerian footballer (b. 1968)
    • 2013 – Keith Seaman, Australian politician, 29th Governor of South Australia (b. 1920)
    • 2014 – Frank Cashen, American businessman (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – Paul Mazursky, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Željko Šturanović, Montenegrin lawyer and politician, 31st Prime Minister of Montenegro (b. 1960)
    • 2015 – Charles W. Bagnal, American general (b. 1934)
    • 2015 – Robert Dewar, English-American computer scientist and academic (b. 1945)
    • 2015 – Arthur Porter, Canadian physician and academic (b. 1956)
    • 2015 – Leonard Starr, American author and illustrator (b. 1925)
    • 2017 – Barry Norman, English television presenter (b. 1933)
    • 2017 – Simone Veil, French lawyer and politician (b. 1927)

    Holidays and observances on June 30

    • Christian feast day:
      • Martial
      • Theobald of Provins
      • First Martyrs of the Church of Rome
      • June 30 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Armed Forces Day (Guatemala)
    • Asteroid Day (International observance)
    • General Prayer Day (Central African Republic)
    • Independence Day (Democratic Republic of the Congo), celebrates the independence of Democratic Republic of the Congo from Belgium in 1960.
    • Navy Day (Israel)
    • Philippine–Spanish Friendship Day (Philippines)
    • Revolution Day (Sudan)
    • Teachers’ Day (Dominican Republic)