Events
★
1025 -
Bolesław I the Brave was crowned in
Gniezno, becoming the first
King of
Poland.
★
1506 - The
cornerstone of the current
St. Peter's Basilica is laid.
★
1518 -
Bona Sforza is crowned as
queen consort of
Poland.
★
1775 -
American Revolution: Two lanterns were hung in the steeple of the
Old North Church in
Boston,
Massachusetts, indicating
British advancement by sea;
Paul Revere,
William Dawes and
Samuel Prescott ride to warn of impending arrests of
Samuel Adams and
John Hancock.
★
1797 -
Battle of Neuwied -
French victory against the
Austrians.
★
1880 - A
F4 tornado strikes
Marshfield,
Missouri, killing 99 people and injuring 100.
★
1899 -
St. Andrew's Ambulance Association is granted a
Royal Charter by
Queen Victoria.
★
1906 - An
earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.9, destroys much of
San Francisco,
California.
★ 1906 - The ''
Los Angeles Times'' runs a front-page story on the
Azusa Street Revival, launching
Pentecostalism as a worldwide movement.
★
1915 -
French pilot
Roland Garros was shot down and glided to a landing on the
German side of the lines during
World War I.
★
1923 -
Yankee Stadium, "The House that
Ruth Built", opens.
★
1942 -
World War II: The
Doolittle Raid on
Tokyo occurs.
★ 1942 -
Pierre Laval becomes
Prime Minister of
Vichy France.
★
1942 - The Toronto Maple Leafs come back after a three game deficit to win the Stanley Cup against the Detroit Red Wings.
★
1943 -
World War II: "Operation Peacock",
Isoroku Yamamoto is
killed when his aircraft is shot down by U.S. fighters over the
Solomon Islands.
★
1946 - The
League of Nations is dissolved.
★
1947 - Over 1,000 bombers attack the small island of
Heligoland,
Germany, detonating 6800 tonnes of explosives, creating the biggest non-nuclear explosion in history, and changing the shape of the island.
★
1949 - The
Republic of Ireland Act comes into force.
★
1954 -
Gamal Abdal Nasser seizes power in
Egypt.
★
1958 - A
U.S. federal court rules that
poet Ezra Pound be released from an
insane asylum.
★
1961 -
CONCP is founded in
Casablanca as a united front of
African movements opposing
Portuguese colonial rule.
★
1974 -
Prime Minister of
Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto inaugurates
Lahore Dry port.
★ 1974 -
Italian prosecutor Mario Sossi is kidnapped by the
Red Brigades.
★
1980 - The
Republic of
Zimbabwe (formerly
Rhodesia) comes into being, with
Canaan Banana as the country's first
President.
★
1983 - A
suicide bomber destroys the United States embassy in
Beirut,
Lebanon, killing 63 people.
★
1988 -
U.S. launches
Operation Praying Mantis against
Iranian naval forces in retaliation for damage to the
USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58). The one-day action is the world's largest naval battle since
World War II.
★
1992 -
General Abdul Rashid Dostum revolted against
President Mohammad Najibullah of the
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and allied with
Ahmed Shah Massoud to capture
Kabul.
★
1993 -
President of Pakistan,
Ghulam Ishaq Khan dissolves the
National Assembly and dismisses Cabinet.
★
1994 -
Richard Nixon, former
President of the United States suffers a stroke and dies four days later.
★
1996 - In
Lebanon, at least 106
Lebanese civilians are killed when the
Israel Defense Forces shell the
UN compound at
Qana (see
Qana Massacre).
★
1999 - Hockey player
Wayne Gretzky's number (99) is retired league wide in the NHL.
★
2007 - The US
Supreme Court upheld the
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in a 5-4 decision.
★ 2007 - 32
Chinese steel workers are burnt to death in the
Qinghe Special Steel Corporation disaster.
Births
★
1480 -
Lucrezia Borgia, Florentine ruler and daughter of
Pope Alexander VI (d.
1519)
★
1580 -
Thomas Middleton, English dramatist (d.
1627)
★
1590 -
Ahmed I,
Ottoman Emperor (d.
1617)
★
1605 -
Giacomo Carissimi, Italian composer (d.
1674)
★
1771 -
Karl Philipp Fürst zu Schwarzenberg, Austrian field marshal (d.
1820)
★
1772 -
David Ricardo, English economist (d.
1823)
★
1797 -
Adolphe Thiers, French statesman (d.
1877)
★
1819 -
Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Cuban Revolutionary (d.
1874)
★
1819 -
Franz von Suppé, Austrian composer (d.
1895)
★
1838 -
Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, French scientist (d.
1912)
★
1857 -
Clarence Darrow, American attorney (d.
1938)
★
1863 -
Leopold Graf Berchtold, Austro-Hungarian foreign minister (d.
1942)
★
1864 -
Richard Harding Davis, American author (d.
1916)
★
1874 -
Oskar Ernst Bernhardt, German author (d.
1941)
★
1875 -
Ivana Brlic-Mazuranic, Croatian writer (d.
1938)
★
1880 -
Sam Crawford, baseball player (d.
1968)
★
1882 -
Leopold Stokowski, Polish conductor (d.
1977)
★
1888 -
Duffy Lewis, baseball player (d.
1979)
★
1893 -
Violette Morris, French athlete (d.
1944)
★
1897 -
Ardito Desio, Italian topographer (d.
2001)
★
1901 -
Al Lewis, American lyricist (d.
1967)
★
1902 -
Giuseppe Pella,
Prime Minister of Italy (d.
1981)
★ 1902 -
Menachem Mendel Schneerson,
Hasidic Judaism leader (d.
1994)
★
1904 -
Pigmeat Markham, American comedian (d.
1981)
★
1905 -
George H. Hitchings, American scientist,
Nobel laureate (d.
1998)
★
1907 -
Miklós Rózsa, Hungarian-born composer (d.
1995)
★
1915 -
Joy Gresham, American writer (d.
1960)
★
1917 -
Ty LaForest, Canadian baseball player (d.
1947)
★ 1917 -
Frederika of Hanover, Queen Consort of Greece (d.
1981)
★
1918 -
Cliff Hillegass, American publisher (d.
2001)
★ 1918 -
Tony Mottola, American guitarist (d.
2004)
★
1919 -
Virginia O'Brien, American singer and actress (d.
2001)
★
1921 –
Barbara Hale, American actress
★ 1921 -
Jean Richard, French actor (d.
2001)
★
1924 -
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, American musician (d.
2005)
★ 1924 -
Henry Hyde, American politician
★
1927 -
Samuel P. Huntington, American political scientist
★
1930 -
Clive Revill, New Zealand born actor
★
1936 -
Tommy Ivo, American race car driver
★
1937 -
Jan Kaplický, British architect of Czech origin
★
1939 -
Ali Khamenei, the
Supreme Leader of the
Islamic Republic of Iran
★ 1939 -
Thomas J. Moyer, American judge
★
1940 -
Joseph L. Goldstein, American scientist,
Nobel laureate
★ 1940 -
Mike Vickers, British guitarist and saxophonist (
Manfred Mann)
★
1942 -
Jochen Rindt, Austrian racing driver
★
1945 -
Margaret Hassan, Irish-born aid worker (d.
2004)
★
1946 -
Hayley Mills, English actress
★
1947 -
Kathy Acker, American author (d.
1997)
★ 1947 -
Dorothy Lyman, American actress
★ 1947 -
Herbert Mullin, American serial killer
★ 1947 -
Cindy Pickett, American actress
★ 1947 -
James Woods, American actor
★
1949 -
Geoff Bodine, American race car driver
★
1950 -
Kenny Ortega, American film and television producer and choreographer
★
1951 -
Ricardo Fortaleza, Australian-Filipino retired boxer
★ 1951 -
Pierre Pettigrew, Canadian politician
★
1953 -
Rick Moranis, Canadian comedian
★
1956 -
Anna Kathryn Holbrook, American actress
★ 1956 -
Eric Roberts, American actor
★ 1956 -
Melody Thomas Scott, American actress
★
1958 -
Malcolm Marshall, Barbadian
West Indies cricketer (d.
1999)
★
1961 -
Jane Leeves, British actress
★ 1961 -
Steve Lombardi, American professional wrestler
★
1963 -
Eric McCormack, Canadian actor
★ 1963 -
Conan O'Brien, American comedian
★
1964 -
Niall Ferguson, British historian
★ 1964 -
Rithy Panh, Cambodian film director
★
1964 -
Jim Ellison, Singer/Guitarist for the band Material Issue
★
1965 -
Rob Stenders, Dutch radio discjockey
★
1966 -
Trine Hattestad, Norwegian athlete
★ 1966 -
Valeri Kamensky, Russian ice hockey player
★
1967 -
Maria Bello, American actress
★
1968 -
Mary Birdsong, American actress
★ 1968 -
David Hewlett, English born Canadian actor
★
1969 -
Princess Sayako of Japan
★ 1969 -
Keith R.A. DeCandido, American author
★
1970 -
Greg Eklund, American musician (
Everclear)
★ 1970 -
Rico Brogna, American baseball player
★
1971 -
Tamara Braun, American actress
★ 1971 -
David Tennant, Scottish actor
★ 1971 -
Oleg Petrov, Russian ice hockey player
★
1972 -
Eli Roth, American film director
★
1973 -
Derrick Brooks, American football player
★ 1973 -
Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopian athlete
★ 1973 -
Brady Clark, American baseball player
★
1974 -
Mark Tremonti, American musician
★ 1974 -
Millie Corretjer, Puerto Rican singer
★ 1974 -
Edgar Wright, British director
★
1976 -
Melissa Joan Hart, American actress
★ 1976 -
Fayray, Japanese singer
★ 1976 -
Justin Ross, American politician
★
1977 -
Dan Lacouture, NHL hockey player
★
1979 -
Vahid Rahbani, Iranian actor and director
★ 1979 -
Michael Bradley, American basketball player
★ 1979 -
Anthony Davidson, British Formula One driver
★ 1979 -
Nuria Fergó, Spanish singer
★ 1979 -
Matthew Upson, English footballer
★
1980 -
Robyn Regehr, Canadian ice hockey player
★
1981 -
Audrey Tang,
Taiwanese software programmer
★
1983 -
Miguel Cabrera, Venezuelan baseball player
★
1984 -
America Ferrera, American actress
★
1985 -
Łukasz Fabiański, Polish footballer
★ 1985 -
Karl Reindler, Australian racing driver
★
1987 -
Danny Guthrie, English footballer
★ 1987 -
Sandra Lyng Haugen, Norwegian singer
★
1989 -
Alia Shawkat, American actress
★
2006 -
Suri Cruise, Daughter of
Tom Cruise and
Katie Holmes
★
2007 -
Hayah bint Hamzah, Princess of Jordan
★ 2007 -
Prince Lerotholi Seeiso, son of King
Letsie III of Lesotho
Deaths
★
1161 -
Theobald of Bec,
Archbishop of Canterbury
★
1552 -
John Leland, English antiquarian (b.
1502)
★
1556 -
Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet (b.
1495)
★
1567 -
Wilhelm von Grumbach, German adventurer (b.
1503)
★
1558 -
Roxelana, wife of
Suleiman the Magnificent
★
1636 -
Julius Caesar, English judge
★
1650 -
Simonds d'Ewes, English antiquarian (b.
1602)
★
1674 -
John Graunt, English statistician (b.
1620)
★
1689 -
George Jeffreys, British Chief Justice (b.
1648)
★
1732 -
Louis Feuillée, French explorer (b.
1660)
★
1794 -
Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b.
1714)
★
1796 -
Johan Wilcke, Swedish physicist (b.
1732)
★
1802 -
Erasmus Darwin, English physician and botanist (b.
1731)
★
1873 -
Justus von Liebig, German chemist (b.
1803)
★
1898 -
Gustave Moreau, French painter (b.
1826)
★
1906 -
Luis Martín, Spanish Superior-General of the Society of Jesus (b.
1846)
★
1917 -
Vladimir Serbsky, Russian psychiatrist (b.
1858)
★
1935 -
Panait Istrati, Romanian writer (b.
1884)
★
1936 -
Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer (b.
1879)
★
1942 -
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, American socalite (b.
1875)
★
1943 -
Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese admiral. (b.
1884)
★
1945 -
John Ambrose Fleming, English physicist and engineer (b.
1849)
★ 1945 -
Ernie Pyle, American journalist (b.
1900)
★
1947 -
Josef Tiso, Slovakian leader (b.
1887)
★
1955 -
Albert Einstein,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1879)
★
1958 -
Maurice Gamelin, French general (b.
1872)
★
1964 -
Ben Hecht, American writer (b.
1894)
★
1965 -
Guillermo González Camarena, Mexican inventor (b.
1917)
★
1967 -
Karl Miller, German footballer (b.
1913)
★
1974 -
Marcel Pagnol, French novelist, playwright and filmmaker (b.
1895)
★
1976 -
Mahmoud Younis,
Suez Canal nationalization Engineer (b.
1911)
★
1990 -
Gory Guerrero, professional wrestler (b.
1921)
★
1993 -
Masahiko Kimura, Japanese judoka (b.
1917)
★
1995 -
Arturo Frondizi, President of
Argentina (b.
1908)
★ 1996 -
Brook Berringer, American football player (b.
1973)
★ 1996 -
Bernard Edwards, American record producer (b.
1952)
★
1998 -
Terry Sanford, American politician (b.
1917)
★
2002 -
Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian explorer (b.
1914)
★ 2002 -
Wahoo McDaniel, American football player and professional wrestler (b.
1938)
★
2003 -
Edgar F. Codd, English computer scientist (b.
1923)
★
2004 -
Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, first
Prime Minister of Fiji and
President of Fiji (b.
1920)
★
2005 -
Sam Mills, American football player (b.
1959)
★
2007 -
Iccho Itoh, mayor of
Nagasaki (b.
1945)
Holidays and observances
★
Iran - Army Day
★
Zimbabwe –
Independence Day.
★
United States - National
Day of Silence (
2007)
Liturgical feasts
In the
Roman Catholic Church:
★
Saint Apollonius (d. 185/6)
★
Saint Galdino (d.
1176)
★
Saint Perfecto (d.
850)
★
Saint Laserian
★
Saint Emma
External links
★
BBC: On This Day
★
★
On This Day in Canada
----