Events Pre-1600 1185 – The Uprising of Asen and Peter begins on the feast day of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki and ends with the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire. 1341 – The Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 formally begins with the proclamation of John VI Kantakouzenos as Byzantine Emperor. 1377 – Tvrtko I is crowned the first king of Bosnia. 1520 – Charles V is crowned as Holy Roman Emperor. 1597 – Imjin War: Korean Admiral Yi Sun-sin routs the Japanese Navy of 300 ships with only 13 ships at the Battle of Myeongnyang.
1601–1900 1640 – The Treaty of Ripon is signed, restoring peace between Covenanter Scotland and King Charles I of England. 1689 – General Enea Silvio Piccolomini of Austria burns down Skopje to prevent the spread of cholera; he dies of the disease soon afterwards. 1774 – American Revolution: The First Continental Congress adjourns in Philadelphia. 1813 – War of 1812: A combined force of British regulars, Canadian militia and Mohawks defeat the United States Army in the Battle of the Chateauguay. 1825 – The Erie Canal opens, allowing direct passage from the Hudson River to Lake Erie. 1859 – The Royal Charter Storm kills at least eight hundred people in the British Isles. 1860 – Unification of Italy: The Expedition of the Thousand ends when Giuseppe Garibaldi presents his conquests to King Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia. 1863 – The Football Association is founded. 1871 – Liberian President Edward James Roye is deposed in a coup d'état. 1881 – Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday participate in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. From Turner, Alford (Ed.), The O.K. Corral Inquest (1992) 1890 – Malleco Viaduct in Chile, at the time "the highest railroad bridge in the world", is inaugurated by President José Manuel Balmaceda. 1892 – Ida B. Wells publishes Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases.
1901–present 1905 – King Oscar II recognizes the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden. 1909 – Japanese occupation of Korea: An Jung-geun assassinates Japan's Resident-General of Korea. 1912 – First Balkan War: The Ottomans lose the cities of Thessaloniki and Skopje. 1917 – World War I: Brazil declares war on the Central Powers. 1918 – World War I: Erich Ludendorff, quartermaster-general of the Imperial German Army, is dismissed by Kaiser Wilhelm II for refusing to cooperate in peace negotiations. 1936 – The first electric generator at Hoover Dam goes into full operation. 1937 – Nazi Germany begins expulsions of 18,000 Polish Jews. 1942 – World War II: In the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands during the Guadalcanal Campaign, one U.S. aircraft carrier is sunk and another carrier is heavily damaged, while two Japanese carriers and one cruiser are heavily damaged. 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Leyte Gulf ends with an overwhelming American victory. 1947 – Partition of India: The Maharaja of Kashmir and Jammu signs the Instrument of Accession with India, beginning the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948 and the Kashmir conflict. 1955 – After the last Allied troops have left the country, and following the provisions of the Austrian Independence Treaty, Austria declares that it will never join a military alliance. 1955 – Ngô Đình Diệm proclaims himself as President of the newly created Republic of Vietnam. 1956 – Hungarian Revolution: In the towns of Mosonmagyaróvár and Esztergom, Hungarian secret police forces massacre civilians. As rebel strongholds in Budapest hold, fighting spreads throughout the country. 1958 – Pan American Airways makes the first commercial flight of the Boeing 707 from New York City to Paris. 1967 – Mohammad Reza Pahlavi crowns himself Emperor of Iran. 1968 – Space Race: The Soyuz 3 mission achieves the first Soviet space rendezvous. 1977 – Ali Maow Maalin, the last natural case of smallpox, develops a rash in Somalia. The WHO and the CDC consider this date to be the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most spectacular success of vaccination. 1979 – Park Chung Hee, President of South Korea, is assassinated by Korean CIA head Kim Jae-gyu. 1985 – The Australian government returns ownership of Uluru to the local Pitjantjatjara Aboriginals. 1989 – China Airlines Flight 204 crashes after takeoff from Hualien Airport in Taiwan, killing all 54 people on board. 1991 – Three months after the end of the Ten-Day War, the last soldier of the Yugoslav People's Army leaves the territory of the Republic of Slovenia. 1994 – Jordan and Israel sign a peace treaty. 1995 – Mossad agents assassinate Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Fathi Shaqaqi in his hotel in Malta. 1995 – An avalanche hits the Icelandic village of Flateyri, destroying 29 homes and burying 45 people, and killing 20. 1999 – The United Kingdom's House of Lords votes to end the right of most hereditary peers to vote in Britain's upper chamber of Parliament. 2000 – A wave of protests forces Robert Guéï to step down as president after the Ivorian presidential election. 2001 – The United States passes the USA PATRIOT Act into law. 2002 – Approximately 50 Chechen terrorists and 150 hostages die when Russian special forces troops storm a theater building in Moscow, which had been occupied by the terrorists during a musical performance three days before. 2003 – The Cedar Fire, the third-largest wildfire in California history, kills 15 people, consumes , and destroys 2,200 homes around San Diego. 2004 – Rockstar Games releases Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for the PlayStation 2 in North America, which sold 12 million units for the PS2, becoming the console's best-selling video game. 2012 – Microsoft made a public release of Windows 8 and made it available on new PCs. 2015 – A 7.5 magnitude earthquake strikes in the Hindu Kush mountain range in South Asia, killing 399 people and leaving 2,536 people injured.
Births Pre-1600 1416 – Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent, English politician, Lord High Treasurer (died 1490) 1427 – Sigismund, Archduke of Austria (died 1496) 1431 – Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, Italian politician (died 1505) 1473 – Friedrich of Saxony, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights (died 1510) 1483 – Hans Buchner, German Renaissance composer (died 1538) 1491 – Zhengde Emperor of China (died 1521) 1518 – John Basset, Devonshire gentleman (died 1541) 1529 – Anna of Hesse, princess of Hesse (died 1591) 1551 – Charlotte de Sauve, French courtesan (died 1617) 1556 – Ahmad Baba al Massufi, Malian academic (died 1627) 1564 – Hans Leo Hassler, German organist and composer (died 1612)
1601–1900 1609 – William Sprague, English-American settler, co-founded Charlestown, Massachusetts (died 1675) 1612 – Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester (died 1658) 1673 – Dimitrie Cantemir, Moldavian geographer, historian, and philosopher (died 1723) 1684 – Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin, Prussian field marshal (died 1757) 1685 – Domenico Scarlatti, Italian harpsichord player and composer (died 1757) 1694 – Johan Helmich Roman, Swedish composer and academic (died 1758) 1747 – Ivan Mane Jarnović, Italian violinist and composer (died 1804) 1757 – Karl Leonhard Reinhold, Austrian philosopher and academic (died 1823) 1759 – Georges Danton, French lawyer and politician, French Minister of Justice (died 1794) 1768 – Eustachy Erazm Sanguszko, Polish general and politician (died 1844) 1794 – Konstantin Thon, Russian architect, designed the Grand Kremlin Palace and the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (died 1881) 1795 – Nikolaos Mantzaros, Greek composer and theorist (died 1872) 1797 – Giuditta Pasta, Italian soprano (died 1865) 1799 – Margaret Agnes Bunn, Scottish actress (died 1883) 1800 – Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, Prussian field marshal (died 1891) 1802 – Miguel I of Portugal (died 1866) 1803 – Joseph Hansom, English architect and publisher, designed Birmingham Town Hall (died 1882) 1842 – Vasily Vereshchagin, Russian soldier and painter (died 1904) 1849 – Ferdinand Georg Frobenius, German mathematician and academic (died 1917) 1850 – Grigore Tocilescu, Romanian archaeologist and historian (died 1909) 1854 – C. W. Post, American businessman, founded Post Foods (died 1914) 1860 – Frank Eaton, American marshal and author (died 1958) 1865 – Benjamin Guggenheim, American businessman (died 1912) 1869 – Washington Luís, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 13th President of Brazil (died 1957) 1871 – Guillermo Kahlo, German-Mexican photographer (died 1941) 1873 – A. K. Fazlul Huq, Bangladeshi-Pakistani lawyer and politician, 5th Pakistani Minister of Interior (died 1962) 1873 – Thorvald Stauning, Danish union leader and politician, 24th Prime Minister of Denmark (died 1942) 1874 – Martin Lowry, English chemist and academic (died 1936) 1874 – Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, American philanthropist, founded the Museum of Modern Art (died 1948) 1876 – H.B. Warner, English actor (died 1958) 1878 – William Kissam Vanderbilt II, American motor racing enthusiast and yachtsman (died 1944) 1880 – Andrei Bely, Russian novelist, poet, and critic (died 1934) 1881 – Louis Bastien, French cyclist and fencer (died 1963) 1883 – Napoleon Hill, American philosopher and author (died 1970) 1883 – Paul Pilgrim, American runner (died 1958) 1884 – William Hogenson, American sprinter (died 1965) 1888 – Runar Schildt, Finnish author (died 1925) 1890 – Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, Indian journalist and politician (died 1931) 1893 – Miloš Crnjanski, Serbian poet and author (died 1977) 1894 – Florence Nagle, English trainer and breeder of racehorses (died 1988) 1899 – Judy Johnson, American baseball player and coach (died 1989) 1900 – Ibrahim Abboud, Sudanese politician and general, 1st President of Sudan (died 1983) 1900 – Karin Boye, Swedish poet and novelist (died 1941)
1901–present 1902 – Beryl Markham, Kenyan horse trainer and author (died 1986) 1902 – Jack Sharkey, American boxer and referee (died 1994) 1902 – Henrietta Hill Swope, American astronomer and academic (died 1980) 1903 – Mahn Ba Khaing, Burmese politician (died 1947) 1905 – George Bernard Flahiff, Canadian cardinal (died 1989) 1906 – Primo Carnera, Italian boxer and actor (died 1967) 1909 – Ignace Lepp, French psychologist and author (died 1966) 1909 – Dante Quinterno, Argentinian author and illustrator (died 2003) 1910 – John Krol, American cardinal (died 1996) 1911 – Sid Gillman, American football player and coach (died 2003) 1911 – Mahalia Jackson, American singer (died 1972) 1911 – Sorley MacLean, Scottish poet and educator (died 1996) 1912 – Don Siegel, American director and producer (died 1991) 1913 – Charlie Barnet, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (died 1991) 1914 – Jackie Coogan, American actor and director (died 1984) 1915 – Ray Crawford, American race car driver, fighter ace, test pilot, and businessman (died 1996) 1915 – Joe Fry, English race car driver (died 1950) 1916 – François Mitterrand, French lawyer and politician, 21st President of France (died 1996) 1916 – Boyd Wagner, American colonel and pilot (died 1942) 1919 – Princess Ashraf of Iran (died 2016) 1919 – Frank Bourgholtzer, American journalist (died 2010) 1919 – Edward Brooke, American captain and politician, 47th Massachusetts Attorney General (died 2015) 1919 – Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran (died 1980) 1920 – Sarah Lee Lippincott, American astronomer and academic (died 2019) 1921 – Joe Fulks, American basketball player (died 1976) 1922 – Madelyn Dunham, American grandmother of Barack Obama (died 2008) 1922 – Fred Wood, English actor (died 2003) 1923 – Robert Hinde, English zoologist and academic (died 2016) 1924 – Shaw Taylor, English actor and television host (died 2015) 1925 – Jan Wolkers, Dutch sculptor, painter, and author (died 2007) 1926 – Panos Gavalas, Greek singer (died 1988) 1927 – Warne Marsh, American saxophonist (died 1987) 1928 – Francisco Solano López, Argentinian illustrator (died 2011) 1929 – Neal Matthews Jr., American country/gospel singer (died 2000) 1931 – Suhaila Noah, Spouse of the Prime Minister of Malaysia (died 2014)