Events Pre-1600 1568 – The Spanish Duke of Alba defeats a Dutch rebel force under William the Silent. 1572 – Eighty Years' War: Three thousand Spanish soldiers wade through fifteen miles of water in one night to effect the relief of Goes.
1601–1900 1740 – France, Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony refuse to honour the Pragmatic Sanction, and the War of the Austrian Succession begins. 1774 – American Revolution: The Continental Association, a nonconsumption and nonimportation agreement against the British Isles and the British West Indies, is adopted by the First Continental Congress. 1781 – The Patent of Toleration, providing limited freedom of worship, is approved in Austria. 1803 – The United States Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase. 1818 – The Convention of 1818 is signed between the United States and the United Kingdom, which settles the Canada–United States border on the 49th parallel for most of its length. 1827 – Greek War of Independence: In the Battle of Navarino, a combined Turkish and Egyptian fleet is defeated by British, French and Russian naval forces in the last significant battle fought with wooden sailing ships. 1883 – Peru and Chile sign the Treaty of Ancón, by which the Tarapacá province is ceded to the latter, bringing an end to Peru's involvement in the War of the Pacific.
1901–present 1904 – Chile and Bolivia sign the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, delimiting the border between the two countries. 1910 – British ocean liner RMS Olympic is launched. 1935 – The Long March, a mammoth retreat undertaken by the armed forces of the Chinese Communist Party a year prior, ends. 1941 – World War II: Thousands of civilians in German-occupied Serbia are murdered in the Kragujevac massacre. 1944 – World War II: The Soviet Red Army and Yugoslav Partisans liberate Belgrade. 1944 – Liquefied natural gas leaks from storage tanks in Cleveland and then explodes, leveling 30 blocks and killing 130 people. 1944 – World War II: American general Douglas MacArthur fulfills his promise to return to the Philippines when he comes ashore during the Battle of Leyte. 1947 – Cold War: The House Un-American Activities Committee begins its investigation into Communist infiltration of the Hollywood film industry, resulting in a blacklist that prevents some from working in the industry for years. 1948 – A KLM Lockheed L-049 Constellation crashes on approach to Glasgow Prestwick Airport, killing 40. 1951 – The "Johnny Bright incident" occurs during a football game between the Drake Bulldogs and Oklahoma A&M Aggies. 1952 – The Governor of Kenya Evelyn Baring declares a state of emergency and begins arresting hundreds of suspected leaders of the Mau Mau Uprising. 1961 – The Soviet Navy performs the first armed test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, launching an R-13 from a Golf-class submarine. 1962 – China launches simultaneous offensives in Ladakh and across the McMahon Line, igniting the Sino-Indian War. 1973 – Watergate scandal: "Saturday Night Massacre": United States President Richard Nixon fires U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus after they refuse to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who is finally fired by Solicitor General Robert Bork. 1973 – The Sydney Opera House is opened by Elizabeth II after 14 years of construction. 1976 – The Luling–Destrehan Ferry MV George Prince is struck by the Norwegian freighter SS Frosta while crossing the Mississippi River in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana. Seventy-eight passengers and crew die, and only 18 people aboard the ferry survive. 1977 – A plane carrying the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd crashes in woodland in Mississippi, United States. Six people, including three band members, are killed. 1981 – Two police officers and a Brink's armored car guard are killed during an armed robbery carried out by members of the Black Liberation Army and Weather Underground in Nanuet, New York. 1982 – During the UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem, 66 people are crushed to death in the Luzhniki disaster. 1986 – Aeroflot Flight 6502 crashes while landing at Kuibyshev Airport (now Kuromoch International Airport) in Kuibyshev (now present-day Samara, Russia), killing 70 people. 1991 – A 6.8 Mw earthquake strikes the Uttarkashi region of India, killing more than 1,000 people. 1991 – A massive firestorm breaks out in the hills of Oakland and Berkeley, California killing 25 people and destroying more than 3,000 homes, apartments and condominiums. 1995 – Space Shuttle Columbia launches on STS-73. 2002 – Top Gear, the revived popular British TV motoring magazine, premieres on BBC. 2003 – The Sloan Great Wall, once the largest cosmic structures known to humanity, is discovered by students at Princeton University. 2005 – The general conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) passes the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. 2011 – Libyan Crisis: Rebel forces capture Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and his son Mutassim in his hometown of Sirte and kill them shortly thereafter, ending the first Libyan civil war. 2017 – Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) declare victory in the Raqqa campaign. 2022 – Liz Truss steps down as British Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party amid the country's political crisis, serving for the least time of any British Prime Minister (49 days).
Births
Pre-1600 888 – Zhu Youzhen, emperor of Later Liang (died 923) 1475 – Giovanni di Bernardo Rucellai, Italian poet and playwright (died 1525) 1496 – Claude, Duke of Guise (died 1550) 1554 – Bálint Balassi, Hungarian writer and noble (died 1594)
1601–1900 1612 – Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Burlington, Anglo-Irish nobleman, Lord High Treasurer of Ireland, Cavalier (died 1698) 1616 – Thomas Bartholin, Danish physician, mathematician, and theologian (died 1680) 1620 – Aelbert Cuyp, Dutch painter (died 1691) 1632 – Edward Hungerford, English politician (died 1711) 1660 – Robert Bertie, 1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, English politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (died 1723) 1677 – Stanisław Leszczyński, King of Poland (died 1766) 1679 – Samuel von Cocceji, Prussian jurist and statesman (died 1755) 1711 – Timothy Ruggles, American lawyer, jurist, and politician, (died 1795) 1718 – Catherine Gordon, Duchess of Gordon, Scottish aristocrat (died 1779)George Naylor, The Register's of Thorrington (n.n.: n.n., 1888). Hereinafter cited as Registers of Thorrington. 1719 – Gottfried Achenwall, German historian, economist, and jurist (died 1772) 1740 – Isabelle de Charrière, Dutch author and poet (died 1805) 1759 – Chauncey Goodrich, American lawyer and politician, 8th Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut (died 1815) 1780 – Pauline Bonaparte, French sister of Napoleon (died 1825) 1784 – Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1865) 1785 – George Ormerod, English historian and author (died 1873) 1790 – Patrick Matthew. Scottish farmer and biologist (died 1874) 1801 – Melchior Berri, Swiss architect and educator, designed the Natural History Museum of Basel (died 1854) 1808 – Karl Andree, German geographer and journalist (died 1875) 1819 – Báb, Iranian religious leader, founded Bábism (died 1850) 1822 – Thomas Hughes, English lawyer and judge (died 1896) 1832 – Constantin Lipsius, German architect and theorist (died 1894) 1847 – Frits Thaulow, Norwegian painter (died 1906) 1854 – Arthur Rimbaud, French soldier and poet (died 1891) 1858 – John Burns, English union leader and politician, President of the Board of Trade (died 1943) 1859 – John Dewey, American psychologist and philosopher (died 1952) 1864 – James F. Hinkle, American banker and politician, 6th Governor of New Mexico (died 1951) 1871 – Atul Prasad Sen, Indian songwriter (died 1934) 1873 – Nellie McClung, Canadian author and suffragist (died 1951) 1873 – Jussi Merinen, Finnish politician (died 1918) 1874 – Charles Ives, American composer (died 1954) 1877 – Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, American businessman (died 1915) 1879 – Hajime Kawakami, Japanese economist (died 1946) 1882 – Margaret Dumont, American actress (died 1965) 1882 – Bela Lugosi, Hungarian-American actor (died 1956) 1883 – Karl Probst, American engineer (died 1963) 1887 – Prince Yasuhiko Asaka of Japan (died 1981) 1889 – Johann Gruber, Austrian priest and saint (died 1944) 1889 – Luo Yixiu, first wife of Mao Zedong (died 1910) 1890 – Aleksander Maaker, Estonian bagpipe player (died 1968) 1891 – Samuel Flagg Bemis, American historian and author (died 1973) 1891 – James Chadwick, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1974) 1893 – Charley Chase, American actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1940) 1894 – Olive Thomas, American model and actress (died 1920) 1895 – Rex Ingram, American actor (died 1969) 1895 – Morrie Ryskind, American writer/director (died 1985) 1897 – Yi Un, South Korean general (died 1970) 1900 – Ismail al-Azhari, Sudanese politician, 3rd President of Sudan (died 1969) 1900 – Wayne Morse, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (died 1974)
1901–present 1901 – Frank Churchill, American film composer (died 1942) 1901 – Adelaide Hall, American-English singer, actress, and dancer (died 1993) 1904 – Tommy Douglas, Scottish-Canadian minister and politician, 7th Premier of Saskatchewan (died 1986) 1904 – Enolia McMillan, American educator and activist (died 2006) 1904 – Anna Neagle, English actress, singer, and producer (died 1986) 1907 – Arlene Francis, American actress and television personality (died 2001) 1908 – Stuart Hamblen, American singer-songwriter, actor, and radio show host (died 1989) 1909 – Carla Laemmle, American actress and photographer (died 2014) 1909 – Yasushi Sugiyama, Japanese painter (died 1993) 1910 – Chen Liting, Chinese director and playwright (died 2013) 1912 – Ruhi Su, Turkish singer-songwriter (died 1985) 1913 – Grandpa Jones, American singer-songwriter and banjo player (died 1998) 1914 – Fayard Nicholas, American actor, dancer, and choreographer (died 2006) 1917 – Stéphane Hessel, German-French activist and diplomat (died 2013) 1917 – Ants Kaljurand, Estonian anti-communist, freedom fighter and forest brother (died 1951)Hirmus Ants – Metsavennad.esm.ee (in Estonian) 1917 – Jean-Pierre Melville, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1973) 1918 – Martin Drewes, German soldier and pilot (died 2013) 1918 – Robert Lochner, American-German soldier and journalist (died 2003) 1919 – Tracy Hall, American chemist and academic (died 2008) 1920 – Nick Cardy, American illustrator (died 2013) 1920 – Fanny de Sivers, Estonian-French linguist and academic (died 2011) 1920 – Akhil Bandhu Ghosh, Indian singer (died 1988) 1920 – Janet Jagan, 6th President of Guyana (died 2009) 1920 – Siddhartha Shankar Ray, Indian lawyer and politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal (died 2010) 1921 – Manny Ayulo, American race car driver (died 1955) 1921 – Hans Warren, Dutch poet and author (died 2001) 1922 – John Anderson, American actor (died 1992) 1922 – Franco Ventriglia, American opera singer (died 2012) 1923 – Robert Craft, American conductor and musicologist (died 2015) 1923 – Otfried Preußler, German author (died 2013) 1924 – Robert Peters, American poet, playwright, and critic (died 2014) 1925 – András Bíró, Hungarian journalist and human rights activist (died 2024) 1925 – Art Buchwald, American soldier and journalist (died 2007) 1925 – Tom Dowd, American record producer and engineer (died 2002) 1925 – Roger Hanin, Algerian-French actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2015) 1925 – Hiromu Nonaka, Japanese politician (died 2018) 1926 – Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu, English lieutenant and politician, founded the National Motor Museum (died 2015)