Events Pre-1600 681 – Pope Honorius I is posthumously excommunicated by the Sixth Ecumenical Council. 1400 – Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers. 1410 – Ferdinand of Trastámara takes Antequera from the emirate of Granada.
1601–1900 1620 – Pilgrims set sail for Virginia from Plymouth, England in the Mayflower. 1701 – James Francis Edward Stuart, sometimes called the "Old Pretender", becomes the Jacobite claimant to the thrones of England and Scotland on the death of his father, James II. 1732 – In Campo Maior, Portugal, a storm hits the Armory and a violent explosion ensues, killing two-thirds of its inhabitants. 1776 – American Revolutionary War: American forces win the Battle of Harlem Heights after General George Washington orders a counterattack on advancing British light infantry. 1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Franco-American Siege of Savannah begins. 1810 – With the Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo begins Mexico's fight for independence from Spain. 1822 – French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel, in a "note" read to the Academy of Sciences, reports a direct refraction experiment verifying David Brewster's hypothesis that photoelasticity (as it is now known) is stress-induced birefringence.A. Fresnel, "Note sur la double réfraction du verre comprimé" (read 16 September 1822), Annales de Chimie et de Physique, Ser. 2, vol. 20, pp. 376–83 (nominally for August 1822); reprinted in H. de Senarmont, E. Verdet, and L. Fresnel (eds.), Oeuvres complètes d'Augustin Fresnel, vol. 1 (1866), pp. 713–18; translated as "Note on the double refraction of compressed glass", , 2021 (open access). 1863 – Robert College, in Istanbul, the first American educational institution outside the United States, is founded by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist. 1880 – The Cornell Daily Sun prints its first issue in Ithaca, New York. 1893 – Settlers make a land run for prime land in the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma.
1901–present 1908 – The General Motors Corporation is founded. 1914 – World War I: The Siege of Przemyśl (present-day Poland) begins. 1920 – The Wall Street bombing: A bomb in a horse wagon explodes in front of the J. P. Morgan building in New York City killing 38 and injuring 400. 1940 – World War II: Italian troops conquer Sidi Barrani. 1943 – World War II: The German Tenth Army reports that it can no longer contain the Allied bridgehead around Salerno. 1945 – World War II: The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong comes to an end. 1953 – American Airlines Flight 723 crashes in Colonie, New York, killing 28 people. 1955 – The military coup to unseat President Juan Perón of Argentina is launched at midnight. 1955 – A Soviet Zulu-class submarine becomes the first to launch a ballistic missile. 1956 – TCN-9 Sydney is the first Australian television station to commence regular broadcasts. 1959 – The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, is introduced in a demonstration on live television from New York City. 1961 – The United States National Hurricane Research Project drops eight cylinders of silver iodide into the eyewall of Hurricane Esther. Wind speed reduces by 10%, giving rise to Project Stormfury. 1961 – Typhoon Nancy, with possibly the strongest winds ever measured in a tropical cyclone, makes landfall in Osaka, Japan, killing 173 people. 1961 – Pakistan establishes its Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission with Abdus Salam as its head. 1963 – Malaysia is formed from the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak. However, Singapore is soon expelled from this new country. 1966 – The Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City with the world premiere of Samuel Barber's opera Antony and Cleopatra. 1970 – King Hussein of Jordan declares war against the Palestine Liberation Organization, the conflict came to be known as Black September. 1975 – Papua New Guinea gains independence from Australia. 1975 – Cape Verde, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe join the United Nations. 1975 – The first prototype of the Mikoyan MiG-31 interceptor makes its maiden flight. 1976 – Armenian champion swimmer Shavarsh Karapetyan saves 20 people from a trolleybus that had fallen into a Yerevan reservoir. 1976 – Night of the Pencils: In the city of La Plata, Argentina, a group of high-school students were kidnapped and later tortured, raped and murdered during the Argentinian military dictatorship 1978 – The 7.4 Tabas earthquake affects the city of Tabas, Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). At least 15,000 people are killed. 1979 – Eight people escape from East Germany to the west in a homemade hot air balloon. 1979 – The Sugarhill Gang released their first single, Rapper's Delight. 1982 – Lebanon War: The Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon takes place. 1987 – The Montreal Protocol is signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion. 1990 – The railroad between the People's Republic of China and Kazakhstan is completed at Dostyk, adding a sizable link to the concept of the Eurasian Land Bridge. 1992 – The trial of the deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega ends in the United States with a 40-year sentence for drug trafficking and money laundering. 1992 – Black Wednesday: The British pound is forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism by currency speculators and is forced to devalue against the German mark. 1994 – The British government lifts the broadcasting ban imposed against members of Sinn Féin and Irish paramilitary groups in 1988. 1996 – Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-79 to dock with the Russian space station Mir. 2004 – Hurricane Ivan makes landfall in Gulf Shores, Alabama as a Category 3 hurricane. 2005 – The Camorra organized crime boss Paolo Di Lauro is arrested in Naples, Italy. 2007 – One-Two-Go Airlines Flight 269 carrying 130 crew and passengers crashes in Thailand, killing 90 people. 2007 – Security guards working for Blackwater Worldwide shoot and kill 17 Iraqis in Nisour Square, Baghdad. 2013 – A gunman kills twelve people at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. 2014 – The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant launches its Kobani offensive against Syrian–Kurdish forces. 2015 – A 8.3 earthquake strikes the Chilean city of Illapel, killing 15 people, injuring at least 34, leaving at least six missing, and causing extensive damage. One person also dies in Argentina. 2021 – A 6.0 earthquake strikes Lu County, Sichuan, China, killing three and injuring more than 88. 2021 – Inspiration4, the first private orbital crewed spaceflight, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center. 2022 – During the Let Yet Kone massacre, the Burmese military kills 13 villagers, including eight children, after attacking a school in Sagaing Region, Myanmar. 2022 – The death of Mahsa Amini occurred in Tehran, Iran, sparking worldwide protests.
Births Pre-1600 AD 16 – Julia Drusilla, Roman daughter of Germanicus (died 38) 508 – Yuan Di, emperor of the Liang dynasty (died 555) 1295 – Elizabeth de Clare, English noblewoman (died 1360) 1386 – Henry V of England (died 1422) 1462 – Pietro Pomponazzi, Italian philosopher (died 1525) 1507 – Jiajing Emperor of China (died 1567) 1541 – Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, English nobleman (died 1576) 1557 – Jacques Mauduit, French composer (died 1627)
1601–1900 1615 – Heinrich Bach, German organist and composer (died 1692) 1625 – Gregorio Barbarigo, Roman Catholic saint (died 1697) 1651 – Engelbert Kaempfer, German physician and botanist (died 1716) 1666 – Antoine Parent, French mathematician and theorist (died 1716) 1678 – Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, English philosopher and politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (died 1751) 1716 – Angelo Maria Amorevoli, Italian tenor and actor (died 1798) 1722 – Gabriel Christie, Scottish-Canadian general (died 1799) 1725 – Nicolas Desmarest, French geologist, zoologist, and author (died 1815) 1745 – Mikhail Kutuzov, Russian field marshal (died 1813) 1777 – Nathan Mayer Rothschild, German-English banker and financier (died 1836) 1782 – Daoguang Emperor of China (died 1850) 1812 – Anna Louisa Geertruida Bosboom-Toussaint, Dutch novelist (died 1886) 1822 – Charles Crocker, American businessman (died 1888) 1823 – Francis Parkman, American historian and author (died 1893) 1823 – Ludwik Teichmann, Polish anatomist (died 1895) 1827 – Jean Albert Gaudry, French geologist and paleontologist (died 1908) 1828 – Per Pålsson, Swedish murderer (died 1914) 1830 – Patrick Francis Moran, Irish-Australian cardinal (died 1911) 1837 – Pedro V of Portugal (died 1861) 1838 – James J. Hill, Canadian-American railroad executive (died 1916) 1844 – Paul Taffanel, French flute player and conductor (died 1908) 1846 – Anna Kingsford, English author, poet, and activist (died 1888) 1853 – Albrecht Kossel, German physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1927) 1858 – Edward Marshall Hall, English lawyer and politician (died 1927) 1858 – Bonar Law, Canadian-Scottish banker and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1923) 1859 – Yuan Shikai, Chinese general and politician, President of the Republic of China (died 1916) 1861 – Miriam Benjamin, African-American educator and inventor (died 1947) 1866 – Georg Voigt, German lawyer and politician, Mayor of Marburg (died 1927) 1870 – John Pius Boland, Irish tennis player and politician (died 1958) 1875 – James Cash Penney, American businessman and philanthropist, founded J. C. Penney (died 1971) 1876 – Marvin Hart, American boxer (died 1931) 1877 – Jacob Schick, American-Canadian inventor and businessman, founded Schick Razors (died 1937) 1878 – Karl Albiker, German sculptor, lithographer, and educator (died 1961) 1880 – Clara Ayres, American nurse (died 1917) 1880 – Alfred Noyes, English author, poet, and playwright (died 1958) 1881 – Clive Bell, English philosopher and critic (died 1964) 1883 – T. E. Hulme, English poet and critic (died 1917) 1886 – Jean Arp, Alsatian sculptor and painter (died 1966) 1887 – Nadia Boulanger, French composer and educator (died 1979) 1888 – W. O. Bentley, English race car driver and engineer, founded Bentley Motors Limited (died 1971) 1888 – Frans Eemil Sillanpää, Finnish author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1964) 1890 – Avigdor Hameiri, Israeli author (died 1970) 1891 – Karl Dönitz, German admiral and politician, President of Germany (died 1980) 1891 – Stephanie von Hohenlohe, Austrian-German spy (died 1972) 1893 – Alexander Korda, Hungarian-English director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1956) 1893 – Albert Szent-Györgyi, Hungarian-American physiologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1986) 1895 – Zainal Abidin Ahmad, Malaysian author and scholar (died 1973) 1897 – Milt Franklyn, American composer (died 1962) 1898 – H. A. Rey, American author and illustrator, co-created Curious George (died 1977) 1899 – Hans Swarowsky, Hungarian-Austrian conductor and educator (died 1975)
1901–present 1901 – Josef Schächter, Austrian rabbi and philosopher from the Vienna Circle (died 1994) 1905 – Vladimír Holan, Czech poet and author (died 1980) 1906 – Jack Churchill, Sri Lankan-British colonel (died 1996) 1910 – Erich Kempka, German colonel and chauffeur (died 1975) 1910 – Karl Kling, German race car driver and manager (died 2003) 1911 – Wilfred Burchett, Australian journalist and author (died 1983) 1911 – Paul Henning, American screenwriter and producer (died 2005) 1914 – Allen Funt, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1999) 1915 – Cy Walter, American pianist (died 1968) 1916 – Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw, Caribbean politician, 1st Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis (died 1978) 1916 – Frank Farrell, Australian rugby league player and policeman (died 1985) 1916 – M. S. Subbulakshmi, Indian Carnatic vocalist (died 2004) 1916 – Frank Leslie Walcott, Barbadian cricketer, umpire, and politician (died 1999)