Events Pre-1600 787 – The Second Council of Nicaea begins at the Church of Holy Wisdom in the city of Nicaea in Bithynia.; 867 – Byzantine emperor Michael III is murdered in his chamber by his junior emperor Basil I. 1568 – Spanish naval forces defeat an English fleet, under the command of John Hawkins, at the Battle of San Juan de Ulúa near Veracruz.
1601–1900 1645 – The Battle of Rowton Heath in England occurs, ending in a Parliamentarian victory over a Royalist army commanded in person by King Charles I. 1674 – Second Tantrik Coronation of Shivaji. 1789 – The United States Congress passes the Judiciary Act, creating the office of the Attorney General and federal judiciary system and ordering the composition of the Supreme Court. 1830 – A revolutionary committee of notables forms the Provisional Government of Belgium. 1841 – The Sultanate of Brunei cedes Sarawak to James Brooke. 1846 – Mexican–American War: General Zachary Taylor captures Monterrey. 1852 – The first powered, passenger-carrying airship, the Giffard dirigible, travels from Paris to Trappes. 1853 – Admiral Despointes formally takes possession of New Caledonia in the name of France. 1869 – Black Friday (1869): Gold prices plummet after United States President Ulysses S. Grant orders the Treasury to sell large quantities of gold after Jay Gould and James Fisk plot to control the market. 1875 – The 1864 play Heath Cobblers by Aleksis Kivi premieres in Oulu, Finland. 1877 – The Battle of Shiroyama is a decisive victory of the Imperial Japanese Army over the Satsuma Rebellion. 1890 – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially renounces polygamy.
1901–present 1906 – U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaims Devils Tower in Wyoming as the nation's first National Monument. 1906 – Racial tensions exacerbated by rumors lead to the Atlanta Race Riot, further increasing racial segregation. 1911 – His Majesty's Airship No. 1, Britain's first rigid airship, is wrecked by strong winds before her maiden flight at Barrow-in-Furness. 1929 – Jimmy Doolittle performs the first flight without a window, proving that full instrument flying from take off to landing is possible. 1932 – Mahatma Gandhi and B. R. Ambedkar agree to the Poona Pact, which reserved seats in the Indian provincial legislatures for the "Depressed Classes" (Untouchables). 1935 – Earl and Weldon Bascom produce the first rodeo ever held outdoors under electric lights. 1946 – Cathay Pacific Airways is founded in Hong Kong. 1946 – The top-secret Clifford-Elsey Report on the Soviet Union is delivered to President Truman. 1948 – The Honda Motor Company is founded. 1950 – The eastern United States is covered by a thick haze from the Chinchaga fire in western Canada. 1954 – AEC Routemaster, the iconic London bus was introduced. 1954 – The Cochabamba–Santa Cruz highway connecting western and eastern Bolivia is inaugurated. 1957 – President Eisenhower sends the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce desegregation. 1959 – TAI Flight 307 crashes during takeoff from Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport in Bordeaux, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, killing 55 people. 1960 – , the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is launched. 1972 – Japan Airlines Flight 472 lands at Juhu Aerodrome instead of Santacruz Airport in Bombay, India, overrunning the runway and resulting in 11 injuries. 1973 – Guinea-Bissau declares its independence from Portugal. 1975 – Southwest Face expedition members become the first persons to reach the summit of Mount Everest by any of its faces, instead of using a ridge route. 1993 – The Cambodian monarchy is restored, with Norodom Sihanouk as king. 1996 – Representatives of 71 nations sign the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty at the United Nations. 2005 – Hurricane Rita makes landfall in the United States, devastating portions of southwestern Louisiana and extreme southeastern Texas. 2007 – Between 30,000 and 100,000 people take part in anti-government protests in Yangon, Burma, the largest in 20 years. 2008 – Thabo Mbeki resigns as president of South Africa. 2009 – The G20 summit begins in Pittsburgh with 30 global leaders in attendance. 2009 – South African Airlink Flight 8911 crashes near Durban International Airport in Durban, South Africa, killing the captain and injuring the rest of the crew. 2013 – A 7.7-magnitude earthquake strikes southern Pakistan, killing at least 327 people. 2014 – The Mars Orbiter Mission makes India the first Asian nation to reach Mars orbit, and the first nation in the world to do so in its first attempt. 2015 – At least 1,100 people are killed and another 934 wounded after a stampede during the Hajj in Saudi Arabia. 2023 – NASA's OSIRIS-REx capsule containing samples from the asteroid 101955 Bennu successfully lands back on Earth.
Births Pre-1600 15 – Vitellius, Roman emperor (died 69) 936 – 'Adud al-Dawla, Buyid king (died 983) 1301 – Ralph de Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford, English soldier (died 1372)Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, vol. 3, p. 3706 1418 – Anne of Cyprus, Duchess of Savoy (probable; (died 1462) 1433 – Shekha of Amarsar, Rajput chieftain (died 1488) 1473 – Georg von Frundsberg, German Knight and landowner (died 1528) 1501 – Gerolamo Cardano, Italian mathematician, physician, and astrologer (died 1576) 1534 – Guru Ram Das, fourth Sikh Guru (died 1581) 1564 – William Adams, English sailor and navigator (died 1620) 1583 – Albrecht von Wallenstein, Bohemian general (died 1634)
1601–1900 1625 – Johan de Witt, Dutch mathematician and politician (died 1672) 1667 – Jean-Louis Lully, French composer (died 1688) 1705 – Count Leopold Joseph von Daun, Austrian field marshal (died 1766) 1717 – Horace Walpole, English historian, author, and politician (died 1797) 1725 – Arthur Guinness, Irish brewer and founder of the Guinness brewery (died 1803) 1755 – John Marshall, American Continental Army officer, jurist, and politician, 4th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (died 1835) 1761 – F.L.Æ. Kunzen, German-Danish composer and conductor (died 1817) 1796 – Antoine-Louis Barye, French sculptor and educator (died 1875) 1801 – Mikhail Ostrogradsky, Ukrainian-Russian mathematician and physicist (died 1862) 1802 – Adolphe d'Archiac, French paleontologist and geologist (died 1868) 1812 – Mary Ann Browne, British poet and writer of musical scores (died 1845) 1817 – Ramón de Campoamor y Campoosorio, Spanish poet and philosopher (died 1901) 1829 – Charles S. West, American jurist and politician, Secretary of State of Texas (died 1885) 1845 – Nikolai Anderson, Estonian philologist and author (died 1905) 1858 – Eugene Foss, American businessman and politician, 45th Governor of Massachusetts (died 1939) 1859 – Julius Klengel, German cellist and composer (died 1933) 1861 – Bhikaiji Cama, Indian activist (died 1936) 1870 – Georges Claude, French chemist and engineer, invented Neon lighting (died 1960) 1871 – Lottie Dod, English tennis player, golfer, and archer (died 1960) 1872 – Jaan Teemant, Estonian lawyer and politician, 7th State Elder of Estonia (died 1941) 1873 – María de las Mercedes Adam de Aróstegui, Cuban pianist and composer (died 1957) 1878 – Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz, Swiss author and poet (died 1947) 1880 – Sarah Knauss, American super-centenarian, oldest verified American person ever (died 1999) 1882 – Max Decugis, French tennis player (died 1978) 1883 – Franklin Clarence Mars, American businessman, founded Mars, Incorporated (died 1934) 1883 – Lawson Robertson, Scottish-American high jumper and coach (died 1951) 1884 – Gustave Garrigou, French cyclist (died 1963) 1884 – İsmet İnönü, Turkish general and politician, 2nd President of Turkey (died 1973) 1884 – Hugo Schmeisser, German weapons designer and engineer (died 1953) 1885 – Artur Lemba, Estonian pianist, composer, and educator (died 1963) 1890 – Mike González, Cuban baseball player, coach, and manager (died 1977) 1890 – A. P. Herbert, English author and playwright (died 1971) 1892 – Adélard Godbout, Canadian agronomist and politician, 15th Premier of Québec (died 1956) 1893 – Blind Lemon Jefferson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1929) 1894 – Tommy Armour, Scottish-American golfer and sportscaster (died 1968) 1894 – Billy Bletcher, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (died 1979) 1895 – André Frédéric Cournand, French physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1988) 1896 – F. Scott Fitzgerald, American novelist and short story writer (died 1940) 1898 – Howard Florey, Australian pharmacologist and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1968) 1898 – Charlotte Moore Sitterly, American astronomer (died 1990) 1899 – William Dobell, Australian painter (died 1970) 1899 – Bessie Braddock, British politician (died 1970) 1900 – Ham Fisher, American cartoonist (died 1955)
1901–present 1901 – Alexandra Adler, Austrian neurologist and psychologist (died 2001) 1905 – Severo Ochoa, Spanish–American physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1993) 1906 – Leonard Marsh, Canadian sociologist and academic (died 1982) 1906 – Józef Nawrot, Polish footballer (died 1982) 1907 – Ben Oakland, American pianist, composer, and songwriter (died 1979) 1909 – Gerard Antoni Ciołek, Polish historian and architect (died 1966) 1910 – Jean Servais, Belgian-French actor (died 1976) 1911 – Konstantin Chernenko, Soviet politician, General Secretary of the Communist Party and de facto leader of the USSR (died 1985) 1912 – Robert Lewis Taylor, American author (died 1998) 1913 – Herb Jeffries, American singer (died 2014) 1914 – Esther Eng, Chinese-American film director (died 1970) 1914 – John Kerr, Australian politician, 18th Governor-General of Australia (died 1991) 1914 – Andrzej Panufnik, Polish pianist, composer, and conductor (died 1991) 1916 – Ruth Leach Amonette, American businesswoman and author (died 2004) 1918 – Michael J. S. Dewar, Indian-born American theoretical chemist who developed the Dewar–Chatt–Duncanson model (died 1997) 1918 – Audra Lindley, American actress (died 1997) 1920 – Richard Bong, American soldier and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (died 1945) 1920 – Jan Carew, Guyanese-American author, poet, and playwright (died 2012) 1920 – Ovadia Yosef, Iraqi-Israeli rabbi and scholar (died 2013) 1921 – Jim McKay, American sportscaster and journalist (died 2008) 1921 – Sheila MacRae, English-American actress, singer, and dancer (died 2014) 1922 – Ettore Bastianini, Italian actor and singer (died 1967) 1922 – Bert I. Gordon, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2023) 1922 – Theresa Merritt, American actress and singer (died 1998) 1922 – John Moffatt, English actor and playwright (died 2012) 1923 – Louis Edmonds, American actor (died 2001) 1923 – Fats Navarro, American trumpet player and composer (died 1950) 1923 – Raoul Bott, Hungarian-American mathematician (died 2005) 1924 – Nina Bocharova, Ukrainian gymnast (died 2020) 1924 – Voula Zouboulaki, Egyptian-Greek actress (died 2015) 1925 – Autar Singh Paintal, Indian physiologist and academic (died 2004) 1927 – Arthur Malet, English-American actor and singer (died 2013) 1929 – John Carter, American clarinet player, saxophonist, and flute player (died 1991) 1930 – Jack Gaughan, American illustrator (died 1985) 1930 – Józef Krupiński, Polish poet and author (died 1998) 1930 – Angelo Muscat, Maltese-English actor (died 1977) 1930 – Benjamin Romualdez, Filipino politician and diplomat (died 2012) 1930 – John W. Young, American captain, engineer, and astronaut (died 2018) 1931 – Elizabeth Blackadder, Scottish painter and printmaker (died 2021) 1931 – Cardiss Collins, American lawyer and politician (died 2013) 1931 – Brian Glanville, English journalist and author (died 2025) 1931 – Anthony Newley, English singer and actor (died 1999)