Events Pre-1600 337 – Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans succeed their father Constantine I as co-emperors. The Roman Empire is divided between the three Augusti. 1000 – Battle of Svolder during the Viking Age. 1141 – Yelü Dashi, the Liao dynasty general who founded the Qara Khitai, defeats the Seljuq and Kara-Khanid forces at the Battle of Qatwan. 1320 – In the Battle of Saint George, the Byzantines under Andronikos Asen ambush and defeat the forces of the Principality of Achaea, securing possession of Arcadia. 1488 – Anne becomes sovereign Duchess of Brittany, becoming a central figure in the struggle for influence that leads to the union of Brittany and France. 1493 – Battle of Krbava Field, a decisive defeat of Croats in Croatian struggle against the invasion by the Ottoman Empire. 1493 – Christopher Columbus, with 17 ships and 1,200 men, sails on second voyage from Cadiz. 1499 – The citizens of Lisbon celebrate the triumphal return of the explorer Vasco de Gama, completing his two-year journey around the Cape of Good Hope to India. 1513 – James IV of Scotland is defeated and dies in the Battle of Flodden, ending Scotland's involvement in the War of the League of Cambrai. 1543 – Mary Stuart, at nine months old, is crowned "Queen of Scots" in the central Scottish town of Stirling. 1561 – The ultimately unsuccessful Colloquy of Poissy opens in an effort to reconcile French Catholics and Protestants. 1588 – Thomas Cavendish in his ship Desire enters Plymouth and completes the first deliberately planned voyage of circumnavigation.
1601–1900 1739 – Stono Rebellion, the largest slave uprising in Britain's mainland North American colonies prior to the American Revolution, erupts near Charleston, South Carolina. 1776 – The Continental Congress officially names its union of states the United States. 1791 – Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, is named after President George Washington. 1796 – Grenelle camp affair, a failed uprising by supporters of Gracchus Babeuf against the French Directory. 1801 – Alexander I of Russia confirms the privileges of Baltic provinces. 1839 – John Herschel takes the first glass plate photograph. 1845 – Possible start of the Great Famine of Ireland. 1850 – The Compromise of 1850 transfers a third of Texas's claimed territory to federal control in return for the U.S. federal government assuming $10 million of Texas's pre-annexation debt. 1850 – California is admitted as the thirty-first U.S. state. 1855 – Crimean War: The Siege of Sevastopol comes to an end when Russian forces abandon the city. 1863 – American Civil War: The Union Army enters Chattanooga, Tennessee. 1882 – A British force repels an Egyptian force led by Ahmed Urabi in the battle of Qassasin during the Anglo-Egyptian War. 1892 – Amalthea becomes the last moon to be discovered without the use of photography.
1901–present 1914 – World War I: The creation of the Canadian Automobile Machine Gun Brigade, the first fully mechanized unit in the British Army. 1922 – The Greco-Turkish War effectively ends with Turkish victory over the Greeks in Smyrna. 1923 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, founds the Republican People's Party. 1924 – Hanapepe massacre occurs on Kauai, Hawaii. 1926 – Yleisradio (YLE), the Finnish national public broadcasting company, begins its broadcasts. 1936 – The crews of Portuguese Navy frigate and destroyer Dão mutiny against the Salazar dictatorship's support of General Franco's coup and declare their solidarity with the Spanish Republic. 1939 – World War II: The Battle of Hel begins, the longest-defended pocket of Polish Army resistance during the German invasion of Poland. 1939 – Burmese national hero U Ottama dies in prison after a hunger strike to protest Britain's colonial government. 1940 – George Stibitz pioneers the first remote operation of a computer. 1940 – Treznea Massacre in Transylvania. 1942 – World War II: A Japanese floatplane drops incendiary bombs on Oregon. 1943 – World War II: The Allies land at Salerno and Taranto, Italy. 1944 – World War II: The Fatherland Front takes power in Bulgaria through a military coup in the capital and armed rebellion in the country. A new pro-Soviet government is established. 1945 – World War II and Second Sino-Japanese War: The Empire of Japan formally surrenders to China. 1948 – Kim Il Sung is appointed as premier of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). This is celebrated annually as its national holiday. 1954 – The 6.7 Chlef earthquake shakes northern Algeria with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme). At least 1,243 people were killed and 5,000 were injured. 1956 – Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time. 1965 – The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development is established. 1965 – Hurricane Betsy makes its second landfall near New Orleans, leaving 76 dead and $1.42 billion ($10–12 billion in 2005 dollars) in damages, becoming the first hurricane to cause over $1 billion in unadjusted damage. 1966 – The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act is signed into law by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. 1969 – In Canada, the Official Languages Act comes into force, making French equal to English throughout the Federal government. 1969 – Allegheny Airlines Flight 863 collides in mid-air with a Piper PA-28 Cherokee over Moral Township, Shelby County, Indiana, killing all 83 people on board both aircraft. 1970 – A British airliner is hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and flown to Dawson's Field in Jordan. 1971 – The four-day Attica Prison riot begins, eventually resulting in 39 dead, most killed by state troopers retaking the prison. 1972 – In Kentucky's Mammoth Cave National Park, a Cave Research Foundation exploration and mapping team discovers a link between the Mammoth and Flint Ridge cave systems, making it the longest known cave passageway in the world. 1976 – Two Aeroflot flights collide in mid-air over Anapa, Soviet Union, killing 70. 1988 – Vietnam Airlines Flight 831 crashes in Khu Khot, Thailand, while on approach to Don Muang International Airport, killing 76. 1990 – Batticaloa massacre: Massacre of 184 Tamil civilians by the Sri Lankan Army in Batticaloa District. 1991 – Tajikistan declares independence from the Soviet Union. 1993 – Israeli–Palestinian peace process: The Palestine Liberation Organization officially recognizes Israel as a legitimate state. 1994 – Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-64. 2001 – Ahmad Shah Massoud, leader of the Northern Alliance, is assassinated in Afghanistan by two al-Qaeda assassins who claimed to be Arab journalists wanting an interview. 2006 – Space Shuttle Program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-115 to resume assembling the International Space Station. It is the first ISS assembly mission after the Columbia disaster back in 2003. 2009 – The Dubai Metro, the first urban train network in the Arabian Peninsula, is ceremonially inaugurated. 2012 – The Indian space agency puts into orbit its heaviest foreign satellite yet, in a streak of 21 consecutive successful PSLV launches. 2012 – A wave of attacks kills more than 100 people and injure 350 others across Iraq. 2014 – The album Songs of Innocence by U2 is digitally released at no charge to all customers of the iTunes Music Store, appearing automatically in the "purchased" section of over 500 million users worldwide. 2015 – Elizabeth II becomes the longest reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. 2016 – The government of North Korea conducts its fifth and reportedly biggest nuclear test. World leaders condemn the act, with South Korea calling it "maniacal recklessness". 2025 – Six people are killed when Israel carries out an airstrike on Doha in a failed attempt to decapitate the Hamas leadership. 2025 – Several Russian drones incur on Polish airspace and are subsequently shot down, marking the first time a NATO member has engaged Russian military assets.
Births Pre-1600 214/15 – Aurelian, Roman emperor (died 275) 384 – Honorius, Roman emperor (died 423) 1349 – Albert III, Duke of Austria (died 1395) 1427 – Thomas de Ros, 9th Baron de Ros, English soldier and politician (died 1464) 1466 – Ashikaga Yoshitane, Japanese shōgun (died 1523) 1558 – Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercœur (died 1602) 1585 – Cardinal Richelieu, French cardinal and politician (died 1642)
1601–1900 1629 – Cornelis Tromp, Dutch general (died 1691) 1700 – Princess Anna Sophie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (died 1780) 1711 – Thomas Hutchinson, English historian and politician, Governor of the province of Massachusetts Bay (died 1780) 1721 – Fredrik Henrik af Chapman, Swedish admiral and shipbuilder (died 1808) 1731 – Francisco Javier Clavijero, Mexican priest, historian, and scholar (died 1787) 1737 – Luigi Galvani, Italian physician and physicist (died 1798) 1754 – William Bligh, English admiral and politician, 4th Governor of New South Wales (died 1817) 1755 – Benjamin Bourne, American judge and politician (died 1808) 1777 – James Carr, American soldier and politician (died 1818) 1778 – Clemens Brentano, German poet and author (died 1842) 1789 – William Cranch Bond, American astronomer, and first director of Harvard College Observatory (died 1859) 1789 – Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, Polish rabbi (died 1866) 1807 – Richard Chenevix Trench, Irish-English archbishop and philologist (died 1886) 1823 – Joseph Leidy, American paleontologist and academic (died 1891) 1828 – Leo Tolstoy, Russian author and playwright (died 1910) 1834 – Joseph Henry Shorthouse, English author (died 1903) 1853 – Fred Spofforth, Australian-English cricketer and merchant (died 1926) 1855 – Houston Stewart Chamberlain, English-German philosopher and author (died 1927) 1863 – Herbert Henry Ball, English-Canadian journalist and politician (died 1943) 1868 – Mary Hunter Austin, American author, poet, and critic (died 1934) 1873 – Max Reinhardt, Austrian-born American theater and film director (died 1943) 1876 – Frank Chance, American baseball player and manager (died 1924) 1877 – James Agate, English journalist, author, and critic (died 1947) 1878 – Adelaide Crapsey, American poet and critic (died 1914) 1878 – Arthur Fox, English-American fencer (died 1958) 1878 – Sergio Osmeña, Filipino lawyer and politician, 4th President of the Philippines (died 1961) 1882 – Clem McCarthy, American sportscaster (died 1962) 1885 – Miriam Licette, English soprano and educator (died 1969) 1885 – Clare Sheridan, English sculptor and author (died 1970) 1887 – Alf Landon, American lieutenant, banker, and politician, 26th Governor of Kansas (died 1987) 1890 – Colonel Sanders, American businessman, founded KFC (died 1980) 1894 – Arthur Freed, American composer and producer (died 1973) 1894 – Humphrey Mitchell, Canadian trade union leader and politician, 14th Canadian Minister of Labour (died 1950) 1894 – Bert Oldfield, Australian cricketer and soldier (died 1976) 1898 – Frankie Frisch, American baseball player and manager (died 1973) 1899 – Neil Hamilton, American stage, film and television actor (died 1984) 1899 – Waite Hoyt, American baseball player and sportscaster (died 1984) 1899 – Bruno E. Jacob, American academic, founded the National Forensic League (died 1979) 1900 – James Hilton, English-American author and screenwriter (died 1954)
1901–present 1903 – Lev Shankovsky, Ukrainian military historian (died 1995) 1903 – Edward Upward, English author (died 2009) 1903 – Phyllis A. Whitney, American author (died 2008) 1904 – Feroze Khan, Indian-Pakistani field hockey player and coach (died 2005) 1904 – Arthur Laing, Canadian lawyer and politician, 9th Canadian Minister of Veterans Affairs (died 1975) 1905 – Joseph E. Levine, American film producer, founded Embassy Pictures (died 1987) 1905 – Brahmarishi Hussain Sha, Indian philosopher and poet (died 1981)