Events Pre-1600 1477 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France.
1601–1900 1675 – Battle of Colmar: The French army defeats forces from Austria and Brandenburg. 1757 – Louis XV of France survives an assassination attempt by Robert-François Damiens, who becomes the last person to be executed in France by drawing and quartering (the traditional form of capital punishment used for regicides). 1781 – American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia, is burned by British naval forces led by former American general Benedict Arnold. 1822 – The government of Central America votes for total annexation to the First Mexican Empire. 1875 – The Palais Garnier, one of the most famous opera houses in the world, is inaugurated in Paris. 1895 – Dreyfus affair: French army officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. 1900 – Irish nationalist leader John Edward Redmond calls for revolt against British rule.
1901–present 1911 – Kappa Alpha Psi, the world's third-oldest and largest black fraternity, is founded at Indiana University. 1912 – The sixth All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Prague Party Conference) opens. In the course of the conference, Vladimir Lenin and his supporters break from the rest of the party to form the Bolshevik movement. 1913 – First Balkan War: The Battle of Lemnos begins; Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it did not venture for the rest of the war. 1914 – The Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and minimum daily wage of $5 in salary plus bonuses. 1919 – The German Workers' Party, which would become the Nazi Party, is founded in Munich. 1925 – Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming becomes the first female governor in the United States. 1933 – Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay. 1941 – Amy Johnson, a 37-year-old pilot and the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia, disappears after bailing out of her plane over the River Thames, and is presumed dead. 1944 – The Daily Mail becomes the first major London newspaper to be published on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. 1945 – The Soviet Union recognizes the new pro-Soviet Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland. 1948 – The Semiramis Hotel bombing kills at least 23 people. 1949 – In his State of the Union address, United States President Harry S. Truman unveils his Fair Deal program. 1953 – The play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett receives its première in Paris. 1957 – In a speech given to the United States Congress, United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces the establishment of what will later be called the Eisenhower Doctrine. 1967 – Cultural Revolution: The Shanghai People's Commune is established following the seizure of power from local city officials by revolutionaries. 1968 – Alexander Dubček comes to power in Czechoslovakia, effectively beginning the "Prague Spring". 1969 – The Venera 5 space probe is launched at 06:28:08 UTC from Baikonur. 1969 – Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes in Fernhill, West Sussex, UK, while on approach to Gatwick Airport, killing 50 people. 1970 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Between 10,000 and 15,000 people are known to have been killed and about another 26,000 are injured. 1970 – A Spantax Convair CV-990 Coronado crashes during takeoff from Stockholm Arlanda Airport, killing five people. 1972 – US President Richard Nixon announces the Space Shuttle program. 1975 – The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, is struck by the bulk ore carrier Lake Illawarra, killing twelve people. 1976 – The Khmer Rouge announce that the new Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea is ratified. 1976 – The Troubles: Gunmen shoot dead ten Protestant civilians after stopping their minibus at Kingsmill in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, UK, allegedly as retaliation for a string of attacks on Irish Catholic civilians in the area by Loyalists, particularly the killing of six Catholics the night before. 1991 – Georgian forces enter Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, Georgia, opening the 1991–92 South Ossetia War. 1991 – Somali Civil War: The United States Embassy to Somalia in Mogadishu is evacuated by helicopter airlift days after the outbreak of violence in Mogadishu. 1993 – The oil tanker MV Braer runs aground on the coast of the Shetland Islands, spilling 84,700 tons of crude oil. 2003 – A suicide bombing at the Tel Aviv central bus station kills 23 people and injures over 100 more. 2005 – The dwarf planet Eris is discovered by Palomar Observatory-based astronomers, later motivating the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to define the term planet for the first time. 2014 – A launch of the communication satellite GSAT-14 aboard the GSLV MK.II D5 marks the first successful flight of an Indian cryogenic engine. 2022 – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev dismisses Prime Minister Asqar Mamin and declares state of emergency over the 2022 Kazakh unrest. 2023 – The 2023 Sinaloa unrest begins. 2024 – Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 makes an emergency landing at Portland International Airport after a door plug blows off the Boeing 737 MAX 9 operating the flight. There are no fatalities, but the accident prompts the 737 MAX to be grounded and renews scrutiny on Boeing's manufacturing and design issues.
Births Pre-1600 1209 – Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, English prince, nominal King of Germany (died 1272) 1530 – Gaspar de Bono, monk of the Order of the Minims (died 1571) 1548 – Francisco Suárez, Spanish priest, philosopher, and theologian (died 1617) 1587 – Xu Xiake, Chinese geographer and explorer (died 1641) 1592 – Shah Jahan, Mughal emperor (died 1666)
1601–1900 1620 – Miklós Zrínyi, Croatian military commander (died 1664) 1640 – Paolo Lorenzani, Italian composer (died 1713) 1735 – Claude Martin, French-English general and explorer (died 1800) 1767 – Jean-Baptiste Say, French economist and academic (died 1832) 1779 – Stephen Decatur, American commander (died 1820) 1779 – Zebulon Pike, American general and explorer (died 1813) 1781 – Gaspar Flores de Abrego, three terms mayor of San Antonio, in Spanish Texas (died 1836) Consulted in May 22–26, 2010. 1793 – Harvey Putnam, American lawyer and politician (died 1855) 1808 – Anton Füster, Austrian priest and activist (died 1881) 1834 – William John Wills, English surgeon and explorer (died 1861) 1838 – Camille Jordan, French mathematician and academic (died 1922) 1846 – Rudolf Christoph Eucken, German philosopher and author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1926) 1846 – Mariam Baouardy, Syrian Roman Catholic nun; later canonized (died 1878) 1855 – King Camp Gillette, American businessman, founded the Gillette Company (died 1932) 1864 – Bob Caruthers, American baseball player and manager (died 1911) 1865 – Fatima Cates, British Muslim convert and activist (died 1900) 1867 – Dimitrios Gounaris, Greek lawyer and politician, 94th Prime Minister of Greece (died 1922) 1871 – Frederick Converse, American composer and academic (died 1940) 1874 – Joseph Erlanger, American physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1965) 1876 – Konrad Adenauer, German lawyer and politician, Chancellor of West Germany (died 1967) 1879 – Hans Eppinger, Austrian physician and academic (died 1946) 1880 – Nikolai Medtner, Russian pianist and composer (died 1951) 1881 – Pablo Gargallo, Spanish sculptor and painter (died 1934) 1882 – Herbert Bayard Swope, American journalist (died 1958) 1882 – Edwin Barclay, 18th president of Liberia (died 1955) 1885 – Humbert Wolfe, Italian-English poet and civil servant (died 1940) 1886 – Markus Reiner, Israeli physicist and engineer (died 1976) 1892 – Agnes von Kurowsky, American nurse (died 1984) 1893 – Paramahansa Yogananda, Indian-American guru and philosopher (died 1952) 1897 – Kiyoshi Miki, Japanese philosopher and author (died 1945) 1900 – Yves Tanguy, French-American painter (died 1955)
1901–present 1902 – Hubert Beuve-Méry, French journalist (died 1989) 1902 – Stella Gibbons, English journalist and author (died 1989) 1903 – Harold Gatty, Australian pilot and navigator (died 1957) 1904 – Jeane Dixon, American astrologer and psychic (died 1997) 1904 – Erika Morini, Austrian violinist (died 1995) 1906 – Kathleen Kenyon, English archaeologist and academic (died 1978) 1907 – Volmari Iso-Hollo, Finnish athlete (died 1969) 1908 – George Dolenz, Italian-American actor (died 1963) 1909 – Lucienne Bloch, Swiss-American sculptor, painter, and photographer (died 1995) 1909 – Stephen Cole Kleene, American mathematician and computer scientist (died 1994) 1910 – Jack Lovelock, New Zealand runner and journalist (died 1949) 1911 – Jean-Pierre Aumont, French actor and screenwriter (died 2001) 1914 – Doug Deitz, Australian rugby league player (died 1994) 1914 – George Reeves, American actor and director (died 1959) 1915 – Arthur H. Robinson, Canadian geographer and cartographer (died 2004) 1917 – Francis L. Kellogg, American businessman and diplomat (died 2006) 1917 – Wieland Wagner, German director and producer (died 1966) 1917 – Jane Wyman, American actress (died 2007) 1919 – Hector Abhayavardhana, Sri Lankan theorist and politician (died 2012) 1919 – Severino Gazzelloni, Italian flute player (died 1992) 1920 – Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian pianist and educator (died 1995) 1921 – Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss author and playwright (died 1990) 1921 – Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Luxembourgish soldier and aristocrat (died 2019) 1921 – John H. Reed, American politician and diplomat, 67th Governor of Maine (died 2012) 1922 – Anthony Synnot, Australian admiral (died 2001) 1923 – Virginia Halas McCaskey, American football executive (died 2025) 1923 – Sam Phillips, American radio host and producer, founded Sun Records (died 2003) 1925 – Lou Carnesecca, American basketball player and coach (died 2024) 1926 – Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, Singaporean lawyer and politician (died 2008) 1926 – Veikko Karvonen, Finnish runner (died 2007) 1926 – W. D. Snodgrass, American poet (died 2009) 1926 – Hosea Williams, American businessman and activist (died 2000) 1927 – Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, American guru and author, founded Iraivan Temple (died 2001) 1928 – Imtiaz Ahmed, Pakistani cricketer (died 2016) 1928 – Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistani lawyer and politician, 4th President of Pakistan (died 1979) 1928 – Denise Bryer, English actress (died 2021) 1928 – Walter Mondale, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 42nd Vice President of the United States (died 2021) 1929 – Aulis Rytkönen, Finnish footballer and manager (died 2014) 1930 – Kevin Considine, Australian rugby league player (died 2023) 1931 – Alvin Ailey, American dancer and choreographer, founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (died 1989) 1931 – Alfred Brendel, Austrian pianist, poet, and author (died 2025) 1931 – Walt Davis, American athlete (died 2020) 1931 – Robert Duvall, American actor and director (died 2026) 1932 – Umberto Eco, Italian novelist, literary critic, and philosopher (died 2016) 1932 – Chuck Noll, American football player and coach (died 2014) 1934 – Murli Manohar Joshi, Indian politician 1934 – Phil Ramone, South African-American songwriter and producer, co-founded A & R Recording (died 2013) 1936 – Florence King, American journalist and memoirist (died 2016) 1936 – Terry Lineen, New Zealand rugby player (died 2020) 1938 – Juan Carlos I of Spain 1938 – Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Kenyan author and playwright (died 2025) 1939 – M. E. H. Maharoof, Sri Lankan politician (died 1997) 1940 – Athol Guy, Australian singer-songwriter and bassist 1940 – Pim de la Parra, Surinamese-Dutch film director (died 2024)