Events Pre-1600 613 – Eight-month-old Heraclius Constantine is crowned as co-emperor (Caesar) by his father Heraclius at Constantinople. 871 – Battle of Basing: The West Saxons led by King Æthelred I are defeated by the Danelaw Vikings at Basing.Estimated date; 1506 – The first contingent of 150 Swiss Guards arrives at the Vatican. 1517 – The Ottoman Empire under Selim I defeats the Mamluk Sultanate and captures present-day Egypt at the Battle of Ridaniya. 1555 – The Ava Kingdom falls to the Taungoo Dynasty in what is now Myanmar.
1601–1900 1689 – The Convention Parliament convenes to determine whether James II and VII, the last Roman Catholic monarch of England, Ireland and Scotland, had vacated the thrones of England and Ireland when he fled to France in 1688. 1808 – The Portuguese royal family arrives in Brazil after fleeing the French army's invasion of Portugal two months earlier. 1849 – Second Anglo-Sikh War: The Siege of Multan ends after nine months when the last Sikh defenders of Multan, Punjab, surrender. 1863 – The January Uprising breaks out in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. The aim of the national movement is to regain Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth from occupation by Russia. 1879 – Anglo-Zulu War: the Battle of Isandlwana results in a Zulu victory. 1879 – Anglo-Zulu War: the Battle of Rorke's Drift, just some away from Isandlwana, results in a British victory. 1890 – The United Mine Workers of America is founded in Columbus, Ohio.
1901–present 1901 – Edward VII is proclaimed King of the United Kingdom after the death of his mother, Queen Victoria. 1905 – Bloody Sunday occurs in Saint Petersburg, beginning the 1905 revolution. 1906 – runs aground on rocks on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, killing more than 130. 1915 – Over 600 people are killed in Guadalajara, Mexico, when a train plunges off the tracks into a deep canyon. 1917 – American entry into World War I: President Woodrow Wilson of the still-neutral United States calls for "peace without victory" in Europe. 1919 – Act Zluky is signed, unifying the Ukrainian People's Republic and the West Ukrainian National Republic. 1924 – Ramsay MacDonald becomes the first Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. 1927 – Teddy Wakelam gives the first live radio commentary of a football match, between Arsenal F.C. and Sheffield United at Highbury. 1941 – World War II: British and Commonwealth troops capture Tobruk from Italian forces during Operation Compass. 1943 – World War II: Australian and American forces defeat Japanese army and navy units in the bitterly fought Battle of Buna–Gona. 1944 – World War II: The Allies commence Operation Shingle, an assault on Anzio and Nettuno, Italy. 1946 – In Iran, Qazi Muhammad declares the independent people's Republic of Mahabad at Chahar Cheragh Square in the Kurdish city of Mahabad; he becomes the new president and Haji Baba Sheikh becomes the prime minister. 1946 – Creation of the Central Intelligence Group, forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency. 1947 – KTLA, the first commercial television station west of the Mississippi River, begins operation in Hollywood. 1957 – Israel withdraws from the Sinai Peninsula. 1963 – The Élysée Treaty of cooperation between France and West Germany is signed by Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer. 1967 – Between dozens and hundreds of anti-Somocista demonstrators are killed by the Nicaraguan National Guard in Managua. 1968 – Apollo Program: Apollo 5 lifts off carrying the first Lunar module into space. 1968 – Operation Igloo White, a US electronic surveillance system to stop communist infiltration into South Vietnam begins installation. 1970 – The Boeing 747, the world's first "jumbo jet", enters commercial service for launch customer Pan American Airways with its maiden voyage from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to London Heathrow Airport. 1971 – The Singapore Declaration, one of the two most important documents to the uncodified constitution of the Commonwealth of Nations, is issued. 1973 – The Supreme Court of the United States delivers its decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, legalizing elective abortion in all fifty states. This decision is subsequently overturned in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2022. 1973 – The crew of Apollo 17 addresses a joint session of Congress after the completion of the final Apollo Moon landing mission. 1973 – A chartered Boeing 707 explodes in flames upon landing at Kano Airport, Nigeria, killing 176. 1973 – In a bout for the world heavyweight boxing championship in Kingston, Jamaica, challenger George Foreman knocks down champion Joe Frazier six times in the first two rounds before the fight is stopped by referee Arthur Mercante Sr.. 1987 – Philippine security forces open fire on a crowd of 10,000–15,000 demonstrators at Malacañang Palace, Manila, killing 13. 1992 – Space Shuttle program: The space shuttle Discovery launches on STS-42 carrying Dr. Roberta Bondar, who becomes the first Canadian woman and the first neurologist in space. 1995 – Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Beit Lid suicide bombing: In central Israel, near Netanya, two Gazans blow themselves up at a military transit point, killing 19 Israeli soldiers. 1998 – Space Shuttle program: space shuttle Endeavour launches on STS-89 to dock with the Russian space station Mir. 1999 – Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons are burned alive by radical Hindus while sleeping in their car in Eastern India. 2006 – Evo Morales is inaugurated as President of Bolivia, becoming the country's first indigenous president. 2007 – At least 88 people are killed when two car bombs explode in the Bab Al-Sharqi market in central Baghdad, Iraq. 2009 – U.S. President Barack Obama signs an executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp; congressional opposition will prevent it being implemented. 2024 – Ram Mandir is inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh after 500 years of dispute.
Births Pre-1600 1263 – Ibn Taymiyyah, Syrian scholar and theologian (died 1328) 1440 – Ivan III of Russia (died 1505) 1522 – Charles II de Valois, Duke of Orléans, (died 1545) 1561 – Francis Bacon, English philosopher and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (died 1626) 1570 – Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet, of Connington, English historian and politician, founded the Cotton library (died 1631) 1592 – Pierre Gassendi, French mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher (died 1655)
1601–1900 1645 – William Kidd, Scottish sailor and pirate hunter (probable); (died 1701) 1654 – Richard Blackmore, English physician and poet (died 1729) 1690 – Nicolas Lancret, French painter (died 1743) 1729 – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German philosopher and author (died 1781) 1733 – Philip Carteret, English admiral and explorer (died 1796) 1740 – Noah Phelps, American soldier, lawyer, and judge (died 1809) 1781 – François Habeneck, French violinist and conductor (died 1849) 1788 – Lord Byron, English poet and playwright (died 1824) 1792 – Lady Lucy Whitmore, English noblewoman, hymn writer (died 1840) 1796 – Karl Ernst Claus, Estonian-Russian chemist, botanist, and academic (died 1864) 1797 – Maria Leopoldina of Austria (died 1826) 1799 – Ludger Duvernay, Canadian journalist, publisher, and politician (died 1852) 1802 – Richard Upjohn, English-American architect (died 1878) 1828 – Dayrolles Eveleigh-de-Moleyns, 4th Baron Ventry, Irish hereditary peer (died 1914) 1831 – Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (died 1917) 1840 – Ernest Wilberforce, English bishop (died 1907) 1849 – August Strindberg, Swedish novelist, poet, and playwright (died 1912) 1858 – Beatrice Webb, English sociologist and economist (died 1943) 1861 – George Fuller, Australian politician, 22nd Premier of New South Wales (died 1940) 1865 – Wilbur Scoville, American chemist and pharmacist (died 1942) 1867 – Gisela Januszewska, Jewish-Austrian physician (died 1943) 1869 – José Vicente de Freitas, Portuguese colonel and politician, 97th Prime Minister of Portugal (died 1952) 1874 – Edward Harkness, American philanthropist (died 1940) 1874 – Jay Hughes, American baseball player and coach (died 1924) 1875 – D. W. Griffith, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1948) 1877 – Tom Jones, American baseball player and manager (died 1923) 1879 – Francis Picabia, French painter and poet (died 1953) 1880 – Bill O'Neill, Canadian-American baseball player (died 1920) 1880 – Frigyes Riesz, Hungarian mathematician and academic (died 1956) 1881 – Ira Thomas, American baseball player and manager (died 1958) 1886 – John J. Becker, American pianist, composer, and conductor (died 1961) 1887 – Helen Hoyt, American poet and author (died 1972) 1889 – Henri Pélissier, French cyclist (died 1935) 1889 – Amos Strunk, American baseball player and manager (died 1979) 1890 – Fred M. Vinson, American judge and politician, 13th Chief Justice of the United States (died 1953) 1891 – Antonio Gramsci, Italian philosopher and politician (died 1937) 1892 – Marcel Dassault, French businessman, founded Dassault Aviation (died 1986) 1893 – Conrad Veidt, German-American actor, director, and producer (died 1943) 1897 – Rosa Ponselle, American operatic soprano (died 1981) 1897 – Dilipkumar Roy, a Bengali Indian musician, musicologist, novelist, poet and essayist. (died 1980) 1898 – Ross Barnett, American lawyer and politician, 52nd Governor of Mississippi (died 1987) 1898 – Sergei Eisenstein, Russian director and screenwriter (died 1948) 1898 – Denise Legeay, French actress (died 1968) 1899 – Martti Haavio, Finnish poet and mythologist (died 1973) 1900 – Ernst Busch, German actor and singer (died 1980) 1900 – James Hamilton Doggart, English ophthalmic surgeon (died 1989)
1901–present 1902 – Daniel Kinsey, American hurdler, coach, and academic (died 1970) 1903 – Fritz Houtermans, Polish-German physicist and academic (died 1966) 1904 – George Balanchine, Georgian-American dancer, choreographer, and director, co-founded the New York City Ballet (died 1983) 1904 – Arkady Gaidar, Russian journalist and author (died 1941) 1905 – Willy Hartner, German physicist, historian, and academic (died 1981) 1906 – Robert E. Howard, American author and poet (died 1936) 1907 – Douglas Corrigan, American pilot and engineer, famous "wrong way" early solo flyer of the Atlantic (died 1995) 1907 – Dixie Dean, English footballer (died 1980) 1908 – Lev Landau, Azerbaijani-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1968) 1909 – Martha Norelius, Swedish-born American swimmer (died 1955) 1909 – Porfirio Rubirosa, Dominican racing driver, polo player, and diplomat (died 1965) 1909 – Ann Sothern, American actress and singer (died 2001) 1909 – U Thant, Burmese educator and diplomat, 3rd United Nations Secretary-General (died 1974) 1911 – Bruno Kreisky, Austrian lawyer and politician, 22nd Chancellor of Austria (died 1990) 1913 – Henry Bauchau, Belgian psychoanalyst and author (died 2012) 1913 – William Conway, Irish cardinal (died 1977) 1913 – Carl F. H. Henry, American theologian and publisher (died 2003) 1914 – Dimitris Dragatakis, Greek violinist and composer (died 2001) 1915 – Heinrich Albertz, German theologian and politician, Mayor of Berlin (died 1993) 1916 – Bill Durnan, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 1972) 1916 – Henri Dutilleux, French pianist, composer, and educator (died 2013) 1916 – Harilal Upadhyay, Indian author, poet, and astrologist (died 1994) 1917 – Bruce Shand, British Army officer, and father of Queen Camilla (died 2006)Obituaries: Major Bruce Middleton Shand, The Telegraph: Bruce Shand 1918 – Elmer Lach, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 2015) 1919 – Diomedes Olivo, Dominican baseball player and scout (died 1977) 1920 – Irving Kristol, American journalist, author, and academic, founded The National Interest (died 2009) 1920 – Alf Ramsey, English footballer and coach (died 1999)