Events Pre-1600 473 – Gundobad (nephew of Ricimer) nominates Glycerius as emperor of the Western Roman Empire. 724 – Empress Genshō abdicates the throne in favor of her nephew Shōmu who becomes emperor of Japan. 880 – Emperor Basil I ratifies the decrees of the Fourth Council of Constantinople, confirming the reinstatement of patriarch Photios I of Constantinople. 1575 – Mughal Emperor Akbar defeats Sultan of Bengal Daud Khan Karrani's army at the Battle of Tukaroi. 1585 – The Olympic Theatre, designed by Andrea Palladio, is inaugurated in Vicenza.
1601–1900 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The first amphibious landing of the United States Marine Corps begins the Battle of Nassau. 1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Continental Army is routed at the Battle of Brier Creek near Savannah, Georgia. 1795 — The Fédon Rebellion breaks out in Grenada, the rebels seizing Grenville and later Gouyave. 1799 – The Russo-Ottoman siege of Corfu ends with the surrender of the French garrison. 1845 – Florida is admitted as the 27th U.S. state. 1849 – The Territory of Minnesota is created. 1857 – Second Opium War: France and the United Kingdom declare war on China. 1859 – The two-day Great Slave Auction, one of the largest such auctions in United States history, concludes. 1861 – Alexander II of Russia signs the Emancipation Manifesto, freeing serfs. 1873 – Censorship in the United States: The U.S. Congress enacts the Comstock Law, making it illegal to send any "obscene literature and articles of immoral use" through the mail. 1878 – The Russo-Turkish War ends with Bulgaria regaining its independence from the Ottoman Empire according to the Treaty of San Stefano. 1891 – Shoshone National Forest is established as the first national forest in the US and world.
1901–present 1913 – Thousands of women march in the Woman Suffrage Procession in Washington, D.C. 1918 – Russia signs the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, agreeing to withdraw from World War I, and conceding German control of the Baltic States, Belarus and Ukraine. It also conceded Turkish control of Ardahan, Kars and Batumi. 1923 – US magazine Time publishes its first issue. 1924 – The Ottoman Caliphate is abolished, when the Caliph Abdülmecid II of the Ottoman dynasty is deposed. The last remnant of the old monarchy gives way to the reformed Turkey of Kemal Atatürk. 1924 – The Free State of Fiume is annexed by the Kingdom of Italy.Massagrande, Danilo L., Italia e Fiume 1921–1924: dal 'Natale di sangue' all'annessione, Milano, Cisalpino – Goliardica Istituto Editoriale, 1982. 1938 – Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia. 1939 – In Bombay, Mohandas Gandhi begins a hunger strike in protest at the autocratic rule in British India. 1940 – Five people are killed in an arson attack on the offices of the communist newspaper Flamman in Luleå, Sweden. 1942 – World War II: Ten Japanese warplanes raid Broome, Western Australia, killing more than 100 people. 1943 – World War II: In London, 173 people are killed in a crush while trying to enter an air-raid shelter at Bethnal Green tube station. 1944 – The Order of Nakhimov and Order of Ushakov are instituted in USSR as the highest naval awards. 1944 – A freight train carrying stowaway passengers stalls in a tunnel shortly after departing from Balvano, Basilicata, Italy just after midnight, with 517 dying from carbon monoxide poisoning. 1945 – World War II: In poor visibility, the RAF mistakenly bombs the Bezuidenhout area of The Hague, Netherlands, killing 511 people. 1953 – A De Havilland Comet (Canadian Pacific Air Lines) crashes in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 11 people. 1958 – Nuri al-Said becomes Prime Minister of Iraq for the eighth time. 1969 – Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 9 to test the lunar module. 1972 – Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 crashes as a result of a control malfunction and insufficient training in emergency procedures. 1974 – Turkish Airlines Flight 981 crashes at Ermenonville near Paris, France killing all 346 aboard. 1980 – The is decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register. 1985 – A magnitude 8.3 earthquake strikes the Valparaíso Region of Chile, killing 177 and leaving nearly a million people homeless. 1986 – The Australia Act 1986 commences, causing Australia to become fully independent from the United Kingdom. 1991 – An amateur video captures the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers. 1991 – United Airlines Flight 585 crashes on its final approach to Colorado Springs killing everyone on board. 2005 – James Roszko murders four Royal Canadian Mounted Police constables during a drug bust at his property in Rochfort Bridge, Alberta, then commits suicide. This is the deadliest peace-time incident for the RCMP since 1885 and the North-West Rebellion. 2005 – Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly an airplane non-stop around the world solo without refueling." Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Retrieved: 18 September 2014. 2005 – Margaret Wilson is elected as Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, beginning a period lasting until August 23, 2006, where all the highest political offices (including Elizabeth II as Head of State), were occupied by women, making New Zealand the first country for this to occur. 2013 – A bomb blast in Karachi, Pakistan, kills at least 48 people and injured 200 others in a predominantly Shia Muslim area.
Births
Pre-1600 1455 – John II of Portugal (died 1495) 1455 – Ascanio Sforza, Catholic cardinal (died 1505) 1506 – Luís of Portugal, Duke of Beja (died 1555) 1520 – Matthias Flacius, Croatian theologian and reformer (died 1575) 1583 – Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury, English-Welsh soldier, historian, and diplomat (died 1648) 1589 – Gisbertus Voetius, Dutch minister, theologian, and academic (died 1676)
1601–1900 1606 – Edmund Waller, English poet and politician (died 1687) 1652 – Thomas Otway, English playwright and author (died 1685) 1678 – Madeleine de Verchères, Canadian rebel leader (died 1747) 1756 – William Godwin, English journalist and author (died 1836) 1778 – Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (died 1841) 1793 – William Macready, English actor and manager (died 1873) 1800 – Heinrich Georg Bronn, German geologist and paleontologist (died 1862) 1803 – Thomas Field Gibson, English manufacturer who aided the welfare of the Spitalfields silk weavers (died 1889) 1805 – Jonas Furrer, Swiss politician (died 1861) 1816 – William James Blacklock, English-Scottish painter (died 1858) 1819 – Gustave de Molinari, Dutch-Belgian economist and theorist (died 1912) 1825 – Shiranui Kōemon, Japanese sumo wrestler (died 1879) 1831 – George Pullman, American engineer and businessman, founded the Pullman Company (died 1897) 1839 – Jamsetji Tata, Indian businessman, founded Tata Group (died 1904) 1841 – John Murray, Canadian-Scottish oceanographer and biologist (died 1914) 1845 – Georg Cantor, Russian-German mathematician and philosopher (died 1918) 1847 – Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-American engineer and academic, invented the telephone (died 1922) 1860 – John Montgomery Ward, American baseball player and manager (died 1925) 1866 – Fred A. Busse, American lawyer and politician, 39th Mayor of Chicago (died 1914) 1868 – Émile Chartier, French philosopher and journalist (died 1951) 1869 – Henry Wood, English conductor (died 1944) 1871 – Maurice Garin, Italian-French cyclist (died 1957) 1872 – Frida Felser, German opera singer and actress (died 1941) 1873 – William Green, American union leader and politician (died 1952) 1880 – Yōsuke Matsuoka, Japanese politician, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs (died 1946) 1882 – Elisabeth Abegg, German anti-Nazi resistance fighter (died 1974) 1882 – Charles Ponzi, Italian businessman and convicted con man (died 1949) 1883 – Paul Marais de Beauchamp, French zoologist (died 1977) 1891 – Damaskinos of Athens, Greek archbishop (died 1949) 1893 – Beatrice Wood, American illustrator and potter (died 1998) 1895 – Ragnar Frisch, Norwegian economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1973) 1898 – Emil Artin, Austrian-German mathematician and academic (died 1962) 1900 – Edna Best, British stage and film actress (died 1974)
1901–present 1902 – Ruby Dandridge, African-American film and radio actress (died 1987) 1903 – Vasily Kozlov, Belarusian general and politician (died 1967) 1911 – Jean Harlow, American actress (died 1937) 1911 – Hugues Lapointe, Canadian lawyer and politician, 22nd Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (died 1982) 1913 – Margaret Bonds, American pianist and composer (died 1972) 1913 – Harold J. Stone, American actor (died 2005) 1914 – Asger Jorn, Danish painter and sculptor (died 1973) 1916 – Paul Halmos, Hungarian-American mathematician (died 2006) 1917 – Sameera Moussa, Egyptian physicist and academic (died 1952) 1918 – Arthur Kornberg, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2007) 1920 – Julius Boros, American golfer and accountant (died 1994) 1920 – James Doohan, Canadian-American actor and soldier (died 2005) 1920 – Ronald Searle, English-French soldier and illustrator (died 2011) 1921 – Diana Barrymore, American actress (died 1960) 1922 – Nándor Hidegkuti, Hungarian footballer and manager (died 2002) 1923 – Tamara Lisitsian, Soviet film director and screenwriter (died 2009) 1923 – Barney Martin, American police officer and actor (died 2005) 1923 – Doc Watson, American bluegrass singer-songwriter and musician (died 2012) 1924 – Tomiichi Murayama, Japanese soldier and politician, 52nd Prime Minister of Japan (died 2025) 1926 – James Merrill, American poet and playwright (died 1995) 1927 – Pierre Aubert, Swiss lawyer and politician (died 2016) 1930 – Ion Iliescu, Romanian engineer and politician, 2nd President of Romania (died 2025) 1932 – Roy Fisher, Australian rugby league player 1933 – Lee Radziwill, American socialite, sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (died 2019) 1934 – Peter Brooke, Baron Brooke of Sutton Mandeville, English politician, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (died 2023) 1934 – Jimmy Garrison, American bassist and educator (died 1976) 1935 – Mal Anderson, Australian tennis player (died 2026) 1935 – Michael Walzer, American philosopher and academic 1935 – Zhelyu Zhelev, Bulgarian philosopher and politician, 2nd President of Bulgaria (died 2015) 1939 – Larry Burkett, American author and radio host (died 2003) 1939 – M. L. Jaisimha, Indian cricketer (died 1999) 1940 – Germán Castro Caycedo, Colombian author and journalist (died 2021) 1940 – Perry Ellis, American fashion designer, founded Perry Ellis (died 1986) 1940 – Jean-Paul Proust, French-Monégasque police officer and politician, 21st Minister of State of Monaco (died 2010) 1941 – Novella Jafaroghlu, Azerbaijani chemist and politician 1941 – Mike Pender, English singer-songwriter and guitarist 1945 – George Miller, Australian director, producer, and screenwriter 1945 – Hattie Winston, American actress 1947 – Clifton Snider, American author, poet, and critic (died 2021) 1947 – Jennifer Warnes, American singer-songwriter and producer 1947 – Willie Wise, American basketball player 1948 – Steve Wilhite, American computer scientist, developer of the GIF image format at CompuServe in 1987 (died 2022) 1949 – Ron Chernow, American historian, journalist, and author 1949 – Bonnie J. Dunbar, American engineer, academic, and astronaut 1949 – Jesse Jefferson, American baseball player (died 2011) 1950 – Kamal Ahmed Majumder, Bangladeshi politician 1951 – Lindsay Cooper, English composer, bassoon and oboe player (died 2013) 1951 – Andy Murray, Canadian ice hockey player and coach 1951 – Heizō Takenaka, Japanese economist and politician 1952 – Rudy Fernandez, Filipino actor and producer (died 2008) 1953 – Robyn Hitchcock, English singer-songwriter and guitarist 1953 – Zico, Brazilian footballer and coach 1954 – Keith Fergus, American golfer 1954 – Robert Gossett, American actor