Events

• 610 – In Islam, the traditional date of the Laylat al-Qadr, when Muhammad began to receive the Qur'an.

• 955 – Battle of Lechfeld: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor defeats the Magyars, ending 50 years of Magyar invasion of the West.

• 991 – Battle of Maldon: English, led by Bryhtnoth, Duke of Essex, are defeated by a band of inland-raiding Vikings near Maldon in Essex.

• 1270 – Yekuno Amlak takes the imperial throne of Ethiopia, restoring the Solomonic dynasty to power after a 100-year interregnum.

• 1316 – Second Battle of Athenry.

• 1519 – Ferdinand Magellan's five ships set sail from Seville to circumnavigate the globe. Second in command Sebastian Elcano, Basque navigator, completes the expedition after Magellan's death in the Philippines.

• 1557 – Battle of St. Quentin: Spanish victory over the French in the Habsburg-Valois Wars.

• 1628 – The Swedish warship sinks in the Stockholm harbour after only about 20 minutes on her maiden voyage.

• 1675 – The foundation stone of the Royal Greenwich Observatory in London is laid.

• 1680 – The Pueblo Revolt begins in New Mexico.

• 1776 – American Revolutionary War: word of the United States Declaration of Independence reaches London.

• 1792 – French Revolution: Storming of the Tuileries Palace. Louis XVI of France is arrested and taken into custody.

• 1809 – Quito, now the capital of Ecuador, declares independence from Spain. (The rebellion was crushed on August 2, 1810.)

• 1821 – Missouri is admitted as the 24th U.S. state.

• 1829 – First ascent of Finsteraarhorn, the highest summit of the Bernese Alps.

• 1846 – The Smithsonian Institution is chartered by the United States Congress after James Smithson donates $500,000 for such a purpose.

• 1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Wilson's Creek – the war enters Missouri when a band of raw Confederate troops defeat Union forces in the southwestern part of the state.

• 1901 – The U.S. Steel Recognition Strike by the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers begins.

• 1904 – Russo-Japanese War: the Battle of the Yellow Sea between the Russian and Japanese battleship fleets.

• 1905 – Russo-Japanese War: peace negotiations begin in Portsmouth.

• 1913 – Second Balkan War: delegates from Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece sign the Treaty of Bucharest, ending the war.

• 1920 – World War I: Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI's representatives sign the Treaty of Sèvres that divides up the Ottoman Empire between the Allies.

• 1932 – A 5.1kg (11.2-pound) chondrite-type meteorite breaks into at least seven pieces and lands near the town of Archie in Cass County, Missouri.

• 1944 – World War II: American forces defeat the last Japanese troops on Guam.

• 1948 – Candid Camera makes its television debut after being on radio for a year as Candid Microphone.

• 1949 – U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act Amendment, streamlining the defense agencies of the United States government, and replacing the Department of War with the United States Department of Defense.

• 1954 – At Massena, New York, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Saint Lawrence Seaway is held.

• 1969 – A day after murdering Sharon Tate and four others, members of Charles Manson's cult kill Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.

• 1971 – The Society for American Baseball Research is founded in Cooperstown, New York.

• 1977 – In Yonkers, New York, 24-year-old postal employee David Berkowitz ("Son of Sam") is arrested for a series of killings in the New York City area over the period of one year.

• 1981 – Murder of Adam Walsh: The head of John Walsh's son is found. Inspires the creation of the television series America's Most Wanted.

• 1988 – Japanese American internment: U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, providing $20,000 payments to Japanese Americans who were either interned in or relocated by the United States during World War II.

• 1990 – The Magellan space probe reaches Venus.

• 1990 – The Massacre of more than 127 Muslims in North East Sri Lanka by paramilitaries.

• 1993 – An earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter Scale hits the South Island of New Zealand.

• 1995 – Oklahoma City bombing: Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols are indicted for the bombing. Michael Fortier pleads guilty in a plea-bargain agreement for his testimony.

• 1998 – The Royal Proclamation of HRH Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah as the crown prince of Brunei.

• 2003 – The highest temperature ever recorded in the UK – 38.5°C (101.3°F) in Kent. It is the first time the UK has recorded a temperature over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

• 2003 – Yuri Malenchenko becomes the first person to marry in space.

• 2006 – Scotland Yard disrupts major terrorist plot to destroy aircraft traveling from the United Kingdom to the United States. All toiletries are banned from commercial airplanes.

Births

• 1267 – King James II of Aragon (d. 1327)

• 1296 – John of Bohemia (d. 1346)

• 1360 – Francesco Zabarella, Italian jurist (d. 1417)

• 1397 – Albert II of Germany, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1439)

• 1489 – Jacob Sturm von Sturmeck, German statesman and reformer (d. 1553)

• 1520 – Madeleine of Valois, wife of James V of Scotland (d. 1537)

• 1560 – Hieronymus Praetorius, German composer (d. 1629)

• 1602 – Gilles de Roberval, French mathematician (d. 1675)

• 1645 – Eusebio Kino, Italian Catholic missionary (d. 1711)

• 1737 – Anton Losenko, Russian painter (d. 1773)

• 1744 – Alexandrine-Jeanne d'Étiolles (nicknamed "Fanfan"), daughter of the courtesan Madame de Pompadour (d. 1754)

• 1809 – John Kirk Townsend, American naturalist (d. 1851)

• 1810 – Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia (d. 1861)

• 1814 – Henri Nestlé, Swiss industrialist (d. 1890)

• 1821 – Jay Cooke, American financier (d. 1905)

• 1823 – Hugh Stowell Brown, Manx preacher (d. 1886)

• 1827 – Lovro Toman, Slovenian politician (d. 1870)

• 1839 – Aleksandr Stoletov, Russian physicist (d. 1896)

• 1845 – Abay Qunanbayuli, Kazakh poet (d. 1904)

• 1856 – William Willett, English promoter of daylight saving time (d. 1915)

• 1860 – Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande, Indian musician (d. 1936)

• 1865 – Alexander Glazunov, Russian composer (d. 1936)

• 1869 – Laurence Binyon, British poet (d. 1943)

• 1872 – Bill Johnson, American musician (d. 1972)

• 1874 – Herbert Clark Hoover, 31st President of the United States (d. 1964)

• 1877 – Frank Marshall, American chess player (d. 1944)

• 1878 – Alfred Döblin, German writer (d. 1957)

• 1880 – Robert L. Thornton, American businessman, philanthropist, and Mayor of Dallas, Texas (d. 1964)

• 1884 – Panait Istrati, Romanian writer (d. 1935)

• 1889 – Charles Darrow, Inventor (d. 1967)

• 1890 – Angus Lewis Macdonald, Canadian politician (d. 1954)

• 1894 – V. V. Giri, Fourth President of India (d. 1980)

• 1895 – Hammy Love, Former Australian cricketer (d. 1969)

• 1897 – John W. Galbreath, American businessman (d. 1988)

• 1898 – Jack Haley, American actor (d. 1979)

• 1900 – Arthur Porritt, Baron Porritt, New Zealand politician and athlete (d. 1994)

• 1902 – Norma Shearer, Canadian actress (d. 1983)

• 1902 – Curt Siodmak, German-born author (d. 2000)

• 1902 – Arne Tiselius, Swedish chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1971)

• 1903 – Ward Moore, American author (d. 1978)

• 1905 – Era Bell Thompson, American journalist (d. 1986)

• 1908 – Adelino ("Billy") Gonsalves, American soccer player (d. 1977)

• 1908 – Rica Erickson, Australian naturalist and botanic

• 1909 – Leo Fender, American luthier (d. 1991)

• 1911 – A. N. Sherwin-White, English historian (d. 1993)

• 1912 – Jorge Amado, Brazilian novelist (d. 2001)

• 1913 – Wolfgang Paul, German physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1993)

• 1913 – Noah Beery, Jr., American actor (d. 1994)

• 1914 – Jeff Corey, American actor (d. 2002)

• 1914 – Carlos Menditeguy, Argentine racing driver (d. 1973)

• 1919 – Sacha Vierny, French cinematographer (d. 2001)

• 1920 – Red Holzman, American basketball coach (d. 1998)

• 1923 – Rhonda Fleming, American actress

• 1923 – Fred Ridgway, Former England cricketer

• 1924 – Martha Hyer, American actress

• 1927 – Vernon Washington, American actor (d. 1988)

• 1928 – Jimmy Dean, American singer and businessman

• 1928 – Gus Mercurio, American-born Australian actor

• 1928 – Eddie Fisher, American singer

• 1933 – Doyle Brunson, American poker player

• 1933 – Rocky Colavito, American baseball player

• 1933 – Keith Duckworth, English mechanical engineer (Cosworth (d. 2005)

• 1937 – Anatoly Sobchak, Russian politician

• 1939 – Kate O'Mara, British actress

• 1940 – Bobby Hatfield, American singer (The Righteous Brothers) (d. 2003)

• 1940 – Sid Waddell, Darts Commentator for the PDC

• 1942 – Betsey Johnson, American fashion designer

• 1943 – Ronnie Spector, American singer (The Ronettes)

• 1943 – Louise Forestier, French Canadian singer, songwriter and actress

• 1943 – Jimmy Griffin, American guitarist (Bread) (d. 2005)

• 1943 – Michael Mantler, American trumpeter and composer

• 1943 – Shafqat Rana, Former Pakistani cricketer

• 1945 – Harriet Miers, White House Counsel

• 1947 – Ian Anderson, Scottish singer (Jethro Tull)

• 1947 – Anwar Ibrahim, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia

• 1947 – Alan Ward, Former England cricketer

• 1948 – Patti Austin, American singer

• 1950 – Rémy Girard, Canadian actor

• 1952 – Daniel Hugh Kelly, American actor

• 1952 – Diane Venora, American actress

• 1953 – Mark Doty, American poet and prose writer

• 1956 – Fred Ottman, American wrestler

• 1956 – Charlie Peacock, American record producer, singer-songwriter

• 1958 – Jack Richards, Former England cricketer

• 1959 – Rosanna Arquette, American actress

• 1959 – Florent Vollant, Innu-Canadian musician (Kashtin)

• 1960 – Antonio Banderas, Spanish actor

• 1960 – Nicoletta Braschi, Italian actress

• 1960 – Todd David Hess, First USAF Member inducted into Army's Order of Military Medical Merit.

• 1960 – Kenny Perry, American golfer

• 1961 – Jon Farriss, Australian musician (INXS)

• 1963 – Andrew Sullivan, English-born journalist

• 1963 – Phoolan Devi, Indian bandit and revolutionary (d. 2001)

• 1964 – Aaron Hall, American songwriter

• 1965 – Claudia Christian, American actress

• 1965 – Mike E. Smith, American jockey

• 1965 – John Starks, American basketball player

• 1966 – Hansi Kürsch, German singer

• 1967 – Philippe Albert, Belgian former footballer

• 1967 – Riddick Bowe, American boxer

• 1967 – Mart Sander, Estonian singer and actor

• 1967 – Reinout Scholte, Dutch cricketer

• 1967 – Lorraine Pearson, singer (Five Star) and author

• 1968 – Michael Bivins, American singer (New Edition & Bell Biv DeVoe)

• 1968 – Greg Hawgood, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1968 – Pete Docter, American film director

• 1969 – Emily Symons, Australian actress

• 1970 – Bret Hedican, American ice hockey player

• 1970 – Steve Mautone, Australian footballer

• 1970 – Brendon Julian, Australian cricketer

• 1971 – Roy Keane, Irish footballer

• 1971 – Mario Kindelán, Cuban boxer

• 1971 – Justin Theroux, American actor

• 1971 – Sal Fasano, American baseball player

• 1971 – Kevin Randleman, American mixed martial artist

• 1971 – Stephan Groth, Norwegian musician

• 1972 – Lawrence Dallaglio, English rugby union footballer

• 1972 – Angie Harmon, American model and actress

• 1972 – Christofer Johnsson, Swedish musician

• 1973 – Lisa Raymond, American tennis player

• 1973 – Javier Zanetti, Argentinian footballer

• 1974 – David Sommeil, French footballer

• 1974 – Rachel Simmons, American feminist and author

• 1974 – Luis Marín, Costa Rican footballer

• 1975 – İlhan Mansız, Turkish footballer

• 1976 – Michael Depoli, American wrestler

• 1977 – Danny Griffin, Northern Irish footballer

• 1977 – Aaron Kamin, American musician (The Calling)

• 1977 – Matt Morgan, British comedian

• 1978 – Daniel Allsopp, Australian footballer

• 1978 – Chris Read, English cricketer

• 1978 – Marcus Fizer, American basketball player

• 1978 – Claire Yiu, Hong Kong actress

• 1979 – Yannick Schroeder, French racing driver

• 1979 – Joanna García, Cuban actress

• 1979 – Ted Geoghegan, American filmmaker and author

• 1979 – Dinusha Fernando, Sri Lankan cricketer

• 1979 – Brandon Lyon, American baseball player

• 1981 – Natsumi Abe, Japanese singer

• 1981 – Taufik Hidayat, Indonesian badminton player

• 1981 – Malek Mouath,Saudi Arabian footballer

• 1982 – Josh Anderson, American baseball player

• 1982 – Devon Aoki, American model and actress

• 1983 – Alexander Perezhogin, Russian ice hockey player

• 1983 – Mathieu Roy, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1984 – Mariel Rodriguez, Filipino TV host

• 1985 – Roy O'Donovan, Irish footballer

• 1989 – Sam Gagner, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1989 – Ben Sahar, Israeli footballer

• 1992 – Ko Ah-seong, South Korean actress

• 1993 – Yuto Nakajima, Japanese actor and singer

Deaths

• 258 – Saint Lawrence, martyr

• 1535 – Ippolito de' Medici, ruler of Florence (b. 1509)

• 1637 – Johann Gerhard, German Lutheran leader (b. 1582)

• 1653 – Maarten Tromp, Dutch admiral (b. 1598)

• 1655 – Alfonso de la Cueva, marqués de Bedmar, Spanish cardinal and diplomat (b. 1572)

• 1723 – Guillaume Dubois, French cardinal and statesman (b. 1656)

• 1759 – King Ferdinand VI of Spain (b. 1713)

• 1784 – Allan Ramsay, Scottish painter (b. 1713)

• 1802 – Franz Aepinus, German scientist (b. 1724)

• 1806 – Michael Haydn, Austrian composer (b. 1737)

• 1839 – John St Aubyn, British fossil collector (b. 1758)

• 1862 – Honinbo Shusaku, Japanese Go player (b. 1829)

• 1875 – Karl Andree, German geographer (b. 1808)

• 1896 – Otto Lilienthal, German aviation pioneer (b. 1848)

• 1915 – Henry Moseley, English physicist (b. 1887)

• 1918 – Erich Loewenhardt, Germany flying ace (b. 1897)

• 1920 – Ádám Politzer, Hungarian-Austrian physician (b. 1835)

• 1928 – Rex Cherryman, American actor (b. 1897)

• 1929 – Pierre Fatou, French mathematician (b. 1878)

• 1932 – Rin Tin Tin, German shepherd dog (b. 1918)

• 1945 – Robert H. Goddard, American rocket scientist (b. 1882)

• 1948 – Kwan-Ichi Asakawa, Japanese historian(b. 1873)

• 1948 – Andrew Brown, Scottish football coach (b. 1870)

• 1948 – Montague Summers, English writer (b. 1880)

• 1958 – Frank Demaree, baseball player (b. 1910)

• 1963 – Estes Kefauver, American politician (b. 1903)

• 1963 – Ernst Wetter, member of the Swiss Federal Council (b. 1877)

• 1969 – Leno LaBianca, American businessman (b. 1925)

• 1969 – Rosemary LaBianca, American housewife (b. 1930)

• 1976 – Bert Oldfield, Australian cricketer (b. 1894)

• 1979 – Walter Gerlach, German physicist (b. 1889)

• 1979 – Dick Foran, American actor (b. 1910)

• 1980 – Yahya Khan, Pakistani politician (b. 1917)

• 1982 – Anderson Bigode Herzer, Brazilian writer and poet (b. 1962)

• 1993 – Øystein Aarseth, Norwegian musician (Mayhem) (b. 1968)

• 1987 – Georgios Athanasiadis-Novas, Greek lawyer, politician and Prime Minister (b. 1893)

• 1997 – Conlon Nancarrow, American composer (b. 1912)

• 1997 – Jean-Claude Lauzon, Quebec film director (b. 1953)

• 1999 – Padma Bhushan Acharya Baldev Upadhyaya, Indian Sanskrit scholar (b. 1899)

• 2000 – Gilbert Parkhouse, English cricketer (b. 1925)

• 2001 – Lou Boudreau, American baseball player and manager (b. 1917)

• 2002 – Michael Houser, American guitarist (Widespread Panic) (b. 1962)

• 2002 – Kristen Nygaard, Norwegian computer scientist (b. 1926)

• 2003 – Carmita Jiménez, Puerto Rican singer

• 2007 – Henry Cabot Lodge Bohler, American military pilot and civil rights activist (b. 1925)

• 2007 – James E. Faust, American religious figure (b. 1920)

• 2007 – Tony Wilson, British music personality and broadcaster (b. 1950)

• 2007 – Chris Reyka, American law enforcement official (b. 1956)

• 2008 – Isaac Hayes, American musician and actor (b. 1942)

Holidays and observances

• Roman festivals – Opalia, festival in honor of Ops

• Ancient Latvia – Labrenca Diena held

• Independence Day in Ecuador

• Saint Blane, bishop (of Ceann-Garadh) [Scotland]

• Saint Deusdedit

• Saint Lawrence, deacon, martyr 258, patron saint of accountants, cooks, and local history [common]

• Our Lady of Good Success of Parañaque, Patroness of Parañaque, Philippines

• Saint Geraint of Dumnonia

• Saint Bessus