Events

• 41 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate.

• 1327 – Edward III becomes King of England.

• 1494 – Alfonso II becomes King of Naples.

• 1533 – Henry VIII of England secretly marries his second wife Anne Boleyn.

• 1554 – Founding of São Paulo city, Brazil.

• 1573 – Battle of Mikatagahara, in Japan; Takeda Shingen defeats Tokugawa Ieyasu.

• 1755 – Moscow University established on Tatiana Day.

• 1787 – American Daniel Shays leads rebellion to seize Federal arsenal to protest debtor's prisons.

• 1791 – The British Parliament passes the Constitutional Act of 1791 and splits the old province of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada.

• 1792 – The London Corresponding Society is founded.

• 1858 – The Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn becomes a popular wedding recessional after it is played on this day at the marriage of Queen Victoria's daughter, Victoria, and Friedrich of Prussia.

• 1879 – The Bulgarian National Bank is founded.

• 1881 – Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company.

• 1890 – Nellie Bly completes her round-the-world journey in 72 days.

• 1909 – Richard Strauss' opera Elektra receives its debut performance at the Dresden State Opera.

• 1915 – Alexander Graham Bell inaugurates U.S. transcontinental telephone service, speaking from New York to Thomas Watson in San Francisco.

• 1918 – The Ukrainian people declare independence from Bolshevik Russia.

• 1919 – The League of Nations is founded.

• 1924 – The 1924 Winter Olympics open in Chamonix, France (in the French Alps), inaugurating the Winter Olympic Games.

• 1937 – The Guiding Light debuts on NBC radio from Chicago. In 1952 it moves to CBS television. Still airing, it's the longest running US broadcast program.

• 1941 – Pope Pius XII elevates the Apostolic Vicariate of the Hawaiian Islands to the dignity of a diocese. It becomes the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu.

• 1942 – World War II: Thailand declares war on the United States and United Kingdom.

• 1945 – World War II: Battle of the Bulge ends.

• 1946 – The United Mine Workers rejoins the American Federation of Labor.

• 1949 – At the Hollywood Athletic Club the first Emmy Awards are presented.

• 1955 – Soviet Union ends state of war with Germany.

• 1959 – Pope John XXIII proclaims upcoming Second Vatican Council.

• 1960 – The National Association of Broadcasters reacts to the Payola scandal by threatening fines for any disc jockeys who accepted money for playing particular records.

• 1961 – In Washington, D.C. John F. Kennedy delivers the first live presidential television news conference.

• 1971 – Charles Manson and three female "Family" members are found guilty of the 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders.

• 1971 – Idi Amin leads a coup deposing Milton Obote and becomes Uganda's president.

• 1971 – Himachal Pradesh becomes the 18th Indian state.

• 1981 – Jiang Qing, the widow of Mao Zedong, is sentenced to death.

• 1986 – The National Resistance Movement topple the government of Tito Okello in Uganda.

• 1990 – The Burns' Day storm hits northwestern Europe.

• 1990 – Honduras becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.

• 1990 – Avianca Flight 52 crashes, killing 73 passengers.

• 1990 – The 5th Congress of the Communist Youth of Greece starts.

• 1993 – Five people are shot outside CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia resulting in two murders.

• 1994 – The Clementine space probe launches.

• 1995 – The Norwegian Rocket Incident: Russia almost launches a nuclear attack after it mistakes Black Brant XII, a Norwegian research rocket, for a US Trident missile.

• 1996 – Billy Bailey became the last person to be hanged in the United States of America.

• 1998 – During a historic visit to Cuba Pope John Paul II demands the release of political prisoners and political reforms while condemning US attempts to isolate the country.

• 1998 – Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) suicide attack on Sri Lanka's Temple of the Tooth, killing 8 people injuring 25 others.

• 1999 – A 6.0 Richter scale earthquake hits western Colombia killing at least 1,000.

• 2001 – A 50-year-old Douglas DC-3 crashes near Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela killing 24.

• 2002 – Wikipedia switches to the new version of its software ("Phase II") aka Magnus Manske Day.

• 2004 – Opportunity rover (MER-B) lands on surface of Mars.

• 2005 – A stampede at the Mandher Devi temple in Mandhradevi in India kills at least 258.

• 2006 – Three independent observing campaigns announce the discovery of OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb through gravitational microlensing, the first cool rocky/icy extrasolar planet around a main-sequence star.

Births

• 750 – Leo IV the Khazar, Byzantine Emperor (d. 780)

• 1477 – Anna, Duchess of Brittany, wife of Charles VIII of France (d. 1514)

• 1509 – Giovanni Morone, Italian cardinal (d. 1580)

• 1615 – Govert Flinck, Dutch painter (d. 1660)

• 1627 – Robert Boyle, Irish chemist (d. 1691)

• 1634 – Gaspar Fagel, Dutch statesman (d. 1688)

• 1640 – William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire, English soldier and statesman (d. 1707)

• 1688 – Juraj Jánošík, famous Slovak outlaw (d. 1713)

• 1736 – Joseph Louis Lagrange, Italian-born mathematician (d. 1813)

• 1739 – Charles François Dumouriez, French general (d. 1823)

• 1743 – Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, German philosopher (d. 1819)

• 1755 – Paolo Mascagni, Anatomist (d. 1815)

• 1759 – Robert Burns, Scottish poet (d. 1796)

• 1777 – Karoline Jagemann, German actor (d. 1848)

• 1794 – François-Vincent Raspail, French chemist (d. 1878)

• 1796 – William MacGillivray, Scottish naturalist and ornithologist (d. 1852)

• 1822 – Charles Reed Bishop, preeminent businessman and philanthropist in Hawaii (d. 1915)

• 1825 – George Pickett, American Confederate General (d. 1875)

• 1841 – Jackie Fisher, British First Sea Lord (d. 1920)

• 1858 – Kokichi Mikimoto, Japanese pearl farm pioneer (d. 1954)

• 1860 – Charles Curtis, 31st Vice President of the United States (d. 1936)

• 1864 – Julije Kempf, Croatian historian and writer (d. 1934)

• 1868 – Juventino Rosas, Mexican composer (d. 1894)

• 1874 – W. Somerset Maugham, English writer (d. 1965)

• 1878 – Ernst Alexanderson, Swedish-born television pioneer (d. 1975)

• 1882 – Virginia Woolf, English writer (d. 1941)

• 1885 – Kitahara Hakushū, Japanese poet and children's author (d. 1942)

• 1886 – Wilhelm Furtwängler, German conductor (d. 1954)

• 1899 – Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian politician (d. 1972)

• 1900 – Theodosius Dobzhansky, Ukrainian-American geneticist and biologist (d. 1975)

• 1900 – Yojiro Ishizaka, Japanese writer (d. 1986)

• 1901 – Martin De Alzaga, Argentine racing driver (d. 1982)

• 1902 – Pablo Antonio, Filipino modernist architect (d. 1975)

• 1905 – Maurice Roy, French Canadian Roman Catholic cardinal, archbishop of Quebec (d. 1985)

• 1913 – Witold Lutosławski, Polish composer (d. 1994)

• 1913 – Luis Marden, American photojournalist (d. 2003)

• 1916 – Frank "Pop" Ivy, American and Canadian football coach (d. 2003)

• 1917 – Ilya Prigogine, Russian scientist Nobel Laureate (d. 2003)

• 1917 – Jânio Quadros, Brazilian politician (d. 1992)

• 1918 – Ernie Harwell, American baseball sportscaster

• 1919 – Edwin Newman, American journalist and writer

• 1923 – Rusty Draper, American country and pop singer (d. 2003)

• 1923 – Shirley Mason, American psychiatric patient (aka, "Sybil") (d. 1998)

• 1924 – Lou Groza, American football player (d. 2000)

• 1924 – Speedy West, Country Hall of Fame steel guitar player (d. 2003)

• 1925 – Giorgos Zampetas, Greek musician and songwriter (d. 1992)

• 1927 – Antônio Carlos Jobim, Brazilian composer (d. 1994)

• 1928 – Eduard Shevardnadze, President of Georgia

• 1928 – Jérôme Choquette, Quebec lawyer and politician

• 1929 – Benny Golson, American jazz musician

• 1930 – Tanya Savicheva, Russian diarist (d. 1944)

• 1931 – Dean Jones, American actor

• 1933 – Corazon Aquino, 11^th President of the Philippines (d. 2009)

• 1935 – António Ramalho Eanes, 17^th President of Portugal

• 1936 – Diana Hyland, American actress (d. 1977)

• 1937 – Ange-Félix Patassé, President of the Central African Republic

• 1937 – Judith Ann Mayotte, American humanitarian, author.

• 1938 – Shotaro Ishinomori, Japanese manga author (d. 1998)

• 1938 – Leiji Matsumoto, Japanese creator of anime.

• 1938 – Etta James, American singer

• 1938 – Vladimir Vysotsky, Russian poet (d. 1980)

• 1939 – Gabriel Romanus, Swedish politician

• 1941 – Buddy Baker, American race car driver

• 1941 – Gregory Sierra, American actor

• 1942 – Carl Eller, American football player

• 1942 – Eusébio, Portuguese footballer

• 1942 – Shinobu Tsukasa, Japanese kumicho (supreme Godfather) of the largest yakuza organization.

• 1943 – Tobe Hooper, American film director

• 1944 – Anita Pallenberg, Italian model

• 1945 – Leigh Taylor-Young, American actress

• 1947 – Tostão, Brazilian footballer

• 1947 – Ángel Nieto, Spanish motorcycle racer

• 1948 – Gueorgui Chichkine, Russian painter

• 1948 – Ros Kelly, Australian politician

• 1949 – John Cooper Clarke, English punk-poet

• 1949 – Paul Nurse, English biochemist, Nobel Laureate

• 1950 – John Terry, American actor

• 1951 – Steve Prefontaine, American runner (d. 1975)

• 1952 – Sara Mandiano, French singer and songwriter

• 1952 – Timothy White, American journalist (d. 2002)

• 1953 – The Honky Tonk Man, American professional wrestler

• 1953 – Mark Weil, Uzbek theatre director (d. 2007)

• 1954 – Ricardo Bochini, Argentinian footballer

• 1954 – Kay Cottee, first woman to sail solo and non stop around the world.

• 1954 – Richard Finch, American bass player (KC and the Sunshine Band)

• 1954 – Kim Gandy, American feminist

• 1955 – Terry Chimes, English musician (The Clash)

• 1956 – Andy Cox, English musician (The Beat, Fine Young Cannibals)

• 1957 – Jenifer Lewis, American actress

• 1957 – Eskil Erlandsson, Swedish politician

• 1957 – Andrew P. Harris, American politician

• 1958 – Dinah Manoff, American actress

• 1961 – Vivian Balakrishnan, Singaporean politician

• 1961 – Willie Revillame, Filipino game show host and comedian

• 1962 – Chris Chelios, American ice hockey player

• 1965 – Esa Tikkanen, Finnish ice hockey player

• 1965 – Mark Jordon, English actor

• 1966 – Chet Culver, American politician, governor of Iowa

• 1967 – Randy McKay, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1967 – Mark Bamford, American writer/director

• 1969 – Kina, American singer

• 1970 – Stephen Chbosky – American writer

• 1971 – Luca Badoer, Italian race car driver

• 1971 – China Kantner, American actress

• 1971 – Ana Ortiz, American actress and singer

• 1973 – Geoff Johns, American comic book writer

• 1973 – Chris Guy, American professional wrestler

• 1974 – Robert Budreau, Canadian film director

• 1975 – Mia Kirshner, Canadian actress

• 1975 – Tim Montgomery, American athlete

• 1975 – Dat Phan, Vietnamese stand-up comedian

• 1976 – Mario Haberfeld, Brazilian racing car driver

• 1978 – Denis Menchov, Russian cyclist

• 1978 – Jason Roberts, English-born footballer

• 1978 – Derrick Turnbow, Major League Baseball Player

• 1979 – Pi Hongyan, French badminton player

• 1979 – Gabe Jennings, American distance runner

• 1979 – Rodrigo Ribeiro, Brazilian racing driver

• 1979 – Christine Lakin, American actress

• 1980 – Michelle McCool, American professional wrestler

• 1980 – Xavi, Catalan Spanish footballer

• 1980 – Efstathios Tavlaridis, Greek footballer

• 1981 – Tose Proeski, Macedonian Singer (d. 2007)

• 1981 – Francis Jeffers, English footballer

• 1981 – Alicia Keys, American singer

• 1982 – Sho Sakurai, Japanese singer and actor

• 1982 – The-Dream, singer

• 1982 – Shawna Waldron, American actress

• 1983 – Andrée Watters, Canadian singer

• 1984 – Robinho, Brazilian footballer

• 1985 – Tina Karol, Ukrainian singer

• 1985 – Acie Law IV, National Basketball Association player

• 1985 – Patrick Willis, American football player

• 1986 – Chris O'Grady, English footballer

• 1986 – Shahriar Nafees, Bangladeshi cricketer

• 1987 – Maria Kirilenko, Russian tennis player

• 1988 – Tatiana Golovin, French tennis player

• 1989 – Mikako Tabe, Japanese stage and film actress

• 1989 – Sheryfa Luna, French singer

Deaths

• 389 – Gregory Nazianzus, theologian and Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 329)

• 477 – Geiseric, King of the Vandals and Alans

• 844 – Pope Gregory IV

• 967 – Sayf al-Daula, Hamdanid Emir of Aleppo (b. 916)

• 1067 – Emperor Yingzong of China (b. 1032)

• 1366 – Henry Suso, German mystic

• 1431 – Charles II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1364)

• 1494 – King Ferdinand I of Naples (b. 1423)

• 1559 – King Christian II of Denmark, Sweden and Norway (b. 1481)

• 1573 – Hirate Hirohide, Japanese samurai (b. 1553)

• 1578 – Mihrimah Sultana, Ottoman princess

• 1586 – Lucas Cranach the Younger, German painter (b. 1515)

• 1640 – Robert Burton, English scholar (b. 1577)

• 1670 – Nicholas II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1612)

• 1726 – Guillaume Delisle, French cartographer (b. 1675)

• 1733 – Gilbert Heathcote, Mayor of London (b. 1652)

• 1751 – Paul Dudley, Attorney-General of Massachusetts (b. 1675)

• 1881 – Konstantin Thon, Russian architect (b. 1794)

• 1907 – René Pottier, French cyclist (b. 1879)

• 1908 – Mikhail Chigorin, Russian chess player (b. 1850)

• 1908 – Ouida, English writer (b. 1839)

• 1912 – Dmitry Milyutin, Russian Field Marshal (b. 1816)

• 1925 – Ivan Vucetic, Croatian anthropologist (b. 1858)

• 1939 – Charles Davidson Dunbar, British military piper (b. 1870)

• 1940 – Elias Simojoki, Finnish clergyman and politician (b. 1899)

• 1947 – Al Capone, American gangster (b. 1899)

• 1949 – Makino Nobuaki, Japanese statesman　(b. 1861)

• 1954 – Manabendra Nath Roy, Indian marxist (b. 1887)

• 1957 – Kiyoshi Shiga, Japanese physician and bacteriologist (b. 1871)

• 1957 – Ichizo Kobayashi, Japanese industrialist and Minister of Commerce and Industry (b. 1873)

• 1963 – Wilson Kettle, Guinness World Record holder for most living descendants (b. 1860)

• 1969 – Irene Castle, English dancer (b. 1887)

• 1970 – Jane Bathori, French mezzo-soprano (b. 1877)

• 1970 – Eiji Tsuburaya, Japanese television writer and producer (Ultraman) (b. 1901)

• 1972 – Erhard Milch, German field marshal (b. 1892)

• 1975 – Charlotte Whitton, Canadian politician, mayor of Ottawa (b. 1896)

• 1976 – Chris Kenner, American singer and songwriter (b. 1929)

• 1980 – Queenie Watts, English actress (b. 1926)

• 1981 – Adele Astaire, American dancer (b. 1897)

• 1982 – Mikhail Suslov, Soviet politician (b. 1902)

• 1985 – Ilias Iliou, Greek politician (b. 1904)

• 1990 – Ava Gardner, American actress (b. 1922)

• 1994 – Stephen Cole Kleene, American mathematician (b. 1909)

• 1996 – Jonathan Larson, American composer (b. 1960)

• 1999 – Sarah "Sadie" Delany, American author (b. 1889)

• 1999 – Ted Mallie, American radio and television announcer (b. 1924)

• 1999 – Robert Shaw, American conductor (b. 1916)

• 2003 – Samuel Weems, Arkansas judge (b. 1936)

• 1993 – Sheldon Reynolds, American television producer (b. 1923)

• 2004 – Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch athlete (b. 1918)

• 2004 – Miklós Fehér, Hungarian footballer (b. 1979)

• 2005 – Stanisław Albinowski, Polish economist and journalist (b. 1923)

• 2005 – William Augustus Bootle, American judge (b. 1902)

• 2005 – Philip Johnson, American architect (b. 1906)

• 2005 – Manuel Lopes, Cape Verdean writer and poet (b. 1907)

• 2005 – Ray Peterson, American singer (b. 1935)

• 2005 – Nettie Witziers-Timmer, Dutch athlete (b. 1923)

• 2006 – Anna Malle, adult film star (b. 1967)

• 2008 – Christopher Allport, American actor (b. 1947)

• 2008 – Evelyn Barbirolli, English musician (b. 1911)

• 2009 – Kim Manners, American television producer and director (b. 1951)

Holidays and observances

• Burns Night—Burns suppers are held in many parts of the world around this date. (Originated in Scotland)

• Christian ecumenism—Week of Prayer for Christian Unity ends.

• Criminon Day—Commemorates the 1970 founding of Criminon, a program which seeks to rehabilitate prisoners by disseminating free copies of Scientology-related materials such as The Way to Happiness.

• Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul celebrated by the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches, which concludes the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity,

• Feast of Gregory the Theologian, Archbishop of Constantinople—Eastern (Byzantine) Catholic Church

• Roman Empire—second day of the Sementivae in honour of Ceres and Terra

• Russia—Tatiana Day, celebrated as the Day of Russian Students since 1755, when Moscow University is founded.

• Wales—St. Dwynwen's Day – celebration of love Diwrnod Santes Dwynwen.