Events

• 911 – Signing of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between Charles the Simple and Rollo of Normandy.

• 1156 – Siege of Shirakawa-den in Japan.

• 1302 – Battle of the Golden Spurs (Guldensporenslag in Dutch) – a coalition around the Flemish cities defeats the king of France's royal army.

• 1346 – Charles IV of Luxembourg is elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

• 1405 – Ming admiral Zheng He sets sail to explore the world for the first time.

• 1476 – Giuliano della Rovere is appointed bishop of Coutances.

• 1576 – Martin Frobisher sights Greenland.

• 1616 – Samuel de Champlain returns to Quebec.

• 1735 – Mathematical calculations suggest that it is on this day that dwarf planet Pluto moved inside the orbit of Neptune for the last time before 1979.

• 1740 – Pogrom: Jews are expelled from Little Russia.

• 1750 – Halifax, Nova Scotia is almost completely destroyed by fire.

• 1776 – Captain James Cook begins his third voyage.

• 1789 – Jacques Necker is dismissed as France's Finance Minister sparking the Storming of the Bastille.

• 1796 – The United States takes possession of Detroit from Great Britain under terms of the Jay Treaty.

• 1798 – The United States Marine Corps is re-established; they had been disbanded after the American Revolutionary War.

• 1801 – French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons made his first comet discovery. In the next 27 years he discovered another 36 comets, more than any other person in history.

• 1804 – Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr mortally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a duel.

• 1848 – Waterloo railway station in London opens.

• 1859 – A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is published.

• 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Fort Stevens; Confederate forces attempt to invade Washington, D.C..

• 1882 – The British Mediterranean fleet begins the Bombardment of Alexandria in Egypt as part of the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War.

• 1889 – Tijuana, Mexico, is founded.

• 1893 – The first cultured pearl is obtained by Kokichi Mikimoto.

• 1893 – A revolution led by the liberal general and politician, José Santos Zelaya, takes over state power in Nicaragua.

• 1895 – The Lumière brothers demonstrate film technology to scientists.

• 1897 – Salomon August Andrée leaves Spitsbergen to attempt to reach the North pole by balloon. He later crashes and dies.

• 1906 – The Gillette-Brown murder inspires Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy.

• 1914 – Babe Ruth makes his debut in Major league baseball.

• 1919 – The eight-hour working day and free Sunday become law in the Netherlands.

• 1921 – A truce is called in the Irish War of Independence; see Irish calendar.

• 1921 – Former U.S. President William Howard Taft is sworn in as 10th Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the only person to ever be both President and Chief Justice.

• 1921 – The Red Army captures Mongolia from the White Army and establishes the Mongolian People's Republic.

• 1922 – The Hollywood Bowl opens.

• 1929 – The Gillingham Fair fire disaster kills 15 in England.

• 1936 – The Triborough Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic.

• 1940 – World War II: Vichy France regime is formally established. Henri Philippe Pétain becomes Prime Minister of France.

• 1943 – Massacres of Poles in Volhynia.

• 1943 – World War II: Allied invasion of Sicily – German and Italian troops launch a counter-attack on Allied forces in Sicily.

• 1944 – Franklin D. Roosevelt announces that he will run for a fourth term as President of the United States.

• 1947 – The Exodus 1947 heads to Palestine from France.

• 1950 – Pakistan joins the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank.

• 1955 – The phrase In God We Trust is added to all U.S. currency.

• 1957 – Prince Karim Husseini Aga Khan IV inherits the office of Imamat as the 49th Imam of Shia Imami Ismaili worldwide, after the death of Sir Sultan Mahommed Shah Aga Khan III.

• 1960 – Independence of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger.

• 1960 – To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is first published.

• 1962 – First transatlantic satellite television transmission.

• 1971 – Copper mines in Chile are nationalized.

• 1972 – The World Chess Championship 1972 first game starts.

• 1973 – A Brazilian Boeing 707 crashes near Paris on approach to Orly Airport, killing 123 of the 134 on-board.

• 1977 – Martin Luther King Jr. is posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom.

• 1978 – Los Alfaques Disaster: A truck carrying liquid gas crashes and explodes at a coastal campsite in Tarragona, Spain killing 216 tourists.

• 1979 – America's first space station, Skylab, is destroyed as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.

• 1983 – A Boeing 727 crashes into hilly terrain after a tail strike in Cuenca, Ecuador, claiming 119 lives.

• 1987 – According to the United Nations, the world population crosses the 5,000,000,000 (5 billion) mark.

• 1990 – Oka Crisis: First Nations land dispute in Quebec, Canada begins.

• 1991 – A Nationair DC-8 crashes during an emergency landing at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, killing 261. The Canadian charter flight was ferrying Hajj pilgrims on behalf of Nigeria Airways.

• 1995 – Full diplomatic relations are established between the United States and Vietnam.

• 1995 – A Cubana de Aviacion Antonov An-24 crashes into the Caribbean off southeast Cuba killing 44 people.

• 1995 – Over 8000 Bosnian men and children (mostly Bosniaks) are killed by Serbian troops commanded by Ratko Mladic in Potocari near Srebrenica Bosnia and Herzegovina.

• 2006 – 209 people are killed in a series of bomb attacks in Mumbai, India.

Births

• 154 – Bardaisan, Syriac gnostic (d. 222)

• 1274 – Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland (d. 1329)

• 1366 – Anne of Bohemia, consort of Richard II of England (d. 1394)

• 1561 – Luis de Góngora, Spanish poet (d. 1627)

• 1603 – Kenelm Digby, English privateer (d. 1665)

• 1628 – Tokugawa Mitsukuni, Japanese warlord (d. 1701)

• 1657 – King Frederick I of Prussia (d. 1713)

• 1662 – Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (d. 1726)

• 1709 – Johan Gottschalk Wallerius, Swedish chemist (d. 1785)

• 1723 – Jean-François Marmontel, French historian and writer (d. 1799)

• 1751 – Caroline Matilda of Wales, queen consort of Denmark and Norway (d. 1775)

• 1754 – Thomas Bowdler, English physician and censor (d. 1825)

• 1767 – John Quincy Adams, President of the United States (d. 1848)

• 1826 – Alexander Afanasyev, Russian folklorist (d. 1871)

• 1832 – Charilaos Trikoupis, Greek politician (d. 1896)

• 1846 – Leon Bloy, French writer (d. 1917)

• 1850 – Annie Armstrong, American missionary leader (d. 1938)

• 1851 – Millie and Christine McCoy, Conjoined twins (d. 1912)

• 1864 – Petar Danov, Bulgarian spiritual teacher (d. 1944)

• 1866 – Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine (d. 1953)

• 1882 – Jim White, discoverer of Carlsbad Caverns (d. 1946)

• 1886 – Boris Grigoriev, Russian painter (d. 1939)

• 1888 – Carl Schmitt, German philosopher and political theorist (d. 1985)

• 1892 – Thomas Mitchell, American film actor and screenwriter (d. 1962)

• 1895 – Dolly Wilde, English socialite (d. 1941)

• 1897 – Bull Connor, American law enforcement official (d. 1973)

• 1899 – E. B. White, American writer (d. 1985)

• 1903 – Rudolf Abel, Soviet intelligence officer (d. 1971)

• 1903 – Sidney Franklin, American bullfighter (d. 1976)

• 1904 – Niño Ricardo, Spanish flamenco guitarist (d. 1972)

• 1906 – Herbert Wehner, German politician (d. 1990)

• 1910 – Irene Hervey, American actress (d. 1998)

• 1912 – William F. Walsh, American politician

• 1913 – Cordwainer Smith, American writer (d. 1966)

• 1916 – Aleksandr Mikhailovich Prokhorov, Russian physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 2002)

• 1916 – Reg Varney, English actor (d. 2008)

• 1916 – Gough Whitlam, 21st Prime Minister of Australia

• 1920 – Yul Brynner, Russian-born actor (d. 1985)

• 1921 – Ilse Werner, Dutch-born actress (d. 2005)

• 1922 – Gene Evans, American actor (d. 1998)

• 1924 – César Lattes, Brazilian physicist (d. 2005)

• 1924 – Brett Somers, Canadian-born actress (d. 2007)

• 1924 – Charlie Tully, Northern Irish footballer (d. 1971)

• 1925 – Nicolai Gedda, Swedish tenor

• 1926 – Frederick Buechner, American author

• 1929 – David Kelly, Irish actor

• 1929 – Hermann Prey, German baritone (d. 1998)

• 1930 – Harold Bloom, American literary critic

• 1931 – Thurston Harris, American singer (d. 1990)

• 1931 – Tab Hunter, American actor

• 1931 – Tullio Regge, Italian physicist

• 1932 – Jean-Guy Talbot, French Canadian ice hockey player

• 1932 – Bob McGrath, American actor

• 1934 – Giorgio Armani, Italian fashion designer

• 1935 – Oliver Napier, Northern Irish politician

• 1935 – Frederick Hemke, American saxophonist

• 1937 – Pai Hsien-yung, Taiwanese writer

• 1938 – Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, American feminist writer and professor

• 1940 – Yvon Charbonneau, French Canadian union leader and politician

• 1941 – Clive Puzey, Zimbabwean racing driver

• 1943 – Oscar D'León, Venezuelan musician

• 1943 – Howard Gardner, American Psychologist

• 1943 – Peter Jensen, Archbishop of Sydney

• 1943 – Rolf Stommelen, German race car driver (d. 1983)

• 1944 – Myra Gale Brown, former wife of cousin, Jerry Lee Lewis

• 1945 – Patrick Joseph McGrath, Catholic bishop

• 1946 – Cuthbert Johnson, Benedictine abbot.

• 1947 – Bo Lundgren, Swedish politician

• 1949 – Liona Boyd, English-born musician

• 1949 – Tom Emanski, American baseball instructionalist

• 1950 – Pervez Hoodbhoy, Pakistani nuclear physicist

• 1950 – Bruce McGill, American actor

• 1950 – J. R. Morgan, British classical scholar

• 1950 – Bonnie Pointer, American singer (Pointer Sisters)

• 1951 – Robert R. McCammon, American horror novelist

• 1952 – Bill Barber, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1952 – John Kettley, English weather forecaster

• 1953 – Angélica Aragón, Mexican actress

• 1953 – Peter Brown, American singer, songwriter and producer

• 1953 – Maureen Cathryn Harriet "Cats" Falck, Swedish television journalist

• 1953 – Samuel Russell Hinds, pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers

• 1953 – Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India

• 1953 – Wu Shu-chen, wife of former President Chen Shui-bian of the Republic of China

• 1953 – Patricia Reyes Spíndola, Mexican actress, director and producer

• 1953 – Leon Spinks, American former boxer

• 1953 – Mindy Sterling, American actress

• 1953 – Ivan Toms, South African physician

• 1953 – Bramwell Tovey, English-born conductor and composer.

• 1954 – Butch Reed, American professional wrestler

• 1956 – Sela Ward, American actress

• 1957 – Peter Murphy, British musician (Bauhaus)

• 1957 – Michael Rose, Jamaican musician (Black Uhuru)

• 1958 – Hugo Sánchez, Mexican footballer

• 1958 – Andrew Gilbert-Scott, British racing driver

• 1959 – Richie Sambora, American musician (Bon Jovi)

• 1959 – Suzanne Vega, American singer

• 1959 – Dave Bennett, English footballer

• 1960 – David Baerwald American songwriter/composer

• 1962 – Gaetan Duchesne, French Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2007)

• 1962 – Pauline McLynn, Irish actress

• 1963 – Al MacInnis, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1963 – Lisa Rinna, American actress

• 1964 – Craig Charles, English actor

• 1964 – Kyrill, Prince of Preslav, titular Bulgarian royal family

• 1965 – Tony Cottee, English footballer

• 1965 – Ernesto Hoost, Dutch kickboxer

• 1965 – Scott Shriner, American musician (Weezer)

• 1966 – Greg Grunberg, American actor

• 1966 – Kentaro Miura, Japanese mangaka

• 1966 – Rod Strickland, American basketball player

• 1966 – Mick Molloy, Australian comedian

• 1967 – Jeff Corwin, American naturalist and TV personality

• 1968 – Michael Geist, Canadian academic

• 1968 – Esera Tuaolo, American football player

• 1968 – Daniel MacMaster, Canadian singer (Bonham) (d. 2008)

• 1969 – David Tao, Taiwanese singer-songwriter

• 1970 – Justin Chambers, American actor

• 1971 – Leisha Hailey, American actress and musician (Uh Huh Her)

• 1972 – Jussi 69, Finnish musician (The 69 Eyes)

• 1972 – Steven Richards, Australian racing driver

• 1972 – Michael Rosenbaum, American actor

• 1973 – Andrew Bird, American musician

• 1973 – Konstantinos Kenteris, Greek athlete

• 1974 – Hermann Hreiðarsson, Icelandic footballer

• 1974 – André Ooijer, Dutch footballer

• 1975 – Willie Anderson, American football player

• 1975 – Rubén Baraja, Spanish footballer

• 1975 – Riona Hazuki, Japanese actress

• 1975 – Samer el Nahhal, Finnish musician (Lordi)

• 1975 – Lil' Kim, American rapper

• 1976 – Eduardo Nájera, Mexican-born basketball player

• 1977 – Brandon Short, American football player

• 1978 – Jeff Rich, Sports Talk Radio Personality

• 1979 – Éric Abidal, French footballer

• 1979 – Raio Piiroja, Estonian footballer

• 1980 – TJ Wilson, Canadian professional wrestler

• 1980 – Im Su-jeong, South Korean model and actress

• 1981 – Carla Campbell, Jamaican model

• 1981 – Andre Johnson, American football player

• 1981 – Aaron Proctor, American professional wrestling promoter & politician

• 1982 – Chris Cooley, American football player

• 1982 – Lil' Zane, American rapper

• 1983 – Peter Cincotti, American singer songwriter

• 1983 – Kelly Poon, Singaporean singer

• 1983 – Evan Roberts, American radio broadcaster

• 1983 – Marie Serneholt, Swedish musician (A*Teens)

• 1983 – Kellie Shirley, British actress

• 1984 – Yorman Bazardo, Venezuelan baseball player

• 1984 – Tanith Belbin, Canadian/American ice dancer

• 1984 – Hitomi Hyuga, Japanese actress

• 1984 – Rachael Taylor, Australian actress

• 1985 – Aki Maeda, Japanese actress

• 1986 – Yoann Gourcuff, French footballer

• 1986 – Ryan Jarvis, English footballer

• 1987 – Shigeaki Kato, Japanese idol singer (NEWS)

• 1989 – David Henrie, American actor

• 1990 – Connor Paolo, American actor

• 1990 – Caroline Wozniacki, Danish tennis player

• 1993 – Rebecca Bross, Gymnast

Deaths

• 472 – Anthemius, Emperor of the Western Roman Empire

• 937 – King Rudolph II of Burgundy

• 969 – Olga of Kiev

• 1174 – King Amalric I of Jerusalem (b. 1136)

• 1183 – Otto I Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1117)

• 1302 – Robert II of Artois, French soldier (b. 1250)

• 1535 – Elector Joachim I of Brandenburg (b. 1484)

• 1581 – Peder Skram, Danish senator and naval hero

• 1679 – William Chamberlayne, English poet (b. 1619)

• 1688 – King Narai of Siam (b. 1629)

• 1766 – Elizabeth Farnese, wife of Philip V of Spain (b. 1692)

• 1774 – Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet, Irish-born New York pioneer (b. 1715)

• 1775 – Simon Boerum, American Continental Congressman (b. 1724)

• 1797 – Ienăchiţă Văcărescu, Wallachian writer (b. 1740)

• 1806 – James Smith, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1719)

• 1825 – Thomas P. Grosvenor, American Revolutionary War soldier (b. 1744)

• 1844 – Evgeny Baratynsky, Russian poet (b. 1800)

• 1905 – Muhammad Abduh, Egyptian jurist and islamic modernist (b. 1849)

• 1909 – Simon Newcomb, American astronomer and mathematician (b. 1835)

• 1929 – Billy Mosforth, English footballer (b. 1857)

• 1920 – Empress Eugénie de Montijo of France (b. 1826)

• 1936 – James Murray, American actor (b. 1901)

• 1937 – George Gershwin, American composer (b. 1898)

• 1959 – Charlie Parker, English cricketer (b. 1882)

• 1966 – Delmore Schwartz, American poet (b. 1913)

• 1967 – Guy Favreau, French Canadian lawyer, politician and judge (b. 1917)

• 1971 – John W. Campbell, American writer and editor (b. 1910)

• 1971 – Pedro Rodríguez, Mexican racing driver (b. 1940)

• 1974 – Pär Lagerkvist, Swedish writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1891)

• 1979 – Claude Wagner, French Canadian judge and politician (b. 1925)

• 1983 – Ross Macdonald, American-Canadian writer (b. 1915)

• 1987 – Avi Ran, Israeli footballer (b. 1963)

• 1987 – Yaakov Yitzchak Ruderman, American Rosh Yeshiva (b. 1901)

• 1989 – Lord (Laurence) Olivier, acclaimed English stage and screen actor (b. 1907)

• 1991 – Hitoshi Igarashi, English-Japanese translator of The Satanic Verses (b. 1947)

• 1994 – Gary Kildall, American computer programmer (b. 1942)

• 1994 – Savannah, American porn star (b. 1970)

• 1999 – Helen Forrest, American singer (b. 1917)

• 2000 – Pedro Mir, Dominican poet (b. 1913)

• 2000 – Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1921)

• 2001 – Herman Brood, Dutch singer and artist (b. 1946)

• 2001 – Gaspare di Mercurio, Italian doctor and author (b. 1926)

• 2004 – Laurance Rockefeller, American conservationist and philanthropist (b. 1910)

• 2005 – Gretchen Franklin, English actress (b. 1911)

• 2005 – Don Starr, American actor (b. 1917)

• 2005 – Frances Langford, American actress and singer (b. 1914)

• 2005 – Jesús Iglesias, Argentine professional racing driver (b. 1922)

• 2005 – Shinya Hashimoto, Japanese professional wrestler (b. 1965)

• 2006 – Barnard Hughes, American actor (b. 1915)

• 2006 – John Spencer, English snooker player (b. 1935)

• 2007 – Lady Bird Johnson, First Lady of the United States (b. 1912)

• 2007 – Alfonso López Michelsen, 32nd Colombian President (b. 1913)

• 2007 – Ed Mirvish, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1914)

• 2007 – Glenda Adams, Australian author (b. 1939)

• 2008 – Michael DeBakey, American surgeon and inventor (b. 1908)

• 2009 – Arturo Gatti, Canadian boxer (b. 1972)

• 2009 – Ji Xianlin, Chinese linguist and paleographer (b.1911)

Holidays and observances

• World Population Day

• Flemish Community of Belgium: Day of the Flemish Community

• Ireland: National Day of Commemoration held on nearest Sunday to this date (see Irish calendar)

• Mongolia: First day of Naadam

• Northern Ireland: Bonfire Night, precursor to The Twelfth

• Penang: Birthday of Yang di-Pertua Negeri

• People's Republic of China: China National Maritime Day

• Feast Day of Saint Olga (first Russian Saint)

• Feast Day of Saint Benedict (founder of the Benedictine Order)