Events

• 680 – Battle of Karbala: Hussain bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated by forces under Caliph Yazid I. This is commemorated by Muslims as Aashurah.

• 732 – Battle of Tours: Near Poitiers, France, the leader of the Franks, Charles Martel and his men, defeat a large army of Moors, stopping the Muslims from spreading into Western Europe. The governor of Cordoba, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, is killed during the battle.

• 1471 – Battle of Brunkeberg in Stockholm: Sten Sture the Elder, the Regent of Sweden, with the help of farmers and miners, repels an attack by Christian I, King of Denmark.

• 1575 – Battle of Dormans: Roman Catholic forces under Duke Henry of Guise defeat the Protestants, capturing Philippe de Mornay among others.

• 1580 – After a three-day siege, the English Army beheads over 600 Irish and Papal soldiers and civilians at Dún an Óir, Ireland.

• 1582 – Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

• 1631 – A Saxon army takes over Prague.

• 1780 – The Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 20,000-30,000 in the Caribbean.

• 1845 – In Annapolis, Maryland, the Naval School (later renamed the United States Naval Academy) opens with 50 midshipmen students and seven professors.

• 1860 – The original cornerstone of the University of the South is laid in Sewanee, Tennessee.

• 1868 – Carlos Céspedes issues the Grito de Yara from his plantation, La Demajagua, proclaiming Cuba's independence.

• 1910 – The Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity is established at Columbia University.

• 1911 – The Wuchang Uprising leads to the demise of Qing Dynasty, the last Imperial court in China, and the founding of the Republic of China.

• 1911 – The KCR East Rail commences service between Kowloon and Canton.

• 1913 – President Woodrow Wilson triggers the explosion of the Gamboa Dike thus ending construction on the Panama Canal.

• 1920 – The Carinthian Plebiscite determines that the larger part of Carinthia should remain part of Austria.

• 1933 – United Airlines Chesterton Crash: A United Airlines Boeing 247 is destroyed by sabotage, the first such proven case in the history of commercial aviation.

• 1935 – A tornado destroys the 160 metre tall wooden radio tower in Langenberg. As a result of this catastrophe, few wooden towers are constructed after this date.

• 1935 – A coup d'état by the royalist leadership of the Greek Armed Forces takes place in Athens. It overthrows the government of Panagis Tsaldaris and establishes a regency under military strongman Georgios Kondylis, effectively ending the Second Hellenic Republic.

• 1938 – The Munich Agreement cedes the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany.

• 1942 – The Soviet Union establishes diplomatic relations with Australia.

• 1943 – Double Tenth Incident in Japanese controlled Singapore

• 1944 – Holocaust: 800 Gypsy children are murdered at Auschwitz concentration camp.

• 1945 – The Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang signed a principle agreement in Chongqing about the future of post-war China. Later, the pact is commonly referred to as the Double-Ten Agreement.

• 1957 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after he was refused service in a Dover, Delaware restaurant.

• 1957 – The Windscale fire in Cumbria, U.K. is the world's first major nuclear accident.

• 1963 – France cedes control of the Bizerte naval base to Tunisia.

• 1964 – The opening ceremony at The 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, is broadcast live in the first Olympic telecast relayed by geostationary communication satellite.

• 1967 – The Outer Space Treaty, signed on January 27 by more than sixty nations, comes into force.

• 1970 – Fiji becomes independent.

• 1970 – In Montreal, Quebec, a national crisis hits Canada when Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte becomes the second statesman kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group.

• 1971 – Sold, dismantled and moved to the United States, London Bridge reopens in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

• 1973 – Vice President of the United States Spiro Agnew resigns after being charged with federal income tax evasion.

• 1975 – Papua New Guinea joins the United Nations.

• 1985 – United States Navy F-14 fighter jets intercept an Egyptian plane carrying the Achille Lauro cruise ship hijackers and force it to land at a NATO base in Sigonella, Sicily where they are arrested.

• 1986 – An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter Scale strikes San Salvador, El Salvador, killing an estimated 1,500 people.

• 1997 – An Austral Airlines DC-9-32 crashes and explodes near Nuevo Berlin, Uruguay, killing 74.

• 2006 – The Greek city of Volos floods in one of the prefecture's worst recorded floods.

• 2009 – After having closed borders for about two hundred years, Armenia and Turkey sign protocols in Zurich, Switzerland to open their borders.

Births

• 1344 – Mary Plantagenet, English princess (d. 1362)

• 1567 – Infanta Caterina Micaela of Spain (d. 1597)

• 1678 – John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, Scottish soldier (d. 1743)

• 1684 – Antoine Watteau, French painter (d. 1721)

• 1700 – Lambert-Sigisbert Adam, French sculptor (d. 1759)

• 1731 – Henry Cavendish, British scientist (d. 1810)

• 1780 – John Abercrombie, Scottish physician (d. 1844)

• 1794 – William Whiting Boardman, American politician (d. 1871)

• 1813 – Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer (d. 1901)

• 1819 – Heinrich Joseph Dominicus Denzinger, German theologian (d. 1883)

• 1825 – Paul Kruger, President of the Transvaal Republic (d. 1904)

• 1828 – Samuel J. Randall, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1890)

• 1830 – Queen Isabella II of Spain (d. 1904)

• 1834 – Aleksis Kivi, Finnish author (d. 1872)

• 1837 – Robert Gould Shaw, American Army officer (d. 1863)

• 1861 – Fridtjof Nansen, Norwegian explorer, Nobel laureate (d. 1930)

• 1863 – Louis Cyr, French Canadian strongman (d. 1912)

• 1863 – Helen Dunbar, American actress (d. 1933)

• 1864 – T. Frank Appleby, United States Congressman from New Jersey (d. 1924)

• 1870 – Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin, Russian writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1953)

• 1870 – Louise Mack, Australian writer (d. 1935)

• 1885 – Walter Anderson, German folklorist (d. 1962)

• 1889 – Han van Meegeren, Dutch painter, portraitist and art forgers (d. 1947)

• 1895 – Fridolf Rhudin Swedish actor and comedian (d. 1935)

• 1895 – Wolfram von Richthofen, German field marshal (d. 1945)

• 1898 – Lilly Daché, French-born milliner (d. 1989)

• 1900 – Helen Hayes, American actress (d. 1993)

• 1901 – Alberto Giacometti, Swiss sculptor (d. 1966)

• 1903 – Vernon Duke, American composer and songwriter (d. 1969)

• 1903 – Prince Charles of Belgium, Prince Regent of Belgium (d. 1983)

• 1903 – Bei Shizhang, Chinese biologist and educator (d. 2009)

• 1906 – Paul Creston, American composer (d. 1985)

• 1906 – R.K. Narayan, Indian novelist (d. 2001)

• 1908 – Johnny Green, American songwriter, arranger and conductor (d. 1989)

• 1908 – Mercè Rodoreda, Catalan novelist (d. 1983)

• 1909 – Robert F. Boyle, American production designer and art director

• 1910 – Julius Shulman, American architectural photographer (d. 2009)

• 1911 – Clare Hollingworth, British journalist

• 1913 – Claude Simon, French writer, Nobel laureate (d. 2005)

• 1914 – Tommy Fine, American baseball player (d. 2005)

• 1914 – Ivory Joe Hunter, American R&B singer (d. 1974)

• 1917 – Thelonious Monk, American jazz pianist (d. 1982)

• 1923 – Nicholas Parsons, English actor

• 1924 – James Clavell, Australian author (d. 1994)

• 1924 – Ludmilla Tchérina, French ballet dancer and actress (d. 2004)

• 1924 – Ed Wood, American filmmaker (d. 1978)

• 1925 – Great Antonio, Croatian-Canadian strongman (d. 2001)

• 1926 – Richard Jaeckel, American actor (d. 1997)

• 1927 – Dana Elcar, American actor (d. 2005)

• 1930 – Eugenio Castellotti, Italian race car driver (d. 1957)

• 1930 – Yves Chauvin, French chemist, Nobel laureate

• 1930 – Harold Pinter, English playwright, Nobel laureate (d. 2008)

• 1930 – Mustafa Zaidi, Pakistani poet (d. 1970)

• 1932 – Harry Smith, English footballer

• 1933 – Jay Sebring, American hair stylist and Manson murder victim (d. 1969)

• 1935 – André Bureau, French Canadian communications executive

• 1935 – Abu Jihad, Founder of the Palestinian group Fatah (d. 1988)

• 1936 – Gerhard Ertl, German surface chemist, Nobel laureate, 2007.

• 1938 – Moriyama Daido, Japanese photographer

• 1939 – Joseph Pitts, American politician

• 1941 – Peter Coyote, American actor

• 1942 – Radu Vasile, Romanian Prime Minister

• 1943 – Frederick Barthelme, American author

• 1946 – Charles Dance, English actor

• 1946 – Mildred Grieveson (aka: Anne Mather, Caroline Fleming, Cardine Fleming), English writer

• 1946 – Naoto Kan, Japanese politician

• 1946 – Peter Mahovlich, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1946 – John Prine, American singer

• 1946 – Chris Tarrant, English TV presenter

• 1946 – Ben Vereen, American actor

• 1947 – Martin Ruane, English professional wrestler (d. 1998)

• 1948 – Séverine, French singer

• 1948 – Ed Volker, American musician

• 1949 – Ioannis Glavakis, Greek politician

• 1950 – Nora Roberts, American novelist

• 1951 – Epeli Ganilau, Fijian statesman

• 1953 – Midge Ure, Scottish musician

• 1953 – Gus Williams, American basketball player

• 1954 – Patric Zimmerman, American voice actor

• 1954 – Rekha, Bollywood actress

• 1954 – Mohamed Mounir, The king of the Egyptian music and the most popular Arab singer in the world.

• 1955 – David Lee Roth, American singer (Van Halen)

• 1956 – Amanda Burton, Northern Irish actress

• 1956 – Mark Gordon, American film producer

• 1957 – Rumiko Takahashi, Japanese artist

• 1958 – Tanya Tucker, American singer

• 1959 – Kirsty MacColl, English singer (d. 2000)

• 1959 – Bradley Whitford, American actor

• 1960 – Eric Martin, American singer (Mr. Big)

• 1960 – Ron Flockhart, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1960 – Simon Townshend, British rock guitarist

• 1961 – Jodi Benson, American voice actress

• 1961 – Henrik Jørgensen, Danish marathon runner

• 1961 – Martin Kemp, British musician (Spandau Ballet) and actor

• 1961 – Julia Sweeney, American actress and comedian

• 1963 – Anita Mui, Hong Kong singer (d. 2003)

• 1963 – Daniel Pearl, American journalist (d. 2002)

• 1963 – Jolanda de Rover, Dutch swimmer

• 1963 – Vegard Ulvang, Norwegian cross-country skier.

• 1964 – Sarah Lancashire, English actress

• 1964 – Quinton Flynn, American voice actor

• 1965 – Clive Jones, British engineer

• 1965 – Chris Penn, American actor (d. 2006)

• 1965 – Rebecca Pidgeon, American actress

• 1965 – Toshi, Japanese singer (X Japan)

• 1965 – Steve Scalise, American politician

• 1966 – Tony Adams, English footballer

• 1967 – Jonathan Littell, French-American writer

• 1967 – Mike Malinin, American drummer (Goo Goo Dolls)

• 1967 – Gavin Newsom, mayor of San Francisco

• 1968 – Bart Brentjens, Dutch mountain biker

• 1969 – Shawn "Thunderbird" Jamison, Pro basketball coach and ex Harlem Globetrotter

• 1969 – Wendi McLendon-Covey, American actress

• 1969 – Brett Favre, American football player

• 1970 – Dean Kiely, Irish footballer

• 1970 – Silke Kraushaar-Pielach, German luger

• 1970 – Bai Ling, Chinese American actress

• 1970 – Corinna May, German singer

• 1970 – Mohammed Mourhit, Belgian athlete

• 1970 – Sir Matthew Pinsent, English rower

• 1971 – Ian Bennett, English footballer

• 1971 – Evgeny Kissin, Russian pianist

• 1972 – Jun Lana, Filipino playwright and screenwriter

• 1972 – Dean Roland, American guitarist (Collective Soul)

• 1972 – Alexei Zhitnik, Russian ice hockey player

• 1973 – Mario López, American actor

• 1973 – Semmy Schilt, Dutch kickboxer

• 1973 – Zach Thornton, American soccer player

• 1974 – Assi Cohen, Israeli comedian and actor

• 1974 – Julio Ricardo Cruz, Argentinian footballer

• 1974 – Dale Earnhardt Jr, American NASCAR Sprint Cup series driver

• 1974 – Chris Pronger, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1975 – Ramón Morales, Mexican footballer

• 1975 – Plácido Polanco, Dominican baseball player

• 1976 – Bob Burnquist, Brazilian-born skateboarder

• 1976 – Pat Burrell, American baseball player

• 1978 – Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, American actress

• 1979 – Mya Harrison, American singer

• 1979 – Nicolás Massú, Chilean tennis player

• 1979 – Wu Chun, Brunei born Taiwanese actor (Fahrenheit/Fei Lun Hai)

• 1979 – Ahn Chil Hyun (Kangta), lead singer of the former South Korean group H.O.T.

• 1979 – Joel Przybilla, American basketball player

• 1980 – Elvis Hammond, Ghanaian footballer

• 1980 – Casey FitzSimmons, American football player

• 1980 – Tim Maurer, American singer (Suburban Legends)

• 1980 – Sherine, Egyptian singer

• 1981 – Michael Oliver, American actor

• 1981 – Una Healy, Irish singer (The Saturdays)

• 1982 – Amon Buchanan, Australian rules footballer

• 1982 – Hideki Mutoh, Japanese racing driver

• 1983 – Vusimuzi Sibanda, Zimbabwean cricketer

• 1983 – Nikos Spiropoulos, Greek footballer

• 1983 – Tolga Zengin, Turkish football player

• 1984 – Stephanie Cheng, Hong Kong singer

• 1984 – Chiaki Kuriyama, Japanese actress

• 1984 – Paul Posluszny, American football player

• 1984 – Troy Tulowitzki, American baseball player

• 1985 – Dominique Cornu, Belgian professional cyclist

• 1985 – Dizzee Rascal, British rapper/grime artist

• 1986 – Nathan Jawai, Australian basketball player

• 1989 – Aimee Teegarden, American actress

• 1991 – Gabriella Cilmi, Australian singer

• 1991 – Mariana Espósito, Argentine actress, singer and model

Deaths

• 19 – Germanicus, Roman general (b. 15 BC)

• 680 – 10 Muharram 61 AH – Husayn ibn Ali (AS) , Shi'a Imam, Muhammad's grandson (b. 626)

• 732 – Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, Moorish Governor of Andalusia

• 833 – al-Ma'mun, Abbasid caliph of Baghdad (b. 786)

• 1359 – King Hugh IV of Cyprus (b. 1295)

• 1459 – Gianfrancesco Poggio Bracciolini, Italian humanist and classicist (b. 1380)

• 1531 – Huldrych Zwingli, Swiss reformer (b. 1484)

• 1659 – Abel Tasman, Dutch explorer (b. 1603)

• 1674 – Thomas Traherne, English poet

• 1691 – Isaac de Benserade, French poet (b. 1613)

• 1708 – David Gregory, Scottish mathematician (b. 1659)

• 1714 – Pierre Le Pesant, sieur de Boisguilbert, French economist (b. 1646)

• 1720 – Antoine Coysevox, French sculptor (b. 1640)

• 1723 – William Cowper, 1st Earl Cowper, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1665)

• 1725 – Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil, Governor-General of New France (b. 1643)

• 1747 – John Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1674)

• 1759 – Granville Elliott, British military officer (b. 1713)

• 1765 – Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1688)

• 1795 – Francesco Antonio Zaccaria, Italian theologian and historian (b. 1714)

• 1806 – Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, German prince (b. 1772)

• 1827 – Ugo Foscolo, Italian writer (b. 1778)

• 1837 – Charles Fourier, French philosopher (b. 1772)

• 1872 – William H. Seward, United States Secretary of State (b. 1801)

• 1875 – Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, Russian novelist, poet and dramatist (b. 1817)

• 1876 – Charles Joseph Sainte-Claire Deville, French geologist (b. 1814)

• 1893 – Lip Pike, American baseball player (b. 1845)

• 1901 – Lorenzo Snow, fifth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1814)

• 1911 – Jack Daniel, American Distiller and the founder of Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey distillery (b. 1846 or 1850)

• 1913 – Katsura Taro, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1848)

• 1913 – Adolphus Busch, American brewer (Anheuser-Busch) (b. 1839)

• 1914 – King Carol I of Romania (b. 1839)

• 1922 – Andreas Karkavitsas, Greek writer (b. 1866)

• 1927 – Gustave Whitehead, German-born inventor (b. 1874)

• 1930 – Adolf Engler, German botanist (b. 1844)

• 1939 – Eleanor Rigby, a real person whose name may have suggested the title to The Beatles song (b. 1895)

• 1940 – Berton Churchill, Canadian actor (b. 1876)

• 1948 – Ted Horn, American race car driver (b. 1910)

• 1953 – Erima Harvey Northcroft, New Zealand judge (b. 1884)

• 1957 – Karl Genzken, Nazi physician (b. 1885)

• 1963 – Édith Piaf, French singer (b. 1915)

• 1963 – Roy Cazaly, Australian rules footballer (b. 1893)

• 1964 – Eddie Cantor, American singer and vaudeville performer (b. 1892)

• 1964 – Heinrich Neuhaus, Soviet pianist (b. 1888)

• 1970 – Édouard Daladier, French politician (b. 1884)

• 1971 – John Cawte Beaglehole, New Zealand historian (b. 1901)

• 1976 – Silvana Armenulic, Yugoslavian folk singer (b. 1939)

• 1977 – Angelo Muscat, Maltese actor (b. 1930)

• 1978 – Ralph Metcalfe, American athlete (b. 1910)

• 1978 – Ralph Marterie, American big band leader (b. 1914)

• 1979 – Christopher Evans, British psychologist and computer scientist (b. 1931)

• 1979 – Paul Paray, French conductor (b. 1886)

• 1982 – Jean Effel, French painter and journalist (b. 1908)

• 1983 – Ralph Richardson, English actor (b. 1902)

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

• 1985 – Orson Welles, American director and actor (b. 1915)

• 1986 – Gleb Wataghin, Ukrainian-Italian physicist (b. 1899)

• 1990 – Tom Murton, American penologist (b. 1928)

• 1990 – Nikolaos Pavlopoulos, Greek sculptor and writer (b. 1909)

• 1998 – Clark Clifford, United States Secretary of Defense (b. 1906)

• 1998 – Tommy Quaid, Irish hurler (b. 1957)

• 2000 – Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (b. 1916)

• 2001 – Eddie Futch, American boxing trainer (b. 1911)

• 2001 – Vasily Mishin, Soviet rocket designer (b. 1917)

• 2002 – Teresa Graves, American actress and singer (b. 1948)

• 2003 – Eugene Istomin, American pianist (b. 1925)

• 2004 – Ken Caminiti, American baseball player (b. 1963)

• 2004 – Christopher Reeve, American actor (b. 1952)

• 2004 – Arthur H. Robinson, American cartographer (b. 1915)

• 2004 – Maurice Shadbolt, New Zealand writer (b. 1932)

• 2005 – Wayne Booth, American literary critic (b. 1921)

• 2005 – Milton Obote, President of Uganda (b. 1925)

• 2006 – Michael John Rogers, English ornithologist (b. 1932)

• 2006 – Ian Scott, Canadian politician (b. 1934)

• 2007 – Mehmed Uzun, contemporary Kurdish writer and novelist (b. 1953)

• 2008 – Kazuyoshi Miura, Japanese businessman (b. 1947)

• 2009 – Stephen Gately, Irish singer Boyzone (b. 1976)

Holidays and observances

• Roman Catholic Saints – Saint Thomas of Villanueva? ; Saint Paulinus of York (in England); Viktor of Xanten; Saint Cerbonius

• Republic of China (Taiwan) – National Day (Double Ten Day 雙十國慶)

• Fiji – Fiji Day (National Day)

• Japan – National Health-Sports Day until 2000; since made a moveable feast on the second Monday in October.

• World Mental Health Day

• Old Michelmas – Celtic holiday

• French Republican Calendar – Tournesol (Sunflower) Day, nineteenth day in the Month of Vendémiaire

• North Korea – Party Foundation Party (celebration of the founding of the Workers Party of Korea)

• Finland – The Day of Finnish literature