Events

• 522 BC – Darius I of Persia kills the Magian usurper Gaumâta, securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire.

• 480 BC – Battle of Salamis: The Greek fleet under Themistocles defeats the Persian fleet under Xerxes I.

• 61 BC – Pompey the Great celebrates his third triumph for victories over the pirates and the end of the Mithridatic Wars on his 45th birthday.

• 1227 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, is excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX for his failure to participate in the Crusades.

• 1364 – Battle of Auray: English forces defeat the French in Brittany; end of the Breton War of Succession.

• 1567 – The second War of Religion in France breaks out.

• 1567 – At a dinner, the Duke of Alba arrests the Count of Egmont and the Count of Hoorn for treason.

• 1650 – Henry Robinson opens his Office of Addresses and Encounters – the first historically documented dating service – in Threadneedle Street, London.

• 1717 – An earthquake strikes Antigua Guatemala, destroying much of the city's architecture and making authorities consider moving the capital to a different city.

• 1789 – The U.S. War Department first establishes a regular army with a strength of several hundred men.

• 1789 – The first U.S. Congress adjourns.

• 1829 – The Metropolitan Police of London, later also known as the Met, is founded.

• 1848 – Battle of Pákozd: Hungarian forces defeat Croats at Pákozd; the first battle of the War of Independence.

• 1850 – The Roman Catholic hierarchy is re-established in England and Wales by Pope Pius IX.

• 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chaffin's Farm is fought.

• 1885 – The first practical public electric tramway in the world is opened in Blackpool, England.

• 1907 – The cornerstone is laid at Washington National Cathedral in the U.S. capital.

• 1911 – Italy declares war on the Ottoman Empire.

• 1916 – John D. Rockefeller becomes the first billionaire.

• 1918 – World War I: The Hindenburg Line is broken by Allied forces. Bulgaria signs an armistice.

• 1932 – Chaco War: Last day of the Battle of Boquerón between Paraguay and Bolivia.

• 1941 – World War II: Holocaust in Kiev, Ukraine: German Einsatzgruppe C begins the Babi Yar massacre, according to the Einsatzgruppen operational situation report.

• 1943 – World War II: U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Italian Marshal Pietro Badoglio sign an armistice aboard the Royal Navy battleship off Malta.

• 1949 – The Communist Party of China writes the Common Programme for the future People's Republic of China.

• 1954 – The convention establishing CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) is signed.

• 1957 – 20 MCi (740 petabecquerels) of radioactive material is released in an explosion at the Soviet Mayak nuclear plant at Chelyabinsk.

• 1960 – Nikita Khrushchev, leader of Soviet Union, disrupts a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly with a number of angry outbursts.

• 1962 – Alouette 1, the first Canadian satellite, is launched.

• 1963 – The second period of the Second Vatican Council opens.

• 1963 – The University of East Anglia is established in Norwich, England.

• 1964 – The Argentine comic strip Mafalda is published for the first time.

• 1966 – The Chevrolet Camaro, originally named Panther, is introduced.

• 1971 – Oman joins the Arab League.

• 1972 – Sino-Japanese relations: Japan establishes diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China after breaking official ties with the Republic of China.

• 1975 – WGPR in Detroit, Michigan, becomes the world's first black-owned-and-operated television station.

• 1979 – Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to set foot on Irish soil with his pastoral visit to the Republic of Ireland.

• 1982 – The 1982 Chicago Tylenol murders begin when the first of seven individuals dies in metropolitan Chicago.

• 1988 – Space Shuttle: NASA launches STS-26, the return to flight mission, after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

The mission logo of STS-26, flown by OV-103.

• 1990 – Construction of the Washington National Cathedral is completed.

• 1990 – The YF-22, which would later become the F-22 Raptor, flies for the first time.

• 1991 – Military coup in Haiti.

• 1992 – Brazilian President Fernando Collor de Mello resigns.

• 1995 – The United States Navy disbands Fighter Squadron 84 (VF-84), nicknamed the "Jolly Rogers".

• 2001 – The Syracuse Herald-Journal, a U.S. newspaper dating back to 1839, ceases publication.

• 2004 – The asteroid 4179 Toutatis passes within four lunar distances of Earth.

• 2004 – The Burt Rutan Ansari X Prize entry SpaceShipOne performs a successful spaceflight, the first of two required to win the prize.

• 2005 – US Senate confirms John Roberts to be the next Chief Justice of the United States.

• 2006 – US Representative Mark Foley resigns after allegations of inappropriate emails to house pages are revealed.

• 2007 – Calder Hall, the world's first commercial nuclear power station, is demolished in a controlled explosion.

• 2008 – Following the bankruptcies of Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual, The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 777.68 points, the largest single-day point loss in its history.

• 2009 – An 8.0 magnitude earthquake near the Samoan Islands causes a tsunami .

Births

• 106 BC – Pompey the Great, consul of Rome (d. 48 BC)

• 1240 – Margaret of England, Queen consort of Scotland, (d. 1275)

• 1321 – John of Artois, Count of Eu, French soldier (d. 1387)

• 1328 – Joan of Kent, wife of Edward, the Black Prince (d. 1385)

• 1388 – Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence, son of Henry IV of England (d. 1421)

• 1511 – Miguel Servet aka Michael Servetus, Spanish humanist (d. 1553)

• 1518 – Tintoretto, Italian painter (d. 1594)

• 1547 – Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish author (d. 1616)

• 1548 – William V, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1626)

• 1561 – Adriaan van Roomen, Flemish mathematician (d. 1615)

• 1571 – Caravaggio, Italian artist (d. 1610)

• 1636 – Thomas Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1715)

• 1639 – Lord William Russell, English politician (d. 1683)

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

• 1678 – Adrien-Maurice, 3rd duc de Noailles, French soldier (d. 1766)

• 1691 – Richard Challoner, English Catholic prelate (d. 1781)

• 1703 – François Boucher, French painter (d. 1770)

• 1725 – Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, British general and statesman (d. 1774)

• 1758 – Horatio Nelson, British admiral (d. 1805)

• 1766 – Charlotte, Princess Royal, German queen (d. 1828)

• 1786 – Guadalupe Victoria, 1st President of Mexico (d. 1843)

• 1803 – Jacques Charles François Sturm, French mathematician (d. 1850)

• 1803 – Mercator Cooper, American sea captain (d. 1872)

• 1808 – Henry Bennett, American politician (d. 1868)

• 1810 – Elizabeth Gaskell, British novelist (d. 1865)

• 1842 – Louis J. Weichmann, chief witness in the trial of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (d. 1902)

• 1843 – Mikhail Skobelev, Russian general (d. 1882)

• 1853 – Princess Thyra, daughter of Christian IX of Denmark (d. 1933)

• 1863 – Hugo Haase, German politician and jurist (d. 1919)

• 1864 – Alexandra Kitchin, British model for Lewis Carroll (d. 1925)

• 1864 – Miguel de Unamuno, Spanish writer and philosopher (d. 1936)

• 1876 – Charlie Llewellyn, South African cricketer, Wisden COY 1911 (d. 1964)

• 1881 – Ludwig von Mises, Austrian economist (d. 1973)

• 1895 – J.B. Rhine, American parapsychologist (d. 1980)

• 1895 – Roscoe Turner, American aviator and racer (d. 1970)

• 1897 – Herbert Agar, American journalist and historian (d. 1980)

• 1898 – Trofim Lysenko, Russian biologist (d. 1976)

• 1899 – László Bíró, Hungarian inventor of the modern ballpoint pen (d. 1985)

• 1900 – Miguel Alemán Valdés, President of Mexico (d. 1983)

• 1901 – Enrico Fermi, Italian physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1954)

• 1901 – Lanza del Vasto, Italian philosopher and activist (d. 1981)

• 1904 – Greer Garson, British actress (d. 1996)

• 1907 – Gene Autry, American actor, singer, and businessman (d. 1998)

• 1907 – George W. Jenkins, American businessman (d. 1996)

• 1908 – Eddie Tolan, American athlete (d. 1967)

• 1910 – Virginia Bruce, American actress (d. 1982)

• 1912 – Michelangelo Antonioni, Italian film director (d. 2007)

• 1913 – Trevor Howard, English actor (d. 1988)

• 1913 – Stanley Kramer, American film director (d. 2001)

• 1915 – Vincent DeDomenico, American entrepreneur (d. 2007)

• 1915 – Brenda Marshall, American film actress (d. 1992)

• 1920 – Peter D. Mitchell, English chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1992)

• 1922 – Lizabeth Scott, American actress

• 1923 – Stan Berenstain, American children's author (d. 2005)

• 1924 – Steve Forrest, American actor

• 1930 – Colin Dexter, British author of Inspector Morse novels

• 1931 – Anita Ekberg, Swedish actress

• 1931 – James Watson Cronin, American nuclear physicist, Nobel laureate

• 1932 – Robert Benton, American screenwriter and director

• 1932 – Mehmood, Indian actor (d. 2004)

• 1934 – Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, Psychology professor

• 1934 – Lance Gibbs, Guyanese West Indies cricketer

• 1934 – Skandor Akbar, American professional wrestler and manager

• 1935 – Jerry Lee Lewis, American musician

• 1936 – Silvio Berlusconi, Prime Minister of Italy

• 1938 – Wim Kok, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1994 until 2002

• 1939 – Tommy Boyce, American songwriter

• 1939 – Molly Haskell, American film critic

• 1939 – Rhodri Morgan, 2nd First Minister for Wales

• 1939 – Larry Linville, American actor (d. 2000)

• 1939 – Jim Baxter, Scottish footballer (d. 2001)

• 1940 – Nicola Di Bari, Italian singer

• 1941 – Fred West, British serial killer (d. 1995)

• 1942 – Madeline Kahn, American actress (d. 1999)

• 1942 – Felice Gimondi, Italian cyclist

• 1942 – Ian McShane, British actor

• 1942 – Bill Nelson, American politician

• 1942 – Jean-Luc Ponty, French jazz violinist

• 1942 – Steve Tesich, Serbian screenwriter (d. 1996)

• 1943 – Mohammad Khatami, President of Iran

• 1943 – Gary Boyd Roberts, American genealogist

• 1943 – Lech Wałęsa, President of Poland, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize

• 1944 – Mike Post, American composer

• 1945 – Kyriakos Sfetsas, Greek composer

• 1947 – Martin Ferrero, American actor

• 1948 – Bryant Gumbel, American television personality

• 1948 – Mark Farner, American guitarist Grand Funk

• 1948 – Theo Jörgensmann, German jazz clarinetist

• 1949 – George Dalaras, Greek singer

• 1951 – Michelle Bachelet, President of Chile

• 1951 – Andrés Caicedo, Colombian writer (d. 1977)

• 1951 – Maureen Caird, Australian hurdler

• 1951 – Mike Enriquez, Philippine broadcaster

• 1952 – Gabor Csupo, Hungarian-born animator

• 1952 – Max Sandlin, American politician

• 1953 – Warren Cromartie, American baseball player

• 1953 – Drake Hogestyn, American actor

• 1953 – Jean-Claude Lauzon, Canadian film director (d. 1997)

• 1955 – Benoît Ferreux, French actor

• 1955 – Ken Weatherwax, American actor from The Addams Family (TV series)

• 1956 – Sebastian Coe, British athlete

• 1957 – Andrew Dice Clay, American comedian and actor

• 1957 – Sokratis Malamas, Greek singer and composer

• 1957 – Chris Broad, English cricketer and match referee

• 1957 – Mark Nicholas, English cricketer and sports presenter

• 1960 – Alan McGee, British music industry mogul and musician

• 1960 – John Paxson, American Basketball Player and GM

• 1960 – David Sammartino, American professional wrestler

• 1961 – Julia Gillard, Australian politician

• 1961 – Stephanie Miller, American comedian and talk radio host

• 1962 – Roger Bart, American actor

• 1962 – Al Pitrelli, American musician and guitarist

• 1963 – Dave Andreychuk, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1963 – Les Claypool, American bassist (Primus)

• 1966 – Hersey Hawkins, American basketball player

• 1966 – Jill Whelan, American actress

• 1967 – Brett Anderson, British musician/singer (Suede, The Tears)

• 1968 – Patrick Burns, American television presenter

• 1968 – Luke Goss, English actor

• 1968 – Samir Soni, Indian film actor

• 1968 – Alex Skolnick, American thrash metal and jazz guitarist

• 1969 – Erika Eleniak, American actress and model

• 1969 – Aleks Syntek, Mexican singer

• 1969 – Angelo Barretto, Filipino race car driver

• 1970 – Yoshihiro Tajiri, Japanese professional wrestler

• 1970 – Natasha Gregson Wagner, American actress

• 1970 – Emily Lloyd, British actress

• 1970 – Nicolás Pereira, Venezuelan tennis player

• 1971 – Sibel Tüzün, Turkish singer

• 1971 – Mackenzie Crook, British actor and comedian

• 1972 – Oliver Gavin, British racing car driver

• 1972 – Togi Makabe, Japanese professional wrestler

• 1972 – Robert Webb, British actor, comedian, and writer

• 1973 – Joe Hulbig, American ice hockey player

• 1973 – Athanasios Michalopoulos, Greek volleyball player

• 1973 – Scout Niblett, British singer/songwriter

• 1974 – Brian Ash, American filmmaker

• 1974 – Alexis Cruz, American actor

• 1974 – Steve Bennett, web designer

• 1975 – Albert Celades, Spanish footballer

• 1976 – Andriy Shevchenko, Ukrainian footballer

• 1976 – Darren Byfield, English footballer

• 1976 – Oscar Sevilla, Spanish cyclist

• 1977 – Wade Brookbank, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1977 – Debelah Morgan, American R&B singer

• 1977 – Jake Westbrook, American baseball player

• 1978 – Kurt Nilsen, Norwegian singer

• 1978 – Mohini Bhardwaj, American gymnast

• 1978 – Gunner McGrath, American guitarist (Much the Same)

• 1979 – Shelley Duncan, American baseball player

• 1979 – Takumi Beppu, Japanese cyclist

• 1980 – Dallas Green, Canadian musician (Alexisonfire,City and Colour)

• 1980 – Zachary Levi, American actor

• 1980 – Patrick Agyemang, English footballer

• 1981 – Siarhei Rutenka, Belarusian/Spanish handball player

• 1982 – Ariana Jollee, American pornographic actress

• 1982 – Matt Giteau, Australian Rugby Union Player

• 1982 – Rob Smith, Irish musician and songwriter

• 1984 – Per Mertesacker, German footballer

• 1986 – Benoît Pouliot, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1986 – Mark Fraser, Canadian ice hockey player.

• 1988 – Kevin Durant, American basketball player

• 1988 – Justin Nozuka, American/Canadian singer-songwriter

• 1989 – Theo Adams, British performance artist

• 1990 – Doug Brochu, American actor

• 1999 – Juan Valentín Urdangarín y de Borbón, Spanish royal

• 2008 – Emma Tallulah Behn, member of the extended Norwegian royal family

Deaths

• 1364 – Charles, Duke of Brittany (b. 1319)

• 1560 – King Gustav I of Sweden (b. 1496)

• 1637 – Lorenzo Ruiz, Filipino saint (b. 1600)

• 1642 – René Goupil, French Catholic missionary, one of Canadian Martyrs (b. 1608)

• 1703 – Charles de Saint-Évremond, French soldier (b. 1610)

• 1800 – Michael Denis, Austrian poet (b. 1729)

• 1804 – Michael Hillegas, first Treasurer of the United States (b. 1728)

• 1833 – King Ferdinand VII of Spain (b. 1784)

• 1887 – Bernhard von Langenbeck, German surgeon (b. 1810)

• 1889 – Louis Faidherbe, French general (b. 1818)

• 1900 – Samuel Fenton Cary, congressman, prohibitionist (b. 1814)

• 1902 – William Topaz McGonagall, British poet (b. 1825)

• 1902 – Émile Zola, French writer (b. 1840)

• 1913 – Rudolph Diesel, Inventor of Diesel Engine (b. 1858)

• 1908 – Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, Brazilian writer (b. 1839)

• 1925 – Léon Bourgeois, French statesman, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1851)

• 1927 – Willem Einthoven, Dutch inventor, Nobel laureate (b. 1860)

• 1927 – Arthur Achleitner, German writer (b. 1858)

• 1930 – Ilya Yefimovich Repin, Russian painter (b. 1844)

• 1937 – Ray Ewry, American athlete (b. 1873)

• 1951 – Thomas Cahill, American soccer coach (b. 1864)

• 1952 – John Cobb, British racing driver (b. 1899)

• 1967 – Carson McCullers, American author (b. 1917)

• 1970 – Edward Everett Horton, American actor (b. 1886)

• 1973 – W. H. Auden, English poet (b. 1907)

• 1975 – Casey Stengel, baseball player and manager (b. 1890)

• 1976 – Wadi Ayoub, Greco-Roman professional wrestler, (b. 1927)

• 1981 – Bill Shankly, Scottish football manager (b. 1913)

• 1982 – Monty Stratton, baseball player (b. 1912)

• 1987 – Henry Ford II, president of Ford Motor Company (b. 1917)

• 1988 – Charles Addams, American cartoonist (b. 1912)

• 1989 – Gussie Busch, American brewing magnate (b. 1899)

• 1994 – Cheb Hasni, Algerian singer (b. 1968)

• 1996 – Leslie Crowther, British comedian (b. 1933)

• 1997 – Roy Lichtenstein, American artist (b. 1923)

• 1998 – Tom Bradley, Mayor of Los Angeles (b. 1917)

• 2001 – Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, President of South Vietnam (b. 1923)

• 2002 – Edmund Trebus, English compulsive hoarder (b. 1918)

• 2004 – Richard Sainct, French motorcycle rally rider (b. 1970)

• 2005 – Austin Leslie, American chef, the "Godfather of Fried Chicken" (b. 1934)

• 2006 – Michael A. Monsoor, a United States Navy SEAL killed in Iraq and posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor (b. 1981)

• 2006 – Jan Werner Danielsen, Norwegian singer (b. 1976)

• 2006 – Khalique Ibrahim Khalique, Pakistani journalist and Urdu poet and critic (b. 1926)

• 2006 – Louis-Albert Cardinal Vachon, French Canadian Catholic archbishop of Quebec (b. 1912)

• 2006 – Walter Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer (b. 1915)

• 2007 – Lois Maxwell, Canadian actress (b. 1927)

• 2009 – Sperantza Vrana, Greek actress (b. 1926 or 1932)

• 2009 – Pavel Popovich, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1930)

Holidays and observances

• RC Saints – Michaelmas – Christian feast of the Archangels St. Michael, St. Gabriel, and St. Raphael.

• Also see September 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics).

• England, Ireland – One of the four Quarter days in the Irish calendar.

• Argentina, Inventor's Day – László József Bíró's birthday.

• French Republican Calendar – Amarante (Amaranth) Day, eighth day in the Month of Vendémiaire.