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Historical Events

Results 1 - 100 of 236

1184 BC - Trojan War: Troy is sacked and burned, according to calculations by Eratosthenes.
631 - Emperor Taizong of Tang, the Emperor of China, sends envoys to the Xueyantuo bearing gold and silk in order to persuade the release of enslaved Chinese prisoners who were captured during the transition from Sui to Tang from the northern frontier; this embassy succeeded in freeing 80,000 Chinese men and women who were then returned to China.
758 - Abbasid Arabs and Uyghur Turks arrive simultaneously at Chang'an, the Tang Chinese capital, in order to offer tribute to the imperial court. The Arabs and Turks bicker and fight over diplomatic prominence at the gate, in order to present tribute before the other. A settlement is reached when both are allowed to enter at the same time, but through two different gates to the palace.
1231 - Harderwijk becomes a city
1345 - The megas doux Alexios Apokaukos, chief minister of the Byzantine Empire, is lynched by political prisoners.
1429 - Hundred Years' War: The start of the Battle of Jargeau.
1488 - Battle of Sauchieburn, Scotland
1509 - King Henry VIII marries wife #1 Catharina of Aragon
1517 - Sir Thomas Pert reaches Hudson Bay
1572 - Spanish co-land guardian duke of Medinaceli arrives in Lock
1578 - England grants Sir Humphrey Gilbert a patent to explore & colonize US
1594 - Philip II recognized the rights and privileges of the local nobles and chieftains in the Philippines, which paves way to the creation of the Principalía (i.e., elite ruling class of native nobility in Spanish Philippines).
1644 - Florentine scientist describe invention of barometer
1666 - -14] Vierdaagse Sea battle (Ruyter-Monk vs Prince Ruprecht)
1676 - Battle at Öland: Danish & Dutch fleet under CM Tromp beats Sweden
1685 - James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, rebels against Catholic king James II
1690 - English king Willem III departs to Ireland
1699 - England, France & Neth agree on 2nd Extermination treaty of Spain
1726 - Cardinal Fleury succeeds duke of Bourbon as French premier
1742 - Benjamin Franklin invents his Franklin stove
1770 - Capt James Cook discovers Great Barrier Reef off Australia
1774 - Jews of Algiers escape attack of Spanish Army
1776 - Continental Congress create a committee to draft Decl of Independence
1788 - 1st British ship built on Pacific coast begun at Nootka Sound, BC
1788 - Russian explorer Gerasim Izmailov reaches Alaska.
1793 - 1st American stove patent is granted to Robert Haeterick
1816 - Gas Light Co of Baltimore founded
1825 - The first cornerstone is laid for Fort Hamilton in New York City.
1837 - The Broad Street Riot occurres in Boston, fueled by ethnic tensions between English-Americans and Irish-Americans.
1838 - Iowa Territory is organized
1859 - Comstock silver load discovered near Virginia City, Nevada
1864 - -12] Battle of Trevillian Station, VA (Central Railroad)
1864 - 300' (90 m) of Meigg's Wharf washed away in storm
1864 - Battle at Cynthiana Kentucky: Gen Hobsons unit caught
1864 - Battle of Laurel Hill, WV
1864 - Battle of Trevillian Station, VA (Central Railroad)
1864 - Confederate warship CSS Alabama runs into harbor of Cherbourg
1866 - The Allahabad High Court (then Agra High Court) is established in India.
1870 - 1st-stone Amstel Brewery opens in Amsterdam
1876 - Republicans pick Rutherford B Hayes as presidental candidate
1878 - DC is given a new govt by Congress, 3 commissioners appointed by president (change in 1974)
1891 - Puerto Rican flag adopted
1892 - The Limelight Department, one of the world's first film studios, is officially established in Melbourne, Australia.
1895 - 1st auto race
1895 - Charles E Duryea patents a gas-driven automobile
1896 - US Assay Office in Deadwood South Dakota authorized
1898 - 1st US Marines land in Cuba during Spanish-American War
1898 - 23rd Preakness: Willie Simms aboard Sly Fox wins in 1:49.75
1898 - 600 US marines land at Guantanamo Cuba
1898 - Emperor De Zong proclaims reforms in Peking
1900 - -12] Battle at Diamond Hill: British troops chase General Botha
1901 - Cook Islands annexed & proclaimed part of New Zealand
1904 - Cub's Bob Wicker no-hits NY Giants, wins in 12th on 1 hitter, 1-0
1904 - German Lt-Gen Lothar von Trotha lands in Swapokmund, SW-Africa
1905 - Penns Railroad debuts fastest train in world (NY-Chicago in 18 hrs)
1907 - Northants all out for 12 v Gloucestershire
1907 - George Dennett, aided by Gilbert Jessop, dismisses Northamptonshire for 12 runs, the lowest total in first-class cricket.
1911 - Tigers trailing White Sox 13-1 come back to win 16-15
1911 - UNIA founded by Garvey
1917 - King Alexander assumes the throne of Greece after his father Constantine I abdicated under pressure by allied armies occupying Athens.
1919 - 23rd US Golf Open: Walter Hagen shoots a 301 at Brae Burn CC Mass
1919 - 51st Belmont: J Loftus aboard Sir Barton wins in 2:17.6 & Trip Crown
1920 - Republicans nominate Warren G Harding for president
1921 - 53rd Belmont: Earl Sande aboard Grey Lag wins in 2:16.8
1921 - Brazil adopts women suffrage
1924 - Bene Brak Palestine founded
1924 - Koos Vorrink elected President of AJC
1927 - 59th Belmont: Earl Sande aboard Chance Shot wins in 2:32.6
1927 - Babe Ruth hits 19th & 20th of 60 HRs
1927 - Charles Lindbergh is awarded the 1st Distinguished Flying Cross
1928 - Alfred Hitchcock's 1st film, "Case Of Jonathan Drew," is released
1934 - Disarmament conference in Geneva fails
1935 - Inventor Edwin Armstrong gives the first public demonstration of FM broadcasting in the United States, at Alpine, New Jersey.
1936 - Presbyterian Church of America founded at Philadelphia
1936 - International Surrealist Exhibition opens in London, England.
1937 - Marx Brothers' "A Day At The Races" released
1938 - 42nd US Golf Open: Ralph Guldahl shoots a 284 at Cherry Hills Denver
1938 - Cin Red Johnny Vander Meer no-hits Boston Braves, 3-0
1938 - Compton scores 1st Test Cricket ton (102 v Aust) aged 20 yrs 19 days
1938 - Earthquake in Belgium
1938 - England declare at 8 for 658 v Australia at Trent Bridge
1939 - King & Queen of England taste 1st "hot dogs" at FDR's party
1940 - Italy declares war on allies/raids Malta
1940 - Premier Winston Churchill flies to Orleans
1940 - World War II: British forces bomb Genoa and Turin in Italy.
1940 - World War II: First attack of the Italian Air force on the island of Malta.
1941 - 2nd great raid on Jews of Amsterdam
1941 - Vichy-French planes bomb Tel Aviv, killing 20 Jews
1942 - German army defeated at El-Alamein North Africa
1942 - US & USSR sign Lend-Lease agreement during WW II
1943 - British invades Pantelleria (tiny island south of Sicily)
1943 - Heinrich Himmler orders liquidation of Polish ghettos
1944 - 15 US aircraft carriers attack Japanese bases on Marianas
1944 - 1st Serbian Orthodox cathedral in US, Cathedral of St Sava, NYC
1944 - KP gang surprise attack on Dome Arnhem jail
1947 - WW II sugar rationing finally endd in US (began May 28, 1942)
1949 - 49th US Golf Open: Cary Middlecoff shoots a 286 at Medinah CC ILL
1949 - 81st Belmont: Ted Atkinson aboard Capot wins in 2:30.2
1949 - Emile Zatopek runs world record 10,000m (29:28.2)
1950 - Ben Hogan wins US Open golf tournament

Famous Birthdays

Results 1 - 100 of 234

1403 - John IV, Duke of Brabant (d. 1427)
1456 - Anne Neville, wife of Richard III of England (d. 1485)
1540 - Barnabe Googe, English poet (d. 1594)
1572 - Ben Jonson, England, playwright/poet (Volpone, Alchemist)
1588 - George Wither, English writer (d. 1667)
1672 - Francesco Antonio Bonporti, composer
1696 - Francis Edward James Keith, Scottish soldier and Prussian field marshal (d. 1758)
1697 - Francesco A Vallotti, Italian organist/composer/theorist
1704 - Jose Antonio Carlos de Seixas, composer
1713 - Edward Capell, English critic (d. 1781)
1719 - Franz K von Velbruck, German free mason/prince-bishop of Luik
1723 - J G Palitzsch, 1st saw Halley's comet on return, Prolitz
1740 - Luigi Gatti, composer
1741 - Joseph Warren, American doctor and soldier (d. 1775)
1776 - John Constable, England, landscape painter (Hay Wain)
1807 - James Findlay Schenck, Commander (Union Navy), died in 1882
1808 - Charles Henry Poor, Commander (Union Navy), died in 1882
1815 - Julia Margaret Cameron, English photographer (d. 1879)
1816 - Robert Huston Milroy, Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1890
1822 - Samuel Davis Sturgis, Bvt Major General (Union Army), died in 1889
1823 - James Lawson Kemper, Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1895
1829 - Hendrik Gerhard, Founder (Dutch Social-Democratic)
1840 - Henri Braekeleer, Flemish painter/etser
1842 - Alfred, Liechtenstein noble/politician
1842 - Carl von Linde, German engineer and industrialist (d. 1934)
1846 - William Louis Marshall, American general and engineer (d. 1920)
1847 - Millicent Garrett Fawcett, leader (English women's movement)
1861 - Sigismund Vladislavovich Zaremba, composer
1863 - Eduard David, German undersecretary (constitution of Weimar)
1864 - Richard Georg Strauss, Munich Germany, composer (Don Quixote)
1865 - Jan H Leopold, Dutch poet (translated Omar Khayyam)
1867 - Charles Fabry, discoverer (ozone layer in upper atmosphere)
1874 - Richard Stohr, composer
1876 - Alfred L Kroeber, Hoboken NJ, author (Anthropologist looks at History)
1877 - Renee Vivien, English-born poet (d. 1909)
1879 - Roger P Bresnaham, hall of fame catcher/manager
1879 - Roger Bresnahan, baseball player (d. 1944)
1879 - Max Schreck, German actor (d. 1936)
1880 - Jeannette Rankin, 1st woman elected to US Congress (Rep-Montana)
1883 - Frank O King, Cashton Wisc, cartoonist (Gasoline Alley)
1886 - David Steinman, NYC, bridge designer (Hudson, Triborough)
1886 - Lillian Fontaine, Reading England, actress (Suddenly it's Spring)
1888 - Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Italian anarchist (d. 1927)
1889 - Wesley Ruggles, actor/producer/director (Keystone Kops)
1892 - Edward B B Shanks, British poet/critic
1894 - Dai Vernon (David Frederick Wingfield Verner), Canadian magician, The Professor (d. 1992)
1895 - Nikolai A Bulganin, Gorki Russia, premier of USSR (1955-58)
1897 - Bruno Frei, writer
1899 - George Frederick McKay, composer
1899 - Yasonari Kawabata, Japan, novelist (Thousand Cranes)
1900 - Lawrence E Spivak, Bkln NY, news panelist (Meet the Press)
1902 - Vissarion Yakovlevich Shebalin, composer
1903 - Ernie Nevers, NFL fullback (Duluth Eskimos, Chicago Cardinals)
1904 - Clarence "Pinetop" Smith, jazz pianist/singer (Boogie Woogie Piano)
1904 - Daphne Fielding, socialite/writer
1904 - Emil Frantisek Burian, composer
1906 - Clifford Leofric Purdy Bishop, bishop
1907 - Anton D Hildebrand, children's book writer (Man in the Moon)
1907 - Jose Bernabe Marino Barreto y Casanova, pianist vocalist bandleader
1907 - Paul Mellon, US, oil magnate/pres (Washington National Gallery of Art)
1910 - Carmine Coppola, composer/conductor (Godfather II, Apocalypse Now)
1910 - Jacques-Yves Cousteau, France, oceanic explorer (Calypso)
1911 - Russ Hodges, Dayton Tn, sportscaster (Wednesday Night Fights)
1912 - Mukhtar Ashrafi, composer
1912 - William Baziotes, painter (abstract expressionist)
1913 - John Elliott Terry, managing director (National Film Finance Corp)
1913 - Revaz Kondrat'yevich Gabichvadze, composer
1913 - Vince Lombardi, NFL coach (Green Bay Packers)
1914 - Gerald Mohr, NYC, actor (Christopher-Foreign Intrigue)
1914 - Hendrik Berkhof, Dutch theologist (Church & Emperor)
1914 - Jack Mann, pilot/hostage
1915 - David Kindersley, font designer/cutter
1915 - Nicholas Metropolis, Greek-American mathematician, physicist and computer scientist (d. 1999)
1917 - James Bostock, painter/engraver
1917 - Joseph B. Wirthlin, LDS apostle
1918 - Nelson Mandela, President (South Africa)
1919 - Richard Todd, Ireland, actor (Dorian Gray, Assassin Yangtse Incident)
1920 - Bir Bikram Shah Deva Mahendra, King of Nepal (1955-72)
1920 - Hazel Scott, Trinidad, singer/pianist (Hazel Scott)
1920 - Irving Howe, US, writer/critic (World of Our Fathers)
1920 - Robert Hutton, Kingston NY, actor (Torture Garden, Rocket)
1921 - Beatrice "Fiet" van Ommeren-Samson, Suriname writer
1921 - Michael Meyer, UK, novelist/Ibsen translator (Hedda Gabler)
1922 - Erving Goffman, sociologist (presentation of self in everyday life)
1922 - John Bromfield, South Bend In, actor (Easy to Love)
1922 - Michael Cacoyannis, director (Zorba the Greek, Trojan Women)
1922 - Tony Charmoli, director/choreographer (Dinah Shore, Danny Kaye)
1923 - Gerard Vaughn, MP (Conservative)
1924 - Ed Farhat, American professional wrestler (d. 2003)
1925 - William Styron, Va, novelist (Confess of Nat Turner, Sophie's Choice)
1926 - Brother Dave Gardner, Novelty singer/comedian
1926 - Carlisle Floyd, Latta SC, composer (Slow Dusk)
1927 - Beryl Grey, prima ballerina
1927 - Eric St Eval Atkinson, cricketer (bro of Denis WI pace bowler 1958-59)
1927 - John Aspinall, owner (casino, zoos)
1927 - Josef Anton Reidl, composer
1927 - Marcus Fox, conservative MP/chairman (1922 Committee)
1928 - Fabiola de Mora y Aragon, Spanish Queen of Belgium
1928 - Gerard van Leijenhorst, Dutch undersecretary of the Interior (CDA)
1930 - Anatoli Fyodorovich Voronov, Russia, cosmonaut (Soyuz 12a backup)

Famous Deaths

Results 1 - 100 of 122

323 BC - Alexander the Great, son of Philip II of Macedon (b. 356 BC) (or the 10th June)
1183 - Henry the Young King, son of Henry II of England (b. 1155)
1216 - Hendrik of Constantinople, emperor of Constantinople (1206-16), dies
1216 - Henry of Flanders, Emperor of the Latin Empire
1249 - Adelheid van Schaarbeek, Flemish mystic/saint, dies
1479 - Johannes a San Facundo, Spanish Augustine saint, dies
1488 - James III, king of Scotland, dies in battle
1557 - King John III of Portugal (b. 1502)
1560 - Marie Guise, French wife of king Jacobus V of Scotland, dies at 44
1560 - Mary of Lorraine, pro-French Regent of Scotland, dies at 44
1666 - Cornelis Evertsen the Old, Swiss vice-admiral, dies in battle at 55
1674 - Susanna van Baerle, Dutch poet/wife of Geeraert Burns, dies at 52
1695 - André Félibien, French architect (b. 1619)
1698 - Balthasar Bekker, Frisian theologist (Enchanted World), dies at 64
1712 - Louis Joseph, duc de Vendôme, Marshal of France (b. 1654)
1727 - King George I of Great Britain (b. 1660)
1764 - Christoph Stoltzenberg, composer, dies at 74
1766 - Elisabeth Farnese, princess of Parma/queen of Spain, dies at 73
1775 - Egidio Romoaldo Duni, Italian composer, dies at 67
1796 - Samuel Whitbread, English brewer and politician (b. 1720)
1808 - Giovanni Battista Cirri, composer, dies at 83
1811 - Charles Frederick, liberal ruler of Baden, dies at 82
1825 - Daniel D Tompkins, 6th US Vice President (1817-25), dies at 54
1828 - Dugald Stewart, Scot philosopher (Scottish common sense), dies at 74
1847 - John Franklin, English sea captain and explorer (b. 1786)
1852 - Karl Briullov, Russian painter (b. 1799)
1856 - Friedrich H von der Hagen, German germanist, dies at 76
1858 - Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, Austrian statesman (b. 1773)
1879 - Willem, (crown)prince of Orange, dies of bronchitis or murder at 39
1882 - Louis Maigret, Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1804)
1886 - Antonio C G Crespo, Brazilian/Portuguese poet, dies at 40
1896 - Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke, composer, dies at 72
1900 - Charles Swinnerton Heap, composer, dies at 53
1903 - Draga Masin, wife of Serbian king Aleksandar I, murdered at 35
1903 - Nikolai Bugaev, Russian mathematician (b. 1837)
1906 - Heinrich Hart, German writer (Das Lied der Menschheit), dies at 50
1908 - Georg Adler, German statehouse head, dies at 45
1911 - James Curtis Hepburn, American missionary and linguist (b. 1815)
1912 - Leon Dierx, French poet (Amants), dies at 74
1913 - Machmud Shevket Pasha, Turks grand vizier, murdered
1914 - Adolf Friedrich V, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (b. 1848)
1924 - Alexander F de Savornin Lohmann Jr, Dutch minister (CHU), dies at 87
1924 - Theodore Dubois, composer, dies at 86
1927 - William Attewell, cricket bowler (England in 10 Tests 1884-1891), dies
1929 - Gyula Andressy Jr, Hungarian minister of Foreign affairs, dies at 68
1930 - George Alexander, cricketer (two early Tests for Australia), dies
1930 - Henry Clay Folger Jr, CEO (Folger Shakespeare Library), dies at 72
1934 - Lev Vygotsky, Russian psychologist (b. 1896)
1936 - Robert E. Howard, American author (b. 1906)
1937 - R. J. (Reginald Joseph) Mitchell, British aircraft designer (b. 1895)
1941 - Daniel Carter Beard, founder of the Boy Scouts of America (b. 1850)
1943 - Sam[uel] de Vries, actor (Boefje, In Sobibor), dies at 50
1949 - Koci Xoxe, Albanian vice-premier, executed
1949 - Oton Zupanic, Slavs poet (Zimzelen pod snegom), dies at 71
1951 - Montagu Odd, cricket bat-maker (W G Grace), dies
1955 - Jacques Lemaigre-Dubreuil, French industrialist, murdered
1955 - Marcel Louis Auguste Samuel-Rousseau, composer, dies at 72
1955 - Walter Hampden, actor (Sabrina, 5 Fingers, Vagabond King), dies at 75
1956 - Corrado Alvaro, Italian writer (Poesie grigio-verdi), dies at 61
1956 - Ralph Morgan, actor (Creeper, Imposter, Jack London), dies at 73
1963 - Quang Duc, Buddhist monk, immolates himself on a street in Saigon
1965 - José Mendes Cabeçadas, 95th Prime Minister of Portugal and 9th President of Portugal (b. 1883)
1966 - Ethel Clayton, actress (Warning Shadows), dies at 82
1966 - Wallace Ford, actor (Deputy), dies of heart attack at 68
1967 - Billy Wells, Gong striker for Rank Films, dies at 79
1969 - John L Lewis, formed (Congress of Industrial Org), dies at 89
1970 - Aleksandr F Kerenski, Russian premier (1917), dies at 89
1970 - Camille Bombois, French circus wrestler/painter, dies at 87
1970 - Frank Laubach, Benton Pa, taught reading through phonetics, dies
1970 - Frank Silvera, Jamaican actor (High Chaparral), dies at 55
1970 - Earl Grant, American musician and singer (b. 1931)
1970 - William 'Billy Batts' Devino, American crime figure (b. 1921)
1974 - Julius Evola, Italian philosopher (b. 1898)
1974 - Eurico Gaspar Dutra, President of Brazil (b. 1883)
1975 - Floro Manuel Ugarte, composer, dies at 90
1976 - Jim Konstanty, American baseball player (b. 1917)
1979 - August Maes, Flemish actor/director (Farmer that Dies), dies at 85
1979 - John Wayne, actor (Green Berets, True Grit), dies at 72
1981 - Eppo Doeve, Dutch graphic artist/cartoonist/painter, dies at 73
1984 - Enrico Berlinguer, secr-general (CP) Italy, dies
1985 - Karen Ann Quinlan, comatose patient, dies in Morris Plains NJ at 31
1985 - Sapfo Notara, Greek actress (b. 1907)
1986 - Robert E Howard, sci-fi author (Conan the Conqueror), dies at 80
1986 - Chesley Bonestell, American-born engineer, architect, and artist (b. 1888)
1988 - Giuseppe Saragat, president of Italy (1964-71), dies at 89
1988 - Nathan Cook, actor (White Night), dies of an allergic reaction at 38
1990 - Clyde McCoy, jazz trumpeter (wah wah sound), dies at 86
1991 - Vlastimil Fisar, Czech actor/pres (Intl Actors Federation), dies
1992 - Marjorie Newell Robb, oldest living survivor of Titantic, dies at 103
1992 - Marlene Hazlett, entertainer, dies of cancer
1992 - Scotty Sachs, actor (Hanoi Hilton), dies of gunshot wounds at 39
1993 - Muriel C Bradbrook, English writer (Rise of Common Player), dies at 84
1993 - Ray Sharkey, actor (Wiseguy, No Mercy, Body Rock), dies of AIDs at 40
1994 - Christopher Collins, actor (True Identity), dies after illness at 44
1994 - Herbert Anderson, actor (Henry-Dennis The Menace), dies at 77
1994 - Jack Hannah, animator, dies at 90
1994 - Kitty Rosalind Muggeridge, author, dies at 90
1995 - Lovelace Watkins, singer, dies at 58
1995 - Luigi Innocenti, designer, dies at 71
1996 - Alan Weeks, British sports commentator, dies at 72