Events Pre-1600 105 BC – Cimbrian War: Defeat at the Battle of Arausio of the Roman army of the mid-Republic. 69 BC – Third Mithridatic War: The military of the Roman Republic subdues Armenia. AD 23 – Rebels decapitate Wang Mang, only Emperor of the Xin Dynasty, after his capital was sacked during a peasant rebellion. 404 – Byzantine Empress Eudoxia dies from the miscarriage of her seventh pregnancy. 618 – Transition from Sui to Tang: Wang Shichong decisively defeats Li Mi at the Battle of Yanshi. 891 – Election of Pope Formosus following the death of pope Stephen V in the previous month. 1539 – Spain's DeSoto expedition takes over the Apalachee capital of Anhaica for their winter quarters. 1600 – Euridice, the earliest surviving opera, receives its première performance, beginning the Baroque period.
1601–1900 1620 – The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth suffers a defeat against the Ottoman Empire in the battle of Cecora after a heroic defense over several days and the death of their commander Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski. 1683 – Immigrant families found Germantown, Pennsylvania in the first major immigration of German people to America. 1762 – Seven Years' War: The British capture Manila from Spain and occupy it. 1777 – American Revolutionary War: British forces capture Forts Clinton and Montgomery on the Hudson River. 1789 – French Revolution: King Louis XVI is forced to change his residence from Versailles to the Tuileries Palace. 1810 – A large fire destroys a third of all the buildings in the town of Raahe in the Grand Duchy of Finland. 1849 – The execution of the 13 Martyrs of Arad after the Hungarian war of independence. 1854 – In England the great fire of Newcastle and Gateshead leads to 53 deaths and hundreds injured. 1884 – The Naval War College of the United States is founded in Rhode Island. 1898 – Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the largest American music fraternity, is founded at the New England Conservatory of Music.
1901–present 1903 – The High Court of Australia sits for the first time. 1908 – The Bosnian crisis erupts when Austria-Hungary formally annexes Bosnia and Herzegovina. 1910 – Eleftherios Venizelos is elected Prime Minister of Greece for the first of seven times. 1915 – World War I: Combined Austro-Hungarian and German Central Powers, reinforced by the recently joined Bulgaria, launch a new offensive against Serbia under command of August von Mackensen. 1915 – World War I: Entente forces land in Thessaloniki, to open the Macedonian front against the Central Powers. 1920 – Ukrainian War of Independence: The Starobilsk agreement is signed by representatives of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Makhnovshchina. 1923 – The Turkish National Movement enters Constantinople. 1927 – Opening of The Jazz Singer, the first prominent "talkie" movie. 1934 – Revolution of 1934: The President of the autonomous government of Catalonia, Lluís Companys, proclaims the Catalan State with the support of the Worker's Alliance. 1939 – World War II: The Battle of Kock is the final combat of the September Campaign in Poland. 1942 – World War II: American troops force the Japanese from their positions east of the Matanikau River during the Battle of Guadalcanal. 1943 – World War II: Thirteen civilians are burnt alive by a paramilitary group in Crete during the Nazi occupation of Greece. 1944 – World War II: Units of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps enter Czechoslovakia during the Battle of the Dukla Pass. 1973 – Egypt and Syria launch coordinated attacks against Israel, beginning the Yom Kippur War. 1976 – Cubana de Aviación Flight 455 is destroyed by two bombs, placed on board by an anti-Castro militant group. 1976 – Premier Hua Guofeng arrests the Gang of Four, ending the Cultural Revolution in China. 1976 – Dozens are killed by Thai police and right-wing paramilitaries in the Thammasat University massacre; afterwards, the Seni Pramoj government is toppled in a military coup led by Sangad Chaloryu. 1977 – The first prototype of the Mikoyan MiG-29, designated 9-01, makes its maiden flight. 1979 – Pope John Paul II becomes the first pontiff to visit the White House. 1981 – Egyptian President Anwar Sadat is murdered by Islamic extremists. 1981 – NLM CityHopper Flight 431 crashes in Moerdijk after taking off from Rotterdam The Hague Airport in the Netherlands, killing all 17 people on board. 1985 – Police constable Keith Blakelock is murdered as riots erupt in the Broadwater Farm suburb of London. 1987 – Fiji becomes a republic. 1990 – Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-41, and deploys the Ulysses space probe to study the Sun's polar regions. 1995 – The first planet orbiting another sun, 51 Pegasi b, is discovered. 2007 – Jason Lewis completes the first human-powered circumnavigation of the Earth. 2010 – Instagram, a mainstream photo-sharing application, is founded. 2018 – The United States Senate confirms Brett Kavanaugh as a Supreme Court Associate Justice, ending a contentious confirmation process. 2022 – Annie Ernaux is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. 2025 – The 2025 Alberta teachers' strike begins, leaving approximately 51,000 teachers off-work, impacting about 730,000 Albertan students.
Births Pre-1600 649 – Yuknoom Yichʼaak Kʼahkʼ (died around 696) 1289 – Wenceslaus III of Bohemia (died 1306) 1459 – Martin Behaim, German navigator and geographer (died 1507) 1510 – John Caius, English physician and academic, co-founded the Gonville and Caius College (died 1573) 1510 – Rowland Taylor, English priest and martyr (died 1555) 1552 – Matteo Ricci, Italian priest and missionary (died 1610) 1555 – Ferenc Nádasdy, Hungarian noble (died 1604) 1565 – Marie de Gournay, French writer (died 1645) 1573 – Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire (died 1624) 1576 – Roger Manners, 5th Earl of Rutland (died 1612) 1591 – Settimia Caccini, Italian singer-songwriter (died 1638)
1601–1900 1610 – Charles de Sainte-Maure, duc de Montausier, French general (died 1690) 1626 – Géraud de Cordemoy, French historian, philosopher and lawyer (died 1684) 1716 – George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (died 1771) 1729 – Sarah Crosby, English preacher, the first female Methodist preacher (died 1804) 1732 – John Broadwood, Scottish businessman, co-founded John Broadwood and Sons (died 1812) 1738 – Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (died 1789) 1742 – Johan Herman Wessel, Norwegian-Danish poet and playwright (died 1785) 1744 – James McGill, Scottish-Canadian businessman and philanthropist, founded McGill University (died 1813) 1767 – Henri Christophe, Grenadian-Haitian king (died 1820) 1769 – Isaac Brock, English general and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada (died 1812) 1773 – John MacCulloch, Scottish geologist and academic (died 1835) 1773 – Louis Philippe I of France (died 1850) 1801 – Hippolyte Carnot, French politician (died 1888) 1803 – Heinrich Wilhelm Dove, Polish-German physicist and meteorologist (died 1879) 1820 – James Caulfeild, 3rd Earl of Charlemont, Irish politician, Lord Lieutenant of Armagh (died 1892) 1820 – Jenny Lind, Swedish soprano and actress (died 1887) 1831 – Richard Dedekind, German mathematician and philosopher (died 1916) 1838 – Giuseppe Cesare Abba, Italian soldier, poet, and author (died 1910) 1846 – George Westinghouse, American engineer and businessman, founded the Westinghouse Air Brake Company (died 1914) 1862 – Albert J. Beveridge, American historian and politician (died 1927) 1866 – Reginald Fessenden, Canadian engineer and academic, invented radiotelephony (died 1932) 1874 – Frank G. Allen, American merchant and politician, 51st Governor of Massachusetts (died 1950) 1876 – Ernest Lapointe, Canadian lawyer and politician, 18th Canadian Minister of Justice (died 1941) 1882 – Karol Szymanowski, Polish pianist and composer (died 1937) 1886 – Edwin Fischer, Swiss pianist and conductor (died 1960) 1887 – Le Corbusier, Swiss-French architect and painter, designed the Philips Pavilion and Saint-Pierre, Firminy (died 1965) 1888 – Roland Garros, French soldier and pilot (died 1918) 1891 – Hendrik Adamson, Estonian poet and educator (died 1946) 1893 – Meghnad Saha, Indian astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic (died 1956) 1895 – Caroline Gordon, American author and critic (died 1981) 1896 – David Howard, American film director (died 1941) 1897 – Florence B. Seibert, American biochemist and academic (died 1991) 1900 – Vivion Brewer, American activist and desegregationist (died 1991) 1900 – Willy Merkl, German mountaineer (died 1934) 1900 – Stan Nichols, English cricketer (died 1961)
1901–present 1901 – Eveline Du Bois-Reymond Marcus, German-Brazilian zoologist and academic (died 1990) 1903 – Ernest Walton, Irish physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1995) 1905 – Helen Wills, American tennis player and painter (died 1998) 1906 – Janet Gaynor, American actress (died 1984) 1906 – Taffy O'Callaghan, Welsh footballer and coach (died 1946) 1908 – Carole Lombard, American actress (died 1942) 1908 – Sergei Sobolev, Russian mathematician and academic (died 1989) 1910 – Barbara Castle, English journalist and politician, First Secretary of State (died 2002) 1910 – Orazio Satta Puliga, Italian automobile designer (died 1974) 1912 – Perkins Bass, American lawyer and politician (died 2011) 1913 – Méret Oppenheim, German-Swiss painter and photographer (died 1985) 1914 – Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian ethnographer and explorer (died 2002) 1914 – Joan Littlewood, English director and playwright (died 2002) 1915 – Carolyn Goodman, American psychologist and activist (died 2007) 1915 – Humberto Sousa Medeiros, Portuguese-American cardinal (died 1983) 1915 – Alice Timander, Swedish dentist and actress (died 2007) 1916 – Chiang Wei-kuo, Japanese-Chinese general (died 1997) 1916 – Otto Djaya, Indonesian painter (died 2002) 1917 – Fannie Lou Hamer, American activist and philanthropist (died 1977) 1918 – Goh Keng Swee, Singaporean soldier and politician, 2nd Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore (died 2010) 1918 – André Pilette, French-Belgian race car driver (died 1993) 1919 – Tommy Lawton, English footballer and coach (died 1996) 1920 – John Donaldson, Baron Donaldson of Lymington, English lawyer and judge (died 2005) 1921 – Evgenii Landis, Ukrainian-Russian mathematician and theorist (died 1997) 1921 – Joseph Lowery, American minister and activist (died 2020) 1921 – Giovanni Michelotti, Italian automotive designer (died 1980) 1922 – Joe Frazier, American baseball player and manager (died 2011) 1922 – Teala Loring, American actress (died 2007) 1923 – Robert Kuok, Malaysian Chinese business magnate and investor 1923 – Yaşar Kemal, Turkish journalist and author (died 2015) 1925 – Shana Alexander, American journalist and author (died 2005) 1927 – Bill King, American sportscaster (died 2005) 1928 – Flora MacNeil, Scottish Gaelic singer (died 2015) 1928 – Barbara Werle, American actress and singer (died 2013) 1929 – George Mattos, American pole vaulter (died 2012) 1930 – Hafez al-Assad, Syrian general and politician, 20th President of Syria (died 2000) 1930 – Richie Benaud, Australian cricketer and sportscaster (died 2015) 1931 – Nikolai Chernykh, Russian astronomer (died 2004) 1931 – Eileen Derbyshire, English actress 1931 – Riccardo Giacconi, Italian-American astrophysicist and astronomer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2018) 1933 – Prince Mukarram Jah, 8th Nizam of Hyderabad (died 2023) 1934 – Marshall Rosenberg, American psychologist and author (died 2015) 1935 – Bruno Sammartino, Italian-American wrestler and trainer (died 2018) 1936 – Julius L. Chambers, American lawyer, educator, and activist (died 2013) 1938 – Serge Nubret, Caribbean-French bodybuilder and actor (died 2011) 1939 – Melvyn Bragg, English journalist, author, and academic 1939 – Jack Cullen, American baseball player