Events Pre-1600 AD 69 – The Roman Senate declares Vespasian emperor of Rome, the last in the Year of the Four Emperors. 1124 – Pope Honorius II is consecrated, having been elected after the controversial dethroning of Pope-Elect Celestine II. 1140 – After a siege of several weeks, the city of Weinsberg and its castle surrender to Conrad III of Germany.; 1237 – The city of Ryazan is sacked by the Mongol army of Batu Khan. 1361 – The Battle of Linuesa is fought in the context of the Spanish Reconquista between the forces of the Emirate of Granada and the combined army of the Kingdom of Castile and of Jaén resulting in a Castilian victory. 1598 – Battle of Curalaba: The revolting Mapuche, led by cacique Pelentaru, inflict a major defeat on Spanish troops in southern Chile.
1601–1900 1620 – Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land near what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts. 1812 – The second earthquake to hit southern California in 13 days causes severe damage in Santa Barbara and Ventura. 1826 – American settlers in Nacogdoches, Mexican Texas, declare their independence, starting the Fredonian Rebellion. 1832 – Egyptian–Ottoman War: Egyptian forces decisively defeat Ottoman troops at the Battle of Konya. 1844 – The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers commences business at its cooperative in Rochdale, England, starting the Cooperative movement. 1861 – Medal of Honor: Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor, is signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. 1872 – Challenger expedition: , commanded by Captain George Nares, sails from Portsmouth, England. 1879 – the fictional character of Nora Helmer is first portrayed by Betty Hennings at a showing of A Doll's House at the Royal Danish Theatre. 1883 – The Royal Canadian Dragoons and The Royal Canadian Regiment, the first Permanent Force cavalry and infantry regiments of the Canadian Army, are formed.
1901–present 1907 – The Chilean Army commits a massacre of at least 2,000 striking saltpeter miners in Iquique, Chile. 1910 – An underground explosion at the Hulton Bank Colliery No. 3 Pit in Over Hulton, Westhoughton, England, kills 344 miners. 1919 – American anarchist Emma Goldman is deported to Russia. 1923 – United Kingdom and Nepal formally sign an agreement of friendship, called the Nepal–Britain Treaty of 1923, which superseded the Treaty of Sugauli signed in 1816. 1934 – Lieutenant Kijé, one of Sergei Prokofiev's best-known works, premiered. 1941 – World War II: A Thai-Japanese Pact of Alliance is signed. 1946 – An 8.1 Mw earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Nankaidō, Japan, kills over 1,300 people and destroys over 38,000 homes. 1963 – "Bloody Christmas" begins in Cyprus, ultimately resulting in the displacement of 25,000–30,000 Turkish Cypriots and destruction of more than 100 villages. 1965 – International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is adopted. 1967 – Louis Washkansky, the first man to undergo a human-to-human heart transplant, dies in Cape Town, South Africa, having lived for 18 days after the transplant. 1968 – Apollo program: Apollo 8 is launched from the Kennedy Space Center, placing its crew on a lunar trajectory for the first visit to another celestial body by humans. 1973 – The Geneva Conference on the Arab–Israeli conflict opens. 1979 – Lancaster House Agreement: An independence agreement for Rhodesia is signed in London by Lord Carrington, Sir Ian Gilmour, Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo, Bishop Abel Muzorewa and S.C. Mundawarara. 1988 – A bomb explodes on board Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, killing 270. This is to date the deadliest air disaster to occur on British soil. 1991 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The leaders of 11 now effectively autonomous Soviet republics sign the Alma-Ata Protocol establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States in place of the collapsing Soviet Union. 1992 – A Dutch DC-10, flight Martinair MP 495, crashes at Faro Airport, Portugal, killing 56. 1995 – The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control. 1999 – The Spanish Civil Guard intercepts a van loaded with 950 kg of explosives that ETA intended to use to blow up Torre Picasso in Madrid, Spain. 1999 – Cubana de Aviación Flight 1216 overshoots the runway at La Aurora International Airport, killing 18. 2004 – Iraq War: A suicide bomber kills 22 at the forward operating base next to the main U.S. military airfield at Mosul, Iraq, the single deadliest suicide attack on American soldiers in Iraq. 2012 – 2012 phenomenon: Festivities are held in parts of Mesoamerica to commemorate the conclusion of b'ak'tun 13, a roughly 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar whose passing many New Age spiritualists had earlier held to portend a variety of cataclysmic or transformative events. 2020 – A great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurs, with the two planets separated in the sky by 0.1 degrees. This is the closest conjunction between the two planets since 1623. 2022 – A Vega C rocket carrying two Pléiades Neo satellites fails after liftoff. 2023 – Fourteen people are killed and 25 others injured during a mass shooting at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic.
Births Pre-1600
968 – Minamoto no Yorinobu, Japanese samurai (died 1048) 1401 – Masaccio, Italian painter (died 1428) 1468 – William Conyers, 1st Baron Conyers, English baron (died 1524) 1505 – Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, English politician (died 1550) 1538 – Luigi d'Este, Catholic cardinal (died 1586) 1542 – Thomas Allen, English mathematician and astrologer (died 1632) 1550 – Man Singh I, Mughal noble (died 1614) 1596 – Peter Mohyla, Ruthenian Orthodox metropolitan and saint (died 1646)
1601–1900 1603 – Roger Williams, English minister, theologian, and politician, 9th President of the Colony of Rhode Island (died 1684) 1615 – Benedict Arnold, Rhode Island colonial governor (died 1678) 1672 – Benjamin Schmolck, German pastor and composer (died 1737) 1714 – John Bradstreet, Canadian-English general (died 1774) 1728 – Hermann Raupach, German harpsichord player and composer (died 1778) 1778 – Anders Sandøe Ørsted, Danish jurist and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Denmark (died 1860) 1795 – Jack Russell, English priest, hunter, and dog breeder (died 1883) 1795 – Leopold von Ranke, German historian, author, and academic (died 1886) 1803 – Achille Vianelli, Italian painter and academic (died 1894) 1804 – Benjamin Disraeli, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1881) 1805 – Thomas Graham, Scottish chemist and academic (died 1869) 1811 – Archibald Tait, Scottish-English archbishop (died 1882) 1815 – Thomas Couture, French painter and educator (died 1879) 1820 – William H. Osborn, American businessman (died 1894) 1830 – Bartolomé Masó, Cuban soldier and politician (died 1907) 1832 – John H. Ketcham, American general and politician (died 1906) 1840 – Ernest de Munck, Belgian cellist and composer (died 1915) 1840 – Namık Kemal, Turkish journalist, playwright, and activist (died 1888) 1843 – Thomas Bracken, Irish-New Zealander journalist, poet, and politician (died 1898) 1850 – Zdeněk Fibich, Czech composer and poet (died 1900) 1851 – Thomas Chipman McRae, American lawyer and politician, 26th Governor of Arkansas (died 1929) 1857 – Joseph Carruthers, Australian politician, 16th Premier of New South Wales (died 1932) 1859 – Gustave Kahn, French poet and critic (died 1936) 1866 – Maud Gonne, Irish nationalist and political activist (died 1953) 1868 – George W. Fuller, American chemist and engineer (died 1934) 1872 – Trevor Kincaid, Canadian-American zoologist and academic (died 1970) 1872 – Lorenzo Perosi, Italian priest and composer (died 1956) 1872 – Albert Payson Terhune, American journalist and author (died 1942) 1876 – Jack Lang, Australian lawyer and politician, 23rd Premier of New South Wales (died 1975) 1877 – Jaan Sarv, Estonian mathematician and scholar (died 1954) 1878 – Jan Łukasiewicz, Polish-Irish mathematician and philosopher (died 1956) 1884 – María Cadilla, Puerto Rican writer, educator, women's rights activist (died 1951) 1885 – Frank Patrick, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 1960) 1888 – Jean Bouin, French runner and rugby player (died 1914) 1889 – Sewall Wright, American geneticist and biologist (died 1988) 1890 – Hermann Joseph Muller, American geneticist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1967) 1891 – John William McCormack, American lawyer and politician, 53rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (died 1980) 1892 – Walter Hagen, American golfer (died 1969) 1892 – Rebecca West, English journalist and author (died 1983) 1896 – Konstantin Rokossovsky, Marshal of the Soviet Union during World War II (died 1968) 1900 – Luis Arturo González López, Guatemalan supreme court judge and briefly acting president (died 1965)
1901–present 1905 – Käte Fenchel, German mathematician (died 1983) 1905 – Anthony Powell, English author (died 2000) 1909 – Seichō Matsumoto, Japanese journalist and author (died 1992) 1911 – Josh Gibson, American baseball player (died 1947) 1913 – Arnold Friberg, American illustrator and painter (died 2010) 1914 – Frank Fenner, Australian microbiologist and virologist (died 2010) 1917 – Heinrich Böll, German novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1985) 1918 – Donald Regan, American colonel and politician, 11th White House Chief of Staff (died 2003) 1918 – Kurt Waldheim, Austrian colonel and politician; 9th President of Austria (died 2007) 1919 – Doug Young, American voice actor (died 2018) 1920 – Alicia Alonso, Cuban ballerina and choreographer, founded the Cuban National Ballet (died 2019) 1920 – Adele Goldstine, American computer programmer (died 1964) 1920 – Iris Cummings, American swimmer and aviator (died 2025) 1922 – Itubwa Amram, Nauruan pastor and politician (died 1989) 1922 – Cécile DeWitt-Morette, French mathematician and physicist (died 2017) 1922 – Paul Winchell, American actor, voice artist, and ventriloquist (died 2005) 1923 – Wat Misaka, American basketball player (died 2019) 1926 – Champ Butler, American singer (died 1992) 1926 – Arnošt Lustig, Czech author and playwright (died 2011) 1926 – Joe Paterno, American football player and coach (died 2012) 1927 – Charles Bailleul, French linguist and missionary (died 2026) 1930 – Phil Roman, American animator 1932 – U. R. Ananthamurthy, Indian author, poet, and critic (died 2014) 1932 – Edward Hoagland, American author and critic 1933 – Jackie Hendriks, Jamaican cricketer 1933 – Robert Worcester, American businessman and academic, founded MORI (died 2025)Sir Bob Worcester obituary: influential pollster The Times 1934 – Giuseppina Leone, Italian sprinter 1934 – Hanif Mohammad, Pakistani cricketer (died 2016) 1935 – John G. Avildsen, American director, producer, and cinematographer (died 2017) 1935 – Lorenzo Bandini, Italian racing driver (died 1967) 1935 – Phil Donahue, American talk show host and producer (died 2024) 1935 – Stela Popescu, Romanian actress (died 2017) 1935 – Edward Schreyer, Canadian academic and politician, Governor General of Canada 1935 – Janet Metcalf, American politician (died 2025)Former Iowa Rep. Janet Metcalf, a longtime pro-choice Republican, dies at 89 1937 – Jane Fonda, American actress and activist 1938 – Larry Bryggman, American actor 1939 – Lloyd Axworthy, Canadian academic and politician, 2nd Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs 1939 – Wafic Saïd, Syrian-Saudi Arabian financier, businessman and philanthropist 1940 – Frank Zappa, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer and producer (died 1993) 1942 – Hu Jintao, Chinese engineer and politician, 5th Paramount leader of China 1942 – Carla Thomas, American singer 1943 – Albert Lee, English guitarist and songwriter 1943 – Walter Spanghero, French rugby player