Events
1025 - Bolesław Chrobry was crowned in Gniezno, becoming the first King of Poland.
1506 - The cornerstone of the current St. Peter's Basilica is laid.
1518 - Bona Sforza is crowned as queen consort of Poland.
1775 - American Revolution: British advancement by sea begin; riders warn of impending arrests of Samuel Adams and John Hancock.
1797 - Battle of Neuwied - French victory against the Austrians.
1880 - An F4 tornado strikes Marshfield, Missouri, killing 99 people and injuring 100.
1881 - Billy the Kid escapes from the Lincoln County jail in Mesilla, New Mexico.
1899 - St. Andrew's Ambulance Association is granted a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria.
1906 - An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.9 destroys much of San Francisco, California.
1906 - The Los Angeles Times story on the Azusa Street Revival launches Pentecostalism as a worldwide movement.
1909 - Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome.
1912 - The Cunard liner RMS Carpathia returns 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic to New York.
1915 - French pilot Roland Garros was shot down and glided to a landing on the German side of the lines during World War I.
1923 - Yankee Stadium, "The House that Ruth Built", opens.
1942 - World War II: The Doolittle Raid on Tokyo occurs.
1942 - Pierre Laval becomes Prime Minister of Vichy France.
1943 - World War II: "Operation Peacock", Isoroku Yamamoto is killed when his aircraft is shot down by U.S. fighters over the Solomon Islands.
1945 - Over 1,000 bombers attack the small island of Heligoland, Germany.
1945 - The diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Bolivia were established.
1946 - The League of Nations is dissolved.
1949 - The Republic of Ireland Act comes into force.
1954 - Gamal Abdal Nasser seizes power in Egypt.
1958 - A U.S. federal court rules that poet Ezra Pound be released from an insane asylum.
1961 - CONCP is founded in Casablanca as a united front of African movements opposing Portuguese colonial rule.
1974 - Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto inaugurates Lahore Dry port.
1974 - Italian prosecutor Mario Sossi is kidnapped by the Red Brigades.
1980 - The Republic of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) comes into being, with Canaan Banana as the country's first President.
1983 - A suicide bomber destroys the United States embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 63 people.
1988 - U.S. launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in the largest naval battle since World War II.
1992 - General Abdul Rashid Dostum revolted against President Mohammad Najibullah of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and allied with Ahmed Shah Massoud to capture Kabul.
1993 - President of Pakistan, Ghulam Ishaq Khan dissolves the National Assembly and dismisses Cabinet.
1996 - In Lebanon, at least 106 civilians are killed when the Israel Defense Forces shell the UN compound at Quana.
2007 - The US Supreme Court upheld the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in a 5-4 decision.
2007 - 32 Chinese steel workers burn to death in the Qinghe Special Steel Corporation disaster.
Births
1918 - Cliff Hillegass, American publisher (d. 2001)
1918 - Tony Mottola, American guitarist (d. 2004)
1919 - Virginia O'Brien, American singer and actress (d. 2001)
1921 - Jean Richard, French actor (d. 2001)
1922 - Barbara Hale, American actress
1924 - Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, American musician (d. 2005)
1924 - Henry Hyde, American politician (d. 2007)
1927 - Samuel P. Huntington, American political scientist
1930 - Clive Revill, New Zealand born actor
1934 - George Shirley, American tenor
1936 - Tommy Ivo, American race car driver
1937 - Jan Kaplický, British architect of Czech origin
1939 - Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran
1939 - Thomas J. Moyer, American judge
1940 - Joseph L. Goldstein, American scientist, Nobel laureate
1940 - Mike Vickers, British guitarist and saxophonist (Manfred Mann)
1942 - Jochen Rindt, German-Austrian racer and F1 (posthumous) world champion (d. 1970)
1942 - Steve Blass, American professional baseball player
1945 - Margaret Hassan, Irish-born aid worker (d. 2004)
1946 - Hayley Mills, English actress
1947 - Kathy Acker, American author (d. 1997)
1947 - Dorothy Lyman, American actress
1947 - Herbert Mullin, American serial killer
1947 - Cindy Pickett, American actress
1947 - James Woods, American actor
1949 - Geoff Bodine, American race car driver
1950 - Kenny Ortega, American film and TV producer and choreographer
1951 - Ricardo Fortaleza, Australian-Filipino boxer
1951 - Pierre Pettigrew, Canadian politician
1953 - Rick Moranis, Canadian comedian
1956 - Anna Kathryn Holbrook, American actress
1956 - Eric Roberts, American actor
1956 - Melody Thomas Scott, American actress
1956 - Poonam Dhillon, Indian actress
1958 - Malcolm Marshall, Barbadian West Indies cricketer (d. 1999)
1961 - Jane Leeves, British actress
1961 - Steve Lombardi, American wrestler
1963 - Eric McCormack, Canadian actor
1963 - Conan O'Brien, American comedian
1964 - Niall Ferguson, British historian
1964 - Rithy Panh, Cambodian film director
1964 - Jim Ellison, musiciane
1964 - Mark Berry, aka Bez, Dancer in Happy Mondays
1965 - Rob Stenders, Dutch radio discjockey
1966 - Trine Hattestad, Norwegian athlete
1966 - Valeri Kamensky, Russian ice hockey player
1967 - Maria Bello, American actress
1968 - Mary Birdsong, American actress
1968 - David Hewlett, English born Canadian actor
1969 - Princess Sayako of Japan
1969 - Keith R.A. DeCandido, American author
1970 - Greg Eklund, American musician
1970 - Rico Brogna, American baseball player
1971 - Tamara Braun, American actress
1971 - David Tennant, British actor
1971 - Oleg Petrov, Russian ice hockey player
1972 - Eli Roth, American film director
1973 - Derrick Brooks, American football player
1973 - Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopian athlete
1973 - Brady Clark, American baseball player
1974 - Mark Tremonti, American musician
1974 - Millie Corretjer, Puerto Rican singer
1974 - Edgar Wright, British director
1976 - Melissa Joan Hart, American actress
1976 - Fayray, Japanese singer
1976 - Justin Ross, American politician
1977 - Dan Lacouture, NHL hockey player
1979 - Michael Bradley, American basketball player
1979 - Anthony Davidson, British Formula One driver
1979 - Nuria Fergó, Spanish singer
1979 - Matthew Upson, English footballer
1980 - Robyn Regehr, Canadian ice hockey player
1981 - Brian Buscher, American baseball player
1982 - Marie-Élaine Thibert, Canadian singer
1983 - Miguel Cabrera, Venezuelan baseball player
1984 - America Ferrera, American actress
1985 - Łukasz Fabiański, Polish footballer
1985 - Karl Reindler, Australian racing driver
1986 - Maurice Edu, American soccer player
1986 - Billy Butler, American baseball player
1987 - Danny Guthrie, English footballer
1987 - Sandra Lyng Haugen, Norwegian singer
1989 - Alia Shawkat, American actress
1996 - Alexey Zhigalkovich, Belarusian Singer
2007 - Hayah bint Hamzah, Princess of Jordan
2007 - Prince Lerotholi Seeiso, son of King Letsie III of Lesotho
Deaths
1955 - Albert Einstein, Nobel laureate (b. 1879)
1958 - Maurice Gamelin, French general (b. 1872)
1963 - Meyer Jacobstein, American politician (b. 1880)
1964 - Ben Hecht, American writer (b. 1894)
1965 - Guillermo González Camarena, Mexican inventor (b. 1917)
1967 - Karl Miller, German footballer (b. 1913)
1974 - Marcel Pagnol, French novelist, playwright and filmmaker (b. 1895)
1976 - Mahmoud Younis, Suez Canal nationalization Engineer (b. 1911)
1990 - Gory Guerrero, professional wrestler (b. 1921)
1992 - Benny Hill, British comedian (b. 1924)
1993 - Masahiko Kimura, Japanese judoka (b. 1917)
1995 - Arturo Frondizi, President of Argentina (b. 1908)
1996 - Brook Berringer, American football player (b. 1973)
1996 - Bernard Edwards, American record producer (b. 1952)
1998 - Terry Sanford, American politician (b. 1917)
2002 - Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian explorer (b. 1914)
2002 - Wahoo McDaniel, American football player and professional wrestler (b. 1938)
2003 - Edgar F. Codd, English computer scientist (b. 1923)
2004 - Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, first Prime Minister of Fiji and President of Fiji (b. 1920)
2005 - Sam Mills, American football player (b. 1959)
2007 - Iccho Itoh, mayor of Nagasaki (b. 1945)
1025 - Bolesław Chrobry was crowned in Gniezno, becoming the first King of Poland.
1506 - The cornerstone of the current St. Peter's Basilica is laid.
1518 - Bona Sforza is crowned as queen consort of Poland.
1775 - American Revolution: British advancement by sea begin; riders warn of impending arrests of Samuel Adams and John Hancock.
1797 - Battle of Neuwied - French victory against the Austrians.
1880 - An F4 tornado strikes Marshfield, Missouri, killing 99 people and injuring 100.
1881 - Billy the Kid escapes from the Lincoln County jail in Mesilla, New Mexico.
1899 - St. Andrew's Ambulance Association is granted a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria.
1906 - An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.9 destroys much of San Francisco, California.
1906 - The Los Angeles Times story on the Azusa Street Revival launches Pentecostalism as a worldwide movement.
1909 - Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome.
1912 - The Cunard liner RMS Carpathia returns 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic to New York.
1915 - French pilot Roland Garros was shot down and glided to a landing on the German side of the lines during World War I.
1923 - Yankee Stadium, "The House that Ruth Built", opens.
1942 - World War II: The Doolittle Raid on Tokyo occurs.
1942 - Pierre Laval becomes Prime Minister of Vichy France.
1943 - World War II: "Operation Peacock", Isoroku Yamamoto is killed when his aircraft is shot down by U.S. fighters over the Solomon Islands.
1945 - Over 1,000 bombers attack the small island of Heligoland, Germany.
1945 - The diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Bolivia were established.
1946 - The League of Nations is dissolved.
1949 - The Republic of Ireland Act comes into force.
1954 - Gamal Abdal Nasser seizes power in Egypt.
1958 - A U.S. federal court rules that poet Ezra Pound be released from an insane asylum.
1961 - CONCP is founded in Casablanca as a united front of African movements opposing Portuguese colonial rule.
1974 - Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto inaugurates Lahore Dry port.
1974 - Italian prosecutor Mario Sossi is kidnapped by the Red Brigades.
1980 - The Republic of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) comes into being, with Canaan Banana as the country's first President.
1983 - A suicide bomber destroys the United States embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 63 people.
1988 - U.S. launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in the largest naval battle since World War II.
1992 - General Abdul Rashid Dostum revolted against President Mohammad Najibullah of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and allied with Ahmed Shah Massoud to capture Kabul.
1993 - President of Pakistan, Ghulam Ishaq Khan dissolves the National Assembly and dismisses Cabinet.
1996 - In Lebanon, at least 106 civilians are killed when the Israel Defense Forces shell the UN compound at Quana.
2007 - The US Supreme Court upheld the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in a 5-4 decision.
2007 - 32 Chinese steel workers burn to death in the Qinghe Special Steel Corporation disaster.
Births
1918 - Cliff Hillegass, American publisher (d. 2001)
1918 - Tony Mottola, American guitarist (d. 2004)
1919 - Virginia O'Brien, American singer and actress (d. 2001)
1921 - Jean Richard, French actor (d. 2001)
1922 - Barbara Hale, American actress
1924 - Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, American musician (d. 2005)
1924 - Henry Hyde, American politician (d. 2007)
1927 - Samuel P. Huntington, American political scientist
1930 - Clive Revill, New Zealand born actor
1934 - George Shirley, American tenor
1936 - Tommy Ivo, American race car driver
1937 - Jan Kaplický, British architect of Czech origin
1939 - Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran
1939 - Thomas J. Moyer, American judge
1940 - Joseph L. Goldstein, American scientist, Nobel laureate
1940 - Mike Vickers, British guitarist and saxophonist (Manfred Mann)
1942 - Jochen Rindt, German-Austrian racer and F1 (posthumous) world champion (d. 1970)
1942 - Steve Blass, American professional baseball player
1945 - Margaret Hassan, Irish-born aid worker (d. 2004)
1946 - Hayley Mills, English actress
1947 - Kathy Acker, American author (d. 1997)
1947 - Dorothy Lyman, American actress
1947 - Herbert Mullin, American serial killer
1947 - Cindy Pickett, American actress
1947 - James Woods, American actor
1949 - Geoff Bodine, American race car driver
1950 - Kenny Ortega, American film and TV producer and choreographer
1951 - Ricardo Fortaleza, Australian-Filipino boxer
1951 - Pierre Pettigrew, Canadian politician
1953 - Rick Moranis, Canadian comedian
1956 - Anna Kathryn Holbrook, American actress
1956 - Eric Roberts, American actor
1956 - Melody Thomas Scott, American actress
1956 - Poonam Dhillon, Indian actress
1958 - Malcolm Marshall, Barbadian West Indies cricketer (d. 1999)
1961 - Jane Leeves, British actress
1961 - Steve Lombardi, American wrestler
1963 - Eric McCormack, Canadian actor
1963 - Conan O'Brien, American comedian
1964 - Niall Ferguson, British historian
1964 - Rithy Panh, Cambodian film director
1964 - Jim Ellison, musiciane
1964 - Mark Berry, aka Bez, Dancer in Happy Mondays
1965 - Rob Stenders, Dutch radio discjockey
1966 - Trine Hattestad, Norwegian athlete
1966 - Valeri Kamensky, Russian ice hockey player
1967 - Maria Bello, American actress
1968 - Mary Birdsong, American actress
1968 - David Hewlett, English born Canadian actor
1969 - Princess Sayako of Japan
1969 - Keith R.A. DeCandido, American author
1970 - Greg Eklund, American musician
1970 - Rico Brogna, American baseball player
1971 - Tamara Braun, American actress
1971 - David Tennant, British actor
1971 - Oleg Petrov, Russian ice hockey player
1972 - Eli Roth, American film director
1973 - Derrick Brooks, American football player
1973 - Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopian athlete
1973 - Brady Clark, American baseball player
1974 - Mark Tremonti, American musician
1974 - Millie Corretjer, Puerto Rican singer
1974 - Edgar Wright, British director
1976 - Melissa Joan Hart, American actress
1976 - Fayray, Japanese singer
1976 - Justin Ross, American politician
1977 - Dan Lacouture, NHL hockey player
1979 - Michael Bradley, American basketball player
1979 - Anthony Davidson, British Formula One driver
1979 - Nuria Fergó, Spanish singer
1979 - Matthew Upson, English footballer
1980 - Robyn Regehr, Canadian ice hockey player
1981 - Brian Buscher, American baseball player
1982 - Marie-Élaine Thibert, Canadian singer
1983 - Miguel Cabrera, Venezuelan baseball player
1984 - America Ferrera, American actress
1985 - Łukasz Fabiański, Polish footballer
1985 - Karl Reindler, Australian racing driver
1986 - Maurice Edu, American soccer player
1986 - Billy Butler, American baseball player
1987 - Danny Guthrie, English footballer
1987 - Sandra Lyng Haugen, Norwegian singer
1989 - Alia Shawkat, American actress
1996 - Alexey Zhigalkovich, Belarusian Singer
2007 - Hayah bint Hamzah, Princess of Jordan
2007 - Prince Lerotholi Seeiso, son of King Letsie III of Lesotho
Deaths
1955 - Albert Einstein, Nobel laureate (b. 1879)
1958 - Maurice Gamelin, French general (b. 1872)
1963 - Meyer Jacobstein, American politician (b. 1880)
1964 - Ben Hecht, American writer (b. 1894)
1965 - Guillermo González Camarena, Mexican inventor (b. 1917)
1967 - Karl Miller, German footballer (b. 1913)
1974 - Marcel Pagnol, French novelist, playwright and filmmaker (b. 1895)
1976 - Mahmoud Younis, Suez Canal nationalization Engineer (b. 1911)
1990 - Gory Guerrero, professional wrestler (b. 1921)
1992 - Benny Hill, British comedian (b. 1924)
1993 - Masahiko Kimura, Japanese judoka (b. 1917)
1995 - Arturo Frondizi, President of Argentina (b. 1908)
1996 - Brook Berringer, American football player (b. 1973)
1996 - Bernard Edwards, American record producer (b. 1952)
1998 - Terry Sanford, American politician (b. 1917)
2002 - Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian explorer (b. 1914)
2002 - Wahoo McDaniel, American football player and professional wrestler (b. 1938)
2003 - Edgar F. Codd, English computer scientist (b. 1923)
2004 - Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, first Prime Minister of Fiji and President of Fiji (b. 1920)
2005 - Sam Mills, American football player (b. 1959)
2007 - Iccho Itoh, mayor of Nagasaki (b. 1945)
