Events Pre-1600 801 – An earthquake in the Central Apennines hits Rome and Spoleto, damaging the basilica of San Paolo Fuori le Mura. 1091 – Battle of Levounion: The Pechenegs are defeated by Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. 1429 – Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orléans. 1483 – Gran Canaria, the main island of the Canary Islands, is conquered by the Kingdom of Castile. 1492 – The Crown's decision to expel the Jews is announced in Zaragoza, Aragon, to the kingdom's procurators. 1521 – Swedish War of Liberation: Swedish troops defeat a Danish force in the Battle of Västerås.
1601–1900 1670 – Emilio Altieri is elected pope after a four-month conclave and takes the name Clement X. 1760 – French forces commence the siege of Quebec which is held by the British. 1770 – James Cook arrives in Australia at Botany Bay, which he names. 1781 – American Revolutionary War: British and French ships clash in the Battle of Fort Royal off the coast of Martinique. 1826 – The galaxy Centaurus A or NGC 5128 is discovered by James Dunlop. Centaurus A is listed on p. 138 as entry number 482. A sketch of Centaurus A appears as Fig. 20 on the plate between pages 114 and 115. 1861 – Maryland in the American Civil War: Maryland's House of Delegates votes not to secede from the Union. 1862 – American Civil War: The Capture of New Orleans by Union forces under David Farragut. 1862 – American Civil War: The Siege of Corinth begins as Union forces under General Henry Halleck move to engage Confederate forces led by General P. G. T. Beauregard. 1864 – Theta Xi fraternity is founded at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the only fraternity to be founded during the American Civil War.;
1901–present 1903 – A landslide kills 70 people in Frank, in the District of Alberta, Canada. 1910 – The Parliament of the United Kingdom passes the People's Budget, the first budget in British history with the expressed intent of redistributing wealth among the British public. 1911 – Tsinghua University, one of mainland China's leading universities, is founded. 1916 – World War I: The UK's 6th Indian Division surrenders to Ottoman Forces at the Siege of Kut in one of the largest surrenders of British forces up to that point. 1916 – Easter Rising: After six days of fighting, Irish rebel leaders surrender to British forces in Dublin, bringing the Easter Rising to an end. 1945 – World War II: The Surrender of Caserta is signed by the commander of German forces in Italy. 1945 – World War II: Allied airdrops of food begin over German-occupied regions of the Netherlands. 1945 – World War II: Adolf Hitler marries his longtime partner Eva Braun in a Berlin bunker and designates Admiral Karl Dönitz as his successor. 1945 – Dachau concentration camp is liberated by United States troops. 1946 – The International Military Tribunal for the Far East convenes and indicts former Prime Minister of Japan Hideki Tojo and 28 former Japanese leaders for war crimes. 1952 – Pan Am Flight 202 crashes into the Amazon basin near Carolina, Maranhão, Brazil, killing 50 people. 1953 – The first U.S. experimental 3D television broadcast shows an episode of Space Patrol on Los Angeles ABC affiliate KECA-TV. 1967 – After refusing induction into the United States Army the previous day, Muhammad Ali is stripped of his boxing title. 1970 – Vietnam War: United States and South Vietnamese forces invade Cambodia to interdict the Ho Chi Minh Trail in an attempt to cut off supplies to the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army. 1974 – Watergate scandal: United States President Richard Nixon announces the release of edited transcripts of White House tape recordings relating to the scandal. 1975 – Vietnam War: Operation Frequent Wind: The U.S. begins to evacuate U.S. citizens from Saigon before an expected North Vietnamese takeover. U.S. involvement in the war comes to an end. This happens after the Bombing of Tan Son Nhut Air Base. 1975 – Vietnam War: The North Vietnamese Army completes its capture of all parts of South Vietnam-held Trường Sa Islands. 1985 – Space Shuttle Challenger is launched on STS-51-B. 1986 – A fire at the Central library of the Los Angeles Public Library damages or destroys 400,000 books and other items. 1986 – The United States Navy aircraft carrier becomes the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to transit the Suez Canal, navigating from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea to relieve the . 1986 – An assembly of Sikhs, known as a Sarbat Khalsa, officially declare independence for a state of Khalistan. 1991 – A cyclone strikes the Chittagong district of southeastern Bangladesh with winds of around , killing at least 138,000 people and leaving as many as ten million homeless. 1991 – The 7.0 Racha earthquake affects Georgia with a maximum MSK intensity of IX (Destructive), killing 270 people. 1992 – Riots in Los Angeles begin, following the acquittal of police officers charged with excessive force in the beating of Rodney King. Over the next three days 63 people are killed and hundreds of buildings are destroyed. 1997 – The Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993 enters into force, outlawing the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons by its signatories. 2004 – The final Oldsmobile is built in Lansing, Michigan, ending 107 years of vehicle production. 2011 – The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton takes place at Westminster Abbey in London. 2013 – A powerful explosion occurs in an office building in Prague, believed to have been caused by natural gas, and injures 43 people. 2013 – National Airlines Flight 102, a Boeing 747-400 freighter aircraft, crashes during takeoff from Bagram Airfield in Parwan Province, Afghanistan, killing all seven people on board. 2015 – A baseball game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago White Sox sets the all-time low attendance mark for Major League Baseball. Zero fans were in attendance for the game, as the stadium was officially closed to the public due to the 2015 Baltimore protests.
Births
Pre-1600 1469 – William II, Landgrave of Hesse (died 1509) 1587 – Sophie of Saxony, Duchess of Pomerania (died 1635)
1601–1900 1636 – Esaias Reusner, German lute player and composer (died 1679) 1665 – James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde, Irish general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (died 1745) 1667 – John Arbuthnot, Scottish-English physician and polymath (died 1735) 1727 – Jean-Georges Noverre, French actor and dancer (died 1810) 1745 – Oliver Ellsworth, American lawyer and politician, 3rd Chief Justice of the United States (died 1807) 1758 – Georg Carl von Döbeln, Swedish general (died 1820) 1762 – Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, French general and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (died 1833) 1780 – Charles Nodier, French librarian and author (died 1844) 1783 – David Cox, English landscape painter (died 1859) 1784 – Samuel Turell Armstrong, American publisher and politician, 14th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (died 1850) 1810 – Thomas Adolphus Trollope, English journalist and author (died 1892) 1818 – Alexander II of Russia (died 1881) 1837 – Georges Ernest Boulanger, French general and politician, French Minister of War (died 1891) 1842 – Carl Millöcker, Austrian composer and conductor (died 1899) 1847 – Joachim Andersen, Danish flautist, composer and conductor (died 1907) 1848 – Raja Ravi Varma, Indian painter and academic (died 1906) 1854 – Henri Poincaré, French mathematician, physicist and engineer (died 1912) 1863 – Constantine P. Cavafy, Egyptian-Greek journalist and poet (died 1933) 1863 – William Randolph Hearst, American publisher and politician, founded the Hearst Corporation (died 1951) 1863 – Maria Teresia Ledóchowska, Austrian nun and missionary (died 1922) 1872 – Harry Payne Whitney, American businessman and lawyer (died 1930) 1872 – Forest Ray Moulton, American astronomer and academic (died 1952) 1875 – Rafael Sabatini, Italian-English novelist and short story writer (died 1950) 1879 – Thomas Beecham, English conductor (died 1961) 1880 – Adolf Chybiński, Polish historian, musicologist and academic (died 1952) 1882 – Auguste Herbin, French painter (died 1960) 1882 – Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman, Dutch printer, typographer, and Nazi resister (died 1945) 1885 – Egon Erwin Kisch, Czech journalist and author (died 1948) 1887 – Robert Cushman Murphy, American ornithologist (died 1973) 1888 – Michael Heidelberger, American immunologist (died 1991) 1891 – Edward Wilfred Taylor, British businessman (died 1980) 1893 – Harold Urey, American chemist and astronomer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1981) 1894 – Marietta Blau, Austrian physicist and academic (died 1970) 1895 – Vladimir Propp, Russian scholar and critic (died 1970) 1895 – Malcolm Sargent, English organist, composer and conductor (died 1967) 1898 – E. J. Bowen, British physical chemist (died 1980) 1899 – Duke Ellington, American pianist, composer and bandleader (died 1974) 1899 – Mary Petty, American illustrator (died 1976) 1900 – Amelia Best, Australian politician (died 1979)
1901–present 1901 – Hirohito, Japanese emperor (died 1989) 1907 – Fred Zinnemann, Austrian-American director and producer (died 1997) 1908 – Jack Williamson, American author and academic (died 2006) 1909 – Tom Ewell, American actor (died 1994) 1912 – Richard Carlson, American actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1977) 1915 – Henry H. Barschall, German-American physicist and academic (died 1997) 1917 – Maya Deren, Ukrainian-American director, poet, and photographer (died 1961) 1917 – Celeste Holm, American actress and singer (died 2012) 1918 – George Allen, American football player and coach (died 1990) 1919 – Gérard Oury, French actor, director and screenwriter (died 2006) 1920 – Edward Blishen, English author and radio host (died 1996) 1920 – Harold Shapero, American composer (died 2013) 1922 – Parren Mitchell, American politician (died 2007) 1922 – Toots Thielemans, Belgian guitarist and harmonica player (died 2016) 1923 – Irvin Kershner, American actor, director and producer (died 2010) 1924 – Zizi Jeanmaire, French ballerina and actress (died 2020) 1925 – John Compton, Saint Lucian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Saint Lucia (died 2007) 1925 – Iwao Takamoto, American animator, director, and producer (died 2007) 1926 – Elmer Kelton, American journalist and author (died 2009) 1927 – Dorothy Manley, English sprinter (died 2021) 1927 – Bill Slater, English footballer (died 2018) 1928 – Carl Gardner, American singer (died 2011) 1928 – Heinz Wolff, German-English physiologist, engineer, and academic (died 2017) 1929 – Walter Kempowski, German author and academic (died 2007) 1929 – Peter Sculthorpe, Australian composer and conductor (died 2014) 1929 – April Stevens, American singer (died 2023) 1929 – Maurice Strong, Canadian businessman and diplomat (died 2015) 1929 – Jeremy Thorpe, English lawyer and politician (died 2014) 1930 – Jean Rochefort, French actor and director (died 2017) 1931 – Frank Auerbach, German-British painter (died 2024) 1931 – Lonnie Donegan, Scottish-English singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2002) 1931 – Chris Pearson, Canadian politician, 1st Premier of Yukon (died 2014) 1932 – David Tindle, English painter and educator 1932 – Dmitry Zaikin, Soviet pilot and cosmonaut instructor (died 2013) 1933 – Ed Charles, American baseball player and coach (died 2018) 1933 – Rod McKuen, American singer-songwriter and poet (died 2015) 1933 – Willie Nelson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer and actor 1934 – Luis Aparicio, Venezuelan-American baseball player 1934 – Pedro Pires, Cape Verdean politician, 3rd President of Cape Verde 1935 – Otis Rush, American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2018) 1936 – Zubin Mehta, Indian conductor 1936 – Adolfo Nicolás, Spanish priest, 13th Superior General of the Society of Jesus (died 2020) 1936 – Alejandra Pizarnik, Argentine poet (died 1972)