Events Pre-1600 106 – Start of the Bostran era, the calendar of the province of Arabia Petraea. 235 – Roman emperor Severus Alexander is murdered, marking the start of the Crisis of the Third Century. 871 – Æthelred of Wessex is defeated by a Danish invasion army at the Battle of Marton. 1185 – Battle of Yashima: the Japanese forces of the Taira clan are defeated by the Minamoto clan. 1312 – Vox in excelso: Pope Clement V dissolves the Order of the Knights Templar. 1508 – Ferdinand II of Aragon commissions Amerigo Vespucci chief navigator of the Spanish Empire.
1601–1900 1621 – The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony, led by governor John Carver, sign a peace treaty with Massasoit, sachem of the Wampanoags; Squanto serves as an interpreter between the two sides. 1622 – Jamestown massacre: Algonquians kill 347 English settlers around Jamestown, Virginia, a third of the colony's population, during the Second Anglo-Powhatan War. 1631 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony outlaws the possession of cards, dice, and gaming tables. 1638 – Anne Hutchinson is expelled from Massachusetts Bay Colony for religious dissent. 1668 – Notable Privateer Henry Morgan lands in Cuba to raid and plunder the inland town of Puerto del Príncipe during the latter stages of the Anglo-Spanish War (1654–1660). 1739 – Nader Shah occupies Delhi in India and sacks the city, stealing the jewels of the Peacock Throne. 1765 – The British Parliament passes the Stamp Act that introduces a tax to be levied directly on its American colonies. 1784 – The Emerald Buddha is moved with great ceremony to its current location in Wat Phra Kaew, Thailand. 1792 – Battle of Croix-des-Bouquets: Black slave insurgents gain a victory in the first major battle of the Haitian Revolution. 1794 – The Slave Trade Act of 1794 bans the export of slaves from the United States, and prohibits American citizens from outfitting a ship for the purpose of importing slaves. 1829 – In the London Protocol, the three protecting powers (United Kingdom, France and Russia) establish the borders of Greece. 1849 – The Austrians defeat the Piedmontese at the Battle of Novara. 1871 – In North Carolina, William Woods Holden becomes the first governor of a U.S. state to be removed from office by impeachment. 1873 – The Spanish National Assembly abolishes slavery in Puerto Rico. 1894 – The Stanley Cup ice hockey competition is held for the first time, in Montreal, Canada. 1895 – Before the Société pour L'Encouragement à l'Industrie, brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière demonstrate movie film technology publicly for the first time. 1896 – Charilaos Vasilakos wins the first modern Olympic marathon race with a time of three hours and 18 minutes.
1901–present 1906 – The first England vs France rugby union match is played at Parc des Princes in Paris. 1913 – Mystic Phan Xích Long, the self-proclaimed Emperor of Vietnam, is arrested for organising a revolt against the colonial rule of French Indochina, which was nevertheless carried out by his supporters the following day. 1916 – Yuan Shikai abdicates as Emperor of China, restoring the Republic and returning to the Presidency. 1920 – Azeri and Turkish army soldiers with participation of Kurdish gangs attack the Armenian inhabitants of Shushi (Nagorno Karabakh). 1933 – Cullen–Harrison Act: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an amendment to the Volstead Act, legalizing the manufacture and sale of "3.2 beer" (3.2% alcohol by weight, approximately 4% alcohol by volume) and light wines. 1933 – Nazi Germany opens its first concentration camp, Dachau. 1934 – The first Masters Tournament is held at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. 1939 – Germany takes Memel from Lithuania. 1942 – World War II: In the Mediterranean Sea, the Royal Navy confronts Italy's Regia Marina in the Second Battle of Sirte. 1943 – World War II: The entire village of Khatyn (in present-day Republic of Belarus) is burnt alive by Schutzmannschaft Battalion 118. 1945 – World War II: The city of Hildesheim, Germany, is heavily damaged in a British air raid, though it had little military significance and Germany was on the verge of final defeat. 1945 – The Arab League is founded when a charter is adopted in Cairo, Egypt. 1946 – The United Kingdom grants full independence to Transjordan. 1955 – A United States Navy Douglas R6D-1 Liftmaster crashes into Hawaii's Waiʻanae Range, killing 66. 1957 – A United States Air Force aircraft disappears with all 67 people on board somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. 1960 – Arthur Leonard Schawlow and Charles Hard Townes receive the first patent for a laser. 1963 – The Beatles release their debut album Please Please Me. 1972 – The United States Congress sends the Equal Rights Amendment to the states for ratification. 1972 – In Eisenstadt v. Baird, the United States Supreme Court decides that unmarried persons have the right to possess contraceptives. 1975 – A fire at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant in Decatur, Alabama, causes a dangerous reduction in cooling water levels. 1978 – Karl Wallenda of The Flying Wallendas dies after falling off a tight-rope suspended between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1982 – NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia is launched from the Kennedy Space Center on its third mission, STS-3. 1988 – The United States Congress votes to override President Ronald Reagan's veto of the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987. 1992 – USAir Flight 405 crashes shortly after takeoff from New York City's LaGuardia Airport, leading to a number of studies into the effect that ice has on aircraft. 1992 – Fall of communism in Albania: The Democratic Party of Albania wins a decisive majority in the parliamentary election. 1993 – The Intel Corporation ships the first Pentium chips (80586), featuring a 60 MHz clock speed, 100+ MIPS, and a 64 bit data path. 1995 – Cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov returns to earth after setting a record of 438 days in space. 1996 – NASA's Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on its 16th mission, STS-76. 1997 – Tara Lipinski, aged 14 years and nine months, becomes the youngest women's World Figure Skating Champion. 1997 – Comet Hale–Bopp reaches its closest approach to Earth at 1.315 AU. 2004 – Ahmed Yassin, co-founder and leader of the Palestinian Sunni Islamist group Hamas, two bodyguards, and nine civilian bystanders are killed in the Gaza Strip when hit by Israeli Air Force Hellfire missiles. 2006 – Three Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) hostages are freed by British forces in Baghdad after 118 days of captivity and the murder of their colleague from the U.S., Tom Fox. 2013 – At least 37 people are killed and 200 are injured after a fire destroys a camp containing Burmese refugees near Ban Mae, Thailand. 2016 – Three suicide bombers kill 32 people and injure 316 in the 2016 Brussels bombings at the airport and at the Maelbeek/Maalbeek metro station. 2017 – A terrorist attack in London near the Houses of Parliament leaves four people dead and at least 20 injured. 2017 – Syrian civil war: Five hundred members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are airlifted south of the Euphrates by United States Air Force helicopters, beginning the Battle of Tabqa. 2019 – The Special Counsel investigation on the 2016 United States presidential election concludes when Robert Mueller submits his report to the United States Attorney General. 2019 – Two buses crash in Kitampo, a town north of Ghana's capital Accra, killing at least 50 people. 2020 – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announces the country's largest ever self-imposed curfew, in an effort to fight the spread of COVID-19. 2020 – Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announces a national lockdown and the country's first ever self-imposed curfew, in an effort to fight the spread of COVID-19. 2021 – Ten people are killed in a mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado. 2024 – At least 151 people are killed and 609 injured in a bombing and mass shooting at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, Russia. 2026 – Air Canada Express Flight 8646, a Bombardier CRJ-900 operated by Jazz Aviation, collided with a fire truck while landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York City. Two fatalities were reported, both being the captain and the co-pilot. This marked the first fatal accident involving a CRJ-900.
Births Pre-1600 841 – Bernard Plantapilosa, Frankish son of Bernard of Septimania (died 885) 875 – William I, Duke of Aquitaine (died 918) 1212 – Emperor Go-Horikawa of Japan (died 1235) 1367 – Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, English politician, Earl Marshal (probable); (died 1399) 1394 – Ulugh Beg, Persian astronomer and mathematician (died 1449) 1459 – Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1519) 1499 – Johann Carion, German astrologer and chronicler (died 1537) 1503 – Antonio Francesco Grazzini, Italian author and educator (died 1583) 1517 – Gioseffo Zarlino, Italian composer (died 1590) 1519 – Catherine Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk, English noblewoman (died 1580) 1582 – John Williams, Archbishop of York (died 1650) 1599 – Anthony van Dyck, Flemish-English painter and etcher (died 1641)
1601–1900 1609 – John II Casimir Vasa, Polish king (died 1672) 1615 – Katherine Jones, Viscountess Ranelagh, British scientist (died 1691) 1663 – August Hermann Francke, German clergyman, philanthropist, and scholar (died 1727) 1684 – William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath, English politician, Secretary at War (died 1764) 1712 – Edward Moore, English poet and playwright (died 1757) 1720 – Nicolas-Henri Jardin, French architect, designed the Yellow Palace and Bernstorff Palace (died 1799) 1723 – Charles Carroll, American lawyer and politician (died 1783) 1728 – Anton Raphael Mengs, German painter and theorist (died 1779) 1785 – Adam Sedgwick, English scientist (died 1873) 1797 – William I, German Emperor (died 1888) 1808 – Caroline Norton, English feminist, social reformer, and author (died 1877) 1808 – David Swinson Maynard, American physician and lawyer (died 1873) 1812 – Stephen Pearl Andrews, American author and activist (died 1886) 1814 – Thomas Crawford, American sculptor, designed the Statue of Freedom (died 1857) 1817 – Braxton Bragg, American general (died 1876) 1818 – John Ainsworth Horrocks, English-Australian explorer, founded Penwortham (died 1846) 1822 – Ahmed Cevdet Pasha, Ottoman sociologist, historian, scholar, statesman and jurist (died 1895) 1841 – Anastassios Christomanos, Greek scientist (died 1906) 1842 – Mykola Lysenko, Ukrainian pianist, composer, and conductor (died 1912) 1846 – Randolph Caldecott, English illustrator and painter (died 1886) 1846 – James Timberlake, American lieutenant, police officer, and farmer (died 1891) 1852 – Otakar Ševčík, Czech violinist and educator (died 1934) 1852 – Hector Sévin, French cardinal (died 1916) 1855 – Dorothy Tennant, British painter (died 1926) 1857 – Paul Doumer, French mathematician, journalist, and politician, 14th President of France (died 1932) 1866 – Jack Boyle, American baseball player and umpire (died 1913) 1868 – Robert Andrews Millikan, American colonel and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1953) 1869 – Emilio Aguinaldo, Filipino general and politician, 1st President of the Philippines (died 1964) 1869 – Tom McInnes, Scottish-English footballer (died 1939) 1873 – Ernest Lawson, Canadian-American painter (died 1939) 1880 – Ernest C. Quigley, Canadian-American football player and coach (died 1960) 1884 – Arthur H. Vandenberg, American journalist and politician (died 1951) 1884 – Lyda Borelli, Italian actress (died 1959) 1885 – Aryeh Levin, Polish-Lithuanian rabbi and educator (died 1969) 1886 – August Rei, Estonian lawyer and politician, Head of State of Estonia (died 1963) 1887 – Chico Marx, American actor (died 1961) 1890 – George Clark, American race car driver (died 1978) 1892 – Charlie Poole, American country banjo player (died 1931) 1892 – Johannes Semper, Estonian poet and scholar (died 1970)