Events Pre-1600 528 – Antioch suffers its second major earthquake in two years, killing thousands and destroying its remaining edifice. 561 – Following the death of King Chlothar I at Compiègne, his four sons, Charibert I, Guntram, Sigebert I and Chilperic I, divide the Frankish Kingdom. 618 – The Tang dynasty scores a decisive victory over their rival Xue Rengao at the Battle of Qianshuiyuan. 903 – The Abbasid army under Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Katib defeats the Qarmatians at the Battle of Hama. 1114 – A large earthquake damages the areas of the Crusaders in the Middle East. Antioch, Mamistra, Marash and Edessa are hit by the shocks. 1549 – The papal conclave of 1549–50 begins.
1601–1900 1612 – The Battle of Swally takes place, which loosens the Portuguese Empire's hold on India. 1729 – Natchez Indians massacre 138 Frenchmen, 35 French women, and 56 children at Fort Rosalie, near the site of modern-day Natchez, Mississippi. 1732 – The magnitude 6.6 Irpinia earthquake causes deaths in the former Kingdom of Naples, southern Italy. 1776 – During the American Revolutionary War, the Battle of Fort Cumberland, Nova Scotia, comes to an end with the arrival of British reinforcements. 1777 – San Jose, California, is founded as Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe by José Joaquín Moraga. It is the first civilian settlement, or pueblo, in Alta California. 1781 – The crew of the British slave ship Zong murders 54 Africans by dumping them into the sea to claim insurance, beginning the Zong massacre. 1783 – A 5.3 magnitude earthquake strikes New Jersey. 1807 – John VI of Portugal flees Lisbon from advancing Napoleonic forces during the Peninsular War, transferring the Portuguese court to Brazil. 1830 – An armed rebellion against Russia's rule in Poland begins. 1847 – The Sonderbund is defeated by the joint forces of other Swiss cantons under General Guillaume-Henri Dufour. 1847 – Missionaries Dr. Marcus Whitman, his wife Narcissa, and 15 others are killed by Cayuse and Umatilla Indians, causing the Cayuse War. 1850 – The treaty, Punctation of Olmütz, is signed in Olomouc. Prussia capitulates to Austria, which will take over the leadership of the German Confederation. 1863 – American Civil War: Union forces under General Ambrose Burnside successfully defend Knoxville, Tennessee from an attack by Confederate forces under General James Longstreet in the Battle of Fort Sanders during the Siege of Knoxville. 1864 – Colorado War: Colorado volunteers led by Colonel John Chivington massacre at least 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho noncombatants at Sand Creek inside Colorado Territory. 1864 – American Civil War: The Confederate Army of Tennessee misses an opportunity to crush the Union Army of the Ohio in the Battle of Spring Hill during the Franklin–Nashville campaign. 1872 – The Modoc War begins with the Battle of Lost River. 1877 – Thomas Edison demonstrates his phonograph for the first time. 1890 – The Meiji Constitution goes into effect in Japan, and the first Diet convenes. 1899 – FC Barcelona is founded by Catalan, Spanish and Englishmen. It later develops into one of Spanish and world football's most iconic and strongest teams.
1901–present 1920 – The Armenian Revolutionary Committee declares Armenia to be a Soviet Socialist Republic, starting 71 years of Soviet rule in Armenia 1929 – U.S. Admiral Richard E. Byrd leads the first expedition to fly over the South Pole. 1943 – The second session of the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia (AVNOJ), held to determine the post-war ordering of the country, concludes in Jajce (present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina). 1944 – Albania is liberated by the Partisans. 1945 – The Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia is declared. 1947 – The United Nations General Assembly approve the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine. 1947 – French forces carry out a massacre at Mỹ Trạch, Vietnam during the First Indochina War. 1952 – U.S. President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower fulfills a campaign promise by traveling to Korea to find out what can be done to end the conflict. 1961 – Enos, a chimpanzee, is launched into space. The spacecraft orbits the Earth twice and splashes down off the coast of Puerto Rico. 1963 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. 1963 – Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831 crashes shortly after takeoff from Montreal-Dorval International Airport, killing all 118 people on board. 1963 – "I Want to Hold Your Hand", recorded on October 17, 1963, is released by the Beatles in the United Kingdom. 1967 – U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara announces his resignation. 1972 – Atari releases Pong, the first commercially successful video game. 1982 – Michael Jackson releases Thriller, the best-selling music album of all time. 1986 – The Surinamese military attacks the village of Moiwana during the Suriname Guerrilla War, killing at least 39 civilians, mostly women and children. 1987 – North Korean agents plant a bomb on Korean Air Flight 858, which kills all 115 passengers and crew. 2007 – The Armed Forces of the Philippines lay siege to the Peninsula Manila after soldiers led by Senator Antonio Trillanes stage a mutiny. 2009 – Maurice Clemmons shoots and kills four police officers inside a coffee shop in Lakewood, Washington. 2013 – LAM Mozambique Airlines 470 crashes in the Bwabata National Park in a pilot mass murder-suicide, killing all 33 people on board. 2025 – The Government of Jordan officially announces the launch of the Amra City development project during a site visit by the Prime Minister.
Births
Pre-1600 826 – William of Septimania, Frankish nobleman (died 850) 1310 – John de Mowbray, 3rd Baron Mowbray, English Baron (died 1361) 1338 – Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, Belgian-English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (died 1368) 1422 – Thomas Percy, 1st Baron Egremont, English Baron (died 1460) 1463 – Andrea della Valle, Italian cardinal (died 1534) 1528 – Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu, English politician (died 1592)
1601–1900 1627 – John Ray, English biologist and botanist (died 1705) 1690 – Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst (died 1747) 1705 – Michael Christian Festing, English violinist and composer (died 1752) 1752 – The Public Universal Friend, American evangelist (died 1819) 1762 – Pierre André Latreille, French zoologist (died 1833) 1781 – Andrés Bello, Venezuelan poet and philosopher (died 1865) 1797 – Gaetano Donizetti, Italian composer (died 1848) 1798 – Alexander Brullov, Russian painter and architect, designed the Pulkovo Observatory (died 1877) 1798 – Hamilton Rowan Gamble, American jurist and politician (died 1864) 1799 – Amos Bronson Alcott, American philosopher and academic (died 1888) 1802 – Wilhelm Hauff, German poet and author (died 1827) 1803 – Christian Doppler, Austrian mathematician and physicist (died 1853) 1803 – Gottfried Semper, German architect and academic, designed the Semper Opera House (died 1879) 1816 – Morrison Waite, American jurist and politician, 7th Chief Justice of the United States (died 1888) 1817 – William Ellery Channing, American poet and author (died 1901) 1818 – George Brown, Scottish-Canadian journalist and politician, 10th Premier of West Canada (died 1880) 1823 – La Fayette Grover, American lawyer and politician, 4th Governor of Oregon (died 1911) 1825 – Jean-Martin Charcot, French neurologist and psychologist (died 1893) 1827 – William Crichton, Scottish engineer and shipbuilder (died 1889) 1831 – Frederick Townsend Ward, American sailor and soldier (died 1862) 1832 – Louisa May Alcott, American novelist and poet (died 1888) 1835 – Empress Dowager Cixi of China (died 1908) 1843 – Gertrude Jekyll, British horticulturist and writer (died 1932) 1849 – John Ambrose Fleming, English physicist and engineer (died 1945) 1856 – Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg, German lawyer and politician, 5th Chancellor of Germany (died 1921) 1857 – Theodor Escherich, German-Austrian pediatrician and academic (died 1911) 1861 – Spyridon Samaras, Greek composer (died 1917) 1873 – Suzan Rose Benedict, American mathematician and academic (died 1942) 1874 – Francis Dodd, Welsh-English painter and academic (died 1949) 1874 – Egas Moniz, Portuguese physician and neurologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1955) 1876 – Nellie Tayloe Ross, American educator and politician, 14th Governor of Wyoming (died 1977) 1879 – Jacob Gade, Danish violinist and composer (died 1963) 1881 – Artur Phleps, Romanian-German general (died 1944) 1882 – Henri Fabre, French pilot and engineer (died 1984) 1891 – Julius Raab, Austrian engineer and politician, 19th Chancellor of Austria (died 1964) 1895 – Busby Berkeley, American director and choreographer (died 1976) 1895 – William Tubman, Liberian lawyer and politician, 19th President of Liberia (died 1971) 1898 – C. S. Lewis, British novelist, poet, and critic (died 1963) 1899 – Andrija Artuković, Croatian Minister of Interior (died 1988) 1899 – Emma Morano, Italian supercentenarian, oldest Italian person ever (died 2017) 1900 – Mildred Gillars, American broadcaster, employed by Nazi Germany to disseminate propaganda during WWII (died 1988)
1901–present 1904 – Margaret Barr, Australian choreographer and teacher of dance-drama (died 1991) 1905 – Marcel Lefebvre, French-Swiss archbishop and theologian (died 1991) 1906 – Barbara C. Freeman, English writer and poet (died 1999) 1908 – Adam Clayton Powell Jr., American pastor and politician (died 1972) 1910 – Elizabeth Choy, Malaysian-Singaporean educator and politician (died 2006) 1910 – Antanas Škėma, Lithuanian actor and director (died 1961) 1915 – Ludu Daw Amar, Burmese journalist and author (died 2008) 1915 – Billy Strayhorn, American pianist and composer (died 1967) 1916 – Fran Ryan, American actress and comedian (died 2000) 1917 – Pierre Gaspard-Huit, French director and screenwriter (died 2017) 1917 – Merle Travis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1983) 1918 – Madeleine L'Engle, American author and poet (died 2007) 1919 – Mildred Rebstock, American medicinal chemist (died 2011) 1919 – Joe Weider, Canadian-American bodybuilder and publisher, co-founded the IFBB (died 2013) 1920 – Yegor Ligachyov, Russian engineer and politician (died 2021) 1920 – Joseph Shivers, American chemist and academic, developed spandex (died 2014) 1921 – Jackie Stallone, American astrologer and wrestling promoter (died 2020) 1922 – Michael Howard, English-American historian, author, and academic (died 2019) 1923 – Chuck Daigh, American race car driver (died 2008) 1925 – Minnie Miñoso, Cuban-American baseball player and coach (died 2015) 1926 – Beji Caid Essebsi, Tunisian lawyer and politician, President of Tunisia (died 2019) 1927 – Vin Scully, American sportscaster and game show host (died 2022) 1928 – Tahir Salahov, Azerbaijani painter and educator (died 2021) 1928 – Paul Simon, American soldier and politician, 39th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois (died 2003) 1929 – Derek Jameson, English journalist and radio host (died 2012) 1929 – Woo Yong-gak, North Korean soldier (died 2012) 1930 – Shirley Porter, English politician, Lord Mayor of Westminster 1930 – Vladimir Šenauer, Croatian footballer (died 2013) 1930 – Alan Lee Williams, English academic and politician 1931 – Shintaro Katsu, Japanese actor, singer, director, and producer (died 1997) 1932 – Ed Bickert, Canadian jazz guitarist (died 2019) 1932 – Jacques Chirac, French soldier and politician, 22nd President of France (died 2019) 1932 – John Gary, American singer and television host (died 1998) 1932 – Pierre Toubert, French historian (died 2025) 1933 – John Mayall, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (died 2024) 1933 – James Rosenquist, American painter and illustrator (died 2017) 1934 – Willie Morris, American writer (died 1999) 1935 – Thomas J. O'Brien, American bishop (died 2018)