Events Pre-1600 138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor. 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II.
1601–1900 1705 – George Frideric Handel's opera Nero premieres in Hamburg. 1836 – Samuel Colt is granted a United States patent for his revolver firearm. 1843 – Lord George Paulet occupies the Kingdom of Hawaii in the name of Great Britain in the Paulet affair. 1870 – Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, is sworn into the United States Senate, becoming the first African American ever to sit in Congress. 1875 – Guangxu Emperor of Qing dynasty China begins his reign, under Empress Dowager Cixi's regency.
1901–present 1912 – Marie-Adélaïde, the eldest of six daughters of Guillaume IV, becomes the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. 1916 – World War I: In the Battle of Verdun, a German unit captures Fort Douaumont, keystone of the French defences, without a fight. 1918 – World War I: German forces capture Tallinn to virtually complete the occupation of Estonia. 1921 – Georgian capital Tbilisi falls to the invading Russian forces after heavy fighting and the Russians declare the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. 1932 – Adolf Hitler, having been stateless for seven years, obtains German citizenship when he is appointed a Brunswick state official by Dietrich Klagges, a fellow Nazi. As a result, Hitler is able to run for Reichspräsident in the 1932 election. 1933 – Launch of the at Newport News, Virginia. It is the first purpose-built aircraft carrier to be commissioned by the US Navy. 1939 – As part of British air raid precautions, the first of 2.5 million Anderson shelters is constructed in a garden in Islington, north London. 1941 – The outlawed Communist Party of the Netherlands organises a general strike in German-occupied Amsterdam to protest against Nazi persecution of Dutch Jews. 1947 – The formal abolition of Prussia is proclaimed by the Allied Control Council, the Prussian government having already been abolished by the Preußenschlag of 1932. 1947 – Soviet NKVD forces in Hungary abduct Béla Kovács—secretary-general of the majority Independent Smallholders' Party—and deport him to the USSR in defiance of Parliament. His arrest is an important turning point in the Communist takeover of Hungary. 1948 – In a coup d'état led by Klement Gottwald, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia takes control of government in Prague to end the Third Czechoslovak Republic. 1951 – The first Pan American Games are officially opened in Buenos Aires by Argentine President Juan Perón. 1956 – In his speech On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences, Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union, denounces Stalin. 1980 – The government of Suriname is overthrown by a military coup led by Dési Bouterse. 1986 – People Power Revolution: President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos flees the nation after 20 years of rule; Corazon Aquino becomes the Philippines' first female president. 1991 – Disbandment of the Warsaw Pact at a meeting of its members in Budapest. 1994 – American-Israeli extremist Baruch Goldstein commits a mass shooting at the Cave of the Patriarchs mausoleum, leaving 29 dead and over 100 injured before he is disarmed and beaten to death by survivors. 1999 – Alitalia Flight 1553 crashes at Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport in Genoa, Italy, killing four. 2009 – Soldiers of the Bangladesh Rifles mutiny at their headquarters in Pilkhana, Dhaka, Bangladesh, resulting in 74 deaths, including 57 army officials. 2009 – Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 crashes during landing at the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Netherlands, primarily due to a faulty radio altimeter, resulting in the death of nine passengers and crew including all three pilots. 2015 – At least 310 people are killed in avalanches in northeastern Afghanistan. 2016 – Three people are killed and fourteen others injured in a series of shootings in the small Kansas cities of Newton and Hesston. 2026 – Four people are killed and several more are injured when Cuban Border Guard Troops confront and open fire on a US-registered speedboat violating Cuban waters.
Births
Pre-1600 1259 – Infanta Branca of Portugal, daughter of King Afonso III of Portugal and Urraca of Castile (died 1321) 1337 – Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg (died 1383) 1475 – Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, last male member of the House of York (died 1499) 1540 – Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton, English aristocrat and courtier (died 1614) 1543 – Sharaf Khan Bidlisi, Emir of Bitlis (died 1603) 1591 – Friedrich Spee, German poet and author (died 1635)
1601–1900 1643 – Ahmed II, Ottoman sultan (died 1695) 1663 – Peter Anthony Motteux, French-English author, playwright and translator (died 1718) 1670 – Maria Margarethe Kirch, German astronomer and mathematician (died 1720) 1682 – Giovanni Battista Morgagni, Italian anatomist and pathologist (died 1771) 1707 – Carlo Goldoni, Italian playwright and composer (died 1793) 1714 – René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou, French lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of France (died 1792) 1728 – John Wood, the Younger, English architect, designed the Royal Crescent (died 1782) 1752 – John Graves Simcoe, English-Canadian general and politician, 1st Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada (died 1806) 1755 – François René Mallarmé, French lawyer and politician (died 1835) 1778 – José de San Martín, Argentinian general and politician, 1st President of Peru (died 1850) 1806 – Emma Catherine Embury, American author and poet (died 1863) 1809 – John Hart, English-Australian politician, 10th Premier of South Australia (died 1873) 1812 – Carl Christian Hall, Danish lawyer and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Denmark (died 1888) 1816 – Giovanni Morelli, Italian historian and critic (died 1891) 1833 – John St. John, American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of Kansas (died 1916) 1841 – Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French painter and sculptor (died 1919) 1842 – Karl May, German author, poet, and playwright (died 1912) 1845 – George Reid, Scottish-Australian lawyer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Australia (died 1918) 1855 – Cesário Verde, Portuguese poet and author (died 1886) 1856 – Karl Gotthard Lamprecht, German historian and academic (died 1915) 1856 – Mathias Zdarsky, Czech-Austrian skier, painter, and sculptor (died 1940) 1857 – Robert Bond, Canadian politician; first Prime Minister of Newfoundland (died 1927) 1860 – William Ashley, English historian and academic (died 1927) 1865 – Andranik, Armenian general (died 1927) 1866 – Benedetto Croce, Italian philosopher and politician (died 1952) 1869 – Phoebus Levene, Russian-American biochemist and physician (died 1940) 1871 – Lesya Ukrainka, Ukrainian poet and playwright (died1913) 1873 – Enrico Caruso, Italian-American tenor; the most popular operatic tenor of the early 20th century and the first great recording star. (died 1921) 1877 – Erich von Hornbostel, Austrian musicologist and scholar (died 1935) 1881 – William Z. Foster, American union leader and politician (died 1961) 1881 – Alexei Rykov, Russian politician, Premier of Russia (died 1938) 1883 – Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (died 1981) 1885 – Princess Alice of Battenberg, mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (died 1969) 1888 – John Foster Dulles, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 52nd United States Secretary of State (died 1959) 1890 – Myra Hess, English pianist and educator (died 1965) 1894 – Meher Baba, Indian spiritual master (died 1969) 1896 – Ida Noddack, German chemist and physicist (died 1978) 1898 – William Astbury, physicist and molecular biologist (died 1961)
1901–present 1901 – Vince Gair, Australian politician, 27th Premier of Queensland (died 1980) 1901 – Zeppo Marx, American comedian and theatrical agent (died 1979) 1903 – King Clancy, Canadian ice hockey player, referee, and coach (died 1986) 1905 – Perry Miller, American historian, author, and academic (died 1963) 1906 – Mary Coyle Chase, American journalist and playwright (died 1981) 1907 – Sabahattin Ali, Turkish journalist, author, and poet (died 1948) 1908 – Mary Locke Petermann, American cellular biochemist (died 1975) 1908 – Frank G. Slaughter, American physician and author (died 2001) 1910 – Millicent Fenwick, American journalist and politician (died 1992) 1913 – Jim Backus, American actor and screenwriter (died 1989) 1913 – Gert Fröbe, German actor (died 1988) 1915 – S. Rajaratnam, Singaporean politician, 1st Senior Minister of Singapore (died 2006) 1917 – Anthony Burgess, English author, playwright, and critic (died 1993) 1918 – Bobby Riggs, American tennis player (died 1995) 1919 – Monte Irvin, American baseball player and executive (died 2016) 1920 – Philip Habib, American academic and diplomat, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (died 1992) 1921 – Pierre Laporte, Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec (died 1970) 1921 – Andy Pafko, American baseball player and manager (died 2013) 1922 – Molly Reilly, Canadian aviator (died 1980) 1924 – Hugh Huxley, English-American biologist and academic (died 2013) 1925 – Lisa Kirk, American actress and singer (died 1990) 1925 – Shehu Shagari, Nigerian politician, 6th President of Nigeria (died 2018) 1926 – Masatoshi Gündüz Ikeda, Japanese-Turkish mathematician and academic (died 2003) 1927 – Ralph Stanley, American singer and banjo player (died 2016) 1928 – Paul Elvstrøm, Danish yachtsman (died 2016) 1928 – Larry Gelbart, American author and screenwriter (died 2009) 1928 – A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., American civil rights advocate, historian, and judge (died 1998) 1928 – Richard G. Stern, American author and academic (died 2013) 1930 – Wendy Beckett, British nun and art critic (died 2018) 1932 – Tony Brooks, English racing driver (died 2022) 1932 – Faron Young, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1996) 1934 – Tony Lema, American golfer (died 1966) 1935 – Tony Campolo, American sociologist and pastor (died 2024) 1935 – Oktay Sinanoglu, Turkish physical chemist and molecular biophysicist (died 2015) 1937 – Tom Courtenay, English actor 1937 – Bob Schieffer, American political author, journalist and TV interviewer 1938 – Diane Baker, American actress and producer 1938 – Herb Elliott, Australian athlete 1938 – Farokh Engineer, Indian cricketer 1940 – Ron Santo, American baseball player and sportscaster (died 2010) 1941 – David Puttnam, English film producer and academic 1942 – Karen Grassle, American actress 1943 – George Harrison, English singer-songwriter, guitarist and film producer (died 2001) 1944 – François Cevert, French racing driver (died 1973) 1946 – Jean Todt, French racing driver and team manager 1947 – Lee Evans, American sprinter and athletics coach (died 2021) 1949 – Ric Flair, American professional wrestler 1949 – Amin Maalouf, Lebanese-French journalist and author 1950 – Francisco Fernández Ochoa, Spanish skier (died 2006) 1950 – Neil Jordan, Irish film director, screenwriter and author 1950 – Néstor Kirchner, Argentine politician; 51st President of Argentina (died 2010) 1951 – Don Quarrie, Jamaican sprinter and coach 1952 – Joey Dunlop, Northern Irish motorcyclist (died 2000) 1953 – José María Aznar, Spanish politician; Prime Minister of Spain, 1996–2004 1953 – John Doe, American musician, singer-songwriter, actor, and poet 1957 – Raymond McCreesh, Irish Republican died on hunger strike (died 1981) 1957 – Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singaporean economist and politician; 5th Senior Minister and 9th President of Singapore 1958 – Kurt Rambis, Greek-American basketball player, coach, and executive 1962 – Birgit Fischer, German kayaker 1963 – Paul O'Neill, American baseball player and sportscaster 1965 – Carrot Top, American comedian 1965 – Veronica Webb, American model, actress, and writer