Events

Up to 1900 
 1174 - William the Lion of Scotland is captured at Alnwick, Northumberland, by forces loyal to Henry II of England.
 1249 - Alexander III of Scotland is crowned King.
 1260 - The Livonian Order suffers its greatest defeat in the 13th century in the Battle of Durbe against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
 1501 - Basel joins the Swiss Confederation.
 1558 – Battle of Gravelines: In France, Spanish forces led by Count Lamoral of Egmont defeat the French forces of Marshal Paul des Thermes at Gravelines.
 1573 - Eighty Years' War: The Siege of Haarlem ends after seven months.
 1643 – English Civil War: Battle of Roundway Down – In England, Lord Henry Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, commanding the Royalist forces, wins a crushing victory over the Parliamentarian Sir William Waller.
 1772 - James Cook starts his second voyage from Plymouth, England.
 1787 – The United States Congress enacts the Northwest Ordinance establishing governing rules for the Northwest Territory. It also establishes procedures for the admission of new states and limits the expansion of slavery.
 1793 – Jean-Paul Marat, one of the leaders of the French Revolution, is murdered by Charlotte Corday.
 1794 – Battle of the Vosges between French forces and those of Prussia and Austria.
 1814 - The Carabinieri, the national gendarmerie of Italy, is founded.
 1822 – Greek War of Independence: Greeks defeat Ottoman forces at Thermopylae.
 1832 - Henry Rowe Schoolcraft finds Lake Itasca, the source of the Mississippi River.
 1837 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom moves into the first Buckingham Palace in London and is the first British monarch to live there.
 1863 – New York Draft Riots: In New York City, opponents of conscription begin three days of rioting which will be later regarded as the worst in United States history.
 1854 – In the Battle of Guaymas, Mexico, General Jose Maria Yanez stops the French invasion led by Count Gaston de Raousset Boulbon.
 1878 – Treaty of Berlin: The European powers redraw the map of the Balkans. Serbia and Montenegro become completely independent of the Ottoman Empire.
 1900 – Boxer Rebellion: In China, Tientsin is retaken by European Allies from the rebelling Boxers.

1901  2000 
 1908 – Women compete in modern Olympics for the first time.
 1909 – Gold discovered near Cochrane, Ontario.
 1919 – The British airship R-34 lands in Norfolk, England, completing the first airship return journey across the Atlantic in 182 hours of flight.
 1923 - Originally reading "Hollywoodland", the Hollywood Sign is unveiled in the hills above Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.
 1930 – The first FIFA World Cup begins in Uruguay. The first goal is scored by France's Lucien Laurent against Mexico.
 1936 – A heat wave strikes the Midwestern United States. The all-time highest temperatures for the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana are all recorded on this date.
 1941 – World War II: Montenegrins start the first popular uprising in Europe against the Axis Powers on 13 July.
 1942 – World War II: German U-Boats sink three more merchant ships in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
 1962 - Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Harold Macmillan  dismisses seven members of his cabinet.
 1972 – The United States Democratic Party nominates George McGovern for President at its convention in Miami Beach, Florida but, because of an impassioned platform dispute, McGovern does not give his acceptance speech until the early morning hours of the 14th.
 1973 – Alexander Butterfield reveals the existence of the Nixon tapes to the special Senate committee investigating the Watergate break in.
 1977 – The New York City Blackout of 1977 lasts for 25 hours and results in looting and other disorder.
 1977 - Somalia declares war on Ethiopia.
 1978 – Ford Motor Company President Lee Iacocca is fired by chairman Henry Ford II, ending a long dispute between the men.
 1982 – Montreal hosts the first baseball All-Star Game outside the United States.
 1985 – The Live Aid benefit concert takes place in London and Philadelphia, as well as other venues such as Sydney and Moscow.
 1990 - An earthquake centred in Afghanistan causes an avalanche that kills 43 people on Pik Lenina.
 1996 – A Garuda Indonesia Airways DC-10 crashes on take-off from Fukuoka Airport, Japan, killing 3 passengers.
 2000 - A landslide hits the slum quarter of Mumbai, killing 250 people.
 2000 - A mudslide in Shaanxi province, China, kills 120 people.

From 2001 
 2001 - Beijing is given the right to host the 2008 Summer Olympics.
 2002 – A lighting strike sets off the Sour Biscuit Fire in Oregon and northern California, which had burned 499,570 acres (2,020 km²) when finally contained on September 5.
 2004 – The Flag of Montenegro is adopted.
 2005 – Space Shuttle Discovery launches in the Return to Flight program.
 2011 - Bombings during evening rush hour in Mumbai kill 26 people.
 2014 - 2014 FIFA World Cup: The Germany national football team wins the FIFA World Cup, defeating the Argentina national football team 1-0 late in extra time through Mario Götze, at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
 2016 - Theresa May becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, succeeding David Cameron.
 2018 - A terrorist attack in Mastung, Pakistan, kills 149 people.
 2019 - Tennis: Simona Halep wins the Wimbledon women's singles title, defeating Serena Williams in straight sets (6-2, 6-2).

Births

Up to 1900 
 100 BC – Julius Caesar (or July 12), statesman and military leader (died 44 BC)
 AD 40 – Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Roman Governor of Britain (died 93)
 1527 – John Dee, English scientist (died 1609)
 1579 - Arthur Dee, English physician (died 1651)
 1590 – Pope Clement X (died 1676)
 1607 - Wenceslaus Hollar, Czech-English painter and illustrator (died 1677)
 1608 – Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1657)
 1760 - István Pauli, Hungarian-Slovene priest and writer (died 1829)
 1770 - Alexander Balashov, Russian general (died 1837)
 1773 - Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder, German jurist and writer (died 1798)
 1776 - Caroline of Baden (died 1841)
 1783 - Augustus, Grand Duke of Oldenburg (died 1853)
 1787 - Pellegrino Rossi, Italian politician, economist and jurist (died 1848)
 1791 - Allan Cunningham, British botanist and explorer (died 1839)
 1793 - John Clare, English poet (died 1864)
 1798 - Alexandra Feodorovna, German-born consort of Nicholas I of Russia (died 1860)
 1808 - Patrice de Mac-Mahon, Duke of Magenta, French general and statesman (died 1893)
 1808 - Antonio Arenas, President of Peru (died 1891)
 1811 – George Gilbert Scott, English architect (died 1878)
 1813 – Theophil Hansen, Danish architect (died 1891)
 1816 – Gustav Freytag, writer (died 1895)
 1821 – Nathan Bedford Forrest, American Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan leader (died 1877)
 1826 - Stanislao Cannizzaro, Italian chemist (died 1910)
 1831 - Arthur Boettcher, Baltic German pathologist and anatomist (died 1889)
 1841 – Otto Wagner, Austrian architect (died 1918)
 1859 - Sidney Webb, 1st Baron Passfield, British economist (died 1947)
 1861 - Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (died 1942)
 1862 - Petar Gudev, Prime Minister of Bulgaria (died 1932)
 1863 - Margaret Murray, English archaeologist, anthropologist and historian (died 1963)
 1864 – John Jacob Astor IV, American entrepreneur (died 1912)
 1866 - La Goulue, French dancer (died 1929)
 1876 - William Michaels, American heavyweight boxer (died 1934)
 1877 - Erik Scavenius, Prime Minister of Denmark (died 1962)
 1889 - Louise Mountbatten, consort of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden (died 1965)
 1889 - Hjalmar Andersson, Swedish runner (died 1971)
 1891 - Fréhel, French chanson singer and actress (died 1951)
 1894 – Isaak Babel, Ukrainian writer (died 1940)
 1895 - Sidney Blackmer, American actor (died 1973)
 1896 - Mordecai Ardon, Israeli painter (died 1992)
 1898 - Julius Schreck, German SS commander (died 1936)
 1900 – George Lewis, American jazz musician (died 1969)
 1900 - Teresa of the Andes, Chilean nun and saint (died 1920)

1901  1950 
 1907 - George Weller, American author, playwright and journalist (died 2002)
 1908 - Dorothy Round, English tennis player (died 1982)
 1909 - Souphanouvong, Laotian politician (died 1995)
 1913 – Dave Garroway, American television host (died 1982)
 1913 – Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, Danish shipping magnate (died 2012)
 1915 - Kaoru Ishikawa, Japanese university professor (died 1989)
 1918 – Alberto Ascari, Italian race car driver (died 1955)
 1919 – William F. Quinn, 1st State Governor of Hawaii (died 2006)
 1921 – Ernest Gold, Austrian-American movie score composer (died 1999)
 1921 - Tullio Ilomets, Estonian chemist and science historian (died 2018)
 1922 – Anker Jorgensen, former Prime Minister of Denmark (died 2016)
 1923 - Alexandre Astruc, French film director and critic (died 2016)
 1924 – Carlo Bergonzi, Italian tenor (died 2014)
 1924 - Michel Constantin, French actor (died 2003)
 1927 – Simone Veil, French politician (died 2017)
 1928 – Bob Crane, American actor, (died 1978)
 1928 – Mace Neufeld, movie producer
 1928 - Sven Davidson, Swedish tennis player (died 2008)
 1929 - Sofia Muratova, Soviet gymnast (died 2006)
 1929 – Alan Civil, English French horn player (died 1989)
 1930 - Viktor Tsybulenko, Ukrainian javelin thrower (died 2013)
 1931 - Ernie Colón, American comic artist (died 2019)
 1931 - Frank Ramsey, American basketball player and coach (died 2018)
 1932 - Hubert Reeves, Canadian astrophysicist
 1933 - Patsy Byrne, English actress (died 2014)
 1933 – David Storey, English writer (died 2017)
 1934 – Wole Soyinka, Nigerian writer and Nobel Prize winner
 1934 – Aleksei Yeliseyev, Soviet cosmonaut
 1935 – Jack Kemp, American football player and Vice Presidential candidate (died 2009)
 1935 – Kurt Westergaard, Danish cartoonist
 1936 – Albert Ayler, American jazz musician (died 1970)
 1938 - Michael Verhoeven, German movie director
 1938 - David Mitton, English model-maker (died 2008)
 1940 – Patrick Stewart, English actor
 1940 - Paul Prudhomme, American chef (died 2015)
 1941 – Robert Forster, American actor
 1941 – Jacques Perrin, French actor, director and producer
 1941 – Luis Alberto Lacalle, former President of Uruguay
 1942 – Harrison Ford, American actor
 1942 – Roger McGuinn, American musician
 1943 – Fabrizio Poletti, Italian footballer
 1944 – Ernő Rubik, Hungarian inventor, sculptor, and architect
 1946 – Cheech Marin, American actor and comedian
 1948 - Catherine Breillat, French director and screenwriter
 1948 - Daphne Maxwell Reid, American actress
 1950 – Ma Ying-jeou, politician in the Republic of China
 1950 - Jurelang Zedkaia, President of the Marshall Islands (died 2015)
 1950 - George Nelson, American astronaut

1951  1975 
 1951 - Didi Conn, American actress
 1951 - Rob Bishop, American politician
 1953 - Mila Mulroney, wife of former Prime Minister of Canada Brian Mulroney
 1954 – Sezen Aksu, Turkish singer and songwriter
 1956 - Michael Spinks, American boxer
 1956 - Günther Jauch, German television presenter
 1957 - Phil Margera, American television personality
 1957 – Cameron Crowe, American movie director and writer
 1960 - Ian Hislop, British journalist, writer and editor
 1961 - Stelios Manolas, Greek footballer and manager
 1962 - Tom Kenny, American comedian and actor
 1962 – Rhonda Vincent, American bluegrass singer
 1963 – Neal Foulds, English snooker player
 1963 - Kenny Johnson, American actor, producer and model
 1965 - Akina Nakamori, Japanese singer and actress
 1966 - Natalia Luis-Bassa, Venezuelan-British conductor
 1967 - Benny Benassi, Italian singer and DJ
 1967 - Akira Hokuto, Japanese professional wrestler
 1969 - Barney Greenway, English singer-songwriter
 1969 - Kakhi Kakhiashvili, Georgian-Greek weightlifter
 1969 - Kim Jeong, American comedian and actor
 1969 - Oles Buzina, Ukrainian journalist and writer (d. 2015)
 1970 – Barry Pinches, English snooker player
 1972 - Rodrigo Gularte, Brazilian drug trafficker (d. 2015)
 1973 - Ariel Zarate, Argentine footballer
 1973 - Roberto Martinez, Spanish footballer and football manager
 1974 – Jarno Trulli, Italian Formula 1 racer
 1974 - Deborah Cox, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress
 1975 - Danni Boatwright, American model and sportscaster

From 1976 
 1976 – Sheldon Souray, Canadian ice hockey player
 1977 – Ashley Scott, American actress
 1979 – Craig Bellamy, Welsh footballer
 1979 – Jonathan Goulet, Canadian mixed martial artist
 1979 – Fernando Salazar, Mexican footballer
 1980 – Kousuke Atari, Japanese singer
 1981 – Fran Kranz, American actor
 1981 – Mirco Lorenzetto, Italian racing cyclist
 1981 – Ineta Radevica, Latvian athlete
 1983 – Liu Xiang, Chinese athlete
 1983 – Carmen Villalobos, Colombian actress
 1984 – Ida Maria, Norwegian singer
 1985 – Charlotte Dujardin, British equestrian
 1985 – Guillermo Ochoa, Mexican footballer
 1987 – Tulisa Contostavlos, English singer (N-Dubz)
 1987 – Ajmal Kasab, Pakistani Islamist terrorist (died 2012)
 1988 – He Pingping, world's smallest man (died 2010)
 1988 – Colton Haynes, American actor, model and singer
 1988 – Steven R. McQueen, American actor
 1989 – Sayumi Michishige, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
 1989 – Juan Fernando Caicedo, Colombian footballer
 1990 – Matt Weinberg, American actor
 1990 – Eduardo Salvio, Argentine footballer
 1990 – Jonathan Mensah, Ghanaian footballer
 1991 – Tyler Skaggs, American baseball player (d. 2019)
 1992 – Dylan Patton, American actor
 1994 – Ridge Canipe, American actor
 1995 – Dante Exum, Australian basketball player
 1997 – Leo Howard, American actor, model and martial artist

Deaths

Up to 1900 
 574 - Pope John III
 678 - Aisha, wife of the prophet Muhammad (b. 612)
 716 - Rui Zong, Chinese Tang Dynasty Emperor (b. 662)
 939 - Pope Leo VII
 1024 – Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 973)
 1189 - Matilda of England, Duchess of Saxony (b. 1156)
 1299 – King Eric II of Norway (b. 1268)
 1399 - Peter Parler, German architect (b. 1330)
 1402 – Zhu Yunwen, Emperor of China (b. 1377)
 1621 - Albert VII, Archduke of Austria (b. 1559)
 1629 - Caspar Bartholin the Elder, Swedish physician and theologian (b. 1585)
 1645 – Tsar Michael of Russia (b. 1596)
 1705 - Titus Oates, English conspirator (b. 1649)
 1761 – Tokugawa Ieshige, Japanese shogun (b. 1712)
 1793 – Jean-Paul Marat, French revolutionary (b. 1743)
 1807 – Henry Benedict Stuart, cardinal and pretender to the British throne (b. 1725)
 1882 - Johnny Ringo, American outlaw (b. 1850)
 1890 - John C. Fremont, American general and politician (b. 1813)
 1896 - August Kekulé, German chemist and academic (b. 1829)

1901  2000 
 1921 - Gabriel Lippmann, French physicist and inventor (b. 1845)
 1934 - Mary E. Byrd, American educator and astronomer (b. 1849)
 1936 - José Calvo Sotelo, Spanish politician (b. 1893) (murdered)
 1941 - Ilmar Raud, Estonian chess player (b. 1913)
 1945 - Alla Nazimova, Russian-American actress, scriptwriter and producer (b. 1879)
 1946 – Alfred Stieglitz, American photographer (b. 1864)
 1949 - Walt Kuhn, American painter and cartoonist (b. 1877)
 1951 – Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian composer (b. 1874)
 1954 – Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter (b. 1907)
 1955 – Ruth Ellis, British murderer (b. 1926)
 1967 – Tom Simpson, British cyclist (b. 1937)
 1973 - Willy Fritsch, German actor (b. 1901)
 1974 - Marthe Vinot, French actress (b. 1894)
 1974 – Patrick Blackett, Baron Blackett, English physicist (b. 1897)
 1976 - Frederick Hawksworth, British engineer (b. 1884)
 1976 – Joachim Peiper, SS officer (b. 1915)
 1980 – Seretse Khama, first President of Botswana (b. 1921)
 1992 – Albert Pierrepoint, British executioner (b. 1905)
 1995 – Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, Danish businessman, Lego group (b. 1920)
 1998 - Konstantinos Kallios, 168th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1901)

From 2001 
 2002 – Yousuf Karsh, Turkish-born photographer (b. 1908)
 2003 – Compay Segundo, Cuban musician (b. 1907)
 2004 – Carlos Kleiber, Austrian conductor (b. 1930)
 2006 – Red Buttons, American actor (b. 1919)
 2008 - Bronislaw Geremek, Polish historian and writer (b. 1932)
 2010 – George Steinbrenner, American baseball team owner (b. 1930)
 2012 - Jerzy Kulej, Polish boxer and politician (b. 1940)
 2012 - Richard D. Zanuck, American movie producer (b. 1934)
 2013 - Cory Monteith, Canadian actor and singer (b. 1982)
 2014 - Lorin Maazel, French-American conductor and composer (b. 1930)
 2014 - Jan Nolten, Dutch road bicycle racer (b. 1930)
 2014 - Nadine Gordimer, South African writer and Nobel Prize winner (b. 1923)
 2014 - Gert Voss, German actor (b. 1941)
 2015 - Philipp Missfelder, German politician (b. 1979)
 2015 - Joan Sebastian, Mexican actor, singer and composer (b. 1951)
 2015 - Arturo Paoli, Italian priest and missionary (b. 1912)
 2016 - El Lebrijano, Spanish flamenco singer (b. 1941)
 2016 - Héctor Babenco, Argentine-Brazilian movie director, producer and screenwriter (b. 1946)
 2016 - Hollis L. Harris, American airline executive (b. 1931)
 2016 - Carolyn See, American author and critic (b. 1934)
 2016 - Bernardo Provenzano, Italian crime boss (b. 1933)
 2017 - Liu Xiaobo, Chinese human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner (b. 1955)
 2017 - Américo Amorim, Portuguese businessman (b. 1934)
 2017 - Vince Farrar, English rugby league player (b. 1947)
 2017 - Fresh Kid Ice, American rapper (2 Live Crew) (b. 1964)
 2017 - Héctor Lechuga, Mexican comedian, actor and radio presenter (b. 1927)
 2017 - Joaquim Molins i Amat, Catalan politician (b. 1945)
 2017 - Abdul-Rahman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi prince (b. 1931)
 2017 - Charles Bachman, American computer scientist (b. 1924)
 2017 - Marie-Josephine Gaudette, American-Italian nun and supercentenarian (b. 1902)
 2017 - Gertrude Poe, American journalist (b. 1915)
 2017 - Carl E. Reichardt, American banking executive (b. 1931)
 2018 - Stan Dragoti, American movie director (b. 1932)
 2018 - Ray Frenette, Canadian politician (b. 1935)
 2018 - Frank Giroud, French comics writer (b. 1956)
 2018 - Claudio Pieri, Italian football referee (b. 1940)
 2018 - Claude Seignolle, French author (b. 1917)
 2018 - Thorvald Stoltenberg, Norwegian politician (b. 1931)
 2019 - Richard Carter, Australian actor (b. 1953)
 2019 - Augusto Fantozzi, Italian lawyer and politician (b. 1940)
 2019 - Sadashiv Vasantrao Gorakshkar, Indian writer and curator (b. 1933)
 2019 - Rod Richards, Welsh politician (b. 1947)
 2019 - Paolo Sardi, Italian cardinal (b. 1934)

Holidays and observances 
 Kiribati – Independence Day, 2nd day (not a holiday)
 Mongolia – Naadam Holiday, 3rd day
 Montenegro – Statehood Day
 Bahá'í Faith – Feast of Kálimát (Words) – First day of the seventh month of the Bahá'í Calendar
 Bon Festival – Buddhist festival to honor the dead (East Japan)

Other websites 
 BBC: On This Day

Days of the year