Events

Up to 1900 
 1419  John of Burgundy is assassinated by friends of the Dauphin, the future Charles VII of France.
 1509  A strong earthquake hits Constantinople, referred to by people at the time as the "Lesser Judgement Day".
 1515  Thomas Wolsey becomes a cardinal.
 1547  Battle of Pinkie Cleugh: Last major battle engagement between England and Scotland, which ends in victory for the forces of Edward VI of England.
 1608  John Smith is elected council president of Jamestown, Virginia.
 1776  American Revolutionary War: Nathan Hale volunteers to spy.
 1798  At the Battle of St. George, British Honduras defeats Spain.
 1813  The U.S. defeats the British Fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812.
 1823  Simón Bolívar is named President of Peru.
 1846  Elias Howe gets a patent for the sewing machine.
 1858  George Mary Searle discovers the asteroid 55 Pandora.
 1897  In the Lattimer Massacre, a sheriff's posse kills more than nineteen unarmed immigrant miners in Pennsylvania, United States.
 1898  Empress Elizabeth of Austria is assassinated by Italian anarchist Luigi Lucheni, at Lake Geneva, Switzerland.

1901  2000 
 1913  The first paved coast-to-coast U.S. highway opens.
 1918  Russian Civil War: The Red Army captures the city of Kazan.
 1919  Austria and the Allies sign the Treaty of Saint-Germain recognizing the independence of Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.
 1927  France had its first Davis Cup win, though it had competed since 1905.
 1932  The New York City Subway's third competing subway system, the municipally-owned "IND", is opened.
 1933  Ramon Grau San Martin becomes leader of Cuba.
 1936  The first World Individual Motorcycle Speedway Championship is held at Wembley Stadium
 1939  The submarine HMS Oxley is sunk by mistake by the submarine HMS Triton off the coast of Norway and becomes the Royal Navy's first loss in World War II.
 1939  World War II: Canada declares war on Nazi Germany.
 1942  World War II: The Allies carry out an amphibious landing at Majunga, north-west Madagascar, to re-launch Allied offensive operations in the Madagascar Campaign.
 1943  Tottori, Japan is struck by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake, killing 1,190 people.
 1943  World War II: German forces began their occupation of Rome during World War II.
 1944  World War II: American troops liberate Luxembourg.
 1945  In Norway, Vidkun Quisling is sentenced to death for collaboration with Nazi Germany.
 1951  The United Kingdom began an economic boycott of Iran.
 1960  Mickey Mantle hits what is thought to be the Major League baseball's longest home run, sending the ball an estimated 643 feet.
 1960  At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Ethiopian Abebe Bikila becomes the first person from SubSaharan Africa to win an Olympic gold medal, winning the marathon in bare feet.
 1961  Italian Grand Prix: German racing driver Wolfgang von Trips is killed in a crash. Being crushed under his Ferrari, 13 spectators are also killed.
 1963  20 African-American students enter public schools in the U.S. state of Alabama.
 1967  The people of Gibraltar vote to remain a British dependency rather than becoming part of Spain.
 1972  The United States loses its first international basketball game in a disputed match versus the Soviet Union at Munich, Germany.
 1974  Guinea-Bissau gains independence from Portugal.
 1976  A British Airways Trident and an Inex-Adria DC-9 collide near Zagreb, Yugoslavia, killing 176.
 1977  Last execution by Guillotine takes place in France. Hamida Djandoubi, convicted for torture and murder, is executed at Baumettes Prison in Marseille.
 1988  Steffi Graf wins the Singles Title at the US Open Tennis, managing to win all four Grand Slams in one year. She later wins the Olympic Gold in the same year in order to achieve a historic "Golden Slam".
 1989  A Bulgarian tug boat collides with Romanian passenger ship Mogasoaia on the Danube, near Galati, Romania, killing 207 people.
 1990  The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire – the largest church in Africa and perhaps the world – is consecrated by Pope John Paul II.

From 2001 
 2001  Charles Ingram cheats his way to winning a million pounds on the British quiz programme Who Wants to be a Millionaire.
 2001  Kjell Magne Bondevik is elected Prime Minister of Norway.
 2002  Switzerland, known for its neutrality, finally joins the United Nations.
 2002  The U.S. Homeland Security Advisory System is set to Orange, or High Condition, for the first time.
 2003  Anna Lindh, the foreign minister of Sweden, is stabbed fatally while shopping, and dies of her wounds on September 11.
 2006  Michael Schumacher announces his first retirement from Formula One. On the same day, in Hungary, Jenson Button wins a Grand Prix for the first time.
 2006  King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV of Tonga dies, aged 88. His son, George Tupou V, takes over, and reigns until his own death in 2012.
 2007  Nawaz Sharif returns to Pakistan after over seven years in exile.
 2008  The Large Hadron Collider at CERN on the French-Swiss border is switched on for the first time.
 2011  Tanzanian ferry MV Spice Islander sinks off Zanzibar, killing 1,573 people.
 2013  German Thomas Bach is chosen to succeed Jacques Rogge as President of the International Olympic Committee.
 2014  The first Invictus Games, for injured military servicemen, take place in London.
 2015  Scientists announce the discovery, in South Africa, of Homo naledi, a species of early human.

Births

Up to 1900 
 920  King Louis IV of France (d. 954)
 1169  Alexios Komnenos, Byzantine Emperor (d. 1183)
 1487  Pope Julius III (d. 1555)
 1561  Hernando Arias de Saavedra, Paraguayan-Argentine soldier and politician (d. 1634)
 1624  Thomas Sydenham, English physician (d. 1689)
 1638  Maria Theresa of Austria, wife of King Louis XIV of France (d. 1683)
 1659  Henry Purcell, English composer (d. 1695)
 1753  John Sloane, English architect (d. 1837)
 1786  Nicolas Bravo, 11th President of Mexico (d. 1854)
 1788  Jacques Boucher de Crevecoeur de Perthes, French archaeologist (d. 1868)
 1801  Marie Laveau, American voodoo practitioner (d. 1881)
 1809  Thomas Campbell Eyton, English naturalist (d. 1880)
 1817  Richard Spruce, English botanist (d. 1893)
 1821  William Jervois, 10th Governor of South Australia (d. 1897)
 1836  Joseph Wheeler, American Confederate general and politician (d. 1906)
 1839  Charles Sanders Peirce, American philosopher, mathematician and scientist (d. 1914)
 1844  Abel Hoadley, English-Australian candy maker (d. 1918)
 1852  Alice Brown Davis, American chief of the Seminole tribe in Oklahoma (d. 1935)
 1857  James Edward Keeler, American astrophysicist (d. 1900)
 1861  Niels Hansen Jacobsen, Danish sculptor (d. 1941)
 1866  Jeppe Aakjaer, Danish writer (d. 1930)
 1871  Charles Collett, English engineer (d. 1952)
 1872  Ranjitsinhji, Indian cricketer (d. 1933)
 1872  Vladimir Arsenyev, Russian explorer (d. 1930)
 1885  Johannes de Jong, Dutch cardinal (d. 1955)
 1886  H.D., American writer (d. 1961)
 1887  Giovanni Gronchi, 3rd President of Italy (d. 1978)
 1887  Govind Ballabh Pant, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (d. 1961)
 1890  Bob Heffron, 30th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1978)
 1890  Elsa Schiaparelli, French couturier (d. 1973)
 1890  Franz Werfel, Austrian writer (d. 1945)
 1891  Carl Jacob Burckhardt, Swiss diplomat, essayist and historian (d. 1974)
 1892  Arthur Compton, American physicist (d. 1962)
 1893  Maria de Jesus, Portuguese supercentenarian (d. 2009)
 1894  Alexander Dovzhenko, Soviet-Ukrainian screenwriter, producer and director (d. 1956)
 1895  Viswanathan Satyanarayana, Indian poet (d. 1976)
 1896  Robert Tascheraeu, Canadian judge and politician (d. 1970)
 1896  Ye Ting, Chinese military leader (d. 1946)
 1896  Adele Astaire, American dancer (d. 1981)
 1897  Georges Bataille, French philosopher and writer (d. 1962)
 1898  Bessie Love, American actress (d. 1986)

1901  1950 
 1904  Max Shachtman, American theorist and politician (d. 1972)
 1904  Juan José Arévalo, President of Guatemala (d. 1990)
 1906  Karl Wien, German mountaineer (d. 1937)
 1908  Angus Bethune, Australian politician, Premier of Tasmania (d. 2004)
 1910  Franz Hengsbach, German cardinal (d. 1991)
 1911  Renée Simonot, French actress
 1911  Nelly Omar, Argentine actress and singer (d. 2013)
 1912  Basappa Danappa Jatti, Indian politician (d. 2002)
 1914  Terence O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of the Maine, Irish politician (d. 1990)
 1914  Robert Wise, American director and producer (d. 2005)
 1918  Rin Tin Tin, German shepherd dog (d. 1932)
 1920  C. R. Rao, Indian-American mathematician and statistician
 1921  Alfred Bengsch, German cardinal (d. 1979)
 1922  Yma Sumac, Peruvian singer (d. 2008)
 1923  Shmuel Eisenstadt, Israeli sociologist (d. 2010)
 1924  Boyd K. Packer, American educator and religious leader (d. 2015)
 1925  Roy Brown, American singer-songwriter (d. 1981)
 1925  Hubert Hammerer, Austrian Olympic shooter
 1926  Ladislav Adamec, Czechoslovakian politician (d. 2007)
 1926  Beryl Cook, British painter (d. 2008)
 1927  Gerhard Jahn, German politician (d. 1998)
 1928  Jean Vanier, Canadian theologian and philosopher
 1928  Otto F. Kernberg, Austrian psychoanalyst
 1929  Arnold Palmer, American golfer (d. 2016)
 1931  Philip Baker Hall, American actor
 1932  Félix Malloum, President of Chad (d. 2009)
 1933  Karl Lagerfeld, German fashion designer
 1933  Yevgeny Khrunov, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 2000)
 1934  Roger Maris, American baseball player (d. 1985)
 1934  Jim Oberstar, American politician (d. 2014)
 1935  Giacomo Losi, Italian footballer
 1936  Peter Lovesey, English crime fiction writer
 1937  Jared Diamond, American evolutionary biologist
 1939  Cynthia Lennon, English ex-wife of John Lennon (d. 2015)
 1939  Hans Sotin, German opera singer
 1940  Roy Ayers, American jazz musician
 1941  Stephen Jay Gould, American palaeontologist (d. 2002)
 1941  Christopher Hogwood, English conductor (d. 2014)
 1941  Gunpei Yokoi, Japanese video game designer (d. 1997)
 1945  José Feliciano, Puerto Rican musician, singer and composer
 1946  Michèle Alliot-Marie, French politician
 1946  Don Powell, English drummer (Slade)
 1946  Shlomo Sand, Israeli historian
 1948  Margaret Trudeau, Canadian actress, writer and biographer
 1948  Bob Lanier, American basketball player
 1948  Brian Donohoe, Scottish politician
 1948  Zhang Chengzhi, Chinese author
 1948  Ted Poe, American politician
 1950  Joe Perry, American singer-songwriter

1951  1975 
 1951  Eliseo Alberto, Cuban writer (d. 2011)
 1952  Bruno Giacomelli, Italian racing driver
 1952  Medea Benjamin, American activist
 1952  Patrick McGorry, Australian psychiatrist
 1953  Amy Irving, American actress, movie producer and singer
 1953  John Thurso, Scottish politician
 1954  Jackie Ashley, English journalist
 1954  Lorely Burt, English politician
 1954  Clark Johnson, American actor, director and movie producer
 1956  Johnnie Fingers, Irish musician, songwriter and producer
 1957  Carol Decker, English singer-songwriter
 1958  Chris Columbus, American movie director, producer and screenwriter
 1958  Siobhan Fahey, Irish singer-songwriter and producer
 1960  Colin Firth, English actor
 1960  Margaret Ferrier, Scottish politician
 1963  Randy Johnson, American baseball pitcher, five-time Cy Young Award winner
 1964  John E. Sununu, American politician
 1964  Edmund de Waal, English artist
 1966  Joe Nieuwendyk, Canadian ice hockey player
 1968  Andreas Herzog, Austrian footballer
 1968  Guy Ritchie, British director, screenwriter and producer
 1968  Big Daddy Kane, American rapper and producer
 1968  Juan Maldacena, Argentine-American physicist
 1969  David Trueba, Spanish writer, journalist, screenwriter, actor and director
 1970  Ménélik, French rapper
 1972  Ghada Shouaa, Syrian athlete
 1973  Deniz Yücel, German journalist
 1974  Ryan Philippe, American actor
 1975  Viktor Kassai, Hungarian footballer and referee

From 1976 
 1976  Gustavo Kuerten, Brazilian tennis player
 1976  Vassilis Lakis, Greek footballer
 1978  Julia Goldsworthy, English politician
 1980  Mikey Way, musician, bassist for My Chemical Romance
 1982  Stephen McManus, Scottish footballer
 1983  Fernando Belluschi, Argentine footballer
 1983  Jérémy Toulalan, French footballer
 1985  David Clarkson, Scottish footballer
 1985  Aya Kamiki, Japanese musical artist
 1985  Laurent Koscielny, French footballer
 1986  Hiroki Uchi, Japanese singer-songwriter and actor
 1986  Eoin Morgan, Irish cricketer
 1987  Nana Tanimura, Japanese singer-songwriter
 1987  Paul Goldschmidt, American baseball player
 1988  Jordan Staal, Canadian ice hockey player
 1988  Jared Lee Loughner, American murderer
 1990  Chandler Massey, American actor
 1993  Ruggero Pasquarelli, Italian actor and singer
 1997  Brooke Henderson, Canadian golfer

Deaths

Up to 1900 
 210 BC  Qin Shi Huang, Chinese Emperor (b. 259 BC)
 918  Baldwin II, Count of Flanders (b. 865)
 954  King Louis IV of France (b. 920)
 1167  Empress Matilda of England (b. 1102)
 1197  Henry II, Count of Champagne (b. 1166)
 1306  Nicholas of Tolentino, Italian saint and mystic (b. 1245)
 1308  Emperor Go-Nijo of Japan (b. 1285)
 1382  Louis I of Hungary (b. 1326)
 1419  John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1371)
 1482  Federico da Montefeltro, Italian warlord (b. 1422)
 1591  Richard Grenville, English soldier and explorer (b. 1542)
 1669  Henrietta Maria of France (b. 1609)
 1797  Mary Wollstonecraft, British female philosopher (b. 1759)
 1815  John Singleton Copley, American artist (b. 1738)
 1827  Ugo Foscolo, Italian poet and novelist (b. 1778)
 1842  William Hobson, 1st Governor of New Zealand (b. 1792)
 1842  Letitia Christian Tyler, First Lady of the United States (b. 1790)
 1889  Charles III, Prince of Monaco (b. 1818)
 1898  Empress Elizabeth of Austria (b. 1837)

1901  2000 
 1915  Charles Boucher de Boucherville, 3rd Premier of Quebec (b. 1822)
 1923  Sukumar Ray, Indian poet and playwright (b. 1887)
 1931  Dmitri Egorov, Russian mathematician (b. 1869)
 1935  Huey Long, American politician, 40th Governor of Louisiana (b. 1893)
 1937  Sergei Tretyakov, Russian writer (b. 1892)
 1938  Charles Cruft, British businessman (b. 1852)
 1948  King Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (b. 1861)
 1952  Youssef Aftimus, Lebanese engineer and architect (b. 1866)
 1954  Peter Anders, German tenor (b. 1908)
 1961  Leo Carrillo, American actor (b. 1880)
 1961  Wolfgang von Trips, German racing driver (b. 1928)
 1965  Father Divine, American spiritual leader (b. 1880)
 1966  Ernst Julius Gumbel, German mathematician (b. 1891)
 1971  Pier Angeli, Italian actress (b. 1932)
 1975  George Paget Thomson, English physicist (b. 1892)
 1977  Hamida Djandoubi, last person to be executed by guillotine in France (b. 1949)
 1979  Agostinho Neto, 1st President of Angola (b. 1922)
 1983  Felix Bloch, Swiss-born physicist (b. 1905)
 1983  John Vorster, Prime Minister of South Africa (b. 1915)
 1983  Jon Brower Minnoch, heaviest-recorded person (b. 1941)
 1983  Norah Lofts, English novelist (b. 1904)
 1985  Jock Stein, Scottish football manager (b. 1922)
 1991  Jack Crawford, Australian tennis player (b. 1908)
 1994  Max Morlock, German footballer (b. 1925)
 1995  Charles Denner, French actor (b. 1926)
 1996  Joanne Dru, American actress (b. 1923)
 1996  Hans List, Austrian scientist and inventor (b. 1896)

From 2001 
 2004  Glyn Owen, Welsh actor (b. 1928)
 2005  Hermann Bondi, Austrian mathematician and cosmologist (b. 1919)
 2006  Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, King of Tonga (b. 1918)
 2007  Anita Roddick, British businesswoman (b. 1942)
 2007  Jane Wyman, American actress (b. 1917)
 2011  Cliff Robertson, American actor (b. 1923)
 2012  Vondell Darr, American actress (b. 1919)
 2012  Lance LeGault, American actor (b. 1935)
 2014  Richard Kiel, American actor (b. 1939)
 2014  Emilio Botin, Spanish businessman (b. 1934)
 2015  Dickie Moore, American actor (b. 1925)
 2015  Adrian Frutiger, Swiss typeface designer (b. 1928)
 2015  Norman Farberow, American psychologist (b. 1918)
 2015  Franco Interlenghi, Italian actor (b. 1931)
 2015  James E. Proctor, Jr., American politician (b. 1936)
 2015  Antoine Lahad, Lebanese military officer (b. 1927)
 2016  Jutta Limbach, German jurist (b. 1934)
 2017  Hans Alfredson, Swedish actor, director, writer and comedian (b. 1931)
 2017  Xavier Atencio, American animator, lyricist and engineer (b. 1919)
 2017  Nancy Dupree, American historian (b. 1927)
 2017  René Laurentin, French theologian (b. 1917)
 2017  Don Ohlmeyer, American entertainment executive (b. 1945)
 2017  B. V. Radha, Indian actress (b. 1948)
 2017  Len Wein, American comic book writer (b. 1948)

Observances 
 National Day (Gibraltar)
 Teacher's Day (People's Republic of China and Hong Kong)
 International Suicide Prevention Day
 Children's Day (Honduras)

Days of the year