Events

• 1461 - Wars of the Roses: Battle of Towton - Edward of York defeats Queen Margaret to become King Edward IV of England.
• 1549 - The city of Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of Brazil, is founded.
• 1632 - Treaty of Saint-Germain is signed, returning Quebec to French control after the English had seized it in 1629.
• 1638 - Swedish colonists establish the first settlement in Delaware, naming it New Sweden.
• 1792 - King Gustav III of Sweden dies after being shot in the back at a midnight masquerade ball at Stockholm's Royal Opera just 13 days earlier. He is succeeded by Gustav IV Adolf.
• 1799 - New York passes a law aimed at gradually abolishing slavery in the state.
• 1806 - Construction is authorized of the Great National Pike, better known as the Cumberland Road, becoming the first United States federal highway.
• 1809 - King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden abdicates after a coup d'état. At the Diet of Porvoo, Finland's four Estates pledge allegiance to Alexander I of Russia, commencing the secession of the Grand Duchy of Finland from Sweden.
• 1831 - Great Bosnian uprising: Bosniak rebel against Turkey.
• 1847 - Mexican-American War: United States forces led by General Winfield Scott take Veracruz after a siege.
• 1849 - The United Kingdom annexes the Punjab.
• 1857 - Sepoy Mangal Pandey of the 34th Regiment, Bengal Native Infantry revolts against the British rule in India and inspires a long-drawn War of Independence of 1857 also known as the Sepoy Mutiny.
• 1865 - American Civil War: The Battle of Appomattox Court House begins.
• 1867 - Queen Victoria gives Royal Assent to the British North America Act which establishes the Dominion of Canada on July 1.
• 1871 - The Royal Albert Hall is opened by Queen Victoria.
• 1879 - Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Kambula: British forces defeat 20,000 Zulus.
• 1882 - The Knights of Columbus are established.
• 1886 - Dr. John Pemberton brews the first batch of Coca-Cola in a backyard in Atlanta, Georgia.
• 1930 - Heinrich Brüning is appointed German Reichskanzler.
• 1936 - In Germany, Adolf Hitler receives 99% of the votes in a referendum to ratify Germany's illegal reoccupation of the Rhineland, receiving 44.5 million votes out of 45.5 million registered voters.
• 1941 - World War II: British Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy forces defeat those of the Italian Regia Marina off the Peloponnesus coast of Greece in the Battle of Cape Matapan.
• 1942 - The Bombing of Lübeck in World War II was the first major success for the RAF Bomber Command against Germany and a German city.
• 1945 - World War II: Last day of V-1 flying bomb attacks on England.
• 1951 - Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage.
• 1961 - The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to vote in presidential elections.
• 1971 - My Lai massacre: Lt. William Calley is convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison.
• 1971 - A Los Angeles, California jury recommends the death penalty for Charles Manson and three female followers.
• 1973 - Vietnam War: The last United States combat soldiers leave South Vietnam.
• 1974 - NASA's Mariner 10 becomes the first spaceprobe to fly by Mercury. It was launched on November 3, 1973.
• 1982 - The Canada Act 1982 (U.K.) receives the Royal Assent from Queen Elizabeth II, setting the stage for the Queen of Canada to proclaim the Constitution Act, 1982.
• 1987 - Wrestlemania III sets a world indoor attendance record at the Pontiac Silverdome with 93,173 fans.
• 1993 - Catherine Callbeck becomes premier of Prince Edward Island and Canada's first female to be elected in a general election as a premier.
• 1999 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at 10006.78 – above the 10,000 mark for the first time ever.
• 2004 - Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia join NATO as full members.
• 2004 - The Republic of Ireland becomes the first country in the world to ban smoking in all work places, including bars and restaurants.

Births

• 1553 - Vitsentzos Kornaros, Greek Renaissance poet (d. 1613 or 1614)
• 1584 - Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, English general (d. 1648)
• 1602 - John Lightfoot, English churchman (d. 1675)
• 1668 - Thomas Coram, Founder of the Foundling Hospital (d. 1751)
• 1713 - John Ponsonby, Irish politician (d. 1789)
• 1746 - Carlo Buonaparte, father of Napoleon Bonaparte (d. 1785)
• 1769 - Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult, French marshal (d. 1851)
• 1790 - John Tyler, 10th President of the United States (d. 1862)
• 1799 - Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1869)
• 1824 - Ludwig Büchner, German philosopher and physician (d. 1899)
• 1826 - Wilhelm Liebknecht, German journalist and politician (d. 1900)
• 1867 - Cy Young, American baseball player (d. 1955)
• 1869 - Ale? Hrdli?ka, Czech anthropologist living in the United States (d. 1943)
• 1870 - Pavlos Melas, Greek officer who organized and participated in the Greek Struggle for Macedonia (d. 1904)
• 1873 - Tullio Levi-Civita, Italian mathematician (d. 1941)
• 1874 - Lou Hoover, First Lady of the United States (d. 1944)
• 1888 - Enea Bossi, Italian-American engineer and aviation pioneer (d. 1963)
• 1889 - Warner Baxter, American actor (d. 1951)
• 1891 - Yvan Goll, French-German writer (d. 1950)
• 1891 - Alfred Neubauer, German racing team manager (Mercedes Benz) (d. 1980)
• 1892 - József Cardinal Mindszenty, Hungarian Catholic cardinal (d. 1975)
• 1895 - Ernst Jünger, German author (d. 1998)
• 1899 - Lavrenty Beria, Soviet Communist leader (d. 1953)
• 1900 - John McEwen, eighteenth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1980)
• 1900 - Bill Aston, British racing driver (d. 1974)
• 1901 - Andrija Maurovic, Croatian illustrator (d. 1981)
• 1902 - Marcel Aymé, French writer (d. 1967)
• 1902 - William Walton, English composer (d. 1983)
• 1905 - Philip Ahn, American actor (d. 1978)
• 1906 - E. Power Biggs American concert organist (d. 1977)
• 1907 - "Braguinha", Brazilian songwriter (d. 2006)
• 1908 - Arthur O'Connell, American actor (d. 1981)
• 1908 - Dennis O'Keefe, American actor (d. 1968)
• 1911 - Brigitte Horney, German actress (d. 1988)
• 1912 - Hanna Reitsch, German test pilot (d. 1979)
• 1913 - Tony Zale, American boxer (d. 1997)
• 1913 - R. S. Thomas, Welsh poet (d. 2000)
• 1914 - Phil Foster, American actor (d. 1985)
• 1916 - Eugene McCarthy, American politician (d. 2005)
• 1917 - Man o' War, American thoroughbred racehorse (d. 1947)
• 1918 - Pearl Bailey, American singer and actress (d. 1990)
• 1918 - Sam Walton, American businessman (d. 1992)
• 1919 - Eileen Heckart, American actress (d. 2001)
• 1920 - John Belk, American head of Belk, Inc. (d. 2007)
• 1927 - John McLaughlin, American political commentator
• 1927 - John Robert Vane, English pharmacologist, Nobel laureate (d. 2004)
• 1928 - Vincent Gigante, American mafioso (d. 2005)
• 1929 - Lennart Meri, President of Estonia (d. 2006)
• 1929 - Richard Lewontin, American biologist
• 1929 - Utpal Dutt, Indian actor (d. 1993)
• 1931 - Aleksei Gubarev, Soviet cosmonaut
• 1931 - Norman Tebbit, British politician
• 1933 - Jacques Brault, French Canadian poet
• 1934 - Paul Crouch, American televangelist
• 1936 - Judith Guest, American author
• 1936 - Mogens Camre, Danish politician
• 1937 - Billy Carter, brother of Jimmy Carter (d. 1988)
• 1939 - Terence Hill, Italian actor
• 1939 - Roland Arnall, American businessman and diplomat (d. 2008).
• 1940 - Ray Davis, American musician (d. 2005)
• 1940 - Astrud Gilberto, Brazilian singer
• 1941 - Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr., American astrophysicist, Nobel laureate
• 1941 - Eden Kane, British singer
• 1943 - Eric Idle, English actor, writer, and composer
• 1943 - Sir John Major, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• 1943 - Vangelis, Greek musician and composer
• 1944 - Terry Jacks, Canadian musician, songwriter, and activist
• 1944 - Denny McLain, American baseball player
• 1945 - Walt Frazier, American basketball player
• 1946 - Billy Thorpe, Australian singer (d. 2007)
• 1947 - Bobby Kimball, American singer
• 1948 - Bud Cort, American actor
• 1949 - Keith Simpson, British politician
• 1949 - Michael Brecker, American jazz saxophonist (d. 2007)
• 1949 - John Arthur Spenkelink, American murderer (d. 1979)
• 1949 - Dave Greenfield, English Keyboardist of The Stranglers
• 1952 - Teófilo Stevenson, Cuban boxer
• 1954 - Dianne Kay, American actress
• 1954 - Karen Ann Quinlan, American right-to-die cause célèbre (d. 1985)
• 1955 - Earl Campbell, American football player
• 1955 - Brendan Gleeson, Irish actor
• 1955 - Christopher Lawford, Irish actor
• 1955 - Marina Sirtis, English actress
• 1956 - Patty Donahue, American singer (d. 1996)
• 1956 - Stephen Cole, English journalist
• 1956 - Kurt Thomas, American gymnast
• 1957 - Christopher Lambert, French actor
• 1958 - Victor Salva, American film director
• 1959 - Barry Blanchard, Canadian mountaineer
• 1959 - Perry Farrell, American musician
• 1959 - Brad McCrimmon, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1961 - Mike Kingery, American baseball player
• 1961 - Amy Sedaris, American actress and comedian
• 1961 - Gary Brabham, Australian racing driver
• 1964 - Michael A. Jackson, Maryland politician
• 1964 - Elle Macpherson, Australian model
• 1965 - William Oefelein, American Astronaut
• 1965 - Voula Patoulidou, Greek athlete
• 1965 - Emilios T. Harlaftis, Greek astrophysicist (d. 2005)
• 1967 - Brian Jordan, American baseball player
• 1967 - John Popper, American musician
• 1968 - Sue Foley, Canadian singer and guitarist
• 1968 - Lucy Lawless, New Zealand actress and singer
• 1971 - Lara Logan, South-African born journalist and reporter
• 1972 - Michel Ancel, French game designer
• 1972 - Rui Costa, Portugal footballer
• 1972 - Junichi Suwabe, Japanese voice actor
• 1973 - Marc Overmars, Dutch footballer
• 1973 - Sebastiano Siviglia Italian footballer
• 1974 - Kristoffer Cusick, American actor
• 1974 - Marc Gené, Spanish racing car driver
• 1976 - Igor Astarloa, Spanish cyclist
• 1976 - Jennifer Capriati, American tennis player
• 1978 - Michael Kaczurak, American singer and actor
• 1980 - Kim Tae Hee, South Korean actress
• 1980 - Prince Hamzah bin Al Hussein, of Jordan
• 1980 - Amy Mathews, Australian actress
• 1981 - Megan Hilty, American actress
• 1981 - Jlloyd Samuel, WestIndian-born footballer
• 1982 - Hideaki Takizawa, Japanese artist
• 1983 - Luiza Sá, Brazilian musician
• 1985 - Maxim Lapierre, Canadian ice hockey forward
• 1985 - Mickey Pimentel, National Football League linebacker
• 1986 - Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, English footballer

Deaths

• 1058 - Pope Stephen IX (b. c.1020)
• 1368 - Emperor Go-Murakami, Emperor of Japan (b. 1328)
• 1461 - Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland, English politician (b. 1421)
• 1578 - Arthur Champernowne, English admiral (b. 1524)
• 1578 - Louis I, Cardinal of Guise, French cardinal (b. 1527)
• 1625 - Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, Spanish historian (b. 1549)
• 1628 - Tobias Matthew, Archbishop of York (b. 1546)
• 1629 - Jacob de Gheyn II, Dutch artist (b. 1565)
• 1683 - Yaoya Oshichi, a young girl burned at the stake for arson in 17th Century Japan (b. 1667)

• 1751 - Thomas Coram, English sea captain and philanthropist
• 1772 - Emanuel Swedenborg, Swedish philosopher and mathematician (b. 1688)
• 1788 - Charles Wesley, English Methodist hymnist (b. 1707)
• 1792 - King Gustav III of Sweden (shot) (b. 1746)
• 1800 - Marc René, marquis de Montalembert, French military engineer and writer (b. 1714)
• 1803 - Gottfried van Swieten, Dutch composer (b. 1733)
• 1826 - Johann Heinrich Voß, German poet (b. 1751)
• 1848 - John Jacob Astor, American businessman (b. 1763)
• 1855 - Henri Druey, Swiss Federal Councilor (b. 1799)
• 1873 - Francesco Zantedeschi, Italian physicist (b. 1797)
• 1888 - Charles-Valentin Alkan, French composer (b. 1813)
• 1906 - Slava Raskaj, Croatian painter (b. 1878)
• 1912 - Henry Robertson Bowers - member of the Scott Expedition to the South Pole (b. 1883)
• 1912 - Sir Robert Falcon Scott, English explorer - member of the Scott Expedition to the South Pole (b. 1868)
• 1912 - Edward Adrian Wilson, English physician and naturalist - member of the Scott Expedition to the South Pole (b. 1872)
• 1924 - Charles Villiers Stanford, Irish composer (b. 1852)
• 1934 - Otto Hermann Kahn, German millionaire and benefactor (b. 1867)
• 1937 - Karol Szymanowski, Polish composer (b. 1882)
• 1940 - Alexander Obolensky, Russian prince and famed Rugby Union footballer who played for England.(b. 1916)
• 1948 - Olev Siinmaa, Estonian architect (b. 1881)
• 1956 - Infante Alfonso of Spain (b. 1941)
• 1957 - Joyce Cary, Irish author (b. 1888)
• 1959 - Barthelemy Boganda, first President of the Central African Republic (b. 1910)
• 1970 - Anna Louise Strong, American communist journalist (b. 1885)
• 1971 - Dhirendranath Datta, Bangladeshi politician (b. 1886)
• 1972 - Lord J. Arthur Rank, British movie theater owner (b. 1888)
• 1980 - Mantovani, Italian-born conductor and arranger (b. 1905)
• 1982 - Carl Orff, German composer (b. 1895)
• 1982 - Nathan Twining, USAF general (b. 1897)
• 1985 - Luther Terry, Surgeon General of the United States (b. 1911)
• 1985 - Jeanine Deckers, Belgian nun, The Singing Nun (b. 1933)
• 1986 - Harry Ritz, American actor and comedian (b. 1907)
• 1988 - Ted Kluszewski, American baseball player (b. 1924)
• 1989 - Bernard Blier, French actor (b. 1916)
• 1991 - Lee Atwater, American political consultant (b. 1951)
• 1992 - Paul Henreid, Austrian actor (b. 1908)
• 1994 - Bill Travers, British actor (b. 1922)
• 1995 - Baltimora, British singer (b. 1957)
• 1995 - Terry Moore, American baseball player (b. 1912)
• 1996 - Frank Daniel, Czech-born writer, director, producer and teacher (b. 1926)
• 1996 - Bill Goldsworthy, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1944)
• 1999 - Joe Williams, American singer (b. 1918)
• 2001 - Helge Ingstad, Norwegian explorer (b. 1899)
• 2001 - John Lewis, American jazz pianist (b. 1920)
• 2002 - Rico Yan, Philippine Young Movie & TV Actor (b. 1975)
• 2002 - Rachel Levy and Ayat al-Akhras, Israeli and Palestinian children
• 2003 - Carlo Urbani, Italian physician (SARS) (b. 1956)
• 2005 - Johnnie Cochran, American lawyer (b. 1937)
• 2005 - Mitch Hedberg, American comedian (b. 1968)
• 2005 - Miltos Sahtouris, Greek poet (b. 1919)
• 2006 - Salvador Elizondo, Mexican writer (b. 1932)
• 2007 - Calvin Lockhart, Bahamian actor (b. 1934)

Holidays and observances

• Día del joven combatiente a remembrance day celebrated with civil disorder in Chile by leftists and anarchists
• Youth Day in Taiwan
• St. Bertold (d. 1179)
• St. Eustace of Luxeuil
• Saint Mark of Arethusa bishop, martyred in 362 during the persecution of Julian the Apostate
• Saint Gladys

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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