[Edit]

top

1805 - Lewis and Clark Expedition mark their explorations from the Missouri River overland to the Columbia River on a pine tree.

1818 - Illinois becomes the 21st U.S. state.

1828 - In the U.S. Presidential election of 1828, challenger Andrew Jackson beats incumbent John Quincy Adams and is elected President of the United States.

1854 - Eureka Stockade: In what is claimed by many to be the birth of Australian democracy, more than 20 goldminers at Ballarat, Victoria, Australia are killed by state troopers in an uprising over mining licences.

1901 - US President Theodore Roosevelt delivers a 20,000-word speech to the House of Representatives asking Congress curb the power of trusts "within reasonable limits".

1904 - The Jovian moon Himalia is discovered by Charles Dillon Perrine at California's Lick Observatory.

1912 - Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, and Serbia (the Balkan League) sign an armistice with Turkey, ending the two-month long First Balkan War.

1917 - After nearly 20 years of planning and construction, the Quebec Bridge opens to traffic.

1925 - George Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F is premiered at Carnegie Hall.

1929 - Great Depression: US President Herbert Hoover announces to the U.S. Congress that the worst effects of the recent stock market crash are behind the nation and the American people have regained faith in the economy.

1936 - New York City radio station WQXR is officially founded.

1937 - The Dandy, the world's longest-running comic, is first published.

1944 - The Greek Civil War breaks out in a newly-liberated Greece, between communists and royalists.

1947 - Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire opens on Broadway.

1953 - The Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, between the United States and the Republic of China, is signed in Washington, DC.

1964 - Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Police arrest over 800 students at the University of California, Berkeley, following their takeover and sit-in at the administration building in protest at the UC Regents' decision to forbid protests on UC property.

1967 - At Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, a transplant team headed by Christiaan Barnard carries out the first heart transplant on a human (53-year-old Louis Washkansky).

1967 - The luxury train 20th Century Limited completes its last run from New York City to Chicago (the train was inaugurated on June 15, 1902).

1970 - October Crisis: In Montreal, Quebec, kidnapped British Trade Commissioner James Cross is released by the Front de Libération du Québec terrorist group after being held hostage for 60 days. Police negotiate his release and in return the Canadian government grants five terrorists from the FLQ's Chenier Cell their request for safe passage to Cuba.

1971 - Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: After Pakistan launches airstrikes on Indian airfields, India retaliates by invading East Pakistan.

1973 - Pioneer program: Pioneer 10 sends back the first close-up images of Jupiter.

1976 - Attempted assassination of Bob Marley at 56 Hope Road. In the shooting, Bob Marley received two gunshot wounds; however his manager Don Taylor took a majority of the bullets. Both lived.

1976 - Patrick Hillery becomes the sixth President of Ireland.

1976 - The Sex Pistols begin their controversial UK tour, where they are banned from performing at many venues.

1979 - In Cincinnati, Ohio, eleven fans are killed during a stampede for seats before a Who concert at Riverfront Coliseum.

1979 - Shadow Traffic begins broadcasts in the New York City metropolitan area.

1982 - A soil sample is taken from Times Beach, Missouri that will be found to contain 300 times the safe level of dioxin.

1984 - Bhopal Disaster: A methyl isocyanate leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, kills more than 3,800 people outright and injures 150,000-600,000 others (some 6,000 of whom would later die from their injuries) in one of the worst industrial disasters in history.

1989 - Cold War: In a meeting off the coast of Malta, US President George H. W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev release statements indicating that the cold war between their nations may be coming to an end (some commentators from both nations exaggerated the wording and independently declared the Cold War over).

1990 - At Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Northwest Airlines Flight 1482 collides with Northwest Airlines Flight 299 on the runway, killing 8 passengers and 4 crew members aboard flight 1482.

1990 - Government of Pakistan formed National Highway Authority.

1992 - UN Security Council Resolution 794 is unanimously passed, approving a coalition of United Nations peacekeepers led by the United States to form UNITAF, tasked with establishing peace and ensuring that humanitarian aid is distributed in Somalia.

1992 - The Greek oil tanker Aegean Sea, carrying 80,000 tonnes of crude oil, runs aground in a storm while approaching La Coruña, Spain, and spills much of its cargo.

1997 - In Ottawa, Canada, representatives from 121 countries sign a treaty prohibiting manufacture and deployment of anti-personnel landmines. The United States, People's Republic of China, and Russia do not sign the treaty, however.

1999 - NASA loses radio contact with the Mars Polar Lander moments before the spacecraft enters the Martian atmosphere.

2005 - XCOR Aerospace makes first manned rocket aircraft delivery of US Mail in Mojave, California.

top

1368 - King Charles VI of France (d. 1422)

1560 - Jan Gruter, Dutch critic (d. 1627)

1596 - Nicolo Amati, Italian violin maker (d. 1684)

1684 - Ludvig Holberg, Norwegian historian and writer (d. 1754)

1755 - Gilbert Stuart, American painter (d. 1828)

1776 - Johann Spurzheim, German neuroscientist (d. 1832)

1800 - France Prešeren, Slovenian poet (d. 1849)

1826 - George McClellan, U.S. Civil War general (d. 1885)

1838 - Cleveland Abbe, American meteorologist (d. 1916)

1838 - Octavia Hill, British housing and open-space activist (d. 1912)

1842 - Ellen Swallow Richards, American scientist (d. 1911)

1857 - Joseph Conrad, Polish-born British writer (d. 1924)

1880 - Fedor von Bock, German field marshal (d. 1945)

1883 - Anton Webern, Austrian composer (d. 1945)

1884 - Rajendra Prasad, first President of India (d. 1963)

1884 - Walther Stampfli, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 1965)

1886 - Manne Siegbahn, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1978)

1887 - Prince Naruhiko, Japanese prince (d. 1990)

1895 - Anna Freud, Austrian-born British psychoanalyst (d. 1982)

1899 - Ikeda Hayato, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1965)

1900 - Ulrich Inderbinen, Swiss mountain guide (d. 2004)

1900 - Richard Kuhn, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967)

1911 - Nino Rota, Italian composer (d. 1979)

1921 - Phyllis Curtin, American soprano

1921 - RHD (Bob) Phillips, Canadian journalist and writer

1922 - Sven Nykvist, Swedish cinematographer

1925 - Ferlin Husky, American singer

1927 - Andy Williams, American singer

1930 - Jean-Luc Godard, French film director

1931 - Franz Josef Degenhardt, German author and singer

1932 - Corry Brokken, Dutch singer

1933 - Paul J. Crutzen, Nobel Prize laureate

1934 - Viktor Gorbatko, Soviet cosmonaut

1937 - Bobby Allison, American race car driver

1937 - Binod Bihari Verma, Maithili literateur

1942 - Alice Schwarzer, German journalist

1946 - Joop Zoetemelk, Dutch cyclist

1948 - Ozzy Osbourne, British singer

1949 - John Akii-Bua, Ugandan athlete (d. 1997)

1949 - Mickey Thomas, American singer (Jefferson Starship)

1951 - Ray Candy, American wrestler (d. 1994)

1951 - Riki Choshu, Japanese professional wrestler

1951 - Rick Mears, American race car driver

1953 - Franz Klammer, Austrian skier

1955 - Steven Culp, American actor

1955 - Warren Jeffs, American convicted polygamist

1959 - Eamonn Holmes, Northern Irish TV presenter

1960 - Daryl Hannah, American actress

1960 - Igor Larionov, Russian ice hockey player

1960 - Julianne Moore, American actress

1965 - Steve Harris, American actor

1965 - Katarina Witt, German figure skater

1968 - Brendan Fraser, American actor

1970 - Christian Karembeu, French footballer

1971 - Keegan Connor Tracy, Canadian actress

1971 - Frank Sinclair, Jamaican footballer

1972 - Bucky Lasek, professional skateboarder

1973 - Holly Marie Combs, American actress

1973 - Super Crazy, Mexican professional wrestler

1976 - Byron Kelleher, New Zealand and Waikato Rugby Player

1977 - Adam Małysz, Polish ski-jumper

1978 - Trina, rapper

1979 - Daniel Bedingfield, English pop singer

1979 - Rainbow Sun Francks, Canadian actor

1980 - Anna Chlumsky, American actress

1982 - Michael Essien, Ghanaian footballer

1983 - Sherri DuPree, American and vocalist

1985 - Amanda Seyfried, American actress

2005 - Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway

top

1154 - Pope Anastasius IV

1265 - Odofredus, Italian jurist

1533 - Vasili III, Grand Prince of Moscow (b. 1479)

1610 - Honda Tadakatsu, Japanese general (b. 1548)

1765 - Lord John Philip Sackville, British cricketer (b. 1713)

1789 - Claude Joseph Vernet, French painter (b. 1714)

1815 - John Carroll (priest), first Roman Catholic archbishop in the U.S. (b. 1735)

1882 - Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1811)

1888 - Carl Zeiss, German lens maker (b. 1816)

1892 - Afanasy Fet, Russian poet (b. 1820)

1894 - Robert Louis Stevenson, British writer (b. 1850)

1902 - Robert Lawson, New Zealand architect (b. 1833)

1910 - Mary Baker Eddy, Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science (b. 1821)

1912 - Prudente José de Morais Barros, President of Brazil (b. 1841)

1919 - Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French impressionist painter (b. 1841)

1941 - Christian Sinding, Norwegian composer (b. 1856)

1941 - Pavel Filonov, Russian painter (b. 1883)

1949 - Maria Ouspenskaya, Russian-born American actress (b. 1876)

1967 - Harry Wismer, American original owner of the New York Jets (b. 1913)

1969 - Mathias Wieman, German actor (b. 1902)

1972 - Bill Johnson, American musician (b. 1872)

1973 - Emile Christian, American musician (b. 1895)

1979 - Dhyan Chand, Indian Olympic gold medalist (b. 1905)

1980 - Oswald Mosley, British politician (b. 1896)

1981 - Walter Knott, farmer and creator of Knott's Berry Farm (b. 1889)

1984 - Vladimir Abramovich Rokhlin, Russian mathematician (b. 1919)

1995 - Gerard John Schaefer, American serial killer (b. 1946)

1996 - Georges Duby, French historian (b. 1919)

1999 - Jarl Wahlström, 12th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1918)

1999 - Madeline Kahn, American actress/comedian (b. 1942)

1999 - Scatman John, American singer (b. 1942)

2000 - Gwendolyn Brooks, American poet (b. 1917)

2002 - Glenn Quinn, Irish actor (b. 1970)

2003 - David Hemmings, British actor (b. 1941)

2004 - Shiing-Shen Chern, Chinese mathematician (b. 1911)

2005 - Herb Moford, baseball player (b. 1928)

top

R.C. Saints - memorial of Saint Francis Xavier; also Saint Birinus

International Day of Disabled Persons - *