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1456 - A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death.

1534 - European colonization of the Americas: First known exchange between Europeans and natives of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in New Brunswick.

1543 - French troops invade Luxembourg.

1668 - Isaac Newton received an MA from Trinity College, Cambridge.

1777 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Hubbardton

1798 - Quasi-War: The U.S. Congress rescinds treaties with France sparking the 'war.'

1799 - Ranjit Singh's men take up their positions outside Lahore.

1807 - Napoleonic Wars: Peace of Tilsit between France, Prussia and Russia ends the Fourth Coalition.

1846 - Mexican-American War: American troops occupy Monterey and Yerba Buena, thus beginning the United States annexation of California.

1863 - United States begins first military draft; exemptions cost $100

1865 - American Civil War: Four conspirators in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln were hanged.

1898 - History of United States overseas expansion: President William McKinley signs the Newlands Resolution annexing Hawaii as a territory of the United States.

1915 - A Great Gorge and International Railway trolley with an extreme overload of 157 passengers crashed near Queenston, Ontario, killing 15.

1917 - Russian Revolution: Prince Georgy Yevgenyevich Lvov forms Provisional Government in Russia after the deposing of the Tsar Nicholas II.

1930 - Industrialist Henry J. Kaiser begins construction of the Boulder Dam (now known as Hoover Dam).

1937 - Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Lugou Bridge - Japanese forces invade Beijing, China.

1941 - World War II: American forces land in Iceland to forestall an invasion by Germany.

1946 - Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini becomes the first American to be canonized.

1946 - Howard Hughes nearly dies when his XF-11 spy plane prototype crashes in a Beverly Hills neighborhood.

1947 - Downed UFO believed to be found in the Roswell UFO incident.

1954 - In Memphis, Tennessee, WHBQ becomes the first radio station to air an Elvis Presley record.

1958 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Alaska Statehood Act into United States law.

1959 - 14:28 UT Venus occults the star Regulus. This rare event was used to determine the diameter of Venus and the structure of the Venusian atmosphere.

1969 - In Canada, the Official Languages Act is adopted making the French language equal to the English language throughout the Federal government.

1978 - The Solomon Islands become independent from the United Kingdom.

1983 - Cold War: Samantha Smith, a U.S. schoolgirl, flies to the Soviet Union at the invitation of Secretary General Yuri Andropov

1991 - Yugoslav Wars: Brioni Agreement ended ten-day independence war in Slovenia against the rest of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

1994 - Aden is occupied by troops from North Yemen, completing the reunification of Yemen.

2002 - A scandal broke out in the United Kingdom when news reports alleged MI6 of sheltering Abu Qatada, the supposed European Al Qaeda leader.

2003 - The United Communist Party of Armenia was formed.

2004 - The last patent on the LZW compression algorithm (in Canada) expired.

2005 - A series of four terrorist explosions occur on London's transport system killing 52 people, plus four suicide bombers.

2005 - Influenced by Live 8, the G8 leaders pledged to double 2004 levels of aid to Africa from US$25 to US$50 billion by the year 2010.

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1053 - Emperor Shirakawa of Japan (d. 1129)

1119 - Emperor Sutoku of Japan (d. 1164)

1586 - Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, English statesman (d. 1646)

1746 - Giuseppe Piazzi, Italian astronomer (d. 1826)

1752 - Joseph-Marie Jacquard, French inventor (d. 1834)

1766 - Guillaume Philibert Duhesme, French general (d. 1815)

1843 - Camillo Golgi, Italian physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1926)

1848 - Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves, President of Brazil (d. 1919)

1855 - Ludwig Ganghofer, German writer (d. 1920)

1860 - Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer (d. 1911)

1884 - Lion Feuchtwanger, German dramatist and narrator (d. 1958)

1887 - Marc Chagall, Russian-born painter (d. 1985)

1893 - Miroslav Krleža, Croatian writer (d. 1981)

1899 - George Cukor, American director (d. 1983)

1901 - Vittorio De Sica, Italian director (d. 1974)

1901 - Sam Katzman, American film producer (d. 1973)

1902 - Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe, baseball player (d. 2005)

1904 - Simone Beck, French chef (d. 1991)

1906 - William Feller, Croatian mathematician (d.1970)

1906 - Leroy "Satchel" Paige, baseball player (d. 1982)

1907 - Robert A. Heinlein, American writer (d. 1988)

1908 - Revilo P. Oliver, American professor (d. 1994)

1911 - Gian Carlo Menotti, Italian-born composer

1917 - Fidel Sánchez Hernández, President of El Salvador (d. 2003)

1919 - Jon Pertwee, British actor (d. 1996)

1921 - Adolf von Thadden, German politician (d. 1996)

1922 - Pierre Cardin, French fashion designer

1924 - Mary Ford, American singer teamed with guitarist Les Paul (d. 1977)

1929 - Hasan Abidi, Pakistani journalist and Urdu poet (d. 2005)

1927 - Doc Severinsen, American composer and musician

1932 - Josef Zawinul, Austrian composer and musician

1933 - Murray Halberg, New Zealand runner

1933 - David McCullough, American historian and author

1937 - Tung Chee-Hwa, Hong Kong administrator

1940 - Ringo Starr, English drummer and singer (The Beatles)

1941 - Michael Howard, British politician

1941 - Bill Oddie, English comedian and ornithologist

1942 - Carmen Duncan, Australian actress

1943 - Toto Cutugno, Italian singer

1945 - Michael Ancram, British politician

1947 - Howard Rheingold, American author

1947 - Rob Townsend, English drummer (Family)

1949 - Shelley Duvall, American actress

1955 - Len Barker, Major League Baseball player, pitcher of 10th ever perfect game

1958 - Prince Rogers Nelson, Recording Artist

1959 - Ben Linder, American engineer (murdered) (d. 1987)

1963 - Vonda Shepard, American singer

1965 - Paula Devicq, Canadian actress

1965 - Mo Collins, American actress

1966 - Gundula Krause, German folk violinist

1967 - Jackie Neal, American singer

1968 - Jeff VanderMeer, American writer

1969 - Joe Sakic, Canadian hockey player

1969 - Cree Summer, Canadian voice actress and singer

1970 - Wayne McCullough, Irish boxer

1970 - Erik Zabel, German cyclist

1973 - Jose Jimenez, baseball player

1974 - Karlis Skrastins, Latvian-born hockey player

1975 - Michael Voss, Australian footballer

1980 - Deidre Downs, American beauty queen

1980 - Michelle Kwan, American figure skater

1981 - Synyster Gates, American musician (Avenged Sevenfold)

1982 - Mike Glita, American bassist (Senses Fail)

1988 - Kaci Brown, American singer

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1304 - Pope Benedict XI (b. 1240)

1307 - King Edward I of England (b. 1239)

1537 - Madeleine de Valois, queen of James V of Scotland (b. 1520)

1572 - King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland (b. 1520)

1573 - Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola, Italian architect (b. 1507)

1647 - Thomas Hooker, Connecticut colonist (b. 1586)

1663 - Thomas Baltzar, German violinist

1701 - William Stoughton, American judge at the Salem witch trials (b. 1631)

1713 - Henry Compton, Bishop of Oxford and privy councillor (b. 1632)

1764 - William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath, English politician (b. 1683)

1776 - Jeremiah Markland, English classical scholar (b. 1693)

1790 - François Hemsterhuis, Dutch philosopher (b. 1721)

1816 - Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Irish playwright and politician (b. 1751)

1855 - Konstantin Batyushkov, Russian poet (b. 1787)

1865 - Mary Surratt, Lincoln conspirator (b. 1823)

1865 - Lewis Paine, Lincoln conspirator (b. 1844)

1865 - David Herold, Lincoln conspirator (b. 1842)

1865 - George Atzerodt, Lincoln conspirator (b. 1833)

1878 - Yegor Ivanovich Zolotarev, Russian mathematician (b. 1847)

1880 - Lydia Child, American novelist and abolitionist (b. 1802)

1890 - Henri Nestlé, Founder of Nestlé S.A. (b. 1814)

1901 - Johanna Spyri, Swiss author (b. 1827)

1913 - Edward Burd Grubb, American Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General (b.1841)

1930 - Arthur Conan Doyle, Scottish writer (b. 1859)

1932 - Alexander Grin, Russian novelist (b. 1880)

1949 - Bunk Johnson, American musician (b. 1879 or 1889)

1956 - Gottfried Benn, German poet (b. 1886)

1964 - Lillian Copeland, American athlete (b. 1904)

1965 - Moshe Sharett, 2nd Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1894)

1971 - Claude Gauvreau, Canadian writer (b. 1925)

1971 - Ub Iwerks, American artist, director, and cartoonist (b1901)

1972 - Athenagoras, Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 1886)

1972 - King Talal of Jordan (b. 1909)

1973 - Max Horkheimer, German philosopher and sociologist (b. 1895)

1973 - Veronica Lake, American actress (b. 1919)

1975 - Ruffian, American thoroughbred racehorse (b. 1972)

1980 - Dore Schary, American film producer and writer (b. 1905)

1990 - Bill Cullen, American game show host (b. 1920)

1993 - Mia Zapata, American singer with The Gits (b. 1965)

2000 - Kenny Irwin, Jr., American race car driver (b. 1969)

2001 - Fred Neil, American singer-songwriter (b. 1936)

2003 - Izhak Graziani, Bulgarian-born conductor (b. 1924)

2006 - Juan de Ávalos, Spanish sculptor (b. 1911)

2006 - Tom Weir, Scottish climber, author and broadcaster (b. 1914)

2006 - Syd Barrett, British musician, former member of Pink Floyd. (b. 1946)