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1178 BC - A solar eclipse may have marked the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom after the Trojan War.

73 - Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the Jewish Revolt.

529 - Codex Iustinianeus is issued.

1071 - Bari falls to Robert Guiscard, ending Byzantine rule in Italy.

1395 - Azzo X d'Este is defeated at the Battle of Castelmaggiore by Venetian-Ferrarese troops.

1521 - Martin Luther's first appearance before the Diet of Worms to be examined by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the rest of the estates of the empire.

1582 - Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina.

1746 - Battle of Culloden

1780 - The University of Münster in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany is founded.

1799 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Mount Tabor – Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre.

1853 - The first passenger rail opens in India, from Bori Bunder, Bombay to Thane.

1862 - American Civil War: Battle at Lee's Mills in Virginia.

1862 - American Civil War: A bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia became law.

1863 - American Civil War: Siege of Vicksburg – 12 ships led by Union Admiral David Dixon Porter move through heavy Confederate artillery fire on approach to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Only one ship is lost.

1881 - In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.

1912 - Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.

1917 - Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd (present-day Saint Petersburg) from exile in Finland.

1919 - Mohandas Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the British slaughter of Indian protestors in the Amritsar Massacre.

1922 - The Treaty of Rapallo, in which Germany and the Soviet Union re-establish diplomatic relations between Berlin and Moscow, is signed.

1925 - the Communist St Nedelya Church assault in Sofia claims the lives of 150 and injures another 500.

1926 - Lolly Willows by Sylvia Townsend Warner is distributed as the first Book-of-the-Month Club selection.

1935 - Radio program Fibber McGee and Molly debuts.

1941 - World War II: The Italian convoy Duisburg, directed to Tunisia, is attacked and destroyed by British ships.

1943 - Dr. Albert Hofmann discovers the psychedelic effects of LSD.

1945 - The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces around Berlin.

1945 - The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) Prisoner of War camp Oflag IVc .

1945 - German ship Goya, overfilled with refugees, sinks after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, killing more than 7,000 people.

1946 - Syria gains independence.

1947 - Texas City Disaster: An explosion on board a freighter in port causes the city of Texas City, Texas, to catch fire, killing almost 600.

1947 - Bernard Baruch coins the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.

1953 - Queen Elizabeth II launches the Royal Yacht Britannia.

1963 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pens his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation.

1964 - Sentences totalling 307 years were passed on 12 men who stole £2.6m in used bank notes after holding up the night mail train travelling from Glasgow to London in August of 1963 - a heist that became known as the Great Train Robbery.

1972 - Apollo program: Apollo 16 launches toward the Moon from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

1972 - Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive – Prompted by the North Vietnamese offensive, the United States resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong.

1987 - British Conservative MP Harvey Proctor appears at Bow Street Magistrates' Court in central London charged with gross indecency.

1988 - In Forlì (Italy), Red Brigades kill Italian senator Roberto Ruffilli, an advisor of Prime Minister Ciriaco de Mita.

1992 - The Katina P. runs aground off of Maputo, Mozambique. 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean.

1998 - The Nashville Tornado of 1998, one of the most serious urban tornadoes in history, kills one and significantly damages downtown Nashville, Tennessee.

2002 - Bernd Pischetsrieder, former head of the BMW automobile company, becomes the seventh German chief executive officer of Volkswagen.

2003 - The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting 10 new member states to the European Union.

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778 - King Louis the Pious (d. 840)

1319 - King John II of France (d. 1364)

1495 - Petrus Apianus, German mathematician (d. 1557)

1646 - Jules Hardouin Mansart, French architect (d. 1708)

1660 - Hans Sloane, British collector and physician (d. 1753)

1661 - Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, British poet and statesman (d. 1715)

1682 - John Hadley, British inventor (d. 1744)

1728 - Joseph Black, Scottish chemist (d. 1799)

1730 - Henry Clinton, British general (d. 1795)

1755 - Élisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun, French painter (d. 1842)

1800 - George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan, British soldier (d. 1888)

1823 - Ferdinand Eisenstein, German mathematician (d. 1852)

1844 - Anatole France, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1924)

1859 - Winifred Cochrane, Countess of Dundonald, philanthropist (d. 1924)

1865 - Henry George Chauvel, Australian general (d. 1945)

1867 - Wilbur Wright, American aviation pioneer (d. 1912)

1871 - John Millington Synge, Irish writer (d. 1909)

1878 - Tip Foster, English cricketer (d. 1914)

1886 - Ernst Thälmann, German politician (d. 1944)

1889 - Charles Chaplin, English actor, writer, and film producer (d. 1977)

1904 - Fifi D'Orsay, Canadian actress (d. 1983)

1905 - Frits Philips, Dutch businessman (d. 2005)

1907 - August Eigruber, Austrian war criminal (d. 1947)

1912 - Garth Williams, American illustrator (d. 1996)

1912 - Catherine Scorsese, Italian-American actress (d. 1997)

1915 - Gerard McLarnon, Irish playwright (d. 1997)

1918 - Spike Milligan, British comedian (d. 2002)

1918 - Joan Alexander, American actress

1919 - Merce Cunningham, American dancer and choreographer

1919 - Tom Willmore, English geometer (d. 2005)

1921 - Peter Ustinov, English actor (d. 2004)

1922 - Kingsley Amis, English author (d. 1995)

1924 - Henry Mancini, American composer (d. 1994)

1927 - Edie Adams, American actress

1927 - Pope Benedict XVI

1927 - Peter Mark Richman, American actor

1928 - Dick Lane, American football player (d. 2002)

1930 - Herbie Mann, American jazz flute player (d. 2003)

1933 - Joan Bakewell, British broadcaster

1935 - Sarah Kirsch, German poet

1935 - Bobby Vinton, American singer

1937 - Joseph Whipp, American actor

1939 - Dusty Springfield, English singer (d. 1999)

1940 - Margrethe II of Denmark, queen regnant

1942 - Frank Williams Formula 1 constructor

1943 - Ruth Madoc, British actress

1944 - Omar Chkhaidze, Russian painter

1946 - Margot Adler, American journalist

1947 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, American basketball player

1947 - Gerry Rafferty, British musician and songwriter

1949 - Melody Patterson, American actress

1951 - Pierre Toutain-Dorbec, French photographer, painter, sculptor

1951 - Ioan Mihai Cochinescu, Romanian writer and photographer

1951 - Björgvin Halldórsson, Icelandic singer

1952 - Bill Belichick, American football coach

1952 - Billy West, American voice actor

1953 - Peter Garrett, Australian musician (Midnight Oil)

1953 - J. Neil Schulman, American writer

1954 - Ellen Barkin, American actress

1955 - Bruce Bochy, baseball player and manager

1956 - Lise-Marie Morerod, Swiss skier

1959 - Alison Ramsay, Scottish field hockey player

1960 - Rafael Benítez, Spanish football manager

1960 - Pierre Littbarski, German football player

1961 - Doris Dragović, Croatian singer

1962 - Ian MacKaye, American musician, (Fugazi and Minor Threat)

1963 - Jimmy Osmond, American pop singer (The Osmonds)

1964 - Dave Pirner, American rock singer (Soul Asylum)

1965 - Jon Cryer, American actor

1965 - Martin Lawrence, American actor

1971 - Selena, American singer (d. 1995)

1973 - Bonnie Pink, Japanese singer

1975 - Sean Maher, American actor

1976 - Lukas Haas, American actor

1977 - Fredrik Ljungberg, Swedish footballer

1978 - Matthew Lloyd, Australian football player

1979 - Howlin' Pelle Almqvist, Swedish musician (The Hives)

1979 - Christijan Albers, Formula 1 driver

1980 - Paul London, American professional wrestler

1982 - Boris Diaw, French basketball player

1983 - Cat Osterman, University of Texas softball pitcher

1985 - Mark Baker, Author and historian

1987 - Fabiola Gatti, American singer (Fabs)

1987 - Aaron Lennon, British footballer

1994 - Liliana Mumy, American actress

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69 - Otho, Roman Emperor (b. 32)

744 - al-Walid II, Umayyad caliph

924 - Berengar of Friuli, King of Italy

1113 - Sviatopolk II of Kiev, Russian prince (b. 1050)

1118 - Adelaide del Vasto, wife of Roger II of Sicily

1198 - Duke Frederick I of Austria

1645 - Tobias Hume, English composer

1687 - George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English statesman (b. 1628)

1689 - Aphra Behn, English dramatist

1783 - Christian Mayer, Czech astronomer (b. 1719)

1788 - Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, French naturalist (b. 1707)

1828 - Francisco de Goya, Spanish painter (b. 1746)

1846 - Domenico Dragonetti, Italian composer (b. 1763)

1859 - Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian (b. 1805)

1888 - Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski, Polish physicist (b. 1845)

1904 - Maximilian Kronberger, German poet (b. 1888)

1904 - Samuel Smiles, Scottish writer and reformer (b. 1812)

1914 - George William Hill, American astronomer (b. 1838)

1915 - Nelson W. Aldrich, U.S. Senator from Rhode Island (b. 1841)

1930 - José Carlos Mariátegui, Peruvian journalist, political philosopher and activist (b. 1894)

1938 - Steve Bloomer, English footballer (b. 1874)

1946 - Arthur Chevrolet, Swiss-born race car driver and automobile designer (b. 1884)

1947 - Rudolf Hoess, commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp (b. 1900)

1958 - Rosalind Franklin, British chemist (b. 1920)

1968 - Edna Ferber, American author (b. 1885)

1972 - Kawabata Yasunari, Japanese writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)

1978 - Lucius Clay, American general (b. 1897)

1985 - Scott Brady, American actor (b. 1924)

1991 - David Lean, British film director (b. 1908)

1992 - Neville Brand, American actor (b. 1920)

1994 - Ralph Ellison, American writer (b. 1913)

1995 - Iqbal Masih, Pakistani child slave labourer, activist (b. 1982)

1997 - Doris Angleton, American socialite (b. 1951)

1997 - Roland Topor, French illustrator (b. 1938)

1998 - Fred Davis, English snooker player (b. 1913)

1998 - Alberto Calderón, Argentine mathematician (b. 1920)

2001 - Michael Ritchie, American film director (b. 1920)

2001 - Alec Stock, English football manager (b. 1917)

2002 - Ruth Fertel, American restaurateur (b. 1927)

2002 - Robert Urich, American actor (b. 1946)

2003 - Graham Stuart Thomas, English author and garden designer (b. 1909)

2005 - Kay Walsh, British actress (b. 1911)

2005 - Marla Ruzicka, American humanitarian worker and peace activist (b. 1976)

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Birthday of the Danish sovereign, Queen Margrethe, celebrated in Greenland.

Mawlid in Shi'a Islam (2006).

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Liturgical Feast days
in the Roman Catholic Church:

Saint Benedict Joseph Labre
Saint Drogo.
Saint Fructuosus
Saint Paternus
Saint Turibius
Saints Martial, Urban, Eventius, Caecilian, Julia, and their companions, martyrs of 304
Blessed Hervé of Tours
Saint Bernadette