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1537 - The Honourable Artillery Company, the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior, is formed.

1580 - Battle of Alcantara. Spain defeats Portugal.

1609 - Galileo Galilei demonstrates his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers.

1718 - New Orleans, Louisiana is founded.

1758 - Seven Years' War: Frederick II of Prussia defeats the Russian army at the Battle of Zorndorf.

1768 - James Cook begins his first voyage.

1814 - Washington, D.C. is burned and White House is destroyed by British forces during the War of 1812.

1825 - Uruguay declares its independence from Brazil.

1830 - Belgium revolts from the Netherlands.

1835 - The New York Sun perpetrates the Great Moon Hoax.

1894 - Shibasaburo Kitasato discovers the infectious agent of the bubonic plague and publishes his findings in The Lancet.

1910 - Yellow Cab is founded.

1912 - The Kuomintang, the Chinese nationalist party, is founded.

1914 - Japan declares war on Germany, during World War I.

1916 - The United States National Park Service is created.

1920 - Polish-Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw, started on August 13, now ends. The Red Army is defeated.

1942 - World War II: Battle of Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea.

1942 - World War II: Second day of the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. A Japanese naval transport convoy headed towards Guadalcanal is turned-back by Allied air attack, losing one destroyer and one transport sunk, and one light cruiser heavily damaged.

1944 - World War II: Paris is liberated by the Allies.

1950 - President Harry Truman orders the US Army to seize control of the nation's railroads to avert a strike.

1988 - The historical center of Lisbon is destroyed by a fire.

1989 - Tadeusz Mazowiecki chosen as the first non-communist Prime Minister in Central and Eastern Europe.

1989 - Voyager 2 spacecraft flies by Neptune, the outermost planet in the Solar System.

1989 - Mayumi Moriyama becomes Japan's first female cabinet secretary.

1991 - Belarus declares independence from the Soviet Union

1997 - Egon Krenz, the former East German leader, was convicted of a shoot-to-kill Berlin Wall policy.

2000 - Korean pop star BoA debuts on SBS Popular Song, with her first single ID; Peace B at the age of 13.

2003 - The Tli Cho land claims agreement is signed between the Dogrib First Nations and the Canadian federal government in Rae-Edzo (now called Behchoko).

2003 - Fifty-two people killed in two terrorist bomb blasts in Mumbai, India.

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1530 - Tsar Ivan IV of Russia (d. 1584)

1561 - Philippe van Lansberge, Dutch astronomer (d. 1632)

1624 - François de la Chaise, French confessor of Louis XIV of France (d. 1709)

1662 - John Leverett the Younger, American President of Harvard (d. 1724)

1719 - Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo, French painter (d. 1795)

1724 - George Stubbs, British painter (d. 1806)

1744 - Johann Gottfried Herder, German writer (d. 1803)

1767 - Antoine Louis Léon de Richebourg de Saint-Just, French revolutionary and writer (d. 1794)

1772 - King William I of the Netherlands (d. 1843)

1786 - King Ludwig I of Bavaria (d. 1868)

1796 - James Lick, California land baron (d. 1876)

1802 - Nikolaus Lenau, Austrian poet (d. 1850)

1819 - Allan Pinkerton, American private detective (d. 1884)

1836 - Bret Harte, American writer (d. 1902)

1841 - Emil Kocher, Swiss medical researcher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1917)

1845 - King Ludwig II of Bavaria (d. 1886)

1867 - James W. Gerard, American jurist and diplomat (d. 1951)

1882 - Sean O'Kelly, President of Ireland (d. 1966)

1893 - Henry Trendley Dean, American dental researcher (d. 1962)

1898 - Helmut Hasse, German mathematican (d. 1975)

1900 - Sir Hans Adolf Krebs, German physician and biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1981)

1902 - Stefan Wolpe, German-born composer (d. 1972)

1903 - Arpad Elo, American physicist and chess player, developer of Elo rating system (d. 1992)

1905 - Saint Faustina, Polish religious (d. 1938)

1909 - Ruby Keeler, Canadian singer and actress (d. 1993)

1909 - Michael Rennie, English actor (d. 1971)

1912 - Erich Honecker, head of state of East Germany (d. 1994)

1913 - Walt Kelly, American cartoonist (d. 1973)

1915 - Walter Trampler, American violist (d. 1997)

1913 - Bob Crosby, American bandleader (d. 1993)

1913 - Don DeFore, American actor (d. 1993)

1916 - Van Johnson, American actor

1916 - Frederick Chapman Robbins, American pediatrician and virologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2003)

1917 - Mel Ferrer, American actor

1918 - Leonard Bernstein, American conductor, composer, educator and pianist (d. 1990)

1918 - Richard Greene, English actor (d. 1985)

1919 - George Wallace, Governor of Alabama (d. 1998)

1921 - Monty Hall, Canadian-born game show host

1921 - Brian Moore, Irish-born writer (d. 1999)

1921 - Bryce Mackasey, Canadian politician (d. 1999)

1927 - Althea Gibson, American tennis player (d. 2003)

1928 - Herbert Kroemer, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

1928 - Darrell Johnson, American baseball player (d. 2004)

1930 - Sir Sean Connery, British actor

1931 - Regis Philbin, American television host

1931 - Hal Fishman, American news anchor

1933 - Wayne Shorter, American musician

1933 - Tom Skerritt, American actor

1934 - Lise Bacon, French Canadian politician

1935 - Charles Wright, American poet

1938 - David Canary, American actor

1938 - Frederick Forsyth, English author

1939 - John Badham, American film director

1940 - José Van Dam, Belgian baritone

1944 - Anthony Heald, American actor

1944 - Conrad Black, newspaper magnate

1944 - Jacques Demers, National Hockey League coach

1946 - Rollie Fingers, baseball player

1947 - Anne Archer, American actress

1949 - Martin Amis, English novelist

1949 - John Savage, American actor

1949 - Gene Simmons, Israeli-born bassist and singer (KISS (band))

1951 - Rob Halford, English singer (Judas Priest)

1952 - Geoff Downes, English keyboardist (Buggles, Yes, Asia)

1954 - Elvis Costello, English musician

1958 - Tim Burton, American film director, producer, and screenwriter

1961 - Billy Ray Cyrus, American singer and actor

1962 - David Packer, American actor

1964 - Maxim Kontsevich, Russian mathematician

1964 - Blair Underwood, American actor

1965 - Mia Zapata, American punk rock singer (The Gits) (d. 1994)

1966 - Albert Belle, Major League Baseball player

1967 - Jeff Tweedy, American alt-country singer (Wilco)

1968 - Rafet El Roman, Turkish singer and composer

1968 - Stuart Murdoch, Scottish musician (Belle & Sebastian)

1968 - Rachael Ray, American cook and television host

1968 - Spider One, American singer and musician (Powerman 5000)

1969 - Cameron Mathison, Canadian actor

1970 - Robert Horry, American basketball player

1970 - Claudia Schiffer, German model

1971 - Mike Lockwood, professional wrestler (d. 2003)

1972 - Marvin Harrison, American football player

1973 - Dave Chappelle, African American actor, comedian

1974 - Eric Millegan, American actor

1976 - Alexander Skarsgård, Swedish actor

1978 - Franck Queudrue, French footballer

1978 - Kel Mitchell, American actor

1981 - Rachel Bilson, American actress

1983 - Chihiro Geuzebroek, Dutch author

1987 - Stacey Farber, Canadian actress

1987 - James Wesolowski, Australian footballer

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383 - Gratian, Roman Emperor (b. 359)

471 - Gennadius I, Patriarch of Constantinople

1192 - Hugh III, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1142)

1270 - King Louis IX of France

1282 - Thomas Cantilupe, English saint

1330 - James Douglas, Scottish soldier (b. 1286)

1482 - Margaret of Anjou, queen of Henry VI of England (b. 1429)

1554 - Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, English politician (b. 1473)

1632 - Thomas Dekker, English dramatist

1650 - Richard Crashaw, English poet

1688 - Henry Morgan, Welsh privateer

1699 - King Christian V of Denmark (b. 1646)

1711 - Edward Villiers, 1st Earl of Jersey, English politician

1742 - Carlos Seixas, Portuguese composer (b. 1704)

1774 - Niccolò Jommelli, Italian composer (b. 1714)

1776 - David Hume, Scottish philosopher and historian (b. 1711)

1792 - Jacques Cazotte, French writer (b. 1719)

1822 - William Herschel, German-born astronomer (b. 1738)

1867 - Michael Faraday, English scientist (b. 1791)

1900 - Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher (b. 1844)

1900 - Kuroda Kiyotaka, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1840)

1904 - Henri Fantin-Latour, French painter (b. 1836)

1908 - Henri Becquerel, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)

1925 - Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, Austro-Hungarian field marshal (b. 1852)

1938 - Aleksandr Kuprin, Russian writer (b. 1870)

1939 - Babe Siebert, National Hockey League player (b. 1904)

1942 - George Edward Alexander Windsor, Duke of Kent (b. 1902)

1945 - John Birch, American intelligence officer and missionary (b. 1918)

1950 - Earl Caddock, Professional wrestler

1956 - Alfred Kinsey, American research biologist (b. 1894)

1967 - Stanley Bruce, eighth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1883)

1967 - Paul Muni, Polish actor (b. 1895)

1967 - George Lincoln Rockwell, American Nazi Party leader (b. 1918)

1971 - Ted Lewis, American musician and entertainer (b. 1890)

1976 - Eyvind Johnson, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900)

1979 - Stan Kenton, American musician and bandleader (b. 1911)

1980 - Gower Champion, American dancer, actor, and choreographer (b. 1919)

1984 - Truman Capote, American author (b. 1924)

1984 - Waite Hoyt, baseball player (b. 1899)

1984 - Viktor Chukarin, Soviet gymnast (b. 1921)

1985 - Samantha Smith, American social activist (b. 1972)

1990 - Morley Callaghan, Canadian writer (b. 1903)

2000 - Carl Barks, American cartoonist (b. 1901)

2000 - Jack Nitzsche, American record producer (b. 1937)

2001 - Aaliyah, American singer and actress (b. 1979)

2001 - Carl Brewer, National Hockey League defenseman (b. 1938)

2002 - Dorothy Hewett, Australian writer (b. 1923)

2005 - Peter Glotz, German politician (b. 1939)

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Roman festivals - Opiconsivia held in honor of Ops.

Roman Catholic Saints - Genesius of Arles, Saint Louis IX of France, Saint Joseph Calasanz.

Uruguay - National Day (independence from Brazil in 1825).

Philippines - National Heroes' Day.