[Edit]

top

48 BC - Caesar's civil war: Battle of Pharsalus - Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus and Pompey flees to Egypt.

378 - Gothic War: Battle of Adrianople - A large Roman army led by Emperor Valens is defeated by the Visigoths in present-day Turkey. Valens is killed along with ⅔ of his army.

681 - Bulgaria is founded as a Khanate on the south bank of the Danube, after defeating the Byzantine armies of Emperor Constantine IV south of the Danube delta.

1048 - Pope Damasus II dies in Rome, after reigning for only 23 days.

1173 - Construction of the (Leaning) Tower of Pisa begins, and it takes two centuries to complete.

1483 - Opening of the Sistine Chapel

1842 - Webster-Ashburton Treaty is signed, establishing the United States-Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains.

1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Cedar Mountain - At Cedar Mountain, Virginia, Confederate General Stonewall Jackson narrowly defeats Union forces under General John Pope.

1877 - Indian Wars: Battle of Big Hole - A small band of Nez Percé Indians clash with the United States Army.

1892 - Thomas Edison receives a patent for a two-way telegraph.

1902 - Edward VII is crowned king of the United Kingdom.

1930 - Betty Boop premiered in her first cartoon, Dizzy Dishes.

1936 - Summer Olympic Games: Games of the XI Olympiad: Jesse Owens wins his fourth gold medal at the games becoming the first American to win four medals in one Olympic Games.

1942 - Indian leader, Mohandas Gandhi is arrested in Bombay by British forces, launching the Quit India Movement.

1942 - World War II: Battle of Savo Island - Allied naval forces protecting their amphibious forces during the initial stages of the Battle of Guadalcanal are surprised and defeated by an Imperial Japanese Navy cruiser force.

1944 - The United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council release posters featuring Smokey Bear for the first time.

1945 - World War II: An atomic bomb, codenamed Fat Man, is dropped on the city of Nagasaki, Japan killing an estimated 70,000-90,000 people.

1965 - Singapore seceded from Malaysia.

1965 - Space disasters: A fire at a Titan missile base near Little Rock, Arkansas kills 53 construction workers.

1967 - Vietnam War: Operation Cochise initiated - United States Marines begin a new operation in the Que Son Valley.

1969 - Members of a cult led by Charles Manson brutally murder Sharon Tate, Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Jay Sebring, and Steven Parent at 10050 Cielo Drive in Los Angeles.

1969 - Popular attraction The Haunted Mansion opens in Disneyland.

1974 - As a direct result of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon becomes the first President of the United States to resign from office. His Vice President, Gerald Ford, becomes president.

1983 - Peter Jennings hosts his first broadcast of ABC's World News Tonight as sole anchor.

1986 - The Headington Shark is erected in Oxford.

1986 - Knebworth Park, Stevenage, UK sees the final live performance of rock band Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury.

1987 - 9 people are shot dead and 17 more injured as 19-year old Julian Knight opens fire at random in the Hoddle Street Massacre in Clifton Hill

1988 - Wayne Gretzky is traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings in one of the most controversial transactions in hockey history.

1988 - Baseball's all-day-game era officially came to an end when the Cubs beat the Mets 6-4 in Wrigley Field's first night game.

1989 - Kaifu Toshiki becomes Prime Minister of Japan.

1993 - The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan loses a 38-year hold on national leadership.

1993 - King Albert II of Belgium is sworn into office.

1994 - Dilbert is drawn with his necktie down, signifying that he "lost his innocence" with Liz.

1995 - Netscape launches IPO.

1999 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin fires his Prime Minister, Sergei Stepashin, and for the fourth time fires his entire cabinet.

1999 - The Diet of Japan enacts a law establishing the Hinomaru and Kimi Ga Yo as the official national flag and national anthem.

2000 - A Piper Navajo and a Piper Seminole collide in mid-air over a housing development in Burlington, New Jersey, killing 11

2001 - US President George W. Bush announces his support for federal funding of limited research on embryonic stem cells.

2001 - In Jerusalem, 15 people die and 130 are wounded in the Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing.

2005 - Space Shuttle program: STS-114 Mission - Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' successfully lands at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

2005 - A chemical plant explosion happened at the EQ Recovery Plant in Romulus, Michigan, forcing residence within 1 to 1⅓ mile radius from the plant to evacuate.

2006 - Mexican fishermen get rescued near the Marshall Islands after being lost nine months in the sea, eating raw fish and birds.

top

1201 - Arnold Fitz Thedmar, English chronicler (d. 1274)

1593 - Izaak Walton, English angler (d. 1683)

1631 - John Dryden, English Poet Laureate (d. 1700)

1648 - Johann Michael Bach, German composer (d. 1694)

1653 - John Oldham, English poet (d. 1683)

1674 - František Maxmilián Kaňka, Czech architect (d. 1766)

1722 - Augustus William, Prince of Prussia (d. 1758)

1726 - Francesco Cetti, Italian Jesuit scientist (d. 1778)

1757 - Thomas Telford, Scottish civil engineer (d. 1834)

1776 - Amedeo Avogadro, Italian chemist (d. 1856)

1797 - Charles Robert Malden, British naval officer (d. 1855)

1805 - Joseph Locke, English railway and civil engineer (d. 1860)

1845 - André Besette, Canadian religious figure (d. 1937)

1871 - Leonid Andreyev, Russian writer (d. 1919)

1872 - Archduke Joseph August of Austria, Austrian field marshal (d. 1962)

1874 - Reynaldo Hahn, Venezuelan composer and conductor (d. 1947)

1896 - Jean Piaget, Swiss psychologist (d. 1980)

1896 - Lev Vygotsky, Russian psychologist (d. 1934)

1896 - Erich Hückel, German physicist (d. 1980)

1899 - P. L. Travers, Australian author (d. 1996)

1901 - Charles Farrell, American actor (d. 1990)

1902 - Zino Francescatti, French violinist (d. 1991)

1909 - Adam von Trott zu Solz, German diplomat opposing the Nazi regime (executed) (d. 1944)

1911 - William Alfred Fowler, American physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1996)

1914 - Tove Jansson, Finnish author, the creator of the Moomins (d. 2001)

1914 - Ferenc Fricsay, Hungarian conductor (d. 1963)

1919 - Joop den Uyl, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1987)

1919 - Ralph Houk, baseball player and manager

1920 - Enzo Biagi, Italian journalist and writer

1921 - J. James Exon, American politician, 36th Governor of Nebraska & United States Senator from Nebraska

1922 - Philip Larkin, English poet (d. 1985)

1925 - David A. Huffman, Creator of Huffman coding (d. 1999)

1927 - Daniel Keyes, American author

1927 - Robert Shaw, English actor (d. 1978)

1928 - Bob Cousy, American basketball player

1931 - Mário Zagallo, Brazilian football coach and player

1931 - Chuck Essegian, baseball player

1933 - Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, Japanese television personality and children's author

1936 - Julián Javier, baseball player

1938 - Leonid Kuchma, Ukrainian politician

1938 - Rod Laver, Australian tennis player

1939 - Romano Prodi, Prime Minister of Italy, former President of the European Commission

1939 - Brito, Brazilian footballer

1940 - Beverlee McKinsey, American actress

1942 - Tommie Agee, Baseball player (d. 2001)

1943 - Ken Norton, American boxer

1944 - Sam Elliott, American actor

1945 - Posy Simmonds, English cartoonist

1948 - Bill Campbell, baseball player

1949 - Jonathan Kellerman, American writer

1952 - Prateep Ungsongtham Hata, Thai politician

1957 - Melanie Griffith, American actress

1959 - Kurtis Blow, American rapper

1959 - Stuart Hughes, Canadian actor

1961 - Amy Stiller, American actress

1962 - Kevin Mack, American football player

1962 - Louis Lipps, American football player

1963 - Whitney Houston, American singer and actress

1964 - Brett Hull, Canadian-born hockey player

1967 - Deion Sanders, American football player

1968 - Gillian Anderson, American actress

1968 - Eric Bana, Australian actor

1968 - Karyn Parsons, American actress

1969 - Troy Percival, baseball player

1970 - Rod Brind'Amour, hockey player

1970 - Arion Salazar, American musician (Third Eye Blind)

1971 - Davide Rebellin, Italian cyclist

1972 - Juanes, Colombian singer

1972 - A-Mei, Taiwanese singer

1973 - Kevin McKidd, Scottish actor

1973 - Filippo Inzaghi, Italian footballer

1974 - Mahesh Babu, Indian film actor

1974 - Matt Morris, baseball player

1976 - Jessica Capshaw, American actress

1976 - Rhona Mitra, English actress

1976 - Audrey Tautou, French actress

1977 - Chamique Holdsclaw, American basketball player

1977 - Mikael Silvestre, French footballer

1985 - Hayley Peirsol, American swimmer

1994 - Forrest Landis, American actor

top

117 - Trajan, Roman Emperor (b. 53)

378 - Valens, Roman Emperor (killed in battle) (b. 328)

803 - Byzantine Empress Irene

1107 - Emperor Horikawa of Japan (b. 1079)

1173 - Najm ad-Din Ayyub, father of Saladin

1250 - King Eric IV of Denmark (b. 1216)

1534 - Cardinal Cajetan, Italian theologian (b. 1470)

1601 - Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia (b. 1558)

1634 - William Noy, English jurist (b. 1577)

1720 - Simon Ockley, English orientalist (b. 1678)

1744 - James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, English patron of the arts (b. 1673)

1837 - Xavier Sigalon, French painter (b. 1787)

1886 - Samuel Ferguson, Northern Irish poet and artist (b. 1810)

1919 - Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (b. 1857)

1942 - Edith Stein, (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) (executed) (b. 1891)

1945 - Harry Hillman, American athlete (b. 1881)

1945 - Robert Hampton Gray, last Canadian Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1917)

1962 - Hermann Hesse, German-born writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1877)

1967 - Joe Orton, English writer (b. 1933)

1969 - Abigail Folger, American heiress (murdered) (b. 1943)

1969 - Wojciech Frykowski, Polish writer (murdered) (b. 1936)

1969 - Cecil Frank Powell, British physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1903)

1969 - Jay Sebring, American hair stylist (murdered) (b. 1933)

1969 - Sharon Tate, American actress (murdered) (b. 1943)

1969 - Steven Parent, American student (murdered) (b. 1951))

1975 - Dmitri Shostakovich, Russian composer (b. 1906)

1979 - Walter O'Malley, baseball executive (b. 1903)

1985 - Clive Churchill, Australian rugby league player (b. 1927)

1988 - Giacinto Scelsi, Italian composer (b. 1905)

1995 - Jerry Garcia, American guitarist (Grateful Dead) (b. 1942)

1996 - Sir Frank Whittle, invented the jet engine (b. 1907)

1999 - Fouad Serageddin, Egyptian politican (b. 1910)

2000 - John Harsanyi, Hungarian-born economist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1920)

2002 - Paul Samson, British guitarist (Samson) (b. 1953)

2002 - Peter Neville, anarchist, sociologist, and peace activist

2003 - Ray Harford, English footballer and manager (b. 1945)

2003 - Gregory Hines, American actor and dancer (b. 1946)

2005 - Matthew McGrory, American actor (b. 1973)

2005 - Judith Rossner, American novelist (b. 1935)

2006 - James van Allen, American physicist (b. 1914)

2006 - Philip E. High, Science fiction author (b. 1914)

top

Singapore: National Day

National Women's Day in South Africa

---

top

Liturgical feasts

Feast day of the great martyr Saint Panteleimon in Russian Orthodox Church
Roman Catholicism

Saint Auctor, bishop of Metz Metz
Saint Domitian, bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne), confessor Châlons-sur-Marne
Saint Fedlimin/Felimy, bishop of Kilmore
Saint Herneus, abbot, confessor LeMans
Saint Jean Vianney
Saint Lawrence (Vigil) common
Saint Maurilius
Saint Nathy (David), bishop of Achonry
Saint Romanus, martyr common (Romanus Ostiarius, died 258)
Saint Secundianus and companions, martyrs Meaux
Blessed Ceferino Jimenez Malla
St. Edith Stein, died 1942