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1354 - Treaty of Stralsund settles border disputes between the duchies of Mecklenburg and Pomerania.

1429 - English Forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orleans from attack by the Comte de Clermont and John Stuart in the Battle of Rouvray (also known as the Battle of the Herrings).

1541 - Santiago, Chile is founded by Pedro de Valdivia.

1554 - A year after claiming the throne of England for nine days, Lady Jane Grey is beheaded for treason.

1689 - The Convention Parliament convenes and declares that the flight to France in 1688 by James II, the last Catholic British monarch, constitutes an abdication.

1719 - The Onderlinge van 1719 u.a., the oldest existing life insurance company in the Netherlands is founded.

1733 - Englishman James Oglethorpe founds the 13^th United States colony of Georgia, and its first city at Savannah.

1737 - The San Carlo, the oldest working opera house in Europe, is inaugurated.

1771 - Gustav III becomes the King of Sweden when his father Adolf Frederick "eats himself to death".

1817 - Argentine/Chilean patriotic army, after crossing the Andes, defeat Spanish troops on the battle of Chacabuco.

1818 - Bernardo O'Higgins signs the Independence of Chile near Concepción.

1825 - The Creek cede the last of their lands in Georgia to the United States government, and migrate west.

1832 - Ecuador annexes the Galápagos Islands.

1870 - Women gain the right to vote in Utah Territory.

1879 - At New York City's Madison Square Garden the first artificial ice rink in North America opens.

1892 - Former President Abraham Lincoln's birthday is declared a national holiday in the United States.

1894 - Anarchist Emile Henry hurls a bomb into Paris's Cafe Terminus, killing one and wounding 20.

1909 - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded.

1912 - Xuantong Emperor of the Manchu Qing dynasty, the last Emperor of China, abdicates.

1912 - the Republic of China adopts the Gregorian calendar.

1915 - In Washington, DC, the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial is put into place.

1924 - Premiere of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with Paul Whiteman's Palais Royal Orchestra in Aeolian Hall in New York City

1924 - Calvin Coolidge becomes the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio.

1934 - The Austrian Civil War begins.

1934 - The Export-Import Bank of the United States is incorporated.

1934 - In Spain the national council of Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista is inaugurated. The council decides to merge the movement with the Falange Española.

1946 - Operation Deadlight ends after scuttling 121 of 154 captured U-boats.

1947 - New Look launched by Christian Dior

1951 - Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari marries the Shah of Iran Reza Pahlavi at Golestan Palace in Teheran at the age of 17.

1966 - Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, announced famous Six Points in Karachi as election manifesto of Awami League that later led to formation of Bangladesh.

1973 - Ohio becomes the first U.S. state to post distance in SI units on signs.

1973 - Vietnam War: The first United States prisoners of war are released by the Viet Cong.

1997 - Hwang Jang-yop, secretary in the Workers' Party of Korea and a prime architect of North Korea's Juche doctrine, defects at the South Korean embassy in Beijing along with his aide, Kim Dok-hong.

1998 - The presidential line-item veto is declared unconstitutional by United States federal judge.

1999 - President Bill Clinton is acquitted by the United States Senate in his impeachment trial.

2001 - NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touchdown in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.

2002 - The trial of former President of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milošević begins at the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Milošević eventually dies before its conclusion.

2002 - Nuclear waste: US Secretary of Energy makes the decision that Yucca Mountain is suitable to be the United States' nuclear repository.

2002 - An Iran Air Tupolev Tu-154 crashes prior to landing in Khorramabad, Iran, killing 119.

2004 - On National Freedom to Marry Day, two days after Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco, California, issued a directive to the county clerk, the City and County of San Franciso begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

2004 - Mattel announced the split of Barbie and Ken.

2006 - A powerful Nor'easter Winter Storm blankets the Northeast United States dumping 1 to 2 feet of snow from Washington DC up to Boston, Massachusetts. The storm dumped a record 26.9 inches of snow in New York City.

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1074 - Conrad, King of Germany and Italy (d. 1101)

1218 - Kujo Yoritsune, Japanese shogun (d. 1256)

1567 - Thomas Campion, English composer and poet (d. 1620)

1606 - John Winthrop, the Younger, Governor of Connecticut (d. 1676)

1637 - Jan Swammerdam, Dutch scientist (d. 1680)

1663 - Cotton Mather, New England minister (d. 1728)

1665 - Rudolf Jakob Camerarius, German botanist and physician (d. 1721)

1704 - Charles Pinot Duclos, French writer (d. 1772)

1728 - Étienne-Louis Boullée, French architect (d. 1799)

1753 - François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers, French admiral (d. 1798)

1768 - Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1835)

1775 - Louisa Adams, First Lady of the United States, wife of John Quincy Adams (d. 1852)

1777 - Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, French poet (d. 1843)

1785 - Pierre Louis Dulong, French physicist (d. 1838)

1788 - Carl Reichenbach, German chemist and philosopher (d. 1869)

1794 - Alexander Petrov, Russian chess player (d. 1867)

1804 - Heinrich Lenz, German physicist (d. 1865)

1809 - Charles Darwin, English naturalist (d. 1882)

1809 - Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (d. 1865)

1818 - Otto Ludwig, German writer

1828 - George Meredith, English writer (d. 1909)

1857 - Bobby Peel, English cricketer (d. 1943).

1861 - Lou Andreas-Salome, Russian-born author (d. 1937)

1865 - Kazimierz Tetmajer, Polish poet and writer (d. 1940)

1876 - Thubten Gyatso, 13th Dalai Lama (d. 1933)

1880 - John L. Lewis, American labor union leader (d. 1969)

1881 - Anna Pavlova, Russian ballerina (d. 1931)

1884 - Max Beckmann, German painter and graphic artist (d. 1950)

1884 - Marie Vassilieff, Russian artist (d. 1957)

1893 - Omar Bradley, American general (d. 1981)

1897 - Vola Vale, American actress (d. 1970)

1898 - Wallace Ford, English-born actor (d. 1966)

1900 - Roger J. Traynor, American judge (d. 1980)

1903 - Chick Hafey, baseball player (d. 1973)

1904 - Ted Mack, American television host (d. 1976)

1908 - Jacques Herbrand, French logician-mathematician (d. 1931)

1908 - August Neo, Estonian wrestler (d. 1982)

1911 - Stephen H. Sholes, American recording executive (d. 1968)

1912 - R. F. Delderfield, English author (d. 1972)

1914 - Tex Beneke, American musician and band leader (d. 2000)

1915 - Lorne Greene, American actor (d. 1987)

1916 - Joseph Alioto, Mayor of San Francisco (d. 1998)

1917 - Raizo Matsuno, Japanese politician (d. 2006)

1918 - Julian Schwinger, American physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1994)

1919 - Forrest Tucker, American actor (d. 1986)

1920 - William Roscoe Estep, Baptist historian and professor (d. 2000)

1923 - Franco Zeffirelli, Italian film and opera director and designer

1925 - Sir Anthony Berry, British politician (d. 1984)

1926 - Joe Garagiola, baseball player

1926 - Paul Kurtz, American philosopher

1926 - Charles Van Doren, American quiz show contestant

1930 - Arlen Specter, American politician, United States Senator from Pennsylvania

1931 - Janwillem van de Wetering, Dutch author

1932 - Axel Jensen, Norwegian author (d. 2003)

1932 - Julian Lincoln Simon, American economist and author (d. 1998)

1933 - Costa-Gavras, Greek-born director and writer

1934 - Bill Russell, American basketball player

1936 - Joe Don Baker, American actor

1936 - Paul Shenar, American actor

1937 - Charles Dumas, American athlete

1938 - Judy Blume, American author

1938 - Johnny Rutherford, American race car driver

1939 - Ray Manzarek, American keyboardist (The Doors)

1940 - Richard Lynch, American actor

1941 - Naomi Uemura, Japanese adventurer

1942 - Ehud Barak, Prime Minister of Israel

1945 - Maud Adams, Swedish actress

1946 - Ajda Pekkan, Turkish singer

1946 - Jean Eyeghe Ndong, Prime Minister of Gabon

1947 - Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, leader of Damdami Taksal (d. 1984)

1948 - Raymond Kurzweil, American inventor and author

1949 - Joaquin Sabina, Spanish singer/Songwriter

1950 - Michael Ironside, Canadian actor

1950 - Steve Hackett, British musician (Genesis (band))

1952 - Michael McDonald, American musician

1953 - Nabil Shaban, British actor

1953 - Robin Thomas, American actor

1954 - Philip Zimmermann, American cryptographer

1955 - Arsenio Hall, American actor and talk show host

1955 - Chet Lemon, Major League Baseball player

1958 - Bobby Smith, Canadian hockey player

1958 - Grant McLennan, Australian musician (The Go-Betweens)

1958 - Steve Grand, artficial life scientist

1961 - Jim Harris, Canadian polititian

1962 - Jimmy Kirkwood, Irish-born field hockey player

1967 - Chris McKinstry, Canadian computer scientist

1967 - Chitravina N. Ravikiran, Indian composer and musician

1968 - Josh Brolin, American actor

1968 - Chynna Phillips, American singer

1969 - Darren Aronofsky, American director and writer

1969 - Meja, Swedish singer

1969 - Hong Myung-Bo, Korean footballer

1970 - Jim Creeggan, Canadian bassist (Barenaked Ladies)

1970 - Judd Winick, writer and artist

1972 - Ajay Naidu, Indian-American actor

1973 - Gianni Romme, Dutch speed skater

1973 - Tara Strong, American voice actress

1974 - Toranosuke Takagi, Japanese formula 1 driver

1976 - Anna Benson, American model

1976 - Silvia Saint, Czech pornographic actress

1976 - Christian Cullen, New Zealand Rugby player

1978 - Brett Hodgson, Australian rugby player

1979 - Jesse Spencer, Australian actor

1979 - Matt Mauck, American football player

1980 - Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spanish tennis player

1980 - Christina Ricci, American actress

1982 - Onil Joseph, Dominican Republic Major League Baseball baseball player

1989 - Richard Fleeshman, English actor

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1538 - Albrecht Altdorfer, German painter

1554 - Lord Guilford Dudley, consort of Lady Jane Grey (executed) (b. 1536)

1554 - Lady Jane Grey, claimant to the throne of England (executed) (b. 1537)

1571 - Nicholas Throckmorton, English diplomat and politician (b. 1515)

1590 - François Hotman, French lawyer and writer (b. 1524)

1595 - Archduke Ernest of Austria, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands (b. 1553)

1612 - Christopher Clavius, German astronomer (b. 1538)

1624 - George Heriot, Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist (b. 1563)

1630 - Fynes Moryson, English traveler and writer (b. 1566)

1700 - Aleksei Shein, Russian general and statesman (b. 1662)

1724 - Elkanah Settle, English writer (b. 1648)

1728 - Agostino Steffani, Italian diplomat and composer (b. 1653)

1762 - Laurent Belissen, French composer (b. 1693)

1763 - Pierre de Marivaux, French writer (b. 1688)

1771 - King Adolf Frederick of Sweden (b. 1710)

1789 - Ethan Allen, American patriot (b. 1738)

1799 - Lazzaro Spallanzani, Italian biologist (b. 1729)

1804 - Immanuel Kant, German philosopher (b. 1724)

1916 - Richard Dedekind, German mathematician (b. 1831)

1929 - Lillie Langtry, British singer and actress (b. 1853)

1931 - Samedbey Mehmandarov, Russian general (b. 1855)

1933 - Henri Duparc, French composer (b. 1848)

1935 - Auguste Escoffier, French chef (b. 1846)

1949 - Imam Hassan al Banna, Egyptian founder of the Muslim Brotherhood (b. 1906)

1951 - Choudhary Rehmat Ali - Pakistani nationalist (b. 1897)

1954 - Dziga Vertov, Russian filmmaker (b. 1896)

1957 - Eric Alfred Knudsen, American author, folklorist (b. 1872)

1971 - James C. Penney, American department store founder (b. 1875)

1976 - Sal Mineo, American actor (b. 1939)

1979 - Jean Renoir, French director (b. 1894)

1982 - Victor Jory, Canadian actor (b. 1902)

1983 - Eubie Blake, American musician and songwriter

1984 - Julio Cortázar, Argentine writer (b. 1914)

1985 - Nicholas Colasanto, American actor (b. 1924)

1992 - Bep van Klaveren, Dutch boxer (b. 1907)

1992 - María Elena Moyano, Peruvian activist (b. 1960)

1993 - James Bulger, English murder victim (b. 1990)

1995 - Robert Bolt, English writer (b. 1924)

1995 - Philip Taylor Kramer, American musician (Iron Butterfly)

1996 - Bob Shaw, Northern Irish science fiction writer (b. 1931)

2000 - Screamin' Jay Hawkins, American musician (b. 1929)

2000 - Tom Landry, American football coach (b. 1924)

2000 - Charles Schulz, American comics author (b. 1922)

2001 - Kristina Söderbaum, German actress and photographer (b. 1912)

2003 - Vali Myers, Australian painter (b. 1930)

2005 - Rafael Vidal, Venezuelan athlete (b. 1964)

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United States - Lincoln's Birthday (traditionally).

Georgia Day in the U.S. state of Georgia.

National Freedom to Marry Day (unofficial).

Darwin Day.

Red Hand Day

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liturgical feasts and other devotional

Saint Benedict of Aniane
Saint Alexis of Moscow
Saint Damian of Alexandria