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197 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.

607 - Boniface III becomes Pope.

1594 - Having already inherited the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth through his mother Catherine Jagellonica of Poland, Sigismund III of the House of Vasa is crowned King of Sweden, succeeding his father John III of Sweden.

1600 - The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina exploded in the most violent eruption in the recorded history of South America.

1674 - England and the Netherlands sign the Peace of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War. A provision of the agreement transfers the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam to England, which renamed it New York.

1807 - In Alabama, Former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr is arrested for treason.

1819 - British explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands, and claims them in the name of King George III.

1846 - In Austin, Texas the newly-formed Texas state government is officially installed. The Republic of Texas government officially transfers power to the State of Texas government following Texas' annexation by the United States.

1847 - The Donner Party is rescued. It is noted that some of the survivors seem to be remarkably well-fed considering their ordeal.

1852 - The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity is founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.

1861 - Serfdom is abolished in Russia.

1878 - The phonograph is patented by Thomas Edison.

1881 - Kansas became the first U.S. state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages.

1913 - Prizes are included in Cracker Jack candy boxes for the first time.

1915 - World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli began.

1937 - During a public ceremony at the Viceregal Palace (the former Imperial residence) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, two Eritrean nationalists attempt to kill viceroy Rodolfo Graziani with a number of grenades. The Italian security guard fire into the crowd of Ethiopian onlookers, and over the passing weeks indiscriminately slaughter native Ethiopians in reprisal.

1941 - World War II: The Afrika Korps, the corps-level headquarters controlling the German Panzer divisions in North Africa, was formed.

1942 - World War II: nearly 250 Japanese warplanes attack the northern Australian city of Darwin killing anywhere from 243 to 1100 people.

1942 - World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the executive order ''9066'', allowing the United States military to relocate Japanese-Americans to Japanese internment camps.

1943 - World War II: Battle of the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia begins.

1945 - World War II: Battle of Iwo Jima - about 30,000 United States Marines land on Iwo Jima.

1949 - Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry by the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University.

1953 - Censorship: Georgia approves the first literature censorship board in the United States.

1959 - The United Kingdom grants Cyprus its independence, which is then on formally proclaimed on August 16, 1960.

1964 - Paul Simon writes "The Sounds of Silence," the song which, in a year and a half, will catapult him and Art Garfunkel to stardom as Simon & Garfunkel.

1968 - National Educational Television (the predecessor to the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States debuts the children's television program Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

1968 - Egyptian commando forces attempt to intervene in a hijacking situation at Larnaca International Airport, without authorisation from the Republic of Cyprus authorities. The Cypriot National Guard and Police forces kill 15 Egyptian commandos and destroy the Egyptian C-130 transport plane in open combat.

1980 - Bon Scott (Ronald Belford Scott), lead singer of AC/DC, dies after a night of heavy drinking.

1982 - Ozzy Osbourne arrested for urinating on The Alamo.

1985 - Artificial heart patient William J. Schroeder becomes the first such patient to leave hospital.

1985 - Iberia Airlines Boeing 727 crashes into Mount Oiz in Spain, killing 148.

1985 - EastEnders first airs on televisions across the United Kingdom, on the first night of a major identity change for BBC1.

1986 - The Soviet Union launches the Mir space station.

1986 - After waiting 37 years, the United States Senate approves a treaty outlawing genocide.

1999 - Dennis Franz receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2001 - An Oklahoma City bombing museum is dedicated at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.

2002 - NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.

2004 - Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal is awarded an honorary knighthood in recognition of a "lifetime of service to humanity."

2006 - The Rolling Stones made the largest show open to the public of the world in Copacabana beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 1.3 million people went to the show.

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1473 - Nicolaus Copernicus, mathematician and astronomer (d. 1543)

1526 - Charles de L'Ecluse, Flemish botanist (d. 1609)

1552 - Melchior Klesl, Austrian cardinal and statesman (d. 1630)

1630 - Shivaji, founder of the Maratha Empire (d. 1680)

1660 - Friedrich Hoffmann, German physician and chemist (d. 1742)

1717 - David Garrick, British actor (d. 1779)

1722 - Tiphaigne de la Roche, French writer (d. 1774)

1743 - Luigi Boccherini, Italian composer (d. 1805)

1802 - Wilhelm Matthias Naeff, Swiss Federal Councillor (d. 1881)

1804 - Carl Freiherr von Rokitansky, German physician (d. 1878)

1804 - David Wark, Canadian politician (d. 1905)

1821 - August Schleicher, German linguist (d. 1868)

1833 - Élie Ducommun, Swiss journalist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1906)

1859 - Svante Arrhenius, Swedish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1927)

1865 - Sven Hedin, Swedish explorer (d. 1952)

1876 - Constantin Brancusi, Romanian sculptor (d. 1957)

1877 - Gabriele Münter, German painter (d. 1962)

1888 - José Eustasio Rivera, Colombian writer (d. 1928)

1893 - Sir Cedric Hardwicke, British actor (d. 1964)

1895 - Louis Calhern, American actor (d. 1956)

1897 - Alma Rubens, American actress (d. 1931)

1899 - Yury Olesha, Russian novelist (d. 1960)

1900 - Giorgos Seferis, Greek writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)

1902 - Kay Boyle, American writer (d. 1992)

1904 - Havank, Dutch writer (d. 1964)

1911 - Merle Oberon, British actress (d. 1979)

1912 - Stan Kenton, American musician (d. 1979)

1914 - Jacques Dufilho, French comedian (d. 2005)

1916 - Eddie Arcaro, American jockey (d. 1997)

1917 - Carson McCullers, American author (d. 1967)

1920 - Jaan Kross, Estonian writer

1920 - George Rose, British music hall entertainer (d. 1988)

1920 - C. Z. Guest, American socialite (d. 2003)

1924 - David Bronstein, Ukrainian chess player

1924 - Lee Marvin, American actor (d. 1987)

1930 - John Frankenheimer, American film director (d. 2002)

1936 - Sam Myers, American musician and songwriter (d. 2006)

1936 - Marin Sorescu, Romanian writer and novelist (d. 1997)

1940 - Smokey Robinson, American musician

1940 - Saparmurat Niyazov, President of Turkmenistan

1941 - David Gross, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

1942 - Paul Krause, American football player

1943 - Lou Christie, American singer

1943 - Tim Hunt, British biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

1945 - Michael Nader, American actor

1946 - Karen Silkwood, American activist (d. 1974)

1947 - Tim Shadbolt, mayor of Invercargill, New Zealand

1948 - Pim Fortuyn, Dutch politician (d. 2002)

1948 - Tony Iommi, British musician (Black Sabbath)

1948 - Big John Studd, Professional wrestler

1949 - Dan Bunten, American software developer (d. 1998)

1950 - Andy Powell, British Musician

1951 - Stephen Nichols, American actor

1951 - Tahir-ul-Qadri, Pakastani Islamic scholar

1952 - Amy Tan, American novelist

1953 - Massimo Troisi, Italian actor (d. 1994)

1954 - Socrates, Brazilian footballer

1955 - Jeff Daniels, American actor

1956 - Roderick MacKinnon, American biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

1957 - Falco, Austrian singer (d. 1998)

1957 - Ray Winstone, British actor

1960 - Andrew, Duke of York

1962 - Hana Mandlikova, Czech tennis player

1963 - Seal, British singer

1964 - Dmitri Lipskerov, Russian writer

1966 - Justine Bateman, American actress

1966 - Paul Haarhuis, Dutch tennis player

1967 - Benicio Del Toro, Puerto Rican actor

1969 - Burton C. Bell, American vocalist

1972 - Francine, American wrestler

1974 - Danny Doring, American wrestler

1977 - Gianluca Zambrotta, Italian footballer

1978 - Immortal Technique, American rapper

1979 - Mariska, Finnish rapper

1979 - Clinton Morrison, Irish International footballer

1981 - Gil Reyes, American boxer

1983 - Vitas, Russian singer

1983 - Mika Nakashima, Japanese singer/actress

1985 - Haylie Duff, American singer/actress

1986 - Reon Kadena, Japanese model/actress

1986 - Maria Mena, Norwegian singer

1986 - Judith Bingham, American singer/songwriter

1993 - Victoria Justice, American actress

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197 - Clodius Albinus, Roman governor of Britain

1133 - Irene Ducaena, wife of Alexius I Comnenus (b. 1066)

1553 - Erasmus Reinhold, German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1511)

1605 - Orazio Vecchi, Italian composer (b. 1550)

1602 - Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercoeur, French soldier (b. 1558)

1620 - Roemer Visscher, Dutch writer (b. 1547)

1622 - Sir Henry Savile, English educator (b. 1549)

1653 - Luigi de Rossi, Italian composer (b. 1597)

1663 - Adam Adami, German bishop and diplomat (b. 1603)

1670 - King Frederick III of Denmark (b. 1609)

1672 - Charles Chauncy, English-born president of Harvard College (b. 1592)

1709 - Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, Japanese shogun (b. 1646)

1716 - Dorthe Engelbrechtsdatter, Norwegian poet (b. 1634)

1789 - Nicholas Van Dyke, American lawyer and President of Delaware (b. 1738)

1799 - Jean-Charles de Borda, French mathematician, physicist, political scientist, and sailor (b. 1733)

1806 - Elizabeth Carter, English writer (b. 1717)

1837 - Georg Büchner, German playwright (b. 1813)

1873 - Vasil Levski, Bulgarian revolutionary (b. 1837)

1887 - Multatuli, Dutch writer (b. 1820)

1897 - Karl Weierstraß, German mathematician (b. 1815)

1916 - Ernst Mach, Austrian-Czech physicist and philosopher (b. 1838)

1927 - Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer (b. 1847)

1936 - Billy Mitchell, American general and military aviation pioneer (b. 1879)

1936 - Max Schreck, German actor (b. 1879)

1936 - Charles Harding Firth, British historian (b. 1857)

1942 - Frank Abbandando, American gangster (executed) (b. 1910)

1951 - André Gide, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1869)

1952 - Knut Hamsun, Norwegian author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1859)

1957 - Maurice Garin, French cyclist (b. 1871)

1968 - Georg Hackenschmidt, wrestler (b. 1878)

1969 - Madge Blake, American actress (b. 1899)

1972 - John Grierson, Scottish documentary filmmaker (b. 1898)

1972 - Tedd Pierce, American animator (b. 1906)

1973 - Joseph Szigeti, Hungarian violinist (b. 1892)

1975 - Luigi Dallapiccola, Italian composer (b. 1904)

1977 - Mike González, baseball player (b. 1890)

1977 - Anthony Crosland, (British Politician) b. 1918)

1980 - Bon Scott, Australian musician (AC/DC) (b. 1946)

1983 - Alice White, American film actress (b. 1904)

1986 - Adolfo Celi, Italian actor (b. 1922)

1988 - André Frédéric Cournand, French-born physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1895)

1994 - Derek Jarman, British Film Director (b. 1942)

1996 - Charles O. Finley, American sports entrepreneur (b. 1918)

1997 - Deng Xiaoping, Chinese Communist leader and revolutionary (b. 1904)

1997 - Leo Rosten, American Yiddish writer and humorist (b. 1908)

1998 - John Acheson, actor

1998 - Grandpa Jones, American entertainer (b. 1913)

1999 - Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr, Iraqi Shiite leader (assassinated)

2000 - Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Austrian artist (b. 1928)

2001 - Priscilla Davis, American socialite (b. 1942)

2001 - Stanley Kramer, American director (b. 1913)

2001 - Charles Trenet, French singer (b. 1913)

2003 - Johnny Paycheck, American singer (b. 1938)

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Chaoflux (Discordianism)

Astrology: First day of sun sign Pisces

Astrology: Can also be last day of sun sign Aquarius depending on the time of birth and the astrologer's viewpoint.