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457 - Leo I becomes emperor of the Byzantine Empire.

1074 - Battle of Montesarchio wherein the prince of Benevento, Pandulf IV, is killed battling the encroaching Normans.

1301 - Edward of Caernarvon (later King Edward II of England) becomes the first English Prince of Wales.

1550 - Julius III becomes Pope.

1613 - Mikhail Romanov becomes Tsar of Russia.

1795 - The 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed.

1807 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Eylau - Napoléon's French Empire begins fighting against Russian and Prussian forces of the Fourth Coalition at Eylau, Poland.

1812 - The strongest in a series of earthquakes strikes New Madrid, Missouri.

1842 - Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia defeats warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien.

1856 - The colonial Tasmanian Parliament passes the first piece of legislation (the Electoral Act 1856) anywhere in the world providing for elections by way of a secret ballot.

1863 - ''HMS Orpheus'' sinks off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand, killing 189.

1882 - The last heavyweight boxing championship bare-knuckle fight takes place in Mississippi City, Mississippi.

1894 - The Cripple Creek miner's strike, led by the Western Federation of Miners, begins in Cripple Creek, Colorado.

1898 - Emile Zola is brought to trial for libel for publishing J'Accuse.

1900 - The British Labour Party is formed.

1904 - A fire in Baltimore, Maryland destroys over 1,500 buildings in 30 hours.

1914 - Charlie Chaplin first appears as "The Tramp", as his first film Kid Auto Races at Venice is released at Keystone Studios.

1942 - In Drakulici, Banja Luka, Croatian Nazis kill 2,300 Serbian civilians, among them 551 children.

1944 - World War II: In Anzio, Italy German forces launch a counteroffensive.

1948 - Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower resigned as Army chief of staff and was succeeded by Gen. Omar Bradley.

1962 - The United States Government bans all Cuban imports and exports.

1964 - The Beatles arrive on their first visit to the United States.

1967 - A fire at a restaurant in Montgomery, Alabama kills 25 people.

1969 - The original Hetch Hetchy Moccasin Powerhouse is removed from service.

1971 - Women gain the right to vote in Switzerland.

1974 - Grenada becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

1976 - Future Hall of Famer Darryl Sittler of the Toronto Maple Leafs scores six goals and records four assists in an 11-4 victory over the Boston Bruins, setting a NHL record with 10 points in one game.

1977 - Soyuz programme: Soyuz 24 launched.

1979 - Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit for the first time since either was known to science.

1984 - Space Shuttle program: STS-41-B Mission - Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered space walk using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU).

1985 - "New York, New York" becomes the official city anthem of New York City.

1986 - Twenty-eight years of one-family rule end in Haiti, when President Jean-Claude Duvalier flees the Caribbean nation.

1990 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party agrees to give up its monopoly of power.

1991 - Haiti's first democratically-elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in.

1991 - The IRA launches a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street during a cabinet meeting.

1992 - The European Union is formed.

1995 - Ramzi Yousef, the alleged mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan.

1999 - Crown Prince Abdullah becomes the King of Jordan on the death of his father, King Hussein.

2000 - Bahria University is established through the Presidential Ordinance No. V of 2000 of Government of Pakistan.

2003 - Pioneer program: Last unsuccessful contact attempt with Pioneer 10.

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1102 - Empress Matilda, Princess of England and wife of Henry V of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1169)

1478 - Sir Thomas More, English statesman, humanist, and author (d. 1535)

1693 - Empress Anna of Russia (d. 1740)

1812 - Charles Dickens, English novelist (d. 1870)

1842 - Alexandre Ribot, French statesman (d. 1923)

1867 - Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author (d. 1957)

1870 - Alfred Adler, Austrian psychologist (d. 1937)

1877 - Godfrey Harold Hardy, English mathematician (d. 1947)

1883 - Eubie Blake, American musician and composer (d. 1983)

1885 - Sinclair Lewis, American writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1951)

1885 - Hugo Sperrle, German field marshal (d. 1953)

1889 - Harry Nyquist, important contributor to information theory (d. 1976)

1891 - Ann Little, American actress (d. 1984)

1895 - Anita Stewart, American film actress (d. 1961)

1898 - Dock Boggs, American musician (d. 1971)

1905 - Ulf von Euler, Swedish physiologist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1983)

1905 - Paul Nizan, French author (d. 1940)

1906 - Oleg Antonov, Soviet aircraft designer (d. 1984)

1906 - Puyi, Emperor of China (d. 1967)

1907 - Yevgeniy Abalakov, famous Soviet mountaineer (d. 1948)

1908 - Buster Crabbe, American swimmer and actor (d. 1983)

1914 - Ramón Mercader, Spanish assassin of Leon Trotsky (d. 1978)

1915 - Eddie Bracken, American actor (d. 2002)

1918 - Markey Robinson, Northern Irish painter (d. 1999)

1920 - An Wang, Chinese-born computer pioneer (d. 1990)

1922 - Hattie Jacques, English actress (d. 1980)

1926 - Konstantin Feoktistov, cosmonaut

1927 - Juliette Greco, French singer and actor

1927 - Vladimir Kuts, Russian runner

1932 - Gay Talese, American author

1932 - Al Worden, American astronaut

1933 - John Anderton, English footballer

1934 - Earl King, American musician (d. 2003)

1934 - Eddie Fenech Adami, President of Malta

1938 - S. Ramachandran Pillai, Indian communist leader

1943 - Gareth Hunt, English actor

1945 - Gerald Davies, Welsh rugby player

1945 - Pete Postlethwaite, English actor

1949 - Joe English, American drummer

1949 - Paulo César Carpegiani, Brazilian footballer and coach

1951 - Benny Ayala, Baseball player

1953 - Dan Quisenberry, baseball player (d. 1998)

1954 - Dieter Bohlen German composer

1955 - Rolf Benirschke, American football player

1955 - Mario Coutinho Brazilian physician

1955 - Miguel Ferrer, American actor

1956 - Emo Philips, American comedian

1957 - Carney Lansford, American baseball player

1960 - James Spader, American actor

1962 - Garth Brooks, American singer

1962 - Eddie Izzard, British actor and comedian

1962 - David Bryan, American musician (Bon Jovi)

1965 - Jason Gedrick, American actor

1965 - Chris Rock, American comedian and actor

1968 - Peter Bondra, Ukrainian-born hockey player

1968 - Sully Erna, American singer (Godsmack)

1972 - Alex Bassi, American Race Car Driver

1974- Steve Nash, Canadian basketball player

1974 - J Dilla, also known as Jay-Dee, American hip-hop producer (d. 2006)

1975 - Wes Borland, American guitarist (Limp Bizkit)

1978 - Ashton Kutcher, American actor

1978 - Daniel Van Buyten, Belgian international footballer

1978 - Endy Chávez, Baseball player

1979 - Cerina Vincent, American actress

1983 - Christian Klien, Austrian formula driver

1985 - Tina Majorino, American actress

1985 - Clara Bryant, American actress

1988 - Ai Kago, Japanese singer (W (Double You), Morning Musume, and MiniMoni)

1989 - Louisa Lytton, English actress

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1045 - Emperor Go-Suzaku of Japan (b. 1009)

1317 - Robert, Count of Clermont, French founder of the House of Bourbon (b. 1256)

1560 - Bartolomeo Bandinelli, Italian sculptor (b. 1493)

1626 - William V, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1548)

1642 - William Bedell, English clergyman (b. 1571)

1652 - Gregorio Allegri, Italian composer (b. 1582)

1690 - William Morice, English royalist statesman

1693 - Paul Pellisson, French writer (b. 1624)

1736 - Stephen Gray, English astronomer and scientist (b. 1666)

1779 - William Boyce, English composer (b. 1711)

1799 - Qianlong, Emperor of China (b. 1711)

1801 - Daniel Chodowiecki, Polish painter (b. 1726)

1823 - Ann Radcliffe, English novelist (b. 1764)

1837 - King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden (b. 1778)

1839 - Karl August Nicander, Swedish poet (b. 1799)

1873 - Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish writer (b. 1814)

1878 - Pope Pius IX (b. 1792)

1897 - Galileo Ferraris, Italian physicist (b. 1847)

1898 - John Reily Knox, Founder of Beta Theta Pi (b. 1820)

1919 - William Halford, American naval officer and Medal of Honor recipient

1920 - Aleksandr Vasilevich Kolchak, Russian military commander (b. 1874)

1937 - Elihu Root, American statesman and diplomat, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1845)

1938 - Harvey Firestone, American manufacturer (b. 1868)

1939 - Boris Grigoriev, Russian painter (b. 1886)

1942 - Ivan Bilibin, Russian illustrator (b. 1876)

1960 - Igor Kurchatov, Russian physicist (b. 1903)

1963 - Learco Guerra, Italian cyclist (b. 1902)

1968 - Nick Adams, American actor (b. 1931)

1973 - Ferdinand Schörner, German field marshal (b. 1892)

1979 - Josef Mengele, Nazi war criminal (b. 1911)

1980 - Secondo Campini, Italian jet pioneer (b. 1904)

1985 - Matt Monro, English singer (b. 1932)

1986 - Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegalese historian (b. 1923)

1990 - Jimmy Van Heusen, American songwriter (b. 1913)

1991 - Amos Yarkoni, legendary Israeli soldier (b. 1920)

1992 - Buzz Sawyer, Wrestler

1993 - Lillian Gish, American actress (b. 1893)

1994 - Witold Lutosławski, Polish composer (b. 1913)

1994 - Stephen Milligan, British journalist and politician (b. 1948)

1996 - Phillip Davidson, US Army general (b. 1915)

1998 - Lawrence Sanders, American author (b. 1920)

1999 - King Hussein of Jordan (b. 1935)

1999 - José Silva, author of Silva Method and the Silva UltraMind ESP System (b. 1914)

1999 - Bobby Troup, American musician and actor (b. 1918)

2000 - Big Pun, Puerto Rican rapper (b. 1971)

2000 - Doug Henning, Canadian magician (b. 1947)

2001 - Dale Evans, American actress and singer (b. 1912)

2001 - Anne Morrow Lindbergh, American author and aviator (b. 1906)

2002 - Elisa Bridges, American model (b. 1973)

2003 - Augusto Monterroso, Guatemalan author (b. 1921)

2003 - John Reading, Mayor of Oakland, California (b. 1917)

2004 - John Hench, American animator (b. 1908)

2006 - Princess Hadice Hayriye Ayshe Dürrühsehvar (b. 1914)

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Independence Day in Grenada (1974).

Bahá'í Faith - Feast of Mulk (Dominion) - First day of the 18th month of the Bahá'í Calendar.

Sapporo Snow Festival in Sapporo, Japan (2005).

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Liturgical feasts

Saints Paul Miki and his 25 companians (d. Nagasaki, 1597)
Blessed Eugenia Smet (d.1871)

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Notes