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193 - Roman Emperor Pertinax is assassinated by Praetorian Guards, who then sell the throne in an auction to Didius Julianus.

364 - Roman Emperor Valentinian I appoints his brother Flavius Valens co-emperor.

845 - Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.

1776 - Juan Bautista de Anza finds the site for the Presidio of San Francisco.

1794 - Allies under the prince of Coburg defeated French forces at Le Cateau.

1795 - Partitions of Poland: The Duchy of Courland, a northern fief of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, ceases to exist and becomes part of Imperial Russia.

1802 - Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers discovers 2 Pallas, the second asteroid known to man.

1809 - Peninsular War: In the Battle of Medelin the France defeats Spain.

1834 - The United States Senate censures President Andrew Jackson for his actions in defunding the Second Bank of the United States.

1854 - Crimean War: France declares war on Russia.

1860 - First Taranaki War: The Battle of Waireka begins.

1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Glorieta Pass - In New Mexico, Union forces succeed in stopping the Confederate invasion of New Mexico territory. The battle began on March 26.

1871 - The Paris Commune is formally established in Paris.

1910 - Henri Fabre becomes the first person to fly a seaplane after taking off from a water runway near Martigues, France.

1913 - Guatemala becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.

1930 - Constantinople and Angora change their names to Istanbul and Ankara.

1939 - Spanish Civil War: Generalissimo Francisco Franco conquers Madrid.

1941 - World War II: Battle of Cape Matapan - In the Mediterranean Sea, British Admiral Andrew Browne Cunningham leads the Royal Navy in the destruction of three major Italian battleships and two destroyers.

1942 - World War II: In occupied France, British naval forces raid the German-occupied port of St. Nazaire.

1946 - Cold War: The United States State Department releases the Acheson-Lilienthal Report, outlining a plan for the international control of nuclear power.

1978 - US Supreme Court hands down 5-3 decision in Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349, a controversial case involving involuntary sterilization and judicial immunity.

1979 - In Pennsylvania, a pump in the reactor cooling system fails at Three Mile Island, resulting in the evaporation of some contaminated water causing a nuclear meltdown.

1979 - British Prime Minister James Callaghan, is defeated by one vote in a Motion of No Confidence. This results in Parliament being dissolved in order to make way for a forthcoming General Election.

1990 - President George H. W. Bush posthumously awards Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal.

1994 - In South Africa, Zulus and African National Congress supporters battle in central Johannesburg, resulting in 18 deaths.

2005 - The 2005 Sumatran earthquake rocks Indonesia, and at magnitude 8.7 is the second strongest earthquake since 1960.

2006 - At least 1 million union members, students and unemployed take to the streets in France in protest at the government's proposed First Employment Contract law.

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1472 - Fra Bartolommeo, Italian artist (d. 1517)

1496 - Mary Tudor, queen consort of Louis XII of France (d. 1533)

1515 - Saint Teresa of Avila, Spanish Carmelite nun and poet (d. 1582)

1522 - Albert the Warlike, Prince of Bayreuth (d. 1557)

1569 - Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma (d. 1622)

1592 - Comenius, Czech bishop of Unity of the Brethren (d. 1670)

1599 - Witte Corneliszoon de With, Dutch naval officer (d. 1658)

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

1725 - Andrew Kippis, English non-conformist clergyman and biographer (d. 1795)

1760 - Thomas Clarkson, American abolitionist (d. 1846)

1773 - Henri Gratien, Comte Bertrand, French general (d. 1844)

1819 - Sir Joseph Bazalgette, English civil engineer (d. 1891)

1851 - Bernardino Machado, Portuguese President (d. 1944)

1862 - Aristide Briand, French politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1932)

1868 - Maxim Gorky, Russian author (d. 1936)

1871 - Willem Mengelberg, Dutch conductor (d. 1951)

1890 - Paul Whiteman, American bandleader (d. 1967)

1892 - Corneille Heymans, Belgian physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)

1895 - Spencer W. Kimball, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1985)

1897 - Sepp Herberger, German football coach (d. 1977)

1899 - Harold B. Lee, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1973)

1899 - Gussie Busch, American baseball owner (d. 1989)

1902 - Dame Flora Robson, English actress (d. 1984)

1902 - Jaromír Vejvoda, Czech composer (d. 1988)

1903 - Rudolf Serkin, Austrian pianist (d. 1991)

1903 - Charles Starrett, American actor (d. 1986)

1905 - Marlin Perkins, American naturalist and television host (d. 1986)

1909 - Nelson Algren, American writer (d. 1981)

1910 - Frederick Baldwin Adams, Jr. Bibliophile and director of the Pierpont Morgan Library (d. 2001)

1910 - Jimmie Dodd, American television actor (d. 1964)

1910 - Queen Ingrid of Denmark (d. 2000)

1914 - Edmund Muskie, American politician (d. 1996)

1915 - Jay Livingston, American composer and songwriter (d. 2001)

1921 - Dirk Bogarde, English actor (d. 1999)

1924 - Freddie Bartholomew, Irish actor (d. 1992)

1925 - Dorothy DeBorba, American child actress

1928 - Zbigniew Brzezinski, U.S. National Security Advisor

1930 - Jerome Isaac Friedman, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

1935 - Michael Parkinson, English broadcaster and talk show host

1936 - Mario Vargas Llosa, Peruvian author and politician

1941 - Jim Turner, American football player

1942 - Conrad Schumann, East German border guard (d. 1998)

1942 - Jerry Sloan, American basketball coach

1942 - Mike Newell, English film director

1942 - Neil Kinnock, British statesman

1944 - Rick Barry, American basketball player

1944 - Ken Howard, American actor

1946 - Alejandro Toledo, President of Peru

1946 - Wubbo Ockels, Dutch physicist and astronaut

1948 - Dianne Wiest, American actress

1948 - Gerry House, American radio personality and songwriter

1951 - Karen Kain, Canadian ballerina

1953 - Melchior Ndadaye, first President of Burundi (d. 1993)

1954 - Morris Mason, American rapist and murderer (d. 1985)

1955 - John Alderdice, Northern Irish politician

1955 - Reba McEntire, American singer and actress

1956 - April Margera, Bam Margera's mother

1958 - Curt Hennig, American professional wrestler (d. 2003)

1958 - Elisabeth Andreassen, Scandinavian singer

1959 - Chris Myers, American radio host/sportscaster

1960 - Chris Barrie, British actor

1961 - Byron Scott, American basketball player

1962 - Jure Franko, Slovenian skier

1965 - Steve Bull, English footballer

1968 - Iris Chang, American author (d. 2004)

1968 - Nasser Hussain, English cricketer

1970 - Vince Vaughn, American actor

1971 - Mr. Cheeks, American rapper

1973 - Eddie Fatu, Samoan professional wrestler

1974 - Mark King, English snooker player

1974 - Scott Mills, British radio disc jockey

1975 - Richard Kelly, American film director

1976 - David Keuning, American guitar player (The Killers)

1977 - Devon, American pornographic actress

1980 - Luke Walton, basketball player

1981 - Julia Stiles, American actress

1983 - Ryan Ashington, English footballer

1984 - Nikki Sanderson, British actress and model

1988 - Lacey Turner, British Soap Actress

1991 - Amy Bruckner, American actress

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193 - Pertinax, Roman Emperor (assassinated) (b. 126)

1239 - Emperor Go-Toba of Japan (b. 1180)

1285 - Pope Martin IV

1563 - Heinrich Glarean, Swiss music theorist (b. 1488)

1566 - Sigismund von Herberstein, Austrian diplomat and historian (b. 1486)

1677 - Václav Hollar, Czech-born actor (b. 1607)

1687 - Constantijn Huygens, Dutch poet and composer (b. 1596)

1794 - Marquis de Condorcet, French mathematician, philosopher, and political scientist (b. 1743)

1868 - James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, British military leader (b. 1797)

1870 - George Henry Thomas, American general (b. 1816)

1874 - Peter Andreas Hansen, Danish astronomer (b. 1795)

1881 - Modest Mussorgsky, Russian composer (b. 1839)

1910 - David Josiah Brewer, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1837)

1910 - Edouard Judas Colonne, French violinist (b. 1838)

1941 - Virginia Woolf, English feminist writer (b. 1882)

1942 - Miguel Hernández, Spanish poet, death in prison (b. 1910)

1943 - Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian composer and pianist (b. 1873)

1946 - Chick Fullis, baseball player (b. 1904)

1947 - Karol Świerczewski, Polish general (b. 1897)

1949 - Grigoraş Dinicu, Romanian composer and violinist (b. 1889)

1953 - Jim Thorpe, American athlete (b. 1887)

1958 - W.C. Handy, American composer (b. 1873)

1965 - Jack Hoxie, American actor, rodeo performer (b. 1885)

1969 - Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States (b. 1890)

1978 - Dino Ciani, Italian pianist (d. 1941)

1979 - Emmett Kelly, American clown (b. 1898)

1980 - Dick Haymes, Argentine-born singer (b. 1918)

1982 - William Giauque, Canadian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)

1985 - Marc Chagall, Russian-born painter (b. 1887)

1987 - Maria von Trapp, Austrian-born singer (b. 1905)

1987 - Patrick Troughton, British actor (b. 1920)

1995 - Hugh O'Connor, American actor (b. 1962)

1999 - Freaky Tah, American Rapper, member of the group Lost Boyz

2000 - Anthony Powell, British novelist (b. 1905)

2001 - Moe Koffman, Canadian musician (b. 1928)

2004 - Art James, American game show host (b. 1929)

2004 - Peter Ustinov, British actor (b. 1921)

2006 - Caspar Weinberger, United States Secretary of Defense (b. 1917)

2006 - Charles Schepens, American ophthalmologist and member of the French Resistance (b. 1912)

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Slovakia, Czech Republic - Teachers' Day.

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Liturgical feasts

Saint Castor
Saint Gontram (died 592)
Saint Malchus
Saint Priscus
Saint Sixtus III