Events Pre-1600 96 – Nerva, suspected of complicity of the death of Domitian, is declared emperor by Senate. The Senate then annuls laws passed by Domitian and orders his statues to be destroyed. 634 – Siege of Damascus: The Rashidun Arabs under Khalid ibn al-Walid capture Damascus from the Byzantine Empire. 1356 – Battle of Poitiers: An English army under the command of Edward the Black Prince defeats a French army and captures King John II. 1410 – End of the Siege of Marienburg: The State of the Teutonic Order repulses the joint Polish—Lithuanian forces.
1601–1900 1622 – Imperial-Spanish forces under the count of Tilly and Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba capture Heidelberg, the capital of the Palatinate during the Thirty Years' War. 1676 – Jamestown is burned to the ground by the forces of Nathaniel Bacon during Bacon's Rebellion. 1777 – American Revolutionary War: British forces win a tactically expensive victory over the Continental Army in the First Battle of Saratoga. 1778 – The Continental Congress passes the first United States federal budget. 1796 – George Washington's Farewell Address is printed across America as an open letter to the public. 1799 – French Revolutionary Wars: French-Dutch victory against the Russians and British in the Battle of Bergen. 1846 – Two French shepherd children, Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud, experience a Marian apparition on a mountaintop near La Salette, France, now known as Our Lady of La Salette. 1852 – Annibale de Gasparis discovers the asteroid Massalia from the north dome of the Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte. 1862 – American Civil War: Union troops under William Rosecrans defeat a Confederate force commanded by Sterling Price. (dubious ISBN) 1863 – American Civil War: The first day of the Battle of Chickamauga, in northwestern Georgia, the bloodiest two-day battle of the conflict, and the only significant Confederate victory in the war's Western Theater. 1864 – American Civil War: Union troops under Philip Sheridan defeat a Confederate force commanded by Jubal Early. With over 50,000 troops engaged, it was the largest battle fought in the Shenandoah Valley. 1868 – La Gloriosa begins in Spain. 1870 – Franco-Prussian War: The siege of Paris begins. The city held out for over four months before surrendering. 1893 – In New Zealand, the Electoral Act of 1893 is consented to by the governor, giving all women in New Zealand the right to vote.
1901–present 1902 – A stampede at Shiloh Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, leads to the death of 115 attendees. 1916 – World War I: During the East African Campaign, colonial forces of the Belgian Congo (Force Publique) under the command of Charles Tombeur capture the town of Tabora after heavy fighting. 1918 – The battle of Megiddo begins in which British forces attack the right flank of the Ottoman army during World War I. 1926 – Football stadium San Siro is inaugurated in Milan, Italy 1939 – World War II: The Battle of Kępa Oksywska concludes, with Polish losses reaching roughly 14% of all the forces engaged. 1940 – World War II: Witold Pilecki is voluntarily captured and sent to Auschwitz concentration camp to gather and smuggle out information for the resistance movement. 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Hürtgen Forest begins. It will become the second-longest individual battle that the U.S. Army has ever fought. 1944 – World War II: The Moscow Armistice between Finland and the Soviet Union is signed, which officially ended the Continuation War. 1946 – The Council of Europe is founded following a speech by Winston Churchill at the University of Zurich. 1950 – Korean War: An attack by North Korean forces was repelled at the Battle of Nam River. 1960 – Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistani President Ayub Khan sign the Indus Waters Treaty for the control and management of the Indus, Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi, Sutlej and Beas rivers. 1970 – Michael Eavis hosts the first Glastonbury Festival. 1970 – Kostas Georgakis, a Greek student of geology, sets himself ablaze in Matteotti Square in Genoa, Italy, as a protest against the dictatorial regime of Georgios Papadopoulos. 1976 – Turkish Airlines Flight 452 hits the Taurus Mountains, outskirt of Karatepe, Turkey, killing all 154 passengers and crew. 1976 – Two Imperial Iranian Air Force F-4 Phantom II jets fly out to investigate an unidentified flying object. 1978 – The Solomon Islands join the United Nations. 1982 – Scott Fahlman posts the first documented emoticons :-) and :-( on the Carnegie Mellon University bulletin board system. 1983 – Saint Kitts and Nevis gains its independence. 1985 – A strong earthquake kills thousands and destroys about 400 buildings in Mexico City. 1985 – Tipper Gore and other political wives form the Parents Music Resource Center as Frank Zappa, John Denver, and other musicians testify at U.S. Congressional hearings on obscenity in rock music. 1989 – A bomb destroys UTA Flight 772 in mid-air above the Tùnùrù Desert, Niger, killing all 170 passengers and crew. 1991 – Ötzi the Iceman is discovered in the Alps on the border between Italy and Austria. 1995 – The Washington Post and The New York Times publish the Unabomber Manifesto. 1997 – The Guelb El-Kebir massacre in Algeria kills 53 people. 2006 – The Thai army stages a coup. The Constitution is revoked and martial law is declared. 2008 – A Learjet 60 carrying musicians Travis Barker and Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein crashes during a rejected takeoff from Colombia Metropolitan Airport in West Columbia, South Carolina, killing four of the six people on board. Barker and Goldstein both survive. 2010 – The leaking oil well in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is sealed. 2011 – Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees surpasses Trevor Hoffman to become Major League Baseball's all-time career saves leader with 602. 2016 – In the wake of a manhunt, the suspect in a series of bombings in New York and New Jersey is apprehended after a shootout with police. 2017 – The 2017 Puebla earthquake strikes Mexico, causing 370 deaths and over 6,000 injuries, as well as extensive damage. 2021 – The Cumbre Vieja volcano, on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, erupts. The eruption lasts for almost three months, ending on December 13. 2022 – The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom is held at Westminster Abbey, London.; ; ; 2022 – A strong earthquake kills 2 and injures over 30 in Mexico's state of Michoacán. 2023 – Azerbaijan launches a military offensive against the Republic of Artsakh in the Nagorno-Karabakh region; this leads to the flight of the Armenian population.
Births Pre-1600 AD 86 – Antoninus Pius, Roman emperor (died 161) 866 – Leo VI the Wise, Byzantine emperor (died 912) 931 – Mu Zong, emperor of the Liao Dynasty (died 969) 1377 – Albert IV, Duke of Austria (died 1404) 1426 – Marie of Cleves, Duchess of Orléans, French noble (died 1487) 1477 – Ferrante d'Este, Ferrarese nobleman and condottiero (died 1540) 1551 – Henry III of France (died 1589) 1560 – Thomas Cavendish, English naval explorer, led the third expedition to circumnavigate the globe (died 1592)
1601–1900 1608 – Alfonso Litta, Roman Catholic cardinal and archbishop (died 1679) 1638 – Isaac Milles, English minister (died 1720) 1662 – Jean-Paul Bignon, French priest and man of letters (died 1743) 1721 – William Robertson, Scottish historian (died 1793) 1749 – Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre, French mathematician and astronomer (died 1822) 1754 – John Ross Key, American lieutenant, lawyer, and judge (died 1821) 1759 – William Kirby, English priest and entomologist (died 1850) 1778 – Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (died 1868) 1796 – Hartley Coleridge, English poet and author (died 1849) 1802 – Lajos Kossuth, Hungarian journalist, lawyer, and politician, Governor-President of Hungary (died 1894) 1803 – Maria Anna of Savoy (died 1884) 1811 – Orson Pratt, American mathematician and religious leader (died 1881) 1824 – William Sellers, American engineer, inventor, and businessperson (died 1905) 1828 – Fridolin Anderwert, Swiss judge and politician, President of the Swiss National Council (died 1880) 1856 – Arthur Morgan, Australian politician, 16th Premier of Queensland (died 1916) 1865 – Frank Eugene, American-German photographer (died 1936) 1867 – Arthur Rackham, English illustrator (died 1939) 1869 – Ben Turpin, American comedian and actor (died 1940) 1871 – Frederick Ruple, Swiss-American painter (died 1938) 1882 – Christopher Stone, English radio host (died 1965) 1883 – Mabel Vernon, American educator and activist (died 1975) 1887 – Lovie Austin, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (died 1972) 1887 – Lynne Overman, American actor and singer (died 1943) 1888 – James Waddell Alexander II, American mathematician and topologist (died 1971) 1888 – Porter Hall, American actor (died 1953) 1889 – Sarah Louise Delany, American physician and author (died 1999) 1894 – Rachel Field, American author and poet (died 1942) 1898 – Giuseppe Saragat, Italian lawyer and politician, 5th President of Italy (died 1988) 1900 – Ricardo Cortez, American actor (died 1977)
1901–present 1905 – Judith Auer, German World War II resistance fighter (died 1944) 1905 – Leon Jaworski, American Watergate scandal special prosecutor (died 1982) 1908 – Paul Bénichou, French historian, author, and critic (died 2001) 1908 – Robert Lecourt, French lawyer, judge, and politician, Lord Chancellor of France (died 2004) 1908 – Tatsuo Shimabuku, Japanese martial artist, founded Isshin-ryū (died 1975) 1910 – Margaret Lindsay, American actress (died 1981) 1910 – Arturo M. Tolentino, Filipino diplomat and politician (died 2004) 1912 – Reuben David, Indian veterinarian and zoo founder (died 1989) 1912 – Kurt Sanderling, Polish-German conductor (died 2011) 1913 – Frances Farmer, American actress (died 1970) 1913 – Helen Ward, American singer (died 1998) 1915 – Germán Valdés, Mexican actor, singer, and producer (died 1973) 1918 – Pablita Velarde, Santa Clara Pueblo (Native American) painter (died 2006) 1919 – Roger Grenier, French journalist and author (died 2017) 1919 – Amalia Hernández, Mexican choreographer and dancer (died 2000) 1919 – Earl R. Fox, U.S. Navy and Coast Guard veteran; last active U.S. servicemember to serve in World War II (died 2012) 1920 – Roger Angell, American journalist, author, and editor (died 2022)Longtime New Yorker writer, editor Roger Angell dies 1921 – Paulo Freire, Brazilian philosopher, theorist, and academic (died 1997) 1921 – Billy Ward, American R&B singer-songwriter (died 2002) 1922 – Damon Knight, American author and critic (died 2002) 1922 – Willie Pep, American boxer and referee (died 2006) 1922 – Emil Zátopek, Czech runner (died 2000) 1924 – Vern Benson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (died 2014) 1924 – Don Harron, Canadian actor and screenwriter (died 2015) 1925 – W. Reece Smith Jr., American lawyer and academic (died 2013) 1926 – Victoria Barbă, Moldovan animated film director (died 2020) 1926 – Masatoshi Koshiba, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2020) 1926 – James Lipton, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (died 2020) 1926 – Duke Snider, American baseball player and sportscaster (died 2011) 1926 – Margarita Andrey, Spanish actress (died 2026) 1927 – Helen Carter, American singer (died 1998) 1927 – Rosemary Harris, English actress 1927 – William Hickey, American actor (died 1997) 1927 – Nick Massi, American singer and bass player (died 2000) 1929 – Marge Roukema, American educator and politician (died 2014) 1930 – Muhal Richard Abrams, American pianist, composer, and educator (died 2017) 1930 – Bettye Lane, American photographer and journalist (died 2012) 1930 – Antonio Margheriti, Italian director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2002)