On This Day /

Important events in history
on April 26 th

Events

  1. 2019

    1. Marvel Studios' blockbuster film, Avengers: Endgame, is released, becoming the highest-grossing film of all time, surpassing the previous box office record of Avatar.

      1. American film and television production company

        Marvel Studios

        Marvel Studios, LLC is an American film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, a division of the Walt Disney Company. Marvel Studios produces the Marvel Cinematic Universe films and series, based on characters that appear in Marvel Comics publications.

      2. 2019 Marvel Studios film

        Avengers: Endgame

        Avengers: Endgame is a 2019 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the direct sequel to Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and the 22nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the film features an ensemble cast including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Danai Gurira, Benedict Wong, Jon Favreau, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Josh Brolin. In the film, the surviving members of the Avengers and their allies attempt to reverse the destruction caused by Thanos in Infinity War.

      3. List of highest-grossing films

        Films generate income from several revenue streams, including theatrical exhibition, home video, television broadcast rights, and merchandising. However, theatrical box-office earnings are the primary metric for trade publications in assessing the success of a film, mostly because of the availability of the data compared to sales figures for home video and broadcast rights, but also because of historical practice. Included on the list are charts of the top box-office earners, a chart of high-grossing films by calendar year, a timeline showing the transition of the highest-grossing film record, and a chart of the highest-grossing film franchises and series. All charts are ranked by international theatrical box-office performance where possible, excluding income derived from home video, broadcasting rights, and merchandise.

      4. 2009 American film by James Cameron

        Avatar (2009 film)

        Avatar is a 2009 epic science fiction film directed, written, co-produced and co-edited by James Cameron, and starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, and Sigourney Weaver. It is set in the mid-22nd century when humans are colonizing Pandora, a lush habitable moon of a gas giant in the Alpha Centauri star system, in order to mine the valuable mineral unobtanium. The expansion of the mining colony threatens the continued existence of a local tribe of Na'vi – a humanoid species indigenous to Pandora. The title of the film refers to a genetically engineered Na'vi body operated from the brain of a remotely located human that is used to interact with the natives of Pandora.

  2. 2018

    1. American comedian Bill Cosby is convicted of sexual assault.

      1. American comedian and media personality (born 1937)

        Bill Cosby

        William Henry Cosby Jr. is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric image, and gained a reputation as "America's Dad" for his portrayal of Cliff Huxtable on The Cosby Show (1984–1992). He has received numerous awards and honorary degrees throughout his career.

      2. Cases surrounding sexual assault allegations against American comedian

        Bill Cosby sexual assault cases

        It emerged in late 2014 that Bill Cosby, an American media personality, sexually assaulted dozens of women throughout his career. Cosby made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric image, and gained a reputation as "America's Dad" for his portrayal of Cliff Huxtable on The Cosby Show (1984-1992). He received numerous awards and honorary degrees throughout his career, most of which have since been revoked.

  3. 2015

    1. Nursultan Nazarbayev is re-elected President of Kazakhstan with 97.7% of the vote.

      1. President of Kazakhstan from 1990 to 2019

        Nursultan Nazarbayev

        Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev is a Kazakh politician and military officer who served as the first President of Kazakhstan, in office from country’s independence in 1991 until his formal resignation in 2019, and as the Chairman of the Security Council of Kazakhstan from 1991 to 2022. He held the special title as Elbasy from 2010 to 2022. Nazarbayev was one of the longest-ruling non-royal leaders in the world, having led Kazakhstan for nearly three decades, excluding chairmanship in the Security Council after the end of his presidency. He has often been referred to as a dictator due to usurpation of power and autocratic rule. He was named First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Kazakh SSR in 1989 and was elected as the nation's first president shortly before its independence from the Soviet Union.

      2. Head of state of Kazakhstan

        President of Kazakhstan

        The president of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the head of state of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The president is the holder of the highest office within the Republic of Kazakhstan. The powers of this position are described in a special section of the Constitution of Kazakhstan.

  4. 2012

    1. The International Hydrographic Organization abandoned South Korean-led 'attempts to rename the Sea of Japan.

      1. Intergovernmental organization

        International Hydrographic Organization

        The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is an intergovernmental organisation representing hydrography. As of May 2022, the IHO comprised 98 Member States.

      2. Naming dispute over the body of water between the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago

        Sea of Japan naming dispute

        A dispute exists over the international name for the body of water which is bordered by Japan, Korea and Russia. In 1992, objections to the name Sea of Japan were first raised by North Korea and South Korea at the Sixth United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names. The Japanese government supports the exclusive use of the name "Sea of Japan" (日本海), while South Korea supports the alternative name "East Sea", and North Korea supports the name "Korean East Sea". Currently, most international maps and documents use either the name Sea of Japan by itself, or include both the name Sea of Japan and East Sea, often with East Sea listed in parentheses or otherwise marked as a secondary name. The International Hydrographic Organization, the governing body for the naming of bodies of water around the world, in 2012 decided it was still unable to revise the 1953 version of its publication S-23 – Limits of Oceans and Seas, which includes only the single name "Sea of Japan", to include "East Sea" together with "Sea of Japan".

      3. Marginal sea between Japan, Russia and Korea

        Sea of Japan

        The Sea of Japan (see below for other names) is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific Ocean. This isolation also affects faunal diversity and salinity, both of which are lower than in the open ocean. The sea has no large islands, bays or capes. Its water balance is mostly determined by the inflow and outflow through the straits connecting it to the neighboring seas and the Pacific Ocean. Few rivers discharge into the sea and their total contribution to the water exchange is within 1%.

  5. 2007

    1. Controversy surrounding the relocation of the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn, a Soviet Red Army World War II memorial in Tallinn, Estonia, erupted into mass protests and riots.

      1. Controversial Soviet World War II memorial in Tallinn, Estonia

        Bronze Soldier of Tallinn

        The Bronze Soldier is the informal name of a controversial Soviet World War II war memorial in Tallinn, Estonia, built at the site of several war graves, which were relocated to the nearby Tallinn Military Cemetery in 2007. It was originally named "Monument to the Liberators of Tallinn", was later titled to its current official name "Monument to the Fallen in the Second World War", and is sometimes called Alyosha, or Tõnismäe monument after its old location. The memorial was unveiled on 22 September 1947, three years after the Red Army reached Tallinn on 22 September 1944 during World War II.

      2. 1918–1946 Russian then Soviet army and air force

        Red Army

        The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The army was established in January 1918. The Bolsheviks raised an army to oppose the military confederations of their adversaries during the Russian Civil War. Starting in February 1946, the Red Army, along with the Soviet Navy, embodied the main component of the Soviet Armed Forces; taking the official name of "Soviet Army", until its dissolution in 1991.

      3. Capital of Estonia

        Tallinn

        Tallinn is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 and administratively lies in the Harju maakond (county). Tallinn is the main financial, industrial, and cultural centre of Estonia. It is located 187 km (116 mi) northwest of the country's second largest city Tartu, however only 80 km (50 mi) south of Helsinki, Finland, also 320 km (200 mi) west of Saint Petersburg, Russia, 300 km (190 mi) north of Riga, Latvia, and 380 km (240 mi) east of Stockholm, Sweden. From the 13th century until the first half of the 20th century, Tallinn was known in most of the world by variants of its other historical name Reval.

      4. 2007 ethnic violence in Tallinn, Estonia over the relocation of a controversial WWII memorial

        Bronze Night

        The Bronze Night, also known as the April Unrest and April Events, refers to the riots in Estonia surrounding the controversial 2007 relocation of the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn, a Soviet World War II memorial in Tallinn.

  6. 2005

    1. Cedar Revolution: Under international pressure, Syria withdraws the last of its 14,000 troop military garrison in Lebanon, ending its 29-year military domination of that country (Syrian occupation of Lebanon).

      1. 2005 anti-Syrian protest movement in Lebanon

        Cedar Revolution

        The Cedar Revolution or Independence Uprising was a chain of demonstrations in Lebanon triggered by the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri. The popular movement was remarkable for its avoidance of violence, peaceful approach, and its total reliance on methods of civil resistance.

      2. Country in Western Asia

        Syria

        Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a Western Asian country located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It is a unitary republic that consists of 14 governorates (subdivisions), and is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east and southeast, Jordan to the south, and Israel and Lebanon to the southwest. Cyprus lies to the west across the Mediterranean Sea. A country of fertile plains, high mountains, and deserts, Syria is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups, including the majority Syrian Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Armenians, Circassians, Albanians, and Greeks. Religious groups include Muslims, Christians, Alawites, Druze, and Yazidis. The capital and largest city of Syria is Damascus. Arabs are the largest ethnic group, and Muslims are the largest religious group.

      3. Country in Western Asia

        Lebanon

        Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lies to its west across the Mediterranean Sea; its location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland has contributed to its rich history and shaped a cultural identity of religious diversity. It is part of the Levant region of the Middle East. Lebanon is home to roughly six million people and covers an area of 10,452 square kilometres (4,036 sq mi), making it the second smallest country in continental Asia. The official language of the state is Arabic, while French is also formally recognized; the Lebanese dialect of Arabic is used alongside Modern Standard Arabic throughout the country.

      4. 1976–2005 military occupation of eastern and northern Lebanon by Syria

        Syrian occupation of Lebanon

        The Syrian occupation of Lebanon began in 1976, during the Lebanese Civil War, and ended on 30 April 2005 after the Cedar Revolution and several demonstrations in which most of the Lebanese people participated, and the withdrawal agreement was signed by President Bashar al-Assad and Saad Hariri, son of Rafic Hariri. All of these changes were a result from the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.

  7. 2002

    1. Robert Steinhäuser kills 16 at Gutenberg-Gymnasium in Erfurt, Germany before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot.

      1. 2002 school shooting in Erfurt, Germany

        Erfurt school massacre

        The Erfurt massacre was a school shooting that occurred on 26 April 2002 at the Gutenberg-Gymnasium, a secondary school in Erfurt, Germany. 19-year-old expelled student Robert Steinhäuser shot and killed 16 people, including 13 staff members, 2 students, and 1 police officer before committing suicide. One person was also wounded by a bullet fragment. According to students, he ignored them and aimed only for the teachers and administrators, although 2 students were unintentionally killed by shots fired through a locked door.

      2. School in Germany

        Gutenberg-Gymnasium Erfurt

        The Gutenberg-Gymnasium Erfurt is a gymnasium located in Erfurt, Germany. It opened in 1991 and has approximately 750 students between the ages of 10 and 19.

      3. Capital of Thuringia, Germany

        Erfurt

        Erfurt is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river, in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits in the middle of an almost straight line of cities consisting of the six largest Thuringian cities forming the central metropolitan corridor of the state, the "Thuringian City Chain" with more than 500,000 inhabitants, stretching from Eisenach in the west, via Gotha, Erfurt, Weimar and Jena, to Gera in the east. Erfurt and the city of Göttingen in southern Lower Saxony are the two cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants closest to the geographic center of Germany. Erfurt is located 100 km (62 mi) south-west of Leipzig, 250 km (155 mi) north-east of Frankfurt, 300 km (186 mi) south-west of Berlin and 400 km (249 mi) north of Munich.

  8. 1994

    1. Just before landing at Nagoya Airport, Japan, the copilot of China Airlines Flight 140 inadvertently triggered the takeoff/go-around switch, causing the aircraft to crash and killing 264 of the 271 people on board.

      1. Domestic airport

        Nagoya Airfield

        Nagoya Airfield , also known as Komaki Airport or Nagoya Airport, is an airport which lies within the local government areas of Toyoyama, Komaki, Kasugai and Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It was once an international airport, but is now a domestic secondary airport serving Nagoya while the current primary civil airport for Nagoya is Chūbu Centrair International Airport in Tokoname.

      2. April 1994 aviation accident in Nagoya, Japan

        China Airlines Flight 140

        China Airlines Flight 140 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport to Nagoya Airport in Nagoya, Japan.

      3. Takeoff/go-around switch

        A takeoff/go-around switch is a switch on the autothrottle of modern large aircraft, with two modes: takeoff (TO) and go-around (GA). The mode is dependent on the phase of flight; usually, on approach to land, the autopilot will be set to approach mode, therefore if the TO/GA switch is pressed it will activate the go-around mode of the autothrottle; conversely, when takeoff is set on the autopilot, the switch activates takeoff mode of the autothrottle. On Boeing aircraft TO/GA modes are selected by a separate switch near the throttle levers, but on Airbus aircraft it is activated by pushing the thrust levers fully forward to the TO/GA detent.

    2. China Airlines Flight 140 crashes at Nagoya Airport in Japan, killing 264 of the 271 people on board.

      1. April 1994 aviation accident in Nagoya, Japan

        China Airlines Flight 140

        China Airlines Flight 140 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport to Nagoya Airport in Nagoya, Japan.

      2. Domestic airport

        Nagoya Airfield

        Nagoya Airfield , also known as Komaki Airport or Nagoya Airport, is an airport which lies within the local government areas of Toyoyama, Komaki, Kasugai and Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It was once an international airport, but is now a domestic secondary airport serving Nagoya while the current primary civil airport for Nagoya is Chūbu Centrair International Airport in Tokoname.

    3. South Africa begins its first multiracial election, which is won by Nelson Mandela's African National Congress.

      1. Country in Southern Africa

        South Africa

        South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of 1,221,037 square kilometres. South Africa has three capital cities, with the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government based in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town respectively. The largest city is Johannesburg.

      2. First South African election held under universal suffrage

        1994 South African general election

        General elections were held in South Africa between 26 and 29 April 1994. The elections were the first in which citizens of all races were allowed to take part, and were therefore also the first held with universal suffrage. The election was conducted under the direction of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), and marked the culmination of the four-year process that ended apartheid.

      3. President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999

        Nelson Mandela

        Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by fostering racial reconciliation. Ideologically an African nationalist and socialist, he served as the president of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997.

      4. Political party in South Africa

        African National Congress

        The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election installed Nelson Mandela as President of South Africa. Cyril Ramaphosa, the incumbent national President, has served as President of the ANC since 18 December 2017.

  9. 1993

    1. The Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on mission STS-55 to conduct experiments aboard the Spacelab module.

      1. Orbiter in NASA's Space Shuttle program; operational from 1981 until the 2003 disaster

        Space Shuttle Columbia

        Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the first American ship to circumnavigate the upper North American Pacific coast and the female personification of the United States, Columbia was the first of five Space Shuttle orbiters to fly in space, debuting the Space Shuttle launch vehicle on its maiden flight in April 1981. As only the second full-scale orbiter to be manufactured after the Approach and Landing Test vehicle Enterprise, Columbia retained unique features indicative of its experimental design compared to later orbiters, such as test instrumentation and distinctive black chines. In addition to a heavier fuselage and the retention of an internal airlock throughout its lifetime, these made Columbia the heaviest of the five spacefaring orbiters; around 1,000 kilograms heavier than Challenger and 3,600 kilograms heavier than Endeavour. Columbia also carried ejection seats based on those from the SR-71 during its first six flights until 1983, and from 1986 onwards carried an external imaging pod on its vertical stabilizer.

      2. 1993 American crewed spaceflight

        STS-55

        STS-55, or Deutschland 2 (D-2), was the 55th overall flight of the NASA Space Shuttle and the 14th flight of Shuttle Columbia. This flight was a multinational Spacelab flight involving 88 experiments from eleven different nations. The experiments ranged from biology sciences to simple Earth observations.

      3. Temporary, reusable laboratory aboard the Space Shuttle

        Spacelab

        Spacelab was a reusable laboratory developed by European Space Agency (ESA) and used on certain spaceflights flown by the Space Shuttle. The laboratory comprised multiple components, including a pressurized module, an unpressurized carrier, and other related hardware housed in the Shuttle's cargo bay. The components were arranged in various configurations to meet the needs of each spaceflight.

  10. 1991

    1. Fifty-five tornadoes break out in the central United States. Before the outbreak's end, Andover, Kansas, would record the year's only F5 tornado.

      1. April 1991 tornado outbreak

        Andover tornado outbreak

        From April 26–27, 1991, multiple supercells across Oklahoma and Kansas led to a regional tornado outbreak. Forced by a potent trough and focused along a dryline, these distinct thunderstorms moved northeast through a moist and highly unstable environment. A total of 55 tornadoes were confirmed, many of which were strong, F2 or greater on the Fujita scale. A widely documented F5 tornado tore through Andover, Kansas, killing 17 people. Additional fatalities occurred from significant tornadoes in other portions of Kansas and Oklahoma, with 21 deaths recorded in total. An F4 tornado was detected by a mobile doppler weather radar team which observed winds up to 270 mph (430 km/h) at the top of the funnel, the first time winds of F5 intensity were measured by radar, and the highest winds recorded by radar at the time. A news team filming an F2 tornado sought shelter under a Kansas Turnpike overpass, causing a misconception that overpasses can provide adequate shelter during a tornado. This outbreak occurred within a transition period for the National Weather Service and proved the value of NEXRAD radars, which were utilized in Oklahoma to provide advanced warning to residents.

      2. Geographical region of the USA

        Central United States

        The Central United States is sometimes conceived as between the Eastern and Western as part of a three-region model, roughly coincident with the U.S. Census' definition of the Midwestern United States plus the western and central portions of the U.S. Census' definition of the Southern United States. The Central States are typically considered to consist of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Mississippi and Alabama.

      3. City in Butler County, Kansas

        Andover, Kansas

        Andover is a city in Butler County, Kansas, United States, and a suburb of Wichita. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 14,892. Andover is the most populated city in Butler County.

      4. Scale for rating tornado intensity

        Fujita scale

        The Fujita scale, or Fujita–Pearson scale, is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The official Fujita scale category is determined by meteorologists and engineers after a ground or aerial damage survey, or both; and depending on the circumstances, ground-swirl patterns, weather radar data, witness testimonies, media reports and damage imagery, as well as photogrammetry or videogrammetry if motion picture recording is available. The Fujita scale was replaced with the Enhanced Fujita scale (EF-Scale) in the United States in February 2007. In April 2013, Canada adopted the EF-Scale over the Fujita scale along with 31 "Specific Damage Indicators" used by Environment Canada (EC) in their ratings.

  11. 1989

    1. A tornado struck the Manikganj District of Bangladesh, killing an estimated 1,300 people, making it the deadliest tornado in history.

      1. Violently rotating column of air in contact with both the Earth's surface and a cumulonimbus cloud

        Tornado

        A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology to name a weather system with a low-pressure area in the center around which, from an observer looking down toward the surface of the Earth, winds blow counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern. Tornadoes come in many shapes and sizes, and they are often visible in the form of a condensation funnel originating from the base of a cumulonimbus cloud, with a cloud of rotating debris and dust beneath it. Most tornadoes have wind speeds less than 180 km/h (110 mph), are about 80 m across, and travel several kilometers before dissipating. The most extreme tornadoes can attain wind speeds of more than 480 km/h (300 mph), are more than 3 km in diameter, and stay on the ground for more than 100 km.

      2. District of Bangladesh in Dhaka Division

        Manikganj District

        Manikganj is a district in central Bangladesh. It is a part of the Tangail Sub Division.

      3. 1989 tornado in Bangladesh

        Daulatpur–Saturia tornado

        The Daulatpur–Saturia tornado occurred in Manikganj District, Bangladesh on April 26, 1989. It was the deadliest tornado in Bangladesh's history. There is great uncertainty about the death toll, but estimates indicate that it was devastating and that it killed approximately 1,300 people, which would make it the deadliest tornado in history. The tornado affected the cities of Daulatpur and Saturia the most, moving east through Daulatpur and eventually northeast into Saturia. Previously, the area that the tornado hit had been in a state of drought for six months.

    2. An editorial was published in the People's Daily denouncing the growing unrest in Tiananmen Square in Beijing which would remain contentious through the remainder of the protests.

      1. Chinese state-run newspaper article published during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests

        April 26 Editorial

        The April 26 Editorial was a front-page article published in People's Daily on April 26, 1989, during the Tiananmen Square protests. The editorial effectively defined the student movement as a destabilizing anti-party revolt that should be resolutely opposed at all levels of society. As the first authoritative document from the top leadership on the growing movement, it was widely interpreted as having communicated the party's zero-tolerance position to student protesters and their sympathizers.

      2. Newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party

        People's Daily

        The People's Daily is the largest newspaper group in China. The paper is owned by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In addition to its main Chinese-language edition, the People's Daily has editions in multiple languages. The newspaper provides direct information on the policies and viewpoints of the CCP.

      3. Chinese pro-democracy movement and subsequent massacre

        1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre

        The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth Clearing or June Fourth Massacre, troops armed with assault rifles and accompanied by tanks fired at the demonstrators and those trying to block the military's advance into Tiananmen Square. The protests started on 15 April and were forcibly suppressed on 4 June when the government declared martial law and sent the People's Liberation Army to occupy parts of central Beijing. Estimates of the death toll vary from several hundred to several thousand, with thousands more wounded. The popular national movement inspired by the Beijing protests is sometimes called the '89 Democracy Movement or the Tiananmen Square Incident.

      4. Public square in Beijing, China

        Tiananmen Square

        Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square is a city square in the city center of Beijing, China, named after the eponymous Tiananmen located to its north, which separates it from the Forbidden City. The square contains the Monument to the People's Heroes, the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum of China, and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China in the square on October 1, 1949; the anniversary of this event is still observed there. The size of Tiananmen Square is 765 x 282 meters. It has great cultural significance as it was the site of several important events in Chinese history.

    3. The deadliest known tornado strikes Central Bangladesh, killing upwards of 1,300, injuring 12,000, and leaving as many as 80,000 homeless.

      1. 1989 tornado in Bangladesh

        Daulatpur–Saturia tornado

        The Daulatpur–Saturia tornado occurred in Manikganj District, Bangladesh on April 26, 1989. It was the deadliest tornado in Bangladesh's history. There is great uncertainty about the death toll, but estimates indicate that it was devastating and that it killed approximately 1,300 people, which would make it the deadliest tornado in history. The tornado affected the cities of Daulatpur and Saturia the most, moving east through Daulatpur and eventually northeast into Saturia. Previously, the area that the tornado hit had been in a state of drought for six months.

    4. People's Daily publishes the April 26 Editorial which inflames the nascent Tiananmen Square protests.

      1. Newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party

        People's Daily

        The People's Daily is the largest newspaper group in China. The paper is owned by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In addition to its main Chinese-language edition, the People's Daily has editions in multiple languages. The newspaper provides direct information on the policies and viewpoints of the CCP.

      2. Chinese state-run newspaper article published during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests

        April 26 Editorial

        The April 26 Editorial was a front-page article published in People's Daily on April 26, 1989, during the Tiananmen Square protests. The editorial effectively defined the student movement as a destabilizing anti-party revolt that should be resolutely opposed at all levels of society. As the first authoritative document from the top leadership on the growing movement, it was widely interpreted as having communicated the party's zero-tolerance position to student protesters and their sympathizers.

      3. Chinese pro-democracy movement and subsequent massacre

        1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre

        The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth Clearing or June Fourth Massacre, troops armed with assault rifles and accompanied by tanks fired at the demonstrators and those trying to block the military's advance into Tiananmen Square. The protests started on 15 April and were forcibly suppressed on 4 June when the government declared martial law and sent the People's Liberation Army to occupy parts of central Beijing. Estimates of the death toll vary from several hundred to several thousand, with thousands more wounded. The popular national movement inspired by the Beijing protests is sometimes called the '89 Democracy Movement or the Tiananmen Square Incident.

  12. 1986

    1. The Chernobyl disaster occurs in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

      1. 1986 nuclear accident in the Soviet Union

        Chernobyl disaster

        The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union. It is one of only two nuclear energy accidents rated at seven—the maximum severity—on the International Nuclear Event Scale, the other being the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. The initial emergency response, together with later decontamination of the environment, involved more than 500,000 personnel and cost an estimated 18 billion roubles—roughly US$68 billion in 2019, adjusted for inflation.

      2. Republic of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991 (founded 1919)

        Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic

        The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, or UkSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. In the anthem of the Ukrainian SSR, it was referred to simply as Ukraine. Under the Soviet one-party model, the Ukrainian SSR was governed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union through its republican branch: the Communist Party of Ukraine.

  13. 1982

    1. Fifty-seven people are killed by former police officer Woo Bum-kon in a shooting spree in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea.

      1. South Korean policeman and perpetrator of a 1982 mass shooting

        Woo Bum-kon

        Woo Bum-kon was a South Korean policeman and spree killer who murdered between 56 and 62 people and wounded 33 others in several villages in Uiryeong County, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, during the night from April 26 to April 27, 1982, before committing suicide.

      2. Province of South Korea

        South Gyeongsang Province

        South Gyeongsang Province is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World Heritage Site Haeinsa, a Buddhist temple that houses the Tripitaka Koreana and tourist attraction, is located in this province. Automobile and petrochemical factories are largely concentrated along the southern part of the province, extending from Ulsan through Busan, Changwon, and Jinju.

  14. 1981

    1. Dr. Michael R. Harrison of the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center performs the world's first human open fetal surgery.

      1. Michael R. Harrison

        Michael R. Harrison served as division chief in pediatric surgery at the Children's Hospital at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) for over 20 years, where he established the first fetal treatment center in the U.S. He is often referred to as the father of fetal surgery. He is currently a professor of surgery and pediatrics and the director emeritus of the UCSF Fetal Treatment Center.

      2. Hospital in California, USA

        UCSF Medical Center

        The University of California, San Francisco Medical Center is a research and teaching hospital in San Francisco, California and is the medical center of the University of California, San Francisco. It is affiliated with the UCSF School of Medicine. In 2022–23, it was ranked as the 12th-best overall hospital in the United States and one of the top three hospital in California by U.S. News & World Report.

      3. Growing branch of maternal-fetal medicine

        Fetal surgery

        Fetal surgery also known as antenatal surgery, prenatal surgery, is a growing branch of maternal-fetal medicine that covers any of a broad range of surgical techniques that are used to treat congenital abnormalities in fetuses who are still in the pregnant uterus. There are three main types: open fetal surgery, which involves completely opening the uterus to operate on the fetus; minimally invasive fetoscopic surgery, which uses small incisions and is guided by fetoscopy and sonography; and percutaneous fetal therapy, which involves placing a catheter under continuous ultrasound guidance.

  15. 1970

    1. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) came into being when the WIPO Convention entered into force.

      1. Specialised agency of the United Nations

        World Intellectual Property Organization

        The World Intellectual Property Organization is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO was created to promote and protect intellectual property (IP) across the world by cooperating with countries as well as international organizations. It began operations on 26 April 1970 when the convention entered into force. The current Director General is Singaporean Daren Tang, former head of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, who began his term on 1 October 2020.

      2. 1967 multilateral treaty establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

        WIPO Convention

        The WIPO Convention is the multilateral treaty that established the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

    2. The Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization enters into force.

      1. 1967 multilateral treaty establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

        WIPO Convention

        The WIPO Convention is the multilateral treaty that established the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

  16. 1966

    1. The magnitude 5.1 Tashkent earthquake affects the largest city in Soviet Central Asia with a maximum MSK intensity of VII (Very strong). Tashkent is mostly destroyed and 15–200 are killed.

      1. 1966 earthquake centered in Tashkent, Uzbek SSR

        1966 Tashkent earthquake

        The 1966 Tashkent earthquake occurred on 26 April in the Uzbek SSR. It had a moment magnitude of 5.2 with an epicenter in central Tashkent at a depth of 3–8 kilometers (1.9–5.0 mi). The earthquake caused massive destruction to Tashkent, destroying most of the buildings in the city, killing between 15 and 200 people and leaving between 200,000 to 300,000 homeless. Following the disaster, most of the historic parts of Tashkent had been destroyed and the city was rebuilt, modelled on Soviet architectural styles. Soviet authorities created an institute of seismology in order to forecast future earthquakes.

      2. Section of Central Asia formerly controlled by the Soviet Union

        Soviet Central Asia

        Soviet Central Asia was the part of Central Asia administered by the Soviet Union between 1918 and 1991, when the Central Asian republics declared independence. It is nearly synonymous with Russian Turkestan in the Russian Empire. Soviet Central Asia went through many territorial divisions before the current borders were created in the 1920s and 1930s.

      3. Earthquake intensity scale

        Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik scale

        The Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik scale, also known as the MSK or MSK-64, is a macroseismic intensity scale used to evaluate the severity of ground shaking on the basis of observed effects in an area where an earthquake transpires.

      4. Capital of Uzbekistan

        Tashkent

        Tashkent, or Toshkent, also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan, as well as the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2,909,000 (2022). It is in northeastern Uzbekistan, near the border with Kazakhstan. Tashkent comes from the Turkic tash and kent, literally translated as "Stone City" or "City of Stones".

    2. A new government is formed in the Republic of the Congo, led by Ambroise Noumazalaye.

      1. Country in Central Africa

        Republic of the Congo

        The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the west of the Congo river. It is bordered to the west by Gabon, to its northwest by Cameroon and its northeast by the Central African Republic, to the southeast by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to its south by the Angolan exclave of Cabinda and to its southwest by the Atlantic Ocean.

      2. Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo (1933–2007)

        Ambroise Noumazalaye

        Ambroise Édouard Noumazalaye was a Congolese politician who was Prime Minister of Congo-Brazzaville from 1966 to 1968, under President Alphonse Massamba-Débat. Later in life he served as Secretary-General of the Congolese Labour Party (PCT) and was a supporter of President Denis Sassou Nguesso. He served as President of the Senate from 2002 to 2007.

  17. 1964

    1. Tanganyika and Zanzibar merge to form the United Republic of Tanzania.

      1. Country in East Africa from 1961 to 1964

        Tanganyika (1961–1964)

        Tanganyika was a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania, that existed from 1961 until 1964. It first gained independence from the United Kingdom on 9 December 1961 as a state headed by Queen Elizabeth II before becoming a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations a year later. After signing the Articles of Union on 22 April 1964 and passing an Act of Union on 25 April, Tanganyika officially joined with the People's Republic of Zanzibar to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar on Union Day, 26 April 1964. The new state changed its name to the United Republic of Tanzania within a year.

      2. Autonomous part of Tanzania

        Zanzibar

        Zanzibar is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, 25–50 kilometres (16–31 mi) off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands and two large ones: Unguja and Pemba Island. The capital is Zanzibar City, located on the island of Unguja. Its historic centre, Stone Town, is a World Heritage Site.

      3. Country in East Africa

        Tanzania

        Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to the south; Zambia to the southwest; and Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, is in northeastern Tanzania. According to the United Nations, Tanzania has a population of 63.59 million, making it the most populous country located entirely south of the equator.

  18. 1963

    1. In Libya, amendments to the constitution transform Libya (United Kingdom of Libya) into one national unity (Kingdom of Libya) and allows for female participation in elections.

      1. Country in North Africa

        Libya

        Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad to the south, Niger to the southwest, Algeria to the west, and Tunisia to the northwest. Libya is made of three historical regions: Tripolitania, Fezzan, and Cyrenaica. With an area of almost 700,000 square miles, it is the fourth-largest country in Africa and the Arab world, and the 16th-largest in the world. Libya has the 10th-largest proven oil reserves in the world. The largest city and capital, Tripoli, is located in western Libya and contains over three million of Libya's seven million people.

      2. Kingdom in North Africa from 1951 to 1969

        Kingdom of Libya

        The Kingdom of Libya, known as the United Kingdom of Libya from 1951 to 1963, was a constitutional monarchy in North Africa which came into existence upon independence on 24 December 1951 and lasted until a coup d'état on 1 September 1969. The coup, led by Muammar Gaddafi, overthrew King Idris and established the Libyan Arab Republic.

  19. 1962

    1. NASA's Ranger 4 spacecraft crashes into the Moon.

      1. American space and aeronautics agency

        NASA

        The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.

      2. 1962 American unmanned space flight intended to study the Moon

        Ranger 4

        Ranger 4 was a spacecraft of the Ranger program, launched in 1962. It was designed to transmit pictures of the lunar surface to Earth stations during a period of 10 minutes of flight prior to crashing upon the Moon, to rough-land a seismometer capsule on the Moon, to collect gamma-ray data in flight, to study radar reflectivity of the lunar surface, and to continue testing of the Ranger program for development of lunar and interplanetary spacecraft.

      3. Natural satellite orbiting the Earth

        Moon

        The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth. The Moon is a planetary-mass object with a differentiated rocky body, making it a satellite planet under the geophysical definitions of the term and larger than all known dwarf planets of the Solar System. It lacks any significant atmosphere, hydrosphere, or magnetic field. Its surface gravity is about one-sixth of Earth's at 0.1654 g, with Jupiter's moon Io being the only satellite in the Solar System known to have a higher surface gravity and density.

    2. The British space programme launches its first satellite, the Ariel 1.

      1. British government effort to develop British space capabilities

        British space programme

        The British space programme is the British government's work to develop British space capabilities. The objectives of the current civil programme are to "win sustainable economic growth, secure new scientific knowledge and provide benefits to all citizens."

      2. First British satellite

        Ariel 1

        Ariel 1, was the first British satellite, and the first satellite in the Ariel programme. Its launch in 1962 made the United Kingdom the third country to operate a satellite, after the Soviet Union and the United States. It was constructed in the UK and the United States by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and SERC, under an agreement reached as the result of political discussions in 1959 and 1960. The US Starfish Prime exoatmospheric nuclear test affected Ariel 1's operational capability.

  20. 1960

    1. Forced out by the April Revolution, President of South Korea Syngman Rhee resigns after 12 years of dictatorial rule.

      1. 1960 South Korean uprising that led to the resignation of President Syngman Rhee

        April Revolution

        The April Revolution, also called the April 19 Revolution or April 19 Movement, were mass protests in South Korea against President Syngman Rhee and the First Republic from April 11 to 26, 1960 which led to Rhee's resignation.

      2. Head of state and of government of the Republic of Korea

        President of South Korea

        The president of the Republic of Korea, also known as the president of South Korea, is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Korea. The president leads the State Council, and is the chief of the executive branch of the national government as well as the commander-in-chief of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces.

      3. President of South Korea from 1948 to 1960

        Syngman Rhee

        Syngman Rhee was a South Korean politician who served as the first president of South Korea from 1948 to 1960.

      4. Government of South Korea from 1948 to 1960

        First Republic of Korea

        The first Republic of Korea was the government of South Korea from August 1948 to April 1960. The first republic was founded on 15 August 1948 after the transfer from the United States Army Military Government that governed South Korea since the end of Japanese rule in 1945, becoming the first independent republican government in Korea. Syngman Rhee became the first president of South Korea following the May 1948 general election, and the National Assembly in Seoul promulgated South Korea's first constitution in July, establishing a presidential system of government.

  21. 1958

    1. Service ended on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Royal Blue Line, one of the first major electrified train lines in the U.S. (steam train pictured).

      1. Rail system in the United States of America

        Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

        The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of the National Road early in the century, wanted to do business with settlers crossing the Appalachian Mountains. The railroad faced competition from several existing and proposed enterprises, including the Albany-Schenectady Turnpike, built in 1797, the Erie Canal, which opened in 1825, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. At first, the B&O was located entirely in the state of Maryland; its original line extending from the port of Baltimore west to Sandy Hook, Maryland, opened in 1834. There it connected with Harper's Ferry, first by boat, then by the Wager Bridge, across the Potomac River into Virginia, and also with the navigable Shenandoah River.

      2. Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's flagship passenger train

        Royal Blue (train)

        The Royal Blue was the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O)'s flagship passenger train between New York City and Washington, D.C., in the United States, beginning in 1890. The Baltimore-based B&O also used the name between 1890 and 1917 for its improved passenger service between New York and Washington, collectively dubbed the Royal Blue Line. Using variants such as the Royal Limited and Royal Special for individual Royal Blue trains, the B&O operated the service in partnership with the Reading Railroad and the Central Railroad of New Jersey. Principal intermediate cities served were Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore. Later, as Europe reeled from the carnage of World War I and connotations of European royalty fell into disfavor, the B&O discreetly omitted the sobriquet Royal Blue Line from its New York passenger service and the Royal Blue disappeared from B&O timetables. Beginning in 1917, former Royal Blue Line trains were renamed: the Royal Limited, for example, became the National Limited, continuing west from Washington to St. Louis via Cincinnati. During the Depression, the B&O hearkened back to the halcyon pre-World War I era when it launched a re-christened Royal Blue train between New York and Washington in 1935. The B&O finally discontinued all passenger service north of Baltimore on April 26, 1958, including the Royal Blue.

      3. Electrical infrastructure which supplies power to rail transport

        Railway electrification system

        A railway electrification system supplies electric power to railway trains and trams without an on-board prime mover or local fuel supply. Electric railways use either electric locomotives, electric multiple units or both. Electricity is typically generated in large and relatively efficient generating stations, transmitted to the railway network and distributed to the trains. Some electric railways have their own dedicated generating stations and transmission lines, but most purchase power from an electric utility. The railway usually provides its own distribution lines, switches, and transformers.

    2. Final run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Royal Blue from Washington, D.C., to New York City after 68 years, the first U.S. passenger train to use electric locomotives.

      1. Rail system in the United States of America

        Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

        The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of the National Road early in the century, wanted to do business with settlers crossing the Appalachian Mountains. The railroad faced competition from several existing and proposed enterprises, including the Albany-Schenectady Turnpike, built in 1797, the Erie Canal, which opened in 1825, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. At first, the B&O was located entirely in the state of Maryland; its original line extending from the port of Baltimore west to Sandy Hook, Maryland, opened in 1834. There it connected with Harper's Ferry, first by boat, then by the Wager Bridge, across the Potomac River into Virginia, and also with the navigable Shenandoah River.

      2. Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's flagship passenger train

        Royal Blue (train)

        The Royal Blue was the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O)'s flagship passenger train between New York City and Washington, D.C., in the United States, beginning in 1890. The Baltimore-based B&O also used the name between 1890 and 1917 for its improved passenger service between New York and Washington, collectively dubbed the Royal Blue Line. Using variants such as the Royal Limited and Royal Special for individual Royal Blue trains, the B&O operated the service in partnership with the Reading Railroad and the Central Railroad of New Jersey. Principal intermediate cities served were Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore. Later, as Europe reeled from the carnage of World War I and connotations of European royalty fell into disfavor, the B&O discreetly omitted the sobriquet Royal Blue Line from its New York passenger service and the Royal Blue disappeared from B&O timetables. Beginning in 1917, former Royal Blue Line trains were renamed: the Royal Limited, for example, became the National Limited, continuing west from Washington to St. Louis via Cincinnati. During the Depression, the B&O hearkened back to the halcyon pre-World War I era when it launched a re-christened Royal Blue train between New York and Washington in 1935. The B&O finally discontinued all passenger service north of Baltimore on April 26, 1958, including the Royal Blue.

      3. Electrical infrastructure which supplies power to rail transport

        Railway electrification system

        A railway electrification system supplies electric power to railway trains and trams without an on-board prime mover or local fuel supply. Electric railways use either electric locomotives, electric multiple units or both. Electricity is typically generated in large and relatively efficient generating stations, transmitted to the railway network and distributed to the trains. Some electric railways have their own dedicated generating stations and transmission lines, but most purchase power from an electric utility. The railway usually provides its own distribution lines, switches, and transformers.

  22. 1956

    1. SS Ideal X, the world's first successful container ship, leaves Port Newark, New Jersey, for Houston, Texas.

      1. First container ship

        SS Ideal X

        SS Ideal X, a converted World War II T-2 oil tanker, was the first commercially successful container ship.

      2. Ship that carries cargo in intermodal containers

        Container ship

        A container ship is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport and now carry most seagoing non-bulk cargo.

      3. Major component of the Port of New York and New Jersey

        Port Newark–Elizabeth Marine Terminal

        Port Newark–Elizabeth Marine Terminal, a major component of the Port of New York and New Jersey, is the principal container ship facility for goods entering and leaving New York metropolitan area and the northeastern quadrant of North America. Located on Newark Bay, the facility is run by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Its two components—Port Newark and the Elizabeth Marine Terminal —sit side by side within the cities of Newark and Elizabeth, New Jersey, just east of the New Jersey Turnpike and Newark Liberty International Airport.

      4. Largest city in Texas, United States

        Houston

        Houston is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in 2020. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the seat and largest city of Harris County and the principal city of the Greater Houston metropolitan area, which is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States and the second-most populous in Texas after Dallas–Fort Worth. Houston is the southeast anchor of the greater megaregion known as the Texas Triangle.

  23. 1954

    1. The Geneva Conference, an effort to restore peace in Indochina and Korea, begins.

      1. 1954 international conference on the dismantling of French Indochina

        1954 Geneva Conference

        The Geneva Conference, intended to settle outstanding issues resulting from the Korean War and the First Indochina War, was a conference involving several nations that took place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 26 April to 20 July 1954. The part of the conference on the Korean question ended without adopting any declarations or proposals, so is generally considered less relevant. The Geneva Accords that dealt with the dismantling of French Indochina proved to have long-lasting repercussions, however. The crumbling of the French colonial empire in Southeast Asia led to the formation of the states of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the State of Vietnam, the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Kingdom of Laos.

      2. The continental portion of Southeast Asia

        Mainland Southeast Asia

        Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east. It includes the countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, with peninsular Malaysia sometimes also being included.

    2. The first clinical trials of Jonas Salk's polio vaccine begin in Fairfax County, Virginia.

      1. American virologist; inventor of the polio vaccine (1914–1995)

        Jonas Salk

        Jonas Edward Salk was an American virologist and medical researcher who developed one of the first successful polio vaccines. He was born in New York City and attended the City College of New York and New York University School of Medicine.

      2. Vaccine to prevent poliomyelitis

        Polio vaccine

        Polio vaccines are vaccines used to prevent poliomyelitis (polio). Two types are used: an inactivated poliovirus given by injection (IPV) and a weakened poliovirus given by mouth (OPV). The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends all children be fully vaccinated against polio. The two vaccines have eliminated polio from most of the world, and reduced the number of cases reported each year from an estimated 350,000 in 1988 to 33 in 2018.

      3. County in Virginia, United States

        Fairfax County, Virginia

        Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. The county is predominantly suburban in character with some urban and rural pockets.

  24. 1945

    1. World War II: Battle of Bautzen: Last successful German tank-offensive of the war and last noteworthy victory of the Wehrmacht.

      1. Global war, 1939–1945

        World War II

        World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries.

      2. Battle in the Eastern Front of World War II

        Battle of Bautzen (1945)

        The Battle of Bautzen was one of the last battles of the Eastern Front during World War II. It was fought on the extreme southern flank of the Spremberg-Torgau Offensive, seeing days of pitched street fighting between forces of the Polish Second Army under elements of the Soviet 52nd Army and 5th Guards Army on one side and elements of German Army Group Center in the form of the remnants of the 4th Panzer and 17th armies on the other.

      3. Unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945

        Wehrmacht

        The Wehrmacht was the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer (army), the Kriegsmarine (navy) and the Luftwaffe. The designation "Wehrmacht" replaced the previously used term Reichswehr and was the manifestation of the Nazi regime's efforts to rearm Germany to a greater extent than the Treaty of Versailles permitted.

    2. World War II: Filipino troops of the 66th Infantry Regiment, Philippine Commonwealth Army, USAFIP-NL and the American troops of the 33rd and 37th Infantry Division, United States Army are liberated in Baguio and they fight against the Japanese forces under General Tomoyuki Yamashita.

      1. City in Cordillera Region, northern Philippines

        Baguio

        Baguio, officially known as the City of Baguio, is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", owing to its cool climate since the city is located approximately 4,810 feet above mean sea level, often cited as 1,540 meters in the Luzon tropical pine forests ecoregion, which also makes it conducive for the growth of mossy plants, orchids and pine trees, to which it attributes its other moniker as the "City of Pines".

      2. Japanese officer and war criminal (1885–1946)

        Tomoyuki Yamashita

        Tomoyuki Yamashita was a Japanese officer and convicted war criminal, who was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Yamashita led Japanese forces during the invasion of Malaya and Battle of Singapore, with his accomplishment of conquering Malaya and Singapore in 70 days earning him the sobriquet "The Tiger of Malaya" and led to the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill calling the ignominious fall of Singapore to Japan the "worst disaster" and "largest capitulation" in British military history. Yamashita was assigned to defend the Philippines from the advancing Allied forces later in the war, and while unable to prevent the Allied advance, he was able to hold on to part of Luzon until after the formal Surrender of Japan in August 1945.

  25. 1944

    1. World War II: U.S. Navy submarines began attacks on Japan's Take Ichi convoy as it sailed in waters between Taiwan and the Philippines, eventually sinking four vessels and killing more than 4,000 troops.

      1. Global war, 1939–1945

        World War II

        World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries.

      2. Maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces

        United States Navy

        The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of its active battle fleet alone exceeding the next 13 navies combined, including 11 allies or partner nations of the United States as of 2015. It has the highest combined battle fleet tonnage and the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with eleven in service, two new carriers under construction, and five other carriers planned. With 336,978 personnel on active duty and 101,583 in the Ready Reserve, the United States Navy is the third largest of the United States military service branches in terms of personnel. It has 290 deployable combat vessels and more than 2,623 operational aircraft as of June 2019.

      3. 1944 Japanese convoy

        Take Ichi convoy

        The Take-Ichi sendan was a Japanese convoy of World War II. The convoy left Shanghai on 17 April 1944, carrying two infantry divisions to reinforce Japan's defensive positions in the Philippines and western New Guinea. United States Navy (USN) submarines attacked the convoy on 26 April and 6 May, sinking four transports and killing more than 4,000 soldiers. These losses caused the convoy to be diverted to Halmahera, where the surviving soldiers and their equipment were unloaded.

    2. Georgios Papandreou becomes head of the Greek government-in-exile based in Egypt.

      1. Greek politician - former prime minister of Greece (1888–1968)

        Georgios Papandreou

        Georgios Papandreou was a Greek politician, the founder of the Papandreou political dynasty. He served three terms as prime minister of Greece. He was also deputy prime minister from 1950–1952, in the governments of Nikolaos Plastiras and Sofoklis Venizelos and served numerous times as a cabinet minister, starting in 1923, in a political career that spanned more than five decades.

      2. Greek government-in-exile

        The Greek government-in-exile was formed in 1941, in the aftermath of the Battle of Greece and the subsequent occupation of Greece by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The government-in-exile was based in Cairo, Egypt, and hence it is also referred to as the "Cairo Government". It was the internationally recognised government during the years of the Axis occupation of Greece.

      3. Country in Northeast Africa and Southwest Asia

        Egypt

        Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip of Palestine and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. The Gulf of Aqaba in the northeast separates Egypt from Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Cairo is the capital and largest city of Egypt, while Alexandria, the second-largest city, is an important industrial and tourist hub at the Mediterranean coast. At approximately 100 million inhabitants, Egypt is the 14th-most populated country in the world.

    3. Heinrich Kreipe is captured by Allied commandos in occupied Crete.

      1. 20th-century German soldier

        Heinrich Kreipe

        Karl Heinrich Georg Ferdinand Kreipe was a German career soldier who served in both World War I and World War II. While leading German forces in occupied Crete in April 1944, he was abducted by British SOE officers Patrick Leigh Fermor and William Stanley Moss, with the support of the Cretan resistance.

      2. 1941–1945 period during World War II

        Axis occupation of Greece

        The occupation of Greece by the Axis Powers began in April 1941 after Nazi Germany invaded the Kingdom of Greece to assist its ally, Fascist Italy, which had been at war with Allied Greece since October 1940. Following the conquest of Crete, all of Greece was occupied by June 1941. The occupation of the mainland lasted until Germany and its ally Bulgaria were forced to withdraw under Allied pressure in early October 1944. However, German garrisons remained in control of Crete and some other Aegean islands until after the end of World War II in Europe, surrendering these islands in May and June 1945.

  26. 1943

    1. The Easter Riots break out in Uppsala, Sweden.

      1. 1943 clashes between Swedish Nazis and anti-fascists in Uppsala, Sweden

        Easter Riots

        The Easter Riots is the name given to a period of unrest in Uppsala, Sweden, during the Easter of 1943. The National Socialist group Swedish Socialist Union held its national congress in Uppsala, amid the Second World War and only days after events like the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The unrest climaxed on 26 April, when the SSS – who after initially belonging to a Strasserist wing of National Socialism began adopting a more indigenous form of fascism in 1938, and included Ingvar Kamprad among its early members – ended the congress by holding a demonstration at the Royal Mounds of Old Uppsala.

      2. City in Uppland, Sweden

        Uppsala

        Uppsala is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019.

  27. 1942

    1. Benxihu Colliery accident in Manchukuo leaves 1549 Chinese miners dead.

      1. Historic mine in China

        Benxihu Colliery

        Benxihu (Honkeiko) Colliery, located in Benxi, Liaoning, China, was first mined in 1905. Originally an iron and coal mining project under joint Japanese and Chinese control, the mine came under predominantly Japanese control. In the early 1930s, Japan invaded the northeast of China, and Liaoning province became part of the Japanese-controlled puppet state of Manchukuo. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese forced Chinese labourers—some of whom had been captured from local military organizations—to work the colliery under very poor conditions. Food was scarce and workers did not have sufficient clothing. Working conditions were harsh, and diseases such as typhoid and cholera flourished due to poor sanitation and water supplies. Typically miners worked 12-hour shifts or longer. The Japanese controllers were known to beat workers with pick handles, and the perimeter of the mine was fenced and guarded. Many describe the conditions as slave labour.

      2. Japanese puppet state in Manchuria (1932–1945)

        Manchukuo

        Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, and in 1934 it became a constitutional monarchy under the de facto control of Japan. It had limited international recognition.

  28. 1941

    1. Boris Kidrič and Edvard Kardelj founded the Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation, the main anti-fascist Slovene civil-resistance and political organization during World War II.

      1. Boris Kidrič

        Boris Kidrič was a Slovene politician and revolutionary who was one of the chief organizers of the Slovene Partisans, the Slovene resistance against occupation by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy after Operation Barbarossa in June 1941. He became the de facto leader of the Liberation Front of the Slovenian People. As such, he had a crucial role in the anti-Fascist liberation struggle in Slovenia between 1941 and 1945. After World War II he was, together with Edvard Kardelj, a leading Slovenian politician in communist Yugoslavia.

      2. Yugoslav politician and economist, progenitor of workers' self-management in the Tito era

        Edvard Kardelj

        Edvard Kardelj, also known by the pseudonyms Bevc, Sperans and Krištof, was a Yugoslav politician and economist. He was one of the leading members of the Communist Party of Slovenia before World War II. During the war, Kardelj was one of the leaders of the Liberation Front of the Slovenian People and a Slovene Partisan, and after the war, he was a federal political leader in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and led the Yugoslav delegation in peace talks with Italy over the border dispute in the Julian March. He was the main creator of the Yugoslav system of workers' self-management. He was an economist and a full member of both the Slovene Academy of Sciences and Arts and the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. he played a major role and setting the foreign policy by designing the fundamental ideological basis for the Yugoslav policy of nonalignment in the 1950s and the 1960s.

      3. Anti-fascist Slovene civil resistance and political organization during WWII

        Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation

        The Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation, or simply Liberation Front, originally called the Anti-Imperialist Front, was a Slovene anti-fascist political party. The Anti-Imperialist Front had ideological ties to the Soviet Union in its fight against the imperialistic tendencies of the United States and the United Kingdom, and it was led by the Communist Party of Slovenia. In May 1941, weeks into the German occupation of Yugoslavia, in the first wartime issue of the illegal newspaper Slovenski poročevalec, members of the organization criticized the German regime and described Germans as imperialists. They started raising money for a liberation fund via the second issue of the newspaper published on 8 June 1941. When Germany attacked the Soviet Union, the Anti-Imperialist Front was formally renamed and became the main anti-fascist Slovene civil resistance and political organization under the guidance and control of the Slovene communists. It was active in the Slovene Lands during World War II. Its military arm was the Slovene Partisans. The organisation was established in the Province of Ljubljana on 26 April 1941 in the house of the literary critic Josip Vidmar. Its leaders were Boris Kidrič and Edvard Kardelj.

      4. Opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals

        Anti-fascism

        Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were opposed by many countries forming the Allies of World War II and dozens of resistance movements worldwide. Anti-fascism has been an element of movements across the political spectrum and holding many different political positions such as anarchism, communism, pacifism, republicanism, social democracy, socialism and syndicalism as well as centrist, conservative, liberal and nationalist viewpoints.

  29. 1937

    1. Spanish Civil War: Guernica, Spain, is bombed by German Luftwaffe.

      1. 1936–1939 civil war in Spain

        Spanish Civil War

        The Spanish Civil War was a civil war in Spain fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republicans and the Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the left-leaning Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic, and consisted of various socialist, communist, separatist, anarchist, and republican parties, some of which had opposed the government in the pre-war period. The opposing Nationalists were an alliance of Falangists, monarchists, conservatives, and traditionalists led by a military junta among whom General Francisco Franco quickly achieved a preponderant role. Due to the international political climate at the time, the war had many facets and was variously viewed as class struggle, a religious struggle, a struggle between dictatorship and republican democracy, between revolution and counterrevolution, and between fascism and communism. According to Claude Bowers, U.S. ambassador to Spain during the war, it was the "dress rehearsal" for World War II. The Nationalists won the war, which ended in early 1939, and ruled Spain until Franco's death in November 1975.

      2. City in Basque Country, Spain

        Guernica

        Guernica, official name Gernika, is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part of the municipality of Gernika-Lumo, whose population is 16,224 as of 2009.

      3. Attack by military aircraft during the Spanish Civil War

        Bombing of Guernica

        On 26 April 1937, the Basque town of Guernica was aerial bombed during the Spanish Civil War. It was carried out at the behest of Francisco Franco's rebel Nationalist faction by its allies, the Nazi German Luftwaffe's Condor Legion and the Fascist Italian Aviazione Legionaria, under the code name "Operation Rügen". The town was being used as a communications centre by Republican forces just behind the front line, and the raid was intended to destroy bridges and roads. The operation opened the way to Franco's capture of Bilbao and his victory in northern Spain.

      4. Aerial-warfare branch of the German military forces during World War II

        Luftwaffe

        The Luftwaffe was the aerial-warfare branch of the German Wehrmacht before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the Luftstreitkräfte of the Imperial Army and the Marine-Fliegerabteilung of the Imperial Navy, had been disbanded in May 1920 in accordance with the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles which banned Germany from having any air force.

  30. 1933

    1. The Gestapo, the official secret police force of Nazi Germany, was established.

      1. Nazi Germany secret police

        Gestapo

        The Geheime Staatspolizei, abbreviated Gestapo, was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.

      2. Intelligence agency and or law enforcement agency which operates in secrecy

        Secret police

        Secret police are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes. They protect the political power of a dictator or regime and often operate outside the law to repress dissidents and weaken political opposition, frequently using violence.

      3. Germany under control of the Nazi Party (1933–1945)

        Nazi Germany

        Nazi Germany was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a dictatorship. Under Hitler's rule, Germany quickly became a totalitarian state where nearly all aspects of life were controlled by the government. The Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", alluded to the Nazi claim that Nazi Germany was the successor to the earlier Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and German Empire (1871–1918). The Third Reich, which Hitler and the Nazis referred to as the Thousand-Year Reich, ended in May 1945 after just 12 years when the Allies defeated Germany, ending World War II in Europe.

    2. The Gestapo, the official secret police force of Nazi Germany, is established by Hermann Göring.

      1. Nazi Germany secret police

        Gestapo

        The Geheime Staatspolizei, abbreviated Gestapo, was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.

      2. Intelligence agency and or law enforcement agency which operates in secrecy

        Secret police

        Secret police are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes. They protect the political power of a dictator or regime and often operate outside the law to repress dissidents and weaken political opposition, frequently using violence.

      3. Germany under control of the Nazi Party (1933–1945)

        Nazi Germany

        Nazi Germany was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a dictatorship. Under Hitler's rule, Germany quickly became a totalitarian state where nearly all aspects of life were controlled by the government. The Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", alluded to the Nazi claim that Nazi Germany was the successor to the earlier Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and German Empire (1871–1918). The Third Reich, which Hitler and the Nazis referred to as the Thousand-Year Reich, ended in May 1945 after just 12 years when the Allies defeated Germany, ending World War II in Europe.

      4. Nazi German politician and military leader

        Hermann Göring

        Hermann Wilhelm Göring was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1945.

    3. Nazi Germany issues the Law Against Overcrowding in Schools and Universities limiting the number of Jewish students able to attend public schools and universities.

      1. Germany under control of the Nazi Party (1933–1945)

        Nazi Germany

        Nazi Germany was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a dictatorship. Under Hitler's rule, Germany quickly became a totalitarian state where nearly all aspects of life were controlled by the government. The Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", alluded to the Nazi claim that Nazi Germany was the successor to the earlier Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and German Empire (1871–1918). The Third Reich, which Hitler and the Nazis referred to as the Thousand-Year Reich, ended in May 1945 after just 12 years when the Allies defeated Germany, ending World War II in Europe.

  31. 1925

    1. Paul von Hindenburg defeats Wilhelm Marx in the second round of the German presidential election to become the first directly elected head of state of the Weimar Republic.

      1. President of Germany from 1925 to 1934

        Paul von Hindenburg

        Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany from 1925 until his death in 1934. During his presidency, he played a key role in the Nazi seizure of power in January 1933 when, under pressure from advisers, he appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany.

      2. German chancellor (1923–25, 1926–28)

        Wilhelm Marx

        Wilhelm Marx was a German lawyer, Catholic politician and a member of the Centre Party. He was the chancellor of Germany twice, from 1923 to 1925 and again from 1926 to 1928, and he also served briefly as the minister-president of Prussia in 1925, during the Weimar Republic. With a total of 3 years, 73 days, he was the longest-serving Chancellor during the Weimar Republic, serving two non-consecutive terms.

      3. 1925 German presidential election

        Presidential elections were held in Germany on 29 March 1925, with a runoff on 26 April. They were the first direct elections to the office of President of the Reich, Germany's head of state during the 1919–33 Weimar Republic. The first President, Friedrich Ebert, who had died on 28 February 1925, had been elected indirectly, by the National Assembly, but the Weimar Constitution required that his successor be elected by the "whole German people". Paul von Hindenburg was elected as the second president of Germany in the second round of voting.

      4. Official who holds the highest ranked position in a sovereign state

        Head of state

        A head of state is the public persona who officially embodies a state in its unity and legitimacy. Depending on the country's form of government and separation of powers, the head of state may be a ceremonial figurehead or concurrently the head of government and more.

      5. German state from 1918 to 1933

        Weimar Republic

        The Weimar Republic, officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclaimed itself, as the German Republic. The state's informal name is derived from the city of Weimar, which hosted the constituent assembly that established its government. In English, the state was usually simply called "Germany", with "Weimar Republic" not commonly used until the 1930s.

  32. 1923

    1. The Duke of York weds Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon at Westminster Abbey.

      1. King of the United Kingdom from 1936 to 1952

        George VI

        George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was concurrently the last Emperor of India until August 1947, when the British Raj was dissolved.

      2. 1923 royal wedding in London, England

        Wedding of Prince Albert, Duke of York, and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon

        The wedding of Prince Albert, Duke of York, and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon took place on 26 April 1923 at Westminster Abbey. The couple were later known as King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

      3. Queen consort of the United Kingdom from 1936 to 1952

        Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother

        Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the last Empress of India from her husband's accession 1936 until the British Raj was dissolved in August 1947. After her husband died, she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II.

      4. Gothic abbey church in London, England

        Westminster Abbey

        Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is a large, mainly Gothic abbey church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United Kingdom's most notable religious buildings and a burial site for English and, later, British monarchs. Since the coronation of William the Conqueror in 1066, all coronations of English and British monarchs have occurred in Westminster Abbey. Sixteen royal weddings have occurred at the abbey since 1100.

  33. 1920

    1. Ice hockey makes its Olympic debut at the Antwerp Games with center Frank Fredrickson scoring seven goals in Canada's 12–1 drubbing of Sweden in the gold medal match.

      1. Team sport played on ice using sticks, skates, and a puck

        Ice hockey

        Ice hockey is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hockey sticks to control, advance and shoot a closed, vulcanized, rubber disc called a "puck" into the other team's goal. Each goal is worth one point. The team which scores the most goals is declared the winner. In a formal game, each team has six skaters on the ice at a time, barring any penalties, one of whom is the goaltender. Ice hockey is a full contact sport.

      2. Multi-sport event in Antwerp, Belgium

        1920 Summer Olympics

        The 1920 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad and commonly known as Antwerp 1920, were an international multi-sport event held in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium.

      3. Ice hockey player

        Frank Fredrickson

        Sigurdur Franklin Fredrickson was an Icelandic-Canadian ice hockey player and aviator. As a player and coach, he was significant to both the amateur and professional ice hockey as it evolved in North America in the early 20th century. Fredrickson's career was interrupted by military service during the First World War and prematurely ended by a knee injury in 1931.

  34. 1916

    1. Easter Rising: Battle of Mount Street Bridge

      1. 1916 armed insurrection in Ireland

        Easter Rising

        The Easter Rising, also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an independent Irish Republic while the United Kingdom was fighting the First World War. It was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798 and the first armed conflict of the Irish revolutionary period. Sixteen of the Rising's leaders were executed from May 1916. The nature of the executions, and subsequent political developments, ultimately contributed to an increase in popular support for Irish independence.

      2. 1916 battle

        Battle of Mount Street Bridge

        The Battle of Mount Street Bridge was fought on 26 April 1916 between the British Army and Irish rebels during the Easter Rising. It took place in Dublin at the southern end of Mount Street Lower where it meets the Grand Canal.

  35. 1915

    1. World War I: Italy secretly signs the Treaty of London pledging to join the Allied Powers.

      1. Global war, 1914–1918

        World War I

        World War I or the First World War, often abbreviated as WWI or WW1, and referred to by some Anglophone authors as the "Great War" or the "War to End All Wars", was a global conflict which lasted from 1914 to 1918, and is considered one of the deadliest conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighting occurring throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. An estimated 9 million soldiers were killed in combat, plus another 23 million wounded, while 5 million civilians died as a result of military action, hunger, and disease. Millions more died in genocides within the Ottoman Empire and in the 1918 influenza pandemic, which was exacerbated by the movement of combatants during the war.

      2. Kingdom in Southern Europe from 1861 to 1946

        Kingdom of Italy

        The Kingdom of Italy was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and form the modern Italian Republic. The state resulted from a decades-long process, the Risorgimento, of consolidating the different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single state. That process was influenced by the Savoy-led Kingdom of Sardinia, which can be considered Italy's legal predecessor state.

      3. World War I treaty between Italy and the Triple Entente

        Treaty of London (1915)

        The Treaty of London or the Pact of London was a secret agreement concluded on 26 April 1915 by the United Kingdom, France, and Russia on the one part, and Italy on the other, in order to entice the latter to enter World War I on the side of the Triple Entente. The agreement involved promises of Italian territorial expansion against Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and in Africa where it was promised enlargement of its colonies. The Entente countries hoped to force the Central Powers – particularly Germany and Austria-Hungary – to divert some of their forces away from existing battlefields. The Entente also hoped that Romania and Bulgaria would be encouraged to join them after Italy did the same.

      4. Countries that fought against the Central Powers

        Allies of World War I

        The Allies of World War I, Entente Powers, or Allied Powers were a coalition of countries led by France, the United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, Japan, and the United States against the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria, and their colonies during the First World War (1914–1918).

  36. 1903

    1. Atlético Madrid Association football club is founded

      1. Spanish professional football club

        Atlético Madrid

        Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D., known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home games at the Metropolitano, which has a capacity of 68,456.

      2. Team sport played with a spherical ball

        Association football

        Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is to score more goals than the opposition by moving the ball beyond the goal line into a rectangular framed goal defended by the opposing side. Traditionally, the game has been played over two 45 minute halves, for a total match time of 90 minutes. With an estimated 250 million players active in over 200 countries, it is considered the world's most popular sport.

  37. 1900

    1. Fires destroy Canadian cities Ottawa and Hull, reducing them to ashes in 12 hours. Twelve thousand people are left without a home.

      1. Destructive Canadian urban fire

        1900 Hull–Ottawa fire

        The Hull-Ottawa fire of 1900 was a devastating fire in 1900 that destroyed much of Hull, Quebec, and large portions of Ottawa, Ontario.

  38. 1865

    1. U.S. Army soldiers cornered and fatally shot John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of U.S. president Abraham Lincoln, ending a twelve-day manhunt.

      1. Land service branch of the United States Armed Forces

        United States Army

        The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution. The oldest and most senior branch of the U.S. military in order of precedence, the modern U.S. Army has its roots in the Continental Army, which was formed 14 June 1775 to fight the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783)—before the United States was established as a country. After the Revolutionary War, the Congress of the Confederation created the United States Army on 3 June 1784 to replace the disbanded Continental Army. The United States Army considers itself to be a continuation of the Continental Army, and thus considers its institutional inception to be the origin of that armed force in 1775.

      2. American stage actor and assassin (1838–1865)

        John Wilkes Booth

        John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated United States President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the prominent 19th-century Booth theatrical family from Maryland, he was a noted actor who was also a Confederate sympathizer; denouncing President Lincoln, he lamented the recent abolition of slavery in the United States.

      3. 1865 murder in Washington, D.C., US

        Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

        On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was assassinated by well-known stage actor John Wilkes Booth, while attending the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Shot in the head as he watched the play, Lincoln died the following day at 7:22 am in the Petersen House opposite the theater. He was the first U.S. president to be assassinated, with his funeral and burial marking an extended period of national mourning.

      4. President of the United States from 1861 to 1865

        Abraham Lincoln

        Abraham Lincoln was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation through the American Civil War and succeeded in preserving the Union, abolishing slavery, bolstering the federal government, and modernizing the U.S. economy.

    2. Union cavalry troopers corner and shoot dead John Wilkes Booth, assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, in Virginia.

      1. Federal government of Lincoln's “North” U.S

        Union (American Civil War)

        During the American Civil War, the Union, also known as the North, referred to the United States led by President Abraham Lincoln. It was opposed by the secessionist Confederate States of America (CSA), informally called "the Confederacy" or "the South". The Union is named after its declared goal of preserving the United States as a constitutional union. "Union" is used in the U.S. Constitution to refer to the founding formation of the people, and to the states in union. In the context of the Civil War, it has also often been used as a synonym for "the northern states loyal to the United States government;" in this meaning, the Union consisted of 20 free states and five border states.

      2. American stage actor and assassin (1838–1865)

        John Wilkes Booth

        John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated United States President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the prominent 19th-century Booth theatrical family from Maryland, he was a noted actor who was also a Confederate sympathizer; denouncing President Lincoln, he lamented the recent abolition of slavery in the United States.

      3. 1865 murder in Washington, D.C., US

        Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

        On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was assassinated by well-known stage actor John Wilkes Booth, while attending the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Shot in the head as he watched the play, Lincoln died the following day at 7:22 am in the Petersen House opposite the theater. He was the first U.S. president to be assassinated, with his funeral and burial marking an extended period of national mourning.

      4. U.S. state

        Virginia

        Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, which provide habitat for much of its flora and fauna. The capital of the Commonwealth is Richmond; Virginia Beach is the most-populous city, and Fairfax County is the most-populous political subdivision. The Commonwealth's population in 2020 was over 8.65 million, with 36% of them living in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area.

  39. 1805

    1. First Barbary War: United States Marines captured Derne under the command of First Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon.

      1. War between United States and the Barbary states, 1801–1805

        First Barbary War

        The First Barbary War (1801–1805), also known as the Tripolitan War and the Barbary Coast War, was the first of two Barbary Wars, in which the United States and Sweden fought against the four North African states known collectively as the "Barbary States". The participation of the United States was due to pirates from the Barbary States seizing American merchant ships and holding the crews for ransom, demanding that the United States pay tribute to the Barbary rulers. United States President Thomas Jefferson refused to pay this tribute. Sweden had been at war with the Tripolitans since 1800.

      2. Maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces

        United States Marine Corps

        The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combined arms, implementing its own infantry, artillery, aerial, and special operations forces. The U.S. Marine Corps is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States.

      3. 1805 battle of the First Barbary War

        Battle of Derna (1805)

        The Battle of Derna at Derna, Cyrenaica, was the decisive victory in April–May 1805 of a mercenary army recruited and led by United States Marines under the command of U.S. Army Lieutenant William Eaton, diplomatic Consul to Tripoli, and U.S. Marine Corps First Lieutenant Presley Neville O'Bannon. The battle involved a forced 521-mile (839-km) march through the North African desert from Alexandria, Egypt, to the eastern port city of Derna, Libya, which was defended by a much larger force.

      4. Place in Cyrenaica, Libya

        Derna, Libya

        Derna is a port city in eastern Libya. It has a population of 85,000–90,000. It was the seat of one of the wealthiest provinces in the Barbary States, and remains the capital of the Derna District, with a much smaller area. Derna has a unique environment among Libyan cities, as it lies between green mountains, the Mediterranean Sea, and the desert. The city is also home to people of mixed origins.

      5. Military rank

        First lieutenant

        First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment.

      6. 18/19th-century United States Marine Corps officer

        Presley O'Bannon

        Presley O'Bannon was a first lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, famous for his exploits in the First Barbary War (1801-1805). In recognition of his bravery, he was presented a sword for his part in attempting to restore Prince Hamet Karamanli to his throne as the Bey of Tripoli. This sword became the model for the Mameluke Sword, adopted in 1825 for Marine Corps officers, which is part of the formal uniform today.

  40. 1803

    1. Thousands of meteor fragments fall from the skies of L'Aigle, France; the event convinces European scientists that meteors exist.

      1. Meteorite that fell in Normandy, France in April 1803

        L'Aigle (meteorite)

        L'Aigle is a L6 meteorite that fell on 26 April 1803 in Lower Normandy, France.

      2. Commune in Normandy, France

        L'Aigle

        L'Aigle is a commune in the Orne department in Normandy in northwestern France. Before 1961, the commune was known as Laigle. According to Orderic Vitalis, the nest of an eagle was discovered during the construction of the castle.

  41. 1802

    1. Napoleon Bonaparte signs a general amnesty to allow all but about one thousand of the most notorious émigrés of the French Revolution to return to France.

      1. Military leader and emperor of France

        Napoleon

        Napoleon Bonaparte, later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led successful campaigns during the Revolutionary Wars. He was the de facto leader of the French Republic as First Consul from 1799 to 1804, then Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814 and again in 1815. Napoleon's political and cultural legacy endures to this day, as a highly celebrated and controversial leader. He initiated many liberal reforms that have persisted in society, and is considered one of the greatest military commanders in history, but between three and six million civilians and soldiers perished in what became known as the Napoleonic Wars.

      2. French diaspora due to the French Revolution and Napoleonic rule

        French emigration (1789–1815)

        French emigration from the years 1789 to 1815 refers to the mass movement of citizens from France to neighboring countries, in reaction to the instability and upheaval caused by the French Revolution and the succeeding Napoleonic rule. Although began in 1789 as a peaceful effort led by the Bourgeoisie to increase political equality for the Third Estate, the Revolution soon turned into a violent, popular movement. To escape political tensions and, mainly during the Reign of Terror, to save their lives, a number of individuals emigrated from France and settled in the neighboring countries, though a few also went to the Americas.

  42. 1794

    1. Battle of Beaumont during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition.

      1. Battle of the War of the First Coalition

        Battle of Beaumont (1794)

        The Battle of Beaumont-en-Cambrésis 26 April 1794 was an action forming part of a multi-pronged attempt to relieve the besieged fortress of Landrecies, during the Flanders Campaign of the French Revolutionary War. The British and Austrians under the Duke of York defeated a French advance northwards from Cambrai commanded by René Chapuis.

      2. 1792–95 campaign of the War of the First Coalition

        Flanders campaign

        The Flanders Campaign was conducted from 20 April 1792 to 7 June 1795 during the first years of the War of the First Coalition. A coalition of states representing the Ancien Régime in Western Europe – Austria, Prussia, Great Britain, the Dutch Republic, Hanover and Hesse-Kassel – mobilised military forces along all the French frontiers, with the intention to invade Revolutionary France and end the French First Republic. The radicalised French revolutionaries, who broke the Catholic Church's power (1790), abolished the monarchy (1792) and even executed the deposed king Louis XVI of France (1793), vied to spread the Revolution beyond France's borders, by violent means if necessary.

      3. 1792–1797 set of battles between the French revolutionaries and the neighbouring monarchies

        War of the First Coalition

        The War of the First Coalition was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French Republic that succeeded it. They were only loosely allied and fought without much apparent coordination or agreement; each power had its eye on a different part of France it wanted to appropriate after a French defeat, which never occurred.

  43. 1777

    1. Sybil Ludington, aged 16, rode 40 miles (64 km) to alert American colonial forces to the approach of the British regular forces

      1. 18th and 19th-century American revolutionary heroine

        Sybil Ludington

        Sybil Ludington is recognized as a heroine of the American Revolutionary War; the accuracy of these accounts is questioned by modern scholars. On April 26, 1777, the 16-year-old daughter of a colonel in the Colonial militia, Henry Ludington, is said to have made an all-night horseback ride 40 miles (64 km) to rally militia forces in neighboring towns after the burning of Danbury, Connecticut by British forces.

      2. UK military forces

        British Armed Forces

        The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping efforts and provide humanitarian aid.

  44. 1721

    1. A massive earthquake devastates the Iranian city of Tabriz.

      1. 1721 catastrophic earthquake centered near Tabriz, Iran

        1721 Tabriz earthquake

        The 1721 Tabriz earthquake occurred on April 26, with an epicenter near the city of Tabriz, Iran. It leveled some three-quarters of the city, including many prominent mosques and schools in the city, and resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people. The total number of casualties caused by the earthquake is between 8,000 and 250,000; it was most likely approximately 80,000. At the time that it occurred, the earthquake was popularly interpreted as an omen of misfortune, or a demonstration of godly wrath. The destruction that the earthquake caused was a significant factor in the successful Ottoman takeover of Tabriz in 1725, as well as contributing to Tabriz's economic difficulties during that period. It also caused the destruction of some of the city's significant historical monuments. Accounts of the earthquake are often confused with descriptions of the 1727 Tabriz earthquake.

      2. City in East Azerbaijan, Iran

        Tabriz

        Tabriz is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quru River valley in Iran's historic Azerbaijan region between long ridges of volcanic cones in the Sahand and Eynali mountains, Tabriz's elevation ranges between 1,350 and 1,600 m above sea level. The valley opens up into a plain that gently slopes down to the eastern shores of Lake Urmia, 60 km (37 mi) to the west. With cold winters and temperate summers, Tabriz is considered a summer resort. It was named World Carpet Weaving City by the World Crafts Council in October 2015 and Exemplary Tourist City of 2018 by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

  45. 1607

    1. The Virginia Company colonists make landfall at Cape Henry.

      1. English trading company

        Virginia Company

        The Virginia Company was an English trading company chartered by King James I on 10 April 1606 with the object of colonizing the eastern coast of America. The coast was named Virginia, after Elizabeth I, and it stretched from present-day Maine to the Carolinas. The company's shareholders were Londoners, and it was distinguished from the Plymouth Company, which was chartered at the same time and composed largely of gentlemen from Plymouth, England.

      2. Cape Henry

        Cape Henry is a cape on the Atlantic shore of Virginia located in the northeast corner of Virginia Beach. It is the southern boundary of the entrance to the long estuary of the Chesapeake Bay.

  46. 1564

    1. Playwright William Shakespeare is baptized in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England (date of birth is unknown).

      1. English poet, playwright, and actor (1564–1616)

        William Shakespeare

        William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. He remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.

      2. Town in Warwickshire, England

        Stratford-upon-Avon

        Stratford-upon-Avon, commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, 91 miles (146 km) north-west of London, 22 miles (35 km) south-east of Birmingham and 8 miles (13 km) south-west of Warwick. The town is the southernmost point of the Arden area on the edge of the Cotswolds. In the 2021 census Stratford had a population of 30,495; an increase from 27,894 in the 2011 census and 22,338 in the 2001 Census.

      3. County of England

        Warwickshire

        Warwickshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon and Victorian novelist George Eliot,, at Nuneaton. Other significant towns include Rugby, Leamington Spa, Bedworth, Kenilworth and Atherstone. The county offers a mix of historic towns and large rural areas. It is a popular destination for international and domestic tourists to explore both medieval and more recent history.

  47. 1478

    1. In a conspiracy to replace the Medici family as rulers of the Republic of Florence, the Pazzi family attacked Lorenzo de' Medici and killed his brother Giuliano at Florence Cathedral.

      1. Fifteenth-century plot in the Republic of Florence

        Pazzi conspiracy

        The Pazzi conspiracy was a plot by members of the Pazzi family and others to displace the Medici family as rulers of Renaissance Florence.

      2. Italian banking family and political dynasty

        House of Medici

        The House of Medici was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Mugello region of Tuscany, and prospered gradually until it was able to fund the Medici Bank. This bank was the largest in Europe during the 15th century and facilitated the Medicis' rise to political power in Florence, although they officially remained citizens rather than monarchs until the 16th century.

      3. City-state on the Apennine Peninsula between 1115 and 1569

        Republic of Florence

        The Republic of Florence, officially the Florentine Republic, was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Florence in Tuscany. The republic originated in 1115, when the Florentine people rebelled against the Margraviate of Tuscany upon the death of Matilda of Tuscany, who controlled vast territories that included Florence. The Florentines formed a commune in her successors' place. The republic was ruled by a council known as the Signoria of Florence. The signoria was chosen by the gonfaloniere, who was elected every two months by Florentine guild members.

      4. Italian noble family in the Middle Ages

        Pazzi

        The Pazzi were a noble Florentine family. Their main trade during the fifteenth century was banking. In the aftermath of the Pazzi conspiracy in 1478, members of the family were banished from Florence and their property was confiscated; the family name and coat-of-arms were permanently suppressed by order of the Signoria.

      5. Italian politician and humanist (1449–1492)

        Lorenzo de' Medici

        Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici was an Italian statesman, banker, de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic and the most powerful and enthusiastic patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Also known as Lorenzo the Magnificent by contemporary Florentines, he was a magnate, diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists, and poets. As a patron, he is best known for his sponsorship of artists such as Botticelli and Michelangelo. He held the balance of power within the Italic League, an alliance of states that stabilized political conditions on the Italian peninsula for decades, and his life coincided with the mature phase of the Italian Renaissance and the Golden Age of Florence. On the foreign policy front, Lorenzo manifested a clear plan to stem the territorial ambitions of Pope Sixtus IV, in the name of the balance of the Italian League of 1454. For these reasons, Lorenzo was the subject of the Pazzi conspiracy (1478), in which his brother Giuliano was assassinated. The Peace of Lodi of 1454 that he supported among the various Italian states collapsed with his death. He is buried in the Medici Chapel in Florence.

      6. 15th-century Italian nobleman, brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent

        Giuliano de' Medici

        Giuliano de' Medici was the second son of Piero de' Medici and Lucrezia Tornabuoni. As co-ruler of Florence, with his brother Lorenzo the Magnificent, he complemented his brother's image as the "patron of the arts" with his own image as the handsome, sporting "golden boy." He was killed in a plot known as the Pazzi conspiracy.

      7. Church in Florence, Tuscany, Italy

        Florence Cathedral

        Florence Cathedral, formally the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, is the cathedral of Florence, Italy. It was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and was structurally completed by 1436, with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink, bordered by white, and has an elaborate 19th-century Gothic Revival façade by Emilio De Fabris.

    2. The Pazzi family attack on Lorenzo de' Medici kills his brother Giuliano during High Mass in Florence Cathedral.

      1. Italian noble family in the Middle Ages

        Pazzi

        The Pazzi were a noble Florentine family. Their main trade during the fifteenth century was banking. In the aftermath of the Pazzi conspiracy in 1478, members of the family were banished from Florence and their property was confiscated; the family name and coat-of-arms were permanently suppressed by order of the Signoria.

      2. Italian politician and humanist (1449–1492)

        Lorenzo de' Medici

        Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici was an Italian statesman, banker, de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic and the most powerful and enthusiastic patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Also known as Lorenzo the Magnificent by contemporary Florentines, he was a magnate, diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists, and poets. As a patron, he is best known for his sponsorship of artists such as Botticelli and Michelangelo. He held the balance of power within the Italic League, an alliance of states that stabilized political conditions on the Italian peninsula for decades, and his life coincided with the mature phase of the Italian Renaissance and the Golden Age of Florence. On the foreign policy front, Lorenzo manifested a clear plan to stem the territorial ambitions of Pope Sixtus IV, in the name of the balance of the Italian League of 1454. For these reasons, Lorenzo was the subject of the Pazzi conspiracy (1478), in which his brother Giuliano was assassinated. The Peace of Lodi of 1454 that he supported among the various Italian states collapsed with his death. He is buried in the Medici Chapel in Florence.

      3. 15th-century Italian nobleman, brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent

        Giuliano de' Medici

        Giuliano de' Medici was the second son of Piero de' Medici and Lucrezia Tornabuoni. As co-ruler of Florence, with his brother Lorenzo the Magnificent, he complemented his brother's image as the "patron of the arts" with his own image as the handsome, sporting "golden boy." He was killed in a plot known as the Pazzi conspiracy.

      4. Full ceremonial form of the Tridentine Mass

        Solemn Mass

        Solemn Mass is the full ceremonial form of the Tridentine Mass, celebrated by a priest with a deacon and a subdeacon, requiring most of the parts of the Mass to be sung, and the use of incense. It is also called High Mass or Solemn High Mass.

      5. Church in Florence, Tuscany, Italy

        Florence Cathedral

        Florence Cathedral, formally the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, is the cathedral of Florence, Italy. It was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and was structurally completed by 1436, with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink, bordered by white, and has an elaborate 19th-century Gothic Revival façade by Emilio De Fabris.

  48. 1348

    1. Czech king Karel IV founds the Charles University in Prague, which was later named after him and was the first university in Central Europe.

      1. Holy Roman Emperor from 1355 to 1378

        Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor

        Charles IV, also known as Charles of Luxembourg, born Wenceslaus, was the first King of Bohemia to become Holy Roman Emperor. He was a member of the House of Luxembourg from his father's side and the Bohemian House of Přemyslid from his mother's side; he emphasized the latter due to his lifelong affinity for the Bohemian side of his inheritance, and also because his direct ancestors in the Přemyslid line included two saints.

      2. Oldest and largest university in the Czech Republic

        Charles University

        Charles University, also known as Charles University in Prague or historically as the University of Prague, is the oldest and largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe in continuous operation. Today, the university consists of 17 faculties located in Prague, Hradec Králové, and Plzeň. Charles University belongs among the top three universities in Central and Eastern Europe. It is ranked around 200–300 in the world.

      3. Capital of the Czech Republic

        Prague

        Prague is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate oceanic climate, with relatively warm summers and chilly winters.

      4. Region of Europe

        Central Europe

        Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War between Catholicism and Protestantism was a significant shaping process in the history of Central Europe. The concept of "Central Europe" appeared in the 19th century.

  49. 1336

    1. Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ascends Mont Ventoux.

      1. 14th-century Italian scholar and poet

        Petrarch

        Francesco Petrarca, commonly anglicized as Petrarch, was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists.

      2. Mountain in France

        Mont Ventoux

        Mont Ventoux is a mountain in the Provence region of southern France, located some 20 km northeast of Carpentras, Vaucluse. On the north side, the mountain borders the department of Drôme. At 1,909 m (6,263 ft), it is the highest mountain in the region and has been nicknamed the "Beast of Provence", the "Giant of Provence", or "The Bald Mountain". It has gained fame through its inclusion in the Tour de France cycling race; in 2009 it was the scene of the first penultimate-day mountain top finish in the Tour de France, with Alberto Contador sealing his yellow jersey.

Births & Deaths

  1. 2022

    1. Klaus Schulze, German composer and musician (b. 1947) deaths

      1. German composer and musician (1947–2022)

        Klaus Schulze

        Klaus Schulze was a German electronic music pioneer, composer and musician. He also used the alias Richard Wahnfried and was a member of the Krautrock bands Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, and The Cosmic Jokers before launching a solo career consisting of more than 60 albums released across six decades.

  2. 2017

    1. Jonathan Demme, American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter (b. 1944) deaths

      1. American director, producer and screenwriter (1944–2017)

        Jonathan Demme

        Robert Jonathan Demme was an American filmmaker. Beginning his career under B-movie producer Roger Corman, Demme made his directorial debut with the 1974 women-in-prison film Caged Heat, before becoming known for his casually humanist films such as Melvin and Howard (1980), Swing Shift (1984), Something Wild (1986), and Married to the Mob (1988). His direction of the 1991 psychological horror film The Silence of the Lambs (1991) won him the Academy Award for Best Director. His subsequent films earned similar acclaim, notably Philadelphia (1993) and Rachel Getting Married (2008).

  3. 2016

    1. Harry Wu, Chinese human rights activist (b. 1937) deaths

      1. Chinese-American human rights activist (1937–2016)

        Harry Wu

        Harry Wu was a Chinese-American human rights activist. Wu spent 19 years in Chinese labor camps, and he became a resident and citizen of the United States. In 1992, he founded the Laogai Research Foundation.

  4. 2015

    1. Jayne Meadows, American actress (b. 1919) deaths

      1. Chinese born-American actress and author (1919–2015)

        Jayne Meadows

        Jayne Meadows, also known as Jayne Meadows Allen, was an American stage, film and television actress, as well as an author and lecturer. She was nominated for three Emmy Awards during her career and was the elder sister of actress and memoirist Audrey Meadows as well as the wife of original Tonight Show host Steve Allen.

    2. Marcel Pronovost, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1930) deaths

      1. Canadian ice hockey player

        Marcel Pronovost

        Joseph René Marcel Pronovost was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and coach. He played in 1,206 games over 20 National Hockey League (NHL) seasons for the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs between 1950 and 1970. A top defenceman, Pronovost was named to four post-season NHL All-Star teams and played in 11 All-Star Games. He was a member of four Stanley Cup championship teams with the Red Wings, the first in 1950, and won a fifth title with the Maple Leafs in 1967. Pronovost was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a player in 1978.

  5. 2014

    1. Gerald Guralnik, American physicist and academic (b. 1936) deaths

      1. Gerald Guralnik

        Gerald Stanford "Gerry" Guralnik was the Chancellor’s Professor of Physics at Brown University. In 1964 he co-discovered the Higgs mechanism and Higgs boson with C. R. Hagen and Tom Kibble (GHK). As part of Physical Review Letters' 50th anniversary celebration, the journal recognized this discovery as one of the milestone papers in PRL history. While widely considered to have authored the most complete of the early papers on the Higgs theory, GHK were controversially not included in the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics.

    2. Paul Robeson, Jr., American historian and author (b. 1927) deaths

      1. American academic

        Paul Robeson Jr.

        Paul Leroy Robeson Jr. was an American author, archivist and historian.

    3. DJ Rashad, American electronic musician, producer and DJ (b. 1979) deaths

      1. Musical artist

        DJ Rashad

        Rashad Harden, known as DJ Rashad, was a Chicago-based electronic musician, producer and DJ known as a pioneer in the footwork genre and founder of the Teklife crew. He released his debut studio album Double Cup on Hyperdub in 2013 to critical praise. He died in April 2014 from a drug overdose.

  6. 2013

    1. Jacqueline Brookes, American actress and educator (b. 1930) deaths

      1. American actress, acting teacher

        Jacqueline Brookes

        Jacqueline Victoire Brookes was an American film, television, and stage actress, best known for her work both off-Broadway and on Broadway.

    2. George Jones, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1931) deaths

      1. American country musician (1931–2013)

        George Jones

        George Glenn Jones was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", as well as his distinctive voice and phrasing. For the last two decades of his life, Jones was frequently referred to as the greatest living country singer. Country music scholar Bill Malone writes, "For the two or three minutes consumed by a song, Jones immerses himself so completely in its lyrics, and in the mood it conveys, that the listener can scarcely avoid becoming similarly involved." The shape of his nose and facial features earned Jones the nickname "The Possum". Jones has been called "The Rolls Royce of Country Music" and had more than 160 chart singles to his name from 1955 until his death in 2013.

  7. 2012

    1. Terence Spinks, English boxer and trainer (b. 1938) deaths

      1. English boxer

        Terry Spinks

        Terence "Terry" George Spinks MBE was a boxer from Great Britain, who won the gold medal in the flyweight division at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. In the final he defeated Mircea Dobrescu of Romania on points. He was also British featherweight champion from 1960 to 1961.

  8. 2011

    1. Phoebe Snow, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1950) deaths

      1. American singer, songwriter and guitarist

        Phoebe Snow

        Phoebe Snow was an American roots music singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for her 1974 and 1975 songs "San Francisco Bay Blues", "Poetry Man"(hit song), "Harpo's Blues", and her credited guest vocals backing Paul Simon on "Gone at Last". She recorded "San Francisco Bay Blues" also. She was described by The New York Times as a "contralto grounded in a bluesy growl and capable of sweeping over four octaves." Snow also sang numerous commercial jingles for many U.S. products during the 1980s and 1990s, including General Foods International Coffees, Salon Selectives, and Stouffer's. Snow experienced success in Australia in the late 1970s and early 1980s with five top 100 albums in that territory. In 1995 she recorded a gospel album with Sisters of Glory.

  9. 2010

    1. Mariam A. Aleem, Egyptian graphic designer and academic (b. 1930) deaths

      1. Egyptian artist (1930–2010)

        Mariam A. Aleem

        Mariam A. Aleem was an Egyptian artist and art professor specializing in printed design. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the Faculty of Fine Arts Cairo in 1954 and her Master of Fine Arts in graphic printing 1957 from the University of Southern California. Beginning in 1958, Aleem taught printmaking at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Alexandria. In 1968 she became an assistant professor, heading the Printmaking Department. Aleem became a full professor in 1975 and led the Design Department from 1985 to 1990. She earned her Ph.D. in the history of art from Helwan University in Cairo. Aleem exhibited worldwide, with shows in the United States, Lebanon, Egypt, Germany, Italy, and Norway.

    2. Urs Felber, Swiss engineer and businessman (b. 1942) deaths

      1. Urs Felber

        Urs Felber, a pioneer of furniture design, was the CEO of Vitra USA. Felber was also the board director for several companies including Swissflex and was chairman and principal shareholder for the furniture company Dietiker AG.

  10. 2009

    1. Hans Holzer, Austrian-American paranormal investigator and author (b. 1920) deaths

      1. Austrian-American author and parapsychologist

        Hans Holzer

        Hans Holzer was an Austrian-American author and parapsychologist. He wrote more than 120 books on supernatural and occult subjects for the popular market as well as several plays, musicals, films, and documentaries, and hosted a television show, Ghost Hunter.

  11. 2008

    1. Árpád Orbán, Hungarian footballer (b. 1938) deaths

      1. Hungarian footballer

        Árpád Orbán

        Árpád Orbán was a Hungarian Olympic champion football player.

  12. 2007

    1. Jack Valenti, American businessman, created the MPAA film rating system (b. 1921) deaths

      1. American political advisor and lobbyist

        Jack Valenti

        Jack Joseph Valenti was an American political advisor and lobbyist who served as a Special Assistant to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. He was also the longtime president of the Motion Picture Association of America. During his 38-year tenure in the MPAA, he created the MPAA film rating system, and was generally regarded as one of the most influential pro-copyright lobbyists in the world.

      2. American film rating system

        Motion Picture Association film rating system

        The Motion Picture Association film rating system is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion pictures are the responsibility of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), previously known as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) from 1945 to 2019. The MPA rating system is a voluntary scheme that is not enforced by law; films can be exhibited without a rating, although most theaters refuse to exhibit non-rated or NC-17 rated films. Non-members of the MPA may also submit films for rating. Other media, such as television programs, music and video games, are rated by other entities such as the TV Parental Guidelines, the RIAA and the ESRB, respectively.

  13. 2005

    1. Mason Adams, American actor (b. 1919) deaths

      1. American actor

        Mason Adams

        Mason Adams was an American character actor and voiceover artist. From the late 1940s until the early 1970s, he was heard in numerous radio programs and voiceovers for countless television commercials, the latter of which he resumed in the 1980s and 1990s. In the early '70s, he moved into acting and from 1977 to 1983 held perhaps his best-known role, that of Managing Editor Charlie Hume on Lou Grant. He also acted in numerous other television and movie roles, most prominently Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981) and F/X (1986).

    2. Elisabeth Domitien, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (b. 1925) deaths

      1. Elisabeth Domitien

        Elisabeth Domitien served as the prime minister of the Central African Republic from 1975 to 1976. She was the first and to date only woman to hold the position.

    3. Maria Schell, Austrian-Swiss actress (b. 1926) deaths

      1. Austrian-Swiss actress

        Maria Schell

        Maria Margarethe Anna Schell was an Austrian-Swiss actress. She was one of the leading stars of German cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1954, she was awarded the Cannes Best Actress Award for her performance in Helmut Käutner's war drama The Last Bridge, and in 1956, she won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for Gervaise.

    4. Augusto Roa Bastos, Paraguayan journalist, author, and academic (b. 1917) deaths

      1. Paraguayan writer (1917–2005)

        Augusto Roa Bastos

        Augusto Roa Bastos was a Paraguayan novelist and short story writer. As a teenager he fought in the Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia, and he later worked as a journalist, screenwriter and professor. He is best known for his complex novel Yo el Supremo and for winning the Premio Miguel de Cervantes in 1989, Spanish literature's most prestigious prize. Yo el Supremo explores the dictations and inner thoughts of José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, the eccentric dictator of Paraguay who ruled with an iron fist, from 1814 until his death in 1840.

  14. 2004

    1. Hubert Selby, Jr., American author, poet, and screenwriter (b. 1928) deaths

      1. American writer

        Hubert Selby Jr.

        Hubert "Cubby" Selby Jr. was an American writer. Two of his novels, Last Exit to Brooklyn (1964) and Requiem for a Dream (1978) explore worlds in the New York area and were adapted as films, both of which he appeared in.

  15. 2003

    1. Rosemary Brown, Jamaican-Canadian academic and politician (b. 1930) deaths

      1. Canadian politician (1930–2003)

        Rosemary Brown (Canadian politician)

        Rosemary Brown was a Canadian politician. She was the first black woman elected to the provincial government of British Columbia.

    2. Yun Hyon-seok, South Korean poet and author (b. 1984) deaths

      1. South Korean poet, writer and LGBT activist (1984–2003)

        Yun Hyon-seok

        Yun Hyon-seok was a South Korean LGBT poet, writer and LGBT activist. He committed suicide in protest against discrimination against homosexuals in South Korea. During his life, he fought against social discrimination, racism and homophobia.

    3. Edward Max Nicholson, Irish environmentalist, co-founded the World Wide Fund for Nature (b. 1904) deaths

      1. Edward Max Nicholson

        Edward Max Nicholson was a pioneering environmentalist, ornithologist and internationalist, and a founder of the World Wildlife Fund.

      2. International non-governmental organization

        World Wide Fund for Nature

        The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States.

  16. 2002

    1. Meagan Best, Barbadian squash player births

      1. Barbadian squash player

        Meagan Best

        Meagan Best is an accomplished Barbadian female squash player. She is currently considered as the leading squash player to represent Barbados at international level. Her highest career ranking was 208 in January 2018 and is currently ranked 243 as of April 2018.

  17. 2001

    1. Thiago Almada, Argentine footballer births

      1. Argentine footballer

        Thiago Almada

        Thiago Ezequiel Almada is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder and winger for Major League Soccer club Atlanta United and the Argentina national team.

  18. 1999

    1. Adrian Borland, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1957) deaths

      1. English singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer

        Adrian Borland

        Adrian Kelvin Borland was an English singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer, best known as the frontman of post-punk band the Sound.

    2. Jill Dando, English journalist and television personality (b. 1961) deaths

      1. English journalist and television presenter (1961–1999)

        Jill Dando

        Jill Wendy Dando was an English journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She spent most of her career at the BBC and was the corporation's Personality of the Year in 1997. At the time of her death, her television work included co-presenting the BBC One programme Crimewatch with Nick Ross.

  19. 1996

    1. Jordan Pefok, American footballer births

      1. American soccer player

        Jordan Pefok

        Theoson-Jordan Siebatcheu, commonly known as Jordan Pefok, is an American professional soccer player who plays as a striker for Bundesliga club Union Berlin and the United States national team. He is a former youth international for France.

    2. Stirling Silliphant, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1918) deaths

      1. American screenwriter

        Stirling Silliphant

        Stirling Dale Silliphant was an American screenwriter and producer. He is best remembered for his screenplay for In the Heat of the Night, for which he won an Academy Award in 1967, and for creating the television series Naked City, Perry Mason, and Route 66. Other features as screenwriter include the Irwin Allen productions The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure.

  20. 1994

    1. Daniil Kvyat, Russian racing driver births

      1. Russian racing driver

        Daniil Kvyat

        Daniil Vyacheslavovich Kvyat is a Russian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2014–2017 and 2019–2020. He became the second Formula One driver from Russia and is the most successful of the four Russian drivers to date, with three podiums.

    2. Masutatsu Ōyama, Japanese martial artist, founded Kyokushin kaikan (b. 1923) deaths

      1. Japanese karate master (1923–1994)

        Mas Oyama

        Masutatsu Ōyama , more commonly known as Mas Oyama, was a karate master who founded Kyokushin Karate, considered the first and most influential style of full contact karate. A Zainichi Korean, he spent most of his life living in Japan and acquired Japanese citizenship in 1968.

      2. Style of karate

        Kyokushin

        Kyokushin (極真) is a style of karate originating in Japan. It is a style of stand-up fighting and is rooted in a philosophy of self-improvement, discipline, and hard training.

  21. 1992

    1. Aaron Judge, American baseball player births

      1. American baseball player (born 1992)

        Aaron Judge

        Aaron James Judge is an American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees. Judge was unanimously selected as the American League (AL) Rookie of the Year in 2017, and finished second in voting for the AL Most Valuable Player Award that year. In 2022, he set the AL record for most home runs in a season with 62, breaking the 61-year-old record held by Roger Maris, and winning the AL Most Valuable Player Award.

    2. Delon Wright, American basketball player births

      1. American basketball player

        Delon Wright

        Delon Reginald Wright is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Utah Utes and was a first-team all-conference player in the Pac-12 in 2014 and 2015. He also earned the Bob Cousy Award in 2015.

  22. 1991

    1. Lazaros Fotias, Greek footballer births

      1. Greek footballer

        Lazaros Fotias

        Lazaros Fotias is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Olympos Kerkyra.

    2. Peter Handscomb, Australian cricketer births

      1. Australian cricketer

        Peter Handscomb

        Peter Stephen Patrick Handscomb is an Australian cricketer who is the current captain for the Victoria cricket team.

    3. Isaac Liu, New Zealand rugby league player births

      1. New Zealand & Samoa international rugby league footballer

        Isaac Liu

        Isaac Liu is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a lock and prop forward for the Gold Coast Titans in the National Rugby League (NRL). He is both a Samoan and New Zealand international.

    4. Ignacio Lores Varela, Uruguayan footballer births

      1. Uruguayan footballer

        Ignacio Lores

        Ignacio Lores Varela is a Uruguayan footballer who plays as a winger for Italian club Cittadella. He is a former Uruguay U20 international. Lores also holds Spanish passport.

    5. Srdjan Pejicic, Canadian/Bosnian basketball player births

      1. Bosnian basketball player (1991-)

        Srdjan Pejicic

        Srdjan Pejicic is a Bosnian-Canadian professional basketball player who is currently playing in Italy for Grifo Basket. He was also a member of the Bosnian national team. He played university basketball for University of Waterloo.

    6. Wojciech Pszczolarski, Polish bicycle racer births

      1. Polish cyclist

        Wojciech Pszczolarski

        Wojciech Pszczolarski is a Polish professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team Tufo–Pardus Prostějov. He rode at the 2015 UCI Track Cycling World Championships.

    7. Leo Arnaud, French-American composer and conductor (b. 1904) deaths

      1. French-American composer of Bugler's Dream

        Leo Arnaud

        Leo Arnaud or Léo Arnaud was a French American composer of film scores, best known for "Bugler's Dream", which is used as the theme by television networks presenting the Olympic Games in the United States.

    8. Carmine Coppola, American composer and conductor (b. 1910) deaths

      1. American composer (1910-1991)

        Carmine Coppola

        Carmine Valentino Coppola was an American composer, flautist, pianist, and songwriter who contributed original music to The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Apocalypse Now, The Outsiders, and The Godfather Part III, all directed by his son Francis Ford Coppola. In the course of his career, he won both Academy Award for Best Original Score and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score with BAFTA Award and Grammy Award nominations.

    9. A. B. Guthrie, Jr., American novelist and historian, (b. 1901) deaths

      1. American novelist, screenwriter, historian, and literary historian

        A. B. Guthrie Jr.

        Alfred Bertram Guthrie Jr. was an American novelist, screenwriter, historian, and literary historian known for writing western stories. His novel The Way West won the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and his screenplay for Shane (1953) was nominated for an Academy Award.

    10. Richard Hatfield, Canadian lawyer and politician, 26th Premier of New Brunswick (b. 1931) deaths

      1. Canadian politician

        Richard Hatfield

        Richard Bennett Hatfield was a New Brunswick politician and the longest serving premier of New Brunswick from 1970 to 1987.

      2. First minister for the Canadian province of New Brunswick

        Premier of New Brunswick

        The premier of New Brunswick is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian province of New Brunswick.

  23. 1990

    1. Mitch Rein, Australian rugby league player births

      1. Australian rugby league footballer (born 1990)

        Mitch Rein

        Mitch Rein is an Australian rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker for the Parramatta Eels in the National Rugby League (NRL).

    2. Nevin Spence, Northern Irish rugby player (d. 2012) births

      1. Rugby player

        Nevin Spence

        Nevin Spence was a Northern Ireland-born Irish rugby union player for Ulster in the Pro12. He played as a Centre, but could also play Wing. He was educated firstly at Dromore High School, where he was introduced to rugby, and then at Wallace High School. He played his club rugby with Ballynahinch. He was also a capable footballer, playing for the Northern Ireland U-16's.

  24. 1989

    1. Melvin Ingram, American football player births

      1. American football player (born 1989)

        Melvin Ingram

        Melvin Ingram III is an American football outside linebacker for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at South Carolina, and earned All-American honors. He was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the first round with the 18th overall pick of the 2012 NFL Draft. He has also played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Kansas City Chiefs.

    2. Kang Daesung, South Korean singer births

      1. South Korean singer, actor and television personality (born 1989)

        Daesung

        Kang Dae-sung, better known mononymously as Daesung and his Japanese stage name D-Lite, is a South Korean singer, actor and television personality who made his musical debut in 2006 as a member of the South Korean boy band Big Bang under the record label YG Entertainment. He debuted as a solo artist in South Korea with the number one trot song "Look at Me, Gwisoon" in 2008. Since the inception of the Gaon Digital Chart in 2010, Daesung achieved two Top 10 songs, the digital single "Cotton Candy" and "Wings" from the Big Bang album Alive (2012).

    3. Lucille Ball, American model, actress, comedian, and producer (b. 1911) deaths

      1. American actress (1911–1989)

        Lucille Ball

        Lucille Désirée Ball was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She earned many honors, including the Women in Film Crystal Award, an induction into the Television Hall of Fame, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kennedy Center Honors, and the Governors Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

  25. 1988

    1. Ben Spina, Australian rugby league player births

      1. Australian rugby league footballer

        Ben Spina

        Ben Spina is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who previously played for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League. He plays at second-row and lock.

    2. Manuel Viniegra, Mexican footballer births

      1. Mexican footballer

        Manuel Viniegra

        Manuel Viniegra García is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a midfielder.

    3. Gareth Evans, English footballer births

      1. English footballer

        Gareth Evans (footballer, born 1988)

        Gareth Charles Evans is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for Radcliffe. He can also play as a midfielder and at right back.

  26. 1987

    1. Jorge Andújar Moreno, Spanish footballer births

      1. Spanish footballer

        Coke (footballer)

        Jorge Andújar Moreno, known as Coke, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right-back for UD Ibiza.

    2. Shankar, Indian composer and conductor (b. 1922) deaths

      1. Indian composer duo

        Shankar–Jaikishan

        Shankar–Jaikishan, were an Indian composer duo of the Hindi film industry, working together from 1949 to 1971. They are widely considered to be one of the greatest ever music composers of the Hindi film industry. After Jaikishan’s death in 1971, Shankar continued as a music director alone until his own death in 1987. During this solo career, he was still credited as 'Shankar–Jaikishan'.

    3. John Silkin, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons (b. 1923) deaths

      1. British left-wing Labour politician and solicitor

        John Silkin

        John Ernest Silkin was a British left-wing Labour politician and solicitor.

      2. Shadow Leader of the House of Commons

        The Shadow Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet responsible for working with the Leader of the House in arranging Commons business and holding the Government to account in its overall management of the House. The Shadow Leader also responds to the Business Statement of Leader of House each Thursday, though the Leader of the Opposition exercised this role until the late 1980s. The office is roughly equivalent to the Shadow Leader of the House of Lords.

  27. 1986

    1. Lior Refaelov, Israeli footballer births

      1. Israeli footballer

        Lior Refaelov

        Lior Refaelov is an Israeli professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or as a winger for Belgian First Division A club Anderlecht.

    2. Yuliya Zaripova, Russian runner births

      1. Russian middle-distance runner

        Yuliya Zaripova

        Yuliya Mikhailovna Zaripova is a Russian former middle-distance runner who specialised in the 3000 metres steeplechase event.

    3. Broderick Crawford, American actor (b. 1911) deaths

      1. American actor (1911–1986)

        Broderick Crawford

        William Broderick Crawford was an American stage, film, radio, and television actor, often cast in tough-guy roles and best known for his Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning portrayal of Willie Stark in All the King's Men (1949) and for his starring role as Dan Mathews in the television series Highway Patrol (1955–1959).

    4. Bessie Love, American actress (b. 1898) deaths

      1. American actress (1898–1986)

        Bessie Love

        Bessie Love was an American-British actress who achieved prominence playing innocent, young girls and wholesome leading ladies in silent and early sound films. Her acting career spanned eight decades—from silent film to sound film, including theatre, radio, and television—and her performance in The Broadway Melody (1929) earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

    5. Dechko Uzunov, Bulgarian painter (b. 1899) deaths

      1. Bulgarian painter

        Dechko Uzunov

        Dechko Uzunov was a Bulgarian painter. He was born in Kazanluk and died in Sofia at the age of 87. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1936 Summer Olympics.

  28. 1985

    1. John Isner, American tennis player births

      1. American tennis player (born 1985)

        John Isner

        John Robert Isner is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

    2. Andrea Koch Benvenuto, Chilean tennis player births

      1. Chilean tennis player

        Andrea Koch Benvenuto

        Karina Andrea Koch Benvenuto is a Chilean former tennis player.

  29. 1984

    1. Count Basie, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1904) deaths

      1. American jazz musician and composer (1904–1984)

        Count Basie

        William James "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first recording. He led the group for almost 50 years, creating innovations like the use of two "split" tenor saxophones, emphasizing the rhythm section, riffing with a big band, using arrangers to broaden their sound, and others. Many musicians came to prominence under his direction, including the tenor saxophonists Lester Young and Herschel Evans, the guitarist Freddie Green, trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison, plunger trombonist Al Grey, and singers Jimmy Rushing, Helen Humes, Thelma Carpenter, and Joe Williams.

  30. 1983

    1. José María López, Argentinian racing driver births

      1. Argentine race car driver (born 1983)

        José María López

        José María "Pechito" López is an Argentine race car driver who is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota Gazoo Racing and 2014–2016 World Touring Car Champion. He raced in the 2006 GP2 Series for the Super Nova team, and previously for the DAMS team, and the CMS team in Formula 3000. He was also at Renault F1 as a test driver. He was supposed to make his Formula One debut in 2010 for US F1 Team but the team shut down before contesting a single race. On 16 December 2013 he joined the Citroën Total WTCC team for the 2014 World Touring Car Championship season. He won 10 races that year and clinched his first World Touring Car Championship. In 2015 he repeated the feat, again winning 10 races and the championship. In 2016, he again retained the title with eight wins.

    2. Jessica Lynch, American soldier births

      1. American teacher, actress, and former U.S. Army soldier

        Jessica Lynch

        Jessica Dawn Lynch is an American teacher, actress, and former United States Army soldier who served in the 2003 invasion of Iraq as a private first class.

  31. 1982

    1. Novlene Williams-Mills, Jamaican sprinter births

      1. Jamaican sprinter

        Novlene Williams-Mills

        Novlene Hilaire Williams-Mills, is a retired Jamaican track and field athlete. She won the bronze medal in the 400 metres at the 2007 World Championships. She is also a three-time Olympic silver medallist in the 4×400 metres relay. In 2015 she won relay gold alongside her Jamaican teammates.

  32. 1981

    1. Caro Emerald, Dutch pop and jazz singer births

      1. Dutch pop and jazz singer

        Caro Emerald

        Caroline Esmeralda van der Leeuw, known for the project Caro Emerald, is a Dutch pop and jazz singer who mainly performs in English. Active since 2007, she rose to prominence in 2009 with the debut single, "Back It Up". The follow-up single, "A Night Like This", topped charts in the Netherlands.

    2. Ms. Dynamite, English rapper and producer births

      1. British rapper

        Ms. Dynamite

        Niomi Arleen McLean-Daley, better known as Ms. Dynamite, is a British singer and rapper. She is the recipient of the Mercury Music Prize, two Brit Awards and three MOBO Awards.

    3. Sandra Schmitt, German skier (d. 2000) births

      1. German freestyle skier

        Sandra Schmitt

        Sandra Schmitt was a German freestyle skier. In 1998, she came 9th in the Women's Moguls contest at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. She became the Women's Dual Moguls World Champion in 1999. Schmitt died with her parents in the Kaprun disaster on 11 November 2000.

    4. Jim Davis, American actor (b. 1909) deaths

      1. American actor

        Jim Davis (actor)

        Jim Davis was an American actor, best known for his roles in television Westerns. In his later career, he became famous as Jock Ewing in the CBS primetime soap opera, Dallas, a role he continued until he was too ill from a terminal illness to perform.

  33. 1980

    1. Jordana Brewster, Panamanian-American actress births

      1. American actress (born 1980)

        Jordana Brewster

        Jordana Brewster is a Panamanian-American actress. Best known for her role as Mia Toretto in the Fast & Furious franchise, she made her acting debut in an episode of All My Children in 1995 and next took on the recurring role as Nikki Munson in As the World Turns, garnering a nomination for Outstanding Teen Performer at the 1997 Soap Opera Digest Award. Her first role in a feature film was in Robert Rodriguez's horror science fiction The Faculty (1998).

    2. Marlon King, English footballer births

      1. Jamaican association football player

        Marlon King

        Marlon Francis King is a Jamaican former professional footballer who played as a striker.

    3. Anna Mucha, Polish actress and journalist births

      1. Polish actress and journalist

        Anna Mucha

        Anna Maria Mucha is a Polish film and television actress and journalist. She is best known to Western audiences as the character of Danka Dresner in the film Schindler's List directed by Steven Spielberg. In Poland she is known for her regular role in soap opera M jak miłość (2003–present).

    4. Channing Tatum, American actor and producer births

      1. American actor (born 1980)

        Channing Tatum

        Channing Matthew Tatum is an American actor. Tatum made his film debut in the drama Coach Carter (2005), and had his breakthrough role in the 2006 dance film Step Up. He gained wider attention for his leading roles in the comedy-drama Magic Mike (2012) and its sequel Magic Mike XXL (2015), the latter of which he also produced, and in the action-comedy 21 Jump Street (2012) and its sequel 22 Jump Street (2014).

    5. Cicely Courtneidge, Australian-born British actress, comedian and singer (b. 1893) deaths

      1. British actor (1893 - 1980)

        Cicely Courtneidge

        Dame Esmerelda Cicely Courtneidge, was an Australian-born British actress, comedian and singer. The daughter of the producer and playwright Robert Courtneidge, she was appearing in his productions in the West End by the age of 16, and was quickly promoted from minor to major roles in his Edwardian musical comedies.

  34. 1978

    1. Stana Katic, Canadian actress births

      1. Canadian actress

        Stana Katic

        Stana Katic is a Canadian-American actress and producer. She played Kate Beckett on the ABC television romantic crime series Castle (2009–2016) and Agent Emily Byrne in the thriller series Absentia (2017–2020).

    2. Peter Madsen, Danish footballer births

      1. Danish footballer

        Peter Madsen (footballer)

        Peter Planch Madsen is a retired Danish professional footballer who played as a striker.

  35. 1977

    1. Samantha Cristoforetti, Italian astronaut births

      1. Italian ESA astronaut (born 1977)

        Samantha Cristoforetti

        Samantha Cristoforetti, OMRI is an Italian European Space Agency astronaut, former Italian Air Force pilot and engineer. She holds the record for the longest uninterrupted spaceflight by a European astronaut, and she held the record for the longest single space flight by a woman until this was broken by Peggy Whitson in June 2017, and later by Christina Koch. She is also the first Italian woman in space. She took command of ISS Expedition 68 on September 28 2022.

    2. Kosuke Fukudome, Japanese baseball player births

      1. Japanese baseball player

        Kosuke Fukudome

        Kosuke Fukudome is a retired Japanese professional baseball outfielder. He previously played in Major League Baseball from 2008 to 2012, primarily with the Chicago Cubs and had a long spanning career in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) with the Chunichi Dragons and Hanshin Tigers.

    3. Roxana Saberi, American journalist and author births

      1. American journalist

        Roxana Saberi

        Roxana Saberi is an American CBS News correspondent and former Miss North Dakota pageant winner. In 2009, she was held prisoner in Iran's Evin Prison for 101 days under accusations of espionage. She subsequently wrote a book about the experience.

    4. Tom Welling, American actor births

      1. American actor, director, and model

        Tom Welling

        Thomas "Tom" John Patrick Welling is an American actor, director, producer, and model best known for his role as Clark Kent in The WB/The CW superhero drama Smallville (2001–2011). He also co-starred in the third season of Fox fantasy comedy-drama Lucifer as Lt. Marcus Pierce/Cain (2017–2018).

  36. 1976

    1. Luigi Panarelli, Italian footballer births

      1. Italian footballer and manager

        Luigi Panarelli

        Luigi Panarelli is an Italian football coach and a former player who played as a defender.

    2. Václav Varaďa, Czech ice hockey player births

      1. Czech ice hockey player

        Václav Varaďa

        Václav Varaďa is a Czech former professional ice hockey player and current coach. He formerly played in the National Hockey League (NHL) in a ten-year span. In his professional career, he has previously played for the Buffalo Sabres and the Ottawa Senators. Varaďa was known for his physicality in a third or fourth line role.

    3. Sidney Franklin, American bullfighter (b. 1903) deaths

      1. American bullfighter

        Sidney Franklin (bullfighter)

        Sidney Franklin was the first American to become a successful matador, the most senior level of bullfighter.

    4. Sid James, South African-English actor (b. 1913) deaths

      1. South African-British actor (1913–1976)

        Sid James

        Sidney James was a British actor and comedian, born to a middle-class Jewish family in South Africa, whose career encompassed radio, television, stage and screen. He was best known for numerous roles in the Carry On film series.

    5. Armstrong Sperry, American author and illustrator (b. 1897) deaths

      1. American writer and illustrator (1897–1976)

        Armstrong Sperry

        Armstrong Wells Sperry was an American writer and illustrator of children's literature. His books include historical fiction and biography, often set on sailing ships, and stories of boys from Polynesia, Asia and indigenous American cultures. He is best known for his 1941 Newbery Medal-winning book Call It Courage.

  37. 1975

    1. Joey Jordison, American musician and songwriter (d. 2021) births

      1. American musician (1975–2021)

        Joey Jordison

        Nathan Jonas "Joey" Jordison was an American musician. He was the original drummer and co-founder of the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he was designated #1, as well as the guitarist for the horror punk supergroup Murderdolls.

    2. Rahul Verma, Indian social worker and activist births

      1. Rahul Verma

        Rahul Verma is a social activist and founder of the Uday Foundation, a non profit organization named after his son, who was born with multiple congenital defects. His work includes distribution of free food to poor patients and their caregivers outside hospitals and related to health and dignity of destitute in India.

  38. 1973

    1. Geoff Blum, American baseball player and sportscaster births

      1. American baseball player and analyst (born 1973)

        Geoff Blum

        Geoffrey Edward Blum is an American former professional baseball infielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Montreal Expos, Houston Astros, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks. He is currently the TV color analyst for the Houston Astros.

    2. Jules Naudet, French-American director and producer births

      1. French-American sibling filmmaker duo

        Jules and Gédéon Naudet

        Jules Clément Naudet and brother Thomas Gédéon Naudet are French-American filmmakers. The brothers, residents of the United States since 1989 and citizens since 1999, were in New York City at the time of the September 11 attacks to film a documentary on members of the Engine 7, Ladder 1 firehouse in Lower Manhattan. Jules captured the only clear footage of the first jet, American Airlines Flight 11, hitting the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The footage shot in 2001 was made into the 2002 documentary 9/11. The video camera that Jules was using that captured Flight 11 crashing into the World Trade Center is now on display in the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

    3. Chris Perry, English footballer births

      1. English footballer

        Chris Perry (English footballer)

        Christopher John Perry is an English football coach, former footballer and pundit.

    4. Óscar, Spanish footballer and coach births

      1. Spanish footballer and manager

        Óscar García (footballer, born 1973)

        Óscar García Junyent, known simply as Óscar as a player, is a Spanish former professional footballer, currently a manager.

    5. Irene Ryan, American actress and philanthropist (b. 1902) deaths

      1. American actress (1902–1973)

        Irene Ryan

        Irene Ryan was an American actress and comedienne who found success in vaudeville, radio, film, television, and Broadway. She is most widely known for her portrayal of Daisy May "Granny" Moses, mother-in-law of Buddy Ebsen's character Jed Clampett on the long-running TV series The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971). She was nominated for Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1963 and 1964 for the role.

  39. 1972

    1. Jason Bargwanna, Australian racing driver births

      1. Australian motor racing driver

        Jason Bargwanna

        Jason Eric Bargwanna is an Australian motor racing driver. Best known as a Supercars Championship competitor, Bargwanna raced in the series for 25 years, the pinnacle of which was winning, with Garth Tander, the 2000 Bathurst 1000 in a Garry Rogers Motorsport prepared Holden Commodore. Bargwanna was the Driving Standards Observer for the Supercars Championship from 2014 until 2016.

    2. Kiko, Spanish footballer births

      1. Spanish footballer

        Kiko (footballer, born 1972)

        Francisco Miguel Narváez Machón, known as Kiko, is a Spanish former professional footballer who spent most of his career with Atlético Madrid.

    3. Natrone Means, American football player and coach births

      1. American football player and coach (born 1972)

        Natrone Means

        Natrone Jermaine Means is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Diego Chargers, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Carolina Panthers from 1993 to 2000. He was selected by the Chargers in the second round of the 1993 NFL Draft. In 1994, he was selected to the Pro Bowl during San Diego's Super Bowl season. He is a member of the San Diego Chargers 50th Anniversary Team. Means was nicknamed Natrone "Refried" Means and, later, "Natrone Means Business" by ESPN's Chris Berman, He is currently an assistant coach at North Carolina.

    4. Avi Nimni, Israeli footballer and manager births

      1. Israeli footballer

        Avi Nimni

        Avi Nimni is a former Israeli football player and Maccabi Tel Aviv's highest ever scorer. He is regarded as one of Maccabi Tel Aviv's greatest players ever. Until 2006, he served as the captain of the Israel national team. His number 8 shirt has become so symbolic that Maccabi Tel Aviv has retired the number at the end of his active football career.

  40. 1971

    1. Naoki Tanaka, Japanese comedian and actor births

      1. Naoki Tanaka (comedian)

        Naoki Tanaka is a Japanese comedian, actor and television presenter who is the leader and the boke of the owarai kombi Cocorico with his partner Shozo Endo. He has appeared in many television programmes and films. He is known for being a regular member of Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!!, which he and Endo have worked on since 1997.

    2. Jay DeMarcus, American bass player, songwriter, and producer births

      1. American songwriter

        Jay DeMarcus

        Jay DeMarcus is an American bassist, vocalist, pianist, record producer and songwriter. From 1999 to 2021, he was a member of the country pop group Rascal Flatts.

  41. 1970

    1. Dean Austin, English footballer and manager births

      1. English footballer (born 1970)

        Dean Austin

        Dean Barry Austin is an English football manager and former professional player.

    2. Melania Trump, Slovene-American model; 47th First Lady of the United States births

      1. First Lady of the United States (2017–2021), model, and businesswoman

        Melania Trump

        Melania Trump ( mə-LAH-nee-ə; born Melanija Knavs [mɛˈlaːnija ˈknaːws], Germanized as Melania Knauss [meˈlaːni̯a ˈknaʊs]; is a Slovene-American former model and businesswoman who served as First Lady of the United States from 2017 to 2021, as the wife of 45th President Donald Trump.

      2. List of first ladies of the United States

        The first lady of the United States is the hostess of the White House. The position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, but, on occasion, the title has been applied to women who were not presidents' wives, such as when the president was a bachelor or widower, or when the wife of the president was unable to fulfill the duties of the first lady. The first lady is not an elected position; it carries no official duties and receives no salary. Nonetheless, she attends many official ceremonies and functions of state either along with or in place of the president. Traditionally, the first lady does not hold outside employment while occupying the office, although Eleanor Roosevelt earned money writing and giving lectures, but gave most of it to charity, and Jill Biden has maintained her regular job as an educator during her time in the role. The first lady has her own staff, including the White House social secretary, the chief of staff, the press secretary, the chief floral designer, and the executive chef. The Office of the First Lady is also in charge of all social and ceremonial events of the White House, and is a branch of the Executive Office of the President.

    3. Kristen R. Ghodsee, American ethnographer and academic births

      1. American ethnographer and professor

        Kristen Ghodsee

        Kristen Rogheh Ghodsee is an American ethnographer and Professor of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She is primarily known for her ethnographic work on post-Communist Bulgaria as well as being a contributor to the field of postsocialist gender studies.

    4. Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress births

      1. American singer

        Tionne Watkins

        Tionne Tenese Watkins, better known by her stage name T-Boz, is an American singer and actress. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Watkins rose to fame in the early 1990s as a member of the girl-group TLC. She has won four Grammy Awards for her work with TLC.

    5. Erik Bergman, Swedish minister and author (b. 1886) deaths

      1. Erik Bergman (Lutheran minister)

        Erik Henrik Fredrik Bergman was a Swedish parish minister of the Lutheran Church and the father of diplomat Dag Bergman, novelist Margareta Bergman, and film director Ingmar Bergman.

    6. Gypsy Rose Lee, American actress, striptease dancer, and writer (b. 1911) deaths

      1. American burlesque performer, actress and author (1911–1970)

        Gypsy Rose Lee

        Gypsy Rose Lee was an American burlesque entertainer, stripper and vedette famous for her striptease act. Also an actress, author, and playwright, her 1957 memoir was adapted into the 1959 stage musical Gypsy.

  42. 1969

    1. Morihei Ueshiba, Japanese martial artist, founded aikido (b. 1883) deaths

      1. 20th-century Japanese martial artist

        Morihei Ueshiba

        Morihei Ueshiba was a Japanese martial artist and founder of the martial art of aikido. He is often referred to as "the founder" Kaiso (開祖) or Ōsensei (大先生/翁先生), "Great Teacher/Old Teacher ".

      2. Modern Japanese martial art

        Aikido

        Aikido is a modern Japanese martial art that is split into many different styles, including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practiced in around 140 countries. It was originally developed by Morihei Ueshiba, as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy and religious beliefs. Ueshiba's goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to defend themselves while also protecting their attackers from injury. Aikido is often translated as "the way of unifying (with) life energy" or as "the way of harmonious spirit". According to the founder's philosophy, the primary goal in the practice of aikido is to overcome oneself instead of cultivating violence or aggressiveness. Morihei Ueshiba used the phrase masakatsu agatsu katsuhayabi" to refer to this principle.

  43. 1968

    1. John Heartfield, German illustrator and photographer (b. 1891) deaths

      1. John Heartfield

        John Heartfield was a 20th century German visual artist who pioneered the use of art as a political weapon. Some of his most famous photomontages were anti-Nazi and anti-fascist statements. Heartfield also created book jackets for book authors, such as Upton Sinclair, as well as stage sets for contemporary playwrights, such as Bertolt Brecht and Erwin Piscator.

  44. 1967

    1. Glenn Thomas Jacobs, American professional wrestler, actor, businessman and politician births

      1. American professional wrestler, actor, and politician

        Kane (wrestler)

        Glenn Thomas Jacobs, better known by the ring name Kane is an American politician and professional wrestler. Jacobs has been signed to WWE since 1995 and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021. He has also been the Republican Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee since 2018.

    2. Marianne Jean-Baptiste, English actress and singer-songwriter births

      1. English actress

        Marianne Jean-Baptiste

        Marianne Raigipcien Jean-Baptiste is an English actress. She is known for her role in the 1996 comedy-drama film Secrets & Lies, for which she received acclaim and earned nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Golden Globe and BAFTA Award in the same category. Baptiste is also known for her role as Vivian Johnson on the television series Without a Trace from 2002 to 2009, and has since starred in television shows such as Blindspot (2015–2016) and Homecoming (2018).

    3. Toomas Tõniste, Estonian sailor and politician births

      1. Estonian sailor and politician

        Toomas Tõniste

        Toomas Tõniste is an Estonian sailor and politician, and the former Minister of Finance.

  45. 1965

    1. Susannah Harker, English actress births

      1. British actor

        Susannah Harker

        Susannah Harker is an English film, television, and theatre actor. She was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award in 1990 for her role as Mattie Storin in House of Cards. She played Jane Bennet in the 1995 TV adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

    2. Kevin James, American actor and comedian births

      1. American actor and comedian (born 1965)

        Kevin James

        Kevin George Knipfing, better known by his stage name Kevin James, is an American comedian and actor. In television, James played Doug Heffernan on The King of Queens from 1998 to 2007, and receieved a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series nomination for the performance in 2006. He also was nominated for a People's Choice Award in 2017 for a starring role in the CBS sitcom Kevin Can Wait (2016–2018).

  46. 1964

    1. E. J. Pratt, Canadian poet and author (b. 1882) deaths

      1. E. J. Pratt

        Edwin John Dove Pratt, who published as E. J. Pratt, was "the leading Canadian poet of his time." He was a Canadian poet from Newfoundland who lived most of his life in Toronto, Ontario. A three-time winner of the country's Governor General's Award for poetry, he has been called "the foremost Canadian poet of the first half of the century."

  47. 1963

    1. Jet Li, Chinese-Singaporean martial artist, actor, and producer births

      1. Chinese-Singaporean martial artist and actor (born 1963)

        Jet Li

        Li Lianjie, better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese film actor, film producer, martial artist, and retired Wushu champion. He is a naturalized Singaporean citizen.

    2. Colin Scotts, Australian-American football player births

      1. Australian gridiron football player (born 1963)

        Colin Scotts

        Colin Roberts Scotts is an Australian former American football player; he was the first Australian to receive an American football scholarship in the United States and be drafted into the NFL. He became the second Australian to play in the NFL after Colin Ridgeway, an Australian rules football convert.

    3. Cornelia Ullrich, German hurdler births

      1. Cornelia Ullrich

        Cornelia Ullrich, née Feuerbach is a retired East German hurdler. She represented the sports team SC Magdeburg.

    4. Bill Wennington, Canadian basketball player births

      1. Canadian basketball player

        Bill Wennington

        William Percey Wennington is a Canadian former professional basketball player who won three National Basketball Association (NBA) championships with the Chicago Bulls. A center, he represented Canada in the 1984 Olympics and 1983 World University Games, where the team won gold. He was also on the Canadian team that narrowly missed qualification for the 1992 Olympics. Wennington has been inducted into the Quebec Basketball Hall of Fame and the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame.

  48. 1962

    1. Colin Anderson, English footballer births

      1. English footballer

        Colin Anderson (footballer)

        Colin Anderson is an English former professional footballer, predominantly playing on left side of defence or midfield.

    2. Debra Wilson, American actress and comedian births

      1. American actress

        Debra Wilson

        Debra Wilson, also known as Debra Wilson Skelton or Debra Skelton, is an American actress and comedian. She is known for being the longest-serving original cast member on the sketch comedy series Mad TV, having appeared on the show's first eight seasons from 1995 to 2003. As a voice actress, she has voiced various characters on television, including Ramaraffe on Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (2019–present), Grandma Shark on Baby Shark's Big Show! (2020–present), and Kira on Dogs in Space (2021–present). She has voiced multiple characters on series such as Black Dynamite (2012–2015), All Hail King Julien (2014–2016), and Spitting Image (2020–2022). She also starred in the films The Summerland Project (2016) and Bodied (2017).

  49. 1961

    1. Joan Chen, Chinese-American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter births

      1. Chinese-American actress and director

        Joan Chen

        Joan Chen is a Chinese-American actress and film director. In China, she performed in the 1979 film Little Flower and came to the attention of American audiences for her performance in the 1987 film The Last Emperor. She is also known for her roles in Twin Peaks, Red Rose White Rose, Saving Face, and The Home Song Stories, and for directing the feature film Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl.

    2. Chris Mars, American artist births

      1. American musician

        Chris Mars

        Chris Mars is an American painter and musician. He was the drummer for the seminal Minneapolis based alternative-rock band The Replacements from 1979 to 1990, and later joined the informal supergroup Golden Smog before beginning a solo career. While Mars concentrates mainly on his art career, he still occasionally releases new music.

  50. 1960

    1. Steve Lombardozzi, American baseball player and coach births

      1. American baseball player

        Steve Lombardozzi

        Stephen Paul Lombardozzi Sr. is a former American professional baseball player who was a second baseman for the Minnesota Twins and Houston Astros for six Major League Baseball seasons. As part of the Twins' world championship team in 1987, Lombardozzi hit .412 during the World Series and hit a home run in Game 1.

    2. Roger Taylor, English drummer births

      1. English drummer

        Roger Taylor (Duran Duran drummer)

        Roger Andrew Taylor is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the new wave band Duran Duran from their inception until 1985, and again from 2001 onwards. Duran Duran have sold over 100 million records worldwide. Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in November 2022 as a member of Duran Duran.

  51. 1959

    1. John Corabi, American singer-songwriter and guitarist births

      1. American singer and guitarist

        John Corabi

        John Corabi is an American hard rock singer and guitarist. He was the frontman of The Scream during 1989 and the frontman of Mötley Crüe between 1992 and 1996 during original frontman Vince Neil's hiatus from the band.

    2. Pedro Pierluisi, Puerto Rican politician births

      1. Governor of Puerto Rico since 2021

        Pedro Pierluisi

        Pedro Rafael Pierluisi Urrutia is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer currently serving as governor of Puerto Rico. He has previously served as Secretary of Justice, Resident Commissioner, acting Secretary of State, interim governor of Puerto Rico and as private attorney for Puerto Rico's fiscal oversight board under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act.

  52. 1958

    1. John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute, Scottish racing driver (d. 2021) births

      1. Scottish peer and former racing driver (1958–2021)

        John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute

        John Colum Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute, styled Earl of Dumfries before 1993, was a Scottish peer and a racing driver, most notably winning the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans. He did not use his title and preferred to be known solely as John Bute, although he had previously been called Johnny Dumfries before his accession to the Marquessate. The family home is Mount Stuart House on the Isle of Bute. He attended Ampleforth College, as had his father and most male members of the Crichton-Stuart family, but did not finish the normal five years of study.

    2. Giancarlo Esposito, American actor, director, and producer births

      1. American actor (born 1958)

        Giancarlo Esposito

        Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito is an American actor and director. He is best known for portraying Gus Fring in the AMC crime drama series Breaking Bad, from 2009 to 2011, and in its prequel series Better Call Saul, from 2017 to 2022. For this role, he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and earned three nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

    3. Georgios Kostikos, Greek footballer, coach, and manager births

      1. Greek footballer

        Georgios Kostikos (footballer, born 1958)

        Georgios Kostikos is a Greek former professional footballer.

  53. 1957

    1. Gichin Funakoshi, Japanese martial artist, founded Shotokan (b. 1868) deaths

      1. Karateka

        Gichin Funakoshi

        Gichin Funakoshi was the founder of Shotokan karate-do, perhaps the most widely known style of karate, and is known as a "father of modern karate". Following the teachings of Anko Itosu and Anko Asato, he was one of the Okinawan karate masters who introduced karate to the Japanese mainland in 1922, following its earlier introduction by his teacher Itosu. He taught karate at various Japanese universities and became honorary head of the Japan Karate Association upon its establishment in 1949.

      2. Karate Shodan Style

        Shotokan

        Shotokan is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906–1945). Gichin Funakoshi was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing "karate do" through a series of public demonstrations, and by promoting the development of university karate clubs, including those at Keio, Waseda, Hitotsubashi (Shodai), Takushoku, Chuo, Gakushuin, and Hosei.

  54. 1956

    1. Koo Stark, American actress and photographer births

      1. American film actress and photographer

        Koo Stark

        Kathleen Norris Stark, better known as Koo Stark, is an American photographer and actress, known for her relationship with Prince Andrew. She is a patron of the Julia Margaret Cameron Trust, which runs the museum of the Victorian pioneer photographer.

    2. Edward Arnold, American actor (b. 1890) deaths

      1. American actor (1890–1956)

        Edward Arnold (actor)

        Günther Edward Arnold Schneider was an American actor of the stage and screen.

  55. 1955

    1. Kurt Bodewig, German politician births

      1. German politician of the SPD

        Kurt Bodewig

        Kurt Bodewig is a German politician of the SPD.

  56. 1954

    1. Tatyana Fomina, Estonian chess player births

      1. Estonian chess player

        Tatjana Fomina

        Tatjana Fomina is an Estonian chess player holding the title of Woman Grandmaster and twice European senior women's champion.

    2. Alan Hinkes, English mountaineer and explorer births

      1. British Himalayan mountaineer

        Alan Hinkes

        Alan Hinkes OBE is an English Himalayan high-altitude mountaineer from Northallerton in North Yorkshire. He is the first British mountaineer to claim all 14 Himalayan eight-thousanders, which he did on 30 May 2005.

  57. 1951

    1. John Battle, English politician births

      1. British Labour politician

        John Battle (politician)

        Sir John Dominic Battle, is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds West from 1987 to 2010.

    2. Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist and academic (b. 1868) deaths

      1. German theoretical physicist (1868–1951)

        Arnold Sommerfeld

        Arnold Johannes Wilhelm Sommerfeld, was a German theoretical physicist who pioneered developments in atomic and quantum physics, and also educated and mentored many students for the new era of theoretical physics. He served as doctoral supervisor for many Nobel Prize winners in physics and chemistry.

  58. 1950

    1. George Murray Hulbert, American lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1881) deaths

      1. American judge

        George Murray Hulbert

        George Murray Hulbert was a United States representative from New York and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

  59. 1949

    1. Carlos Bianchi, Argentinian footballer and manager births

      1. Argentine football player and manager

        Carlos Bianchi

        Carlos Arcesio Bianchi, nicknamed El Virrey, is an Argentine former football player and manager. A prolific goalscorer, although he had a bright career as a forward in Argentina and France, Bianchi is best known as one of the most successful coaches of all time managing Vélez Sarsfield and Boca Juniors to a great number of titles each. Bianchi is the only coach to win four Copa Libertadores. He most recently served as manager of Boca Juniors. Boca Juniors and Vélez Sársfield made him a statue.

    2. Jerry Blackwell, American wrestler (d. 1995) births

      1. American professional wrestler

        Jerry Blackwell

        Jerry Blackwell was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name "Crusher" Jerry Blackwell. Blackwell competed in the 1979 World's Strongest Man contest, but withdrew early in the competition due to an injury. He was a main event star in the American Wrestling Association where he feuded with Mad Dog Vachon, Hulk Hogan, The Crusher, Bruiser Brody and Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissey.

  60. 1946

    1. Ralph Coates, English international footballer (d. 2010) births

      1. English footballer

        Ralph Coates

        Ralph Coates was an English footballer who played at both professional and international levels as a winger. Coates played for Burnley, Tottenham Hotspur and Orient, making 480 appearances in the Football League. Coates also earned four caps for England during 1970 and 1971.

    2. Marilyn Nelson, American poet and author births

      1. American poet, translator, and children's book author

        Marilyn Nelson

        Marilyn Nelson is an American poet, translator, and children's book author. She is a professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut, and the former poet laureate of Connecticut, She is a winner of the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature, and the Frost Medal. From 1978 to 1994 she published under the name Marilyn Nelson Waniek. She is the author or translator of over twenty books and five chapbooks of poetry for adults and children. While most of her work deals with historical subjects, in 2014 she published a memoir, named one of NPR's Best Books of 2014, entitled How I Discovered Poetry.

    3. Alberto Quintano, Chilean footballer births

      1. Chilean footballer (born 1946)

        Alberto Quintano

        Alberto Guillermo Quintano Ralph, commonly known as El Mariscal, is a former Chilean footballer. He played as a defender for Universidad de Chile in Chile's Primera División.

    4. James Larkin White, American miner, explorer, and park ranger (b. 1882) deaths

      1. James Larkin White

        James Larkin White, better known as Jim White, was a cowboy, guano miner, cave explorer, and park ranger for the National Park Service. He is best remembered as the discoverer, early promoter and explorer of what is known today as Carlsbad Caverns in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico.

  61. 1945

    1. Howard Davies, English director and producer (d. 2016) births

      1. British theatre and television director

        Howard Davies (director)

        Stephen Howard Davies, was a British theatre and television director.

    2. Dick Johnson, Australian racing driver births

      1. Australian racing driver, former lumberjack

        Dick Johnson (racing driver)

        Richard 'Dick' Johnson is a part-owner of the V8 Supercar team Dick Johnson Racing and a former racing driver. As a driver, he was a five-time Australian Touring Car Champion and a three-time winner of the Bathurst 1000. As of 2008 Johnson has claimed over twenty awards and honours, including the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame into which he was inducted in 2001.

    3. Sylvain Simard, Canadian academic and politician births

      1. Canadian politician

        Sylvain Simard

        Sylvain Simard is a politician and academic based in the Canadian province of Quebec. He represented Richelieu in the National Assembly of Quebec from 1994 to 2012, and was a cabinet minister in the governments of Lucien Bouchard and Bernard Landry. Simard is a member of the Parti Québécois (PQ).

    4. Sigmund Rascher, German physician (b. 1909) deaths

      1. German Schutzstaffel doctor

        Sigmund Rascher

        Sigmund Rascher was a German Schutzstaffel (SS) doctor. He conducted deadly experiments on humans pertaining to high altitude, freezing and blood coagulation under the patronage of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, to whom his wife Karoline "Nini" Diehl had direct connections. When police investigations uncovered that the couple had defrauded the public with their supernatural fertility by 'hiring' and kidnapping babies, she and Rascher were arrested in April 1944. He was accused of financial irregularities, murder of his former lab assistant, and scientific fraud, and brought to Buchenwald and Dachau concentration camps before being executed. After his death, the Nuremberg Trials judged his experiments as inhumane and criminal.

    5. Pavlo Skoropadskyi, German-Ukrainian general and politician, Hetman of Ukraine (b. 1871) deaths

      1. Ukrainian Cossack military and political official; Hetman of Ukraine (1918)

        Pavlo Skoropadskyi

        Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi was a Ukrainian aristocrat, military and state leader, decorated Imperial Russian Army and Ukrainian Army general of Cossack heritage. Skoropadskyi became Hetman of Ukraine following a coup on 29 April 1918.

      2. Historic name for the Ukrainian head of state

        Hetman of Ukraine

        Hetman of Ukraine is a former historic government office and political institution of Ukraine that is equivalent to a head of state or a monarch.

  62. 1944

    1. Richard Bradshaw, English conductor (d. 2007) births

      1. Musical artist

        Richard Bradshaw (conductor)

        Richard James Bradshaw was a British opera conductor and the General Director of the Canadian Opera Company (COC) in Toronto.

    2. Violette Morris, French footballer, shot putter, and discus thrower (b. 1893) deaths

      1. French athlete

        Violette Morris

        Violette Morris was a French athlete and Nazi collaborator who won two gold and one silver medal at the Women's World Games in 1921–1922. She was later banned from competing for violating "moral standards". She was invited to the 1936 Summer Olympics by Adolf Hitler and was an honored guest. During World War II, she collaborated with Nazis and the Vichy France regime. She became known as "the Hyena of the Gestapo" and was killed by the French Resistance.

  63. 1943

    1. Gary Wright, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer births

      1. American musician and composer

        Gary Wright

        Gary Malcolm Wright is an American musician and composer best known for his 1976 hit songs "Dream Weaver" and "Love Is Alive", and for his role in helping establish the synthesizer as a leading instrument in rock and pop music. Wright's breakthrough album, The Dream Weaver (1975), came after he had spent seven years in London as, alternately, a member of the British blues rock band Spooky Tooth and a solo artist on A&M Records. While in England, he played keyboards on former Beatle George Harrison's triple album All Things Must Pass (1970), so beginning a friendship that inspired the Indian religious themes and spirituality inherent in Wright's subsequent songwriting. His work since the late 1980s has embraced world music and the new age genre, although none of his post-1976 releases have matched the same level of popularity as The Dream Weaver.

    2. Peter Zumthor, Swiss architect and academic, designed the Therme Vals births

      1. Swiss architect (born 1943)

        Peter Zumthor

        Peter Zumthor is a Swiss architect whose work is frequently described as uncompromising and minimalist. Though managing a relatively small firm, he is the winner of the 2009 Pritzker Prize and 2013 RIBA Royal Gold Medal.

      2. 7132 Thermal Baths

        7132 Thermal Baths is a hotel/spa complex in Vals, built over the only thermal springs in the Graubünden canton in Switzerland. Completed in 1996, the spa was designed by Peter Zumthor.

  64. 1942

    1. Svyatoslav Belza, Russian journalist, author, and critic (d. 2014) births

      1. Svyatoslav Belza

        Svyatoslav Igorevich Belza was a Soviet Russian literary and musical scholar, critic and essayist, and a prominent TV personality who's launched and hosted several TV programs aimed at popularizing classical music, theatre, and ballet, including Music on Air and Masterpieces of the World Music Theatre. Belza has received high-profiled honors in three countries, among them the Russian Order of Merit for the Fatherland, the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, and the Ukrainian Order of Saint Nicholas.

    2. Sharon Carstairs, Canadian lawyer and politician, Leader of the Government in the Senate births

      1. Canadian politician and former Senator

        Sharon Carstairs

        Sharon Carstairs is a Canadian politician and former Senator.

      2. Government representative in the Canadian Senate

        Representative of the Government in the Senate

        The representative of the Government in the Senate is the member of the Senate of Canada who is responsible for introducing, promoting, and defending the government's bills in the Senate after they are passed by the House of Commons. The representative is appointed by the prime minister.

    3. Michael Kergin, Canadian diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States births

      1. Canadian diplomat

        Michael Kergin

        Michael Kergin is a Canadian career diplomat, who has been a member of the foreign service in some capacity since 1967, when he joined the Department of External Affairs.

      2. List of ambassadors of Canada to the United States

        This is a list of ambassadors of Canada to the United States, formally titled as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States of America for Her [His] Majesty's Government in Canada. Originally, Canada's top diplomatic representative to the U.S. had the rank of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. The title was promoted to the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in 1943, during the period when Leighton McCarthy had the post.

    4. Bobby Rydell, American singer and actor (d. 2022) births

      1. American singer and teen idol (1942–2022)

        Bobby Rydell

        Robert Louis Ridarelli, known by the stage name Bobby Rydell, was an American singer and actor who mainly performed rock and roll and traditional pop music. In the early 1960s he was considered a teen idol. His most well-known songs include "Wildwood Days," "Wild One" and "Volare" ; in 1963 he appeared in the musical film Bye Bye Birdie.

    5. Jadwiga Staniszkis, Polish sociologist, political scientist, and academic births

      1. Polish sociologist

        Jadwiga Staniszkis

        Jadwiga Staniszkis is a Polish sociologist and political scientist, essayist, a former professor at the University of Warsaw and the Wyższa Szkoła Biznesu, a Polish campus of National-Louis University.

  65. 1941

    1. Claudine Auger, French model and actress (d. 2019) births

      1. French actress (1941–2019)

        Claudine Auger

        Claudine Auger was a French actress best known for her role as a Bond girl, Dominique "Domino" Derval, in the James Bond film Thunderball (1965). She earned the title of Miss France Monde and was also the first runner-up in the 1958 Miss World contest.

  66. 1940

    1. Molvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, Indian cleric and politician (d. 2014) births

      1. Indian politician, businessman and religious scholar

        Iftikhar Hussain Ansari

        Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, widely known among his followers as Moulvi Sahib, was a Kashmiri Shia cleric, politician, businessman and a proponent of the Grand Ashura Procession In Kashmir. He was a representative of Ruhollah Khomeini and other maraji’. He was a towering Islamic scholar in India and had close relations with multiple other important scholars such as Sayyid Jawad Shahristani, Mohammad Alavi Gorgani and Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani. He succeeded his father Muhammad Jawad Ansari as president of the All Jammu and Kashmir Shia Association in Jammu & Kashmir in 1962, a position which he held for life. He was a sitting member of Jammu and Kashmir's Legislative Assembly for the Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party; he was earlier a member of the National Conference and Congress.

    2. Giorgio Moroder, Italian singer-songwriter and producer births

      1. Italian record producer (born 1940)

        Giorgio Moroder

        Giovanni Giorgio Moroder is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the "Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance music. His work with synthesizers had a large influence on several music genres such as Hi-NRG, Italo disco, new wave, house and techno music.

    3. Cliff Watson, English rugby league player (d. 2018) births

      1. GB & England international rugby league footballer

        Cliff Watson

        Clifford H. Watson was an English professional rugby league footballer who played as a prop in the 1960s and 1970s. He played for the St Helens in the Rugby Football League Championship, and later the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership in Australia. Along with hardman Ken Gee, and legendary captain Alan Prescott, he remains one of the best Great Britain front-rowers ever.

    4. Carl Bosch, German chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874) deaths

      1. German chemist and engineer (1874–1940)

        Carl Bosch

        Carl Bosch was a German chemist and engineer and Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. He was a pioneer in the field of high-pressure industrial chemistry and founder of IG Farben, at one point the world's largest chemical company.

      2. One of the five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Alfred Nobel

        Nobel Prize in Chemistry

        The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature, peace, and physiology or medicine. This award is administered by the Nobel Foundation, and awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on proposal of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry which consists of five members elected by the Academy. The award is presented in Stockholm at an annual ceremony on 10 December, the anniversary of Nobel's death.

  67. 1938

    1. Duane Eddy, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor births

      1. American guitarist

        Duane Eddy

        Duane Eddy is an American rock and roll guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including "Rebel-'Rouser", "Peter Gunn", and "Because They're Young". He had sold 12 million records by 1963.

    2. Maurice Williams, American doo-wop/R&B singer-songwriter births

      1. American vocal group

        Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs

        Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs were an American doo-wop/R&B vocal group in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Originally the (Royal) Charms, the band changed its name to the Gladiolas in 1957 and the Excellos in 1958, before finally settling on the Zodiacs in 1959.

  68. 1937

    1. Jean-Pierre Beltoise, French racing driver and motorcycle racer (d. 2015) births

      1. French motorcycle racer and racing driver

        Jean-Pierre Beltoise

        Jean-Pierre Maurice Georges Beltoise was a French Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver who raced for the Matra and BRM teams. He competed in 88 Grands Prix achieving a single victory, at the 1972 Monaco Grand Prix, and a total of eight podium finishes.

  69. 1934

    1. Arturs Alberings, Latvian politician, former Prime Minister of Latvia (b. 1876) deaths

      1. Latvian politician

        Arturs Alberings

        Arturs Alberings was the 6th Prime Minister of Latvia. He held office from 7 May 1926 to 18 December 1926.

      2. Head of government of the Republic of Latvia

        Prime Minister of Latvia

        The prime minister of Latvia is the most powerful member of the Government of Latvia, who presides over the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers. The officeholder is nominated by the president of Latvia, but must be able to obtain the support of a parliamentary majority in the Saeima.

  70. 1933

    1. Carol Burnett, American actress, singer, and producer births

      1. American actress, comedian and singer (born 1933)

        Carol Burnett

        Carol Creighton Burnett is an American actress, comedian, singer, and writer. Her groundbreaking comedy variety show The Carol Burnett Show, which originally aired on CBS was one of the first of its kind to be hosted by a woman. She has performed on stage, television and film in varying genres including dramatic and comedic roles. She has received numerous accolades including six Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, a Grammy Award, and seven Golden Globe Awards. Burnett was awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005, the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2013 and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2015.

    2. Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, Puerto Rican-American general (d. 2005) births

      1. Puerto Rican independence activist and militant

        Filiberto Ojeda Ríos

        Filiberto Ojeda Ríos was a Puerto Rican independence activist and militant who cofounded the Boricua Popular Army, also known as Los Macheteros, and its predecessor, the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional Puertorriqueña (FALN). In 1990, Ojeda Ríos became a fugitive of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), wanted for his role in the 1983 Águila Blanca heist as well as a bail bond default on September 23 of that year. On September 23, 2005, he was killed during an exchange of gunfire with FBI agents after they surrounded the house in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico.

    3. Arno Allan Penzias, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate births

      1. American physicist (born 1933)

        Arno Allan Penzias

        Arno Allan Penzias is an American physicist, radio astronomer and Nobel laureate in physics. Along with Robert Woodrow Wilson, he discovered the cosmic microwave background radiation, which helped establish the Big Bang theory of cosmology.

      2. One of the five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Alfred Nobel

        Nobel Prize in Physics

        The Nobel Prize in Physics is a yearly award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions for humankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901, the others being the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Physics is traditionally the first award presented in the Nobel Prize ceremony.

  71. 1932

    1. Israr Ahmed, Indian-Pakistani theologian, philosopher, and scholar (d. 2010) births

      1. Islamic theologian, scholar (1932–2010)

        Israr Ahmed

        Israr Ahmad was a Pakistani Islamic theologian, philosopher, and Islamic scholar who was followed particularly in South Asia as well as by South Asian Muslims in the Middle East, Western Europe, and North America.

    2. Shirley Cawley, English long jumper births

      1. British athlete

        Shirley Cawley

        Shirley Cawley is a former British athlete who won the bronze medal in the long jump at the 1952 Summer Olympics held in Helsinki, Finland. She was born in Croydon and ran for the Croydon Harriers.

    3. Frank D'Rone, American singer and guitarist (d. 2013) births

      1. Musical artist

        Frank D'Rone

        Frank D'Rone was an American jazz singer and guitarist.

    4. Francis Lai, French accordion player and composer (d. 2018) births

      1. French composer (1932–2018)

        Francis Lai

        Francis Albert Lai was a French composer, noted for his film scores. He won the 1970 Oscar for Best Music, Original Score and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for the film Love Story. The soundtrack album went to No. 2 in the Billboard album charts and the film's theme, "Where Do I Begin", was a hit single for Andy Williams.

    5. Michael Smith, English-Canadian biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2000) births

      1. British-born Canadian biochemist, businessman and Nobel Prize laureate (1932-2000)

        Michael Smith (chemist)

        Michael Smith was a British-born Canadian biochemist and businessman. He shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Kary Mullis for his work in developing site-directed mutagenesis. Following a PhD in 1956 from the University of Manchester, he undertook postdoctoral research with Har Gobind Khorana at the British Columbia Research Council in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Subsequently, Smith worked at the Fisheries Research Board of Canada Laboratory in Vancouver before being appointed a professor of biochemistry in the UBC Faculty of Medicine in 1966. Smith's career included roles as the founding director of the UBC Biotechnology Laboratory and the founding scientific leader of the Protein Engineering Network of Centres of Excellence (PENCE). In 1996 he was named Peter Wall Distinguished Professor of Biotechnology. Subsequently, he became the founding director of the Genome Sequencing Centre at the BC Cancer Research Centre.

      2. One of the five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Alfred Nobel

        Nobel Prize in Chemistry

        The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature, peace, and physiology or medicine. This award is administered by the Nobel Foundation, and awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on proposal of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry which consists of five members elected by the Academy. The award is presented in Stockholm at an annual ceremony on 10 December, the anniversary of Nobel's death.

    6. William Lockwood, English cricketer (b. 1868) deaths

      1. English cricketer

        Bill Lockwood (cricketer)

        William Henry Lockwood was an English Test cricketer, best known as a fast bowler and the unpredictable, occasionally devastating counterpart to the amazingly hard-working Tom Richardson for Surrey in the early County Championship. A capable enough batsman against weaker bowling sides who scored over 10,000 runs in first-class cricket, stronger bowling tended to show flaws in his technique.

  72. 1931

    1. Paul Almond, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015) births

      1. Canadian television and motion picture screenwriter, director, producer, and novelist

        Paul Almond

        Paul Almond was a Canadian television and motion picture screenwriter, director, producer, and novelist. He is most known for being the director of the first film in the Up series.

    2. Bernie Brillstein, American talent agent and producer (d. 2008) births

      1. American producer (1931–2008)

        Bernie Brillstein

        Bernard Jules Brillstein was an American film and television producer, executive producer, and talent agent.

    3. John Cain Jr., Australian politician, 41st Premier of Victoria (d. 2019) births

      1. Australian politician

        John Cain (41st Premier of Victoria)

        John Cain was an Australian politician who was the 41st Premier of Victoria, in office from 1982 to 1990 as leader of the Labor Party. During his time as premier, reforms were introduced such as liberalised shop trading hours and liquor laws, equal opportunity initiatives, and occupational health and safety legislation.

      2. Head of government in the state of Victoria

        Premier of Victoria

        The premier of Victoria is the head of government in the Australian state of Victoria. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, and is the leader of the political party able to secure a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assembly.

  73. 1930

    1. Roger Moens, Belgian runner and sportscaster births

      1. Belgian middle-distance runner

        Roger Moens

        Roger Moens is a Belgian former middle-distance runner. In 1955 he broke Rudolf Harbig's long-standing world record over 800 meters. At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome he won a silver medal in the 800 m.

  74. 1929

    1. Richard Mitchell, American author and educator (d. 2002) births

      1. Richard Mitchell

        Richard Mitchell was a professor, first of English and later of classics, at Glassboro State College in Glassboro, New Jersey. He gained fame in the late-1970s as the founder and publisher of The Underground Grammarian, a newsletter of opinion and criticism that ran until 1992, and wrote four books expounding his views on the relationships among language, education, and ethics.

  75. 1927

    1. Jack Douglas, English actor (d. 2008) births

      1. English actor (1927–2008)

        Jack Douglas (actor)

        John Douglas Roberton was an English actor best known for his portrayals in the Carry On films.

    2. Anne McLaren, British scientist (d. 2007) births

      1. British scientist

        Anne McLaren

        Dame Anne Laura Dorinthea McLaren, was a British scientist who was a leading figure in developmental biology. Her work helped lead to human in vitro fertilisation (IVF), and she received many honours for her contributions to science, including election as fellow of the Royal Society.

    3. Harry Gallatin, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015) births

      1. American professional basketball player and coach

        Harry Gallatin

        Harry Junior "The Horse" Gallatin was an American professional basketball player and coach. Gallatin played nine seasons for the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1948 to 1957, as well as one season with the Detroit Pistons in the 1957–58 season. Gallatin led the NBA in rebounding and was named to the All-NBA First Team in 1954. The following year, he was named to the All-NBA Second Team. For his career, Gallatin played in seven NBA All-Star Games. A member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, he is also a member of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, the SIU Edwardsville Athletics Hall of Fame, the Truman State University Athletics Hall of Fame, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, two Illinois Basketball Halls of Fame, the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) Hall of Fame, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Hall of Fame, and the SIU Salukis Hall of Fame.

    4. Granny Hamner, American baseball player (d. 1993) births

      1. American baseball player

        Granny Hamner

        Granville Wilbur "Granny" Hamner was an American professional baseball shortstop and second baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB). Hamner was one of the key players on the "Whiz Kids", the 1950 National League (NL) champion Philadelphia Phillies.

  76. 1926

    1. Michael Mathias Prechtl, German soldier and illustrator (d. 2003) births

      1. German artist

        Michael Mathias Prechtl

        Michael Mathias Prechtl was a German artist, illustrator and cartoonist.

  77. 1925

    1. Vladimir Boltyansky, Russian mathematician, educator and author (d. 2019) births

      1. Soviet and Russian mathematician, educator, and author (1925–2019)

        Vladimir Boltyansky

        Vladimir Grigorevich Boltyansky, also transliterated as Boltyanski, Boltyanskii, or Boltjansky, was a Soviet and Russian mathematician, educator and author of popular mathematical books and articles. He was best known for his books on topology, combinatorial geometry and Hilbert's third problem.

    2. Gerard Cafesjian, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013) births

      1. Gerard Cafesjian

        Gerard Leon Cafesjian was a businessman and philanthropist who founded the Cafesjian Family Foundation (CFF), the Cafesjian Museum Foundation (CMF) and the Cafesjian Center for the Arts.

    3. Michele Ferrero, Italian entrepreneur (d. 2015) births

      1. Italian entrepreneur (1925–2015)

        Michele Ferrero

        Michele Ferrero was an Italian billionaire businessman. He owned the chocolate manufacturer Ferrero SpA, Europe's second largest confectionery company, which he developed from the small bakery and café of his father in Alba, Piedmont. His first big success was adding vegetable oil to the traditional gianduja paste to make the popular spread Nutella.

    4. Frank Hahn, British economist (d. 2013) births

      1. British economist

        Frank Hahn

        Frank Horace Hahn FBA was a British economist whose work focused on general equilibrium theory, monetary theory, Keynesian economics and critique of monetarism. A famous problem of economic theory, the conditions under which money, which is intrinsically worthless, can have a positive value in a general equilibrium, is called "Hahn's problem" after him. One of Hahn's main abiding concerns was the understanding of Keynesian (Non-Walrasian) outcomes in general equilibrium situations.

  78. 1924

    1. Browning Ross, American runner and soldier (d. 1998) births

      1. American middle and long-distance runner, steeplechaser

        Browning Ross

        Harris Browning 'Brownie' Ross is often referred to as the father of long-distance running in America.

  79. 1922

    1. J. C. Holt, English historian and academic (d. 2014) births

      1. English medieval historian

        James Holt (historian)

        Sir James Clarke Holt, also known as J. C. Holt and Jim Holt, was an English medieval historian, known particularly for his work on Magna Carta. He was the third Master of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, serving between 1981 and 1988.

    2. Jeanne Sauvé, Canadian journalist and politician, Governor General of Canada (d. 1993) births

      1. 23rd Governor General of Canada

        Jeanne Sauvé

        Jeanne Mathilde Sauvé was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as Governor General of Canada, the 23rd since Canadian Confederation.

      2. Representative of the monarch of Canada

        Governor General of Canada

        The governor general of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, currently King Charles III. The King is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but he resides in his oldest and most populous realm, the United Kingdom. The King, on the advice of his Canadian prime minister, appoints a governor general to carry on the Government of Canada in the King's name, performing most of his constitutional and ceremonial duties. The commission is for an indefinite period—known as serving at His Majesty's pleasure—though five years is the usual length of time. Since 1959, it has also been traditional to alternate between francophone and anglophone officeholders—although many recent governors general have been bilingual.

    3. Margaret Scott, South African-Australian ballerina and choreographer (d. 2019) births

      1. Australian ballerina

        Margaret Scott (dancer)

        Dame Catherine Margaret Mary Scott, was a South African-born pioneering ballet dancer who found fame as a teacher, choreographer, and school administrator in Australia. As the first director of the Australian Ballet School, she is recognised as one of the founders of the strong ballet tradition of her adopted country.

  80. 1921

    1. Jimmy Giuffre, American clarinet player, saxophonist, and composer (d. 2008) births

      1. American jazz musician

        Jimmy Giuffre

        James Peter Giuffre was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He is known for developing forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating forms of free improvisation.

  81. 1920

    1. Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician and theorist (b. 1887) deaths

      1. Indian mathematician (1887–1920)

        Srinivasa Ramanujan

        Srinivasa Ramanujan was an Indian mathematician. Though he had almost no formal training in pure mathematics, he made substantial contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions, including solutions to mathematical problems then considered unsolvable. Ramanujan initially developed his own mathematical research in isolation: according to Hans Eysenck: "He tried to interest the leading professional mathematicians in his work, but failed for the most part. What he had to show them was too novel, too unfamiliar, and additionally presented in unusual ways; they could not be bothered". Seeking mathematicians who could better understand his work, in 1913 he began a postal correspondence with the English mathematician G. H. Hardy at the University of Cambridge, England. Recognising Ramanujan's work as extraordinary, Hardy arranged for him to travel to Cambridge. In his notes, Hardy commented that Ramanujan had produced groundbreaking new theorems, including some that "defeated me completely; I had never seen anything in the least like them before", and some recently proven but highly advanced results.

  82. 1918

    1. Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch sprinter and long jumper (d. 2004) births

      1. Dutch athlete, winner of four gold medals at the 1948 London Olympics

        Fanny Blankers-Koen

        Francina "Fanny" Elsje Blankers-Koen was a Dutch track and field athlete, best known for winning four gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. She competed there as a 30-year-old mother of two, earning her the nickname "the Flying Housewife", and was the most successful athlete at the event.

  83. 1917

    1. Sal Maglie, American baseball player and coach (d. 1992) births

      1. American baseball player

        Sal Maglie

        Salvatore Anthony Maglie was an American Major League Baseball pitcher and later, a scout and a pitching coach. He played from 1945 to 1958 for the New York Giants, Cleveland Indians, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees, and St. Louis Cardinals. Maglie was known as "Sal the Barber", because he gave close shaves—that is, pitched inside to hitters. A gentle personality off the field went unnoticed during games, his foreboding physical appearance contributing to his menacing presence on a pitcher's mound. He was the last of 14 players to play for the Giants, Dodgers and Yankees at a time when all three teams were in New York City. During a 10-year major league baseball career, Maglie compiled 119 wins, 862 strikeouts, and a 3.15 earned run average.

    2. I. M. Pei, Chinese-American architect, designed the National Gallery of Art and Bank of China Tower (d. 2019) births

      1. Chinese-American architect (1917–2019)

        I. M. Pei

        Ieoh Ming Pei was a Chinese-American architect. Raised in Shanghai, Pei drew inspiration at an early age from the garden villas at Suzhou, the traditional retreat of the scholar-gentry to which his family belonged. In 1935, he moved to the United States and enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania's architecture school, but he quickly transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was unhappy with the focus at both schools on Beaux-Arts architecture, and spent his free time researching emerging architects, especially Le Corbusier. After graduating, he joined the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) and became a friend of the Bauhaus architects Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. In 1948, Pei was recruited by New York City real estate magnate William Zeckendorf, for whom he worked for seven years before establishing an independent design firm in 1955, I. M. Pei & Associates. In 1966 that became I. M. Pei & Partners, and in 1989 became Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Pei retired from full-time practice in 1990. In his retirement, he worked as an architectural consultant primarily from his sons' architectural firm Pei Partnership Architects.

      2. National art museum in Washington, D.C., United States

        National Gallery of Art

        The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in 1937 for the American people by a joint resolution of the United States Congress. Andrew W. Mellon donated a substantial art collection and funds for construction. The core collection includes major works of art donated by Paul Mellon, Ailsa Mellon Bruce, Lessing J. Rosenwald, Samuel Henry Kress, Rush Harrison Kress, Peter Arrell Browne Widener, Joseph E. Widener, and Chester Dale. The Gallery's collection of paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculpture, medals, and decorative arts traces the development of Western Art from the Middle Ages to the present, including the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Americas and the largest mobile created by Alexander Calder.

      3. Supertall skyscraper in Central, Hong Kong

        Bank of China Tower (Hong Kong)

        The Bank of China Tower is a skyscraper located in Central, Hong Kong. Located at 1 Garden Road on Hong Kong Island, the tower houses the headquarters of the Bank of China Limited. One of the most recognisable landmarks in Hong Kong, the building is notable for its distinct shape and design, consisting of triangular frameworks covered by glass curtain walls.

    3. Virgil Trucks, American baseball player and coach (d. 2013) births

      1. American baseball player

        Virgil Trucks

        Virgil Oliver "Fire" Trucks was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Browns, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Athletics and New York Yankees between 1941 and 1958. He batted and threw right-handed.

  84. 1916

    1. Eyvind Earle, American artist, author, and illustrator (d. 2000) births

      1. American artist and writer

        Eyvind Earle

        Eyvind Earle was an American artist, author and illustrator, noted for his contribution to the background illustration and styling of Disney's animated films in the 1950s. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rahr West Art Museum, Phoenix Art Museum and Arizona State University Art Museum have purchased Earle's works for their permanent collections. His works have also been shown in many one-man exhibitions throughout the world.

    2. Ken Wallis, English commander, engineer, and pilot (d. 2013) births

      1. Ken Wallis

        Wing Commander Kenneth Horatio Wallis was a British aviator, engineer, and inventor. During the Second World War, Wallis served in the Royal Air Force and flew 28 bomber missions over Germany; after the war, he moved on to research and development, before retiring in 1964. He later became one of the leading exponents of autogyros and earned 34 world records, still holding eight of them at the time of his death in 2013.

    3. Morris West, Australian author and playwright (d. 1999) births

      1. Australian novelist and playwright

        Morris West

        Morris Langlo West was an Australian novelist and playwright, best known for his novels The Devil's Advocate (1959), The Shoes of the Fisherman (1963) and The Clowns of God (1981). His books were published in 27 languages and sold more than 60 million copies worldwide. Each new book he wrote after he became an established writer sold more than one million copies.

  85. 1915

    1. John Bunny, American actor (b. 1863) deaths

      1. American actor

        John Bunny

        John Bunny was an American actor. Bunny began his career as a stage actor, but transitioned to a film career after joining Vitagraph Studios around 1910. At Vitagraph, Bunny made over 150 short films – many of them domestic comedies with the comedian Flora Finch – and became one of the most well-known actors of his era.

    2. Ida Hunt Udall, American diarist (b. 1858) deaths

      1. American Latter-day Saint diarist (1858–1915)

        Ida Hunt Udall

        Ida Frances Hunt Udall was an American diarist, homesteader, and teacher in territorial Utah and Arizona. A lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Udall participated in the church's historical practice of plural marriage as the second wife of David King Udall and co-wife of Eliza Luella Stewart Udall and Mary Ann Linton Morgan Udall.

  86. 1914

    1. Bernard Malamud, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1986) births

      1. American writer

        Bernard Malamud

        Bernard Malamud was an American novelist and short story writer. Along with Saul Bellow, Joseph Heller, and Philip Roth, he was one of the best known American Jewish authors of the 20th century. His baseball novel, The Natural, was adapted into a 1984 film starring Robert Redford. His 1966 novel The Fixer, about antisemitism in the Russian Empire, won both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.

    2. James Rouse, American real estate developer (d. 1996) births

      1. American real estate developer, urban planner, and civic activist

        James Rouse

        James Wilson Rouse was an American businessman and founder of The Rouse Company. Rouse was a pioneering American real estate developer, urban planner, civic activist, and later, free enterprise-based philanthropist. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award, for his lifetime achievements.

  87. 1912

    1. A. E. van Vogt, Canadian-American author (d. 2000) births

      1. Canadian science fiction author (1912-2000)

        A. E. van Vogt

        Alfred Elton van Vogt was a Canadian-born American science fiction author. His fragmented, bizarre narrative style influenced later science fiction writers, notably Philip K. Dick. He was one of the most popular and influential practitioners of science fiction in the mid-twentieth century, the genre's so-called Golden Age, and one of the most complex. The Science Fiction Writers of America named him their 14th Grand Master in 1995.

  88. 1911

    1. Paul Verner, German soldier and politician (d. 1986) births

      1. German politician

        Paul Verner

        Paul Verner was a German communist politician. He joined the communist movement at a young age and went into exile during Adolf Hitler's rule. Verner became a prominent political personality in the German Democratic Republic after the war.

  89. 1910

    1. Tomoyuki Tanaka, Japanese screenwriter and producer (d. 1997) births

      1. Tomoyuki Tanaka

        Tomoyuki "Yūkō" Tanaka was a Japanese film producer. He is best known for co-creating the Godzilla franchise and its associated spin-offs.

    2. Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Norwegian-French author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1832) deaths

      1. Norwegian writer (1832–1910)

        Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

        Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished by both the freshness of its inspiration and the rare purity of its spirit". The first Norwegian Nobel laureate, he was a prolific polemicist and extremely influential in Norwegian public life and Scandinavian cultural debate. Bjørnson is considered to be one of the four great Norwegian writers, alongside Ibsen, Lie, and Kielland. He is also celebrated for his lyrics to the Norwegian national anthem, "Ja, vi elsker dette landet". The composer Fredrikke Waaler based a composition for voice and piano (Spinnersken) on a text by Bjørnson, as did Anna Teichmüller.

      2. One of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Alfred Nobel

        Nobel Prize in Literature

        The Nobel Prize in Literature is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in the field of literature, produced the most outstanding work in an idealistic direction". Though individual works are sometimes cited as being particularly noteworthy, the award is based on an author's body of work as a whole. The Swedish Academy decides who, if anyone, will receive the prize. The academy announces the name of the laureate in early October. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895. Literature is traditionally the final award presented at the Nobel Prize ceremony. On some occasions the award has been postponed to the following year, most recently in 2018 as of May 2022.

  90. 1909

    1. Marianne Hoppe, German actress (d. 2002) births

      1. German actress

        Marianne Hoppe

        Marianne Hoppe was a German theatre and film actress.

  91. 1907

    1. Ilias Tsirimokos, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1968) births

      1. Greek politician

        Ilias Tsirimokos

        Ilias Tsirimokos was a Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece for a very brief period.

      2. Head of government of Greece

        Prime Minister of Greece

        The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic, colloquially referred to as the prime minister of Greece, is the head of government of the Hellenic Republic and the leader of the Greek Cabinet. The incumbent prime minister is Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who took office on 8 July 2019 from Alexis Tsipras.

  92. 1905

    1. Jean Vigo, French director and screenwriter (d. 1934) births

      1. French film director

        Jean Vigo

        Jean Vigo was a French film director who helped establish poetic realism in film in the 1930s. His work influenced French New Wave cinema of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

  93. 1904

    1. Paul-Émile Léger, Canadian cardinal (d. 1991) births

      1. Canadian Catholic cardinal

        Paul-Émile Léger

        Paul-Émile Léger was a Canadian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Montreal from 1950 to 1967, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1953 by Pope Pius XII.

    2. Xenophon Zolotas, Greek economist and politician, 177th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2004) births

      1. Greek economist

        Xenophon Zolotas

        Xenophon Euthymiou Zolotas was a Greek economist and served as an interim non-party Prime Minister of Greece.

      2. Head of government of Greece

        Prime Minister of Greece

        The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic, colloquially referred to as the prime minister of Greece, is the head of government of the Hellenic Republic and the leader of the Greek Cabinet. The incumbent prime minister is Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who took office on 8 July 2019 from Alexis Tsipras.

  94. 1900

    1. Eva Aschoff, German bookbinder and calligrapher (d. 1969) births

      1. German visual artist

        Eva Aschoff

        Eva Aschoff was a German visual artist known for her bookbinding and calligraphy.

    2. Charles Francis Richter, American seismologist and physicist (d. 1985) births

      1. Seismologist and mathematician

        Charles Francis Richter

        Charles Francis Richter was an American seismologist and physicist.

    3. Hack Wilson, American baseball player (d. 1948) births

      1. American baseball player

        Hack Wilson

        Lewis Robert "Hack" Wilson was an American Major League Baseball player who played 12 seasons for the New York Giants, Chicago Cubs, Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. Despite his diminutive stature, he was one of the most accomplished power hitters in the game during the late 1920s and early 1930s. His 1930 season with the Cubs is widely considered one of the most memorable individual single-season hitting performances in baseball history. Highlights included 56 home runs, the National League record for 68 years; and 191 runs batted in, a mark yet to be surpassed. "For a brief span of a few years," wrote a sportswriter of the day, "this hammered down little strongman actually rivaled the mighty Ruth."

  95. 1899

    1. Oscar Rabin, Latvian-English saxophonist and bandleader (d. 1958) births

      1. Musical artist

        Oscar Rabin

        Oscar Rabin was a Latvian-born English bandleader and musician. He was the musical director of his own big band.

  96. 1898

    1. Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish poet and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984) births

      1. Spanish poet (1898-1984)

        Vicente Aleixandre

        Vicente Pío Marcelino Cirilo Aleixandre y Merlo was a Spanish poet who was born in Seville. Aleixandre received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1977 "for a creative poetic writing which illuminates man's condition in the cosmos and in present-day society, at the same time representing the great renewal of the traditions of Spanish poetry between the wars". He was part of the Generation of '27.

      2. One of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Alfred Nobel

        Nobel Prize in Literature

        The Nobel Prize in Literature is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in the field of literature, produced the most outstanding work in an idealistic direction". Though individual works are sometimes cited as being particularly noteworthy, the award is based on an author's body of work as a whole. The Swedish Academy decides who, if anyone, will receive the prize. The academy announces the name of the laureate in early October. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895. Literature is traditionally the final award presented at the Nobel Prize ceremony. On some occasions the award has been postponed to the following year, most recently in 2018 as of May 2022.

    2. John Grierson, Scottish director and producer (d. 1972) births

      1. Scottish documentary pioneer

        John Grierson

        John Grierson was a pioneering Scottish documentary maker, often considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film. In 1926, Grierson coined the term "documentary" in a review of Robert J. Flaherty's Moana.

  97. 1897

    1. Eddie Eagan, American boxer and bobsledder (d. 1967) births

      1. American boxer

        Eddie Eagan

        Edward Patrick Francis Eagan was an American boxer and bobsledder who is notable as being the only person to win a gold medal at both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in different disciplines. Eagan won his summer gold in boxing and his winter gold in four-man bobsled. Finally, Eagan is one of the few athletes who have competed in both the Summer and Winter Olympic games.

    2. Douglas Sirk, German-American director and screenwriter (d. 1987) births

      1. German film director (1897–1987)

        Douglas Sirk

        Douglas Sirk was a German film director best known for his work in Hollywood melodramas of the 1950s. Sirk started his career in Germany as a stage and screen director, but he left for Hollywood in 1937 after his Jewish wife was persecuted by the Nazis.

  98. 1896

    1. Ruut Tarmo, Estonian actor and director (d. 1967) births

      1. Estonian actor and stage director

        Ruut Tarmo

        Ruut Tarmo was an Estonian stage and film actor and stage director whose career spanned more than five decades.

    2. Ernst Udet, German colonel and pilot (d. 1941) births

      1. Luftwaffe general

        Ernst Udet

        Ernst Udet was a German pilot during World War I and a Luftwaffe Colonel-General (Generaloberst) during World War II.

  99. 1895

    1. Eric Stenbock, Estonian-English author and poet (b. 1860) deaths

      1. Baltic German poet

        Eric Stenbock

        Count Eric Stanislaus Stenbock was a Baltic Swedish poet and writer of macabre fantastic fiction.

  100. 1894

    1. Rudolf Hess, Egyptian-German politician (d. 1987) births

      1. German Nazi leader

        Rudolf Hess

        Rudolf Walter Richard Hess was a German politician and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler in 1933, Hess held that position until 1941, when he flew solo to Scotland in an attempt to negotiate the United Kingdom's exit from the Second World War. He was taken prisoner and eventually convicted of crimes against peace. He was still serving his life sentence at the time of his suicide in 1987.

  101. 1889

    1. Anita Loos, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1981) births

      1. American screenwriter, playwright, author, actress, and television producer

        Anita Loos

        Corinne Anita Loos was an American actress, novelist, playwright and screenwriter. In 1912, she became the first female staff screenwriter in Hollywood, when D. W. Griffith put her on the payroll at Triangle Film Corporation. She is best known for her 1925 comic novel, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and her 1951 Broadway adaptation of Colette's novella Gigi.

    2. Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian-English philosopher and academic (d. 1951) births

      1. Austrian-British philosopher (1889–1951)

        Ludwig Wittgenstein

        Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He is considered by some to be the greatest philosopher of the 20th century.

  102. 1886

    1. Ma Rainey, American singer-songwriter (d. 1939) births

      1. American blues singer (1886–1939)

        Ma Rainey

        Gertrude "Ma" Rainey was an American blues singer and influential early blues recording artist. Dubbed the "Mother of the Blues", she bridged earlier vaudeville and the authentic expression of southern blues, influencing a generation of blues singers.

    2. Ğabdulla Tuqay, Russian poet and publicist (d. 1913) births

      1. Tatar poet (1886–1913)

        Ğabdulla Tuqay

        Ğabdulla Tuqay was a Volga Tatar poet, critic, publisher, and towering figure of Tatar literature. Tuqay is often referred to as the founder of the modern Tatar literature and the modern Tatar literary language, which replaced Old Tatar language in literature.

  103. 1881

    1. Ludwig Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen, German general (b. 1815) deaths

      1. 19th-century Bavarian general

        Ludwig Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen

        Ludwig Samson Heinrich Arthur Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen was a Bavarian general.

  104. 1879

    1. Eric Campbell, British actor (d. 1917) births

      1. Scottish actor

        Eric Campbell (actor)

        Alfred Eric Campbell was a Scottish actor. He was a key member of Charlie Chaplin's film ensemble, invariably playing an intimidating bully, and appeared in eleven of Chaplin's films before he was killed in a car crash at the age of 38. He is the subject of a documentary by filmmaker Kevin Macdonald.

    2. Owen Willans Richardson, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1959) births

      1. British physicist (1879 – 1959)

        Owen Willans Richardson

        Sir Owen Willans Richardson, FRS was a British physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1928 for his work on thermionic emission, which led to Richardson's law.

      2. One of the five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Alfred Nobel

        Nobel Prize in Physics

        The Nobel Prize in Physics is a yearly award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions for humankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901, the others being the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Physics is traditionally the first award presented in the Nobel Prize ceremony.

  105. 1878

    1. Rafael Guízar y Valencia, Mexican bishop and saint (d. 1938) births

      1. Rafael Guízar y Valencia

        Rafael Guízar y Valencia was a Mexican bishop of the Roman Catholic Church who was persecuted during the Mexican Revolution. Named Bishop of Xalapa in 1919, he was driven out of his diocese and forced to live the remainder of his life in hiding in Mexico City. Pope Benedict XVI canonized Guízar on 15 October 2006.

  106. 1877

    1. James Dooley, Irish-Australian politician, 21st Premier of New South Wales (d. 1950) births

      1. Australian politician

        James Dooley (politician)

        James Thomas Dooley served twice, briefly, as Premier of New South Wales during the early 1920s.

      2. Head of government for the state of New South Wales, Australia

        Premier of New South Wales

        The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature. The premier is appointed by the governor of New South Wales, and by modern convention holds office by his or her ability to command the support of a majority of members of the lower house of Parliament, the Legislative Assembly.

  107. 1876

    1. Ernst Felle, German rower (d. 1959) births

      1. German rower

        Ernst Felle

        Ferdinand Ernst Felle was a German rower who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics. He was part of the German boat Ludwigshafener Ruderverein, which won the bronze medal in the coxed four final B.

  108. 1865

    1. Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Finnish artist (d. 1931) births

      1. Finnish painter (1865–1931)

        Akseli Gallen-Kallela

        Akseli Gallen-Kallela was a Finnish painter who is best known for his illustrations of the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic. His work is considered a very important aspect of the Finnish national identity. He changed his name from Gallén to Gallen-Kallela in 1907.

    2. John Wilkes Booth, American actor, assassin of Abraham Lincoln (b. 1838) deaths

      1. American stage actor and assassin (1838–1865)

        John Wilkes Booth

        John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated United States President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the prominent 19th-century Booth theatrical family from Maryland, he was a noted actor who was also a Confederate sympathizer; denouncing President Lincoln, he lamented the recent abolition of slavery in the United States.

      2. President of the United States from 1861 to 1865

        Abraham Lincoln

        Abraham Lincoln was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation through the American Civil War and succeeded in preserving the Union, abolishing slavery, bolstering the federal government, and modernizing the U.S. economy.

  109. 1862

    1. Edmund C. Tarbell, American painter and educator (d. 1938) births

      1. American painter

        Edmund C. Tarbell

        Edmund Charles Tarbell was an American Impressionist painter. A member of the Ten American Painters, his work hangs in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Corcoran Gallery of Art, DeYoung Museum, National Academy Museum and School, New Britain Museum of American Art, Worcester Art Museum, and numerous other collections. He was a leading member of a group of painters which came to be known as the Boston School.

  110. 1856

    1. Joseph Ward, Australian-New Zealand businessman and politician, 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1930) births

      1. New Zealand politician (1856–1930)

        Joseph Ward

        Sir Joseph George Ward, 1st Baronet, was a New Zealand politician who served as the 17th prime minister of New Zealand from 1906 to 1912 and from 1928 to 1930. He was a dominant figure in the Liberal and United ministries of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

      2. Head of Government of New Zealand

        Prime Minister of New Zealand

        The prime minister of New Zealand is the head of government of New Zealand. The incumbent prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, took office on 26 October 2017.

  111. 1834

    1. Charles Farrar Browne, American author (d. 1867) births

      1. American writer

        Charles Farrar Browne

        Charles Farrar Browne was an American humor writer, better known under his nom de plume, Artemus Ward, which as a character, an illiterate rube with "Yankee common sense", Browne also played in public performances. He is considered to be America's first stand-up comedian. His birth name was Brown but he added the "e" after he became famous.

  112. 1822

    1. Frederick Law Olmsted, American journalist and designer, co-designed Central Park (d. 1903) births

      1. American landscape designer, journalist, social critic, and public administrator

        Frederick Law Olmsted

        Frederick Law Olmsted was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co-designing many well-known urban parks with his partner Calvert Vaux. Olmsted and Vaux's first project was Central Park, which led to many other urban park designs, including Prospect Park in what was then the City of Brooklyn and Cadwalader Park in Trenton, New Jersey. He headed the preeminent landscape architecture and planning consultancy of late nineteenth-century America, which was carried on and expanded by his sons, Frederick Jr. and John C., under the name Olmsted Brothers.

      2. Public park in Manhattan, New York

        Central Park

        Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering 843 acres (341 ha). It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated 42 million visitors annually as of 2016, and is the most filmed location in the world.

  113. 1809

    1. Bernhard Schott, German music publisher (b. 1748) deaths

      1. Bernhard Schott

        Bernhard Peter Schott was a German clarinetist and music publisher. He founded the predecessor of Schott Music, a major German music publishing company which continues to this day.

  114. 1804

    1. Charles Goodyear, American banker, lawyer, and politician (d. 1876) births

      1. American attorney and politician

        Charles Goodyear (politician)

        Charles Goodyear was a banker, attorney, and politician from New York. He was most notable for his service as a United States representative from 1845 to 1847 and 1865 to 1867.

  115. 1801

    1. Ambrose Dudley Mann, American politician and diplomat, 1st United States Assistant Secretary of State (d. 1889) births

      1. American diplomat

        Ambrose Dudley Mann

        Ambrose Dudley Mann was the first United States Assistant Secretary of State and a commissioner for the Confederate States of America.

      2. United States Assistant Secretary of State

        Assistant Secretary of State (A/S) is a title used for many executive positions in the United States Department of State, ranking below the under secretaries. A set of six assistant secretaries reporting to the under secretary for political affairs manage diplomatic missions within their designated geographic regions, plus one assistant secretary dealing with international organizations. Assistant secretaries usually manage individual bureaus of the Department of State. When the manager of a bureau or another agency holds a title other than assistant secretary, such as "director," it can be said to be of "assistant secretary equivalent rank." Assistant secretaries typically have a set of deputies, referred to as deputy assistant secretaries (DAS).

  116. 1798

    1. Eugène Delacroix, French painter and lithographer (d. 1863) births

      1. French painter (1798–1863)

        Eugène Delacroix

        Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.

  117. 1789

    1. Petr Ivanovich Panin, Russian general (b. 1721) deaths

      1. Petr Ivanovich Panin

        General Count Pyotr Ivanovich Panin, younger brother of Nikita Ivanovich Panin, fought with distinction in the Seven Years' War and in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774, capturing Bender on September 26, 1770. In 1773–1775, he participated in suppressing Pugachev's Rebellion. He died in Moscow, as the senior General of the Russian Army. He is the father of Nikita Petrovich Panin.

  118. 1787

    1. Ludwig Uhland, German poet, philologist, and historian (d. 1862) births

      1. German poet and politician (1787–1862)

        Ludwig Uhland

        Johann Ludwig Uhland was a German poet, philologist and literary historian.

  119. 1785

    1. John James Audubon, French-American ornithologist and painter (d. 1851) births

      1. American self-trained artist, naturalist, and ornithologist (1785–1851)

        John James Audubon

        John James Audubon was an American self-trained artist, naturalist, and ornithologist. His combined interests in art and ornithology turned into a plan to make a complete pictorial record of all the bird species of North America. He was notable for his extensive studies documenting all types of American birds and for his detailed illustrations, which depicted the birds in their natural habitats. His major work, a color-plate book titled The Birds of America (1827–1839), is considered one of the finest ornithological works ever completed. Audubon is also known for identifying 25 new species. He is the eponym of the National Audubon Society, and his name adorns a large number of towns, neighborhoods, and streets across the United States. Dozens of scientific names first published by Audubon are still in use by the scientific community.

  120. 1784

    1. Nano Nagle, Irish nun and educator, founded the Presentation Sisters (b. 1718) deaths

      1. Pioneer of Catholic education in Ireland

        Nano Nagle

        Venerable Honora Nagle, known informally as Nano Nagle, was a pioneer of Roman Catholic education in Ireland despite legal prohibitions. She founded the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (PBVM), commonly known as the Presentation Sisters, now a worldwide Catholic institute of women religious. She was declared venerable in the Roman Catholic Church on 31 October 2013 by Pope Francis.

      2. Religious institute founded in Ireland

        Presentation Sisters

        The Presentation Sisters, officially the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, are a religious institute of Roman Catholic women founded in Cork, Ireland, by the Venerable Honora "Nano" Nagle in 1775. The Sisters of the congregation use the postnominal initials P.B.V.M.

  121. 1782

    1. Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily, Queen of France (d. 1866) births

      1. Queen consort of the French

        Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily

        Maria Amalia Teresa of Naples and Sicily was Queen of the French by marriage to Louis Philippe I, King of the French. She was the last queen of France.

  122. 1774

    1. Christian Leopold von Buch, German geologist and paleontologist (d. 1853) births

      1. German geologist (1774–1853)

        Christian Leopold von Buch

        Christian Leopold von Buch, usually cited as Leopold von Buch, was a German geologist and paleontologist born in Stolpe an der Oder and is remembered as one of the most important contributors to geology in the first half of the nineteenth century. His scientific interest was devoted to a broad spectrum of geological topics: volcanism, petrology, fossils, stratigraphy and mountain formation. His most remembered accomplishment is the scientific definition of the Jurassic system.

  123. 1718

    1. Esek Hopkins, American commander (d. 1802) births

      1. American naval officer, merchant captain, and privateer

        Esek Hopkins

        Esek Hopkins was an American naval officer, merchant captain, and privateer. Achieving the rank of Commodore, Hopkins was the only Commander in Chief of the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. He is noted for his successful raid on the British port of Providence, in the Bahamas, and capturing large stores of military supplies. His legacy today has become controversial for his involvement in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

  124. 1716

    1. John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, English jurist and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1651) deaths

      1. English politician

        John Somers, 1st Baron Somers

        John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, was an English Whig jurist and statesman. Somers first came to national attention in the trial of the Seven Bishops where he was on their defence counsel. He published tracts on political topics such as the succession to the crown, where he elaborated his Whig principles in support of the Exclusionists. He played a leading part in shaping the Revolution settlement. He was Lord High Chancellor of England under King William III and was a chief architect of the union between England and Scotland achieved in 1707 and the Protestant succession achieved in 1714. He was a leading Whig during the twenty-five years after 1688; with four colleagues he formed the Whig Junto.

      2. Highest-ranking regularly-appointed Great Officer of State of the United Kingdom

        Lord Chancellor

        The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The lord chancellor is appointed by the sovereign on the advice of the prime minister. Prior to their Union into the Kingdom of Great Britain, there were separate lord chancellors for the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland; there were lord chancellors of Ireland until 1922.

  125. 1710

    1. Thomas Reid, Scottish philosopher and academic (d. 1796) births

      1. Scottish philosopher

        Thomas Reid

        Thomas Reid was a religiously trained Scottish philosopher. He was the founder of the Scottish School of Common Sense and played an integral role in the Scottish Enlightenment. In 1783 he was a joint founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. A contemporary of David Hume, Reid was also "Hume's earliest and fiercest critic".

  126. 1697

    1. Adam Falckenhagen, German lute player and composer (d. 1754) births

      1. German lutenist and composer (1697–1754)

        Adam Falckenhagen

        Adam Falckenhagen was a German lutenist and composer of the Baroque period.

      2. Plucked string musical instrument

        Lute

        A lute is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted.

  127. 1686

    1. Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, Swedish statesman and military man (b. 1622) deaths

      1. Swedish statesman and military man

        Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie

        Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie was a Swedish statesman and military man. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1647 and came to be the holder of three of the five offices counted as the Great Officers of the Realm, namely Lord High Treasurer, Lord High Chancellor and Lord High Steward. He also served as Governor-General in the Swedish dominion of Livonia.

  128. 1648

    1. Peter II of Portugal (d. 1706) births

      1. King of Portugal

        Peter II of Portugal

        Dom Pedro II, nicknamed "the Pacific", was King of Portugal from 1683 until his death, previously serving as regent for his brother Afonso VI from 1668 until his own accession. He was the fifth and last child of John IV and Luisa de Guzmán.

  129. 1647

    1. William Ashhurst, English banker, Sheriff of London, Lord Mayor of London and politician (d. 1720) births

      1. William Ashhurst

        Sir William Ashhurst or Ashurst was an English banker and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1689 and 1710. He served as Lord Mayor of London for the year 1693 to 1694.

      2. Office in the City of London, England

        Sheriffs of the City of London

        Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the justices at the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, since its original role as the court for the City and Middlesex.

      3. Mayor of the City of London and leader of the City of London Corporation

        Lord Mayor of London

        The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powers, rights, and privileges, including the title and style The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London.

  130. 1575

    1. Marie de' Medici, queen of Henry IV of France (d. 1642) births

      1. Queen consort of France and Navarre

        Marie de' Medici

        Marie de' Medici was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV of France of the House of Bourbon, and Regent of the Kingdom of France officially between 1610 and 1617 during the minority of her son, Louis XIII of France. Her mandate as regent legally expired in 1614, when her son reached the age of majority, but she refused to resign and continued as regent until she was removed by a coup in 1617.

      2. King of France from 1589 to 1610

        Henry IV of France

        Henry IV, also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch of France from the House of Bourbon, a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. He was assassinated in 1610 by François Ravaillac, a Catholic zealot, and was succeeded by his son Louis XIII.

  131. 1558

    1. Jean Fernel, French physician (b. 1497) deaths

      1. 16th-century French physician

        Jean Fernel

        Jean François Fernel was a French physician who introduced the term "physiology" to describe the study of the body's function. He was the first person to describe the spinal canal. The lunar crater Fernelius is named after him.

  132. 1538

    1. Gian Paolo Lomazzo, Italian painter and academic (d. 1600) births

      1. Italian artist

        Gian Paolo Lomazzo

        Gian Paolo Lomazzo was an Italian artist and writer on art. Praised as a painter, Lomazzo wrote about artistic practice and art theory after blindness compelled him to pursue a different professional path by 1571. Lomazzo's written works were especially influential to second generation Mannerism in Italian art and architecture.

  133. 1489

    1. Ashikaga Yoshihisa, Japanese shōgun (b. 1465) deaths

      1. Ninth shōgun of the Ashikaga shogunate of Japan (1465–1489)

        Ashikaga Yoshihisa

        Ashikaga Yoshihisa was the 9th shōgun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1473 to 1489 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshihisa was the son of the eighth shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimasa with his wife Hino Tomiko.

  134. 1478

    1. Giuliano de' Medici, Italian ruler (b. 1453) deaths

      1. 15th-century Italian nobleman, brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent

        Giuliano de' Medici

        Giuliano de' Medici was the second son of Piero de' Medici and Lucrezia Tornabuoni. As co-ruler of Florence, with his brother Lorenzo the Magnificent, he complemented his brother's image as the "patron of the arts" with his own image as the handsome, sporting "golden boy." He was killed in a plot known as the Pazzi conspiracy.

  135. 1444

    1. Robert Campin, Flemish painter (b. 1378) deaths

      1. Belgian painter (c. 1375 – 1444)

        Robert Campin

        Robert Campin, now usually identified with the Master of Flémalle, was the first great master of Early Netherlandish painting. While the existence of a highly successful painter called Robert Campin is relatively well documented for the period, no works can be certainly identified as by him through a signature or contemporary documentation. A group of paintings, none dated, have been long attributed to him, and a further group were once attributed to an unknown "Master of Flémalle". It is now usually thought that both groupings are by Campin, but this has been a matter of some controversy for decades.

  136. 1392

    1. Jeong Mong-ju, Korean civil minister, diplomat and scholar (b. 1338) deaths

      1. Jeong Mong-ju

        Jeong Mong-ju, also known by his pen name Poeun, a historical figure during the transition period of the Korean dynasty moving from Goryeo (918-1392) to Joseon (1392-1897).

  137. 1366

    1. Simon Islip, Archbishop of Canterbury deaths

      1. 14th-century Archbishop of Canterbury

        Simon Islip

        Simon Islip was an English prelate. He served as Archbishop of Canterbury between 1349 and 1366.

      2. Senior bishop of the Church of England

        Archbishop of Canterbury

        The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justin Welby, who was enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral on 21 March 2013. Welby is the 105th in a line which goes back more than 1400 years to Augustine of Canterbury, the "Apostle to the English", sent from Rome in the year 597. Welby succeeded Rowan Williams.

  138. 1319

    1. King John II of France (d. 1364) births

      1. King of France from 1350 to 1364

        John II of France

        John II, called John the Good, was King of France from 1350 until his death in 1364. When he came to power, France faced several disasters: the Black Death, which killed nearly 40% of its population; popular revolts known as Jacqueries; free companies of routiers who plundered the country; and English aggression that resulted in catastrophic military losses, including the Battle of Poitiers of 1356, in which John was captured.

  139. 1284

    1. Alice de Toeni, Countess of Warwick (d. 1324) births

      1. Alice de Toeni, Countess of Warwick

        Alice de Toeni, Countess of Warwick was a wealthy English heiress and the second wife of Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick, an English nobleman in the reign of kings Edward I and Edward II. He was one of the principal opponents of Piers Gaveston, a favourite of Edward II. Alice married three times; Guy was her second husband.

  140. 1192

    1. Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan (b. 1127) deaths

      1. 77th Emperor of Japan (1155-58)

        Emperor Go-Shirakawa

        Emperor Go-Shirakawa was the 77th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His de jure reign spanned the years from 1155 through 1158, though arguably he effectively maintained imperial power for almost thirty-seven years through the insei system – scholars differ as to whether his rule can be truly considered part of the insei system, given that the Hōgen Rebellion undermined the imperial position. However, it is broadly acknowledged that by politically outmaneuvering his opponents, he attained greater influence and power than the diminished authority of the emperor's position during this period would otherwise allow.

  141. 962

    1. Adalbero I, bishop of Metz deaths

      1. Adalbero I of Metz

        Adalbero I of Metz was an important member of the clergy during the middle years of the tenth century, serving as Bishop of Metz from 929 till 954.

      2. Diocese of the Catholic Church

        Roman Catholic Diocese of Metz

        The Diocese of Metz is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. In the Middle Ages it was a prince-bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire, a de facto independent state ruled by the prince-bishop who had the ex officio title of count. It was annexed to France by King Henry II in 1552; this was recognized by the Holy Roman Empire in the Peace of Westphalia of 1648. It formed part of the province of the Three Bishoprics. Since 1801 the Metz diocese has been a public-law corporation of cult. The diocese is presently exempt directly to the Holy See.

  142. 893

    1. Chen Jingxuan, general of the Tang Dynasty deaths

      1. Chen Jingxuan

        Chen Jingxuan (陳敬瑄) was a general of the Tang dynasty of China, who came to control Xichuan Circuit (西川), headquartered in modern Chengdu, Sichuan by virtue of his being an older brother of the eunuch Tian Lingzi, who controlled the court of Emperor Xizong during most of Emperor Xizong's reign. Later, when Emperor Xizong's brother and successor Emperor Zhaozong tried to recall Chen, Chen refused, leading to a general campaign against him. He was eventually defeated and killed by Wang Jian, who took over his territory and later founded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Former Shu.

      2. Imperial dynasty of China from 618 to 907

        Tang dynasty

        The Tang dynasty, or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Historians generally regard the Tang as a high point in Chinese civilization, and a golden age of cosmopolitan culture. Tang territory, acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers, rivaled that of the Han dynasty.

  143. 764

    1. Al-Hadi, Iranian caliph (d. 786) births

      1. 4th Abbasid caliph (r. 785–786)

        Al-Hadi

        Abū Muḥammad Mūsā ibn al-Mahdī al-Hādī better known by his laqab Al-Hādī (الهادي‎) was the fourth Arab Abbasid caliph who succeeded his father Al-Mahdi and ruled from 169 AH until his death in 170 AH. His short reign ended with internal chaos and power struggles with his mother.

  144. 757

    1. Hisham I of Córdoba (d. 796) births

      1. Calendar year

        AD 757

        Year 757 (DCCLVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 757 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

      2. Emir of Córdoba from 788 to 796

        Hisham I of Córdoba

        Hisham I Al-Reda ibn Abd ar-Rahman was the second Emir of Cordoba, ruling from 788 to 796 in al-Andalus.

    2. Pope Stephen II (b. 715) deaths

      1. Calendar year

        AD 757

        Year 757 (DCCLVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 757 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

      2. Head of the Catholic Church from 752 to 757

        Pope Stephen II

        Pope Stephen II was born a Roman aristocrat and member of the Orsini family. Stephen was the bishop of Rome from 26 March 752 to his death. Stephen II marks the historical delineation between the Byzantine Papacy and the Frankish Papacy. During Stephen's pontificate, Rome was facing invasion by the Lombards when Stephen II went to Paris to seek assistance from Pepin the Short. Pepin defeated the Lombards and made a gift of land to the pope, eventually leading to the establishment of the Papal States.

  145. 680

    1. Muawiyah I, Umayyad caliph (b. 602) deaths

      1. Founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate from 661 to 680

        Mu'awiya I

        Mu'awiya I was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and immediately after the four Rashidun ('rightly-guided') caliphs. Unlike his predecessors, who had been close, early companions of Muhammad, Mu'awiya was a relatively late follower of the Islamic prophet.

  146. 645

    1. Richarius, Frankish monk and saint (b. 560) deaths

      1. Richarius

        Richarius was a Frankish hermit, monk, and the founder of two monasteries. He is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, and Eastern Orthodox Church.

  147. 499

    1. Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei (b. 467) deaths

      1. Emperor of Northern Wei Dynasty from 471 to 499

        Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei

        Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei ( 魏孝文帝), personal name né Tuoba Hong (拓拔宏), later Yuan Hong (元宏), was an emperor of the Northern Wei from September 20, 471 to April 26, 499.

  148. 121

    1. Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (d. 180) births

      1. Calendar year

        AD 121

        Year 121 (CXXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Verus and Augur. The denomination 121 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

      2. Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and Stoic philosopher

        Marcus Aurelius

        Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good Emperors, and the last emperor of the Pax Romana, an age of relative peace and stability for the Roman Empire lasting from 27 BC to 180 AD. He served as Roman consul in 140, 145, and 161.

Holidays

  1. Chernobyl disaster related observances: Day of Remembrance of the Chernobyl tragedy (Belarus)

    1. Public holidays in Belarus

      National holidays in Belarus are classified into state holidays and other holidays and commemorative days, including religious holidays. Nine of them are non-working days.

    2. Country in Eastern Europe

      Belarus

      Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Covering an area of 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi) and with a population of 9.4 million, Belarus is the 13th-largest and the 20th-most populous country in Europe. The country has a hemiboreal climate and is administratively divided into seven regions. Minsk is the capital and largest city.

  2. Chernobyl disaster related observances: Memorial Day of Radiation Accidents and Catastrophes (Russia)

    1. Public holidays in Russia

      The following is the list of official public holidays recognized by the Government of Russia. On these days, government offices, embassies and some shops, are closed. If the date of observance falls on a weekend, the following Monday will be a day off in lieu of the holiday.

    2. Country spanning Europe and Asia

      Russia

      Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, covering over 17,098,246 square kilometres (6,601,670 sq mi), and encompassing one-eighth of Earth's inhabitable landmass. Russia extends across eleven time zones and shares land boundaries with fourteen countries, more than any other country but China. It is the world's ninth-most populous country and Europe's most populous country, with a population of 146 million people. The country's capital and largest city is Moscow, the largest city entirely within Europe. Saint Petersburg is Russia's cultural centre and second-largest city. Other major urban areas include Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, and Kazan.

  3. Christian feast day: Aldobrandesca (or Alda)

    1. Aldobrandesca

      Aldobrandesca was an Italian saint, mystic, and nurse.

  4. Christian feast day: Franca Visalta

    1. Franca Visalta

      Franca Visalta (1170–1218), also known as Franca of Piacenza, was a Cistercian abbess.

  5. Christian feast day: Lucidius of Verona

    1. Italian Catholic bishop and Christian saint

      Lucidius of Verona

      Saint Lucidius was a bishop of Verona, Italy and is a Roman Catholic saint.

  6. Christian feast day: Our Lady of Good Counsel

    1. Miraculous painting

      Our Lady of Good Counsel

      Our Lady of Good Counsel is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary, after a painting said to be miraculous, now found in the thirteenth century Augustinian church at Genazzano, near Rome, Italy. Measuring 40 to 45 centimetres the image is a fresco executed on a thin layer of plaster no thicker than an egg shell. Over the centuries, devotions to Our Lady of the Good Counsel grew among saints and Popes, to the extent that a reference to it was added to the Litany of Loreto and the devotion spread throughout the world. Her feast day is 26 April.

  7. Christian feast day: Pope Anacletus and Marcellinus

    1. Head of the Catholic Church from c. 79 to c. 92 AD

      Pope Anacletus

      Pope Anacletus, also known as Cletus, was the bishop of Rome, following Peter and Linus. Anacletus served between c. 79 and his death, c. 92. Cletus was a Roman who, during his tenure as pope, ordained a number of priests and is traditionally credited with setting up about twenty-five parishes in Rome. Although the precise dates of his pontificate are uncertain, he "...died a martyr, perhaps about 91". Cletus is mentioned in the Roman Canon of the mass; his feast day is April 26.

    2. Head of the Catholic Church from 296 to 304

      Pope Marcellinus

      Pope Marcellinus was the bishop of Rome from 30 June 296 to his death in 304. A historical accusation was levelled at him by some sources to the effect that he might have renounced Christianity during Emperor Diocletian's persecution of Christians before repenting afterwards, which would explain why he is omitted from lists of martyrs. The accusation is rejected, among others, by Augustine of Hippo. He is today venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church and in the Serbian Orthodox Church.

  8. Christian feast day: Rafael Arnáiz Barón

    1. Spanish saint of the Roman Catholic Church

      Rafael Arnaiz Barón

      Rafael Arnáiz Barón, also named María Rafael in religion, was a Spanish Trappist conventual oblate. He studied architecture in Madrid, but decided to cease his studies in favor of the religious life. This was often interrupted due to his struggle with diabetes and his being called for active service. But these never hindered his religious call and he did as best as he could to deal with his diabetes through his constant life of reflection and writing on spiritual subjects in his letters.

  9. Christian feast day: Riquier

    1. Richarius

      Richarius was a Frankish hermit, monk, and the founder of two monasteries. He is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, and Eastern Orthodox Church.

  10. Christian feast day: Paschasius Radbertus

    1. Paschasius Radbertus

      Paschasius Radbertus (785–865) was a Carolingian theologian and the abbot of Corbie, a monastery in Picardy founded in 657 or 660 by the queen regent Bathilde with a founding community of monks from Luxeuil Abbey. His most well-known and influential work is an exposition on the nature of the Eucharist written around 831, entitled De Corpore et Sanguine Domini. He was canonized in 1073 by Pope Gregory VII. His feast day is April 26. His works are edited in Patrologia Latina vol. 120 (1852) and his important tract on the Eucharist, De Corpore et Sanguine Domini, in a 1969 edition by B. Paulus, published by Brepols.

  11. Christian feast day: Peter of Rates (or of Braga)

    1. Peter of Rates

      Peter of Rates, also known in English as Peter of Braga, is traditionally considered to be the first bishop of Braga between the years AD 45 and 60. Tradition says he was ordered to preach the Christian faith by James the Great, and that Peter of Rates was martyred while attempting to convert the locals to the Christian faith in northern Portugal. The ancient Breviary of Braga and the Breviary of Evora hold that Peter of Rates was a disciple of James and preached at Braga. However, the Bollandists say that this claim is "purely traditional."

  12. Christian feast day: Robert Hunt (Episcopal Church (USA))

    1. Robert Hunt (chaplain)

      Robert Hunt, a vicar in the Church of England, was chaplain of the expedition that founded the first successful English colony in the New World, at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607.

    2. Anglican denomination in the United States

      Episcopal Church (United States)

      The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church is Michael Bruce Curry, the first African-American bishop to serve in that position.

  13. Christian feast day: Stephen of Perm, see also Old Permic Alphabet Day

    1. Stephen of Perm

      Stephen of Perm was a fourteenth-century painter and missionary credited with the conversion of the Komi to Christianity and the establishment of the Bishopric of Perm'. Stephen also created the Old Permic script, which makes him the founding-father of Permian written tradition. "The Enlightener of Perm" or the "Apostle of the Permians", as he is sometimes called, is commemorated by the Catholic and Orthodox Churches on April 26.

    2. Writing system

      Old Permic script

      The Old Permic script, sometimes known by its initial 2 characters as Abur or Anbur, is a "highly idiosyncratic adaptation" of the Cyrillic script once used to write medieval Komi.

  14. Christian feast day: Trudpert

    1. Trudpert

      Saint Trudpert was a missionary in Germany in the seventh century. He is generally called a Celtic monk from Ireland, but some consider him a German.

  15. Christian feast day: April 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

    1. April 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

      April 25 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - April 27

  16. Confederate Memorial Day (Florida, United States)

    1. Observance in some Southern U.S. states

      Confederate Memorial Day

      Confederate Memorial Day is a cultural holiday observed in several Southern U.S. states on various dates since the end of the American Civil War.

    2. U.S. state

      Florida

      Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to the south by the Straits of Florida and Cuba; it is the only state that borders both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Spanning 65,758 square miles (170,310 km2), Florida ranks 22nd in area among the 50 states, and with a population of over 21 million, is the third-most populous. The state capital is Tallahassee and the most populous city is Jacksonville. The Miami metropolitan area, with a population of almost 6.2 million, is the most populous urban area in Florida and the ninth-most populous in the United States; other urban conurbations with over one million people are Tampa Bay, Orlando, and Jacksonville.

  17. Union Day (Tanzania)

    1. Public holidays in Tanzania

      Public holidays in Tanzania are in accordance with the Public Holidays Ordinance (Amended) Act, 1966 and are observed throughout the nation.

  18. World Intellectual Property Day

    1. Day to raise awareness of intellectual property

      World Intellectual Property Day

      World Intellectual Property Day is observed annually on April 26. The event was established by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 2000 to "raise awareness of how patents, copyright, trademarks and designs impact on daily life" and "to celebrate creativity, and the contribution made by creators and innovators to the development of economies and societies across the globe". April 26 was chosen as the date for World Intellectual Property Day because it coincides with the date on which the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization entered into force in 1970. World Intellectual Property Day is WIPO’s largest intellectual property (IP) public outreach campaign.