Important events in history
on December 20 ^th

Events

2019
1. The United States Space Force becomes the first new branch of the United States Armed Forces since 1947.
  1. United States Space Force
    
    The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space service branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and the world's only independent space force. Along with its sister branch, the U.S. Air Force, the Space Force is part of the Department of the Air Force, one of the three civilian-led military departments within the Department of Defense. The Space Force, through the Department of the Air Force, is overseen by the secretary of the Air Force, a civilian political appointee who reports to the secretary of defense, and is appointed by the president with Senate confirmation. The military head of the Space Force is the chief of space operations who is typically the most senior Space Force officer. The chief of space operations exercises supervision over the Space Force's units and serves as one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
2007
1. Pablo Picasso's Portrait of Suzanne Bloch was stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art, before being recovered about three weeks later.
  1. Pablo Picasso
    
    Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is known for co-founding the Cubist movement, the invention of constructed sculpture, the co-invention of collage, and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore. Among his most famous works are the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), and the anti-war painting Guernica (1937), a dramatic portrayal of the bombing of Guernica by German and Italian air forces during the Spanish Civil War.
  2. Portrait of Suzanne Bloch
    
    Portrait of Suzanne Bloch is an oil on canvas painting executed by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso in Paris in 1904, towards the end of his Blue Period. The subject, Suzanne Bloch, was a singer known for her Wagner interpretations, and the sister of the violinist Henri Bloch. The painting is housed in the São Paulo Museum of Art.
  3. São Paulo Museum of Art
    
    The São Paulo Museum of Art is an art museum located on Paulista Avenue in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. It is well known for its headquarters, a 1968 concrete and glass structure designed by Lina Bo Bardi, whose main body is supported by two lateral beams over a 74 metres (243 ft) freestanding space. It is considered a landmark of the city and a main symbol of modern Brazilian architecture.
2. Elizabeth II becomes the oldest monarch in the history of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years and 243 days.
  1. Elizabeth II
    
    Elizabeth II was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during her lifetime, and was head of state of 15 realms at the time of her death. Her reign of 70 years and 214 days was the longest of any British monarch and the longest verified reign of any female monarch in history.
  2. Queen Victoria
    
    Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and seven months was longer than that of any previous British monarch and is known as the Victorian era. It was a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. In 1876, the British Parliament voted to grant her the additional title of Empress of India.
3. The Portrait of Suzanne Bloch (1904), by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, and O Lavrador de Café by Brazilian modernist painter Cândido Portinari, are stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art in Brazil. Both will be recovered a few weeks later.
  1. Portrait of Suzanne Bloch
    
    Portrait of Suzanne Bloch is an oil on canvas painting executed by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso in Paris in 1904, towards the end of his Blue Period. The subject, Suzanne Bloch, was a singer known for her Wagner interpretations, and the sister of the violinist Henri Bloch. The painting is housed in the São Paulo Museum of Art.
  2. Pablo Picasso
    
    Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is known for co-founding the Cubist movement, the invention of constructed sculpture, the co-invention of collage, and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore. Among his most famous works are the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), and the anti-war painting Guernica (1937), a dramatic portrayal of the bombing of Guernica by German and Italian air forces during the Spanish Civil War.
  3. Candido Portinari
    
    Candido Portinari was a Brazilian painter. He is considered one of the most important Brazilian painters as well as a prominent and influential practitioner of the neo-realism style in painting.
  4. São Paulo Museum of Art
    
    The São Paulo Museum of Art is an art museum located on Paulista Avenue in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. It is well known for its headquarters, a 1968 concrete and glass structure designed by Lina Bo Bardi, whose main body is supported by two lateral beams over a 74 metres (243 ft) freestanding space. It is considered a landmark of the city and a main symbol of modern Brazilian architecture.
2004
1. A gang of thieves steal £26.5 million worth of currency from the Donegall Square West headquarters of Northern Bank in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, one of the largest bank robberies in British history.
  1. Northern Bank robbery
    
    On 20 December 2004, a total of £26.5 million in cash was stolen from the headquarters of Northern Bank on Donegall Square West in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Having taken family members of two bank officials hostage, an armed gang forced the workers to help them steal used and unused pound sterling banknotes. The money was loaded into a van and driven away in two trips. This was one of the largest bank robberies in the history of the United Kingdom.
  2. Donegall Square
    
    Donegall Square is a square in the centre of Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. In the centre is Belfast City Hall, the headquarters of Belfast City Council. Each side of the square is named according to its geographical location, i.e. Donegall Square North, South, East and West. It is named after the Donegall family. Other streets to bear their name in Belfast are Donegall Road, Donegall Pass and Donegall Street. Donegall Place, the city's main shopping street, runs from the north side of the square.
  3. Danske Bank (Northern Ireland)
    
    Northern Bank Limited T/A Danske Bank is a retail bank in Northern Ireland. Northern Bank is one of the oldest banks in Ireland having been formed in 1809, and forms part of one of the Big Four banks in Ireland. Northern Bank took on the name of its parent company Danske Bank as its trading name in November 2012. It is a leading bank in Northern Ireland and a growing bank in Great Britain. In Northern Ireland the Bank issues its own banknotes.
  4. Belfast
    
    Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom and the second-largest in Ireland. It had a population of 345,418 in 2021.
  5. Northern Ireland
    
    Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2021, its population was 1,903,100, making up about 27% of Ireland's population and about 3% of the UK's population. The Northern Ireland Assembly, established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998, holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, while other areas are reserved for the UK Government. Northern Ireland cooperates with the Republic of Ireland in several areas.
  6. Bank robbery
    
    Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank branch or teller, as opposed to other bank-owned property, such as a train, armored car, or (historically) stagecoach. It is a federal crime in the United States.
1999
1. Portugal transferred the sovereignty of Macau, which it had administered since the mid–16th century, to China.
  1. Transfer of sovereignty over Macau
    
    The transfer of sovereignty of Macau from Portugal to the People's Republic of China (PRC) occurred on 20 December 1999.
  2. Macau
    
    Macau or Macao, officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a population of about 680,000 and an area of 32.9 km2 (12.7 sq mi), it is the most densely populated region in the world.
2. Macau is handed over to China by Portugal.
  1. Macau
    
    Macau or Macao, officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a population of about 680,000 and an area of 32.9 km2 (12.7 sq mi), it is the most densely populated region in the world.
  2. Transfer of sovereignty over Macau
    
    The transfer of sovereignty of Macau from Portugal to the People's Republic of China (PRC) occurred on 20 December 1999.
  3. China
    
    China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and borders fourteen countries by land, the most of any country in the world, tied with Russia. China also has a narrow maritime boundary with the disputed Taiwan. Covering an area of approximately 9.6 million square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the world's third largest country by total land area. The country consists of 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four municipalities, and two Special Administrative Regions. The national capital is Beijing, and the most populous city and financial center is Shanghai.
  4. Portugal
    
    Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira. It features the westernmost point in continental Europe, and its Iberian portion is bordered to the west and south by the Atlantic Ocean and to the north and east by Spain, the sole country to have a land border with Portugal. Its two archipelagos form two autonomous regions with their own regional governments. Lisbon is the capital and largest city by population.
1995
1. Mandated by the Dayton Agreement that ended the Bosnian War, the NATO-led Implementation Force (troops pictured) began peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  1. Dayton Agreement
    
    The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement or the Dayton Accords, is the peace agreement reached at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, United States, on 21 November 1995, and formally signed in Paris, on 14 December 1995. These accords put an end to the three-and-a-half-year-long Bosnian War, one of the Yugoslav Wars.
  2. Bosnian War
    
    The Bosnian War was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started on 6 April 1992, following a number of earlier violent incidents. The war ended on 14 December 1995 when the Dayton accords were signed. The main belligerents were the forces of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and those of Herzeg-Bosnia and Republika Srpska, proto-states led and supplied by Croatia and Serbia, respectively.
  3. NATO
    
    The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two North American. Established in the aftermath of World War II, the organization implemented the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949. NATO is a collective security system: its independent member states agree to defend each other against attacks by third parties. During the Cold War, NATO operated as a check on the perceived threat posed by the Soviet Union. The alliance remained in place after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and has been involved in military operations in the Balkans, the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. The organization's motto is animus in consulendo liber.
  4. Implementation Force
    
    The Implementation Force (IFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peace enforcement force in Bosnia and Herzegovina under a one-year mandate from 20 December 1995 to 20 December 1996 under the codename Operation Joint Endeavour.
2. American Airlines Flight 965 crashed into a mountain in Buga, Colombia, killing 151 passengers and 8 crew members.
  1. American Airlines Flight 965
    
    American Airlines Flight 965 was a regularly scheduled flight from Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida, to Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport in Cali, Colombia. On December 20, 1995, the Boeing 757-200 flying this route crashed into a mountain in Buga, Colombia, killing 151 of the 155 passengers and all eight crew members.
  2. Buga, Valle del Cauca
    
    Buga, formally Guadalajara de Buga, is a city and municipality in the Valle del Cauca Department of Colombia. It is famous for its Basilica del Señor de los Milagros, which houses an image of Christ called el Señor de los Milagros.
3. NATO begins peacekeeping in Bosnia.
  1. NATO
    
    The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two North American. Established in the aftermath of World War II, the organization implemented the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949. NATO is a collective security system: its independent member states agree to defend each other against attacks by third parties. During the Cold War, NATO operated as a check on the perceived threat posed by the Soviet Union. The alliance remained in place after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and has been involved in military operations in the Balkans, the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. The organization's motto is animus in consulendo liber.
  2. Bosnia and Herzegovina
    
    Bosnia and Herzegovina, abbreviated BiH or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and Herzegovina borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to the north and southwest. In the south it has a narrow coast on the Adriatic Sea within the Mediterranean, which is about 20 kilometres long and surrounds the town of Neum. Bosnia, which is the inland region of the country, has a moderate continental climate with hot summers and cold, snowy winters. In the central and eastern regions of the country, the geography is mountainous, in the northwest it is moderately hilly, and in the northeast it is predominantly flat. Herzegovina, which is the smaller, southern region of the country, has a Mediterranean climate and is mostly mountainous. Sarajevo is the capital and the largest city of the country followed by Banja Luka, Tuzla and Zenica.
4. American Airlines Flight 965, a Boeing 757, crashes into a mountain 50 km north of Cali, Colombia, killing 159 of the 163 people on board.
  1. American Airlines Flight 965
    
    American Airlines Flight 965 was a regularly scheduled flight from Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida, to Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport in Cali, Colombia. On December 20, 1995, the Boeing 757-200 flying this route crashed into a mountain in Buga, Colombia, killing 151 of the 155 passengers and all eight crew members.
  2. Boeing 757
    
    The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the 727, received its first orders in August 1978. The prototype completed its maiden flight on February 19, 1982 and it was FAA certified on December 21, 1982. Eastern Air Lines placed the original 757-200 in commercial service on January 1, 1983. A package freighter (PF) variant entered service in September 1987 and a combi model in September 1988. The stretched 757-300 was launched in September 1996 and began service in March 1999. After 1,050 had been built for 54 customers, production ended in October 2004, while Boeing offered the largest 737 NG variants as a successor.
  3. Cali
    
    Santiago de Cali, or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans 560.3 km2 (216.3 sq mi) with 120.9 km2 (46.7 sq mi) of urban area, making Cali the second-largest city in the country by area and the third most populous after Bogotá and Medellín. As the only major Colombian city with access to the Pacific Coast, Cali is the main urban and economic center in the south of the country, and has one of Colombia's fastest-growing economies. The city was founded on 25 July 1536 by the Spanish explorer Sebastián de Belalcázar.
  4. Colombia
    
    Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with an insular region in North America. It is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuela to the east, Brazil to the southeast, Ecuador and Peru to the south, the Pacific Ocean to the west and Panama to the northwest. Colombia comprises 32 departments and the Capital District of Bogotá, the country's largest city. It covers an area of 1,141,748 square kilometers (440,831 sq mi), with a population of 50 million. Colombia's cultural heritage reflects influences by various Amerindian civilizations, European settlement, enslaved Africans, as well as immigration from Europe and the Middle East. Spanish is the nation's official language, besides which over 70 languages are spoken.
1991
1. A Missouri court sentences the Palestinian militant Zein Isa and his wife Maria to death for the honor killing of their daughter Palestina.
  1. Murder of Tina Isa
    
    Palestina Zein "Tina" Isa was an American teenage girl murdered in an honor killing in St. Louis, Missouri by her parents, Zein and Maria Isa. Her death was recorded on audiotape during Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) surveillance on Zein Isa due to his association with the Abu Nidal Organization (ANO). He and his wife were both convicted for first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Zein Isa died of diabetes before he could be executed. Maria Isa was later resentenced to life imprisonment and died in prison.
1989
1. The United States invasion of Panama deposes Manuel Noriega.
  1. United States invasion of Panama
    
    The United States invasion of Panama, codenamed Operation Just Cause, lasted over a month between mid-December 1989 and late January 1990. It occurred during the administration of President George H. W. Bush and ten years after the Torrijos–Carter Treaties were ratified to transfer control of the Panama Canal from the United States to Panama by January 1, 2000. The primary purpose of the invasion was to depose the de facto Panamanian leader, General Manuel Noriega. He was wanted by the United States for racketeering and drug trafficking. Following the operation, the Panama Defense Forces were dissolved and President-elect Guillermo Endara was sworn into office. The United Nations General Assembly and the Organization of American States condemned the invasion as a violation of international law.
  2. List of deposed politicians
    
    Deposition by political means concerns the removal of a politician or monarch. It may be done by coup, impeachment, invasion, or forced abdication. The term may also refer to the official removal of a clergyman, especially a bishop, from ecclesiastical office.
  3. Manuel Noriega
    
    Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno was a Panamanian dictator, politician and military officer who was the de facto ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. An authoritarian ruler who amassed a personal fortune through drug trafficking operations, he had long standing ties to United States intelligence agencies before the U.S. invasion of Panama removed him from power.
1988
1. The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances governing international cooperation against the illegal drug trade was signed in Vienna.
  1. United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
    
    The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 is one of three major drug control treaties currently in force. It provides additional legal mechanisms for enforcing the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances. The Convention entered into force on November 11, 1990. As of June 2020, there are 191 Parties to the Convention. These include 186 out of 193 United Nations member states and the Holy See, the European Union, the Cook Islands, Niue, and the State of Palestine.
  2. Illegal drug trade
    
    The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through the use of drug prohibition laws. The think tank Global Financial Integrity's Transnational Crime and the Developing World report estimates the size of the global illicit drug market between US$426 and US$652 billion in 2014 alone. With a world GDP of US$78 trillion in the same year, the illegal drug trade may be estimated as nearly 1% of total global trade. Consumption of illegal drugs is widespread globally and it remains very difficult for local authorities to thwart its popularity.
  3. Vienna
    
    Vienna is the capital, largest city, and one of nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's most populous city and its primate city, with about two million inhabitants, and its cultural, economic, and political center. It is the 6th-largest city proper by population in the European Union and the largest of all cities on the Danube river.
1987
1. The deadliest peacetime maritime disaster in history occurred when the MV Doña Paz (pictured) sank after colliding with an oil tanker in the Tablas Strait, Philippines, resulting in an estimated 4,000 deaths.
  1. List of maritime disasters
    
    The list of maritime disasters is a link page for maritime disasters by century.
  2. MV Doña Paz
    
    MV Doña Paz was a Japanese built and Philippine-registered passenger ferry that sank after colliding with the oil tanker Vector on December 20, 1987. Built by Onomichi Zosen of Hiroshima, Japan, the ship was launched on April 25, 1963 as the Himeyuri Maru, with a passenger capacity of 608. In October 1975, the Himeyuri Maru was bought by Sulpicio Lines and renamed the Don Sulpicio. After a fire on board in June 1979, the ship was refurbished and renamed Doña Paz.
  3. Oil tanker
    
    An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries. Product tankers, generally much smaller, are designed to move refined products from refineries to points near consuming markets.
  4. Tablas Strait
    
    Tablas Strait, also Tabuas Strait, is a strait in the Philippines separating Mindoro Island from Panay and Romblon islands. The approximate depth of the strait is 545 meters (1,788 ft).
2. In the worst peacetime sea disaster, the passenger ferry Doña Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker MT Vector in the Tablas Strait of the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people (1,749 official).
  1. MV Doña Paz
    
    MV Doña Paz was a Japanese built and Philippine-registered passenger ferry that sank after colliding with the oil tanker Vector on December 20, 1987. Built by Onomichi Zosen of Hiroshima, Japan, the ship was launched on April 25, 1963 as the Himeyuri Maru, with a passenger capacity of 608. In October 1975, the Himeyuri Maru was bought by Sulpicio Lines and renamed the Don Sulpicio. After a fire on board in June 1979, the ship was refurbished and renamed Doña Paz.
  2. MT Vector
    
    Vector was a Philippine oil tanker that collided with the passenger ferry Doña Paz on December 20, 1987 in the Tablas Strait, Philippines, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 4,386 passengers and crew from the two ships. The incident is considered the deadliest peacetime maritime disaster in history.
  3. Tablas Strait
    
    Tablas Strait, also Tabuas Strait, is a strait in the Philippines separating Mindoro Island from Panay and Romblon islands. The approximate depth of the strait is 545 meters (1,788 ft).
  4. Philippines
    
    The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It is situated in the western Pacific Ocean and consists of around 7,641 islands that are broadly categorized under three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The Philippines is bounded by the South China Sea to the west, the Philippine Sea to the east, and the Celebes Sea to the southwest. It shares maritime borders with Taiwan to the north, Japan to the northeast, Palau to the east and southeast, Indonesia to the south, Malaysia to the southwest, Vietnam to the west, and China to the northwest. The Philippines covers an area of 300,000 km2 (120,000 sq mi) and, as of 2021, it had a population of around 109 million people, making it the world's thirteenth-most populous country. The Philippines has diverse ethnicities and cultures throughout its islands. Manila is the country's capital, while the largest city is Quezon City; both lie within the urban area of Metro Manila.
1985
1. Pope John Paul II announces the institution of World Youth Day.
  1. Pope John Paul II
    
    Pope John Paul II was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his death in April 2005, and was later canonised as Pope Saint John Paul II.
  2. World Youth Day
    
    World Youth Day (WYD) is an event for young people organized by the Catholic Church that was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985, sometimes nicknamed in later years as the "Catholic Woodstock". Its concept has been influenced by the Light-Life Movement that has existed in Poland since the 1960s, where during summer camps Catholic young adults over 13 days of camp celebrated a "day of community". For the first celebration of WYD in 1986, bishops were invited to schedule an annual youth event to be held every Palm Sunday in their dioceses. It is celebrated at the diocesan level annually—in most places on Palm Sunday from 1986 to 2020, and from 2021 on Christ the King Sunday—and at the international level every two to three years at different locations. The 1995 World Youth Day closing Mass in the Philippines set a world record for the largest number of people gathered for a single religious event with 5 million attendees— a record surpassed when 6 million attended a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis in the Philippines 20 years later in 2015.
1984
1. Twelve-year-old Jonelle Matthews disappeared from her home in Greeley, Colorado; her body was not discovered until 2019.
  1. Murder of Jonelle Matthews
    
    Jonelle Matthews was a 12-year-old American girl who disappeared near Greeley, Colorado, on December 20, 1984. Her remains were discovered on July 24, 2019, by construction workers putting in a new pipeline 15 mi (24 km) from her home. Her killer, Steven Pankey, was sentenced to life imprisonment on October 31, 2022 after his arrest in 2020.
  2. Greeley, Colorado
    
    Greeley is the home rule municipality city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Weld County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,795 at the 2020 United States Census, an increase of 17.12% since the 2010 United States Census. Greeley is the tenth most populous city in Colorado. Greeley is the principal city of the Greeley, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and is a major city of the Front Range Urban Corridor. Greeley is located in northern Colorado and is situated 49 miles (79 km) north-northeast of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver.
2. The Summit Tunnel fire, one of the largest transportation tunnel fires in history, burns after a freight train carrying over one million liters of gasoline derails near the town of Todmorden, England, in the Pennines.
  1. Summit Tunnel fire
    
    The Summit Tunnel fire occurred on 20 December 1984, when a dangerous goods train caught fire while passing through the Summit Tunnel on the railway line between Littleborough and Todmorden on the Greater Manchester/West Yorkshire border, England.
  2. Rail freight transport
    
    Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers.
  3. Gasoline
    
    Gasoline or petrol is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. On average, U.S. refineries produce, from a barrel of crude oil, about 19 to 20 gallons of gasoline; 11 to 13 gallons of distillate fuel ; and 3 to 4 gallons of jet fuel. The product ratio depends on the processing in an oil refinery and the crude oil assay. A barrel of oil is defined as holding 42 US gallons, which is about 159 liters or 35 imperial gallons.
  4. Todmorden
    
    Todmorden is a market town and civil parish in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It is 17 miles north-east of Manchester, 8 miles (13 km) south-east of Burnley and 9 miles (14 km) west of Halifax. In 2011 it had a population of 15,481.
  5. Pennines
    
    The Pennines, also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of uplands running between three regions of Northern England: North West England on the west, North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber on the east. Commonly described as the "backbone of England", the range stretches northwards from the Peak District at the southern end, through the South Pennines, Yorkshire Dales and North Pennines to the Tyne Gap, which separates the range from the Border Moors and Cheviot Hills across the Anglo-Scottish border, although some definitions include them. South of the Aire Gap is a western spur into east Lancashire, comprising the Rossendale Fells, West Pennine Moors and the Bowland Fells in North Lancashire. The Howgill Fells and Orton Fells in Cumbria are sometimes considered to be Pennine spurs to the west of the range. The Pennines are an important water catchment area with numerous reservoirs in the head streams of the river valleys.
3. Disappearance of Jonelle Matthews from Greeley, Colorado. Her remains were discovered on July 23, 2019, located about 24 km (15 mi) southeast of Jonelle's home. The cause of death "was a gunshot wound to the head."
  1. Murder of Jonelle Matthews
    
    Jonelle Matthews was a 12-year-old American girl who disappeared near Greeley, Colorado, on December 20, 1984. Her remains were discovered on July 24, 2019, by construction workers putting in a new pipeline 15 mi (24 km) from her home. Her killer, Steven Pankey, was sentenced to life imprisonment on October 31, 2022 after his arrest in 2020.
  2. Greeley, Colorado
    
    Greeley is the home rule municipality city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Weld County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,795 at the 2020 United States Census, an increase of 17.12% since the 2010 United States Census. Greeley is the tenth most populous city in Colorado. Greeley is the principal city of the Greeley, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and is a major city of the Front Range Urban Corridor. Greeley is located in northern Colorado and is situated 49 miles (79 km) north-northeast of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver.
1980
1. NBC aired the American football match between the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins without announcers.
  1. NBC
    
    The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are located at Comcast Building in New York City. The company also has offices in Los Angeles at 10 Universal City Plaza and Chicago at the NBC Tower. NBC is the oldest of the traditional "Big Three" American television networks, having been formed in 1926 by the Radio Corporation of America. NBC is sometimes referred to as the "Peacock Network," in reference to its stylized peacock logo, introduced in 1956 to promote the company's innovations in early color broadcasting.
  2. American football
    
    American football, also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with possession of the oval-shaped football, attempts to advance down the field by running with the ball or passing it, while the defense, the team without possession of the ball, aims to stop the offense's advance and to take control of the ball for themselves. The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs or plays; if they fail, they turn over the football to the defense, but if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs to continue the drive. Points are scored primarily by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponent's goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins.
  3. New York Jets
    
    The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The Jets play their home games at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, 5 miles (8.0 km) west of New York City. The team is headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey. The franchise is legally organized as a limited liability company under the name New York Jets, LLC.
  4. Miami Dolphins
    
    The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team plays its home games at Hard Rock Stadium, located in the northern suburb of Miami Gardens, Florida. The team is currently owned by Stephen M. Ross. The Dolphins are the oldest professional sports team in Florida. Of the four AFC East teams, the Dolphins are the only team in the division that was not a charter member of the American Football League (AFL). The Dolphins were also one of the first professional football teams in the southeast, along with the Atlanta Falcons.
  5. Announcerless game
    
    The announcerless game was an American football contest played on December 20, 1980, between the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League. As an experiment, the NBC television network broadcast it without assigning any commentators to cover it. The two teams were playing the last game of that season for them as neither had qualified for the playoffs, and since the game was being broadcast nationally NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer decided on the idea to boost what would otherwise have been weak ratings. The Jets won a 24–17 upset victory.
1973
1. Assassination of Luis Carrero Blanco: A car bomb planted by ETA in Madrid kills three people, including the Prime Minister of Spain, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco.
  1. Assassination of Luis Carrero Blanco
    
    The assassination of Prime Minister Luis Carrero Blanco, also known by its code name Operación Ogro, had far-reaching consequences within the politics of Spain. Admiral Carrero Blanco was killed in Madrid by the Basque separatist group ETA on 20 December 1973. The assassination is considered to have been the biggest attack against the Francoist State since the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939.
  2. Car bomb
    
    A car bomb, bus bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles.
  3. ETA (separatist group)
    
    ETA, an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, was an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization in the Basque Country. The group was founded in 1959 and later evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group engaged in a violent campaign of bombing, assassinations, and kidnappings in the Southern Basque Country and throughout Spanish territory. Its goal was gaining independence for the Basque Country. ETA was the main group within the Basque National Liberation Movement and was the most important Basque participant in the Basque conflict.
  4. Madrid
    
    Madrid is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and its monocentric metropolitan area is the third-largest in the EU. The municipality covers 604.3 km2 (233.3 sq mi) geographical area.
  5. Prime Minister of Spain
    
    The prime minister of Spain, officially president of the Government, is the head of government of Spain. The office was established in its current form by the Constitution of 1978 and it was first regulated in 1823 as a chairmanship of the extant Council of Ministers, although it is not possible to determine when it actually originated.
  6. Luis Carrero Blanco
    
    Admiral-General Luis Carrero Blanco was a Spanish Navy officer and politician. A long-time confidant and right-hand man of dictator Francisco Franco, Carrero served as the Prime Minister of the Francoist Dictatorship and in various other high ranking offices in the regime until his assassination in a car bombing in December 1973.
1968
1. The first two confirmed murders by the Zodiac Killer occurred in Benicia, California, in a case which remains unsolved.
  1. Zodiac Killer
    
    The Zodiac Killer is the pseudonym of an unidentified serial killer who operated in Northern California in the late 1960s. The case has been described as the most famous unsolved murder case in American history. It became a fixture of popular culture and inspired amateur detectives to attempt to solve it.
  2. Benicia, California
    
    Benicia is a waterside city in Solano County, California, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It served as the capital of California for nearly thirteen months from 1853 to 1854. The population was 26,997 at the 2010 United States Census. The city is located along the north bank of the Carquinez Strait. Benicia is just east of Vallejo and across the strait from Martinez. Steve Young, elected in November 2020, is the mayor.
1967
1. A Pennsylvania Railroad Budd Metroliner exceeds 249 kilometres per hour (155 mph) on their New York Division, also present-day Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.
  1. Pennsylvania Railroad
    
    The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and was headquartered in Philadelphia. Named for the commonwealth it was established in, by 1882, the Pennsylvania Railroad had become the largest railroad, the largest transportation enterprise, and the largest corporation in the world. Its budget was second only to the U.S. government.
  2. Budd Metroliner
    
    The Budd Metroliner was a class of American electric multiple unit (EMU) railcar designed for first-class, high-speed service between New York City and Washington, D.C. on the Northeast Corridor. They were designed for operation up to 150 mph (240 km/h): what would have been the first high speed rail service in the Western Hemisphere. Although 164 mph (264 km/h) was reached during test runs, track conditions and electrical issues limited top speeds to between 100 mph (160 km/h) and 120 mph (190 km/h) in revenue service. The single-ended units were designed to be arranged in two-car sets, which were in turn coupled into four to eight-car trains.
  3. Amtrak
    
    The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak, is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. Amtrak is a portmanteau of the words America and trak, the latter itself a sensational spelling of track.
1957
1. The initial production version of the Boeing 707 makes its first flight.
  1. Boeing 707
    
    The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial 707-120 first flew on December 20, 1957. Pan American World Airways began regular 707 service on October 26, 1958. With versions produced until 1979, the 707 was a swept wing, quadjet with podded engines. Its larger fuselage cross-section allowed six-abreast economy seating, retained in the later 720, 727, 737, and 757 models.
1955
1. Cardiff (City Hall pictured) was recognised as the capital of Wales.
  1. Cardiff
    
    Cardiff is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff, and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingdom. Located in the south-east of Wales and in the Cardiff Capital Region, Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan and in 1974–1996 of South Glamorgan. It belongs to the Eurocities network of the largest European cities. A small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a port for coal when mining began in the region helped its expansion. In 1905, it was ranked as a city and in 1955 proclaimed capital of Wales. Cardiff Built-up Area covers a larger area outside the county boundary, including the towns of Dinas Powys and Penarth.
  2. City Hall, Cardiff
    
    City Hall is a civic building in Cathays Park, Cardiff, Wales, UK. It serves as Cardiff's centre of local government. It was built as part of the Cathays Park civic centre development and opened in October 1906. Built of Portland stone, it is an important early example of the Edwardian Baroque style. It is a Grade I listed building.
  3. Capital of Wales
    
    The current capital of Wales is Cardiff. Historically, Wales did not have a definite capital. In 1955, the Minister for Welsh Affairs informally proclaimed Cardiff to be the capital of Wales. Since 1964, Cardiff has been home to government offices for Wales, and since 1999 it has been the seat of the Senedd.
2. Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom.
  1. Cardiff
    
    Cardiff is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff, and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingdom. Located in the south-east of Wales and in the Cardiff Capital Region, Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan and in 1974–1996 of South Glamorgan. It belongs to the Eurocities network of the largest European cities. A small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a port for coal when mining began in the region helped its expansion. In 1905, it was ranked as a city and in 1955 proclaimed capital of Wales. Cardiff Built-up Area covers a larger area outside the county boundary, including the towns of Dinas Powys and Penarth.
  2. Wales
    
    Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in 2021 of 3,107,500 and has a total area of 20,779 km2 (8,023 sq mi). Wales has over 1,680 miles (2,700 km) of coastline and is largely mountainous with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon, its highest summit. The country lies within the north temperate zone and has a changeable, maritime climate. The capital and largest city is Cardiff.
1952
1. A United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns in Moses Lake, Washington, killing 87 of the 115 people on board.
  1. United States Air Force
    
    The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal Corps, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the United States Armed Forces in 1947 with the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the second youngest branch of the United States Armed Forces and the fourth in order of precedence. The United States Air Force articulates its core missions as air supremacy, global integrated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, rapid global mobility, global strike, and command and control.
  2. Douglas C-124 Globemaster II
    
    The Douglas C-124 Globemaster II, nicknamed "Old Shaky", is an American heavy-lift cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California.
  3. 1952 Moses Lake C-124 crash
    
    The 1952 Moses Lake C-124 crash was an accident in which a United States Air Force Douglas C-124 Globemaster II military transport aircraft crashed near Moses Lake, Washington on December 20, 1952. Of the 115 people on board, 87 died and 28 survived. The crash was the world's deadliest aviation disaster at the time, surpassing the Llandow air disaster, which killed 80 people. The death toll would not be surpassed until the Tachikawa air disaster, which also involved a Douglas C-124A-DL Globemaster II, killed 129 people.
  4. Moses Lake, Washington
    
    Moses Lake is a city in Grant County, Washington, United States. The population was 25,146 as of the 2020 census. Moses Lake is the largest city in Grant County. The city anchors the Moses Lake Micropolitan area, which includes all of Grant County and is part of the Moses Lake–Othello combined statistical area.
1951
1. The EBR-1 in Arco, Idaho becomes the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity. The electricity powered four light bulbs.
  1. Experimental Breeder Reactor I
    
    Experimental Breeder Reactor I (EBR-I) is a decommissioned research reactor and U.S. National Historic Landmark located in the desert about 18 miles (29 km) southeast of Arco, Idaho. It was the world's first breeder reactor. At 1:50 p.m. on December 20, 1951, it became one of the world's first electricity-generating nuclear power plants when it produced sufficient electricity to illuminate four 200-watt light bulbs. EBR-I subsequently generated sufficient electricity to power its building, and continued to be used for experimental purposes until it was decommissioned in 1964. The museum is open for visitors from late May until early September.
  2. Arco, Idaho
    
    Arco is a city in Butte County, Idaho, United States. The population was 879 as of the 2020 United States census, down from 995 at the 2010 census. Arco is the county seat and largest city in Butte County.
  3. Nuclear power
    
    Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by nuclear fission of uranium and plutonium in nuclear power plants. Nuclear decay processes are used in niche applications such as radioisotope thermoelectric generators in some space probes such as Voyager 2. Generating electricity from fusion power remains the focus of international research.
1948
1. Indonesian National Revolution: The Dutch military captures Yogyakarta, the temporary capital of the newly formed Republic of Indonesia.
  1. Indonesian National Revolution
    
    The Indonesian National Revolution, or the Indonesian War of Independence, was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during postwar and postcolonial Indonesia. It took place between Indonesia's declaration of independence in 1945 and the Netherlands' transfer of sovereignty over the Dutch East Indies to the Republic of the United States of Indonesia at the end of 1949.
  2. Operation Kraai
    
    Operation Kraai was a Dutch military offensive against the de facto Republic of Indonesia in December 1948 after negotiations failed. With the advantage of surprise the Dutch managed to capture the Indonesian Republic's temporary capital, Yogyakarta, and seized Indonesian leaders such as de facto Republican President Sukarno. This apparent military success was however followed by guerrilla warfare, while the violation of the Renville Agreement ceasefire diplomatically isolated the Dutch, leading to the Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference and recognition of the United States of Indonesia.
1946
1. An earthquake in Nankaidō, Japan causes a tsunami which kills at least one thousand people and destroys 36,000 homes.
  1. 1946 Nankai earthquake
    
    The 1946 Nankai earthquake was a great earthquake in Nankaidō, Japan. It occurred on December 21, 1946, at 04:19 JST. The earthquake measured between 8.1 and 8.4 on the moment magnitude scale, and was felt from Northern Honshū to Kyūshū. It occurred almost two years after the 1944 Tōnankai earthquake, which ruptured the adjacent part of the Nankai megathrust.
1942
1. World War II: Japanese air forces bomb Calcutta, India.
  1. Imperial Japanese Army Air Service
    
    The Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) or Imperial Japanese Army Air Force was the aviation force of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). Just as the IJA in general was modeled mainly on the German Army, the IJAAS initially developed along similar lines to the Imperial German Army Aviation; its primary mission was to provide tactical close air support for ground forces, as well as a limited air interdiction capability. The IJAAS also provided aerial reconnaissance to other branches of the IJA. While the IJAAS engaged in strategic bombing of cities such as Shanghai, Nanking, Canton, Chongqing, Rangoon, and Mandalay, this was not the primary mission of the IJAAS, and it lacked a heavy bomber force.
  2. Kolkata
    
    Kolkata is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River 80 km (50 mi) west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commercial, and financial hub of Eastern India and the main port of communication for North-East India. According to the 2011 Indian census, Kolkata is the seventh-most populous city in India, with a population of 45 lakh (4.5 million) residents within the city limits, and a population of over 1.41 crore (14.1 million) residents in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area. It is the third-most populous metropolitan area in India. In 2021, the Kolkata metropolitan area crossed 1.5 crore (15 million) registered voters. The Port of Kolkata is India's oldest operating port and its sole major riverine port. Kolkata is regarded as the cultural capital of India. Kolkata is the second largest Bengali-speaking city after Dhaka. It has the highest number of nobel laureates among all cities in India.
  3. British Raj
    
    The British Raj was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; it is also called Crown rule in India, or Direct rule in India, and lasted from 1858 to 1947. The region under British control was commonly called India in contemporaneous usage and included areas directly administered by the United Kingdom, which were collectively called British India, and areas ruled by indigenous rulers, but under British paramountcy, called the princely states. The region was sometimes called the Indian Empire, though not officially.
1941
1. World War II: First battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers", in Kunming, China.
  1. 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. American Volunteer Group
    
    The American Volunteer Groups were volunteer air units organized by the United States government to aid the Nationalist government of China against Japan in the Second Sino-Japanese War. The only unit to actually see combat was the 1st AVG, popularly known as the Flying Tigers.
  3. Flying Tigers
    
    The First American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Republic of China Air Force, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was formed to help oppose the Japanese invasion of China. Operating in 1941–1942, it was composed of pilots from the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC), Navy (USN), and Marine Corps (USMC), and was commanded by Claire Lee Chennault. Their Curtis P-40B Warhawk aircraft, marked with Chinese colors, flew under American control. Recruited under President Franklin Roosevelt's authority before Pearl Harbor, their mission was to bomb Japan and defend the Republic of China, but many delays meant the AVG first flew in combat after the US and Japan declared war.
  4. Kunming
    
    Kunming, also known as Yunnan-Fu, is the capital and largest city of Yunnan province, China. It is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province as well as the seat of the provincial government. The headquarters of many of Yunnan's large businesses are in Kunming. It was important during World War II as a Chinese military center, American air base, and transport terminus for the Burma Road. In the middle of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, Kunming is at an altitude of 1,900 metres above sea level and a latitude just north of the Tropic of Cancer. As of 2020 census, Kunming had a total population of 8,460,088 inhabitants, of whom 5,604,310 lived in its built-up area made of all urban districts but Jinning, not conurbated yet. It is at the northern edge of Dian Lake, surrounded by temples and lake-and-limestone hill landscapes.
1924
1. Adolf Hitler is released from Landsberg Prison.
  1. Adolf Hitler
    
    Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934. During his dictatorship, he initiated World War II in Europe by invading Poland on 1 September 1939. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust: the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims.
  2. Landsberg Prison
    
    Landsberg Prison is a penal facility in the town of Landsberg am Lech in the southwest of the German state of Bavaria, about 65 kilometres (40 mi) west-southwest of Munich and 35 kilometres (22 mi) south of Augsburg. It is best known as the prison where Adolf Hitler was held in 1924, after the failed Beer Hall Putsch in Munich, and where he dictated his memoirs Mein Kampf to Rudolf Hess.
1917
1. Cheka, the first Soviet secret police force, is founded.
  1. Cheka
    
    The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission, abbreviated as VChK, and commonly known as Cheka, was the first of a succession of Soviet secret-police organizations. Established on December 5 1917 by the Sovnarkom, it came under the leadership of Felix Dzerzhinsky, a Polish aristocrat-turned-Bolshevik. By late 1918, hundreds of Cheka committees had sprung up in the RSFSR at the oblast, guberniya, raion, uyezd, and volost levels.
  2. Soviet Union
    
    The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national republics; in practice, both its government and its economy were highly centralized until its final years. It was a one-party state governed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, with the city of Moscow serving as its capital as well as that of its largest and most populous republic: the Russian SFSR. Other major cities included Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Tashkent, Alma-Ata, and Novosibirsk. It was the largest country in the world, covering over 22,402,200 square kilometres (8,649,500 sq mi) and spanning eleven time zones.
1915
1. World War I: The last Australian troops are evacuated from Gallipoli.
  1. 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. Gallipoli campaign
    
    The Gallipoli campaign was a military campaign in the First World War that took place on the Gallipoli peninsula, from 17 February 1915 to 9 January 1916. The Entente powers, Britain, France and Russia, sought to weaken the Ottoman Empire, one of the Central Powers, by taking control of the Ottoman straits. This would expose the Ottoman capital at Constantinople to bombardment by Allied battleships and cut it off from the Asian part of the empire. With Turkey defeated, the Suez Canal would be safe and a year-round Allied supply route could be opened through the Black Sea to warm-water ports in Russia.
1860
1. South Carolina becomes the first state to attempt to secede from the United States.
  1. South Carolina
    
    South Carolina is a state in the coastal Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered to the north by North Carolina, to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the southwest by Georgia across the Savannah River. South Carolina is the 40th most extensive and 23rd most populous U.S. state with a recorded population of 5,124,712 according to the 2020 census. In 2019, its GDP was $213.45 billion. South Carolina is composed of 46 counties. The capital is Columbia with a population of 137,300 in 2020; while its largest city is Charleston with a 2020 population of 150,277. The Greenville–Spartanburg-Anderson metropolitan area is the most populous in the state, with a 2020 population estimate of 1,455,892.
  2. Secession
    
    Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics leaving the Soviet Union after its dissolution, Texas leaving Mexico during the Texas Revolution, Biafra leaving Nigeria and returning after losing the Nigerian Civil War, and Ireland leaving the United Kingdom. Threats of secession can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals. It is, therefore, a process, which commences once a group proclaims the act of secession. A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal is the creation of a new state or entity independent from the group or territory it seceded from.
1832
1. HMS Clio under the command of Captain Onslow arrives at Port Egmont under orders to take possession of the Falkland Islands.
  1. HMS Clio (1807)
    
    HMS Clio was Cruizer-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, launched at James Betts' shipyard in Mistleythorn in Essex on 10 January 1807. Her establishment was 71 officers and men, 24 boys and 20 marines. She served in the Baltic during the Napoleonic Wars, accomplished the re-establishment of British rule on the Falkland Islands in 1833, and participated in the First Opium War. She was broken up in 1845.
  2. Port Egmont
    
    Port Egmont was the first British settlement in the Falkland Islands, on Saunders Island off West Falkland, and is named after the Earl of Egmont.
  3. Reassertion of British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (1833)
    
    In December 1832, two naval vessels were sent by the United Kingdom to re-assert British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, after the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata ignored British diplomatic protests over the appointment of Luis Vernet as governor of the Falkland Islands and a dispute over fishing rights.
  4. Falkland Islands
    
    The Falkland Islands is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about 300 mi (480 km) east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about 752 mi (1,210 km) from Cape Dubouzet at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, at a latitude of about 52°S. The archipelago, with an area of 4,700 sq mi (12,000 km2), comprises East Falkland, West Falkland, and 776 smaller islands. As a British overseas territory, the Falklands have internal self-governance, but the United Kingdom takes responsibility for their defence and foreign affairs. The capital and largest settlement is Stanley on East Falkland.
1808
1. Peninsular War: The Siege of Zaragoza begins.
  1. Peninsular War
    
    The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain, it is considered to overlap with the Spanish War of Independence. The war started when the French and Spanish armies invaded and occupied Portugal in 1807 by transiting through Spain, and it escalated in 1808 after Napoleonic France occupied Spain, which had been its ally. Napoleon Bonaparte forced the abdications of Ferdinand VII and his father Charles IV and then installed his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne and promulgated the Bayonne Constitution. Most Spaniards rejected French rule and fought a bloody war to oust them. The war on the peninsula lasted until the Sixth Coalition defeated Napoleon in 1814, and is regarded as one of the first wars of national liberation. It is also significant for the emergence of large-scale guerrilla warfare.
  2. Second siege of Zaragoza
    
    The second siege of Zaragoza was the French capture of the Spanish city of Zaragoza during the Peninsular War. It was particularly noted for its brutality. The city was heavily outnumbered against the French. However, the desperate resistance put up by the Army of Reserve and its civilian allies had been heroic: a great part of the city lay in ruins, the garrison had suffered 24,000 deaths being augmented by 30,000 civilians dead.
1803
1. The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans.
  1. Louisiana Purchase
    
    The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or approximately eighteen dollars per square mile, the United States nominally acquired a total of 828,000 sq mi in Middle America. However, France only controlled a small fraction of this area, most of which was inhabited by Native Americans; effectively, for the majority of the area, the United States bought the "preemptive" right to obtain "Indian" lands by treaty or by conquest, to the exclusion of other colonial powers.
  2. New Orleans
    
    New Orleans is a consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 according to the 2020 U.S. census, it is the most populous city in Louisiana and the twelfth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States. Serving as a major port, New Orleans is considered an economic and commercial hub for the broader Gulf Coast region of the United States.
1334
1. Cardinal Jacques Fournier, a Cistercian monk, is elected Pope Benedict XII.
  1. Cardinal (Catholic Church)
    
    A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Collectively, they constitute the College of Cardinals.
  2. Cistercians
    
    The Cistercians, officially the Order of Cistercians, are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contributions of the highly-influential Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, known as the Latin Rule. They are also known as Bernardines, after Saint Bernard himself, or as White Monks, in reference to the colour of the "cuculla" or cowl worn by the Cistercians over their habits, as opposed to the black cowl worn by Benedictines.
  3. Pope Benedict XII
    
    Pope Benedict XII, born Jacques Fournier, was head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1334 to his death in April 1342. He was the third Avignon pope. Benedict was a careful pope who reformed monastic orders and opposed nepotism. Unable to remove his capital to Rome or Bologna, he started the great palace at Avignon. He decided against a notion of Pope John XXII by saying that souls may attain the "fulness [sic] of the beatific vision" before the Last Judgment. Whilst being a stalwart reformer, he attempted unsuccessfully to reunite the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches, almost three centuries after the Great Schism; he also failed to come to an understanding with Emperor Louis IV.
1192
1. Richard I of England is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after the Third Crusade.
  1. Richard I of England
    
    Richard I was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period. He was the third of five sons of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine and seemed unlikely to become king, but all his brothers except the youngest, John, predeceased their father. Richard is known as Richard Cœur de Lion or Richard the Lionheart because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior. The troubadour Bertran de Born also called him Richard Oc-e-Non, possibly from a reputation for terseness.
  2. Leopold V, Duke of Austria
    
    Leopold V, known as the Virtuous was a member of the House of Babenberg who reigned as Duke of Austria from 1177 and Duke of Styria from 1192 until his death. The Georgenberg Pact resulted in Leopold being enfeoffed with Styria by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1193, which would lead to the eventual creation of modern Austria. Leopold was also known for his involvement in the Third Crusade where he fought in the Siege of Acre in 1191.
  3. Third Crusade
    
    The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. For this reason, the Third Crusade is also known as the Kings' Crusade.
69
1. Antonius Primus enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor for Nero's former general Vespasian.
  1. AD 69
    
    AD 69 (LXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Rufinus. The denomination AD 69 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. Marcus Antonius Primus
    
    Marcus Antonius Primus was a senator and general of the Roman Empire.
  3. Rome
    
    Rome is the capital city of Italy. It is also the capital of the Lazio region, the centre of the Metropolitan City of Rome, and a special comune named Comune di Roma Capitale. With 2,860,009 residents in 1,285 km2 (496.1 sq mi), Rome is the country's most populated comune and the third most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. The Metropolitan City of Rome, with a population of 4,355,725 residents, is the most populous metropolitan city in Italy. Its metropolitan area is the third-most populous within Italy. Rome is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio (Latium), along the shores of the Tiber. Vatican City is an independent country inside the city boundaries of Rome, the only existing example of a country within a city. Rome is often referred to as the City of Seven Hills due to its geographic location, and also as the "Eternal City". Rome is generally considered to be the "cradle of Western civilization and Christian culture", and the centre of the Catholic Church.
  4. Roman emperor
    
    The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period. The emperors used a variety of different titles throughout history. Often when a given Roman is described as becoming "emperor" in English it reflects his taking of the title augustus. Another title often used was caesar, used for heirs-apparent, and imperator, originally a military honorific. Early emperors also used the title princeps civitatis. Emperors frequently amassed republican titles, notably princeps senatus, consul, and pontifex maximus.
  5. Nero
    
    Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his death in AD 68. He was adopted by the Roman emperor Claudius at the age of 13 and succeeded him on the throne. Nero was popular with the members of his Praetorian Guard and lower-class commoners in Rome and its provinces, but he was deeply resented by the Roman aristocracy. Most contemporary sources describe him as tyrannical, self-indulgent, and debauched. After being declared a public enemy by the Roman Senate, he committed suicide at age 30.
  6. Vespasian
    
    Vespasian was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolidation of the empire generated political stability and a vast Roman building program.

Births & Deaths

2020
1. Fanny Waterman, British pianist (b. 1920) deaths
  1. Fanny Waterman
    
    Dame Fanny Waterman was a British pianist and academic piano teacher, who is particularly known as the founder, chair and artistic director of the Leeds International Piano Competition. She was also president of the Harrogate International Music Festival.
2. Ezra Vogel, American sociologist (b. 1930) deaths
  1. Ezra Vogel
    
    Ezra Feivel Vogel was an American sociologist who wrote prolifically on modern Japan, China, and Korea, and worked both in academia and the public sphere. He was Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University.
2014
1. Per-Ingvar Brånemark, Swedish surgeon and academic (b. 1929) deaths
  1. Per-Ingvar Brånemark
    
    Per-Ingvar Brånemark was a Swedish physician and research professor, acknowledged as the "father of modern dental implantology". The Brånemark Osseointegration Center (BOC), named after its founder, was founded in 1989 in Gothenburg, Sweden.
2. John Freeman, English lawyer, politician, and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States (b. 1915) deaths
  1. John Freeman (British politician)
    
    Major John Horace Freeman, PC was a British politician, diplomat, broadcaster and British Army officer. He was the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Watford from 1945 to 1955.
  2. List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the United States
    
    The British Ambassador to the United States is in charge of the British Embassy, Washington, D.C., the United Kingdom's diplomatic mission to the United States. The official title is His Majesty's Ambassador to the United States of America.
2013
1. Pyotr Bolotnikov, Russian runner (b. 1930) deaths
  1. Pyotr Bolotnikov
    
    Pyotr Grigoryevich Bolotnikov was a Soviet Track and field athlete who competed mainly in long-distance running events. He was the winner of the 10,000 metres at the 1960 Summer Olympics.
2012
1. Stan Charlton, English footballer and manager (b. 1929) deaths
  1. Stan Charlton
    
    Stanley Charlton was an English footballer and manager. Charlton featured as a right back with clubs Bromley, Leyton Orient and Arsenal. As a manager he was one of the longest serving at Weymouth.
2. Robert Juniper, Australian painter and sculptor (b. 1929) deaths
  1. Robert Juniper
    
    Robert Litchfield Juniper, AM was an Australian artist, art teacher, illustrator, painter, printmaker and sculptor.
3. Victor Merzhanov, Russian pianist and educator (b. 1919) deaths
  1. Victor Merzhanov
    
    Victor Karpovich Merzhanov was a Russian pianist and People's Artist of the USSR (1990).
2011
1. Barry Reckord, Jamaican playwright and screenwriter (b. 1926) deaths
  1. Barry Reckord
    
    Barrington John Reckord, known as Barry Reckord, was a Jamaican playwright, one of the earliest Caribbean writers to make a contribution to theatre in Britain. His brother was the actor and director Lloyd Reckord, with whom he sometimes worked.
2010
1. James Robert Mann, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (b. 1920) deaths
  1. James Mann (South Carolina politician)
    
    James Robert Mann was a World War II soldier, lawyer and Democratic United States Representative from South Carolina.
2. K. P. Ratnam, Sri Lankan academic and politician (b. 1914) deaths
  1. K. P. Ratnam
    
    Kaarthigesar Ponnambalam Ratnam was a Sri Lankan Tamil academic, politician and Member of Parliament.
2009
1. Brittany Murphy, American actress and singer (b. 1977) deaths
  1. Brittany Murphy
    
    Brittany Anne Murphy-Monjack was an American actress and singer. Born in Atlanta, Murphy moved to Los Angeles as a teenager and pursued a career in acting. Her breakthrough role was as Tai Frasier in Clueless (1995), followed by supporting roles in independent films such as Freeway (1996) and Bongwater (1998). She made her stage debut in a Broadway production of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge in 1997 before appearing as Daisy Randone in Girl, Interrupted (1999) and as Lisa Swenson in Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999).
2. Arnold Stang, American actor (b. 1918) deaths
  1. Arnold Stang
    
    Arnold Sidney Stang was an American comic actor.
2008
1. Adrian Mitchell, English author, poet, and playwright (b. 1932) deaths
  1. Adrian Mitchell
    
    Adrian Mitchell FRSL was an English poet, novelist and playwright. A former journalist, he became a noted figure on the British Left. For almost half a century he was the foremost poet of the country's Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament movement. The critic Kenneth Tynan called him "the British Mayakovsky".
2. Robert Mulligan, American director and producer (b. 1925) deaths
  1. Robert Mulligan
    
    Robert Patrick Mulligan was an American director and producer. He is best known for his humanist dramas, including To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Summer of '42 (1971), The Other (1972), Same Time, Next Year (1978), and The Man in the Moon (1991). He was also known in the 1960s for his extensive collaborations with producer Alan J. Pakula.
3. Igor Troubetzkoy, Russian aristocrat and racing driver (b. 1912) deaths
  1. Igor Troubetzkoy
    
    Prince Igor Nikolayevich Troubetzkoy was a French aristocrat and athlete of Russian descent.
2006
1. Anne Rogers Clark, American dog breeder and trainer (b. 1929) deaths
  1. Anne Rogers Clark
    
    Anne Rogers Clark was an American dog breeder and trainer and one of the few people licensed to judge all 165 breeds and varieties recognized by the American Kennel Club.
2005
1. Raoul Bott, Hungarian-American mathematician and academic (b. 1923) deaths
  1. Raoul Bott
    
    Raoul Bott was a Hungarian-American mathematician known for numerous basic contributions to geometry in its broad sense. He is best known for his Bott periodicity theorem, the Morse–Bott functions which he used in this context, and the Borel–Bott–Weil theorem.
2001
1. Facundo Pellistri, Uruguayan footballer births
  1. Facundo Pellistri
    
    Facundo Pellistri Rebollo is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Manchester United and the Uruguay national team.
2. Léopold Sédar Senghor, Senegalese poet and politician, 1st President of Senegal (b. 1906) deaths
  1. Léopold Sédar Senghor
    
    Léopold Sédar Senghor was a Senegalese poet, politician and cultural theorist who was the first president of Senegal (1960–80).
  2. List of presidents of Senegal
    
    The president of Senegal is the head of state and head of government of Senegal. In accordance with the constitutional reform of 2001, and since a referendum that took place on 20 March 2016, the president is elected for a 5-year term, and limited to two consecutive terms.The following is a list of presidents of Senegal, since the country gained independence from France in 1960.
1999
1. Riccardo Freda, Egyptian-Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1909) deaths
  1. Riccardo Freda
    
    Riccardo Freda was an Italian film director. He worked in a variety of genres, including sword-and-sandal, horror, giallo and spy films.
2. Hank Snow, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1914) deaths
  1. Hank Snow
    
    Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow was a Canadian-American country music artist. Most popular in the 1950s, he had a career that spanned more than 50 years, he recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on the Billboard country charts from 1950 until 1980. His number-one hits include the self-penned songs "I'm Moving On", "The Golden Rocket" and "The Rhumba Boogie" and famous versions of "I Don't Hurt Anymore", "Let Me Go, Lover!", "I've Been Everywhere", "Hello Love", as well as other top 10 hits.
1998
1. Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, English physiologist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916) deaths
  1. Alan Hodgkin
    
    Sir Alan Lloyd Hodgkin was an English physiologist and biophysicist who shared the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Andrew Huxley and John Eccles.
  2. Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
    
    The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's 1895 will, are awarded "to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind". Nobel Prizes are awarded in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace.
1997
1. De'Aaron Fox, American basketball player births
  1. De'Aaron Fox
    
    De'Aaron Martez Fox is an American professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats before being selected 5th overall by the Kings in the 2017 NBA draft.
2. Suzuka Nakamoto, Japanese singer births
  1. Suzuka Nakamoto
    
    Suzuka Nakamoto , known by her stage names Suzuka and Su-metal, is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and model. She is best known as a member of the kawaii metal band Babymetal. She is represented by the talent agency Amuse, Inc. and has been a member of three musical groups formed by the company: Karen Girl's, Sakura Gakuin, and Babymetal.
3. Denise Levertov, English-American poet and translator (b. 1923) deaths
  1. Denise Levertov
    
    Priscilla Denise Levertov was a British-born naturalised American poet. She was a recipient of the Lannan Literary Award for Poetry.
4. Dick Spooner, English cricketer (b. 1919) deaths
  1. Dick Spooner
    
    Richard Thompson Spooner was an English cricketer who played for Warwickshire and England.
5. Dawn Steel, American film producer (b. 1946) deaths
  1. Dawn Steel
    
    Dawn Leslie Steel was an American film studio executive and producer. She was one of the first women to run a major Hollywood film studio, rising through the ranks of merchandising and production to head Columbia Pictures in 1987.
1996
1. Carl Sagan, American astronomer, astrophysicist, and cosmologist (b. 1934) deaths
  1. Carl Sagan
    
    Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is research on extraterrestrial life, including experimental demonstration of the production of amino acids from basic chemicals by radiation. Sagan assembled the first physical messages sent into space, the Pioneer plaque and the Voyager Golden Record, universal messages that could potentially be understood by any extraterrestrial intelligence that might find them. Sagan argued the hypothesis, accepted since, that the high surface temperatures of Venus can be attributed to, and calculated using, the greenhouse effect.
1995
1. Madge Sinclair, Jamaican-American actress (b. 1938) deaths
  1. Madge Sinclair
    
    Madge Dorita Sinclair CD was a Jamaican actress best known for her roles in Cornbread, Earl and Me (1975), Convoy (1978), Coming to America (1988), Trapper John, M.D. (1980–1986), and the ABC TV miniseries Roots (1977). Sinclair also voiced the character of Sarabi, Mufasa's mate and Simba's mother, in the Disney animated feature film The Lion King (1994). A five-time Emmy Award nominee, Sinclair won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Drama Series for her role as "Empress" Josephine in Gabriel's Fire in 1991.
1994
1. Dean Rusk, American lawyer, and politician, 54th United States Secretary of State (b. 1909) deaths
  1. Dean Rusk
    
    David Dean Rusk was the United States Secretary of State from 1961 to 1969 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, the second-longest serving Secretary of State after Cordell Hull from the Franklin Roosevelt administration. He had been a high government official in the 1940s and early 1950s, as well as the head of a leading foundation. He is cited as one of the two officers responsible for dividing the two Koreas at the 38th parallel.
  2. United States Secretary of State
    
    The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Cabinet, and ranks the first in the U.S. presidential line of succession among Cabinet secretaries.
1993
1. Robeisy Ramírez, Cuban boxer births
  1. Robeisy Ramírez
    
    Robeisy Eloy Ramírez Carrazana is a Cuban professional boxer. As an amateur, Ramírez won gold medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics as a flyweight and bantamweight respectively.
2. W. Edwards Deming, American statistician, author, and academic (b. 1900) deaths
  1. W. Edwards Deming
    
    William Edwards Deming was an American engineer, statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and management consultant. Educated initially as an electrical engineer and later specializing in mathematical physics, he helped develop the sampling techniques still used by the U.S. Department of the Census and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
3. Nazife Güran, Turkish composer and educator (b. 1921) deaths
  1. Nazife Güran
    
    Nazife Güran was a Turkish composer born in Vienna of a diplomat father. She studied music as a child with her mother and completed primary education in Ankara and high school in Istanbul. She continued her music education at the Berlin Hochschule Music Academy, studying with Rudolph Schmidt for piano and Paul Hoffer for composition. After returning to Ankara, she studied with Ernst Praetorius.
1992
1. Ksenia Makarova, Russian-American figure skater births
  1. Ksenia Makarova
    
    Ksenia Olegovna Makarova is a retired Russian, later an American, figure skater. She is the 2010 Skate Canada International silver medalist, 2009 Cup of Nice champion, and 2010 Russian national champion. She represented Russia at the 2010 Winter Olympics, where she placed 10th.
1991
1. Rachael Boyle, Scottish footballer births
  1. Rachael Boyle
    
    Rachael Boyle is a Scottish international footballer who currently plays as midfielder for Hibernian in the Scottish Women's Premier League.
2. Jillian Rose Reed, American actress births
  1. Jillian Rose Reed
    
    Jillian Rose Reed is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Tamara Kaplan in MTV's TV series Awkward.
3. Fabian Schär, Swiss footballer births
  1. Fabian Schär
    
    Fabian Lukas Schär is a Swiss professional footballer who currently plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Newcastle United and the Switzerland national team.
4. Jorginho, Brazilian footballer births
  1. Jorginho (footballer, born December 1991)
    
    Jorge Luiz Frello Filho, known as Jorginho, is a Brazilian-Italian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Chelsea and the Italy national team. He operates as a defensive midfielder or a deep-lying playmaker, also known as a regista in Italian football.
5. Simone Beck, French chef and author (b. 1904) deaths
  1. Simone Beck
    
    Simone "Simca" Beck was a French cookbook writer and cooking teacher who, along with colleagues Julia Child and Louisette Bertholle, played a significant role in the introduction of French cooking technique and recipes into American kitchens.
6. Sam Rabin, English wrestler, singer, and sculptor (b. 1903) deaths
  1. Samuel Rabin (artist)
    
    Samuel (Sam) Rabin, originally Samuel Rabinovitch, was an English sculptor, artist, teacher, singer, wrestler and Olympic bronze medalist.
7. Albert Van Vlierberghe, Belgian cyclist (b. 1942) deaths
  1. Albert Van Vlierberghe
    
    Albert Van Vlierberghe was a Belgian professional road bicycle racer. Van Vlierberghe won three stages in the Tour de France, and three stages in the Giro d'Italia. He also competed in the team time trial and the team pursuit events at the 1964 Summer Olympics.
1990
1. JoJo, American singer and actress births
  1. JoJo (singer)
    
    Joanna Noëlle Levesque, known professionally as JoJo, is an American singer and actress. Raised in Foxborough, Massachusetts, she began performing in singing competitions and local talent shows as a child. In 2003, record producer Vincent Herbert noticed her after she competed on the television show America's Most Talented Kids and asked her to audition for his record label Blackground Records. Having signed with them that same year, JoJo released her eponymous debut studio album the following year in June 2004. It peaked at number four on the US Billboard 200 and was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), selling over four million copies worldwide to date.
1986
1. Joe DeSa, American baseball player (b. 1959) deaths
  1. Joe DeSa
    
    Joseph DeSa was a Major League Baseball first baseman.
1984
1. Stanley Milgram, American psychologist and academic (b. 1933) deaths
  1. Stanley Milgram
    
    Stanley Milgram was an American social psychologist, best known for his controversial experiments on obedience conducted in the 1960s during his professorship at Yale.
2. Dmitry Ustinov, Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union (1976-84) (b. 1908) deaths
  1. Dmitry Ustinov
    
    Dmitriy Fyodorovich Ustinov was a Marshal of the Soviet Union and Soviet politician during the Cold War. He served as a Central Committee secretary in charge of the Soviet military–industrial complex from 1965 to 1976 and as Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union from 1976 until his death in 1984.
  2. Minister of Defence (Soviet Union)
    
    The Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union refers to the head of the Ministry of Defence who was responsible for defence of the socialist Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1917 to 1922 and the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1992.
1983
1. Jonah Hill, American actor, producer, and screenwriter births
  1. Jonah Hill
    
    Jonah Hill Feldstein is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is known for his comedic roles in films including Superbad (2007), Knocked Up (2007), 21 Jump Street (2012), This Is the End (2013), and 22 Jump Street (2014). For his performances in Moneyball (2011) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
1982
1. Mohammad Asif, Pakistani cricketer births
  1. Mohammad Asif (cricketer)
    
    Mohammad Asif is a Pakistani former cricketer who played for the Pakistani national cricket team between 2005 and 2010.
2. Kasper Klausen, Danish footballer births
  1. Kasper Klausen
    
    Kasper Klausen is a Danish professional football midfielder, who currently is playing for Hvidovre IF.
3. Arthur Rubinstein, Polish-American pianist and composer (b. 1887) deaths
  1. Arthur Rubinstein
    
    Arthur Rubinstein was a Polish-American pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time. He received international acclaim for his performances of the music written by a variety of composers and many regard him as one of the greatest Chopin interpreters of his time. He played in public for eight decades.
1981
1. Dimitris Rontiris, Greek actor and director (b. 1899) deaths
  1. Dimitris Rontiris
    
    Dimitris Rontiris was a Greek actor and director.
1980
1. Israel Castro, Mexican footballer births
  1. Israel Castro
    
    Israel Castro Macías is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.
2. Ashley Cole, English footballer births
  1. Ashley Cole
    
    Ashley Cole is an English football coach and former player who is currently a first-team coach at Premier League club Everton. As a player, he played as a left-back, most notably for Arsenal and Chelsea. Cole is considered by many critics and fellow professional players as one of the best defenders of his generation, and by some, for the better part of his career, as the best left-back in the world. Born in Stepney, London, Cole began his youth career at Arsenal and made his full debut for the club in November 1999, going on to make 228 appearances and scoring nine goals for the North London club. With Arsenal he won two Premier League titles, three FA Cups, and was an integral member of the "Invincibles" team of the 2003–04 season, who went the entire league season undefeated. Cole also made an appearance in Arsenal's first UEFA Champions League final in 2006; the club lost 2–1 to Barcelona.
3. Anthony da Silva, French-Portuguese footballer births
  1. Anthony da Silva
    
    Anthony "Tony" da Silva is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a right-back.
4. Martín Demichelis, Argentinian footballer births
  1. Martín Demichelis
    
    Martín Gastón Demichelis is an Argentine former professional footballer who played usually as a centre-back, although he could also operate as a defensive midfielder. He is the current head coach of River Plate.
1979
1. Michael Rogers, Australian cyclist births
  1. Michael Rogers (cyclist)
    
    Michael Rogers is an Australian retired professional road bicycle racer who competed professionally between 1999 and 2016, for the Mapei–Quick-Step, Quick-Step–Innergetic, Team HTC–Columbia, Team Sky and Tinkoff teams. He is a three-time World Time Trial Champion, winning consecutively in 2003, 2004 and 2005, and won Grand Tour stages at the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia.
1978
1. Andrei Markov, Russian-Canadian ice hockey player births
  1. Andrei Markov (ice hockey)
    
    Andrei Viktorovich Markov is a Russian-Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. Nicknamed "the General", Markov formerly played from 2000 to 2017 with the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He holds both Russian and Canadian citizenship.
2. Geremi Njitap, Cameroon footballer births
  1. Geremi
    
    Geremi Sorele Njitap Fotso, known simply as Geremi, is a Cameroonian former footballer. He was a versatile player able to play at right back, right midfield or defensive midfielder, known for his power, pace, combative style and free-kick ability.
3. Bouabdellah Tahri, French runner births
  1. Bouabdellah Tahri
    
    Bouabdallah "Bob" Tahri is a retired middle-distance and long-distance French runner, who was born in Metz. He competed mainly in the 3000 m steeplechase distance. He also competes in the 2000 m steeplechase, 1500 m, mile, 3000 m, 5000 m, 10000 m and cross-country running. He has won several medals at major international championships such as the World Championships, European Championships and the European Indoor Championships. Moreover, he has won medals in the European Cup, European Team Championships, IAAF World Cup, IAAF Continental Cup and the IAAF World Athletics Final.
4. Yoon Kye-sang, South Korean singer births
  1. Yoon Kye-sang
    
    Yoon Kye-sang is a South Korean actor and singer. He began his career in 1999 as part of the K-pop boy band g.o.d, then left the group in 2004 and pursued an acting career. He made his acting debut in the film Flying Boys (2004), for which he won Best New Actor at the Baeksang Arts Awards. Yoon became active in both television and film, with leading roles in romantic comedies such as My 19 Year Old Sister-in-Law (2004) and Who Are You? (2008) and the melodrama Crazy for You (2007), as well as more serious fare in The Moonlight of Seoul (2008) and The Executioner (2009). After a supporting turn in the hit series The Greatest Love (2011), he returned to the big screen in the well-received indie Poongsan (2011).
1976
1. Nenad Vučković, Croatian footballer births
  1. Nenad Vučković (footballer)
    
    Nenad Vučković is a former Croatian footballer.
2. Richard J. Daley, American lawyer and politician, 48th Mayor of Chicago (b. 1902) deaths
  1. Richard J. Daley
    
    Richard Joseph Daley was an American politician who served as the Mayor of Chicago from 1955 and the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee from 1953 until his death. He has been called "the last of the big city bosses" who controlled and mobilized American cities. Daley was Chicago's third consecutive mayor from the working-class, heavily Irish-American South Side neighborhood of Bridgeport, where he lived his entire life. He was the patriarch of the Daley family, whose members include Richard M. Daley, another former mayor of Chicago; William M. Daley, a former United States Secretary of Commerce; John P. Daley, a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners; and Patrick Daley Thompson, a former alderman of the Chicago City Council.
  2. Mayor of Chicago
    
    The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of city government in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and recommendations to the Chicago City Council, is active in the enforcement of the city's ordinances, submits the city's annual budget and appoints city officers, department commissioners or directors, and members of city boards and commissions.
1975
1. Bartosz Bosacki, Polish footballer births
  1. Bartosz Bosacki
    
    Bartosz Bosacki is a former Polish footballer who played as a defender.
1974
1. Die, Japanese guitarist, songwriter, and producer births
  1. Dir En Grey
    
    Dir En Grey is a Japanese heavy metal band formed in February 1997 and currently signed to Firewall Div., a sub-division of Free-Will. With a consistent lineup of guitarists Kaoru and Die, vocalist Kyo, drummer Shinya and bassist Toshiya, they have released eleven full-length records. Numerous stylistic changes have made the genre of their music difficult to determine, though it is generally considered to be a form of metal. Originally a visual kei band, the members later opted for more subtle attire, but have continued to maintain a dramatic image on stage.
2. Rajani Palme Dutt, English journalist and politician (b. 1896) deaths
  1. R. Palme Dutt
    
    Rajani Palme Dutt, generally known as R. Palme Dutt, was a leading journalist and theoretician in the Communist Party of Great Britain. His classic book India Today heralded the Marxist approach in Indian historiography.
3. André Jolivet, French composer and conductor (b. 1905) deaths
  1. André Jolivet
    
    André Jolivet was a French composer. Known for his devotion to French culture and musical thought, Jolivet drew on his interest in acoustics and atonality, as well as both ancient and modern musical influences, particularly on instruments used in ancient times. He composed in a wide variety of forms for many different types of ensembles.
1973
1. David Nedohin, Canadian curler and sportscaster births
  1. David Nedohin
    
    David Nedohin is a Canadian curler. Nedohin was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and now plays out of Sherwood Park, Alberta. He is best known as the longtime fourth for Randy Ferbey.
2. Luis Carrero Blanco, Spanish admiral and politician, 69th President of the Government of Spain (b. 1904; assassinated) deaths
  1. Luis Carrero Blanco
    
    Admiral-General Luis Carrero Blanco was a Spanish Navy officer and politician. A long-time confidant and right-hand man of dictator Francisco Franco, Carrero served as the Prime Minister of the Francoist Dictatorship and in various other high ranking offices in the regime until his assassination in a car bombing in December 1973.
  2. Prime Minister of Spain
    
    The prime minister of Spain, officially president of the Government, is the head of government of Spain. The office was established in its current form by the Constitution of 1978 and it was first regulated in 1823 as a chairmanship of the extant Council of Ministers, although it is not possible to determine when it actually originated.
3. Bobby Darin, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1936) deaths
  1. Bobby Darin
    
    Bobby Darin was an American musician and actor. He performed jazz, pop, rock and roll, folk, swing, and country music.
1972
1. Anders Odden, Norwegian guitarist, songwriter, and producer births
  1. Anders Odden
    
    Anders Odden is a Norwegian musician. He is the co-founder and guitarist of the Norwegian death metal band Cadaver, and is the bass player for Norwegian black metal band Satyricon (2009–present). He is founder and guitarist of the old school black metal band ORDER and the industrial rock band Magenta. He played live guitar for Celtic Frost (2006–2007) and has had several guest appearances with bands such as The Young Gods and Ministry, among others.
2. Anja Rücker, German sprinter births
  1. Anja Rücker
    
    Anja Rücker is a retired German sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres.
3. Adolfo Orsi, Italian businessman (b. 1888) deaths
  1. Adolfo Orsi
    
    Adolfo Orsi was an Italian industrialist, known for owning the Maserati automobile maker.
1971
1. Roy O. Disney, American banker and businessman, co-founded The Walt Disney Company (b. 1893) deaths
  1. Roy O. Disney
    
    Roy Oliver Disney was an American businessman and co-founder of The Walt Disney Company. He was the older brother of Walt Disney and the father of Roy E. Disney.
  2. The Walt Disney Company
    
    The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt and Roy O. Disney as the Disney Brothers Studio; it also operated under the names the Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before changing its name to the Walt Disney Company in 1986. Early on, the company established itself as a leader in the animation industry, with the creation of the widely popular character Mickey Mouse, who is the company's mascot, and the start of animated films.
1970
1. Grant Flower, Zimbabwean cricketer and coach births
  1. Grant Flower
    
    Grant William Flower is a Zimbabwean cricket coach and former cricketer. He is the current batting coach of Sri Lanka cricket team and Sussex.
2. Jörg Schmidt, German footballer births
  1. Jörg Schmidt (footballer)
    
    Jörg Schmidt is a German former former professional footballer who played as a right midfielder.
1969
1. Alain de Botton, Swiss-English philosopher and author births
  1. Alain de Botton
    
    Alain de Botton is a Swiss-born British author and philosopher. His books discuss various contemporary subjects and themes, emphasizing philosophy's relevance to everyday life. He published Essays in Love (1993), which went on to sell two million copies. Other bestsellers include How Proust Can Change Your Life (1997), Status Anxiety (2004) and The Architecture of Happiness (2006).
2. Zahra Ouaziz, Moroccan runner births
  1. Zahra Ouaziz
    
    Zahra Ouaziz is a retired Moroccan long-distance runner. She was the African record holder at 3000 metres and 5000 metres.
1968
1. Joe Cornish, English actor, director, and screenwriter births
  1. Joe Cornish
    
    Joseph Murray Cornish is an English comedian and filmmaker. With his long-time comedy partner, Adam Buxton, he forms the comedy duo Adam and Joe. In 2011, Cornish released his directorial debut Attack the Block. He also co-wrote The Adventures of Tintin with Steven Moffat and Edgar Wright, and Ant-Man, with Wright, Adam McKay and Paul Rudd.
2. Karl Wendlinger, Austrian racing driver births
  1. Karl Wendlinger
    
    Karl Wendlinger is an Austrian professional racing and former Formula One driver.
3. John Steinbeck, American novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902) deaths
  1. John Steinbeck
    
    John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception." He has been called "a giant of American letters."
  2. 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.
1966
1. Matt Neal, English racing driver births
  1. Matt Neal
    
    Matthew Neal is a British motor racing driver. Neal is a triple BTCC Champion having won the British Touring Car Championship in 2005, 2006 and 2011. Neal is also a record 6 time BTCC Independents Champion having won the title in 1993, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2005 and 2006. He is also a race winner in the European Touring Car Championship. He is 6' 6" (2 m) tall, making him almost entirely unable to race single-seaters. He is also the Group Marketing Director at Rimstock, the alloy wheel manufacturer founded by his father Steve.
2. Veronica Pershina, Russian-American figure skater and coach births
  1. Veronica Pershina
    
    Veronica Petrovna Pershina or Voyk is a former competitive pair skater who competed for the Soviet Union. With Marat Akbarov, she is the 1985 European bronze medalist and 1979 World Junior champion.
3. Chris Robinson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist births
  1. Chris Robinson (singer)
    
    Christopher Mark Robinson is an American musician. He founded the rock band The Black Crowes with his brother Rich Robinson in 1984. Chris is the lead singer of The Black Crowes, and he and his brother are the only continuous members of the Crowes. He is the vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, which was formed in 2011 while the Black Crowes were on hiatus. Robinson is noted for his high tenor vocal range and bluesy vocal runs.
1965
1. Rich Gannon, American football player and sportscaster births
  1. Rich Gannon
    
    Richard Joseph Gannon is an American former football quarterback who played 18 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Subsequently, he was a sports commentator with CBS Sports for 16 years.
1964
1. Mark Coleman, American mixed martial artist and wrestler births
  1. Mark Coleman
    
    Mark Daniel Coleman is an American retired mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and amateur wrestler. Coleman was the UFC 10 and UFC 11 tournament champion, the first UFC Heavyweight Champion, and the Pride Fighting Championships 2000 Open Weight Grand Prix champion. At UFC 82 Coleman was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
1961
1. Mohammad Fouad, Egyptian singer-songwriter and actor births
  1. Mohamed Fouad
    
    Mohamed Fouad Abd El Hamid Hassan is an Egyptian singer, actor and songwriter. He filmed his first television series "Agla Min Hayaty" in 2010, and hosted the television show "Khush Ala Fo’sh" in 2014.
2. Mike Keneally, American singer-songwriter and guitarist births
  1. Mike Keneally
    
    Michael Joseph Keneally is an American session guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist and composer.
3. Freddie Spencer, American motorcycle racer births
  1. Freddie Spencer
    
    Frederick Burdette Spencer, sometimes known by the nickname Fast Freddie, is an American former world champion motorcycle racer. Spencer is regarded as one of the greatest motorcycle racers of the early 1980s.
4. Moss Hart, American director and playwright (b. 1904) deaths
  1. Moss Hart
    
    Moss Hart was an American playwright, librettist, and theatre director.
5. Earle Page, Australian soldier and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1880) deaths
  1. Earle Page
    
    Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page was an Australian surgeon and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Australia, holding office for 19 days after the death of Joseph Lyons in 1939. He was the leader of the Country Party from 1921 to 1939, and was the most influential figure in its early years.
  2. Prime Minister of Australia
    
    The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the federal government of Australia and is also accountable to federal parliament under the principles of responsible government. The current prime minister is Anthony Albanese of the Australian Labor Party, who became prime minister on 23 May 2022.
1960
1. Nalo Hopkinson, Jamaican-Canadian author and educator births
  1. Nalo Hopkinson
    
    Nalo Hopkinson is a Jamaican-born Canadian speculative fiction writer and editor. Her novels and short stories such as those in her collection Skin Folk often draw on Caribbean history and language, and its traditions of oral and written storytelling.
2. Kim Ki-duk, South Korean director, producer, and screenwriter births
  1. Kim Ki-duk
    
    Kim Ki-duk was a South Korean film director and screenwriter, noted for his idiosyncratic art-house cinematic works. His films have received many distinctions in the festival circuit, rendering him one of the most important contemporary Asian film directors.
1959
1. George Coupland, Scottish scientist births
  1. George Coupland
    
    George Michael Coupland FRS is a Scottish plant scientist, and Research Scientist and Director of the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research.
2. Hildegard Körner, German runner births
  1. Hildegard Körner
    
    Hildegard Körner, née Ullrich is a retired East German middle distance runner who specialized in the 800 metres.
3. Jackie Fox, American bass player births
  1. Jackie Fox
    
    Jacqueline Louise Fuchs is an American attorney and former musician. Under her stage name Jackie Fox, she played bass guitar for the pioneering all-girl teenage rock band The Runaways. She is the sister of screenwriter Carol Fuchs and sister-in-law of Castle Rock Entertainment co-founder Martin Shafer.
4. Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, Polish physicist and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Poland births
  1. Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz
    
    Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz is a Polish conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of Poland from 31 October 2005 to 14 July 2006. He was a member of the Law and Justice party.
  2. Prime Minister of Poland
    
    The President of the Council of Ministers, colloquially referred to as the prime minister, is the head of the cabinet and the head of government of Poland. The responsibilities and traditions of the office stem from the creation of the contemporary Polish state, and the office is defined in the Constitution of 1997. According to the Constitution, the president nominates and appoints the prime minister, who will then propose the composition of the Cabinet. Fourteen days following their appointment, the prime minister must submit a programme outlining the government's agenda to the Sejm, requiring a vote of confidence. Conflicts stemming from both interest and powers have arisen between the offices of President and Prime Minister in the past.
5. Trent Tucker, American basketball player and sportscaster births
  1. Trent Tucker
    
    Kelvin Trent Tucker is an American retired professional basketball player who played eleven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
6. Juhan Simm, Estonian composer and conductor (b. 1885) deaths
  1. Juhan Simm
    
    Juhan Simm was an Estonian composer, conductor and choir director.
1958
1. Doug Nordquist, American high jumper births
  1. Doug Nordquist
    
    Douglas Nordquist is a retired male high jumper from the United States, who competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics where he ended up in fifth place with a jump of 2.29 metres. He was TAC high jump champion in 1986 and 1988, and placed second at the 1984 Olympic Trials behind distant cousin Dwight Stones. He competed for Sonora High School, finishing a three-way tie for third place at the 1977 CIF California State Meet, Fullerton Community College, Washington State University where he was coached by 1968 Olympian Rick Sloan and Tiger International. He was a practitioner of Washington State's specialized weight training for high jumpers He set his personal record of 2.36m while finishing second at the TAC National Championships at Cerritos College in Norwalk, California on June 15, 1990. That jump currently ranks Nordquist tied as the 25th best performer in history. For his athletic achievements, Nordquist was inducted into the Washington State University Hall of Fame in 2015 and was an inaugural inductee to the Fullerton College Track and Field Wall of Fame in 2019.
2. James Thomson, American biologist and academic births
  1. James Thomson (cell biologist)
    
    James Alexander Thomson is an American developmental biologist best known for deriving the first human embryonic stem cell line in 1998 and for deriving human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) in 2007.
1957
1. Billy Bragg, English singer-songwriter and guitarist births
  1. Billy Bragg
    
    Stephen William Bragg is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is heavily centred on bringing about change and involving the younger generation in activist causes.
2. Anna Vissi, Cypriot singer-songwriter and actress births
  1. Anna Vissi
    
    Anna Vissi, is a Greek Cypriot singer and songwriter. She studied music at conservatories and performed locally before moving to the professional scene in Athens, in 1973, where she signed with Minos and simultaneously collaborated with other musical artists and released promotional singles of her own while studying at the University of Athens.
3. Mike Watt, American singer-songwriter and bass player births
  1. Mike Watt
    
    Michael David Watt is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter.
1956
1. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, Mauritanian general and politician, President of Mauritania births
  1. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz
    
    Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz is a former Mauritanian politician who was the 8th President of Mauritania, in office from 2009 to 2019. A career soldier and high-ranking officer, he was a leading figure in the August 2005 coup that deposed President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, and in August 2008 he led another coup, which toppled President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi. Following the 2008 coup, Abdel Aziz became President of the High Council of State as part of what was described as a political transition leading to a new election. He resigned from that post in April 2009 in order to stand as a candidate in the July 2009 presidential election, which he won. He was sworn in on 5 August 2009. He was subsequently re-elected in 2014, then did not seek re-election in 2019. He was succeeded by Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, who assumed office on 1 August 2019.
  2. List of heads of state of Mauritania
    
    This is a list of heads of state of Mauritania since the country gained independence from France in 1960 to the present day.
2. Guy Babylon, American keyboard player and songwriter (d. 2009) births
  1. Guy Babylon
    
    Guy Babylon was an American keyboardist/composer, most noted for his work with Elton John.
3. Blanche Baker, American actress and screenwriter births
  1. Blanche Baker
    
    Blanche Baker is an American actress and filmmaker. She won an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in the television mini-series Holocaust. Baker is known for her role as Ginny Baker in Sixteen Candles; she also starred in the title role of Lolita on Broadway. In 2012, she produced and starred in a film about Ruth Madoff titled Ruth Madoff Occupies Wall Street.
4. Junji Hirata, Japanese wrestler births
  1. Junji Hirata
    
    Junji Hirata is a retired Japanese professional wrestler currently working as a trainer for the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion, known primarily by his ring name Super Strong Machine .
5. Andrew Mackenzie, Scottish geologist and businessman births
  1. Andrew Mackenzie (businessman)
    
    Sir Andrew Stewart Mackenzie is a Scottish businessman, who is the chairman of Shell plc and formerly CEO of BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company. He succeeded Marius Kloppers, on 10 May 2013, and was succeeded by Mike Henry, at the start of 2020.
6. Anita Ward, American disco/R&B singer births
  1. Anita Ward
    
    Anita Ward (sources differ) is an American singer and musician from Memphis, Tennessee. Beginning her professional music career in the late 1970s, Ward is best known for her 1979 million-selling chart-topper R&B/Disco hit "Ring My Bell" which was #1 on the United States Hot 100, R&B, Dance and United Kingdom charts.
7. Ramón Carrillo, Argentinian neurologist and physician (b. 1906) deaths
  1. Ramón Carrillo
    
    Ramón Carrillo was an Argentine neurosurgeon, neurobiologist, physician, academic, public health advocate, and from 1949 to 1954 the nation's first Minister of Public Health, from 1949 to 1954.
1955
1. David Breashears, American mountaineer, director, and producer births
  1. David Breashears
    
    David Finlay Breashears is an American mountaineer, filmmaker, author, and motivational speaker. In 1985, he reached the summit of Mount Everest a second time, becoming the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest more than once. He is perhaps best known as the director and cinematographer of Everest (1998)—which became the highest-grossing IMAX documentary—and for his assistance in the rescue efforts during the 1996 Everest disaster, which occurred during the film's production.
2. Binali Yıldırım, Turkish lawyer and politician, Turkish Minister of Transport births
  1. Binali Yıldırım
    
    Binali Yıldırım is a Turkish politician who served as the 27th and last Prime Minister of Turkey from 2016 to 2018 and Speaker of the Grand National Assembly from 2018 to 2019. He was Leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) from 2016 to 2017, then becoming parliamentary leader until 2018.
  2. Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (Turkey)
    
    The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure is a government ministry office of the Republic of Turkey, responsible for transport, information and communication services in Turkey. Its head office is in Ankara. The current minister is Adil Karaismailoğlu, in office since March 2020.
3. Martin Schulz, German politician births
  1. Martin Schulz
    
    Martin Schulz is a German politician who served as Leader of the Social Democratic Party from 2017 to 2018, and was a Member of the Bundestag (MdB) from 2017 to 2021. Previously he was President of the European Parliament from 2012 to 2017, Leader of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats from 2004 to 2012 and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Germany from 1994 to 2017.
1954
1. Michael Badalucco, American actor births
  1. Michael Badalucco
    
    Michael Badalucco is an American actor. He made his screen debut in the film Raging Bull (1980) and subsequently appeared in many films such as Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Miller's Crossing (1990), Jungle Fever (1991), Mac (1992), Léon: The Professional (1994), Summer of Sam (1999), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) and The Man Who Wasn't There (2001). His breakthrough role came as attorney Jimmy Berlutti in the television series The Practice (1997–2004), for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1999.
2. Sandra Cisneros, American author and poet births
  1. Sandra Cisneros
    
    Sandra Cisneros is an American writer. She is best known for her first novel, The House on Mango Street (1983), and her subsequent short story collection, Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories (1991). Her work experiments with literary forms that investigate emerging subject positions, which Cisneros herself attributes to growing up in a context of cultural hybridity and economic inequality that endowed her with unique stories to tell. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, was awarded one of 25 new Ford Foundation Art of Change fellowships in 2017, and is regarded as a key figure in Chicano literature.
3. James Hilton, English-American author and screenwriter (b. 1900) deaths
  1. James Hilton (novelist)
    
    James Hilton was an English novelist and screenwriter. He is best remembered for his novels Lost Horizon, Goodbye, Mr. Chips and Random Harvest, as well as co-writing screenplays for the films Camille (1936) and Mrs. Miniver (1942), the latter earning him an Academy Award.
1952
1. Jenny Agutter, English actress births
  1. Jenny Agutter
    
    Jennifer Ann Agutter is a British actress. She began her career as a child actress in 1964, appearing in East of Sudan, Star!, and two adaptations of The Railway Children—the BBC's 1968 television serial and the 1970 film version. She also starred in the critically acclaimed film Walkabout and the TV film The Snow Goose, for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama.
1951
1. Nuala O'Loan, Baroness O'Loan, Northern Irish academic and police ombudsman births
  1. Nuala O'Loan, Baroness O'Loan
    
    Nuala Patricia O'Loan, Baroness O'Loan,, known between 2007 and 2009 as Dame Nuala O'Loan, is a noted public figure in Northern Ireland. She was the first Police Ombudsman from 1999 to 2007. In July 2009, it was announced that she was to be appointed to the House of Lords and she was so appointed in September 2009. In December 2010, National University of Ireland, Maynooth appointed her as Chairman of its Governing Authority. She is a columnist with The Irish Catholic.
2. Marta Russell, American author and activist (d. 2013) births
  1. Marta Russell
    
    Marta Russell was an American writer and disability rights activist. Her book, Beyond Ramps: Disability at the End of the Social Contract published in 1998 by Common Courage Press analyzes the relationship between disability, social Darwinism, and economic austerity under capitalism. Her political views, which she described as "left, not liberal," informed her writing on topics such as healthcare, the prison-industrial complex, physician-assisted suicide, poverty, ableism, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
1950
1. Arturo Márquez, Mexican-American composer births
  1. Arturo Márquez
    
    Arturo Márquez Navarro is a Mexican composer of orchestral music who uses musical forms and styles of his native Mexico and incorporates them into his compositions.
2. Enrico Mizzi, Maltese lawyer and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Malta (b. 1885) deaths
  1. Enrico Mizzi
    
    Enrico Mizzi was a Maltese politician, leader of the Maltese Nationalist Party from 1926 and briefly Prime Minister of Malta in 1950.
  2. Prime Minister of Malta
    
    The prime minister of Malta is the head of government, which is the highest official of Malta. The Prime Minister chairs Cabinet meetings, and selects its ministers to serve in their respective portfolios. The Prime Minister holds office by virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the Parliament, as such they sit as Members of Parliament.
1949
1. Soumaïla Cissé, Malian engineer and politician births
  1. Soumaïla Cissé
    
    Soumaïla Cissé was a Malian politician who served in the government of Mali as Minister of Finance from 1993 to 2000. He thrice stood unsuccessfully as a presidential candidate, in 2002, 2013 and 2018; on all three occasions he was defeated in a second round of voting. Since 2014 he was President of the Union for the Republic and Democracy, a political party.
1948
1. Alan Parsons, English keyboard player and producer births
  1. Alan Parsons
    
    Alan Parsons is an English audio engineer, songwriter, musician and record producer.
2. Mitsuko Uchida, Japanese pianist births
  1. Mitsuko Uchida
    
    Dame Mitsuko Uchida, DBE is a classical pianist and conductor, born in Japan and naturalised in Britain, particularly noted for her interpretations of Mozart and Schubert.
1947
1. Gigliola Cinquetti, Italian singer-songwriter births
  1. Gigliola Cinquetti
    
    Gigliola Cinquetti is an Italian singer, songwriter, and television presenter.
1946
1. Uri Geller, Israeli-English magician and psychic births
  1. Uri Geller
    
    Uri Geller is an Israeli-British illusionist, magician, television personality, and self-proclaimed psychic. He is known for his trademark television performances of spoon bending and other illusions. Geller uses conjuring tricks to simulate the effects of psychokinesis and telepathy. Geller's career as an entertainer has spanned more than four decades, with television shows and appearances in many countries. Magicians have called Geller a fraud due to his claims of possessing psychic powers.
2. Dick Wolf, American director, producer, and screenwriter births
  1. Dick Wolf
    
    Richard Anthony Wolf is an American television producer, best known for his Law & Order franchise. Since 1990, the franchise has included six police/courtroom dramas and four international spinoffs. He is also creator and executive producer of the Chicago franchise, which since 2012 has included four Chicago-based dramas, and the creator and executive producer of FBI franchise, which since 2018 has also become a franchise after spinning off two additional series.
1945
1. Peter Criss, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer births
  1. Peter Criss
    
    George Peter John Criscuola, better known by his stage name Peter Criss, is a retired American musician, best known as a co-founder, original drummer, and vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. Criss established The Catman character for his Kiss persona. In 2014, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Kiss.
2. Sivakant Tiwari, Indian-Singaporean lawyer and author (d. 2010) births
  1. Sivakant Tiwari
    
    Sivakant Tiwari, P.P.A.(E.), P.B.S., P.P.A.(E.)(L.), P.J.G., known professionally as S. Tiwari, was a senior legal officer of the Singapore Legal Service. He was educated at the University of Singapore, graduating in law in 1971. He then made the Legal Service his career, serving as head of the Ministry of Defence's legal department (1974), and head of the Attorney-General's Chambers' Civil Division (1987) and International Affairs Division (1995). He was lead counsel in three significant commissions of inquiry arising out of fatal incidents in the 1970s and 1980s. A skilled negotiator, Tiwari was a member of the Singapore delegation which dealt with the United States – Singapore Free Trade Agreement signed in 2003, and served as legal adviser to the delegation which established diplomatic relations between Singapore and the People's Republic of China. He was also on Singapore's legal team in a case concluded in 2003 that had been brought by Malaysia to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea for provisional measures against alleged damage to its territorial waters due to land reclamation by Singapore, and in the territorial dispute with Malaysia over Pedra Branca before the International Court of Justice in 2007.
1944
1. Ray Martin, Australian television host and journalist births
  1. Ray Martin (television presenter)
    
    Raymond George Martin AM is an Australian television journalist and entertainment personality. Having won the Gold Logie five times, he is the most awarded star of Australian television, along with Graham Kennedy.
1942
1. Rana Bhagwandas, Pakistani lawyer and judge, Chief Justice of Pakistan (d. 2015) births
  1. Rana Bhagwandas
    
    Rana Bhagwandas was a Pakistani jurist who served as a senior judge and acting chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (CJP). He enjoyed extremely high reputation as a judge. He remained the acting CJP during the 2007 judicial crisis in Pakistan, and also briefly became the acting Chief Justice of Pakistan when the incumbent Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry went on foreign tours in 2005 and 2006, and thus became the first Hindu and the second non-Muslim to serve as chief of the highest court in Pakistan. Rana Bhagwandas also worked as the Chairman of Federal Public Service Commission of Pakistan. He headed the interview panel for the selection of the federal civil servants in 2009.
  2. Chief Justice of Pakistan
    
    The Chief Justice of Pakistan is the head of the court system of Pakistan and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The officeholder is the senior most of 17 senior justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
2. Bob Hayes, American sprinter and football player (d. 2002) births
  1. Bob Hayes
    
    Robert Lee Hayes, nicknamed "Bullet Bob", was an Olympic gold medalist sprinter who then became an American football split end in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. Bob Hayes the only athlete to win both an Olympic gold medal and a Super Bowl ring. An American track and field athlete, he was a two-sport stand-out in college in both track and football at Florida A&M University. Hayes was enshrined in the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor in 2001 and was selected for induction in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in January 2009. Hayes is the second Olympic gold medalist to be inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, after Jim Thorpe. He once held the world record for the 70-yard dash. He also is tied for the world's second-fastest time in the 60-yard dash. He was once considered the "world's fastest human" by virtue of his multiple world records in the 60-yard, 100-yard, 220-yard, and Olympic 100-meter dashes. He was inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame.
3. Jean-Claude Trichet, French banker and economist births
  1. Jean-Claude Trichet
    
    Jean-Claude Trichet is a French economist who served as President of the European Central Bank from 2003 to 2011. Previous to his assumption of the presidency he served as Governor of the Bank of France from 1993 to 2003.
1941
1. Igor Severyanin, Russian-Estonian poet and author (b. 1887) deaths
  1. Igor Severyanin
    
    Igor Severyanin was a Russian poet who presided over the circle of the so-called Ego-Futurists.
1939
1. Kathryn Joosten, American actress (d. 2012) births
  1. Kathryn Joosten
    
    Kathryn Joosten was an American actress. Her best known roles include Dolores Landingham on NBC's The West Wing from 1999 to 2002 and Karen McCluskey on ABC's Desperate Housewives from 2005 to 2012, for which she won two Primetime Emmy Awards in 2005 and 2008.
2. Kim Weston, American soul singer births
  1. Kim Weston
    
    Kim Weston is an American soul singer, and Motown alumna. In the 1960s, Weston scored hits with the songs "Love Me All the Way" and "Take Me in Your Arms ", and with her duet with Marvin Gaye, "It Takes Two".
3. Hans Langsdorff, German captain (b. 1894) deaths
  1. Hans Langsdorff
    
    Hans Wilhelm Langsdorff was a German naval officer, most famous for his command of the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee during the Battle of the River Plate off the coast of Uruguay in 1939. After the Panzerschiff was unable to escape a pursuing squadron of Royal Navy ships, Langsdorff scuttled his ship. Three days later he died by suicide in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1938
1. Annie Armstrong, American missionary (b. 1850) deaths
  1. Annie Armstrong
    
    Annie Walker Armstrong was a lay Southern Baptist denominational leader instrumental in the founding of the Woman's Missionary Union.
2. Matilda Howell, American archer (b. 1859) deaths
  1. Lida Howell
    
    Matilda "Lida" Scott Howell was an American archer who competed in the early twentieth century. She won three gold medals in Archery at the 1904 Summer Olympics in Missouri in the double national and Columbia rounds and for the US team.
1937
1. Erich Ludendorff, German general (b. 1865) deaths
  1. Erich Ludendorff
    
    Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff was a German general, politician and military theorist. He achieved fame during World War I for his central role in the German victories at Liège and Tannenberg in 1914. Following his appointment as First Quartermaster-general of the Imperial Army's Great General Staff in 1916, he became the chief policymaker in a de facto military dictatorship that dominated Germany for the rest of the war. After Germany's defeat, he contributed significantly to the Nazis' rise to power.
1935
1. Khalid Ibadulla, Pakistani cricketer and sportscaster births
  1. Billy Ibadulla
    
    Khalid "Billy" Ibadulla is a Pakistani New Zealander cricket coach, commentator, former cricket umpire and cricketer. He has worked as TVNZ cricket commentator. He played in four Tests for Pakistan between 1964 and 1967.
2. Martin O'Meara, Irish-Australian sergeant, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1882) deaths
  1. Martin O'Meara
    
    Martin O'Meara, VC was an Irish-born Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
  2. Victoria Cross
    
    The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously awarded by countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, most of which have established their own honours systems and no longer recommend British honours. It may be awarded to a person of any military rank in any service and to civilians under military command. No civilian has received the award since 1879. Since the first awards were presented by Queen Victoria in 1857, two-thirds of all awards have been personally presented by the British monarch. The investitures are usually held at Buckingham Palace.
1933
1. Jean Carnahan, American author and politician births
  1. Jean Carnahan
    
    Jean Anne Carnahan is an American politician and writer who was the First Lady of Missouri from 1993 to 2000, and served as the state's junior United States senator from 2001 to 2002. A Democrat, she was appointed to fill the Senate seat of her husband Mel Carnahan, who had been posthumously elected, becoming the first woman to represent Missouri in the U.S. Senate.
2. Olavi Salonen, Finnish runner births
  1. Olavi Salonen
    
    Olavi Salonen is a Finnish athlete. He is a former world record holder of men's 1500-metre run.
3. Rik Van Looy, Belgian cyclist births
  1. Rik Van Looy
    
    Henri "Rik" Van Looy is a Belgian former professional cyclist of the post-war period, nicknamed the King of the Classics or Emperor of Herentals. He was twice world professional road race champion, and was the first cyclist to win all five 'Monuments': the most prestigious one-day classics – a feat since achieved by just two others. With 379 road victories he's second to Merckx only. He is ninth on the all-time list of Grand Tour stage winners with thirty-seven victories.
1932
1. John Hillerman, American actor (d. 2017) births
  1. John Hillerman
    
    John Benedict Hillerman was an American actor best known for his starring role as Jonathan Quayle Higgins III on the television series Magnum, P.I. that aired from 1980 to 1988. For his role as Higgins, Hillerman earned five Golden Globe nominations, winning in 1981, and four Emmy nominations, winning in 1987. He retired from acting in 1999.
1931
1. Mala Powers, American actress (d. 2007) births
  1. Mala Powers
    
    Mary Ellen "Mala" Powers was an American actress.
1929
1. Émile Loubet, French lawyer and politician, 8th President of France (b. 1838) deaths
  1. Émile Loubet
    
    Émile François Loubet was the 45th Prime Minister of France from February to December 1892 and later President of France from 1899 to 1906.
  2. President of France
    
    The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic, is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the position is the highest office in France. The powers, functions and duties of prior presidential offices, in addition to their relation with the prime minister and Government of France, have over time differed with the various constitutional documents since the Second Republic.
1927
1. Michael Beaumont, 22nd Seigneur of Sark, English engineer and politician (d. 2016) births
  1. Michael Beaumont, 22nd Seigneur of Sark
    
    Seigneur
2. Jim Simpson, American sportscaster (d. 2016) births
  1. Jim Simpson (sportscaster)
    
    James Shores Simpson was an American sportscaster, known for his smooth delivery as a play-by-play man and his versatility in covering many different sports. In 1997, he won the Sports Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2000 he was inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame.
3. Kim Young-sam, South Korean soldier and politician, 7th President of South Korea (d. 2015) births
  1. Kim Young-sam
    
    Kim Young-sam was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the seventh president of South Korea from 1993 to 1998.
  2. 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.
4. Frederick Semple, American golfer and tennis player (b. 1872) deaths
  1. Frederick Semple
    
    Frederick Humphrey Semple was an American golfer and tennis player who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics.
1926
1. Geoffrey Howe, Welsh lawyer and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 2015) births
  1. Geoffrey Howe
    
    Richard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon, was a British Conservative politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1989 to 1990.
  2. Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
    
    The deputy prime minister of the United Kingdom is a minister of the Crown and a member of the British Cabinet. The office is not always in use, and prime ministers may use other offices, such as First Secretary of State, to indicate the seniority.
2. Otto Graf Lambsdorff, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of Economics (d. 2009) births
  1. Otto Graf Lambsdorff
    
    Otto Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von der Wenge Graf Lambsdorff, known as Otto Graf Lambsdorff, was a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP).
  2. Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action
    
    The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, abbreviated BMWK, is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was previously known as the "Ministry of Economy". It was recreated in 2005 as "Ministry of Economics and Technology" after it had previously been merged with other ministries to form the Federal Ministry for Economics and Labour between 2002 and 2005. The ministry is advised by the Council of Advisors on Digital Economy.
1925
1. Benito Lorenzi, Italian footballer (d. 2007) births
  1. Benito Lorenzi
    
    Benito "Veleno" Lorenzi was an Italian footballer born in Borgo a Buggiano, province of Pistoia. He played as a striker.
1924
1. Charlie Callas, American actor and comedian (d. 2011) births
  1. Charlie Callas
    
    Charlie Callas was an American actor and comedian. He was most commonly known for his work with Mel Brooks, Jerry Lewis, and Dean Martin, and his many stand-up appearances on television talk shows in the 1970s. He was also known for his role as Malcolm Argos, the restaurant owner and former con man, on the Eddie Albert and Robert Wagner television series Switch (1975–1978). Callas was also known as the voice of Elliott the Dragon in Disney's live-action/animated musical film Pete's Dragon (1977).
2. Judy LaMarsh, Canadian soldier, lawyer, and politician, 42nd Secretary of State for Canada (d. 1980) births
  1. Judy LaMarsh
    
    Julia Verlyn LaMarsh, was a Canadian politician, lawyer, author and broadcaster. In 1963, she was only the second woman to ever serve as a federal Cabinet Minister. Under Prime Minister Lester Pearson's minority governments of the middle and late 1960s, she helped push through the legislation that created the Canada Pension Plan and Medicare. As Secretary of State, she was in charge of Canada's Centennial celebrations in 1967. After leaving politics in 1968, she wrote three books, and had her own radio show on CBC Radio. She was stricken with pancreatic cancer in 1979 and was given the Order of Canada at her hospital bed. She died a few days short of the 20th anniversary of her first political election victory, in 1980.
  2. Secretary of State for Canada
    
    The Secretary of State for Canada, established in 1867 with a corresponding department, was a Canadian Cabinet position that served as the official channel of communication between the Dominion of Canada and the Imperial government in London.
1922
1. George Roy Hill, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2002) births
  1. George Roy Hill
    
    George Roy Hill was an American film director. He is most noted for directing such films as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and The Sting (1973), both starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford.
2. Beverly Pepper, American sculptor and painter (d. 2020) births
  1. Beverly Pepper
    
    Beverly Pepper was an American sculptor known for her monumental works, site specific and land art. She remained independent from any particular art movement. She lived in Italy, primarily in Todi, since the 1950s.
1921
1. Julius Richard Petri, German microbiologist (b. 1852) deaths
  1. Julius Richard Petri
    
    Julius Richard Petri was a German microbiologist who is generally credited with inventing the device known as the Petri dish, which is named after him, while working as assistant to bacteriologist Robert Koch.
1920
1. Väinö Linna, Finnish author (d. 1992) births
  1. Väinö Linna
    
    Väinö Linna was a Finnish author. He gained literary fame with his third novel, Tuntematon sotilas, and consolidated his position with the trilogy Täällä Pohjantähden alla. Both have been adapted to a film format on several occasions; The Unknown Soldier was first adapted into a film in 1955 and Under the North Star in 1968 as Here, Beneath the North Star, both directed by Edvin Laine.
2. Linton Hope, English sailor and architect (b. 1863) deaths
  1. Linton Hope
    
    Linton Chorley Hope FRAes was a sailor from Great Britain, who represented his country at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Meulan, France. With Lorne Currie as helmsman and fellow crewmembers John Gretton and Algernon Maudslay, Hope took first places in both the race of the .5 to 1 ton class and the Open class.
1919
1. Philip Fysh, English-Australian politician, 12th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1835) deaths
  1. Philip Fysh
    
    Sir Philip Oakley Fysh was an English-born Australian politician. He arrived in Tasmania in 1859 and became a leading merchant in Hobart. He served two terms as premier of Tasmania and became a leader of the colony's federation movement. He subsequently won election to the new federal House of Representatives (1901–1910) and was invited to represent Tasmania in the first federal ministry, serving as minister without portfolio (1901–1903) and Postmaster-General (1903–1904).
  2. Premier of Tasmania
    
    The premier of Tasmania is the head of the executive government in the Australian state of Tasmania. By convention, the leader of the party or political grouping which has majority support in the House of Assembly is invited by the governor of Tasmania to be premier and principal adviser.
1918
1. Jean Marchand, Canadian trade union leader and politician, 43rd Secretary of State for Canada (d. 1988) births
  1. Jean Marchand
    
    Jean Marchand, was a French Canadian public figure, trade unionist and politician in Quebec, Canada.
  2. Secretary of State for Canada
    
    The Secretary of State for Canada, established in 1867 with a corresponding department, was a Canadian Cabinet position that served as the official channel of communication between the Dominion of Canada and the Imperial government in London.
1917
1. David Bohm, American-English physicist, neuropsychologist, and philosopher (d. 1992) births
  1. David Bohm
    
    David Joseph Bohm was an American-Brazilian-British scientist who has been described as one of the most significant theoretical physicists of the 20th century and who contributed unorthodox ideas to quantum theory, neuropsychology and the philosophy of mind.
2. Cahit Külebi, Turkish poet and author (d. 1997) births
  1. Cahit Külebi
    
    Cahit Külebi was a leading Turkish poet and author. He has an important place in contemporary Turkish poetry due to his attachment to folk poetry traditions. His poetry is enriched with simple yet ironic language, embellished with original descriptions.
3. Audrey Totter, American actress (d. 2013) births
  1. Audrey Totter
    
    Audrey Mary Totter was an American radio, film, and television actress and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player in the 1940s.
4. Lucien Petit-Breton, French-Argentinian cyclist (b. 1882) deaths
  1. Lucien Petit-Breton
    
    Lucien Georges Mazan was a French racing cyclist, known as the first two-time winner of the Tour de France.
1916
1. Michel Chartrand, Canadian trade union leader and activist (d. 2010) births
  1. Michel Chartrand
    
    Michel Chartrand was a Canadian trade union leader from Quebec.
2. Arthur Morgan, Australian politician, 16th Premier of Queensland (b. 1856) deaths
  1. Arthur Morgan (Australian politician, born 1856)
    
    Sir Arthur Morgan (1856–1916) was an Australian politician and Premier of Queensland from 1903 to 1906.
  2. Premier of Queensland
    
    The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland.
1915
1. Aziz Nesin, Turkish author and poet (d. 1995) births
  1. Aziz Nesin
    
    Aziz Nesin was a Turkish writer, humorist and the author of more than 100 books. Born in a time when Turks did not have official surnames, he had to adopt one after the Surname Law of 1934 was passed. Although his family carried the epithet "Topalosmanoğlu", after an ancestor named "Topal Osman", he chose the surname "Nesin".
2. Upendrakishore Ray, Indian painter and composer (b. 1863) deaths
  1. Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury
    
    Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury was a Bengali writer and painter. One of his written book is Chotoder Shera Biggan Rochona Shongkolon. He was the son-in-law of reformer Dwarkanath Ganguly. He was also an entrepreneur. He was the first person who introduced the colour printing in Bengal. He started the first colour children's magazine Sandesh in 1913.
1914
1. Harry F. Byrd Jr., American lieutenant, publisher, and politician (d. 2013) births
  1. Harry F. Byrd Jr.
    
    Harry Flood Byrd Jr. was an American orchardist, newspaper publisher and politician. He served in the Senate of Virginia and then represented Virginia in the United States Senate, succeeding his father, Harry F. Byrd Sr. His public service spanned thirty-six years, while he was a publisher of several Virginia newspapers. After the decline of the Byrd Organization due to its massive resistance to racial integration of public schools, he abandoned the Democratic Party in 1970, citing concern about its leftward tilt. He rehabilitated his political career, becoming the first independent in the history of the U.S. Senate to be elected by a majority of the popular vote.
1911
1. Hortense Calisher, American author (d. 2009) births
  1. Hortense Calisher
    
    Hortense Calisher was an American writer of fiction and the second female president of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
1909
1. Vakkom Majeed, Indian journalist and politician (d. 2000) births
  1. Vakkom Majeed
    
    Vakkom Majeed was an Indian freedom fighter, politician and a former member of the Travancore-Cochin State Assembly. He was born into one of the most prominent aristocratic Muslim families in Travancore. Influenced by the works of his uncle, Vakkom Moulavi, he became involved in social and political reform movements. Majeed was one of the early architects of the Indian National Congress in Travancore, eventually becoming the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Attingal constituency (1948–1952). Regarded as one of the great Indian nationalists of 20th century, Majeed belonged to a tradition of politics that was intrinsically value-based, secular and humanistic.
1908
1. Dennis Morgan, American actor and singer (d. 1994) births
  1. Dennis Morgan
    
    Dennis Morgan was an American actor-singer. He used the acting pseudonym Richard Stanley before adopting the name under which he gained his greatest fame.
1907
1. Paul Francis Webster, American soldier and songwriter (d. 1984) births
  1. Paul Francis Webster
    
    Paul Francis Webster was an American lyricist who won three Academy Awards for Best Original Song, and was nominated sixteen times for the award.
1905
1. Bill O'Reilly, Australian cricketer and sportscaster (d. 1992) births
  1. Bill O'Reilly (cricketer)
    
    William Joseph O'Reilly OBE was an Australian cricketer, rated as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. Following his retirement from playing, he became a well-respected cricket writer and broadcaster.
1904
1. Spud Davis, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1984) births
  1. Spud Davis
    
    Virgil Lawrence "Spud" Davis was an American professional baseball player, coach, scout and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, and Pittsburgh Pirates. Davis' .308 career batting average ranks fourth all-time among major league catchers.
2. Yevgenia Ginzburg, Russian author (d. 1977) births
  1. Yevgenia Ginzburg
    
    Yevgenia Solomonovna Ginzburg was a Soviet writer who served an 18-year sentence in the Gulag. Her given name is often Latinized to Eugenia.
1902
1. Prince George, Duke of Kent (d. 1942) births
  1. Prince George, Duke of Kent
    
    Prince George, Duke of Kent, was a member of the British royal family, the fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary. He was a younger brother of kings Edward VIII and George VI.
2. Sidney Hook, American philosopher and author (d. 1989) births
  1. Sidney Hook
    
    Sidney Hook was an American philosopher of pragmatism known for his contributions to the philosophy of history, the philosophy of education, political theory, and ethics. After embracing communism in his youth, Hook was later known for his criticisms of totalitarianism, both fascism and Marxism–Leninism. A social democrat, Hook sometimes cooperated with conservatives, particularly in opposing Marxism–Leninism. After World War II, he argued that members of such groups as the Communist Party USA and Leninists like democratic centralists could ethically be barred from holding the offices of public trust because they called for the violent overthrow of democratic governments.
1901
1. Robert J. Van de Graaff, American physicist and academic, invented the Van de Graaff generator (d. 1967) births
  1. Robert J. Van de Graaff
    
    Robert Jemison Van de Graaff was an American physicist, noted for his design and construction of high-voltage Van de Graaff generators. The bulk of his career was spent in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  2. Van de Graaff generator
    
    A Van de Graaff generator is an electrostatic generator which uses a moving belt to accumulate electric charge on a hollow metal globe on the top of an insulated column, creating very high electric potentials. It produces very high voltage direct current (DC) electricity at low current levels. It was invented by American physicist Robert J. Van de Graaff in 1929. The potential difference achieved by modern Van de Graaff generators can be as much as 5 megavolts. A tabletop version can produce on the order of 100 kV and can store enough energy to produce visible electric sparks. Small Van de Graaff machines are produced for entertainment, and for physics education to teach electrostatics; larger ones are displayed in some science museums.
1900
1. Lissy Arna, German film actress (d. 1964) births
  1. Lissy Arna
    
    Lissy Arna was a German film actress. She appeared in 63 films between 1918 and 1962. She starred in the 1931 film The Squeaker, which was directed by Martin Frič and Karel Lamač. She entered U.S. films in 1930 under the direction of William Dieterle, appearing in German-language versions of American films.
1899
1. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Welsh preacher and physician (d. 1981) births
  1. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
    
    David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899–1981) was a Welsh Protestant minister and medical doctor who was influential in the Calvinist wing of the British evangelical movement in the 20th century. For almost 30 years, he was the minister of Westminster Chapel in London.
1898
1. Konstantinos Dovas, Greek general and politician, 156th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1973) births
  1. Konstantinos Dovas
    
    Konstantinos Dovas was a Greek general and interim Prime Minister.
  2. List of prime ministers of Greece
    
    This is a list of the heads of government of the modern Greek state, from its establishment during the Greek Revolution to the present day. Although various official and semi-official appellations were used during the early decades of independent statehood, the title of prime minister has been the formal designation of the office at least since 1843. On dates, Greece officially adopted the Gregorian calendar on 16 February 1923. All dates prior to that, unless specifically denoted, are Old Style.
2. Irene Dunne, American actress and singer (d. 1990) births
  1. Irene Dunne
    
    Irene Dunne was an American actress who appeared in films during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She is best known for her comedic roles, though she performed in films of other genres.
1894
1. Robert Menzies, Australian lawyer and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1978) births
  1. Robert Menzies
    
    Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, was an Australian politician who was the 12th and longest-serving prime minister of Australia, holding office for over 18 years from 1939 to 1941 and again from 1949 to 1966. He played a central role in the creation of the Liberal Party of Australia, defining its policies and its broad outreach.
  2. Prime Minister of Australia
    
    The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the federal government of Australia and is also accountable to federal parliament under the principles of responsible government. The current prime minister is Anthony Albanese of the Australian Labor Party, who became prime minister on 23 May 2022.
1893
1. George C. Magoun, American businessman (b. 1840) deaths
  1. George C. Magoun
    
    George C. Magoun was, in the late 1880s, the Chairman of the Board of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.
1891
1. Erik Almlöf, Swedish triple jumper (d. 1971) births
  1. Erik Almlöf
    
    Erik Albin Almlöf was a Swedish athlete who specialized in the triple jump. He competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm where he won the bronze medal. Due to World War I no Olympics were held in 1916, but Almlöf returned to the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, where he won his second Olympic bronze medal.
1890
1. Yvonne Arnaud, French pianist, actress and singer (d. 1958) births
  1. Yvonne Arnaud
    
    Germaine Yvonne Arnaud was a French-born pianist, singer and actress, who was well known for her career in Britain, as well as her native land. After beginning a career as a concert pianist as a child, Arnaud acted in musical comedies. She switched to non-musical comedy and drama around 1920 and was one of the players in the second of the Aldwych farces, A Cuckoo in the Nest, a hit in 1925. She also had dramatic roles and made films in the 1930s and 1940s, and continued to act into the 1950s. She occasionally performed as a pianist later in her career. The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre was named in her memory in Guildford, Surrey.
2. Jaroslav Heyrovský, Czech chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967) births
  1. Jaroslav Heyrovský
    
    Jaroslav Heyrovský was a Czech chemist and inventor. Heyrovský was the inventor of the polarographic method, father of the electroanalytical method, and recipient of the Nobel Prize in 1959 for his discovery and development of the polarographic methods of analysis. His main field of work was polarography.
  2. 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.
1888
1. Yitzhak Baer, German-Israeli historian and academic (d. 1980) births
  1. Yitzhak Baer
    
    Yitzhak Baer was a German-Israeli historian and an expert on medieval Spanish Jewish history.
2. Fred Merkle, American baseball player and manager (d. 1956) births
  1. Fred Merkle
    
    Carl Frederick Rudolf Merkle, nicknamed "Bonehead", was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball from 1907 to 1926. Although he had a lengthy career, he is best remembered for a controversial base-running mistake he made as a rookie while still a teenager.
1886
1. Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, American tennis player and businessman (d. 1974) births
  1. Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman
    
    Hazel Virginia Hotchkiss Wightman, CBE was an American tennis player and founder of the Wightman Cup, an annual team competition for British and American women. She dominated American women's tennis before World War I, and won 45 U.S. titles during her life.
1881
1. Branch Rickey, American baseball player and manager (d. 1965) births
  1. Branch Rickey
    
    Wesley Branch Rickey was an American baseball player and sports executive. Rickey was instrumental in breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier by signing black player Jackie Robinson. He also created the framework for the modern minor league farm system, encouraged the Major Leagues to add new teams through his involvement in the proposed Continental League, and introduced the batting helmet. He was posthumously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967.
1880
1. Gaspar Tochman, Polish-American colonel and lawyer (b. 1797) deaths
  1. Gaspar Tochman
    
    Kasper (Gaspar) Tochman was Polish-born American lawyer and soldier who formed the Polish Brigade of Johnson's Division.
1873
1. Kan'ichi Asakawa, Japanese historian, author, and academic (d. 1948) births
  1. Kan'ichi Asakawa
    
    Kan'ichi Asakawa was a Japanese academic, author, historian, librarian, curator and peace advocate. Asakawa was Japanese by birth and citizenship, but he lived the major portion of his life in the United States.
2. Mehmet Akif Ersoy, Turkish poet, academic, and politician (d. 1936) births
  1. Mehmet Akif Ersoy
    
    Mehmet Akif Ersoy was a Turkish pan-Islamist poet, writer, academic, politician, and the author of the Turkish National Anthem. Widely regarded as one of the premiere literary minds of his time, Ersoy is noted for his command of the Turkish language, as well as his patriotism and role in the Turkish War of Independence.
1871
1. Henry Kimball Hadley, American composer and conductor (d. 1937) births
  1. Henry Kimball Hadley
    
    Henry Kimball Hadley was an American composer and conductor.
1869
1. Charley Grapewin, American actor (d. 1956) births
  1. Charley Grapewin
    
    Charles Ellsworth Grapewin was an American vaudeville and circus performer, a writer, and a stage and film actor. He worked in over 100 motion pictures during the silent and sound eras, most notably portraying Uncle Henry in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's The Wizard of Oz (1939), "Grandpa" William James Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Jeeter Lester in Tobacco Road (1941), and California Joe in They Died With Their Boots On (1941).
1868
1. Harvey Samuel Firestone, American businessman, founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company (d. 1938) births
  1. Harvey S. Firestone
    
    Harvey Samuel Firestone was an American businessman, and the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, one of the first global makers of automobile tires.
  2. Firestone Tire and Rubber Company
    
    Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is a tire company founded by Harvey Firestone (1868–1938) in 1900 initially to supply solid rubber side-wire tires for fire apparatus, and later, pneumatic tires for wagons, buggies, and other forms of wheeled transportation common in the era. Firestone soon saw the huge potential for marketing tires for automobiles, and the company was a pioneer in the mass production of tires. Harvey Firestone had a personal friendship with Henry Ford, and used this to become the original equipment supplier of Ford Motor Company automobiles, and was also active in the replacement market.
1865
1. Elsie de Wolfe, American actress and interior decorator (d. 1950) births
  1. Elsie de Wolfe
    
    Elsie de Wolfe, Lady Mendl was an American actress who became a very prominent interior designer and author. Born in New York City, de Wolfe was acutely sensitive to her surroundings from her earliest years and became one of the first female interior decorators, replacing dark and ornate Victorian decor with lighter, simpler styles and uncluttered room layouts.
1862
1. Robert Knox, Scottish surgeon and zoologist (b. 1791) deaths
  1. Robert Knox
    
    Robert Knox was a Scottish anatomist and ethnologist best known for his involvement in the Burke and Hare murders. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Knox eventually partnered with anatomist and former teacher John Barclay and became a lecturer on anatomy in the city, where he introduced the theory of transcendental anatomy. However, Knox's incautious methods of obtaining cadavers for dissection before the passage of the Anatomy Act 1832 and disagreements with professional colleagues ruined his career in Scotland. Following these developments, he moved to London, though this did not revive his career.
1861
1. Ferdinand Bonn, German actor (d. 1933) births
  1. Ferdinand Bonn
    
    Ferdinand Bonn was a German stage and film actor.
2. Ivana Kobilca, Slovenian painter (d. 1926) births
  1. Ivana Kobilca
    
    Ivana Kobilca is the most prominent Slovene female painter and a key figure of Slovene cultural identity. She was a realist painter who studied and worked in Vienna, Munich, Paris, Sarajevo, Berlin, and Ljubljana. She mostly painted oil paintings and pastels, whereas her drawings are few. The themes include still life, portraits, genre works, allegories, and religious scenes. She was a controversial person, criticized for following movements that had not developed further in later periods.
1856
1. Francesco Bentivegna, Italian activist (b. 1820) deaths
  1. Francesco Bentivegna
    
    Baron Francesco Bentivegna was an Italian patriot, who led various revolts in Sicily against the Bourbon rulers between 1848 and 1856.
1841
1. Ferdinand Buisson, French academic and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1932) births
  1. Ferdinand Buisson
    
    Ferdinand Édouard Buisson was a French academic, educational bureaucrat, pacifist and Radical-Socialist politician. He presided over the League of Education from 1902 to 1906 and the Human Rights League (LDH) from 1914 to 1926. In 1927, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to him jointly with Ludwig Quidde. Philosopher and educator, he was Director of Primary Education. He was the author of a thesis on Sebastian Castellio, in whom he saw a "liberal Protestant" in his image. Ferdinand Buisson was the president of the National Association of Freethinkers. In 1905, he chaired the parliamentary committee to implement the separation of church and state. Famous for his fight for secular education through the League of Education, he coined the term laïcité ("secularism").
  2. Nobel Peace Prize
    
    The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine and Literature. Since March 1901, it has been awarded annually to those who have "done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses".
1838
1. Edwin Abbott Abbott, English theologian, author, and educator (d. 1926) births
  1. Edwin Abbott Abbott
    
    Edwin Abbott Abbott was an English schoolmaster, theologian, and Anglican priest, best known as the author of the novella Flatland (1884).
1820
1. John Bell, American farmer (b. 1750) deaths
  1. John Bell (farmer)
    
    John Bell was an American farmer whose death was attributed to supernatural causes. He is a central figure in the Bell Witch ghost story of southern American folklore. In 1817, Bell contracted a mysterious affliction that worsened over the next three years, ultimately leading to his death. According to the story, the Bell Witch took pleasure in tormenting him during his affliction, finally poisoning him one December morning as he lay unconscious after suffering a number of violent seizures.
1812
1. Laura M. Hawley Thurston, American poet and educator (d. 1842) births
  1. Laura M. Thurston
    
    Laura M. Thurston was an American poet and educator. A prolific writer, most of her works were originally published in the Louisville Journal, and in William D. Gallagher's Hesperian. Among Indiana's early poets, she was a contemporary of Amanda Ruter Dufour, while among Kentucky poets, she was a friend of Amelia B. Coppuck Welby.
2. Sacagawea, American explorer (b. 1788) deaths
  1. Sacagawea
    
    Sacagawea was a Lemhi Shoshone woman who, in her teens, helped the Lewis and Clark Expedition in achieving their chartered mission objectives by exploring the Louisiana Territory. Sacagawea traveled with the expedition thousands of miles from North Dakota to the Pacific Ocean, helping to establish cultural contacts with Native American people and contributing to the expedition's knowledge of natural history in different regions.
1806
1. Martín Carrera, Mexican general and president (1855) (d. 1871) births
  1. Martín Carrera
    
    Martín Carrera Sabat was a Mexican general, senator, and interim president of the country for about a month in 1855. He was a moderate Liberal.
1792
1. Nicolas Toussaint Charlet, French painter and educator (d. 1845) births
  1. Nicolas Toussaint Charlet
    
    Nicolas Toussaint Charlet was a French painter and printmaker, more especially of military subjects.
1786
1. Pietro Raimondi, Italian composer (d. 1853) births
  1. Pietro Raimondi
    
    Pietro Raimondi was an Italian composer, transitional between the Classical and Romantic eras. While he was famous at the time as a composer of operas and sacred music, he was also as an innovator in contrapuntal technique as well as in creation of gigantic musical simultaneities.
1783
1. Antonio Soler, Spanish priest and composer (b. 1729) deaths
  1. Antonio Soler
    
    Antonio Francisco Javier José Soler Ramos, usually known as Padre Antonio Soler, known in Catalan as Antoni Soler i Ramos was a Catalan Spanish composer whose works span the late Baroque and early Classical music eras. He is best known for his many mostly one-movement keyboard sonatas.
1768
1. Carlo Innocenzo Frugoni, Italian poet and academic (b. 1692) deaths
  1. Carlo Innocenzo Frugoni
    
    Carlo Innocenzo Frugoni was an Italian poet and librettist. As a poet Frugoni was one of the best of the school of the Arcadian Academy, and his lyrics and pastorals had great facility and elegance. His collected works were published at Parma in 10 volumes in 1799, and a more complete edition appeared at Lucca in the same year in 15 volumes.
1765
1. Louis, dauphin of France (b. 1729) deaths
  1. Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765)
    
    Louis, Dauphin of France was the elder and only surviving son of King Louis XV of France and his wife, Queen Marie Leszczyńska. As a son of the king, Louis was a fils de France. As heir apparent, he became Dauphin of France. However, he died before he could ascend the throne. Three of his sons became kings of France: Louis XVI, Louis XVIII and Charles X (1824–1830).
1740
1. Arthur Lee, American physician and diplomat (d. 1792) births
  1. Arthur Lee (diplomat)
    
    Arthur Lee was a physician and opponent of slavery in colonial Virginia in North America who served as an American diplomat during the American Revolutionary War. He helped negotiate and signed the 1778 Treaty of Alliance with France, along with Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane, which allied France and the United States in fighting the war.
2. Richard Boyle, 2nd Viscount Shannon, English field marshal and politician, Governor of Portsmouth (b. 1675) deaths
  1. Richard Boyle, 2nd Viscount Shannon
    
    Field Marshal Richard Boyle, 2nd Viscount Shannon, PC was a British Army officer and statesman. After serving as a junior officer at the Battle of the Boyne during the Williamite War in Ireland and at the Battle of Landen during the Nine Years' War, he commanded a brigade of grenadiers during the storming of Vigo during the War of the Spanish Succession. During this engagement the entire French fleet, under the command of the Marquis de Château-Renault, together with the Spanish galleons and transports under Manuel de Velasco, were either captured or destroyed. He also took part in a successful raid on Barcelona three years later. He went on to serve as Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Irish Army throughout the 1720s and 1730s.
  2. List of governors of Portsmouth
    
    The Governor of Portsmouth was the Constable of Portchester Castle from the 13th Century to the reign of Henry VIII. Since then Portsmouth had its own military Captain or Governor, who was based in the Square Tower built in Old Portsmouth in 1494 as part of the fortifications to protect the rapidly expanding naval port. The Coats of Arms of former Governors of Portsmouth are displayed on the walls of the Square Tower's Lower Hall. In 1540, the Hospital of St. Nicholas, suitably converted and modernised, became the military centre of the town. Its Domus Dei, now the roofless Royal Garrison Church, became the residence of the Captain or Governor. The Governorship was abolished in 1834.
1723
1. Augustus Quirinus Rivinus, German physician and botanist (b. 1652) deaths
  1. Augustus Quirinus Rivinus
    
    Augustus Quirinus Rivinus, also known as August Bachmann or A. Q. Bachmann, was a German physician and botanist who helped to develop better ways of classifying plants.
1722
1. Kangxi, emperor of the Qing Dynasty (b. 1654) deaths
  1. Kangxi Emperor
    
    The Kangxi Emperor, also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to 1722.
1658
1. Jean Jannon, French designer and typefounder (b. 1580) deaths
  1. Jean Jannon
    
    Jean Jannon was a French Protestant printer, type designer, punchcutter and typefounder active in Sedan in the seventeenth century. He was a reasonably prolific printer by contemporary standards, printing several hundred books.
1641
1. Urban Hjärne, Swedish chemist, geologist, and physician (d. 1724) births
  1. Urban Hjärne
    
    Urban Hjärne was a Swedish chemist, geologist, physician and writer.
1629
1. Pieter de Hooch, Dutch painter (d. 1684) births
  1. Pieter de Hooch
    
    Pieter de Hooch was a Dutch Golden Age painter famous for his genre works of quiet domestic scenes with an open doorway. He was a contemporary of Jan Vermeer in the Delft Guild of St. Luke, with whom his work shares themes and style.
1626
1. Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff, German scholar and politician (d. 1692) births
  1. Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff
    
    Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff or Seckendorf, German statesman and scholar, was a member of the House of Seckendorff, a noble family which took its name from the village of Seckendorf between Nuremberg and Langenzenn. The family was divided into eleven distinct lines, widely distributed throughout Prussia, Württemberg, and Bavaria.
1590
1. Ambroise Paré, French physician and surgeon (b. 1510) deaths
  1. Ambroise Paré
    
    Ambroise Paré was a French barber surgeon who served in that role for kings Henry II, Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III. He is considered one of the fathers of surgery and modern forensic pathology and a pioneer in surgical techniques and battlefield medicine, especially in the treatment of wounds. He was also an anatomist, invented several surgical instruments, and was a member of the Parisian barber surgeon guild.
1576
1. John Sarkander, Moravian priest and saint (d. 1620) births
  1. Jan Sarkander
    
    Jan Sarkander was a Polish-Czech Roman Catholic priest. Sarkander was married for a short period of time before he became widowed and pursued a path to the priesthood where he became active in defence of the faith during a period of anti-Catholic sentiment and conflict. He himself was arrested on false accusations as a means of silencing him and he refused to give in to his tormenters who tortured him for around a month before he died.
1552
1. Katharina von Bora, wife of Martin Luther (b. 1499) deaths
  1. Katharina von Bora
    
    Katharina von Bora, after her wedding Katharina Luther, also referred to as "die Lutherin", was the wife of Martin Luther, German reformer and a seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation. Beyond what is found in the writings of Luther and some of his contemporaries, little is known about her. Despite this, Katharina is often considered an important participant of the Reformation because of her role in helping to set precedents for Protestant family life and clergy marriages.
  2. Martin Luther
    
    Martin Luther was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutheranism.
1539
1. Johannes Lupi, Flemish composer (b. 1506) deaths
  1. Johannes Lupi
    
    Jean Leleu, most commonly known by the latinized version of his name, Johannes Lupi, was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. A representative of the generation after Josquin, he was a minor but skilled composer of polyphony who was mainly active in Cambrai.
1537
1. John III, king of Sweden (d. 1592) births
  1. John III of Sweden
    
    John III was King of Sweden from 1569 until his death. He was the son of King Gustav I of Sweden and his second wife Margaret Leijonhufvud. He was also, quite autonomously, the ruler of Finland, as Duke John from 1556 to 1563. In 1581 he assumed also the title Grand Prince of Finland. He attained the Swedish throne after a rebellion against his half-brother Eric XIV. He is mainly remembered for his attempts to close the gap between the newly established Lutheran Church of Sweden and the Catholic church, as well as his conflict with, and murder of, his brother.
1496
1. Joseph ha-Kohen, historian and physician (d. 1575) births
  1. Joseph ha-Kohen
    
    Joseph ben Joshua ben Meïr ha-Kohen was a historian and physician of the 16th century.
1494
1. Oronce Finé, French mathematician and cartographer (d. 1555) births
  1. Oronce Finé
    
    Oronce Finé was a French mathematician, cartographer, editor and book illustrator.
1355
1. Stefan Dušan, emperor of Serbia (b. 1308) deaths
  1. Stefan Dušan
    
    Stefan Uroš IV Dušan, known as Dušan the Mighty, was the King of Serbia from 8 September 1331 and Tsar and autocrat of the Serbs and Greeks from 16 April 1346 until his death in 1355.
1340
1. John I, duke of Bavaria (b. 1329) deaths
  1. John I, Duke of Bavaria
    
    John I of Bavaria, was the Duke of Lower Bavaria since 1339.
1326
1. Peter of Moscow, Russian metropolitan bishop deaths
  1. Saint Peter of Moscow
    
    Peter, Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Rus (c. 1260- 20 December 1326) was the Russian metropolitan who moved his see from Vladimir to Moscow in 1325. Later he was proclaimed a patron saint of Moscow. In spite of the move, the office remained officially entitled "Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus'" until the autocephalous election of Jonah of Moscow in 1448.
1295
1. Margaret of Provence, French queen (b. 1221) deaths
  1. Margaret of Provence
    
    Margaret of Provence was Queen of France by marriage to King Louis IX.
977
1. Fujiwara no Kanemichi, Japanese statesman (b. 925) deaths
  1. Fujiwara no Kanemichi
    
    Fujiwara no Kanemichi , also known as Horikawa-dono and Tōtōmi-kō, was a Japanese statesman, courtier and politician during the Heian period.
910
1. Alfonso III, king of Asturias deaths
  1. Alfonso III of Asturias
    
    Alfonso III, called the Great, was the king of León, Galicia and Asturias from 866 until his death. He was the son and successor of Ordoño I. In later sources he is the earliest to be called "Emperor of Spain." He was also titled "Prince of all Galicia".
217
1. Zephyrinus, pope of the Catholic Church deaths
  1. Pope Zephyrinus
    
    Pope Zephyrinus was the bishop of Rome from 199 to his death on 20 December 217. He was born in Rome, and succeeded Victor I. Upon his death on 20 December 217, he was succeeded by his principal advisor, Callixtus I. He is known for combating heresies and defending the divinity of Christ.

Holidays

Abolition of Slavery Day, also known as Fête des Cafres (Réunion, French Guiana)
1. Cafres
  
  Cafres or Kafs, are people born in Réunion of African origins. This includes people of Malagasy ancestry. Many also have admixture from other ethnic groups.
2. Réunion
  
  Réunion is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately 950 km (590 mi) east of the island of Madagascar and 175 km (109 mi) southwest of the island of Mauritius. As of January 2022, it had a population of 868,846.
3. French Guiana
  
  French Guiana is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas. It borders Brazil to the east and south and Suriname to the west.
Bo Aung Kyaw Day (Myanmar)
1. Bo Aung Kyaw Day
  
  On 20 December 1938, Bo Aung Kyaw was killed during a mounted police charge by the British Indian Imperial Police during the third Rangoon University student boycott. Bo Aung Kyaw Day commemorates him as the first student leader who died in the independence struggle of Myanmar.
2. Myanmar
  
  Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, also known as Burma, is a country in Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia, and has a population of about 54 million as of 2017. Myanmar is bordered by Bangladesh and India to its northwest, China to its northeast, Laos and Thailand to its east and southeast, and the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal to its south and southwest. The country's capital city is Naypyidaw, and its largest city is Yangon (Rangoon).
Christian feast day: Dominic of Silos
1. Dominic of Silos
  
  Dominic of Silos, O.S.B., was a Spanish monk, to whom the Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos, where he served as the abbot, is dedicated. He is revered as a saint in the Catholic Church. His feast day is 20 December.
Christian feast day: O Clavis
1. O Antiphons
  
  The O Antiphons are Magnificat antiphons used at vespers on the last seven days of Advent in Western Christian traditions. They likely date to sixth-century Italy, when Boethius refers to the text in The Consolation of Philosophy. They subsequently became one of the key musical features of the days leading up to Christmas.
Christian feast day: Ursicinus of Saint-Ursanne
1. Ursicinus of Saint-Ursanne
  
  Ursicinus was an Irish missionary and hermit in the Jura region.
Christian feast day: Katharina von Bora (Lutheran)
1. Katharina von Bora
  
  Katharina von Bora, after her wedding Katharina Luther, also referred to as "die Lutherin", was the wife of Martin Luther, German reformer and a seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation. Beyond what is found in the writings of Luther and some of his contemporaries, little is known about her. Despite this, Katharina is often considered an important participant of the Reformation because of her role in helping to set precedents for Protestant family life and clergy marriages.
2. Lutheranism
  
  Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched the Protestant Reformation. The reaction of the government and church authorities to the international spread of his writings, beginning with the Ninety-five Theses, divided Western Christianity. During the Reformation, Lutheranism became the state religion of numerous states of northern Europe, especially in northern Germany, Scandinavia and the then-Livonian Order. Lutheran clergy became civil servants and the Lutheran churches became part of the state.
Christian feast day: December 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
1. December 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  
  December 19 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - December 21
Earliest date for Winter solstice's eve (Northern Hemisphere), and its related observances: Yaldā (Iran)
1. Yaldā Night
  
  Yaldā Night or Chelle Night is an Iranian festival celebrated on the winter solstice. This corresponds to the night of December 20/21 (±1) in the Gregorian calendar, and to the night between the last day of the ninth month (Azar) and the first day of the tenth month (Dey) of the Iranian solar calendar. The festival is celebrated in Iran and other historically Iranian-influenced regions, including Azerbaijan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The longest and darkest night of the year is a time when friends and family gather together to eat, drink and read poetry and the Shahnameh until well after midnight. Fruits and nuts are eaten and pomegranates and watermelons are particularly significant. The red color in these fruits symbolizes the crimson hues of dawn and glow of life. The poems of Divan-e Hafez, which can be found in the bookcases of most Iranian families, are read or recited on various occasions such as this festival and Nowruz. Shab-e Yalda was officially added to Iran's List of National Treasures in a special ceremony in 2008.
2. Iran
  
  Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan to the north, by Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east, and by the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south. It covers an area of 1.64 million square kilometres, making it the 17th-largest country. Iran has a population of 86 million, making it the 17th-most populous country in the world, and the second-largest in the Middle East. Its largest cities, in descending order, are the capital Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Karaj, Shiraz, and Tabriz.
International Human Solidarity Day (International)
1. International Human Solidarity Day
  
  International Human Solidarity Day (IHSD), observed on December 20, is an international annual unity day of the United Nations and its member states. Its main goal is to recognize the universal value of solidarity by making member states aware of global objectives and initiatives to reduce poverty and to formulate and share poverty reduction strategies of independent nations around the world. IHSD is promoted by the World Solidarity Fund and United Nations Development Programme, which are focused on achieving goals set for worldwide poverty eradication. An individual can participate or celebrate the day either by contributing to education or helping the poor or physically or mentally disabled. Governments are instead encouraged to respond to poverty and other social barriers through the Sustainable Development Goals.
2. Lists of holidays
  
  Lists of holidays by various categorizations.
Macau Special Administrative Region Establishment Day (Macau)
1. Public holidays in Macau
  
  Public holidays in Macau are dates assigned by the Macau government allowing the public administration staff to rest instead of working. The current rest days of the Macau government are Saturdays and Sundays; while public holidays basically include traditional Chinese holidays, western and Catholic festivals as well as Macau local festivals.
2. Macau
  
  Macau or Macao, officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a population of about 680,000 and an area of 32.9 km2 (12.7 sq mi), it is the most densely populated region in the world.

Important events in history on December 20 th

Events

United States Space Force

Pablo Picasso

Portrait of Suzanne Bloch

São Paulo Museum of Art

Elizabeth II

Queen Victoria

Portrait of Suzanne Bloch

Pablo Picasso

Candido Portinari

São Paulo Museum of Art

Northern Bank robbery

Donegall Square

Danske Bank (Northern Ireland)

Belfast

Northern Ireland

Bank robbery

Transfer of sovereignty over Macau

Macau

Macau

Transfer of sovereignty over Macau

China

Portugal

Dayton Agreement

Bosnian War

NATO

Implementation Force

American Airlines Flight 965

Buga, Valle del Cauca

NATO

Bosnia and Herzegovina

American Airlines Flight 965

Boeing 757

Cali

Colombia

Murder of Tina Isa

United States invasion of Panama

List of deposed politicians

Manuel Noriega

United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances

Illegal drug trade

Vienna

List of maritime disasters

MV Doña Paz

Oil tanker

Tablas Strait

MV Doña Paz

MT Vector

Tablas Strait

Philippines

Pope John Paul II

World Youth Day

Murder of Jonelle Matthews

Greeley, Colorado

Summit Tunnel fire

Rail freight transport

Gasoline

Todmorden

Pennines

Murder of Jonelle Matthews

Greeley, Colorado

NBC

American football

New York Jets

Miami Dolphins

Announcerless game

Assassination of Luis Carrero Blanco

Car bomb

ETA (separatist group)

Madrid

Prime Minister of Spain

Luis Carrero Blanco

Zodiac Killer

Benicia, California

Pennsylvania Railroad

Budd Metroliner

Amtrak

Boeing 707

Cardiff

Important events in history
on December 20 ^th