On This Day /

Important events in history
on March 11 th

Events

  1. 2021

    1. US President Joe Biden signs the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan into law.

      1. Head of state and head of government of the United States of America

        President of the United States

        The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.

      2. President of the United States since 2021

        Joe Biden

        Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. is an American politician who is the 46th and current president of the United States. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017 under President Barack Obama, and represented Delaware in the United States Senate from 1973 to 2009.

      3. Act to address economic effects of COVID-19

        American Rescue Plan Act of 2021

        The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, is a US$1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, to speed up the country's recovery from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing recession. First proposed on January 14, 2021, the package builds upon many of the measures in the CARES Act from March 2020 and in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, from December.

  2. 2020

    1. The World Health Organization (WHO) declares the COVID-19 virus epidemic a pandemic.

      1. Specialized agency of the United Nations

        World Health Organization

        The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health". Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, it has six regional offices and 150 field offices worldwide.

      2. Contagious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2

        COVID-19

        Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic.

      3. Virus that causes COVID-19

        SARS-CoV-2

        Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a provisional name, 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), and has also been called human coronavirus 2019. First identified in the city of Wuhan, Hubei, China, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020, and a pandemic on 11 March 2020. SARS‑CoV‑2 is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus that is contagious in humans.

      4. Rapid spread of disease affecting a large number of people in a short time

        Epidemic

        An epidemic is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time.

      5. Ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019

        COVID-19 pandemic

        The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified from an outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Attempts to contain failed, allowing the virus to spread to other areas of Asia and later worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020 and a pandemic on 11 March 2020. As of 1 December 2022, the pandemic had caused more than 643 million cases and 6.63 million confirmed deaths, making it one of the deadliest in history.

  3. 2012

    1. U.S. Army soldier Robert Bales murdered sixteen civilians and wounded six others in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.

      1. Land service branch of the United States Armed Forces

        United States Army

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

      2. American mass murderer

        Robert Bales

        Robert Bales is a former United States Army sniper and mass murderer who killed 16 Afghan civilians in Panjwayi District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, on March 11, 2012 – an event known as the Kandahar massacre.

      3. 2012 shooting of unarmed civilians by a U.S. soldier during the War in Afghanistan

        Kandahar massacre

        The Kandahar massacre, also called the Panjwai massacre, was a mass murder that occurred in the early hours of 11 March 2012, when United States Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales murdered 16 Afghan civilians and wounded six others in the Panjwayi District of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. Nine of his victims were children, and eleven of the dead were from the same family. Some of the corpses were partially burned. Bales was taken into custody later that morning when he told authorities, "I did it".

      4. Province of Afghanistan

        Kandahar Province

        Kandahār is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the southern part of the country, sharing a border with Pakistan, to the south. It is surrounded by Helmand in the west, Uruzgan in the north and Zabul Province in the east. Its capital is the city of Kandahar, Afghanistan's second largest city, which is located on the Arghandab River. The greater region surrounding the province is called Loy Kandahar. The Emir of Afghanistan sends orders to Kabul from Kandahar making it the de facto capital of Afghanistan, although the main government body operates in Kabul. All meetings with the Emir take place in Kandahar, meetings excluding the Emir are in Kabul.

    2. A U.S. soldier kills 16 civilians in the Panjwayi District of Afghanistan near Kandahar.

      1. 2012 shooting of unarmed civilians by a U.S. soldier during the War in Afghanistan

        Kandahar massacre

        The Kandahar massacre, also called the Panjwai massacre, was a mass murder that occurred in the early hours of 11 March 2012, when United States Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales murdered 16 Afghan civilians and wounded six others in the Panjwayi District of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. Nine of his victims were children, and eleven of the dead were from the same family. Some of the corpses were partially burned. Bales was taken into custody later that morning when he told authorities, "I did it".

      2. District of Kandahar Province, southeastern Afghanistan

        Panjwayi District

        Panjwayi is a district in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. It is located about 35 kilometres (22 mi) west of Kandahar. The district borders Helmand Province to the southwest, Maywand District to the west, Zhari District to the north, Arghandab, Kandahar and Daman districts to the east and Reg District to the south. Panjwayi was reduced in size in 2004 when Zhari District was created out of the northern part of it, on the northern side of the Arghandab River, which now forms the northern boundary.

      3. Country in Central and South Asia

        Afghanistan

        Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, Tajikistan to the northeast, and China to the northeast and east. Occupying 652,864 square kilometers (252,072 sq mi) of land, the country is predominantly mountainous with plains in the north and the southwest, which are separated by the Hindu Kush mountain range. As of 2021, its population is 40.2 million, composed mostly of ethnic Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks. Kabul is the country's largest city and serves as its capital.

      4. City in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan

        Kandahar

        Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of 1,010 m (3,310 ft). It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the capital of Kandahar Province as well as the de facto capital of the Taliban, formally known as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. It also happens to be the centre of the larger cultural region called Loy Kandahar. In 1709, Mirwais Hotak made the region an independent kingdom and turned Kandahar into the capital of the Hotak dynasty. In 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of the Durrani dynasty, made Kandahar the capital of the Afghan Empire. Historically this province is considered as important political area for Afghanistan revelations.

  4. 2011

    1. A massive earthquake and tsunami struck northeastern Japan and triggered a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

      1. Megathrust earthquake off Japan's east coast and cause of the Fukushima nuclear disaster

        2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

        The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami occurred at 14:46 JST on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (Mw) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, 72 km (45 mi) east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes, causing a tsunami. It is sometimes known in Japan as the "Great East Japan Earthquake" , among other names. The disaster is often referred to in both Japanese and English as simply 3.11.

      2. Northeastern portion of Honshu island, Japan

        Tōhoku region

        The Tōhoku region , Northeast region, or Northeast Japan consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (ken): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata.

      3. 2011 nuclear disaster in Japan

        Fukushima nuclear disaster

        The Fukushima nuclear disaster was a nuclear accident in 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan. The proximate cause of the disaster was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which occurred on the afternoon of 11 March 2011 and remains the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan. The earthquake triggered a powerful tsunami, with 13–14-meter-high waves damaging the nuclear power plant's emergency diesel generators, leading to a loss of electric power. The result was the most severe nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, classified as level seven on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) after initially being classified as level five, and thus joining Chernobyl as the only other accident to receive such classification. While the 1957 explosion at the Mayak facility was the second worst by radioactivity released, the INES ranks incidents by impact on population, so Chernobyl and Fukushima rank higher than the 10,000 evacuated from the Mayak site in the rural southern Urals.

      4. Disabled nuclear power plant in Japan

        Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

        The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is a disabled nuclear power plant located on a 3.5-square-kilometre (860-acre) site in the towns of Ōkuma and Futaba in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The plant suffered major damage from the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, 2011. The chain of events caused radiation leaks and permanently damaged several of its American-designed reactors, making them impossible to restart. By political decision, the remaining reactors were not restarted.

    2. An earthquake measuring 9.0 in magnitude strikes 130 km (81 mi) east of Sendai, Japan, triggering a tsunami killing thousands of people. This event also triggered the second largest nuclear accident in history, and one of only two events to be classified as a Level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale.

      1. Megathrust earthquake off Japan's east coast and cause of the Fukushima nuclear disaster

        2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

        The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami occurred at 14:46 JST on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (Mw) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, 72 km (45 mi) east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes, causing a tsunami. It is sometimes known in Japan as the "Great East Japan Earthquake" , among other names. The disaster is often referred to in both Japanese and English as simply 3.11.

      2. Designated city in Tōhoku, Japan

        Sendai

        Sendai is the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region, and the second largest city north of Tokyo. As of 1 June 2020, the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 designated cities. The city was founded in 1600 by the daimyō Date Masamune. It is nicknamed the City of Trees ; there are zelkova trees lining many of the main thoroughfares such as Jōzenji Street and Aoba Street . In the summer, the Sendai Tanabata Festival, the largest Tanabata festival in Japan, is held. In winter, the trees are decorated with thousands of lights for the Pageant of Starlight , lasting through most of December.

      3. 2011 nuclear disaster in Japan

        Fukushima nuclear disaster

        The Fukushima nuclear disaster was a nuclear accident in 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan. The proximate cause of the disaster was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which occurred on the afternoon of 11 March 2011 and remains the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan. The earthquake triggered a powerful tsunami, with 13–14-meter-high waves damaging the nuclear power plant's emergency diesel generators, leading to a loss of electric power. The result was the most severe nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, classified as level seven on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) after initially being classified as level five, and thus joining Chernobyl as the only other accident to receive such classification. While the 1957 explosion at the Mayak facility was the second worst by radioactivity released, the INES ranks incidents by impact on population, so Chernobyl and Fukushima rank higher than the 10,000 evacuated from the Mayak site in the rural southern Urals.

      4. Scale to enable communication of safety information in nuclear accidents

        International Nuclear Event Scale

        The International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) was introduced in 1990 by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in order to enable prompt communication of safety significant information in case of nuclear accidents.

  5. 2010

    1. During the inauguration of Chilean president Sebastián Piñera, earthquakes registering 6.9 and 7.0 .mw-parser-output .tooltip-dotted{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}Mw struck the O'Higgins Region near the city of Pichilemu, causing widespread damage.

      1. Former President of Chile

        Sebastián Piñera

        Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique OMCh is a Chilean billionaire businessman and politician who served as president of Chile from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2018 to 2022.

      2. 6.9 and 7.0 MW intraplate earthquakes 2010 in Chile

        2010 Pichilemu earthquakes

        The 2010 Pichilemu earthquakes, also known as the Libertador O'Higgins earthquakes, were a pair of intraplate earthquakes measuring 6.9 and 7.0 Mw that struck Chile's O'Higgins Region on 11 March 2010 about 16 minutes apart. The earthquakes were centred 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) northwest of the city of Pichilemu.

      3. Magnitude of an earthquake

        Seismic magnitude scales

        Seismic magnitude scales are used to describe the overall strength or "size" of an earthquake. These are distinguished from seismic intensity scales that categorize the intensity or severity of ground shaking (quaking) caused by an earthquake at a given location. Magnitudes are usually determined from measurements of an earthquake's seismic waves as recorded on a seismogram. Magnitude scales vary on what aspect of the seismic waves are measured and how they are measured. Different magnitude scales are necessary because of differences in earthquakes, the information available, and the purposes for which the magnitudes are used.

      4. Region of Chile

        O'Higgins Region

        The Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region, often shortened to O'Higgins Region, is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It is subdivided into three provinces. It is named in honour of Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme, one of Chile's founding fathers.

      5. City in O'Higgins, Chile

        Pichilemu

        Pichilemu, originally known as Pichilemo, is a beach resort city and commune in central Chile, and capital of Cardenal Caro Province in the O'Higgins Region. The commune comprises an urban centre and twenty-two villages, including Ciruelos, Cáhuil, and Cardonal de Panilonco. It is located southwest of Santiago. Pichilemu had over 13,000 residents as of 2012.

    2. Economist and businessman Sebastián Piñera is sworn in as President of Chile. Aftershocks of the 2010 Pichilemu earthquake hit central Chile during the ceremony.

      1. Former President of Chile

        Sebastián Piñera

        Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique OMCh is a Chilean billionaire businessman and politician who served as president of Chile from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2018 to 2022.

      2. Head of state and head of government of Chile

        President of Chile

        The president of Chile, officially known as the President of the Republic of Chile, is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Chile. The president is responsible for both the Government of Chile and state administration. Although its role and significance has changed over the history of Chile, as well as its position and relations with other actors in the national political organization, it is one of the most prominent political offices. It is also considered one of the institutions that make up the "Historic Constitution of Chile", and is essential to the country's political stability.

      3. 6.9 and 7.0 MW intraplate earthquakes 2010 in Chile

        2010 Pichilemu earthquakes

        The 2010 Pichilemu earthquakes, also known as the Libertador O'Higgins earthquakes, were a pair of intraplate earthquakes measuring 6.9 and 7.0 Mw that struck Chile's O'Higgins Region on 11 March 2010 about 16 minutes apart. The earthquakes were centred 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) northwest of the city of Pichilemu.

  6. 2009

    1. A teenage gunman engaged in a shooting spree at a secondary school in Winnenden, Germany, killing 16, including himself.

      1. 2009 school shooting in Winnenden, Germany

        Winnenden school shooting

        The Winnenden school shooting occurred on the morning of 11 March 2009 at the Albertville-Realschule, a secondary school in Winnenden, southwestern Germany, followed by a shootout at a car dealership in nearby Wendlingen. The shooting spree resulted in 16 deaths, including the suicide of the perpetrator, 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer, who had graduated from the school a year earlier. Nine people were injured during the incident.

      2. Town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany

        Winnenden

        Winnenden is a small town in the Rems-Murr district of the Stuttgart Region in Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany. It lies in a wine-growing area approx. 20 km (12 mi) northeast of Stuttgart and has a population of fewer than 28,000. The town is home to the Kärcher Company, makers of cleaning equipment namely pressure washers.

    2. Winnenden school shooting: Sixteen are killed and 11 are injured before recent graduate Tim Kretschmer shoots and kills himself, leading to tightened weapons restrictions in Germany.

      1. 2009 school shooting in Winnenden, Germany

        Winnenden school shooting

        The Winnenden school shooting occurred on the morning of 11 March 2009 at the Albertville-Realschule, a secondary school in Winnenden, southwestern Germany, followed by a shootout at a car dealership in nearby Wendlingen. The shooting spree resulted in 16 deaths, including the suicide of the perpetrator, 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer, who had graduated from the school a year earlier. Nine people were injured during the incident.

  7. 2007

    1. Georgian authorities accused Russia of orchestrating a helicopter attack in the Kodori Valley of the breakaway territory of Abkhazia.

      1. 2007 Georgia helicopter incident

        The 2007 Georgia helicopter incident refers to the accusation by Georgia that three Russian helicopters fired on the Kodori Gorge in Abkhazia on March 11, 2007. It was a break-away autonomous republic in north-western Georgia The attack was at the village of Chkhalta, which damaged a school, and the government headquarters of the Georgian-backed Abkhaz government-in-exile. Russia denied any attacks and said all its aircraft near the area were grounded over the weekend.

      2. Valley in Abkhasia

        Kodori Valley

        The Kodori Valley, also known as the Kodori Gorge, is a river valley in Abkhazia, Georgia's breakaway autonomous republic. The valley's upper part, populated by Svans, was the only corner of the post-1993 Abkhazia, directly controlled by the central Georgian government, which since 2006 officially styles the area as Upper Abkhazia. On August 12, 2008, Russo–Abkhazian forces gained control of the Upper Kodori Valley, previously controlled by Georgia.

      3. Partially recognised state in the South Caucasus

        Abkhazia

        Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which views the region as an autonomous republic. It lies on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, south of the Greater Caucasus mountains in northwestern Georgia. It covers 8,665 square kilometres (3,346 sq mi) and has a population of around 245,000. Its capital and largest city is Sukhumi.

  8. 2006

    1. Michelle Bachelet was inaugurated as the first female President of Chile.

      1. President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and 2014 to 2018

        Michelle Bachelet

        Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria is a Chilean politician who served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2018 to 2022. She previously served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and 2014 to 2018 for the Socialist Party of Chile; she is the first woman to hold the Chilean presidency and the first elected female leader in South America. After leaving the presidency in 2010 and while not immediately reelectable, she was appointed the first executive director of the newly created United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. In December 2013, Bachelet was reelected with over 62% of the vote, bettering the 54% she obtained in 2006. She was the first President of Chile to be reelected since 1932.

      2. Head of state and head of government of Chile

        President of Chile

        The president of Chile, officially known as the President of the Republic of Chile, is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Chile. The president is responsible for both the Government of Chile and state administration. Although its role and significance has changed over the history of Chile, as well as its position and relations with other actors in the national political organization, it is one of the most prominent political offices. It is also considered one of the institutions that make up the "Historic Constitution of Chile", and is essential to the country's political stability.

    2. Michelle Bachelet is inaugurated as the first female president of Chile.

      1. President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and 2014 to 2018

        Michelle Bachelet

        Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria is a Chilean politician who served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2018 to 2022. She previously served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and 2014 to 2018 for the Socialist Party of Chile; she is the first woman to hold the Chilean presidency and the first elected female leader in South America. After leaving the presidency in 2010 and while not immediately reelectable, she was appointed the first executive director of the newly created United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. In December 2013, Bachelet was reelected with over 62% of the vote, bettering the 54% she obtained in 2006. She was the first President of Chile to be reelected since 1932.

  9. 2004

    1. Madrid train bombings: Simultaneous explosions on rush hour trains in Madrid, Spain kill 191 people.

      1. Jihadist attack on Madrid's suburban trains

        2004 Madrid train bombings

        The 2004 Madrid train bombings were a series of coordinated, nearly simultaneous bombings against the Cercanías commuter train system of Madrid, Spain, on the morning of 11 March 2004—three days before Spain's general elections. The explosions killed 193 people and injured around 2,000. The bombings constituted the deadliest terrorist attack carried out in the history of Spain and the deadliest in Europe since 1988. The official investigation by the Spanish judiciary found that the attacks were directed by al-Qaeda, allegedly as a reaction to Spain's involvement in the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. Although they had no role in the planning or implementation, the Spanish miners who sold the explosives to the terrorists were also arrested.

      2. Capital and the biggest city of Spain

        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.

  10. 1999

    1. Infosys became the first Indian-registered company to have its shares listed on Nasdaq.

      1. Indian multinational technology company

        Infosys

        Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational information technology company that provides business consulting, information technology and outsourcing services. The company was founded in Pune and is headquartered in Bangalore. Infosys is the second-largest Indian IT company, after Tata Consultancy Services, by 2020 revenue figures, and the 602nd largest public company in the world, according to the Forbes Global 2000 ranking.

      2. American stock exchange

        Nasdaq

        The Nasdaq Stock Market is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is ranked second on the list of stock exchanges by market capitalization of shares traded, behind the New York Stock Exchange. The exchange platform is owned by Nasdaq, Inc., which also owns the Nasdaq Nordic stock market network and several U.S.-based stock and options exchanges.

  11. 1993

    1. The U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed Janet Reno as the country's first female attorney general.

      1. Upper house of the United States Congress

        United States Senate

        The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.

      2. Attorney General of the United States from 1993 to 2001

        Janet Reno

        Janet Wood Reno was an American lawyer who served as the 78th United States attorney general. She held the position from 1993 to 2001, making her the second-longest serving attorney general, behind only William Wirt. A member of the Democratic Party, Reno was the first woman to hold that post.

      3. Head of the United States Department of Justice

        United States Attorney General

        The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all legal matters. The attorney general is a statutory member of the Cabinet of the United States.

  12. 1990

    1. Lithuania declares independence from the Soviet Union.

      1. 1990 declaration of independence from the Soviet Union by Lithuania

        Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania

        The Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania or Act of March 11 was an independence declaration by Lithuania adopted on March 11, 1990, signed by all members of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania led by Sąjūdis. The act emphasized restoration and legal continuity of the interwar-period Lithuania, which was occupied by the Soviet Union and lost independence in June 1940. It was the first Soviet republic of the 15 Soviet republics to declare independence from the Soviet Union. The other 14 Soviet republics would later declare their independence. These events would lead to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

    2. Patricio Aylwin is sworn in as the first democratically elected President of Chile since 1970.

      1. Former President of Chile

        Patricio Aylwin

        Patricio Aylwin Azócar was a Chilean politician from the Christian Democratic Party, lawyer, author, professor and former senator. He was the first president of Chile after dictator Augusto Pinochet, and his election marked the Chilean transition to democracy in 1990.

      2. Head of state and head of government of Chile

        President of Chile

        The president of Chile, officially known as the President of the Republic of Chile, is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Chile. The president is responsible for both the Government of Chile and state administration. Although its role and significance has changed over the history of Chile, as well as its position and relations with other actors in the national political organization, it is one of the most prominent political offices. It is also considered one of the institutions that make up the "Historic Constitution of Chile", and is essential to the country's political stability.

  13. 1985

    1. Mikhail Gorbachev is elected to the position of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, making Gorbachev the USSR's de facto, and last, head of state.

      1. Leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991

        Mikhail Gorbachev

        Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was a Soviet politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to the country's dissolution in 1991. He served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 and additionally as head of state beginning in 1988, as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1988 to 1989, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet from 1989 to 1990 and the only President of the Soviet Union from 1990 to 1991. Ideologically, Gorbachev initially adhered to Marxism–Leninism but moved towards social democracy by the early 1990s.

      2. Country in Eurasia (1922–1991)

        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.

  14. 1984

    1. The anime film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki was released.

      1. Japanese animation

        Anime

        Anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, anime refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, anime describes all animated works, regardless of style or origin. Animation produced outside of Japan with similar style to Japanese animation is commonly referred to as anime-influenced animation.

      2. 1984 film by Hayao Miyazaki

        Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (film)

        Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is a 1984 Japanese post-apocalyptic anime film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, based on his 1982 manga. It was animated by Topcraft for Tokuma Shoten and Hakuhodo, and distributed by the Toei Company. Joe Hisaishi, in his first collaboration with Miyazaki, composed the score. The film stars the voices of Sumi Shimamoto, Gorō Naya, Yōji Matsuda, Yoshiko Sakakibara and Iemasa Kayumi. Taking place in a post-nuclear futuristic world, the film tells the story of Nausicaä (Shimamoto), the young teenage princess of the Valley of the Wind. She becomes embroiled in a struggle with Tolmekia, a kingdom that tries to use an ancient weapon to eradicate a jungle full of giant mutant insects.

      3. Japanese animator, film director, and mangaka

        Hayao Miyazaki

        Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished filmmakers in the history of animation.

  15. 1983

    1. Bob Hawke is appointed Prime Minister of Australia.

      1. Prime Minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991

        Bob Hawke

        Robert James Lee Hawke was an Australian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP).

      2. Head of Government of Australia

        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.

  16. 1982

    1. Fifteen people are killed when Widerøe Flight 933 crashes into the Barents Sea near Gamvik, Norway.

      1. 1982 aviation accident, Norwegian DHC-6

        Widerøe Flight 933

        Widerøe Flight 933, also known as the Mehamn Accident, was the crash of a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter operated by Norwegian airline Widerøe. The Twin Otter crashed into the Barents Sea off Gamvik, Norway on 11 March 1982 at 13:27, killing all fifteen people on board. The results of the four official investigations were that the accident was caused by structural failure of the vertical stabilizer during clear-air turbulence. A mechanical fault in the elevator control system caused the pilots to lose control of pitch; and either a series of stalls or a high-speed gust of wind caused the aircraft to lose altitude without the ability of the crew to counteract, resulting in the failure of the vertical stabilizer.

      2. Marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia

        Barents Sea

        The Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territorial waters. It was known among Russians in the Middle Ages as the Murman Sea ; the current name of the sea is after the historical Dutch navigator Willem Barentsz.

      3. Municipality in Troms og Finnmark, Norway

        Gamvik

        Gamvik (help·info) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Mehamn. The other main villages in Gamvik include Gamvik and Skjånes. Gamvik is known as one of the poorest and most undeveloped municipalities in Norway. The number of inhabitants rose at one moment in 2012, but in 2014, after the fish factory closed, the population declined dramatically with the departure of the eastern European fishermen.

  17. 1981

    1. Hundreds of students protest in the University of Pristina in Kosovo, then part of Yugoslavia, to give their province more political rights. The protests then became a nationwide movement.

      1. Partially recognised state in Southeastern Europe

        Kosovo

        Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a partially recognised state in Southeast Europe. It lies at the centre of the Balkans. Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia on 17 February 2008, and has since gained diplomatic recognition as a sovereign state by 101 member states of the United Nations. It is bordered by Serbia to the north and east, North Macedonia to the southeast, Albania to the southwest, and Montenegro to the west. Most of central Kosovo is dominated by the vast plains and fields of Dukagjini and Kosovo field. The Accursed Mountains and Šar Mountains rise in the southwest and southeast, respectively. Its capital and largest city is Pristina.

      2. Former European country (1945–1992)

        Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

        The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yugoslavia occurring as a consequence of the Yugoslav Wars. Spanning an area of 255,804 square kilometres (98,766 sq mi) in the Balkans, Yugoslavia was bordered by the Adriatic Sea and Italy to the west, by Austria and Hungary to the north, by Bulgaria and Romania to the east, and by Albania and Greece to the south. It was a one-party socialist state and federation governed by the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, and had six constituent republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. Within Serbia was the Yugoslav capital city of Belgrade as well as two autonomous Yugoslav provinces: Kosovo and Vojvodina.

      3. Protests and riots demanding greater Kosovan autonomy within the SFR Yugoslavia

        1981 protests in Kosovo

        In March and April 1981, a student protest in Pristina, the capital of the then Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, led to widespread protests by Kosovo Albanians demanding more autonomy within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Presidency of Yugoslavia declared a state of emergency in Pristina and Kosovska Mitrovica, which led to rioting. The unrest was suppressed by a large police intervention that caused numerous casualties, and a period of political repression followed.

  18. 1978

    1. After hijacking a bus north of Tel Aviv, Israel, members of the Palestine Liberation Organization faction Fatah engaged in a shootout with police, resulting in the deaths of 38 civilians and most of the perpetrators.

      1. 1978 hijacking of an Israeli bus by Palestinian militants near Tel Aviv

        Coastal Road massacre

        The Coastal Road massacre occurred on 11 March 1978, when Palestinian militants hijacked a bus on the Coastal Highway of Israel and murdered its occupants; 38 Israeli civilians, including 13 children, were killed as a result of the attack while 76 more were wounded. The attack was planned by the influential Palestinian militant leader Abu Jihad and carried out by Fatah, a Palestinian nationalist party founded by Jihad in 1959. The initial plan of the militants was to seize a luxury hotel in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv and take tourists and foreign ambassadors hostage in order to exchange them for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody.

      2. City in Israel

        Tel Aviv

        Tel Aviv-Yafo, often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a population of 460,613, it is the economic and technological center of the country. If East Jerusalem is considered part of Israel, Tel Aviv is the country's second most populous city after Jerusalem; if not, Tel Aviv is the most populous city ahead of West Jerusalem.

      3. Palestinian militant and political organization

        Palestine Liberation Organization

        The Palestine Liberation Organization is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and statehood over the territory of former Mandatory Palestine, in opposition to the State of Israel. In 1993, alongside the Oslo I Accord, the PLO's aspiration for Arab statehood was revised to be specifically for the Palestinian territories under an Israeli occupation since the 1967 Arab–Israeli War. It is headquartered in the city of Al-Bireh in the West Bank, and is recognized as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people by over 100 countries that it has diplomatic relations with. As the official recognized government of the de jure State of Palestine, it has enjoyed observer status at the United Nations (UN) since 1974. Due to its militant activities, including acts of violence primarily aimed at Israeli civilians, the PLO was designated as a terrorist organization by the United States in 1987, although a later presidential waiver has permitted American contact with the organization since 1988. In 1993, the PLO recognized Israel's right to exist in peace, accepted Resolution 242 of the United Nations Security Council, and rejected "violence and terrorism". In response, Israel officially recognized the PLO as a legitimate authority representing the Palestinian people. However, despite its participation in the Oslo Accords, the PLO continued to employ tactics of violence in the following years, particularly during the Second Intifada of 2000–2005. On 29 October 2018, the Palestinian Central Council suspended the Palestinian recognition of Israel, and subsequently halted all forms of security and economic cooperation with it.

      4. Palestinian nationalist political party

        Fatah

        Fatah, formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and second-largest party in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, is a member of Fatah.

    2. Coastal Road massacre: At least 37 are killed and more than 70 are wounded when Fatah hijack an Israeli bus, prompting Israel's Operation Litani.

      1. 1978 hijacking of an Israeli bus by Palestinian militants near Tel Aviv

        Coastal Road massacre

        The Coastal Road massacre occurred on 11 March 1978, when Palestinian militants hijacked a bus on the Coastal Highway of Israel and murdered its occupants; 38 Israeli civilians, including 13 children, were killed as a result of the attack while 76 more were wounded. The attack was planned by the influential Palestinian militant leader Abu Jihad and carried out by Fatah, a Palestinian nationalist party founded by Jihad in 1959. The initial plan of the militants was to seize a luxury hotel in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv and take tourists and foreign ambassadors hostage in order to exchange them for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody.

      2. Palestinian nationalist political party

        Fatah

        Fatah, formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and second-largest party in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, is a member of Fatah.

      3. Invasion of southern Lebanon by Israel as part of the Lebanese Civil War

        1978 South Lebanon conflict

        The 1978 South Lebanon conflict began after Israel invaded southern Lebanon up to the Litani River in March 1978, in response to the Coastal Road massacre near Tel Aviv by Lebanon-based Palestinian militants. The conflict resulted in the deaths of 1,100–2,000 Lebanese and Palestinians, 20 Israelis, and the internal displacement of 100,000 to 250,000 people in Lebanon. The Israel Defense Forces gained a military victory against the Palestine Liberation Organization as the latter was forced to withdraw from southern Lebanon, preventing it from launching attacks on Israel from across its land border with Lebanon. In response to the outbreak of hostilities, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 425 and Resolution 426 on 19 March 1978, which called on Israel to immediately withdraw its troops from Lebanon and established the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

  19. 1977

    1. The 1977 Hanafi Siege: Around 150 hostages held in Washington, D.C., by Hanafi Muslims are set free after ambassadors from three Islamic nations join negotiations.

      1. 1977 Siege

        1977 Washington, D.C. attack and hostage taking

        The 1977 Hanafi Siege occurred on March 9–11, 1977 when three buildings in Washington, D.C. were seized by 12 Hanafi Movement gunmen. The gunmen were led by Hamaas Abdul Khaalis, who wanted to bring attention to the murder of his family in 1973. They took 149 hostages. After a 39-hour standoff, the gunmen surrendered and all remaining hostages were released from the District Building, B'nai B'rith headquarters, and the Islamic Center of Washington.

      2. One of the four major schools of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence

        Hanafi

        The Hanafi school, Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools (maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named after the 8th century Kufan scholar, Abu Hanifa, a Tabi‘i of Persian origin whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Imam Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani. It is considered one of the most widely accepted maddhab amongst Sunni Muslim community and is called the Madhhab of Jurists.

      3. Abrahamic monotheistic religion

        Islam

        Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God as it was revealed to Muhammad, the main and final Islamic prophet. It is the world's second-largest religion behind Christianity, with its followers ranging between 1-1.8 billion globally, or around a quarter of the world's population. Due to the average younger age and higher fertility rate, Islam is the world's fastest growing major religious group, and is projected by Pew Research Center to be the world's largest religion by the end of the 21st century, surpassing that of Christianity. It teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, and unique, and has guided humanity through various prophets, revealed scriptures, and natural signs, with the Quran serving as the final and universal revelation and Muhammad serving as the "Seal of the Prophets". The teachings and practices of Muhammad documented in traditional collected accounts provide a secondary constitutional model for Muslims to follow after the Quran.

  20. 1966

    1. President Sukarno signed the Supersemar, giving Indonesian general Suharto the authority to restore order during recent mass killings.

      1. 1st president of Indonesia from 1945 to 1967

        Sukarno

        Sukarno was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967.

      2. Supersemar

        The Order of Eleventh March, commonly referred to by its syllabic abbreviation Supersemar, was a document signed by the Indonesian President Sukarno on 11 March 1966, giving army commander Lt. Gen. Suharto authority to take whatever measures he "deemed necessary" to restore order to the chaotic situation during the Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66. The abbreviation "Supersemar" is also a play on the name of Semar, the mystic and powerful figure who commonly appears in Javanese mythology including wayang puppet shows. The invocation of Semar was presumably intended to help draw on Javanese mythology to lend support to Suharto's legitimacy during the period of the transition of authority from Sukarno to Suharto.

      3. 2nd president and military dictator of Indonesia (1921–2008)

        Suharto

        Suharto was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto led Indonesia through a dictatorship for 31 years, from the fall of Sukarno in 1967 until his own resignation in 1998. The legacy of his 31-year rule, and his US$38 billion net worth, is still debated at home and abroad.

      4. Anti-communist killings and unrest in Indonesia following a coup d'état attempt

        Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66

        The Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66, also known as the Indonesian genocide, Indonesian Communist Purge, or Indonesian politicide, were large-scale killings and civil unrest primarily targeting members of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI). Other affected groups included communist sympathisers, Gerwani women, ethnic Javanese Abangan, ethnic Chinese, atheists, alleged "unbelievers" and alleged leftists. It is estimated that between 500,000 to 1,000,000 people were killed during the main period of violence from October 1965 to March 1966. The atrocities were instigated by the Indonesian Army under Suharto. Research and declassified documents demonstrate the Indonesian authorities received support from foreign countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom.

  21. 1946

    1. Rudolf Höss, the first commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp, was captured by British troops.

      1. Nazi commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp

        Rudolf Höss

        Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höss was a German SS officer during the Nazi era who, after the defeat of Nazi Germany, was convicted for war crimes. Höss was the longest-serving commandant of Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp. He tested and implemented means to accelerate Hitler's order to systematically exterminate the Jewish population of Nazi-occupied Europe, known as the Final Solution. On the initiative of one of his subordinates, Karl Fritzsch, Höss introduced the pesticide Zyklon B to be used in gas chambers, where more than a million people were killed.

      2. German network of concentration and extermination camps in occupied Poland during World War II

        Auschwitz concentration camp

        Auschwitz concentration camp was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschwitz I, the main camp (Stammlager) in Oświęcim; Auschwitz II-Birkenau, a concentration and extermination camp with gas chambers; Auschwitz III-Monowitz, a labor camp for the chemical conglomerate IG Farben; and dozens of subcamps. The camps became a major site of the Nazis' final solution to the Jewish question.

    2. Rudolf Höss, the first commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp, is captured by British troops.

      1. Nazi commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp

        Rudolf Höss

        Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höss was a German SS officer during the Nazi era who, after the defeat of Nazi Germany, was convicted for war crimes. Höss was the longest-serving commandant of Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp. He tested and implemented means to accelerate Hitler's order to systematically exterminate the Jewish population of Nazi-occupied Europe, known as the Final Solution. On the initiative of one of his subordinates, Karl Fritzsch, Höss introduced the pesticide Zyklon B to be used in gas chambers, where more than a million people were killed.

      2. German network of concentration and extermination camps in occupied Poland during World War II

        Auschwitz concentration camp

        Auschwitz concentration camp was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschwitz I, the main camp (Stammlager) in Oświęcim; Auschwitz II-Birkenau, a concentration and extermination camp with gas chambers; Auschwitz III-Monowitz, a labor camp for the chemical conglomerate IG Farben; and dozens of subcamps. The camps became a major site of the Nazis' final solution to the Jewish question.

  22. 1945

    1. World War II: Imperial Japan established the Empire of Vietnam, a short-lived puppet state, with Bảo Đại as its ruler.

      1. Global war, 1939–1945

        World War II

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

      2. Empire in the Asia-Pacific region from 1868 to 1947

        Empire of Japan

        The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent formation of modern Japan. It encompassed the Japanese archipelago and several colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories.

      3. Short-lived puppet state of Imperial Japan, c. 1945

        Empire of Vietnam

        The Empire of Vietnam was a short-lived puppet state of Imperial Japan governing the former French protectorates of Annam and Tonkin between March 11 and August 25, 1945. At the end of its rule, the empire also successfully reclaimed Cochinchina as part of Vietnam.

      4. State controlled by another state

        Puppet state

        A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government, is a state that is de jure independent but de facto completely dependent upon an outside power and subject to its orders. Puppet states have nominal sovereignty, but a foreign power effectively exercises control through means such as financial interests, economic, or military support. By leaving a local government in existence the outside Powers evade all responsibility, while at the same time successfully paralyzing the Government they tolerate.

      5. 13th and final emperor of Nguyễn dynasty Vietnam (r. 1926–45)

        Bảo Đại

        Bảo Đại, born Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy, was the 13th and final Emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last ruling dynasty of Vietnam. From 1926 to 1945, he was emperor of Annam and de jure monarch of Tonkin, which were then protectorates in French Indochina, covering the present-day central and northern Vietnam. Bảo Đại ascended the throne in 1932.

    2. World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy attempts a large-scale kamikaze attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet anchored at Ulithi atoll in Operation Tan No. 2.

      1. Naval branch of the Empire of Japan

        Imperial Japanese Navy

        The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender in World War II. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) was formed between 1952–1954 after the dissolution of the IJN.

      2. 1944–1945 Japanese suicidal aircraft attacks

        Kamikaze

        Kamikaze , officially Shinpū Tokubetsu Kōgekitai , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to destroy warships more effectively than with conventional air attacks. About 3,800 kamikaze pilots died during the war, and more than 7,000 naval personnel were killed by kamikaze attacks.

      3. Theater-level component command of the United States Navy

        United States Pacific Fleet

        The United States Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT) is a theater-level component command of the United States Navy, located in the Pacific Ocean. It provides naval forces to the Indo-Pacific Command. Fleet headquarters is at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, Hawaii, with large secondary facilities at Naval Air Station North Island, California.

      4. Atoll in Yap, Federated States of Micronesia

        Ulithi

        Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km (103 nmi) east of Yap.

      5. 1945 Japanese kamikaze attacks on U.S. Navy ships in Ulithi Atoll, west Pacific during WWII

        Operation Tan No. 2

        Operation Tan No. 2 was a long-range kamikaze mission directed at the main Allied naval fleet anchorage at Ulithi Atoll in the western Pacific on March 11, 1945 during the Pacific campaign of World War II. The Japanese hoped to take the U.S. Pacific fleet by surprise and sink or damage a significant number of the fleet's aircraft carriers or other large ships.

    3. World War II: The Empire of Vietnam, a short-lived Japanese puppet state, is established.

      1. Short-lived puppet state of Imperial Japan, c. 1945

        Empire of Vietnam

        The Empire of Vietnam was a short-lived puppet state of Imperial Japan governing the former French protectorates of Annam and Tonkin between March 11 and August 25, 1945. At the end of its rule, the empire also successfully reclaimed Cochinchina as part of Vietnam.

      2. State controlled by another state

        Puppet state

        A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government, is a state that is de jure independent but de facto completely dependent upon an outside power and subject to its orders. Puppet states have nominal sovereignty, but a foreign power effectively exercises control through means such as financial interests, economic, or military support. By leaving a local government in existence the outside Powers evade all responsibility, while at the same time successfully paralyzing the Government they tolerate.

  23. 1941

    1. World War II: United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act into law, allowing American-built war supplies to be shipped to the Allies on loan.

      1. Global war, 1939–1945

        World War II

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

      2. President of the United States from 1933 to 1945

        Franklin D. Roosevelt

        Franklin Delano Roosevelt, often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the leader of the Democratic Party, he won a record four presidential elections and became a central figure in world events during the first half of the 20th century. Roosevelt directed the federal government during most of the Great Depression, implementing his New Deal domestic agenda in response to the worst economic crisis in U.S. history. He built the New Deal Coalition, which defined modern liberalism in the United States throughout the middle third of the 20th century. His third and fourth terms were dominated by World War II, which ended in victory shortly after he died in office.

      3. WW2 program to provide US allies with free armaments

        Lend-Lease

        Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States, was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, and materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was given on the basis that such help was essential for the defense of the United States; this aid included warships and warplanes, along with other weaponry. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, and ended on September 20, 1945. In general, the aid was free, although some hardware were returned after the war. Canada, already a belligerent, supplemented its aid to Great Britain with a similar, smaller program called Mutual Aid.

      4. Grouping of the victorious countries of the war

        Allies of World War II

        The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy. Its principal members by 1941 were the United Kingdom, United States, Soviet Union, and China.

  24. 1927

    1. In New York City, Samuel Roxy Rothafel opens the Roxy Theatre.

      1. Early 20th-century American theatrical impresario

        Samuel Roxy Rothafel

        Samuel Lionel "Roxy" Rothafel was an American theatrical impresario and entrepreneur. He is noted for developing the lavish presentation of silent films in the deluxe movie palace theaters of the 1910s and 1920s.

      2. Former movie theater in Manhattan, New York

        Roxy Theatre (New York City)

        The Roxy Theatre was a 5,920 seat movie palace at 153 West 50th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues, just off Times Square in New York City. It was one of the largest movie theatres ever built in North America. It opened on March 11, 1927 with the silent film The Love of Sunya starring Gloria Swanson. It was a leading Broadway film showcase through the 1950s and also noted for its lavish stage shows. It closed and was demolished in 1960.

  25. 1917

    1. World War I: Mesopotamian campaign: Baghdad falls to Anglo-Indian forces commanded by General Frederick Stanley Maude.

      1. Global war, 1914–1918

        World War I

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

      2. World War I military campaign

        Mesopotamian campaign

        The Mesopotamian campaign was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the Allies represented by the British Empire, troops from Britain, Australia and the vast majority from British India, against the Central Powers, mostly the Ottoman Empire.

      3. 1917 battle of the Mesopotamian Campaign of WWI

        Fall of Baghdad (1917)

        The Fall of Baghdad occurred during the Mesopotamia Campaign, fought between the forces of the British Empire and the Ottoman Empire in the First World War.

      4. Ethnic group or cultural group identification

        Anglo-Indian people

        Anglo-Indian people fall into two different groups: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or residing in India. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The Oxford English Dictionary, for example, gives three possibilities: "Of mixed British and Indian parentage, of Indian descent but born or living in Britain or of English descent or birth but living or having lived long in India". People fitting the middle definition are more usually known as British Asian or British Indian. This article focuses primarily on the modern definition, a distinct minority community of mixed Eurasian ancestry, whose first language is English.

      5. British Army general (1864–1917)

        Stanley Maude

        Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Stanley Maude KCB CMG DSO was a British Army officer. He is known for his operations in the Mesopotamian campaign during the First World War and for conquering Baghdad in 1917.

  26. 1888

    1. The Great Blizzard of 1888 struck the northeastern United States, producing snowdrifts in excess of 50 ft (15 m) and confining some people to their houses for up to a week.

      1. Severe snowstorm in the northeastern United States and Canada

        Great Blizzard of 1888

        The Great Blizzard of 1888, also known as the Great Blizzard of '88 or the Great White Hurricane, was one of the most severe recorded blizzards in American history. The storm paralyzed the East Coast from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine, as well as the Atlantic provinces of Canada. Snow fell from 10 to 58 inches in parts of New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, and sustained winds of more than 45 miles per hour (72 km/h) produced snowdrifts in excess of 50 feet (15 m). Railroads were shut down and people were confined to their homes for up to a week. Railway and telegraph lines were disabled, and this provided the impetus to move these pieces of infrastructure underground. Emergency services were also affected.

      2. Snow deposit sculpted by wind into a mound during a snowstorm

        Snowdrift

        A snowdrift is a deposit of snow sculpted by wind into a mound during a snowstorm. Snowdrifts resemble sand dunes and are formed in a similar manner, namely, by wind moving light snow and depositing it when the wind has virtually stopped, usually against a stationary object. Snow normally crests and slopes off toward the surface on the windward side of a large object. On the leeward side, areas near the object are a bit lower than surrounding areas, but are generally flatter.

    2. The Great Blizzard of 1888 begins along the eastern seaboard of the United States, shutting down commerce and killing more than 400 people.

      1. Severe snowstorm in the northeastern United States and Canada

        Great Blizzard of 1888

        The Great Blizzard of 1888, also known as the Great Blizzard of '88 or the Great White Hurricane, was one of the most severe recorded blizzards in American history. The storm paralyzed the East Coast from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine, as well as the Atlantic provinces of Canada. Snow fell from 10 to 58 inches in parts of New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, and sustained winds of more than 45 miles per hour (72 km/h) produced snowdrifts in excess of 50 feet (15 m). Railroads were shut down and people were confined to their homes for up to a week. Railway and telegraph lines were disabled, and this provided the impetus to move these pieces of infrastructure underground. Emergency services were also affected.

  27. 1879

    1. Shō Tai, the last king of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, abdicated when the kingdom was annexed by Japan and became Okinawa Prefecture.

      1. King of Ryūkyū

        Shō Tai

        Shō Tai was the last king of the Ryukyu Kingdom and the head of the Ryukyu Domain. His reign saw greatly increased interactions with travelers from abroad, particularly from Europe and the United States, as well as the eventual end of the kingdom and its annexation by Japan as Ryukyu Domain. In 1879, the deposed king was forced to relocate to Tokyo. In May 1885, in compensation, he was made a Kōshaku, the second tier of nobility within the Kazoku peerage system.

      2. Historical kingdom in parts of present-day Japan from 1429 to 1875

        Ryukyu Kingdom

        The Ryukyu Kingdom was a kingdom in the Ryukyu Islands from 1429 to 1879. It was ruled as a tributary state of imperial Ming China by the Ryukyuan monarchy, who unified Okinawa Island to end the Sanzan period, and extended the kingdom to the Amami Islands and Sakishima Islands. The Ryukyu Kingdom played a central role in the maritime trade networks of medieval East Asia and Southeast Asia despite its small size. The Ryukyu Kingdom became a vassal state of the Satsuma Domain of Japan after the invasion of Ryukyu in 1609 but retained de jure independence until it was transformed into the Ryukyu Domain by the Empire of Japan in 1872. The Ryukyu Kingdom was formally annexed and dissolved by Japan in 1879 to form Okinawa Prefecture, and the Ryukyuan monarchy was integrated into the new Japanese nobility.

      3. Illegal acquisition of a state's territory by another state

        Annexation

        Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act. Annexation is a unilateral act where territory is seized and held by one state, is distinct from conquest and differs from cession, in which territory is given or sold through treaty.

      4. Prefecture of Japan

        Okinawa Prefecture

        Okinawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 and a geographic area of 2,281 km2.

    2. Shō Tai formally abdicates his position of King of Ryūkyū, under orders from Tokyo, ending the Ryukyu Kingdom.

      1. King of Ryūkyū

        Shō Tai

        Shō Tai was the last king of the Ryukyu Kingdom and the head of the Ryukyu Domain. His reign saw greatly increased interactions with travelers from abroad, particularly from Europe and the United States, as well as the eventual end of the kingdom and its annexation by Japan as Ryukyu Domain. In 1879, the deposed king was forced to relocate to Tokyo. In May 1885, in compensation, he was made a Kōshaku, the second tier of nobility within the Kazoku peerage system.

      2. Historical kingdom in parts of present-day Japan from 1429 to 1875

        Ryukyu Kingdom

        The Ryukyu Kingdom was a kingdom in the Ryukyu Islands from 1429 to 1879. It was ruled as a tributary state of imperial Ming China by the Ryukyuan monarchy, who unified Okinawa Island to end the Sanzan period, and extended the kingdom to the Amami Islands and Sakishima Islands. The Ryukyu Kingdom played a central role in the maritime trade networks of medieval East Asia and Southeast Asia despite its small size. The Ryukyu Kingdom became a vassal state of the Satsuma Domain of Japan after the invasion of Ryukyu in 1609 but retained de jure independence until it was transformed into the Ryukyu Domain by the Empire of Japan in 1872. The Ryukyu Kingdom was formally annexed and dissolved by Japan in 1879 to form Okinawa Prefecture, and the Ryukyuan monarchy was integrated into the new Japanese nobility.

  28. 1872

    1. Construction of the Seven Sisters Colliery, South Wales, begins; it is located on one of the richest coal sources in Britain.

      1. Human settlement in Wales

        Seven Sisters, Neath Port Talbot

        Seven Sisters is a village and community in the Dulais Valley, Wales, UK. It lies 10 miles (16 km) north-east of Neath. Seven Sisters falls within the Seven Sisters ward of Neath Port Talbot county borough.

      2. Region of Wales

        South Wales

        South Wales is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards to include Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. In the western extent, from Swansea westwards, local people would probably recognise that they lived in both south Wales and west Wales. The Brecon Beacons National Park covers about a third of south Wales, containing Pen y Fan, the highest British mountain south of Cadair Idris in Snowdonia.

  29. 1864

    1. The Great Sheffield Flood killed at least 240 people and damaged more than 600 homes, after a crack in the Dale Dyke Dam caused it to fail.

      1. March 1864 flood that devastated parts of Sheffield, England

        Great Sheffield Flood

        The Great Sheffield Flood was a flood that devastated parts of Sheffield, England, on 11 March 1864, when the Dale Dyke Dam broke as its reservoir was being filled for the first time. At least 240 people died and more than 600 houses were damaged or destroyed by the flood. The immediate cause was a crack in the embankment, the cause of which was never determined. The dam's failure led to reforms in engineering practice, setting standards on specifics that needed to be met when constructing such large-scale structures. The dam was rebuilt in 1875.

      2. Reservoir in the north-east Peak District, England

        Dale Dike Reservoir

        Dale Dike Reservoir or Dale Dyke Reservoir is a reservoir in the north-east Peak District, in the City of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, a mile (1.6 km) west of Bradfield and eight miles (13 km) from the centre of Sheffield, on the Dale Dike, a tributary of the River Loxley.

    2. The Great Sheffield Flood kills 238 people in Sheffield, England.

      1. March 1864 flood that devastated parts of Sheffield, England

        Great Sheffield Flood

        The Great Sheffield Flood was a flood that devastated parts of Sheffield, England, on 11 March 1864, when the Dale Dyke Dam broke as its reservoir was being filled for the first time. At least 240 people died and more than 600 houses were damaged or destroyed by the flood. The immediate cause was a crack in the embankment, the cause of which was never determined. The dam's failure led to reforms in engineering practice, setting standards on specifics that needed to be met when constructing such large-scale structures. The dam was rebuilt in 1875.

      2. City in South Yorkshire, England

        Sheffield

        Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its southern suburbs were transferred from Derbyshire to the city council. It is the largest settlement in South Yorkshire.

  30. 1861

    1. American Civil War: The Constitution of the Confederate States of America is adopted.

      1. 1861–1865 conflict in the United States

        American Civil War

        The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union and the Confederacy, the latter formed by states that had seceded. The central cause of the war was the dispute over whether slavery would be permitted to expand into the western territories, leading to more slave states, or be prevented from doing so, which was widely believed would place slavery on a course of ultimate extinction.

      2. Supreme law of the Confederate States of America

        Constitution of the Confederate States

        The Constitution of the Confederate States was the supreme law of the Confederate States of America. It was adopted on March 11, 1861, and was in effect from February 22, 1862, to the conclusion of the American Civil War. The Confederacy also operated under a Provisional Constitution from February 8, 1861, to February 22, 1862. The original Provisional Constitution is located at the American Civil War Museum in Richmond, Virginia, and differs slightly from the version later adopted. The final, handwritten Constitution is located in the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Georgia. Most of its provisions are word-for-word duplicates from the United States Constitution; however, there are crucial differences between the two documents in tone and legal content, primarily regarding slavery.

  31. 1851

    1. Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto premiered at La Fenice in Venice.

      1. Italian opera composer (1813–1901)

        Giuseppe Verdi

        Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the help of a local patron. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini, whose works significantly influenced him.

      2. Opera by Giuseppe Verdi

        Rigoletto

        Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had control over northern Italian theatres at the time, the opera had a triumphant premiere at La Fenice in Venice on 11 March 1851.

      3. Opera house in Venice, Italy

        La Fenice

        Teatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especially in the 19th century, La Fenice became the site of many famous operatic premieres at which the works of several of the four major bel canto era composers – Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi – were performed.

      4. City in Veneto, Italy

        Venice

        Venice is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islands are in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay lying between the mouths of the Po and the Piave rivers. In 2020, around 258,685 people resided in greater Venice or the Comune di Venezia, of whom around 55,000 live in the historical island city of Venice and the rest on the mainland (terraferma). Together with the cities of Padua and Treviso, Venice is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE), which is considered a statistical metropolitan area, with a total population of 2.6 million.

    2. The first performance of Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi takes place in Venice.

      1. Opera by Giuseppe Verdi

        Rigoletto

        Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had control over northern Italian theatres at the time, the opera had a triumphant premiere at La Fenice in Venice on 11 March 1851.

      2. Italian opera composer (1813–1901)

        Giuseppe Verdi

        Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the help of a local patron. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini, whose works significantly influenced him.

      3. City in Veneto, Italy

        Venice

        Venice is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islands are in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay lying between the mouths of the Po and the Piave rivers. In 2020, around 258,685 people resided in greater Venice or the Comune di Venezia, of whom around 55,000 live in the historical island city of Venice and the rest on the mainland (terraferma). Together with the cities of Padua and Treviso, Venice is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE), which is considered a statistical metropolitan area, with a total population of 2.6 million.

  32. 1848

    1. Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin become the first Prime Ministers of the Province of Canada to be democratically elected under a system of responsible government.

      1. Canadian politician

        Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine

        Sir Louis-Hippolyte Ménard dit La Fontaine, 1st Baronet, KCMG was a Canadian politician who served as the first Premier of the United Province of Canada and the first head of a responsible government in Canada. He was born in Boucherville, Lower Canada in 1807. A jurist and statesman, La Fontaine was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada in 1830. He was a supporter of Papineau and member of the Parti canadien. After the severe consequences of the Rebellions of 1837 against the British authorities, he advocated political reforms within the new Union regime of 1841.

      2. Co-Premier of Province of Canada

        Robert Baldwin

        Robert Baldwin was an Upper Canadian lawyer and politician who with his political partner Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine of Lower Canada, led the first responsible government ministry in the Province of Canada. "Responsible Government" marked the province's democratic self-government, without a revolution, although not without violence. This achievement also included the introduction of municipal government, the introduction of a modern legal system and the Canadian jury system, and the abolishing of imprisonment for debt. Baldwin is also noted for feuding with the Orange Order and other fraternal societies. The Lafontaine-Baldwin government enacted the Rebellion Losses Bill to compensate Lower Canadians for damages suffered during the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837–1838. The passage of the Bill outraged Anglo-Canadian Tories in Montreal, resulting in the burning of the Parliament Buildings in Montreal in 1849.

      3. 1841–1867 UK possession in North America

        Province of Canada

        The Province of Canada was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the Affairs of British North America following the Rebellions of 1837–1838.

      4. Concept of parliamentary democracy

        Responsible government

        Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments in Westminster democracies are responsible to parliament rather than to the monarch, or, in a colonial context, to the imperial government, and in a republican context, to the president, either in full or in part. If the parliament is bicameral, then the government is responsible first to the parliament's lower house, which is more representative than the upper house, as it usually has more members and they are always directly elected.

  33. 1845

    1. Māori forces, led by chiefs Te Ruki Kawiti and Hōne Heke, attacked the British settlement of Kororāreka, New Zealand, beginning the Flagstaff War.

      1. Indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand

        Māori people

        The Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand. Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several centuries in isolation, these settlers developed their own distinctive culture, whose language, mythology, crafts, and performing arts evolved independently from those of other eastern Polynesian cultures. Some early Māori moved to the Chatham Islands, where their descendants became New Zealand's other indigenous Polynesian ethnic group, the Moriori.

      2. 19th-century Māori rangatira (chief)

        Te Ruki Kawiti

        Te Ruki Kawiti was a prominent Māori rangatira (chief). He and Hōne Heke successfully fought the British in the Flagstaff War in 1845–46.

      3. 19th-century Māori chief

        Hōne Heke

        Hōne Wiremu Heke Pōkai, born Heke Pōkai and later often referred to as Hōne Heke, was a highly influential Māori rangatira (chief) of the Ngāpuhi iwi (tribe) and a war leader in northern New Zealand; he was affiliated with the Ngati Rahiri, Ngai Tawake, Ngati Tautahi, Te Matarahurahu and Te Uri-o-Hua hapū (subtribes) of Ngāpuhi. Hōne Heke fought with Hongi Hika, an earlier war leader of the Ngāpuhi, in the Musket Wars. Hōne Heke is considered the principal instigator of the Flagstaff War in 1845–46.

      4. Battle of Kororāreka

        The Battle of Kororāreka, or the Burning of Kororāreka, on 11 March 1845, was an engagement of the Flagstaff War in New Zealand. Following the establishment of British control of the islands, war broke out with a small group of the native population which resulted in the fall of the town of Kororāreka, present day Russell, to Māori warriors.

      5. Town in the Northland Region of New Zealand

        Russell, New Zealand

        Russell, known as Kororareka in the early 19th century, was the first permanent European settlement and seaport in New Zealand. It is situated in the Bay of Islands, in the far north of the North Island.

      6. 1845–46 conflict between the British Empire and Māori warriors in Northland, New Zealand

        Flagstaff War

        The Flagstaff War, also known as Heke's War, Hōne Heke's Rebellion and the Northern War, was fought between 11 March 1845 and 11 January 1846 in and around the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. The conflict is best remembered for the actions of Hōne Heke who challenged the authority of the British by cutting down the flagstaff on Flagstaff Hill at Kororāreka. The flagstaff had been a gift from Hōne Heke to James Busby, the first British Resident. The Northern War involved many major actions, including the Battle of Kororāreka on 11 March 1845, the Battle of Ōhaeawai on 23 June 1845 and the siege of Ruapekapeka Pā from 27 December 1845 to 11 January 1846.

    2. Flagstaff War: Unhappy with translational differences regarding the Treaty of Waitangi, chiefs Hone Heke, Kawiti and Māori tribe members chop down the British flagpole for a fourth time and drive settlers out of Kororareka, New Zealand.

      1. 1845–46 conflict between the British Empire and Māori warriors in Northland, New Zealand

        Flagstaff War

        The Flagstaff War, also known as Heke's War, Hōne Heke's Rebellion and the Northern War, was fought between 11 March 1845 and 11 January 1846 in and around the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. The conflict is best remembered for the actions of Hōne Heke who challenged the authority of the British by cutting down the flagstaff on Flagstaff Hill at Kororāreka. The flagstaff had been a gift from Hōne Heke to James Busby, the first British Resident. The Northern War involved many major actions, including the Battle of Kororāreka on 11 March 1845, the Battle of Ōhaeawai on 23 June 1845 and the siege of Ruapekapeka Pā from 27 December 1845 to 11 January 1846.

      2. 1840 treaty between British Crown and people of New Zealand

        Treaty of Waitangi

        The Treaty of Waitangi is a document of central importance to the history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in the treatment of the Māori population in New Zealand, by successive governments and the wider population, a role that has been especially prominent from the late 20th century. The treaty document is an agreement, not a treaty as recognised in international law and it has no independent legal status, being legally effective only to the extent it is recognised in various statutes. It was first signed on 6 February 1840 by Captain William Hobson as consul for the British Crown and by Māori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand.

      3. 19th-century Māori chief

        Hōne Heke

        Hōne Wiremu Heke Pōkai, born Heke Pōkai and later often referred to as Hōne Heke, was a highly influential Māori rangatira (chief) of the Ngāpuhi iwi (tribe) and a war leader in northern New Zealand; he was affiliated with the Ngati Rahiri, Ngai Tawake, Ngati Tautahi, Te Matarahurahu and Te Uri-o-Hua hapū (subtribes) of Ngāpuhi. Hōne Heke fought with Hongi Hika, an earlier war leader of the Ngāpuhi, in the Musket Wars. Hōne Heke is considered the principal instigator of the Flagstaff War in 1845–46.

      4. 19th-century Māori rangatira (chief)

        Te Ruki Kawiti

        Te Ruki Kawiti was a prominent Māori rangatira (chief). He and Hōne Heke successfully fought the British in the Flagstaff War in 1845–46.

      5. Indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand

        Māori people

        The Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand. Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several centuries in isolation, these settlers developed their own distinctive culture, whose language, mythology, crafts, and performing arts evolved independently from those of other eastern Polynesian cultures. Some early Māori moved to the Chatham Islands, where their descendants became New Zealand's other indigenous Polynesian ethnic group, the Moriori.

      6. Town in the Northland Region of New Zealand

        Russell, New Zealand

        Russell, known as Kororareka in the early 19th century, was the first permanent European settlement and seaport in New Zealand. It is situated in the Bay of Islands, in the far north of the North Island.

  34. 1843

    1. During a period of activity known as the Great Eruption, Eta Carinae (pictured) briefly became the second-brightest star in the night sky.

      1. Stellar system in the constellation Carina

        Eta Carinae

        Eta Carinae, formerly known as Eta Argus, is a stellar system containing at least two stars with a combined luminosity greater than five million times that of the Sun, located around 7,500 light-years distant in the constellation Carina. Previously a 4th-magnitude star, it brightened in 1837 to become brighter than Rigel, marking the start of its so-called "Great Eruption". It became the second-brightest star in the sky between 11 and 14 March 1843 before fading well below naked eye visibility after 1856. In a smaller eruption, it reached 6th magnitude in 1892 before fading again. It has brightened consistently since about 1940, becoming brighter than magnitude 4.5 by 2014.

      2. Stars sorted by apparent magnitude

        List of brightest stars

        This is a list of stars arranged by their apparent magnitude – their brightness as observed from Earth. It includes all stars brighter than magnitude +2.50 in visible light, measured using a V-band filter in the UBV photometric system. Stars in binary systems are listed by their total or combined brightness if they appear as a single star to the naked eye, or listed separately if they do not. As with all magnitude systems in astronomy, the scale is logarithmic and inverted i.e. lower/more negative numbers are brighter.

  35. 1795

    1. The Battle of Kharda is fought between the Maratha Confederacy and the Nizam of Hyderabad, resulting in Maratha victory.

      1. 1795 battle between Nizam and Maratha Confederacy in Western India

        Battle of Kharda

        The Battle of Kharda took place in 1795 between Nizam and Maratha Empire, in which Nizam was badly defeated. Governor General John Shore followed the policy of non-intervention despite that Nizam was under his protection. So this led to the loss of trust with the British. This was the last battle fought together by all the Maratha chiefs under leadership of Parshurambhau Patwardhan. Maratha forces consisted of cavalry, including gunners, bowmen, artillery and infantry.

      2. 1674–1818 empire in the Indian subcontinent

        Maratha Empire

        The Maratha Empire, later referred as Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian empire that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Shivaji of the Bhonsle Dynasty as the Chhatrapati. Although Shivaji came from the Maratha caste, the Maratha empire also included warriors, administrators and other notables from Maratha and several other castes from Maharashtra.

      3. Historic monarch of the Hyderabad State of India

        Nizam of Hyderabad

        The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State. Nizam, shortened from Nizam-ul-Mulk, meaning Administrator of the Realm, was the title inherited by Asaf Jah I. He was the former Naib (suzerain) of the Great Mughal in the Deccan, the premier courtier of Mughal India until 1724, the founding of an independent monarchy as the "Nizam (title) of Hyderabad".

  36. 1784

    1. The signing of the Treaty of Mangalore brings the Second Anglo-Mysore War to an end.

      1. 1784 treaty which ended the Second Anglo-Mysore War

        Treaty of Mangalore

        The Treaty of Mangalore was signed between Tipu Sultan and the British East India Company on 11 March 1784. It was signed in Mangalore and brought an end to the Second Anglo-Mysore War.

      2. War in south India from 1780 to 1784

        Second Anglo-Mysore War

        The Second Anglo-Mysore War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company from 1780 to 1784. At the time, Mysore was a key French ally in India, and the conflict between Britain against the French and Dutch in the American Revolutionary War sparked Anglo-Mysorean hostilities in India. The great majority of soldiers on the company side were raised, trained, paid and commanded by the company, not the British government. However, the company's operations were also bolstered by Crown troops sent from Britain, and by troops from Hanover, which was also ruled by Britain's King George III.

  37. 1708

    1. Queen Anne withheld royal assent from the Scottish Militia Bill, in the most recent veto by a British monarch of a bill that had been passed by Parliament.

      1. Queen of Britain and Ireland from 1702 to 1714

        Anne, Queen of Great Britain

        Anne was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland from 8 March 1702 until 1 May 1707. On 1 May 1707, under the Acts of Union, the kingdoms of England and Scotland united as a single sovereign state known as Great Britain. Anne continued to reign as Queen of Great Britain and Ireland until her death.

      2. Formal approval of a proposed law in monarchies

        Royal assent

        Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in others that is a separate step. Under a modern constitutional monarchy, royal assent is considered little more than a formality. Even in nations such as the United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands and Liechtenstein which still, in theory, permit their monarch to withhold assent to laws, the monarch almost never does so, except in a dire political emergency or on advice of government. While the power to veto by withholding royal assent was once exercised often by European monarchs, such an occurrence has been very rare since the eighteenth century.

      3. 1708 United Kingdom legislation vetoed by Queen Anne

        Scottish Militia Bill

        The Scottish Militia Bill 1708 was a bill that was passed by the House of Commons and House of Lords of the Parliament of Great Britain in early 1708. However, on 11 March 1708, Queen Anne withheld royal assent on the advice of her ministers for fear that the proposed militia would be disloyal. This was due to the sudden appearance of a Franco-Jacobite invasion fleet en route to Scotland which gave ministers second thoughts, at the last minute, about allowing it to reach the statute books. As of 2022, it is the last occasion on which the royal veto has been used in Great Britain or the United Kingdom.

      4. Legal power to stop an official action, usually enactment of legislation

        Veto

        A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto powers are also found at other levels of government, such as in state, provincial or local government, and in international bodies.

      5. Proposed law

        Bill (law)

        A bill is proposed legislation under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature as well as, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act of the legislature, or a statute. Bills are introduced in the legislature and are discussed, debated and voted upon.

      6. Legislative body

        Parliament of the United Kingdom

        The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and the overseas territories. Parliament is bicameral but has three parts, consisting of the sovereign (King-in-Parliament), the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. Both houses of Parliament meet in separate chambers at the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster, one of the inner boroughs of the capital city, London.

    2. Queen Anne withholds Royal Assent from the Scottish Militia Bill, the last time a British monarch vetoes legislation.

      1. Queen of Britain and Ireland from 1702 to 1714

        Anne, Queen of Great Britain

        Anne was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland from 8 March 1702 until 1 May 1707. On 1 May 1707, under the Acts of Union, the kingdoms of England and Scotland united as a single sovereign state known as Great Britain. Anne continued to reign as Queen of Great Britain and Ireland until her death.

      2. Formal approval of a proposed law in monarchies

        Royal assent

        Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in others that is a separate step. Under a modern constitutional monarchy, royal assent is considered little more than a formality. Even in nations such as the United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands and Liechtenstein which still, in theory, permit their monarch to withhold assent to laws, the monarch almost never does so, except in a dire political emergency or on advice of government. While the power to veto by withholding royal assent was once exercised often by European monarchs, such an occurrence has been very rare since the eighteenth century.

      3. 1708 United Kingdom legislation vetoed by Queen Anne

        Scottish Militia Bill

        The Scottish Militia Bill 1708 was a bill that was passed by the House of Commons and House of Lords of the Parliament of Great Britain in early 1708. However, on 11 March 1708, Queen Anne withheld royal assent on the advice of her ministers for fear that the proposed militia would be disloyal. This was due to the sudden appearance of a Franco-Jacobite invasion fleet en route to Scotland which gave ministers second thoughts, at the last minute, about allowing it to reach the statute books. As of 2022, it is the last occasion on which the royal veto has been used in Great Britain or the United Kingdom.

      4. Constitutional monarchy in Western Europe (1707–1800)

        Kingdom of Great Britain

        The Kingdom of Great Britain was a sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, which united the kingdoms of England and Scotland to form a single kingdom encompassing the whole island of Great Britain and its outlying islands, with the exception of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The unitary state was governed by a single parliament at the Palace of Westminster, but distinct legal systems – English law and Scots law – remained in use.

  38. 1702

    1. The Daily Courant, England's first national daily newspaper, is published for the first time.

      1. First British daily newspaper

        The Daily Courant

        The Daily Courant, initially published on 11 March 1702, was the first British daily newspaper. It was produced by Elizabeth Mallet at her premises next to the King's Arms tavern at Fleet Bridge in London. The newspaper consisted of a single page, with advertisements on the reverse side. Mallet advertised that she intended to publish only foreign news and would not add any comments of her own, supposing her readers to have "sense enough to make reflections for themselves".

  39. 1669

    1. Mount Etna in Sicily began erupting, eventually producing the largest lava flow in the volcano's history, and damaging Catania and other towns.

      1. Active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy

        Mount Etna

        Mount Etna, or simply Etna, is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Catania, between the cities of Messina and Catania. It lies above the convergent plate margin between the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate. It is one of the tallest active volcanoes in Europe, and the tallest peak in Italy south of the Alps with a current height of 3,357 m (11,014 ft), though this varies with summit eruptions. Over a six-month period in 2021, Etna erupted so much volcanic material that its height increased by approximately 100 ft (30 m), and the southeastern crater is now the tallest part of the volcano.

      2. 17th-century volcanic eruption in Sicily

        1669 eruption of Mount Etna

        The 1669 eruption of Mount Etna is the largest-recorded historical eruption of the volcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy. After several weeks of increasing seismic activity that damaged the town of Nicolosi and other settlements, an eruption fissure opened on the southeastern flank of Etna during the night of 10–11 March. Several more fissures became active during 11 March, erupting pyroclastics and tephra that fell over Sicily and accumulated to form the Monti Rossi scoria cone.

      3. City in Sicily, Italy

        Catania

        Catania is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by the presence of important road and rail transport infrastructures as well as by the main airport in Sicily, fifth in Italy. It is located on Sicily's east coast, at the base of the active volcano, Mount Etna, and it faces the Ionian Sea. It is the capital of the 58-municipality region known as the Metropolitan City of Catania, which is the seventh-largest metropolitan city in Italy. The population of the city proper is 311,584, while the population of the Metropolitan City of Catania is 1,107,702.

  40. 1649

    1. The Frondeurs and the French sign the Peace of Rueil.

      1. Series of civil wars in France between 1648 and 1653

        The Fronde

        The Fronde was a series of civil wars in France between 1648 and 1653, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. King Louis XIV confronted the combined opposition of the princes, the nobility, the law courts (parlements), as well as most of the French people, and managed to subdue them all. The dispute started when the government of France issued seven fiscal edicts, six of which were to increase taxation. The parlements resisted and questioned the constitutionality of the King's actions and sought to check his powers.

      2. 1649 agreement which ended the first conflicts of the Fronde (period of French civil war)

        Peace of Rueil

        The Peace of Rueil, signed 11 March 1649, signalled an end to the opening episodes of the Fronde after little blood had been shed. The articles ended all hostilities and declared all avenues of trade reopened. The settlement was promulgated in the name of the child king Louis XIV through his mother Anne of Austria, the Queen Regent. Cardinal Mazarin, the true power of the court party, was not mentioned in the text, though he was a signatory, as was the Grand Condé, who had been recruited by the court party to overcome the resistance of Paris.

  41. 1641

    1. Guaraní forces living in the Jesuit reductions defeat bandeirantes loyal to the Portuguese Empire at the Battle of Mbororé in present-day Panambí, Argentina.

      1. Indigenous people of South America

        Guaraní people

        Guarani are a group of culturally-related indigenous peoples of South America. They are distinguished from the related Tupi by their use of the Guarani language. The traditional range of the Guarani people is in present-day Paraguay between the Paraná River and lower Paraguay River, the Misiones Province of Argentina, southern Brazil once as far east as Rio de Janeiro, and parts of Uruguay and Bolivia.

      2. Spanish colonial settlements for relocation and Christianization of natives

        Reductions

        Reductions were settlements created by Spanish rulers and Roman Catholic missionaries in Spanish America and the Spanish East Indies. In Portuguese-speaking Latin America, such reductions were also called aldeias. The Spanish and Portuguese relocated, forcibly in many cases, indigenous inhabitants of their colonies into urban settlements modeled on those in Spain and Portugal.

      3. Explorers, slavers, and fortune hunters in colonial Brazil (15th-18th centuries)

        Bandeirantes

        The Bandeirantes, literally "flag-carriers", were slavers, explorers, adventurers, and fortune hunters in early Colonial Brazil. They are largely responsible for Brazil's great expansion westward, far beyond the Tordesillas Line of 1494, by which Pope Alexander VI divided the new continent into a western, Castilian section, and an eastern, Portuguese section.

      4. Colonial empire of Portugal (1415–1999)

        Portuguese Empire

        The Portuguese Empire, also known as the Portuguese Overseas or the Portuguese Colonial Empire, was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the later overseas territories governed by Portugal. It was one of the longest-lived empires in European history, lasting almost six centuries from the conquest of Ceuta in North Africa, in 1415, to the transfer of sovereignty over Macau to China in 1999. The empire began in the 15th century, and from the early 16th century it stretched across the globe, with bases in North and South America, Africa, and various regions of Asia and Oceania.

      5. 1641 battle between Brazilian explorers and Guaraní Jesuits in modern northeast Argentina

        Battle of Mbororé

        The Battle of Mbororé was a battle between the Guaraní living in the Jesuit Missions and the bandeirantes, explorers and adventurers based in São Paulo. It occurred on 11 March 1641 near the Mbororé mountain, now the town of Panambí in the Misiones Province, Argentina.

      6. Municipality and village in Misiones, Argentina

        Panambí

        Panambí is a village and municipality in Misiones Province in north-eastern Argentina.

  42. 1387

    1. Battle of Castagnaro: Padua, led by John Hawkwood, is victorious over Giovanni Ordelaffi of Verona.

      1. Battle of Castagnaro

        The Battle of Castagnaro was fought on 11 March 1387 at Castagnaro between Verona and Padua. It is one of the most famous battles of the Italian condottieri age.

      2. City in Veneto, Italy

        Padua

        Padua is a city and comune in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 214,000. The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE) which has a population of around 2,600,000.

      3. 14th-century English soldier and condottiero

        John Hawkwood

        Sir John Hawkwood was an English soldier who served as a mercenary leader or condottiero in Italy. As his name was difficult to pronounce for non-English-speaking contemporaries, there are many variations of it in the historical record. He often referred to himself as Haukevvod and in Italy he was known as Giovanni Acuto, literally meaning "John Sharp" in reference to his "cleverness or cunning". His name was Latinised as Johannes Acutus. Other recorded forms are Aucgunctur, Haughd, Hauvod, Hankelvode, Augudh, Auchevud, Haukwode and Haucod. His exploits made him a man shrouded in myth in both England and Italy. Much of his enduring fame results from the surviving large and prominent fresco portrait of him in the Duomo, Florence, made in 1436 by Paolo Uccello, seen every year by 4½ million tourists.

      4. Giovanni Ordelaffi

        Giovanni Ordelaffi (1355–1399) was a member of the noble family of Ordelaffi, the Lords of Forlì, in Italy, in the 14th and in the 15th centuries.

      5. City in Veneto, Italy

        Verona

        Verona is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in northeastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona covers an area of 1,426 km2 (550.58 sq mi) and has a population of 714,310 inhabitants. It is one of the main tourist destinations in northern Italy because of its artistic heritage and several annual fairs and shows as well as the opera season in the Arena, an ancient Roman amphitheater.

  43. 1343

    1. Arnošt of Pardubice becomes the last Bishop of Prague (3 March 1343 O.S.), and, a year later, the first Archbishop of Prague.

      1. Arnošt of Pardubice

        Arnošt of Pardubice was the first Archbishop of Prague. He was also an advisor and diplomat to Emperor Charles IV.

      2. List of bishops and archbishops of Prague

        The following is a list of bishops and archbishops of Prague. The bishopric of Prague was established in 973, and elevated to an archbishopric on 30 April 1344. The current Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Prague is the continual successor of the bishopric established in 973. In addition, the city also has an Eastern Orthodox archeparchy (archbishopric), Greek Catholic exarchate and the Prague diocese and patriarchate of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church seat in Prague.

      3. Calendar introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BC

        Julian calendar

        The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on 1 January 45 BC, by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandria.

  44. 843

    1. Triumph of Orthodoxy: Empress Theodora II restores the veneration of icons in the Orthodox churches in the Byzantine Empire.

      1. Feast of Orthodoxy

        The Feast of Orthodoxy is celebrated on the first Sunday of Great Lent in the Eastern Orthodox Church and other churches using the Byzantine Rite to commemorate, originally, only the final defeat of iconoclasm on the first Sunday of Lent in 843, and later also opposition to all heterodoxy.

      2. Byzantine empress

        Theodora (wife of Theophilos)

        Theodora, sometimes called Theodora the Armenian or Theodora the Blessed, was Byzantine empress as the wife of Byzantine emperor Theophilos from 830 to 842 and regent for the couple's young son Michael III, after the death of Theophilos, from 842 to 856. She is sometimes counted as an empress regnant, who actually ruled in her own right, rather than just a regent. Theodora is most famous for bringing an end to the second Byzantine Iconoclasm (814–843), an act for which she is recognized as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Though her reign saw the loss of most of Sicily and failure to retake Crete, Theodora's foreign policy was otherwise highly successful; by 856, the Byzantine Empire had gained the upper hand over both Bulgaria and the Abbasid Caliphate, and the Slavic tribes in the Peloponnese had been forced to pay tribute, all without decreasing the imperial gold reserve.

      3. Religious service to icons

        Iconodulism

        Iconodulism designates the religious service to icons. The term comes from Neoclassical Greek εἰκονόδουλος (eikonodoulos), meaning "one who serves images (icons)". It is also referred to as iconophilism designating a positive attitude towards the religious use of icons. In the history of Christianity, iconodulism was manifested as a moderate position, between two extremes: Iconoclasm and iconolatry.

      4. Second-largest Christian church

        Eastern Orthodox Church

        The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via local synods. The church has no central doctrinal or governmental authority analogous to the head of the Roman Catholic Church—the Pope—but the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is recognized by them as primus inter pares, which may be explained as a representative of the church. As one of the oldest surviving religious institutions in the world, the Eastern Orthodox Church has played a prominent role in the history and culture of Eastern and Southeastern Europe. The Eastern Orthodox Church officially calls itself the Orthodox Catholic Church.

      5. Roman Empire during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages

        Byzantine Empire

        The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople. It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire remained the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe. The terms "Byzantine Empire" and "Eastern Roman Empire" were coined after the end of the realm; its citizens continued to refer to their empire as the Roman Empire, and to themselves as Romans—a term which Greeks continued to use for themselves into Ottoman times. Although the Roman state continued and its traditions were maintained, modern historians distinguish Byzantium from its earlier incarnation because it was centered on Constantinople, oriented towards Greek rather than Latin culture, and characterised by Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

  45. 222

    1. Disaffected with Roman emperor Elagabalus's disregard for Roman religious traditions and sexual taboos, the Praetorian Guard assassinated him and his mother, throwing his mutilated body into the Tiber.

      1. Ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period

        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.

      2. Roman emperor from 218 to 222

        Elagabalus

        Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, better known by his nickname "Elagabalus", was Roman emperor from 218 to 222, while he was still a teenager. His short reign was conspicuous for sex scandals and religious controversy. A close relative to the Severan dynasty, he came from a prominent Arab family in Emesa (Homs), Syria, where since his early youth he served as head priest of the sun god Elagabal. After the death of his cousin, the emperor Caracalla, Elagabalus was raised to the principate at 14 years of age in an army revolt instigated by his grandmother Julia Maesa against Caracalla's short-lived successor, Macrinus. He only posthumously became known by the Latinised name of his god.

      3. Societal or cultural prohibition

        Taboo

        A taboo or tabu is a ban on something based in a cultural sensibility that perceives it as excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only by certain persons. Such prohibitions are present in virtually all societies. Taboos are explicitly prohibited by custom and/or religion.

      4. Bodyguards of the Roman emperors

        Praetorian Guard

        The Praetorian Guard was a unit of the Imperial Roman army that served as personal bodyguards and intelligence agents for the Roman emperors. During the Roman Republic, the Praetorian Guard were an escort for high-rank political officials and were bodyguards for the senior officers of the Roman legions. In 27 BC, after Rome's transition from republic to empire, the first emperor of Rome, Augustus, designated the Praetorians as his personal security escort. For three centuries, the guards of the Roman emperor were also known for their palace intrigues, by which influence upon imperial politics the Praetorians could overthrow an emperor and then proclaim his successor as the new caesar of Rome. In AD 312, Constantine the Great disbanded the cohortes praetoriae and destroyed their barracks at the Castra Praetoria.

      5. Mother of Roman emperor Elagabalus (180-222)

        Julia Soaemias

        Julia Soaemias Bassiana was a Syrian noblewoman and the mother of Roman emperor Elagabalus, who ruled over the Roman Empire from 218 to 222. She was one of his chief advisors, initially with the support and accompaniment of her mother Julia Maesa. She and her mother guided the young emperor until growing unrest and a family division led to her son's replacement by her nephew Severus Alexander. Julia Soaemias was killed along with her son by the Praetorian Guard.

      6. Major river in central Italy

        Tiber

        The Tiber is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing 406 km (252 mi) through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the River Aniene, to the Tyrrhenian Sea, between Ostia and Fiumicino. It drains a basin estimated at 17,375 km2 (6,709 sq mi). The river has achieved lasting fame as the main watercourse of the city of Rome, which was founded on its eastern banks.

    2. Roman emperor Elagabalus is murdered alongside his mother, Julia Soaemias. He is replaced by his 14-year old cousin, Severus Alexander.

      1. Roman emperor from 218 to 222

        Elagabalus

        Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, better known by his nickname "Elagabalus", was Roman emperor from 218 to 222, while he was still a teenager. His short reign was conspicuous for sex scandals and religious controversy. A close relative to the Severan dynasty, he came from a prominent Arab family in Emesa (Homs), Syria, where since his early youth he served as head priest of the sun god Elagabal. After the death of his cousin, the emperor Caracalla, Elagabalus was raised to the principate at 14 years of age in an army revolt instigated by his grandmother Julia Maesa against Caracalla's short-lived successor, Macrinus. He only posthumously became known by the Latinised name of his god.

      2. Mother of Roman emperor Elagabalus (180-222)

        Julia Soaemias

        Julia Soaemias Bassiana was a Syrian noblewoman and the mother of Roman emperor Elagabalus, who ruled over the Roman Empire from 218 to 222. She was one of his chief advisors, initially with the support and accompaniment of her mother Julia Maesa. She and her mother guided the young emperor until growing unrest and a family division led to her son's replacement by her nephew Severus Alexander. Julia Soaemias was killed along with her son by the Praetorian Guard.

      3. Roman emperor from 222 to 235

        Severus Alexander

        Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222. Alexander himself was eventually assassinated, and his death marked the beginning of the events of the Crisis of the Third Century, which included nearly fifty years of civil war, foreign invasion, and the collapse of the monetary economy.

Births & Deaths

  1. 2021

    1. Ray Campi, American singer and musician (b. 1934) deaths

      1. American musician (1934–2021)

        Ray Campi

        Raymond Charles Campi was an American singer and musician, nicknamed "The King of Rockabilly". He first recorded in the mid-1950s. Campi's trademark was his white double bass, which he often jumped on top of and "rode" while playing.

    2. Takis Mousafiris, Greek composer and songwriter (b. 1936) deaths

      1. Greek composer, lyricist and songwriter (1936–2021)

        Takis Mousafiris

        Takis Mousafiris was a Greek composer, lyricist and songwriter. He collaborated with several notable Greek singers such as Stratos Dionysiou, Dimitris Mitropanos, Rita Sakellariou and Tolis Voskopoulos, among others. He sometimes used two pseudonyms for his works, Antonis Zannas and Nikos Michael.

  2. 2018

    1. Ken Dodd, English comedian and singer (b. 1927) deaths

      1. English stand-up comedian and singer (1927–2018)

        Ken Dodd

        Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd was an English comedian, singer and occasional actor. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer", and was primarily known for his live stand-up performances.

    2. Siegfried Rauch, German actor (b. 1932) deaths

      1. German film and television actor

        Siegfried Rauch

        Siegfried Rauch was a German film and television actor. In a career spanning over 60 years, he appeared in several international film productions and had leading roles in numerous German television productions.

    3. Karl Lehmann, German cardinal (b. 1936) deaths

      1. Karl Lehmann

        Karl Lehmann was a German Cardinal prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Mainz from 1983 to 2016, being elevated to Cardinal in 2001. He also served as Chairman of the Conference of the German Bishops from 1987 to 2008, being considered one of the most influential prelates in Germany in these years and a leading proponent of liberal stances within the Church. Before he became a bishop, he worked as professor of theology at the University of Mainz and the University of Freiburg.

    4. Mary Rosenblum, American science fiction and mystery author (b. 1952) deaths

      1. American novelist

        Mary Rosenblum

        Mary Rosenblum was an American science fiction and mystery author.

  3. 2016

    1. Iolanda Balaș, Romanian high jumper (b. 1936) deaths

      1. Romanian high jumper

        Iolanda Balaș

        Iolanda Balaș was a Romanian athlete, an Olympic champion and former world record holder in the high jump. She was the first Romanian woman to win an Olympic gold medal and is considered to have been one of the greatest high jumpers of the twentieth century.

    2. Doreen Massey, English geographer and political activist (b. 1944) deaths

      1. British social scientist and geographer (b.1944)

        Doreen Massey (geographer)

        Doreen Barbara Massey was a British social scientist and geographer. She specialized in Marxist geography, feminist geography, and cultural geography, as well as other topics. She was Professor of Geography at the Open University.

  4. 2015

    1. Walter Burkert, German philologist and scholar (b. 1931) deaths

      1. German classical philologist and religious scholar (1931–2015)

        Walter Burkert

        Walter Burkert was a German scholar of Greek mythology and cult.

    2. Jimmy Greenspoon, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (b. 1948) deaths

      1. Musical artist

        Jimmy Greenspoon

        James Boyd Greenspoon was an American keyboard player and composer, best known as a member of the band Three Dog Night.

  5. 2014

    1. Dean Bailey, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1967) deaths

      1. Australian rules footballer and coach

        Dean Bailey

        Dean Bailey was an Australian rules football player and coach. He played for the Essendon Football Club and was the senior coach of the Melbourne Football Club, as well as an assistant coach at Essendon and Port Adelaide and the Strategy & Innovation Coach at the Adelaide Football Club. Bailey died of lung cancer on 11 March 2014.

    2. Joel Brinkley, American journalist and academic (b. 1952) deaths

      1. American journalist

        Joel Brinkley

        Joel Graham Brinkley was an American syndicated columnist. He taught in the journalism program at Stanford University from 2006 until 2013, after a 23-year career with The New York Times. He won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1980 and was twice a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting.

  6. 2013

    1. Martin Adolf Bormann, German priest and theologian (b. 1930) deaths

      1. Martin Adolf Bormann

        Martin Adolf Bormann was a German theologian and laicized Roman Catholic priest. He was the eldest of the ten children of Martin Bormann.

    2. Simón Alberto Consalvi, Venezuelan journalist and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Venezuela (b. 1927) deaths

      1. Simón Alberto Consalvi

        Simón Alberto Consalvi was a Venezuelan politician, journalist, diplomat and historian. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela on two occasions (1977-1979/1985-1988), Minister of Interior and Justice of Venezuela (1988–1989), Secretary of the Presidency (1988), and also held several Ambassadorships. A journalist and author of many books, he was member of the National Academy of History since 1997, and Associate Editor of the daily El Nacional.

      2. List of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela

        The following is a list of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela since 1830, when Venezuela achieved independence after the dissolution of Gran Colombia. The founding minister was Diego Bautista Urbaneja, who held multiple terms. The current minister is Jorge Arreaza, who assumed office on August 2, 2017.

  7. 2012

    1. James B. Morehead, American colonel and pilot (b. 1916) deaths

      1. James B. Morehead

        James Bruce Morehead was an American fighter pilot and flying ace of World War II. He flew combat missions over a three-year span of the war with a total of eight aerial victories. He was awarded two Distinguished Service Crosses, a Silver Star, two Distinguished Flying Crosses and sixteen Air Medals

  8. 2010

    1. Hans van Mierlo, Dutch politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1931) deaths

      1. Dutch politician

        Hans van Mierlo

        Henricus Antonius Franciscus Maria Oliva "Hans" van Mierlo was a Dutch politician and journalist who co-founded Democrats 66 (D66).

      2. Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands

        The deputy prime minister of the Netherlands is the official deputy of the head of government of the Netherlands. In the absence of the prime minister of the Netherlands the deputy prime minister takes over his functions, such as chairing the Cabinet of the Netherlands and the Council of Ministers of the Netherlands. Conventionally, all of the junior partners in the coalition get one deputy, and the deputies are ranked according to the size of their respective parties. The incumbent deputy prime ministers are Sigrid Kaag of the Democrats 66 serving as Minister of Finance, Wopke Hoekstra of the Christian Democratic Appeal serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Carola Schouten of the Christian Union serving as Minister for Welfare and Civic Engagement.

  9. 2006

    1. Bernie Geoffrion, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1931) deaths

      1. Canadian ice hockey player

        Bernie Geoffrion

        Joseph Bernard André Geoffrion, nicknamed "Boom Boom", was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Generally considered one of the innovators of the slapshot, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972 following a 16-year career with the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers of the National Hockey League. In 2017 Geoffrion was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.

    2. Slobodan Milošević, Serbian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (b. 1941) deaths

      1. Yugoslav and Serbian politician (1941–2006)

        Slobodan Milošević

        Slobodan Milošević was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia within Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1997 and president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000. Formerly a high-ranking member of the League of Communists of Serbia (SKS) during the 1980s, he led the Socialist Party of Serbia from its foundation in 1990 until 2003.

      2. Head of state of Serbia and Montenegro (1992–2006)

        President of Serbia and Montenegro

        The President of Serbia and Montenegro was the head of state of Serbia and Montenegro. From its establishment in 1992 until 2003, when the country was reconstituted as a confederacy via constitutional reform, the head of state was known as the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. With the constitutional reforms of 2003 and the merging of the offices of head of government and head of state, the full title of the president was President of Serbia and Montenegro and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Serbia and Montenegro. In 2006 the office was abolished as the state union was dissolved, with Serbia and Montenegro becoming independent countries and was followed by Kosovo in 2008 although it received limited international recognition.

  10. 2002

    1. James Tobin, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918) deaths

      1. American economist (1918-2002)

        James Tobin

        James Tobin was an American economist who served on the Council of Economic Advisers and consulted with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and taught at Harvard and Yale Universities. He developed the ideas of Keynesian economics, and advocated government intervention to stabilize output and avoid recessions. His academic work included pioneering contributions to the study of investment, monetary and fiscal policy and financial markets. He also proposed an econometric model for censored dependent variables, the well-known tobit model.

      2. Economics award

        Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences

        The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, is an economics award administered by the Nobel Foundation.

  11. 1999

    1. Herbert Jasper, Canadian psychologist, anatomist, and neurologist (b. 1906) deaths

      1. Canadian psychologist and physiologist

        Herbert Jasper

        Herbert Henri Jasper was a Canadian psychologist, physiologist, neurologist, and epileptologist.

    2. Camille Laurin, Canadian psychiatrist and politician (b. 1922) deaths

      1. Canadian politician

        Camille Laurin

        Camille Laurin was a psychiatrist and Parti Québécois (PQ) politician in the Canadian province of Quebec. A MNA member for the riding of Bourget, he is considered the father of Quebec's language law known informally as "Bill 101".

  12. 1996

    1. Vince Edwards, American actor and director (b. 1928) deaths

      1. American actor (1928–1996)

        Vince Edwards

        Vince Edwards was an American actor and director. He was best known for his TV role as doctor Ben Casey and as Major Cliff Bricker in the 1968 war film The Devil's Brigade.

  13. 1995

    1. Myfanwy Talog, Welsh actress and singer (b. 1945) deaths

      1. Welsh actress

        Myfanwy Talog

        Myfanwy Talog Williams, known professionally as Myfanwy Talog, was a Welsh actress and the long-term partner of English actor David Jason.

  14. 1994

    1. Andrew Robertson, Scottish footballer births

      1. Scottish association football player

        Andrew Robertson

        Andrew Henry Robertson is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Premier League club Liverpool and captains the Scotland national team. Due to his crossing abilities and defensive work rate, he is widely regarded as one of the best full-backs in the world.

  15. 1993

    1. Jodie Comer, British actress births

      1. English actress

        Jodie Comer

        Jodie Marie Comer is an English actress. She has received various accolades including two British Academy Television Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Golden Globe Awards, two Critics Choice Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

    2. Anthony Davis, American basketball player births

      1. American basketball player (born 1993)

        Anthony Davis

        Anthony Marshon Davis Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays the power forward and center positions. Davis is an eight-time NBA All-Star and has been named to four All-NBA First Teams and four NBA All-Defensive Teams. In his first season with the Lakers, he won an NBA championship in 2020. In 2021, he was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.

  16. 1992

    1. Richard Brooks, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1912) deaths

      1. American screenwriter, film director and producer (1912–1992)

        Richard Brooks

        Richard Brooks was an American screenwriter, film director, novelist and film producer. Nominated for eight Oscars in his career, he was best known for Blackboard Jungle (1955), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Elmer Gantry, In Cold Blood (1967) and Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977).

  17. 1990

    1. Ayumi Morita, Japanese tennis player births

      1. Japanese tennis player

        Ayumi Morita

        Ayumi Morita is a Japanese tennis player. She reached her career-high ranking of number 40 in the world in October 2011. At junior level, she reached a combined career-high ranking of world No. 3.

  18. 1989

    1. Anton Yelchin, Russian-born American actor (d. 2016) births

      1. American actor (1989–2016)

        Anton Yelchin

        Anton Viktorovich Yelchin was an American film and television actor. Born in the Soviet Union to a Russian Jewish family, he emigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of six months. He began his career as a child actor, appearing as the lead of the mystery drama film Hearts in Atlantis (2001) and a series regular on the Showtime comedy-drama Huff (2004–2006). Yelchin landed higher profile film roles in 2009, portraying Pavel Chekov in the Star Trek reboot and Kyle Reese in Terminator Salvation. With the former, he returned for the sequels Into Darkness (2013) and Beyond (2016).

    2. James Kee, American lawyer and politician (b. 1917) deaths

      1. American politician

        James Kee

        James Kee was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the United States House of Representatives for West Virginia's 5th congressional district from 1965 to 1973, succeeding his mother Elizabeth Kee. His father John Kee served in the same House seat from 1933 to 1951.

    3. John J. McCloy, American lawyer and diplomat (b. 1895) deaths

      1. American lawyer and banker (1895–1989)

        John J. McCloy

        John Jay McCloy was an American lawyer, diplomat, banker, and a presidential advisor. He served as Assistant Secretary of War during World War II under Henry Stimson, helping deal with issues such as German sabotage, political tensions in the North Africa Campaign, and opposing the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the war, he served as the president of the World Bank, U.S. High Commissioner for Germany, chairman of Chase Manhattan Bank, chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the Warren Commission, and a prominent United States adviser to all presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan.

  19. 1988

    1. Fábio Coentrão, Portuguese footballer births

      1. Portuguese footballer

        Fábio Coentrão

        Fábio Alexandre da Silva Coentrão is a Portuguese former professional footballer. Mainly a left-back, he also operated as a winger and occasionally as a defensive midfielder.

    2. Cecil Lolo, South African footballer (d. 2015) births

      1. South African soccer player

        Cecil Lolo

        Cecil Sonwabile Lolo was a South African professional footballer, who played as a defender and midfielder for Ajax Cape Town.

  20. 1987

    1. Marc-André Gragnani, Canadian ice hockey player births

      1. Canadian ice hockey player

        Marc-André Gragnani

        Marc-André Gragnani is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing with Djurgårdens IF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He spent four-and-a-half seasons playing for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League and their American Hockey League affiliate, the Portland Pirates. He also played half a season with Vancouver before signing with Carolina as a free agent. On July 3, 2015, Gragnani signed a one-year, two-way contract with the New Jersey Devils for whom he appeared four times.

    2. Tanel Kangert, Estonian cyclist births

      1. Estonian road bicycle racer

        Tanel Kangert

        Tanel Kangert is an Estonian road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Team BikeExchange–Jayco.

    3. Ngonidzashe Makusha, Zimbabwean sprinter and long jumper births

      1. Zimbabwean sprinter and athletics competitor (born 1987)

        Ngonidzashe Makusha

        Ngonidzashe Makusha is a Zimbabwean sprinter and long jumper. He is the national record holder over 100 m and Long Jump for Zimbabwe with 9.89 s (+1.3 m/s) and 8.40 m (0.0 m/s) respectively. Both performances achieved during the 2011 NCAA Division I Championships in Des Moines, Iowa where he completed the 100 m long jump double. Following the 2 gold medals victory, Makusha became one of the only four, now five, athletes to win the double at the NCAA championships. The four others are DeHart Hubbard (1925), Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis (1981), and Jarrion Lawson (2016).

  21. 1986

    1. Dario Cologna, Swiss skier births

      1. Swiss cross-country skier

        Dario Cologna

        Dario Cologna is a Swiss cross-country skier. He has four overall World Cup victories, four Olympic gold medals, one World Championships gold medal and four Tour de Ski victories in his career.

    2. Sonny Terry, American singer and harmonica player (b. 1911) deaths

      1. American Piedmont blues musician

        Sonny Terry

        Saunders Terrell, known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and occasionally imitations of trains and fox hunts.

  22. 1985

    1. Paul Bissonnette, Canadian ice hockey player births

      1. Canadian ice hockey player and analyst

        Paul Bissonnette

        Paul Albert Bissonnette, nicknamed "Biz Nasty", is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Phoenix Coyotes.

    2. Daniel Vázquez Evuy, Equatoguinean footballer births

      1. Spanish-born Equatoguinean footballer

        Evuy (footballer)

        Daniel Vázquez Evuy, known as Evuy, is a Spanish-born Equatoguinean former footballer who played as a defender. He has been a member of the Equatorial Guinea national team.

    3. Cassandra Fairbanks, American journalist and activist births

      1. American journalist and activist

        Cassandra Fairbanks

        Cassandra Fairbanks is an American journalist and activist. As a journalist, she has worked for the Russian state-owned international news agency Sputnik (2015–2017), far-right American conspiracy theory websites Big League Politics (2017) and The Gateway Pundit (2017–present), as well as Timcast (2021–present).

    4. Stelios Malezas, Greek footballer births

      1. Greek footballer

        Stelios Malezas

        Stelios Malezas is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a centre back.

    5. Greg Olsen, American football player births

      1. American football player and sportscaster (born 1985)

        Greg Olsen (American football)

        Gregory Walter Olsen is an American football sportscaster and former tight end who played for 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Miami and was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft. Olsen also played for the Carolina Panthers, with whom he made three Pro Bowls, and became the first tight end in NFL history to record three consecutive seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards. Olsen played his final season with the Seattle Seahawks in 2020.

    6. Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Australian footballer births

      1. Australian soccer player

        Nikolai Topor-Stanley

        Nikolai David Topor-Stanley is an Australian football (soccer) player who plays as a centre back. He has played for A-League clubs Sydney FC, Perth Glory, Newcastle Jets and Western Sydney Wanderers. He has also played in international squads, the Olyroos and Socceroos, for Australia. He is playing for Western United FC in the 2022–23 season, having signed in 2021.

  23. 1982

    1. Brian Anderson, American baseball player births

      1. American baseball player (born 1982)

        Brian Anderson (outfielder)

        Brian Nikola Anderson is an American former professional baseball player. He played all or part of five seasons in Major League Baseball with the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox as an outfielder, a position he played professionally until before the 2010 season. He also played for the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees organizations as a pitcher.

    2. Edmund Cooper, English poet and author (b. 1926) deaths

      1. English poet and writer

        Edmund Cooper

        Edmund Cooper was an English poet and prolific writer of speculative fiction, romances, technical essays, several detective stories, and a children's book. These were published under his own name and several pen names.

    3. Horace Gregory, American poet, translator, and academic (b. 1898) deaths

      1. American poet

        Horace Gregory

        Horace Gregory was a prize-winning American poet, translator of classic poetry, literary critic and college professor. He was awarded the Bollingen Prize in 1965.

  24. 1981

    1. LeToya Luckett, American singer-songwriter and actress births

      1. American singer and actress

        LeToya Luckett

        LeToya Nicole Luckett is an American R&B singer and actress. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a founding member of the R&B girl group Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. As a member of Destiny's Child, she achieved four US Top 10 hit singles, "No, No, No", "Bills, Bills, Bills", "Say My Name" and "Jumpin', Jumpin'", and won two Grammy Awards. In the 2000s, she began her solo career after leaving the group and signing a record deal with Capitol Records. Her solo debut album, LeToya (2006), debuted at number-one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, and was certified platinum by the RIAA, that same year.

  25. 1980

    1. Dan Uggla, American baseball player births

      1. American baseball player (born 1980)

        Dan Uggla

        Daniel Cooley Uggla is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins, Atlanta Braves, San Francisco Giants, and Washington Nationals. In 2010, Uggla won the Silver Slugger Award at second base.

  26. 1979

    1. Elton Brand, American basketball player births

      1. American basketball player

        Elton Brand

        Elton Tyron Brand is an American former professional basketball player and the general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After playing college basketball for Duke, he was selected with the first overall pick in the 1999 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls, and later played for the Philadelphia 76ers, the Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks. He was a two-time NBA All Star and an All-NBA Second Team selection in 2006.

    2. Fred Jones, American basketball player births

      1. American basketball player

        Fred Jones (basketball)

        Frederick Terrell Jones is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Oregon Ducks and was the winner of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest at the 2004 NBA All-Star Game.

    3. Benji Madden, American singer-songwriter and guitarist births

      1. American musician

        Benji Madden

        Benjamin Levi Madden is an American musician. He is the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the band Good Charlotte—for which he has received various awards—as well as pop rock collaboration the Madden Brothers. He formed both of these acts with his identical twin brother, Joel Madden, with whom he was a coach on The Voice Australia from 2015–2016.

    4. Joel Madden, American singer-songwriter and producer births

      1. American singer

        Joel Madden

        Joel Rueben Madden is an American singer best known as the lead vocalist for the pop punk band Good Charlotte. He is also part of the pop rock collaboration the Madden Brothers with his identical twin brother Benji Madden.

  27. 1978

    1. Didier Drogba, Ivorian footballer births

      1. Ivorian footballer

        Didier Drogba

        Didier Yves Drogba Tébily is an Ivorian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the all-time top scorer and former captain of the Ivory Coast national team. He is best known for his career at Chelsea, for whom he has scored more goals than any other foreign player and is currently the club's fourth highest goal scorer of all time. Drogba was named Chelsea's greatest ever player in a poll of 20,000 fans conducted by Chelsea FC Magazine in 2012, and he was also named in the Chelsea team of the 2010–2020 decade by Chelsea's fans in 2020. He is regarded as one of the greatest African players of all time and was noted for his physical strength, speed, ability in the air, powerful and accurate strikes, and ball retention. Drogba was named African Footballer of the Year twice, winning the award in 2006 and 2009. He is also the player with the most runner-up appearances (4), most third place finishes (3), and most times in the top three (9).

    2. Albert Luque, Spanish footballer births

      1. Spanish retired footballer (born 1978)

        Albert Luque

        Albert Luque Martos is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a left winger or striker.

  28. 1977

    1. Becky Hammon, American-Russian basketball player and coach births

      1. American basketball player and coach

        Becky Hammon

        Rebecca Lynn Hammon is an American-Russian professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). She previously served as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-time All-American basketball player for the Colorado State Rams, Hammon went on to play for the San Antonio Stars and New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for several other teams outside the United States. Hammon, who was born and raised in the United States, became a naturalized Russian citizen in 2008 and represented the Russian national team in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

  29. 1976

    1. Thomas Gravesen, Danish footballer births

      1. Danish footballer

        Thomas Gravesen

        Thomas Gravesen is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

  30. 1974

    1. Bobby Abreu, Venezuelan baseball player births

      1. Venezuelan baseball player (born 1974)

        Bobby Abreu

        Bob Kelly Abreu, nicknamed "El Comedulce" and also "La Leche", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Mets.

  31. 1971

    1. Philo Farnsworth, American inventor (b. 1906) deaths

      1. American inventor (1906–1971)

        Philo Farnsworth

        Philo Taylor Farnsworth was an American inventor and television pioneer. He made many crucial contributions to the early development of all-electronic television. He is best known for his 1927 invention of the first fully functional all-electronic image pickup device, the image dissector, as well as the first fully functional and complete all-electronic television system. Farnsworth developed a television system complete with receiver and camera—which he produced commercially through the Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation from 1938 to 1951, in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

    2. Whitney Young, American activist (b. 1921) deaths

      1. American civil rights leader

        Whitney Young

        Whitney Moore Young Jr. was an American civil rights leader. Trained as a social worker, he spent most of his career working to end employment discrimination in the United States and turning the National Urban League from a relatively passive civil rights organization into one that aggressively worked for equitable access to socioeconomic opportunity for the historically disenfranchised.

  32. 1970

    1. Erle Stanley Gardner, American lawyer and author (b. 1889) deaths

      1. American writer and lawyer

        Erle Stanley Gardner

        Erle Stanley Gardner was an American lawyer and author. He is best known for the Perry Mason series of detective stories, but he wrote numerous other novels and shorter pieces and also a series of nonfiction books, mostly narrations of his travels through Baja California and other regions in Mexico.

  33. 1969

    1. Terrence Howard, American actor and producer births

      1. American actor

        Terrence Howard

        Terrence Dashon Howard is an American actor. Having his first major roles in the 1995 films Dead Presidents and Mr. Holland's Opus, Howard broke into the mainstream with a succession of television and cinema roles between 2004 and 2006. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Hustle & Flow.

    2. Soraya, Colombian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2006) births

      1. Colombian-american singer-songwriter

        Soraya (musician)

        Soraya Raquel Lamilla Cuevas was a Colombian-American singer/songwriter, guitarist, arranger and record producer.

    3. John Wyndham, English author (b. 1903) deaths

      1. English science fiction writer (1903–1969)

        John Wyndham

        John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris was an English science fiction writer best known for his works published under the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names, such as John Beynon and Lucas Parkes. Some of his works were set in post-apocalyptic landscapes. His best known works include The Day of the Triffids (1951), filmed in 1962, and The Midwich Cuckoos (1957), which was filmed in 1960 as Village of the Damned, in 1995 under the same title, and again in 2022 in Sky Max under its original title.

  34. 1967

    1. John Barrowman, Scottish-American actor and singer births

      1. Scottish-American actor, author, and singer

        John Barrowman

        John Scot Barrowman is a Scottish-American actor, author, presenter, singer and comic book writer. He is known for his role as Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who and Torchwood, and as Malcolm Merlyn in the Arrowverse.

    2. Brad Carson, American lawyer and politician births

      1. American politician

        Brad Carson

        Brad Rogers Carson is an American lawyer and politician from the state of Oklahoma who served as the Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness from 2015 to 2016. In that role, he initiated a number of notable reforms to include opening up all combat positions to women, open service by transgender service members, and new recruiting and retention practices.

    3. Geraldine Farrar, American soprano and actress (b. 1882) deaths

      1. American opera singer and actress

        Geraldine Farrar

        Alice Geraldine Farrar was an American lyric soprano who could also sing dramatic roles. She was noted for her beauty, acting ability, and "the intimate timbre of her voice." She had a large following among young women, who were nicknamed "Gerry-flappers".

  35. 1966

    1. John Thompson III, American basketball player and coach births

      1. American basketball player-coach (born 1966)

        John Thompson III

        John Robert Thompson III is the assistant coach for the United States men's national basketball team since 2017. He previously served as the head coach of the men's basketball team at Georgetown University. He grew up in Washington, D.C. and was named first team All-Metro by The Washington Post while playing for Gonzaga College High School in 1984. Thompson was hired on April 20, 2004, to replace Craig Esherick and was fired at the end of the 2017 season. Prior to being hired at Georgetown, Thompson was the head coach for four years at his alma mater, Princeton University. Thompson is the son of John Thompson Jr, Georgetown's head coach from 1972 to 1999, and is a 1988 graduate of Princeton University.

  36. 1965

    1. Nigel Adkins, English footballer and manager births

      1. English footballer and manager

        Nigel Adkins

        Nigel Howard Adkins is an English professional football manager and former player and physiotherapist.

    2. Jesse Jackson, Jr., American lawyer and politician births

      1. United States Congressman from Illinois

        Jesse Jackson Jr.

        Jesse Louis Jackson Jr. is an American politician. He served as the U.S. representative from Illinois's 2nd congressional district from 1995 until his resignation in 2012. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the son of activist and former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson and, prior to his career in elected office, worked for his father in both the elder Jackson's 1984 presidential campaign and his social justice, civil rights and political activism organization, Operation PUSH. Jackson's wife, Sandi Jackson, served on the Chicago City Council. He served as a national co-chairman of the 2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign. Jackson established a consistent liberal record on both social and fiscal issues, and he has co-authored books on civil rights and personal finance.

    3. Jenny Packham, English fashion designer births

      1. British fashion designer

        Jenny Packham

        Jenny Packham is a British fashion designer. She mostly makes ready-to-wear clothes and wedding dresses. She is the sister of naturalist and television presenter Chris Packham.

  37. 1964

    1. Vinnie Paul, American drummer, songwriter and producer (d. 2018) births

      1. American drummer (1964–2018)

        Vinnie Paul

        Vincent Paul Abbott was an American musician best known for being the drummer and co-founder of the heavy metal band Pantera. He also co-founded Damageplan in 2003 with his younger brother, 'Dimebag' Darrell Abbott, and was a member of Hellyeah for 12 years from 2006 until his death in 2018.

    2. Shane Richie, English actor and singer births

      1. British actor, singer (b. 1964)

        Shane Richie

        Shane Patrick Paul Roche, known as Shane Richie, is a British actor, comedian, television presenter and singer. Following initial success as a stage and screen performer, he became best known for his portrayal of the character Alfie Moon in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders and then in its spin-off RTÉ Drama Redwater in 2017. In 2020, he appeared on the twentieth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here and finished in fourth place.

  38. 1963

    1. Gary Barnett, English footballer and manager births

      1. English footballer and coach

        Gary Barnett (footballer)

        Gary Lloyd Barnett is an English former professional footballer and football coach. He made nearly 400 appearances in the Football League playing as a midfielder for Oxford United, Wimbledon, Fulham, Huddersfield Town, Leyton Orient and Kidderminster Harriers. As player-manager of League of Wales club Barry Town, he was honoured with the League of Wales Manager of the Year award in three consecutive seasons, for leading the club to a succession of domestic honours and to the First Round proper of the 1996–97 UEFA Cup.

    2. Alex Kingston, English actress births

      1. English actress (b. 1963)

        Alex Kingston

        Alexandra Elizabeth Kingston is an English actress. Active from the early 1980s, Kingston became noted for her television work in both Britain and the US in the 1990s, including her regular role as Dr. Elizabeth Corday in the NBC medical drama ER (1997–2004) and her title role in the ITV miniseries The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders (1996), which earned her a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress.

    3. David LaChapelle, American photographer and director births

      1. American photographer

        David LaChapelle

        David LaChapelle is an American photographer, music video director and film director. He is best known for his work in fashion, photography, which often references art history and sometimes conveys social messages. His photographic style has been described as "hyper-real and slyly subversive" and as "kitsch pop surrealism". Once called the Fellini of photography, LaChapelle has worked for international publications and has had his work exhibited in commercial galleries and institutions around the world.

  39. 1962

    1. Matt Mead, American politician, Governor of Wyoming births

      1. 32nd Governor of Wyoming

        Matt Mead

        Matthew Hansen Mead is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 32nd Governor of Wyoming from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the United States Attorney for the District of Wyoming from 2001 to 2007.

      2. List of governors of Wyoming

        This is a list of governors of Wyoming, beginning with territorial governors. Wyoming Territory was organized in 1868, and the state was admitted to the union on July 10, 1890.

  40. 1961

    1. Elias Koteas, Canadian actor births

      1. Canadian actor

        Elias Koteas

        Elias Koteas is a Canadian actor. He is known for playing Alvin "Al" Olinsky in the Chicago franchise, as well as appearing in lead and supporting roles in numerous films. He won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film Ararat (2002). He appeared in such films as Some Kind of Wonderful (1987), The Adjuster (1991), Exotica (1994), The Prophecy (1995), Crash (1996), Living Out Loud (1998), Fallen (1998), The Thin Red Line (1998), Harrison's Flowers (2002), Collateral Damage (2002), Shooter (2007), Zodiac (2007), Skinwalkers (2007), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), and Shutter Island (2010). He also portrayed Casey Jones in two of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films.

    2. Bruce Watson, Canadian-Scottish guitarist births

      1. Canadian-born Scottish guitarist (born 1961)

        Bruce Watson (Scottish guitarist)

        Bruce William Watson is a Canadian-born Scottish guitarist, best known for being a member of Big Country.

  41. 1960

    1. Warwick Taylor, New Zealand rugby player births

      1. Rugby player

        Warwick Taylor

        Warwick Thomas Taylor is a former New Zealand rugby union player. He won 24 caps for the All Blacks between 1983 and 1988 and played in the victorious New Zealand team at the 1987 Rugby World Cup.

    2. Roy Chapman Andrews, American paleontologist and explorer (b. 1884) deaths

      1. American explorer, naturalist, and writer (1884–1960)

        Roy Chapman Andrews

        Roy Chapman Andrews was an American explorer, adventurer and naturalist who became the director of the American Museum of Natural History. He led a series of expeditions through the politically disturbed China of the early 20th century into the Gobi Desert and Mongolia. The expeditions made important discoveries and brought the first-known fossil dinosaur eggs to the museum. Chapman's popular writing about his adventures made him famous.

  42. 1959

    1. Nina Hartley, American pornographic actress/director, sex educator, sex-positive feminist, and author births

      1. American pornographic actress (born 1959)

        Nina Hartley

        Marie Louise Hartman, known professionally as Nina Hartley, is an American pornographic film actress described by CNBC as "a legend in the adult world".

    2. Lester Dent, American author (b. 1904) deaths

      1. American writer

        Lester Dent

        Lester Dent was an American pulp-fiction writer, best known as the creator and main writer of the series of novels about the scientist and adventurer Doc Savage. The 159 Doc Savage novels that Dent wrote over 16 years were credited to the house name Kenneth Robeson.

  43. 1958

    1. Anissa Jones, American child actress (d. 1976) births

      1. American child actress (1958–1976)

        Anissa Jones

        Mary Anissa Jones was an American child actress known for her role as Buffy Davis on the CBS sitcom Family Affair, which ran from 1966 to 1971. She died from combined drug intoxication at the age of 18.

  44. 1957

    1. Qasem Soleimani, Former Iranian commander of the Quds Force (d. 2020) births

      1. Iranian military officer and commander of the IRGC Quds Force (1957–2020)

        Qasem Soleimani

        Qasem Soleimani was an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). From 1998 until his assassination in 2020, he was the commander of the Quds Force, an IRGC division primarily responsible for extraterritorial and clandestine military operations. In his later years, he was considered by some analysts to be the right-hand man of the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, as well as the second-most powerful person in Iran behind him.

      2. Branch of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for unconventional warfare and intelligence

        Quds Force

        The Quds Force is one of five branches of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) specializing in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations. U.S. Army's Iraq War General Stanley McChrystal describes the Quds Force as an organization analogous to a combination of the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the United States. Responsible for extraterritorial operations, the Quds Force supports non-state actors in many countries, including Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Yemeni Houthis, and Shia militias in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.

    2. Richard E. Byrd, American admiral and explorer (b. 1888) deaths

      1. American naval officer, explorer (1888–1957)

        Richard E. Byrd

        Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. was an American naval officer and explorer. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for valor given by the United States, and was a pioneering American aviator, polar explorer, and organizer of polar logistics. Aircraft flights in which he served as a navigator and expedition leader crossed the Atlantic Ocean, a segment of the Arctic Ocean, and a segment of the Antarctic Plateau. Byrd said that his expeditions had been the first to reach both the North Pole and the South Pole by air. His belief to have reached the North Pole is disputed. He is also known for discovering Mount Sidley, the largest dormant volcano in Antarctica.

  45. 1956

    1. Willie Banks, American triple jumper births

      1. Willie Banks

        William Augustus Banks III is an American athlete. Born at Travis Air Force Base, California, he grew up in San Diego County and went to Oceanside High School. Banks is an Eagle Scout.

    2. Helen Rollason, English sports journalist and sportscaster (d. 1999) births

      1. British television presenter

        Helen Rollason

        Helen Frances Rollason was a British sports journalist and television presenter, who in 1990 became the first female presenter of the BBC's sports programme Grandstand. She was also a regular presenter of Sport on Friday, and of the children's programme Newsround during the 1980s.

    3. Aleksanteri Aava, Finnish poet (b. 1883) deaths

      1. Aleksanteri Aava

        Aleksanteri Aava, born Aleksanteri (Santeri) Kuparinen, was a Finnish poet and smallholder.

  46. 1955

    1. Leslie Cliff, Canadian swimmer births

      1. Canadian swimmer

        Leslie Cliff (swimmer)

        Leslie G. Cliff,, later known by her married name Leslie Tindle, is a Canadian former competitive swimmer who participated in the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and Pan American Games.

    2. Nina Hagen, German singer-songwriter births

      1. German singer, songwriter, and actress

        Nina Hagen

        Catharina "Nina" Hagen is a German singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her theatrical vocals and rose to prominence during the punk and new wave movements in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She is known as "The Godmother of German Punk".

    3. Alexander Fleming, Scottish biologist, pharmacologist, and botanist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881) deaths

      1. Scottish biologist, pharmacologist, botanist, and Nobel laureate (1881–1955)

        Alexander Fleming

        Sir Alexander Fleming was a Scottish physician and microbiologist, best known for discovering the world's first broadly effective antibiotic substance, which he named penicillin. His discovery in 1928 of what was later named benzylpenicillin from the mould Penicillium rubens is described as the "single greatest victory ever achieved over disease." For this discovery, he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain.

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

        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.

    4. Oscar F. Mayer, German-American businessman, founded Oscar Mayer (b. 1859) deaths

      1. German-American entrepreneur

        Oscar F. Mayer

        Oscar Ferdinand Mayer was a German American who founded the processed-meat firm Oscar Mayer that bears his name.

      2. American meat production company

        Oscar Mayer

        Oscar Mayer is an American meat and cold cut producer known for its hot dogs, bologna, bacon, ham, and Lunchables products. The company is a subsidiary of the Kraft Heinz Company and based in Chicago, Illinois.

  47. 1954

    1. David Newman, American composer and conductor births

      1. American composer and conductor (born 1954)

        David Newman (composer)

        David Louis Newman is an American composer and conductor known particularly for his film scores. In a career spanning more than thirty years, he has composed music for nearly 100 feature films. He received an Academy Award nomination for writing the score to the 1997 film Anastasia, contributing to the Newmans being the most nominated Academy Award extended family, with a collective 92 nominations in various music categories.

    2. Gale Norton, American politician, 48th United States Secretary of the Interior births

      1. U.S. politician and former Secretary of the Interior

        Gale Norton

        Gale Ann Norton is an American politician and attorney who served as the 48th United States Secretary of the Interior under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2006. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the 35th Attorney General of Colorado from 1991 to 1999. Norton was the first woman to hold each of those posts.

      2. Head of the United States Department of the Interior

        United States Secretary of the Interior

        The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natural resources, leading such agencies as the Bureau of Land Management, the United States Geological Survey, Bureau of Indian Affairs and the National Park Service. The secretary also serves on and appoints the private citizens on the National Park Foundation Board. The secretary is a member of the United States Cabinet and reports to the president of the United States. The function of the U.S. Department of the Interior is different from that of the interior minister designated in many other countries.

  48. 1953

    1. Derek Daly, Irish-American race car driver and sportscaster births

      1. Irish former racing driver

        Derek Daly

        Derek Patrick Daly is an Irish former racing driver. He won the 1977 British Formula 3 Championship, and competed as a professional racing driver for 17 years participating in 64 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 2 April 1978. He scored a total of 15 championship points, and also participated in several non-Championship Formula One races. After F1, Daly raced in CART and IMSA, where he achieved much success with Nissan.

    2. Jimmy Iovine, American record producer and businessman, co-founded Beats Electronics births

      1. American music executive

        Jimmy Iovine

        James Iovine is an American entrepreneur, record executive, and media proprietor best known as the co-founder of Interscope Records. In 2006, Iovine and rapper-producer Dr. Dre founded Beats Electronics, which produces audio products and operated a now-defunct music streaming service. The company was purchased by Apple Inc. for $3 billion in May 2014.

      2. American audio products manufacturer

        Beats Electronics

        Beats Electronics LLC is an American consumer audio products manufacturer headquartered in Culver City, California. The company was founded by music producer Dr. Dre and record company executive Jimmy Iovine. Since 2014, it has been an Apple subsidiary.

    3. Bernie LaBarge, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist births

      1. Canadian musician (born 1953)

        Bernie LaBarge

        Bernie LaBarge is a Canadian performing and session guitarist, an award-winning singer and songwriter, and producer, who has gone on tour and made recordings with Canadian and international artists.

  49. 1952

    1. Douglas Adams, English author and playwright (d. 2001) births

      1. English author and humourist (1952–2001)

        Douglas Adams

        Douglas Noel Adams was an English author and screenwriter, best known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Originally a 1978 a BBC radio comedy, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy developed into a "trilogy" of five books that sold more than 15 million copies in his lifetime. It was further developed into a television series, several stage plays, comics, a video game, and a 2005 feature film. Adams's contribution to UK radio is commemorated in The Radio Academy's Hall of Fame.

    2. Pierre Renoir, French actor and director (b. 1885) deaths

      1. French actor (1885–1952)

        Pierre Renoir

        Pierre Renoir was a French stage and film actor. He was the son of the impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir and elder brother of the film director Jean Renoir. He is also noted for being the first actor to play Georges Simenon's character Inspector Jules Maigret in Night at the Crossroads, directed by his brother.

  50. 1951

    1. Dominique Sanda, French model and actress births

      1. French actress and fashion model

        Dominique Sanda

        Dominique Marie-Françoise Renée Varaigne, professionally known as Dominique Sanda, is a French actress and former fashion model.

  51. 1950

    1. Bobby McFerrin, American singer-songwriter, producer, and conductor births

      1. American folk jazz singer and conductor

        Bobby McFerrin

        Robert Keith McFerrin Jr. is an American folk and jazz singer. He is known for his vocal techniques, such as singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in pitch—for example, sustaining a melody while also rapidly alternating with arpeggios and harmonies—as well as scat singing, polyphonic overtone singing, and improvisational vocal percussion. He is widely known for performing and recording regularly as an unaccompanied solo vocal artist. He has frequently collaborated with other artists from both the jazz and classical scenes.

    2. Jerry Zucker, American director, producer, and screenwriter births

      1. American director and producer

        Jerry Zucker

        Jerry Gordon Zucker is an American film producer, director, and writer known for his role in directing comedy spoof films such as Airplane! and Top Secret!, and the Best Picture-nominated supernatural drama film Ghost. He and his older brother, David Zucker, collaborated on several films.

  52. 1949

    1. Henri Giraud, French general and politician (b. 1879) deaths

      1. French general and leader of the Free French Forces during WWII

        Henri Giraud

        Henri Honoré Giraud was a French general and a leader of the Free French Forces during the Second World War until he was forced to retire in 1944.

  53. 1947

    1. Tristan Murail, French composer and educator births

      1. French composer (born 1947)

        Tristan Murail

        Tristan Murail is a French composer associated with the "spectral" technique of composition. Among his compositions is the large orchestral work Gondwana.

  54. 1945

    1. Dock Ellis, American baseball player and coach (d. 2008) births

      1. American baseball player (1945–2008)

        Dock Ellis

        Dock Phillip Ellis Jr. was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from 1968 through 1979, most notably as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates teams that won five National League Eastern Division titles in six years between 1970 and 1975 and won the World Series in 1971. Ellis also played for the New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Texas Rangers and New York Mets. In his MLB career, Ellis accumulated a 138–119 (.537) record, a 3.46 earned run average, and 1,136 strikeouts.

    2. Harvey Mandel, American guitarist births

      1. American guitarist (born 1945)

        Harvey Mandel

        Harvey Mandel is an American guitarist best known as a member of Canned Heat. He also played with Charlie Musselwhite and John Mayall as well as maintaining a solo career.

  55. 1944

    1. Hendrik Willem van Loon, Dutch-American journalist and historian (b. 1882) deaths

      1. Dutch-American historian, journalist and author

        Hendrik Willem van Loon

        Hendrik Willem van Loon was a Dutch-American historian, journalist, and children's book author.

    2. Edgar Zilsel, Austrian historian and philosopher of science, linked to the Vienna Circle (b. 1891) deaths

      1. Austrian historian and philosopher

        Edgar Zilsel

        Edgar Zilsel was an Austrian-American historian and a philosopher of science.

  56. 1943

    1. Arturo Merzario, Italian race car driver births

      1. Italian racing driver

        Arturo Merzario

        Arturo Francesco "Art" Merzario is a racing driver from Italy. He participated in 85 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting at the 1972 British Grand Prix. He scored 11 championship points.

  57. 1940

    1. Alberto Cortez, Argentinian-Spanish singer-songwriter (d. 2019) births

      1. Argentine singer-songwriter (1940–2019)

        Alberto Cortez

        Alberto Cortez was an Argentine singer and songwriter. Cortez and his wife Renée Govaerts lived in Madrid.

  58. 1937

    1. Joseph S. Cullinan, American businessman, co-founded Texaco (b. 1860) deaths

      1. Joseph S. Cullinan

        Joseph Stephen Cullinan was a U.S. oil industrialist. Although he was a native of Pennsylvania, his lifetime business endeavors would help shape the early phase of the oil industry in Texas. He founded The Texas Company, which would eventually be known as Texaco Incorporated.

      2. American motor oil brand

        Texaco

        Texaco, Inc. is an American oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an independent company until its refining operations merged into Chevron, at which time most of its station franchises were divested to Shell plc through its American division.

  59. 1936

    1. Antonin Scalia, American lawyer and jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (d. 2016) births

      1. US Supreme Court justice from 1986 to 2016

        Antonin Scalia

        Antonin Gregory Scalia was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2016. He was described as the intellectual anchor for the originalist and textualist position in the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative wing. For catalyzing an originalist and textualist movement in American law, he has been described as one of the most influential jurists of the twentieth century, and one of the most important justices in the history of the Supreme Court. Scalia was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018 by President Donald Trump, and the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University was named in his honor.

      2. Member of the U.S. Supreme Court other than the chief justice

        Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

        An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is any member of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the chief justice of the United States. The number of associate justices is eight, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869.

  60. 1934

    1. Sam Donaldson, American journalist births

      1. American journalist

        Sam Donaldson

        Samuel Andrew Donaldson Jr. is an American former reporter and news anchor, serving with ABC News from 1967 to 2009. He is best known as the network's White House Correspondent and as a panelist and later co-anchor of the network's Sunday program, This Week.

  61. 1932

    1. Leroy Jenkins, American violinist and composer (d. 2007) births

      1. American composer and violinist (1932–2007)

        Leroy Jenkins (musician)

        Leroy Jenkins was an American composer and violinist/violist.

    2. Nigel Lawson, English journalist and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer births

      1. British conservative politician

        Nigel Lawson

        Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, is a British Conservative Party politician and journalist. He was a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Blaby from 1974 to 1992, and served in the cabinet of Margaret Thatcher from 1981 to 1989. Prior to entering the Cabinet, he served as the Financial Secretary to the Treasury from May 1979 until his promotion to Secretary of State for Energy. He was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in June 1983, and served until his resignation in October 1989. In both Cabinet posts, Lawson was a key proponent of Thatcher's policies of privatisation of several key industries. Lawson oversaw the sudden deregulation of financial markets in 1986, commonly referred to as the 'Big Bang', which decisively strengthened London's place as a financial capital.

      2. Minister for Finance in the United Kingdom and Head of Treasury

        Chancellor of the Exchequer

        The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is a high-ranking member of the British Cabinet and is third in the ministerial ranking, behind the prime minister and the deputy prime minister.

  62. 1931

    1. Rupert Murdoch, Australian-American businessman and media magnate births

      1. Australian-born American business magnate (born 1931)

        Rupert Murdoch

        Keith Rupert Murdoch is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including in the UK, in Australia, in the US, book publisher HarperCollins, and the television broadcasting channels Sky News Australia and Fox News. He was also the owner of Sky, 21st Century Fox, and the now-defunct News of the World. With a net worth of US$21.7 billion as of 2 March 2022, Murdoch is the 31st richest person in the United States and the 71st richest in the world.

    2. F. W. Murnau, German-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1888) deaths

      1. German film director (1888–1931)

        F. W. Murnau

        Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau was a German film director, producer and screenwriter.

  63. 1930

    1. David Gentleman, English illustrator and engraver births

      1. British artist

        David Gentleman

        David William Gentleman is an English artist. He studied art and painting at the Royal College of Art under Edward Bawden and John Nash. He has worked in watercolour, lithography and wood engraving, at scales ranging from platform-length murals for Charing Cross Underground Station in London to postage stamps and logos.

    2. Claude Jutra, Canadian actor, director and screenwriter (d. 1986) births

      1. Canadian actor, film director, and screenwriter

        Claude Jutra

        Claude Jutra was a Canadian actor, film director, and screenwriter.

  64. 1929

    1. Timothy Carey, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1994) births

      1. American actor (1929–1994)

        Timothy Carey

        Timothy Agoglia Carey was an American film and television character actor. Carey was best known for portraying manic or violent characters who are driven to extremes.

    2. Jackie McGlew, South African cricketer (d. 1998) births

      1. South African cricketer

        Jackie McGlew

        Derrick John "Jackie" McGlew was a cricketer who played for Natal and South Africa. He was educated at Merchiston Preparatory School and Maritzburg College, where he was Head Dayboy Prefect and captain of both cricket and rugby in 1948.

  65. 1927

    1. Freda Meissner-Blau, Austrian activist and politician (d. 2015) births

      1. Freda Meissner-Blau

        Freda Meissner-Blau was an Austrian politician, activist, and prominent figurehead in the Austrian environmental movement. She was a founder and the federal spokesperson of the Austrian Green Party.

    2. Robert Mosbacher, American businessman, and politician, United States Secretary of Commerce (d. 2010) births

      1. American politician

        Robert Mosbacher

        Robert Adam Mosbacher Sr. was an American businessman, accomplished yacht racer, and a Republican politician. A longtime friend and political ally of George H. W. Bush, Mosbacher served in Bush's Cabinet as Secretary of Commerce from 1989 to 1992.

      2. Head of the U.S. Department of Commerce

        United States Secretary of Commerce

        The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary reports directly to the president and is a statutory member of Cabinet of the United States. The secretary is appointed by the president, with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. The secretary of commerce is concerned with promoting American businesses and industries; the department states its mission to be "to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce".

    3. Josep Maria Subirachs, Spanish sculptor and painter (d. 2014) births

      1. Spanish sculptor and painter

        Josep Maria Subirachs

        Josep Maria Subirachs i Sitjar was a Spanish sculptor and painter of the late 20th century. His best known work is probably the Passion Facade of the basilica of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona. He was controversial, as he did not make any concessions to the style of the architect who designed the building, Antoni Gaudí.

  66. 1926

    1. Ralph Abernathy, American minister and activist (d. 1990) births

      1. American civil rights activist and minister (1926–1990)

        Ralph Abernathy

        Ralph David Abernathy Sr. was an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was ordained in the Baptist tradition in 1948. As a leader of the civil rights movement, he was a close friend and mentor of Martin Luther King Jr. He collaborated with King and E. D. Nixon to create the Montgomery Improvement Association, which led to the Montgomery bus boycott, and co-created and was an executive board member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). He became president of the SCLC following the assassination of King in 1968, where he led the Poor People's Campaign in Washington, D.C., among other marches and demonstrations for disenfranchised Americans. He also served as an advisory committee member of the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE).

  67. 1925

    1. Margaret Oakley Dayhoff, American biochemist and academic (d. 1983) births

      1. American biochemist

        Margaret Oakley Dayhoff

        Margaret Belle (Oakley) Dayhoff was an American physical chemist and a pioneer in the field of bioinformatics. Dayhoff was a professor at Georgetown University Medical Center and a noted research biochemist at the National Biomedical Research Foundation, where she pioneered the application of mathematics and computational methods to the field of biochemistry. She dedicated her career to applying the evolving computational technologies to support advances in biology and medicine, most notably the creation of protein and nucleic acid databases and tools to interrogate the databases. She originated one of the first substitution matrices, point accepted mutations (PAM). The one-letter code used for amino acids was developed by her, reflecting an attempt to reduce the size of the data files used to describe amino acid sequences in an era of punch-card computing.

  68. 1923

    1. Louise Brough, American tennis player (d. 2014) births

      1. American tennis player

        Louise Brough

        Althea Louise Brough Clapp was an American tennis player. In her career between 1939 and 1959, she won six Grand Slam singles titles as well as numerous doubles and mixed-doubles titles. At the end of the 1955 tennis season, Lance Tingay of the London Daily Telegraph ranked her world No. 1 for the year.

  69. 1922

    1. Cornelius Castoriadis, Greek economist and philosopher (d. 1997) births

      1. Greek-French philosopher (1922–1997)

        Cornelius Castoriadis

        Cornelius Castoriadis was a Greek-French philosopher, social critic, economist, psychoanalyst, author of The Imaginary Institution of Society, and co-founder of the Socialisme ou Barbarie group.

    2. Abdul Razak Hussein, Malaysian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Malaysia (d. 1976) births

      1. Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1970 to 1976

        Abdul Razak Hussein

        Tun Haji Abdul Razak bin Dato' Hussein was a Malaysian politician who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of Malaysia from September 1970 until his death in January 1976. He also served as the first deputy prime minister of Malaysia from August 1957 to September 1970. He is referred to as the Father of Development.

      2. Head of government of Malaysia

        Prime Minister of Malaysia

        The prime minister of Malaysia is the head of government of Malaysia. The prime minister directs the executive branch of the federal government. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong appoints as the prime minister a member of Parliament (MP) who, in his opinion, is most likely to command the confidence of a majority of MPs; this person is usually the leader of the party winning the most seats in a general election.

    3. José Luis López Vázquez, Spanish actor and director (d. 2009) births

      1. Spanish actor

        José Luis López Vázquez

        José Luis López Vázquez de la Torre MML was a Spanish actor.

  70. 1921

    1. Astor Piazzolla, Argentine tango composer and bandoneon player (d. 1992) births

      1. Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player and arranger

        Astor Piazzolla

        Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla was an Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger. His works revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music. A virtuoso bandoneonist, he regularly performed his own compositions with a variety of ensembles. In 1992, American music critic Stephen Holden described Piazzolla as "the world's foremost composer of Tango music".

  71. 1920

    1. Nicolaas Bloembergen, Dutch-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2017) births

      1. Dutch-born American physicist

        Nicolaas Bloembergen

        Nicolaas Bloembergen was a Dutch-American physicist and Nobel laureate, recognized for his work in developing driving principles behind nonlinear optics for laser spectroscopy. During his career, he was a professor at Harvard University and later at the University of Arizona and at Leiden University in 1973.

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

        Nobel Prize in Physics

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

  72. 1916

    1. Harold Wilson, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1995) births

      1. Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1964–1970, 1974–1976)

        Harold Wilson

        James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He was the Leader of the Labour Party from 1963 to 1976, and was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1983. Wilson is the only Labour leader to have formed administrations following four general elections.

      2. Head of Government in the United Kingdom

        Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

        The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern prime ministers hold office by virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the House of Commons, they sit as members of Parliament.

  73. 1915

    1. Vijay Hazare, Indian cricketer (d. 2004) births

      1. Former Indian cricketer (born 1915

        Vijay Hazare

        Vijay Samuel Hazare pronunciation (help·info) was an Indian cricketer. He captained India in 14 matches between 1951 and 1953. In India's 25th Test match, nearly 20 years after India achieved Test status, he led India to its first ever Test cricket win in 1951–52 against England at Madras, winning by an innings and eight runs in a match that began on the day that King George VI died.

    2. J. C. R. Licklider, American computer scientist and psychologist (d. 1990) births

      1. American psychologist and computer scientist (1915-1990)

        J. C. R. Licklider

        Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider, known simply as J. C. R. or "Lick", was an American psychologist and computer scientist who is considered to be among the most prominent figures in computer science development and general computing history.

    3. Thomas Alexander Browne, English-Australian author (b. 1826) deaths

      1. Thomas Alexander Browne

        Thomas Alexander Browne was an Australian author who published many of his works under the pseudonym Rolf Boldrewood. He is best known for his 1882 bushranging novel Robbery Under Arms.

  74. 1913

    1. Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke, German colonel and pilot (d. 1944) births

      1. German World War II flying ace and wing commander

        Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke

        Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke was a German Luftwaffe pilot during World War II, a fighter ace credited with 162 enemy aircraft shot down in 732 combat missions. He claimed the majority of his victories over the Eastern Front, and 25 over the Western Front, including four four-engined bombers.

  75. 1911

    1. Sir Fitzroy Maclean, 1st Baronet, Scottish general and politician (d. 1996) births

      1. Scottish soldier, writer and politician

        Sir Fitzroy Maclean, 1st Baronet

        Major-General Sir Fitzroy Hew Royle Maclean, 1st Baronet, was a Scottish soldier, writer and politician. He was a Unionist Member of Parliament (MP) from 1941 to 1974 and was one of only two men who during the Second World War enlisted in the British Army as a private and rose to the rank of brigadier, the other being future fellow Conservative MP Enoch Powell.

  76. 1910

    1. Robert Havemann, German chemist and academic (d. 1982) births

      1. German chemist and dissident (1910–1982)

        Robert Havemann

        Robert Havemann was an East German chemist and dissident.

  77. 1908

    1. Matti Sippala, Finnish javelin thrower (d. 1997) births

      1. Matti Sippala

        Matti Kalervo Sippala was a Finnish athlete. His main event was the javelin throw, in which he won the silver medal at both the 1932 Summer Olympics and the 1934 European Championships, but he was also a good pentathlete, breaking the unofficial world record in 1931.

    2. Edmondo De Amicis, Italian journalist and author (b. 1846) deaths

      1. Edmondo De Amicis

        Edmondo De Amicis was an Italian novelist, journalist, poet, and short-story writer. His best-known book is Cuore, a children's novel translated into English as Heart.

    3. Benjamin Waugh, English minister and activist (b. 1839) deaths

      1. Benjamin Waugh

        Benjamin Waugh was a Victorian social reformer and campaigner who founded the UK charity, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) in the late 19th century, and also wrote various hymns.

  78. 1907

    1. Jessie Matthews, English actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1981) births

      1. English actress (1907–1981)

        Jessie Matthews

        Jessie Margaret Matthews was an English actress, dancer and singer of the 1920s and 1930s, whose career continued into the post-war period.

    2. Jean Casimir-Perier, French lawyer and politician, 6th President of France (b. 1847) deaths

      1. French politician

        Jean Casimir-Perier

        Jean Paul Pierre Casimir-Perier was a French politician who served as President of France from 1894 to 1895.

      2. Head of state of France

        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.

  79. 1903

    1. Ronald Syme, New Zealand historian and scholar (d. 1989) births

      1. New Zealand born British historian and classicist (1903–1989)

        Ronald Syme

        Sir Ronald Syme, was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roman Empire since Edward Gibbon. His great work was The Roman Revolution (1939), a masterly and controversial analysis of Roman political life in the period following the assassination of Julius Caesar.

    2. Lawrence Welk, American accordion player and bandleader (d. 1992) births

      1. American bandleader and TV impresario (1903–1992)

        Lawrence Welk

        Lawrence Welk was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted the television program The Lawrence Welk Show from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known to his large audience of radio, television, and live-performance fans as "champagne music".

  80. 1899

    1. Frederick IX of Denmark (d. 1972) births

      1. King of Denmark

        Frederick IX of Denmark

        Frederick IX was King of Denmark from 1947 to 1972. Born into the House of Glücksburg, Frederick was the elder son of King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine of Denmark. He became crown prince when his father succeeded as king in 1912. As a young man, he was educated at the Royal Danish Naval Academy. In 1935, he was married to Princess Ingrid of Sweden and they had three daughters, Margrethe, Benedikte and Anne-Marie. During Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark, Frederick acted as regent on behalf of his father from 1942 until 1943. Frederick became king on his father's death in early 1947. During Frederick IX's reign Danish society changed rapidly, the welfare state was expanded and, as a consequence of the booming economy of the 1960s, women entered the labour market. The modernization brought new demands on the monarchy and Frederick's role as a constitutional monarch. Frederick IX died in 1972, and was succeeded by his eldest daughter, Queen Margrethe II.

    2. James H. Douglas, Jr., American lawyer, and politician, United States Deputy Secretary of Defense (d. 1988) births

      1. James H. Douglas Jr.

        James Henderson Douglas Jr. was a lawyer and senior-level official in the United States Government. He was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, serving under both President Herbert Hoover and President Franklin Roosevelt. During the Eisenhower Administration, he served in the United States Department of Defense as Secretary of the Air Force and Deputy Secretary of Defense.

      2. Second highest-ranking DoD official

        United States Deputy Secretary of Defense

        The deputy secretary of defense is a statutory office and the second-highest-ranking official in the Department of Defense of the United States of America.

  81. 1898

    1. Dorothy Gish, American actress (d. 1968) births

      1. American actress (1898–1968)

        Dorothy Gish

        Dorothy Elizabeth Gish was an American actress of the screen and stage, as well as a director and writer. Dorothy and her older sister Lillian Gish were major movie stars of the silent era. Dorothy also had great success on the stage, and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. Dorothy Gish was noted as a fine comedian, and many of her films were comedies.

    2. William Rosecrans, American general and politician (b. 1819) deaths

      1. Diplomat, politician, and U.S. Army officer

        William Rosecrans

        William Starke Rosecrans was an American inventor, coal-oil company executive, diplomat, politician, and U.S. Army officer. He gained fame for his role as a Union general during the American Civil War. He was the victor at prominent Western Theater battles, but his military career was effectively ended following his disastrous defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863.

  82. 1897

    1. Henry Cowell, American pianist and composer (d. 1965) births

      1. American composer (1897–1965)

        Henry Cowell

        Henry Dixon Cowell was an American composer, writer, pianist, publisher and teacher. Earning a reputation as an extremely controversial performer and eccentric composer, Cowell became a leading figure of American avant-garde music for the first half of the 20th century — his writings and music serving as a great influence to similar artists at the time, including Lou Harrison, George Antheil, and John Cage, among others. He is considered one of America's most important and influential composers.

  83. 1893

    1. Wanda Gág, American author and illustrator (d. 1946) births

      1. American artist and children's writer (1893–1946)

        Wanda Gág

        Wanda Hazel Gág was an American artist, author, translator, and illustrator. She is best known for writing and illustrating the children's book Millions of Cats, the oldest American picture book still in print. Gág was also a noted print-maker, receiving international recognition and awards. Growing Pains, a book of excerpts from the diaries of her teen and young adult years, received widespread critical acclaim. Two of her books were awarded Newbery Honors and two received Caldecott Honors.

  84. 1890

    1. Vannevar Bush, American engineer and academic (d. 1974) births

      1. American electrical engineer and science administrator (1890–1974)

        Vannevar Bush

        Vannevar Bush was an American engineer, inventor and science administrator, who during World War II headed the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), through which almost all wartime military R&D was carried out, including important developments in radar and the initiation and early administration of the Manhattan Project. He emphasized the importance of scientific research to national security and economic well-being, and was chiefly responsible for the movement that led to the creation of the National Science Foundation.

  85. 1887

    1. Raoul Walsh, American actor and director (d. 1980) births

      1. American film director and actor (1887–1980)

        Raoul Walsh

        Raoul Walsh was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh. He was known for portraying John Wilkes Booth in the silent film The Birth of a Nation (1915) and for directing such films as the widescreen epic The Big Trail (1930) starring John Wayne in his first leading role, The Roaring Twenties starring James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, High Sierra (1941) starring Ida Lupino and Humphrey Bogart, and White Heat (1949) starring James Cagney and Edmond O'Brien. He directed his last film in 1964. His work has been noted as influences on director such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Jack Hill, and Martin Scorsese.

  86. 1885

    1. Malcolm Campbell, English race car driver (d. 1948) births

      1. English racing driver and speed record holder

        Malcolm Campbell

        Major Sir Malcolm Campbell was a British racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times, using vehicles called Blue Bird, including a 1921 Grand Prix Sunbeam. His son, Donald Campbell, carried on the family tradition by holding both land speed and water speed records.

  87. 1884

    1. Lewi Pethrus, Swedish minister and hymn-writer (d. 1974) births

      1. Lewi Pethrus

        Lewi Pethrus (born Pethrus Lewi Johansson) was a Swedish Pentecostal minister who played a decisive role in the formation and development of the Pentecostal movement in his country. In 1964, he founded the political party the Christian Democrats.

  88. 1880

    1. Harry H. Laughlin, American eugenicist and sociologist (d. 1943) births

      1. American eugenicist (1880–1943)

        Harry H. Laughlin

        Harry Hamilton Laughlin was an American educator and eugenicist. He served as the superintendent of the Eugenics Record Office from its inception in 1910 to its closing in 1939, and was among the most active individuals in influencing American eugenics policy, especially compulsory sterilization legislation.

  89. 1876

    1. Carl Ruggles, American composer and painter (d. 1971) births

      1. American composer (1876–1971)

        Carl Ruggles

        Carl Ruggles was an American composer, painter and teacher. His pieces employed "dissonant counterpoint", a term coined by fellow composer and musicologist Charles Seeger to describe Ruggles' music. His method of atonal counterpoint was based on a non-serial technique of avoiding repeating a pitch class until a generally fixed number of eight pitch classes intervened. He is considered a founder of the ultramodernist movement of American composers that included Henry Cowell and Ruth Crawford Seeger, among others. He had no formal musical education, yet was an extreme perfectionist — writing music at a painstakingly slow rate and leaving behind a very small output.

  90. 1874

    1. Charles Sumner, American lawyer and politician (b. 1811) deaths

      1. American abolitionist and statesman (1811–1874)

        Charles Sumner

        Charles Sumner was an American statesman and United States Senator from Massachusetts. As an academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the anti-slavery forces in the state and a leader of the Radical Republicans in the U.S. Senate during the American Civil War. During Reconstruction, he fought to minimize the power of the ex-Confederates and guarantee equal rights to the freedmen. He fell into a dispute with President Ulysses Grant, a fellow Republican, over the control of Santo Domingo, leading to the stripping of his power in the Senate and his subsequent effort to defeat Grant's re-election.

  91. 1870

    1. Louis Bachelier, French mathematician and theorist (d. 1946) births

      1. French pioneer in mathematical economics (1870-1946)

        Louis Bachelier

        Louis Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Bachelier was a French mathematician at the turn of the 20th century. He is credited with being the first person to model the stochastic process now called Brownian motion, as part of his doctoral thesis The Theory of Speculation.

    2. Moshoeshoe I of Lesotho (b. 1786) deaths

      1. King of Lesotho Essay from 1843-1870

        Moshoeshoe I

        Moshoeshoe I was born at Menkhoaneng in the northern part of present-day Lesotho. He was the first son of Mokhachane, a minor chief of the Bamokoteli lineage, a branch of the Koena (crocodile) clan. In his youth, he helped his father gain power over some other smaller clans. At the age of 34 Moshoeshoe formed his own clan and became a chief. He and his followers settled at the Butha-Buthe Mountain. He subsequently became the first King of Lesotho from 1822 to 1870.

  92. 1869

    1. Vladimir Odoyevsky, Russian philosopher and critic (b. 1803) deaths

      1. Vladimir Odoyevsky

        Prince Vladimir Fyodorovich Odoyevsky was a prominent Russian Imperial philosopher, writer, music critic, philanthropist and pedagogue. He became known as the "Russian Hoffmann" and even the "Russian Faust" on account of his keen interest in phantasmagoric tales and musical criticism.

  93. 1863

    1. Andrew Stoddart, English cricketer and rugby player (d. 1915) births

      1. English sportsman

        Andrew Stoddart

        Andrew Ernest Stoddart was an English sportsman who played international cricket for England, and rugby union for England and the British Isles. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1893.

    2. Sir James Outram, 1st Baronet, English general (b. 1803) deaths

      1. Sir James Outram, 1st Baronet

        Lieutenant-General Sir James Outram, 1st Baronet was a British general who fought in the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

  94. 1851

    1. Marie-Louise Coidavid, Queen of Haiti (b. 1778) deaths

      1. Queen Consort of Haiti

        Marie-Louise Coidavid

        Queen Marie Louise Coidavid, was the Queen of the Kingdom of Haiti 1811–20 as the spouse of Henri Christophe.

    2. George McDuffie, American lawyer and politician, 55th Governor of South Carolina (b. 1790) deaths

      1. American politician

        George McDuffie

        George McDuffie was the 55th Governor of South Carolina and a member of the United States Senate.

      2. Head of state and of government of the U.S. state of South Carolina

        Governor of South Carolina

        The governor of South Carolina is the head of government of South Carolina. The governor is the ex officio commander-in-chief of the National Guard when not called into federal service. The governor's responsibilities include making yearly "State of the State" addresses to the South Carolina General Assembly, submitting an executive budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced.

  95. 1822

    1. Joseph Louis François Bertrand, French mathematician, economist, and academic (d. 1900) births

      1. French mathematician

        Joseph Bertrand

        Joseph Louis François Bertrand was a French mathematician who worked in the fields of number theory, differential geometry, probability theory, economics and thermodynamics.

  96. 1820

    1. Benjamin West, American-English painter and academic (b. 1738) deaths

      1. 18th and 19th-century English painter

        Benjamin West

        Benjamin West, was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as The Death of Nelson, The Death of General Wolfe, the Treaty of Paris, and Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky.

  97. 1819

    1. Henry Tate, English businessman and philanthropist, founded Tate & Lyle (d. 1899) births

      1. English sugar merchant and philanthropist

        Henry Tate

        Sir Henry Tate, 1st Baronet was an English sugar merchant and philanthropist, noted for establishing the Tate Gallery in London.

      2. British-based multinational agribusiness

        Tate & Lyle

        Tate & Lyle PLC is a British-headquartered, global supplier of food and beverage ingredients to industrial markets. It was originally a sugar refining business, but from the 1970s it began to diversify, eventually divesting its sugar business in 2010. It specialises in turning raw materials such as corn and tapioca into ingredients that add taste, texture, and nutrients to food and beverages. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

  98. 1818

    1. Marius Petipa, French-Russian dancer and choreographer (d. 1910) births

      1. French-Russian ballet dancer and choreographer

        Marius Petipa

        Marius Ivanovich Petipa, born Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa, was a French ballet dancer, pedagogue and choreographer. Petipa is one of the most influential ballet masters and choreographers in ballet history.

  99. 1815

    1. Anna Bochkoltz, German operatic soprano, voice teacher and composer (d. 1879) births

      1. German operatic soprano, voice teacher and composer

        Anna Bochkoltz

        Anna Juliane Bochkoltz was a German operatic soprano, voice teacher and composer. She performed her first concert in 1843, then studied in Brussels and Paris. After singing concerts in Paris, London and Berlin, she appeared in the 1850s on opera stages in Wiesbaden, Frankfurt, Munich and Coburg. She was known for the range of her voice, and was regarded as one of the important dramatic coloratura sopranos of her era, appearing as Mozart's Donna Anna, Beethoven's Fidelio and Bellini's Norma. She later taught singing in Vienna, Strasbourg and Paris.

  100. 1811

    1. Urbain Le Verrier, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1877) births

      1. French astronomer and mathematician (1811–1877)

        Urbain Le Verrier

        Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier FRS (FOR) HFRSE was a French astronomer and mathematician who specialized in celestial mechanics and is best known for predicting the existence and position of Neptune using only mathematics. The calculations were made to explain discrepancies with Uranus's orbit and the laws of Kepler and Newton. Le Verrier sent the coordinates to Johann Gottfried Galle in Berlin, asking him to verify. Galle found Neptune in the same night he received Le Verrier's letter, within 1° of the predicted position. The discovery of Neptune is widely regarded as a dramatic validation of celestial mechanics, and is one of the most remarkable moments of 19th-century science.

  101. 1806

    1. Louis Boulanger, French Romantic painter, lithographer and illustrator (d. 1867) births

      1. French artist

        Louis Boulanger

        Louis Candide Boulanger was a French Romantic painter, pastellist, lithographer and a poet, known for his religious and allegorical subjects, portraits, genre scenes.

  102. 1785

    1. John McLean, American jurist and politician (d. 1861) births

      1. US Supreme Court justice from 1829 to 1861

        John McLean

        John McLean was an American jurist and politician who served in the United States Congress, as U.S. Postmaster General, and as a justice of the Ohio and U.S. Supreme Courts. He was often discussed for the Whig Party nominations for President, and is also one of the few people who served in all three branches of government.

  103. 1759

    1. John Forbes, Scottish general (b. 1707) deaths

      1. John Forbes (British Army officer)

        John Forbes was a Scottish professional soldier who served in the British Army from 1729 until his death in 1759.

  104. 1738

    1. Benjamin Tupper, American general (d. 1792) births

      1. American soldier and pioneer (1738–1792)

        Benjamin Tupper

        Benjamin Tupper was a soldier in the French and Indian War, and an officer of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, achieving the rank of brevet brigadier general. Subsequently, he served as a Massachusetts legislator, and he assisted Gen. William Shepard in stopping Shays' Rebellion. Benjamin Tupper was a co-founder of the Ohio Company of Associates, and was a pioneer to the Ohio Country, involved in establishing Marietta, Ohio as the first permanent settlement in the Northwest Territory.

  105. 1722

    1. John Toland, Irish philosopher and theorist (b. 1670) deaths

      1. Irish Enlightenment Philosopher (1670-1722)

        John Toland

        John Toland was an Irish rationalist philosopher and freethinker, and occasional satirist, who wrote numerous books and pamphlets on political philosophy and philosophy of religion, which are early expressions of the philosophy of the Age of Enlightenment. Born in Ireland, he was educated at the universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leiden and Oxford and was influenced by the philosophy of John Locke.

  106. 1665

    1. Clemente Tabone, Maltese landowner and militia member (b. c. 1575) deaths

      1. 17th-century Maltese landowner and soldier

        Clemente Tabone

        Clemente Tabone was a Maltese landowner and militia member who is known for his courage in the Raid on Żejtun, the last major Ottoman attack on Malta, in 1614. He built a tower and a chapel on some of his lands on the outskirts of Żejtun. The tower no longer exists, but St. Clement's Chapel remains intact and is still in use today.

  107. 1607

    1. Giovanni Maria Nanino, Italian composer and educator (b. 1543) deaths

      1. Italian composer

        Giovanni Maria Nanino

        Giovanni Maria Nanino was an Italian composer and teacher of the late Renaissance. He was a member of the Roman School of composers, and was the most influential music teacher in Rome in the late 16th century. He was the older brother of composer Giovanni Bernardino Nanino.

  108. 1602

    1. Emilio de' Cavalieri, Italian organist and composer (b. 1550) deaths

      1. Italian composer

        Emilio de' Cavalieri

        Emilio de' Cavalieri, or Emilio dei Cavalieri, the spellings "del" and "Cavaliere" are contemporary typographical errors, was an Italian composer, producer, organist, diplomat, choreographer and dancer at the end of the Renaissance era. His work, along with that of other composers active in Rome, Florence and Venice, was critical in defining the beginning of the musical Baroque era. A member of the Roman School of composers, he was an influential early composer of monody, and wrote what is usually considered to be the first oratorio.

  109. 1575

    1. Matthias Flacius, Croatian theologian and reformer (b. 1520) deaths

      1. 16th century Venetian theologian and Lutheran reformer

        Matthias Flacius

        Matthias Flacius Illyricus or Francovich was a Lutheran reformer from Istria, present-day Croatia. He was notable as a theologian, sometimes dissenting strongly with his fellow Lutherans, and as a scholar for his editorial work on the Magdeburg Centuries.

  110. 1544

    1. Torquato Tasso, Italian poet and educator (d. 1595) births

      1. Italian poet (1544–1595)

        Torquato Tasso

        Torquato Tasso was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem Gerusalemme liberata, in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between Christians and Muslims at the end of the First Crusade, during the Siege of Jerusalem of 1099.

  111. 1486

    1. Albrecht III Achilles, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1414) deaths

      1. Elector of Brandenburg

        Albrecht III Achilles, Elector of Brandenburg

        Albrecht III was Elector of Brandenburg from 1471 until his death, the third from the House of Hohenzollern. A member of the Order of the Swan, he received the cognomen Achilles because of his knightly qualities and virtues. He also ruled in the Franconian principalities of Ansbach from 1440 and Kulmbach from 1464.

  112. 1278

    1. Mary of Woodstock, daughter of Edward I of England (d. c.1332) births

      1. 14th-century English princess and nun

        Mary of Woodstock

        Mary of Woodstock was the seventh named daughter of Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile. She was a nun at Amesbury Priory, but lived very comfortably thanks to a generous allowance from her parents. Despite a papal travel prohibition in 1303, she travelled widely around the country.

      2. King of England from 1272 to 1307

        Edward I of England

        Edward I, also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal of the French king. Before his accession to the throne, he was commonly referred to as the Lord Edward. The eldest son of Henry III, Edward was involved from an early age in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included a rebellion by the English barons. In 1259, he briefly sided with a baronial reform movement, supporting the Provisions of Oxford. After reconciliation with his father, however, he remained loyal throughout the subsequent armed conflict, known as the Second Barons' War. After the Battle of Lewes, Edward was held hostage by the rebellious barons, but escaped after a few months and defeated the baronial leader Simon de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham in 1265. Within two years the rebellion was extinguished and, with England pacified, Edward joined the Ninth Crusade to the Holy Land. He was on his way home in 1272 when he was informed of his father's death. Making a slow return, he reached England in 1274 and was crowned at Westminster Abbey.

  113. 1198

    1. Marie of France, Countess of Champagne (b. 1145) deaths

      1. Countess consort of Champagne

        Marie of France, Countess of Champagne

        Marie of France was a French princess who became Countess of Champagne by marriage to Henry I, Count of Champagne. She was regent of the county of Champagne three times: during the absence of her spouse between 1179 and 1181; during the minority of her son Henry II, Count of Champagne in 1181–1187; and finally during the absence of her son between 1190 and 1197.

  114. 638

    1. Sophronius of Jerusalem (b. 560) deaths

      1. Patriarch of Jerusalem from 634 to 638

        Sophronius of Jerusalem

        Sophronius, called Sophronius the Sophist, was the Patriarch of Jerusalem from 634 until his death. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches. Before rising to the primacy of the see of Jerusalem, he was a monk and theologian who was the chief protagonist for orthodox teaching in the doctrinal controversy on the essential nature of Jesus and his volitional acts.

  115. 222

    1. Elagabalus, Roman emperor (b. 203) deaths

      1. Roman emperor from 218 to 222

        Elagabalus

        Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, better known by his nickname "Elagabalus", was Roman emperor from 218 to 222, while he was still a teenager. His short reign was conspicuous for sex scandals and religious controversy. A close relative to the Severan dynasty, he came from a prominent Arab family in Emesa (Homs), Syria, where since his early youth he served as head priest of the sun god Elagabal. After the death of his cousin, the emperor Caracalla, Elagabalus was raised to the principate at 14 years of age in an army revolt instigated by his grandmother Julia Maesa against Caracalla's short-lived successor, Macrinus. He only posthumously became known by the Latinised name of his god.

Holidays

  1. Christian feast day: Alberta of Agen

    1. Alberta of Agen

      Saint Alberta of Agen was a Roman venerated as a martyr and saint. Supposed to have been one of the first victims of Diocletian's persecutions, she was tortured with Saint Faith and Saint Caprasius in Agen, France. According to tradition, some spectators objected to this, and were subsequently beheaded as well. Alberta is commemorated on March 11.

  2. Christian feast day: Constantine

    1. Constantine (British saint)

      Saint Constantine is the name of one or many British or Pictish saints.

  3. Christian feast day: Óengus of Tallaght

    1. Irish bishop, reformer and writer

      Óengus of Tallaght

      Óengus mac Óengobann, better known as Saint Óengus of Tallaght or Óengus the Culdee, was an Irish bishop, reformer and writer, who flourished in the first quarter of the 9th century and is held to be the author of the Félire Óengusso and possibly the Martyrology of Tallaght.

  4. Christian feast day: Sophronius of Jerusalem

    1. Patriarch of Jerusalem from 634 to 638

      Sophronius of Jerusalem

      Sophronius, called Sophronius the Sophist, was the Patriarch of Jerusalem from 634 until his death. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches. Before rising to the primacy of the see of Jerusalem, he was a monk and theologian who was the chief protagonist for orthodox teaching in the doctrinal controversy on the essential nature of Jesus and his volitional acts.

  5. Christian feast day: Vindicianus

    1. Bishop of Cambrai-Arras

      Vindicianus

      Saint Vindicianus (Vindician) was a bishop of Cambrai-Arras. His feast day is 11 March. He is called a spiritual follower of Saint Eligius.

  6. Day of Restoration of Independence from the Soviet Union in 1990 (Lithuania)

    1. Public holidays in Lithuania

      All official holidays in Lithuania are established by acts of Seimas.

    2. Country in Europe

      Lithuania

      Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania shares land borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and Russia to the southwest. It has a maritime border with Sweden to the west on the Baltic Sea. Lithuania covers an area of 65,300 km2 (25,200 sq mi), with a population of 2.8 million. Its capital and largest city is Vilnius; other major cities are Kaunas and Klaipėda. Lithuanians belong to the ethno-linguistic group of the Balts and speak Lithuanian, one of only a few living Baltic languages.

  7. Moshoeshoe Day (Lesotho)

    1. King of Lesotho Essay from 1843-1870

      Moshoeshoe I

      Moshoeshoe I was born at Menkhoaneng in the northern part of present-day Lesotho. He was the first son of Mokhachane, a minor chief of the Bamokoteli lineage, a branch of the Koena (crocodile) clan. In his youth, he helped his father gain power over some other smaller clans. At the age of 34 Moshoeshoe formed his own clan and became a chief. He and his followers settled at the Butha-Buthe Mountain. He subsequently became the first King of Lesotho from 1822 to 1870.

    2. Country within the border of South Africa

      Lesotho

      Lesotho, officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked as an enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the highest mountains in Southern Africa. It has an area of over 30,000 km2 (11,600 sq mi) and has a population of about 2 million.