A building in the Savar Upazila of Dhaka, Bangladesh, collapsed, killing 1,134 people, making it the deadliest accidental structural failure in modern history.
Savar is an Upazila of Dhaka District in the Division of Dhaka, Bangladesh and is located at a distance of about 24 kilometers (15 mi) to the northwest of Dhaka city. Savar is mostly famous for the National Martyrs' Memorial, the national monument for the martyrs of the Liberation War of Bangladesh.
Greater Dhaka is the conurbation surrounding the Bangladeshi capital city of Dhaka, which has grown into one of the world's largest megacities, and shows a very rapid rate of expansion. Dhaka not only grows because it is the capital and largest urban center but also due to massive internal displacement from millions of people living in a perennially flood-prone river delta.
The 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse was a structural failure that occurred on 24 April 2013 in the Savar Upazila of Dhaka District, Bangladesh, where an eight-story commercial building called Rana Plaza collapsed. The search for the dead ended on 13 May 2013 with a death toll of 1,134. Approximately 2,500 injured people were rescued from the building. It is considered the deadliest non-deliberate structural failure accident in modern human history, the deadliest garment-factory disaster in history and the deadliest industrial accident in the history of Bangladesh.
A building collapses near Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing 1,129 people and injuring 2,500 others.
The 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse was a structural failure that occurred on 24 April 2013 in the Savar Upazila of Dhaka District, Bangladesh, where an eight-story commercial building called Rana Plaza collapsed. The search for the dead ended on 13 May 2013 with a death toll of 1,134. Approximately 2,500 injured people were rescued from the building. It is considered the deadliest non-deliberate structural failure accident in modern human history, the deadliest garment-factory disaster in history and the deadliest industrial accident in the history of Bangladesh.
Dhaka, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city in the world with a population of 8.9 million residents as of 2011, and a population of over 21.7 million residents in the Greater Dhaka Area. According to a Demographia survey, Dhaka has the most densely populated built-up urban area in the world, and is popularly described as such in the news media.Dhaka is one of the major cities of South Asia and a major global Muslim-majority city. Dhaka ranks 39th in the world and 3rd in South Asia in terms of urban GDP. As part of the Bengal delta, the city is bounded by the Buriganga River, Turag River, Dhaleshwari River and Shitalakshya River.
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of 148,460 square kilometres (57,320 sq mi). Bangladesh is among the most densely populated countries in the world, and shares land borders with India to the west, north, and east, and Myanmar to the southeast; to the south it has a coastline along the Bay of Bengal. It is narrowly separated from Bhutan and Nepal by the Siliguri Corridor; and from China by the Indian state of Sikkim in the north. Dhaka, the capital and largest city, is the nation's political, financial and cultural centre. Chittagong, the second-largest city, is the busiest port on the Bay of Bengal. The official language is Bengali, one of the easternmost branches of the Indo-European language family.
Violence in Bachu County, Kashgar Prefecture, of China's Xinjiang results in death of 21 people.
On 24 April 2013, ethnic clashes occurred in Marelbeshi (Bachu), Xinjiang, China. The violence left at least 21 people dead, including 15 police and officials.
Maralbexi County, Bachu County, and Chinese: 巴尔楚克县) the former long Chinese name as well, is located in the southwest of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China and is under the administration of the Kashgar Prefecture. It has an area of 18,491 km2 (7,139 sq mi), and surrounds, but does not administer, the sub-prefecture-level city of Tumxuk. According to the 2002 census, it has a population of 380,000.
Kashgar Prefecture, also known as Kashi Prefecture, is located in southwestern Xinjiang, China, located in the Tarim Basin region. It has an area of 112,057 km2 (43,265 sq mi) and 4,499,158 inhabitants at the 2015 census with a population density of 35.5 inhabitants/km2. The capital of the prefecture is the city of Kashgar which has a population 506,640.
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and borders fourteen countries by land, the most of any country in the world, tied with Russia. China also has a narrow maritime boundary with the disputed Taiwan. Covering an area of approximately 9.6 million square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the world's third largest country by total land area. The country consists of 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four municipalities, and two Special Administrative Regions. The national capital is Beijing, and the most populous city and financial center is Shanghai.
Xinjiang, aka East Turkistan, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest of the country at the crossroads of Central Asia and East Asia. Being the largest province-level division of China by area and the 8th-largest country subdivision in the world, Xinjiang spans over 1.6 million square kilometres (620,000 sq mi) and has about 25 million inhabitants. Xinjiang borders the countries of Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. The rugged Karakoram, Kunlun and Tian Shan mountain ranges occupy much of Xinjiang's borders, as well as its western and southern regions. The Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract regions, both administered by China, are claimed by India. Xinjiang also borders the Tibet Autonomous Region and the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai. The most well-known route of the historic Silk Road ran through the territory from the east to its northwestern border.
Secret documents relating to detainees at the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention camp were released on WikiLeaks and several independent news organizations.
The Guantánamo Bay files leak began on 24 April 2011, when WikiLeaks, along with The New York Times, NPR and The Guardian and other independent news organizations, began publishing 779 formerly secret documents relating to detainees at the United States' Guantánamo Bay detention camp established in 2002 after its invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. The documents consist of classified assessments, interviews, and internal memos about detainees, which were written by the Pentagon's Joint Task Force Guantanamo, headquartered at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. The documents are marked "secret" and NOFORN.
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, also referred to as Guantánamo, GTMO, and Gitmo, on the coast of Guantánamo Bay in Cuba. Of the roughly 780 people detained there since January 2002 when the military prison first opened after the September 11 attacks, 735 have been transferred elsewhere, 35 remain there, and 9 have died while in custody.
WikiLeaks is an international non-profit organisation that publishes news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Its website stated in 2015 that it had released online 10 million documents since beginning in 2006 in Iceland. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and is currently fighting extradition to the United States over his work with WikiLeaks. Since September 2018, Kristinn Hrafnsson has served as its editor-in-chief.
WikiLeaks starts publishing the Guantanamo Bay files leak.
WikiLeaks is an international non-profit organisation that publishes news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Its website stated in 2015 that it had released online 10 million documents since beginning in 2006 in Iceland. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and is currently fighting extradition to the United States over his work with WikiLeaks. Since September 2018, Kristinn Hrafnsson has served as its editor-in-chief.
The Guantánamo Bay files leak began on 24 April 2011, when WikiLeaks, along with The New York Times, NPR and The Guardian and other independent news organizations, began publishing 779 formerly secret documents relating to detainees at the United States' Guantánamo Bay detention camp established in 2002 after its invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. The documents consist of classified assessments, interviews, and internal memos about detainees, which were written by the Pentagon's Joint Task Force Guantanamo, headquartered at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. The documents are marked "secret" and NOFORN.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is inaugurated as the 265th Pope of the Catholic Church taking the name Pope Benedict XVI.
A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Collectively, they constitute the College of Cardinals.
Papal inauguration is a liturgical service of the Catholic Church within Mass celebrated in the Roman Rite but with elements of Byzantine Rite for the ecclesiastical investiture of a pope. Since the inauguration of Pope John Paul I, it has not included the 820-year-old (1143–1963) papal coronation ceremony.
The pope, also known as supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome, head of the worldwide Catholic Church, and has also served as the head of state or sovereign of the Papal States and later the Vatican City State since the eighth century. From a Catholic viewpoint, the primacy of the bishop of Rome is largely derived from his role as the apostolic successor to Saint Peter, to whom primacy was conferred by Jesus, who gave Peter the Keys of Heaven and the powers of "binding and loosing", naming him as the "rock" upon which the Church would be built. The current pope is Francis, who was elected on 13 March 2013.
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2019. As the world's oldest and largest continuously functioning international institution, it has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization. The church consists of 24 sui iuris churches, including the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, which comprise almost 3,500 dioceses and eparchies located around the world. The pope, who is the bishop of Rome, is the chief pastor of the church. The bishopric of Rome, known as the Holy See, is the central governing authority of the church. The administrative body of the Holy See, the Roman Curia, has its principal offices in Vatican City, a small enclave of the Italian city of Rome, of which the pope is head of state.
Pope Benedict XVI is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation in 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as pope occurred in the 2005 papal conclave that followed the death of Pope John Paul II. Benedict has chosen to be known by the title "pope emeritus" upon his resignation.
The United States lifts economic sanctions imposed on Libya 18 years previously, as a reward for its cooperation in eliminating weapons of mass destruction.
Economic sanctions are commercial and financial penalties applied by one or more countries against a targeted self-governing state, group, or individual. Economic sanctions are not necessarily imposed because of economic circumstances—they may also be imposed for a variety of political, military, and social issues. Economic sanctions can be used for achieving domestic and international purposes.
Muammar Gaddafi became the de facto leader of Libya on 1 September 1969 after leading a group of young Libyan Army officers against King Idris I in a bloodless coup d'état. After the king had fled the country, the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) headed by Gaddafi abolished the monarchy and the old constitution and established the Libyan Arab Republic, with the motto "freedom, socialism and unity".
A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous individuals or cause great damage to artificial structures, natural structures, or the biosphere. The scope and usage of the term has evolved and been disputed, often signifying more politically than technically. Originally coined in reference to aerial bombing with chemical explosives during World War II, it has later come to refer to large-scale weaponry of warfare-related technologies, such as chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear warfare.
In the United States, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 is passed into law.
The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), Pub.L. 104–132 (text) (PDF), 110 Stat. 1214, enacted April 24, 1996, was introduced to the United States Congress in April 1995 as a Senate Bill. The bill was passed with broad bipartisan support by Congress in response to the bombings of the World Trade Center and Oklahoma City. It was signed into law by President Bill Clinton.
The Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a truck bomb in London's financial district in Bishopsgate, killing one person, injuring forty-four others, and causing damage that cost £350 million to repair.
The Irish Republican Army, also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reunification and bring about an independent, socialist republic encompassing all of Ireland. It was the most active republican paramilitary group during the Troubles. It saw itself as the army of the all-island Irish Republic and as the sole legitimate successor to the original IRA from the Irish War of Independence. It was designated a terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom and an unlawful organisation in the Republic of Ireland, both of whose authority it rejected.
The Bishopsgate bombing occurred on 24 April 1993, when the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonated a powerful truck bomb on Bishopsgate, a major thoroughfare in London's financial district, the City of London. Telephoned warnings were sent about an hour beforehand, but a news photographer was killed in the blast and 44 people were injured, with fatalities minimised due to it occurring on a Saturday. The blast destroyed the nearby St Ethelburga's church and wrecked Liverpool Street station and the NatWest Tower.
Bishopsgate was one of the eastern gates in London's former defensive wall. The gate gave its name to the Bishopsgate Ward of the City of London. The ward is traditionally divided into Bishopsgate Within, inside the line wall, and Bishopsgate Without beyond it. Bishopsgate Without is described as part of London's East End.
An IRA bomb devastates the Bishopsgate area of London.
The Irish Republican Army, also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reunification and bring about an independent, socialist republic encompassing all of Ireland. It was the most active republican paramilitary group during the Troubles. It saw itself as the army of the all-island Irish Republic and as the sole legitimate successor to the original IRA from the Irish War of Independence. It was designated a terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom and an unlawful organisation in the Republic of Ireland, both of whose authority it rejected.
The Bishopsgate bombing occurred on 24 April 1993, when the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonated a powerful truck bomb on Bishopsgate, a major thoroughfare in London's financial district, the City of London. Telephoned warnings were sent about an hour beforehand, but a news photographer was killed in the blast and 44 people were injured, with fatalities minimised due to it occurring on a Saturday. The blast destroyed the nearby St Ethelburga's church and wrecked Liverpool Street station and the NatWest Tower.
The Hubble Space Telescope was launched aboard STS-31 by Space Shuttle Discovery.
The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versatile, renowned both as a vital research tool and as a public relations boon for astronomy. The Hubble telescope is named after astronomer Edwin Hubble and is one of NASA's Great Observatories. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) selects Hubble's targets and processes the resulting data, while the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) controls the spacecraft.
STS-31 was the 35th mission of the NASA Space Shuttle program. The primary purpose of this mission was the deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) into low Earth orbit. The mission used the Space Shuttle Discovery, which lifted off from Launch Complex 39B on April 24, 1990, from Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
Space Shuttle Discovery is one of the orbiters from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the third of five fully operational orbiters to be built. Its first mission, STS-41-D, flew from August 30 to September 5, 1984. Over 27 years of service it launched and landed 39 times, aggregating more spaceflights than any other spacecraft to date. The Space Shuttle launch vehicle has three main components: the Space Shuttle orbiter, a single-use central fuel tank, and two reusable solid rocket boosters. Nearly 25,000 heat-resistant tiles cover the orbiter to protect it from high temperatures on re-entry.
STS-31: The Hubble Space Telescope is launched from the Space Shuttle Discovery.
STS-31 was the 35th mission of the NASA Space Shuttle program. The primary purpose of this mission was the deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) into low Earth orbit. The mission used the Space Shuttle Discovery, which lifted off from Launch Complex 39B on April 24, 1990, from Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versatile, renowned both as a vital research tool and as a public relations boon for astronomy. The Hubble telescope is named after astronomer Edwin Hubble and is one of NASA's Great Observatories. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) selects Hubble's targets and processes the resulting data, while the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) controls the spacecraft.
The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. Its official name, Space Transportation System (STS), was taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft of which it was the only item funded for development. It flew 135 missions and carried 355 astronauts from 16 countries, many on multiple trips.
Space Shuttle Discovery is one of the orbiters from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the third of five fully operational orbiters to be built. Its first mission, STS-41-D, flew from August 30 to September 5, 1984. Over 27 years of service it launched and landed 39 times, aggregating more spaceflights than any other spacecraft to date. The Space Shuttle launch vehicle has three main components: the Space Shuttle orbiter, a single-use central fuel tank, and two reusable solid rocket boosters. Nearly 25,000 heat-resistant tiles cover the orbiter to protect it from high temperatures on re-entry.
Gruinard Island, Scotland, is officially declared free of the anthrax disease after 48 years of quarantine.
Gruinard Island is a small, oval-shaped Scottish island approximately 2 kilometres long by 1 km wide, located in Gruinard Bay, about halfway between Gairloch and Ullapool. At its closest point to the mainland, it is about 1 km offshore. The island was dangerous for all mammals after experiments with the anthrax bacterium in 1942, until it was decontaminated in the late 20th century.
Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The skin form presents with a small blister with surrounding swelling that often turns into a painless ulcer with a black center. The inhalation form presents with fever, chest pain and shortness of breath. The intestinal form presents with diarrhea, abdominal pains, nausea and vomiting. The injection form presents with fever and an abscess at the site of drug injection.
A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been exposed to a communicable disease, yet do not have a confirmed medical diagnosis. It is distinct from medical isolation, in which those confirmed to be infected with a communicable disease are isolated from the healthy population. Quarantine considerations are often one aspect of border control.
Eight U.S. servicemen died in Operation Eagle Claw, a failed attempt to rescue the captives in the Iran hostage crisis.
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and forms military policy with the Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), both federal executive departments, acting as the principal organs by which military policy is carried out. All six armed services are among the eight uniformed services of the United States.
Operation Eagle Claw, known as Operation Tabas in Iran, was a failed operation by the United States Armed Forces ordered by U.S. President Jimmy Carter to attempt the rescue of 52 embassy staff held captive at the Embassy of the United States, Tehran on 24 April 1980.
On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took them as hostages. A diplomatic standoff ensued. The hostages were held for 444 days, being released on January 20, 1981.
Eight U.S. servicemen die in Operation Eagle Claw as they attempt to end the Iran hostage crisis.
Operation Eagle Claw, known as Operation Tabas in Iran, was a failed operation by the United States Armed Forces ordered by U.S. President Jimmy Carter to attempt the rescue of 52 embassy staff held captive at the Embassy of the United States, Tehran on 24 April 1980.
On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took them as hostages. A diplomatic standoff ensued. The hostages were held for 444 days, being released on January 20, 1981.
China launches Dong Fang Hong I, becoming the fifth nation to put an object into orbit using its own booster.
Dong Fang Hong 1, in the western world also known as China 1 or PRC 1, was the first space satellite of the People's Republic of China (PRC), launched successfully on 24 April 1970 as part of the PRC's Dongfanghong space satellite program. It was a part of the "Two Bombs, One Satellite" program. At 173 kg (381 lb), it was heavier than the first satellites of other countries. The satellite carried a radio transmitter which broadcast the de facto national anthem of the same name. The broadcast lasted for 20 days while in orbit.
The Gambia becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations, with Dawda Jawara as its first President.
The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland Africa and is surrounded by Senegal, except for its western coast on the Atlantic Ocean. The Gambia is situated on both sides of the lower reaches of the Gambia River, the nation's namesake, which flows through the centre of the Gambia and empties into the Atlantic Ocean, thus the long shape of the country. It has an area of 10,689 square kilometres (4,127 sq mi) with a population of 1,857,181 as of the April 2013 census. Banjul is the Gambian capital and the country's largest metropolitan area, while the largest cities are Serekunda and Brikama.
A republic is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th centuries, the term was used to imply a state with a democratic or representative constitution, but more recently it has also been used of autocratic or dictatorial states not ruled by a monarch. It is now chiefly used to denote any non-monarchical state headed by an elected or appointed president.
The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Commonwealth Secretariat, which focuses on intergovernmental aspects, and the Commonwealth Foundation, which focuses on non-governmental relations amongst member states. Numerous organisations are associated with and operate within the Commonwealth.
Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara was a Gambian politician who served as Prime Minister from 1962 to 1970, and then as the first President of the Gambia from 1970 to 1994.
The president of the Republic of The Gambia is the head of state and head of government of The Gambia. The president leads the executive branch of the government of The Gambia and is the commander-in-chief of the Gambia Armed Forces. The post was created in 1970, when The Gambia became a republic and has been held by three people: Dawda Jawara, who ruled from 1970 until 1994, Yahya Jammeh, who seized power in a bloodless coup that year and Adama Barrow, who defeated Jammeh in elections held in December 2016.
Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies in Soyuz 1 when its parachute fails to open. He is the first human to die during a space mission.
An astronaut is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally reserved for professional space travelers, the term is sometimes applied to anyone who travels into space, including scientists, politicians, journalists, and tourists.
Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov was a Soviet test pilot, aerospace engineer, and cosmonaut. In October 1964, he commanded Voskhod 1, the first spaceflight to carry more than one crew member. He became the first Soviet cosmonaut to fly in space twice when he was selected as the solo pilot of Soyuz 1, its first crewed test flight. A parachute failure caused his Soyuz capsule to crash into the ground after re-entry on 24 April 1967, making him the first human to die in a space flight.
Soyuz 1 was a crewed spaceflight of the Soviet space program. Launched into orbit on 23 April 1967 carrying cosmonaut colonel Vladimir Komarov, Soyuz 1 was the first crewed flight of the Soyuz spacecraft. The flight was plagued with technical issues, and Komarov was killed when the descent module crashed into the ground due to a parachute failure. This was the first in-flight fatality in the history of spaceflight.
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who can exit from an aircraft at height and descend safely to earth.
Vietnam War: American General William Westmoreland says in a news conference that the enemy had "gained support in the United States that gives him hope that he can win politically that which he cannot win militarily".
The Vietnam War was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The north was supported by the Soviet Union, China, and other communist states, while the south was supported by the United States and other anti-communist allies. The war is widely considered to be a Cold War-era proxy war. It lasted almost 20 years, with direct U.S. involvement ending in 1973. The conflict also spilled over into neighboring states, exacerbating the Laotian Civil War and the Cambodian Civil War, which ended with all three countries becoming communist states by 1975.
William Childs Westmoreland was a United States Army general, most notably commander of United States forces during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968. He served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1968 to 1972.
Cold War: The Dominican Civil War broke out due to tensions following a military coup against the democratically elected government of President Juan Bosch two years earlier.
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. Historians do not fully agree on its starting and ending points, but the period is generally considered to span from the announcement of the Truman Doctrine on 12 March 1947 to the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 26 December 1991. The term cold war is used because there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two superpowers, but they each supported major regional conflicts known as proxy wars. The conflict was based around the ideological and geopolitical struggle for global influence by these two superpowers, following their temporary alliance and victory against Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in 1945. Aside from the nuclear arsenal development and conventional military deployment, the struggle for dominance was expressed via indirect means such as psychological warfare, propaganda campaigns, espionage, far-reaching embargoes, rivalry at sports events, and technological competitions such as the Space Race.
The Dominican Civil War, also known as the April Revolution, took place between April 24, 1965, and September 3, 1965, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It started when civilian and military supporters of the overthrown democratically-elected president Juan Bosch ousted the militarily-installed president Donald Reid Cabral from office. The second coup prompted General Elías Wessin y Wessin to organize elements of the military loyal to President Reid ("loyalists"), initiating an armed campaign against the "constitutionalist" rebels. In riposte, the dissidents passed out Cristóbal carbines and machine guns to several thousand civilian sympathizers and adherents. Allegations of foreign communist support for the rebels led to a United States intervention in the conflict, which later transformed into an Organization of American States occupation of the country by the Inter-American Peace Force. Elections were held in 1966, in the aftermath of which Joaquín Balaguer was elected into the presidential seat. Later in the same year, foreign troops departed from the country.
Juan Emilio Bosch Gaviño was a Dominican politician, historian, writer, essayist, educator, and the first democratically-elected president of the Dominican Republic for a brief time in 1963. Previously, he had been the leader of the Dominican opposition in exile to the dictatorial regime of Rafael Trujillo for over 25 years. To this day, he is remembered as an honest politician and regarded as one of the most prominent writers in Dominican literature. He founded both the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) in 1939 and the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) in 1973.
Civil war breaks out in the Dominican Republic when Colonel Francisco Caamaño overthrows the triumvirate that had been in power since the coup d'état against Juan Bosch.
The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with Haiti, making Hispaniola one of only two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin, that is shared by two sovereign states. The Dominican Republic is the second-largest nation in the Antilles by area at 48,671 square kilometers (18,792 sq mi), and third-largest by population, with approximately 10.7 million people, down from 10.8 million in 2020, of whom approximately 3.3 million live in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo, the capital city. The official language of the country is Spanish.
Col. Francisco Alberto Caamaño Deñó was a Dominican soldier and politician who took the constitutional presidency of the Dominican Republic during the Civil War of 1965. During the Dominican Republic Civil War, which began on April 24, 1965, Caamaño was one of the leaders in the movement to restore the democratically elected President Dr. Juan Bosch, who had been overthrown in a military coup d'état in September 1963.
A triumvirate or a triarchy is a political institution ruled or dominated by three individuals, known as triumvirs. The arrangement can be formal or informal. Though the three leaders in a triumvirate are notionally equal, the actual distribution of power may vary. The term can also be used to describe a state with three different military leaders who all claim to be the sole leader.
A coup d'état, also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, military, or a dictator. Many scholars consider a coup successful when the usurpers seize and hold power for at least seven days.
Juan Emilio Bosch Gaviño was a Dominican politician, historian, writer, essayist, educator, and the first democratically-elected president of the Dominican Republic for a brief time in 1963. Previously, he had been the leader of the Dominican opposition in exile to the dictatorial regime of Rafael Trujillo for over 25 years. To this day, he is remembered as an honest politician and regarded as one of the most prominent writers in Dominican literature. He founded both the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) in 1939 and the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) in 1973.
Marriage of Princess Alexandra of Kent to Angus Ogilvy at Westminster Abbey in London.
Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy is a member of the British royal family. She is the daughter of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, making her a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and a first cousin once removed of the Queen's husband Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark.
Sir Angus James Bruce Ogilvy was a British businessman. He is best known as the husband of Princess Alexandra of Kent, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. Ogilvy is also remembered for his role in a business scandal, known as the Lonrho affair, involving the breaking of sanctions against Rhodesia during the 1970s. In later years, he was very involved in charity work.
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is a large, mainly Gothic abbey church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United Kingdom's most notable religious buildings and a burial site for English and, later, British monarchs. Since the coronation of William the Conqueror in 1066, all coronations of English and British monarchs have occurred in Westminster Abbey. Sixteen royal weddings have occurred at the abbey since 1100.
Suez Crisis: The Suez Canal is reopened following the introduction of UNEF peacekeepers to the region.
The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was an invasion of Egypt in late 1956 by Israel, followed by the United Kingdom and France. The aims were to regain control of the Suez Canal for the Western powers and to remove Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, who had just swiftly nationalised the foreign-owned Suez Canal Company, which administered the canal. Israel's primary objective was to re-open the blocked Straits of Tiran. After the fighting had started, political pressure from the United States, the Soviet Union and the United Nations led to a withdrawal by the three invaders. The episode humiliated the United Kingdom and France and strengthened Nasser.
The Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The 193.30 km (120.11 mi) long canal is a popular trade route between Europe and Asia.
The United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) was a military and peacekeeping operation established by the United Nations General Assembly to secure an end to the Suez Crisis of 1956 through the establishment of international peacekeepers on the border between Egypt and Israel. Approved by resolution 1001 (ES-I) of 7 November 1956, UNEF was developed in large measure as a result of efforts by UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld and a proposal from Canadian Minister of External Affairs Lester B. Pearson, who would later win the Nobel Peace Prize for it. The General Assembly had approved a plan submitted by the Secretary-General which envisaged the deployment of UNEF on both sides of the armistice line; Egypt accepted receiving the UN forces, but Israel refused it. In May 1967, Egypt asked that UNEF leave Egypt; as the troops started to evacuate over the next days, Israel invaded Egypt on 6 June 1967, initiating the Six-Day War and causing the death of one Brazilian Sergeant and 14 Indian peacekeepers – 17 other members of UNEF were also injured. The last member of UNEF left Egypt on 17 June.
The Bandung Conference ends: Twenty-nine non-aligned nations of Asia and Africa finish a meeting that condemns colonialism, racism, and the Cold War.
The first large-scale Asian–African or Afro–Asian Conference —also known as the Bandung Conference—was a meeting of Asian and African states, most of which were newly independent, which took place on 18–24 April 1955 in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. The twenty-nine countries that participated represented a total population of 1.5 billion people, 54% of the world's population. The conference was organized by Indonesia, Burma (Myanmar), India, Ceylon, and Pakistan and was coordinated by Ruslan Abdulgani, secretary general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia.
Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their religion, language, economics, and other cultural practices. The foreign administrators rule the territory in pursuit of their interests, seeking to benefit from the colonised region's people and resources. It is associated with but distinct from imperialism.
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against other people because they are of a different race or ethnicity. Modern variants of racism are often based in social perceptions of biological differences between peoples. These views can take the form of social actions, practices or beliefs, or political systems in which different races are ranked as inherently superior or inferior to each other, based on presumed shared inheritable traits, abilities, or qualities. There have been attempts to legitimize racist beliefs through scientific means, such as scientific racism, which have been overwhelmingly shown to be unfounded. In terms of political systems that support the expression of prejudice or aversion in discriminatory practices or laws, racist ideology may include associated social aspects such as nativism, xenophobia, otherness, segregation, hierarchical ranking, and supremacism.
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. Historians do not fully agree on its starting and ending points, but the period is generally considered to span from the announcement of the Truman Doctrine on 12 March 1947 to the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 26 December 1991. The term cold war is used because there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two superpowers, but they each supported major regional conflicts known as proxy wars. The conflict was based around the ideological and geopolitical struggle for global influence by these two superpowers, following their temporary alliance and victory against Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in 1945. Aside from the nuclear arsenal development and conventional military deployment, the struggle for dominance was expressed via indirect means such as psychological warfare, propaganda campaigns, espionage, far-reaching embargoes, rivalry at sports events, and technological competitions such as the Space Race.
Winston Churchill is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955. Apart from two years between 1922 and 1924, he was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1900 to 1964 and represented a total of five constituencies. Ideologically an economic liberal and imperialist, he was for most of his career a member of the Conservative Party, which he led from 1940 to 1955. He was a member of the Liberal Party from 1904 to 1924.
Elizabeth II was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during her lifetime, and was head of state of 15 realms at the time of her death. Her reign of 70 years and 214 days was the longest of any British monarch and the longest verified reign of any female monarch in history.
World War II: The British Special Boat Service executed a successful raid to destroy an Axis radio station on the Greek island of Santorini.
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.
The Special Boat Service (SBS) is the special forces unit of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The SBS can trace its origins back to the Second World War when the Army Special Boat Section was formed in 1940. After the Second World War, the Royal Navy formed special forces with several name changes—Special Boat Company was adopted in 1951 and re-designated as the Special Boat Squadron in 1974—until on 28 July 1987 when the unit was renamed as the Special Boat Service after assuming responsibility for maritime counter-terrorism. Most of the operations conducted by the SBS are highly classified, and are rarely commented on by the British government or the Ministry of Defence, owing to their sensitive nature.
The Raid on Santorini took place on 24 April 1944 as part of the Mediterranean Campaign in World War II. It was conducted by the British Special Boat Service, against the mixed German and Italian garrison on the island of Santorini (Thera) in the Aegean Sea. The raid was made in tandem with similar operations at the islands of Ios, Mykonos and Amorgos that aimed to destroy Axis naval observation posts and radio stations on the Cycladic islands.
Santorini, officially Thira and classical Greek Thera, is an island in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km (120 mi) southeast from the Greek mainland. It is the largest island of a small circular archipelago, which bears the same name and is the remnant of a caldera. It forms the southernmost member of the Cyclades group of islands, with an area of approximately 73 km2 (28 sq mi) and a 2011 census population of 15,550. The municipality of Santorini includes the inhabited islands of Santorini and Therasia, as well as the uninhabited islands of Nea Kameni, Palaia Kameni, Aspronisi and Christiana. The total land area is 90.623 km2 (34.990 sq mi). Santorini is part of the Thira regional unit.
World War II: The SBS launches a raid against the garrison of Santorini in Greece.
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.
The Special Boat Service (SBS) is the special forces unit of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The SBS can trace its origins back to the Second World War when the Army Special Boat Section was formed in 1940. After the Second World War, the Royal Navy formed special forces with several name changes—Special Boat Company was adopted in 1951 and re-designated as the Special Boat Squadron in 1974—until on 28 July 1987 when the unit was renamed as the Special Boat Service after assuming responsibility for maritime counter-terrorism. Most of the operations conducted by the SBS are highly classified, and are rarely commented on by the British government or the Ministry of Defence, owing to their sensitive nature.
The Raid on Santorini took place on 24 April 1944 as part of the Mediterranean Campaign in World War II. It was conducted by the British Special Boat Service, against the mixed German and Italian garrison on the island of Santorini (Thera) in the Aegean Sea. The raid was made in tandem with similar operations at the islands of Ios, Mykonos and Amorgos that aimed to destroy Axis naval observation posts and radio stations on the Cycladic islands.
Nazi Germany began its persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses by shutting down the Watch Tower Society office in Magdeburg.
Nazi Germany was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a dictatorship. Under Hitler's rule, Germany quickly became a totalitarian state where nearly all aspects of life were controlled by the government. The Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", alluded to the Nazi claim that Nazi Germany was the successor to the earlier Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and German Empire (1871–1918). The Third Reich, which Hitler and the Nazis referred to as the Thousand-Year Reich, ended in May 1945 after just 12 years when the Allies defeated Germany, ending World War II in Europe.
Jehovah's Witnesses suffered religious persecution in Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945 after refusing to perform military service, join Nazi organizations, or give allegiance to the Hitler regime. An estimated 10,000 Witnesses—half of the number of members in Germany during that period—were imprisoned, including 2000 who were sent to Nazi concentration camps. An estimated 1200 died in custody, including 250 who were executed. They were the first Christian denomination banned by the Nazi government and the most extensively and intensively persecuted.
A number of corporations are in use by Jehovah's Witnesses. They publish literature and perform other operational and administrative functions, representing the interests of the religious organization. "The Society" has been used as a collective term for these corporations.
Magdeburg is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river.
Nazi Germany begins its persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses by shutting down the Watch Tower Society office in Magdeburg.
Nazi Germany was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a dictatorship. Under Hitler's rule, Germany quickly became a totalitarian state where nearly all aspects of life were controlled by the government. The Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", alluded to the Nazi claim that Nazi Germany was the successor to the earlier Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and German Empire (1871–1918). The Third Reich, which Hitler and the Nazis referred to as the Thousand-Year Reich, ended in May 1945 after just 12 years when the Allies defeated Germany, ending World War II in Europe.
Jehovah's Witnesses suffered religious persecution in Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945 after refusing to perform military service, join Nazi organizations, or give allegiance to the Hitler regime. An estimated 10,000 Witnesses—half of the number of members in Germany during that period—were imprisoned, including 2000 who were sent to Nazi concentration camps. An estimated 1200 died in custody, including 250 who were executed. They were the first Christian denomination banned by the Nazi government and the most extensively and intensively persecuted.
A number of corporations are in use by Jehovah's Witnesses. They publish literature and perform other operational and administrative functions, representing the interests of the religious organization. "The Society" has been used as a collective term for these corporations.
Magdeburg is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river.
An estimated 400 ramblers committed a wilful mass trespass of Kinder Scout (pictured) in the Peak District to highlight the denial of access to areas of open country in England.
Walking is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults over the stiff limb or limbs with each step. This applies regardless of the usable number of limbs—even arthropods, with six, eight, or more limbs, walk.
The mass trespass of Kinder Scout was a trespass by members of the Young Communist League, the youth branch of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), at Kinder Scout in the Peak District, Derbyshire, England, on 24 April 1932, to highlight that walkers were denied access to areas of open country. It was organised by Benny Rothman, secretary of the British Workers' Sports Federation.
Kinder Scout is a moorland plateau and national nature reserve in the Dark Peak of the Derbyshire Peak District in England. Part of the moor, at 636 metres (2,087 ft) above sea level, is the highest point in the Peak District, in Derbyshire and the East Midlands; this summit is sometimes simply called the Peak. In excellent weather conditions, the city of Manchester and the Greater Manchester conurbation can be seen from the western edges, as well as Winter Hill near Bolton and the mountains of Snowdonia in North Wales.
The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It includes the Dark Peak, where moorland is found and the geology is dominated by gritstone, and the White Peak, a limestone area with valleys and gorges. The Dark Peak forms an arc on the north, east and west sides; the White Peak covers central and southern tracts. The historic Peak District extends beyond the National Park, which excludes major towns, quarries and industrial areas. It became the first of the national parks of England and Wales in 1951. Nearby Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent, Derby and Sheffield send millions of visitors – some 20 million live within an hour's ride. Inhabited from the Mesolithic era, it shows evidence of the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages. Settled by the Romans and Anglo-Saxons, it remained largely agricultural; mining arose in the Middle Ages. Richard Arkwright built cotton mills in the Industrial Revolution. As mining declined, quarrying grew. Tourism came with the railways, spurred by the landscape, spa towns and Castleton's show caves.
Benny Rothman leads the mass trespass of Kinder Scout, leading to substantial legal reforms in the United Kingdom.
Bernard "Benny" Rothman was a British political activist, most famous for his leading role in the Mass trespass of Kinder Scout in 1932.
The mass trespass of Kinder Scout was a trespass by members of the Young Communist League, the youth branch of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), at Kinder Scout in the Peak District, Derbyshire, England, on 24 April 1932, to highlight that walkers were denied access to areas of open country. It was organised by Benny Rothman, secretary of the British Workers' Sports Federation.
The Treaty of Berlin is signed. Germany and the Soviet Union each pledge neutrality in the event of an attack on the other by a third party for the next five years.
The Treaty of Berlin was a treaty signed on 24 April 1926 under which Germany and the Soviet Union pledged neutrality in the event of an attack on the other by a third party for five years. The treaty reaffirmed the German-Soviet Treaty of Rapallo (1922).
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.
Thorvald Stauning becomes premier of Denmark (first term).
Thorvald August Marinus Stauning was the first social democratic Prime Minister of Denmark. He served as Prime Minister from 1924 to 1926 and again from 1929 until his death in 1942.
Denmark is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the most populous and politically central constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland in the North Atlantic Ocean. European Denmark is the southernmost of the Scandinavian countries, lying southwest of Sweden, south of Norway, and north of Germany.
The first portion of the Imperial Wireless Chain, a strategic international wireless telegraphy communications network created to link the countries of the British Empire, opened.
The Imperial Wireless Chain was a strategic international communications network of powerful long range radiotelegraphy stations, created by the British government to link the countries of the British Empire. The stations exchanged commercial and diplomatic text message traffic transmitted at high speed by Morse code using paper tape machines. Although the idea was conceived prior to World War I, the United Kingdom was the last of the world's great powers to implement an operational system. The first link in the chain, between Leafield in Oxfordshire and Cairo, Egypt, eventually opened on 24 April 1922, with the final link, between Australia and Canada, opening on 16 June 1928.
Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is transmission of text messages by radio waves, analogous to electrical telegraphy using cables. Before about 1910, the term wireless telegraphy was also used for other experimental technologies for transmitting telegraph signals without wires. In radiotelegraphy, information is transmitted by pulses of radio waves of two different lengths called "dots" and "dashes", which spell out text messages, usually in Morse code. In a manual system, the sending operator taps on a switch called a telegraph key which turns the transmitter on and off, producing the pulses of radio waves. At the receiver the pulses are audible in the receiver's speaker as beeps, which are translated back to text by an operator who knows Morse code.
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. At its height it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, 23 per cent of the world population at the time, and by 1920, it covered 35.5 million km2 (13.7 million sq mi), 24 per cent of the Earth's total land area. As a result, its constitutional, legal, linguistic, and cultural legacy is widespread. At the peak of its power, it was described as "the empire on which the sun never sets", as the Sun was always shining on at least one of its territories.
The first segment of the Imperial Wireless Chain providing wireless telegraphy between Leafield in Oxfordshire, England, and Cairo, Egypt, comes into operation.
The Imperial Wireless Chain was a strategic international communications network of powerful long range radiotelegraphy stations, created by the British government to link the countries of the British Empire. The stations exchanged commercial and diplomatic text message traffic transmitted at high speed by Morse code using paper tape machines. Although the idea was conceived prior to World War I, the United Kingdom was the last of the world's great powers to implement an operational system. The first link in the chain, between Leafield in Oxfordshire and Cairo, Egypt, eventually opened on 24 April 1922, with the final link, between Australia and Canada, opening on 16 June 1928.
Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is transmission of text messages by radio waves, analogous to electrical telegraphy using cables. Before about 1910, the term wireless telegraphy was also used for other experimental technologies for transmitting telegraph signals without wires. In radiotelegraphy, information is transmitted by pulses of radio waves of two different lengths called "dots" and "dashes", which spell out text messages, usually in Morse code. In a manual system, the sending operator taps on a switch called a telegraph key which turns the transmitter on and off, producing the pulses of radio waves. At the receiver the pulses are audible in the receiver's speaker as beeps, which are translated back to text by an operator who knows Morse code.
Leafield is a village and civil parish about 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Witney in West Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Langley, 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Leafield village. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 945. The village is 635 feet (194 m) above sea level in the Cotswold Hills. It was the highest point in Oxfordshire until the 1974 county boundary changes enlarged the county.
Oxfordshire is a landlocked county in the far west of the government statistical region of South East England. The ceremonial county borders Warwickshire to the north-west, Northamptonshire to the north-east, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, Wiltshire to the south-west and Gloucestershire to the west.
Cairo is the capital of Egypt and the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East. The Greater Cairo metropolitan area, with a population of 21.9 million, is the 12th-largest in the world by population. Cairo is associated with ancient Egypt, as the Giza pyramid complex and the ancient cities of Memphis and Heliopolis are located in its geographical area. Located near the Nile Delta, the city first developed as Fustat, a settlement founded after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 640 next to an existing ancient Roman fortress, Babylon. Under the Fatimid dynasty a new city, al-Qāhirah, was founded nearby in 969. It later superseded Fustat as the main urban centre during the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life, and is titled "the city of a thousand minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture. Cairo's historic center was awarded World Heritage Site-status in 1979. Cairo is considered a World City with a "Beta +" classification according to GaWC.
First World War: The Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux began, which contained the first instance of tanks fighting against each other.
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.
The Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux took place from 24 to 27 April 1918, during the German spring offensive to the east of Amiens. It is notable for being the first occasion on which tanks fought against each other; it was the biggest and most successful tank action of the German army in the First World War.
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; usually their main armament is mounted in a turret. They are a mainstay of modern 20th and 21st century ground forces and a key part of combined arms combat.
World War I: First tank-to-tank combat, during the second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux. Three British Mark IVs meet three German A7Vs.
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.
The Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux took place from 24 to 27 April 1918, during the German spring offensive to the east of Amiens. It is notable for being the first occasion on which tanks fought against each other; it was the biggest and most successful tank action of the German army in the First World War.
The Mark IV was a British tank of the First World War. Introduced in 1917, it benefited from significant developments of the Mark I tank. The main improvements were in armour, the re-siting of the fuel tank and ease of transport. A total of 1,220 Mk IV were built: 420 "Males", 595 "Females" and 205 Tank Tenders, which made it the most numerous British tank of the war. The Mark IV was first used in mid 1917 at the Battle of Messines Ridge. It remained in British service until the end of the war, and a small number served briefly with other combatants afterwards.
The A7V was a heavy tank introduced by Germany in 1918 during World War I. One hundred chassis were ordered in early 1917, ten to be finished as fighting vehicles with armoured bodies, and the remainder as Überlandwagen cargo carriers. The number to be armoured was later increased to 20. They were used in action from March to October 1918, and were the only tanks produced by Germany in World War I to be used in combat.
Irish republicans led by Patrick Pearse began the Easter Rising against British rule in Ireland, and proclaimed the Irish Republic an independent state.
Irish republicanism is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate.
Patrick Henry Pearse was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist, republican political activist and revolutionary who was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916. Following his execution along with fifteen others, Pearse came to be seen by many as the embodiment of the rebellion.
The Easter Rising, also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an independent Irish Republic while the United Kingdom was fighting the First World War. It was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798 and the first armed conflict of the Irish revolutionary period. Sixteen of the Rising's leaders were executed from May 1916. The nature of the executions, and subsequent political developments, ultimately contributed to an increase in popular support for Irish independence.
The Proclamation of the Republic, also known as the 1916 Proclamation or the Easter Proclamation, was a document issued by the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army during the Easter Rising in Ireland, which began on 24 April 1916. In it, the Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, styling itself the ’Provisional Government of the Irish Republic’, proclaimed Ireland's independence from the United Kingdom. The reading of the proclamation by Padraig Pearse outside the General Post Office (GPO) on Sackville Street, Dublin's main thoroughfare, marked the beginning of the Rising. The proclamation was modelled on a similar independence proclamation issued during the 1803 rebellion by Robert Emmet.
The Irish Republic was an unrecognised revolutionary state that declared its independence from the United Kingdom in January 1919. The Republic claimed jurisdiction over the whole island of Ireland, but by 1920 its functional control was limited to only 21 of Ireland's 32 counties, and British state forces maintained a presence across much of the north-east, as well as Cork, Dublin and other major towns. The republic was strongest in rural areas, and through its military forces was able to influence the population in urban areas that it did not directly control.
Easter Rising: Irish rebels, led by Patrick Pearse and James Connolly, launch an uprising in Dublin against British rule and proclaim an Irish Republic.
The Easter Rising, also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an independent Irish Republic while the United Kingdom was fighting the First World War. It was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798 and the first armed conflict of the Irish revolutionary period. Sixteen of the Rising's leaders were executed from May 1916. The nature of the executions, and subsequent political developments, ultimately contributed to an increase in popular support for Irish independence.
Patrick Henry Pearse was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist, republican political activist and revolutionary who was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916. Following his execution along with fifteen others, Pearse came to be seen by many as the embodiment of the rebellion.
James Connolly was an Irish republican, socialist and trade union leader. Born to Irish parents in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh, Scotland, Connolly left school for working life at the age of 11, and became involved in socialist politics in the 1880s.
The Proclamation of the Republic, also known as the 1916 Proclamation or the Easter Proclamation, was a document issued by the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army during the Easter Rising in Ireland, which began on 24 April 1916. In it, the Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, styling itself the ’Provisional Government of the Irish Republic’, proclaimed Ireland's independence from the United Kingdom. The reading of the proclamation by Padraig Pearse outside the General Post Office (GPO) on Sackville Street, Dublin's main thoroughfare, marked the beginning of the Rising. The proclamation was modelled on a similar independence proclamation issued during the 1803 rebellion by Robert Emmet.
Ernest Shackleton and five men of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition launch a lifeboat from uninhabited Elephant Island in the Southern Ocean to organise a rescue for the crew of the sunken Endurance.
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.
The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917 is considered to be the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition was an attempt to make the first land crossing of the Antarctic continent. After Roald Amundsen's South Pole expedition in 1911, this crossing remained, in Shackleton's words, the "one great main object of Antarctic journeyings". Shackleton's expedition failed to accomplish this objective, but became recognized instead as an epic feat of endurance.
Elephant Island is an ice-covered, mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands, in the Southern Ocean. The island is situated 245 kilometres north-northeast of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, 1,253 kilometres west-southwest of South Georgia, 935 kilometres south of the Falkland Islands, and 885 kilometres southeast of Cape Horn. It is within the Antarctic claims of Argentina, Chile and the United Kingdom.
The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of 20,327,000 km2 (7,848,000 sq mi), it is regarded as the second-smallest of the five principal oceanic divisions: smaller than the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans but larger than the Arctic Ocean. Over the past 30 years, the Southern Ocean has been subject to rapid climate change, which has led to changes in the marine ecosystem.
Endurance was the three-masted barquentine in which Sir Ernest Shackleton and a crew of 27 men sailed for the Antarctic on the 1914–1917 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. The ship, originally named Polaris, was built at Framnæs shipyard and launched in 1912 from Sandefjord in Norway. After her commissioners could no longer pay the shipyard, the ship was bought by Shackleton in January 1914 for the expedition, which would be her first voyage. A year later, she became trapped in pack ice and finally sank in the Weddell Sea off Antarctica on 21 November 1915. All of the crew survived her sinking and were eventually rescued in 1916 after using the ship's boats to travel to Elephant Island and Shackleton, the ship's captain Frank Worsley, and four others made a voyage to seek help.
The arrest of 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Istanbul marks the beginning of the Armenian genocide.
The deportation of Armenian intellectuals is conventionally held to mark the beginning of the Armenian genocide. Leaders of the Armenian community in the Ottoman capital of Constantinople, and later other locations, were arrested and moved to two holding centers near Angora. The order to do so was given by Minister of the Interior Talaat Pasha on 24 April 1915. On that night, the first wave of 235 to 270 Armenian intellectuals of Constantinople were arrested. With the adoption of the Tehcir Law on 29 May 1915, these detainees were later relocated within the Ottoman Empire; most of them were ultimately killed. More than 80 such as Vrtanes Papazian, Aram Andonian, and Komitas survived.
Istanbul, formerly known as Constantinople, is the largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, cultural and historic hub. The city straddles the Bosporus strait, lying in both Europe and Asia, and has a population of over 15 million residents, comprising 19% of the population of Turkey. Istanbul is the most populous European city, and the world's 15th-largest city.
The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through the mass murder of around one million Armenians during death marches to the Syrian Desert and the forced Islamization of Armenian women and children.
The Franck–Hertz experiment, the first electrical measurement to clearly demonstrate quantum mechanics, was presented to the German Physical Society.
The Franck–Hertz experiment was the first electrical measurement to clearly show the quantum nature of atoms, and thus "transformed our understanding of the world". It was presented on April 24, 1914, to the German Physical Society in a paper by James Franck and Gustav Hertz. Franck and Hertz had designed a vacuum tube for studying energetic electrons that flew through a thin vapor of mercury atoms. They discovered that, when an electron collided with a mercury atom, it could lose only a specific quantity of its kinetic energy before flying away. This energy loss corresponds to decelerating the electron from a speed of about 1.3 million meters per second to zero. A faster electron does not decelerate completely after a collision, but loses precisely the same amount of its kinetic energy. Slower electrons merely bounce off mercury atoms without losing any significant speed or kinetic energy.
Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, quantum field theory, quantum technology, and quantum information science.
The German Physical Society is the oldest organisation of physicists. The DPG's worldwide membership is cited as 60,547, as of 2019, making it the largest physics society in the world. It holds an annual conference and multiple spring conferences, which are held at various locations and along topical subjects of given sections of the DPG. The DPG serves the fields of pure and applied physics. Main aims are to bring its members and all physicists living in Germany closer together, represent their entirety outwards as well as foster the exchange of ideas between its members and foreign colleagues. The DPG binds itself and its members to advocate for freedom, tolerance, veracity and dignity in science and to be aware about the fact that the people working in science are responsible to a particularly high extent for the configuration of the overall human activity.
The Franck–Hertz experiment, a pillar of quantum mechanics, is presented to the German Physical Society.
The Franck–Hertz experiment was the first electrical measurement to clearly show the quantum nature of atoms, and thus "transformed our understanding of the world". It was presented on April 24, 1914, to the German Physical Society in a paper by James Franck and Gustav Hertz. Franck and Hertz had designed a vacuum tube for studying energetic electrons that flew through a thin vapor of mercury atoms. They discovered that, when an electron collided with a mercury atom, it could lose only a specific quantity of its kinetic energy before flying away. This energy loss corresponds to decelerating the electron from a speed of about 1.3 million meters per second to zero. A faster electron does not decelerate completely after a collision, but loses precisely the same amount of its kinetic energy. Slower electrons merely bounce off mercury atoms without losing any significant speed or kinetic energy.
Quantum mechanics is the study of matter and its interactions with energy on the scale of atomic and subatomic particles. By contrast, classical physics explains matter and energy only on a scale familiar to human experience, including the behavior of astronomical bodies such as the moon. Classical physics is still used in much of modern science and technology. However, towards the end of the 19th century, scientists discovered phenomena in both the large (macro) and the small (micro) worlds that classical physics could not explain. The desire to resolve inconsistencies between observed phenomena and classical theory led to two major revolutions in physics that created a shift in the original scientific paradigm: the theory of relativity and the development of quantum mechanics. This article describes how physicists discovered the limitations of classical physics and developed the main concepts of the quantum theory that replaced it in the early decades of the 20th century. It describes these concepts in roughly the order in which they were first discovered. For a more complete history of the subject, see History of quantum mechanics.
The German Physical Society is the oldest organisation of physicists. The DPG's worldwide membership is cited as 60,547, as of 2019, making it the largest physics society in the world. It holds an annual conference and multiple spring conferences, which are held at various locations and along topical subjects of given sections of the DPG. The DPG serves the fields of pure and applied physics. Main aims are to bring its members and all physicists living in Germany closer together, represent their entirety outwards as well as foster the exchange of ideas between its members and foreign colleagues. The DPG binds itself and its members to advocate for freedom, tolerance, veracity and dignity in science and to be aware about the fact that the people working in science are responsible to a particularly high extent for the configuration of the overall human activity.
The Woolworth Building in New York City officially opened; at the time, it was the tallest building in the world, with a height of 792 ft (241 m).
The Woolworth Building is an early American skyscraper designed by architect Cass Gilbert located at 233 Broadway in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was the tallest building in the world from 1913 to 1930, with a height of 792 feet (241 m). More than a century after its construction, it remains one of the 100 tallest buildings in the United States.
This list of tallest buildings includes skyscrapers with continuously occupiable floors and a height of at least 340 metres (1,120 ft). Non-building structures, such as towers, are not included in this list.
The Woolworth Building, a skyscraper in New York City, is opened.
The Woolworth Building is an early American skyscraper designed by architect Cass Gilbert located at 233 Broadway in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was the tallest building in the world from 1913 to 1930, with a height of 792 feet (241 m). More than a century after its construction, it remains one of the 100 tallest buildings in the United States.
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least 100 metres (330 ft) or 150 metres (490 ft) in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-rise buildings. Historically, the term first referred to buildings with between 10 and 20 stories when these types of buildings began to be constructed in the 1880s. Skyscrapers may host offices, hotels, residential spaces, and retail spaces.
Realizing that the Russification of Lithuania was not working, the Russian Empire lifted the 40-year-old ban on publications written in Lithuanian language using the Latin alphabet.
Russification, or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians, whether involuntarily or voluntarily, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian culture and the Russian language.
The Russian Empire was the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The rise of the Russian Empire coincided with the decline of neighbouring rival powers: the Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Qajar Iran, the Ottoman Empire, and Qing China. It also held colonies in North America between 1799 and 1867. Covering an area of approximately 22,800,000 square kilometres (8,800,000 sq mi), it remains the third-largest empire in history, surpassed only by the British Empire and the Mongol Empire; it ruled over a population of 125.6 million people per the 1897 Russian census, which was the only census carried out during the entire imperial period. Owing to its geographic extent across three continents at its peak, it featured great ethnic, linguistic, religious, and economic diversity.
The Lithuanian press ban was a ban on all Lithuanian language publications printed in the Latin alphabet in force from 1865 to 1904 within the Russian Empire, which controlled Lithuania proper at the time. Lithuanian-language publications that used Cyrillic were allowed and even encouraged.
Lithuanian [lʲeˈtʊvʲuː ˈkɐɫbɐ] is an Eastern Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the official language of Lithuania and one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.8 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 200,000 speakers elsewhere.
The Latin alphabet or Roman alphabet is the collection of letters originally used by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered with the exception of extensions, it used to write English and the other modern European languages. With modifications, it is also used for other alphabets, such as the Vietnamese alphabet. Its modern repertoire is standardised as the ISO basic Latin alphabet.
Joshua Slocum, the first person to sail single-handedly around the world, sets sail from Boston, Massachusetts aboard the sloop "Spray".
Joshua Slocum was the first person to sail single-handedly around the world. He was a Nova Scotian-born, naturalised American seaman and adventurer, and a noted writer. In 1900 he wrote a book about his journey, Sailing Alone Around the World, which became an international best-seller. He disappeared in November 1909 while aboard his boat, the Spray.
American sharpshooter Annie Oakley is hired by Nate Salsbury to be a part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West.
A sharpshooter is one who is highly proficient at firing firearms or other projectile weapons accurately. Military units composed of sharpshooters were important factors in 19th-century combat. Along with "marksman" and "expert", "sharpshooter" is one of the three marksmanship badges awarded by the United States Army and the United States Marine Corps. The United States Navy and the United States Coast Guard use a ribbon with an attached "S" device to note a sharpshooter qualification.
Annie Oakley was an American sharpshooter who starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show.
William Frederick Cody, known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa Territory, but he lived for several years in his father's hometown in modern-day Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, before the family returned to the Midwest and settled in the Kansas Territory.
Russo-Turkish War: Russian Empire declares war on Ottoman Empire.
The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 was a conflict between the Ottoman Empire and a coalition led by the Russian Empire, and including Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro. Fought in the Balkans and in the Caucasus, it originated in emerging 19th century Balkan nationalism. Additional factors included the Russian goals of recovering territorial losses endured during the Crimean War of 1853–56, re-establishing itself in the Black Sea and supporting the political movement attempting to free Balkan nations from the Ottoman Empire.
The Russian Empire was the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The rise of the Russian Empire coincided with the decline of neighbouring rival powers: the Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Qajar Iran, the Ottoman Empire, and Qing China. It also held colonies in North America between 1799 and 1867. Covering an area of approximately 22,800,000 square kilometres (8,800,000 sq mi), it remains the third-largest empire in history, surpassed only by the British Empire and the Mongol Empire; it ruled over a population of 125.6 million people per the 1897 Russian census, which was the only census carried out during the entire imperial period. Owing to its geographic extent across three continents at its peak, it featured great ethnic, linguistic, religious, and economic diversity.
The Ottoman Empire, also known as the Turkish Empire, was an empire that controlled much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa between the 14th and early 20th centuries. It was founded at the end of the 13th century in northwestern Anatolia in the town of Söğüt by the Turkoman tribal leader Osman I. After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe and, with the conquest of the Balkans, the Ottoman beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by Mehmed the Conqueror.
German composer Max Bruch conducted the premiere of his first violin concerto, which later became his most famous work.
Max Bruch was a German Romantic composer, violinist, teacher, and conductor who wrote more than 200 works, including three violin concertos, the first of which has become a prominent staple of the standard violin repertoire.
Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26, is one of the most popular violin concertos in solo violin repertoire and, along with the Scottish Fantasy, the composer's most famous work. It has been recorded often.
A fire broke out in the Indian city of Surat, destroying 9,737 homes, about three-fourths of the city.
In April 1837, a fire broke out in the Indian city of Surat, then under British East India Company rule. It resulted in more than 500 deaths and the destruction of 9,737 houses in a 93⁄4 mile radius. It was the most destructive fire in the history of the city.
Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means face in Gujarati language & Hindi language. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now the commercial and economic center in South Gujarat, and one of the largest urban areas of western India. It has well-established diamond and textile industry, and is a major supply centre for apparels and accessories. About 90% of the world's diamonds supply are cut and polished in the city. It is the second largest city in Gujarat after Ahmedabad and the eighth largest city by population and ninth largest urban agglomeration in India. It is the administrative capital of the Surat district. The city is located 284 kilometres (176 mi) south of the state capital, Gandhinagar; 265 kilometres (165 mi) south of Ahmedabad; and 289 kilometres (180 mi) north of Mumbai. The city centre is located on the Tapti River, close to Arabian Sea.
The great fire in Surat city of India caused more than 500 deaths and destruction of more than 9000 houses.
In April 1837, a fire broke out in the Indian city of Surat, then under British East India Company rule. It resulted in more than 500 deaths and the destruction of 9,737 houses in a 93⁄4 mile radius. It was the most destructive fire in the history of the city.
The Library of Congress (building pictured), the de facto national library of the United States, was established as part of an act of Congress providing for the transfer of the nation's capital from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the de facto national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.; it also maintains a conservation center in Culpeper, Virginia. The library's functions are overseen by the Librarian of Congress, and its buildings are maintained by the Architect of the Capitol. The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world. Its "collections are universal, not limited by subject, format, or national boundary, and include research materials from all parts of the world and in more than 470 languages."
De facto describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with de jure, which refers to things that happen according to official law, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality.
A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, or significant works. A national library is that library which has the duty of collecting and preserving the literature of the nation within and outside the country. Thus, national libraries are those libraries whose community is the nation at large. Examples include the British Library, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris.
An Act of Congress is a statute enacted by the United States Congress. Acts may apply only to individual entities, or to the general public. For a bill to become an act, the text must pass through both houses with a majority, then be either signed into law by the president of the United States or receive congressional override against a presidential veto.
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since 1854, the city has been coextensive with Philadelphia County, the most populous county in Pennsylvania and the urban core of the Delaware Valley, the nation's seventh-largest and one of world's largest metropolitan regions, with 6.245 million residents as of 2020. The city's population as of the 2020 census was 1,603,797, and over 56 million people live within 250 mi (400 km) of Philadelphia.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia, also known as just Washington or simply D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. It is located on the east bank of the Potomac River, which forms its southwestern and southern border with the U.S. state of Virginia, and it shares a land border with the U.S. state of Maryland on its other sides. The city was named for George Washington, a Founding Father and the first president of the United States, and the federal district is named after Columbia, the female personification of the nation. As the seat of the U.S. federal government and several international organizations, the city is an important world political capital. It is one of the most visited cities in the U.S. with over 20 million annual visitors as of 2016.
The United States Library of Congress is established when President John Adams signs legislation to appropriate $5,000 to purchase "such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress".
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the de facto national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.; it also maintains a conservation center in Culpeper, Virginia. The library's functions are overseen by the Librarian of Congress, and its buildings are maintained by the Architect of the Capitol. The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world. Its "collections are universal, not limited by subject, format, or national boundary, and include research materials from all parts of the world and in more than 470 languages."
John Adams was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of the American Revolution that achieved independence from Great Britain, and during the war served as a diplomat in Europe. He was twice elected vice president, serving from 1789 to 1797 in a prestigious role with little power. Adams was a dedicated diarist and regularly corresponded with many important contemporaries, including his wife and adviser Abigail Adams as well as his friend and rival Thomas Jefferson.
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. Senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a governor's appointment. Congress has 535 voting members: 100 senators and 435 representatives. The vice president of the United States has a vote in the Senate only when senators are evenly divided. The House of Representatives has six non-voting members.
French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat is acquitted by the Revolutionary Tribunal of charges brought by the Girondin in Paris.
Jean-Paul Marat was a French political theorist, physician, and scientist. A journalist and politician during the French Revolution, he was a vigorous defender of the sans-culottes, a radical voice, and published his views in pamphlets, placards and newspapers. His periodical L'Ami du peuple made him an unofficial link with the radical Jacobin group that came to power after June 1793.
John Campbell released the first issue of The Boston News-Letter, the first continuously published newspaper in British North America.
John Campbell was an early American newspaper publisher and editor and Postmaster of Boston. He founded the first regularly published newspaper in British America, The Boston News-Letter.
The Boston News-Letter, first published on April 24, 1704, is regarded as the first continuously published newspaper in the colony of Massachusetts. It was heavily subsidized by the British government, with a limited circulation. All copies were approved by the Royal governor before publication. The colonies’ first newspaper was Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick, which published its first and only issue on September 25, 1690. The Weekly Jamaica Courant followed in Kingston, Jamaica from 1718. In 1726 the Boston Gazette began publishing with Bartholomew Green, Jr., as printer.
British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, Virginia, and more substantially with the founding of the Thirteen Colonies along the Atlantic coast of North America.
The first regular newspaper in British Colonial America, The Boston News-Letter, is published.
The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th centuries, they began fighting the American Revolutionary War in April 1775 and formed the United States of America by declaring full independence in July 1776. Just prior to declaring independence, the Thirteen Colonies in their traditional groupings were: New England ; Middle ; Southern. The Thirteen Colonies came to have very similar political, constitutional, and legal systems, dominated by Protestant English-speakers. The first of these colonies was Virginia Colony in 1607, a Southern colony. While all these colonies needed to become economically viable, the founding of the New England colonies, as well as the colonies of Maryland and Pennsylvania, were substantially motivated by their founders' concerns related to the practice of religion. The other colonies were founded for business and economic expansion. The Middle Colonies were established on an earlier Dutch colony, New Netherland. All the Thirteen Colonies were part of Britain's possessions in the New World, which also included territory in Canada, Florida, and the Caribbean.
The Boston News-Letter, first published on April 24, 1704, is regarded as the first continuously published newspaper in the colony of Massachusetts. It was heavily subsidized by the British government, with a limited circulation. All copies were approved by the Royal governor before publication. The colonies’ first newspaper was Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick, which published its first and only issue on September 25, 1690. The Weekly Jamaica Courant followed in Kingston, Jamaica from 1718. In 1726 the Boston Gazette began publishing with Bartholomew Green, Jr., as printer.
Mary, Queen of Scots, marries the Dauphin of France, François, at Notre Dame de Paris.
Mary, Queen of Scots, also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
Dauphin of France, originally Dauphin of Viennois, was the title given to the heir apparent to the throne of France from 1350 to 1791, and from 1824 to 1830. The word dauphin is French for dolphin. At first, the heirs were granted the County of Viennois (Dauphiné) to rule, but eventually only the title was granted.
Francis II was King of France from 1559 to 1560. He was also King consort of Scotland as a result of his marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots, from 1558 until his death in 1560.
Notre-Dame de Paris, referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité, in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, is considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture. Several of its attributes set it apart from the earlier Romanesque style, particularly its pioneering use of the rib vault and flying buttress, its enormous and colourful rose windows, and the naturalism and abundance of its sculptural decoration. Notre Dame also stands out for its musical components, notably its three pipe organs and its immense church bells.
Battle of Mühlberg. Duke of Alba, commanding Spanish-Imperial forces of Charles I of Spain, defeats the troops of Schmalkaldic League.
The Battle of Mühlberg took place near Mühlberg in the Electorate of Saxony in 1547, during the Schmalkaldic War. The Catholic princes of the Holy Roman Empire led by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V decisively defeated the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League of Protestant princes under the command of Elector John Frederick I of Saxony and Landgrave Philip I of Hesse.
Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba, known as the Grand Duke of Alba in Spain and Portugal and as the Iron Duke in the Netherlands, was a Spanish noble, general and diplomat. He was titled the 3rd Duke of Alba de Tormes, 4th Marquess of Coria, 3rd Count of Salvatierra de Tormes, 2nd Count of Piedrahita, 8th Lord of Valdecorneja, Grandee of Spain and a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece. His motto in Latin was Deo patrum nostrorum.
Charles V was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy from 1506 to 1555. As he was head of the rising House of Habsburg during the first half of the 16th century, his dominions in Europe included the Holy Roman Empire, extending from Germany to northern Italy with direct rule over the Austrian hereditary lands and the Burgundian Low Countries, and the Kingdom of Spain with its southern Italian possessions of Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia. Furthermore, he oversaw both the continuation of the long-lasting Spanish colonization of the Americas and the short-lived German colonization of the Americas. The personal union of the European and American territories of Charles V was the first collection of realms labelled "the empire on which the sun never sets".
The Schmalkaldic League was a military alliance of Lutheran princes within the Holy Roman Empire during the mid-16th century.
Traditional reckoning of the Fall of Troy marking the end of the legendary Trojan War, given by chief librarian of the Library of Alexandria Eratosthenes, among others.
Troy or Ilion was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, 30 kilometres (19 mi) south-west of Çanakkale and about 6 kilometres (4 mi) miles east of the Aegean Sea. It is known as the setting for the Greek myth of the Trojan War.
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has been narrated through many works of Greek literature, most notably Homer's Iliad. The core of the Iliad describes a period of four days and two nights in the tenth year of the decade-long siege of Troy; the Odyssey describes the journey home of Odysseus, one of the war's heroes. Other parts of the war are described in a cycle of epic poems, which have survived through fragments. Episodes from the war provided material for Greek tragedy and other works of Greek literature, and for Roman poets including Virgil and Ovid.
Eratosthenes of Cyrene was a Greek polymath: a mathematician, geographer, poet, astronomer, and music theorist. He was a man of learning, becoming the chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria. His work is comparable to what is now known as the study of geography, and he introduced some of the terminology still used today.
Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th dynasty).
Thutmose III, sometimes called Thutmose the Great, was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Officially, Thutmose III ruled Egypt for almost 54 years and his reign is usually dated from 28 April 1479 BC to 11 March 1425 BC, from the age of two and until his death at age fifty-six; however, during the first 22 years of his reign, he was coregent with his stepmother and aunt, Hatshepsut, who was named the pharaoh. While he was shown first on surviving monuments, both were assigned the usual royal names and insignia and neither is given any obvious seniority over the other. Thutmose served as the head of Hatshepsut's armies. During the final two years of his reign, he appointed his son and successor, Amenhotep II, as his junior co-regent. His firstborn son and heir to the throne, Amenemhat, predeceased Thutmose III. He would become one of the most powerful pharaohs of the 18th dynasty.
Ancient Egypt was a civilization in Northeast Africa situated in the Nile Valley. Ancient Egyptian civilization followed prehistoric Egypt and coalesced around 3100 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under Menes. The history of ancient Egypt occurred as a series of stable kingdoms, separated by periods of relative instability known as Intermediate Periods: the Old Kingdom of the Early Bronze Age, the Middle Kingdom of the Middle Bronze Age and the New Kingdom of the Late Bronze Age.
Hatshepsut was the fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. She was the second historically confirmed female pharaoh, after Sobekneferu.
Andrew Woolfolk, American saxophonist (b. 1950) deaths
Andrew Paul Woolfolk II was an American saxophonist. Woolfolk was a longtime member of the band Earth, Wind & Fire from 1973 to 1985, and from 1987 to 1993. He also collaborated with artists such as Deniece Williams, Stanley Turrentine, Phil Collins, Twennynine, Philip Bailey, and Level 42.
Robert Pirsig, American author and philosopher (b. 1928) deaths
Robert Maynard Pirsig was an American writer and philosopher. He was the author of the philosophical novels Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (1974) and Lila: An Inquiry into Morals (1991), and he co-authored On Quality: An Inquiry Into Excellence: Selected and Unpublished Writings (2022) along with his wife and editor, Wendy Pirsig.
Tommy Kono, American weightlifter and coach (b. 1930) deaths
Tamio "Tommy" Kono was a Japanese American weightlifter in the 1950s and 1960s. Kono set world records in four different weight classes: lightweight, middleweight, light-heavyweight and middle-heavyweight.
Władysław Bartoszewski, Polish journalist and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1922) deaths
Władysław Bartoszewski was a Polish politician, social activist, journalist, writer and historian. A former Auschwitz concentration camp prisoner, he was a World War II resistance fighter as part of the Polish underground and participated in the Warsaw Uprising. After the war he was persecuted and imprisoned by the communist Polish People's Republic due to his membership in the Home Army and opposition activity.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the Polish government department tasked with maintaining Poland's international relations and coordinating its participation in international and regional supra-national political organisations such as the European Union and United Nations. The head of the ministry holds a place in the Council of Ministers.
Hans Hollein, Austrian architect, designed Haas House (b. 1934) deaths
Hans Hollein was an Austrian architect and designer and key figure of postmodern architecture. Some of his most notable works are the Haas House and the Albertina extension in the inner city of Vienna.
The Haas House is a building in Vienna at the Stock-im-Eisen-Platz.
Sandy Jardine, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1948) deaths
William "Sandy" Pullar Jardine was a Scottish professional footballer who played for Rangers, Hearts and represented Scotland. He played over 1000 professional games and twice won the Scottish Football Writers Association Player of the Year award. He won several honours with Rangers, including two domestic trebles in 1976 and 1978, and was part of the Rangers team that won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1972. He won 38 caps for Scotland and played in the 1974 and 1978 World Cups. Jardine was also co-manager of Hearts with Alex MacDonald and later worked for Rangers.
Shobha Nagi Reddy, Indian politician (b. 1968) deaths
Shobha Nagi Reddy was an Indian politician from Andhra Pradesh, India. She represented the Allagadda constituency in the Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh for four terms until 2012 when she resigned due to political turmoil in her party. She served as the chairperson of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) and was the spokesperson for Prajarajyam party, having previously been General Secretary and also a state committee member in Telugu Desam Party. In 2012, she left the Prajarajyam party and joined the newly formed YSR Congress. Her husband Bhuma Nagi Reddy was also a politician who served twice as a Member of Legislative Assembly and thrice as a Member of Parliament.
Tadeusz Różewicz, Polish poet and playwright (b. 1921) deaths
Tadeusz Różewicz was a Polish poet, playwright, writer, and translator. Różewicz was in the first generation of Polish writers born after Poland regained its independence in 1918, following the century of foreign partitions. He was born in Radomsko, near Łódź, in 1921. He first published his poetry in 1938. During World War II, he served in the Polish underground Home Army. His elder brother, Janusz, also a poet, was executed by the Gestapo in 1944 for serving in the Polish resistance movement. His younger brother, Stanisław, became a noted film director and screenwriter.
Sathya Sai Baba, Indian guru and philanthropist (b. 1926) deaths
Sathya Sai Baba was an Indian guru. At the age of fourteen he claimed that he was the reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba, and left his home to serve his devotees.
Jimmy Giuffre, American clarinet player, and saxophonist, and composer (b. 1921) deaths
James Peter Giuffre was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He is known for developing forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating forms of free improvisation.
Brian Labone, English footballer (b. 1940) deaths
Brian Leslie Labone was an English footballer who played for and captained Everton. A one-club man, Labone's professional career lasted from 1958 to 1971, during which he won the Football League championship twice and the FA Cup once. He also played 26 times for the England national football team.
Moshe Teitelbaum, Romanian-American rabbi and author (b. 1914) deaths
Moshe (Moses) Teitelbaum was a Hasidic rebbe and the world leader of the Satmar Hasidim.
Ezer Weizman, Israeli general and politician, 7th President of Israel (b. 1924) deaths
Ezer Weizman was the seventh President of Israel, first elected in 1993 and re-elected in 1998. Before the presidency, Weizman was commander of the Israeli Air Force and Minister of Defense.
The president of the State of Israel is the head of state of Israel. The position is largely a ceremonial role, with executive power vested in the cabinet led by the prime minister. The incumbent president is Isaac Herzog, who took office on 7 July 2021. Presidents are elected by the Knesset for a single seven-year term.
Fei Xiaotong, Chinese sociologist and academic (b. 1910) deaths
Fei Xiaotong or Fei Hsiao-tung was a Chinese anthropologist and sociologist. He was a pioneering researcher and professor of sociology and anthropology; he was also noted for his studies in the study of China's ethnic groups as well as a social activist. Starting in the late 1930s, he and his colleagues established Chinese sociology and his works were instrumental in laying a foundation for the development of sociological and anthropological studies in China, as well as in introducing social and cultural phenomena of China to the international community. His last post before his death in 2005 was as Professor of Sociology at Peking University.
José Giovanni, French-Swiss director and producer (b. 1923) deaths
José Giovanni was the pseudonym of Joseph Damiani, a French writer and film-maker of Corsican origin who became a naturalized Swiss citizen in 1986.
Estée Lauder, American businesswoman, co-founded Estée Lauder Companies (b. 1906) deaths
Estée Lauder was an American businesswoman. She co-founded her eponymous cosmetics company with her husband, Joseph Lauter. Lauder was the only woman on Time magazine's 1998 list of the 20 most influential business geniuses of the 20th century.
The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. is an American multinational cosmetics company, a manufacturer and marketer of makeup, skincare, fragrance and hair care products, based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is the second largest cosmetics company in the world after L'Oréal. The company owns a diverse portfolio of brands, distributed internationally through both digital commerce and retail channels.
Nüzhet Gökdoğan, Turkish astronomer and mathematician (b. 1910) deaths
Hatice Nüzhet Gökdoğan was a Turkish astronomer, mathematician and academic. After studying mathematics and astronomy in France as a young adult, Gökdoğan joined the faculty of Istanbul University in 1934 and completed her PhD. She was elected Dean of the university's Faculty of Science in 1954, becoming the first Turkish woman to serve as a university dean, and she was later made Chair of the astronomy department, significantly expanding her department's capacity and working to improve national and international collaboration between astronomers.
Olivia Gadecki, Australian tennis player births
Olivia Gadecki is a professional tennis player from Australia. She has a career-high singles rank of 160, reached on 23 May 2022, and a highest doubles rank of 178, achieved on 8 November 2021.
Lucien Wercollier, Luxembourgian sculptor (b. 1908) deaths
Lucien Wercollier was a sculptor from Luxembourg.
Josef Peters, German racing driver (b. 1914) deaths
Josef Peters was a racing driver from Düsseldorf, Germany. He participated in one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix, on August 3, 1952. He failed to finish, scoring no championship points.
Johnny Valentine, American wrestler (b. 1928) deaths
John Theodore Wisniski, better known by his ring name Johnny Valentine, was an American professional wrestler with a career spanning almost three decades. He has been inducted into four halls of fame for his achievements in wrestling. Wisniski is the father of professional wrestler Greg "The Hammer" Valentine.
Jerry Jeudy, American football player births
Jerry Davarus Jeudy is an American football wide receiver for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama, where he was awarded the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the nation's best wide receiver as a sophomore in 2018, and was drafted by the Broncos with the 15th overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Ryan Newman, American actress births
Ryan Whitney is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Ginger Falcone in Disney XD's Zeke and Luther, Allison in The Thundermans, Cindy Collins in Zoom and Emily Hobbs in See Dad Run.
Lydia Ko, New Zealand golfer births
Lydia Ko is a New Zealand professional golfer. A former No. 1-ranked woman professional golfer, she achieved the top ranking on 2 February 2015 at 17 years, 9 months and 9 days of age, making her the youngest player of either gender to be ranked No. 1 in professional golf.
Veronika Kudermetova, Russian tennis player births
Veronika Eduardovna Kudermetova is a Russian professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 9, achieved on 24 October 2022, and a best WTA doubles ranking of No. 2, reached on 6 June 2022. She also has reached a Grand Slam final, at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships in women's doubles with Elena Vesnina and won 2022 WTA Finals with Elise Mertens.
Allan Francovich, American director and producer (b. 1941) deaths
Allan James Francovich was an American film maker. He is best known for creating a number of films critical of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), linking them to terrorist attacks during the Cold War in Africa, South America and Europe. The most notable of these are the Gladio (1992) series about Operation Gladio which featured on BBC's Timewatch and The Maltese Double Cross – Lockerbie (1994) about Pan Am Flight 103.
Pat Paulsen, American comedian and activist (b. 1927) deaths
Patrick Layton Paulsen was an American comedian and satirist notable for his roles on several of the Smothers Brothers television shows, and for his satirical campaigns for President of the United States between 1968 and 1996.
Eugene Stoner, American engineer, designed the AR-15 rifle (b. 1922) deaths
Eugene Morrison Stoner was an American firearms designer who is most associated with the development of the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle that was redesigned and modified by Colt's Patent Firearm Company for the United States military as the M16 rifle.
The ArmaLite AR-15 is a select-fire, gas-operated, air-cooled, magazine-fed rifle manufactured in the United States between 1959 and 1964. Designed by American gun manufacturer ArmaLite in 1956, it was based on its AR-10 rifle. The ArmaLite AR-15 was designed to be a lightweight rifle and to fire a new high-velocity, lightweight, small-caliber cartridge to allow infantrymen to carry more ammunition.
Ashleigh Barty, Australian tennis player births
Ashleigh Barty is an Australian former professional tennis player and cricketer. She was the second Australian tennis player to be ranked No. 1 in the world in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) after fellow Aboriginal Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley, holding the ranking for 121 weeks overall. She was also a top-10 player in doubles, having achieved a career-high ranking of No. 5 in the world. Barty is a three-time Grand Slam singles champion, and the reigning champion at the Australian Open. She is also a Grand Slam doubles champion, having won the 2018 US Open with CoCo Vandeweghe. Barty won 15 singles titles and 12 doubles titles on the WTA Tour.
Lodewijk Bruckman, Dutch painter (b. 1903) deaths
Lodewijk Karel "Loki" Bruckman was a Dutch magic realist painter. He lived and worked in the Netherlands, the United States, and Mexico. Museum de Oude Wolden in the village of Bellingwolde has a permanent exhibition of his paintings.
Jordan Fisher, American singer, dancer, and actor births
Jordan William Fisher is an American actor, singer, dancer, gamer, and musician. He began his career with recurring roles on several television series, including The Secret Life of the American Teenager in 2012 and Liv and Maddie from 2015 to 2017. He also had supporting roles in the television films Teen Beach Movie (2013), Teen Beach 2 (2015) and Grease Live (2016), and starred in Rent: Live (2019).
Caspar Lee, British-South African Youtuber births
Caspar Richard George Lee is a British-South African YouTuber turned investor and serial entrepreneur. He was featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2020 for his work in media and advertising.
Ben Davies, Welsh international footballer births
Benjamin Thomas Davies is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a left-back and central defender for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the Wales national team.
Oliver Tambo, South African lawyer and activist (b. 1917) deaths
Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo was a South African anti-apartheid politician and revolutionary who served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1967 to 1991.
Tran Duc Thao, Vietnamese philosopher and theorist (b. 1917) deaths
Trần Đức Thảo was a Vietnamese philosopher. His work attempted to unite phenomenology with Marxist philosophy. His work had some currency in France in the 1950s and 1960s, and was cited favorably by Jacques Derrida, Jean-François Lyotard and Louis Althusser.
Joe Keery, American actor births
Joseph David Keery is an American actor and musician. He is best known for playing Steve Harrington in the science fiction series Stranger Things (2016–present) and for his role in the comedy film Free Guy (2021). Keery releases music under the stage name Djo. He is a former member of the psychedelic rock band Post Animal.
Laura Kenny, English cyclist births
Dame Laura Rebecca Kenny, Lady Kenny is a British track and road cyclist who specialises in track endurance events, specifically the team pursuit, omnium, scratch race, elimination race and madison disciplines. With six Olympic medals, having won both the team pursuit and the omnium at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and madison at the 2020 Olympics, along with a silver medal from the team pursuit at the 2020 Olympics, she is both the most successful female cyclist, and the most successful British female athlete, in Olympic history.
Sigrid Agren, French-Swedish model births
Sigrid Agren is a French model from Martinique, who rose to prominence during the Elite Model Look in 2006.
Morgan Ciprès, French figure skater births
Morgan Ciprès is a French former competitive pair skater. With partner Vanessa James, from the United States, he is the 2019 European Champion, the 2018 World bronze medalist, the 2017 European bronze medalist, the 2018 Grand Prix Final champion and a six-time French national champion. They have also won medals in Grand Prix and Challenger Series competitions. James and Ciprès represented France at the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics.
Batuhan Karadeniz, Turkish footballer births
Batuhan Karadeniz is a Turkish professional footballer.
Kim Tae-ri, South Korean actress births
Kim Tae-ri is a South Korean actress. She is known for starring in the films The Handmaiden (2016), Little Forest (2018), Space Sweepers (2020) and in the historical drama Mr. Sunshine (2018).
Jan Veselý, Czech basketball player births
Jan Veselý is a Czech professional basketball player for FC Barcelona of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. Standing at 2.13 m, he can play both the power forward and center positions. He was selected sixth overall in the 2011 NBA draft by the Washington Wizards. Veselý is a Three-time All-EuroLeague First Team selection.
Elīna Babkina, Latvian basketball player births
Elīna Dikaioulaku is a Latvian women's basketball player currently playing for the Latvia women's national basketball team.
David Boudia, American diver births
David Alasdair Boudia is an American diver. He won the gold medal in the 10 metre platform diving competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the bronze medal in the same event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He also won a bronze medal with Nick McCrory in the men's synchronized 10 metre platform at the 2012 Summer Olympics and a silver medal in the same event with Steele Johnson at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Taja Mohorčič, Slovenian tennis player births
Taja Mohorčič is a retired Slovenian tennis player. On 25 February 2008, Mohorčič reached her best singles ranking of world number 957. On 26 November 2007, she peaked at world number 733 in the doubles rankings.
Ben Howard, English singer-songwriter and guitarist births
Benjamin John Howard is an English singer-songwriter, musician and composer. His self-released debut EP Games in the Dark (2008) was followed by two more EPs, These Waters (2009) and Old Pine (2010). Signed to Island Records, his debut studio album came in 2011 titled Every Kingdom. The album reached number four on the UK Albums Chart and was certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Howard later released two more EPs, Ben Howard Live (2011) and The Burgh Island E.P. (2012).
Kris Letang, Canadian ice hockey player births
Kristopher Joseph Pierre Irwin Letang is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and alternate captain for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played juniors in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) for three seasons, during which time he was selected 62nd overall by the Penguins in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. In his second full NHL season, Letang won the Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh, in 2009, he became a two-time Stanley Cup champion when the Penguins defeated the San Jose Sharks in 2016, and a three-time Stanley Cup champion when the Penguins defeated the Nashville Predators in 2017. Internationally, he has competed for Canada at the under-18 and under-20 levels, winning back-to-back gold medals at the World Junior Championships in 2006 and 2007.
Rein Taaramäe, Estonian cyclist births
Rein Taaramäe is an Estonian road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux.
Jan Vertonghen, Belgian international footballer births
Jan Bert Lieve Vertonghen is a Belgian professional footballer who plays for Belgian club Anderlecht and the Belgium national team. Mainly a central defender, he can also play as a left-back.
Varun Dhawan, Indian actor births
Varun Dhawan is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. One of India's highest-paid actors, he has been featured in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list since 2014. He has starred in 11 consecutive box-office successes between 2012 and 2018.
Aaron Cunningham, American baseball player births
Aaron Roe Ward Cunningham is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He has played in Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, and Cleveland Indians.
Wallis Simpson, American socialite, Duchess of Windsor (b. 1896) deaths
Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, was an American socialite and wife of the former King-Emperor Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused a constitutional crisis that led to Edward's abdication.
Mike Rodgers, American sprinter births
Michael Rodgers is an American professional track and field sprinter who specializes in the 100 m and the 60 m. He won the gold medal in the 100m relay in Doha 2019. He is also the Pan-Am Games Champion.
Rafael Pérez y Pérez, Spanish author (b. 1891) deaths
Rafael Pérez y Pérez, was a popular Spanish writer of over 160 romantic novels from 1909 to 1971. He was one of the first writers to publish romance novels written in Spanish language. His novels have been translated into 22 languages, and had sold over 5 million copies by the year 1977, and some of his novels were adapted to film.
Hanna Melnychenko, Ukrainian heptathlete births
Hanna Anatoliïvna Kasyanova is a Ukrainian heptathlete.
Erol Güngör, Turkish sociologist, psychologist, and academic (b. 1938) deaths
Erol Güngör was a Turkish sociologist, psychologist, and writer.
Rolf Stommelen, German racing driver (b. 1943) deaths
Rolf Johann Stommelen was a racing driver from Siegen, Germany. He participated in 63 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one podium, and scored a total of 14 championship points. He also participated in several non-Championship Formula One races.
Kelly Clarkson, American singer-songwriter, talk show host births
Kelly Brianne Clarkson is an American singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. She rose to fame after winning the first season of American Idol in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA. Her debut single, "A Moment Like This", topped the US Billboard Hot 100, and became the country's best selling single of 2002. It was included on her debut studio album, Thankful (2003), which debuted atop the Billboard 200. Trying to reinvent her image, Clarkson parted ways with Idol management and shifted to pop rock for her second studio album, Breakaway (2004). Supported by four US top-ten singles – the title track, "Since U Been Gone", "Behind These Hazel Eyes", and "Because of You" – Breakaway sold over 12 million copies worldwide and won two Grammy Awards.
David Oliver, American hurdler births
David Oliver, is a retired American hurdling athlete. As a professional athlete, he competed in the 110 meter hurdles event outdoor and the 60 meter hurdles event indoors. He is the former 110 meter hurdles champion winning the gold medal at the World Championships in Moscow in 2013 with a time of 13 seconds. He won the bronze medal in the 2008 Olympic Games and won another bronze at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships.
Simon Tischer, German volleyball player births
Simon Tischer is a German volleyball player. He was born in Schwäbisch Gmünd.
Ville Ritola, Finnish runner (b. 1896) deaths
Vilho "Ville" Eino Ritola was a Finnish long-distance runner. Known as one of the "Flying Finns", he won five Olympic gold medals and three Olympic silver medals in the 1920s. He holds the record of winning most athletics medals at a single Games – four golds and two silvers in Paris 1924 - and ranks second in terms of most athletics gold medals at a single Games.
Taylor Dent, American tennis player births
Taylor Phillip Dent is a retired professional tennis player from the United States. He reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 21, winning 4 singles titles.
Yuko Nakanishi, Japanese swimmer births
Yuko Nakanishi is a Japanese butterfly swimmer.
Fernando Arce, Mexican footballer births
Fernando Enrique Arce Ruiz is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
Karen Asrian, Armenian chess player (d. 2008) births
Karen Asrian was an Armenian chess player. Awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1998, he was a three-time Armenian champion. Asrian was a member of the gold medal-winning Armenian team in the 37th Chess Olympiad.
Alejo Carpentier, Swiss-Cuban musicologist and author (b. 1904) deaths
Alejo Carpentier y Valmont was a Cuban novelist, essayist, and musicologist who greatly influenced Latin American literature during its famous "boom" period. Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, of French and Russian parentage, Carpentier grew up in Havana, Cuba, and despite his European birthplace, he strongly identified as Cuban throughout his life. He traveled extensively, particularly in France, and to South America and Mexico, where he met prominent members of the Latin American cultural and artistic community. Carpentier took a keen interest in Latin American politics and often aligned himself with revolutionary movements, such as Fidel Castro's Communist Revolution in Cuba in the mid-20th century. Carpentier was jailed and exiled for his leftist political philosophies.
Diego Quintana, Argentine footballer births
Diego Jesús Quintana is an Argentine footballer who spent his career mostly playing for Skoda Xanthi F.C. in Greece.
Carlos Beltrán, Puerto Rican-American baseball player births
Carlos Iván Beltrán is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder from 1998 to 2017 for the Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees, and Texas Rangers. A right-handed thrower and switch hitter, Beltrán stands 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighs 215 pounds (98 kg).
Diego Placente, Argentine footballer births
Diego Rodolfo Placente is a former Argentine footballer who played as a left-back.
Steve Finnan, Irish international footballer births
Stephen John Finnan is an Irish former international footballer who played as a right back.
Frédéric Niemeyer, Canadian tennis player and coach births
Frédéric Niemeyer is a Canadian retired, professional tennis player and current tennis coach at Tennis Canada.
Mark Tobey, American-Swiss painter and educator (b. 1890) deaths
Mark George Tobey was an American painter. His densely structured compositions, inspired by Asian calligraphy, resemble Abstract expressionism, although the motives for his compositions differ philosophically from most Abstract Expressionist painters. His work was widely recognized throughout the United States and Europe. Along with Guy Anderson, Kenneth Callahan, Morris Graves, and William Cumming, Tobey was a founder of the Northwest School. Senior in age and experience, he had a strong influence on the others; friend and mentor, Tobey shared their interest in philosophy and Eastern religions. Similar to others of the Northwest School, Tobey was mostly self-taught after early studies at the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1921, Tobey founded the art department at The Cornish School in Seattle, Washington.
Dejan Savić, Yugoslavian and Serbian water polo player births
Dejan Savić is a Serbian professional water polo coach and former player. He currently serves as head coach of the Serbia men's national water polo team and Crvena zvezda.
Eric Kripke, American director, producer, and screenwriter births
Eric Kripke is an American writer and television producer. He came to prominence as the creator of the fantasy drama series Supernatural (2005–2020) which aired on The CW. He served as the showrunner during the first five seasons of the series. Kripke also created the post-apocalyptic drama series Revolution (2012–2014) and co-created the science fiction series Timeless (2016–2018). Since 2019, he has served as showrunner of the superhero series The Boys, which was developed for Amazon Prime Video.
Stephen Wiltshire, English illustrator births
Stephen Wiltshire is a British architectural artist and autistic savant. He is known for his ability to draw a landscape from memory after seeing it just once. His work has gained worldwide popularity.
Bud Abbott, American comedian and producer (b. 1895) deaths
William Alexander "Bud" Abbott was an American comedian, actor and producer. He was best known as the straight man half of the comedy duo Abbott and Costello.
Gabby Logan, English gymnast, television and radio host births
Gabrielle Nicole Logan is an English presenter of Welsh heritage and a former international rhythmic gymnast. She hosted Final Score for BBC Sport from 2009 until 2013. She has also presented a variety of live sports events for the BBC, including a revived episode of Superstars in December 2012 and the London Marathon since 2015. Since 2013, she has co-hosted Sports Personality of the Year for the BBC and she presented the second series of The Edge in 2015.
Damon Lindelof, American screenwriter and producer births
Damon Laurence Lindelof is an American screenwriter, comic book writer, and producer. Among his accolades, he received three Primetime Emmy Awards, from twelve nominations. In 2010, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Brian Marshall, American bass player and songwriter births
Brian Aubrey Marshall is an American musician and songwriter best known as the bassist and co-founder of the rock bands Creed and Alter Bridge.
Eric Snow, American basketball player and coach births
Eric Snow is an American basketball coach and former professional player. He played the point guard position in the National Basketball Association from 1995 to 2008 and appeared in three NBA Finals. Known for his defense, Snow was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 2003. Following his playing career, Snow served as an assistant coach at Florida Atlantic for two years (2014-2016) after having worked two seasons at SMU (2012–14) as the director of player development under Larry Brown, his former coach.
Sachin Tendulkar, Indian cricketer births
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar AO BR is an Indian former international cricketer who captained the Indian national team. Regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, and popularly known as "God of Cricket" for his extraordinary stats. He was a right-handed top-order bastmen in the Indian Cricket Team. He is known for his batting skills, technique, vision and game reading. He is the all time most runscorer in both ODI and Test Format with more than 18000 runs and 15000 runs respectively in total. He also holds the record for receiving most Man-of-the-match awards in International Cricket with all forms combined.
Toomas Tohver, Estonian footballer births
Toomas Tohver is a retired Estonian international football goalkeeper, with 24 caps to his name. Tohver started his professional career at Flora Tallinn and had two spells abroad, first in Sweden and then in Norway.
Lee Westwood, English golfer births
Lee John Westwood is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, Westwood is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on five continents – Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Oceania – including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. Westwood has also won tournaments in four decades, the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. Westwood was named European Tour Golfer of the Year for the 1998, 2000, 2009 and 2020 seasons. He has won the 2000 European Tour Order of Merit, and the renamed 2009 and 2020 Race to Dubai. Westwood has frequently been mentioned as one of the best golfers without a major championship victory, with several near misses including three runner-up finishes.
Rab Douglas, Scottish footballer births
Robert James Douglas is a Scottish former professional footballer and current coach for Arbroath who played as a goalkeeper. He played for several clubs, including Livingston, Dundee, Celtic, Leicester City and Forfar Athletic. Douglas was part of the Celtic side that reached the 2003 UEFA Cup Final, under the management of Martin O'Neill. He also represented Scotland at international level, playing 19 times between 2002 and 2005. In 2017, Douglas was inducted into the Dundee FC Hall of Fame.
Chipper Jones, American baseball player births
Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones Jr. is an American former professional baseball third baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves from 1993 to 2012. The Braves chose Jones with the first overall pick in the 1990 MLB draft. He was also a member of their 1995 World Series championship team that beat the Cleveland Indians. An eight-time All-Star, Jones won the 1999 National League (NL) Most Valuable Player Award and the 1999 and 2000 NL Silver Slugger Award for third basemen. He was the MLB batting champion in 2008 after hitting .364.
Jure Košir, Slovenian skier and singer births
Jure Košir (pronunciation ; born 24 April 1972 is a former Slovenian alpine skier.
Fernando Amorsolo, Filipino painter (b. 1892) deaths
Fernando Cueto Amorsolo was a portraitist and painter of rural Philippine landscapes. Nicknamed the "Grand Old Man of Philippine Art," he was the first-ever to be recognized as a National Artist of the Philippines. He was recognized as such for his "pioneering use of impressionistic technique" as well as his skill in the use of lighting and backlighting in his paintings, "significant not only in the development of Philippine art but also in the formation of Filipino notions of self and identity."
Kumar Dharmasena, Sri Lankan cricketer and umpire births
Deshabandu Handunnettige Deepthi Priyantha Kumar Dharmasena, popularly as Kumar Dharmasena, is a Sri Lankan cricket umpire and former international cricketer, who played Tests and ODIs for Sri Lanka. He is the first and only person to represent an ICC World Cup Final both as a player and an umpire. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm off break bowler.
Mauro Pawlowski, Belgian singer-songwriter and guitarist births
Mauro Antonio Pawlowski is one of the key figures in the Belgian contemporary music scene. He was born in Koersel and is of Italian and Polish descent.
Damien Fleming, Australian cricketer, coach, and sportscaster births
Damien William Fleming is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer who played for the Australian national cricket team and domestic cricket for Victoria. He played in 20 Tests and 88 ODIs from 1994 to 2001 and was part of the all-conquering Australian teams under Steve Waugh and Mark Taylor. In recent years Fleming has spent time refining his theory of Bowlology, a set of scientific coaching principles to help developing bowlers.
Otis Spann, American singer and pianist (b. 1930) deaths
Otis Spann was an American blues musician, whom many consider to be the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist.
Elias Atmatsidis, Greek footballer births
Ilias Atmatsidis is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the Director of Football at AEK Athens B.
Rory McCann, Scottish actor births
Rory McCann is a Scottish actor, best known for portraying Sandor "The Hound" Clegane on the HBO series Game of Thrones, Michael "Lurch" Armstrong in Edgar Wright's crime-comedy Hot Fuzz, Jurgen the Brutal in the adventure comedy Jumanji: The Next Level and the voice of Megatron in Transformers: EarthSpark.
Eilidh Whiteford, Scottish academic and politician births
Eilidh Whiteford is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who served as the Member of Parliament for Banff and Buchan from 2010–17.
Aidan Gillen, Irish actor births
Aidan Murphy, better known as Aidan Gillen, is an Irish actor. He is the recipient of three Irish Film & Television Awards and has been nominated for a British Academy Television Award, a British Independent Film Award, and a Tony Award.
Todd Jones, American baseball player births
Todd Barton Jones is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He was an effective middle reliever for several teams and also filled the role of closer, most notably with the Detroit Tigers for whom he earned 235 saves. On September 16, 2007, Jones became the 21st member of the 300-save club during his second stint with the Tigers.
Roxanna Panufnik, English composer births
Roxanna Panufnik is a British composer of Polish heritage. She is the daughter of the composer and conductor Sir Andrzej Panufnik and his second wife Camilla, née Jessel.
Hashim Thaçi, Kosovan soldier and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Kosovo births
Hashim Thaçi is a Kosovar Albanian politician who was the president of Kosovo from April 2016 until his resignation on 5 November 2020 to face a war crimes tribunal. prime minister of Kosovo and the Foreign minister and deputy prime minister in the new cabinet led by Isa Mustafa, which assumed office on 12 December 2014.
The prime minister of the Republic of Kosovo is the head of government of Kosovo.
Walter Tewksbury, American athlete (b. 1876) deaths
Walter Beardsley Tewksbury was an American track and field athlete. At the 1900 Summer Olympics, he won five medals, including two golds.
Dino Rađa, Croatian basketball player births
Dino Rađa is a Croatian former professional basketball player. He was a member of the Jugoplastika team of the late 1980s and early 1990s, which he helped to win two FIBA European Champions Cup championships. He spent three and a half seasons with the Boston Celtics, being one of the European pioneers in the NBA. Rađa was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991, and one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors in 2008. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, as a member of the 2018 class.
Omar Vizquel, Venezuelan-American baseball player and coach births
Omar Enrique Vizquel González, nicknamed "Little O", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball shortstop. During his 24-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, Vizquel played for the Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, and Toronto Blue Jays. In Venezuela he played for Leones del Caracas. From 2014 to 2017, he was the Detroit Tigers' first-base, infield and baserunning coach. He was manager for the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League.
Vladimir Komarov, Russian pilot, engineer, and cosmonaut (b. 1927) deaths
Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov was a Soviet test pilot, aerospace engineer, and cosmonaut. In October 1964, he commanded Voskhod 1, the first spaceflight to carry more than one crew member. He became the first Soviet cosmonaut to fly in space twice when he was selected as the solo pilot of Soyuz 1, its first crewed test flight. A parachute failure caused his Soyuz capsule to crash into the ground after re-entry on 24 April 1967, making him the first human to die in a space flight.
Robert Richards, Australian politician, 32nd Premier of South Australia (b. 1885) deaths
Robert Stanley Richards was the 32nd Premier of South Australia, representing the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party.
The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier is appointed by the governor of South Australia, and by modern convention holds office by virtue of his or her ability to command the support of a majority of members of the lower house of Parliament, the House of Assembly.
Pierre Brassard, Canadian comedian and actor births
Pierre Brassard is a French-Canadian actor, comedian, television personality and radio broadcaster. He is associated with CKOI-FM in Montreal and known for his phone call hoaxes.
Alessandro Costacurta, Italian footballer, coach, and manager births
Alessandro Costacurta is an Italian football pundit, manager and a former professional defender, who usually played as a centre back.
David Usher, English-Canadian singer-songwriter births
David Usher is a British-born Canadian musician, best-selling author, keynote speaker, and activist best known as the front man for the band Moist. He has also released a number of solo albums. He is the founder of Reimagine AI, an artificial intelligence creative studio.
Simon Chikovani, Georgian poet and author (b. 1902) deaths
Simon Ivanes dze Chikovani was a prominent Georgian poet. He set out to be the leader of the Georgian Futurist movement and ended up as a Soviet establishment figure.
Jeff Jackson, Canadian ice hockey player and manager births
Jeff Jackson is a retired professional ice hockey player who played 263 games in the National Hockey League. He played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Quebec Nordiques, and Chicago Blackhawks. Prior to playing in the NHL, he played for Canada's World Junior Under 20 team which won a gold medal at the 1985 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Helsinki, Finland.
Louise Dresser, American actress (b. 1878) deaths
Louise Dresser was an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the many films in which she played the wife of Will Rogers, including State Fair and David Harum.
Helga Arendt, German sprinter (d. 2013) births
Helga Arendt was a West German sprinter who competed mainly in the 400 metres.
Cedric the Entertainer, American comedian, actor, and producer births
Cedric Antonio Kyles, better known by his stage name Cedric the Entertainer, is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He hosted BET's ComicView during the 1993–1994 season and Def Comedy Jam in 1995. He is best known for co-starring with Steve Harvey on The WB sitcom The Steve Harvey Show, as one of The Original Kings of Comedy, and for starring as Eddie Walker in Barbershop. He hosted the 12th season of the daytime version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in 2013–14 and starred in the TV Land original series The Soul Man, which aired from 2012 to 2016. He has also done voice work for Ice Age, the Madagascar film series, Charlotte's Web, Planes and Planes: Fire & Rescue. He currently stars on the CBS sitcom The Neighborhood. In 2019, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Djimon Hounsou, Beninese-American actor and producer births
Djimon Gaston Hounsou is a Beninese-American actor and model. He began his career appearing in music videos. He made his film debut in Without You I'm Nothing (1990) and earned widespread recognition for his role as Cinqué in the Steven Spielberg film Amistad (1997). He gained further recognition for his roles in Gladiator (2000), In America (2003), and Blood Diamond (2006), receiving Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nominations for both the latter films. He also played an antagonist in Furious 7 (2015). He has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. He plays an important role as well in the French film Forces spéciales (2011).
Witold Smorawiński, Polish guitarist, composer, and educator births
Witold Smorawiński is Polish classical guitarist, composer and teacher. He comes from a family of musicians and therefore he had a chance to perform in public since his childhood.
Gerhard Domagk, German pathologist and bacteriologist (b. 1895) deaths
Gerhard Johannes Paul Domagk was a German pathologist and bacteriologist. He is credited with the discovery of sulfonamidochrysoidine (KL730) as an antibiotic for which he received the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The drug became the first commercially available antibiotic and marketed under the brand name Prontosil.
Paula Frazer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist births
Paula Frazer is an American singer-songwriter. She grew up in Georgia and Arkansas and moved to San Francisco in 1981. Her music is frequently described as melancholic alternative country, but with an eclectic mix of folk, blues and pop, among other genres. She first came to notice by fronting the band Tarnation in the 1990s and has appeared on recordings and in concert with many bands and solo artists including Cornershop, Sean Lennon, Frightwig, Tindersticks, the Czars, and Handsome Boy Modeling School.
Billy Gould, American bass player, songwriter, and producer births
William David Gould is an American musician and producer. He is best known as the bassist of Faith No More.
Mano Solo, French singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2010) births
Mano Solo, born Emmanuel Cabut, was a French singer. He was born in Châlons-sur-Marne on 24 April 1963 to the illustrator Cabu and Isabelle Monin, co-founder of the ecology-related magazine, La Gueule ouverte.
Clemens Binninger, German politician births
Clemens Binninger is a German politician of the CDU. Binninger was a member of the Bundestag from 2002 until 2017.
Stuart Pearce, English footballer, coach, and manager births
Stuart Pearce is an English professional football manager and former player, who was most recently a first-team coach for Premier League club West Ham United. He was nicknamed "Psycho" for his unforgiving style of play.
Steve Roach, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster births
Stephen David Roach, nicknamed Blocker or Blocker Roach, is an Australian former professional rugby league who played as a prop forward in the 1980s and early 1990s. His most famous catchphrase is “Big Boppa”
Milt Franklyn, American composer (b. 1897) deaths
Milton J. Franklyn was an American musical composer and arranger who worked on the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes animated cartoons.
Andrew Murrison, English physician and politician, Minister for International Security Strategy births
Andrew William Murrison is a British doctor, naval officer and politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Wiltshire, previously Westbury, since the 2001 general election. He has been serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence People, Veterans and Service Families since October 2022.
The Minister for International Security Strategy was a British government position. The last holder of the post was Andrew Murrison, Conservative Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence,
Lee Moran, American actor, director and screenwriter (b. 1888) deaths
Lee Moran was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter.
Max von Laue, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879) deaths
Max Theodor Felix von Laue was a German physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1914 for his discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals.
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.
Paula Yates, British-Australian television host and author (d. 2000) births
Paula Elizabeth Yates was a British television presenter and writer. Yates is best known for her work on two television programmes, The Tube and The Big Breakfast. She was the girlfriend of musician Bob Geldof from 1976 to 1986 and was married to him from 1986 to 1996. She was also in a relationship with musician Michael Hutchence from the mid-1990s until Hutchence's death in 1997. Yates died of a heroin overdose in 2000.
Brian Paddick, English police officer and politician births
Brian Leonard Paddick, Baron Paddick, is a British politician and retired police officer, currently sitting in the House of Lords as a life peer. He was the Liberal Democrat candidate for the London mayoral elections of 2008 and 2012. He was, until his retirement in May 2007, Deputy Assistant Commissioner in London's Metropolitan Police Service.
Nazir Ahmed, Baron Ahmed, Pakistani-English businessman and politician births
Nazir Ahmed, Baron Ahmed is a former British Labour politician of Pakistani origin. He was appointed a life peer in 1998 by the Labour Government.
James A. Winnefeld, Jr., American admiral births
Sandy Winnefeld is a retired United States Navy admiral who serves as the chair of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board since May 4, 2022. While on active duty, Winnefeld served as the ninth vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from August 4, 2011 to July 31, 2015.
Marion Caspers-Merk, German politician births
Marion Caspers-Merk is a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). She was a member of the Bundestag, representing Lörrach – Müllheim, and Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Health. Alongside other prominent figures such as Kofi Annan and Javier Solana, Caspers-Merk served on the Global Commission on Drug Policy which advocates reforms in drug policies towards the regulation of all substances.
John de Mol Jr., Dutch businessman, co-founded Endemol births
Johannes Hendrikus Hubert "John" de Mol Jr. is a Dutch media tycoon. De Mol is one of the men behind production companies Endemol and Talpa. He created the reality television formats Big Brother, Fear Factor and The Voice.
Endemol B.V. was a Dutch-based media company that produced and distributed multiplatform entertainment content. The company annually produced more than 15,000 hours of programming across scripted and non-scripted genres, including drama, reality TV, comedy, game shows, entertainment, factual and children's programming.
Eamon Gilmore, Irish trade union leader and politician, 25th Tánaiste of Ireland births
Eamon Gilmore is a European Union diplomat, and a former Irish Labour Party politician. He serves as European Union Special Representative for Human Rights since February 2019. He is also the European Union Special Envoy for the Colombian Peace Process since 2015. He was Ireland's Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade from 2011 to 2014, Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2014, Chair of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe from 2012 to 2013, Minister of State at the Department of the Marine from 1994 to 1997. He was a Teachta Dála for the Dún Laoghaire constituency from 1989 to 2016.
The Tánaiste is the deputy head of the government of Ireland and thus holder of its second-most senior office. The Tánaiste is appointed by the President of Ireland on the advice of the Taoiseach. The current office holder is former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, TD, who was appointed on 27 June 2020.
Margaret Moran, British politician and criminal births
Margaret Mary Moran is a former Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. Moran was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Luton South from the 1997 general election to 2010. In November 2012, jurors at Southwark Crown Court ruled that she had falsified her parliamentary expenses; she had been unable to stand trial because of mental health issues, but the case was nevertheless heard without her. Her fraudulent claims totalled more than £53,000, the highest amount by any politician in the United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal.
Guy Nève, Belgian race car driver (d. 1992) births
Guy Nève de Mevergnies, commonly known as Guy Nève, was a Belgian racing driver. Nève was killed in practice for a Procar endurance race on a temporary track in Chimay, Belgium. While driving a Porsche 911, Nève clipped a competitor, veered off the track and hit a grass bank, flipping several times before coming to rest on its roof. During the crash, fuel ignited and set the car on fire. Nève was 37 years old. He was the younger brother of fellow racer Patrick Nève.
Michael O'Keefe, American actor births
Michael O'Keefe is an American actor, known for his roles as Danny Noonan in Caddyshack, Ben Meechum in The Great Santini, for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and Darryl Palmer in the Neil Simon movie The Slugger's Wife. He also appeared as Fred on the television sitcom Roseanne from 1993 to 1995.
Bill Osborne, New Zealand rugby player births
William Michael Osborne is a former New Zealand rugby union player. A second five-eighth and centre, Osborne represented Wanganui and Waikato at a provincial level. Started his club career with the local Kaierau Rugby Union Club in Wanganui. He was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks, between 1975 and 1982, playing 48 matches including 16 internationals.
Mumia Abu-Jamal, American journalist, activist, and convicted murderer births
Mumia Abu-Jamal is an American political activist and journalist who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1982 for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. He became widely known while on death row for his writings and commentary on the criminal justice system in the United States. After numerous appeals, his death penalty sentence was overturned by a federal court. In 2011, the prosecution agreed to a sentence of life imprisonment without parole. He entered the general prison population early the following year.
Jack Blades, American singer-songwriter and bass player births
Jack Martin Blades is an American rock musician. He has worked in the bands Rubicon, Night Ranger, and Damn Yankees. He has also recorded with Tommy Shaw under the name Shaw Blades, and has done work alongside the Tak Matsumoto Group. Blades' most recent efforts include a second solo CD. He is also a member of the band Revolution Saints.
Guy Mairesse, French racing driver (b. 1910) deaths
Guy Mairesse was a French racing driver. He participated in three Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 3 September 1950. He scored no championship points.
Eric Bogosian, American actor and writer births
Eric Bogosian is an American actor, playwright, monologuist, novelist, and historian. Descended from Armenian American immigrants, he grew up in Watertown and Woburn, Massachusetts, and attended University of Chicago and Oberlin College. His numerous plays include subUrbia (1994) and Pulitzer Prize in Drama finalist Talk Radio (1987), which were adapted to film by Richard Linklater and Oliver Stone, respectively. He also starred as Arno in the Safdie brothers' critically acclaimed film Uncut Gems (2019).
Jean Paul Gaultier, French fashion designer births
Jean Paul Gaultier is a French haute couture and prêt-à-porter fashion designer. He is described as an "enfant terrible" of the fashion industry and is known for his unconventional designs with motifs including corsets, marinières, and tin cans. Gaultier founded his self-titled fashion label in 1982, and expanded with a line of fragrances in 1993. He was the creative director for French luxury house Hermès from 2003 to 2010, and retired following his 50th-anniversary haute couture show during Paris Fashion Week in January 2020.
Ralph Winter, American film producer births
Ralph Frederick Winter is an American film producer who has helped to produce blockbuster movies such as the X-Men, Fantastic Four and Star Trek series as well as I, Robot and Planet of the Apes. His films have grossed collectively over $2 billion (USD).
Ron Arad, Israeli architect and academic births
Ron Arad is an Israeli industrial designer, artist, and architectural designer.
Christian Bobin, French author and poet births
Christian Bobin was a French author and poet.
Nigel Harrison, English bass player and songwriter births
Nigel Harrison is an English musician. Harrison spent several years as the bassist of the American rock band Blondie during the 1970s and 1980s.
Enda Kenny, Irish educator and politician, 13th Taoiseach of Ireland births
Enda Kenny is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 2017, Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2011, Minister for Tourism and Trade from 1994 to 1997 and Minister of State at the Department of Labour and Department of Education with responsibility for Youth Affairs from 1986 to 1987. He served as Teachta Dála (TD) for Mayo West from 1975 to 1997 and for Mayo from 1997 to 2020.
The Taoiseach is the head of government of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann and the office-holder must retain the support of a majority in the Dáil to remain in office.
Rob Hyman, American singer-songwriter and musician births
Robert Andrew Hyman is an American singer, songwriter, keyboard and accordion player, producer, arranger and recording studio owner, best known for being a founding member of the rock band The Hooters.
Eddie Hart, American sprinter births
Edward James "Eddie" Hart is an American former track and field sprinter, winner of the gold medal in 4 × 100 m relay race at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
Véronique Sanson, French singer-songwriter and producer births
Véronique Marie Line Sanson is a three-time Victoires de la Musique award-winning French singer-songwriter and record producer with an avid following in her native country.
Paul Cellucci, American soldier and politician, 69th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 2013) births
Argeo Paul Cellucci was an American politician and diplomat from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A Republican, he served as the 69th governor of Massachusetts from 1999 to 2001, and as the United States Ambassador to Canada from 2001 to 2005. He also served as the Commonwealth's 68th lieutenant governor from 1991 to 1999, as well as in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate from 1977 to 1991.
The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the chief executive officer of the government of Massachusetts. The governor is the head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonwealth's military forces.
Eliana Gil, Ecuadorian-American psychiatrist, therapist, and author births
Eliana Gil, is a lecturer, writer, and clinician of marriage, family and child. She is on the board of a number of professional counselling organizations that use play and art therapies, and she is the former president of the Association for Play Therapy (APT).
Jāzeps Vītols, Latvian composer (b. 1863) deaths
Jāzeps Vītols was a Latvian composer, pedagogue and music critic. He is considered one of the fathers of Latvian classical music.
Josep Borrell, Spanish engineer and politician, 22nd President of the European Parliament births
Josep Borrell Fontelles is a Spanish politician serving as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy since 1 December 2019. A member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), he served as President of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2007 and as Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation in the Government of Spain from 2018 to 2019.
The president of the European Parliament presides over the debates and activities of the European Parliament. They also represent the Parliament within the European Union (EU) and internationally. The president's signature is required for enacting most EU laws and the EU budget.
João Braz de Aviz, Brazilian cardinal births
João Braz de Aviz is a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has served as the prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI in 2011. He began his career working for twenty years as a parish priest and seminary teacher. He became a bishop in 1994 and was bishop of Ponta Grossa from 1998 to 2002, archbishop of Maringá from 2002 to 2004, and archbishop of Brasília from 2004 to 2011.
Claude Dubois, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist births
Claude André Dubois is a Canadian singer-songwriter.
Denise Kingsmill, Baroness Kingsmill, New Zealand-English lawyer and politician births
Denise Patricia Byrne Kingsmill, Baroness Kingsmill CBE is a British Labour peer. She was appointed as a life peer in 2006 after practising as a solicitor in personal injury, trade union and employment law.
Roger D. Kornberg, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate births
Roger David Kornberg is an American biochemist and professor of structural biology at Stanford University School of Medicine. Kornberg was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2006 for his studies of the process by which genetic information from DNA is copied to RNA, "the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription."
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature, peace, and physiology or medicine. This award is administered by the Nobel Foundation, and awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on proposal of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry which consists of five members elected by the Academy. The award is presented in Stockholm at an annual ceremony on 10 December, the anniversary of Nobel's death.
Hans Biebow, German SS officer (b. 1902) deaths
Hans Biebow was the chief of German Nazi administration of the Łódź Ghetto in occupied Poland.
The Schutzstaffel was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II.
Willa Cather, American novelist, short story writer, and poet (b. 1873) deaths
Willa Sibert Cather was an American writer known for her novels of life on the Great Plains, including O Pioneers!, The Song of the Lark, and My Ántonia. In 1923, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours, a novel set during World War I.
Doug Christie, Canadian lawyer and activist (d. 2013) births
Douglas Hewson Christie, Jr. was a Canadian lawyer and political activist based in Victoria, British Columbia, who was known nationally for his defence of clients such as Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel, former Nazi prison guard Michael Seifert and neo-Nazi Paul Fromm among others.
Doug Clifford, American drummer and songwriter births
Douglas Raymond Clifford is an American drummer, best known as a founding member of Creedence Clearwater Revival for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. After the group disbanded in late 1972, Clifford released a solo album and later joined CCR bassist Stu Cook in the Don Harrison Band. In 1995, Clifford and Cook formed the band Creedence Clearwater Revisited, performing live versions of Creedence Clearwater Revival songs.
Ernst-Robert Grawitz, German physician (b. 1899) deaths
Ernst-Robert Grawitz was a German physician and an SS functionary during the Nazi era.
Peter Cresswell, English judge births
Sir Peter John Cresswell, DL is an English former High Court judge, and currently a judge of the Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre.
Maarja Nummert, Estonian architect births
Maarja Nummert is an Estonian architect who has designed a number of school buildings. She has received several awards for her work, sometimes using wood for village schools such as the one in Hageri where some of the rooms are circular providing a more attractive environment for the children. She also designed the Salem Baptist Church in Tartu which is known for its fine acoustics.
Tony Visconti, American record producer, musician and singer births
Anthony Edward Visconti is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's "Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of many hits in collaboration with Marc Bolan. Visconti's lengthiest involvement was with David Bowie: intermittently from the production and arrangement of Bowie's 1968 single "In the Heat of the Morning" / "London Bye Ta-Ta" to his final album Blackstar in 2016, Visconti produced and occasionally performed on many of Bowie's albums. Visconti's work on Blackstar was cited in its Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical and his production of Angelique Kidjo's Djin Djin was cited in its Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album.
Charles Jordan, American magician (b. 1888) deaths
Charles Thorton Jordan was an American magician.
Richard Sterban, American country and gospel bass singer births
Richard Anthony Sterban is an American singer. He was born in Camden, New Jersey. In 1973, he joined the country and gospel quartet The Oak Ridge Boys, in which he sings bass.
Gordon West, English footballer (d. 2012) births
Gordon West was an English professional football goalkeeper. He won three international caps in a career that included a long stint at Everton.
Richard M. Daley, American lawyer and politician, 54th Mayor of Chicago births
Richard Michael Daley is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh term. At 22 years, his was the longest tenure in Chicago mayoral history, surpassing the 21-year stay of his father, Richard J. Daley.
The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of city government in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and recommendations to the Chicago City Council, is active in the enforcement of the city's ordinances, submits the city's annual budget and appoints city officers, department commissioners or directors, and members of city boards and commissions.
Barbra Streisand, American singer, actress, activist, and producer births
Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awarded an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (EGOT).
Lucy Maud Montgomery, Canadian author (b. 1874) deaths
Lucy Maud Montgomery, published as L. M. Montgomery, was a Canadian author best known for a collection of novels, essays, short stories, and poetry beginning in 1908 with Anne of Green Gables. She published 20 novels as well as 530 short stories, 500 poems, and 30 essays. Anne of Green Gables was an immediate success; the title character, orphan Anne Shirley, made Montgomery famous in her lifetime and gave her an international following. Most of the novels were set in Prince Edward Island, and those locations within Canada's smallest province became a literary landmark and popular tourist site – namely Green Gables farm, the genesis of Prince Edward Island National Park. She was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1935.
Richard Holbrooke, American journalist, banker, and diplomat, 22nd United States Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2010) births
Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke was an American diplomat and author. He was the only person to have held the position of Assistant Secretary of State for two different regions of the world.
The United States ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of the U.S. delegation, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The position is formally known as the permanent representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, and representative of the United States of America in the United Nations Security Council.
John Williams, Australian-English guitarist and composer births
John Christopher Williams is an Australian virtuosic classical guitarist renowned for his ensemble playing as well as his interpretation and promotion of the modern classical guitar repertoire. In 1973, he shared a Grammy Award in the Best Chamber Music Performance category with fellow guitarist Julian Bream for Together. Guitar historian Graham Wade has said that "John is perhaps the most technically accomplished guitarist the world has seen."
Karin Boye, Swedish author and poet (b. 1900) deaths
Karin Maria Boye was a Swedish poet and novelist. In Sweden she is acclaimed as a poet, but internationally she is best known for the dystopian science fiction novel Kallocain (1940).
Sue Grafton, American author (d. 2017) births
Sue Taylor Grafton was an American author of detective novels. She is best known as the author of the "alphabet series" featuring private investigator Kinsey Millhone in the fictional city of Santa Teresa, California. The daughter of detective novelist C. W. Grafton, she said the strongest influence on her crime novels was author Ross Macdonald. Before her success with this series, she wrote screenplays for television movies.
Louis Trousselier, French cyclist (b. 1881) deaths
Louis Trousselier was a French racing cyclist who won the 1905 Tour de France. His other major wins were Paris–Roubaix, also in 1905, and the 1908 Bordeaux–Paris. He came third in the 1906 Tour de France and won 13 stages of the Tour de France over his career. He also competed in the men's 25 kilometres event at the 1900 Summer Olympics and won a bronze medal in the Men's points race.
George Grey Barnard, American sculptor (b. 1863) deaths
George Grey Barnard, often written George Gray Barnard, was an American sculptor who trained in Paris. He is especially noted for his heroic sized Struggle of the Two Natures in Man at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, his twin sculpture groups at the Pennsylvania State Capitol, and his Lincoln statue in Cincinnati, Ohio. His major works are largely symbolical in character. His personal collection of medieval architectural fragments became a core part of The Cloisters in New York City.
Joe Henderson, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2001) births
Joe Henderson was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent labels, including Blue Note, Milestone, and Verve.
David Crombie, Canadian educator and politician, 56th Mayor of Toronto births
David Edward Crombie is a Canadian politician, professor and consultant. Crombie served as mayor of Toronto from 1972 to 1978. In federal politics, he served as a Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament from 1978 to 1988 serving in several cabinet positions.
The mayor of Toronto is the head of Toronto City Council and chief executive officer of the municipal government. The mayor is elected alongside city council every four years on the fourth Monday of October; there are no term limits. While in office, mayors are styled His/Her Worship.
Jill Ireland, English actress (d. 1990) births
Jill Dorothy Ireland was an English actress and singer. She appeared in 16 films with her second husband, Charles Bronson, and was additionally involved in two other of Bronson's films as a producer.
Anastasios Papoulas, Greek general (b. 1857) deaths
Anastasios Papoulas was a Greek general, most notable as the Greek commander-in-chief during most of the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–22. Originally a firm royalist, after 1922 he shifted towards the republican Venizelists, and was executed in 1935 for supporting a failed republican coup.
Jayakanthan, Indian journalist and author (d. 2015) births
D. Jayakanthan, popularly known as JK, was an Indian writer, journalist, orator, filmmaker, critic and activist. Born in Cuddalore, he dropped out of school at the age of 9 and went to Madras, where he joined the Communist Party of India. In a career spanning six decades, he authored around 40 novels, 200 short stories, apart from two autobiographies. Outside literature, he made two films. In addition, four of his other novels were adapted into films by others.
Shirley MacLaine, American actress, singer, and dancer births
Shirley MacLaine is an American actress, author, and former dancer. Known for her portrayals of quirky, strong-willed and eccentric women, MacLaine has received numerous accolades over her seven-decade career, including an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, two British Academy Film Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, two Volpi Cups and two Silver Bears. MacLaine is one of the last remaining stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Abdelhamid Kermali, Algerian footballer and manager (d. 2013) births
Abdelhamid Kermali was an Algerian footballer and football manager of the Algerian national team.
Bridget Riley, English painter and illustrator births
Bridget Louise Riley is an English painter known for her op art paintings. She lives and works in London, Cornwall and the Vaucluse in France.
David Kldiashvili, Georgian author and playwright (b. 1862) deaths
David Kldiashvili was a Georgian prose-writer whose novels and plays are concentrated on the degeneration of the country’s gentry and the miseries of the peasantry, boldly exposing the antagonisms of Georgian society.
Jerome Callet, American instrument designer, educator, and author (d. 2019) births
Jerome Callet was a brass embouchure clinician, and designer of brass instruments and mouthpieces.
Richard Donner, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2021) births
Richard Donner was an American filmmaker whose notable works included some of the most financially-successful films during the New Hollywood era. According to film historian Michael Barson, Donner was "one of Hollywood's most reliable makers of action blockbusters". His career spanned over 50 years, crossing multiple genres and filmmaking trends.
José Sarney, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 31st President of Brazil births
José Sarney de Araújo Costa is a Brazilian politician, lawyer, and writer who served as 31st president of Brazil from 1985 to 1990. He briefly served as the 20th vice president of Brazil for a month between April and May 1985.
The president of Brazil, officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil or simply the President of the Republic, is the head of state and head of government of Brazil. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Brazilian Armed Forces. The presidential system was established in 1889, upon the proclamation of the republic in a military coup d'état against Emperor Pedro II. Since then, Brazil has had six constitutions, three dictatorships, and three democratic periods. During the democratic periods, voting has always been compulsory. The Constitution of Brazil, along with several constitutional amendments, establishes the requirements, powers, and responsibilities of the president, their term of office and the method of election.
Dr. Rajkumar, Indian actor and singer (d. 2006) births
Singanalluru Puttaswamaiah Muthuraj, better known by his stage name Dr. Rajkumar, was an Indian actor and singer who worked in Kannada cinema. Regarded as one of the greatest actors in the history of Indian cinema and a versatile actor, he is considered a cultural icon and holds a matinée idol status in the Kannada diaspora, among whom he is popularly called as Nata Saarvabhouma, Bangarada Manushya, Vara Nata, Gaana Gandharva, Rasikara Raja, Kannada Kanteerava and Rajanna/Annavru. He was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 1983 and Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1995. He is the only lead actor to win National Award for singing. His 35 movies have been remade 58 times in 9 languages by 34 actors making him the first actor whose movies were remade more than fifty times and the first actor whose movies were remade in nine languages. He was the first actor in India to enact a role which was based on James Bond in a full-fledged manner. The success of his movie Jedara Bale is credited to have widely inspired a Desi bond genre in other Indian film industries. On the occasion of the "Centenary of Indian Cinema" in April 2013, Forbes included his performance in Bangaarada Manushya on its list of "25 Greatest Acting Performances of Indian Cinema". Upon his death, The New York Times had described him as one of India's most popular movie stars.
Tommy Docherty, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2020) births
Thomas Henderson Docherty, commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times between 1951 and 1959. He then managed a total of 13 clubs between 1961 and 1988, as well as the Scottish national team. Docherty was manager of Manchester United between 1972 and 1977, during which time they were relegated to the Second Division, but promoted back to the First Division as champions at the first attempt.
Johnny Griffin, American saxophonist (d. 2008) births
John Arnold Griffin III was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Nicknamed "the Little Giant" for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin's career began in the mid-1940s and continued until the month of his death. A pioneering figure in hard bop, Griffin recorded prolifically as a bandleader in addition to stints with pianist Thelonious Monk, drummer Art Blakey, in partnership with fellow tenor Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and as a member of the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band after he moved to Europe in the 1960s. In 1995, Griffin was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music.
Anahit Perikhanian, Russian-born Armenian Iranologist (d. 2012) births
Anahit Georgievna Perikhanian was a Soviet-born Armenian academic. An Iranologist, Perikhanian specialized in Sasanian jurisprudence, history and society. In addition to her work on many aspects of ancient and medieval Iran, Perikhanian was also interested in ancient inscriptions of Asia Minor and the Middle East, as well as Middle Iranian languages and Armenian language. She also spent much time researching Armenian philology and etymology, especially in relation to Iranian loanwords in the Armenian language, and contributed to the understanding of Aramaic inscriptions found in Armenia.
Josy Barthel, Luxembourgian runner and politician, Luxembourgian Minister for Energy (d. 1992) births
Joseph ("Josy") Barthel was a Luxembourgish athlete. He was the surprise winner of the Men's 1500 metres at the 1952 Summer Olympics, and the only athlete representing Luxembourg to have won a gold medal at the Olympics. Besides athletics, Barthel also led successful careers in both chemistry and politics.
The Minister for Energy was a position in the Luxembourgian cabinet from 15 July 1964 until 7 August 1999. After the 1999 general election, the office was folded into the portfolio held by the Minister for the Economy.
Marilyn Erskine, American actress births
Marilyn Erskine is an American actress who started performing at the age of three on radio, and has since appeared in radio, theater, film and television roles from the 1920s through the 1970s.
Thorbjörn Fälldin, Swedish farmer and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 2016) births
Nils Olof Thorbjörn Fälldin was a Swedish politician. He was Prime Minister of Sweden in three non-consecutive cabinets from 1976 to 1982, and leader of the Swedish Centre Party from 1971 to 1985. On his first appointment in 1976, he was the first non-Social Democrat Prime Minister for 40 years and the first since the 1930s not to have worked as a professional politician since his teens. He was also the last Prime Minister to not be from the Social Democrats or Moderate Party.
The prime minister is the head of government of Sweden. The prime minister and their cabinet exercise executive authority in the Kingdom of Sweden and are subject to the Parliament of Sweden. The prime minister is nominated by the Speaker of the Riksdag and elected by the chamber by simple majority, using negative parliamentarianism. The Riksdag holds elections every four years, in the even year between leap years.
Franco Leccese, Italian sprinter (d. 1992) births
Franco Leccese was an Italian sprinter.
Clement Freud, German-English radio host, academic, and politician (d. 2009) births
Sir Clement Raphael Freud was a German-born British broadcaster, writer, politician and chef.
Ruth Kobart, American actress and singer (d. 2002) births
Ruth Kobart was an American performer, whose six-decade career encompassed opera, Broadway musical theatre, regional theatre, films, and television.
G. Stanley Hall, American psychologist and academic (b. 1844) deaths
Granville Stanley Hall was a pioneering American psychologist and educator. His interests focused on human life span development and evolutionary theory. Hall was the first president of the American Psychological Association and the first president of Clark University. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Hall as the 72nd most cited psychologist of the 20th century, in a tie with Lewis Terman.
Gus Bodnar, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2005) births
August "Gus" Bodnar was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who was the Calder Memorial Trophy winner as the National Hockey League's rookie of the year for the 1943-44 season. He played 12 seasons in the NHL from 1943 to 1955, for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Black Hawks and Boston Bruins.
Doris Burn, American author and illustrator (d. 2011) births
Doris "Doe" Burn was an American children's book author and illustrator. She lived most of her life on Waldron Island in the San Juan Islands archipelago of Washington.
Marc-Adélard Tremblay, Canadian anthropologist and academic (d. 2014) births
Marc-Adélard Tremblay, was a Canadian anthropologist.
Gino Valenzano, Italian race car driver (d. 2011) births
Luigi "Gino" Valenzano was an Italian racing driver. He entered 39 races between 1947 and 1955 in Abarths, Maseratis and Lancias as a teammate of drivers like Robert Manzon and Froilán González.
David Blackwell, American mathematician and academic (d. 2010) births
David Harold Blackwell was an American statistician and mathematician who made significant contributions to game theory, probability theory, information theory, and statistics. He is one of the eponyms of the Rao–Blackwell theorem. He was the first African American inducted into the National Academy of Sciences, the first African American tenured faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley, and the seventh African American to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics. In 2012, President Obama posthumously awarded Blackwell the National Medal of Science.
Glafcos Clerides, Cypriot lawyer and politician, 4th President of Cyprus (d. 2013) births
Glafcos Ioannou Clerides was a Cypriot politician and barrister who served as the fourth president of Cyprus from 1993 to 2003. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living former President of Cyprus.
The president of Cyprus, officially the president of the Republic of Cyprus, is the head of state and the head of government of Cyprus. The office was created in 1960, after Cyprus gained its independence from the United Kingdom.
Lou Thesz, American wrestler and trainer (d. 2002) births
Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz was an American professional wrestler. He was a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and held the title for a combined total of 10 years, three months and nine days – longer than anyone else in history. Considered to be one of the last true shooters in professional wrestling and described as the "quintessential athlete... a polished warrior who could break a man in two if pushed the wrong way", Thesz is widely regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and the single greatest wrestling world champion in history, and probably the last globally accepted world champion. In Japan, Thesz was known as the 'God of Wrestling' and was called Tetsujin, which means 'Ironman', in respect for his speed, conditioning and expertise in catch wrestling. Alongside Karl Gotch and Billy Robinson, Thesz later helped train young Japanese wrestlers and mixed martial artists in catch wrestling.
William Castle, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1977) births
William Castle was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor.
Phil Watson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1991) births
Joseph Philippe Henri Watson was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach in the National Hockey League. He played for the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers between 1936 and 1948, and coached the Rangers from 1955 to 1960 and the Boston Bruins from 1961 to 1963 He was born in Montreal, Quebec.
Justin Wilson, American chef and author (d. 2001) births
Justin E. Wilson was a Southern American chef and humorist known for his brand of Cajun-inspired cuisine, humor and storytelling.
Dieter Grau, German-American scientist and engineer (d. 2014) births
Dieter Grau was a German-born American aerospace engineer and member of the "von Braun rocket group", at Peenemünde (1939–1945) working on the V-2 rockets in World War II. He was among the engineers who surrendered to the United States and traveled there, providing rocketry expertise via Operation Paperclip, which took them first to Fort Bliss, Texas. Grau was sent by the U.S. Army to White Sands in 1946 to work on the assemblage and testing of the V-2. His wife joined him there in 1947. While von Braun was on standby at Fort Bliss, Grau and other German aerospace engineers busily launched V-2s for U.S. scientists to analyze. A total of 67 V-2s were launched at White Sands.
Ruth Osburn, American discus thrower (d. 1994) births
Ruth Osburn was an American athlete who competed mainly in the discus. She was born in Shelbyville, Missouri, United States.
Marceline Day, American actress (d. 2000) births
Marceline Day was an American motion picture actress whose career began as a child in the 1910s and ended in the 1930s.
Inga Gentzel, Swedish runner (d. 1991) births
Inga Kristina Gentzel was a Swedish runner, who won a bronze medal in the 800 m at the 1928 Summer Olympics. Shortly before the Olympics she set a new world record in this event, which was broken two weeks later, but remained a national record until 1943. Gentzel won the silver medal in the 1000 m at the 1926 Women's World Games.
Józef Gosławski, Polish sculptor (d. 1963) births
Józef Jan Gosławski was a Polish sculptor and medallic artist. He was a designer of coins, monuments and medals. Laureate of many artistic competitions; decorated with the Silver Cross of Merit.
Gabriel Figueroa, Mexican cinematographer (d. 1997) births
Gabriel Figueroa Mateos was a Mexican cinematographer who is regarded as one of the greatest cinematographers of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. He has worked in over 200 films, which cover a broad range of genres, and is best known for his technical dominance, his careful handling of framing and chiaroscuro, and affinity for the aesthetics of artists.
William Joyce, American-born Irish-British Nazi propaganda broadcaster (d. 1946) births
William Brooke Joyce, nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw, was an American-born fascist and Nazi propaganda broadcaster during the Second World War. After moving from New York to Ireland and subsequently to England, Joyce became a member of Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists (BUF) from 1932, before finally moving to Germany at the outset of the war where he took German citizenship in 1940.
Mimi Smith, English nurse (d. 1991) births
Mary Elizabeth "Mimi" Smith was a maternal aunt and the parental guardian of the English musician John Lennon. Mimi Stanley was born in Toxteth, Liverpool, England, the oldest of five daughters. She became a resident trainee nurse at the Woolton Convalescent Hospital and later worked as a private secretary. On 15 September 1939 she married George Toogood Smith who ran his family's dairy farm and a shop in Woolton, a suburb of Liverpool.
Al Bates, American long jumper (d. 1999) births
Alfred Hilborn Bates was an American athlete who competed mainly in the long jump.
Robert Penn Warren, American novelist, poet, and literary critic (d. 1989) births
Robert Penn Warren was an American poet, novelist, and literary critic and was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He founded the literary journal The Southern Review with Cleanth Brooks in 1935. He received the 1947 Pulitzer Prize for the Novel for All the King's Men (1946) and the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1958 and 1979. He is the only person to have won Pulitzer Prizes for both fiction and poetry.
Willem de Kooning, Dutch-American painter and educator (d. 1997) births
Willem de Kooning was a Dutch-American abstract expressionist artist. He was born in Rotterdam and moved to the United States in 1926, becoming an American citizen in 1962. In 1943, he married painter Elaine Fried.
José Antonio Primo de Rivera, Spanish lawyer and politician, founded the Falange (d. 1936) births
José Antonio Primo de Rivera y Sáenz de Heredia, 1st Duke of Primo de Rivera, 3rd Marquess of Estella, often referred to simply as José Antonio, was a Spanish politician who founded the falangist Falange Española, later Falange Española de las JONS.
The Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista, was a fascist political party founded in Spain in 1934 as merger of the Falange Española and the Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista. FE de las JONS, which became the main Fascist group during the Second Spanish Republic, ceased to exist as such when, during the Civil War, General Francisco Franco merged it with the Traditionalist Communion in April 1937 to form the similarly named Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS.
Elizabeth Goudge, English author and educator (d. 1984) births
Elizabeth de Beauchamp Goudge FRSL was an English writer of fiction and children's books. She won the Carnegie Medal for British children's books in 1946 for The Little White Horse. Goudge was long a popular author in the UK and the US and regained attention decades later. In 1993 her book The Rosemary Tree was plagiarised by Indrani Aikath-Gyaltsen; the "new" novel set in India was warmly reviewed in The New York Times and The Washington Post before its source was discovered. In 2001 or 2002 J. K. Rowling identified The Little White Horse as one of her favourite books and one of few with a direct influence on the Harry Potter series.
Oscar Zariski, Russian-American mathematician and academic (d. 1986) births
Oscar Zariski was a Russian-born American mathematician and one of the most influential algebraic geometers of the 20th century.
Manuel Ávila Camacho, Mexican colonel and politician, 45th President of Mexico (d. 1955) births
Manuel Ávila Camacho was a Mexican politician and military leader who served as the President of Mexico from 1940 to 1946. Despite participating in the Mexican Revolution and achieving a high rank, he came to the presidency of Mexico because of his direct connection to General Lázaro Cárdenas and served him as a right-hand man as his Chief of his General Staff during the Mexican Revolution and afterwards. He was called affectionately by Mexicans "The Gentleman President". As president, he pursued "national policies of unity, adjustment, and moderation." His administration completed the transition from military to civilian leadership, ended confrontational anticlericalism, reversed the push for socialist education, and restored a working relationship with the US during World War II.
The president of Mexico, officially the president of the United Mexican States, is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Constitution of Mexico, the president heads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Mexican Armed Forces. The current president is Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who took office on 1 December 2018.
Benjamin Lee Whorf, American linguist, anthropologist, and engineer (d. 1941) births
Benjamin Lee Whorf was an American linguist and fire prevention engineer. Whorf is widely known as an advocate for the idea that differences between the structures of different languages shape how their speakers perceive and conceptualize the world. This principle has frequently been called the “Sapir–Whorf hypothesis”, after him and his mentor Edward Sapir, but Whorf called it the principle of linguistic relativity, because he saw the idea as having implications similar to Einstein’s principle of physical relativity. The idea, however, follows from post-Hegelian 19th-century philosophy, especially from Wilhelm von Humboldt; and from Wilhelm Wundt's Völkerpsychologie.
Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, German field marshal (b. 1800) deaths
Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke was a Prussian field marshal. The chief of staff of the Prussian Army for thirty years, he is regarded as the creator of a new, more modern method of directing armies in the field. He commanded troops in Europe and the Middle East, in the Second Schleswig War, Austro-Prussian War and Franco-Prussian War. He is described as embodying "Prussian military organization and tactical genius". He was fascinated with railways and pioneered their military use. He is often referred to as Moltke the Elder to distinguish him from his nephew Helmuth von Moltke the Younger, who commanded the German Army at the outbreak of the First World War.
Stafford Cripps, English academic and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 1952) births
Sir Richard Stafford Cripps was a British Labour Party politician, barrister, and diplomat.
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.
Lyubov Popova, Russian painter and academic (d. 1924) births
Lyubov Sergeyevna Popova was a Russian Empire and Soviet avant-garde artist, painter and designer.
Zulma Carraud, French author (b. 1796) deaths
Zulma Carraud was a French author. She is best known for her children's books and textbooks particularly La Petite Jeanne ou le devoir and Maurice ou le travail.
Pe Maung Tin, Burma-based scholar and educator (d. 1973) births
Pe Maung Tin was a scholar of Pali and Buddhism and educator in Myanmar, formerly Burma. Born to an Anglican family at Pauktaw, Insein Township, Rangoon, he was the fifth child of U Pe and Daw Myaing. His grandfather was the first Burmese pastor of Henzada. He learnt the basic Buddhist texts at a local private school before he went to Rangoon Government High School where he won a scholarship at age 14.
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, also known as Burma, is a country in Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia, and has a population of about 54 million as of 2017. Myanmar is bordered by Bangladesh and India to its northwest, China to its northeast, Laos and Thailand to its east and southeast, and the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal to its south and southwest. The country's capital city is Naypyidaw, and its largest city is Yangon (Rangoon).
Denys Finch Hatton, English hunter (d. 1931) births
The Honourable Denys George Finch Hatton MC was an English aristocratic big-game hunter and the lover of Baroness Karen Blixen, a Danish noblewoman who wrote about him in her autobiographical book Out of Africa, first published in 1937. In the book, his name is hyphenated: "Finch-Hatton".
Thomas Cronan, American triple jumper (d. 1962) births
Thomas Francis Cronan was an American athlete who competed mainly in the triple jump.
Con Walsh, Irish-Canadian hammer thrower and footballer (d. 1961) births
Cornelius Edward "Con" Walsh was an Irish Canadian athlete who represented Canada at the 1908 Summer Olympics. He was born in Carriganimma. He won a bronze medal in the hammer throw, finishing third behind fellow Irishmen John Flanagan and Matt McGrath, both of whom represented the United States. Another Irishman, Robert Kerr also represented Canada at the same games. Walsh had earlier played Gaelic football and represented Cork.
Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, Scottish-English air marshal (d. 1970) births
Air Chief Marshal Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, was an officer in the Royal Air Force. He was Air Officer Commanding RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain and is generally credited with playing a crucial role in Britain's defence, and hence, the defeat of Adolf Hitler's plan to invade Britain.
Gideon Sundback, Swedish-American engineer and businessman, developed the zipper (d. 1954) births
Gideon Sundback was a Swedish-American electrical engineer, who is most commonly associated with his work in the development of the zipper.
A zipper, zip, fly, or zip fastener, formerly known as a clasp locker, is a commonly used device for binding together two edges of fabric or other flexible material. Used in clothing, luggage and other bags, camping gear, and many other items, zippers come in a wide range of sizes, shapes, and colors. Whitcomb L. Judson, an American inventor from Chicago, in 1892 patented the original design from which the modern device evolved.
Josef Müller, Croatian entomologist (d. 1964) births
Josef Müller, also known as Giuseppe Müller, was a Croatian entomologist.
Susanna Bokoyni, Hungarian-American circus performer (d. 1984) births
Susanna Bokoyni, also known as "Princess Susanna", was a Hungarian centenarian and circus performer who was listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-lived dwarf on record.
Jean Crotti, Swiss-French painter (d. 1958) births
Jean Crotti was a French painter.
Erich Raeder, German admiral (d. 1960) births
Erich Johann Albert Raeder was a German admiral who played a major role in the naval history of World War II. Raeder attained the highest possible naval rank, that of grand admiral, in 1939, becoming the first person to hold that rank since Henning von Holtzendorff in 1918. Raeder led the Kriegsmarine for the first half of the war; he resigned in January 1943 and was replaced by Karl Dönitz. At the Nuremberg Trials he was sentenced to life imprisonment but was released early owing to failing health.
Sandy Herd, Scottish golfer (d. 1944) births
Alexander "Sandy" Herd was a Scottish professional golfer from St Andrews. He won The Open Championship in 1902 at Hoylake.
Tomitaro Makino, Japanese botanist (d. 1957) births
Tomitaro Makino was a pioneer Japanese botanist noted for his taxonomic work. He has been called "Father of Japanese Botany". He was one of the first Japanese botanists to work extensively on classifying Japanese plants using the system developed by Linnaeus. His research resulted in documenting 50,000 specimens, many of which are represented in his Makino's Illustrated Flora of Japan. Despite having dropped out of grammar school, he eventually attained a Doctor of Science degree, and his birthday is remembered as Botany Day in Japan.
Queen Marau, last Queen of Tahiti (d.1935) births
Johanna Marau Taʻaroa a Tepau Salmon was the consort of King Pōmare V who ruled from 1877 to 1880 and was the last queen consort of the Kingdom of Tahiti. Her name means "Much-unique-cleansing-the-splash" in the Tahitian language.
Tahiti is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Australia. Divided into two parts, Tahiti Nui and Tahiti Iti, the island was formed from volcanic activity; it is high and mountainous with surrounding coral reefs. Its population was 189,517 in 2017, making it by far the most populous island in French Polynesia and accounting for 68.7% of its total population.
Philippe Pétain, French general and politician, 119th Prime Minister of France (d. 1951) births
Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain, commonly known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain, was a French general who attained the position of Marshal of France at the end of World War I, during which he became known as The Lion of Verdun. From 1940 to 1944, during World War II, he served as head of the collaborationist regime of Vichy France. Pétain, who was 84 years old in 1940, remains the oldest person to become the head of state of France.
The prime minister of France, officially the prime minister of the French Republic, is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of the Council of Ministers.
Vasily Zhukovsky, Russian poet and translator (b. 1783) deaths
Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky was the foremost Russian poet of the 1810s and a leading figure in Russian literature in the first half of the 19th century. He held a high position at the Romanov court as tutor to the Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna and later to her son, the future Tsar-Liberator Alexander II.
Carl Spitteler, Swiss poet and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1924) births
Carl Friedrich Georg Spitteler was a Swiss poet who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1919 "in special appreciation of his epic, Olympian Spring". His work includes both pessimistic and heroic poems.
The Nobel Prize in Literature is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in the field of literature, produced the most outstanding work in an idealistic direction". Though individual works are sometimes cited as being particularly noteworthy, the award is based on an author's body of work as a whole. The Swedish Academy decides who, if anyone, will receive the prize. The academy announces the name of the laureate in early October. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895. Literature is traditionally the final award presented at the Nobel Prize ceremony. On some occasions the award has been postponed to the following year, most recently in 2018 as of May 2022.
Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, Mexican politician, President of Mexico (d. 1889) births
Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada y Corral was Mexican liberal politician and jurist who served as the 27th president of Mexico from 1872 to 1876.
The president of Mexico, officially the president of the United Mexican States, is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Constitution of Mexico, the president heads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Mexican Armed Forces. The current president is Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who took office on 1 December 2018.
Anthony Trollope, English novelist, essayist, and short story writer (d. 1882) births
Anthony Trollope was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, which revolves around the imaginary county of Barsetshire. He also wrote novels on political, social, and gender issues, and other topical matters.
Axel von Fersen the Elder, Swedish field marshal and politician (b. 1719) deaths
Count Fredrik Axel von Fersen was a Swedish statesman and soldier. He served as Lord Marshal of the Riksdag of the Estates, and although he worked closely with King Gustav III before and through the Revolution of 1772, he later opposed the king.
Peter Vivian Daniel, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1860) births
Peter Vivian Daniel was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Eleazar Wheelock, American minister and academic, founded Dartmouth College (b. 1711) deaths
Eleazar Wheelock was an American Congregational minister, orator, and educator in Lebanon, Connecticut, for 35 years before founding Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. He had tutored Samson Occom, a Mohegan who became a Presbyterian minister and the first Native American to publish writings in English. Before founding Dartmouth, Wheelock founded and ran the Moor's Charity School in Connecticut to educate Native Americans. The college was primarily for the sons of American colonists.
Dartmouth College is a private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution and among the most prestigious in the United States. Although founded to educate Native Americans in Christian theology and the English way of life, the university primarily trained Congregationalist ministers during its early history before it gradually secularized, emerging at the turn of the 20th century from relative obscurity into national prominence.
Anton thor Helle, German-Estonian clergyman and translator (b. 1683) deaths
Anton thor Helle was the translator of the first Bible in Estonian in 1739, and the first Estonian grammar. The New Testament was a North Estonian revision of the 1648 version by Johannes Gutslaff (d.1657) author of Observationes Grammaticae circa linguam Esthonicam, and Helle's version was revised many times, including by C. Malm in 1896.
Edmund Cartwright, English clergyman and engineer, invented the power loom (d. 1823) births
Edmund Cartwright was an English inventor. He graduated from Oxford University and went on to invent the power loom. Married to local Elizabeth McMac at 19, he was the brother of Major John Cartwright, a political reformer and radical, and George Cartwright, explorer of Labrador.
A power loom is a mechanized loom, and was one of the key developments in the industrialization of weaving during the early Industrial Revolution. The first power loom was designed in 1786 by Edmund Cartwright and first built that same year. It was refined over the next 47 years until a design by the Howard and Bullough company made the operation completely automatic. This device was designed in 1834 by James Bullough and William Kenworthy, and was named the Lancashire loom.
Daniel Defoe, English journalist, novelist, and spy (b. 1660) deaths
Daniel Defoe was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translations. He has been seen as one of the earliest proponents of the English novel, and helped to popularise the form in Britain with others such as Aphra Behn and Samuel Richardson. Defoe wrote many political tracts, was often in trouble with the authorities, and spent a period in prison. Intellectuals and political leaders paid attention to his fresh ideas and sometimes consulted him.
Nathaniel Hone the Elder, Irish-English painter and educator (d. 1784) births
Nathaniel Hone was an Irish-born portrait and miniature painter, and one of the founder members of the Royal Academy in 1768.
Giovanni Battista Martini, Italian pianist and composer (d. 1780) births
Giovanni Battista or Giambattista Martini, O.F.M. Conv., also known as Padre Martini, was an Italian Conventual Franciscan friar, who was a leading musician, composer, and music historian of the period and a mentor to Mozart.
Thomas Fincke, Danish mathematician and physicist (b. 1561) deaths
Thomas Fincke was a Danish mathematician and physicist, and a professor at the University of Copenhagen for more than 60 years.
Fidelis of Sigmaringen, German friar and saint (b. 1577) deaths
Fidelis of Sigmaringen, O.F.M. Cap. was a Capuchin friar who was involved in the Catholic Counter-Reformation, and was martyred by his opponents at Seewis im Prättigau, now part of Switzerland. Fidelis was canonized in 1746.
John Graunt, English demographer and statistician (d. 1674) births
John Graunt has been regarded as the founder of demography. Graunt was one of the first demographers, and perhaps the first epidemiologist, though by profession he was a haberdasher. He was bankrupted later in life by losses suffered during Great Fire of London and the discrimination he faced following his conversion to Catholicism.
Concino Concini, Italian-French politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1575) deaths
Concino Concini, 1st Marquis d'Ancre, was an Italian politician, best known for being a minister of Louis XIII of France, as the favourite of Louis's mother, Marie de Medici, Queen of France. In 1617 he was killed on the behest of the King.
The prime minister of France, officially the prime minister of the French Republic, is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of the Council of Ministers.
Gaston, Duke of Orléans, third son of King Henry IV of France (d. 1660) births
Monsieur Gaston, Duke of Orléans, was the third son of King Henry IV of France and his second wife, Marie de' Medici. As a son of the king, he was born a Fils de France. He later acquired the title Duke of Orléans, by which he was generally known during his adulthood. As the eldest surviving brother of King Louis XIII, he was known at court by the traditional honorific Monsieur.
Vincent de Paul, French priest and saint (d. 1660) births
Vincent de Paul, CM, commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was a French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor.
Xu Guangqi, Ming Dynasty Chinese politician, scholar and lay Catholic leader (d. 1633) births
Xu Guangqi or Hsü Kuang-ch'i, also known by his baptismal name Paul, was a Chinese agronomist, astronomer, mathematician, politician, and writer during the Ming dynasty. Xu was a colleague and collaborator of the Italian Jesuits Matteo Ricci and Sabatino de Ursis and assisted their translation of several classic Western texts into Chinese, including part of Euclid's Elements. He was also the author of the Nong Zheng Quan Shu, a treatise on agriculture. He was one of the "Three Pillars of Chinese Catholicism"; the Roman Catholic Church considers him a Servant of God. On April 15, 2011, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi announced the beatification of Xu Guangqi.
Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, English Earl (d. 1581) births
Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, was an English peer.
Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua (d. 1587) births
Guglielmo Gonzaga was Duke of Mantua from 1550 to 1587, and of Montferrat from 1574 to 1587. He was the second son of Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Margaret Palaeologina of Montferrat. In 1574, Montferrat was elevated to a Duchy and Guglielmo became its first duke. He was succeeded as Duke of both duchies by his son Vincenzo.
William I of Orange, founding father of the Netherlands (d. 1584) births
William the Silent, also known as William the Taciturn, or, more commonly in the Netherlands, William of Orange, was the main leader of the Dutch Revolt against the Spanish Habsburgs that set off the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. Born into the House of Nassau, he became Prince of Orange in 1544 and is thereby the founder of the Orange-Nassau branch and the ancestor of the monarchy of the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, he is also known as Father of the Fatherland.
Thomas Lucy, English politician (d. 1600) births
Sir Thomas Lucy was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1571 and 1585. He was a magistrate in Warwickshire, but is best known for his links to William Shakespeare. As a Protestant activist, he came into conflict with Shakespeare's Catholic relatives, and there are stories that the young Shakespeare himself had clashes with him.
Şehzade Ahmet, Ottoman prince (b. 1465) deaths
Ahmed, also spelled Ahmet, was a Şehzade (prince) of the Ottoman Empire, the eldest son of Sultan Bayezid II. He fought against his younger brother, Selim, in the Ottoman Civil War of 1509–1513 to succeed their father, and was a central figure in the Şahkulu rebellion. Ahmed ultimately lost the war against his brother, and was executed by Selim's order after the latter usurped the throne.
Sabina of Bavaria, Bavarian duchess and noblewoman (d. 1564) births
Sabina of Bavaria-Munich was Duchess consort of Württemberg by marriage to Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg.
Jorge Manrique, Spanish poet (b. 1440) deaths
Jorge Manrique was a major Castilian poet, whose main work, the Coplas por la muerte de su padre , is still read today. He was a supporter of the queen Isabel I of Castile, and actively participated on her side in the civil war that broke out against her half-brother, Enrique IV, when the latter attempted to make his daughter, Juana, crown princess. Jorge died in 1479 during an attempt to take the castle of Garcimuñoz, defended by the Marquis of Villena, after Isabel gained the crown.
Theodore I, Marquess of Montferrat (b. 1291) deaths
Theodore I Palaiologos or Palaeologus was Marquis of Montferrat from 1306 until his death.
Gertrude of Austria (b. 1226) deaths
Gertrude of Austria was a member of the House of Babenberg, Duchess of Mödling and later titular Duchess of Austria and Styria. She was the niece of Duke Frederick II of Austria, the last male member of the Babenberg dynasty. She was, according to the Privilegium Minus the first in line to inherit the Duchies of Austria and Styria after the death of childless Frederick, but these claims were disputed by her aunt Margaret.
Petronille de Chemillé, abbess of Fontevrault deaths
Venerable Petronilla of Chemillé was the first abbess of the double monastery of Fontevrault in western France, which she headed from 1115 to 1149 following her second widowhood.
The Royal Abbey of Our Lady of Fontevraud or Fontevrault was a monastery in the village of Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, near Chinon, in the former French duchy of Anjou. It was founded in 1101 by the itinerant preacher Robert of Arbrissel. The foundation flourished and became the center of a new monastic Order, the Order of Fontevraud. This order was composed of double monasteries, in which the community consisted of both men and women — in separate quarters of the abbey — all of whom were subject to the authority of the Abbess of Fontevraud. The Abbey of Fontevraud itself consisted of four separate communities, all managed by the same abbess.
Ramiro II of Aragon (d. 1157) births
Ramiro II, called the Monk, was King of Aragon from 1134 until withdrawing from public life in 1137. Although a monk, he was elected king by the Aragonese nobility upon the death of his childless brother, Alfonso the Battler. He then had a daughter, Petronilla, whom he had marry Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona, unifying Aragon and Barcelona into the Crown of Aragon.
Mellitus, saint and archbishop of Canterbury deaths
Saint Mellitus was the first bishop of London in the Saxon period, the third Archbishop of Canterbury, and a member of the Gregorian mission sent to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons from their native paganism to Christianity. He arrived in 601 AD with a group of clergy sent to augment the mission, and was consecrated as Bishop of London in 604. Mellitus was the recipient of a famous letter from Pope Gregory I known as the Epistola ad Mellitum, preserved in a later work by the medieval chronicler Bede, which suggested the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons be undertaken gradually, integrating pagan rituals and customs. In 610, Mellitus returned to Italy to attend a council of bishops, and returned to England bearing papal letters to some of the missionaries.
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justin Welby, who was enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral on 21 March 2013. Welby is the 105th in a line which goes back more than 1400 years to Augustine of Canterbury, the "Apostle to the English", sent from Rome in the year 597. Welby succeeded Rowan Williams.
Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day (Armenia, France)
Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day or Armenian Genocide Memorial Day is a public holiday in Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh and is observed by the Armenian diaspora on 24 April. It is held annually to commemorate the victims of the Armenian genocide of 1915. It was a series of massacres and starvation of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottomans. In Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, hundreds of thousands of people walk to the Tsitsernakaberd Genocide Memorial to lay flowers at the eternal flame.
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region; and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, the Lachin corridor and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south. Yerevan is the capital, largest city and the financial center.
France, officially the French Republic, is a transcontinental country predominantly located in Western Europe and spanning overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. Due to its several coastal territories, France has the largest exclusive economic zone in the world. France borders Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Andorra, and Spain in continental Europe, as well as the Netherlands, Suriname, and Brazil in the Americas via its overseas territories in French Guiana and Saint Martin. Its eighteen integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 km2 (248,573 sq mi) and contain close to 68 million people. France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre; other major urban areas include Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Lille, Bordeaux, and Nice.
Christian feast day: Benedict Menni
Benedict Menni, OH, born Angelo Ercole Menni Figini, was an Italian Roman Catholic priest. Menni was a professed member of the Order of the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God and he went on to establish a religious congregation of women known as the Sisters Hospitaller of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and based upon the one of which he was a member. As part of his pastoral mission, he worked in Spain.
Christian feast day: Dermot of Armagh
Diarmaid of Armagh was Bishop of Armagh. He was made Bishop of Armagh in 834, but was driven from his see by the usurper Foraunan in 835. However, he claimed his rights and collected his cess in Connacht, in 836. He lived in a stormy age, as the Scandinavian rovers under Turgesius seized Armagh in 841 and leveled the churches. The Annals of Ulster describe him as one of "the wisest of the doctors of Europe". He is also known as Saint Dermot, and his feast is celebrated on 24 April.
Christian feast day: Dyfnan of Anglesey
Saint Dyfnan was an obscure Welsh saint. He was sometimes accounted a son of Brychan, the invading Irish king of Brycheiniog.
Christian feast day: Ecgberht of Ripon
Saint Ecgberht was an Anglo-Saxon monk of Northumbria. After studying at Lindisfarne and Rath Melsigi, he spent his life travelling among monasteries in northern Britain and around the Irish Sea. He was instrumental in the establishment of Wihtberht's mission to Frisia.
Christian feast day: Fidelis of Sigmaringen
Fidelis of Sigmaringen, O.F.M. Cap. was a Capuchin friar who was involved in the Catholic Counter-Reformation, and was martyred by his opponents at Seewis im Prättigau, now part of Switzerland. Fidelis was canonized in 1746.
Christian feast day: Gregory of Elvira
Gregory Baeticus was the bishop of Elvira, in the province of Baetica, Spain.
Christian feast day: Ivo of Ramsey
Saint Ivo was a Cornish bishop and hermit, and became the eponymous saint of St Ives, Huntingdonshire.
Christian feast day: Johann Walter (Lutheran)
Johann Walter, also known as Johann Walther or Johannes Walter was a Lutheran composer and poet during the Reformation period.
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched the Protestant Reformation. The reaction of the government and church authorities to the international spread of his writings, beginning with the Ninety-five Theses, divided Western Christianity. During the Reformation, Lutheranism became the state religion of numerous states of northern Europe, especially in northern Germany, Scandinavia and the then Livonian Order. Lutheran clergy became civil servants and the Lutheran churches became part of the state.
Christian feast day: Mary of Clopas
According to the Gospel of John, Mary of Clopas was one of the women present at the crucifixion of Jesus and bringing supplies for his funeral. The expression Mary of Clopas in the Greek text is ambiguous as to whether Mary was the daughter or wife of Clopas, but exegesis has commonly favoured the reading "wife of Clopas". Hegesippus identified Clopas as a brother of Saint Joseph. In the Roman Martyrology she is remembered with Saint Salome on April 24.
Christian feast day: Mary Euphrasia Pelletier
Mary Euphrasia Pelletier, born Rose Virginie Pelletier, was a French Roman Catholic nun, best known as the foundress of the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd.
Christian feast day: Mellitus
Saint Mellitus was the first bishop of London in the Saxon period, the third Archbishop of Canterbury, and a member of the Gregorian mission sent to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons from their native paganism to Christianity. He arrived in 601 AD with a group of clergy sent to augment the mission, and was consecrated as Bishop of London in 604. Mellitus was the recipient of a famous letter from Pope Gregory I known as the Epistola ad Mellitum, preserved in a later work by the medieval chronicler Bede, which suggested the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons be undertaken gradually, integrating pagan rituals and customs. In 610, Mellitus returned to Italy to attend a council of bishops, and returned to England bearing papal letters to some of the missionaries.
Christian feast day: Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur
Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur y Gonzáles (Spanish: Pedro de San José de Betancur y Gonzáles, March 21, 1626 – April 25, 1667, called Hermano Pedro de San José Betancurt or more simply Peter de Betancurt, Hermano Pedro, Santo Hermano Pedro, or San Pedro de Vilaflor, was a Spanish saint and missionary in Guatemala. Known as the "Saint Francis of Assisi of the Americas", he is the first saint native to the Canary Islands, is also considered the first saint of Guatemala and Central America for having done his missionary work in those American lands. He was the founder of Order of Our Lady of Bethlehem.
Christian feast day: Salome (disciple)
In the New Testament, Salome was a follower of Jesus who appears briefly in the canonical gospels and in apocryphal writings. She is named by Mark as present at the crucifixion and as one of the Myrrhbearers, the women who found Jesus's empty tomb. Interpretation has further identified her with other women who are mentioned but not named in the canonical gospels. In particular, she is often identified as the wife of Zebedee, the mother of James and John, two of the Twelve apostles. In medieval tradition Salome was counted as one of the Three Marys who were daughters of Saint Anne, so making her the sister or half-sister of Mary, mother of Jesus.
Christian feast day: Wilfrid (Church of England)
Wilfrid was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Francia, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and became the abbot of a newly founded monastery at Ripon. In 664 Wilfrid acted as spokesman for the Roman position at the Synod of Whitby, and became famous for his speech advocating that the Roman method for calculating the date of Easter should be adopted. His success prompted the king's son, Alhfrith, to appoint him Bishop of Northumbria. Wilfrid chose to be consecrated in Gaul because of the lack of what he considered to be validly consecrated bishops in England at that time. During Wilfrid's absence Alhfrith seems to have led an unsuccessful revolt against his father, Oswiu, leaving a question mark over Wilfrid's appointment as bishop. Before Wilfrid's return Oswiu had appointed Ceadda in his place, resulting in Wilfrid's retirement to Ripon for a few years following his arrival back in Northumbria.
The Church of England is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain by the 3rd century and to the 6th-century Gregorian mission to Kent led by Augustine of Canterbury.
Christian feast day: William Firmatus
William Firmatus was a Norman hermit and pilgrim of the eleventh century, now venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.
Christian feast day: April 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Apr. 23 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - Apr. 25
Concord Day (Niger)
National Day of Concorde is a national holiday in Niger, celebrated every 24 April since 1995.
Niger or the Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state bordered by Libya to the northeast, Chad to the east, Nigeria to the south, Benin and Burkina Faso to the southwest, Mali to the west, and Algeria to the northwest. It covers a land area of almost 1,270,000 km2 (490,000 sq mi), making it the second-largest landlocked country in West Africa, after Chad. Over 80% of its land area lies in the Sahara. Its predominantly Muslim population of about 25 million live mostly in clusters in the further south and west of the country. The capital Niamey is located in Niger's southwest corner.
Democracy Day (Nepal)
The 2006 Democracy Movement is a name given to the political agitations against the direct and undemocratic rule of King Gyanendra of Nepal. The movement is also sometimes referred to as Jana Andolan II, implying it being a second phase of the 1990 Jana Andolan.
Fashion Revolution Day, and its related observances: Labour Safety Day (Bangladesh, proposed)
Labour Day is an annual holiday to celebrate the achievements of workers. Labour Day has its origins in the labour union movement, specifically the eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest.
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of 148,460 square kilometres (57,320 sq mi). Bangladesh is among the most densely populated countries in the world, and shares land borders with India to the west, north, and east, and Myanmar to the southeast; to the south it has a coastline along the Bay of Bengal. It is narrowly separated from Bhutan and Nepal by the Siliguri Corridor; and from China by the Indian state of Sikkim in the north. Dhaka, the capital and largest city, is the nation's political, financial and cultural centre. Chittagong, the second-largest city, is the busiest port on the Bay of Bengal. The official language is Bengali, one of the easternmost branches of the Indo-European language family.
National Panchayati Raj Day (India)
National Panchayati Raj Day is the national day of Panchayati Raj System in India celebrated by Ministry of Panchayati Raj on 24 April annually.
Republic Day (The Gambia)
This is a list of public holidays in the Gambia.
World Day for Laboratory Animals
World Day For Animals In Laboratories is observed every year on 24 April. The surrounding week has come to be known as "World Week for Animals In Laboratories". The National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) describes the day as an "international day of commemoration" for animals in laboratories.