On This Day /

Important events in history
on February 24 th

Events

  1. 2022

    1. Russian forces launched an invasion of Ukraine in an escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.

      1. Escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War

        2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

        On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has likely resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides and caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II, with an estimated 8 million people being displaced within the country by late May as well as 7.8 million Ukrainians fleeing the country as of 8 November 2022. Within five weeks of the invasion, Russia experienced its greatest emigration since the 1917 October Revolution. The invasion has also caused global food shortages.

      2. Armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine since 2014

        Russo-Ukrainian War

        The Russo-Ukrainian War has been ongoing between Russia and Ukraine since February 2014. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine and supported pro-Russian separatists in the war in Donbas against Ukrainian government forces; fighting for the first eight years of the conflict also included naval incidents, cyberwarfare, and heightened political tensions. In February 2022, the conflict saw a major escalation as Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

    2. Days after recognising Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states, Russian president Vladimir Putin orders a full scale invasion of Ukraine.

      1. Disputed Russian republic in eastern Ukraine

        Donetsk People's Republic

        The Donetsk People's Republic is a disputed entity created by Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. It began as a breakaway state (2014–2022) and was later annexed by Russia (2022–present). The DPR claims Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast. The city of Donetsk is the contested administrative centre of the region.

      2. Disputed Russian republic in eastern Ukraine

        Luhansk People's Republic

        The Luhansk or Lugansk People's Republic is a disputed entity created by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. It began as a breakaway state (2014–2022) and was later annexed by Russia (2022–present). The LPR claims Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast. Luhansk is the contested capital city.

      3. Since 1991, head of state of the RSFSR and Russia

        President of Russia

        The president of the Russian Federation is the supreme head of state of the Russian Federation, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. It is the highest office in Russia.

      4. President of Russia (1999–2008, 2012–present)

        Vladimir Putin

        Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as the president of Russia since 2012, having previously served between 2000 and 2008. He was the prime minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012, thus having served continuously as either president or prime minister from 1999 onwards.

      5. Escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War

        2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

        On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has likely resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides and caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II, with an estimated 8 million people being displaced within the country by late May as well as 7.8 million Ukrainians fleeing the country as of 8 November 2022. Within five weeks of the invasion, Russia experienced its greatest emigration since the 1917 October Revolution. The invasion has also caused global food shortages.

  2. 2020

    1. Mahathir Mohamad resigned as Prime Minister of Malaysia following an attempt to replace Pakatan Harapan government which triggered 2020 Malaysian political crisis.

      1. Prime Minister of Malaysia, 1981–2003 and 2018–20

        Mahathir Mohamad

        Mahathir bin Mohamad is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held office from July 1981 to October 2003 and later from May 2018 to March 2020 for a cumulative total of 24 years, making him the country's longest-serving prime minister. Before his promotion to the premiership, he served as Deputy Prime Minister and in other Cabinet positions. He has served as a member of parliament for Langkawi from May 2018 to October 2022, Kubang Pasu from August 1974 to March 2004, and Kota Setar Selatan from April 1964 to May 1969. His political career has spanned more than 75 years, from joining protests opposing citizenship policies for non-Malays in the Malayan Union in the 1940s to forming the Gerakan Tanah Air coalition in 2022.

      2. Head of government of Malaysia

        Prime Minister of Malaysia

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

      3. Malaysian political coalition

        Pakatan Harapan

        The Alliance of Hope is a Malaysian political coalition consisting of centre-left political parties which was formed in 2015 to succeed the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. It has been the ruling coalition since November 2022 after it formed the coalition government with other political coalitions and parties as a result of the 2022 Malaysian general election, and after it won the 2018 Malaysian general election to February 2020 when it lost power as a result of the 2020 Malaysian political crisis at the federal level for 22 months. The coalition deposed the Barisan Nasional coalition government during the 2018 election, ending its 60-year-long reign since independence.

      4. Political crisis in Malaysia

        2020–2022 Malaysian political crisis

        The 2020–2022 Malaysian political crisis was a political crisis in Malaysia. It was caused by several members of the 14th parliament (MPs) changing party support, leading to the loss of a parliamentary majority, the collapse of three successive coalition governments, and the resignation of two Prime Ministers in less than 18 months. The crisis led to a 2022 snap general election and eventual formation of a unity government.

  3. 2016

    1. Tara Air Flight 193, a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft, crashed, with 23 fatalities, in Solighopte, Myagdi District, Dhaulagiri Zone, while en route from Pokhara Airport to Jomsom Airport.

      1. 2016 passenger plane crash in Dana, Nepal

        Tara Air Flight 193

        Tara Air Flight 193 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Pokhara to Jomsom, Nepal. On 24 February 2016, eight minutes after take-off, the aircraft serving the flight, a Viking Air DHC-6-400 Twin Otter went missing with 23 people on board. Hours later, the wreckage was found near the village of Dana, Myagdi District. There were no survivors. It was Tara Air's deadliest accident.

      2. Utility transport aircraft family by de Havilland Canada

        De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter

        The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restarted production in 2008 before re-adopting the DHC name in 2022. The aircraft's fixed tricycle undercarriage, STOL capabilities, twin turboprop engines and high rate of climb have made it a successful commuter airliner, typically seating 18-20 passengers, as well as a cargo and medical evacuation aircraft. In addition, the Twin Otter has been popular with commercial skydiving operations, and is used by the United States Army Parachute Team and the United States Air Force's 98th Flying Training Squadron.

      3. District in Gandaki Province, Nepal

        Myagdi District

        Myagdi District, a part of Gandaki Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Beni as its district headquarters, covers an area of 2,297 km2 (887 sq mi), had a population of 114,447 in 2001 and 113,641 in 2011.

      4. Airport

        Pokhara Airport

        Pokhara Airport is a domestic airport serving Pokhara in Nepal. Following a new agreement on air travel between India and Nepal, Pokhara Airport will be replaced by Nepal's third international airport, Pokhara International Airport in 2022.

      5. Domestic airport serving Jomsom, Gandaki Province, Nepal

        Jomsom Airport

        Jomsom Airport is a domestic airport located in Jomsom serving Mustang District, a district in Gandaki Province in Nepal. It serves as the gateway to Mustang District that includes Jomsom, Kagbeni, Tangbe, and Lo Manthang, and Muktinath temple, which is a popular pilgrimage for Nepalis and Indian pilgrims.

  4. 2015

    1. A Metrolink train derails in Oxnard, California following a collision with a truck, leaving more than 30 injured.

      1. Commuter rail and rapid transit system in Southern California

        Metrolink (California)

        Metrolink is a commuter rail system in Southern California, serving Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties, as well as to Oceanside in San Diego County. The core commuter rail network consists of seven lines and 62 stations operating on 534 miles (859 km) of rail network. In addition, Metrolink also operates the 9-mile (14 km) Arrow hybrid rail line in San Bernardino County, under a contract with the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority, integrating another four stations to its network.

      2. 2015 rail transport disaster in Oxnard, California, USA

        2015 Oxnard train derailment

        The 2015 Oxnard train derailment occurred on February 24, 2015, at 5:44 a.m. local time when a Metrolink passenger train collided with a truck that a driver had mistakenly turned from Rice Avenue onto the tracks and became stuck. After impact, the train derailed at Oxnard, California, United States. As a result of the crash, the train engineer died from his injuries a week later and 32 passengers and crew members were injured. The truck driver exited his vehicle and ran from the scene prior to the crash; he sustained minor injuries that were unrelated to the crash sequence.

      3. City in the state of California, United States

        Oxnard, California

        Oxnard is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately 60 miles (97 km) west of downtown Los Angeles and is part of the larger Greater Los Angeles area.

  5. 2008

    1. Fidel Castro retires as the President of Cuba and the Council of Ministers after 32 years. He remains as head of the Communist Party for another three years.

      1. Leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2011

        Fidel Castro

        Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 2008. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist and Cuban nationalist, he also served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1961 until 2011. Under his administration, Cuba became a one-party communist state; industry and business were nationalized, and state socialist reforms were implemented throughout society.

      2. Head of state of Cuba

        President of Cuba

        The president of Cuba, officially the president of the Republic of Cuba, is the head of state of Cuba. The office in its current form was established under the Constitution of 2019. The President is the second-highest office in Cuba and the highest state office. Miguel Díaz-Canel became President of the Council of State on 19 April 2018, taking over from Raúl Castro, and has been President of Cuba since 10 October 2019.

      3. Executive body of the Republic of Cuba

        Council of Ministers (Cuba)

        The Council of Ministers, also referred to as simply the Cabinet of Cuba, is the highest ranking executive and administrative body of the Republic of Cuba, and constitutes the nation's government. It consists of the President, the First Vice President and the five Vice Presidents of the Council of State, the Secretary of the Executive Committee, the heads of the national ministries, and other members as established by law.

      4. Sole ruling party of Cuba

        Communist Party of Cuba

        The Communist Party of Cuba is the sole ruling party of Cuba. It was founded on 3 October 1965 as the successor to the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution, which was in turn made up of the 26th of July Movement and Popular Socialist Party that seized power in Cuba after the 1959 Cuban Revolution. The party governs Cuba as an authoritarian one-party state where dissidence and political opposition are prohibited and repressed. The Cuban constitution ascribes the role of the party to be the "leading force of society and of the state".

  6. 2007

    1. Japan launches its fourth spy satellite, stepping up its ability to monitor potential threats such as North Korea.

      1. Satellite that covertly collects data for intelligence or military applications

        Reconnaissance satellite

        A reconnaissance satellite or intelligence satellite is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications.

      2. Country in East Asia

        North Korea

        North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and Tumen rivers, and South Korea to the south at the Korean Demilitarized Zone. North Korea's border with South Korea is a disputed border as both countries claim the entirety of the Korean Peninsula. The country's western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eastern border is defined by the Sea of Japan. North Korea, like its southern counterpart, claims to be the legitimate government of the entire peninsula and adjacent islands. Pyongyang is the capital and largest city.

  7. 2006

    1. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declares Proclamation 1017 placing the country in a state of emergency in attempt to subdue a possible military coup.

      1. Head of state and head of government of the Philippines

        President of the Philippines

        The president of the Philippines is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

      2. President of the Philippines from 2001 to 2010

        Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

        Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo, often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the House Deputy Speakers since 2022, and previously from 2016 to 2017. She previously served as the 14th president of the Philippines from 2001 until 2010. She is the longest serving president of the Philippines since Ferdinand Marcos. Before her accession to the presidency, she served as the 10th vice president of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001 under President Joseph Estrada, making her the country's first female vice president, despite having run on an opposing ticket. She was also a senator from 1992 to 1998. After her presidency, she was elected as the representative of Pampanga's 2nd district in 2010 and later became the speaker of the House of Representatives from 2018 until her retirement in 2019. She later came out of retirement to be elected as representative of the same district in 2022. She is one of the only 2 Filipinos to hold at least three of the four highest offices in the country: vice president, president, and house speaker, alongside former President Sergio Osmeña.

      3. Week-long period after an alleged coup attempt against President Gloria Arroyo

        2006 state of emergency in the Philippines

        The Philippines was under a state of emergency, announced by presidential spokesperson Ignacio Bunye on the morning of February 24, 2006, by the virtue of Proclamation No. 1017. This occurred after the government claimed that it foiled an alleged coup d'état attempt against the rule of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo earlier that same day. State security services also claimed that it had arrested a general who was involved in the coup attempt. President Arroyo lifted the state of emergency on March 3, 2006, by the virtue of Proclamation No. 1021.

  8. 2004

    1. The 6.3 Mw Al Hoceima earthquake strikes northern Morocco with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). At least 628 people are killed, 926 are injured, and up to 15,000 are displaced.

      1. Magnitude of an earthquake

        Seismic magnitude scales

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

      2. Earthquake near the northern Moroccan coast

        2004 Al Hoceima earthquake

        The 2004 Al Hoceima earthquake occurred on 24 February at 02:27:47 local time near the coast of northern Morocco. The strike-slip earthquake measured 6.3 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum perceived intensity of IX (Violent) on the Mercalli intensity scale. Between 628 and 631 people were killed, 926 were injured, and up to 15,000 people were made homeless in the Al Hoceima-Imzourene-Beni Abdallah area.

      3. Country in North Africa

        Morocco

        Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to the east, and the disputed territory of Western Sahara to the south. Morocco also claims the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta, Melilla and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, and several small Spanish-controlled islands off its coast. It spans an area of 446,300 km2 (172,300 sq mi) or 710,850 km2 (274,460 sq mi), with a population of roughly 37 million. Its official and predominant religion is Islam, and the official languages are Arabic and Berber; the Moroccan dialect of Arabic and French are also widely spoken. Moroccan identity and culture is a vibrant mix of Berber, Arab, and European cultures. Its capital is Rabat, while its largest city is Casablanca.

      4. Seismic intensity scale used to quantify the degree of shaking during earthquakes

        Modified Mercalli intensity scale

        The Modified Mercalli intensity scale, developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the effects of an earthquake at a given location, distinguished from the earthquake's inherent force or strength as measured by seismic magnitude scales. While shaking is caused by the seismic energy released by an earthquake, earthquakes differ in how much of their energy is radiated as seismic waves. Deeper earthquakes also have less interaction with the surface, and their energy is spread out across a larger volume. Shaking intensity is localized, generally diminishing with distance from the earthquake's epicenter, but can be amplified in sedimentary basins and certain kinds of unconsolidated soils.

  9. 1999

    1. China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509, a Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft, crashes on approach to Wenzhou Longwan International Airport in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China. All 61 people on board are killed.

      1. 1999 airplane crash in China

        China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509

        China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509 (SZ4509) was a domestic flight in China from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, Sichuan to Wenzhou Yongqiang Airport, Zhejiang. On February 24, 1999, the Tupolev Tu-154M operating the flight crashed while on approach to Wenzhou Airport, killing all 61 passengers and crew members on board.

      2. Airliner by Tupolev

        Tupolev Tu-154

        The Tupolev Tu-154 is a three-engined, medium-range, narrow-body airliner designed in the mid-1960s and manufactured by Tupolev. A workhorse of Soviet and (subsequently) Russian airlines for several decades, it carried half of all passengers flown by Aeroflot and its subsidiaries, remaining the standard domestic-route airliner of Russia and former Soviet states until the mid-2000s. It was exported to 17 non-Russian airlines and used as a head-of-state transport by the air forces of several countries.

      3. Airport serving Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China

        Wenzhou Longwan International Airport

        Wenzhou Longwan International Airport is the airport serving the city of Wenzhou in southern Zhejiang Province, China. Formerly called Wenzhou Yongqiang Airport, it adopted the current name on 25 April 2013.

      4. Prefecture-level city in Zhejiang, China

        Wenzhou

        Wenzhou, historically known as Wenchow is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Zhejiang province in the People's Republic of China. Wenzhou is located at the extreme south east of Zhejiang Province with its borders connecting to Lishui on the west, Taizhou on the north, and Fujian to the south. It is surrounded by mountains, the East China Sea, and 436 islands, while its lowlands are almost entirely along its East China Sea coast, which is nearly 355 kilometres in length. Most of Wenzhou's area is mountainous as almost 76 percent of its 11,784-square-kilometre (4,550 sq mi) surface area is classified as mountains and hills. It is said that Wenzhou has 7/10 mountains, 1/10 water, and 2/10 farmland. At the time of the 2010 Chinese census, 3,039,500 people lived in Wenzhou's urban area; the area under its jurisdiction held a population of 9,122,100 of which 31.16% are non-local residents from outside of Wenzhou.

      5. Province of China

        Zhejiang

        Zhejiang is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiangsu and Shanghai to the north, Anhui to the northwest, Jiangxi to the west and Fujian to the south. To the east is the East China Sea, beyond which lies the Ryukyu Islands. The population of Zhejiang stands at 64.6 million, the 8th highest among China. It has been called 'the backbone of China' due to being a major driving force in the Chinese economy and being the birthplace of several notable persons, including the Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek and entrepreneur Jack Ma. Zhejiang consists of 90 counties.

      6. Country in East Asia

        China

        China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and borders fourteen countries by land, the most of any country in the world, tied with Russia. China also has a narrow maritime boundary with the disputed Taiwan. Covering an area of approximately 9.6 million square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the world's third largest country by total land area. The country consists of 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four municipalities, and two Special Administrative Regions. The national capital is Beijing, and the most populous city and financial center is Shanghai.

  10. 1996

    1. Two civilian airplanes operated by the Miami-based group Brothers to the Rescue are shot down in international waters by the Cuban Air Force.

      1. City in Florida, United States

        Miami

        Miami, officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 as of the 2020 census, it is the second-most populous city in Florida and the eleventh-most populous city in the Southeastern United States. The Miami metropolitan area is the ninth largest in the U.S. with a population of 6.138 million people as of 2020. The city has the third-largest skyline in the U.S. with over 300 high-rises, 58 of which exceed 491 ft (150 m).

      2. Anti-Cuba organization run by Cuban exiles in Florida

        Brothers to the Rescue

        Brothers to the Rescue is a Miami-based activist nonprofit organization headed by José Basulto. Formed by Cuban exiles, the group is widely known for its opposition to the Cuban government and its former leader Fidel Castro. The group describes itself as a humanitarian organization aiming to assist and rescue raft refugees emigrating from Cuba and to "support the efforts of the Cuban people to free themselves from dictatorship through the use of active non-violence". Brothers to the Rescue, Inc., was founded in May 1991 "after several pilots were touched by the death of" fifteen-year-old Gregorio Perez Ricardo, who "fleeing Castro's Cuba on a raft, perished of severe dehydration in the hands of U.S. Coast Guard officers who were attempting to save his life."

      3. 1996 shootdown of Brothers to the Rescue aircraft

        On 24 February 1996 a Cuban Air Force Mikoyan MiG-29UB shot down two unarmed Cessna 337 Skymaster aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue, an organization opposed to the Cuban government. The Organisation of American States (OAS) reported that no warning was given; Cuban government sources said "These people knew what they were doing. They were warned", and that the aircraft had entered Cuban airspace. All the occupants of the aircraft were killed: Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre, Jr., Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales. A third Cessna involved escaped. Previous similar flights had released propaganda leaflets over Cuba.

      4. Air warfare branch of Cuba's military

        Cuban Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force

        The Cuban Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force commonly abbreviated to DAAFAR in both Spanish and English, is the air force of Cuba.

  11. 1991

    1. Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Iraq, thus beginning the ground phase of the war.

      1. 1990–1991 war between Iraq and American-led coalition forces

        Gulf War

        The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: Operation Desert Shield, which marked the military buildup from August 1990 to January 1991; and Operation Desert Storm, which began with the aerial bombing campaign against Iraq on 17 January 1991 and came to a close with the American-led Liberation of Kuwait on 28 February 1991.

      2. Country in Western Asia

        Saudi Arabia

        Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about 2,150,000 km2 (830,000 sq mi), making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Arab world, and the largest in Western Asia and the Middle East. It is bordered by the Red Sea to the west; Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait to the north; the Persian Gulf, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to the east; Oman to the southeast; and Yemen to the south. Bahrain is an island country off the east coast. The Gulf of Aqaba in the northwest separates Saudi Arabia from Egypt. Saudi Arabia is the only country with a coastline along both the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and most of its terrain consists of arid desert, lowland, steppe, and mountains. Its capital and largest city is Riyadh. The country is home to Mecca and Medina, the two holiest cities in Islam.

      3. Country in Western Asia

        Iraq

        Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and Kuwait to the southeast, Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the southwest and Syria to the west. The capital and largest city is Baghdad. Iraq is home to diverse ethnic groups including Iraqi Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Armenians, Yazidis, Mandaeans, Persians and Shabakis with similarly diverse geography and wildlife. The vast majority of the country's 44 million residents are Muslims – the notable other faiths are Christianity, Yazidism, Mandaeism, Yarsanism and Zoroastrianism. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish; others also recognised in specific regions are Neo-Aramaic, Turkish and Armenian.

  12. 1989

    1. United Airlines Flight 811 experienced uncontrolled decompression after leaving Honolulu International Airport, Hawaii, blowing seats out of the aircraft and killing nine passengers.

      1. 1989 passenger plane accident

        United Airlines Flight 811

        United Airlines Flight 811 was a regularly scheduled airline flight from Los Angeles to Sydney, with intermediate stops at Honolulu and Auckland. On February 24, 1989, the Boeing 747-122 serving the flight experienced a cargo-door failure in flight shortly after leaving Honolulu. The resulting explosive decompression blew out several rows of seats, killing nine passengers. The aircraft returned to Honolulu and landed with no further incident.

      2. Unplanned drop in the pressure of a sealed system

        Uncontrolled decompression

        Uncontrolled decompression is an unplanned drop in the pressure of a sealed system, such as an aircraft cabin or hyperbaric chamber, and typically results from human error, material fatigue, engineering failure, or impact, causing a pressure vessel to vent into its lower-pressure surroundings or fail to pressurize at all.

      3. Airport in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

        Daniel K. Inouye International Airport

        Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, also known as Honolulu International Airport, is the main airport of Oahu, Hawaii. The airport is named after Honolulu native and Medal of Honor recipient Daniel Inouye, who represented Hawaii in the U.S. Senate from 1963 to his death in 2012. The airport is in the Honolulu census-designated place 3 miles (5 km) northwest of Honolulu's central business district. The airport covers 4,220 acres, more than 1% of Oahu's land.

    2. United Airlines Flight 811, bound for New Zealand from Honolulu, rips open during flight, blowing nine passengers out of the business-class section.

      1. 1989 passenger plane accident

        United Airlines Flight 811

        United Airlines Flight 811 was a regularly scheduled airline flight from Los Angeles to Sydney, with intermediate stops at Honolulu and Auckland. On February 24, 1989, the Boeing 747-122 serving the flight experienced a cargo-door failure in flight shortly after leaving Honolulu. The resulting explosive decompression blew out several rows of seats, killing nine passengers. The aircraft returned to Honolulu and landed with no further incident.

      2. Capital and the largest city of Hawaii

        Honolulu

        Honolulu is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island of Oʻahu, and is the westernmost and southernmost major U.S. city. Honolulu is Hawaii's main gateway to the world. It is also a major hub for business, finance, hospitality, and military defense in both the state and Oceania. The city is characterized by a mix of various Asian, Western, and Pacific cultures, reflected in its diverse demography, cuisine, and traditions.

  13. 1984

    1. Tyrone Mitchell perpetrates the 49th Street Elementary School shooting in Los Angeles, killing two children and injuring 12 more.

      1. 20th-century American mass shooter

        Tyrone Mitchell

        Tyrone Mitchell was an American spree killer who fatally shot two students and wounded twelve others who were leaving 49th Street Elementary School in Los Angeles on February 24, 1984. Mitchell then committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a double-barreled shotgun.

  14. 1983

    1. A special commission of the United States Congress condemns the Japanese American internment during World War II.

      1. Branch of the United States federal government

        United States Congress

        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.

      2. World War II mass incarceration in the United States

        Internment of Japanese Americans

        During World War II, the United States forcibly relocated and incarcerated at least 125,284 people of Japanese descent in 75 identified incarceration sites. Most lived on the Pacific Coast, in concentration camps in the western interior of the country. Approximately two-thirds of the inmates were United States citizens. These actions were initiated by president Franklin D. Roosevelt via an executive order shortly after Imperial Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.

  15. 1981

    1. The 6.7 .mw-parser-output .tooltip-dotted{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}Ms Gulf of Corinth earthquake affected Central Greece with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). Twenty-two people were killed, 400 were injured, and damage totaled $812 million.

      1. Magnitude of an earthquake

        Seismic magnitude scales

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

      2. List of earthquakes in Greece

        This list of earthquakes in Greece includes notable earthquakes that have affected Greece during recorded history. This list is currently incomplete, representing only a fraction of the possible events.

      3. NUTS division of Greece

        Kentriki Ellada

        Kentriki Ellada, meaning Central Greece, is a first level NUTS division of Greece created for statistical purposes by the European Union.

      4. Seismic intensity scale used to quantify the degree of shaking during earthquakes

        Modified Mercalli intensity scale

        The Modified Mercalli intensity scale, developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the effects of an earthquake at a given location, distinguished from the earthquake's inherent force or strength as measured by seismic magnitude scales. While shaking is caused by the seismic energy released by an earthquake, earthquakes differ in how much of their energy is radiated as seismic waves. Deeper earthquakes also have less interaction with the surface, and their energy is spread out across a larger volume. Shaking intensity is localized, generally diminishing with distance from the earthquake's epicenter, but can be amplified in sedimentary basins and certain kinds of unconsolidated soils.

  16. 1978

    1. Five men disappeared after attending a college basketball game in Chico, California; the bodies of four of them were discovered four months later.

      1. Four deaths and one disappearance in 1978 in California

        Yuba County Five

        The Yuba County Five were a group of young men from Yuba City, California, with mild intellectual disabilities or psychiatric conditions, who attended a college basketball game at California State University, Chico, on the night of February 24, 1978. Four of them—Bill Sterling, 29; Jack Huett, 24; Ted Weiher, 32; and Jack Madruga, 30—were later found dead; the fifth, Gary Mathias, 25, has never been found.

      2. City in California, United States

        Chico, California

        Chico is the most populous city in Butte County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 101,475 in the 2020 census, reflecting an increase from 86,187 in the 2010 Census. Chico is the cultural and economic center of the northern Sacramento Valley, as well as the largest city in California north of the capital city of Sacramento. The city is known as a college town, as the home of California State University, Chico, and for Bidwell Park, one of the largest urban parks in the world.

    2. The Yuba County Five disappear in California. Four of their bodies are found four months later.

      1. Four deaths and one disappearance in 1978 in California

        Yuba County Five

        The Yuba County Five were a group of young men from Yuba City, California, with mild intellectual disabilities or psychiatric conditions, who attended a college basketball game at California State University, Chico, on the night of February 24, 1978. Four of them—Bill Sterling, 29; Jack Huett, 24; Ted Weiher, 32; and Jack Madruga, 30—were later found dead; the fifth, Gary Mathias, 25, has never been found.

  17. 1976

    1. The current constitution of Cuba is formally proclaimed.

      1. Fundamental law of Cuba

        Constitution of Cuba

        Even before attaining its independence from Spain, Cuba had several constitutions either proposed or adopted by insurgents as governing documents for territory they controlled during their war against Spain. Cuba has had several constitutions since winning its independence. The first constitution since the Cuban Revolution was drafted in 1976 and has since been amended. In 2018, Cuba became engaged in a major revision of its constitution, which was widely discussed by the people and by academics. The current constitution was then enacted in 2019.

  18. 1971

    1. The All India Forward Bloc holds an emergency central committee meeting after its chairman, Hemantha Kumar Bose, is killed three days earlier. P.K. Mookiah Thevar is appointed as the new chairman.

      1. Political party in India

        All India Forward Bloc

        The All India Forward Bloc is a left-wing nationalist political party in India. It emerged as a faction within the Indian National Congress in 1939, led by Subhas Chandra Bose. The party re-established as an independent political party after the independence of India. It has its main stronghold in West Bengal. The party's current Secretary-General is Debabrata Biswas. Veteran Indian politicians Sarat Chandra Bose and Chitta Basu had been the stalwarts of the party in independent India.

      2. Indian politician, Ramanathapuram MP 1971–1977

        P.K. Mookiah Thevar

        P. K. Mookiah Thevar (1923-1979) was an Indian politician.

  19. 1968

    1. Vietnam War: South Vietnamese forces led by Ngô Quang Trưởng recaptured the citadel of Huế.

      1. Cold War conflict in Southeast Asia from 1955 to 1975

        Vietnam War

        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.

      2. Country in Southeast Asia from 1955 to 1975

        South Vietnam

        South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam, was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of the Cold War after the 1954 division of Vietnam. It first received international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with its capital at Saigon, before becoming a republic in 1955. South Vietnam was bordered by North Vietnam to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and Thailand across the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest. Its sovereignty was recognized by the United States and 87 other nations, though it failed to gain admission into the United Nations as a result of a Soviet veto in 1957. It was succeeded by the Republic of South Vietnam in 1975.

      3. South Vietnamese Army officer

        Ngô Quang Trưởng

        Ngô Quang Trưởng was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). Trưởng gained his commission in the Vietnamese National Army in 1954 and moved up the ranks over the next decade, mostly in the Airborne Brigade. In 1966, Trưởng commanded a division for the first time after he was given command of the 1st Division after helping to quell the Buddhist Uprising. He rebuilt the unit after this divisive period and used it to repel the communists and reclaimed the imperial citadel of Huế after weeks of bitter street fighting during the Tết Offensive. In 1970, Trưởng was given command of IV Corps in the Mekong Delta and improved the situation there to such an extent that he allowed some of his forces to be redeployed to other parts of the country that were finding the communist pressure difficult.

      4. Thirty-two day long battle during the Vietnam War

        Battle of Huế

        The Battle of Huế, also called the Siege of Huế, was a major military engagement in the Tết Offensive launched by North Vietnam and the Việt Cộng during the Vietnam War. After initially losing control of most of Huế and its surroundings, the combined South Vietnamese and American forces gradually recaptured the city over one month of intense fighting. The battle was one of the longest and bloodiest of the war, and the battle negatively affected American public perception of the war.

      5. Walled complex in Huế, Vietnam

        Imperial City of Huế

        The Imperial City is a walled enclosure within the citadel of the city of Huế, the former imperial capital of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty. It contains the palaces that housed the imperial family, as well as shrines, gardens, and villas for mandarins. Constructed in 1803 under Emperor Gia Long as a new capital, it mostly served a ceremonial function during the French colonial period. After the end of the monarchy in 1945, it suffered heavy damage and neglect during the Indochina Wars through the 1980s. The Imperial City was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993 and is undergoing restoration.

    2. Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive is halted; South Vietnamese forces led by Ngo Quang Truong recapture the citadel of Hué.

      1. Cold War conflict in Southeast Asia from 1955 to 1975

        Vietnam War

        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.

      2. Military campaign during the Vietnam War

        Tet Offensive

        The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the forces of the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), the United States Armed Forces and their allies. It was a campaign of surprise attacks against military and civilian command and control centers throughout South Vietnam. The name is the truncated version of the Lunar New Year festival name in Vietnamese, Tết Nguyên Đán, with the offense chosen during a holiday period as most ARVN personnel were on leave. The purpose of the wide-scale offensive by the Hanoi Politburo was to trigger political instability, in a belief that mass armed assault on urban centers would trigger defections and rebellions.

      3. Country in Southeast Asia from 1955 to 1975

        South Vietnam

        South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam, was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of the Cold War after the 1954 division of Vietnam. It first received international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with its capital at Saigon, before becoming a republic in 1955. South Vietnam was bordered by North Vietnam to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and Thailand across the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest. Its sovereignty was recognized by the United States and 87 other nations, though it failed to gain admission into the United Nations as a result of a Soviet veto in 1957. It was succeeded by the Republic of South Vietnam in 1975.

      4. South Vietnamese Army officer

        Ngô Quang Trưởng

        Ngô Quang Trưởng was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). Trưởng gained his commission in the Vietnamese National Army in 1954 and moved up the ranks over the next decade, mostly in the Airborne Brigade. In 1966, Trưởng commanded a division for the first time after he was given command of the 1st Division after helping to quell the Buddhist Uprising. He rebuilt the unit after this divisive period and used it to repel the communists and reclaimed the imperial citadel of Huế after weeks of bitter street fighting during the Tết Offensive. In 1970, Trưởng was given command of IV Corps in the Mekong Delta and improved the situation there to such an extent that he allowed some of his forces to be redeployed to other parts of the country that were finding the communist pressure difficult.

      5. Thirty-two day long battle during the Vietnam War

        Battle of Huế

        The Battle of Huế, also called the Siege of Huế, was a major military engagement in the Tết Offensive launched by North Vietnam and the Việt Cộng during the Vietnam War. After initially losing control of most of Huế and its surroundings, the combined South Vietnamese and American forces gradually recaptured the city over one month of intense fighting. The battle was one of the longest and bloodiest of the war, and the battle negatively affected American public perception of the war.

      6. Walled complex in Huế, Vietnam

        Imperial City of Huế

        The Imperial City is a walled enclosure within the citadel of the city of Huế, the former imperial capital of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty. It contains the palaces that housed the imperial family, as well as shrines, gardens, and villas for mandarins. Constructed in 1803 under Emperor Gia Long as a new capital, it mostly served a ceremonial function during the French colonial period. After the end of the monarchy in 1945, it suffered heavy damage and neglect during the Indochina Wars through the 1980s. The Imperial City was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993 and is undergoing restoration.

  20. 1967

    1. Cultural Revolution: Zhang Chunqiao announces the dissolution of the Shanghai People's Commune, replacing its local government with a revolutionary committee.

      1. 1966–1976 Maoist sociopolitical movement in China

        Cultural Revolution

        The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal was to preserve Chinese communism by purging remnants of capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society. The Revolution marked the effective commanding return of Mao –who was still the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)– to the centre of power, after a period of self-abstention and ceding to less radical leadership in the aftermath of the Mao-led Great Leap Forward debacle and the Great Chinese Famine (1959–1961). The Revolution failed to achieve its main goals.

      2. Member of the Gang of Four (1917–2005)

        Zhang Chunqiao

        Zhang Chunqiao was a prominent Chinese political theorist, writer, and politician. He came to the national spotlight during the late stages of the Cultural Revolution, and was a member of the ultra-Maoist group dubbed the "Gang of Four".

      3. Short-lived commune in Shanghai, China during the Cultural Revolution

        Shanghai People's Commune

        The Shanghai People's Commune or was established in January 1967 during the January Storm, also known as the January Revolution, of China's Cultural Revolution by the Shanghai Workers Revolutionary Rebel General Headquarters. The Commune was modelled on the Paris Commune. It lasted less than a month before it was replaced by the government.

      4. Revolutionary committee (China)

        Revolutionary committees were tripartite bodies established during Cultural Revolution in the People's Republic of China to facilitate government by the three mass organisations in China — the people, the PLA and the Party. They were originally established in the power-seizure movement as a replacement system of government to the old Party apparatus, but quickly became subordinate to it.

  21. 1949

    1. The Armistice Agreements are signed, to formally end the hostilities of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

      1. Formal ceasefire which ended the 1948 Arab–Israeli War

        1949 Armistice Agreements

        The 1949 Armistice Agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. They formally ended the hostilities of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and also demarcated the Green Line, which separated Arab-controlled territory from Israel until the latter's victory in the 1967 Arab–Israeli War.

      2. Second and final stage of the 1947–1949 Palestine war

        1948 Arab–Israeli War

        The 1948 Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had been issued earlier that day, and a military coalition of Arab states entered the territory of British Palestine in the morning of 15 May.

  22. 1946

    1. Colonel Juan Perón, founder of the political movement that became known as Peronism, is elected to his first term as President of Argentina.

      1. 24th and 35th President of Argentina (1946–55, 1973–74)

        Juan Perón

        Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine Army general and politician. After serving in several government positions, including Minister of Labour and Vice President of a military dictatorship, he was elected President of Argentina three times, serving from June 1946 to September 1955, when he was overthrown by the Revolución Libertadora, and then from October 1973 until his death in July 1974.

      2. Argentine political movement

        Peronism

        Peronism, also called justicialism, is an Argentine political movement based on the ideas and legacy of Argentine ruler Juan Perón (1895–1974). It has been an influential movement in 20th and 21st century Argentine politics. Since 1946, Peronists have won 10 out of the 13 presidential elections in which they have been allowed to run. The main Peronist party is the Justicialist Party. The policies of Peronist presidents have differed greatly, but the general ideology has been described as "a vague blend of nationalism and labourism" or populism.

      3. 1946 Argentine general election

        The Argentine general election of 1946, the last for which only men were enfranchised, was held on 24 February. Voters chose both the President and their legislators.

      4. List of heads of state of Argentina

        Argentina has had many different types of heads of state, as well as many different types of government. During pre-Columbian times, most of the territories that today form Argentina were inhabited by Amerindian peoples without any centralized government, with the exception of the Inca subjects of the Northwest and Cuyo regions. During the Spanish colonization of the Americas, the King of Spain retained the ultimate authority over the territories conquered in the New World, appointing viceroys for local government. The territories that would later become Argentina were first part of the Viceroyalty of Peru and then the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. The May Revolution started the Argentine War of Independence by replacing the viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros with the first national government. It was the Primera Junta, a junta of several members, which would grow into the Junta Grande with the incorporation of provincial deputies. The size of the juntas gave room to internal political disputes among their members, so they were replaced by the First and Second Triumvirate, of three members. The Assembly of the Year XIII created a new executive authority, with attributions similar to that of a head of state, called the Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata. A second Assembly, the Congress of Tucumán, declared independence in 1816 and promulgated the Argentine Constitution of 1819. However, this constitution was repealed during armed conflicts between the central government and the Federal League Provinces. This started a period known as the Anarchy of the Year XX, when Argentina lacked any type of head of state.

  23. 1945

    1. Egyptian Premier Ahmad Mahir Pasha is killed in Parliament after reading a decree.

      1. Country in Northeast Africa and Southwest Asia

        Egypt

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

      2. Egyptian prime minister from 1944 until his assassination in 1945

        Ahmad Maher Pasha

        Ahmad Maher Pasha was an Egyptian politician from the Saadist Institutional Party who served as Prime Minister of Egypt from October 1944 to February 1945.

      3. Bicameral legislature of the Arab Republic of Egypt

        Parliament of Egypt

        The Parliament of Egypt is the bicameral legislature of the Arab Republic of Egypt. It is composed of an upper house and a lower house.

  24. 1944

    1. Merrill's Marauders: The Marauders begin their 1,000-mile journey through Japanese-occupied Burma.

      1. Military unit

        Merrill's Marauders

        Merrill’s Marauders or Unit Galahad, officially named the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), was a United States Army long range penetration special operations jungle warfare unit, which fought in the Southeast Asian theater of World War II, or China-Burma-India Theater (CBI). The unit became famous for its deep-penetration missions behind Japanese lines, often engaging Japanese forces superior in number.

      2. Period of Burmese history from 1942 to 1945

        Japanese occupation of Burma

        The Japanese occupation of Burma was the period between 1942 and 1945 during World War II, when Burma was occupied by the Empire of Japan. The Japanese had assisted formation of the Burma Independence Army, and trained the Thirty Comrades, who were the founders of the modern Armed Forces (Tatmadaw). The Burmese hoped to gain support of the Japanese in expelling the British, so that Burma could become independent.

  25. 1943

    1. World War II: The Battle of Kasserine Pass, the first major engagement between American and Axis forces in Africa, ended with the Allied forces suffering heavy losses.

      1. Global war, 1939–1945

        World War II

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

      2. Part of the Tunisia Campaign of World War II

        Battle of Kasserine Pass

        The Battle of Kasserine Pass was a series of battles of the Tunisian campaign of World War II that took place in February 1943 at Kasserine Pass, a 2-mile-wide (3.2 km) gap in the Grand Dorsal chain of the Atlas Mountains in west central Tunisia.

      3. Alliance defeated in World War II

        Axis powers

        The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Germany, the Kingdom of Italy, and the Empire of Japan. The Axis were united in their opposition to the Allies, but otherwise lacked comparable coordination and ideological cohesion.

      4. Grouping of the victorious countries of the war

        Allies of World War II

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

  26. 1942

    1. World War II: Eyewitness reports of unidentified flying objects over Los Angeles triggered a massive anti-aircraft artillery barrage under the belief it was a Japanese attack.

      1. Global war, 1939–1945

        World War II

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

      2. Unusual phenomenon in the sky that is not readily identifiable

        Unidentified flying object

        An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP, is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are identified as known objects or atmospheric phenomena, while a small number remain unexplained.

      3. Anti-aircraft shelling during WWII against an imagined attack

        Battle of Los Angeles

        The Battle of Los Angeles, also known as the Great Los Angeles Air Raid, is the name given by contemporary sources to a rumored attack on the continental United States by Imperial Japan and the subsequent anti-aircraft artillery barrage which took place from late 24 February to early 25 February 1942, over Los Angeles, California. The incident occurred less than three months after the U.S. entered World War II in response to the Imperial Japanese Navy's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, and one day after the bombardment of Ellwood near Santa Barbara on 23 February. Initially, the target of the aerial barrage was thought to be an attacking force from Japan, but speaking at a press conference shortly afterward, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox called the purported attack a "false alarm". Newspapers of the time published a number of reports and speculations of a cover-up to conceal an actual invasion by enemy airplanes.

      4. Measures to combat enemy aerial forces

        Anti-aircraft warfare

        Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action". It includes surface based, subsurface, and air-based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements, and passive measures. It may be used to protect naval, ground, and air forces in any location. However, for most countries, the main effort has tended to be homeland defence. NATO refers to airborne air defence as counter-air and naval air defence as anti-aircraft warfare. Missile defence is an extension of air defence, as are initiatives to adapt air defence to the task of intercepting any projectile in flight.

    2. 791 Romanian Jewish refugees and crew members are killed after the MV Struma is torpedoed by the Soviet Navy.

      1. Jewish community in Europe

        History of the Jews in Romania

        The history of the Jews in Romania concerns the Jews both of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is present-day Romanian territory. Minimal until the 18th century, the size of the Jewish population increased after around 1850, and more especially after the establishment of Greater Romania in the aftermath of World War I. A diverse community, albeit an overwhelmingly urban one, Jews were a target of religious persecution and racism in Romanian society – from the late-19th century debate over the "Jewish Question" and the Jewish residents' right to citizenship, to the genocide carried out in the lands of Romania as part of the Holocaust. The latter, coupled with successive waves of aliyah, has accounted for a dramatic decrease in the overall size of Romania's present-day Jewish community.

      2. Displaced person

        Refugee

        A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. Such a person may be called an asylum seeker until granted refugee status by the contracting state or the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) if they formally make a claim for asylum. The lead international agency coordinating refugee protection is the United Nations Office of the UNHCR. The United Nations has a second office for refugees, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which is solely responsible for supporting the large majority of Palestinian refugees.

      3. MV Struma

        MV Struma was a small ship with a long history that included a number of changes of use and many changes of name. She was built in 1867 as a British marquess's luxury steam yacht and ended up 75 years later as a Greek and Bulgarian diesel ship for carrying livestock. She was launched as Xantha, but subsequently carried the names Sölyst, Sea Maid, Kafireus, Esperos, Makedoniya and finally Struma.

      4. Struma disaster

        The Struma disaster was the sinking on 24 February 1942 of a ship, MV Struma, that had been trying to take nearly 800 Jewish refugees from Axis-allied Romania to Mandatory Palestine. She was a small iron-hulled ship of only 240 GRT that had been built in 1867 as a steam-powered schooner but had recently been re-engined with an unreliable second-hand diesel engine. Struma was only 148.4 ft (45 m) long, had a beam of only 19.3 ft (6 m) and a draught of only 9.9 ft (3 m) but an estimated 781 refugees and 10 crew were crammed into her.

      5. Maritime service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces

        Soviet Navy

        The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with the opposing superpower, the United States, during the Cold War period between the two countries. The Soviet Navy played a large role during the Cold War (1945-1991), either confronting the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in western Europe or power projection to maintain its sphere of influence in eastern Europe.

    3. The Battle of Los Angeles: A false alarm led to an anti-aircraft barrage that lasted into the early hours of February 25.

      1. Anti-aircraft shelling during WWII against an imagined attack

        Battle of Los Angeles

        The Battle of Los Angeles, also known as the Great Los Angeles Air Raid, is the name given by contemporary sources to a rumored attack on the continental United States by Imperial Japan and the subsequent anti-aircraft artillery barrage which took place from late 24 February to early 25 February 1942, over Los Angeles, California. The incident occurred less than three months after the U.S. entered World War II in response to the Imperial Japanese Navy's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, and one day after the bombardment of Ellwood near Santa Barbara on 23 February. Initially, the target of the aerial barrage was thought to be an attacking force from Japan, but speaking at a press conference shortly afterward, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox called the purported attack a "false alarm". Newspapers of the time published a number of reports and speculations of a cover-up to conceal an actual invasion by enemy airplanes.

      2. Deceptive or erroneous report of an emergency

        False alarm

        A false alarm, also called a nuisance alarm, is the deceptive or erroneous report of an emergency, causing unnecessary panic and/or bringing resources to a place where they are not needed. False alarms may occur with residential burglary alarms, smoke detectors, industrial alarms, and in signal detection theory. False alarms have the potential to divert emergency responders away from legitimate emergencies, which could ultimately lead to loss of life. In some cases, repeated false alarms in a certain area may cause occupants to develop alarm fatigue and to start ignoring most alarms, knowing that each time it will probably be false. Intentionally falsely activating alarms in businesses and schools can lead to serious disciplinary actions, and criminal penalties such as fines and jail time.

    4. An order-in-council passed under the Defence of Canada Regulations of the War Measures Act gives the Canadian federal government the power to intern all "persons of Japanese racial origin".

      1. Legislative order in many countries, particularly of Commonwealth realms

        Order in Council

        An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council (King-in-Council), but in other countries the terminology may vary. The term should not be confused with Order of Council, which is made in the name of the Council without royal assent.

      2. 1939 Canadian laws which limited citizens' personal and property rights during WWII

        Defence of Canada Regulations

        The Defence of Canada Regulations were a set of emergency measures implemented under the War Measures Act on 3 September 1939, a week before Canada's entry into World War II.

      3. Canadian legislation which provided the government emergency powers (1914–88)

        War Measures Act

        The War Measures Act was a statute of the Parliament of Canada that provided for the declaration of war, invasion, or insurrection, and the types of emergency measures that could thereby be taken. The Act was brought into force three times in Canadian history: during the First World War, Second World War, and the 1970 October Crisis.

      4. Federal government of Canada

        Government of Canada

        The government of Canada is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the Crown-in-Council; the legislature, as the Crown-in-Parliament; and the courts, as the Crown-on-the-Bench. Three institutions—the Privy Council ; the Parliament of Canada; and the judiciary, respectively—exercise the powers of the Crown.

      5. Period of internment of Japanese people in Canada

        Internment of Japanese Canadians

        From 1942 to 1949, Canada forcibly relocated and incarcerated over 22,000 Japanese Canadians—comprising over 90% of the total Japanese Canadian population—from British Columbia in the name of "national security". The majority were Canadian citizens by birth and were targeted based on their ancestry. This decision followed the events of the Japanese Empire's war in the Pacific against the Western Allies, such as the invasion of Hong Kong, the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, and the Fall of Singapore which led to the Canadian declaration of war on Japan during World War II. Similar to the actions taken against Japanese Americans in neighbouring United States, this forced relocation subjected many Japanese Canadians to government-enforced curfews and interrogations, job and property losses, and forced repatriation to Japan.

  27. 1920

    1. Nancy Astor becomes the first woman to speak in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom following her election as a Member of Parliament (MP) three months earlier.

      1. British politician (1879–1964)

        Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor

        Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor, Viscountess Astor, was an American-born British politician who was the first woman seated as a Member of Parliament (MP), serving from 1919 to 1945.

      2. Lower house in the Parliament of the United Kingdom

        House of Commons of the United Kingdom

        The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England.

      3. Representatives in the House of Commons

        Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)

        In the United Kingdom, a member of Parliament (MP) is an individual elected to serve in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

    2. The Nazi Party (NSDAP) was founded by Adolf Hitler in the Hofbräuhaus beer hall in Munich, Germany

      1. Far-right political party active in Germany (1920–1945)

        Nazi Party

        The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party, was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers' Party, existed from 1919 to 1920. The Nazi Party emerged from the extremist German nationalist, racist and populist Freikorps paramilitary culture, which fought against the communist uprisings in post–World War I Germany. The party was created to draw workers away from communism and into völkisch nationalism. Initially, Nazi political strategy focused on anti–big business, anti-bourgeois, and anti-capitalist rhetoric. This was later downplayed to gain the support of business leaders, and in the 1930s, the party's main focus shifted to antisemitic and anti-Marxist themes. The party had little popular support until the Great Depression.

      2. Dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945

        Adolf Hitler

        Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934. During his dictatorship, he initiated World War II in Europe by invading Poland on 1 September 1939. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust: the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims.

      3. Beer hall in the city center of Munich, Bavaria, Germany

        Hofbräuhaus am Platzl

        The Hofbräuhaus am Platzl is a beer hall in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, originally built in 1589 by Bavarian Duke Maximilian I as an extension of the Staatliches Hofbräuhaus in München brewery. The general public was admitted in 1828 by Ludwig I. The building was completely remodeled in 1897 by Max Littmann when the brewery moved to the suburbs. All of the rooms except the historic beer hall ("Schwemme") were destroyed in the World War II bombings. The reopening of the Festival Hall in 1958 marked the end of the post-war restoration work.

  28. 1918

    1. Estonian Declaration of Independence.

      1. Founding act of the Republic of Estonia from 1918

        Estonian Declaration of Independence

        The Estonian Declaration of Independence, also known as the Manifesto to the Peoples of Estonia, is the founding act of the Republic of Estonia from 1918. It is celebrated on 24 February, the National Day or Estonian Independence Day.

  29. 1917

    1. World War I: The U.S. ambassador Walter Hines Page to the United Kingdom is given the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany pledges to ensure the return of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to Mexico if Mexico declares war on the United States.

      1. Global war, 1914–1918

        World War I

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

      2. American journalist, publisher, and diplomat

        Walter Hines Page

        Walter Hines Page was an American journalist, publisher, and diplomat. He was the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom during World War I.

      3. 1917 German alliance proposal to Mexico

        Zimmermann Telegram

        The Zimmermann Telegram was a secret diplomatic communication issued from the German Foreign Office in January 1917 that proposed a military alliance between Germany and Mexico if the United States entered World War I against Germany. With Germany's aid, Mexico would recover Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. The telegram was intercepted and decoded by British intelligence.

      4. U.S. state

        New Mexico

        New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region of the western U.S. with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona, and bordering Texas to the east and southeast, Oklahoma to the northeast, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora to the south. The state capital is Santa Fe, which is the oldest capital in the U.S., founded in 1610 as the government seat of Nuevo México in New Spain; the largest city is Albuquerque (1706).

      5. U.S. state

        Texas

        Texas is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by both area and population. Texas shares borders with the states of Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south and southwest; and has a coastline with the Gulf of Mexico to the southeast.

      6. U.S. state

        Arizona

        Arizona is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Four Corners region with Utah to the north, Colorado to the northeast, and New Mexico to the east; its other neighboring states are Nevada to the northwest, California to the west and the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California to the south and southwest.

  30. 1916

    1. The Governor-General of Korea establishes a clinic called Jahyewon in Sorokdo to segregate Hansen's disease patients.

      1. Head of the Japanese colonial government of Korea (1910-45)

        Governor-General of Chōsen

        The Governor-General of Chōsen was the chief administrator of the Government-General of Chōsen from 1910 to 1945.

      2. Island and former leper colony in South Korea

        Sorokdo

        Sorokdo is an island in Goheung County, South Jeolla in South Korea. The word sorok means "small deer", which the island's coastline, viewed from above, is supposed to resemble. The island is approximately one kilometer away from the larger Nokdong Port.

      3. Chronic infection caused by mycobacteria leprae or lepromatosis

        Leprosy

        Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a chronic infection caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae or Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damage may result in a lack of ability to feel pain, which can lead to the loss of parts of a person's extremities from repeated injuries or infection through unnoticed wounds. An infected person may also experience muscle weakness and poor eyesight. Leprosy symptoms may begin within one year, but, for some people, symptoms may take 20 years or more to occur.

  31. 1895

    1. Revolution breaks out in Baire, a town near Santiago de Cuba, beginning the Cuban War of Independence; the war ends along with the Spanish–American War in 1898.

      1. Rapid and fundamental political change

        Revolution

        In political science, a revolution is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due to perceived oppression or political incompetence.

      2. Borough in Cuba

        Santiago de Cuba

        Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some 870 km (540 mi) southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana.

      3. War between the Spanish Empire and Cuban rebels from 1895 to 1898

        Cuban War of Independence

        The Cuban War of Independence, fought from 1895 to 1898, was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the Little War (1879–1880). The final three months of the conflict escalated to become the Spanish–American War, with United States forces being deployed in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippine Islands against Spain. Historians disagree as to the extent that United States officials were motivated to intervene for humanitarian reasons but agree that yellow journalism exaggerated atrocities attributed to Spanish forces against Cuban civilians.

      4. 1898 conflict between Spain and the US

        Spanish–American War

        The Spanish–American War was a period of armed conflict between Spain and the United States. Hostilities began in the aftermath of the internal explosion of USS Maine in Havana Harbor in Cuba, leading to United States intervention in the Cuban War of Independence. The war led to the United States emerging predominant in the Caribbean region, and resulted in U.S. acquisition of Spain's Pacific possessions. It led to United States involvement in the Philippine Revolution and later to the Philippine–American War.

  32. 1881

    1. China and Russia sign the Sino-Russian Ili Treaty.

      1. Manchu-led dynasty of China (1636–1912)

        Qing dynasty

        The Qing dynasty, officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaking ethnic group who unified other Jurchen tribes to form a new "Manchu" ethnic identity. The dynasty was officially proclaimed in 1636 in Manchuria. It seized control of Beijing in 1644, then later expanded its rule over the whole of China proper and Taiwan, and finally expanded into Inner Asia. The dynasty lasted until 1912 when it was overthrown in the Xinhai Revolution. In orthodox Chinese historiography, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. The multiethnic Qing empire lasted for almost three centuries and assembled the territorial base for modern China. It was the largest imperial dynasty in the history of China and in 1790 the fourth-largest empire in world history in terms of territorial size. With 419,264,000 citizens in 1907, it was the world's most populous country at the time.

      2. Empire spanning Europe and Asia from 1721 to 1917

        Russian 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.

      3. Treaty between Russia and Qing China

        Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1881)

        The Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1881), also known as Treaty of Ili, was a treaty between the Russian Empire and the Qing dynasty that was signed in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on 24 February [O.S. 12 February] 1881. It provided for the return to China of the eastern part of the Ili Basin region, also known as Zhetysu, which had been occupied by Russia since 1871 during the Dungan Revolt.

  33. 1876

    1. The stage première of Peer Gynt, a play by Henrik Ibsen with incidental music by Edvard Grieg, takes place in Christiania (Oslo), Norway.

      1. Five-act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen

        Peer Gynt

        Peer Gynt is a five-act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen published in 1876. Written in Norwegian, it is one of the most widely performed Norwegian plays. Ibsen believed Per Gynt, the Norwegian fairy tale on which the play is loosely based, to be rooted in fact, and several of the characters are modelled after Ibsen's own family, notably his parents Knud Ibsen and Marichen Altenburg. He was also generally inspired by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen's collection of Norwegian fairy tales, published in 1845.

      2. Norwegian playwright and theatre director (1828–1906)

        Henrik Ibsen

        Henrik Johan Ibsen was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playwrights of his time. His major works include Brand, Peer Gynt, An Enemy of the People, Emperor and Galilean, A Doll's House, Hedda Gabler, Ghosts, The Wild Duck, When We Dead Awaken, Rosmersholm, and The Master Builder. Ibsen is the most frequently performed dramatist in the world after Shakespeare, and A Doll's House was the world's most performed play in 2006.

      3. Norwegian composer and pianist (1843–1907)

        Edvard Grieg

        Edvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of Norwegian folk music in his own compositions brought the music of Norway to fame, as well as helping to develop a national identity, much as Jean Sibelius did in Finland and Bedřich Smetana in Bohemia.

  34. 1875

    1. The SS Gothenburg hits the Great Barrier Reef and sinks off the Australian east coast, killing approximately 100, including a number of high-profile civil servants and dignitaries.

      1. British steamship wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef

        SS Gothenburg

        SS Gothenburg was an iron-hulled sail- and steamship that was built in England in 1854 and sailed between England and Sweden until 1862. She then moved to Australia, where she operated across the Tasman Sea to and from New Zealand until 1873, when she was rebuilt. After her rebuild she operated in the Australian coastal trade.

      2. Coral reef system located in the Coral Sea in Australia

        Great Barrier Reef

        The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres (1,400 mi) over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi). The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia, separated from the coast by a channel 100 miles wide in places and over 200 feet deep. The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps. It supports a wide diversity of life and was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981. CNN labelled it one of the seven natural wonders of the world in 1997. Australian World Heritage places included it in its list in 2007. The Queensland National Trust named it a state icon of Queensland in 2006.

  35. 1868

    1. Andrew Johnson became the first U.S. president to be impeached.

      1. President of the United States from 1865 to 1869

        Andrew Johnson

        Andrew Johnson was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Democrat who ran with Lincoln on the National Union ticket, coming to office as the Civil War concluded. He favored quick restoration of the seceded states to the Union without protection for the newly freed people who were formerly enslaved. This led to conflict with the Republican-dominated Congress, culminating in his impeachment by the House of Representatives in 1868. He was acquitted in the Senate by one vote.

      2. 1868 impeachment of Andrew Johnson, 17th US president

        Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

        The impeachment of Andrew Johnson was initiated on February 24, 1868, when the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution to impeach Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States, for "high crimes and misdemeanors". The alleged high crimes and misdemeanors were afterwards specified in eleven articles of impeachment adopted by the House on March 2 and 3, 1868. The primary charge against Johnson was that he had violated the Tenure of Office Act. Specifically, that he had acted to remove from office Edwin Stanton and to replace him with Brevet Major General Lorenzo Thomas as secretary of war ad interim. The Tenure of Office had been passed by Congress in March 1867 over Johnson's veto with the primary intent of protecting Stanton from being fired without the Senate's consent. Stanton often sided with the Radical Republican faction and did not have a good relationship with Johnson.

    2. Andrew Johnson becomes the first President of the United States to be impeached by the United States House of Representatives. He is later acquitted in the Senate.

      1. President of the United States from 1865 to 1869

        Andrew Johnson

        Andrew Johnson was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Democrat who ran with Lincoln on the National Union ticket, coming to office as the Civil War concluded. He favored quick restoration of the seceded states to the Union without protection for the newly freed people who were formerly enslaved. This led to conflict with the Republican-dominated Congress, culminating in his impeachment by the House of Representatives in 1868. He was acquitted in the Senate by one vote.

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

        President of the United States

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

      3. 1868 impeachment of Andrew Johnson, 17th US president

        Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

        The impeachment of Andrew Johnson was initiated on February 24, 1868, when the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution to impeach Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States, for "high crimes and misdemeanors". The alleged high crimes and misdemeanors were afterwards specified in eleven articles of impeachment adopted by the House on March 2 and 3, 1868. The primary charge against Johnson was that he had violated the Tenure of Office Act. Specifically, that he had acted to remove from office Edwin Stanton and to replace him with Brevet Major General Lorenzo Thomas as secretary of war ad interim. The Tenure of Office had been passed by Congress in March 1867 over Johnson's veto with the primary intent of protecting Stanton from being fired without the Senate's consent. Stanton often sided with the Radical Republican faction and did not have a good relationship with Johnson.

      4. Lower house of the United States Congress

        United States House of Representatives

        The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they comprise the national bicameral legislature of the United States.

      5. Upper house of the United States Congress

        United States Senate

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

  36. 1863

    1. Arizona is organized as a United States territory.

      1. U.S. state

        Arizona

        Arizona is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Four Corners region with Utah to the north, Colorado to the northeast, and New Mexico to the east; its other neighboring states are Nevada to the northwest, California to the west and the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California to the south and southwest.

      2. Territory under the jurisdiction of the US

        U.S. territorial sovereignty

        In the United States, a territory is any extent of region under the sovereign jurisdiction of the federal government of the United States, including all waters. The United States asserts sovereign rights for exploring, exploiting, conserving, and managing its territory. This extent of territory is all the area belonging to, and under the dominion of, the United States federal government for administrative and other purposes. The United States total territory includes a subset of political divisions.

  37. 1854

    1. A Penny Red with perforations becomes the first perforated postage stamp to be officially issued for distribution.

      1. 19th-century British postage stamp

        Penny Red

        The Penny Red was a British postage stamp, issued in 1841. It succeeded the Penny Black and continued as the main type of postage stamp in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until 1879, with only minor changes to the design during that time. The colour was changed from black to red because of difficulty in seeing a cancellation mark on the Penny Black; a black cancellation mark was readily visible on a Penny Red.

      2. Small piece of paper that is displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment for postage

        Postage stamp

        A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage, who then affix the stamp to the face or address-side of any item of mail—an envelope or other postal cover —that they wish to send. The item is then processed by the postal system, where a postmark or cancellation mark—in modern usage indicating date and point of origin of mailing—is applied to the stamp and its left and right sides to prevent its reuse. The item is then delivered to its addressee.

  38. 1848

    1. King Louis-Philippe of France abdicates the throne.

      1. List of French monarchs

        France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions.

      2. King of the French from 1830 to 1848

        Louis Philippe I

        Louis Philippe was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France.

  39. 1831

    1. The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the first removal treaty in accordance with the Indian Removal Act, is proclaimed. The Choctaws in Mississippi cede land east of the river in exchange for payment and land in the West.

      1. 1831 land cession treaty between the U.S. Government and the Choctaw tribe

        Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek

        The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was a treaty which was signed on September 27, 1830, and proclaimed on February 24, 1831, between the Choctaw American Indian tribe and the United States Government. This treaty was the first removal treaty which was carried into effect under the Indian Removal Act. The treaty ceded about 11 million acres (45,000 km2) of the Choctaw Nation in what is now Mississippi in exchange for about 15 million acres (61,000 km2) in the Indian territory, now the state of Oklahoma. The principal Choctaw negotiators were Chief Greenwood LeFlore, Mosholatubbee, and Nittucachee; the U.S. negotiators were Colonel John Coffee and Secretary of War John Eaton.

      2. Law authorizing removal of Indians from US states

        Indian Removal Act

        The Indian Removal Act was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States President Andrew Jackson. The law, as described by Congress, provided "for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for their removal west of the river Mississippi." During the Presidency of Jackson (1829-1837) and his successor Martin Van Buren (1837-1841) more than 60,000 Indians from at least 18 tribes were forced to move west of the Mississippi River where they were allocated new lands. The southern tribes were resettled mostly in Indian Territory (Oklahoma). The northern tribes were resettled initially in Kansas. With a few exceptions the United States east of the Mississippi and south of the Great Lakes was emptied of its Indian population. The movement westward of the Indian tribes was characterized by a large number of deaths occasioned by the hardships of the journey.

      3. Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands

        Choctaw

        The Choctaw are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are enrolled in three federally recognized tribes: the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, and Jena Band of Choctaw Indians in Louisiana.

      4. U.S. state

        Mississippi

        Mississippi is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mississippi's western boundary is largely defined by the Mississippi River. Mississippi is the 32nd largest and 35th-most populous of the 50 U.S. states and has the lowest per-capita income in the United States. Jackson is both the state's capital and largest city. Greater Jackson is the state's most populous metropolitan area, with a population of 591,978 in 2020.

  40. 1826

    1. The Treaty of Yandabo was signed, ending the First Anglo-Burmese War, the longest and most expensive war in the history of British India.

      1. 1826 peace treaty ending the First Anglo-Burmese War

        Treaty of Yandabo

        The Treaty of Yandabo was the peace treaty that ended the First Anglo-Burmese War. The treaty was signed on 24 February 1826, nearly two years after the war formally broke out on 5 March 1824, by General Sir Archibald Campbell on the British side, and the Governor of Legaing Maha Min Hla Kyaw Htin from the Burmese side, without any due permission and consent of the Ahom kingdom, Kachari kingdom or the other territories covered in the treaty. With the British army at Yandabo village, only 80 km (50 mi) from the capital Ava, the Burmese were forced to accept the British terms without discussion.

      2. First 19th century war fought between the British and Burmese empires

        First Anglo-Burmese War

        The First Anglo-Burmese War, also known as the First Burma War, was the first of three wars fought between the British and Burmese empires in the 19th century. The war, which began primarily over the control of Northeastern India, ended in a decisive British victory, giving the British total control of Assam, Manipur, Cachar and Jaintia as well as Arakan Province and Tenasserim. The Burmese submitted to a British demand to pay an indemnity of one million pounds sterling, and signed a commercial treaty.

      3. 1612–1947 British directly-ruled administrative divisions in India

        Presidencies and provinces of British India

        The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another, they existed between 1612 and 1947, conventionally divided into three historical periods:Between 1612 and 1757 the East India Company set up factories in several locations, mostly in coastal India, with the consent of the Mughal emperors, Maratha Empire or local rulers. Its rivals were the merchant trading companies of Portugal, Denmark, the Netherlands, and France. By the mid-18th century, three presidency towns: Madras, Bombay and Calcutta, had grown in size. During the period of Company rule in India (1757–1858), the company gradually acquired sovereignty over large parts of India, now called "presidencies". However, it also increasingly came under British government oversight, in effect sharing sovereignty with the Crown. At the same time, it gradually lost its mercantile privileges. Following the Indian Rebellion of 1857 the company's remaining powers were transferred to the Crown. Under the British Raj (1858–1947), administrative boundaries were extended to include a few other British-administered regions, such as Upper Burma. Increasingly, however, the unwieldy presidencies were broken up into "provinces".

    2. The signing of the Treaty of Yandabo marks the end of the First Anglo-Burmese War.

      1. 1826 peace treaty ending the First Anglo-Burmese War

        Treaty of Yandabo

        The Treaty of Yandabo was the peace treaty that ended the First Anglo-Burmese War. The treaty was signed on 24 February 1826, nearly two years after the war formally broke out on 5 March 1824, by General Sir Archibald Campbell on the British side, and the Governor of Legaing Maha Min Hla Kyaw Htin from the Burmese side, without any due permission and consent of the Ahom kingdom, Kachari kingdom or the other territories covered in the treaty. With the British army at Yandabo village, only 80 km (50 mi) from the capital Ava, the Burmese were forced to accept the British terms without discussion.

      2. First 19th century war fought between the British and Burmese empires

        First Anglo-Burmese War

        The First Anglo-Burmese War, also known as the First Burma War, was the first of three wars fought between the British and Burmese empires in the 19th century. The war, which began primarily over the control of Northeastern India, ended in a decisive British victory, giving the British total control of Assam, Manipur, Cachar and Jaintia as well as Arakan Province and Tenasserim. The Burmese submitted to a British demand to pay an indemnity of one million pounds sterling, and signed a commercial treaty.

  41. 1822

    1. The first Swaminarayan temple in the world, Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Ahmedabad, is inaugurated.

      1. List of Swaminarayan temples

        Swaminarayan, the founder of the Swaminarayan Sampraday, established temples, known as mandirs, as part of his philosophy of theism and deity worship. These mandirs are known as Swaminarayan Hindu temples.

      2. Swaminarayan Temple, Ahmedabad

        Shree Swaminarayan Mandir Kalupur is the first Temple of the Swaminarayan Sampraday, a Hindu sect. It is located in Kalupur area of Ahmedabad, the largest city in Gujarat, India. It was built on the instructions of Swaminarayan, the founder of the sect.

  42. 1821

    1. Final stage of the Mexican War of Independence from Spain with Plan of Iguala.

      1. Armed conflict which ended the rule of Spain in the territory of New Spain

        Mexican War of Independence

        The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from Spain. It was not a single, coherent event, but local and regional struggles that occurred within the same period, and can be considered a revolutionary civil war.

      2. Colonial empire governed by Spain between 1492 and 1976

        Spanish Empire

        The Spanish Empire, also known as the Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predecessor states between 1492 and 1976. One of the largest empires in history, it was, in conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, the first to usher the European Age of Discovery and achieve a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, territories in Western Europe, Africa, and various islands in Oceania and Asia. It was one of the most powerful empires of the early modern period, becoming the first empire known as "the empire on which the sun never sets", and reached its maximum extent in the 18th century.

      3. 1821 proclamation of Mexican independence from Spain

        Plan of Iguala

        The Plan of Iguala, also known as The Plan of the Three Guarantees or Act of Independence of North America, was a revolutionary proclamation promulgated on 24 February 1821, in the final stage of the Mexican War of Independence from Spain. The Plan stated that Mexico was to become a constitutional monarchy, whose sole official religion would be Roman Catholicism, in which the Peninsulares and Creoles of Mexico would enjoy equal political and social rights. It took its name from the city of Iguala in the modern-day state of Guerrero.

  43. 1809

    1. After having stood for only 15 years, London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane (pictured), the third building of that name, burned down.

      1. West End theatre in Covent Garden, London

        Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

        The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building is the most recent in a line of four theatres which were built at the same location, the earliest of which dated back to 1663, making it the oldest theatre site in London still in use. According to the author Peter Thomson, for its first two centuries, Drury Lane could "reasonably have claimed to be London's leading theatre". For most of that time, it was one of a handful of patent theatres, granted monopoly rights to the production of "legitimate" drama in London.

    2. London's Drury Lane Theatre burns to the ground, leaving its owner, Irish writer and politician Richard Brinsley Sheridan, destitute.

      1. West End theatre in Covent Garden, London

        Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

        The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building is the most recent in a line of four theatres which were built at the same location, the earliest of which dated back to 1663, making it the oldest theatre site in London still in use. According to the author Peter Thomson, for its first two centuries, Drury Lane could "reasonably have claimed to be London's leading theatre". For most of that time, it was one of a handful of patent theatres, granted monopoly rights to the production of "legitimate" drama in London.

      2. Irish-British politician, playwright and writer

        Richard Brinsley Sheridan

        Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan was an Irish satirist, a politician, a playwright, poet, and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He is known for his plays such as The Rivals, The School for Scandal, The Duenna and A Trip to Scarborough. He was also a Whig MP for 32 years in the British House of Commons for Stafford (1780–1806), Westminster (1806–1807), and Ilchester (1807–1812). He is buried at Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. His plays remain a central part of the canon and are regularly performed worldwide.

  44. 1803

    1. In Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court declared an act of Congress unconstitutional for the first time, forming the basis of judicial review in the United States.

      1. 1803 landmark U.S. Supreme Court case

        Marbury v. Madison

        Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that established the principle of judicial review in the United States, meaning that American courts have the power to strike down laws and statutes that they find to violate the Constitution of the United States. Decided in 1803, Marbury is regarded as the single most important decision in American constitutional law. The Court's landmark decision established that the U.S. Constitution is actual law, not just a statement of political principles and ideals, and helped define the boundary between the constitutionally separate executive and judicial branches of the federal government.

      2. Highest court in the United States

        Supreme Court of the United States

        The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of federal law. It also has original jurisdiction over a narrow range of cases, specifically "all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party." The court holds the power of judicial review, the ability to invalidate a statute for violating a provision of the Constitution. It is also able to strike down presidential directives for violating either the Constitution or statutory law. However, it may act only within the context of a case in an area of law over which it has jurisdiction. The court may decide cases having political overtones, but has ruled that it does not have power to decide non-justiciable political questions.

      3. Law enacted by the United States Congress

        Act of Congress

        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.

      4. Ability of a court in the US to examine laws to determine if it contradicts current laws

        Judicial review in the United States

        In the United States, judicial review is the legal power of a court to determine if a statute, treaty, or administrative regulation contradicts or violates the provisions of existing law, a State Constitution, or ultimately the United States Constitution. While the U.S. Constitution does not explicitly define the power of judicial review, the authority for judicial review in the United States has been inferred from the structure, provisions, and history of the Constitution.

    2. In Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court of the United States establishes the principle of judicial review.

      1. 1803 landmark U.S. Supreme Court case

        Marbury v. Madison

        Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that established the principle of judicial review in the United States, meaning that American courts have the power to strike down laws and statutes that they find to violate the Constitution of the United States. Decided in 1803, Marbury is regarded as the single most important decision in American constitutional law. The Court's landmark decision established that the U.S. Constitution is actual law, not just a statement of political principles and ideals, and helped define the boundary between the constitutionally separate executive and judicial branches of the federal government.

      2. Highest court in the United States

        Supreme Court of the United States

        The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of federal law. It also has original jurisdiction over a narrow range of cases, specifically "all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party." The court holds the power of judicial review, the ability to invalidate a statute for violating a provision of the Constitution. It is also able to strike down presidential directives for violating either the Constitution or statutory law. However, it may act only within the context of a case in an area of law over which it has jurisdiction. The court may decide cases having political overtones, but has ruled that it does not have power to decide non-justiciable political questions.

      3. Ability of courts to review actions by executive and legislatures

        Judicial review

        Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompatible with a higher authority: an executive decision may be invalidated for being unlawful or a statute may be invalidated for violating the terms of a constitution. Judicial review is one of the checks and balances in the separation of powers: the power of the judiciary to supervise the legislative and executive branches when the latter exceed their authority. The doctrine varies between jurisdictions, so the procedure and scope of judicial review may differ between and within countries.

  45. 1739

    1. Battle of Karnal: The army of Iranian ruler Nader Shah defeats the forces of the Mughal emperor of India, Muhammad Shah.

      1. Decisive battle of the Afsharid invasion of India

        Battle of Karnal

        The Battle of Karnal, was a decisive victory for Nader Shah, the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran, during his invasion of India. Nader's forces defeated the army of Muhammad Shah within three hours, paving the way for the Iranian sack of Delhi. The engagement is considered the crowning jewel in Nader's military career as well as a tactical masterpiece. The battle took place near Karnal in Haryana, 110 kilometres (68 mi) north of Delhi, India.

      2. Historical development of Iran (Persia)

        History of Iran

        The history of Iran is intertwined with the history of a larger region known as Greater Iran, comprising the area from Anatolia in the west to the borders of Ancient India and the Syr Darya in the east, and from the Caucasus and the Eurasian Steppe in the north to the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman in the south. Central to this area is Iran, commonly known until the mid-20th century as Persia in the Western world.

      3. Shah of Iran (r. 1736–47) and founder of the Afsharid dynasty

        Nader Shah

        Nader Shah Afshar was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian history, ruling as shah of Iran (Persia) from 1736 to 1747, when he was assassinated during a rebellion. He fought numerous campaigns throughout the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and South Asia, such as the battles of Herat, Mihmandust, Murche-Khort, Kirkuk, Yeghevārd, Khyber Pass, Karnal, and Kars. Because of his military genius, some historians have described him as the Napoleon of Persia, the Sword of Persia, or the Second Alexander. Nader belonged to the Turkoman Afshars, a semi-nomadic tribe settled in Khorasan in northeastern Iran, which had supplied military power to the Safavid dynasty since the time of Shah Ismail I.

      4. 1526–1857 empire in South Asia

        Mughal Empire

        The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. For some two hundred years, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus river basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of present-day Assam and Bangladesh in the east, and the uplands of the Deccan Plateau in South India.

      5. Pre-1947 history of the Indian subcontinent

        History of India

        According to consensus in modern genetics, anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. However, the earliest known human remains in South Asia date to 30,000 years ago. Settled life, which involves the transition from foraging to farming and pastoralism, began in South Asia around 7000 BCE. At the site of Mehrgarh presence can be documented of the domestication of wheat and barley, rapidly followed by that of goats, sheep, and cattle. By 4500 BCE, settled life had spread more widely, and began to gradually evolve into the Indus Valley civilisation, an early civilisation of the Old World, which was contemporaneous with Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. This civilisation flourished between 2500 BCE and 1900 BCE in what today is Pakistan and north-western India, and was noted for its urban planning, baked brick houses, elaborate drainage, and water supply.

      6. 13th Emperor of the Mughal Empire (reigned 1719–1748)

        Muhammad Shah

        Mirza Nasir-ud-Din Muḥammad Shah was the 13th Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1719 to 1748. He was son of Khujista Akhtar, the fourth son of Bahadur Shah I. With the help of the Sayyid brothers, he ascended the throne at the young age of 16. He later got rid of them with the help of Asaf Jah I – Syed Hussain Ali Khan was murdered at Fatehpur Sikri in 1720 and Syed Hassan Ali Khan Barha was fatally poisoned in 1722. Muhammad Shah was a great patron of the arts, including musical, cultural and administrative developments. His pen-name was Sadā Rangīla (Ever Joyous) and he is often referred to as "Muhammad Shah Rangila", also sometimes as "Bahadur Shah Rangila" after his grand father Bahadur Shah I.

  46. 1720

    1. War of the Quadruple Alliance: Spanish forces began a failed assault on the British settlement of Nassau in the Bahamas.

      1. 18th-century war between Spain and an alliance of four countries

        War of the Quadruple Alliance

        The War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718–1720) was caused by Spanish attempts to recover territories in Italy ceded in the 1713 Peace of Utrecht. Largely focused on Sicily, it included minor engagements in North America and Northern Europe as well as the Spanish-backed Jacobite rising of 1719 in Scotland.

      2. Raid on Nassau (1720)

        The Raid on Nassau was a Spanish military expedition that took place in February 1720 during the War of the Quadruple Alliance wherein Spanish forces assaulted the British settlement of Nassau in an attempt to seize the island of New Providence. Although the Spanish managed to raid outlying posts, the assault on Nassau itself was repelled and the invasion was a failure.

      3. Capital and largest city of The Bahamas

        Nassau, Bahamas

        Nassau is the capital and largest city of the Bahamas. With a population of 274,400 as of 2016, or just over 70% of the entire population of the Bahamas, Nassau is commonly defined as a primate city, dwarfing all other towns in the country. It is the centre of commerce, education, law, administration, and media of the country.

  47. 1711

    1. George Frideric Handel's Rinaldo, the first Italian-language opera written specifically for the London stage, premiered.

      1. German-British Baroque composer (1685–1759)

        George Frideric Handel

        George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training in Halle and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712, where he spent the bulk of his career and became a naturalised British subject in 1727. He was strongly influenced both by the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition and by composers of the Italian Baroque. In turn, Handel's music forms one of the peaks of the "high baroque" style, bringing Italian opera to its highest development, creating the genres of English oratorio and organ concerto, and introducing a new style into English church music. He is consistently recognized as one of the greatest composers of his age.

      2. 1711 opera by George Frideric Handel

        Rinaldo (opera)

        Rinaldo is an opera by George Frideric Handel, composed in 1711, and was the first Italian language opera written specifically for the London stage. The libretto was prepared by Giacomo Rossi from a scenario provided by Aaron Hill, and the work was first performed at the Queen's Theatre in London's Haymarket on 24 February 1711. The story of love, war and redemption, set at the time of the First Crusade, is loosely based on Torquato Tasso's epic poem Gerusalemme liberata, and its staging involved many original and vivid effects. It was a great success with the public, despite negative reactions from literary critics hostile to the contemporary trend towards Italian entertainment in English theatres.

      3. Operas in Italian language

        Italian opera

        Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was born in Italy around the year 1600 and Italian opera has continued to play a dominant role in the history of the form until the present day. Many famous operas in Italian were written by foreign composers, including Handel, Gluck and Mozart. Works by native Italian composers of the 19th and early 20th centuries, such as Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini, are amongst the most famous operas ever written and today are performed in opera houses across the world.

    2. Rinaldo by George Frideric Handel, the first Italian opera written for the London stage, is premièred.

      1. 1711 opera by George Frideric Handel

        Rinaldo (opera)

        Rinaldo is an opera by George Frideric Handel, composed in 1711, and was the first Italian language opera written specifically for the London stage. The libretto was prepared by Giacomo Rossi from a scenario provided by Aaron Hill, and the work was first performed at the Queen's Theatre in London's Haymarket on 24 February 1711. The story of love, war and redemption, set at the time of the First Crusade, is loosely based on Torquato Tasso's epic poem Gerusalemme liberata, and its staging involved many original and vivid effects. It was a great success with the public, despite negative reactions from literary critics hostile to the contemporary trend towards Italian entertainment in English theatres.

      2. German-British Baroque composer (1685–1759)

        George Frideric Handel

        George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training in Halle and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712, where he spent the bulk of his career and became a naturalised British subject in 1727. He was strongly influenced both by the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition and by composers of the Italian Baroque. In turn, Handel's music forms one of the peaks of the "high baroque" style, bringing Italian opera to its highest development, creating the genres of English oratorio and organ concerto, and introducing a new style into English church music. He is consistently recognized as one of the greatest composers of his age.

      3. Art form combining sung text and musical score in a theatrical setting

        Opera

        Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librettist and incorporates a number of the performing arts, such as acting, scenery, costume, and sometimes dance or ballet. The performance is typically given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble, which since the early 19th century has been led by a conductor. Although musical theatre is closely related to opera, the two are considered to be distinct from one another.

  48. 1607

    1. Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, considered the first fully developed opera, premiered in Mantua.

      1. Italian composer (1567–1643)

        Claudio Monteverdi

        Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered a crucial transitional figure between the Renaissance and Baroque periods of music history.

      2. Opera by Claudio Monteverdi

        L'Orfeo

        L'Orfeo, sometimes called La favola d'Orfeo [la ˈfaːvola dorˈfɛːo], is a late Renaissance/early Baroque favola in musica, or opera, by Claudio Monteverdi, with a libretto by Alessandro Striggio. It is based on the Greek legend of Orpheus, and tells the story of his descent to Hades and his fruitless attempt to bring his dead bride Eurydice back to the living world. It was written in 1607 for a court performance during the annual Carnival at Mantua. While Jacopo Peri's Dafne is generally recognised as the first work in the opera genre, and the earliest surviving opera is Peri's Euridice, L'Orfeo is the earliest that is still regularly performed.

      3. Art form combining sung text and musical score in a theatrical setting

        Opera

        Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librettist and incorporates a number of the performing arts, such as acting, scenery, costume, and sometimes dance or ballet. The performance is typically given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble, which since the early 19th century has been led by a conductor. Although musical theatre is closely related to opera, the two are considered to be distinct from one another.

      4. City in Lombardy, Italy

        Mantua

        Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name.

    2. L'Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi, one of the first works recognized as an opera, receives its première performance.

      1. Opera by Claudio Monteverdi

        L'Orfeo

        L'Orfeo, sometimes called La favola d'Orfeo [la ˈfaːvola dorˈfɛːo], is a late Renaissance/early Baroque favola in musica, or opera, by Claudio Monteverdi, with a libretto by Alessandro Striggio. It is based on the Greek legend of Orpheus, and tells the story of his descent to Hades and his fruitless attempt to bring his dead bride Eurydice back to the living world. It was written in 1607 for a court performance during the annual Carnival at Mantua. While Jacopo Peri's Dafne is generally recognised as the first work in the opera genre, and the earliest surviving opera is Peri's Euridice, L'Orfeo is the earliest that is still regularly performed.

      2. Italian composer (1567–1643)

        Claudio Monteverdi

        Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered a crucial transitional figure between the Renaissance and Baroque periods of music history.

      3. Art form combining sung text and musical score in a theatrical setting

        Opera

        Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librettist and incorporates a number of the performing arts, such as acting, scenery, costume, and sometimes dance or ballet. The performance is typically given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble, which since the early 19th century has been led by a conductor. Although musical theatre is closely related to opera, the two are considered to be distinct from one another.

  49. 1597

    1. The last battle of the Cudgel War was fought on the Santavuori Hill in Ilmajoki, Ostrobothnia.

      1. 1596/97 peasant uprising in Finland

        Cudgel War

        The Cudgel War was a 1596-1597 peasant uprising in Finland, which was then part of the Kingdom of Sweden. The name of the uprising derives from the fact that the peasants armed themselves with various blunt weapons, such as cudgels, flails and maces, since they were seen as the most efficient weapons against their heavily-armoured enemies. The yeomen also had swords, some firearms and two cannons at their disposal. Their opponents, the troops of Clas Eriksson Fleming, were professional, heavily-armed and armoured men-at-arms.

      2. Hill in Finland

        Santavuori (hill)

        Santavuori is a hill in Ilmajoki municipality, South Ostrobothnia. It rises 145 metres above sea level.

      3. Municipality in South Ostrobothnia, Finland

        Ilmajoki

        Ilmajoki is a municipality of Finland. Ilmajoki is a town and municipality situated in Finland's South Ostrobothnia region, founded in 1865. Ilmajoki has a population of 12,165 and covers an area of 579.79 km2, of which 2.89 km2 is water. The population density is 20.2 inhabitants per square kilometre. Ilmajoki borders the municipalities of Isokyrö, Kurikka, Laihia and Seinäjoki. The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

      4. Province of Finland

        Ostrobothnia (historical province)

        Ostrobothnia, Swedish: Österbotten, Finnish: Pohjanmaa is a historical province comprising a large western and northern part of modern Finland. It is bounded by Karelia, Savonia, Tavastia and Satakunta in the south, the Bothnian Sea, Bothnian Bay and Swedish Westrobothnia in the west, Laponia in the north and Russia in the east.

  50. 1582

    1. With the papal bull Inter gravissimas, Pope Gregory XIII announces the Gregorian calendar.

      1. Type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church

        Papal bull

        A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by a pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden seal (bulla) that was traditionally appended to the end in order to authenticate it.

      2. Papal document that established the Gregorian calendar

        Inter gravissimas

        Inter gravissimas was a papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII on 24 February 1582. The document, written in Latin, reformed the Julian calendar. The reform came to be regarded as a new calendar in its own right and came to be called the Gregorian calendar, which is used in most countries today.

      3. Head of the Catholic Church from 1572 to 1585

        Pope Gregory XIII

        Pope Gregory XIII, born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake for the Gregorian calendar, which remains the internationally accepted civil calendar to this day.

      4. Most internationally accepted civil calendar

        Gregorian calendar

        The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years differently so as to make the average calendar year 365.2425 days long, more closely approximating the 365.2422-day 'tropical' or 'solar' year that is determined by the Earth's revolution around the Sun.

  51. 1538

    1. Treaty of Nagyvárad between Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I and King John Zápolya of Hungary and Croatia.

      1. 1538 agreement between claimants to the Hungarian throne

        Treaty of Nagyvárad

        The Treaty of Nagyvárad was a secret peace agreement between Emperor Ferdinand I and John Szapolyai, rival claimants to the Kingdom of Hungary, signed in Grosswardein / Várad on February 24, 1538. In the treaty, they divided Hungary between them.

      2. 16th century Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Austria and Infante of Spain

        Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor

        Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1556, King of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia from 1526, and Archduke of Austria from 1521 until his death in 1564. Before his accession as Emperor, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his elder brother, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Also, he often served as Charles' representative in the Holy Roman Empire and developed encouraging relationships with German princes. In addition, Ferdinand also developed valuable relationships with the German banking house of Jakob Fugger and the Catalan bank, Banca Palenzuela Levi Kahana.

      3. King of Hungary from 1526 to 1540

        John Zápolya

        John Zápolya or Szapolyai, was King of Hungary from 1526 to 1540. His rule was disputed by Archduke Ferdinand I, who also claimed the title King of Hungary. He was Voivode of Transylvania before his coronation, from 1510 to 1526.

  52. 1527

    1. Coronation of Ferdinand I as the king of Bohemia in Prague.

      1. 16th century Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Austria and Infante of Spain

        Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor

        Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1556, King of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia from 1526, and Archduke of Austria from 1521 until his death in 1564. Before his accession as Emperor, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his elder brother, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Also, he often served as Charles' representative in the Holy Roman Empire and developed encouraging relationships with German princes. In addition, Ferdinand also developed valuable relationships with the German banking house of Jakob Fugger and the Catalan bank, Banca Palenzuela Levi Kahana.

      2. Capital of the Czech Republic

        Prague

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

  53. 1525

    1. A Habsburg army defeated French forces at the Battle of Pavia, the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–1526.

      1. Monarchy in Europe (1282–1918)

        Habsburg monarchy

        The Habsburg monarchy, also known as the Danubian monarchy, or Habsburg Empire, was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities that were ruled by the House of Habsburg, especially the dynasty's Austrian branch.

      2. 1525 battle during the Italian War of 1521–1526

        Battle of Pavia

        The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–1526 between the Kingdom of France and the Habsburg empire of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor as well as ruler of Spain, Austria, the Low Countries, and the Two Sicilies.

      3. Conflict between France and the Habsburg empires of Charles V

        Italian War of 1521–1526

        The Italian War of 1521–1526, sometimes known as the Four Years' War, was a part of the Italian Wars. The war pitted Francis I of France and the Republic of Venice against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Henry VIII of England, and the Papal States. It arose from animosity over the election of Charles as Emperor in 1519–1520 and from Pope Leo X's need to ally with Charles against Martin Luther.

    2. A Spanish-Austrian army defeats a French army at the Battle of Pavia.

      1. European dynastic family

        House of Habsburg

        The House of Habsburg, alternatively spelled Hapsburg in English and also known as the House of Austria is one of the most prominent and important dynasties in European history.

      2. 1525 battle during the Italian War of 1521–1526

        Battle of Pavia

        The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–1526 between the Kingdom of France and the Habsburg empire of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor as well as ruler of Spain, Austria, the Low Countries, and the Two Sicilies.

  54. 1386

    1. King Charles III of Naples and Hungary is assassinated at Buda.

      1. 14th-century king of Naples, Jerusalem, and Hungary

        Charles III of Naples

        Charles the Short or Charles of Durazzo was King of Naples and the titular King of Jerusalem from 1382 to 1386 as Charles II, and King of Hungary from 1385 to 1386 as Charles II. In 1381, Charles created the chivalric Order of the Ship. In 1383, he succeeded to the Principality of Achaea on the death of James of Baux.

      2. Ancient capital of the Kingdom of Hungary

        Buda

        Buda was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the west bank of the Danube. Buda comprises a third of Budapest's total territory and is mostly wooded. Landmarks include Buda Castle, the Citadella, and the president of Hungary's residence, Sándor Palace.

  55. 1303

    1. The English are defeated at the Battle of Roslin, in the First War of Scottish Independence.

      1. Part of the First War of Scottish Independence (1303)

        Battle of Roslin

        The Battle of Roslin on 24 February 1303 was a Scottish victory in the First War of Scottish Independence. It took place near the village of Roslin, where a force led by the Scots John Comyn and Sir Simon Fraser ambushed and defeated an English reconnaissance party under Lord John Segrave.

      2. 1296–1328 war between English and Scottish forces

        First War of Scottish Independence

        The First War of Scottish Independence was the first of a series of wars between English and Scottish forces. It lasted from the English invasion of Scotland in 1296 until the de jure restoration of Scottish independence with the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton in 1328. De facto independence was established in 1314 at the Battle of Bannockburn. The wars were caused by the attempts of the English kings to establish their authority over Scotland while Scots fought to keep English rule and authority out of Scotland.

  56. 484

    1. King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene bishops with Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica.

      1. King of the Vandals

        Huneric

        Huneric, Hunneric or Honeric was King of the Vandal Kingdom (477–484) and the oldest son of Gaiseric. He abandoned the imperial politics of his father and concentrated mainly on internal affairs. He was married to Eudocia, daughter of western Roman Emperor Valentinian III (419–455) and Licinia Eudoxia. The couple had one child, a son named Hilderic.

      2. Statement of belief adopted at the First Ecumenical Council in 325

        Nicene Creed

        The original Nicene Creed was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople. The amended form is also referred to as the Nicene Creed, or the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed for disambiguation.

      3. Christological doctrine, attributed to Arius

        Arianism

        Arianism is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius, a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God the Father with the difference that the Son of God did not always exist but was begotten within time by God the Father, therefore Jesus was not coeternal with God the Father.

      4. Administrative region of France

        Corsica

        Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the French mainland, west of the Italian Peninsula and immediately north of the Italian island of Sardinia, which is the land mass nearest to it. A single chain of mountains makes up two-thirds of the island. As of January 2022, it had a population of 349,465.

  57. 303

    1. The Diocletianic Persecution, the last and most severe episode of the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire, began with the publication of a first edict by Roman emperor Diocletian.

      1. Period of persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire (303-313)

        Diocletianic Persecution

        The Diocletianic or Great Persecution was the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. In 303, the emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius issued a series of edicts rescinding Christians' legal rights and demanding that they comply with traditional religious practices. Later edicts targeted the clergy and demanded universal sacrifice, ordering all inhabitants to sacrifice to the gods. The persecution varied in intensity across the empire—weakest in Gaul and Britain, where only the first edict was applied, and strongest in the Eastern provinces. Persecutory laws were nullified by different emperors at different times, but Constantine and Licinius' Edict of Milan in 313 has traditionally marked the end of the persecution.

      2. Persecution of Christians

        The persecution of Christians can be historically traced from the first century of the Christian era to the present day. Christian missionaries and converts to Christianity have both been targeted for persecution, sometimes to the point of being martyred for their faith, ever since the emergence of Christianity.

      3. Period of Imperial Rome following the Roman Republic (27 BC–AD 1453)

        Roman Empire

        The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia, and was ruled by emperors. From the accession of Caesar Augustus as the first Roman emperor to the military anarchy of the 3rd century, it was a principate with Italia as the metropole of its provinces and the city of Rome as its sole capital. The Empire was later ruled by multiple emperors who shared control over the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. The city of Rome remained the nominal capital of both parts until AD 476 when the imperial insignia were sent to Constantinople following the capture of the Western capital of Ravenna by the Germanic barbarians. The adoption of Christianity as the state church of the Roman Empire in AD 380 and the fall of the Western Roman Empire to Germanic kings conventionally marks the end of classical antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages. Because of these events, along with the gradual Hellenization of the Eastern Roman Empire, historians distinguish the medieval Roman Empire that remained in the Eastern provinces as the Byzantine Empire.

      4. Announcement of a law, often associated with monarchism

        Edict

        An edict is a decree or announcement of a law, often associated with monarchism, but it can be under any official authority. Synonyms include "dictum" and "pronouncement".

      5. Roman emperor from 284 to 305

        Diocletian

        Diocletian, nicknamed Iovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. Born to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia, and originally named Diocles, Diocletian rose through the ranks of the military early in his career, eventually becoming a cavalry commander for the army of Emperor Carus. After the deaths of Carus and his son Numerian on a campaign in Persia, Diocletian was proclaimed emperor by the troops. The title was also claimed by Carus's surviving son, Carinus, but Diocletian defeated him in the Battle of the Margus.

Births & Deaths

  1. 2021

    1. Ronald Pickup, English actor (b. 1940) deaths

      1. British actor (1940–2021)

        Ronald Pickup

        Ronald Alfred Pickup was an English actor. He was active in television, film, and theatre, beginning with a 1964 appearance in Doctor Who. Theatre critic Michael Billington described him as "a terrific stage star and an essential member of Laurence Olivier's National Theatre company". His major screen roles included the title role in The Life of Verdi and Prince Yakimov in Fortunes of War (1987).

  2. 2020

    1. Katherine Johnson, American physicist and mathematician (b. 1918) deaths

      1. African American NASA mathematician (1918–2020)

        Katherine Johnson

        Katherine Johnson was an American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. crewed spaceflights. During her 33-year career at NASA and its predecessor, she earned a reputation for mastering complex manual calculations and helped pioneer the use of computers to perform the tasks. The space agency noted her "historical role as one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist".

  3. 2018

    1. Sridevi, Indian actress (b. 1963) deaths

      1. Indian actress (1963–2018)

        Sridevi

        Shree Amma Yanger Ayyappan, professionally credited with her stage name Sridevi, was an Indian actress who worked in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada language films. Cited as the "First Female Superstar" of Indian cinema, she was the recipient of various accolades, including the National Film Award, the Nandi Award, the Tamil Nadu State Film Award, the Kerala State Film Award, four Filmfare Awards, including a Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award and three Filmfare Awards South. Sridevi's career in Indian cinema spanned over 50 years in a range of genres from slapstick comedy to epic dramas. She was known for her reticent and introverted personality, but headstrong and outspoken screen persona, regularly playing strong-willed, sophisticated women. In 2013, Sridevi was honoured with the Padma Shri, the country's fourth highest civilian honour. She was also voted 'India's Greatest Actress in 100 Years' in a CNN-IBN national poll conducted in 2013 on the occasion of the centenary of Indian cinema.

    2. Haukur Hilmarsson, Icelandic political activist and internationalist volunteer fighter (b. 1986) deaths

      1. Icelandic activist (1986–2018)

        Haukur Hilmarsson

        Haukur Hilmarsson was an Icelandic political activist. He played a crucial role in initiating a movement for the rights of refugees in Iceland. He rose to prominence during the 2009 Icelandic financial crisis protests after climbing to the roof of the house of the Icelandic parliament, Alþingishúsið, and hoisting the flag of the Bónus supermarket chain on the building's flagpole. His arrest two weeks later resulted in an attempt by a crowd of protesters to storm the Icelandic Police headquarters in downtown Reykjavík where Haukur was held and from where he was subsequently released.

  4. 2016

    1. Peter Kenilorea, Solomon Islands politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands (b. 1943) deaths

      1. Peter Kenilorea

        Sir Peter Kenilorea KBE was a Solomon Islander politician, officially styled The Rt Hon. Sir Peter Kenilorea as a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. He was the first Prime Minister of an independent Solomon Islands, from 1978–81, and also served a second term from 1984–86.

      2. Prime Minister of Solomon Islands

        The prime minister of Solomon Islands is Solomon Islands' head of government, consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the National Parliament. Since April 2019, the prime minister has been Manasseh Sogavare.

    2. Nabil Maleh, Syrian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1936) deaths

      1. Nabil Maleh

        Nabil Maleh was a Syrian film director, screenwriter, producer, painter and poet; he is thought to be a father of Syrian cinema. Nabil has published more than 1,000 articles short stories, essays and poems. He is the writer and director of 120 short, experimental and documentary works and 12 feature-length films including The Extras and The Leopard. He has more than 60 awards at international film festivals, including several lifetime achievement awards. Several of his films are in the curriculum of international film schools and he has taught film direction, acting, writing and aesthetics at many universities, centers and associations, including the University of Texas at Austin and the University of California in Los Angeles.

    3. George C. Nichopoulos, American soldier and physician (b. 1927) deaths

      1. American physician

        George C. Nichopoulos

        George Constantine Nichopoulos, also known as Dr. Nick, was an American physician of Greek descent. He was best known as Elvis Presley's personal physician and was controversial due to the singer's longstanding abuse of prescription drugs. Although Nichopoulos retained his medical license after Presley’s death, the Tennessee Medical Board eventually permanently revoked Nichopoulos’s license in light of his practice of overprescribing to many patients over multiple years.

  5. 2015

    1. Mefodiy, Ukrainian metropolitan (b. 1949) deaths

      1. Methodius (Kudriakov)

        Metropolitan Mefodiy was the Primate of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine.

    2. Rakhat Aliyev, Kazakh politician and diplomat (b. 1962) deaths

      1. Kazakh politician

        Rakhat Aliyev

        Rakhat Mukhtaruly Aliyev was a senior official of the government of Kazakhstan who died in an Austrian prison awaiting trial on charges of murder. His trial was planned to start in Vienna in first half of year 2015. Austrian legal circles were giving much attention to this high-profile criminal case in which a former diplomat was facing murder charges.

  6. 2014

    1. Franny Beecher, American guitarist (b. 1921) deaths

      1. Rock and roll musician

        Franny Beecher

        Francis Eugene Beecher was the lead guitarist for Bill Haley & His Comets from 1954 to 1962, and is best remembered for his innovative guitar solos combining elements of country music and jazz. He composed the classics "Blue Comet Blues", "Goofin' Around", "Week End", "The Catwalk", and "Shaky" when he was the lead guitarist for Bill Haley and the Comets. He continued to perform with surviving members of the Comets into 2006. In 2012, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Beecher as a member of the Comets by a special committee, aimed at correcting the previous mistake of not inducting the Comets with Bill Haley.

    2. Alexis Hunter, New Zealand-English painter and photographer (b. 1948) deaths

      1. New Zealand painter and photographer (1948–2014)

        Alexis Hunter

        Alexis Jan Atthill Hunter was a New Zealand painter and photographer, who used feminist theory in her work. She lived and worked in London UK, and Beaurainville France. Hunter was also a member of the Stuckism collective. Her archive and artistic legacy is now administered by the Alexis Hunter Trust.

    3. Carlos Páez Vilaró, Uruguayan painter and sculptor (b. 1923) deaths

      1. Carlos Páez Vilaró

        Carlos Páez Vilaró was a Uruguayan abstract artist, painter, potter, sculptor, muralist, writer, composer and constructor.

    4. Harold Ramis, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1944) deaths

      1. American actor, director, and screenwriter (1944–2014)

        Harold Ramis

        Harold Allen Ramis was an American actor, comedian, director and writer. His best-known film acting roles were as Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II (1989), and as Russell Ziskey in Stripes (1981); he also co-wrote those films. As a director, his films include the comedies Caddyshack (1980), National Lampoon's Vacation (1983), Groundhog Day (1993), Analyze This (1999) and Analyze That (2002). Ramis was the original head writer of the television series SCTV, on which he also performed, as well as a co-writer of Groundhog Day and National Lampoon's Animal House (1978). The final film that he wrote, produced, directed, and acted in was Year One (2009).

  7. 2013

    1. Virgil Johnson, American singer (b. 1935) deaths

      1. Doo-wop group from Odessa, Texas

        The Velvets

        The Velvets were an American doo-wop group from Odessa, Texas, United States. They were formed in 1959 by Virgil Johnson, a high-school English teacher, with four of his students. Roy Orbison heard the group and signed them to Monument Records in 1960. Their first release was a tune called "That Lucky Old Sun". Their biggest hit single was "Tonight ", which hit #26 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1961. The follow-up, "Laugh", peaked at #90, and after a half-dozen further singles the group disbanded.

    2. Con Martin, Irish footballer and manager (b. 1923) deaths

      1. Con Martin

        Cornelius Joseph Martin was an Irish footballer. Martin initially played Gaelic football for the Dublin county team before switching codes and embarking on a successful soccer career, playing for, among others, Drumcondra, Glentoran, Leeds United and Aston Villa.

  8. 2012

    1. Agnes Allen, American baseball player and therapist (b. 1930) deaths

      1. Baseball player

        Agnes Allen

        Agnes Lorraine "Aggie" Allen was a pitcher and outfielder who played from 1950 through 1953 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m), 120 lb, she batted and threw right-handed.

    2. Oliver Wrong, English nephrologist and academic (b. 1925) deaths

      1. Oliver Wrong

        Professor Oliver Murray Wrong was an eminent academic nephrologist and one of the founders of the speciality in the United Kingdom. From a background as a "salt and water" physician, he made detailed clinical observations and scientifically imaginative connections which were the basis of numerous advances in the molecular biology of the human kidney. Wrong himself contributed to much of the molecular work after his own "retirement". He dictated amendments to his final paper during his final illness in his own teaching hospital, University College Hospital (UCH), London. Though academic in his leanings, he was a compassionate physician who established a warm rapport with patients, a link he regarded as the keystone of his research. He belonged to a generation of idealistic young doctors responsible for the establishment of the UK's National Health Service in the post-War years.

  9. 2011

    1. Anant Pai, Indian author and illustrator (b. 1929) deaths

      1. Indian comics artist

        Anant Pai

        Anant Pai, popularly known as Uncle Pai, was an Indian educationalist and a pioneer in Indian comics. He is most famous as the creator of two comic book series viz. Amar Chitra Katha, which retold traditional Indian folk tales, mythological stories, and biographies of historical characters; and Tinkle, a children's anthology.

  10. 2010

    1. Dawn Brancheau, senior animal trainer at SeaWorld (b. 1969) deaths

      1. American SeaWorld trainer (1969–2010)

        Dawn Brancheau

        Dawn Therese Brancheau was an American senior animal trainer at SeaWorld. She worked with orcas at SeaWorld Orlando for fifteen years, including a leading role in revamping the Shamu show, and was SeaWorld's poster girl. She was killed by an orca, Tilikum. Tilikum was also involved in the deaths of two other people: Keltie Byrne and Daniel P. Dukes.

  11. 2008

    1. Larry Norman, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1947) deaths

      1. American musician

        Larry Norman

        Larry David Norman was an American musician, singer, songwriter, record label owner, and record producer. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Christian rock music and released more than 100 albums.

  12. 2007

    1. Bruce Bennett, American shot putter and actor (b. 1906) deaths

      1. American actor (1906–2007)

        Bruce Bennett

        Bruce Bennett was an American film and television actor who prior to his screen career was a highly successful college athlete in football and in both intercollegiate and international track-and-field competitions. In 1928 he won the silver medal for the shot put at the Olympic Games held in Amsterdam. Bennett's acting career spanned more than 40 years. He worked predominantly in films until the mid-1950s, when he began to work increasingly in American television series.

    2. Damien Nash, American football player (b. 1982) deaths

      1. American football player (1982–2007)

        Damien Nash

        Damien Darnell Nash was an American football running back who played for the Tennessee Titans and Denver Broncos of the National Football League. He died after the 2006 season, his only season with the Broncos.

  13. 2006

    1. Octavia E. Butler, American author and educator (b. 1947) deaths

      1. American science fiction writer (1947–2006)

        Octavia E. Butler

        Octavia Estelle Butler was an American science fiction author and a multiple recipient of the Hugo and Nebula awards. In 1995, Butler became the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship.

    2. Don Knotts, American actor and comedian (b. 1924) deaths

      1. American actor and stand-up comedian (1924-2006)

        Don Knotts

        Jesse Donald Knotts was an American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show, a 1960s sitcom for which he earned five Emmy Awards. He also played Ralph Furley on the highly rated sitcom Three's Company from 1979 to 1984. He starred in multiple comedic films, including the leading roles in The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) and The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964). In 2004, TV Guide ranked him number 27 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list.

    3. John Martin, Canadian broadcaster, co-founded MuchMusic (b. 1947) deaths

      1. John Martin (Canadian broadcaster)

        John Martin was a Canadian broadcaster, credited with "almost single-handedly" creating music television in Canada.

      2. Canadian music television channel

        Much (TV channel)

        Much is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults.

    4. Dennis Weaver, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1924) deaths

      1. American actor (1924–2006)

        Dennis Weaver

        William Dennis Weaver was an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild, best known for his work in television and films from the early 1950s until just before his death in 2006. Weaver's two most famous roles were as Marshal Matt Dillon's trusty partner Chester Goode/Proudfoot on the CBS western Gunsmoke and as Deputy Marshal Sam McCloud on the NBC police drama McCloud. He starred in the 1971 television film Duel, the first film of director Steven Spielberg. He is also remembered for his role as the twitchy motel attendant in Orson Welles's film Touch of Evil (1958).

  14. 2005

    1. Coşkun Kırca, Turkish diplomat, journalist and politician (b. 1927) deaths

      1. Turkish diplomat

        Coşkun Kırca

        Coşkun Kırca was a Turkish diplomat, journalist and politician. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey in 1995. He was at first a member of the Republican People's Party (CHP), then of the Republican Reliance Party (CGP), then of the True Path Party (DYP).

  15. 2004

    1. John Randolph, American actor (b. 1915) deaths

      1. American actor (1915–2004)

        John Randolph (actor)

        Emanuel Hirsch Cohen, better known by the stage name John Randolph, was an American film, television and stage actor.

  16. 2002

    1. Leo Ornstein, Ukrainian-American pianist and composer (b. 1893) deaths

      1. American composer and pianist (1895–2002)

        Leo Ornstein

        Leo Ornstein was an American experimental composer and pianist of the early twentieth century. His performances of works by avant-garde composers and his own innovative and even shocking pieces made him a cause célèbre on both sides of the Atlantic. The bulk of his experimental works were written for piano.

  17. 2001

    1. Theodore Marier, American composer and educator, founded the Boston Archdiocesan Choir School (b. 1912) deaths

      1. American classical composer

        Theodore Marier

        Theodore Norbert Marier was a church musician, educator, arranger and scholar of Gregorian Chant. He founded St. Paul's Choir School in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1963, and served as the second president of the Church Music Association of America.

      2. Private, day, choir school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

        St. Paul's Choir School

        St. Paul's Choir School is a Catholic choir school located at St. Paul’s Church, Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1963, by Theodore Marier, the middle school for boys in third through eighth grades is the only boys' choir school in the United States of America affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, and one of the few church-affiliated choir schools in the United States. The Choir School educates and trains the choirboys who sing soprano in the choir of St. Paul's, a choir of boys and men. The choir sings for liturgical services at St. Paul's Church and performs primarily in and around the Boston area. It is located within the Archdiocese of Boston.

    2. Claude Shannon, American mathematician, cryptographer, and engineer (b. 1916) deaths

      1. American mathematician and information theorist

        Claude Shannon

        Claude Elwood Shannon was an American mathematician, electrical engineer, and cryptographer known as a "father of information theory".

  18. 1999

    1. Andre Dubus, American short story writer, essayist, and memoirist (b. 1936) deaths

      1. American writer

        Andre Dubus

        Andre Jules Dubus II was an American short story writer and essayist.

  19. 1998

    1. Antonio Prohías, Cuban-American cartoonist (b. 1921) deaths

      1. Cuban cartoonist

        Antonio Prohías

        Antonio Prohías was a Cuban-American cartoonist. He was the creator of the satirical comic strip Spy vs. Spy, which he illustrated for Mad magazine from 1961 to 1987.

    2. Henny Youngman, English-American comedian and violinist (b. 1906) deaths

      1. American comedian (1906–1998)

        Henny Youngman

        Henry "Henny" Youngman was a British-born American comedian and musician famous for his mastery of the "one-liner", his best known being "Take my wife... please".

  20. 1996

    1. Royce Freeman, American football player births

      1. American football player (born 1996)

        Royce Freeman

        Royce Deion Freeman is an American football running back for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Oregon.

  21. 1994

    1. Jessica Pegula, American tennis player births

      1. American tennis player (born 1994)

        Jessica Pegula

        Jessica Pegula is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA rankings in singles and doubles of world No. 3, both achieved on October 24, 2022. She has won two singles titles and five doubles titles on the WTA Tour, one WTA Challenger doubles title, and seven ITF doubles titles. She is a four-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist in singles, having reached this stage twice at the Australian Open, in 2021 and 2022, once at the 2022 French Open, and once at the 2022 US Open. She is also a major finalist in doubles, achieving this feat at the 2022 French Open with teammate Coco Gauff.

    2. Jean Sablon, French singer and actor (b. 1906) deaths

      1. French singer, songwriter, composer and actor

        Jean Sablon

        Jean Sablon was a French singer, songwriter, composer and actor. He was one of the first French singers to immerse himself in jazz. The man behind several songs by big French and American names, he was the first to use a microphone on a French stage in 1936. Star of vinyl and the radio, he left France in 1937 to take up a contract with NBC in the United States. His radio and later televised shows made him a huge star in America. Henceforth the most international of French singers among his contemporaries, he became an ambassador of French songwriting and dedicated his career to touring internationally, occasionally returning to France to appear on stage. His sixty-one year career came to an end in 1984.

    3. Dinah Shore, American actress and singer (b. 1916) deaths

      1. American singer and actress (1916–1994)

        Dinah Shore

        Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during the Big Band era. She achieved even greater success a decade later, in television, mainly as the host of a series of variety programs for the Chevrolet automobile company.

  22. 1993

    1. Danny Gallivan, Canadian sportscaster (b. 1917) deaths

      1. Canadian sportscaster

        Danny Gallivan

        Daniel Leo Gallivan was a Canadian radio and television broadcaster and sportscaster.

    2. Bobby Moore, English footballer and manager (b. 1941) deaths

      1. English professional footballer (1941–1993)

        Bobby Moore

        Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore was an English professional footballer. He most notably played for West Ham United, captaining the club for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England national team that won the 1966 FIFA World Cup. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders in the history of football, and was cited by Pelé as the greatest defender that he had ever played against.

  23. 1991

    1. Madison Hubbell, American ice dancer births

      1. American ice dancer

        Madison Hubbell

        Madison Hubbell is an American former ice dancer. She competed with Zachary Donohue from 2011 to 2022. With him, she is a two-time 2022 Winter Olympics medalist, a four-time World medalist, the 2018 Grand Prix Final champion, the 2014 Four Continents champion, and a three-time U.S. national champion.

    2. Semih Kaya, Turkish footballer births

      1. Turkish footballer

        Semih Kaya

        Semih Kaya is a former Turkish professional footballer who played as a centre back, most recently for Galatasaray. On August 12, 2022, he announced on his social media accounts that he was leaving football.

    3. John Daly, American journalist and game show host (b. 1914) deaths

      1. American journalist and game show host (1914–1991)

        John Charles Daly

        John Charles Patrick Croghan Daly was a South African–born American journalist, host, radio and television personality, ABC News executive, TV anchor, and game show host, best known for his work on the CBS panel game show What's My Line?

    4. George Gobel, American actor (b. 1919) deaths

      1. American comedian and actor (1919–1991)

        George Gobel

        George Leslie Goebel was an American humorist, actor, and comedian. He was best known as the star of his own weekly comedy variety television series, The George Gobel Show, broadcasting from 1954 to 1959 on NBC, and on CBS from 1959 to 1960,. He was also a familiar panelist on the NBC game show Hollywood Squares.

    5. Webb Pierce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1921) deaths

      1. American singer-songwriter

        Webb Pierce

        Michael Webb Pierce was an American honky-tonk vocalist, songwriter and guitarist of the 1950s, one of the most popular of the genre, charting more number one hits than any other country artist during the decade.

  24. 1990

    1. Tony Conigliaro, American baseball player (b. 1945) deaths

      1. American baseball player

        Tony Conigliaro

        Anthony Richard Conigliaro, nicknamed "Tony C" and "Conig", was a Major League Baseball outfielder and right-handed batter who played for the Boston Red Sox and California Angels (1971). Born in Revere, Massachusetts, he was a 1962 graduate of St. Mary's High School in Lynn, Massachusetts. Conigliaro started his MLB career as a teenager, hitting a home run in his first at-bat during his home field debut in 1964. During the Red Sox "Impossible Dream" season of 1967, he was hit in the face by a pitch that caused a severe eye injury and derailed his career. Though he would make a comeback from the injury, his career was not the same afterwards.

    2. Malcolm Forbes, American sergeant and publisher (b. 1917) deaths

      1. American publisher

        Malcolm Forbes

        Malcolm Stevenson Forbes was an American entrepreneur most prominently known as the publisher of Forbes magazine, founded by his father B. C. Forbes. He was known as an avid promoter of capitalism and free market economics and for an extravagant lifestyle, spending on parties, travel, and his collection of homes, yachts, aircraft, art, motorcycles, and Fabergé eggs.

    3. Sandro Pertini, Italian journalist and politician, 7th President of Italy (b. 1896) deaths

      1. President of Italy from 1978 to 1985

        Sandro Pertini

        Alessandro "Sandro" Pertini was an Italian socialist politician who served as the president of Italy from 1978 to 1985.

      2. Head of state of Italy

        President of Italy

        The president of Italy, officially denoted as president of the Italian Republic is the head of state of Italy. In that role, the president represents national unity, and guarantees that Italian politics comply with the Constitution. The president is the commander-in-chief of the Italian Armed Forces and chairs the High Council of the Judiciary. A president's term of office lasts for seven years. The incumbent president is former constitutional judge Sergio Mattarella, who was elected on 31 January 2015, and re-elected on 29 January 2022.

    4. Johnnie Ray, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1927) deaths

      1. American singer and pianist (1927–1990)

        Johnnie Ray

        John Alvin Ray was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Highly popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor to what became rock and roll, for his jazz and blues-influenced music, and his animated stage personality. Tony Bennett called Ray the "father of rock and roll", and historians have noted him as a pioneering figure in the development of the genre.

  25. 1989

    1. Trace Cyrus, American singer-songwriter and guitarist births

      1. American musician

        Trace Cyrus

        Trace Dempsey Cyrus is an American musician. The son of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus and brother of recording artists Miley Cyrus and Noah Cyrus, he is the backing vocalist and guitarist of the band Metro Station, with time out between 2010 and 2014. In 2010, he began providing vocals and guitar in the pop rock band Ashland HIGH. He also owns the clothing company From Backseats to Bedrooms.

  26. 1988

    1. Connie Ramsay, Scottish judoka births

      1. Scottish judoka

        Connie Ramsay

        Connie Ramsay is a Scottish judoka, who competed at the Commonwealth Games.

  27. 1987

    1. Kim Kyu-jong, South Korean singer, dancer, and actor births

      1. Musical artist

        Kim Kyu-jong

        Kim Kyu-jong is a South Korean entertainer, actor, and a member of boyband SS501.

  28. 1986

    1. Rukmini Devi Arundale, Indian Bharatnatyam dancer (b. 1904) deaths

      1. Indian classical dance choreographer

        Rukmini Devi Arundale

        Rukmini Devi Arundale was an Indian theosophist, dancer and choreographer of the Indian classical dance form of Bharatanatyam, and an activist for animal welfare.

    2. Tommy Douglas, Scottish-Canadian minister and politician, 7th Premier of Saskatchewan (b. 1904) deaths

      1. 7th Premier of Saskatchewan (1944–1961)

        Tommy Douglas

        Thomas Clement Douglas was a Scottish-born Canadian politician who served as seventh premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 and Leader of the New Democratic Party from 1961 to 1971. A Baptist minister, he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in 1935 as a member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). He left federal politics to become Leader of the Saskatchewan Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and then the seventh Premier of Saskatchewan. His government introduced the continent's first single-payer, universal health care program.

      2. First minister for the Canadian province of Saskatchewan

        Premier of Saskatchewan

        The premier of Saskatchewan is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The current premier of Saskatchewan is Scott Moe, who was sworn in as premier on February 2, 2018, after winning the 2018 Saskatchewan Party leadership election. The first premier of Saskatchewan was Liberal Thomas Walter Scott, who served from 1905 to 1916. Since Saskatchewan was created as a province in 1905, 15 individuals have served as premier.

  29. 1985

    1. Nakash Aziz, Indian playback singer and composer births

      1. Indian music composer and singer

        Nakash Aziz

        Nakash Aziz, also known as Nakash, is an Indian composer and singer. He has worked as an assistant to composer A. R. Rahman on films such as Highway, Raanjhanaa, Rockstar, Delhi 6 and I. He is known for playback performances of songs like "Jabra Fan" from Fan, "Sari Ke Fall Sa" and "Gandi Baat" from the film R... Rajkumar (2013) and "Dhating Nach" from film Phata Poster Nikhla Hero (2013); the latter two films of which were picturized on Shahid Kapoor.

  30. 1984

    1. Corey Graves, American wrestler and sportscaster births

      1. American professional wrestler

        Corey Graves

        Matthew Polinsky is an American wrestling color commentator and retired professional wrestler currently signed to WWE as a commentator and analyst for Raw and SmackDown under the ring name Corey Graves. He is a former NXT Tag Team Champion with Adrian Neville and a former WWE 24/7 Champion. Polinsky is also known for his work on the independent circuit under the ring name Sterling James Keenan.

  31. 1982

    1. Nick Blackburn, American baseball player births

      1. American baseball player

        Nick Blackburn

        Robert Nicholas Blackburn is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins from 2007 to 2012.

    2. Emanuel Villa, Argentinian footballer births

      1. Argentine footballer

        Emanuel Villa

        Emanuel Alejandro Villa is an Argentine former professional footballer. He is a Mexican naturalized citizen.

    3. Klára Koukalová, Czech tennis player births

      1. Czech tennis player

        Klára Koukalová

        Klára Koukalová is a retired Czech tennis player. She was born and still lives in Prague. Having turned professional in 1999, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 20, on 15 April 2013. In doubles, she reached a career-high ranking of 31, on 19 May 2014. Koukalová won three WTA singles titles and four doubles titles during her career.

    4. Fala Chen, Chinese actress and singer births

      1. Chinese American actress

        Fala Chen

        Fala Chen is a Chinese American actress. She is known for her roles in Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and HBO miniseries Irma Vep and The Undoing.

    5. Virginia Bruce, American actress (b. 1910) deaths

      1. Actress from the United States

        Virginia Bruce

        Virginia Bruce was an American actress and singer.

  32. 1981

    1. Felipe Baloy, Panamanian footballer births

      1. Panamanian footballer

        Felipe Baloy

        Felipe Abdiel Baloy Ramírez is a Panamanian former professional footballer who played as a defender. He scored Panama’s first ever goal in a FIFA World Cup, against England at the 2018 edition.

    2. Lleyton Hewitt, Australian tennis player births

      1. Australian tennis player

        Lleyton Hewitt

        Lleyton Glynn Hewitt is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. He is the most recent Australian man to win a major singles title, with two at the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon Championships. In November 2001, Hewitt became, at the time, the youngest man to be singles world No. 1 in the ATP rankings, at the age of 20 years, 8 months and 26 days, though this record was surpassed in 2022 by Carlos Alcaraz, who ascended to the top at 19 years, 4 months and 7 days. He won 30 singles titles and 3 doubles titles, with highlights being the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon singles titles, the 2000 US Open men's doubles title, back-to-back Tour Finals titles in 2001 and 2002, and the Davis Cup with Australia in 1999 and 2003. Between 1997 and 2016, Hewitt contested twenty consecutive Australian Open men's singles tournaments, his best result being runner-up in 2005. He was also the runner-up at the 2004 US Open.

    3. Mohammad Sami, Pakistani cricketer births

      1. Pakistani former cricketer

        Mohammad Sami

        Mohammad Sami is a former Pakistani cricketer who played for the Pakistan national cricket team between 2001 and 2016.

  33. 1980

    1. Shinsuke Nakamura, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist births

      1. Japanese professional wrestler

        Shinsuke Nakamura

        Shinsuke Nakamura is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand.

  34. 1978

    1. Alma Thomas, American painter and educator (b.1891) deaths

      1. American painter (1891–1978)

        Alma Thomas

        Alma Woodsey Thomas was an African-American artist and teacher who lived and worked in Washington, D.C., and is now recognized as a major American painter of the 20th century. Thomas is best known for the "exuberant", colorful, abstract paintings that she created after her retirement from a 35-year career teaching art at Washington's Shaw Junior High School.

  35. 1977

    1. Jason Akermanis, Australian footballer and coach births

      1. Australian rules footballer

        Jason Akermanis

        Jason Dean Akermanis is a former professional Australian rules football player who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a Brownlow Medallist and triple premiership player who played for the Brisbane Bears, Brisbane Lions and Western Bulldogs.

    2. Floyd Mayweather Jr., American boxer births

      1. American boxer and boxing promoter

        Floyd Mayweather Jr.

        Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer. He currently owns a team in the NASCAR Cup Series named The Money Team Racing. As a professional boxer he competed between 1996 and 2017, retiring with an undefeated record and winning 15 major world championships from super featherweight to light middleweight. This includes the Ring magazine title in five weight classes and the lineal championship in four weight classes. As an amateur boxer, he won a bronze medal in the featherweight division at the 1996 Olympics, three U.S. Golden Gloves championships, and the U.S. national championship at featherweight.

  36. 1976

    1. Zach Johnson, American golfer births

      1. American professional golfer

        Zach Johnson

        Zachary Harris Johnson is an American professional golfer who has 12 victories on the PGA Tour, including two major championships, the 2007 Masters and the 2015 Open Championship.

    2. Bradley McGee, Australian cyclist and coach births

      1. Australian cyclist

        Bradley McGee

        Bradley John McGee OAM is an Australian former professional racing cyclist. He is currently the head coach of the New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS). He started cycling in 1986 at the age of ten. He lives in Sydney and in Nice, France.

    3. Marco Campos, Brazilian race car driver (d. 1995) births

      1. Brazilian racing driver

        Marco Campos

        Marco Campos was a Brazilian racing driver. He died in an accident in a Formula 3000 race at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, making him the only driver to be fatally injured in the International Formula 3000 series. His death would be the last at the top level of feeder series racing until the fatal accident of Anthoine Hubert in Formula 2 in 2019.

  37. 1975

    1. Ashley MacIsaac, Canadian singer-songwriter and fiddler births

      1. Musical artist

        Ashley MacIsaac

        Ashley Dwayne MacIsaac is a Canadian fiddler, singer and songwriter from Cape Breton Island. He has received three Juno Awards, winning for Best New Solo Artist and Best Roots & Traditional Album – Solo at the Juno Awards of 1996, and for Best Instrumental Artist at the Juno Awards of 1997. His 1995 album Hi™ How Are You Today? was a double-platinum selling Canadian record. MacIsaac published an autobiography, Fiddling with Disaster in 2003.

    2. Hans Bellmer, German artist (b. 1902) deaths

      1. German artist and photographer

        Hans Bellmer

        Hans Bellmer was a German artist, best known for the life-sized pubescent female dolls he produced in the mid-1930s. Historians of art and photography also consider him a Surrealist photographer.

    3. Nikolai Bulganin, Russian marshal and politician, 6th Premier of the Soviet Union (b. 1895) deaths

      1. Soviet politician

        Nikolai Bulganin

        Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin was a Soviet politician who served as Minister of Defense (1953–1955) and Premier of the Soviet Union (1955–1958) under Nikita Khrushchev, following service in the Red Army and as defence minister under Joseph Stalin.

      2. Head of government of the USSR

        Premier of the Soviet Union

        The Premier of the Soviet Union was the head of government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The office had four different names throughout its existence: Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (1923–1946), Chairman of the Council of Ministers (1946–1991), Prime Minister and Chairman of the Committee on the Operational Management of the Soviet Economy. Long before 1991, most non-Soviet sources referred to the post as "Premier" or "Prime Minister."

  38. 1974

    1. Margaret Leech, American historian and author (b. 1895) deaths

      1. American historian and novelist (1893-1974)

        Margaret Leech

        Margaret Kernochan Leech, also known as Margaret Pulitzer, was an American historian and fiction writer. She won the Pulitzer Prize for History both in 1942 and in 1960.

  39. 1973

    1. Stubby Clapp, Canadian baseball player and coach births

      1. Canadian baseball player and coach

        Stubby Clapp

        Richard Keith "Stubby" Clapp is a Canadian professional baseball coach and former second baseman, left fielder, and Triple-A manager who is the first base coach for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for 11 years, most notably within the St. Louis Cardinals organization, including a brief stint in MLB with the Cardinals. In his native Canada, he is best remembered for his performance at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, where he hit a bases-loaded single in the 11th inning to beat a more experienced U.S. team and put Canada in the semifinals. Canada eventually won the bronze medal.

    2. Alexei Kovalev, Russian ice hockey player and pilot births

      1. Ice hockey player

        Alexei Kovalev

        Alexei Vyacheslavovich Kovalev is a Russian professional ice hockey coach, executive and former professional player. He is currently serving as the assistant coach for HC Kunlun Red Star of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

  40. 1972

    1. Teodor Currentzis, Greek conductor and composer births

      1. Greek conductor, musician and actor

        Teodor Currentzis

        Teodor Currentzis is a Greek-Russian conductor, musician and actor.

    2. Manon Rhéaume, Canadian ice hockey player and coach births

      1. Canadian ice hockey player (born 1972)

        Manon Rhéaume

        Manon Rhéaume is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender. An Olympic silver medalist, she achieved a number of historic firsts during her career, including becoming the first woman to play in exhibition game in any of the major North American pro-sports leagues.

  41. 1971

    1. Pedro de la Rosa, Spanish race car driver births

      1. Spanish racing driver

        Pedro de la Rosa

        Pedro Martínez de la Rosa is a Spanish former Formula One driver who has participated in 107 Grands Prix for the Arrows, Jaguar, McLaren, Sauber and HRT teams. He made his Formula One debut on 7 March 1999, becoming one of seventy-six drivers to score a point in his first race. He has scored a total of 35 championship points, which includes a podium finish at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix. He is currently a brand ambassador for the Aston Martin Formula 1 Team.

  42. 1970

    1. Jeff Garcia, American football player and coach births

      1. American football player (born 1970)

        Jeff Garcia

        Jeffrey Jason Garcia is a former American football quarterback. After attending high school and junior college in Gilroy, California, Garcia played college football at San Jose State University.

    2. Neil Sullivan, English born Scottish international footballer and coach births

      1. Scottish association football player

        Neil Sullivan

        Neil Sullivan is a professional football player and coach. He played as a goalkeeper from 1988 until 2013, playing in the Premier League for Wimbledon, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, and represented Scotland internationally.

    3. Jonathan Ward, American actor births

      1. American actor

        Jonathan Ward (actor)

        Jonathan Ward is a retired American actor. He has starred mostly in television series and television films, but has also appeared in a small number of feature films, including the critically maligned 1988 cult film Mac and Me. His acting debut was on Broadway as Michael in Peter Pan.

    4. Conrad Nagel, American actor (b. 1897) deaths

      1. American actor

        Conrad Nagel

        John Conrad Nagel was an American film, stage, television and radio actor. He was considered a famous matinée idol and leading man of the 1920s and 1930s. He was given an Academy Honorary Award in 1940 and three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.

  43. 1969

    1. Kim Seung-woo, South Korean actor births

      1. South Korean actor

        Kim Seung-woo

        Kim Seung-woo is a South Korean actor who participated in various films, television series and variety shows through out 1990 until 2022. He also works in different media platforms such as playing a talk show host role.

  44. 1968

    1. Mitch Hedberg, American comedian and actor (d. 2005) births

      1. American stand-up comedian (1968–2005)

        Mitch Hedberg

        Mitchell Lee Hedberg was an American stand-up comedian known for his surreal humor and deadpan delivery. His comedy typically featured short, sometimes one-line jokes mixed with absurd elements and non sequiturs.

  45. 1967

    1. Brian Schmidt, Australian astrophysicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate births

      1. American-born Australian astrophysicist

        Brian Schmidt

        Brian Paul Schmidt is the Vice-Chancellor of the Australian National University (ANU). He was previously a Distinguished Professor, Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and astrophysicist at the University's Mount Stromlo Observatory and Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics. He is known for his research in using supernovae as cosmological probes. He currently holds an Australian Research Council Federation Fellowship and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2012. Schmidt shared both the 2006 Shaw Prize in Astronomy and the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics with Saul Perlmutter and Adam Riess for providing evidence that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, making him the only Montana-born Nobel laureate.

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

        Nobel Prize in Physics

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

    2. Mir Osman Ali Khan, Last Nizam of Hyderabad State (b. 1886) deaths

      1. Last Nizam of Hyderabad from 1911 to 1948

        Mir Osman Ali Khan

        Mir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII, was the last Nizam (ruler) of the Princely State of Hyderabad, the largest princely state in British India. He ascended the throne on 29 August 1911, at the age of 25 and ruled the Kingdom of Hyderabad between 1911 and 1948, until India annexed it. He was styled as His Exalted Highness-(H.E.H) the Nizam of Hyderabad, and was widely considered as one of the world's wealthiest person of all time. With some estimate placing his wealth at 2% of U.S. GDP, his portrait was on the cover of Time magazine in 1937. As a semi-autonomous monarch, he had his own mint, printing his own currency, the Hyderabadi rupee, and had a private treasury that was said to contain £100 million in gold and silver bullion, and a further £400 million of jewels. The major source of his wealth was the Golconda mines, the only supplier of diamonds in the world at that time. Among them was the Jacob Diamond, valued at some £50 million, and used by the Nizam as a paperweight.

      2. Historic monarch of the Hyderabad State of India

        Nizam of Hyderabad

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

      3. Princely state (1724–1948 in South India)

        Hyderabad State

        Hyderabad State was a princely state located in the south-central Deccan region of India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and the Marathwada region of Maharashtra in India.

  46. 1966

    1. Billy Zane, American actor and producer births

      1. American actor (born 1966)

        Billy Zane

        William George Zane Jr. is an American actor. His breakthrough role was in the 1989 Australian film Dead Calm, a performance that earned him a nomination for the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actor. He has since appeared in numerous films and television series, notably playing Caledon Hockley in the epic romance disaster film Titanic (1997), for which he was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award.

  47. 1965

    1. Paul Gruber, American football player births

      1. American football player (born 1965)

        Paul Gruber

        Paul Blake Gruber is an American former football offensive tackle in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fourth overall in the 1988 NFL Draft. He played college football at Wisconsin.

    2. Jane Swift, American businesswoman and politician, Governor of Massachusetts births

      1. American politician

        Jane Swift

        Jane Maria Swift is an American politician and nonprofit executive who served as the 69th lieutenant governor of Massachusetts from 1999 to 2003 and, concurrently, as acting governor from April 2001 to January 2003. She was the first woman to perform the duties of governor of Massachusetts. At the time she became acting governor, Swift was 36 years old, making her the youngest female governor or acting governor in U.S. history.

      2. Head of government of U.S. state of Massachusetts

        Governor of Massachusetts

        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.

  48. 1964

    1. Russell Ingall, British-Australian race car driver and sportscaster births

      1. Australian racing driver

        Russell Ingall

        Russell Ingall is a former full-time Australian V8 Supercar driver. He won his V8 Supercars title in 2005, and finished second in 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2004. Ingall has also won the Bathurst 1000, in 1995 and 1997. His particular driving style earned him the nickname "Enforcer".

  49. 1963

    1. Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro births

      1. Claimant to the headship of the former House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies

        Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro

        Prince Carlo of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro is one of the two claimants to the headship of the former House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

    2. Mike Vernon, Canadian ice hockey player births

      1. Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender (born 1963)

        Mike Vernon (ice hockey)

        Michael Vernon is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames, Detroit Red Wings, San Jose Sharks and Florida Panthers.

    3. Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Indian filmmaker births

      1. Indian film director, producer and screenwriter

        Sanjay Leela Bhansali

        Sanjay Leela Bhansali is an Indian filmmaker, director, screenwriter, and music composer who is known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of several awards, including four National Film Awards, ten Filmfare Awards and a BAFTA nomination. In 2015, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award.

  50. 1962

    1. Kelly Craft, US Ambassador to the United Nations and US Ambassador to Canada births

      1. American businesswoman and diplomat

        Kelly Craft

        Kelly Dawn Craft is an American businesswoman, political donor, philanthropist, and former diplomat who served as the United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2019 to 2021. Craft previously served as the United States ambassador to Canada from 2017 to 2019, the first woman to hold the office. She earlier was appointed by President George W. Bush as a US alternate delegate to the United Nations in 2007, where her focus included US engagement in Africa. Craft serves on the advisory board of the Canadian American Business Council and heads Kelly G. Knight LLC, a business advisory firm based in Lexington, Kentucky.

      2. List of ambassadors of the United States to the United Nations

        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.

      3. List of ambassadors of the United States to Canada

        This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Canada. The ambassador is the head of the Embassy of the United States in Ottawa.

  51. 1959

    1. Beth Broderick, American actress and director births

      1. American actress

        Beth Broderick

        Elizabeth Alice Broderick is an American actress. She portrayed Zelda Spellman in the ABC/WB television sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996–2003). She also had recurring roles as Diane Janssen in the ABC mystery drama series Lost (2005–2008) and as Rose Twitchell in the CBS science fiction drama series Under the Dome (2013).

    2. Mike Whitney, Australian cricketer and television host births

      1. Australian cricketer

        Mike Whitney

        Michael Roy Whitney is a retired Australian television personality and former cricketer, who played in 12 Test matches and 38 One Day Internationals between 1981 and 1993.

  52. 1958

    1. Sammy Kershaw, American singer-songwriter and guitarist births

      1. American singer-songwriter

        Sammy Kershaw

        Samuel Paul Kershaw is an American country music artist. He has released 16 studio albums, with three RIAA platinum certifications and two gold certifications among them. More than 25 singles have entered the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including his only number one hit "She Don't Know She's Beautiful" and 10 more Top 10 hits: "Cadillac Style", "Anywhere but Here", "Haunted Heart", "Queen of My Double-Wide Trailer", "I Can't Reach Her Anymore", "National Working Woman's Holiday", "Third Rate Romance", "Meant to Be", "Vidalia", and "Love of My Life".

    2. Mark Moses, American actor births

      1. American actor

        Mark Moses

        Mark W. Moses is an American actor, best known for his roles as Paul Young in the ABC comedy-drama Desperate Housewives (2004–2011) and as Herman "Duck" Phillips in the AMC period drama Mad Men (2007–2014).

  53. 1956

    1. Judith Butler, American philosopher, theorist, and author births

      1. American philosopher and gender theorist (born 1956)

        Judith Butler

        Judith Pamela Butler is an American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In 1993, Butler began teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, where they have served, beginning in 1998, as the Maxine Elliot Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Program of Critical Theory. They are also the Hannah Arendt Chair at the European Graduate School.

    2. Eddie Murray, American baseball player and coach births

      1. American baseball player (born 1956)

        Eddie Murray

        Eddie Clarence Murray, nicknamed "Steady Eddie," is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman, designated hitter, and coach. Spending most of his MLB career with the Baltimore Orioles, he ranks fourth in team history in both games played and hits. Though Murray never won a Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, he finished in the top ten in MVP voting several times. He had 996 runs batted in in the 1980s, more than any other player. After his playing career, Murray coached for the Orioles, Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Dodgers.

    3. Paula Zahn, American journalist and producer births

      1. American journalist and newscaster

        Paula Zahn

        Paula Ann Zahn is an American journalist and newscaster who has been an anchor at ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, and CNN. She currently produces and hosts the true crime documentary series On the Case with Paula Zahn on the Investigation Discovery channel.

  54. 1955

    1. Steve Jobs, American businessman, co-founded Apple Computer and Pixar (d. 2011) births

      1. American business magnate (1955–2011)

        Steve Jobs

        Steven Paul Jobs was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, business magnate, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a member of The Walt Disney Company's board of directors following its acquisition of Pixar; and the founder, chairman, and CEO of NeXT. He is widely recognized as a pioneer of the personal computer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, along with his early business partner and fellow Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

      2. American multinational technology company

        Apple Inc.

        Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company by market capitalization, the fourth-largest personal computer vendor by unit sales and second-largest mobile phone manufacturer. It is one of the Big Five American information technology companies, alongside Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft.

      3. American computer animation studio

        Pixar

        Pixar Animation Studios and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, California, United States. Since 2006, Pixar has been a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is another studio owned by The Walt Disney Company.

    2. Eddie Johnson, American basketball player (d. 2020) births

      1. American basketball player (1955–2020)

        Eddie Johnson (basketball, born 1955)

        Edward Lee Johnson Jr. was an American professional basketball player. He played 10 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) – mainly as a member of the Atlanta Hawks – from 1977 to 1987. Johnson was a two-time NBA-All-Star with the Hawks in 1980 and 1981, and earned two nominations to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 1979 and 1980. He was nicknamed "Fast Eddie" for his speed and quickness on the court.

    3. Alain Prost, French race car driver births

      1. French racing driver

        Alain Prost

        Alain Marie Pascal Prost is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Michael Schumacher surpassed Prost's total of 51 victories at the 2001 Belgian Grand Prix. In 1999, Prost received the World Sports Award of the Century in the motor sport category.

  55. 1954

    1. Plastic Bertrand, Belgian singer-songwriter and producer births

      1. Belgian editor, musician, producer, songwriter

        Plastic Bertrand

        Roger François Jouret, better known as Plastic Bertrand, is a Belgian musician, songwriter, producer, editor and television presenter, best known for the 1977 international hit single "Ça plane pour moi".

    2. Judith Ortiz Cofer, Puerto Rican American award-winning author (d. 2016) births

      1. Puerto Rican writer (1952–2016)

        Judith Ortiz Cofer

        Judith Ortiz Cofer was a Puerto Rican author. Her critically acclaimed and award-winning work spans a range of literary genres including poetry, short stories, autobiography, essays, and young-adult fiction. Ortiz Cofer was the Emeritus Regents' and Franklin Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Georgia, where she taught undergraduate and graduate creative writing workshops for 26 years. In 2010, Ortiz Cofer was inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame, and in 2013, she won the University's 2014 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award.

    3. Aurora Levins Morales, Puerto Rican Jewish writer and activist births

      1. Puerto Rican Jewish writer

        Aurora Levins Morales

        Aurora Levins Morales is a Puerto Rican Jewish writer and poet. She is significant within Latina feminism and Third World feminism as well as other social justice movements.

    4. Sid Meier, Canadian-American game designer and programmer, created the Civilization series births

      1. Canadian-American game programmer and designer

        Sid Meier

        Sidney K. Meier is a Canadian-American programmer, designer, and producer of several strategy video games and simulation video games, including the Civilization series. Meier co-founded MicroProse in 1982 with Bill Stealey and is the Director of Creative Development of Firaxis Games, which he co-founded with Jeff Briggs and Brian Reynolds in 1996. For his contributions to the video game industry, Meier was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame.

      2. Video game series

        Civilization (series)

        Civilization is a series of turn-based strategy video games, first released in 1991. Sid Meier developed the first game in the series and has had creative input for most of the rest, and his name is usually included in the formal title of these games, such as Sid Meier's Civilization. There are six main games in the series, a number of expansion packs and spin-off games, as well as board games inspired by the video game series. The series is considered a formative example of the 4X genre, in which players achieve victory through four routes: "eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate".

    5. Mike Pickering, English DJ and saxophonist births

      1. British musician and DJ (born 1954)

        Mike Pickering

        Mike Pickering is an English musician and DJ.

  56. 1953

    1. Anatoli Kozhemyakin, Soviet footballer (d. 1974) births

      1. Soviet footballer

        Anatoli Kozhemyakin

        Anatoli Yevgenyevich Kozhemyakin was a Soviet football player. He died in a freak accident: he was stuck in an elevator, but was able to open the elevator doors, as he tried to climb out, the elevator started moving again and crushed him to death.

    2. Robert La Follette Jr., American politician, senator of Wisconsin (b. 1895) deaths

      1. American politician (1895–1953)

        Robert M. La Follette Jr.

        Robert Marion "Young Bob" La Follette Jr. was an American politician serving as a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin from 1925 to 1947. A member of the La Follette family, he was a son of U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator and Wisconsin Governor Robert M. La Follette Sr., and father of Wisconsin Attorney General Bronson La Follette. As co-founder of the Progressive Party and ally of the Farmer-Labor Party in adjacent Minnesota, La Follette kept the Progressive Party alive in the US Senate until his defeat by Joseph McCarthy in 1946.

    3. Gerd von Rundstedt, German field marshal (b. 1875) deaths

      1. German field marshal (1875–1953)

        Gerd von Rundstedt

        Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt was a German field marshal in the Heer (Army) of Nazi Germany during World War II.

  57. 1951

    1. David Ford, Northern Irish social worker and politician births

      1. Former Leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland

        David Ford (politician)

        David Ford is a politician in Northern Ireland, who was leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland from October 2001 until October 2016 and was Northern Ireland Minister of Justice from April 2010 until May 2016. He was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for South Antrim from 1998 to 2018.

    2. Derek Randall, English cricketer births

      1. English cricketer

        Derek Randall

        Derek William Randall is an English former cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire, and Tests and ODIs for England in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

    3. Debra Jo Rupp, American actress births

      1. American actress and comedian (born 1951)

        Debra Jo Rupp

        Debra Jo Rupp is an American actress best known for her roles as Kitty Forman on the Fox sitcom That '70s Show, and Alice Knight-Buffay on the third through fifth seasons of Friends. She voiced Mary Lou Helperman in the animated series Teacher's Pet and its sequel film, and played timid secretary Miss Patterson in Big (1988).

    4. Helen Shaver, Canadian actress and director births

      1. Canadian actress and director

        Helen Shaver

        Helen Shaver is a Canadian actress and film and television director. She has received Emmy and Saturn Award nominations, among other honours.

    5. Laimdota Straujuma, Latvian economist and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Latvia births

      1. Laimdota Straujuma

        Laimdota Straujuma is a Latvian economist who was the Prime Minister of Latvia from January 2014 to February 2016. Before her tenure as Prime Minister, she served as Minister of Agriculture from 2011 to 2014. She was the first woman to serve as the head of government of the country. After her resignation on 7 December 2015, she announced her intention to resume a seat in the Saeima.

      2. Head of government of the Republic of Latvia

        Prime Minister of Latvia

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

  58. 1948

    1. Jayalalithaa, Indian actress and politician, 16th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (d. 2016) births

      1. Indian actress, politician and Late Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (1948–2016)

        J. Jayalalithaa

        Jayaram Jayalalithaa was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989 to 4 December 2016, she was the 5th and longest-serving general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), a Dravidian party whose cadre revered her as their "Amma" (Mother) and "Puratchi Thalaivi". Her critics in the media and the opposition accused her of fostering a personality cult and of demanding absolute loyalty from AIADMK legislators and ministers, who often publicly prostrated themselves before her.

      2. Leader of the executive of the Government of Tamil Nadu

        List of chief ministers of Tamil Nadu

        The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the chief executive of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's de jure head, but de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, the state's governor usually invites the party with a majority of seats to form the government. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. Given that he has the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits.

    2. Dennis Waterman, English actor (d. 2022) births

      1. English actor and singer (1948–2022)

        Dennis Waterman

        Dennis Waterman was an English actor and singer. He was best known for his tough-guy leading roles in television series including The Sweeney, Minder and New Tricks, singing the theme tunes of the latter two.

  59. 1947

    1. Rupert Holmes, English-American singer-songwriter and playwright births

      1. British-American composer, singer-songwriter and playwright

        Rupert Holmes

        David Goldstein, better known as Rupert Holmes, is a British-American composer, singer-songwriter, dramatist and author. He is widely known for the hit singles "Escape " (1979) and "Him" (1980). He is also known for his musicals The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which earned him two Tony Awards, and Curtains, and for his television series Remember WENN.

    2. Edward James Olmos, American actor and director births

      1. Mexican-American actor and director (born 1947)

        Edward James Olmos

        Edward James Olmos is an American actor, director, producer, and activist. He is best known for his roles as Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo in Miami Vice (1984–1989), American Me (1992), William Adama in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica (2004–2009), teacher Jaime Escalante in Stand and Deliver (1988), Detective Gaff in Blade Runner (1982) and its sequel Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and the English dub voice of Mito in the 2005 Disney dub of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. In 2018 through 2022, he has played the father of two members of an outlaw motorcycle club in the FX series Mayans MC.

  60. 1946

    1. Grigory Margulis, Russian mathematician and academic births

      1. Russian mathematician

        Grigory Margulis

        Grigory Aleksandrovich Margulis is a Russian-American mathematician known for his work on lattices in Lie groups, and the introduction of methods from ergodic theory into diophantine approximation. He was awarded a Fields Medal in 1978, a Wolf Prize in Mathematics in 2005, and an Abel Prize in 2020, becoming the fifth mathematician to receive the three prizes. In 1991, he joined the faculty of Yale University, where he is currently the Erastus L. De Forest Professor of Mathematics.

  61. 1945

    1. Barry Bostwick, American actor and singer births

      1. American actor (born 1945)

        Barry Bostwick

        Barry Knapp Bostwick is an American actor and singer. He is best known for portraying Brad Majors in the musical comedy horror film The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and Mayor Randall Winston in the sitcom Spin City (1996–2002). Bostwick has also had considerable success in musical theatre, winning a Tony Award for his role in The Robber Bridegroom.

  62. 1944

    1. Nicky Hopkins, English keyboard player (d. 1994) births

      1. English pianist and organist

        Nicky Hopkins

        Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins was an English pianist and organist. Hopkins performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, most notably on songs recorded by the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, the Who, the Beatles, the Steve Miller Band, Jefferson Airplane, Rod Stewart, George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, The Hollies, Cat Stevens, Carly Simon, Harry Nilsson, Joe Walsh, Peter Frampton, Jerry Garcia, Jeff Beck, Joe Cocker, Art Garfunkel, Badfinger, Graham Parker, Gary Moore, and Donovan. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest studio pianists in the history of popular rock music.

    2. Ivica Račan, Croatian lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Croatia (d. 2007) births

      1. Croatian politician (1944–2007)

        Ivica Račan

        Ivica Račan was a Croatian politician who served as Prime Minister of Croatia from 2000 to 2003, heading two centre-left coalition governments.

      2. Head of government of Croatia

        Prime Minister of Croatia

        The prime minister of Croatia, officially the President of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, is Croatia's head of government, and is de facto the most powerful and influential state officeholder in the Croatian system of government. Following the first-time establishment of the office in 1945, the 1990–2000 semi-presidential period is the only exception where the president of Croatia held de facto executive authority. In the formal Croatian order of precedence, however, the position of prime minister is the third highest state office, after the president of the Republic and the speaker of the Parliament.

  63. 1943

    1. Kent Haruf, American novelist (d. 2014) births

      1. American novelist (1943-2014)

        Kent Haruf

        Alan Kent Haruf was an American novelist.

    2. Gigi Meroni, Italian footballer (d. 1967) births

      1. Italian footballer

        Gigi Meroni

        Luigi "Gigi" Meroni was an Italian professional footballer who played as a winger.

    3. Pablo Milanés, Cuban singer-songwriter and guitarist births

      1. Cuban musician (1943–2022)

        Pablo Milanés

        Pablo Milanés Arias was a Cuban guitar player and singer. He was one of the founders of the Cuban nueva trova, along with Silvio Rodríguez and Noel Nicola. His music, originating in the Trova, Son and other traditional styles of early 20th Century Cuban music, set him apart from the style of Silvio Rodríguez.

  64. 1942

    1. Paul Jones, English singer, harmonica player, and actor births

      1. Musical artist

        Paul Jones (singer)

        Paul Jones is an English singer, actor, harmonicist, radio personality and television presenter. He first came to prominence as the original lead singer and harmonicist of the rock band Manfred Mann (1962–66) with whom he had several hit records including "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" and "Pretty Flamingo". After leaving the band, Jones established a solo career and notably starred as a deified pop star in the film Privilege (1967). He presented The Blues Show on BBC Radio 2 for thirty-two years, from 1986 to 2018, and continues to perform alongside former Manfred Mann bandmates in the Blues Band and The Manfreds.

    2. Joe Lieberman, American lawyer and politician births

      1. Former United States Senator from Connecticut

        Joe Lieberman

        Joseph Isadore Lieberman is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for Vice President of the United States in the 2000 election. During his final term in office, he was officially listed as an independent Democrat and caucused with and chaired committees for the Democratic Party.

    3. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Indian philosopher, theorist, and academic births

      1. Indian scholar, literary theorist, and feminist critic

        Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak

        Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak is an Indian-American scholar, literary theorist, and feminist critic. She is a University Professor at Columbia University and a founding member of the establishment's Institute for Comparative Literature and Society.

  65. 1941

    1. Joanie Sommers, American singer and actress births

      1. American singer

        Joanie Sommers

        Joanie Sommers is an American singer and actress with a career concentrating on jazz, standards and popular material and show-business credits. Once billed as "The Voice of the Sixties", and associated with top-notch arrangers, songwriters and producers, Sommers' popular reputation became closely tied to her biggest, yet most uncharacteristic, hit song, "Johnny Get Angry".

  66. 1940

    1. Pete Duel, American actor (d. 1971) births

      1. American actor (1940–1971)

        Pete Duel

        Peter Ellstrom Deuel, known professionally as Pete Duel, was an American stage, television, and film actor, best known for his starring role as outlaw Hannibal Heyes in the television series Alias Smith and Jones.

    2. Jimmy Ellis, American boxer (d. 2014) births

      1. American boxer

        Jimmy Ellis (boxer)

        James Albert Ellis was an American professional boxer. He won the vacant WBA heavyweight title in 1968 by defeating Jerry Quarry, making one successful title defense in the same year against Floyd Patterson, before losing to Joe Frazier in 1970.

    3. Denis Law, Scottish footballer and sportscaster births

      1. Scottish footballer

        Denis Law

        Denis Law is a Scottish former footballer who played as a forward. His career as a football player began at Second Division Huddersfield Town in 1956. After four years at Huddersfield, he was signed by Manchester City for an estimated transfer fee of £55,000, which set a new British record. Law spent one year there before Torino bought him for £110,000, this time setting a new record fee for a transfer involving a British player. Although he played well in Italy, he found it difficult to settle there and signed for Manchester United in 1962, setting another British record transfer fee of £115,000.

  67. 1939

    1. Jamal Nazrul Islam, Bangladeshi physicist and cosmologist (d. 2013) births

      1. Bangladeshi mathematical physicist and cosmologist

        Jamal Nazrul Islam

        Jamal Nazrul Islam was a Bangladeshi mathematical physicist and cosmologist. He was a professor at University of Chittagong, served as a member of the advisory board at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology and member of the syndicate at Chittagong University of Engineering & Technology until his death. He also served as the director of the Research Center for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (RCMPS) at the University of Chittagong. He was awarded Ekushey Padak in 2000 by the Government of Bangladesh.

  68. 1938

    1. James Farentino, American actor (d. 2012) births

      1. American actor

        James Farentino

        James Farentino was an American actor. He appeared in nearly 100 television, film, and stage roles, among them The Final Countdown, Jesus of Nazareth, and Dynasty.

    2. Phil Knight, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Nike, Inc. births

      1. American billionaire and co-founder of Nike

        Phil Knight

        Philip Hampson Knight is an American billionaire businessman. He is the co-founder and chairman emeritus of Nike, Inc., and was previously chairman and CEO of the company. As of October 3, 2022, Knight was ranked by Forbes as the 27th richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$35.2 billion. He is also the owner of the stop motion film production company Laika. Knight is a graduate of the University of Oregon and Stanford Graduate School of Business. He was in track and field club under coach Bill Bowerman at the University of Oregon, with whom he would co-found Nike.

      2. American athletic equipment company

        Nike, Inc.

        Nike, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that is engaged in the design, development, manufacturing, and worldwide marketing and sales of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, in the Portland metropolitan area. It is the world's largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment, with revenue in excess of US$37.4 billion in its fiscal year 2020. As of 2020, it employed 76,700 people worldwide. In 2020, the brand alone was valued in excess of $32 billion, making it the most valuable brand among sports businesses. Previously, in 2017, the Nike brand was valued at $29.6 billion. Nike ranked 89th in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.

  69. 1936

    1. Guillermo O'Donnell, Argentine political scientist (d. 2011) births

      1. Argentine political scientist (1936–2011)

        Guillermo O'Donnell

        Guillermo Alberto O'Donnell Ure was a prominent Argentine political scientist, specializing in comparative politics, who spent most of his career working in Argentina and the United States, and who made lasting contributions to theorizing on authoritarianism and democratization, democracy and the state, and the politics of Latin America. His brother is Pacho O'Donnell.

    2. Carol D'Onofrio, American public health researcher (d. 2020) births

      1. American public health researcher (1936–2020)

        Carol D'Onofrio

        Carol D'Onofrio was an American public health researcher who was Emeritus Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health. Her career focused on improving the health of underserved communities, in particular through curtailing the use of tobacco and alcohol.

  70. 1935

    1. Ryhor Baradulin, Belarusian poet, essayist, and translator (d. 2014) births

      1. Belarusian poet

        Ryhor Baradulin

        Ryhor Janavič Baradulin was a Belarusian poet, essayist and translator.

  71. 1934

    1. Bettino Craxi, Italian lawyer and politician, 45th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 2000) births

      1. Italian politician (1934–2000)

        Bettino Craxi

        Benedetto "Bettino" Craxi was an Italian politician, leader of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) from 1976 to 1993, and the 45th prime minister of Italy from 1983 to 1987. He was the first PSI member to become prime minister and the third from a socialist party to hold the office. He led the third-longest government in the Italian Republic and he is considered one of the most powerful and prominent politicians of the First Italian Republic.

      2. Head of government of the Italian Republic

        Prime Minister of Italy

        The prime minister, officially the president of the Council of Ministers, of Italy is the head of government of the Italian Republic. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is established by articles 92–96 of the Constitution of Italy; the president of the Council of Ministers is appointed by the president of the Republic and must have the confidence of the Parliament to stay in office.

    2. Johnny Hills, English footballer (d. 2021) births

      1. English footballer (1934–2021)

        Johnny Hills

        John Raymond Hills was an English professional footballer who played for Gravesend & Northfleet, Tottenham Hotspur and Bristol Rovers.

    3. Renata Scotto, Italian soprano births

      1. Italian soprano and stage director

        Renata Scotto

        Renata Scotto is an Italian soprano and opera director.

  72. 1933

    1. Judah Folkman, American physician and biologist (d. 2008) births

      1. 20th-century American biologist

        Judah Folkman

        Moses Judah Folkman was an American medical scientist best known for his research on tumor angiogenesis, the process by which a tumor attracts blood vessels to nourish itself and sustain its existence. He founded the field of angiogenesis research, which has led to the discovery of a number of therapies based on inhibiting or stimulating neovascularization.

    2. Ali Mazrui, Kenyan-American political scientist, philosopher, and academic (d. 2014) births

      1. Kenyan academic

        Ali Mazrui

        Ali Al'amin Mazrui, was a Kenyan-born American academic, professor, and political writer on African and Islamic studies, and North-South relations. He was born in Mombasa, Kenya. His positions included Director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York, and Director of the Center for Afro-American and African Studies at the University of Michigan. He produced the television documentary series The Africans: A Triple Heritage.

    3. David "Fathead" Newman, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2009) births

      1. American jazz and R&B saxophonist

        David "Fathead" Newman

        David "Fathead" Newman was an American jazz and rhythm-and-blues saxophonist, who made numerous recordings as a session musician and leader, but is best known for his work as a sideman on seminal 1950s and early 1960s recordings by Ray Charles.

  73. 1932

    1. Michel Legrand, French pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2019) births

      1. French film score composer (1932–2019)

        Michel Legrand

        Michel Jean Legrand was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many songs. His scores for two of the films of French New Wave director Jacques Demy, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) and The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967), earned Legrand his first Academy Award nominations. Legrand won his first Oscar for the song "The Windmills of Your Mind" from The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), and additional Oscars for Summer of '42 (1971) and Barbra Streisand's Yentl (1983).

    2. Zell Miller, American sergeant and politician, 79th Governor of Georgia (d. 2018) births

      1. American politician and US Marine Corps officer (1932–2018)

        Zell Miller

        Zell Bryan Miller was an American author and politician from the state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as lieutenant governor from 1975 to 1991, 79th Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as U.S. Senator from 2000 to 2005.

      2. Head of government of the U.S. state of Georgia

        Governor of Georgia

        The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor also has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either veto or approve bills passed by the Georgia Legislature, and the power to convene the legislature. The current governor is Republican Brian Kemp, who assumed office on January 14, 2019.

    3. John Vernon, Canadian-American actor (d. 2005) births

      1. Canadian actor (1931–2005)

        John Vernon

        John Keith Vernon was a Canadian actor. He made a career in Hollywood after achieving initial television stardom in Canada. He was best known for playing Dean Wormer in Animal House, the Mayor in Dirty Harry and Fletcher in The Outlaw Josey Wales.

  74. 1931

    1. Dominic Chianese, American actor and singer births

      1. American actor (born 1931)

        Dominic Chianese

        Dominic Chianese is an American actor, singer, and musician. He is best known for his roles as Corrado "Junior" Soprano on the HBO series The Sopranos (1999–2007), Johnny Ola in The Godfather Part II (1974), and Leander in Boardwalk Empire (2011–2013).

    2. Brian Close, English cricketer and coach (d. 2015) births

      1. English cricketer

        Brian Close

        Dennis Brian Close, was an English first-class cricketer, the youngest man ever to play Test cricket for England. He was picked to play against New Zealand in July 1949, when he was 18 years old. Close went on to play 22 Test matches for England, captaining them seven times to six wins and one drawn test. Close also captained Yorkshire to four county championship titles – the main domestic trophy in English cricket. He later went on to captain Somerset, where he is widely credited with developing the county into a hard-playing team, and helping to mould Viv Richards and Ian Botham into the successful players they became.

  75. 1930

    1. Barbara Lawrence, American model and actress (d. 2013) births

      1. American writer and real-estate businessperson, and retired actress and model

        Barbara Lawrence

        Barbara Jo Lawrence was an American model, actress, and real estate agent.

    2. Hermann von Ihering, German-Brazilian zoologist (b. 1850) deaths

      1. German-Brazilian zoologist (1850–1930)

        Hermann von Ihering

        Hermann Friedrich Albert von Ihering was a German-Brazilian zoologist. He was the oldest son of Rudolf von Jhering.

  76. 1929

    1. Kintaro Ohki, South Korean wrestler (d. 2006) births

      1. South Korean professional wrestler

        Kintaro Ohki

        Kim Il, also known as his ring name Kintarō Ōki, was a South Korean professional wrestler, and Ssireum player. He spent his wrestling career from the 1950s to the 1980s.

    2. André Messager, French pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1853) deaths

      1. French opera composer and conductor

        André Messager

        André Charles Prosper Messager was a French composer, organist, pianist and conductor. His compositions include eight ballets and thirty opéras comiques, opérettes and other stage works, among which his ballet Les Deux Pigeons (1886) and opéra comique Véronique (1898) have had lasting success; Les P'tites Michu (1897) and Monsieur Beaucaire (1919) were also popular internationally.

  77. 1927

    1. Emmanuelle Riva, French actress (d. 2017) births

      1. French actress

        Emmanuelle Riva

        Emmanuelle Riva was a French actress, best known for her roles in the films Hiroshima mon amour (1959) and Amour (2012).

    2. Edward Marshall Hall, English lawyer and politician (b. 1858) deaths

      1. British politician

        Edward Marshall Hall

        Sir Edward Marshall Hall, was an English barrister who had a formidable reputation as an orator. He successfully defended many people accused of notorious murders and became known as "The Great Defender".

  78. 1926

    1. Dave Sands, Australian boxer (d. 1952) births

      1. Australian boxer

        Dave Sands

        Dave Sands was an Indigenous Australian boxer.

  79. 1925

    1. Bud Day, American colonel and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2013) births

      1. United States Air Force Medal of Honor recipient (1925–2013)

        Bud Day

        George Everette "Bud" Day was a United States Air Force officer, aviator, and veteran of World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War. He was also a prisoner of war, and recipient of the Medal of Honor and Air Force Cross. As of 2016, he is the only person to be awarded both the Medal of Honor and Air Force Cross. He was posthumously advanced to the rank of brigadier general effective March 27, 2018, as directed by the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act.

      2. Highest award in the United States Armed Forces

        Medal of Honor

        The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. The medal is normally awarded by the president of the United States, but as it is presented "in the name of the United States Congress", it is sometimes erroneously referred to as the "Congressional Medal of Honor".

    2. Hjalmar Branting, Swedish journalist and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Sweden, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1860) deaths

      1. Swedish politician

        Hjalmar Branting

        Karl Hjalmar Branting was a Swedish politician who was the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) from 1907 until his death in 1925, and three times Prime Minister of Sweden. When Branting came to power in 1920, he was the first Social Democratic Prime Minister of Sweden. When taking office for a second term after the general election of 1921, he became the first democratic socialist head of government in Western Europe elected under universal suffrage. An early supporter of modern social democracy and democratic socialism, he led the SAP through a transformation from a radical socialist movement to Sweden's dominant party; the Social Democrats have been Sweden's largest party in every election since 1914, and formed government for 44 continuous years from 1932 to 1976.

      2. Head of government of Sweden

        Prime Minister of Sweden

        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.

      3. One of five Nobel Prizes established by Alfred Nobel

        Nobel Peace Prize

        The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine and Literature. Since March 1901, it has been awarded annually to those who have "done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses".

  80. 1924

    1. Hal Herring, American football player and coach (d. 2014) births

      1. American football player and coach (1924–2014)

        Hal Herring

        Harold Moreland "Hal" Herring was an American football player and coach. He played college football at Auburn University and professionally as a center and linebacker for the Buffalo Bills in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and the Cleveland Browns in the National Football League (NFL). He later was a defensive coach at Auburn and for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons and San Diego Chargers.

    2. Erik Nielsen, Canadian lawyer and politician, 3rd Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (d. 2008) births

      1. Canadian politician (1924–2008)

        Erik Nielsen

        Erik Hersholt Nielsen was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the longtime Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Yukon, and was Leader of the Opposition and the third deputy prime minister. He was the elder brother of actor Leslie Nielsen.

      2. Canadian cabinet portfolio

        Deputy Prime Minister of Canada

        The deputy prime minister of Canada is a minister of the Crown and a member of the Canadian Cabinet. The office is conferred at the discretion of the prime minister and does not have an associated departmental portfolio. Canadian deputy prime ministers are appointed to the Privy Council and styled as the Honourable, a privilege maintained for life.

  81. 1922

    1. Richard Hamilton, English painter and academic (d. 2011) births

      1. English painter and collage artist

        Richard Hamilton (artist)

        Richard William Hamilton CH was an English painter and collage artist. His 1955 exhibition Man, Machine and Motion and his 1956 collage Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?, produced for the This Is Tomorrow exhibition of the Independent Group in London, are considered by critics and historians to be among the earliest works of pop art. A major retrospective of his work was at Tate Modern until May 2014.

    2. Steven Hill, American actor (d. 2016) births

      1. American actor (1922–2016)

        Steven Hill

        Steven Hill was an American actor. He is best known for his television roles as district attorney Adam Schiff on the NBC television drama series Law & Order (1990–2000) and Dan Briggs on the CBS action television series Mission: Impossible (1966–1967). For the former, he received two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

  82. 1921

    1. Abe Vigoda, American actor (d. 2016) births

      1. American actor (1921–2016)

        Abe Vigoda

        Abraham Charles Vigoda was an American actor known for his portrayals of Salvatore Tessio in The Godfather (1972) and Phil Fish in both Barney Miller and Fish (1977–1978).

  83. 1919

    1. John Carl Warnecke, American architect (d. 2010) births

      1. American architect (1919–2010)

        John Carl Warnecke

        John Carl Warnecke was an architect based in San Francisco, California, who designed numerous notable monuments and structures in the Modernist, Bauhaus, and other similar styles. He was an early proponent of contextual architecture. Among his more notable buildings and projects are the Hawaii State Capitol building, the John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame memorial gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery, and the master plan for Lafayette Square.

  84. 1915

    1. Jim Ferrier, Australian golfer (d. 1986) births

      1. Australian professional golfer (1915–1986)

        Jim Ferrier

        James Bennett Elliott Ferrier was an Australian professional golfer from Manly, New South Wales. After compiling a fine record as an amateur golfer in Australia during the 1930s, he moved to the United States in 1940, turned professional in 1941, and joined the U.S. PGA Tour. He won the PGA Championship in 1947, among his 18 Tour titles, and was the first Australian and first golfer from the southern hemisphere to win a professional golf major title. Ferrier became an American citizen in 1944.

  85. 1914

    1. Ralph Erskine, English-Swedish architect, designed The Ark and Byker Wall (d. 2005) births

      1. Ralph Erskine (architect)

        Ralph Erskine ARIBA was a British architect and planner who lived and worked in Sweden for most of his life.

      2. Office building in Hammersmith, London

        The Ark, London

        The Ark is an office building located in Hammersmith, London.

      3. Building in England, UK

        Byker Wall

        The Byker Wall is a long, unbroken block of 620 maisonettes in the Byker district of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. They were designed by Ralph Erskine and constructed in the 1970s. The wall is just part of the estate, which in total covers 200 acres.

    2. Weldon Kees, American author, poet, painter, and pianist (d. 1955) births

      1. American writer, artist, and musician

        Weldon Kees

        Harry Weldon Kees was an American poet, painter, literary critic, novelist, playwright, jazz pianist, short story writer, and filmmaker. Despite his brief career, Kees is considered an important mid-twentieth-century poet of the same generation as John Berryman, Elizabeth Bishop, and Robert Lowell. His work has been immensely influential on subsequent generations of poets writing in English and other languages and his collected poems have been included in many anthologies. Harold Bloom lists the publication of Kees's first book The Last Man (1943) as an important event in the chronology of his textbook Modern American Poetry as well as a book worthy of his Western Canon.

    3. Joshua Chamberlain, American general and politician, 32nd Governor of Maine (b. 1828) deaths

      1. Union Army general and Medal of Honor recipient

        Joshua Chamberlain

        Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was an American college professor from Maine who volunteered during the American Civil War to join the Union Army. He became a highly respected and decorated Union officer, reaching the rank of brigadier general. He is best known for his gallantry at the Battle of Gettysburg, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor.

      2. Head of state and of government of the U.S. state of Maine

        Governor of Maine

        The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive.

  86. 1910

    1. Osman Hamdi Bey, Turkish archaeologist and painter (b. 1842) deaths

      1. Ottoman administrator, intellectual and artist (1842–1910)

        Osman Hamdi Bey

        Osman Hamdi Bey was an Ottoman administrator, intellectual, art expert and also a prominent and pioneering painter. He was also an accomplished archaeologist, and is regarded as the pioneer of the museum curator's profession in Turkey. He was the founder of Istanbul Archaeology Museums and of the Istanbul Academy of Fine Arts, known today as the Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts. He was also the first mayor of Kadıköy.

  87. 1909

    1. August Derleth, American anthologist and author (d. 1971) births

      1. American writer

        August Derleth

        August William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, and for his own contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and the cosmic horror genre, as well as his founding of the publisher Arkham House, Derleth was a leading American regional writer of his day, as well as prolific in several other genres, including historical fiction, poetry, detective fiction, science fiction, and biography.

  88. 1908

    1. Telford Taylor, American general, lawyer, and historian (d. 1998) births

      1. American lawyer

        Telford Taylor

        Telford Taylor was an American lawyer and professor. Taylor was known for his role as lead counsel in the prosecution of war criminals after World War II, his opposition to McCarthyism in the 1950s, and his outspoken criticism of American actions during the Vietnam War.

  89. 1903

    1. Vladimir Bartol, Italian-Slovene author and playwright (d. 1967) births

      1. Vladimir Bartol

        Vladimir Bartol was a writer from the Slovene minority in Italy. He is best known for his 1938 novel Alamut, the most popular work of Slovene literature around the world, which has been translated into numerous languages.

  90. 1900

    1. Irmgard Bartenieff, German-American dancer and physical therapist, leading pioneer of dance therapy (d. 1981) births

      1. American physical therapist and dance therapist (1900–1981)

        Irmgard Bartenieff

        Irmgard Bartenieff was a dance theorist, dancer, choreographer, physical therapist, and a leading pioneer of dance therapy. A student of Rudolf Laban, she pursued cross-cultural dance analysis, and generated a new vision of possibilities for human movement and movement training. From her experiences applying Laban’s concepts of dynamism, three-dimensional movement and mobilization to the rehabilitation of people affected by polio in the 1940s, she went on to develop her own set of movement methods and exercises, known as Bartenieff Fundamentals.

      2. Psychotherapeutic use of movement and dance

        Dance therapy

        Dance/movement therapy (DMT) in USA/ Australia or dance movement psychotherapy (DMP) in the UK is the psychotherapeutic use of movement and dance to support intellectual, emotional, and motor functions of the body. As a modality of the creative arts therapies, DMT looks at the correlation between movement and emotion.

  91. 1898

    1. Kurt Tank, German pilot and engineer (d. 1983) births

      1. German aeronautical engineer

        Kurt Tank

        Kurt Waldemar Tank was a German aeronautical engineer and test pilot who led the design department at Focke-Wulf from 1931 to 1945. He was responsible for the creation of several important Luftwaffe aircraft of World War II, including the Fw 190 fighter aircraft, the Ta 152 fighter-interceptor and the Fw 200 Condor airliner. After the war, Tank spent two decades designing aircraft abroad, working first in Argentina and then in India, before returning to Germany in the late 1960s to work as a consultant for Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB).

  92. 1896

    1. Richard Thorpe, American director and screenwriter (d. 1991) births

      1. American actor and film director

        Richard Thorpe

        Richard Thorpe was an American film director best known for his long career at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

  93. 1890

    1. Marjorie Main, American actress (d. 1975) births

      1. American actress (1890–1975)

        Marjorie Main

        Mary Tomlinson, professionally known as Marjorie Main, was an American character actress and singer of the Classical Hollywood period, best known as a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player in the 1940s and 1950s, and for her role as Ma Kettle in 10 Ma and Pa Kettle movies. Main started her career in vaudeville and theatre, and appeared in film classics, such as Dead End (1937), The Women (1939), Dark Command (1940), The Shepherd of the Hills (1941), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), and Friendly Persuasion (1956).

  94. 1885

    1. Chester W. Nimitz, American admiral (d. 1966) births

      1. United States Navy fleet admiral

        Chester W. Nimitz

        Chester William Nimitz was a fleet admiral in the United States Navy. He played a major role in the naval history of World War II as Commander in Chief, US Pacific Fleet, and Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas, commanding Allied air, land, and sea forces during World War II.

    2. Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Polish author, poet, and painter (d. 1939) births

      1. Polish artist

        Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz

        Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, commonly known as Witkacy, was a Polish writer, painter, philosopher, theorist, playwright, novelist, and photographer active before World War I and during the interwar period.

  95. 1879

    1. Shiranui Kōemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 11th Yokozuna (b. 1825) deaths

      1. Japanese sumo wrestler

        Shiranui Kōemon

        Shiranui Kōemon was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kikuchi, Higo Province. He was the sport's 11th yokozuna.

      2. Highest-ranking of the six divisions of professional sumo

        Makuuchi

        Makuuchi (幕内), or makunouchi (幕の内), is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (rikishi), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments.

  96. 1877

    1. Rudolph Ganz, Swiss pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1972) births

      1. Swiss musician

        Rudolph Ganz

        Rudolph Ganz was a Swiss-born American pianist, conductor, composer, and music educator.

    2. Ettie Rout, Australian-New Zealand educator and activist (d. 1936) births

      1. New Zealand writer and safer sex pioneer

        Ettie Rout

        Ettie Annie Rout was a Tasmanian-born New Zealander whose work among servicemen in Paris and the Somme during World War I made her a war hero among the French, yet through the same events she became persona non grata in New Zealand. She married Frederick Hornibrook on 3 May 1920, after which she was Ettie Hornibrook. They had no children and later separated. She died in 1936, and was buried in the Cook Islands.

  97. 1876

    1. Joseph Jenkins Roberts, American-Liberian politician, 1st President of Liberia (b. 1809) deaths

      1. 1st and 7th president of Liberia (1848-56, 1872-76)

        Joseph Jenkins Roberts

        Joseph Jenkins Roberts was an African-American merchant who emigrated to Liberia in 1829, where he became a politician. Elected as the first (1848–1856) and seventh (1872–1876) president of Liberia after independence, he was the first man of African descent to govern the country, serving previously as governor from 1841 to 1848. Born free in Norfolk, Virginia, Roberts emigrated as a young man with his mother, siblings, wife, and child to the young West African colony. He opened a trading firm in Monrovia and later engaged in politics.

      2. Head of state and government of Liberia

        President of Liberia

        The president of the Republic of Liberia is the head of state and government of Liberia. The president serves as the leader of the executive branch and as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Liberia.

  98. 1874

    1. Honus Wagner, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1955) births

      1. American baseball player (1874–1955)

        Honus Wagner

        Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner, sometimes referred to as "Hans" Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Wagner won his eighth batting title in 1911, a National League record that remains unbroken to this day, and matched only once, in 1997, by Tony Gwynn. He also led the league in slugging six times and stolen bases five times. Wagner was nicknamed "the Flying Dutchman" due to his superb speed and German heritage. This nickname was a nod to the popular folk-tale made into a famous opera by the German composer Richard Wagner. In 1936, the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Wagner as one of the first five members. He received the second-highest vote total, behind Ty Cobb's 222 and tied with Babe Ruth at 215.

  99. 1869

    1. Zara DuPont, American suffragist (d. 1946) births

      1. Zara DuPont

        Zara "Zadie" DuPont (1869–1946) was an American suffragist, serving as the first Vice President of the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association.

  100. 1868

    1. Édouard Alphonse James de Rothschild, French financier and polo player (d. 1949) births

      1. French banker

        Édouard Alphonse James de Rothschild

        Édouard Alphonse James de Rothschild, also known as Baron Édouard de Rothschild was an aristocrat, French financier and a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of France.

  101. 1856

    1. Nikolai Lobachevsky, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1792) deaths

      1. Russian mathematician

        Nikolai Lobachevsky

        Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky was a Russian mathematician and geometer, known primarily for his work on hyperbolic geometry, otherwise known as Lobachevskian geometry, and also for his fundamental study on Dirichlet integrals, known as the Lobachevsky integral formula.

  102. 1852

    1. George Moore, Irish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1933) births

      1. Irish novelist, short-story writer, poet, art critic, memoirist and dramatist

        George Moore (novelist)

        George Augustus Moore was an Irish novelist, short-story writer, poet, art critic, memoirist and dramatist. Moore came from a Roman Catholic landed family who lived at Moore Hall in Carra, County Mayo. He originally wanted to be a painter, and studied art in Paris during the 1870s. There, he befriended many of the leading French artists and writers of the day.

  103. 1848

    1. Andrew Inglis Clark, Australian engineer, lawyer, and politician (d. 1907) births

      1. Australian politician

        Andrew Inglis Clark

        Andrew Inglis Clark was an Australian founding father and co-author of the Australian Constitution; he was also an engineer, barrister, politician, electoral reformer and jurist. He initially qualified as an engineer, but he re-trained as a barrister to effectively fight for social causes which deeply concerned him. After a long political career, mostly spent as Attorney-General and briefly as Opposition Leader, he was appointed a Senior Justice of the Supreme Court of Tasmania. Despite being acknowledged as the leading expert on the Australian Constitution, he was never appointed to the High Court of Australia.

  104. 1842

    1. Arrigo Boito, Italian journalist, author, and composer (d. 1918) births

      1. Italian librettist and composer (1842–1918)

        Arrigo Boito

        Arrigo Boito was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist, librettist and composer, best known today for his libretti, especially those for Giuseppe Verdi's last two monumental operas Otello and Falstaff and his own opera Mefistofele. Along with Emilio Praga and his own brother Camillo Boito, he is regarded as one of the prominent representatives of the Scapigliatura artistic movement.

  105. 1837

    1. Rosalía de Castro, Spanish poet (d. 1885) births

      1. Spanish Galician poet, writer

        Rosalía de Castro

        María Rosalía Rita de Castro, was a Galician poet, strongly identified with her native Galicia and the celebration of the Galician language.

  106. 1836

    1. Winslow Homer, American painter and illustrator (d. 1910) births

      1. American landscape painter (1836–1910)

        Winslow Homer

        Winslow Homer was an American landscape painter and illustrator, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters in 19th-century America and a preeminent figure in American art.

  107. 1835

    1. Julius Vogel, English-New Zealand journalist and politician, 8th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1899) births

      1. 8th Premier of New Zealand

        Julius Vogel

        Sir Julius Vogel was the eighth premier of New Zealand. His administration is best remembered for the issuing of bonds to fund railway construction and other public works. He was the first Jewish prime minister of New Zealand. Historian Warwick R. Armstrong assesses Vogel's strengths and weaknesses:Vogel's politics were like his nature, imaginative – and occasionally brilliant – but reckless and speculative. He was an excellent policymaker but he needed a strong leader to restrain him....Yet Vogel had vision. He saw New Zealand as a potential 'Britain of the South Seas', strong both in agriculture and in industry, and inhabited by a large and flourishing population.

      2. Head of Government of New Zealand

        Prime Minister of New Zealand

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

  108. 1831

    1. Leo von Caprivi, German general and politician, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1899) births

      1. German general and statesman (1831–1899)

        Leo von Caprivi

        Georg Leo Graf von Caprivi de Caprara de Montecuccoli was a German general and statesman who served as the chancellor of the German Empire from March 1890 to October 1894. Caprivi promoted industrial and commercial development, and concluded numerous bilateral treaties for reduction of tariff barriers. However, this movement toward free trade angered the conservative agrarian interests, especially the Junkers. He promised the Catholic Center party educational reforms that would increase their influence, but failed to deliver. As part of Kaiser Wilhelm's "new course" in foreign policy, Caprivi abandoned Bismarck's military, economic, and ideological cooperation with the Russian Empire, which historians consider a major mistake. Even worse, Caprivi misjudged multiple opportunities to open good relations with Great Britain. Frustrated, London turned to Tokyo and Paris for agreements. His downfall came with trade agreements that favored German industry and urban workers over more powerful agricultural interests. Historians praise his refusal to renew the harsh restrictions on socialists, and his success in the reorganization of the German military.

      2. List of chancellors of Germany

        The chancellor of Germany is the political leader of Germany and the head of the federal government. The office holder is responsible for selecting all other members of the government and chairing cabinet meetings.

  109. 1827

    1. Lydia Becker, English-French activist (d. 1890) births

      1. 19th-century British activist and suffragist

        Lydia Becker

        Lydia Ernestine Becker was a leader in the early British suffrage movement, as well as an amateur scientist with interests in biology and astronomy. She established Manchester as a centre for the suffrage movement and with Richard Pankhurst she arranged for the first woman to vote in a British election and a court case was unsuccessfully brought to exploit the precedent. Becker is also remembered for founding and publishing the Women's Suffrage Journal between 1870 and 1890.

  110. 1825

    1. Thomas Bowdler, English physician and philanthropist (b. 1754) deaths

      1. English physician and editor (1754–1825)

        Thomas Bowdler

        Thomas Bowdler, LRCP, FRS was an English physician known for publishing The Family Shakespeare, an expurgated edition of William Shakespeare's plays edited by his sister Henrietta Maria Bowdler. They sought a version they saw as more appropriate than the original for 19th-century women and children. Bowdler also published works reflecting an interested knowledge of continental Europe. His last work was an expurgation of Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, published posthumously in 1826 under the supervision of his nephew and biographer, Thomas Bowdler the Younger. The term bowdlerise or bowdlerize links the name with expurgation or omission of elements deemed unsuited to children, in literature and films and on television.

  111. 1815

    1. Robert Fulton, American engineer (b. 1765) deaths

      1. American engineer and inventor (1765–1815)

        Robert Fulton

        Robert Fulton was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the North River Steamboat. In 1807, that steamboat traveled on the Hudson River with passengers from New York City to Albany and back again, a round trip of 300 nautical miles, in 62 hours. The success of his steamboat changed river traffic and trade on major American rivers.

  112. 1812

    1. Étienne-Louis Malus, French physicist and mathematician (b. 1775) deaths

      1. Étienne-Louis Malus

        Étienne-Louis Malus was a French officer, engineer, physicist, and mathematician.

  113. 1810

    1. Henry Cavendish, French-English physicist and chemist (b. 1731) deaths

      1. British natural philosopher, and scientist (1731 – 1810)

        Henry Cavendish

        Henry Cavendish was an English natural philosopher and scientist who was an important experimental and theoretical chemist and physicist. He is noted for his discovery of hydrogen, which he termed "inflammable air". He described the density of inflammable air, which formed water on combustion, in a 1766 paper, On Factitious Airs. Antoine Lavoisier later reproduced Cavendish's experiment and gave the element its name.

  114. 1799

    1. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, German physicist and academic (b. 1742) deaths

      1. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

        Georg Christoph Lichtenberg was a German physicist, satirist, and Anglophile. As a scientist, he was the first to hold a professorship explicitly dedicated to experimental physics in Germany. He is remembered for his posthumously published notebooks, which he himself called sudelbücher, a description modelled on the English bookkeeping term "waste books" or "scrapbooks", and for his discovery of tree-like electrical discharge patterns now called Lichtenberg figures.

  115. 1788

    1. Johan Christian Dahl, Norwegian-German painter (d. 1857) births

      1. Norwegian painter (1788–1857)

        Johan Christian Dahl

        Johan Christian Claussen Dahl, often known as J. C. Dahl or I. C. Dahl, was a Danish-Norwegian artist who is considered the first great romantic painter in Norway, the founder of the "golden age" of Norwegian painting, and, by some, one of the greatest European artists of all time. He is often described as "the father of Norwegian landscape painting" and is regarded as the first Norwegian painter to reach a level of artistic accomplishment comparable to that attained by the greatest European artists of his day. He was also the first to acquire genuine fame and cultural renown abroad. As one critic has put it, "J.C. Dahl occupies a central position in Norwegian artistic life of the first half of the 19th century.

  116. 1786

    1. Martin W. Bates, American lawyer and politician (d. 1869) births

      1. American lawyer and politician

        Martin W. Bates

        Martin Waltham Bates was a lawyer and politician from Dover, in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Federalist Party, and then the Democratic Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly and as U.S. Senator from Delaware.

    2. Wilhelm Grimm, German anthropologist, author, and academic (d. 1859) births

      1. German author

        Wilhelm Grimm

        Wilhelm Carl Grimm was a German author and anthropologist, and the younger brother of Jacob Grimm, of the literary duo the Brothers Grimm.

  117. 1785

    1. Carlo Buonaparte, Corsican lawyer and politician (b. 1746) deaths

      1. Father of Napoleon Bonaparte

        Carlo Buonaparte

        Carlo Maria Buonaparte or Charles-Marie Bonaparte was a Corsican lawyer and diplomat, best known as the father of Napoleon Bonaparte and grandfather of Napoleon III.

  118. 1777

    1. Joseph I of Portugal (b. 1714) deaths

      1. King of Portugal from 1750 to 1777

        Joseph I of Portugal

        Dom Joseph I, known as the Reformer, was King of Portugal from 31 July 1750 until his death in 1777. Among other activities, Joseph was devoted to hunting and the opera. Indeed, he assembled one of the greatest collections of operatic scores in Europe. His government was controlled by Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal.

  119. 1774

    1. Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (d. 1850) births

      1. Duke of Cambridge (more)

        Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge

        Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, was the tenth child and seventh son of the British king George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He held the title of Duke of Cambridge from 1801 until his death. He also served as Viceroy of Hanover on behalf of his brothers George IV and William IV.

  120. 1767

    1. Rama II of Siam (d. 1824) births

      1. King of Siam from 1809 to 1824

        Rama II

        Phra Phutthaloetla Naphalai, personal name Chim, also styled as Rama II, was the second monarch of Siam under the Chakri dynasty, ruling from 1809 to 1824. In 1809, Itsarasunthon succeeded his father Rama I, the founder of Chakri dynasty, as Loetlanaphalai the King of Siam. His reign was largely peaceful, devoid of major conflicts. His reign was known as the "Golden Age of Rattanakosin Literature" as Loetlanaphalai was patron to a number of poets in his court and the King himself was a renowned poet and artist. The most notable poet in his employ was the illustrious Sunthorn Phu, the author of Phra Aphai Mani.

  121. 1762

    1. Charles Frederick Horn, German-English composer and educator (d. 1830) births

      1. British composer

        Charles Frederick Horn

        Charles Frederick Horn was an English musician and composer. Born in Germany, he emigrated to London with few possessions and no knowledge of the English language, yet rose to become a music teacher in the Royal Household. As an editor and arranger, he helped introduce the music of Johann Sebastian Bach to England.

  122. 1743

    1. Joseph Banks, English botanist and explorer (d. 1820) births

      1. English naturalist and botanist (1743–1820)

        Joseph Banks

        Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences.

  123. 1736

    1. Charles Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (d. 1806) births

      1. Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Bayreuth

        Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach

        Christian Friedrich Carl Alexander was the last margrave of the two Franconian principalities, Bayreuth and Ansbach, which he sold to the King of Prussia, a fellow member of the House of Hohenzollern.

  124. 1732

    1. Francis Charteris, Scottish soldier (b. 1675) deaths

      1. Francis Charteris (rake)

        Colonel Francis Charteris, nicknamed "The Rape-Master General", was a Scottish soldier and adventurer who earned a substantial sum of money through gambling and the South Sea Bubble. He was convicted of raping a servant in 1730 and sentenced to death, but was subsequently pardoned, before dying of natural causes shortly afterwards.

  125. 1723

    1. John Burgoyne, English general and politician (d. 1792) births

      1. British general and playwright, defeated in the 1777 Saratoga campaign

        John Burgoyne

        General John Burgoyne was a British general, dramatist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1761 to 1792. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several battles, most notably during the Portugal Campaign of 1762.

  126. 1721

    1. John McKinly, Irish-American physician and politician, 1st Governor of Delaware (d. 1796) births

      1. American physician and politician

        John McKinly

        John McKinly was an American physician and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. He was a veteran of the French and Indian War, served in the Delaware General Assembly, was the first elected President of Delaware, and for a time was a member of the Federalist Party.

      2. List of governors of Delaware

        The governor of Delaware is the head of government of Delaware and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Delaware Legislature, to convene the legislature, and to grant pardons, except in cases of impeachment, and only with the recommendation of the Board of Pardons.

    2. John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, English poet and politician, Lord President of the Council (b. 1648) deaths

      1. 17th/18th-century English poet and politician

        John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby

        John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, was an English poet and Tory politician of the late Stuart period who served as Lord Privy Seal and Lord President of the Council. He was also known by his original title, Lord Mulgrave.

      2. United Kingdom official position

        Lord President of the Council

        The lord president of the Council is the presiding officer of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the fourth of the Great Officers of State, ranking below the Lord High Treasurer but above the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. The Lord President usually attends and is responsible for chairing the meetings of the Privy Council, presenting business for the approval of the sovereign. In the modern era, the incumbent is by convention always a member of one of the Houses of Parliament, and the office is normally a Cabinet position.

  127. 1714

    1. Edmund Andros, English courtier and politician, 4th Colonial Governor of New York (b. 1637) deaths

      1. 17th-century colonial administrator in British America

        Edmund Andros

        Sir Edmund Andros was an English colonial administrator in British America. He was the governor of the Dominion of New England during most of its three-year existence. At other times, Andros served as governor of the provinces of New York, East and West Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland.

      2. List of colonial governors of New York

        The territory which would later become the state of New York was settled by European colonists as part of the New Netherland colony under the command of the Dutch West India Company in the Seventeenth Century. These colonists were largely of Dutch, Flemish, Walloon, and German stock, but the colony soon became a "melting pot." In 1664, at the onset of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, English forces under Richard Nicolls ousted the Dutch from control of New Netherland, and the territory became part of several different English colonies. Despite one brief year when the Dutch retook the colony (1673–1674), New York would remain an English and later British possession until the American colonies declared independence in 1776.

  128. 1709

    1. Jacques de Vaucanson, French engineer (d. 1782) births

      1. French inventor of mechanical automata

        Jacques de Vaucanson

        Jacques de Vaucanson was a French inventor and artist who built the first all-metal lathe which was very important to the Industrial Revolution. The lathe is known as the mother of machine tools, as it was the first machine tool that led to the invention of other machine tools. He was responsible for the creation of impressive and innovative automata. He also was the first person to design an automatic loom.

  129. 1704

    1. Marc-Antoine Charpentier, French composer (b. 1643) deaths

      1. French composer (1643–1704)

        Marc-Antoine Charpentier

        Marc-Antoine Charpentier was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his Te Deum, Marche en rondeau. This theme is still used today as a fanfare during television broadcasts of the Eurovision Network, the European Broadcasting Union.

  130. 1685

    1. Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Cumberland (b. 1629) deaths

      1. English military leader and politician

        Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle

        Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle was an English military leader and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1653 and 1660 and was created Earl of Carlisle in 1661.

      2. Lord Lieutenant of Cumberland

        This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Cumberland. From 1765 to 1974, all Lord Lieutenants were also Custos Rotulorum of Cumberland.

  131. 1666

    1. Nicholas Lanier, English composer and painter (b. 1588) deaths

      1. English musician, scenographer and painter

        Nicholas Lanier

        Nicholas Lanier, sometimes Laniere was an English composer and musician; the first to hold the title of Master of the King's Music from 1625 to 1666, an honour given to musicians of great distinction. He was the court musician, a composer and performer and Groom of the Chamber in the service of King Charles I and Charles II. He was also a singer, lutenist, scenographer and painter.

  132. 1622

    1. Johannes Clauberg, German theologian and philosopher (d. 1665) births

      1. German theologian and philosopher (1622-1665)

        Johannes Clauberg

        Johannes Clauberg was a German theologian and philosopher. Clauberg was the founding Rector of the first University of Duisburg, where he taught from 1655 to 1665. He is known as a "scholastic cartesian".

  133. 1619

    1. Charles Le Brun, French painter and theorist (d. 1690) births

      1. 17th-century French painter and art theorist

        Charles Le Brun

        Charles Le Brun was a French painter, physiognomist, art theorist, and a director of several art schools of his time. As court painter to Louis XIV, who declared him "the greatest French artist of all time", he was a dominant figure in 17th-century French art and much influenced by Nicolas Poussin.

  134. 1604

    1. Arcangela Tarabotti, Venetian nun and feminist (d. 1652) births

      1. Arcangela Tarabotti

        Arcangela Tarabotti was a Venetian nun and Early Modern Italian writer. Tarabotti wrote texts and corresponded with cultural and political figures for most of her adult life, centering on the issues of forced enclosure, and what she saw as other symptoms and systems of patriarchy and misogyny in her works and discussions. Tarabotti wrote at least seven works, though only five were published during her lifetime. Because of the politics of Tarabotti’s works, many scholars consider her “a protofeminist writer as well as an early political theorist.”

  135. 1595

    1. Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, Polish author and poet (d. 1640) births

      1. Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski

        Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, was Europe's most prominent Latin poet of the 17th century, and a renowned theoretician of poetics.

  136. 1593

    1. Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford, English soldier and courtier (d. 1625) births

      1. English aristocrat, courtier and soldier

        Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford

        Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford KB was an English aristocrat, courtier and soldier.

  137. 1588

    1. Johann Weyer, Dutch physician and occultist (b. 1515) deaths

      1. Dutch physician, occultist and demonologist

        Johann Weyer

        Johann Weyer or Johannes Wier was a Dutch physician, occultist and demonologist, disciple and follower of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa.

  138. 1580

    1. Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel, English nobleman (b. 1511) deaths

      1. English nobleman

        Henry Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel

        Henry Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel KG was an English nobleman, who over his long life assumed a prominent place at the court of all the later Tudor sovereigns, probably the only person to do so.

  139. 1563

    1. Francis, Duke of Guise (b. 1519) deaths

      1. 16th-century French soldier and politician

        Francis, Duke of Guise

        Francis de Lorraine II, the first Prince of Joinville, also Duke of Guise and Duke of Aumale, was a French general and politician. A prominent leader during the Italian War of 1551–1559 and French Wars of Religion, he was assassinated during the siege of Orleans in 1563.

  140. 1557

    1. Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1619) births

      1. 17th century Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor

        Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor

        Matthias was Holy Roman Emperor from 1612 to 1619, Archduke of Austria from 1608 to 1619, King of Hungary and Croatia from 1608 to 1618, and King of Bohemia from 1611 to 1617. His personal motto was Concordia lumine maior.

  141. 1553

    1. Cherubino Alberti, Italian engraver and painter (d. 1615) births

      1. Italian engraver and painter

        Cherubino Alberti

        Cherubino Alberti (1553–1615), also called Borghegiano, was an Italian engraver and painter. He is most often remembered for the Roman frescoes completed with his brother Giovanni Alberti during the papacy of Clement VIII. He was most prolific as an engraver of copper plates.

  142. 1545

    1. John of Austria (d. 1578) births

      1. Military Leader and Illegitimate son of Emperor Charles V

        John of Austria

        John of Austria was an illegitimate son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. He became a military leader in the service of his half-brother, King Philip II of Spain, and is best known for his role as the admiral of the Holy Alliance fleet at the Battle of Lepanto.

  143. 1536

    1. Pope Clement VIII (d. 1605) births

      1. Head of the Catholic Church from 1592 to 1605

        Pope Clement VIII

        Pope Clement VIII, born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1592 to his death in March 1605.

  144. 1530

    1. Properzia de' Rossi, Italian Renaissance sculptor deaths

      1. Italian sculptor (c. 1490–1530)

        Properzia de' Rossi

        Properzia de' Rossi was a ground-breaking female Italian Renaissance sculptor, the only woman to receive a biography in Vasari's Lives of the Artists. According to Vasari, she taught herself to carve by working with peach-stones. At the end of her life, she was sought out by the Pope Clement VII, who unfortunately found her dead.

  145. 1525

    1. Jacques de La Palice, French nobleman and military officer (b. 1470) deaths

      1. Marshal of France

        Jacques de La Palice

        Jacques de La Palice was a French nobleman and military officer. He was the lord of Chabannes, La Palice, Pacy, Chauverothe, Bort-le-Comte and Héron. In 1511, he received the title of Grand Master of France.

    2. Guillaume Gouffier, seigneur de Bonnivet, French soldier (b. c. 1488) deaths

      1. French soldier

        Guillaume Gouffier, seigneur de Bonnivet

        Guillaume Gouffier, seigneur de Bonnivet was a French soldier.

    3. Richard de la Pole, last Yorkist claimant to the English throne (b. 1480) deaths

      1. Pretender to the English crown

        Richard de la Pole

        Richard de la Pole was a pretender to the English crown. Commonly nicknamed "White Rose", he was the last Yorkist claimant to actively and openly seek the crown of England. He lived in exile after many of his relatives were executed, becoming allied with Louis XII of France in the War of the League of Cambrai. Louis saw him as a more favourable ally and prospect for an English king than Henry VIII.

  146. 1500

    1. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1558) births

      1. Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, and Duke of Burgundy

        Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

        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".

  147. 1496

    1. Eberhard I, Duke of Württemberg (b. 1445) deaths

      1. Count of Württemberg

        Eberhard I, Duke of Württemberg

        Eberhard I of Württemberg was known as Count Eberhard V from 1459 to 1495, and from July 1495 he was the first Duke of Württemberg. He is also known as Eberhard im Bart.

  148. 1494

    1. Johan Friis, Danish statesman (d. 1570) births

      1. Danish statesman

        Johan Friis

        Johan Friis was a Danish statesman. He served as Chancellor under King Christian III of Denmark.

  149. 1463

    1. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Italian philosopher (d. 1494) births

      1. Italian Renaissance philosopher (1463–1494)

        Giovanni Pico della Mirandola

        Giovanni Pico della Mirandola was an Italian Renaissance nobleman and philosopher. He is famed for the events of 1486, when, at the age of 23, he proposed to defend 900 theses on religion, philosophy, natural philosophy, and magic against all comers, for which he wrote the Oration on the Dignity of Man, which has been called the "Manifesto of the Renaissance", and a key text of Renaissance humanism and of what has been called the "Hermetic Reformation". He was the founder of the tradition of Christian Kabbalah, a key tenet of early modern Western esotericism. The 900 Theses was the first printed book to be universally banned by the Church. Pico is sometimes seen as a proto-Protestant, because his 900 theses anticipated many Protestant views.

  150. 1413

    1. Louis, Duke of Savoy (d. 1465) births

      1. 15th-century Duke of Savoy

        Louis, Duke of Savoy

        Ludovico I or Louis I was Duke of Savoy from 1440 until his death in 1465.

  151. 1386

    1. Charles III of Naples (b. 1345) deaths

      1. 14th-century king of Naples, Jerusalem, and Hungary

        Charles III of Naples

        Charles the Short or Charles of Durazzo was King of Naples and the titular King of Jerusalem from 1382 to 1386 as Charles II, and King of Hungary from 1385 to 1386 as Charles II. In 1381, Charles created the chivalric Order of the Ship. In 1383, he succeeded to the Principality of Achaea on the death of James of Baux.

  152. 1304

    1. Ibn Battuta, Moroccan jurist births

      1. 14th century Muslim Maghrebi scholar and explorer

        Ibn Battuta

        Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah, commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berber Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, largely in the Muslim world. He travelled more than any other explorer in pre-modern history, totalling around 117,000 km (73,000 mi), surpassing Zheng He with about 50,000 km (31,000 mi) and Marco Polo with 24,000 km (15,000 mi). Over a period of thirty years, Ibn Battuta visited most of southern Eurasia, including Central Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, China, and the Iberian Peninsula. Near the end of his life, he dictated an account of his journeys, titled A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling, but commonly known as The Rihla.

  153. 1114

    1. Thomas, archbishop of York deaths

      1. 12th-century Archbishop of York

        Thomas II of York

        Thomas II was a medieval archbishop of York.

  154. 1103

    1. Emperor Toba of Japan (d. 1156) births

      1. Emperor of Japan

        Emperor Toba

        Emperor Toba was the 74th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.

  155. 1018

    1. Borrell, bishop of Vic deaths

      1. Borrell (bishop of Vic)

        Borrell was the bishop of Vic from 1010 until 1017. He was elected to replace Arnulf, who had died in battle against the Córdobans, and his episcopate coincided with the renewed colonisation of the west of Catalonia.

      2. Roman Catholic diocese in Spain

        Roman Catholic Diocese of Vic

        The Roman Catholic Diocese of Vic is a diocese with its seat in the city of Vic in the ecclesiastical province of Tarragona in Catalonia, Spain. Its cathedral is a basilica dedicated to Saint Peter.

  156. 951

    1. Liu Yun, Chinese governor (jiedushi) deaths

      1. Liu Yun (governor)

        Liu Yun, probably known as Liu Chengyun before 949, referred to in historical sources as the Duke of Xiangyin (湘陰公), was a military governor of the Later Han dynasty during the Five Dynasties period. He was an ethnic Shatuo.

      2. Title of regional military governors in China from the Tang to Yuan dynasties

        Jiedushi

        The jiedushi (节度使), or jiedu, was a title for regional military governors in China which was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of jiedushi has been translated as "military commissioner", "legate", or "regional commander". Originally introduced in 711 to counter external threats, the jiedushi were posts authorized with the supervision of a defense command often encompassing several prefectures, the ability to maintain their own armies, collect taxes and promote and appoint subordinates.

  157. 616

    1. Æthelberht of Kent (b. 560) deaths

      1. King of Kent from 589

        Æthelberht of Kent

        Æthelberht was King of Kent from about 589 until his death. The eighth-century monk Bede, in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, lists him as the third king to hold imperium over other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. In the late ninth century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he is referred to as a bretwalda, or "Britain-ruler". He was the first English king to convert to Christianity.

Holidays

  1. Christian feast day: Blessed Ascensión Nicol y Goñi

    1. Recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into heaven

      Beatification

      Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. Beati is the plural form, referring to those who have undergone the process of beatification; they possess the title of "Blessed" before their names and are often referred to in English as "a Blessed" or, plurally, "Blesseds".

    2. Ascensión Nicol y Goñi

      María Ascensión Nicol y Goñi, O.P., was a Spanish Roman Catholic religious sister of the Third Order of St. Dominic. She co-founded and was the first Prioress General of the Congregation of Dominican Missionary Sisters of the Rosary, which she helped to found in Peru.

  2. Christian feast day: Lindel Tsen and Paul Sasaki (Anglican Church of Canada)

    1. Anglican bishop in China

      Lindel Tsen

      The Rt. Rev. Philip Lindel Tsen was a bishop of the Anglican Church in China. Tsen was the first Chinese Presiding Bishop of the Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui and was succeeded by Bishop Robin Chen of the Diocese of Anhui province.

    2. Paul Shinji Sasaki

      Paul Shinji Sasaki 、(March 11, 1885 – December 21, 1946) was an Anglican bishop of the Diocese of Mid-Japan and later of Tokyo, in the Nippon Sei Ko Kai, the Province of the Anglican Communion in Japan.

    3. Church organization in Canada

      Anglican Church of Canada

      The Anglican Church of Canada is the province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French-language name is l'Église anglicane du Canada. In 2017, the Anglican Church counted 359,030 members on parish rolls in 2,206 congregations, organized into 1,571 parishes. The 2011 Canadian Census counted 1,631,845 self-identified Anglicans, making the Anglican Church the third-largest Canadian church after the Catholic Church and the United Church of Canada. The 2021 Canadian Census counted more than 1 million self-identified Anglicans, remaining the third-largest Canadian church. Like other Anglican churches, the Anglican Church of Canada's liturgy utilizes a native version of the Book of Common Prayer, the 1962 prayer book. A further revision, the 1985 Book of Alternative Services, has developed into the dominant liturgical book of the church.

  3. Christian feast day: Modest (bishop of Trier)

    1. Bishop of Trier

      Modestus (bishop of Trier)

      Saint Modest was bishop of Trier when the Franks gained control over the city of Trier and he is considered a Pre-Congregational Saint. His feast day is 24 February.

  4. Christian feast day: Sergius of Cappadocia

    1. Sergius of Cappadocia

      Saint Sergius was a Cappadocian monk who was martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian. His feast day is 24 February.

  5. Christian feast day: February 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

    1. February 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

      February 23 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - February 25

  6. Dragobete (Romania)

    1. Dragobete

      Dragobete is a traditional Romanian holiday celebrated on February 24. Dragobete was the son of Baba Dochia, which stands for the main character in the myth related to spring arrival and the end of the harsh winter. Due to his endless kindness he was chosen – according to some sources, by Virgin Mary – to be the Guardian of Love.

    2. Country in Southeast Europe

      Romania

      Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeast Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and the Black Sea to the southeast. It has a predominantly temperate-continental climate, and an area of 238,397 km2 (92,046 sq mi), with a population of around 19 million. Romania is the twelfth-largest country in Europe and the sixth-most populous member state of the European Union. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest, followed by Iași, Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Constanța, Craiova, Brașov, and Galați.

  7. Engineer's Day (Iran)

    1. Engineers Day all over the world

      Engineer's Day

      Engineer's Day is observed in several countries on various dates of the year. On 25 November 2019, based on a proposal by the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), UNESCO has proclaimed March 4 as 'UNESCO World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development'.

    2. Country in Western Asia

      Iran

      Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan to the north, by Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east, and by the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south. It covers an area of 1.64 million square kilometres, making it the 17th-largest country. Iran has a population of 86 million, making it the 17th-most populous country in the world, and the second-largest in the Middle East. Its largest cities, in descending order, are the capital Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Karaj, Shiraz, and Tabriz.

  8. Flag Day in Mexico

    1. Commemoration of the Mexican flag

      Flag Day in Mexico

      Día de la Bandera is a national holiday in Mexico dedicated to the flag of Mexico. Flag Day is celebrated every year on February 24 since its implementation in 1937. It was established by the President of Mexico, General Lázaro Cárdenas, in front of the monument to General Vicente Guerrero; Guerrero was the first to pledge allegiance to the Mexican flag, on March 12, 1821.

  9. Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Estonia from the Russian Empire in 1918; the Soviet period is considered to have been an illegal annexation.

    1. National holiday in Estonia

      Independence Day (Estonia)

      Independence Day is a national holiday in Estonia marking the anniversary of the Estonian Declaration of Independence in 1918. It is commonly celebrated with concerts, parades and parties. It is the national day of Estonia.

    2. Country in Northern Europe

      Estonia

      Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia. The territory of Estonia consists of the mainland, the larger islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, and over 2,200 other islands and islets on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, covering a total area of 45,339 square kilometres (17,505 sq mi). The capital city Tallinn and Tartu are the two largest urban areas of the country. The Estonian language is the autochthonous and the official language of Estonia; it is the first language of the majority of its population, as well as the world's second most spoken Finnic language.

    3. Empire spanning Europe and Asia from 1721 to 1917

      Russian 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.

    4. Year

      1918

      1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar, the 1918th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 918th year of the 2nd millennium, the 18th year of the 20th century, and the 9th year of the 1910s decade. As of the start of 1918, the Gregorian calendar was 13 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.

  10. National Artist Day (Thailand)

    1. Prize

      National Artist (Thailand)

      The National Artist is a title given annually by the Office of the National Culture Commission of Thailand, recognizing notable Thai artists in the area of intangible cultural heritage such as literature, fine arts, visual arts, applied arts and performing arts.

    2. Country in Southeast Asia

      Thailand

      Thailand, historically known as Siam and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning 513,120 square kilometres (198,120 sq mi), with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bordered to the north by Myanmar and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the extremity of Myanmar. Thailand also shares maritime borders with Vietnam to the southeast, and Indonesia and India to the southwest. Bangkok is the nation's capital and largest city.

  11. Sweden Finns' Day (Sweden)

    1. Sweden Finns' Day

      Sweden Finns' Day is an anniversary celebrated in Sweden on 24 February. The anniversary was approved by the Swedish Academy in 2010, and was held for the first time in 2011. 24 February was chosen as the date of the anniversary, as this was also the birthday of Carl Axel Gottlund, a collector of folk poetry and a defender of the status of the Finnish language. The purpose of the day is to celebrate the Sweden Finns and to recognize their history, language and culture as a part of Sweden's cultural heritage.

    2. Country in Northern Europe

      Sweden

      Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic country in Scandinavia. It borders Norway to the west and north, Finland to the east, and is connected to Denmark in the southwest by a bridge–tunnel across the Öresund. At 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the largest Nordic country, the third-largest country in the European Union, and the fifth-largest country in Europe. The capital and largest city is Stockholm. Sweden has a total population of 10.5 million, and a low population density of 25.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (66/sq mi), with around 87% of Swedes residing in urban areas in the central and southern half of the country.